Sixty Second Tech

Do you know what they are saying about you out there? You really should. To find out what people are saying about you on the web you have two choices. You can read each and every web site every day or you can find someone who already does who will let you know what they find.

Since reading each and every web site every day cuts into my freecell time, I chose plan B. Now if we just knew someone who read everything on the web…oh wait, we do, Google! Yes, that’s right everybody’s big brother google actually likes to use their power for good instead of evil; which is good because the SEO lobby has cornered the market on evil.

Go to Google dot com slash alert. Enter the email address you want to send the alert to. Then enter your name, your company name, your product name, your best friends name, your dog’s name, whatever you want to search for. Volia! You have an alert. Seriously, every day that Google comes across your search term in any of it’s spidering, it will send you an email.

Stop sneaking out to google and entering your name hoping no one will see you vanity searching, let google do it for you! Keep an eye on what people are saying about you, who knows…it might be good!

My name is Cal Evans and I am, your Sixty Second Tech.

 

 Do You Know What They Are Saying About You? [1:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

So your web project has grown up and all of a sudden you need a programmer. But how do you find the right one. Here’s a tip, go to meetup.com and find a nearby PHP users group. If there’s not one in your area, go to phpdeveloper.org and ask them to post your need.

Once you get a few candidates, yes, you will need more than one. Sit them down and describe your project in as much detail as you can. Here, one of three things will happen.

They will smile and say “Yeah, I can do that.” To which you reply in a loud voice “NEXT!” If they think they can build your project based on your first description, they either don’t really understand or are desperate, neither are qualities you are looking for.

Or, they will smile and say “Yeah, but if we…” NEXT!

If they already have ideas on how to make your idea better then they spent the entire time daydreaming and not listening to you.

Or, they will smile and say “Let me see if I understand…” BINGO! We have a winner.

Now, negotiate a price that is fair. No, they don’t want a piece of the action, they want cash and they are going to want some of it upfront. Make sure you both sign an agreement before you discuss the project any further though.

My name is Cal Evans and I am your Sixty Second Tech.

 

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You’ve got a website, a shopping cart, even an rss feed; you are 100% buzzword compliant for the Web 2.0 The only thing you don’t have is traffic. So you do what every good web entrepreneur does, you find an SEO expert who says they can help you rank higher.

Of course Google is doing it’s dead-level best to make sure that on-page elements like keywords and descriptions are worth about as much as Enron stock these days. But hey, handing over money to a consultant who can’t provide you with measurable proof of ROI is a time honored tradition.

Here, let me save you a few Benjamins. There is one magic bullet that will improve your rankings on google more than any SEO expert. Write this down because I’m sure the SEO Illuminati will be after me soon.

Be Relevant

I know, I know, it sounds too simple, right? Understand, google is not the enemy. They want to server your site up for relevant searches, it’s what they do for a living. So take that money you were going to invest in SEO and buy your programmer that new Mac they’ve been begging for. Then get out there and write some relevant copy.

Go Relevant or Go Home!

My name is Cal Evans and I am your Sixty Second Tech.

 

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Ok, you’ve got an idea and it needs a home on the web. You don’t need much but you don’t know where to start. So you call your friend who is a web designer. She of course decides you need a programmer. By the way, did she mention her hourly rate and oh yeah, she’s got a friend who does hosting. Your four or five little pages just grew into a two week project with a deposit.

Now, I’ll share a secret with you that I’m sure will piss-off the programmer’s guild; WordPress can be used as a simple CMS.

Here are the five magic steps to web freedom.

1. Get a hosting account with someone you trust and not the one that gives your designer friend a kickback.
2. Grab Wordpress form wordpress.org and follow the five minute install.
3. Google for “Free Wordpress Themes”, pick one you like and install it.
4. Log in and write your content as Pages, not posts. You will understand when you see the admin interface.
5. In the Admin Interface, select “Options->Reading” and tell it that the front page should be a static page and which page you want to be the front page.

There, you’ve got your new site, no designer, no programmer and no deposit.

My name is Cal Evans and I am your Sixty Second Tech.

 

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So, it’s 2008, the third consecutive year of the mobile. The only difference is that this year you boss walks into your office and asks you if you have finished developing the company’s mobile strategy.

Now at this point you could admit that you’ve been using your research money to buy Lattes at Starbucks. However, I’m going to share with you a strategy. Listen closely because I’m not going to share it with just everyone.

Twitter

Yes, you heard me right, twitter.com is the secret to your company’s mobile strategy.

Twitter has a great API which means that your programmer can easily integrate it with your current CRMS. Don’t get me started if you don’t already have a CRMS.

The great thing is though, if your goal is to communicate with customers via web and SMS, twitter will let you dip your toe in the water and see if you have any customers who even want to communicate with you that way. If you do, great! Hire dozens of programmers and start flinging code (it’s a technical term) However, if you do venture into this brave new world and find that you are all alone, well you’ve minimized the risk to your company and are the hero for not having wasted money on what is obviously a fad.

My Name is Cal Evans and I am your Sixty Second Tech.

 

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Sixty Second Tech delivers what it promises, a weekly 60 second podcast that explores one concept, technology, tip or trick that you need to be aware of.

Sixty Second Tech is the technology podcast for non-technology people.

We don’t read code and we don’t talk in buzzwords. We just discuss new technologies using plain English.

You won’t master a new technology listening to a sixty second podcast, for that matter, you won’t master any technology just listening to any podcast. Our goal is to plant a seed, give you something to think about in your downtime during the day.

We want to spark an idea, we like to watch the fireworks!

So join us each week and …think for a minute.

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