The Virtual Wire

To Twitter or not to Twitter...

As I talked about in a previous post,   I haven't been ready to jump into the social media arena as far as using it for my own business ventures, but I know the day will come, and probably not too far in the future. I'm just not quite there yet.

One service I haven't seen much personal use for is Twitter - but I suspect it's something that you have to use to fully appreciate. The simple description of Twitter on their website is: "Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"

I often see it used in a way that's closely aligned with blogs and websites, which is a bit farther afield from "friends, family, and co-workers." Then again, in our virtual world of work, those who find us online even in a larger audience are in a sense our co-workers.

One of the most interesting places I've seen  that uses Twitter is the Prime Minister's office at 10 Downing Street.  It's fun to picture just who is sending in the Twitter updates from that office.

So this "twittering" is on my list of things I want to learn more about, but like so many other things I keep looking for enough time to really see what it's all about and how I would use it. If someone has reasons why Twitter is something you just can't do without, I'd love to hear about it.

P.S. After posting this, I read a blog post on Twitter by the the always interesting Tim Ferriss. He used Twitter and blog comments to steer a recent trip, and shares 3 simple guidelines (“Twittiquette”) for Twitter posts. Both are worth a quick look.

Some airlines are still giving away things

With the new economy, airlines are getting stingy and taking away all amenities except for the one of being able to have a seat. So, it was just hysterical that I ran across Toni Jo's 'Drink' tickets for Southwest airlines. (Apparently, Southwest gives out tickets to frequent flyer's to redeem for in-flight beverages.) OMG! They are so funny!

On one side of the ticket it gives you a conversation starter and the other side is a conversation stopper. My favorite starter: If you could only drink one beverage for the rest of your life, what would you choose? Why? (I’m almost sure Chris Goldberg would say diet coke.) My favorite stopper was: I am sorry, I cannot talk with you – I have given up face-to-face conversation as a personal experiment. (My adlib, you can talk to me on Facebook.)

Well, it seems like Southwest is still giving away things to its passengers – laughs!

DING! You are now free to move about the country.

Sharing calendar and other information

There were two reasons that caused me to abandon [more like regrettably stop using] Eudora® as my e-mail program of choice:

1. Most of my clients used Microsoft® Office Outlook®
2. Eudora is not a complete personal information manager (PIM)

Knowing about the ever-expanding array of Outlook issues and vulnerabilities was helpful, and I can attest to having worked through many of them over the years, but that represented half the battle. The second knarly set of issues came up when it was time to share calendar (and other) information.

Die hard or longtime Outlook users know that it’s been possible for quite a number of years to share calendar information, tasks, contacts, notes and e-mail. But until Outlook 2007, some of this could only be done on a network, with the magic of a Microsoft Exchange Server. I’ve worked in office environments where Outlook was used to the max: proxies were set so I could monitor my bosses’ calendars and e-mail, meeting rooms were added as resources that could be booked, groups were set up, etc. Of course, there were always one or more key IT people behind all of that magic, making it work, or keeping it working.

What of us who find ourselves in non-networked (or non-Exchange) environments, but who still have to share information? Actually, there are many solutions out there.

Business Relationships that Just Don’t Work

I have just come out of a client relationship that just wasn’t working. But it took me a long time to make that jump… a really long time. It took me about five months of knowing that the relationship was not working before I actually took that leap of faith and ended it. I have heard fellow VA’s say that they know when a relationship is wrong when they feel a cold chill run down their back anytime an email comes in from that client. Well my object of terror was Skype, LOL! Whenever I would hear the ping that indicated that a Skype chat message had just come through I would jump inside and then immediately sink into despair.

Please don’t think that this client was a monster, I take full responsibility for this relationship because:

1. I did not conduct a proper interview – I am soooooo ashamed to admit, but I skipped the second part of my interview process. What we in AssistU describe as covering the deeper questions. I let those deeper questions slide, I didn’t truly probe how she worked on a deeper and more subtle level.
2. I lapsed on my standards during our working relationship – there are obviously going to be times in our working relationships with our clients, colleagues, fellow team members when a standard gets stepped on. I like to think that 90% of the time this happens unwittingly, and unknowingly and all I have to do is re-confirm what my standards are. It seems simple, but it sometimes feels like a really hard thing to do.
3. I stayed for too long – I knew this relationship was not working within the first two months. I knew because of points no. 1 and no. 2 above. And I should have made the move much, much earlier. But I have this belief that if people work at a relationship it can be fixed. Of course, my business coach asked me “where did you get such a crazy idea?”

Cool, free website analysis tool

I recently learned about a neat no-cost tool for a quick and helpful website analysis - HubSpot's Website Grader (www.WebsiteGrader.com).

The algorithm this utility uses is a "proprietary blend of over 50 different variables, including search engine data, website structure, approximate traffic, site performance, and others."

There is lots of solid, detailed information given. Major areas of analysis are: On-Page SEO, Off-Page SEO, Blogosphere, Social Mediasphere, Converting Qualified Visitors to Leads, and Competitive Intelligence.

Looking at the results for my own website, the analysis tells me pretty much what I was already aware of, so I know it's on target. Reviewing the suggestions about what is needed to improve the site in the areas analyzed is a good review about recommended elements for all websites.

Everyone needs a mean coach

Over the year or so that I’ve been writing for the Virtual Wire, I’ve mentioned my mean coach one or two dozen times. I decided to stop a second and talk a little more about her.

My mean coach is the maven moxie, Stacy Brice. She does a great job of describing who she is and how she works on her website. I’m not going to rehash all of that; instead, I’m going to share who she is and how she works from my perspective.

When I refer to Stacy as “mean”, I’m not saying she’s malicious or has ill-intent. Instead, mean refers to her being tough, yet caring. She practices http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tough_love with me; however, I just want it my way. If you still don’t get it, just ask any teenage you know, who is the meanest person they know. More than likely it’s mom or dad, the people that love them the most. Stacy has had to tell me no on occasions. She said, “No coaching if your call prep isn’t in on time. No, if you don’t handle this critical “thing” that’s been on your to do list for two months.” These no’s are sometimes hard for me to swallow because my Mean Coach has just put my feet in the fire, and is making me accountable for my stuff. In the long run, this is what makes me strive to be better than what I am. Yet, at the time it is happening, she’s mean.

Another thing that happens for me through coaching is stretching. Not the exercise, but my mind, my abilities, and my faith. I learn new things, I try new things (dark chocolate covered strawberries are REALLY gross), and I uncover some hidden talent. I never knew I had it in me to start a business. Okay, yes, I started my

Revisiting cell phones

There are tons of statistics concerning the proliferation of cell phones and their usage. Here's one: by mid-2005, worldwide, there were 2.4 billion cell phone users. But statistics don't speak to the benefits, nor to the disadvantages of cell phone use.

Using cell phones while driving is a hot issue in and of itself. The list of states banning or restricting cell phone use while driving is growing, and in at least one state (Utah), the offense has been named as "careless driving". One Canadian province has banned cell phone use for drivers, and several others are considering it.

Just before taking a brief look at some of the obvious pros and cons of cell phone use, I want to share with you why we originally got our first cell phone. Almost 15 years ago, my wife and I thought we should get a call phone as a safety measure, and only use for the car. Is that why you bought your first cell phone? Interestingly enough, for the first few years the only times we used the cell phone was for calls to or from the car. No emergencies ... just calls about our whereabouts, lateness, errands, etc.  It took a long time before I bought my own phone, and longer before I started to use it outside the confines or conditions of the car. I don't know when I 'forgot' about my/our original intent for cell phone use, but both of us have had our own cell phones for ages, and the monthly bills are notable!

Reflections, part two

As I returned from my traveling this week, I found myself - my heart and soul - full. The funeral and the subsequent activities visiting family and friends gave me much to ponder and cherish.

Needing to get back to "work" was quite a challenge for me, nevertheless, I'm getting there.

I'm pointing to another past post of mine, entitled, "The Way to Happiness."

It fits my frame of mind quite well today. I hope you enjoy it, too.

From My Yahoo! to iGoogle in one fell swoop

There is a lot going on with Yahoo! these days, and the company is dealing with some big issues that affect its survival. And closer to home (my computer) they've made other changes that I'm not happy about. I'm not deeply involved with Yahoo! – I have an email address that I use for limited purposes that are likely to result in bulk email, and I've been a member of a few user groups on their forums; but for many years I've used a My Yahoo! page for my home page. I've customized it to include a great list of bookmarks, weather for places where loved ones and friends live, and other tools that I use frequently. And as of Monday it's pretty much useless to me!

Several months ago Yahoo! came up with a new design for My Yahoo! pages that looked awful, and I wasted no time  switching my home page back to the previous "classic" format. On Monday, using the old design became an unavailable option for anyone, and the whole mess appeared again when I turned on the computer. Among Yahoo! users there are mixed reactions, but my home page looked so bad I really can't stand to use it, and in my irritation, I started setting up iGoogle for my home page. I've meant for a long time to customize a Google page – I use Google's toolbar and search engine, have Gmail addresses and use other "G" tools,  so I'm much more connected to Google's services. It was just easier to stick with the home page I already had set up on Yahoo!

When Vista no longer refers to Microsoft® Windows

Sometime in the next 1 ½ to 2 years, the successor to Windows Vista will hit the streets. Current Internet chatter has pegged the most likely timing as January 2010. The intent is not to make “Vista 2”, but rather to address many of the problems Vista has had, while maintaining compatibility with it.

If you know me, or know about my computer chronicles, you’ll know I was on board very early with Windows Vista. Our HP notebook came pre-loaded with Vista Home Premium. My learning curve on the new operating system wasn’t particularly high, but in many other ways the price of sticking with it was. I eventually added another gigabyte of RAM to the notebook (brining it up to 2 GB), and spent considerable time and not a little bit of money figuring out solutions to legacy software issues. (Note that “legacy” basically means built for an earlier technology). I learned to like many things about Windows Vista, while also grudgingly accepting work arounds on others. For example, there is the User Account Control feature. Argh. And there remains a string of incompatibility problems with various software titles (even those apparently designed to work with Vista). Oh, and there’s the fact that I could never successfully synchronize my PDA on the notebook. And … well, I’m sure you get the picture!

Over the past year and a half (the time I’ve spent with Vista) many things have come to light about this operating system. Many of those are not complimentary! Its issues with power consumption, legacy software and hardware, user accounts, and many other things have caused a groundswell, grassroots movement to speak out loud and long against Microsoft. Here’s a current example of another “nail in the coffin” for Vista. In this week’s print advertisement for Staples Business Depot, there’s a great deal on an HP Mini-Note Laptop. If you buy this laptop, guess what you can have for nothing? Well, let’s let the ad do the talking: