Archive for February, 2010
How to Build A Tele-Prompter
Here's an interesting article on how to build a tele-prompter. Don't know if I'd ever use one, but it's cool, nonetheless. http://snipr.com/ukgo9
AnthemVirtual.com Update #6
Serendipity? Providence? Good? Bad? If you've been following my project, AnthemVirtual.com, you know my partner in the project is my wife, Renee. Well... make that "was my wife, Renee." Renee fired herself from the project. This was tuff for me; as I was very excited to be working with my best friend and explorer of life. I took the news kind of hard, even tho I felt that something better would come of it. The good news is that she didn't quit because of the project (sounds kinda like, "it's not you, it's me" doesn't it?). She didn't quite because we were in any sort of argument or disagreement, even. Like the former Governor of Alaska, Renee's services and efforts were, she felt, better focused elsewhere. That said, I took a few days to re-assess where I was at and what I wanted to do. On one hand, AnthemVirtual.com is ready to roll, with little else required other than individual persons (finding virtual agents, clients). Should I go forward with it alone? One morning the answer was 'Yes'. Then next it was 'No.' After a few excruciating days of this ping-pong match on the ol' brain-table, I decided that together AnthemVirtual.com, in the format it was in, was my best path forward if Renee and I were working on a project together. It just fit the talents of both of us. However, on my own, focusing on SelfEnterpriser.com was the way to go, while shifting the AnthemVirtual.com model I'd built toward serving the forthcoming concepts found within SelfEnterpriser.com (namely, a concept I affectionately call, PFAT for Life). The new, upcoming AnthemVirtual.com construct may be on bed-rest for a week or two while I implement a new format for the talk show, Up In Your Business! and a new, weekly online chat group where we focus on The Business of Being Yourself,™ the PFAT concept, as well as live chats with featured guests. I realize this is vague as far as the details of the new project; the details weren't the point of this update. Just wanted to let you know what was going on with the project. If you just can't wait for the details to unfold, tweet me at @DaveCharbonneau . "Have A Nice Dave." :) --Dave Charbonneau Image Credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhaggz/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
Text Only Business Line?
I'm thinking about offering text messaging as the main option for contacting my business "office". Email as a secondary. Phone by appointment only. I'm going to get to texts faster than email or voicemail. Communication will be succinct. At least for now, as I don't have an assistant; and even if and when I do, is having a person answering the phone really necessary? It may depend on the biz. Just sayin'. --DC
2010 called; it asked for Relatability.
Found an article on adding your personal "voice" to one's website. I thought it a great lesson on communications in general. Here is part of what I read: ++++ (For the full article and other Stoney deGeyter articles, go HERE.) Developing your voice Before you start developing your web content you first need to determine what kind of voice you want your site to have and how you'll ultimately deploy it. A voice can really be anything: Humorous Serious Whimsical Snarky Flowery Thoughtful Brutally honest Down to earth Chances are good that your mind started speaking to you in each voice as you read the bullet point above. If not, read through it again and let your mind convert the words into examples in your mind. Just by reading the words you can really see how these voices can really come through with well-written content. You just need to decide what voice it is that will fit best with your company and your audience. You may think that your industry is limited to just one voice, but it all really depends on how well you sell it. Let's create some quick examples: Humorous: Our car batteries are durable, long-lasting and deliver enough power to start any vehicle in the harshest winter environment. Your escape from the in-law's is guaranteed every season of year. Serious: Our car batteries are durable, long-lasting and deliver enough power to start any vehicle in the harshest winter environment. You're guaranteed to get power to your vehicle when you need it most. Whimsical: You want a durable, long-lasting battery? Yeah, we got that. There is no natural force in the world that'll keep our batteries from doing their job. When you need power, we deliver. Snarky: When headed to the in-law's you want to be equipped with one of the most powerful car batteries money can buy. Come hell or high water, you're getting out of there alive! Flowery: Our car batteries are designed to withstand whatever forces of nature that heaven above (or you know who below) can throw at it. When you turn that key, you're vehicle will roar to life without so much as a cough or sputter. Thoughtful: Let's face it, batteries only fail at the worst possible time, in the worst possible location. We've built reliability into all of our car batteries so they deliver the power you need when you need it to get you to where you would rather be. Brutally honest: Your boss is a jerk, your wife can be a nag and your friends act like idiots. Everybody needs an escape. Where you escape to is up to you, but how is up to us. Our car batteries are durable, long-lasting and deliver enough power to start any vehicle any time any where. We're ready to go when you are. Down to earth: We know that you can find cheaper car batteries from those other guys. We're not competing on price, we're competing on quality. Our batteries are durable, long-lasting and deliver enough power to start any vehicle in the harshest winter environment. Can you really put a [...]
How to Conduct a Poll Using Gmail
Found (and used this tidbit from labnol.org Yes, No, Maybe? Conduct Opinion Polls Over Email using Gmail In some situations, a poll conducted over email may be more practical than running a web based poll because readers can vote through their email clients without requiring a browser. It’s as simple as replying to any other email and can be done even from mobile phones. Turn Gmail into a Poll Software Let’s see how you can quickly setup an opinion poll over email using only your existing Gmail account. The suggested approach will work best for polls that have a single question as in the following examples: a. Will you buy a Macbook Tablet ? (Yes | No | Maybe). b. Which is your favorite search engine? (Google | Yahoo | Ask | Cuil | Other). ++++ DCsays: I used this just today. If you want to know how to conduct polls or surveys, or simply get Yes, No, or Maybe answers via email, check out the rest of labnol.org's article, here. --Dave C. Image Credits
Professional Blogger
I don't consider myself a professional blogger. I'm just doing what I'm doing, and a blog is simply the best way to take that and distribute my experiences. I guess that makes me... what? Yeah, well, I guess that makes me a professional blogger. --DC
