WordCamp Savannah 2010

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Steven Miller

I was particularly interested in attending WordCamp Savannah this year.  First of all, this is one of my wifes and I favorite travel spots.  We make a point to visit every year.  It pretty much sums up our ideal environment of a historical and mystical town blended with the beach at Tybee Island.

WordCamp Savannah 2010

Second, this was the first hosted WordCamp in the haunted city of Savannah, so there was a lot of excitement among the WordPress community.  To go along with that, my long-time friend and talented developer Joel Taylor (joelt00), came along for his first WordCamp.  We both mutually agreed in that being among fellow WordPress developers and users is always inspiring to reinvigorate ones own blog.  Rather than letting mine go stale, hopefully, this will give me the momentum I need to inspire other technology, design, and marketing enthusiasts.  For instance, I went ahead and switched from my previous theme to the new WordPress 3.0 default theme, TwentyTen, and I look forward to further customizing the theme.

One major difference I noticed in WordCamp Savannah (#wcsav), versus the one hosted by SCAD Atlanta back in January, was this one seemed more developer and programmer focused (much to Joel’s liking), whereas Atlanta was more freelance designer-oriented (more my speed).  But variety is definitely not a bad thing.

The biggest gain for me would have to be the knowledge gained from child themes.  Up to this point I had always edited a WordPress themes master CSS and PHP, not even thinking about the unfortunate effects should that theme get updated — que the child theme, so I have Wordcamp Savannah and Sara Cannon, the second presentation I’ve seen of hers, to thank for that.

Probably the biggest highlight for me was getting the opportunity to listen to Matt Mullenweg speak.  I never knew much about the co-founder of Automattic, but I was very impressed.  First of all, I can’t

Wordpress help but be biased towards a fellow Houstonian, but most of all it was probably his seemingly genuine down-to-earth personality.

A special thanks goes out to all the hard work the WordCamp organizers put into making this happen.  The community is something special and it wouldn’t be what it is today without those putting forth the efforts in making the conference such as success.

WordCamp Savannah – Review by Bret Phillips

WordCamp Savannah: a Play by Play by Joel Taylor

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The Owl Wins – A Migration from TweetDeck to Hootsuite

Posted on June 11, 2010 by Steven Miller

Often times when we hang up the phone or close our email from a frustrating encounter with customer service, we’re left feeling hopeless.  Switching from from one product/service to the competition requires terminating a contract (often financially penalizing) or a moving onto a product/service less appealing.

Thankfully, in the world of shareware and web-based applications, consumers are left with more flexible options (for now):

A little over a year ago, when I started increasing my activity on Twitter, I tweetdeckneeded a Twitter-based application to support it.  I tried a few different services that were often buggy and left me with no incentive to use them.  Then I discovered TweetDeck.  Not only did it simplify life on Twitter, but it also encouraged me to maximize my micro-blogging activity.  I found myself more informed and more involved.

But soon things would change…

One day I couldn’t post from TweetDeck from my desktop, but I could from my laptop (in the next room and on the same router), I realized I had a problem, most likely with a corrupt Adobe Flex installation, or even possibly a DNS issue.  I didn’t blame this problem on TweetDeck, but I did look to them for a solution, assuming other users had encountered this before.  Sure enough they had, but I was disappointed when I noticed this problem was left unanswered — many queries weeks old — on several different threads within the support forum.  And at times when a representative would acknowledge an issue, he/she never returned to follow-up with an answer or even a simple “We’re still looking into this — Thank you for your patience…”

Long story short, my I resolved my problem after realizing some issues with my proxy settings, but TweetDeck had already lost me, but it wasn’t because their lapse in customer support (I would have continued using the product), but it was because in that short time I had connectivity issues with TweetDeck, I had discovered something better in Hootsuite.

I had seen and heard enough about it to know it was something worth exploring.

TweetDeck may have more aesthetically pleasing interface, in my opinion, but Hootsuite is far more intuitive with multiple tabs.  It has a native analytics system for those that wish to see their social impact.  It also has the ability to support multiple accounts for users needing a single interface for both a personal and business account.

HootSuite also seems to be constantly evolving its technology.  I could be wrong, but TweetDeck seems partial to the Mac community with iPhone and iPad apps.  Only at the time of this writing did I discover that an Android version is in beta — something that Hootsuite had launched back in early March.

So what does this all mean?

It’s one thing to have a customer leave and switch to a different product/service due to better rates and more features, but don’t give your customers an open window to shop for competitors due to a lapse in customer service. Every moment that goes unacknowledged, every email that gets ignored is critical and furthers the chances of your customers seeking an alternative.  And the same philosophy could and should be applied to prospects awaiting responses, demos, or other collateral.

hootsuite vs tweetdeck

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2.1

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Steven Miller

As I mentioned last month, I was a bit hesitant with buying the HTC Droid Eris, but I was confident that an update to the OS would come in due time.

This past Sunday,  I received a system update notification on my phone.  As eager as I was to open the notification, I wasn’t expecting it to be the update to 2.1 that we’ve been hearing about for the past few months.  I heard that the fragmentation amongst the Droid phones were going to be fixed this summer, but I didn’t expect it as early as May.Android Robot

All I can say is that now the phone I love, is the phone I love even more.

Subtle tweaks to the functionality, improved power management for better battery life, updated icons –while not necessary–enhanced aesthetics.

But as nobody is perfect, I guess neither is any major system update; at least in my world.

When I attempted the first call, shortly after the update was complete, I received a Google Voice error (wishing I had logged it now).  I didn’t panic right away.  It was getting late, so I would check the following morning, only to find the same problem.

A brief search through the comments section for the application in the Market Place led me to a simple solution.  Thankfully, the problem was short-lived after a quick Uninstall/Reinstall of the application, and I could get on with my busy Monday morning.

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Atlanta Bloggers Meetup video chats with Seth Godin

Posted on May 7, 2010 by Steven Miller

Last month, the Atlanta Bloggers Meetup group hosted a video chat with marketing legend, Seth Godin.  Here’s the video:

Video Interview With Seth Godin from Atlanta bloggers on Vimeo.

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WordPress for the Android

Posted on April 19, 2010 by Steven Miller

I just got WordPress downloaded for my Android, and configured to the blog. In fact, I’m typing this post straight from it. It was all pretty seamless to setup with only a minor obstacle, which required enabling XMLRPC in the WordPress control panel.

Now I just need to repeat the same routine for the SocialDecaf blog and I’ll be all set.

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My Android has Landed!

Posted on April 6, 2010 by Steven Miller

My HTC Droid Eris arrived in the mail over a week ago, but I’ve been too busy  playing with it to blog about it until now.  I haven’t downloaded many apps yet and I already can’t say enough great things about it.  Google Voice alone has greatly simplified life especially in terms of work.

I love the fact that I can call a customer and group them into a category with a voicemail tailored specifically for that group.  I can even auto-forward such groups that are…undesirable to talk to.  And $0.10 isn’t bad at all for international calling.

UPDATE: In lieu of starting a separate blog entry, I felt it necessary to mention that Google Voice has managed to dial out to the wrong number this morning several times.  Mind you, these were to numbers that are saved to my contacts with different area codes, but it somehow manages to dial the same (404) number.  Let’s hope this glitch gets fixed quickly and doesn’t become a recurring problem.

The Foursquare app actually makes the geo-tagging service worth using (I had been using it on my LG enV via mobile web).  I can’t say it produces much in terms of value, but it makes for quick fun if you’re having to wait at a venue.  I’m trying to see just how many places I can become mayor of before the service gets more users in my area.droid eris front

I’ve also downloaded 3bananas as it seems to be getting the best reviews of a quick photo and note capturing service.  I was pleased see upon my first use of the application that you can upload directly to Facebook, Twitter, or Flickr.

As with many gadgets and devices, I did a significant amount of research and there was a lot of back-and-forth, but I’m very pleased.  I was a bit hesitant with the Android OS being version 1.5, but I’ve read enough about Google planning on fixing the defragmention that I was still confident with my purchase.

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A First Time Defriend on LinkedIn

Posted on March 19, 2010 by Steven Miller

I’ve been a member of LinkedIn for a long time, but I didn’t start utilizing its potential until early last year.  Since then, I’ve joined several groups, fine-tuned my work experience, and incorporated this blog into my profile.  And for the first time, after the 3rd spam email in 3 days, I have defriended a connection for the first time.  I guess it was going to happen sooner or later, but I guess that’s what I get for accepting an invite from somebody I  don’t know.  I haven’t found random invites or connections in LinkedIn a problem up to this point, because mainly we’ll share a mutual group or connection, but if this is a sign of things to come with the fast-pace realm of social networking, I will have to consider better precautions in the future.

I don’t care if you and your friends learned how to make 100k per week, working only 15 hours, by watching a free YouTube video.  Sorry, but the only action I take from those headlines is an automatic defriend, unfollow, or other form of removal.

Here’s how to remove those annoying and unwanted solicitors from your LinkedIn:

Click on Contacts and scroll down to My Connections and click.

Over to far right, click on Remove Connections to bring up a menu of your Connections to select for removal.

Note: If you’re concerned about offending the removed contact or worried about getting an unfriendly email from them, the  connection(s) will not be notified that they have been removed, but they will be added to your list of contacts in case you want to reinvite them later.

You may be prompted to sign-in again to confirm the removal.

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What Buzz should have been

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Steven Miller

It was only a matter of time before Google was going to bring us their own social media platform.  They have taken many concepts such as office applications and email and changed the way we had grown accustomed to using them over the years, making them more practical and easy to share across multiple PC’s and mobile devices.  However, given the recent disappointments expressed about Google Wave,  my hopes weren’t very high with the release of Buzz.  They still don’t remain very enthusiastic, but I still think it’s too early to tell as reviews seem to be mixed.

My initial impression was that Google incorporated functions of  Wave into Gmail and called it Buzz, but maybe I just haven’t used it enough to see the full benefit.  The main reason I haven’t explored it more is because I don’t use Gmail as my client, so it’s just one more social portal for me to log into — something I don’t have time for at the moment.

Instead, Google should have capitalized on what it’s excelled at…taking an existing concept make it simple and more intuitive.  They took an ad-heavy search engine concept and minimized the advertisements with Google.com.  They took existing office applications and gave us the ability to share them with Google Apps.  They noticed how bloated  internet browsers were becoming and gave us Chrome.  But when it comes to Buzz, I wish they would have taken a different approach.

Instead of launching its own social platform, I would  have much rather seen them take the existing platforms of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flicker and created a browser of sorts that hosts each social network.  Take the functions of Google Reader for example, such as minimizing detail, expanded view, list view, giving Buzz the functionality to collapse your social networks and windows after viewing.  Also, implementing widget functionality to drag and drop each network of your choice, would allow it to be customized to your own liking, and would have made it the ultimate social media browsing tool, giving the industry something to buzz about.  And obviously, releasing a mobile version of it would have been icing on the cake.

Now, follow me on Buzz!

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Effective time management for your social media

Posted on March 1, 2010 by Steven Miller

Ever since our social media discussion group last month, I’ve talked to more people that get discouraged because they get consumed by their social media network and thus have trouble juggling time spent between their social marketing and other day-to-day tasks.  They either feel obligated to regularly update their various social portals or they are overwhelmed by the endless amounts of material (tweets, articles, etc.) they are presented with that they lose focus on their daily agenda, which takes us into the final part of our 4 part discussion – time management.

What marketers want to gain out of social media consultations

We all agree that there are not enough hours in the day already, so how should one go about maintaining an active presence in their social network, while still running their business effectively?  I hope not to let you down by saying that I have no secret formula.  I could recommend some good third party applications  that help consolidate and optimize your daily routine, but the fact of the matter is, like anything else, it’s ultimately a matter of two things:

The first is common practice.  Need a refill on your coffee or tea?  Use that moment to bring closure to reading those status updates or that message board.  Time for  a bathroom break?  I wouldn’t tweet about that, personally, but instead use that opportunity close out your Twitter or feed reader, so that you are refreshed and your mind is clear for the next tasks for when you return.  I make it a common practice to use necessary breaks in the day to shift gears in my routine.

The second is discipline.  Still too distracted?  Sometimes you have to put proper measures in place.  Fortunately, those measures can be inexpensive and simple.

One of the most effective tools I used when I was in the CD/DVD duplication business, was an egg timer.  The business had many daily deadlines that were critical to the operation and our policy of providing exceptional customer service.  I spoke to somebody at the discussion group who said she purchased an egg timer to better manage her social media and has since been more productive.  And if the concept sounds too silly to you, at least try setting an alarm in your mail client or application of choice.

Social media without a doubt should become a part of your online presence, but not without practice or discipline.

What time management techniques do you use in your daily routine?

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Results from Social Media discussion group Part 3

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Steven Miller

In Part 1 we covered Blog Creation and Article/Content writing, and Part 2 we went over LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

In Part 3, we’re going to discuss  Computer Troubleshooting and how it applies to your Social Media Training plan.

What marketers want to gain out of social media consultations

First of all, I realize that computer troubleshooting is a very broad topic, but for the sake of accuracy, I documented exactly what was submitted on the feedback cards from the attendees.   I hardly think we’re talking about troubleshooting driver issues with hardware, so I’ll loosely be applying the term “troubleshooting” with respects to social media.  I could call it social troubleshooting, but I think we all have enough buzz words to deal with these days.

Bear in mind, those in attendance at the discussion were everything from  sole proprietors, retirees, independent contractors, to work-from-home mothers.  Professionals interested in learning more about social media can and will range from one end of the spectrum to the other, as will their levels of computer knowledge and troubleshooting.  Some may have never gone beyond email, Excel, and general Internet surfing as their primary computer functions, nor have ever received any formal website training.  Thus, take this into consideration when diving too deep into issues such as upgrading their CMS, or discussing Google Adwords and Analytics before they even understand key word search or how page rank works.

With that said, don’t completely avoid such advanced topics when presenting to your audience.  When thinking of troubleshooting and how it applies to social media, think of the challenges your clients will face such as using FBML (Facebook Markup Language), routinely backing up their mySQL file, or how to handle lengthy permalinks.

Instead, use the need for troubleshooting to work multiple sessions or even hold tiered sessions based on users level of expertise (i.e. beginner, intermediate, advanced).  By doing so, you’ll seem more in-touch with your audience, and they’ll be more grateful in return.

What troubleshooting issues have your clients encountered in their social media campaigns?

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