2. Tasks and Projects

I’m a raving fan of a software called Things by Cultured Code and have it on both my laptop and my iPad. From the first day I bought a MacBook Pro, I’ve used Things because iCal task management is just deplorable (Let me tell you how I really feel). The iPad app is even better than its software cousin. At $20 it’s a bit on the expensive side for an app, but, in my opinion, Things is worth every penny.

Things allows me to closely manage the dates and deadlines for both my tasks and projects, set reoccurrences, assign tasks to areas of responsibility, and tag them for quick reference–all quickly and easily. The underlying architecture of Things is based on David Allen’s immensely popular book, Getting Things Done, but it’s not overly dependent on it. The iPad app automatically synch’s with my laptop via the wireless network in my office and allows me to stay on top of everything I need to do everyday. Cultured Code’s online support and resources are second to none.

As commenter Scott Moore writes from Seattle, “After having used Office for Mac for two years now, and having worked at Microsoft, it’s my feeling the company has killed Office for Mac on purpose.” He thinks the glaring issues with this release amount to sabotage of the product for the Mac market.

But then, maybe you went over to iWork long ago …
(Apple just started offering a free 30-day trial of iWork. Coincidence? You be the judge! :)

Hello everyone my name is Sean Brown and this is my first blog post on the Madison Ave blog. Today I would like to talk about some of my feelings on independent and community projects.

We’re all professionals who do good work here at the MAC. A lot of the time we will be working on projects that we got from our own sources. While working on these projects we might collaborate with other MAC members or community members to achieve what is best for the client/projects needs.  It’s in that collaboration that the creative process of independent pros like ourselves can flourish.

Supporting the community/collaborative process is vital to achieve the highest quality results. The more passionate you and your team are about a project the more the ideas will flow and the brainstorms will strike.

I’m a filmmaker and videographer.  In my profession you can be a solo bird that does all the roles or work with a decided and passionate team to create amazing results.

I have done both.

I enjoy working with a team of people who know what they are doing and enjoy doing it.

Filmmaking is my passion and I enjoy that I get to do it everyday and teach it to the community at large.

There are many ways to support community, local, collaborative, creative projects.

I have a new project coming up soon that will all be shot in Oregon.

I’m using a website that is for artist, musicians, and creative people to rally together in support of the arts, to see a dream become a reality.

My new project called “Reality Crash” is in pre-production and I’m raising funds through a community website called Kickstarter. I would suggest checking it out and seeing if this site could help you on your way to creating your art.

If you would like to see or support my project, the link is here:

Reality Crash

FUD was first used in IBM advertising decades ago, asking the prospective customer whether they believed their job would be safe if they chose to buy another company’s computing products. Microsoft, ever the innovator (!), adopted the technique and soon became known for using FUD in all their ads and promotions.

The reason that many ads still use FUD to drive their messaging is that in lots of cases it works. It plays on paranoia and our human instinct to want to fit in. Studies show that when we are made to feel uncomfortable, one of the things we do is spend money to feel better. (Extra points for ads that weave humor into the FUD message; see Old Spice Man.)

OneLove is a way of thinking about the opposite kind of messaging—advertising that shows a product or service that brings more joy into your life. Apple’s advertising uses OneLove messaging. Think about iPad ads; they don’t say “Your friends will shun you until you own one of these.” Instead, they just show happy users doing fun stuff. Consider ads for Disney World, or for the Toyota Sienna, or for Foster’s beer, or for your favorite sports team. They are a celebration of life, reminding you of the joy you can experience if you buy those products.

As we can see, both types of messages work. It all depends on the target audience and how the advertiser wants them to feel. The next time you see an ad think about what it’s doing. Is it making you feel good? Or bad? And what does it make you want to do? (“Turn off the TV” is one of the acceptable answers.) What do you think would be the best type of advertising for your client? (Hint: first, think about who the target audience is.)

UX being ‘user experience’, and in the context of the web we mean understanding what the users of your website are doing. Do you know what your users are they looking at, what interest them on the page, and what are they ignoring on your website, or are you guessing?

These tool well help you stop guessing and will enable you to communicate better with users, creating more awareness, more inquires and more sales.

Clicktale

This is an amazing tool that allows you to get all kind of data about how people are using your site. The thing that really sticks out about this program is in addition to aggregate data, goal tracking, heat maps, you can also watch videos of your users mouse movement!

That’s right, well people are surfing your website there is some fancy javascript running in the background tracking the mouse movement and clicks of site users. What’s great is about half of the people that use a computer scan the mouse in the same location that they scan their eyes. This sort of tool can be very revealing and give you great insight to how a user moves through your website.

Website: http://www.clicktale.com/
The cost: free – $999

I have used this in the past and it does an amazing job at tracking users and making it easy to access deep actionable data. Be warned it may take a little time to set up and some time to go through reports, watch videos and tag actions. ClickTale is clear and easy to use, there is just a lot to see.

CrazyEgg

This tool is dead simple. I did a post on it a not to long ago, and this is an item I recommend for anyone. There is not a whole lot to it , but is what’s great about it.

You can see where people are clicking, via heat maps and dot maps. If you have a website and you want to see how people use a sales page or a homepage. More then just knowing what people click the most the visual display of data allows you to see patterns very easily.

Using this tool on a clients website, I found people were reading through a clients sales page and clicking a small ‘more details’ link down the page. The client didn’t think many people would use this link so there was not much effort put in to the following detail page, however CrazyEgg showed very clearly that half the people visiting this page clicked this link, putting up a flag that either we were missing a key piece of information or we needed to spend some more time on the following page allowing a clear path back to signup.

This tool is simple and visual allowing you to see user patterns

Website: https://www.crazyegg.com/
Cost: $9 – $99
but if your a mac member and want a trial run I have an account.

Don’t Guess!

Is having good clean design that makes a website understandable important?
Is having a solid business strategy very important?

Yes, of course these are very leading questions, but now we need to make sure our design and strategy are working the way we think they are. If strategy and design are important then we need to make sure these elements are working for us. These tools allow you to stop guessing and start tracking and measuring your site. Allowing you to make your users experience with your site better.

The first step to increasing conversion rate is understanding your users, not guessing.

Good luck and let me know of tools you use.

**Of course there is Google analytic, I recommend these tools in combination with Google analytic.

Prompted by an outcry over the use of Papyrus for the subtitles in the movie AVATAR, this article from last week’s BBC News Magazine online relates the passions—pro and con—that were provoked. Various other heinous examples of crimes against typography are included.

In 2009, the Swedish retail giant IKEA changed its signature typeface from Futura to Verdana—a font that had been created by Microsoft specifically for screen display.

As in other cases, widespread outrage ensued, with bloggers and tweeters madly weighing in:

“On Aug. 26, Romanian design consultant Marius Ursache started an online petition to get Ikea to change its mind. That night, Verdana was already a trending topic on Twitter, drawing more tweets than even Ted Kennedy.”

It must be noted that some opinionators were more sympathetic.

While typography has a rich history that goes back to the earliest written forms, new typefaces are always arriving on the market, making it tempting for designers to stray from the classic choices. And, sometimes, with good reason. Depending on the target audience and the branding message, it may be perfectly reasonable to select one of the very latest typefaces, especially if it can be effective across a wide variety of corporate needs—website, business cards, magazine and billboard advertising, price tags, serial number labels, Hi My Name Is badges, exterior and interior signage … the list goes on.

I found some great Best and Worst lists. Here’s one that I particularly like because it includes my favorite two Worst examples—#2 and #3, where companies invested in a logo redesign when what they really needed was an overhaul in corporate practices.

If your scroll wheel (or your two-finger touchpad action) is in good shape and you have an extra half hour, check out these collections from Smashing Magazine, an online resource for web design.

• 80 gorgeous typefaces for professional design, in no particular order, based upon suggestions from designers and web developers all over the world (scroll past the well known fonts at the top of the list to see more unusual examples later in the list)
• 60 effective typefaces for corporate design, offering a much quirkier selection than the first list
• 30 new typefaces for corporate design—just what it says: new typefaces

I saved the best for last, but this one isn’t strictly typography. If you have read this far, you may be interested in two visually engaging articles on Writing Systems And Calligraphy Of The World. Part 1 is here, and part 2 is here. My bet is, you’ve never seen such an array of writing samples from so many historical language roots and from virtually every corner of the world.

Calligraphy from illuminated Armenian Gospel manuscript

(Bonus points if you noticed which typeface I used in the numbers in my thumbnail illustration at the top.)

Nevertheless, using email well is a critical skill for any independent consultant wanting to grow their business. Here are six rules to follow without exception:

RULE ONE: The subject line is king

In medieval society, the king was everything: all wise and all powerful. That’s the role the subject line plays in all of your outgoing email. Like a headline in a newspaper article, it must be short–6-8 words–and it must be compelling.

As you know from using email yourself, if you don’t know the sender, you read the subject line. If that doesn’t grab you, the email is trashed. According to a 2007 study by Juniper Research, 35% of all email users open messages because of what’s contained in the subject line.

Here’s an example of a good and a bad subject line:

BAD SUBJECT LINE: Advertising deadlines for our eighth annual summer shopping guide are fast approaching

GOOD SUBJECT LINE: Reach 1000’s of women with your unique summer shopping tips

Apart from being way too long, the first subject line is sender-centered instead of recipient-centered. I’m sure the sender thinks that mentioning the fact that their summer shopping guide is in its eighth year will be inspiring, but the recipient of this email doesn’t care about that. And I am also sure the sender thinks that mentioning approaching deadlines creates scarcity (Which everyone knows, sells. Right?), but, again, the recipient doesn’t care about your approaching deadline. Really!

What does the recipient care about?

The recipient, along with every other business leader right now, cares about building their business. In other words, they care about their products and services and the audience they need to reach to sell them. You must show from the very start of your email that you are a serious business person as well. Work on your subject line until you’ve achieved that objective.

RULE TWO: The first sentence is queen

Still royalty, the queen in medieval society was also powerful, just not as much as the king. After your subject line, your first sentence is critical in using email effectively. Once opened, you’ve got five seconds to keep the momentum going. That’s all, five seconds. This rule, like rule one, is about being recipient-centered and not sender-centered based on your understanding of the prospect’s business needs.

Again, here are two examples:

BAD FIRST SENTENCE: Yes, it’s that time of year again! Our eighth annual summer shopping guide is here!! This award-winning, 100-page glossy-printed publication is packed with fun and amazing ideas for every thing you’ll need this summer!!!

GOOD FIRST SENTENCE: I noticed that your company just released a line of learning puzzles for school-aged children. Congratulations. This is just the sort of unique family item moms are looking for this summer as an alternative to video games and re-runs on TV.

What rule one and rule two mean for you is: outgoing email must not be sent generically from a distribution list (otherwise know as spam). Every email must be customized to your prospect as a result of basic research regarding their products, target audience, and business cycles. This will result in fewer email sent, but significantly increased response rates. That’s the point, right?

RULE THREE: Keep the body short

Okay, now it’s time to talk about yourself. But do it carefully, and do it briefly. Avoid all the self-congratulating terms (like amazing, award-wining, cutting-edge, blah, blah, blah) that litter email communication today. And please, please, please lose the exclamation marks. Keep it real and keep it short, 150 words or less.

You should, however, talk about actual business results. Just don’t do it in a self-congratulatory way. State the facts and use recognized business terms like increased sales, reduced down time, improved productivity, etc… Also, use actual numbers and actual names (if possible).

Here’s how I would do this for the summer shopping guide we’ve been discussing:

Every year we print a shopping guide to help crazy busy mom get the stuff their family needs for the summer. This is a high-quality publication that’s distributed directly to professional women from an opt-in subscription list. One of our clients, Thinker Toys, LLC , experienced a 45% increase in retail sales last summer from this publication alone. What would a 45% increase in sales do for you?

RULE FOUR: End with a call to action

Outgoing email is, of course, one step in the larger sales process. Know what the next step is and state it. Then follow-up that step without exception. For most of us this means not mentioning price in any way, even a great, limited time sale price. For most of us email is a way of opening up a relationship and expanding the know, like, and trust quotient. Jumping right to price and product destroys that possibility.

Here’s how I would close the email we’ve been working on:

I’m sending you a copy of last year’s summer shopping guide and placed sticky notes on the pages I thought you’d find interesting. I’ll be calling you next week to discuss this year’s publication. If you’d like to speak to me before then, my direct number is …

RULE FIVE: Keep the signature simple

Lose the fancy signature line with colorful graphics and handwritten autograph. Not only is that distracting, but you’ll get sent straight to junk mail by a spam filter. List your name, position, company, and basic information in straight type (add color if you must). Again, this is not the place to throw in a self-serving tag like, “The World’s Leader in ….” Drop it. Your signature should be limited to three lines, four lines max.

RULE SIX: Do not send attachments

Like the signature rule, following the attachment rule will keep you from the junk mail folder. It’s tempting because we love our colorful graphics and beautiful documents, but don’t do it. It’s also considered rude to send something that will use up precious hard drive space without being asked to do so. If you must provide a sample of your work, do it through an HTML link that the recipient can follow.

BONUS: 35 words to avoid being sent to spam filter purgatory

Purgatory, how’s that for another medieval concept? Here are 35 words NEVER to use in your email because they have been deemed as being associated with spam according to Josiane Chriqui Feigon in her terrific book Smart Selling on the Phone and Online:

free
specials
market
no obligation
gift
bonus
offer
bargain
click
limited time
marketing
advertising
deal
discount
ads
sales
pleasure
sell
pricing
lowest prices
shopping
guarantee
clearance
package
renewal
final days
finance
just released
performance

That was until this week when Google opened up GVoice to everyone. With it ready for wide release, I thought I’d dust off my account and see if Google could sell me on it this time.

I think it has. Last summer, I saw potential at home where my wife and I had recently dropped our landline. Making use of GVoice’s call forwarding to multiple lines, we could still offer a single phone number with family voicemail while only carrying our cell phones. While that may have it’s uses, it wasn’t enough for me to adopt the service.

But for the solopreneur, the features become more rich. I’m not a proponent of acting bigger than you are. On the other hand, I think we can agree there’s no harm in a little more professionalism. Like shaving. Daily. Or giving your business a dedicated line, as opposed your cell phone. GVoice gives you the ability to truly control your business telephone communication. It’s a (mostly) clean break. You can use the messaging to speak directly to your business audience, not them AND your friends, family, or the guy picking up the free couch you put on Craiglist.

So now your customers, prospects, vendors, and contractors have their own number. And your business voicemail sounds all professional and stuff. But it gets better. In GVoice, you can assign callers to groups. If you want all your regular clients to have their own message, or ring to a certain phone, do it. Even make it a more personal experience by addressing the specific company or individual in the recording.

The feature list rolls on. Rather read your messages? Google transcribes them (though this feature still needs some work in the accuracy department). Annoying sales calls? Mark them as Spam and never see them again. Then, try saving some money on texts and use GVoice to send them.

There’s much more to be found if you sign up. And it’s free. For the solopreneur, I think it offers great value by managing your business line as it’s own entity and giving your customers a better experience in the process.

Will you use Google Voice for your business? How?

I went online and did searches for this (widely reported) problem and fixes. Evidently the problem is not with the OS itself, but with fonts that are broken or duplicated. It’s not clear why they are suddenly causing problems in the new release, but the remedy is to fix the fonts, not ditch the upgrade. Fixes that worked for me:

1. Run Apple’s built-in Font Book. Under Collection, click on All Fonts, then select all the fonts in your library:

   
   

   

   
   

   Now go to the File menu and choose Validate Fonts. Do what needs doing to remove duplicates and broken fonts.

   
   

   This may have been sufficient to fix the problem, but being OCD — and having hundreds of fonts from myriad sources, all managed by FontExplorer Pro — I did three more steps that were recommended by folks out there on the Internets:

   
   

2. Ran FontDoctor over the system fonts; all okay. Then I ran it over my entire font collection and threw out a bunch of junk so that I won’t be introducing more broken fonts into my active font folders.
   
   
3. Cleared the Firefox cache. (Firefox -> Preferences -> Advanced)
   
   
4. Closed all running applications, then used the Terminal to type in the magic incantation to clear the system font cache:  sudo atsutil databases -remove
   
   
5. Immediately restarted my Mac.

   
   

All problems cleared up and my fonts are all fresh and shiny clean.

For more information on this problem, see these Apple support forum threads: “10.6.4 Totally Destroys Your Fonts” and “Fonts got f***ed up after I updated to 10.6.4.” See also this quick overview on Mac font issues, and this awesomely detailed online manual on font management in Mac OS X.