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May 2004 In this issue: >> Intro: From
My Kitchen Table
Greetings, Thank you! The response to the last issue's 'Where Do You Work?' survey was the highest I have ever received. One choice I didn't add was for those of you who work both at an office and at home. But a significant number of you indicated you worked in both places - so I have separated out that group. Here are the figures: In my employer's offices
- 37% One of the things that came up in several survey responses was the liberating benefits of wireless Internet access. It's thanks to my own wireless connection that I can work from the kitchen table and elsewhere in my home. And at airports, hotels and other sundry hotspots. How about you? Let us know by responding to the survey at the end of this newsletter. I hope you enjoy this issue's article and review. As always, I love to hear your feedback, even if I don't always have time to reply to everyone individually. Until next time. Nick >> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com =============================================== REVIEW: TeleClass Presenter - Add Live Slides to Phone Presentations Whether you are a consultant, freelancer, coach, speaker or in sales, you can now use the web to deliver live slide presentations while talking on the phone. At an affordable price. There are numerous video conferencing services and technologies available. But most are aimed at large or medium-size companies. James Maduk has come up with a very simple and inexpensive solution for those of us with simpler needs. Read my full review
here:
- MarketingSherpa: - Site Build It!: - Principled Profit =============================================== Get out of the way and make it easy for your visitors to find what they want. Recently I completed a report for a site that was the most ‘peaceful’ and among the most ‘useful’ I had seen in a long time. That is to say, the visual and promotional ‘noise’ on the pages was at a minimum. Take a look for yourself here: www.businessobjects.com/devzone As you can see, the headings are all the same size and weight, there are very few images and the background color remains consistent. I’m not suggesting that every site should be without color, images and big headings. But what this site showed me is that when you take out all those heavy visual and promotional elements, you make the content much easier to scan. Your eyes are not being dragged from one place to another. The design isn’t attempting to say, “Look at this area first! Look at me first!” There is no visual shouting, as it were. The result? It’s a calm place. Your eyes are free to roam without undue influence from the design. You can quickly scan the headings to find the content that is most relevant to your task. In addition, the text of the headings themselves is not shouting. There is no ‘copywriting’ here. The headings simply describe the content. So now neither design nor text is trying to make you go to one place first. You are left free to decide for yourself, without having to fight your way through promotional clutter and noise. And that’s the key here: the absence of promotion. The company, Business Objects, is not using this site to push, promote or emphasize any one of more of its products or services in particular. They are simply providing information and allowing visitors to find what they want, as quickly and as simply as possible. This is the benefit of ‘getting out of the way’. On most sites, our promotional interests get in the way too much. We shout and scream in an attempt to get visitors to spend their time looking at what WE want them to focus on. The problem here is that we may not always be very good at anticipating what THEY want to find. And our breathless attempts to get them to look in one direction makes it harder for them to find what THEY are looking for. This is where this site really shines. The company, designers and writers have moved out of the way. They have created an interface and written copy that is essentially ‘sales-neutral’. It’s a bold move. But as a result, their visitors are spared the noise of so many other sites, and are given a layout, headings and links that make it simple to find what is most important to THEM. ** If you found value in the article, please forward this newsletter to colleagues and friends who might be interested. ** The archives of
all previous ExcessVoice articles can be found here: >> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com =============================================== READERS WRITE BACK: Where I Work "I work in my home office. Some years ago, when I first started out as an Executive Search Consultant, I had an office in one of the "best" business addresses in Montréal - Westmount Square. I stayed there for the better part of three years before I did a reality check of what I was getting for what I was paying. In the thirty-six months I'd been there, I'd had exactly five visitors to my office: almost 100 per cent of my business had been developed, and completed, over the 'phone. (This was before internet access, even as a novelty, let alone as an everyday tool of business communications.) So I moved everything home. At first, I set up in a corner of one bedroom - a little bit quieter than your kitchen table, but still, not a space dedicated to my work.But I always had the feeling that everything was 'temporary', so I set aside a room just for my office. I realize that not everyone is fortunate to have a house big enough that one whole room can be set aside for a single dedicated purpose, but for me, this move was the difference between night and day. I felt more professional, and this made me think that I came across to my Clients, via 'phone, fax, and e-mail, as more professional. Your newsletter indicates that you are able to produce a very professional product from your kitchen table, and I am sure that others share your ability in this respect. But I'm not one of them." Paul Creighton == "I work from a big table in my dining room area that is really just my office (I am not the type to have dinner parties). I have grown used to the free flow of my day, from a couple hours of marketing consulting or writing work to a dog walk to a few more hours of work to meeting someone for coffee etc. My productivity level is greater, I believe, than when I worked for a business and had an office within their building. Back then, I felt like I twiddled my thumbs for about 3 hours every day just to get my 8 hours in. If I follow the flow of my brain, my hours of work - however scattered about - are much more productive and my creativity is stimulated and active with so many different things to mull over. I know it wouldn't work for a lot of people, but it works for me." Andrea Learned == "When I do work at home, whether for my "day job" or my own stuff, I use the home office (which is really the converted back bedroom). Aside: For some reason, some prefer to say "work from home." It's a curious idiom. Seems like when I at the (company) office I'm working [away] from home." Frank Siraguso Any thoughts or comments to share? Send them in now... >> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com =============================================== SURVEY: Do You Have a Wireless Internet Connection? [ ] Yes
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