BERT VERDONCK, lifehacker & networking coach » search

Twitter Search Tips

bertverdonck — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 06:36:01 +0000

Twitter is a wonderful tool and platform to share your message. We all know that! What most people don’t know is that Twitter has a magnificent search engine. Almost everyone (including me) is using Google, but if you want the latest trends or events, you’d better use Twitter. Why? Twitter is a real time search engine, while Google indexes everything and that takes time, sometimes up to 6 weeks before a site is included in Google. So, if you are looking for live input on a certain event, Twitter is more likely to find it.

In order to help you find stuff quicker, I am sharing a number of Twitter Search Tips with you. How does it work?
You first go to http://search.twitter.com. Of course, if you just want to use the regular search, you can type in your keywords and find anything right-away! Now, it becomes even more interesting if you would use the advanced search. Here is an overview if you want to use advanced search operators:

Operator	Finds tweets…
Genius Shortcut	containing both “Genius” and “Shortcut”. This is the default operator.
“happy hour“	containing the exact phrase “happy hour”.
black OR white	containing either “black” or “white” (or both).
Belgian -beer	containing “Belgian” but not “beer”.
#ff	containing the hashtag “ff” (followfriday, interesting people to follow as indicated by others).
from:bertverdonck	sent from person “bertverdonck”.
to:bertverdonck	sent to person “bertverdonck”.
@bertverdonck	referencing person “bertverdonck”.
“happy hour” near:“London”	containing the exact phrase “happy hour” and sent near “London”.
near:London within:15mi	sent within 15 miles of “London”.
lifehack since:2010-03-26	containing “lifehack” and sent since date “2010-03-26″ (year-month-day).
lifehack until:2010-03-26	containing “lifehack” and sent up to date “2010-03-26″.
movie -twilight	containing “movie”, but not “twilight”, and with a positive attitude.
movie	containing “movie” and with a negative attitude.
fun ?	containing “fun” and asking a question.
fun filter:links	containing “fun” and linking to URLs.
news source:twitterfeed	containing “news” and entered via TwitterFeed

Additional easy Twitter Search Tips:

1. Click on the Advanced Search link and save yourself from typing the operators!
2. If you want to search in a different language, use the language switch in the advanced search : “Written in:” and choose your language in the dropdownbox.
3. If you specifically want to search for retweets or you don’t mind that retweets are shown in the search results, then check the box: Include Retweets.

If you want extra Twitter Search Tips, you know where to find me

The Other 97 Percent

bertverdonck — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:36:11 +0000

It’s official now! “The Other 97 Percent” is the approved title of my newest book. Together with Mr. Search, aka Nathaniel Stott, I am writing this book about how to search and find stuff on the Internet. As I am talking about this exciting book, more and more people confess that they are only using Google to search for stuff on the Internet.

As soon as I tell them that Google only accounts for about 3% of the Internet, they go in “shock”. I also reassure them that I truly understand. Moreover, most people never got a formal training or education on how to find stuff on the Internet. Nobody ever told them how easy it is to find stuff. Anywhere. And where all the goodies and secrets are kept

We are still creating the sub-title and I’ll be updating you soon…

In the meantime, let us know your first feedback on the title, ok?

The Other 97 Percent

Do you like it? Does it arouse your curiosity? Does it appeal to you? Why?

Write a book

bertverdonck — Fri, 01 May 2009 13:46:19 +0000

My latest challenge is to write a book in 3 months! Can it be done? Sure! Would you be interested in how to write a book in 3 months for yourself? I think so. That’s why I decided to openly communicate about this exciting project. My goal is to share with you this lifehack on writing and publishing a book, but not in the traditional way (1, 2, 3 years?), but by using several genius shortcuts to get it done in less time and with more results. Of course, if you wish, you can create an e-book as well

Why? If I can do it, so can you. Too many people think too low of themselves. Everyone has a set of talents. Unfortunately, not everyone is using this set in the same way. Most people are not even using 10% of their potential. So was I. Knowing what I now know, I can easily achieve anything I want. And that is to learn and to share how to write a book in 3 months. I already wrote a blog on how to publish a book in 1 month, including a case study (in Dutch) last year on Lifehacking.nl. So, now its time to do the whole process from an initial idea to a published book.

What subject? There are so many interesting subjects to write about. Nevertheless, a choice has been made, but let me tell you the story behind it first. At our last mastermind I could not believe how narrow people are searching on the Internet. Guess what? Everyone is using Google. Guess what? 90% of the people I talk to ONLY use Google. Then I told them Google is ONLY about 3% of the Internet! They all freaked out! It was really funny to learn that there is a significant difference : Most people search for stuff on the Internet and sometimes are disappointed that they don’t find it. Others are overwhelmed by the amount of results, but it feels more like an avalanche where the real treasures are buried somewhere deep in the Google basement. It can take a while to find what you are looking for. Of course, most people indeed find most of their stuff most of the time, but I am talking about those precious treasures. Where and how to find them? Most people even search in all the wrong places…so how can you expect them to find it then?

Out of that brilliant conversation a natural question arouse: “Why don’t you write a book about it?” Everyone present at the meeting agreed they could use some help on finding stuff on the Internet and that they would buy such a book. So, it got me thinking… Intrigued by the reactions of the others and I decided to digg a little deaper.

Actually, most people never got a formal training or education on how to find stuff on the Internet. I realised that during that mastermind meeting. Nobody ever told them how easy it is to find stuff. Anywhere. And where all the goodies and secrets are kept. Really impressed by the amazing feedback from that meeting I started to ask around in my network too. And it seems that indeed about 90% agree they actually want (need?) extra insights in searching (and finding!) on the Internet.

Now, my question to you is: Would you be interested in saving time to find everything you need? Or even find it on the Internet after all? Be it text, pictures, audio, video, pdf, ebooks,…whatever? Would you be interested in learning the shorcuts to impress your friends you could digg up amazing stuff no one else can find? Would you like to learn the best kept secret strategies that I use to find the hidden treasures on the Internet?

Let me know what topics you would like to see covered in this book? Or do you have specific tools you are using that might serve others? Or do you have amazing search-find stories to share? You might have a chance to be mentioned in my book

Enjoy every day,

Bert Verdonck

Lifehacker & Life Coach
Genius Shortcuts

Pile, don’t file!

bertverdonck — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:31:32 +0000

Why do you file every new document or attachment you receive into a nice tree of folders? I know, you are looking for structure, easy access to those documents later on and maybe some ease of mind knowing that these are stored in the so-called “right place”.

Time to share another lifehacking tip with you. Stop filing documents and start piling! Use search engines to retrieve documents. Use Google Desktop instead. Win the time back you are spending on ever-changing structures, creating folders, saving files 8 levels deep in your system or within your network. Nobody ever keeps track of your system anyway.

Simply create 1 folder and pile all your documents there. No hassle, simple!

When you need any document, you are searching for it anyway. So, use Google Desktop and save yourself more time.

Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Lifehacker