Names are powerful: Choose great names to influence others in choosing your web site...and respect others by spelling their name correctly.
We all react and respond to names. When you see certain names, they make you feel a certain way. Some names inspire confidence or implied effectiveness...and others don't. This is true for human names as well as domain names.
"Steel" versus...
In the old sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati there was a scene in which the strong boyfriend of the show's leading lady, Jennifer Marlowe (Loni Anderson), named "Steel" met Les Nessman, the radio station's wimpy and nerdy news director:
Steel: I like to think that a person's name says a lot about the type of person he is. What was your name again?
This is definitely not a situation where "Less is more"...especially compared to "Steel".
What Started this Name rant
I received an envelope addressed to: "Kar Kasca". Better yet, enclosed in the envelope was a check made out to: "Kar Kasca"...and since my bank accepted the deposit, it's "no worries", right? Yes, except to me, the person receiving the letter.
Try your Name here...if you dare
And if you don't think your name and its spelling make a difference, then try your name at the Kabalarians.com website...if you dare, since the Kabalarians tell you both the good...and bad aspects of your name, e.g., "Though the name Kar creates the urge to be creative and original, we stress through a scattered and emotional nature, you suffer frustration."
- Wow, now I'm really glad that "Karl" is my name!
Also I want you to know that I'm not usually very sensitive about name spellings, but sometimes it does get under my skin a little.
Email versus Snail Mail
It's just that within a few hours I received the letter above, as well as having someone Reply to an email addressing it to: "Carl". So think about it: This person's known me for years, seen countless emails from me, as well as the email they were replying to...and they still addressed their message to "Carl", instead of "Karl" - yikes!
Is it possible that we're all getting just a little too careless about Names? What might your supervisor have said in your evaluation?
- Perhaps something like: "Lack of attention to detail"?
Customer Relations and Names
Bottom Line:If it's possible this might get under your customer's (or vendor's or associate's) skin a little then take the extra 5 seconds to look up their name in your contact manager or online. If nothing else, just start typing their name into Google and let "Google Suggest" show you the spelling (see image at right).
Simpler yet: Just look at the "From" or Signatures on emails.
With a name like "Kasca"...it has to be good!
Taking off of an SNL (Saturday Night Live) sketch about Smucker's slogan about their jam: If the name is that bad, it must be great:
Dan Aykroyd: Mangled Baby Ducks. That’s right, Mangled Baby Ducks! Picture a jam so good that you’d dare to call it Mangled Baby Ducks! Great Jam! It’s beautiful jam!
And please note that Smucker's does make great jam!
Domain Names & Cyber Squatting
But I'm used to people misspelling my last name. Most people spell it "Kaska". So much so that I tried to purchase the Kaska.com domain name, simply so I could catch all of the misdirected emails I was certain were being lost in the vacuum of the internet.
But some cyber-squatter had snapped up that domain for a huge amount of money. Even a GoDaddy.comsearch today shows Kaska.com as having a "Premium Domain Name" price of $5,400. And I guess I can't complain about cyber-squatting in this case, since "Kaska" isn't really my name.
Tip: Register your company's name or brands...and their misspellings so you won't lose business (either online or in your inbox).
Comments - Have a Misspelled Name or Cyber-Squatting horror story?
Let me know...
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In my last post How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym and YouTube video I showed how you can use the free software program Evernote to jot down notes so you can remember anything anywhere at anytime. As I mentioned this works on any platform/ computer (PC, Mac, iPhone, Mobile Phone).
Turn Photos of Notes into Recognizable/Findable Text
One thing I didn't mention about Evernote is that theoretically you can also take photos of your handwritten notes with your mobile/iPhone and Evernote will recognize your handwriting so you can search/find your notes later.
Turn Lost/Misplaced Notes Into Information Bonanza
How many times have you taken notes at a live lecture, webinar, conference call, and filed the notes somewhere (in that giant uncategorized file)...where they're totally lost to you, since you can't locate them when you need them?
Think of all of the conferences, seminars, etc. with tons of great info that would be excellent to tap into...if you just could find it and view it. This should be great for students, conference/seminar/webinar-attendees, knowledge-lovers, and internet marketers (who are always studying and learning).
Now there's a solution, or at least a potential solution...
Not Quite In-Focus Yet
I haven't quite gotten the note recognition functionality to work yet with my T-Mobile Wing phone but this most likely has to do with the resolution (size: number of pixels), quality (fineness), brightness (of light), and/or the distance from the orginal handwritten note (due to the focal length of the camera). Evernote addressed this in their Help/Support: Why can't Evernote find some of the words in my pictures?
How to Turn Handwritten Notes into Retrievable Information
Install Evernote on your Mobile Phone or iPhone.
Start the Evernote program (on your phone).
Select "Snapshot" (Note: This takes you to your phone's camera).
View the handwritten note through your viewfinder and when it's the clearest, take the photo.
Press the curved arrow button.
Enter a title.
Press "Done" (Note: Then your picture will upload to your Evernote page on the Internet).
Go to your Evernote page on the Internet.
Refresh the page (by hitting <Ctrl> + F5 on a PC, or Command/Apple + F5 on a Mac).
View the photo of your handwritten note.
Note: It may take awhile for Evernote to recognize/index the photo of your note.
As I understand it, your note will be processed quicker if you opt for the fee-version of Evernote (which also increases your monthly storage allowance).
Search for a word in your note and Evernote should find your handwritten note so you can read it.
Note: If this doesn't work, then play with the resolution and quality settings on your phone's camera and/or the brightness of the light as well as the distance of the camera from your note.
That's it! (once I figure the last part out, that is).
--> If anyone knows of a clarity-improving solution like this for the T-Mobile Wing or other non-iPhone mobile phones please let me know with a comment below...
Attraction and Internet Marketing
Question: What does all of this have to do with attracting visitors and Internet Marketing?
Answer: People are attracted to:
How to articles.
Solutions to problems.
Tools and gadgets.
Tips and Reviews.
Keywords of interest (e.g., "treasure")
YouTube videos.
Writing blog posts or making YouTube videos addressing what attracts people can increase the traffic to your blog/YouTube site and to your website from there (if they find information of value to them), e.g., IncreaseOnlineProfits.com.
Last word: Always provide valuable content which helps people since "Content is King".
Comments, Questions, Better Solutions?
Have something to say about this? Let me know...
Have a better solution. Chime in...
Have you gotten this to work with your T-Mobile Wing or your mobile phone?
Were there any additional/crucial tips to getting this to work. If so, please let me and the AttractMoreVisitorsblog readers know by leaving a comment below...
Know anyone who might find this blog post interesting/helpful? Then please use "Tell A Friend" below...
I love working out at the gym because it's a great opportunity to listen to internet marketing podcasts and learn about the lastest marketing strategies and trends. The only problem is that when you hear great ideas (especially ideas that you're thinking of tweeting/blogging about later) it's tough to remember them. Since it's hard to remember several ideas (or website links) throughout your entire workout and until you get to your home/office, it would be great to be able to write them down. But who wants to carry a clipboard or notebook around the gym?
Solution: Your Mobile Phone/iPhone and the multi-platform Evernote program.
Evernote is an excellent web-based as well as phone-based program you can use to jot down your notes in a hurry. All you have to do is register on Evernote's website and then download the Evernote software and install it onto your laptop/desktop (PC or Mac) and web-enabled phone. Since the Evernote site has directions, videos & tutorials & screenshots, I'm just going to show you how to use Evernote at the gym during your workout.
How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym
Download and Synchronize podcasts onto your mobile phone/iPhone.
Note: I use Juice and Windows Media Player for this.
You may use iTunes.
Listen to the podcasts while doing your workout.
When you hear a great idea start Evernote on your mobile phone/iPhone.
Jot down a note in Evernote.
Example: "MOC: Google Website Analyzer" (see Evernote image).
Rinse and repeat (do this for every great idea you hear that you want to remember).
Extra credit to boost your site traffic:When you get back to your home/office write a tweet or blog post based on the great idea.
Clearly when you write these notes on Elliptical Trainers or the Treadmill they don't always look that great (do not do this...see the Caveat/Warning below).
But the point is: All they have to do is be good enough to remind you of the idea you need so you can take action on them, e.g, writing a tweet or posting a blog post.
YouTube Video: "How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym"
How does this help me Attract More Visitors to my Site?
You might be thinking, this is all great, but how does it help me get traffic to my website? Basically, by helping you remember all of the great ideas you heard in internet marketing and social media podcasts so you can blog and tweet about them on Twitter. That's it, no magic or mirrors involved, just enabling you to write more blog posts and Twitter tweets which others may see or find via Google searches and then follow to your website (from your blog or your Twitter bio/profile).
Comments
Have a better way to remember great ideas during your workout? - just let me know...
And "extra credit" points for ways which improve your site traffic as well.
Caveats and Fine Print Warnings!
Please consult your Doctor before engaging in any exercise program. Also, please be sure to *pause* during your exercise routine *before* writing notes in Evernote in your mobile phone/iPhone! After all, you don't want to end up falling or having an accident at the gym.
An "Emergency Response" approach might be what's needed re: quick Social Media responses to real world and online faux pas.
Critical to get Info out fast
Having been involved in an Emergency Response Strike Team while at UNOCAL, a global energy resources ("Big Oil") company, we knew that it's critical to get accurate information out to the media/public as quickly as possible.
With Domino's Pizza's social media problem hitting the web as well as the traditional news sources within the last week it seemed timely to offer a possible solution for future events like this.
Brief Background of Domino's Situation
Some Domino's employees filmed several YouTube videos which showed them treating pizzas/food at Domino's in ways that would cause great shock and distaste for Domino's customers. This shock could lead to reduced sales as Domino's customers may wonder whether this was an isolated event, or is widespread throughout their company's locations and employees. Domino's didn't respond to the videos right away, taking a "wait and see" attitude at first. This allowed the situation to play out online, particularly on Twitter.
Was the YouTube video apology accepted as being a genuine apology?
Result
This entire scenario certainly caused a "brand emergency" and could cause a "brand disaster" for Domino's.
What's Needed: A Different Mind-set
With other company's having similar problems, e.g., JetBlue's runway fiasco awhile back, it might be helpful if companies considered an entirely different way of responding which would require a different mind-set:
Consider what happened as the worst possible event possible for your company, product(s), and brand. Then act...fast! And take action where your customers are likely to be/read/interact with their news (e.g., Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, or where-ever your customers are likely to be engaged at).
Take a Lesson from the Emergency Response PR Guidelines of an Oil Company
"Oil spills are typically highly visible events and will generate public interest and concern. The media and the public will base their opinions on information that is available to them. It is important that they have access to factual and timely information. It is well documented that refusal to talk to the media during a crisis situation creates the assumption that some wrongdoing has taken place. If BCT does not provide accurate and timely information, reporters will obtain their information from potentially unreliable sources or those who can only speculate on actual events or actions. A "no comment" position can adversely affect BTC's reputation as a responsible corporate citizen, and could result in restrictive legislation that could affect both BTC and others in the industry. It is BTC's policy to cooperate with the media and make timely, accurate information available to the public."
This was written in 2005, well before the recent social media explosion. But its possible application to bad web PR situations is crystal clear: Get ahead of the situation and respond - respond as quickly and as well as you can.
10 Brief Guidelines for Social Media Emergency Responses
Get a response out as quickly as possible.
At a minimum, respond in the venue the original SM Emergency occurred in, e.g., YouTube.
Then consider other social media venues your customers may frequent and consider creating information streams of communication in them, e.g., Twitter.
Get your CEO/President out in front of the situation...and do it in a believable way (minus points for not looking into the camera and talking to us).
Continue monitoring the situation and communicating with your customers.
Consider ways to put your customers at ease.
Consider ways to win your customers back (rewards, etc.).
Be truthful and transparent throughout this process.
Mean what you say.
Do what you mean.
10 Necessary Actions BEFORE Brand Emergencies/Disasters
Do Reputation Monitoring.
Monitor the web re: your company name, product(s), brand(s), and principals/executives.
Do Scenario Planning and Risk Assessments for everything you can imagine...and more.
Consider "what if's" for likely as well as unlikely situations.
Definitely consider scenarios for the worst possible situations.
If you already have disaster scenarios you've created in the past, dust them off, and make them current given new/currently available communications methods.
Assume that the walls of all of your facilities, file cabinets, hard drives, servers, and "cloud computing" are transparent.
Revise your social media emergency response plans accordingly.
Do SWOT analyses for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats for your company and each of its subsidiaries, products, brands, as well as for your competitors.
Rinse and repeat (start at #1 again as this is an ongoing process).
Bottom Line
Ideally you want visitors and customers to be attracted to your website and online presences (Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc.) in the best of circumstances so they will have the best possible impressions of your company, brand, products, etc.
Cold dose of Reality: Life isn't always Ideal, so be prepared for the worst and act accordingly. And most of all act quickly!
Your visitors and customers are probably more than willing to meet you half-way, but the burden is on your company and all of your employees to let them know what's going on (create quick communication streams, e.g. via Twitter), what you're doing to solve it (currently), how/why this will never happen again, and how you'd like to form/continue the relationship with them (communication and enticement-wise).
In Part I of "Why Internet Marketing is Like a Disney Cruise - Are you Clean with that?" I mentioned the hand sanitizers used on Disney Cruises in all of their places to eat. Since we went on our cruise a number of supermarkets have also placed moist hand wipes at their front entrances. Now every time you go to the store you have an opportunity to think about your internet marketing techniques / methods / practices and think "Are you clean with that?".
8 Tests for Clean Marketing
Can you sleep at night? - "Sleep like a baby"? (soundly, peacefully).
Or are you kept up at night worrying?
Would you be OK with your marketing methods if your Mother read about them in an exposé on the front page of the New York Times?
Do you get a little queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you think about your marketing techniques?
Do your Friends ask you questions like, "What happened to you, you always used to be so (insert any nice wholesome word/concept here)?
Could words like bill of goods, cheat, con, deceit, deception, delusion, dishonest, double-dealing, evasion, exaggeration (huge), falsehood, fraud, hype, illusion, lie, misleading, misrepresentation, overstatement (gross), pretense, scam, scheme, shell game, snake oil, snow job, subterfuge, etc. be associated with your internet marketing techniques?
Would you use the same marketing methods on your friends or family. (The ones you like, that is).
If someone used the same marketing method on you, would you feel tricked or played for a sucker. Again, the "Golden Rule".
Solutions: "Faith, Trust, And Pixie Dust"
Clarity and transparency - it's as simple (and clean) as that.
If you can explain your internet marketing methods to a child or to the hero of a child (e.g., Mickey Mouse, Tinker Bell, Sleeping Beauty, Lilo [not Stitch!]) and they're ok with them, then you're probably OK.
Being open and honest with your visitors and customers will give them a reason to believe in you, and your methods, and your site - a reason to have faith in you and trust you, your business, and your website/blog/podcast.
Building trust through the words you use and living up to them with follow-through.
Building trust by using trust badges/symbols, etc. where a visitor would want them to be. E.g., Better Business Bureau, Association logos, Visa/MasterCard badges (when purchasing), etc.
Building trust through real Testimonials/Reviews. People can spot bogus testimonials. Remember what your Mom said, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
Using persuasion instead of delusion or confusion. Be conscious of when you begin using internet marketing hype instead of a persuasive argument.
Pixie dust: It's ok to have add a little magic - some zing. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) seems like magic, but it works. So a little "white hat" SEO (the good SEO) is fine. Especially since these techniques are no more than what Google recommends so it can serve-up more targeted search results to its customers (searchers). You're just helping Google's customers find what they're truly looking for better.
Bottom Line: Add content and value - true value - and market them as straightforwardly as possible.
Morality Screed versus "What Just Makes Sense" and the Law
You might be thinking that this is just a heavy-handed moral screed, but really it's a plea to consider how your marketing efforts are viewed by those who encounter them, your potential customers. Then turn it around and think (deep down), "Do I want to be marketed to that way?" and that should be your answer.
"The Federal Trade Commission Act allows the FTC to act in the interest of all consumers to prevent deceptive and unfair acts or practices. In interpreting Section 5 of the Act, the Commission has determined that a representation, omission or practice is deceptive if it is likely to:
mislead consumers and
affect consumers' behavior or decisions about the product or service."
Everything I need to know about Internet Marketing, I learned on a Disney Cruise: "Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust". Are you "clean with that"? (more on this below...)
Cleanest Hands in the World
Clean hands make a healthy voyage. Every time you eat on a Disney Cruise, you're given moist hand wipes before you're allowed in the dining facility. One of the comedians on the cruise joked that "We have the cleanest hands in the world."
I'm "Clean With That"
When I used to work for a Big Oil company (I mean large global energy resources corporation), one of my co-workers used to rate decisions and/or courses of actions by saying, "I'm clean with that." This is like saying, "I'm OK with that," but far more positively.
Clean Marketing
Similar to these two examples, if we can be "clean" with the methods of Marketing we use, then we can feel good about what we're doing. I think this spirit of positivity carries over to the people we're attracting to our web sites and creating relationships with. If we're genuine about our intent then people will sense this and naturally be more predisposed to purchase at our web site.
"Mud People" versus The Golden Rule
Conversely, I remember hearing a professional speaker refer to the members of his audiences as "mud people". These were people he felt were stuck in the mud in their lives and needed his hand (techniques) to help pull them out.
This is wrong on so many levels. Once you start thinking of your potential visitors or customers as "marks" (easy marks), as they say in the carnival business, then clearly you've lost all respect for them. As always, the time-honored test is, "Would I want to be thought of that way?"
As the Golden Rule says: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
"The ethic of reciprocity (also known as the Golden Rule) is an ethical code that states one has a right to just treatment, and a responsibility to ensure justice for others." - Wikipedia
If you would not want to be thought of that way, then steer a straight course for a journey to internet marketing success you can be "clean" with.
More on this is Part 2: Why Internet Marketing is Like a Disney Cruise - Part 2
Wishing you the best online marketing success,
Karl
PS: Have a Comment on this? Or are you "clean with that"?
I tweeted about the slideshow on Twitter and now those tweets are currently the highest ranked on Twitter Search: slideshare ranking google search.
What Really Happened (SEO-wise)
1) Google indexes Slideshare very quickly
First, slide shows posted on Slideshare appear to be indexed by Google really quickly.
This makes sense since Slideshare has very fresh content posted by people who should be authorities/experts regarding their subjects and content. Google loves fresh content and authority sources.
Conclusion: Slideshare has great Google Juice!
2) Long tail Google searches are really powerful
Second, long tail Google searches (searches with many keywords) are very powerful, especially when exactly match the title of Slidehare slide show.
And yes, this is "gaming" Google a little, since chances would be remote that many people would choose this exact search.
But that's the power of "The Long Tail", in that some people may actually try that search and find exactly what they were looking for.
3) Long tail Twitter searches are really powerful
Similarly, doing a strategically-chosen long tail search in with particular keywords in Twitter Search provided the top (and only) results in Twitter Search (see image above).
Conclusion: Google and Twitter searches with many keywords rock!
4) Slideshare slides are can be organized, shared , and can go viral
Lastly, within a few days of posting my slideshow on Slideshare, etalbert re-posted it to the Enterprise 2.0 and Social Media groups on Slideshare's site.
This way the slideshow is given more "organization" by being categorized in a couple of relevant groups.
Also, people in those groups may find my slide show more easily.
Conclusion: The slideshow is being found and shared with others who may find it useful, helpful, and/or interesting.
5) Slideshare rocks with Google Juice!
Overall Conclusion: Slideshare rocks(!) and has great Google Juice (even in you "cheat" a little and use long tail multiple-word keyword searches).
Comments...
Have a comment or a better way to get "Google Juice" using Slideshare or other social media methods? - Please let me know...
Last night I spoke to Mark Stern's Ethics in Marketing & Advertising class at UCLA extension on "The Importance of Ethics in Social Media in Marketing and Advertising" and I just wanted to share the slides with you in Slideshare:
The other thing that's cool about sharing these slides with you via SlideShare is that I can embed them (above) or get a Widget and install it in my sidebar (see the right column under "Technorati Favorites" above the Global Translator flags).
Creative Commons License
What's also great is that you can use a Creative Commons Attribution license to "...let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work — and derivative works based upon it — but only if they give credit the way you request." This way others can use your PowerPoint presentation, or parts of it, but they need to credit/attribute it to you.
Online Marketing & Social Media
Slideshare is another great social media tool for sharing information with others, so they get the info they need and then they can share it with others, who can share it with others...
Descriptive Tags
Not only that, but you can include many tags describing your slideshow when you upload your slides. This way your slides can be found easily on Slideshow, but better than that, they'll be indexed by Google and easily findable in Google searches.
Google Juice
In fact, my slideshow was already #1 in the Google rankings and I only uploaded it 1 hour ago - and I ate lunch in between! See image below...
That's great Google Juice!
Thanks Slideshare!
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Of course this makes sense since Google tries to provide fresh valuable content from reliable sources/authors to it's customers: Web Searchers.
So this is just good SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as well as using great tools like Slideshare.
And of course I used the "Mother-of-All" long tail Google searches too (see below & image):
A blog post by Sarah Perez about a recent Forrester report on Baby Boomersreminded me that only about 21% of the population are Creators - people who create content on the web like blogs, videos, podcasts, etc. While Boomers are clearly improving in their use of Social Media, only 15-16% of them are creating content.
How to Reach/Attract Your People
By the way, if you haven't figured out how to reach "your people" with Social Media yet you need to play with the Technographics Profile Toolon Groundswell's site. This will allow you to choose from several demographic elements (age, country, gender) so you can see how your people like to be connected with (and how you can attract them).
Adults & Letting Go
Clearly Adults need some help with creating content. One major factor which might be holding adults back from pouring their individual wisdom, insights, etc. into the public domain (or the hyper-accelerated version of it, the Web) for all to see might be an unwillingess to Let Go.
Lessons from the Past
My Grandfather wrote a draft of a book on speed reading but never published it. My Mother felt like she had "The Great American Novel" in her, but never wrote it (unless you collectively count the wonderful letters she wrote during her lifetime).
Web Publishing = New Opportunities
Given the newer methods of Publishing on the web, most notably blogs, we can all publish our content in one form or another. Just remember that a number of blog posts can end-up being a real dead-tree book or eBook.
Make It So
So to the end of helping a number of people realize their dreams or potential I'd like to offer you a way to "make it so" (in the immortal words of fictional Star Trek character, Jean-Luc Picard).
First Release Yourself From All Constraints
First, let's start by releasing ourselves from any rules or constraints to worry about. Certainly then any one of us could just let it go and let out the words and ideas which are trapped within us. Writings generated in this way would most likely be incredibly free-form like the thoughts we have all of the time. To put a literary term to it, we'd be writing "stream of consciousness" content.
Stream of Consciousness
Stream of consciousness is great if you're great at it,like podcasters C.C. Chapman (Managing the Gray) or Mitch Joel (Six Pixels of Separation), but it would probably drive us crazy if it was used excessively for writing blogs or website content. Note that you don't see that many stream of consciousness novels around these days, although there were some isolated great ones, mainly because the authors were great, e.g., James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Some Structure Necessary
That said, some structure is necessary and certainly some grammar and puctuation helps.* But don't obsess about finding the "perfect word", or sentence, or blog post, or content for your website. Just get it down, clean it up some, polish it a bit...and you're done. Now let it go.
* Should that be "help" singular or "helps" plural? - I could spend the time to go look up the rule for agreement, but I won't just to make the point.
Publishing = Opportunities
It's more important to have it up on the web than sitting in your head, on a sheet of paper, or on your screen - unpublished, than out there in public being read, commented on, and indexed by Google and the other search engines.
Value vs. Rubbish & Perfectionists vs. Slackers
That said, I'm not suggesting that you should just write (or say)...worthless rubbish. Have something good, something valuable to say...and say it. So this isn't a call for "Slackers Unite!", but more of: Slackers should take it up a notch and perfectionists should take it down a notch. Ok, for real perfectionists, take it down a half-notch (or you never would, and you know who you are!).
Is it done yet? - The 87-13 Rule
My Wife, Milen, is infinitely practical about things like this. Since I was an information researcher for many years, there's always a point in every project when you have a draw a line in the sand and ask yourself, "Is it done yet?", since research in-and-of-itself could go on forever (especially with the web and new information being produced all the time). Her advice was much like the Pareto principle (the 80-20 rule), only she would ask, "Is the research at least 87% done? And if the answer was, "Yes", then she'd say, "Fine, then your client will probably be fine with the results."
Form Over Substance
The reasoning is that the questions have been answered, but there can always be some additional information which could be obtained, or documented, or the format could be polished, or a chart could be inserted, etc. But these things are more "form over substance" versus the conclusions which were already made (and substantiated).
What's Necessary vs. Gingerbread
And more importantly, these are things which are in your head and weren't
Gingerbread flourishes on Victorian
necessarily anything the client ever wanted or needed or asked for. Chances are the client will be ecstatic over the results they are provided with...and they'll never know that there might have been more flourishes or "gingerbread" which could have been added, but weren't.
Let Go & Make It So
In any case, I hope this gives you a rationale for Letting Go.
Now "make it so".
Comments?
Have a comment or question? Know a better way to let go so your web publishing can flow? If so, let me know.
This is Part III of a series of posts on evaluating/improving websites, blogs, and now podcasts.
First, you should know that I'm a great fan of podcasts and listen to as many as I can, as often as I can. I've learned so much from you that I'm really in your debt. Now I'd like to "give back" in the form of some constructive feedback to help improve your podcast.
One thing to keep in mind when reading this post: If "audio is 70 percent of video" then audio is 100 percent of an audio podcast. And of course I'm not referring to the content of the podcast which is a completely different subject.
So when I pose the questions below, just know that I want your podcast to be the best that it can be so you can attract more listeners and be more successful.
Is the ultimate* volume of your podcast recordings high enough?
* Where "ultimate" is podcast player software (e.g., iTunes or Windows Media Player) set to maximum volume and the device (iPhone, mobile phone, MP3 player, PDA) set to maximum volume.
Ask yourself: "Who are my Customers and Why do they Buy?"as my co-instructor at UCLA Extension, Beverly Macy, is fond of saying. Applied to podcasting: Think of it this way, where might your typical listeners (consumers) listen to (consume) your podcast)?
Is it somewhere like the gym, where there's lots of noise pollution from TV's, loud mobile-talkers, loud talkers, clanging weights, and whooshing flywheels? Or is it on a walk, where there's the sound of cars/traffic, street sweepers, garbage trucks, etc.?
What device/software will they listen with? (some devices/softwares have maximum volumes that aren't loud enough to compensate for the factors mentioned above).
Is your lead-in bumper music or big-voice announcer promo much louder than your voice so the listener needs to turn the volume up to hear you? Or is it smoothly equalized? After all, you'd hate to be compared to traditional media advertisements with loud ads and soft programming, right?). Similarly, does the podsafe music at the end of your podcast have a big bump in volume?
Are your guest interview calls and/or call-in questions (on or off-line) equalized so that one is barely audible and the other is much louder?
Do you have show notes with links so listeners who can't write while listening (e.g., driving) can still access your valuable content?
Do you have transcripts of your podcasts?
Tip: One no-cost way to do this is to use another microphone (e.g., a headset mic) and route it to another computer with built-in (free) voice/speech recognition (e.g., Windows XP or Vista) software so your words will be automatically typed into Microsoft Word (or OneNote) as you speak. Of course, currently this only works well if there's one person speaking. See these resources for more on this: Audio transcriptions and annotations with OneNote How to transcribe any audio on your PC
- And you can just use MS-WORD instead of OneNote.
- Assuming you'd like a free solution, rather than buying Dragon Naturally Speaking, of course.
If you do a video podcast do you offer an MP3 version as well for those who are just listening to your podcasts versus watching them? This is the value-added podcast equivalent of giving a CD (with MP3 files) in addition to a DVD, if you sell DVDs).
If your listeners subscribe to your RSS feed and download/synchronize your Audio podcasts to their devices, do you try to avoid inserting a long (large file size) Videocast which might blow-out their storage/memory when they auto-sync their feeds to their devices (Yikes!)?
Do you have some sort of consistent naming convention for your file names so your podcast will make sense when viewed in music player or File Explorer? E.g., an acronym/abbreviation for the name of your podcast, podcast number, the date, and a brief title.
The reason for having the podcast number and a title is that depending on how someone's viewing the filename (music player or File Explorer) they should be able to easily differentiate which they've listened to versus which are new (since they may not remember which # they listened to last/before).
And I know it's easier said than done for some of these things like equalization. But just try to think of these points from your customer's perspective and what will draw more people to your podcast so you can grow the number of your listeners and retain more of them.
Names are powerful: Choose great names to influence others in choosing your web site...and respect others by spelling their name correctly.
Bottom Line:If it's possible this might get under your customer's (or vendor's or associate's) skin a little then take the extra 5 seconds to look up their name in your contact manager or online. If nothing else, just start typing their name into Google and let "Google Suggest" show you the spelling (see image at right).
Tell a friend! 
responses to real world and online faux pas.
like podcasters C.C. Chapman (
Quick Questions for Podcasts
