Zoomedia Blog
I Google, we all Google, but do you iGoogle? We are all exposed to more and more information from a myriad of sources and for me at least it is a constant challenge to refer to multiple sites and sources while I am working on projects. I have been using iGoogle - essentially a personalized Google home page - to manage some of the industry information I refer to, read, and research on an ongoing basis.
Through my iGoogle page I access news from web publications, clinical trial updates, other organization's blog entries and/or de.lici.ous feeds, internal client and project information posted on our Wiki (more on this later) and any content on any website 
that has been enabled with an "Add to Google" button.
You can find out how to add the button to your website here or call us and have our webmasters do it for you ; )
Additional tabs on my iGoogle page give me access to my Google mail account - this is fed by our Zoomedia mail server and provides a fallback plan should my laptop go missing or die while I am traveling (I know I shouldn't even say that but I've been trained by our CTO to include a healthy dose of doom in any hardware-based scenario). I have also set up some pre-defined Google news searches so with one click I can access a running list of news releases on search terms I have previously entered.
My iGoogle page has become a hybrid resource giving me a snapshot of our current Zoomedia client work within the changing context of industry trends and news. It keeps my mind working on multiple levels at the same time and allows me to quickly get informed viewpoints on any given topic from any web browser at any time.
So what's the downside? It takes a little work to set up a page that really gives you some value but like all things Google it is designed to be easy. You may have to have a word with your IT folks to be able to access information from your intranet and you will definitely want to keep adding and removing information sources to keep things fresh.
So how might those of you in life science marketing use iGoogle? Think about the old idea of clippings and you'll get the picture. Instead of reading email newsletters from multiple publishers and going to bookmarks to check out websites, bring the content to you, on one page, with no ads. You can track blogs, forums, publications, and news that mentions your company and your products and monitor sites where patients and physicians might discuss your brand. A new and perhaps powerful way to keep your finger on the Internet pulse ...
Interestingly, I also find that sometimes the viewing of an article in the context of my other feeds illuminates a greater theme and when that happens my iGoogle page can even be an inspiration fed many minds and voices. So iGoogle and perhaps you should too ...
Click the thumbnail for a peek at my iGoogle page.
Barbara
Tags: Google, Transforming Technology, Product Strategey, Global Strategy, Patient Strategy, Web 2.0