28 May2012
Written by Dustin Wheeler, CPA. Posted in Humor, Social Media
While I’m not a power user of Google Analytics like those who track e-commerce and advertising performance, I know my way around it well enough to discover fun and interesting facts about my blog’s visitors. Below are a few insights into my blog’s statistics:
- I love maps! The Demographics-Location screen shows that my blog has nearly spanned the globe. It’s no surprise that the United States is the darkest shade of green, which means that it is the country with the most number of visits. The countries in grey have yet to make a visit. I am still waiting for Greenland to turn green. If you have friends there, send them my way.
- It is always interesting to see the search keywords used to get to my site. “Should I…” is a very common search phrase. Sure, I can explain how to enter credit card charges correctly into QuickBooks, but don’t expect too much more from me.
- Below is a graph showing the value of my investment portfolio. Just kidding! The graph shows the number of daily website visits. It is satisfying to see an increase in web traffic over time. This is a good lesson for people just starting to blog to not be discouraged by low numbers. Loyal readers, links from other sites, and search results accumulate over time, so don’t give up!
17 May2012
Written by Dustin Wheeler, CPA. Posted in Social Media
Not long ago, a friend told me that he hoped to buy a certain piece of used equipment on Craigslist. He said that he frequently went to the Craigslist website and searched for the name of the equipment he wanted to buy.
If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know that I use Google Reader to pull content from all over the Internet and read it all in one place. My friend’s situation made me wonder if a Craigslist search could be pulled into Google Reader. Indeed, it can be done and it is very easy.
For example, after selecting my location (Las Vegas), I can go to the For Sale – Computers section and search for a tablet (not that I’m looking for a used tablet on Craigslist, but it makes a good example for this blog post).
When I scroll to the bottom of the page, there is a small RSS button on the right side.
After I click on the RSS button, I copy the resulting page’s URL. In Google Reader, I click on the subscribe button and paste the URL.
How do you use Craigslist for business, if at all? I am curious to know, so please leave a comment below.
04 May2012
Written by Dustin Wheeler, CPA. Posted in Excel, Tech Tips
Just as a GPS is a handy gadget for a stubborn guy who refuses to ask for directions, Excel’s Go To Special feature quickly finds and selects cells in a spreadsheet without all of the U-turns and dead ends. The Go To Special window can be launched under the Find and Replace button in Excel 2010 and it offers a plethora of options to choose from.
One of the most useful abilities of Go To Special is selecting blank cells. For example, I first select all of the cells in a table (A1:D6 shown below). In the Go To Special window, I select the Blanks option. After clicking on OK, the empty cells in the table are selected.
With the empty cells selected, I can then change the cells’ background color to yellow, for example. I can also enter a value for the cells, such as zero, making the value apply to all of them at once by holding the Ctrl key while pressing enter.
The Errors option (under Formulas) in the Go To Special screen will select all of the cells with errors. It’s a fast and effective way of making sure a spreadsheet is error-free. After all, few things are more embarrassing than giving someone a spreadsheet with errors where there are supposed to be numbers.
How have the other Go To Special options been helpful for you? Please share by leaving a comment below.