Feb/100
Taglyn Vehicle Tracking
I’ve taken an opportunity to get involved in a second business. Taglyn provides tracking for fleet vehicles, auto tracking for individuals, portable tracking units, and tracking software for larger organizations. We get current GPS data on regular (5 min – 60 min) reporting intervals along with other vehicle data and custom notifications.
It’s a mature business and an area I already had intellectual property in so I think it’s a good fit. Right now, I’m taking care of the basics like infrastructure updates and moving the customer base. Soon, I’ll be launching some new features and integrations.
Feb/102
John P: Make More Money with WordPress, Social Media and Analytics
I enjoyed John P.’s presentation at DFWWP this week. I alwaya appreciate information from someone who’s actually “doing” instead of just talking about it. John P. provided some interesting stats from across Woopra (like the percent of referrals coming from Facebook ~50%, Twitter ~40%, and MySpace -0%). He also mentioned some of the plugins he views as essential and discussed several of his own posts as case studies in how he’s attracting visits.
I decided to take notes with Xmind instead of hand writted (which is usually my favorite). Mindmaps can be a little disjointed as a note taking system but since John P.’s discussion of WordPress and Social Media wasn’t linear, it worked out well to have the ideas organized separately.
You can download the mindmap here: John P: Make More Money with WordPress, Social Media and Analytics
Thank you again to Tony Cecala for putting the event together and for running www.meetup.com/dfwwordpress
Update: Also, check out Jennifer Conley’s notes (with links) at http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddkq5gx8_1015sc7b9cs
Jan/103
#DFWWPTech 2010- Topics needed
The two WordPress Technical events last year were a success but it just left me wanting a bit more. The slow start rests on my shoulders but I’m happy there’s interest in having more events.
I’m not big on New Years resolutions but I do want to build this subset of the DFWWP group in 2010. I now have 2 venues we can use as primary and backup to host the event. Now I need some feedback/help identifying topics everyone is interested in. Brainstorm with me. We’ll evaluate the ideas later.
Here’s a list of recent topics to get the ball rolling.
- Implementing video InWordPress
- Integrating an online store
- 7 Must have Plugins
- Picking Your Host /Server
- Productizing Your Code
- Pros and Cons of Selling your Code.
- Knowing when WordPress isn’t the Answer
- Building Member Only Sites
Also, if there’s something you’d like to present (on this list or not) please let me know that too.
Jan/100
Dear Workzone, You Forgot the URL
Workzone just e-mailed me a newsletter with updates on the service. Two problems though: I can’t remember who Workzone is and they didn’t include a link to the site once in the entire e-mail. Workzone sounded familiar.. some kind of project management site..
I saw the 2 links they included were e-mail addresses so I took the url from that, opened a new window, and typed it in. Now I remember: it’s a nice little project management site. I can’t remember why I don’t use them but I wouldn’t hold it against them. I try 3-4 project management sites a month looking for ideas and best practices.
Most people will not go to the trouble of looking up your URL. Some people don’t even have the skills required to find the URL easily. Make it easy for them and you should see a significant increase in website traffic.
Nov/090
Better AP/AR System
I’ve been unsatisfied with my time tracking, invoicing, and accounting process for some time. Throw in project tracking and it’s been a real mess. Everything worked well. It’s just that it was too manual. Too many separate systems and too much time for what seemed like simple tasks.
I did some business thinking and identified my key problems:
- I had selected the systems I liked best and wished they were integrated.
- I kept putting off other approaches waiting for the perfect integration (that would only come if I built it myself).
- I let the idea of a better system keep me from improving the current one.
I’ve reviewed my primary needs and tested several different products and product combinations. I’m pretty happy with what I’ve arrived at but I’ll have to let it run for a few more weeks before feeling totally satisfied. If it proves to be what I’m hoping it is, I’ll post the full structure as my own best practice review.