I was interested in the points under the “How to Get More Subscribers” subsection. I don’t entirely agree with his second point:

The notion that subscribers unsubscribe if you post too little is a myth. If they like you, they’ll wait.

I think that readers like to see posts on a regular basis.  I believe the minimum posting frequency to be once a week.  If you have to take a short break from that then let people know what’s going on and when posting will resume.

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One of the worst e-mail mistakes I’ve ever seen was when a co-worker complained about the company we worked at to another co-worker. He gave his honest opinion about one of upper management’s recent decisions. It wasn’t complimentary. It named names. It was accidentally sent to EVERY person in the company. Yikes! The co-worker sent out a lovely apology to everyone in the company the next day. To be honest, I’m not sure how long he worked there after that.

The rudest email I ever received was from a co-worker at a major corporation. We were working together on a small project. I’d sensed that this man lacked in social graces during our face-to-face meetings. My suspicions were confirmed when I got an email that said merely, “Call me!” He wasn’t my manager. His arm wasn’t broken. He hadn’t been promoted to the president of the company. This was just his special way of getting things done. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a strong and lasting reaction to two words ever in my life. For his part, I think he was utterly clueless. He was a man of action just trying to get things done. I’m sure it wasn’t personal. I’m also sure that unless he’s changed his ways he finds that his colleagues are surprisingly (to him anyway) uncooperative.

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Don’t forget who recommended her first!

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The second toolbar is displayed if you click on the kitchen sink.  To hide it again just click on the kitchen sink again.

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Last Friday my FTP software stopped working. FTP software is what I use to move website pages from my computer to the website host. In this instance I could email my clients just fine, but I couldn’t make changes to their sites.

So what’s a person to do when technical problems occur?

1. Recognize that you’re about to have a learning opportunity. A product is only as good as its technical support and you’re about to learn a lot about the company that you’re working with. My email problem took a long time to solve and I was given a lot of misinformation along the way. That company has some black marks in my book. The FTP software is by Ipswitch and they had wonderful technical support. My problem was solved and the software even got an update in the process.
2. Make a backup plan for next time. Now that I’m not in the heat of the moment I’ve developed a plan for a backup email address. I’ve even got a plan for dealing with my next FTP problem. (Although with my new software update I doubt I’ll have a problem.)
3. Take a deep breath and realize that technical problems happen to the best of us. In early June Amazon.com’s website went down for about an hour and a half.  In a world where the Amazon.com website can go down anything can happen.

As I endeavor to take my own advice I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that technical problems don’t happen in threes. 

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The situation isn’t all that unusual. Websites will appear differently on different computers. But it’s hard for me to fix a problem if I can’t see it. The key to helping this customer was to have her take a screen shot.

A screen shot is an image of what you see on your computer screen. To make a screen shot just click the print screen (PrtSc) key. (The key should be on the top toward the right of your keyboard.)  An image of what you’re seeing on your screen is now on your clipboard.

Once you’ve got a screen shot you can paste (hold the control key and the “v” key down at the same time) it into an Outlook email. You can paste it into a Microsoft Word document. You can do all kinds of things with it, but most importantly you can send it to your friendly website developer.

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One of my recent favorites was a home near Port Townsend, Washington. The living room photo showed a wonderful water view. The only problem was that a television set was parked in front of the large window. I’ll admit that the photographer couldn’t do anything about the television. The owner chose the TV placement. But the photographer could have taken the time to turn the television off before he took the photo. I guess maybe the photo shows the homes good television reception.

This Canadian real estate agent has put together a very funny collection of really bad (and I mean bad) real estate photos.

All joking aside,it’s important to find a good photographer. Here are two that I’ve worked with:

• PICSWA Photography - Seattle area
• Danny Lee Photography - Utah

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Last weekend one of the founders of the company sent out an email to HostMySite customers. In part it says:

I am writing today with an exciting announcement. On Tuesday June 3rd, HostMySite.com was acquired by Wachovia Capital Partners (WCP). As I have spent the last couple days communicating this to our employees and talking about the implications, I am sensitive to the fact that this type of event creates uncertainty. I want to reassure you that Wachovia Capital Partners understands and values the HostMySite.com way of caring for customers. This is a transaction that Neil and I entered into very carefully and not a situation where the company was merely auctioned off to the highest bidder. We spent time getting to know and trust the team from WCP and selected them as a partner that can provide incredible capital and resources to allow HostMySite.com to grow, prosper, and offer additional services to benefit our customers. WCP recognizes the value in our commitment to customer service and all future plans include maintaining an intense focus on continuing to improve your experience.

What does this mean for customers of HostMySite? It means we hold on and wait. If Wachovia intends to retain HostMySite’s uncompromising set of values then we’re good. If company growth means that customer service decreases then we consider our options. Websites are easy to move. I work with other companies that are fine website hosts. They may not be as good as HostMySite but they’re fine.

Here’s hoping for the best!

Additional Resources:

• Wachovia buys Del. Web hosting company
• Web Host HostMySite Acquired

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