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Is it just me, or is something brewing at Google. I couldn’t log in to either AdWords or AdSense.

Most people evaluate where they have been, where they are going and plan what they want to do when their birthday rolls around. Today, I’m going to kill a couple of birds with one stone. I am going to do a branding exercise by looking into the meaning of my name, explain how I got my name, and look at famous and influential women I know who also share the name Stephanie.

First, the meaning of Stephanie, means “crown”. I would like to translate it for today’s audience into being empowered and charged to accomplish great things. One doesn’t need a crown or be named Stephanie to accomplish great things. I like to think that I am helping people to be empowered through their websites, but enough about work.

When I was born, it took my folks a week to come up with my name. Stefanie Powers, (from Hart to Hart fame in the ‘80s) was on TV, and that’s how I got the name, without the “f” but the “ph” instead.

In addition to famous Stephanies, I also want to acknowledge a few notable Stephanies who I am proud to share the name.

Stephanie Agresta, (who also has a birthday soon) I met virtually online several years ago. We have seen each other online and then finally met in person at a product launch event. I refer to her as the “Affiliate Diva” as she literally built multiple affiliate program for many companies.
Stephanie Fierman, who was recently profiled in ClickZ, I have met through a client and good friend of mine. She has a breath of knowledge in media and marketing and her insights make me think about my own marketing strategies.

Last but not least, there is a former co-worker of mine who is also named Stephanie. You can read about here in a post I did about networking.

So let’s get today started.

As usual, every September around this time, Google changes its logo for today. Well, Its also my birthday today too! Instead of dwelling about me, (I can do that on Facebook, MySpace or Twitter), I am going to pay tribute to my name. Stay tuned.

Listen to my podcast about things to consider when implementing blog widgets on you website and/or blog.

Download this Podcast (Mp3)

People have also been talking about LinkedIn and it has helped them, and/or if they have found challenges with it. I was inspired by Andy Sernovitz’s Blog Post to connect to him on LinkedIn and Facebook.

I decided to take this to the “next steph” and put an “old school spin” to this. I recently had reached out to my existing networks though listserves, etc… and offered a complementary 1/2 hour consultation to the 99th person to connect to me via LinkedIn.

The results, I was able to reconnect with people I haven’t had contact with in ages and the winner is excited about their consultation. This proves that one needs to approach and view networking in a different way to stand out and make connections.

Now that I nearly have close to 100 connections on LinkedIn, it was time to officially take the plunge into explore “new” territory, Facebook.

I know what I said in an earlier post, but unless you haven’t been online in the past few weeks, there has been a great debate brewing as to how Facebook should be used, for personal or for business use.

Here are a few links, that cover all sides of the issue:

Pro:
12 Ways to use Facebook Profesionally
GoodBye LinkedIn, Hello Facebook

Con:
Why do we have Facebook Fatigue?
Observations about Facebook

There is even a post to suggest to do both:
Entrepreneurs Need Both Facebook and LinkedIn

So far, if only been a few days, most of my contacts on Facebook are business, although it is nice to have the college connections. I will keep you posted.

More from the customer service blues train.

I ordered refills for my notebook. I was tracking my package online and I realize that the package was sent to the wrong post office. I opened my e-mail to double check that I did put the right address on the form. I then called customer service and they said that there is nothing they can do.

It’s not my fault that it was sent to the wrong post office and I now have to go a mile out of my way to pay for someone’s foul up.

I normally try not to complain on the blog, but this is business. I was considering switching web conferencing providers because recent clients sited that they could not see everything on my screen that I was presenting. I attempted to sign up for a free trial from Web Ex. When I entered in information, credit card, etc…, the error message came up that said “System currently unavailable. Please try again later.”

I then called customer service. Customer service, then routed me to a 15 minute wait for Technical Support. When I got them, they told me to login. How can I log into an account when at that stage I am not even a customer? I didn’t have an account and she expected me to login? The more she was talking the more confused I became, so the I hung up in frustration.
So Web Ex, please fix you form. This is the kind of thing that not only cost you leads, but also has an effect on the bottom line.

...for me. Ironically Grandparents Day became legal in the early 70’s, so it was like they waited for Grandma to become a grandparent to make it official. Grandma has been looking out for me before my Mom knew about me, so I feel that a post dedicated to Grandma is the least I can do to thank her for being the anchor for who I am today.

Recently, I was asked how to promote your blog if one has free web hosting.

Some popular examples of blog hosts with free web hosting include:

• Wordpress


• Blogger


• Yahoo 360°