Web Professional Minute

 

 Interop 2009 Las Vegas: Interview with Tony Byrne, of CMS Watch : Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

WOW participated as an exhibitor and a media sponsor of Interop 2009 that took place last week in Las Vegas, NV. Participation in this year’s Interop marks a milestone of sorts since WOW celebrated our tenth year anniversary of participation on the Interop exhibit floor.

In celebration, WOW invited Verio, the global leader in Web hosting to participate in the WOW booth and to participate in the launch of the IT Buyer Guide initiative connecting IT buyers and sellers.

Previously known as “NetWorld+Interop” the week long event is one of the largest of its kind in the U.S. Conference tracks and expo covered a wide variety of IT topics including data center and communication technologies, storage and security, enterprise 2.0, virtualization, VoIP and unified communications, networking, wireless & mobility.

For today’s podcast, I’m pleased to present an interview with Tony Byrne, Founder of CMS Watch, .a vendor-neutral firm that evaluates content technologies and publishes reports comparing different solutions head-to-head. Tony is a long time collaborator with the WOW organization and just so happened to be exhibiting in the booth next to WOW’s. Tony shares his thoughts on the overall event and his take on the IT economy in general.

I’d like to give a special shout out to Tony for the interview, Janine Soika and Scott Schafer at Verio Inc. for their support of the WOW and for helping us celebrating our tenth year anniversary at Interop 2009 Las Vegas. If you can spare a few minutes, please check out the interview with Janine Soika, Director of Channel Marketing at Verio Inc. as well as a dozen or so of the initial interviews on the IT Buyer Guide Also, be sure to bookmark this site for the many more interviews to follow.

Today’s Web professional minute is sponsored by the IT Buyer Guide. When you need IT resources, be sure to check out ITBuyerGuide.org. There is something there for all skill levels and disciplines and be sure to ask about advertising opportunities with this PR6 website from the World Organization of Webmasters.

Greetings WOW Members and Web Professionals Everywhere!

If you’re like me, you’ve probably wondered about the size and scope of today’s Internet fraud stats. According to recently published press reports, U.S. consumers lost $25.5 million in 2008. Naturally, this is of interest to Web professionals as it can have a negative affect on our profession and the customers we serve and we need to be in the loop.

According to the U.S. based Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), 275.284 complaints were registered in 2008. Online auctions, confidence schemes and non delivery of purchased goods accounted for 70% of the total reported crimes. Non delivery of goods spiked last year and outranked online auctions and schemes as the number one culprit of consumer fraud.

The FBI estimates the figures could be much higher and could top 20 billion. The report cited underreporting of such crimes by consumers as a significant issue. According to press sources, “many people don’t report a problem or don’t know how or where to report a problem.”

 

 Web Design Conference Overview with Jeri A. Hastava, indpendent Web professional and WOW member: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

For today’s podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jeri A Hastava independent Web professional and WOW member from Cloverdale, CA.
Jeri participated in the VTM Conference that took place in San Francisco, ca last week on a WOW education scholarship and provides her thoughts on the theme of the conference and the walk aways.

Check out today’s four minute podcast on the Web Professional Minute website.

Today’s Web Professional Minute is sponsored by WebProfessionalJobs.com There is something there for all skill levels and disciplines and be sure to ask about free resume posting opportunities with this PR6 website from the World Organization of Webmasters.

A full transcript to follow in seventy two hours.

 

 Flash Video: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Greetings WOW Members and Web Professionals Everywhere!

For today’s podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jay Brownfield, independent Web professional and WOW member from San Jose, CA.

Jay participated in the VTM Conference in San Francisco last week on a WOW education scholarship. Jay shares a couple of “golden nuggets” that he walked away with form his participation. As you know, time is money and its great to hear about the positive aspects of conferences and most importantly the walk away knowledge gleaned from them.

Check out today’s three minute podcast on the Web Professional Minute website.

Today’s Web Professional Minute is sponsored by Peach Pit Press. Peachpit has been publishing top-notch books on the latest in graphic design, desktop publishing, multimedia, Web design and development, digital video, and general computing since 1986.

Greetings WOW Members and Web Professionals Everywhere!

On occasion, I receive an article from a Web professional company requesting to be published. For today’s Web Professional Minute, I’d like to share one of those with you. The article written by Rick Sloboda of WebCopyPlus.com is a great example of simpler is better. Candidly, its taken me years to understand and appreciate this notion and I need to incorporate some of the concepts listed below into my daily life as well. A special shout out to Rick for sharing this article. If you’re in need of a copy writer/manager follow the link to Rick’s organization below.

When it Comes to Web Content: Simple is Better

When it comes to website design, development and copywriting, simple is always better.

It makes it easier for online visitors to:

•Answer basic questions, starting with “Am I at the right place?”

•Absorb and digest key messages

•Fulfill a desired course of action, e.g. subscribe, purchase, etc.

All of the above promote satisfied needs, happy customers, and a healthy bottom line.

So why are so many websites so complex? The fact is “simple” is difficult to achieve.

Consider the wise words of historic French aviator and writer Antoine de Saint Exupery: “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

While he was reflecting on the development of airplanes long before anyone heard of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, his logic fully applies to the Web.

Why Simple is Difficult

Conceptualizing and developing a simple, user-friendly website can be challenging for many reasons, from strains on time and resources to conflicting motives and objectives.

Web designers and copywriters are often pressed to churn out creations at a moment’s notice. But, whether manipulating words, images or code, it takes knowledge, experience and time to plan and develop appealing, functional and simple websites.

Good web writers invest a high percentage of time determining key messages before hammering away at the keyboard. Likewise, experienced web designers study their clients’ needs and sketch out ideas before hitting the computer.

Simple isn’t Stupid

There’s a vast difference between communicating simply and communicating poorly.

Simple website content promotes effective communications. It is easily processed, understood and connects with readers. Poor communications – whether caused by inferior writing or flawed designs – rarely hits the mark.

People are often surprised to learn web writers at Webcopyplus aim to deliver web content at a grade-eight level. Clients and students alike ask: “Won’t this offend your audience?” Many people fail to realize that most reputable national newspapers are also written at this level. Even TIME magazine, which is by and large deemed sophisticated, is written at a grade-ten level.

While there are exceptions, most targeted online audiences have varied expertise in both the Internet and subject matter. An expert can endure simplicity, but a novice might not be able to identify with or comprehend complex information.

Invest in Simple

To promote your website’s readability, scanability and usability, ensure you take the time and effort to scrap any useless elements, from extra fonts to extra syllables.

Effective web content isn’t about flashy graphics and fancy words. It’s about communicating key messages and getting tasks completed.

Simple connects.

Today’s minute is sponsored by the Web Buyer Guide. When you need professional resources, be sure to check out webbuyerguide.org There is something there for all skill levels and disciplines and be sure to ask about advertising opportunities with this PR6 website from the World Organization of Webmasters.

 

 Top Web and IT Skills In Demand : Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Greetings WOW Members and Web Professionals Everywhere!

It’s no secret that the economic situation is at its worst position in the past quarter century. That said, I am pleased to report that business and technology consumers continue to seek help from highly trained Web and technology professionals according to a recently published report by Ziff Davis.

* HTML
* Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
* Search Engine Optimization
* PHP
* .net
* SQL SERVER
* MYSQL
* Java
* C programming

Check out today’s one minute podcast on the Web Professional Minute website.

Today’s Web Professional Minute is sponsored by Peach Pit Press. Peachpit has been publishing top-notch books on the latest in graphic design, desktop publishing, multimedia, Web design and development, digital video, and general computing since 1986.

A complete transcript will be available in twenty four hours.