There is absolutely no doubt about the fact that technology has changed the way we live, work and play.  It’s changing every day in fact!  We don’t have to leave home to do research, rent a movie, shop, or even see our friends’ faces.  It’s truly amazing how quickly and dramatically technology has changed our everyday lives.

Despite iPads, 3D television, and the wonders of Skype, one of technology’s greatest wonders, in my own opinion, is the cell phone.  It seems in a matter of 10 years (10 years ago I had my first Nokia bar phone), we have gone from owning ‘mobile telephones’ to ‘mobile do-everything devices’.   Cell phones now seem to function less as actual phones and more as computers, calendars, and entertainment.  Sometimes, it even seems as though we humans are completely revamping the laws of communication.  Where once a phone call was expected, now an e-mail is considered to be acceptable.  Text messaging has in many places replaced voice calling. This article from 2008 states that Nielsen Mobile of the Nielsen Company reported the average mobile user sends 357 text messages to 204 voice calls (incoming or outgoing).  Checking up on friend is as easy as a “What’s up?” text and a picture message is a fun way to make a joke.  Whether this type of communication is wildly different than twenty years ago, is not a question, but a fact.  The questions arise, when we begin to think about applying traditional etiquette rules to this progressive style of communication.  Can we text an RSVP?  Is it ok to e-mail an invitation?  And the rules only get trickier when we venture into the professional realm.

Clearly, e-mail communication has become a staple in the business world and social media is making leaps and bounds as well.  Still there are lines to be drawn when it comes to professionalism and communication.  Some companies have screened potential and current employees’ personal Facebook pages and individuals have even been fired for content posted on personal social media sites.  We even see it with professional athletes and other celebrities, how much importance can be placed on these seemingly harmless diversions, for example, Kansas City Chief’s Larry Johnson’s tweets using an anti-gay slur that earned him a suspension.   The bottom line is that there is a fine line of what is and isn’t acceptable when it comes to our technologically driven forms of communication in the workplace.

I’m just as guilty as the next person of using technological communication as a short-cut.  I have texted friends to arrange a meeting, I’ve used Facebook to announce my unborn child’s gender, and I have e-mailed my fair share of resumes to employers.  My number one pet peeve when it comes to modern communication is text speak!  Though I myself am guilty of it, I still despise the very idea of it.  I’m a writer and it absolutely drives me mad that it seems some people don’t even know how to spell, capitalize or punctuate their own words anymore.  I blame it largely on texting.  I text so much and it is so time consuming that I literally get too lazy to use correct spelling, punctuation and grammar; something that I normally pride myself on!  Imagine me, an English and literature nerd, texting ‘thx’, ‘plz’ and ‘omg’; it’s ludicrous, but absolutely true!  My biggest fear is that someday I will forget and accidentally send an e-mail to an employer with a ‘ttyl’ in it!  Can we get so used to communicating this way that we actually become less intelligent?  Whether or not we can, it’s best not to get in the habit of letting that sort of thing hold us back in the professional world.  I’m almost 100% sure a potential employer will be immediately turned off if your correspondence includes text speak or lacks punctuation and capitalization.

It’s a dangerous tight rope we walk when we use technology to communicate in our business ventures.  It can become too easy to slip into a casual tone or forget a comma here or there.   This is especially true in a business that is born from technology.  Virtual assistance is an industry that is created by the very idea of using technology to communicate.   However, potential clients can only gauge your credentials and experience from what they see written on the screen.  If your e-mails or blogs, tweets or other materials are unprofessional, chances are the professionals are not going to want to do business with you.

So no matter what your business is, it’s important to remember to keep it professional.  Proofreading is key and perhaps it might be a good idea to get out of the habit of taking short cuts with your communication altogether.    Nowadays, it’s just far too common that people are judged professionally by what they present personally.  It may be unfair, but it is not unusual.  Don’t let the wonders of technology trick you into throwing away your professional reputation!

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Today I wanted to post two more videos showing just how easy it is to create a site that you can customize for your business.

In the last video, I showed you just how simple it is to change colors, add a custom header and move the navigation around the page.

In the two videos below, I’ll demonstrate how quickly I can add a customized footer by using Headway leafs and adding widgets to your sidebar to further customize for your needs.

If you’ve found these videos helpful, you might also want to check out Headway Videos for lots of helpful tutorials for Headway.

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You might have heard about the Headway theme for WordPress?  It might even be the reason you ended up here on my website. But do you know why there’s been such a buzz about the premium theme?  It depends on who you talk to.  The visual editor, the ability to add ‘leafs’ to create a layout that fits your needs, the ability to customize a site without css coding are all reasons you’ll hear given.  But I think everyone will agree that regardless of what you want to accomplish, Headway makes it easy.

Check out the video below to see just how quickly you can give a site a truly custom look.

Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

Or maybe you want to check out Headway for yourself?

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I did some work on a client blogsite yesterday. That in itself isn’t anything new, since a majority of my clients utilize my blogsite services on a regular basis. What was a bit different was the fact that my client’s site was using the Thesis theme.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve used Thesis on sites before. In fact, it used to be the theme I used on my own website. At that time, Thesis was really the easiest theme to customize with my own header, colors, etc.

And then along came Headway.

The Headway theme was (and still is) unlike any WordPress theme I’d ever used before. It allowed me to make major design changes to my site without tinkering with coding. The few items that did require changes to my coding were simple and fast. Needless to say, I switched to Headway. And many of my clients did as well.

So it’s been at least 6 months since I’ve done any customization on a site running the Thesis theme. Until yesterday.

Yesterday I did some customizations to a Thesis based site and I immediately realized something.

I’ve been spoiled by Headway.

Things like changing background colors, adding headers and moving components are all done quickly and easily through the Headway Visual Editor and I can see the results on the website immediately. Not so in Thesis.

Adding that type of customization to a Thesis site requires custom css coding. For a girly geek like me, that’s not so bad, and of course I was prepared for that. But what I had forgotten was how much time it required to make those coding changes.

Even as a girly geek, I don’t always get it right the first time I add code. Maybe something needs to be bigger or smaller, maybe the color doesn’t work. So each time I made a coding change in Thesis, I’d have to save, go look at the site and then go back and tweak the code if needed. What used to seem fast and easy just didn’t seem that way anymore.

Once again I was reminded of the reasons I switched to Headway in the first place. Ease of use, less of a need for custom coding and the ability to be endlessly flexible with the design of my pages. If you’re a ‘geek’ like me, that alone should be enought to convince you to try Headway.

But what if you’re not a geek? The real beauty of Headway is that it allows even novice WordPress users to get results that required custom css coding with other themes.

Just to be upfront, yes I am a Headway affiliate. But to be fair, I’m also a Thesis affiliate. So my theme favoritism isn’t based on monetary considerations in any way, shape or form.

Headway is my favorite not only because its what I consider to be the best WordPress theme available, it’s also unique in that it’s super user friendly.

Oh, and it’s a great way for new virtual assistants (or other businesses) to create their own professional looking site on their own. Check it out, I think you’ll agree with me.

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I’m so excited about the release of Headway version 1.5 today.  Upgrades and Updates normally only excite girly geeks like me. But this new version gives everyone a reason to get excited.

You see, with this latest release building and modifying your site gets even easier.

I know, I know, I didn’t think it was possible either.  But trust me, it is.

From day 1 I’ve been a huge fan of Headway for one big reason, it makes it simple to make design changes to your site, without the need for CSS coding.  Colors, sidebars, photo galleries, feature posts and more are added and/or changed with a click of the mouse. The ability to work from within the dashboard and change the layout of a site on the fly was incredible.

So how could Headway get even better?

• What if you could see those changes immediately as you made them?
• What if you could work right on the page you wanted to change, rearrange, make additions, changes and see it all right then?
• How much time would that save?  No more making changes in the Dashboard and having to check how it looks on your site then going back into the Dashboard to tweak it.

Now you can!
Headway has added the Visual Editor, which allows you to do all of that and more.  If you want to see exactly what I’m talking about, check out the video below by Michael Martine (a/k/a Remarkablogger).  Please note that the video was made before the official launch this morning and that it speaks about the beta version, but it lets you see the amazing visual editor in action.

You’re not going to find a powerful, flexible theme that is this easy to use anywhere else.

So what are you waiting for?  Get Headway today!

Not comfortable installing themes, adding widgets and customizing?  I’ve got you covered!  Check out the blog services I provide.

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Ta-da! Here it is, the new and improved Clerical Advantage site on Headway.  I sort of let the cat out of the bag in my last post, but at the time wasn’t quite ready for the unveiling.

So here it is.  I bet your first reaction is that it’s not that much different, right?  Bear with me, there are changes on the horizon, but for now I was interested in keeping it pretty similar and doing it quickly and easily.   Besides, the big difference isn’t so much what you see here, but what I see in the WordPress Dashboard.

For example, no more messing with ftp to change my header.  I can click into the Headway Design section under Appearance in my Dashboard and click on the Header tab (see the screenshot below).  Now I can simply input the location of the file that I uploaded to my media library (via the WP dashboard, not ftp) and voila, my header is in place.  I can even choose how I want it to appear and whether I want the navigation above or below the header from this same page.

In fact, if it hadn’t been for wanting my cork board image background, I wouldn’t have needed to use my ftp client to do anything in order to build this website.

I know the next thing you’re going to ask, you’re going to want to know how much CSS coding I had to mess with to get my site looking like this right?  I’ll admit that before switching to Headway, I had to do a good deal of coding to get the desired effects, colors and sections I wanted.  But with Headway, I did very little coding at all.  In fact I believe I only inserted 4 custom codes and they were to do the following:

• My background image of the cork board
• The color and  lines at the top and bottom of leafs and widgets where the titles are like you see at the right.
• The pink box with the subscribe info after each post and the blue box with the Headway info after each post.

As you can see, none of these items were absolutely necessary to making a unique and professional looking site, just my own need for following my creative muse.

But that’s the thing I love most about using Headway, I can make changes easily and on the fly when I need to but then when I want to get my hands dirty with a bit of creativity and coding I can do that too.  It’s that versatile.

For me, working with Headway is kind of like playing the Sims, I never get tired of building and decorating those Sim’s houses.  And I can tell that I’m going have just as much fun improving and adding to my site to make it work better for my visitors and my clients. Keep watching for changes, it’ll be fun.

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I was going to wait and make my big announcement once my new and improved website was in place so that you could see exactly what I was talking about. But after reading the comments section on one of Chris Brogan’s latest posts , I felt compelled to write now.
This is all about a new WordPress Theme and an older WordPress Theme.  Headway and Thesis.

My current site, the one you’re on right now(before 8/10/2009), is built with the Thesis theme.  I, like Mr. Brogan, love Thesis. When I moved my site from a free service, I knew I wanted to use WordPress and build a ‘blogsite’ rather than a traditional website. There were many reasons that I won’t go into here, because that’s not why I’m writing today. I needed a theme that would allow me to customize, because being the girly geek I am, I get an idea of what I want in my head and I’m not happy until I can get it done. Someone suggested that Thesis was the best theme out there for the job.  So I bought it.
That was no small thing for me, buying a theme when there were lots of free ones out there.  But I soon found out it was worth it.  With a bit of time spent in the Thesis forums, I managed to pull this website together. And I’m pretty proud of it.

But. You knew there was a but coming didn’t you?
I’m switching from Thesis to Headway. In fact, I’m even switching my hosting service to do so.

Why would I do that  if Thesis has made me happy and I’ve learned to do what I want with it through a bit of CSS coding?  Because I love to change things, a lot. And I’m getting busier every day with client work, my own projects and teaching classes at SPU. Which is very good. Headway offers me an easier way to customize, give my website a completely different look as often as I want, without a lot of CSS coding.  In fact, if I wasn’t such a girly geek, I could do it without the coding at all.
The entire leaf system, allowing me to drag and drop components, including widgetized sidebars, change the orientations so that a sidebar becomes a widgetized footer, is so easy, even easier than dropping code into OpenHook for Thesis.  I’m a woman, I change my mind about where I want things.  The same way I want to move the furniture around in my living room, I want to be able to move components around on my webpage.  Or add new ones when the need arises.  The ease and flexibility of Headway allows me to do all of that right from the WordPress Dashboard with just a few simple clicks.
It is very, very different from Thesis, or anything else I’ve ever seen or worked with.  So, what about all of that heated discussion stuff in the comment section of Mr. Brogan’s post?
Honestly, I was very surprised and disappointed to see that the Thesis people were rather accusing of the Headway folk.  The whole mention of the fact that many of us singing the praises of Headway were in the Thesis forums was said as if we (or they) were there to rip them off.  I don’t believe that.  I think that they are all like me.  We’ve all used Thesis. We all loved Thesis.  And heck, I’ve even sung the praises of Thesis here, there and everywhere.  None of us are saying Thesis isn’t still a GREAT theme.  We’re just saying that there’s something else out there that’s different and in this case, better for us.
I hate the fact that it seems to have to be an us against them mentality.  I understand that there is going to be an immediate comparison between Thesis and Headway because Thesis has been the reigning king of themes for awhile and people are going to want to know how Headway stacks up right?  But I don’t think that means that Headway is specifically marketing to ‘steal’ Thesis thunder. I think they are just addressing the questions that come naturally.  And yes, if you’re someone like me, looking for the things that I need from a theme, Headway kicks butt.
Both themes should be able to co-exist peacefully.

By the way, the someone who convinced me to purchase the Thesis theme?  One of the Headway folk. I know they have respect for Thesis and I would hope Thesis folk could have the same for them.

As I used to tell my children,  you’re both different and that allows me to love you both at the same time.

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I’ve provided a guest post for VLOTech, Virtual Law Office Technology, LLC, in regard to how virtual assistants deal with non-disclosure and confidentiality.  Questions concerning this issue rank high amongst potential client inquiries.  Head on over to the VLOTech Blog to see how these concerns are addressed by VA’s.

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I’ll admit it, when I first signed up for Twitter, I couldn’t see how this 140 characters or less communication tool could possibly benefit my business.  I almost wrote it off as a techie fad.  Almost.  Luckily my association with Home Office Warrior made me curious enough to give it a go.  Several months and 348 updates later I’m a Twitter convert.  Even with the all too frequent appearance of the ‘fail whale’.  Hits to both my website and my blog have increased drastically.  I’m getting fantastic information by following interesting people like Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan), Grant Griffiths (@grantgriffiths), Erin Blaskie (@eblaskie2) and Susan Cartier Liebel (@SCartierLiebel) just to name a few.  People blazing new business paths like Zappos.com CEO, Tony Hsieh or Attorney Stephanie Kimbro with her  VLOTech web based software service for Virtual Law Offices are ‘tweeting’ as well, networking with a wider audience than would be possible through traditional methods.

If you’re like I was when first signing up, you’re reading my words above, raising an eyebrow and saying, “How?”  It’s simple really.   Take the time to find people to follow that you find interesting.  Look at the people they follow for more possibilities.  Use TwitterLocal to find other Twitter users in your area. And then say hello, in 140 characters or less.  Follow the conversations, watch just how those you’ve chosen to follow are using Twitter, and before you know it, you’ll not only be ‘tweeting’ up a storm…you’ll be building a network for your business.  And if you’re a virtual assistant, you’ll be advocating that your clients start ‘tweeting’ too!

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Thanks to an article over at AllBusiness.com, I’ve discovered a podcast tool that will convert your blog into a podcast.  It’s called Odiogo and all you have to do is sign up with your blog URL and it converts what you’ve written into a computerized  speech mp3 file.   I was intrigued even though I don’t normally have a lot of faith in the text to speech technologies out there.  My experience has shown that the computer generating of certain terminology and other idiosyncrasies of the English language.  But since it’s free to try out, I figured I’d give it a test drive. You’ll see the “Subscribe to My Podcast” button in the links on the right.  Feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think.

**Update**  I’ve already noticed a glitch. Even though I adjusted my RSS feed settings from summary to full text the way Odiogo instructed, I didn’t do it until after I received their e-mail and my blog had already been ‘read’.  So all of my current posts are just snippets instead of the entire post.  Hopefully when the service updates content it will correct this issue. 

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