Archive for the ‘Resources’ Category

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The absence explained, and what to look forward to


2009
11.17

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Posted in Musings, Resources, The Journey | No Comments »

Apologies for my absence from this blog. I have been swamped with work, as usual. And on top of that, I’ve been sick since the entire weekend. I think I overheated. My nose spent a great deal of time leaking blood last night. =P

I know that work seems to be impeding my blogging, but I’m stubbornly making it a point to blog because I work as a social media consultant, and therefore must participate and experiment on my own as well, and not talk out of my ass when advising clients.

I’ve also learnt a couple of things about my own social media participation lately as well. At first, I was all for social media integration, but lately I’ve been wondering whether it’s wiser to separate your social and work accounts. But that, my dear readers, is for another post. ;)

And I’ve been wondering whether I should open up more on this blog as well. Longtime readers will probably notice that the passion and fire and brimstone is acutely missing here, just because I’m quite wary that this is the blog that I’m marketing “me” on. But I don’t think this blog is worth it’s name without it’s original soul, is it? So that’s something else to try in this experiment.

Anyway, I’ve had a couple of topics lined up lately. I’ve also been brainstorming for content for the company to package, because I feel that I’ve a lot to share and teach. And even if I don’t get it (I hope I do!), putting my ideas down in writing has given me even more content for this blog.

Now the question is when am I going to write them?

Here are some tentative topics:

  1. More Abbreviations 101
  2. Should you separate your social media accounts for work and play?
  3. What browser would suit you?
  4. Review of the Seashell Asus Eee PC (I just bought one! Yay to finally be able to do work over a cup of coffee in a nice Cafe!)
  5. And much much much much more on social media and business, depending on how things pan out for work, and the content that I’ll develop or will have to keep company property.
  6. And much more from myexperiences working as a waitress and in the newsagency job in Freo. I love Freo; there’s just so many little things about the city.
  7. And, possibly reworked posts from my older blogs, especially if they’re relevant.

And I WILL aim to write at least one post a week. Hold me to it.

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Abbreviations 101 – Part 1


2009
11.03

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Posted in Resources | 5 Comments »

Blur

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I’ve crossed over into the jargon-spewing world at work, and that sometimes leaves some of my colleagues out in the cold during meetings. So here’s a first in a series of posts to clarify what those abbrevations mean!

SME – Small and Medium Enterprises
It varies from country to country. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) defines it on basis of no. of employees:
small – less than 20
medium -  21 to 200
large greater – than 200

SMB – Small and Medium Business
See SME.

CRM – Customer Relationship Management
Generally includes all aspects of the above. Too wide to define here. Read Wikipedia for more.

However, in my line of work, it generally involves record keeping for client’s customers, as well as tools to help the business interact with the customer.

CMS – Content Management System
Like the above, there are many different types of CMSes. In my line of work, we generally work with Web CMSes, which are used to build business websites that especially require their content to be editable by non-html speaking humans.

SEO – Search Engine Optimisation
This is more an art than a science, imo (in my opinion). Beware the companies that tell you that they have calculated methods to drive up your search engine rankings, as search providers like Google and Bing change their algorhithim regularly.

However, real proper SEO does exist, and should be common sense for good website builders and PR agencies anyway. This includes stuff like getting the website architecture done properly, as well as making sure that you’re connected to the right organisations and individuals online and off.

WTF – the reaction to the above jargon by the average person

Disclaimer – The above are very generalised definitions. For further definitions, there’s Google and Wikipedia.

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21 things I've learnt to date


2009
10.30

Posted in Resources, The Journey | Comments Off

This is a continuation of sorts from my previous post.

  1. How to install web apps, both via Fantanstico as well as manually, and tweak read-write-execute permissions.
  2. Wordpress. How to install it and how to use it. How powerful it is as well as its limitations.
  3. Opengoo. After scanning and testing a whole bunch of publishing platforms, wikis and project management web apps, I’ve actually settled on Opengoo as my company’s intranet. It has the combination of being easy to use, open source, free, user-friendly and is able to be hosted on our own servers.
  4. User-friendliness – in relation to all the above, no matter how powerful a piece of software is, it it’s hard for the non-tech people to pick up, it’s not going to fly. So I always aim to match software functionality with human needs.
  5. Project management – How to start off the project by clarifying client needs, and then the processes of finding the people, tools and strategies to meet those needs, and then the entire process of completing said project. Documentation, clarifications, and more importantly, the face-to-face factor.
  6. Project implementation – When I first started, I also had to do the technical end of my early jobs, because we hadn’t expanded yet, and I was (and still am) the techiest person in the company. I had to learn off the bat how to give an estimate of how long I would take on the job, and how to get the job done on time and done well.
  7. Dreamweaver – That ties back to process 6. One of the earliest projects I worked on was a legacy website, and I had to learn the tools used to create the website in order to continue to edit it.
  8. Dreamweaver can make a pretty website, but that’s all you’re going to get. If you want a proper user-friendly backend, you either pay tons to stay with a Dreamweaver-created site, or you build a site using a Content Management System. Dreamweaver is pretty powerful and all, but if a client wants a site they can update and edit themselves, it would not recommend it as the tool of choice.
  9. Legacy websites are a bitch to manage without proper documentati0n.
  10. Less jargon, more analogies to illustrate more complex points for non-tech clients.
  11. Facebook is powerful stuff.
  12. Twitter is powerful updating stuff, especially if you have the right desktop client.
  13. Adobe Air is awesome. I can’t code in it, but at least I know it’s simple, functional and powerful. And I’m very happy with the apps I’ve tried on it before.
  14. Social media is not a marketing tool, it is merely another channel to today’s increasingly fragmented audience. Be kind to the net, because the net will not be kind to you.
  15. What the client wants and needs and what their customers want and need might not always mesh, so it’s the consultant’s job to consult, inform and strategise based on their expertise and information available. Abit the duh, but you’ll be surprised how often consultants get bowled over by clients who want one thing but might not understand the whole process of getting it done.
  16. Professionalism is the key to not getting your ass on fire when the shit hits the fan.
  17. Project managers need to have their own SOP. There is the entire job SOP, but the project managers have to be most on the ball or else shit will hit the fan.
  18. Face to face beats phoning, and phoning beats e-mails. As wonderful as technology is, it can never replace the human connection. Connecting with your clients and colleagues is absolutely vital, because the key to most successful working (and personal) relationships is trust.
  19. Keep e-mails short, sweet and simple and written to suit the person it is meant for. This may be Australia, and most of the world may speak English, BUT not everyone writes English well, and sometimes jargon can go over people’s heads.
  20. Be open to learning. Things always always change, especially when you’re dealing with technology and the internet. I’ve worked with trainees before, and what annoyed me the most was the phrase “Nah, I don’t know anything about the net. Nah I don’t wanna learn.” Sorry honey, but this is the future of the industry you’re going to be in. Better to hop on the bandwagon sooner than later.
  21. Relationships matter. This is probably one of the most important points, and is related to point 18. You’ll learn more about a person in a half-hour coffee break than over a hundred e-mails. Get to know the person you’re working with, what their strengths are, their weaknesses, their approach to work and everything. And then learn how to work with the person, and hopefully hope that they like you enough to want to learn to work with you too.
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