TechChix Thinks Aloud

Because for some time now I have been disturbed by the vast number of blog authors who publish eBooks and dispense advice on how YOU TOO can become the next great blog author. Ha. Not to mention the multitude of useless web sites that don’t tell me anything I don’t already know.

This webmonkey post says it all.

The days of Web 2.0 luxury - where John Smith from Nowhere, America - can setup a blog, put google ads on it, and make a million bucks in under a year.

The glut of information on the internet makes the gleaning process frustrating. And all the while I fight with those stupid ads and know-nothing wannabe’s who feel they have the best kept secret since sliced bread.

So. I feel smug right about now. Why? Because I don’t believe in Google ads. I believe in good content. I believe that if what I write interests, informs, intrigues, or starts a thoughtful conversation between people… then I am succeeding. And I only follow people who do the same. I don’t need to read a web site that regurgitates headlines, fails to provide a new/interesting perspective, and in general posts nothing but junk that seeks to improve SEO and therefore drive more traffic to their ads. BLECH.

And the end of Web 2.0 was really visible some time ago, and I think I first noticed it from a design perspective. As a graphics designer, it became clear at least 8 months ago that the trends were no longer preeeettyy, rounded bubble, candy bright colored… web sites. Now we see serious design, less flash, more content. Forget the candy-colored buttons. Meh.

No wonder Google is redoing their search engine constantly. Nobody wants to read crap anymore.

I think the new trend will be based on intellectual property - idea development, etc. And then people will clamor for everyone to work more collaboratively and share ideas. Just my opinion.

October 12th, 2008 | Tags: design, ranting, SEO, web 2.0 | Category: | |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

Here’s my FREE business idea for someone who wants to pick up the ball here…

Create a company whose sole purpose is to make your moving easier. They don’t just pack your stuff, move it to the new location and unpack you - they do even more.

They facilitate the process by schedule you to go on vacation during the move, take care of updating all your business relationships with your new address (magazines, newspapers, bills, utilities, etc), they get your new driver’s license, make extra copies of your house key, line your new kitchen cabinets, clean your old place, and…. put clean sheets on the bed so that when you come home from your vacation your new house is already setup and you have clean sheets on the bed.

(I just moved and it’s still fresh in my mind how much I HATE this process…)

October 3rd, 2008 | Tags: free idea, moving | Category: | |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

Thanks, Ben. Your post was thought-provoking and needs to be said by SOMEONE for goodness sake. I think my only addition to his post would be this:

A trade association, or other similar organizations, whose sole purpose is to serve their paying membership, should not focus on serving the lowest common denominator all the time. Too often - in my daily work for an association - the question (any question really) receives the answer: “Do it the same way as last year.” And while repetition of previous success does have its place, I think more is to be gained from trying new methods because even bad ideas that prove to be wrong help us all LEARN something. As Ben said, once you crossed the ocean in a boat and now we fly. The result is the same but the method is more effective.

And here comes the ultimate question… how does everyone combine their talents, interests, passions into one mission? Where is the place that is safe for new ideas to emerge, and solid/proven ideas can merge into the kind of forward movement that carry associations into new territory? I seek that place.

July 23rd, 2008 | Category: | |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

… but one of the questions I frequently get from people who want to get into technology - more specifically social media and blogging - is how they can garner a higher page ranking. So…. let me share some secrets with you. I preface this with the fact that I believe in full disclosure, and I do not think there is a secret. However. I have know many bloggers or techno-snobs who prefer to keep information to themselves. Which I think is just stupid, quite frankly. So here are some tips from me to you.

Search Engine Ranking. I don’t use any specific tools to achieve a high ranking, but I do use some surefire techniques. Before I get ahead of myself - let me make a strong point. Go ahead and look up “ainsley mcdougal” or “techchix” in Google, yahoo, ask.com, msn, dogpile, and altavista - the predominantly ranked entries on the first page come up and legitimately credit back to me. How did I get there? By methodically building my online “cred” over time.

When I sign-up for a new site, I almost always get Techchix as my username. Which is a kind of branding online - at least to search engines. Even though I read most web sites thru my google reader, I take the time to thoughtfully respond to posts which actually interest me or ones where I have VALUABLE commentary to provide. I give the link-love to those whom I read, enjoy and admire/respect.

I focus my efforts intentionally. Once upon a time I toyed with putting google ads on my site, but ultimately decided that I prefer to freely contribute to the mass of knowledge on the net. AND I don’t really believe people, you or me, should make money from that. To be honest, I never click on ads from anyone else’s site, nor do I use those as my source of shopping for anything. REALLY. You would do better to focus on providing information, or just using a blog to spout your own opinions and thoughts.

My third good tip for you is something that has LONG peeved me about other blogs. WHY do bloggers insist on posting pictures that not only do not relate to their post, but do not help make a point? I am very tired of this type of blogging.

Lastly, I do not offer a feedburner option because I prefer to subtly track loyal readers via other means. The key word being subtle. My stats are every bit as effective and I let people subscribe to the RSS readily via the domain name in the reader of their choice. No need for me to email my posts. Some would call this counterintuitive, but it makes sense to treat my readers how I want to be treated.

That’s all I’m willing to share at this time, hopefully this helps someone.

July 23rd, 2008 | Category: | |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

two converging factors have contributed to my decision to disable comments on my blog. first, i received over 1,200 spam comments on my blog last week alone. second, spamkarma2 is no longer in development by its creator and eventually someone will crack it. so if you want to email me directly its techchix-at-gmail-dot-com.

lastly, i have always thought seth godin had it right in the first place.

July 22nd, 2008 | Category: | |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

So. technical issues abound which is why i have been absent so much as of late in the blogosphere. Wordpress upgrades not going well - although I’ve heard 2.6 is great. For some reason, while testing, my posts disappear from the page. (weird, right?) Then we’re trying to upgrade servers and make DNS changes… I’m not sure why 1-and-1 is having issues, but they seem incapable of doing what I need. THIS is why I want to host my own servers, have my husband manage it himself, and just forget dealing with vendors. Two words for you… CUSTOMER SERVICE.

(sigh) In other news, I am now an iPhone 3g 16GB owner. WOOHOO! And yes, I LOVE it. Years ago, dreaming of the perfect PDA phone… I think apple Grokked me and answered the call. So we are officially a fully MAC household. We have 1 inadequate pc for compatibility testing on our website designs, but that’s it. Why did I wait so long to make the switch?

More to come soon and if someone has tips for converting…I’m open to suggestion. Might have to bring in the big guns for this one.

July 22nd, 2008 | Category: | |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

I met Aaron at BlogPotomac, and ever since I’ve been avidly following his blog. He published this post and I want to link it so that all my readers - blogger and non-blogger alike - could get an understanding of what constitutes an acceptable line for online opining.

Did any of you read the article about that art student at Mount Holyoke who created an art project using fellow students online pictures?

I’m going to leave you all with that thought for today… go ahead - send me emails. (I know you will)

PS - Yes. This means I’m officially back from hiatus and posting again. (quit sending emails)

June 23rd, 2008 | Category: | |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

I read a post recently on Acronym and it reminded me of a process I often observe among decisions-makers. Given my experience in owning a technology company, I have worked with a multitude of clients. Do you know what I ask most often? What are you trying to accomplish?

June 20th, 2008 | Category: | |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

If I may make an observation… It has bothered me tremendously for quite some time that all manner of bloggers (business and personal hobbyists) make use of a variety of tools to generate money from their thoughts, observations and ideas. Now, it is true that these are all predominantly new intellectual property of the individual blogger. Above all, I applaud individual thought. Seriously. If you have an opinion, the internet is for you. And I am willing to wade through the masses to find out whose opinion interests me.

Now. Having said that, I would like to clear my throat and make a very important observation. One that most people, in their money-grubbing lust for power and riches… neglect. Yes, I said they neglect it.

Here it is… People like things for free. And I believe they should get it. Oh, I’m not a socialist and I don’t give away my time and efforts for free. But when someone asks my professional opinion, and I sense that they are genuine in their desire to hear it. I give it. For that reason alone, I have more loyal clients and supporters than ones that I have gained through any kind of advertising. Anyone familiar at all with marketing techniques, know that statistically word-of-mouth is the most valuable asset you have in marketing yourself or your services.

Let’s explore this… My husband and I own a business. (www.DigitalPure.com) We do a variety of things and we started it for several reasons.

1. We believe it is important for a married couple to share a vision or goal, towards which they work TOGETHER. Prior to our marriage we owned separate businesses, and simply merged them seamlessly after our marriage.

2. We enjoy creating web pages, logos, marketing campaigns… helping people start their own business or helping a small business owner transition onto the web or helping a charity realize a dream to have their own website presence.

3. We consider what we do to be both a business and a ministry.

4. We are very transparent about who we are and what we believe.

5. If in idle conversation, someone asks me a serious question about their site, logo or their web presence in viral or social marketing niches… I give them an honest answer.

Because of ALL these reasons, we have many LOYAL clients. Let me make a suggestion for all your bloggers out there. QUALITY. Not quantity.

In counseling our clients, we advise them in this same manner. If your goal is to come up first in google, then you have to ask yourself if you really seek to create useable content for clients or readers…. OR if you just want to be perceived as the coolest blogger on the block.

Some suggestions:

1. Quite writing e-books and selling it on your site for money. Just publish it. People will THANK YOU for sharing your knowledge, and will refer others if they find it of any benefit.

2. Using Google Ads on your site just annoys your readers, and detracts from the overall design.

3. Placing stupid and un-related cross-links in your site MAY increase your google ranking. It will not, however, engender trust and reliability to a truly devoted reader. It only annoys us.

4. Inserting pictures into your post which are un-related to the topic, JUST BECAUSE you read somewhere that people will stay longer for pictures… well, I would ask you to quite contributing to the increasingly short attention span which people claim to have… Instead, try writing good content and including pictures that actually communicate something.

5. Disgracing yourself by fighting directly with other bloggers. Some of you are saying this is hypocritical of me - I know you might think that - but you will notice I never NAME any one blogger here. They all remain anonymous if I am feeling critical about something on their site. Picking a fight with another blogger just gives us all a bad name, and creates a war that WINS NOTHING.

This concludes my post for now. There are other things I would like to add… but I can save those for another post.

March 9th, 2008 | Category: | |  Email This Post | Leave a comment