Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Create living websites!

Many businesses have dying websites. Though it is a grave concern, the frequent updation of their websites is either too tedious or too costly. Most of it is because when they set out to create a website, they didn’t have any long term plan in mind. Anyways, here are a few pointers that can help you create websites that breathe, interact and earn for you! Since you might not make your own website, you can still get better results if you are aware of what you can get. 

 1. Plan ahead: Do not go contented for simple HTML websites with state-of-the-art graphics. Always get an admin interface created. Ask your web designer to enable you to add/edit some part of the text and some of the images via an interface. If it costs a little more, it’s an investment. Try tossing terms like content management, wordpress/joomla to sound IT-aware. 

 2. Feeds: Your website should get regular updates from your blogs, tweets, facebook - as you may like. This makes the website quite alive. 

 3. Gadgets: Add a few dynamic widgets like visits counter, quote of the day(if relevant), Quick-polls, Weather, news and many others or you may even build a custom gadget.

 4. Contacts: Always add a section/page to enlist all the contact details. All the ways in which you will like your visitors to connect with you (includes Twitter, Facebook) Address, emails, phone-numbers, fax. You may also provide a facility where visitor can make you VOIP call, or leave a message. You may include live chats, so that visitors can contact you directly when you or someone in your team is online. 

 5. Security: All the places where you may have to display emails, or where you expect the user to fill a form are susceptible to spam attacks. Ensure mail-hiding and captcha. 

Posted by Ujjwal Trivedi at 18:40:54 | Permalink | Comments (4)

Searching for a job!

I am not, as of now. But, have many friends who are. Searching for a job in recession is like carrying a hen, and looking for a restaurant to feed yourself, in a desert. Though it’s costly, restaurant is a convenience. Cooking your own chicken is not easy. You don’t want to get your hands dirty. That’s exactly the difference between looking for a job and setting up a business. Here are a few pointers to myself: If I were to loose the convenience of my restaurant tomorrow.    

1. Float an impressive resume: I will update my resume and make sure it sells itself. Then I will float it in my social and professional networks, and job sites ofcourse. 

2. Dig my network: Dig my network on various online platforms to find out what openings relevant to my skills are available. Also will try to guage what additional skills will help me further. Will connect with and ask for help from people who can. 
 
3. Sharpen my skills: Brush-up my technology skills to prepare for interviews. 

4. Implement long pending business ideas: Spend time on implementing long pending business ideas with available resources. 

5. Join an NGO: Join an NGO and take up work from them, relevant to my skills. Like say they may need to build their websites, or upgrade’em. Also, I might help them use social media, for grwoth. I can offer to provide free services for one day every week.

6. Prepare for higher studies/certifications or do available low cost trainings.
 
7. Provide training to freshers free or low cost: Taking classes is fun. You can get paid for what people want to learn and you can use it to teach what you like to teach.  

I don’t know how effective this list would be, haven’t tried yet. But I am sure it would be a lot of value addition to myself, and best use of the time I’d have. 

UPDATE: found some innovative ways to search jobs @ CareerTiger

Posted by Ujjwal Trivedi at 13:50:30 | Permalink | Comments (4)