Disqus - Latest Comments for stephenacross

Re: $100 Development Laptop

stephen — Fri, 02 Aug 2019 23:10:28 -0000

This is a test

Re: Improve Your Remote Work Productivity with the ‘Shutdown Ritual’

stephen — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 08:50:35 -0000

Hey Ben - Great advice! Are you familiar with the Full Focus Planner from Michael Hyatt? It's a hard covered daily planner that focus on goals and rituals. He recommends, and the planner supports documenting, a Morning Ritual, Workday Startup Ritual, Workday End Ritual and Evening Ritual.
-Stephen

Re: Test Free Course / Chapter 2 Discussion

stephen — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 21:32:32 -0000

This is chapter 2 discussions

Re: Test Free Course / Chapter 1 Q&A

stephen — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 21:32:09 -0000

This is a chapter 2 question.

Re: 7 Steps to Ace your First Drupal Camp Talk

stephen — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 12:32:45 -0000

Matt - this is a great outline. I will be sharing it with presenters for NEDCamp 2017.

Kevin - With a great group of people, including Matt, I run NEDCamp. I have some feedback on Matt's presentation and getting feedback in general.

First, I attended Matt's session. He did an excellent job. He clearly followed the outline above and it worked for him and will work for anyone else. While he confessed to the audience it was his first presentation, he came across as a seasoned presenter.

Matt had some feedback regarding his content overlapping another session. Clearly not Matt's issue, but a camp issue with coordinating that track's content. After the camp I had a one on one call with Matt and shared feedback with him. (no new news here for him)

The only way to improve sessions and camps is to ask for and execute on feedback. At the end of every NEDCamp everyone receives a survey. It's from there we can improve on the conference. As camp coordinators we share session specific feedback with the presents and training specific feedback with the trainers.

I recommend that presenters make a personal ask at the end of their session for feedback by sharing the email address. Getting this feedback, along with a recording (video or audio) will help improve in the future.

-Stephen

Re: WordPress Website Hacked: Prevention and Cure [LNIM121]

stephen — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 17:12:24 -0000

Mark -

I'm enjoying the show more than ever. In the past, I know it's been a struggle for you to be consistent with show releases, but you've nailed that in 2016. (It may have been longer, but that's when I reconnected). I most enjoy your balance of technical information, marketing information and encouragement. Best wishes in 2017.

You information and advice on security was spot on. Security cannot be emphasized enough. The are few additional items that came to mind when listening.

1. Impact on SEO - Particularly for your listeners... after putting lots of hard work into getting ranked, what is the impact of ranking after Google has marked your website a being hacked? I expect it will hurt website ranking.

2. Brand Image/Reputation - Having listeners, customers, readers see your site marked as hacked does not build trust. Especially when you are asking for e-mail address and selling products. This is likely to most damage from a hack. I've been helping people with hacks for a long time and most times a customer is pointing it out. It sucks to inform your customers their information was compromised on your website; I'm speaking from experience.

3. Server Impact - Having an exploited website also means an exploited server. Simply fixing the database/WP version does not mean the exploit is gone. Understanding exactly which exploit was used can help determine if you need to spin up a new server for the database restore. Your hosting provider can be very helpful here.

-S

Re: Cliff’s Crafty ConvertKit Conversion [LNIM113]

stephen — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 21:41:34 -0000

Mark - I've recently started using ConvertKit. I'm struggling with the best strategy for handling video. As you know, ConvertKit does not support embedded video. They recommend placing an image in the e-mail that links to the video. I'm trying to decide the best approach. Approach 1 - embed the video on a page on my website and link to that page. Approach 2 - link directly to the video (on Vimeo). I'm building a training sequence what will include text and video tutorials.

If you have any advice here, I would like to hear your thoughts (in a future episode is fine).

Thanks.
-S

Re: 14 Critical SEO Tips For Bloggers in 2016 [LNIM109]

stephen — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 21:32:09 -0000

Hi Mark - Happy to.

-S

Re: 471 – Why I Switched From Aweber To ConvertKit

stephen — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 13:24:15 -0000

I use a CRM called Contactually that provides many of the same features from the CRM perspective. With the information you provided, I'm considering a switch from MailChimp to ConvertKit.

I was entertained by the criticism of Cliff's mailing list tag line, yet it was very successful (16k from 200 subscribers). I would call that very effective copy. Yes, he has outgrown that now, but for that time it was spot on!

Thanks for the info.

-S

Re: Wireframing for responsive design

stephen — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:11:09 -0000

The basic design challenges of the "R" word were nicely explained. To help demonstrate responsive to customers, we have created sample HTML pages that show both the Great Value and design challenges. It's not a simple as moving columns around. We are also experimenting with wireframing in HTML/CSS - it gets the issues to the device (in the customer's hands) quicker.

-Stephen

Re: Amy Wright – A gspn.tv Community Member Who Will Forever Be In Our Hearts!

stephen — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 23:55:10 -0000

I didn't know Amy; physically or virtually. But I do know that Amy was part of my community, the GSPN community, a community based on respect and Love. I know that Amy is in peace and I hope that her loved ones find comfort.

-S

Re: Inspirational shipping late night at the grocery store

stephen — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:02:27 -0000

One of those moments that separates the doers from the non-doers.

Re: Why I (and maybe you) don’t need an iPhone

stephen — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:25:06 -0000

Connectivity is the key question. Maybe more importantly, the cost of that connectivity. There is clearly a cost savings using the iTouch instead of the iPhone. Let's assume the cost of the device is a wash, the difference is the data plan; $30/mo. Over 2 years - $720. Is the convenience of 100% connectivity with $720?

Great perspective Andy.

-S

Re: 485 PABL – The Year of Providence Begins

stephen — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:29:44 -0000

Cliff -

I have always been impressed by your ability to self-reflect and reset. On the heals of your most successful year financially, you have once again stepped back and rebooted. This Cliff is the one many GSPN Plus members fell in love with.

-S

Re: Why you should buy digital products (and why I do)…

stephen — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 12:27:25 -0000

"Digital Product" is a term being used to describe training videos. I don't think that language helps sell the product. I'm wondering why "training video" or something like it is not used.

-S

Re: 006 Linchpin Podcast – Jason Pamental – Being a Linchpin web designer, strategist, husband, dad & 15 year overnight success

stephen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 06:15:40 -0000

I enjoyed the conversational feel to this episode. While it was long, it didn't feel like it.

Linchpins are all around us; the first grade school teacher, the cashier, the web designer and my wife. While they may not all be world leaders, they are leaders of their world (art). Find your world - find your art.

Keep them coming Andy.

Re: Why Is gspn.tv Loading So Slowly? – Godaddy November 2010

stephen — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 06:14:46 -0000

Cliff -

Sorry to hear about the poor customer service you are receiving. The performance issues you are having are common with shared hosting environments and are not exclusive to GoDaddy. I would suggest moving to a virtual server environment.

I'm not familiar with Blue Host's hosting options, but I expect they have some variations of the follow:

Shared server environment - This is what you are using. For this service, your website is sharing hardware with a number of other websites. When someone else's website is having a spike in visitors, it will affect the performance of your website. This is a good option for websites where the highest level of performance is not required. Your needs have outgrown this.

Virtual server environment - A virtual server is taking one physical server and breaking it into multiple virtual servers. In this environment, the virtual server has a dedicated portion of the physical server resources (RAM, CPU, Disk Space). Traffic on someone else's website will not affect your website. The key to this service is scaling. You can start at the lowest level of dedicated resources and easily upgrade to more dedicated resources as your needs increase. With this server, you are in complete control of site performance.

Dedicated server environment - For this solution, a physical server is dedicated to your website. All of the server resources are dedicated to you. This option is for companies that have unique software and hardware requirements. God willing, you will need dedicated hardware someday.

If you move to a new hosting provider, but stay on a shared hosting plan, you may have similar performance issues in the future.

-Stephen

Re: 002 Linchpin Podcast – Jon Dale’s six months with Seth Godin

stephen — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:54:23 -0000

Andy - you are a master interviewer. Jon brought us into the inner circle and it was fascinating. You have set the bar pretty high with this one.

-Stephen

Re: Week One With My iPad

stephen — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:15:17 -0000

What is so amazing about the iPad and iPhone is how Apple has managed to take technology out of computing. The iPad being used by your entire family is such a great example of that.

Check out Taylor ... http://www.stephencross.com...

Re: Keeping positive

stephen — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:38:00 -0000

Good sales and life lesson... hope he finds your post!

Re: Making Sense of Social Media

stephen — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:35:28 -0000

#s3c promotion idea: create an "Inspired by s3c" badge (website graphic) that attendees are encourage to use on their (new) websites, blogs... The badge will link back to s3c page. This will promote the course and help your SEO as well.

Re: Victor on twit.tv with Leo Laporte

stephen — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:40:44 -0000

Like many, I love Leo's content. I especially enjoyed you (another favorite) with him. I have to laugh a little when Leo discussed 'community', he is much closer to (big) broadcast media then community. Nice job Victor.

Re: TMUP 139: Mary and Victor Talk, Terminal Part 9

stephen — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:46:48 -0000

V - loved the interaction between you and Mary. It reminded me of conversations I have with my wife and others. I would like to hear more of that.

Re: Victor’s Mino Thoughts 7/21/2008

stephen — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:18:01 -0000

Hi Victor -

Glasses are good! New glasses for me are a family affair. When selecting the last new pair, I ask my 12 year old daughter to help with the selection. If she approved, I knew Mom and the other girls in the family would approve. (Where would we be without them?!).

In regards to the iPhone, I am having problems with iPhone battery life as well. BUT, I wonder if it has much to do with my use of the apps. I am a OmniFocus user and love the iPhone App. I used to have the OmniFocus DB on a USB drive to use it in the office and on the road. The MobileMe sync has eliminated the USB drive. My Todo's are in sync with my Desktop, laptop and iPhone. Awesome.

I am interested to see my data usage this month over the previous months. I wonder if there is a correlation between data usage and battery life.

Re: Victor Mino Thoughts 6/18/2008

stephen — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:59:11 -0000

I am in the web development business. I sometimes use iWeb to put a quick site together to share design layouts and wireframes with a customer. The sites we build are more sophisticated than iWeb can handle, but Its a handy tool for these type of things.