Hard to believe I just found this out. Nike paid Carolyn Davidson $35 to design their logo, in 1971, when she was a graphic design student. [ – via Creative Latitude This Carolyn sounds like a rather modest person ].
Swoosh
Topics to blog about – Starts with a “T”
I’ve made this commitment to myself (as this blog isn’t public yet, it remains to myself) to get this business blog on the go.
Steps involved in this process.
1. Switch to hosting company where installing applications is easy peasy. Check
2. Install WordPress and select theme. Check
3. Start typing, about anything to begin with. Check
4. Try to figure out what to blog about. At post # 4 I’m already stumped! Not really, but trying to figure out how to condense the topics I do want to cover – Web 2.0+, Design, clients, SEO, google adwords etc etc into something funny, even cheerful (after all that’s the name of this blog) and that might be useful (gasp) – that’s tough.
It’s gotten to the point where everyone is blogging. And by everyone, I mean a nine year old kid is doing the reviews for Dr. Who on cbc. 9! And, he’s good! This can be intimidating, to say the least.
So, where do I, or you, a prospective blogger over 9, go from here?
LISTS – I’ve noticed a lot of them, on and offline. Browsing through Chapter’s business section (tucked away at the very back of the store oddly enough), I found an abundance of titles that started something like this:
- Top 7 things to …
- Top 10 ways to increase/grow/develop/make
- Top 5 [insert industry here] secrets/strategies
etc. You get the point. This seems to be the way of the “2.0” world – everything condensed down to popularity and in list format. Someone once told me that in an email context, never ask more than 3 questions at a time, as the reader won’t read/answer more than that. I found that quite true, although when the questions are in point form, you can possibly squeeze in a few more.
So, what are my goals – work on my top 10 list of course! Cheers, and have a top 10 day.
Geek moment.
My first geek moment in a while.
Used Mac terminal to successfully upload 
this image. Cheers, mate.
Now, if you’re a programmer, you’re probably thinking, “how lame”, but hear me out. I can write some actionscript, which is OOP, and of course can hand-code HTML and css, (how can you promote web standards and not?), but I’m no programmer. I was first introduced to Subversion , while working on a client project. At first, it seemed like a big hassle, but I soon grew to love the simplicity of the command line mode.
Thus this moment, when I upload an image for the first time using one single, elegant and compressed line, is big. I relish it, and will look back with fondness at the newbie within.
Motto of the Day: Leave most stuff with the experts, but don’t be afraid to DIY (do-it-yourself)
Are the Yellow Pages dead,
or alive and well, and living in Wisconsin?
I just spent about 20 minutes trying to find a spa in Vancouver that I had found ages ago by googling something. I hadn’t bookmarked them, and couldn’t remember their name, except that it might have started with a “B” and was pretty sure one of the keywords I used was pedicure.
So, off to google I went. And didn’t find them. Tried various searches, different combinations, different guides, recommendations, and, …. nada. Brainstormed and came up with some creative phrases, which gave the equally disappointing result of nothing.
I also had a general concept of the neighbourhood they were in, so I tried google maps – to no avail. In fact, the results were mainly for businesses in Vancouver, Washington, so that was supremely disappointing.
Then, a lightbulb went off in my brain – the yellow pages – of course! Again, tried their online site (superpages.ca) and found nothing.
Finally, I remembered that the old yellow pages motto used to be “let your fingers do the walking” and so I did, and quickly found the company I was looking for.They even have a website, and everything. But, obviously, not well indexed.
Back to the concept – are the yellow pages dead? When it comes down to fleeting memories that someone may have of your business, who knows what chance associations they are using to find you. If they can’t find you at all (ie: they are stubbornly determined like I was) online, then you probably need some SEO (search engine optimization) services. Put yourself in your potential clients shoes, and think of keywords, phrase they might be using to find you as a start.
But, as I learned today, it’s still a good idea to pay for that business line and keep your yellow pages listing active. For now, anyhow…
Cheers
This is a sign off I often use on emails, even though I’m not even remotely British*, but Canadian. I thought I’d start naming this blog Cheers as a nod to the light hearted, welcoming tone I’d like this to set.
So, what’s this all about?
They say it takes 29 days to change a habit. This blog will be a testing ground for changing some business habits. That is, how we go about attracting new clients. I’ve made a mental list – soon to be published – which started with establishing a blog for said list.
Step 1 is now accomplished.
*unless you count the Trini connection, when then Empire ruled…but luckily it’s been a long time since independence.
Hello world!
Leaving this cliché here, as this blog will be full of clichés – albeit rich, juicy and cheerful ones.