Category: Social Media and the Web

Social media presents huge opportunities to engage with all your stakeholders: customers, owners, and the larger community.

A Bit Of Internet History: Microsoft FrontPage

Carl Setzer1 Comment
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Microsoft FrontPage: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

FrontPage was one of my early forays into web design. I started with cobbling together basic HTML, but my skills in the late 90s/early 2000s were pretty weak. I then discovered Netscape Navigator’s editor. I can’t remember if they stopped supporting the WYSIWYG tool, or if I outgrew it, but the next tool I used was FrontPage.

When I created the website for Christ Episcopal Church (in Seattle’s University District), this was the tool I used.  One of our members was on staff at Microsoft, so was able to donate a copy to us. And so I was able to bring the church into the 21st century.

I knew enough HTML to edit the code that FrontPage crafted, and I remember tweaking things from time-to-time. But I don’t really remember much in the way of detail. Reading this article taught me several FrontPage features that I was oblivious to, key amongst them: tasks. It’s pretty cool how the tool was built with a project management focus.

The article goes into the acquisition of Vermeer (the creators of FrontPage), and ensuing issues with hyper-proprietary technology. (Side note: I had no idea that FrontPage was created outside of Microsoft and then brought in by acquisition). And also looks at the other WYSIWG competing editors, and what all of them lack.

It was fun looking back at this clunky tool. It was almost great. That, and a Starbucks gift card, will get you a cup of coffee.

Exploring Canva Premium

Carl Setzer

I’ve fiddled with Canva for the past few months, mostly for editing images on my Samsung S9, but have mostly been an adherent to Photoshop for anything serious. I have some free time (good ol’ Covid19), so decided to experiment with the premium version. I have a 30 day free trial, and it looks easy enough to cancel it if I don’t want to keep it.

I like it a lot for mobile editing. I think it creates fine images, especially for posting to Instagram or Facebook. Most of what I’ve done is put some of my haiku on some photos I’ve taken. I also have created some images for a real estate agent friend’s Instagram and Facebook pages. I’ll see what I like and don’t, then go from there. Right now, I do like the tool, the way the UX works, and the final products. But we’ll see as I try to be more deliberate with it and, perhaps, have a production sort of mindset.

If you’re interested in trying Canva out yourself, check it out here. Full disclosure: this is a rewards link. It gives me some Canva credits if you download and use the app. This page explains it more.

 

Week In Review: 3-29-2020

Carl Setzer

With covid-19 disrupting so very much of life, I thought I’d take a moment to rehash what I’m working on to keep busy. My family has been home due to school closures. I have been unemployed since the February 28th.

First, I’m signed up to study web application and cloud development at Edmonds Community College starting next quarter. There are still pieces to pull together, but I’m moving forward. Classes start on April 13, so it’s coming quickly. I also need to get my math skills back up to snuff. I struggled mightily on an assessment test and was pretty made at myself. Then it hit me: the last math class I took may have been calculus, but it’s been several decades since. One of the folks at the school connected me with a website to help that along, so I’ve been working on getting those skills back up to snuff.

Also, I’ve spent time refreshing some skills. I had purchased a CompTIA training bundle last summer that I haven’t had a chance to start with yet. And I have a Adobe Creative Suite bundle as well. I’ve been carving time for each of those as I can. I also discovered IronCAD, which apparently has a free download, so I might try and squeeze some more CAD work in as well. That’s one big thing I miss from my Eagle Country Construction days.

As for entertainment, I’ve been binging on “Traveling Robert“, a YouTuber traveling the US with his trailer. I really have enjoyed the show. There’s a genuineness that’s delightful. I discovered him via YouTube’s algorithm. It dished up his trip to Seattle this past summer, which I found nice.

 

There’s plenty of other things that I’ve been working on, too. Keeping several websites up to date, as well as a couple of email communication campaigns (about the covid-19 closures and such). And I’ve helped a few folks with their WordPress sites, and with setting up Facebook business pages and trying to pull together some kind of marketing plan in the midst of the pandemic. I mean, how do you market in such a way that you’re being, well, a decent human being.

A Blogger Blogging On Blogging

Carl Setzer

I easily get caught up trying to make things perfect. I know far too many folks with the same proclivity. I also know that writing is what I need to focus on. Get more posts out, I should create a podcast and vlog…and that conflicts with “perfection”. It gets in the way of my goals.

As a blogger, I need to blog (insert “duh” here). Losing focus on creation keeps me from this. I hate that. So, I am working on simply posting. Posting as often as I can, as best I can. Letting go of it needing to be perfect.

The same goes for design work. Get something done. Finished is better than perfect.

Lately, I found myself struggling with “focus”. Related, somewhat, to perfect, I guess. There’s a notion within blogging that you want your blog to have as narrow a focus as possible. And there’s validity to that. It makes the life of a reader much easier. But a blog is not a book. It’s not a magazine…blah, blah. There’s a personal element to a blog. I have a wide array of interests. It’s perfectly wonderful to explore them  all in one place, too.

A blog should be a unique expression, each one one-of-a-kind. They should reflect the writer’s personality. I also believe they should be informal.

What do you like about blogging? What do your favorite bloggers do? And do you discern a particular style of writing to label “blogging”?

Video, Shoots, and Real Estate: Thoughts on the Future

Carl Setzer

Did a video shoot today with the owner of the company I now work for. It was his first video with a videographer, so he had to work though nervousness and his desire for perfection. I was quite pleased with how things went. And that he came away with a ton of ideas of how we can make the next one better.

Preparing got today reminded me of the one below, where I am on camera. I’ve been behind the scenes many, many times. I do like being in front of the camera, I should do more of that. Maybe, once I have my real estate license back, I’ll go full on into being a YouTube agent. One of many possibilities to explore.

So, the video below is one I made with the C & K Real Estate Team. I really enjoyed making it and have thought, many times, it would be a blast to do more.

What do you think? So many options, do little time.

The IRS and 21st Century Annoyances

Carl Setzer

So, one of my current projects is helping a non-profit get up and running. One of the things we need is an EIN (Employer Identification Number…the organizational equivalent to a Social Security Number). So, I go to the IRS page to request this, and keep getting the old “Can’t connect to the website. Please try again later” error. I don’t think too much of this, but after a couple of hours, it’s getting to me. So, I explore a bit and find this.

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Really? A website that’s only useful during “business hours”? It’s a WEBSITE! Why on earth is this not available 24-7? I guess that there’s some manual approval that happens during the process. Even so, I should be able to apply and be dropped into a queue that’ll be checked Monday morning, or whatever. A website with office hours just boggles my mind.

Ok, this clearly is a 21st Century problem. But it’s just so antithetical to the zeitgeist.

Exploring Faith And Music

Carl Setzer

I love music that challenges me, pushes my understanding of what music, what it can convey. So I look forward to exploring this playlist. Let me know what you think.

 

 

Some Thoughts On Followers: “Fake followers are hard to shake”

Carl Setzer

I just read “Fake followers are hard to shake” over at AdAge. Yeah, buying followers is tempting. Sure, it might look good on the surface, to have hundreds or thousands of followers. I’ve had many, many people ask me about buying followers. I think is a waste of money.

  • First, why? If your social media efforts are for a business, fake followers aren’t going to come to your store. They don’t engage. They don’t add any value.
  • Then there are all the recent efforts to purge fake accounts. If your follower count drops massively after one of the follower purges, you’re outed
  • Lastly, as this article points out, there are fairly straightforward ways to determine how many fake followers you have. If your goal is to become an influencer, or gain business leads, tools are coming that will out the buy followers tactic.

I expect that, in the not too far distant future, the various algorithms will easily detect copious numbers of fake followers. And I expect that will hurt you, whether via SEO hits from Google or Bing, or social media feeds devaluing your content. I firmly believe this is coming soon.

So, don’t opt for the lazy and fast. Build your brand slowly, carefully and organically. Engage other folks, post good content, and be your unique self.

Watch “How Unbox Therapy became the Biggest Tech Channel on YouTube” on YouTube

Carl Setzer

I stumbled upon this video today. Paddy Galloway does a great job in his analysis of Unbox Therapy, one of YouTube’s most popular tech channels. He gives some great insights for utilizing Youtube’s tools and algorithms to maximize your video’s presence.

Social Media Ads: Don’t Forget To Focus Geographically

Carl Setzer

Just saw an ad on Twitter for a service available in New York and San Francisco. Well, I’m in Seattle. I expect I’ll make my way to each of those cities in the next few years, but not in the near-term. It looked like a great food idea, but it’s not something I can do anything with right now.

What’s the problem, you might ask? Well, I expect they want their ads clicked on by likely customers. I’m not in that category, living a few thousand miles away. So, the few cents they paid for my click won’t turn into revenue, even if I love them.

Maybe, just maybe, these folks are looking at expanding to the Seattle area. But then you should have the ads go to a landing page for an expansion campaign.

Ads like these can be focused on geography. Pretty slick, giving you much more solid impact. And an essential tool to avoid wasting your online advertising budget.

A few years ago, one of my team-mates placed a Facebook ad but didn’t refine by geography. We had a great return on that if measured by phone calls. But most of those 100s of calls were from well outside our region. We would never be able to convert them to sales. So, a waste of money and time. It was easily fixed, but we spent a few hours of time answering gobs of out area phone calls.