Author: Matthew

  • Review of “Mastering Guerrilla Marketing”

    I recently finished reading Mastering Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the popular Guerrilla Marketing series. It was a good read. The book was broken up into 12 chapters and about 100 individually-numbered sections, each containing information about a certain aspect of guerrilla marketing. Topics ranged from planning to online marketing to technology to economizing.

    Levinson’s plan makes sense to me, but the organization of the book didn’t. Each numbered section didn’t have any kind of descriptive header, so I had to guess at what topic the section would focus on. Levinson’s instructions for creating a guerrilla marketing plan weren’t very instructional. They didn’t follow a logical, step-by-step pattern. This is more of an idea book than anything else, but the ideas he has are very good.

    One quote that I found particularly encouraging is this:

    There is no need to hit a home run the first time you’re at bat. A single will do, then another single, then another, one following the other — none grandiose, but each bringing you closer to your goal.

    Speaking for myself, I’m in “single hitting mode” right now. I’m almost to first base and will shortly be setting my eyes on second and digging in.

    If you’re looking for specific tips on marketing your business, look for a different book. If you like big-picture ideas, are wondering how to put the customer first as you market, and want some encouragement in your new business venture, it would be worth your time to check out Mastering Guerrilla Marketing.

  • Learn CruiseControl in three minutes

    Paul Duvall of NFJS fame just posted an excellent three-minute video demonstrating how to download, install, and use CruiseControl for Java. Having used both CruiseControl and CruiseControl.NET, I can say that this is one of the most concise tutorials I’ve seen for a geek who already knows his stuff, but needs a few hints to help him along. Check it out.

  • How does one handle busy days?

    My new consulting business, Adeptware, is in its second month and today I got slammed. Phone calls and e-mails with potential clients, a trip to the bank to get my new DBA forms copied for my accounts, an evening planning session with the calendar, installation of a new domain name and web site for a client, etc. My rhetorical question is this: how does one handle such days? A day with barely any time to breathe. A day in which I’m happy to have new business, but wondering how to fit it all on my calendar. I don’t expect an answer. Tomorrow will most likely be dead, except for the Ruby Meetup which I’m hoping will be packed again like it was last month. I’m beginning to think that’s just the way it goes for us self-employed chaps.

  • Quote of the Week: J.R.R. Tolkien

    “It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” — J.R.R. Tolkien

  • If it’s not your problem, whose is it?

    My friend, Alan, made a post on his blog yesterday that hit a nerve for me. The gist of it is that an unnamed airline left a friend’s bag out in the pouring rain by accident, then when asked if they would replace the bag and its contents basically said, “It’s not our problem.”

    Who is ultimately responsible for any customer interaction gone bad? I like this quote from the post:

    The boss is responsible. The cashier who faces the customer is responsible. The person who sends the email is responsible. The interface point is what the customer (or employee) sees, not the organizational structure behind the activity.

    There have been many times when I’ve gone through similar situations at local stores. Oh, I haven’t been told directly that “it’s not our problem,” but I’ve seen indications that the cashier or floor manager I’m speaking with doesn’t really care about me and probably wishes I would just go away.

    True customer service seems to be a rare thing these days, and getting rarer all the time. There is a huge market out there for businesses that will treat their customers with honesty and integrity. It’s just not that common anymore.

    Read the full story on Alan’s blog.

  • How to avoid skipping BarCamp

    July 22nd’s BarCamp RDU has come and gone, and wouldn’t you know I missed it? I was signed up to attend, but about a week prior to the event I learned I would be occupied that Saturday, and so I had to skip the most exciting geekfest to grace RDU since June’s NFJS. What a devastating shame.

    My only hope is that there will be one next year. Judging from the press generated by the event, that seems likely. Take this RedOrbit article, for example. There are a slew of other articles that have been published as well. Visit the official BarCamp site for the complete list.

    One comfort is that I can at least pseudo-participate by browsing Flickr for photos tagged with “barcamprdu.” I’ve stumbled across a few familiar faces this way. Incidentally, I know what the title of my session will be next year: “How to Avoid Skipping BarCamp”

  • Face the music, parents

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    News flash: What teens watch, listen to and read affects their thinking and behavior. Sound common-sensical? In years gone by, it was. But today, in our increasingly permissive culture, otherwise well-intentioned parents often ignore the obvious.

    My brother is a columnist and regularly writes for WorldNetDaily. His latest article details the results from a recently published Rand Corporation survey indicating that adolescents who listen to large quantities of music containing improper messages about sexuality end up engaging in such activity much more frequently.

    Read the article on WorldNetDaily

  • What’s with the new theme?

    You may have noticed that I’ve changed my blog’s theme again. Why, you ask? Why persist in this maddening switching of graphics and templates? Simply that I haven’t found the ideal layout yet. I’m hoping that this new theme will be something I can stay with long-term. I really like it. The dual sidebars are wonderful because they give me more room to post information. The theme is widget-enabled, it’s fairly pretty, and it seems pretty logically organized to me. What do you all think? Keep it or trash it?

  • Social bookmarking with BlinkList

    I admit it: I’ve been rather slow getting on the social networking bandwagon. When it comes to things that other people like, I just don’t care. If someone in my circle of friends or colleagues recommends something (through the joy that is Soapadoo, for example) then I’ll take notice, but advice from total strangers just doesn’t strike me as being very trustworthy.

    That being said, I discovered de.licio.us and BlinkList over the weekend and was immediately hooked. On BlinkList, that is. Why not de.liciou.us?

    1. Multi-word tags aren’t supported.
    2. It’s drop-dead ugly.
    3. Typing the URL is torturous.

    I imported my existing bookmarks (about a bazillion of ’em) into BlinkList on Monday. I’ve been shocked at how useful the service has been since then.

    • Pages can be bookmarked instantly. Whenever I see a page I want to keep, I hit my “Blink It!” button, type in a few tags, hit submit, and I’m back to the original page and surfing away. The entry barrier for creating a bookmark just got a lot lower for me. (I haven’t yet decided if this is good or bad.)
    • Bookmarks can be tagged. This allows me to esentially store bookmarks in multiple folders. This makes sense because any given bookmark can’t be narrowed down into a single category.
    • I can exchange bookmarks with my friends. Odds are that if one of my friends has a site bookmarked, I’ll probably want that site bookmarked too. One click and it’s done.
    • I can access my bookmarks anywhere. Whether I’m hanging upside down off a cliff in New Zealand or fleeing a grizzly bear in the Canadian Rockies (not that I’ve ever done either of those things)… I can still view and edit my bookmarks.

    Want to see BlinkList in action? Check out my bookmarks. If you’re a stranger then I can’t promise they’ll be interesting, but at least you’ll be able to check your stocks before you lose your grip on that cliff edge.

  • Quote of the Week: G.K. Chesterton

    “It is necessary to have in hand a truth to judge modern philosophies rapidly; and it is necessary to judge them very rapidly before they dissapear.” — G.K. Chesterton