Greetings,
We all love jumping in the water on a hot summer day. Usually, we don't need any life saving, but it's nice to know that a strong, young person is there if you need help.
Web Words doesn't often get into life saving, but the first article in this issue just might classify. It's about how to keep yourself from going crazy when things don't work right. It might save your sanity--if not your life.
The second article in our series about social networking lines up the players. Not all the players, just the ones we're going to be talking about. If you haven't already checked them out, see what you think. Next month we'll start talking about actually using online networking. Love to have your comments on this or any other topic.
Many of us at the Consulting Alliance were busy last month putting the finishing touches on that organization's new Web site. Shawenon Communications did the words. Take a look.
|
Self Defense
|
Astrologers say Mercury was in retrograde in mid-June. Maybe that was the cause of the breakdowns that occurred around here. Maybe it wasn't. Most were of the flat-tire variety (that too), but some had longer-term consequences.
Our Internet service provider's equipment was hit by lightening twice. So much for that theory. The laptop died--a dramatic death right in the middle of a presentation. And husband Will's phone died. Oh yes, and I lost two-days' worth of email.
Easy Fix
Actually, the last two things were false alarms. And that's the real point of this article. Will's phone kept shutting off and bringing up a message about the SIM card. The cute young thing at the local AT&T store said the phone was a gonner. We started the arduous process of researching a new phone, which was going to set us back hundreds of dollars at best. We sought a short-term replacement strategy to avoid being pressed into a quick decision. The iPhone was an option, and the new one had a few weeks to go before it shipped.
Then we scheduled a trip to the AT&T company store an hour away. As we walked in the door, I said, "Let's just take this from scratch." Will plunked the phone on the counter and said, "It keeps shutting off."
"No problem," Carlos said. "You've got an old Cingular SIM card. We'll replace it, and the phone will work fine." It does.
Moral of the story? Talk to someone who knows. Now I understand this is no mean trick in an era when your calls for help are shipped to India where some nice, upwardly mobile young person chants to you from a script. But there are things you can do in your own defense. First, try again. Sometimes just getting another person will do the trick. Go to a different venue, as we did with the phone.
Escalate. They are trained to keep you from doing this, but do it anyway. Insist. Get mean if needs be. "I must speak to a supervisor." Stay with it. Don't remain on the phone for hours with someone who clearly doesn't know what they are doing. In the worst case, they will waste your time and in the disaster scenario, they will damage your system.
The Obvious
So what about the lost email? Well, that brings up a related topic. In this case and another even worse one, the presenting problem was actually a simple, logical explanation. It was a case of things working the way they should, but people not taking a moment to breathe and analyze the situation.
In one case, the problem got escalated all the way to Tier 1 support, and even they didn't figure it out. The problem? A missing toolbar that could be restored with a click of one button.
The missing email was a confluence problem. The Internet was down, so I was retrieving mail at the library. A few minutes after I started the process, it all disappeared. That's because the Internet service was restored, and the email was downloaded to my office computer and deleted from the server. Just the way it was supposed to be.
Always consider the obvious first. Ask "How should this work?" and
then be sure that it isn't working exactly that way before you dial 911.
|
Social Networking
The Players
|
This is the second in a series of articles about online networking.The first was in the June issue.
Remember the search-engine wars at the turn of the century? Alta Vista, Google, Yahoo, Dogpile. And then one day it was over, and Google won.
It's going to be the same game with online business social networking. After all, how many of these things do you need?
LinkedIn and Plaxo
Right now Plaxo and LinkedIn are favored in the business world. Facebook, which is more social, is coming on strong, but it hasn't crossed the generational divide. One of these may win, or perhaps a dark horse like Biznik will come up on the rail and take the race away from the front runners. Anyway, these are the ones we're going to talk about in this series of articles.
LinkedIn, the acknowledged leader, is an online network of more than 24 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries. It's free, but does offer a paid premium account.
Online business networking is a game of critical mass, if ever there was one. Though it went live in 2003, LinkedIn has really taken off in the last few years. In fact, several of my clients have a link to LinkedIn on their Web site. Why? It provides a way of adding background information without overwhelming the About Us page of the Web site, and it includes recommendations. I'll have a lot more to say about these in later articles, because recommendations are going to be the coin of the realm.
Plaxo didn't start out focusing on social networking. They were into synching--helping you have an updated contact list with you at all times from your cell phone, PDA or your laptop.
Their motto: "We keep you connected to the people you know and care about." To this they have added Pulse--their social networking tool. Plaxo just recently became a subsidiary of Comcast Interactive Media, though they plan to remain an independent operation in Silicon Valley. We'll see about that. In four decades of watching corporate behavior, I've rarely seen that work out in real life. LinkedIn is expected to take the IPO route--a far better road to independence in my view.
Biznik
The idea behind Biznik is to foster real-time meetings of like-minded independent business people. To quote from their Web site, "Nothing beats the power of a face-to-face meeting to build real, lasting business relationships. Combine that with an online network to discover these connections, and you have Biznik: business networking that doesn't suck."
Born in Seattle, WA in 2005, Biznik is the baby of the group, but probably has the most loyal following. They are expanding to other larger cities such as San Francisco and New York and also to smaller areas like Austin, TX and Portland, OR.
Biznik includes business-related articles (some of them quite good) and discussion groups about business-related topics. While the basic membership is free, you need to pony up $10 per month for an active membership, which allows you to see who checked out your profile and host fee-based events, among other things.
So take a look around at the online social networking world, and we'll meet back here next month to talk about some of the things you might actually do with your new-found online business networking power.
|
| Web Tips |
 Young people have always made up new language. It's part of their rite of passage. But this generation has really done it up right. Not only have they invented a new language, but they've got us speaking it too.
It all has to do with texting. I found this out recently when I tried to send a message to my grandson. It's really hard to type all those letters on a tiny keyboard. Thus SMS (short message service) was invented and embellished by young people. Here for your entertainment are some examples:
PRW - Parents are watching
IRL - In real life
ROTFLMAO I won't translate this one. But you can look for it and a host of other gems at these tell-all SMS dictionary Web sites:
TelePk.com
TextMeFREE.com
AllInfoAbout.com
The article that precedes the dictionary in this last one is a fun introduction to the language. It was assembled by a middle-aged mom attempting to communicate with her offspring. Enjoy.
|
|
And Finally . . .
Shawenon Communications collaborates with small businesses, solopreneurs, professionals and not-for-profits to get their messages across in the written word.
We specialize in electronic communications, including e-zines and other forms of email marketing, and Web site content. We also ghostwrite articles and other business communications. As a business partner, we resell Constant Contact's email marketing service.
Thanks for reading. If you liked this issue, please click on the Forward email button below to share this newsletter with others.
You're also welcome to reprint material in this newsletter as long as it is unaltered and credited to the author. Be sure to send us a copy, too. If being reproduced electronically, the following link must also be included:
www.shawenon.com
Sincerely,
Susanna Opper
Shawenon Communications
413-528-6494
Copyright © 2008 Shawenon Communications.
All rights reserved. |
|
|
Contest Continues
|
 |
We're still seeking the magical 1,000th Web Words subscriber. We're over 900.
You can help and win a gift certificate to Barnes & Noble at the same time.
Here's how. Be the first to bring in five new subscribers, and you'll get the reward. You can forward this email
or talk up Web Words to your business colleagues. It's up to you.
Our seminars are taking a summer vacation. We'll be back in the fall.
Contact us for more information
|
|
|
