Category Archives: Opinions
RSS isn’t Dead – It’s Purpose Has Changed
April 26th, 2012Firstly, I know this topic has been covered to death (Google found 96 000 occurrences of the phrase “RSS is Dead”), but it concerns me as to why this conversation ever started in the first place. Ever since I started bookmarking my favourite websites, I was yearning for an easy way to keep alerted – without clogging my inbox – as to when my most visited websites posted new information. Opening multiple browser windows (this is pre-tabs we are talking here), with a start menu bar completely filled with IE icons was not an efficient way of staying up to date online.
Then came the ATOM format, followed by RSS, and finally I could visit one location, check all the updates and click-thru to read further if I wanted to. Brilliant invention!
Next, RSS Readers moved to the cloud and now thanks to products like Google Reader, I can check my RSS feeds on any device that I have with me. It could never have been better for webmasters and readers! The webmasters/editors could see what kind of loyal readership they possessed, which gave them some increase of power over the advertisers to command more money. The readers were happy because they could pick and choose the articles they wanted to read and not have to check every website individually. What more could someone ask for?
It turns out that people wanted to discuss articles and information online. And thanks to the rise of social media, like never before this could happen in a very convienent way – even if the website did not have a commenting system in place. And I think this where the whole “RSS is Dead” chant is stemming from. The whole reason people wanted to keep updated on their favourite websites was to get information quickly and easily from a source that was trustworthy. Since they could not often speak directly to the webmaster or editor, they had to rely on the information being pushed to them. Now though, people can ‘follow’ and ‘like’ individual people or brands, and pull information from them whenever they like, rather than waiting for a blog post announcement.
And that is my attempt to explain and boost the dead arguement.
The New Use for RSS (post Social Media)
So here is why I think RSS is not going to die, but rather just be used in a different way. And it actually follows on nicely from my previous point. The above paragraphs come from my own personal experience online in relation to how I stay current. The really important people/sites/businesses I care most about – I follow extremely closely on social networks because I get to build the relationship and receive near instant responses to my queries.
There is, however, another set of feeds that have replaced those that were lost in my Reader, and the funny thing it is also relates to social media. This new group of feeds purely exists in there to provide fuel for my personal social media strategy. I read a whole bunch in order for me to share the information with those in my personal, online and business circles. I feel obligated to do so, because I get so much from others and I want to pay forward more good articles.
And I know I can do the same thing by getting my news and information straight from a Twitter/LinkedIn feed, I think I can add more value if I am the original source of the share – rather than just see me with a Twitter page full of RTs from other people. Plus the fact there is a little bit of ego involved in being the first to share something awesome, I am not going to lie to you.
And there is no way I could fulfil the above actions without having RSS. So webmasters/bloggers and businesses – do not listen to the mob that is constantly proclaiming doom and gloom, and help us share you information and grow our own reputation and your readership.
Good Old Fashioned Customer Service
April 7th, 2012I am really starting to almost resent this digital age in which we live. It has been something I have been pondering for a while when I have a spare minute out of the 1440 available to me each day.
And since it’s the time when I go to update my personal website with a few of the things that I have done in the last 4 months (trust me it has been a crazy Q1), I discovered this unfinished thought/post that had been sitting in my drafts for longer than I want to reveal.
It comes from the fact that I have always loved the combination of products and the service. Magazines, CDs, and vinyl records made up 50% of my budget when I was a teenager and I still have kept many of the ones that I really was excited to purchase. And I don’t just mean the local news agent or JB store. I am talking the specialist ones from Newtown to the city where the complete experience existed along with the love of the products.
And I feel that the elements that make up that tangible experience: the smell, the sound, and the interaction with those that loved the same things I do, is unfortunately disappearing.
Those of us that work online everyday are punishing ourselves trying to replicate the above experience on the Internet. This is the truly impossible dream (much like owning your own home in Sydney), because the medium of a machine and the interface of a screen and an input is not even close to how your naturally purchase.
What online does really well is information and convenience – not experience. I don’t even think about buying something now without asking my social network and researching (I don’t want to use the G verb) online anymore – because I know that that channel is gives me what I need to go to the next step.
And I am willing to put up making 50 clicks and stepping through some awful, clunky and unintuitive UIs to get the large bulky stuff delivered straight to my door.
For those 2 major benefits though, I miss quite a lot. I don’t get personal friendly service, I don’t get the chance to build a relationship and get the benefits of a joke or a flirt in exchange for another 5% off. I don’t get to go for a coffee after and enjoy the day and gloat to my friends about my amazing purchase. And I am most definitely not remembered by anyone in the website – I am just another blob of data and an order to process.
Would you rather an algorithm and some SQL queries tell you about the latest news or product releases, or someone who becomes a mate down at the local store who calls you personally and knows you well enough to determine whether or not something is right for you?
This isn’t a memorial tribute to bricks and mortar stores. Nor am I calling for a massive change in how online stores operate.
What I am yearning for someone to do with traditional retail experience, is to give me something when I walk into your store that I cannot get online: good, old-fashioned customer service
Props to Grill’d Surry Hills
December 2nd, 2011Just wanted to give a quick thanks to Grill’d @ Surry Hills for the awesome service. Asked if I bought something would they give me access to the wifi, and he said it isn’t the policy to stop all the uni students mooching free Internet.
However it is currently Friday @ 6pm.
And I am very charming…
So he gave me VIP access to the Wi-Fi! #winning
So now I will be a customer for life at this particular Grill’d and just going that extra mile for a customer made my awesome day even more awesome!
Thanks guys!
Respect to Matt Mullenweg
August 30th, 2011Even though I have been a WordPress user, themer, and developer for about 5years, I had actually spent little time being active in the community or finding out more about the people and the company behind one of the greatest success stories in open source CMS platforms.
The fact that the software controls so much of the Internet’s content and distribution after 5 years is a massive credit to him and his team. I have a new found respect for the software.
But more importantly it is the decisions he has made toward the community and that is what I have think has caused the uptake in the installations and support for the software. He found his market, got the people behind the product, and let things progress from there.
And that brings us to his State of the Word 2011 presentation. I had not previously seen any of the other keynotes, but I was thoroughly impressed by this one. Definitely worth 40min of your time if you are a WordPress user or developer. I have embedded it here:
What Matt has motivated me to do
After watching this video I was definitely inspired to create something more than ever. To see someone create a piece of work he is so proud of and to have gained respect from a community and have it reflected in installations is something I would definitely love to be a part of.
I know it won’t happen over night, but I do know it will take hard work and the right idea to get off the ground. And starting later this year, hopefully I will be finishing a piece of web based software to be distributed, forked and improved by developers over the globe.
I have the vision and the ability, if only I could find the time…
Watched Inside Job the Movie
July 8th, 2011
After a busy day at work, many people wouldn’t have picked a documentary on the GFC to unwind to on a Friday night. However tonight, I did. Joined by my Dad, for the next 2hours of our life we were shocked and appalled at what we learnt. We both thought we had a fairly good understanding of the issues around the crisis, but what we failed to release is how far back the corruption started.
To think that a first world country could so be completely blind to what was occurring around them; to be so cocky and arrogant to think it wouldn’t catch up to them; and the audacity to pay performance bonuses to these criminals year after year proves to me that this world is a truly disgusting place to live.
Whilst other nations prevented with regulations what America allowed to happen since what appears to pre-date the Clinton administration tells me that money doesn’t not only buy taste but brains as well.
The smugness of these men’s faces repulsed me as well, especially when the questions were tricky and the evidence was stacked against them. Their suits must be made from material that cuts all emotion from reaching the heart, if one ever existed in the first place.
But it gets worse because do you want to know the most shocking thing you discover in this documentary? The fact that Obama selected the same men that caused this global recession in the first place, the very men that destroyed the entire globe’s economy, back into positions of authority in the government – or at the very least in advisory roles!
Someone needs to please explain to me how on earth this is possible, and what words or strategies could vommit out of the mouths of those men that could improve the situation of the world.
Business Vibes Are Amazing
June 16th, 2011Not until today (and last night’s haze of inspiration) did I fully realise how important it is to be surrounded by like minded individuals. Since I have been pretty much been a one-man-band, I have managed to focus much better than I ever did a team environment. My high school teachers would agree, every report that I received throughout my entire school life came through with “Ben has very done well, but could do even better if he didn’t distract others and stayed focused.”
But last night I caught up with some people that I really respect, in particular relating to what they have done in the startup scene here in Sydney. The whole time my mind was running at a million miles an hour, and I came back so charged and buzzed to do all these crazy things with my business.
By the time I came down off that high I actually had some time to stop and think about what actually occurred in that room. The only difference between the last few months and the couple of hours last night is that I had someone to vibe off. Someone to look at me and tell me exactly what they thought about my ideas, my approach to business, and what it takes to actually solve problems people and businesses face.
I suppose it’s the same when rappers have cyphers and musicians have jam sessions – business and music both thrive off vibes (I honestly can’t think of a better term) and together the sounds and ideas create amazing pieces of work – work that would have never existed unless there was an idea, a catalyst, mixed in with the excitement and everyone feeding off the same wavelength.
So I am planning on locating my business to that environment.
I want to thrive.
I want to create.
And I want to give something back to how people have helped me.
And the best bit of all? Is then once I leave that environment, I can spend the time with friends and family that matter to most and not bore them with all my crazy business ideas.
Essential Apps For My Business
June 1st, 2011Things have kept going from strength to strength with IDH lately and now I have gotten serious with the tools and apps I need to run the business in preparation for bringing on some more help. In fact I should have taken my own advice more seriously about setting up tools and infrastructure.
So what I thought I would share with everyone is a few of the applications I have setup and will continue to use to manage projects and people. Let me know if you have a better solution or infact want me to try out one of your services if you are have a web app you are trying to promote.
People Management Tools
This is important for both internal workers, clients and potential business buddies and people that have referred you business in the past. I find that I am using Apple’s Address Book as my primary database of people contacts (both personal and business contacts) and then can upload them and group them into my CRM/social management tool of choice. I find it better to have every single contact in one neutral spot and then divide them up into whatever tool is right for them.
CRM choice at the moment has been really difficult. There is no real solution that suits my specific needs (something I have discussed on various other websites and Twitter). So at the moment I am using HighRise for my clients and deal tracking, and for my keep in touch, I am working on a top secret project that one day I might release to the public, but at the moment it is suiting me fine.
Accounting & Invoicing
This was a difficult choice for a completely different reason to the CRM issue – in the cloud computing space there are quite a few really good apps to handle all your accounting needs. I ended up choosing Xero for a couple of reasons:
- Great look that works across most devices (iPad isn’t really the best I found).
- I had a promo code to have it for free until the 11/12 financial year.
- Personalised phone calls every week when using the free trial version.
- Bank feeds integration with my institution
Now I know a lot of the other guys have the same functionality but the thing that really put it over the edge was the promo code.
One thing that did upset me a little, none of them had a nice way out-of-the-box to manage timesheets. But hey, you can’t have it all…
Project Management
Once again, way to many choices. So I made it purely on a cosmetic and price decision. Rule FM are the ones I am using currently, mainly due to the sexiness of their platform. It is one really good looking bit of gear.
Since I am slowly moving all my projects over, I can’t really comment on how effective it is on a large scale, but it is treating me just fine at the moment.
Document Sharing
This was an easy choice because I just went with the crowd and signed up for DropBox. However, after their recent security and publicity issues, I am slowly doubting whether or not I should choose another provider. It was definitely a concern and unfortunately I do not know enough about the technology behind it to fully understand the implications. Worst case scenario is that I will set aside some space on a web server and get everyone to upload their work into there.
So thats the platforms I am using for my business, got any recommendations to make it better? Would love to know!
Working Hard for my Money
May 30th, 2011It’s been almost six months now since the business has started and it has been an incredible experience. Everything I learnt previously seemed to form the foundation of exactly what I realized I wanted to achieve. Because without that understanding of existing offerings in the web development and digital industry in Australia I couldn’t have come up with the idea of how to position myself in an extremely crowded market.
The realization didn’t hit me until early in the month of April, and now I wonder why no one has thought of it before. It’s so satisfying to hear people say I have been looking for someone like you for a while, which I guess that is what everyone in business is trying to achieve – providing real solutions to specific problems they are facing.
And now I am reaping the rewards from a good USP and smart, logical explanations to exactly how the Internet works. Doubling my client base was not something I was expecting to happen so soon, but I am so glad that it has.
I feel the heat though from overseas freelancers and I have recognized that as my true competition now. More and more people are realizing that with a little effort you can find some really good contractors. So I think everyone in the digital space needs to give all Australian businesses a reason to stay local with an offering that is not readily duplicated. And I am happy to say I think I have something that comes pretty close.
If you are an Aussie in the digital online arena, how important did you think it was to position you and your service correctly?
Im Using a KeepCup
April 1st, 2011Lately I have been doing a fair bit of reading and thinking about the situation that is occurring around the world. One thing that really shocked me is this article about trash island. And the fact that each of us can do something simple in our everyday lives to help stop this from happening really appealed to me.
So something I do a few times everyday is my cups of coffee – I need them to get through the day. And unless I am proactive and have enough sleep the night before, I am getting a disposable one from a coffee shop.
Now I was trying to find some statistics about disposable coffee cups and surprisingly there is very little specific stats or information. It is mainly just people doing guess maths (assume a coffee shop uses x kilos of coffee a day, which equates to y cups and then there are z amount of coffee shops for every million people). Whilst it gives a good estimate, I wouldn’t base my whole sustainability argument over a hypothesis.
And then the larger coffee shop chains (not just Starbucks, but each regions major coffee suppliers) pad and flesh out the numbers to make it look not as bad as it actually is.
But the fact is when there are great companies like KeepCups doing their bit by providing 100% recyclable long term coffee cups, its a very simple modification to your daily behaviour that can benefit everyone.
So whilst I am not going to turn my website into a soapbox, I just want everyone to consider taking it on board. I have been using one for the last week and I have to say that it is not really that much more inconvenient than just getting stuck with the disposable cup. All you do, is give it a quick rinse when your finished and let it dry before putting back in your bag.
But a really nice trick I have got going now is that I actually have a large one for the days that I really want a lot. But when I go to the coffee shop and only ask for a regular size and mention they don’t have to fill it all the way up – most of them do it anyway.
So basically the lesson is this: get a KeepCup, help the environment, and get a large coffee for the price of a regular.
Tools are Important
February 26th, 2011I was helping out some mates the other day in the garden in the ridiculously hot Sydney sun the other weekend. Now I don’t mind giving mates a hand because I know the reward of a beer or bbq is not far away from sweat dripping down my face. But with my analytical head clocking on for some manual labour, I was pleasantly surprised to learn something new.
There was at least 4 of us working on the garden, needing to spread around some mulch. We had the mulch already dropped off. We had plenty of shovels, plenty of hands (I’ll save you from doing the maths – there were 8), and we all knew exactly what we had to do (nice clearly defined task).
However – there was just one problem – we only had a single wheelbarrow.
Now on it’s own, that necessarily a bad thing. One shovels, one pushes the barrow, and a couple of us spread it around. What we soon discovered though is that there will always be at least 2 of us doing absolutely nothing (besides perspiring) for around 3min.
We did not have enough equipment and tools.
And then I got thinking about businesses and organisations. You can have all the talent you want, with the brains, looks, and charisma to lead teams to greatness – but they will only end up frustrated if they don’t have the right equipment.
We eventually used some lateral thinking and started filling smaller buckets and coming up with a chain-gang style production line to help get the mulch to the spreaders (is that the correct term…?) and that improved our productivity slightly.
But it was not even close to our full potential.
Lesson: Get the infrastructure and the resources sorted, then bring the talent, otherwise you will end up with less than their full potential, or even worse, doing nothing whilst they await their tools.
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