Archive for November 2004

The November issue of eNewsletter Journal went out today. A reader alerted me to an embarrassing mistake and how the order form for the blog needs improvement. Here it is in his own words:

I tried to buy the How to Start a Business Blog etc article, but when I chose Credit Card, trying to avoid PayPal hitting my checking account, I went through the entire order entry process only to be told that I had to use another email address, since PayPal already had the one I was using! Perhaps I could have chosen the “Login to PayPal” button and then used my credit card – I honestly don’t know, not using PayPal very often. Perhaps clarifying this on the payment page would be a good idea, because I was not a happy camper after doing all that entry. And you lost a $9 sale.

And speaking of communication and editing (I wasn’t, but you do), you might want to know that redemption is mispelled twice on that page. Time for an editor there, for sure.

Rather than doing what comes naturally for many of us and getting on the defensive and pointing fingers (especially since I could not find the typo, but I am sure I’m looking on the wrong page or something), I applied QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Accountability in Work and in Life and apologized, thanked him as sincerely as possible, and provided him with a complimentary copy of a product.

It feels much better to go about this route as opposed to responding the other way and indicating I had nothing to do with the typos. His suggestion isn’t something I would’ve thought of without input especially since I frequently use PayPal, so I’m grateful he pointed that out so we can improve it.

Something about the book struck a chord with me and I have only read about a fourth of it so far. I also subscribed to the QBQ Quicknotes newsletter and the stories in it are inspirational.

Books like FISH!, QBQ!, and Zapp! are short and easy to read. They pack a punch. Keeping it simple, even in books, works. Hey! Maybe there is something about having a short book with a story and with its title in all CAPS ending in ! as these three books have. It was accidental that I happened to pick these. Hmm…

I do a holiday letter every year and send them to friends so they know what’s happening with my family and I ask them about theirs. Though addressing the envelopes and such is a pain, I enjoy doing the letter and adding a wallet-sized photo of my kids to show them off. To print nine wallets on a page, you don’t have to copy the picture eight times in Word and then print it. Here’s an easier way.

I do a holiday letter every year and send them to friends so they know what’s happening with my family and I ask them about theirs. Though addressing the envelopes and such is a pain, I enjoy doing the letter and adding a wallet-sized photo of my kids to show them off. To print nine wallets on a page, you don’t have to copy the picture eight times in Word and then print it. Here’s an easier way.

In most cases, you can double-click on your photo file and it opens Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. If not, right-click on the photo file > select Open With > select Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. Before you start the process, ensure your printer is on and the computer can see it.

Now you’re ready to print. For best results, use photo paper in the photo printer. Photo printers have gotten cheap. I got mine for about $100 and it is great. Be sure to factor in the cost of replacing the ink when choosing a printer.

Click on the Print icon in the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer to start the photo printing wizard as shown in the picture.

Click Next > Find and select the picture you wish to print. You can even select multiple pictures and it will put an equal number of copies on the page. The photo wizard appears. Click Next > Select the printer > Select Printing Preferences and choose the right media type (I used Photo Paper Pro) > Click Next. Here you select what size and how many copies you wish to print.

If your picture is a wallet-sized picture, don’t choose anything bigger than wallet size because it won’t be as good quality. In other words, pick the same size or smaller rather than larger. If your picture is a 4″ x 6″ photo, you can print 4″ x 6″ copies and wallet-sized copies , but printing 8″ x 10″ won’t look good. I selected Wallet Prints and entered 9 for the number of times to use the picture. This will print nine wallet-sized pictures on one page. Click Next and it prints. Click Finish or Back if you want to print another page.

I don’t like to use pens to write the kids’ names and the date of the photo because it smears and leaves ink on other things. I know there are specialty pens for photos, but I prefer to use a label maker.

Still need four more people to sign up and complete the offer for a freeIPod. My friend is helping since my account screwed up due to their very strict rules. Here’s the sign up, if you want to help. Many thanks! Those in the US, I hope you have a fabulous Thanksgiving.

Shouting markup? What’s that? Markup that’s in all uppercase? My publisher uses Spamassassin to test email newsletters before they go out to ensure the spam score is low. He got this message:

BODY: HTML has very strong shouting markup

What the heck does that mean? I’ve searched Spamassassin‘s Web site (FAQ, archives, etc.) and THAT IS the description of the error. All other Web sites with such information say the same thing… but nothing explains what it means and what needs to be done to fix it. Anyone know?

Just like the author of this article, I wasted a lot of money staying with the same Web host company since I started meryl.net. I was afraid to change because it meant messing up my blog bookmarks, risking data loss or misplacement, and worrying if the new host’s service was going to be as good. Moving was the best thing I’ve done for my Web site and wallet. I gained huge cost savings, a faster and more responsive tech support, and more features for less money.

If you’ve been with a company for a few years, you may want to consider looking around. I know it’s hard to let go of the security you’ve had with the Web host, but the money savings, more features, and improved tech support was worth it. If you do your research, you can reduce the risk of signing up with a bad provider. You can always do a comparison of your provider against others, making a list of the features each offers. If they’re even on everything except price, take that information to your provider and perhaps the price will come down.