A Writer’s Quest to Get Notified
So, I am a writer and editor and I am passionate about a lot of things. This can be a blessing or a curse depending on where you are looking.
That being said, I suck at follow up. With being in the Startup support business (basically Startups come to me for support related to content and social media planning and execution), sometimes just staying in tune with everything being said, mentioned or tweeted about that Startup in that massive World Wide Web can be quite daunting. So many applications to sync, so many log-ins (even with Lastpass), so many notifications via email or push notifications, my life was either too hectic or way too hectic.
On a blissful Sunday afternoon (yesterday), I was cleaning up a billion emails like everyone does on their weekend (What?) and then a notification popped up, I was invited to subscribe to Notify.ly , the email intrigued me and so I went ahead and subscribed in under a minute. I think I am in love.
Notify.ly is a platform integrated simply within Slack, which is an awesome tool to stay in touch with co-workers worldwide in real time. Notify.ly defined itself as a platform that “allows Startups and entrepreneurs to get real time push notifications whenever their name, brand, industry, blog post, review or URL gets mentioned anywhere on the World Wide Web”.
So basically in under a minute, I went and created notifications based on keywords related to any word, phrase, tagline or hashtag that was a direct link to all the startups I was supporting and the founders. Suddenly, everything felt streamlined, I was able to track everything from Reddit posts (Reddits) and reviews to tweets, replies and retweets. Negative or positive, it was all there before my eyes and because it was integrated within Slack, getting coworkers or fellow Entrepreneur support specialists on board with new ideas or to notice future PR ventures was easy, efficient and happening in real time. I no longer needed to have a billion tabs open or filter through a million Google Alerts Email notifications, not to mention that I quit using Google Alerts ages ago because it doesn’t crawl into social networks and most of my work needed me to be in tune with dozens of social networking and online content websites.
Speaking of “mentioning”, I loved Mention as well, I was on and off Mention and it seemed to be doing the trick but here is how Notify got me sold.
1- I am super terrified /excited/ amazed to say this but Notify.ly is free
While Mention charged me 300 Euros a month for 50,000 mentions, Notify.ly gives everyone the same number of mentions a month for nothing. You read that correctly.
2- Notify.ly is the synonym for convenience in my book
Because it is easily integrated within Slack, all of my notifications arrived in real time, so if someone tweeted or published an article about me or a startup I was supporting, I found myself able to track, monitor and respond to bloggers, reviewers, reporters and fellow entrepreneurs instantly.
3- Diversity
All languages, all dialects, all keywords, phrase or string of characters related to whatever it is you are search for, are about to drop on your desktop. So Far Notify is integrated with Twitter, Tumblr, Quora, Product Hunt, Hacker News and Reddit with plans to be soon getting you and me keywords from Blogs, News, Medium, Instagram, Youtube and Forums among other things. The possibilities are endless.
In a hectic world of beeps and buzzes, Notify.ly feels more like a soft pillow that comforts you on one of these scary busy Monday morning. I am finally easily notified and information comes to me in a steady sweet stream and I am truly in love with Notify.ly.
Update: I seem to have a good eye for great startups, Notify.ly is now featured on Product Hunt and is ranking quite well☺
