Online Tutorials Done Right
I’ve never been much of a tutorial guy as I’ve always found that most tutorials are either to time-intensive or not very well written. That doesn’t however mean that I could not have used some great design & web tutorials in the past (if I had quality resources available, I could’ve increased my design skills considerably). Luckily though, two new(ish) resources are easily establishing themselves as the auhtoritative tutorial resource in the community…
I’ve been following PSDTUTS for a while now and even attempted the odd tutorial myself. The only reason that I haven’t been using it on a daily basis, is due to time constraints on my side; that said though, I’ve been so impressed with the quality and in-depth nature of the tutorials on PSDTuts and I’ve managed to learn some pretty nifty new Photoshop techniques in the process.
I love the fact that all the tutorials on PSDTuts are crowdsourced and they thus manage to get some of the greatest Photoshop rockstars around the world to contribute to the site and ultimately educate the masses (read: wannabe Photoshop rockstars like myself). Offering a subscription option (that gives access to the tutorials’ Photoshop files), it is clear that the creators has spent a great deal of time figuring out the best business model.
Evolution is here
With the announcement of PSDTuts’ new sister site - NETTuts - I think that they’ve just evolved (and perhaps revolutionized) their tutorial offerings! NETTuts will be delivering XHTML, CSS, Flash & jQuery (amonst others) tutorials in the same way that PSDTuts has been delivering Photoshop tutorials.
The thing that however really excites me, is the “combo-tutorials” that will be published between the two different properties. An example of this would be the recent tutorial on how to create a sleek new web presence, where the design aspects were covered here and the coding stuff here. Don’t you just think that is awesome?
Think I’ll need to spend some more time reading (and perhaps writing) tutorials in the coming weeks…
(Image by *Urbaani)
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Twitter: A Serious Marketing Channel?
I’ve been pretty active on my Twitter account in the last couple of weeks and whilst tweeting some random thoughts (or communicating with friends), I often wonder whether it is worth my time to actually commit even a hour a day to Twitter. My thoughts on the matter obviously comes from my business-orientated mind, where everything I do on a daily basis needs to be considered from a financial / return-on-investment mindset (I work for myself and thus time is money and ultimately my financial livelihood).
Before I started really using Twitter, I subscribed to the general perception that it was simply a very niche-focused tool that just eat away at your productive time. Sure, the evangelists would’ve argued otherwise, but then evangelists aren’t the most objective people you’d find… And this was exactly my opinion / mindset, until I started noticing something else…
Referals
I check my Google Analytics stats quite regularly, as I’m keen to know what you like to read and thus be able to determine how I can further grow my blog. So whilst keeping these tabs on my blog’s performance, I started noticing that Twitter was sending more and more visitors to my site - which I found quite strange to say the least, as I wasn’t even using it that often!?
But as I was increasing my usage on Twitter, these referals slowly started increasing… Traffic analytics from the last 30 days shows that I’ve received a significant 1860 visitors that were redirected from my Twitter account - that is incredible, considering what it would cost for banner advertising to get that amount of visitors through to your blog / website.
Current State
I currently only follow about 100 people (I’m very lazy when it comes to following my followers and I know that this isn’t “right-on” with Twitter ethics) and I have about 300 followers. So between those 300 followers, I’m getting about 6 visits / follower (on average) in a 30 day period. So again… Considering the cost of advertising online and the CTR’s involved with those, I think it is safe to assume that Twitter is indeed a viable marketing channel. Right!?
So what’s the answer?
I’m leaning towards saying “Yes! Definitely”, even though I have my reservations about Twitter as a marketing / communication channel. Yes, it is very niche-focused in my opinion (it will probably always be, considering my mom or dad will never be on Twitter) and a lot of my followers are probably RSS subscribers as well (which dilutes the significance of those 1860 visitors).
That said - looking at the pure figures involved, I’ve got to say that there’s marketing potential and value that should be explored for Twitter. Sure it is niche-focused, but surely then people involved in those niches should be using Twitter to promote themselves!?
What do you think?
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Online apps that’s worth using
I must admit that I never thought that online applications would ever replace desktop software solutions, but in the last couple of weeks, I’ve been using some applications that are doing just that… I’ve been using Basecamp, Freshbooks and CampaignMonitor on a daily basis since getting back to freelancing and they’ve been worth every single dollar I’ve spent on their monthly subscriptions (in the case of CampaignMonitor, you just pay for the emails you sent out).
So yes - all three of these applications are premium services, only available on a paid-for basis. This means I’ve included some other online applications that I use for free (i.e. Gmail, Twitter etc.), as these aren’t necessarily replacements for desktop software (as is the case with the other three I mentioned.
Here’s a quick summary of how I utilize the three applications at the moment:
- Basecamp: I do all my project management and collaborations on there now - albeit with business partners, collaborative designers / developers or clients. Using Basecamp has already cut down on my e-mail considerably and I think the fact that everything I’m working on at the moment, is in one place - really makes thing so much more efficient.
- FreshBooks: I’ve actually just started using FreshBooks and have only sent out a handful of invoices, but I find the interface so refreshing and easy to use. I’ve been using their Time Tracking Widget for MacOSX (which is fantastic for tracking your time on client projects) and I’m in the process to explore their integration options with Basecamp.
- CampaignMonitor: What a joy to use! After blogging about this a while back, some of you suggested that I try out CampaignMonitor and I have seriously not looked back yet. The features are just incredible and it is super-easy to design a newsletter. I’ve been using it primarily for communication with users of our Premium News Themes. The best feature (by far) has probably got to be the reports that you can generate for individial newsletter campaigns (i.e. tracking the amount of opened or bounced e-mails, whether links were clicked etc.).
All three of these applications has really become part of my daily operations and have added a competitive edge to my business activities. Sure, these cost money - but so does desktop software and considering that I’m just starting out a new business, this is a really cost-efficient solution for me. I also believe that the future cross-integration of these applications will only add further value, with early-adopters benefiting the most.
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SEO & Ignorant Bliss
I’ve never been a big fan or believer in SEO, yet a lot of people online are slightly obsessive by the smallest of mention thereof… I can see the benefits, but I’ve never thought that SEO “guru’s” are worth the money they are paid. That was until about two weeks ago, when South African SEO specialists - iGroup SEO - contacted me to introduce their products and services. In broad terms, my opinion of SEO hasn’t changed much, but my recent experiences with the concept has at least made me revisit my own opinions thereof.
iGroup SEO wanted me to give away one of their Maxi Website Audits on this blog in some kind of competition (more on this at the end of this post) and since I’m always up for a little giveaway, I agreed to do a bit of a review of their services in exchange. For that, I asked them to do a Maxi Website Audit (valued at about $300 USD) of my own blog, so that I too would know what I’m talking about, before I even mention it to you. And suffice to say, the report they sent me, was quite interesting and thought-provoking to say the least.
So yes sure… WordPress is very SEO-friendly and thus most of the work for you. And a lot of what was mentioned in their report, I already knew - but they did raise some points which I didn’t know about… And it is exactly those small things (the attention to detail) that provoked me to revisit my opinions on SEO and the usefulness of it on my blog.
Some of the things I will attempt to fix / change in the coming weeks and others I’ll continue to ignore. But overall, I will go as far as recommending iGroup’s services to you. It’s definitely not a lot of money and there’s definitely value to be gained from having a trained, third party scrutinize your blog’s search engine-related performance. Try it!
(So you’d like to win one of these audits? Instead of having an overly serious competition, I rather want you to post a funny or though-provoking story / opinion / experience you had related to SEO in anyway… The best comment wins!)
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Getting to know Ryan Carson & Carsonified
For the last couple of months (since about September / October last year), I’ve been truly inspired with the activities of the guys and girls over at Carsonified. At one stage I felt so inspired, I considered applying for a job and moving over to the UK (which is a lot to ask, considering we have sunshine every day of the year, which beats the UK’s weather hands down) if I got the job. That aside, I think the company has been built on awesome foundations and I can only see them going from strength to strength, as well as seeing small new companies - influenced by Carsonified’s “way of life” - pop up all over the world.
So a while ago, I decided that I really needed to get a mini interview done again and Ryan Carson seemed like to perfect candidate, considering my fascination with his company. Fact is, wouldn’t you want to get into the mind of a boss that buys you cool new schwag when you join the team, let’s you work 4 days a week and “orders” everyone to take a week off to create HugMyMac? Well, I certainly wanted a glimpse on the ideas and thoughts involved in creating Carsonified, so I figured I’d shoot a few questions off to Ryan…
Hey Ryan. It’s great to welcome one of the unsung heroes of modern day web business (in my mind) to adii.co.za. You’re the co-founder of Carsonified (along with your wife, Gill) and I’m sure everyone would like to know more about the Ryan Carson behind Carsonified. Please share a bit of your history, education, previous business experience and the journey that led you to start Carsonified…
I’m originally from Colorado Springs, a small town nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. I finished my Computer Science degree in 2000 and then decided it was time for a life-changing adventure. I wanted to experience life from a new point of view so I packed my bags and got a job in the United Kingdom.
I started off as a Coldfusion developer. I had never written a single line, but I figured if I could code in C++ then I would probably be OK!
And then the dot com bombshell hit and the company I was working for went down in flames. I had only lived in the UK for six months and I decided I wasn’t ready to go home yet. That led to a number of jobs in London at various web design firms, lastly with Fingal Design
During my time in London I made a ton of friends who were passionate about web design but were really discouraged about the rough times the industry was experience. So in response, my good friend Ryan Shelton and I started By Designers for Designers or BD4D. The idea was to get web designers and developers together to show their work and meetup - an escape from al the time we were spending at our laptops. I guess it really struck a cord with people because it quickly grew and before we knew it, we had done 50+ events in 16 cities in 7 different countries. It was a blast.
I met people like Eric Meyer, Joshua Davis, Jemma Gura, Matt Owens, Mike, 2advanced, Design is Kinky, Peter Reid & Cuban Council.
A really wonderful magazine called Create Online decided to write a feature on Ryan and I and that’s how I met Gill, my wonderful wife. She was the editor of the magazine and once we met, it was hard to keep us apart.
I decided to quite my job as Lead PHP Developer in London and marry Gill. It was the perfect opportunity to move to Bath and start Carsonified.
Describe Carsonified and its operations in your own words. What is it that Carsonified really does?
Everyone at Carsonified is passionate about the web. We want to encourage, inspire and unite the web community. We do this in two ways:
- Building web applications (DropSend and Amigo)
- Running events (Future of Web Design, Future of Web Apps, Future of Mobile, Fuel, Carson Workshops)
- Curating Vitamin, our online magazine for web developers, designers and entrepreneurs
- Having fun
(Hug My Mac, FOWA Road Trip and Web App Charts)
We just moved into our new office and we’re up to 10 wonderful team members. We’re loving it.
Not many people would recommend going into business with one’s wife, yet it seems that Carsonified is a perfect contradiction of this… Is it easy to run a business along with your wife? Do you feel that it presents some unique challenges? Do you think that it has benefited Carsonified more?
I *love* running Carsonified with Gill. It allows us to be connected in a way that most couples will never experience. Every day we get the opportunity to work as a team, hatch new ideas, support each other and have fun. It also means that we don’t have to have the ‘How was your day’ talk at the end of each day. We already know!
Of course there are days when we get on each others nerves but I guess we’re lucky to be able to work together all day and not get annoyed.
We’re going to have a baby on April 18th, so that will change things quite a bit. Initially Gill will be spending less time in the office, but as soon as she can, she wants to get back to Carsonified. I’m really going to miss having her at the office during the time she’s at home though - she’s smart and she adds a huge amount to the business.
Carsonified’s 4-day work week and extensive staff perks (Macbooks, iPhone’s & Aeron chairs to name a few) is well known around the web. Do you think that these play an integral part in recruiting and retaining top talent amongst your staff? And do these perks result in increased productivity from Carsonified staff?
I think those things really help to recruit amazing people but all that stuff wouldn’t matter if we didn’t treat our team with respect and trust. We hire really smart, fun and interesting people and then we try to get out of their way. I give them the support they need and then trust them to do a great job.
We don’t treat our team like teenagers who need to be constantly monitored (nagging them about what time they arrive or leave the office, what sites they browse, how long they spend on lunch, etc) because they’re responsible adults who are passionate about what they do. If they were dishonest or untrustworthy, then what time they get into work would be the least of our worries!
Why did you decide to go into organizing conferences / workshops? Do you have a passion for education? Or collaboration / knowledge sharing?
I think I have a deep-seated desire to connect and encourage people. Events are a wonderful way to do this as it gets people away from their typical settings and allows them to connect with other people.
Everyone spends so much time on computers that it’s amazing to get out and physically meet people and get inspired by amazing speakers.
Do you have anything new in the pipeline? Any new avenues that Carsonified will be exploring in the next few months?
We’ve just launched Fuel, our new conference in London on June 13th. We’re going to share some amazing tips on how to take your business/product/service from good to amazing. Here’s a quick summary:
“Fuel gives you the opportunity to get inside the mind of some of the most remarkable companies online. Find out how they use new web tools to interact with existing customers and bring in new ones by the droves, build strong and loyal communities, use the latest in online marketing (heck, even invent their own!), and use brand new technology to push every boundary of web business.”
It should be a lot of fun!
We’re also completely re-building our events backend system. It’s called Event Stream and it’s going to kick ass!
Thanks for interviewing me - it’s an honor.
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