Tips, insights and general ramblings from Amethyst Answers

Plugin Predicament

April 14, 2013 By Christina Workman Leave a Comment

What happened?

Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last week, it was discovered that a very popular WordPress plug-in (Social Media Widget) was compromised with malware. Unfortunately, this was a plug-in that I frequently used for client sites, as well as my own, as an easy way to create icons that link to a client’s various social media pages and other contact methods (most commonly email, Facebook, and Twitter). This plug-in had a very good reputation, and apparently had been downloaded over 900,000 times.

What did I do?

At first, I was only aware that one of my client’s sites had a problem, so I set about to get it cleaned up. Once I realized this was an issue with the plug-in, I quickly set about to check out all the sites I had used it on. One other site was definitely compromised, but others were seemingly ok. For the compromised site, I immediately got rid of the plug-in and implemented a temporary fix. Then I got in touch with all my other clients to discuss the issue and how they would like me to deal with it. I didn’t want to be messing with an important part of their site (layout and contact) without their permission.

What’s next?

I decided that I wouldn’t be using that plug-in anymore, even though the author has since removed the malicious code and swears it’s safe to use again. So, now I had to figure out how to get the important contact info back up on all these sites. I looked around for a new plug-in to use, but none of them were as comprehensive as this one had been. In the end, I decided to skip the plug-in option completely. It’s just a bunch of icons and a bit of code. I can handle this on my own. So I spent a bit of time locating (and in one case creating) icons for all the sites and functions I needed, and then I coded it all myself. Not only does it look basically the same as the plug-in version, but I have more flexibility to customize it to suit each individual site better.

What’s the lesson?

Bottom line, plug-ins can be great tools, sometimes even invaluable. But sometimes it’s better to take a few extra minutes to code it yourself.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

My Next Big Thing

February 10, 2013 By Christina Workman Leave a Comment

Tag…I’m it! Ok, it’s been a few months since I was tagged in Lynn Spiro‘s post for The Next Big Thing, but those of you who know me well know that I tend to procrastinate just a touch. I hope that it’s been worth the wait. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this project, The Next Big Thing is a blog hop giving authors, and now bloggers in general, a chance to discuss their upcoming works. In addition to answering 10 questions about your next project, you tag the person who involved you, and subsequently tag others who will participate, thereby passing the torch, so to speak (or type as the case may be).

As I mentioned, my friend and colleague, Lynn Spiro, very kindly tagged me in her Next Big Thing post back in October (ooops!). Lynn is a professional organizer with a big heart, and I’ve discovered she’s quite passionate about several other things as well.

Now, without further ado, I give you: My Next Big Thing!

What is the working title of your project?

Start-up digital magazine

Where did the idea come from for the magazine?

I’ve had the honour and pleasure of meeting some great people in the early stages of starting their business. There are so many things I have learned that I want to share with them, and vice versa. This magazine will be a great place to share all kinds of knowledge and helpful information from a variety of fields: coaching, organizing, websites, etc.

What genre does your project fall under?

I don’t recall General Awesomeness being a category in the Dewey decimal system, so I guess I’ll have to go with Reference.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

This is hard to answer at this point, as the characters would be the contributors, and I have yet to approach these wonderfully talented people yet. But for my character, I’ve always been partial to Janeane Garofalo, although there’s a bit of a height difference.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your magazine?

Practical advice and information for new and almost-new businesses.

Will your magazine be self-published or represented by an agency?

Definitely self-published. The power is all mine!

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Haven’t started yet, but luckily, I won’t be writing the majority of the content. Gotta love collaboration!

What other magazines would you compare this to within your genre?

The only other digital magazines I have to compare to would be Going Pro magazine by Stephanie Pollock and Rebelations Magazine by Gina Bell.

Who or what inspired you to write this magazine?

I’m not sure where the inspiration came from…it just sort of popped into my head one day when I was thinking about a million other things. I suppose the above-mentioned mags were a factor in my inspiration.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

The great thing about a collaborative project is that the reader will have exposure and access to some great contributors. Each one will come from a different field, or represent a unique niche in that field. These will be great opportunities for readers to connect with experts that may be able to help them with their own projects in the future.

So that’s my Next Big Thing. I hope you’ll stay tuned for the eventual launch. You can be sure I’ll promote the heck out of it when it’s time!

Now I’d like to introduce you to two more people with a Next Big Thing on their horizon:

Kelvin Cech

Kelvin is a copywriter and freelance content manager at Function Writing Group in Vancouver, BC. Although he doesn’t wear an eye patch, I’m pretty sure he’s part pirate, too. He has previously published The Content Guide: How Copywriters Develop Timeless Content. Check out Function’s blog for details on Kelvin’s Next Big Thing.

Johnna Andrea Tuttle

Johnna is a spiritual teacher and president of Andreas Home Heaven on Earth. She hosts Celestial Living Radio on blogtalkradio.com and has published Celestial Marriage Reflections on Love and Faith. Check out Johnna’s blog to learn more about her Next Big Thing.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Should you post your prices on your website?

January 21, 2013 By Christina Workman Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of Pixomar / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

To price or not to price? It’s a good question, but the answer isn’t an easy one. At first, I believed firmly that you should include your rates on your website. People, myself included, like to know how much things cost. Having your prices easily accessible shows that you have nothing to hide, and you aren’t going to give different people different rates for the same service or product. I used to have my prices clearly outlined on my website, with a list of what was included for the price.

Then, one day, one of my packages had to change, due to circumstances beyond my control. I did some thinking around how to handle this change, and I thought about how companies similar to mine deal with pricing. And I thought about the services I offer. Since I implemented my packages and pricing, not a single client has wanted or needed the same services. My packages didn’t really fit what my clients need.

All of this thinking made me realize, in my situation, prices just don’t make sense. Every client’s needs are different, so I need to assess each client individually. Sure, I will have a standard rate and a standard way of deciding how much each project will cost, but ultimately, I’m not doing anybody any favours by trying to fit all projects into the same box. I really need to sit down with a client to determine their needs and how I can best meet them, and then come up with a quote, or even better, a multiple option quote.

So my answer to the question “to price or not to price?” is: it depends. If you have a product you are selling, absolutely, post your prices. If you have a service that is priced by the hour, definitely let your web visitors know. But if you are dealing with projects where no two are the same, and there are variables, there’s no shame in not posting your prices. It just wouldn’t make sense.

Filed Under: Ultimate Blog Challenge, Uncategorized Tagged With: #blogboost, pricing, websites

Resolutions getting you down?

January 16, 2013 By Christina Workman Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of AKARAKINGDOMS / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

At the beginning of this year, barely more than 2 weeks ago, I embarked on a mission. A mission to successfully complete the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Call it a resolution, goal or whatever you want. I proclaimed it and away I went, like many people do. 31 blog posts in 31 days. It seemed like a reasonable challenge. Not too easy, but not impossible. Until.

Until, like many people who set New Year’s resolutions, things start to fall apart. It becomes more difficult. We slip. Sometimes just a bit. Sometimes a bit more. For me, things were going great. It wasn’t easy, but I was managing a post a day. Then I missed one, due to a trip with my son to the hospital. A reasonable excuse for sure, but still, it was just one day. Easy enough to make up. I just need to write 2 in a day at some point.

But then, a bigger thing happened: I dislocated my knee on Saturday. Off to the hospital I went. Jacked up on morphine. No blog post that day. Or the next, as I pretty much slept off the drugs, adrenaline and whatever else your body produces to cope with such a physical trauma. Monday, I still was feeling better, but still not quite ready to focus on anything. Tuesday, I said. That will be the day I get back in the swing of things. But I had already missed 3 days in a row at this point. What’s one more? How do you get back on track? Can I even make up all those days?

It started to seem like an overwhelming task, getting back on track and finishing the challenge. But then I realized two things. First, the only way to get back into writing my posts was to just do it. I recognized it doesn’t have to be fancy. Heck, I can even write about my struggle to write. It wouldn’t be the first time!

Second, I entered this challenge as a goal for myself. And, as part of the goal, there were results I had in mind. Some of these results were to increase content on my blog and connect with more readers. I’ve already done that with what I’ve written so far! So I’m already ahead. But remember, one of the things about goals is that they are adjustable. Life happens. So, maybe I won’t get my 31 posts in 31 days (although I’m not ready to concede yet). But if I don’t, I still did a great job, and I need to get back on this blogging horse and finish out the month!

And here’s a bonus: this post about me is actually about you, too! If you have come up against an obstacle in achieving your resolution or goal, don’t let it get you down. Check in with yourself and applaud your achievements to date. Accept that you are human and life happens. Figure out what the next step is to get you back on your horse, and then take that step!

Feel free to share if you have stumbled recently and need to re-declare your goals.

Filed Under: general, Ultimate Blog Challenge Tagged With: #blogboost, goals, resolutions

5 Unforgettable Ways to Remember Ideas

January 11, 2013 By Christina Workman 2 Comments

Image courtesy of winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I had a great idea for a blog post the other day. It was quite possibly the best topic I’ve ever thought of. Ok, maybe not, but unfortunately, we’ll never know. Why? Because in my moment of extreme confidence, I was convinced I could remember it for the next few hours until I sat down to write my next post, so I didn’t write it down. And guess what….I was wrong.

A mere two hours later, I didn’t have the slightest clue what my idea was. I knew I had come up with a great idea. I could picture exactly where I was when I had this brilliant thought. I even remembered the conversation I had with myself when I had the idea: “Great idea. I should write this down. Nah, I’ll remember it.” But I didn’t have the slightest inkling of a memory of the topic.

It’s not like I was lacking a way to write my idea down. In this day and age, there are several ways to make a note somewhere so you can refer to it later. And wouldn’t you know, I’ve compiled a bit of a list for you:

1. Old Fashioned

Writing stick and parchment. Pen and paper. Whatever you want to call it, for some people, this is still their favourite way to keep notes. There’s something about holding a writing utensil in your hand and gliding it across paper.

2. Evernote

The thing I love about Evernote is I can use it from any device. I have it installed on both my computers and on my phone. It doesn’t matter which device I use to make a note, it syncs to “the cloud” and I can access it easily from any of my other devices. And if I don’t have access to one of my own devices, I can log on to any computer and get all my notes. Notes can be organized together in Notebooks, so you can keep similar things together. You can also share notebooks with other people.

3. Notes

My phone has an app called Notes. I’m sure other smart phones have a similar app or function. I mostly use this for quick bits of info, but you could write a novel on it if you really wanted to.

4. Email

The tech version of calling yourself at home and leaving a message, emailing yourself is another great option. I use this for reminders to do something later, like when I get home. Sometimes I’ll email myself random to-do lists that I think of when I’m otherwise occupied and know I won’t remember later.

5. Voice memo

Not everybody is visual. If you prefer the sound of your own voice, why not make yourself a voice memo? Again, I’m sure most smart phones have this capability in one form or another. My app is actually called Voice Memo. Hit the record button and start talking. Hit the stop button when you’re done. Voila! Now you have a voice memo that you can listen to anytime. My app lets me email or text it to someone as well (see point above)

So there you have it. Five perfectly reasonable ways to make notes and never forget anything again. All you have to remember is to check the note later! Now you have no excuses for forgetting things. And rest assured, I learned my own lesson. When I decided to turn this experience into a blog post, you’d better believe I jotted it down right away before I could forget!

What about you? Do you have a system or app that you use for making notes or remembering things? Share your thoughts below.

Filed Under: Ultimate Blog Challenge Tagged With: #blogboost, evernote, ideas, phone

Winter Warning: I Choose Life

January 10, 2013 By Christina Workman Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of Michal Marcol / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last night, I came upstairs from my dungeon-like home office and noticed it had started to snow. By the time morning rolled around, the radio reported that Calgary had received 9cm of snow overnight (that’s about 3.5 inches for you non-metric folk), and was expecting 2cm more during the day. It’s 8pm now, and the snow hasn’t stopped. The City of Calgary has declared a Snow Event will be in effect tomorrow starting at 6am so they can get to work clearing the main roads properly. Traffic today, in a word, sucks.

Days like today, I’m glad I have my priorities straight. First and foremost, my life (and yours) are more important than any job.

If I don’t have to leave the house, I won’t. And I get to decide what determines the level of “have to”. Complete white-out conditions will ensure I stay put. I don’t care if I have to reschedule appointments. If I get into an accident, I’m not making it to the appointment anyway, and that’s not a chance I’m willing to take. If my client doesn’t understand that, then we aren’t a good fit. Luckily, I’ve never had such a client.

If I decide road and weather conditions are decent enough for me to leave the house, I will proceed with caution. I will do my best to arrive on time. If I have the option of leaving early, I will. But if I can’t, please understand I might be late. I like to think I control the world, but in reality, traffic and weather are beyond my reach. And I will drive as slow as the traffic and road conditions require.

Most of the people I encounter on days like today have a similar philosophy, at least regarding being late. And I reciprocate these courtesies to my clients. It’s just not worth risking your life (or mine) to be on time.

Filed Under: general

4 Metrics-Measuring Must-Haves

January 9, 2013 By Christina Workman Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of KROMKRATHOG / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Metrics. I love them! I was a math geek in school, so go figure. You can imagine how excited I was to work with KPI (Key Performance Indicators) at one of my corporate gigs. Once I started working with KPI, I wondered why I hadn’t had exposure to them at other jobs. Maybe it was something only discussed among managers, but I fear a worse reality….lack of KPI.

Of course, I’ll never know, but I don’t believe either is good business practice. If you don’t have metrics, how do you know if you are growing and improving in the right ways? And if you don’t communicate your key metrics to staff, how can they get on board to help you achieve desired results?

Alright, enough with the questions and trip down memory lane. Here’s the good stuff: a list of my 4 favourite online tools to measure website metrics, KPI and a few other things that are just good practice if you have a business website (which you should if you have a business, but that’s a whole other rant!)

BDC Website Assessment

I just discovered the Free Website Assessment by BDC today, but I’ve already bookmarked it and added it to my toolkit. Again, you key in your website address and out spits a lengthy, but easy to understand, report about various aspects of your website. Categories it assesses include accessibility for various users, user experience, marketing, popularity, and how well designed and built the site is. They offer up a bit of info on why they assess each item and what might be causing a lower score.

Google Analytics

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Google products, and Analytics is certainly no exception. You do have to set up an account and connect it to your website, but once that’s done, look out! You’ll have so much information about the people visiting your site and how their usage patterns, you won’t know what to do with it all at first! Information ranges from the simplest statistics, like how many people visited my site, to more complex metrics like conversion rates. There certainly are other analytic sites available, and if Google isn’t your thing, then by all means check them out. But it’s pretty much an Internet sin for a website not to be using some form of analytics.

Marketing Grader

Marketing Grader helps you measure and improve your online marketing strategy. All you have to do is punch your website address and you get this wonderfully detailed report. It analyzes some internal website stuff, like your titles, alt tags and other geeky stuff that matters to search engines. And it looks at a whole lot of factors related to social media. If you don’t have a blog, or social media accounts, you will definitely have some holes in your report, but it also offers up links to articles they have written on how to get your score up in any particular area. Caution: this one can get a bit techy.

Sucuri Website Scan

I cannot say enough about Sucuri, but it speaks for itself. Sucuri offers a security check on your website. Find out if your site has been hacked or black-listed, just by typing in the address. If there is a security breach, they have reasonable plans to help you clean up the mess (note: I am not affiliated with them in any way, and don’t benefit from telling you this).

There you have it. Four tools you should check out immediately, if you haven’t already. Oh, and did I mention they are all free? If I missed a metrics monitoring site that you can’t live without, please feel free to mention in below.

Filed Under: business, tools, Ultimate Blog Challenge Tagged With: #blogboost, analytics, kpi, metrics, security

The Joy of A-ha!

January 8, 2013 By Christina Workman Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of Photography by BJWOK/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Don’t you just love those a-ha! moments? I had a big one today. Something that I didn’t know how to do, but knew could be done. It took a bit of research, and I’ve been putting it off for weeks. But today, at last….a-ha! It seems so simple! How did I not figure this out before?

More importantly, why didn’t I try before? Have you ever noticed that we tend to put off the seemingly big or difficult tasks that we really need to be doing? But really, the best thing to do is get that big thing over with, and then everything else will be easy in comparison. Some people call this “eating the frog”.

If I had eaten this particular frog much earlier, I could have enjoyed prolonged effects of my great a-ha moment. I could have used this knowledge to benefit other projects that have already passed. Instead, I have my a-ha at the end of the night, so my adrenaline-fueled a-ha is going to keep me awake way past my bedtime.

So take it from me. Eat your frog, and eat it early. Revel in your a-ha moment for as long as you can. You’ll be glad you did.

Filed Under: Ultimate Blog Challenge Tagged With: #blogboost, procrastination

3 Simple Ways to Get Grounded

January 7, 2013 By Christina Workman 1 Comment

Image courtesy of Just2shutter / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We are just a week into the new year, and already I’m starting to feel a little crazy, in a scattered sort of way. It feels like my time is not my own. I rarely seem to know what the date is, and whenever I make plans to get work done, the universe seems to have something else in mind for me. It’s time for me to reconnect, or get grounded.

If you are ever feeling disconnected from yourself, or the universe, chances are you need to take some time to ground yourself. It’s easy to do, and there are so many ways to do it. Here are just a few:

1. Hug a tree

Interacting with nature helps us reconnect to the universe. You can literally hug a tree, or sit on the ground with your palms on the ground as well. You don’t even have to go outside. Find nature inside you via plants and rocks.

2. Grow roots

Imagine you are a tree. Plant your feet firmly on the floor. Imagine roots coming out of your feet. Imagine them digging into the ground (through however many floors they need to go to get to the bottom of the building you are in). Picture those roots digging deeper and deeper into the earth, until they reach the centre. Bring up all that good earthy energy through your roots, all the way up into your body, until you feel grounded.

3. Meditate

Meditating is probably my favourite way to get grounded again. It doesn’t have to be a long meditation, and you can choose from several styles, from “om-ing out” to using a guided meditation. I like going to a group meditation. There’s something powerful about everyone’s energy working together.

There are many more ways to get grounded, so if my suggestions aren’t a good fit for you, don’t despair. Sometimes you just have to get creative. If you have a favourite way to get grounded that I haven’t mentioned, please post below so everyone can benefit!

Filed Under: general, Ultimate Blog Challenge Tagged With: #blogboost, grounding, mediation, nature, roots

5 Lessons in Customer Service

January 5, 2013 By Christina Workman Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of 89studio / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Back in the spring of 2009, a little boy decided to clean Mommy’s MacBook. He took a bottle of hand lotion and smeared it onto both the screen and keyboard. Much to that little boy’s surprise, not only did it not clean the computer, it actually wrecked it. Completely. The screen and logic board were toast. Luckily, the hard drive was ok, so no information was lost.

This adorable little boy is my son, and he is the reason I decided to get AppleCare on the replacement MacBook. Today, I sure am glad I did. The bottom of the casing was starting to come off, and the top of the case was cracking, so I decided to take it in and see what my warranty would do about it. Not only are they replacing both parts, but they also ran a diagnostic test and decided to replace the battery, too. $500 worth of repairs all for free! Not counting the cost of the plan, which I believe was just under $200. So I’m still saving $300 if you look at it that way.

For me, my experience today is just one of the many reasons I love Apple. And love them or hate them, there are lessons to be learned from the great customer service I received today.

1. Make them feel welcome

As soon as I arrived for my scheduled Genius Bar appointment, one of the many red-shirted staff saw me and checked me in. He didn’t just tell me to “have a seat”, but rather found a chair for me to have a seat in, and let me know someone would be with me shortly. I barely had time to look at my phone when my assigned Genius approached and introduced herself. Darned if I can remember her name now, but let’s call her Jennifer.

2. Listen and understand

Jennifer asked me what brought me in today, and I showed her the various points of concern (the top and bottom of my MacBook). I said I wanted to know if my AppleCare would cover that. Jennifer listened, and understood the problems. Mine were rather simple, but I heard other Geniuses dealing with their clients during some waiting time, and they all listened and made sure they completely understood what the concerns were.

3. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver

Next, Jennifer said something along the lines of “Let’s check it out and see what you are covered for.” My first thought was “Oh, no! Why isn’t she saying it’s covered?!” But what I now realize is she was making sure she didn’t give me false hopes. Could you imagine if she said, “ya, that should be covered” and then it wasn’t? Maybe I was wrong and didn’t have coverage at all, or it had expired. Even if that was the case, I still probably would have been upset, and possibly taken my frustration out on her.

4. Go above and beyond

Once she confirmed I did indeed have coverage (only 89 days left!), she took it a step further. She ran a diagnostic test on my MacBook and discovered the battery was needing to be replaced. And guess what? It’s covered! I was only coming in to get my casing fixed, and now I’m getting a free new battery, too! What an unexpected, pleasant little surprise.

5. Make them feel appreciated

The downside to all of this is that they will have my MacBook for up to 5 days. Jennifer asked if I had any files I needed (thoughtful), so I uploaded a bunch of stuff to “the cloud”. I didn’t realize just how much I was uploading, and it took almost an hour. Not once during that time did any employee ask me to move, or harass me for taking too long. Jennifer left me to do my thing and helped another customer, but first she let me know she would be back for me. I still wasn’t done when she had to go for her dinner break. She told not one, but two other employees about my situation so that they could keep an eye out for when I was done, and she let me know as well. They all came by to check on me, and remembered my name. None of them ever made me feel like I was wasting their time or counter space. They were there to serve me, and I was just as important as any other customer in the store. When I was finally done, one of them was right there, ready to help me.

I walked out of that store a little sad for being without my laptop for a few days, but ultimately really pleased with the experience. I am already a big fan of Apple, and this just reinforced it. I wish I left all stores feeling this way, but unfortunately, customer service is a skill that not everyone has, and not every employer promotes.

What are some of your favourite brands? Why? Share your award-winning customer service stories below.

Filed Under: business, Ultimate Blog Challenge Tagged With: #blogboost, computers, customer service, warranty