Above the Fold: 11 Things Right about Escape from Cubicle Nation

January 15, 2007 by Liz

Great Design Doesn’t Shout

From the eyes of a naive, intelligent customer, Escape from Cubicle Nation is not just great content. It’s also reader-supporting design done well. Let me point out 11 Things so elegantly right above the fold.

The title says what the blog is about.
The tag line makes the promise even clearer.
I can see who the writer is.
The About Page and Contact information are right there.
Any free offers are easy to find.
The main content is what draws my eye.
The content is supported by a fabulous photo that draws me in.
The title and typeface are readable and all parts of the post are identifiable.
Everything is where I expect it to be.
All of the pieces that go together seem to hang as one unit.
It’s easy to see how to subscribe by email, RSS, or even podcast.

If you’re looking for a model of clean, reader-friendly design, follow the 11 Things that Escape from Cubicle Nation does well. All that and what you notice is the great content. Exactly how a great design works — great design doesn’t shout.

Click the image below to go there.

What else do you see?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Sandy’s Great Graphic Find: FavIcon from Pics

January 14, 2007 by Liz

Sometimes It’s the Little Things That Get Noticed . . .

Great Find: FavIcon from Pics

Permalink: http://www.chami.com/html-kit/services/favicon/

Target Audience: All computer users

Content: You’ve probably noticed those small graphic symbols next to the URL in the address bar of your browser or in your bookmarks. Maybe you wondered how they did that. The symbols are called favicons. What’s that?

Favicon is short for favorite icon, and sometimes you will see it referred to as a bookmark icon. The file is very small (16×16 pixels and 16 colors) and is saved with the name favicon.ico.

You can convert your logo or picture with special tools. There are several to choose from, and the one we’ll talk about today is Favicon from Pics. This tool creates still or animated favicons from your images.

Simply browse to select the file on your computer (it must be a *.gif, *.jpg, *.png, *.ico or *.bmp) and click the GenerateFavicon.ico button. Then you have a choice to Download Favicon or Test in Browser.

How slick is that?

Three things I like about FavIcon from Pics are:

It’s easy to use.
It’s free.
It’s web based, so there’s nothing to download except your finished file.

Depending on which blogging software you use, the instructions for uploading your file vary. Check the help section for instructions.

Stay tuned… next week is another tool that’s free!

–Sandy, Purple Wren

Great Find: Very Short Story Contest

January 14, 2007 by Liz

Can You Say It in Six Words?

Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings is having a contest that opens Monday.

Great Find: Very Short Story Contest at Middle Zone Musings
Permalink: http://middlezonemusings.blogspot.com
Audience/Topic: Folks up for a quick fun contest.

Content: Robert is taking his lead from a Wired article, Very Short Stories. He suggests you read the article for examples of how to write a story in just six words. Here are the rules as he states them:

Read (if you like) the stories in this Wired article to get a feel for how itÃ¢â¬â¢s done.

Write a six-word story (a kinda obvious step, I know). In fact, write a group herd bunch – the more the merrier. (There are really only two rules to this contest: a) use exactly six words, and b) because this is for general consumption, I would appreciate it if you would please keep them G-rated!)

For those of you with blogs, post your entry on your blog, and link back to this post here at Middle Zone Musings. Then send me an email to let me know.

For those of you without blogs (and why havenÃ¢â¬â¢t you started one yet?), you can enter your submissions via the comments on this post. No need to email me in this case.

In return, I will link back to your post (or mention you by name, if you don’t have a blog) several times during the week, and once more in the archive post.

Good Luck and enjoy the contest!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Carolyn Goodwin Is a B.A.D. Blogger!

January 13, 2007 by Liz

Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Carolyn there?

Carolyn was a bit wet from a rainstorm in Houston, but she was armed with a cup of coffee when the telephone rang at her end. We talked about the Houston weather, but soon enough we were on other topics, such as blogging and getting used to the differences between print and online text.

Then we were discussing the content in spam comments. We had a laugh about the idea of what cartoon characters do for fun. We also talked about how we were the market for spammers, since we’re the ones who read the awful things they try to plant on our blogs.

Carolyn told me about her past life in the financial industry. She pointed out that “People act so differently in a board room.” I could almost hear her asking them, “Why do you do that?” Carolyn says it’s important to break down those boardroom walls for us to get to know each other. I listened to her tell how she does that by connecting art and business to bring out the human side.

Carolyn explained that now she has a custom gift business and in her business she teaches executives how to get to know their clients through personal gift giving.

Carolyn’s approach is to teach executives to talk with clients about their weekend, their family, or something personal before every meeting or phone call. She encourages that as that a “little investigating.” She said that when the time comes, the executive then can give the client a more personal gift for doing business. Carolyn explained that she provides her executive clients choices for first gifts that aren’t too personal, but show that the executive has been listening.

Here’s an example of a thank you Carolyn might send to someone she just met.

Carolyn has found a way to help businesses show they care about people.

That makes it easy to care about Carolyn.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

Anyone can do it. It’s so accessible to anyone. There are so many great ideas. It’s going to be so exciting to see where it goes. — Carolyn Goodwin

Stop by Carolyn’s Blog, Whirled Events and say hi!

Thanks, Carolyn, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.

Thanks to Week 64 SOBs

January 13, 2007 by Liz

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Change the World: Each of Us Can

January 13, 2007 by Liz

Hey, Ben, How Can We Change the World?

On Monday I had a conversation with Ben Yoskovitz about changing the world. I figured that Ben, who is a quiet force behind Gifter.org, and who is always finding new initiatives such as Global Voices Online, would certainly have ideas worth sharing.

Ben responded with this simple and elegant piece you find here.

How Each of Us Can Change The World

Guest Writer: Ben Yoskovitz

You need a world view. You need to understand what’s going on out there. The world’s a big place, but as you shape your world view, the world itself gets very, very tiny.

Suddenly, the world is in your backyard. When that happens, you can start to change it so easily.

Getting a world view is easy. Go online, read and learn. Countless websites and blogs are out there. News-related. Personal. Get a feel for what’s happening.

Talk to people. Reading and learning isn’t enough. You have to speak with people to understand their experiences. Let them take you on a journey through their life, through their world.

When the world shrinks into the palm of your hand, you’ll know what to do to change it.

Benjamin Yoskovitz

Thank you, Ben, for showing us how we might start.

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

______________
If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.

Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.