theskywaspink

I spent most of my teen years growing up in a tourism hotspot in South Australia. When the population would go from 12,000 to 40,000 overnight when it was holiday time, so I’m no slouch to what it’s like when it comes to customer service. It shouldn’t be any different no matter where you are right?

Wrong.

I moved from the country into the city roughly 18 months ago, and it seems no matter where I go customer service sucks. Rarely will you find a place where they treat everyone equally. Lets put an example I’ve had recently.

I went into Officeworks in Adelaide to look at a printer, just a cheap one for printing documents and invoices. I found the printers and spent maybe 2 minutes looking at them and found one in my price range. I waited 20 minutes before someone asked if I wanted any help. No, I dont want help, I’m going to stare at the printers for a few hours then might go home. Of course I do! But, once I had been served I’m told that they are out of stock. Now how hard is it to put a sign on the printer to say it’s out of stock so I didn’t waste 20 minutes waiting around to be served, I could have just walked out and gone elsewhere. Also, I’m the customer. You chase after me if you want to make a sale, I’m not chasing after you.

Now, theres once place in particular I like going once a week for lunch. Subway, but not just any Subway. Theres one in the City Cross Arcade in the centre of Adelaide where they address every person that comes in there as Sir or Miss. That shows you where I got my blog title from, just because someone isn’t wearing a suit doesn’t mean you should address them any differently than the lawyer in front of you in a $1000 suit. With this day and age people are making millions with the internet at their fingertips, and the dude standing behind the lawyer in the Chuck Taylors, torn jeans and tshirt may be a web 2.0 millionaire, but he doesn’t have to dress like someone who’s worth millions.

I’ve also noticed when you go somewhere and start looking for something and want some help, it’s like everyone avoids you and everyone else in the place. You’re there to provide customer service so do your damn job!

I guess this is a notice out there to all the employers and managers to train your staff, because that extra effort will make your customers remember the experience and come back again as a regular customer. How do I know this? Because I go elsewhere for my printer supplies now.

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Time after time I see jobs advertised for web designers, web developers, graphic designers, graphic artists etc, and when I see one advertised for a graphic artists, so I go to look at the details only to find they reveal “php and flash is neccessary”. This has irritated me for a long time and I think employers need to know the difference between these before they go advertising for positions and give a clearer definition of who they are after.

Below are some definitions of what each of them are and a few other areas that are also used in the base of making websites or start ups.

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Web Designer

A web designer offers HTML and graphics services and create visually focused web pages. The difference between a designer and a developer is that a developer usually has more back-end programming skills and a designer is more focused on the look and feel of a site. A good web designer will help you organize the information for your web site and develop navigation and layout.

Web designers usually charge based on experience, designers with less experience may save you money but more experience designers will almost always deliver a higher quality product. Before you choose a web designer you should review other web projects they have worked on, and contact past clients if possible. Some designers charge per project, some per page and some per hour. Make sure you have defined the requirements for your web project and both of you have an understanding in writing of what is expected.

Graphic Designer/Artist

Graphic designers focus strictly on the visual artwork for a project. Graphic artists usually work with print and web. They can design brochures, business cards, logos, advertising material and give you a high quality look. Many companies hire a graphic designer for the art then hand that over to a web designer or developer to incorporate into a website.

Graphic designers usually charge based on experience, designers with less experience may save you money but more experience designers will almost always deliver a higher quality product. Before you choose a graphic designer you should review other design projects they have worked on, and contact past clients if possible. Some designers charge per project or per hour. Make sure you have defined the requirements for your web project and both of you have an understanding in writing of what is expected.

Web Developer

Web developers usually offer HTML and programming services and create interactive or database driven e-commerce web sites. The difference between a designer and a developer is that a developer usually has more back-end programming skills for building shopping carts and member databases while a designer is more focused on the look and feel of a site. A good web developer will help you organize the information for your web site and develop navigation and layout. Many developers also offer basic design services, but a firm will ususall have developers and graphics people. Web developers are programmers and work with web based code like ASP, .NET, Cold Fusion, Java, DHTML, Javascript, PHP, SQL and more. If you are looking for database work for e-commerce or membership sites, you should contact a developer.

Developers usually charge based on experience, less experienced programmers may save you money but more experience developers will almost always deliver a higher quality product with less problems and maintenance issues. Before you choose a developer you should review other web projects they have worked on, and contact past clients if possible. Make sure you have defined the requirements for your web project and both of you have an understanding in writing of what is expected.

Flash Designers

Flash developers and flash designers create interactive animated websites in Macromedia™ Flash. Flash allows for full screen animation with lots of color and movement, audio and video and very dynamic and fluid content. Flash websites are good for promotion and pizazz, they allow you to engage your visitors with a more interactive experience but are not the best choice for sites with lost of text information. Many sites incorporate flash elements with standard HTML web pages. Most flash designers also offer HTML development and design services. Some Flash developers also offer more complex ActionScript programming which allow Flash sites to function as an application, integrating database and other complex features.

Flash designers usually charge based on experience, less experience may save you money but more experienced designers will almost always deliver a higher quality product. Before you choose a flash designer you should review other projects they have worked on, and contact past clients if possible. Make sure you have defined the requirements for your web project and both of you have an understanding in writing of what is expected.

Photographers

A professional photographer can make all the difference in the world. For new products or company pictures a photogapher can help capture the image and show it in the best light. (sorry for the bad pun)

Photographers usually charge based on experience and equipment required, less experience may save you money but more experienced photogrpahers will almost always deliver a higher quality product. Before you choose a photographer you should review their work, and contact past clients if possible. Make sure you have defined the requirements for your project and both of you have an understanding in writing of what is expected.

Writers

A professional writer can help deliver your message with professional polish and grace. Marketing materials, brochures, and web sites should always be written by a professional writer. you can write up the basic facts and ideas you want to deliver then hand it over to a professional writer to edit it and make it shine.

Writers usually charge based on experience and by the size of the project, less experience may save you money but more experienced writers will almost always deliver a higher quality product. Before you choose a writer you should read some of their work, and contact past clients if possible. Make sure you have defined the requirements for your project and both of you have an understanding in writing of what is expected.

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This morning I read an article on Digg about Plaxo 3.0 opening up a public beta. I had no idea what Plaxo was so I went to investigate and found an online PIM tool, to put it simply. I’ve been after something like this for a while and seem to have found it. Contacts, calendar, tasks, notes and eBusiness Cards.

So now I’ve got my Gmail, my Netvibes and a Plaxo account. Thats seems about as limited as I can make it for centralising all my personal information in the one place.

 Go and check it out www.plaxo.com

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I had originally had a article I was working on in the WP admin panel but I got stuck after while and wasn’t sure what to do. Basically, it was an article about being able to take your workspace with you. At least if you’re a blogger and want to be able to read your newsfeeds wherever you are and make blogs if you stop off at a netcafe or something.

I’d looked at the uses of iGoogle, then Netvibes, then using a U3 drive in conjunction with one of them and some portable applications that would work well. But… I still felt as though they were still a pain in the arse to use across the board. I started on iGoogle (before they called it iGoogle), then switched to Netvibes when I found that. Found it was a bit heavy to use on my computer, looked at using the U3 drive I bought last year and came to the conclusion that it’s all just to hard. Theres a plethora of web based applications, portable applications and normal desktop software that all do these things. But who wants to have 5 or 6 programs to run your work from? Not me. One place, all centralised will be the ultimate. While I’ll keep my storage to the desktop for large files and development work, and my iRiver X20 for taking around my music collection with me. I still want that one place that’s centralised.

Looking on the internet I found some great stuff, and what I’d like to see is someone grab iGoogle, Netvibes, RoundCube, Essential PIM and Backpackit, then mash it all together in some software that either someone can run from their own domain on the internet. An intranet portal, or off a USB drive. Flat file would do it perfectly. But for now, I’ll keep dreaming or save money and have someone do it for me!

I went back to Netvibes again and wondered how I could optimise it for my computer. So I made tabs, I’m not a huge in browser tabs, but it’s starting to grow on me. I’ve got a few of them so I thought I’d break it down as to what I’m using them for, and yes; iGoogle has them but Netvibes just has more useful tools.

The Organiser Tab – On here is my general use modules.

1. My bookmarks I use regularly are here web based so I can access them from home and work, and not need to add them at both places. It’s all stored under my netvibes account

2. A calendar module I can enter my important dates into, the date is highlighted blue for when something is on that date, and also small notes for what’s happening Today, Tomorrow and on the Weekend. No need for going into a Calender like on Google Gcal to add a date quickly (from the add-ins I tried on iGoogle). Just enter it and you’re done.

3. My address book is my most wanted tool, it could do with some fine tuning but it suits me for what I was after. First name, Last name, postal address, mobile phone, home phone, work phone, fax, email and alternate email address, company name etc, its got all the essentials and stores it all for me and it’s accessible through the module.

4. Email – Netvibes give the ability to add either your Gmail, AOL, Yahoo, MacMail, Hotmail or POP3 account to alert you when you have new mail. Just like the Gmail plugin does on iGoogle but with any account you have. All my pop3 mail redirects to my Gmail anyway and is labelled inside for convenience. Good if you have a lot of administrator email accounts on websites like I do.

5. Weather modules – We’ve all got one of these, it gives me a 4 day forecast or a 10 day if I click the link. Good at a glance as looking out the window doesn’t always tell you there’s some big black clouds over the ocean.

6. To-Do List, I use this pretty often. If I don’t make a list of things to do I’ll forget them so I’m forever adding my daily/weekly/monthly to-do’s in here. You can tick them off once you’ve completed them.

7. Webnotes – Much like the “Sticky Notes” on iGoogle but not such a pain in the back to use. I’ve pasted links from web browsing in there and it picks it up as a link. It doesn’t float around on the screen and I have to be forever moving it to get to things I want behind it. Just put some text in and its there! BAM!

Organiser Screenshot

Newsfeeds/Blog Tab – My daily reads.

On here is pretty self explanitory, I have all my newsfeeds in the one tab I can access. Here I’ve got the most recent articles to The Simple Dollar, Digg, Zenhabits, Lifehack, Lifehacker, ITV Formula One, AutoBlog, Gomestic and TorrentSpy. I can adjust how many articles I want the headlines for from 1 to 20. I keep them all to about 5 or so then the boxes stay nice and neat and don’t make me scroll far down.

Also, if I select an article to read it goes into it’s own window inside Netvibes with a list of all the other articles down the side so I can browse them too. No need to go to another window or to the site unless you want to.

Newsfeeds/Blog Tab Screenshot

University Tab – Keeping track of what I never get time to do

While I don’t go to University, I study through a government supplied third party place, or something like that But on here I’ve got myself another Webnote Module, and another To-Do Module. Being able to create multiples is great, I have a To-Do List of my assignments due (way overdue) and other bits and pieces I need to look up. Ticking them when I’ve completed them and deleting them when I’ve handed them up. I’m sure theres other applications you can add in there but thats all I need for the moment and it’s separate from the other tabs.

Newsfeeds/Blog Tab Screenshot

My ‘Other’ Tab – All the random stuff

On here at the moment is only one thing, my eBay Module. It shows me when auctions are running out on the most current ones.

Don’t think that’s all there is. In the corner is a link for “Add/Browse Content”, clicking this reveals a popout with all sorts of links to content. If you’re a little more into the social networking then theres more modules for places like Flickr, Myspace, Blogmarks, Delicious, Twitter and Craigs List. Fox Sports Video, AOL Video, YouTube, image searches, blog searches, web searches, the list goes on! and I haven’t even made it to their ‘EcoSystem’ yet where all the 3rd party modules are made.

Other Tab Screenshot

There’s also more feeds than you can poke a stick at all nicely categoried under topics and subtopics for you to add to your feeds of information. It’s a little heavier to load but if you’re like me and use the tools regularly enough you will stick to Netvibes as it’s a lot more practical. The only downside, Google’s the most powerful search engine around and you’ll always be loading Google up to search. There is a search Module but I don’t like it, but for now I use a link in my bookmarks to Google

Check out Netvibes, it’s worth that one email for membership even to check it out. Best of all it’s totally free!

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Recently I’d be wondering how I can push my blog a little more and get some readers. I’ve had a few from Digg and nothing over 5 Digg’s on an article, but hey, at least it’s a start.

I emailed Leo at Zenhabits last week and he replied back to my email. It’s always a good feeling when someone who writes a particularly good blog will actually reply to your emails with some great advice, which is what I’ve got from him.

I’ve never considered myself a good writer, I guess that’s why I worked in Production at a newspaper and not a journalist!

Firstly, I asked him if he had any articles that he’d written on Zenhabits that I could read about getting more traffic on my site and he replied with a link to his article on 10 Ways I got 4300 Subscribers in Three Months. He also linked me to ProBlogger.net which has some great beginners tips on blogging and how to make money from a blog. So it shows how you can go from starting a blog, through to making money off it being a hobby site.

Leo also writes freelance for other blogs, which is a good way to fine tune your blogging skills and get people looking at his site for similar articles. He also hooked me up with some web addresses of other Australians who have a good presence on the internet with their blogs. Those being NorthxEast.com and a link to where he freelances himself on Freelance Switch with some great articles on writing blogs.

Leo’s work has actually been quite inspiring, if you read the about page on Zenhabits you can see what he’s accomplished.

And yes, I’ll change my WordPress theme eventually Leo and stop using the same one as you, but it looks so nice!

As per some of the articles he’s made, use other bloggers are a resource to gain experience and exposure on the web if you want to make your blog popular.

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