Archive for December 2005

Nothing profound comes to mind as we enjoy the last day and week of this month and this year. But you may have thoughts and you might want to record them for later reviewing. Quick Online Tips provides a list of resources for sending emails to yourself or someone else in the future. In 9th grade, my classmates opened letters they wrote to themselves a few years earlier (I wasn’t in the school at the time).

When I was in a leadership program, we wrote our goals for the two-year program and opened the goals at the end of the program. It’s fascinating to review earlier thoughts.

What are your hopes and goals for 2006? My first priority is to cherish my family and do what I can to surprise and delight my clients.

Well, actually, I’d like to get well first. I’ve been battling what I thought was a cold for the past two weeks and then I started having vertigo and knew it was a sinus infection. Got antibiotics, but still fatigued and dealing with vertigo. It’s frustrating not being 100% for the kids and my clients. So first order of 2006, get well!

Happy New Year!

* AJAX Translator translates while you type.

* Writely lets teams share documents online and securely.

* ThinkFree Office Online lets you open, edit, and create Office documents through its online service.

* Zoho Writer is for creating a document, editing it, and sharing it with anyone.

New Year resolutions… whether or not you make ‘em or believe in ‘em, here’s one book that can help you improve your life. It has worked for many others and me. We had a health scare yesterday in which my daughter and mother-in-law were panicking. I remained calm for most of it (which is amazing in itself) because I knew we could be worrying over nothing. Using QBQ (see below), I kept asking myself, “What can I do about this?” Everything is A-OK and we’re thankful things turned out the way they did.

In his previous book, QBQ! The Question Behind the Question, John G. Miller shows how to change our thinking by asking questions in a different way. In Flipping the Switch, Miller provides more examples on how to ask questions to hold ourselves accountable in work and life. Doing this leads to five advantages Miller calls the Advantage Principles:

*Learning

*Ownership

*Creativity

*Service

*Trust

The book takes only an hour to read and quickly pulls someone out of the doldrums and changes them into a ball of energy, hence Flipping the Switch. Asking QBQ helps us avoid becoming defensive and pointing fingers and changes a person’s thinking from “It’s her fault” to “How can I fix this?” [ More ]

This season has seen a lot of potshots at Christmas and its surrounding traditions. But not me. I’m going to tell you exactly what you want to hear as I put it in my annual letter to friends.

[Fill in blank with apropos greeting] [Fill in blank with holiday of choice]!!!

Now let’s see if anyone can find something wrong with that.

If you desperately want to say, “Merry Christmas” to folks and fear getting backlash… say it in a different language. I recommend staying away from “Feliz Navidad” and “Joyeaux Noel” because most people know what they mean in English. Oh dang it, now I’ve got the Felix Navidad song going in my head (it comes and goes every Christmas and it started in 1980 when we sang it in 5th grade Spanish!).

prying1 posted two versions of holiday greetings… Democrat and Republican.

Avert Your Eyes did a smart thing. Cleared her holiday greeting with her attorney. She also shared a politically correct holiday story.

Toby posted the Holiday Excuse Generator. Oh dear… I just spread the virus further. The link doesn’t take you straight to the generator thanks to Flash as the link doesn’t change. Click on “Excuses, Excuses, Excuses.”

Free ebooks from eReader. New book every day till January 1.

NTI Shadow 2 backup program for $0.99 (yes, that’s less than one dollar) through December 31 and then it returns to its regular price of $29.99. The Dallas Morning News gave it mixed reviews (not online yet). PC Magazine gave it good reviews, but several users didn’t.

Successful blogger, Robert Scoble, and co-author Shel Israel, push businesses to blog and explain why it would benefit them. The “naked” in the title represents talking straight to the readers rather than filtering the blog’s contents through company public relations, lawyers, executives, and phoniness.

The book starts with a foreword from Tom Peters and proceeds to show why blogging is an efficient way for businesses to communicate with customers, prospects and the world at large. The authors go back in time and give an overview of blogging’s history. Many examples appear to show how companies have benefited from blogging. [ More ]

From the Sponsor: A blog on hair restoration? Indeed!

David Strom wrote great commentary about a recent trip where he took his usual geeky devices and books made from trees instead of bits and bytes. I’ve got hundreds of ebooks on my computer and never bother to load them on my handheld devices because I know I won’t read them.

Why do I bother keeping these ebooks? From time to time — when I’m researching a topic or need help — I search through the ebooks.

I don’t get it. I don’t get why people charge exorbitant rates for ebooks considering there’s no paper or warehouse fees involved. I’ve yet to read an ebook that was as memorable as a book.
(more…)

At a time when shopping is big as well as returning items, we find items that don’t work or live up to our expectations. Rather than just complain, do something about it. It might surprise you. I bought two Miss a Kits and the pen didn’t work on either one. I wrote the company about it and the company promptly sent me replacements.

In another situation, my Microsoft mouse stopped working. Microsoft’s customer service was easy to reach and will send a replacement as soon as it’s in stock. On the flip side, I contacted Logitech support to ask questions and it was one of the longest, most tortuous support calls.

The Dallas Morning News had an article on the topic and how to best go about product problems. The article included an interview with Tim Duffy, a consumer evangelist who says he’s not a fan of sites like Planet Feedback.
(more…)

In his previous book, QBQ! The Question Behind the Question, John G. Miller shows how to change our thinking by asking questions in a different way. In Flipping the Switch, Miller provides more examples on how to ask questions to hold ourselves accountable in work and life. Doing this leads to five advantages Miller calls the Advantage Principles:

* Learning

* Ownership

* Creativity

* Service

* Trust

The book takes only an hour to read and quickly pulls someone out of the doldrums and changes them into a ball of energy, hence Flipping the Switch. Asking QBQ helps us avoid becoming defensive and pointing fingers and changes a person’s thinking from “It’s her fault” to “How can I fix this?”

This follow-up book divides the examples into the five advantage principles to demonstrate how each principle works. It’s not necessary to read QBQ! before reading this one as the concept is easily recaptured, but QBQ! is also a fast and enjoyable read and seeing more examples gives you more ideas on how to ask the question in a different way.

Whenever you feel down or frustrated, grab this book and get instantly energized, ready to tackle anything that comes your way. While reading the book, I had a situation with my daughter. My husband was getting angry about it while I remained calm and asked QBQ questions.

Changing habits usually doesn’t happen quickly, but QBQ can. Spend one hour with this book and save hours of needless aggravation and wasted time on handling things the wrong way.

Title: Flipping the Switch… : Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability Using the QBQ!
Author: John G. Miller
Publisher: Putnam Adult
ISBN: 0399152954
Date: December 2005
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 144
Cover Price: USD: $19.95 Amazon: $13.57

The last issue of eNewsletter Journal for 2005 reviews the year and offers advice on marketing the invisible… services.

Couldn’t help but carry the “reflect back on ’05″ theme with Shavlik’s Remediator Security Digest’s December issue. The feature searches for lessons learned from the year’s biggest viruses, worms, adware, and malware.

Has this ever happened to you? “Hey, since I have you here… can you look at this?” This could be the computer where an icon has disappeared, a strange-looking freckle on an arm, or a contract. Should we draw the line between our professional and personal lives when people ask for help in something we’re experts in? Many are passionate about this topic as we received one of the most feedback ever in the history of the newsletter.

The latest question asks about users and passwords. Have you seen a password on a sticky note recently? Or maybe in the drawer next to the computer? What does it take to get serious about passwords?

I want to thank Kelli M., my secret santa, for the great surprises — not one, but TWO books. I’m such a sucker for books. She sent On Bullshit and Words Fail Me.

Successful blogger, Robert Scoble, and co-author Shel Israel, push businesses to blog and explain why it would benefit them. The “naked” in the title represents talking straight to the readers rather than filtering the blog’s contents through company public relations, lawyers, executives, and phoniness.

The book starts with a foreword from Tom Peters and proceeds to show why blogging is an efficient way for businesses to communicate with customers, prospects and the world at large. The authors go back in time and give an overview of blogging’s history. Many examples appear to show how companies have benefited from blogging.

Also included are interviews with the executive bloggers whose names appear in just about every article on business blogging: Mark Cuban, Bob Lutz, and Jonathan Schwartz. But they also talk with other lesser known business bloggers.

The book has an easy to read and understand writing style so anyone who barely knows anything about blogging will be able to grasp it. The authors clearly point out the dos and don’ts when blogging. Not only do they cover how to blog, but also how to get involved in the conversations instead of doing things one-way (always talking and never listening). As a long-time blogger, I believe the tips and advice hit the bull’s eye. Those participating in blog conversations for over a year will most likely be familiar with many of the stories covered in the book.

Even those who have been blogging benefit from the book especially the advice for how to do it right and make the most of blogging. I picked up a few things and I’ve been involved with blogging before its first application came to life. The book focuses on business blogging rather than those who treat it like a diary or a personal journal. But no matter the kind of blogger you are, remember that a future employer could find your blog.

But what about those who haven’t been baptized in the world of blogging? This well-rounded book should give them all they need to get familiar with blogging and will save a lot of time. Those of us who started earlier had to learn through reading stories and trial and error. Learn how blogging has changed business communications and what strategies businesses should consider when diving into the world of blogging.

I believe there are more reasons not to blog than what’s covered in chapter 9′s “The Thorns in the Roses.” This chapter could be expanded further as it practically says anyone can blog except people like Saddam Hussein, those in the security field, boring people, and those full of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Just like anything in business, I believe that a company needs to evaluate whether or not a blog fits their model. However, it’s vital that companies follow the conversations and hear what’s said about their product, service, and industry.

With this book, readers get a well-rounded overview of blogging and how to make it work for businesses even during times of a business crisis. Of course, blogging isn’t all rosy and the authors cover the dark side. Thanks to blogs, people have gotten fired, employees have shared company confidential information with the public, and companies’ reputations have gone downhill because they didn’t listen to the blogosphere (the blogging world).

I recommend the book to any business that blogs, those considering it, and executives who don’t understand what the deal is with blogging. An employee who can’t convince upper management the virtues of blogging, or at least listening to the conversations, might be able to change their minds with this book’s help. For existing bloggers, the book is a great resource especially the last chapters that cover the problems with blogging, how to do it right, what not to do, and most important, how not to get fired for blogging.

Title: Naked Conversations: How Blogs Are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers
Author: Robert Scoble and Shel Israel
Publisher: Wiley
ISBN: 047174719X
Date: January 2006
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 272
Cover Price: USD: $24.95 Amazon: $16.47