Archive for September, 2005

I’ve been putting some ideas on paper today about the re-design of this site. Goals if you will. Concrete ideas about what the future holds. In the process of doing some research, I found some interesting posts that have really helped solidify each idea.

Goal #1. Sustainability: Keeping Content Fresh and Interesting.

As I have posted to this blog for the last 6 months, I have noticed something interesting. When I try to do a series of posts on a subject, I invariably get in a rut. I tend to lose interest before the subject is exhausted. Tecosystems has a great post today about this subject. Stephen writes…

In the past few weeks, I’ve had several occasions to talk to individuals about the best practices for starting blogs, which when you boil it down is talking about how to write, and keep writing. Just about the only generic advice I can give is simple: focus on what’s sustainable.

My interests in particular subjects may wax or wane, but if I’m allowed to talk about whatever’s on my mind at the time I’m far more likely to keep contributing, as opposed to highly specialized blogs which may or may not hold my interest level longer term.

Having the flexibility to talk about your daily thoughts is really important.

Goal #2. Finding Time to Write: Using Interstitial Time.

I find that most of my posts take almost an hour to create and rewrite. This is a long time and with my ever busy schedule it is almost impossible to find a spare hour to write on most days. What to do?
43 Folders has a very helpful post about using small blocks of time (interstitial) to get things done. Merlin explains…

Sometimes your most productive bursts of activity can come from the limitations of knowing that you have a very small window of time to work on something.

The point, in any case, is to think about your tasks like a game of Tetris–but with minutes and seconds instead of blocks. Use the precious bits of time you do have to do something and strive to always stay light on your feet, active, and aware.

this may be the ticket I have been looking for…

Goal #3. Better Self Management.

A great blog requires management of resources and time. Jason Womack talks about Self Management Challenges on his blog today. He writes…

I’m re-reading one of Drucker’s books this week, Management Challenges for the 21st Century. As I’m doing so, I’m keeping track of the “cool journaling questions” in a list in my Palm [I've got a Memo category called: Reading].

Here’s what I have so far…
What do I do well?
What could I do better?
Where do I participate?
Where could I participate more?

What reflective “self-management” questions have you answered lately?

Great questions to think about Jason…

Goal #4. Open Invitation to New Guests.

One of my big goals is to always put out a welcome mat to new guests. When this re-design is ready to go I want to have a blog party and invite everyone over. It just so happens that fellow blogger Dwayne Melancon over at Genuine Curiosity is having a blog warming today. He is in the process of moving his site from one host to another. He posts…

Come on in - no not much artwork is up yet, and I haven’t unpacked all the boxes, but I’m moving in to my new blog host. I’m methodically migrating all my old content over here, and it should all be here in a few days. I’ve moved over to TypePad, and the address is http://genuinecuriosity.typepad.com

Congrats Dwayne on your new site! A great inspiration…

Goal #5. Long Term Goal: Speaking Professionally.

I always like to include a long term 3-5 year goal in my plans. One of the things I have been working towards over the past few years is to speak professionally. As a Toastmaster, I have had a chance to hone my skills and speak in a variety of situations. I hope to be able to broaden my horizons by joining a speaker’s bureau and speak to different groups outside of Toastmasters. A great inspiration to me has been Steve Pavlina. Today he announced he is going pro. He writes…

While I know that many people are deathly afraid of public speaking and could never fathom doing such a thing as a profession, to me it is the most natural thing in the world. I love communicating high-level ideas like finding purpose in life, building self-discipline, and optimizing personal productivity. I think it’s wonderful that I have the opportunity to permanently change someone’s thinking and behavior in a way that gives them access to greater success, happiness, and fulfillment.

The reason Steve is able to take this step and open the door to a professional career is the propularity of his blog. Steve has over 400,000 visitors to his site each month. His unique content always makes things interesting. One of my greatest passions is to be able to communicate with an audience ideas that lead to success. It will be interesting to see some videocasts of Steve’s seminars.

As always I would love to hear your comments…

In a previous post I talked about the possibility of including “Flashcasts” in the re-launch of this site. Numerous people have asked; What is a Flashcast? In brief a Flashcast is a short Macromedia Flash Movie. It can play by itself as a .SWF file (Shockwave Flash File) or with the SWF imbedded in a HTML document. If you have surfed the web much at all you have seen numerous Flash files as multimedia advertisements on many popular websites.

Flash is a timeline based animation program that produces small file size “movies” with sound, graphics, photos and even video. With a proper plug-in they will play in any web browser and on most cell phones and PDA’s. The definition of a Flashcast is a short Flash production that tells a story or conveys a message.

In this case I think an example will be worth at least a thousand words. I have created numerous Flash movies in the past for numerous clients and organizations. They are designed to tell a story or sell a product.

The following link will take you to a page featuring four Flash animations. Each one has a different twist.

Sportscar Adventure

1. Zoom Zoom: Created for the San Diego Miata Club, this short promo movie illustrates the concept of “Zoom-Zoom.”

2. Twilight Dreams: The story of 80 Miatas driving off into the twilight.

3. Spinner: The Song and Poetry of an adventure around Orange Show Speedway

4. Downhill Heroes: Soapbox Derby Racing at its best

I would love to hear your feedback on the application of Flash movies in a blog application.

Enjoy!

Do you have a favorite blog that you love to visit? What is it about a blog that makes you want come back? In most cases it is the content, the words on the page. I have many blogs that I like to visit on content alone. Steve Pavlina’s personal productivity site is a great example. Steve always has interesting posts.

But there are some blogs that have a unique look or design that are fun to visit. The creativity of the designer adds interest to the site. Whether it is pictures or graphics or even flash animations, the site is interesting to explore. An example of a designer’s site is Lifehut. The entire site is designed around the concept of a “hut,” with bamboo sheaves in the header graphic and a graphic representation of the hut in the background and in the icons. This is really a fun site and it has an additional feature of “voting” that adds additional interest. This site is on my daily list because the content is interesting, the graphics are fun, and I can participate by “voting” on each post.

Another style of blog is the portal, where links and content are king. One of my favorite “portal” sites is Rosa Say’s Talking Story. Her site is graphically rich with a Hawaiian theme, but the real interest builder is her many links and her Ho’ohana community. If you are interested in self improvement, this is a very compelling site. You can pick a topic of interest and find many persuasive articles written by Rosa but also links to other sites that may have additional information. Her site is large, filling a 1024 screen with information. I like a portal site because there are so many things to do and explore.

What else do we find on a blog that may enhance communication? Three things come quickly to mind; advertising, podcasts and comment areas. Advertising is a two edged sword. If it is done right I think it can really enhance a site. If they are not done well, they just come across as spam. To be effective, the ads need to be targeted to content and offer quality products and services. The most popular blog ads are from Google and Amazon.com

Google ads are designed to “read” a sites content and offer up “targeted” ads. This is a great idea and it works well… sometimes. Since the ad software “reads” what is on a page you may end up with unintended or even offensive ads for your content. Some of the ads offered up may just be spam in disguise. Some blogs really overdo the ad placement and become very irritating. A humorous example of Google gone bad was a recent article that I saw on vegetarianism with targeted ads by McDonalds and Burger King.

Google offers some tools which can really help with these problems. They now have a tool which allows you to select the text of your site that the ads are targeted to. They also allow you to block any ads by domain that don’t match your intended purpose. They also have a browser tool for Internet Explorer that will show you which ads will be placed on your page. With these three tools you can offer up a much more compelling selection of ads for your readers than the software would choose by itself.

Podcasts are a new phenomenon, which offer voice and music to a blog audience. I have heard some surprising “casts” by individual blog artists that have a remarkable sound quality. Scott Hodge hit the mark on his first try. I have also heard some professional sites offering distorted and generally low-quality productions. The great thing about podcasts is that you can “take it with you” in the car or in your personal MP3 player. Podcasts are especially effective for news sites, musicians and speakers. For me the key thing is “Quality.”

One of the most important features of a blog is the ability of the audience to respond by entering a “comment” on the site. Some sites make the process easy with a well structured comment form that requires only limited information. In most cases the comment is posted immediately. Others require “moderation” with the comment posted hours or days after it is entered. With the proliferation of “comment spam” many blog owners are having to implement tighter restrictions on entries. Plug-in software is available for most blog engines that will help with this task. The comment forms that I find offensive are the ones that require that I join their group or organization to post. I posted to a Blogger site the other day and it required that I setup a blog to be able to comment.

I have taken all of these things into consideration in the re-design of this blog Some things I hope to feature on the relaunch are.
1. Interesting Content with Multiple Authors: I have some writer friends that I hope to feature frequently on this site that have amazing stories to tell.

2. Well Designed Blog Template: A new 3 column template will feature many new areas of content for a much richer user experience yet still offer some “white space” to prevent visual overload. Variable CSS will offer the ability to customize the site to your preference.

3. Portal Experience: The new content areas will be much deeper with extensive links to additional information. If you can’t find what you are looking for here, the links will open up entire new vistas of knowledge.

4. High Quality Advertising: Content based advertising featuring great companies that offer products and services that will benefit the user community. I want advertising on this site to be a positive experience. Ad placement is of prime concern with ads being visible but non-obtrusive. I would love to hear feedback on your ad experiences.

5.Podcasting: As a Toastmaster I hear a lot of compelling speeches and educational programs. I hope to be able to bring some of these rich media experiences to you with Podcasts and Flashcasts (including visuals and video). With these “casts” you’ll be able to take the material with you.

6. Audience Participation: The greatest single strength of a blog or other website is its readership. I want to feature you, the readers of this blog, prominently not only with comments but posts as well.

I would love to hear your feedback on these topics. The relaunch is coming along well and I would really like to hear your opinions and ideas to help make this a fun and interesting blog destination.

I’ve spent some time over the past week on vacation in Santa Barbara County. The weather has been wonderful, with clear skies and temperatures in the seventies. The definition of success came to me yesterday as my wife and I were driving along the road to Solvang. The rolling hills were ablaze with fall colors, the stereo was playing the staccato sounds of Coltrane and the Starbucks coffee was delicious. Simple pleasures.

Reality hit all too soon as the radio picked up the latest news of Hurricane Rita and the impending evacuations. Nature can be beautiful and it also can be devastating.

Sometimes it is nice to retreat from the daily grind and think about the important things in life. It is nice to spend time with our friends and family, listen to some great music, and enjoy a great conversation. This to me is success. Simple pleasures.

Nature has a way of reminding us of what is really important. Have you taken some time this week to tell someone that you love them? Have you opened the blinds and marveled in God’s creation. Have you closed your e-mail, turned off your computer, picked up a friend and had a great conversation?

Something to think about…

In the process of updating this blog, I have been searching for the ultimate Wordpress template. This site currently uses a modified version of Blix by Sebastian Schmieg which works pretty well but is limited to two columns. I’ve searched through hundreds of templates but nothing comes close to what I want. So I got out my trusty Dreamweaver MX2004 and decided to build my own Wordpress template.

I have used Dreamweaver for years and have built and modified many different sites. But Wordpress was different. It is compliant.

Compliant… what is that?

Well in a nutshell, compliant means that you can’t use tables anymore in your HTML.

You now have to design your site using CSS and XHTML.

This little change has made Dreamweaver obsolete.

I need to go back to school and learn about divs and floats and CSS totes.

I need help as I have found that the web police tell me that tables are bad… very bad!

What would happen if I built a Wordpress template with tables? Would I be arrested?

Help me… my HTML has fallen and I can’t mark up…

Patrick Rhone over at To-Done has an interesting article today about lightening your gadget load. I say a hearty ..AMEN! I have found that gadgets are like fat… they tend to multiply around your midsection. A few months ago I had so many things attached to my belt, my pants were about to fall off. I decided to do something about it and go on a technology diet. The second cell phone became a second line on my work cell phone, my PDA and holster became a hipster PDA (index cards in back pocket) and the tool kit became a small Swiss army knife with screwdriver. Problem solved…