Note from Heidi: Our very own Dave has started a new email 
discussion list/newsletter.  Dave and I have been on the 
internet since the early 1990's.  Yep, we're dinosaurs.  
And, we've been building websites since 1994.  I rely on Dave 
constantly for advice and help on my own projects.  Friends 
call him a computer geek with social skills.  Dave knows his 
stuff — VERY WELL — all aspects of building a website.  

We're working on a new website project PrettyGreat.com.  
Isn't that a "Pretty Great" domain name?  As part of this 
project, Dave is making himself available for you to pick his 
"Pretty Great" brains.  Lucky you!  Join his email discussion 
list and receive his newsletter.  Then discuss, ask, help, 
gripe and groan on the email discussion list.  Dave and the 
tremendous support of everyone on the list will help you 
Build a Pretty Great Website!  You can join in at: 
http://Websites.PrettyGreat.com/newsletter .
Here's one of Dave's articles to get you started.

          Name, Rank and Serial Number

Have you ever wondered why someone would ever be asked for 
their "Name, Rank and Serial Number" in business?  Well, I 
think I know.

In early spring of this year we decided to move our websites 
from a virtual hosting company to our own servers in house.  
Since we already had a pretty good (or should I say "Pretty 
Great") knowledge of the workings of web servers, it was 
assumed that all we had to do was to get a new high speed 
line to point to our in house web servers.  You should never 
assume.

It started out well with the ISP's sales people.  Promises 
were made and finally we agreed to their terms.  We were told 
that there would be no downtime and our internet connection 
would remain in service and that all our current 
configurations would remain intact (passwords, usernames, etc.). 

Well, so we were told. What really happened?  Our internet 
connection went down.  The calls to our ISP started.  The first 
noticeable difference between calls to the sales people and 
the customer (no)service people where the long hold times.  
Sometimes in excess of 30 minutes.  Most more than 20 minutes.  

We were out of business.  We had paying advertisers whose ads 
were not displaying. Our stores and shopping carts could no 
longer sell products.  We couldn't even notify customers we 
were experiencing problems.  After a week of wrangling and no 
internet access, service was restored.  However, all current 
configuration had changed.  We had to go through the lengthy 
process of re-configuring everything.

I am happy to report the new high speed line is now working.  
We did, however, lose almost 2 weeks of internet access 
including the loss of all email during that time.  We will 
never know how much business we lost during that downtime and 
advertisers were compensated a full month for their loss.  We 
also had to spend several days doing nothing but reconfiguring 
all of our usernames, passwords, and even IP addresses.

Finally, our new service seemed to be working very well, it 
would appear we had made the right decision to do our own 
hosting.  

Great!  But...

Then the bill from the ISP came with charges for services and 
equipment we were promised we would not be charged.  And to 
make matters worse our old virtual hosting company is now 
telling us we owe them for discontinuing service.  Talk about 
waking your sleeping giant.

This kind of experience could happen in many types of business 
transactions and does.  It could be the ISP, the graphic 
designer, the programmer and certainly the phone company.  
Here are some ideas to help avoid or at least reduce some of 
the pitfalls.
  
1. Keep a Log or Journal
Keep a record of all your business transactions, especially if 
it involves other people.  Make notes of your conversations.  
Include the date and time.  If this record is a phone call or 
even a face-to-face meeting, you may want to organize your 
notes and thoughts after the call or meeting has concluded.  
You never know when this information will be needed.  It will
almost always save you money and possibly help avoid a law suit.

2. Get Name, Rank and Serial Number
This is by far the most important thing you can do.  Most 
large service companies assign a badge number or some kind of 
ID for each employee.  You will be surprised how much more 
helpful they will be when you write down their name and ID 
number and then repeat it back to them. Don't forget to ask 
them how to spell their name.  

3. Be Polite
Always, always be polite.  After a 30 minute hold time and 
hearing the some old distorted music over and over again, it 
is very hard to be polite.  It is only compounded by the fact 
that the customer (no)service person seems very disinterested 
in your problem and is terribly under qualified for the job.  
It may have something to do with the fact that they have more 
body piercings than IQ points.  Yelling and swearing at the 
customer (no)service person will not work positively for you.  
Many times you can hang up, call back and get a different 
person.  Odds are you will eventually get someone qualified.

4. Plan on Unexpected Delays	
Like most things in life, it will probably take longer than 
expected. Add some extra time to the estimate you are given. 
      
So the next time you enter into any kind of business 
transaction, remember, "Name, Rank, and Serial Number."  
  
Okay, now it's your turn. Tell me about your getting connected 
horror stories of all kinds, as well as what has and hasn't 
worked for you at: 
http://Websites.PrettyGreat.com/newsletter.

See you on the list.

Name("Dave Perry") Rank("Moderator") Serial
Number("http://Websites.PrettyGreat.com/newsletter")


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              Tips 'n' Tricks
_________________________________________

   Consolidating Services and Equipment Improves Your 
       Bottom Line and Your Personal Productivity
 
Recently, Dave and I did some long overdue spring cleaning...
spring cleaning of the business type.  We ended up 
cancelling services we were paying for that were not 
absolute necessities.  Ahhh, when we were done it felt so 
good to have a more lean business machine and home office.

The key to consolidating is to look at what services and 
equipment you currently have in an entirely different light, 
from a different perspective.  Sometimes we get in such a 
rut that we don't even see the little expenses.  It's those 
little expenses that really add up.

In order to do this, you may have to take a day off work, 
away from your regular activities, and do a little physical 
cleaning of your office.  Go through a few files and get rid 
of them.  Get rid of that pile on your desk that's been 
building for some time.  This will do wonders to put you in 
the right frame of mind to consolidate as you evaluate your 
bills, service providers, etc.

Consider things like your cellular service.  Are you paying 
for more minutes than you regularly use?  How about fees 
that keep popping up on your telephone bill?  Do you know 
what they are for?  Do you need all of them?  How about your 
Internet Service Provider (ISP)?  Is there a better plan for 
you?  Perhaps a better ISP?  Is there a piece of equipment 
in your office that you're not using much?  Could the money 
you get from selling it be put to better use on some other 
equipment or upgrade you need?

In short, look at all your bills and equipment.  Then take a 
second look and decide if something can be cut down, cut out, 
or sold.  It will make a world of difference in your bottom 
line as well as your own personal productivity.

-----
If you have a unique tip you'd like to share, I'll post it 
here with your credits.  Email your tips to me at
mailto:Editor@HomeBusinessOnline.com

_________________________________________

        Online Resource of the Day
_________________________________________

SitePoint Forums

Since today's featured article talked about building a 
"Pretty Great" website, I thought I'd include a tip for a 
place to get a pretty great, free review of your website.  
This is a resource I have used and appreciated several times.

This specific SitePoint Forum is moderated, so they don't 
allow inappropriate or unkind reviews — only constructive 
criticism.

If you want to post your own website for review, they have 
one simple qualification: for each request, you must have 
given helpful reviews to three other members' sites first. 

It's a very helpful tool, and it certainly doesn't hurt to 
get a few fresh perspectives on your website.

You'll find the forum at:
http://www.sitepointforums.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=12

__________________________________________

         Kind Things You Have Said
__________________________________________

* Editor's Note:  Thank you.  Thank you.  Your comments keep 
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---
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  Webmaster Mommy
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---
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  I myself devote a majority of my free time to my internet 
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  M.R.A. Marketing

---
Send your feedback to me and I'll post it here with 
your links.
mailto:Editor@HomeBusinessOnline.com

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