Useful RSS mashup tools (especially for converting your blog posts into a PDF)

Want to tweak your RSS feeds a little? Then try out xFruits, an RSS mashup tool that can create PDF files from your feeds, or combine a number of feeds into one.

If you are thinking of including your blog posts from this semester in your physical communication portfolio (yes seniors, those portfolios will be due soon!), you can also use this tool to create a decent-looking PDF version of your blog and then print out the PDF.

It looks like xFruits might be a little easier to use than Yahoo pipes, another tool that allows you to aggregate, manipulate, and mashup content from around the web.

New resource for creating your social media resume

This post might be a bit early considering that our social media resume assignment isn't due until the end of the semester, but I figured that those of you currently looking for internships or jobs might be interested in this visual resume service I just stumbled upon.

VisualCV is a resume building tool that allows you "to build and manage an online career portfolio that comes alive with informational keyword pop-ups, video, pictures, and social networking". The goal of this free service is to bring "both the CV and the resume into the modern Web 2.0 world by transforming the way in which resume data is presented, accessed and shared".

Last semester we used PRXBuilder to build a resume that would do just that. This semester we may just give VisualCV a try. I haven't tested it yet, but I think it looks promising. Let me know if you try it out before our social media resume assignment is due.

On a similar note: One of you recently asked me how to describe your social media skills on a resume. The point is that you want to display them instead of describing them. What you want to do, is show off your blogging and podcasting skills rather than listing them in the form of bullet points. I think this cartoon illustrates this idea superbly:


Credit: James Barbour

Avoiding the Google Netherworld

The fact that Google has an excellent memory and that it rarely forgets big bloopers or faux pas, shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone in this class. After all, we've already examined plenty of examples of "Google Wrath": Vincent Ferrari and his attempt at canceling his AOL account, Jeff Jarvis and his DellHell blog post, the ComCast technician falling asleep on a customer's couch, etc. Today's example of a PR pitch turned ugly (thanks to Dr. Russell's WOM class blog for bringing this to my attention) and of a CEO's fears of entering the Google netherworld as a consequence, is another great reminder of the power of Google. What's particularly interesting in this case is the fact that a Google search of the name of the PR firm tied to the pitch, already returns Odden's blog post among the first 10 search results - regardless of what their true intentions were. And that's a big problem for their online reputation! Especially when considering that Google ranks among the top three news sources opinion leaders rely on most for obtaining information on companies (according to the 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer results).