Do or Do not.

[Hack] Add Google+ Button on WordPress, Blogger, or Any Site

2011-12-28T06:34:11Z

You can add a badge for your Google+ Pages on your blog or site, but it doesn’t say anything about adding a button/icon for your Google+ profiles (personal accounts).

Turns out, the badge configurator creates an icon for your Google+ profile as well.

Instead of entering the page ID of a page, enter your profile number in the text box. You can get your profile number from the URL of your Google+ profile.

Now, take the code and add it in the Text widget in WordPress, in the HTML/Javascript gadget in Blogger, or just about anywhere on your site.

That’s it!

[External] Why You Should Never Search For Free WordPress Themes in Google or Anywhere Else

From Freelancing to Projects to Startups

2011-12-27T19:15:43Z

Back when I registered my personal domain in 2008, it was meant to be a larger than life resume, a CV/bio.

With curiosity, I went from Drupal to WordPress, and er, am still with WP.

I thought, why not make some money out of the knowledge I gained from tinkering with domains, hosting, Google Apps, and everything in between them? That’s when I re-worked this site into a portfolio portal, after having worked on a few gigs. I tasted money as a freelancer, and I now know the meaning of the phrase, ‘having tasted blood’!

You want to take it further, thinking of the next thing, the next big gig – in this case, the gig would have to big enough that it will be a project. Except that, I’ll have to do more than just tinkering with CSS/HTML/PHP. It is time to code – maybe I’ll pick up HTML5, Ruby on Rails, or Python on Google App Engine to begin with.

The funny thing is, thinking of projects makes you think of stuff like market fit, minimum viable product, and some such things. You think you’re sitting on the edge between a project and a startup idea.

What’s the difference?

I mean, really, when you’re facing a loaded gun (aka idea), what’s the difference?

As I found out, the difference is, whether you’re willing to take a leap of faith. How far can you go? Do risks matter to you? Is/are your ideas strong enough that you begin to stop thinking and decide to start doing? Because, every time there is a progression, there are simply elevations in the scope of ideas – from trials and errors to freelancing to projects. But, really, what do you have to show for all the time away from your personal life?

Anyway, I’m ready to doze off anytime now. Just want to say that I’ve a few projects lined up, and I will code. And the startup will happen when a project kicks off big time and I’ll know I’m onto something big. Until then, it’s time to create.

If you’ve any suggestions on the approach for my first project, it’ll be appreciated.

[News] New PayPal User Terms in India Effective 1-March-2011

2011-01-28T23:11:52Z

Looks like PayPal users, especially freelancers, in India are in for more hardships. Read today’s statement sent to the users by email.

From https://www.paypal-apac.com/india/:

With effect from 1 March 2011, you are required to comply with the requirements set out in the notification of the Reserve Bank of India governing the processing and settlement of export-related receipts facilitated by online payment gateways (“RBI Guidelines”).

In order to comply with the RBI Guidelines, our user agreement in India will be amended for the following services as follows:

Any balance in and all future payments into your PayPal account may not be used to buy goods or services and must be transferred to your bank account in India within 7 days from the receipt of confirmation from the buyer in respect of the goods or services; and

Export-related payments for goods and services into your PayPal account may not exceed US$500 per transaction.

Also read the FAQs at the end of the page for a little more clarifications.

What do you think are the alternatives?

[External] Why You Should Never Search For Free WordPress Themes in Google or Anywhere Else

2011-01-17T06:04:00Z

From http://wpmu.org/ :

Why You Should Never Search For Free WordPress Themes in Google or Anywhere Else

Conclusion

Out of the ten sites on the first page of Google, here are the stats:

Safe: 1

Iffy: 1

Avoid: 8

…WordPress.org! A totally trusted and safe place to get your free WordPress themes from.

SEO Consultants: To Hire or Not to Hire

2011-01-13T05:53:32Z

What is SEO?

SEO, Search Engine Optimization, involves applying some best practices, called techniques, to make a website (or a specific set of web pages) appear higher in search engine results. The higher the listing, the higher the “Page Rank” for the web page.

If you’re an owner of a website, you’d want your web pages to appear high in the search engine results page. The premise is that users who search for something typically tend to click on the first few listings on a search engine results page. The lower the listing, the lower is the chance of users visiting those web pages.

The next questions is how would you get your web pages listed on top of the results? Or how would I achieve top page ranking?

SEO is Not Absolute

Remember, SEO is not an absolute science. It means that the results of the SEO techniques do not guarantee an absolute page rank or high listings. Neither can anyone guarantee that you’ll achieve a result in one month. If somebody is trying to sell their services based on absolute page ranks or time frames, beware. They might be using unethical techniques, commonly referred to as black-hat SEO.

Achieving results depend a lot on the market size and the domain of your products or services. If the market size is large (too much competition, such as smart phones) and the domain is too common (such as making money online), it would take longer to see some results. Patience and a lot of effort are the keys!

Hiring SEO Consultants

You can hire SEO consultants to help you out. SEO consultants vary in size and expertise. They can range from established, reputed and dedicated companies to amateur, freelance consultants.

Another question for you would be to hire an external consultant or ask internal marketing teams to learn SEO. Well, there are times for both cases.

External Consultants: If you’ve no internal expertise and have tight deadlines, you could be better off hiring SEO consultants. You can hire them based on your trusted references, their portfolio (look for their clients), and your budget.

Internal Teams: If you’re in no hurry, you can afford training expenses and you’ve a need to apply SEO on an ongoing basis (for a bunch of websites/blogs), it makes more sense to invest the time and money to train internal teams as SEO experts.

Bonus Tip: If you’re doing this for the first time, no matter what, you can hire good SEO consultants and ask your internal teams to learn as much as possible from them on the first project. Experience always counts, right?

More resources:

Have you made such decisions in the past? What has been your best and worst experience? Please share them.

Testimonials: STC India Chapter, 2010

2011-12-27T14:06:40Z

The clients set the direction and it is our job to understand what they actually want and deliver on those requirements. Our priority is to be flexible, available for support, and maintain quality and schedule.

Therefore, we accept these commendations from the clients who support and encourage us with these kind words. Thanks to all!

STC India announces ‘Volunteer of the Quarter Award’, 2010-Q1

For our work as the web consultant and webmaster for the following web properties:

Here’s an excerpt of the award citation from the STC India President:

“Volunteering for STC activities takes a huge amount of dedication and involvement, given our hectic work schedules and commitments, and so the council for this year felt that we must have a regular Reward and Recognition program in place to reward the outstanding volunteer for the quarter, and then finally for the year!

It won’t be difficult for you to guess who the volunteer for the quarter is………..SRIDHAR MACHANI !!! The decision was unanimous!

Sridhar has been instrumental in the design and development of our new Web 2.0 format of INDUS, as well as of our new STC India Portal. He has not only kept to his schedules, he has also kept us on our toes to get things done in time.

We take this opportunity to thank you Sridhar for the excellent job you have done with publishing INDUS and the new portal – both being very key items for our success as a chapter this year. As we speak, you continue your hard work with Phase 2 of the portal and we thank you for being on top of your schedule for this as well. Your support is so good that we just need to think of a feature and you have the best and most economical solution to accommodate it.”

Read the full text (opens in new window).

Rajdeep Gupta, STC India President 2011 (New Elect), and Vice-President 2010

From LinkedIn:

“As STC India VP I have to network with people for various activities and when you have such a challenging task of building up a STC India portal, then you need a professional and dedicated volunteer. Sridhar is an epitome of perseverance, honesty and skills.Within a couple of months, he transformed the static STC India website to a knowledge rising platform (http://stc-india.org).

He continues to lend his support toward STC activities and is definitely an asset to any organization.”

Speaking Engagements and Workshops

2010-11-11T16:27:16Z

Hey, are you hosting a meet-up or a seminar?

You can engage me to speak and to conduct workshops on topics such as:

Web solutions, see topics we can cover here
Productivity at work and in life, based on my own version of GTD (getting things done)
Pursuing greatness at work and in everything else that we do
Handling interviews

Just give me a shout!

Special Offer: Refer 5 Friends, Get YourName.Com Free!

2011-12-27T16:40:35Z

Howdy!

Whether the season is special or not, we are thinking of new ways on how we can make it special for you.

So, we’ve lined up free goodies worth approximately US $500!

We suggest you hurry, this is a limited offer. We’ve limited packages to give away.

How would you like your own website or a blog?

Like this:

www.yourname.com or www.yourblog.com

Interested? Here’s what you need to do:

Refer our solutions to 5 of your friends, colleagues, managers, or businesses and just about anyone else in the world who would like to sign up for our solutions.

For every 5 sign ups, you get:

Goodies	Approximate Value
Free yourname.com domain(Of course, you can choose any available name for the .com extension you want!)	US $10
Free web hosting for 1 year	US $70
Free setup of your website or blog	US $80
Free setup of a publicly available theme design(usually with GPL license)	(Already included)
1 hour of free email support every month after the setup – so you’re not left alone with the technical maintenance activities for a year!	US $240
1 hour of free consulting after or close to the end of the 1st year for the renewal and transfer of your domain and web host	US $100

And just so you know, here are the things you DON’T get:

FTP access, control panel access, or any other type of back-end access to your domain (but you’ll be able to post and manage your posts, users, and media just fine)
Web hosting space of more than 2GB for your website or blog (this space limitation is meant for potential abusers; you’ll do just great with the space provided; a typical website or blog consumes not more than a 100MB of space)
Web hosting and domain renewal after the 1st year
Customizations of any kind

Got any questions? Drop us a line or two.

Disclaimer: We offer these goodies in good faith and provide support on a best effort basis. We are not responsible for any kinds of damages or losses you may suffer as a result of some or all the goodies you receive from us. To get best in class support and solutions, please sign up for our professional solutions.

Goodies	Approximate Value
Free yourname.com domain (Of course, you can choose any available name for the .com extension you want!)	US $10
Free setup of your website or blog	US $80
Free setup of a publicly available theme design (usually with GPL license)	(Already included)
1 hour of free email support every month after the setup – so you’re not left alone with the technical maintenance activities for a year!	US $240
1 hour of free consulting after or close to the end of the 1st year for the renewal and transfer of your domain and web host	US $100

Jobs Board: STC India Careers

2011-12-27T14:06:40Z

Client	Society for Technical Communication India Chapter
Web URL	http://careers.stc-india.org
Solution	Jobs Board
Overall Work	Create online jobs portal for employers and potential candidates looking for jobs.
Features	Web design Search by roles, type of employment, cities, and companies. RSS feeds for various types of jobs Online job posting Online job application

Community: STC India Network

2011-12-27T14:06:40Z

Client	Society for Technical Communication India Chapter
Web URL	http://network.stc-india.org
Solution	Community
Overall Work	Create a social network for the STC India members and technical writers based in India.
Features	Memberships Member blogs Activity stream Social networking Special Interest Groups (SIG) Forums WordPress MU implemented as community