Podcasts are a growing trend that is here to stay. Have you thought about starting your own podcast for your company website? If so, here an example of a slick playlist you can implement. The solution is based on Javascript and CSS, making use of the
See the Pen CW Podcasts by david echeverri (@modelsofidentity) on CodePen.
Today’s web projects are quite different from the projects of decades ago. Mostly due to the internet and cloud-based software, the way we handle our projects has seen a revolution. Project requirements can change daily, and teams are expected to deal with situations as they arise. Stakeholders are asking to get more involved with the process, which means that they can change their mind at any time. Teams have to shift gears to respond accordingly.
Traditional project management is not geared to handle the new era of projects. The step by step style, set in stone timelines, and strict requirements have a hard time adapting to the need for change partway through a project. Today’s projects are often better suited for extreme project management.
XPM is meant to help you manage the unknown — those variables that change and pop up as a project progresses. At the end of your project, it’s about delivering the expected result, not simply the originally planned result. Those people who realize halfway through a project that the original product isn’t ideal have the leeway to modify the plan. Teams must be willing to make multiple attempts to get it right, instead of simply focusing on completing everything after the first attempt.
Is extreme project management right for your project?
Here are some common characteristics of extreme projects:
How to Execute Extreme Project Management
Extreme project management is meant to be fast. Start by gathering a team of people willing and ready to work with this method. If your team members rather go for slow work and getting every decision approved by upper management, it won’t work.
After assembling your star team, do this:
Create a project pilot plan expecting change, timelines may change, so you must think about leaving room for error.
Make sure your plan answers all of these questions —Who needs what, and why? —What will it take to do it? —Can we get what it takes to finish? —Is it worth it?
Schedule work in short cycles — a few weeks at max.
Have a kick-off meeting to give everyone the full scope of the work, and get people excited. Communicate expectations. Make project visibility a priority.
Talk with your client often, listen closely to their input, and act on feedback immediately.
Follow up work cycles with check-ins, review sessions, and re-alignment meetings if the project seems to be getting off-track.
When projects or cycles finish, celebrate every win. Do not overload your to-do’s so you can complete the project and Cut out extra steps.
If you identified with the challenges of traditional project management or the characteristics of extreme projects, consider reading more about XPM for your team.
So let’s talk about how to promote your YouTube channel the right way, and get more subscribers. I know a lot of you feel that you’re struggling to get YouTube subscribers, and I want you to stop focusing so much on that, what about some practical advice that’s going to help you get you subscribers, and grow your YouTube channel the right way; without doing any scummy or spammy tactics. With that being said, there are some things that I did start out that I think will help you, and are very important. I did a focus less on marketing and promoting my channel initially than I did on search, and I’ve done several videos on how to use tags, titles, and descriptions to help you rank better in YouTube search.
You don’t really need to worry about the subscribers immediately; the first thing you need to worry about is people actually watching your videos, because if you don’t get views, how are you going to get subscribers? Subscribers are a result of getting views; so think about first, what’s going to get your video view more, and get their attention. It’s not just enough to show up or to put it in Facebook or Twitter, people actually have to click on it, and actually watch it, enjoy it, and then subscribe.
So how do you promote it to the right people that might care about it? Well first you need to really think about who your audience is; you know a lot of you sit there and you’re trying to do sub for sub, and you’re trying to self-promote your channel on my channel, and it hasn’t even occurred to you that the people who watch my videos, probably are not interested in the that you’re talking about. If you’re you know beauty blogger, or a fitness guru, or a YouTube gamer; there’s a real strong chance that my audience is probably not interested in that content because they’re coming to my channel for how-to tutorials, or figuring out marketing stuff to grow your business, or trying to figure out whether or not they can build their freelance career; the odds are that somebody who’s trying to learn Photoshop, or grow a business, or quit their day job, is probably not interested in spending time watching your gameplay videos; so that’s probably a bad idea.
The thing you should do is you should look at groups who are in Facebook, and people who are having Twitter chats, and you should engage with them, and then if you think that your video content is something that they would care about, based on the conversations that you’ve had, or the interest of the group; then share them there but don’t be spammy; actually write a little post explaining what this video is about, and who would care about it, and maybe they’ll be interested; also consider starting a Facebook fan page, and posting and promoting your videos there; again make sure you give it some context, so people know what they’re watching and why. The other thing is, don’t just tweet your videos to people for no reason; look at what they’re talking about, and see if your video can actually provide them some real value, whether it’s entertainment, or whether it’s information, whether it’s motivation even for what they’re trying to accomplish.
The other thing is, you should probably have your own website and blog; this is a great way to promote your channel because it gives you another opportunity to be found in a Google search instead of just a YouTube search; so really think about that. If you don’t know where to start with a website, consider getting web hosting from bluehost.com; you can actually use my link in the description, or in the info card up here, and that will take you to bluehost.com, so you can sign up for some hosting, start your blog; I recommend using WordPress because that’s going to actually help you rank in Google search. WordPress is one of those things where even if you don’t know necessarily how all that stuff works, which I will cover in future videos in my tutorial series; then you still have a real shot at ranking in Google because of the way that it’s set up, so you don’t have to know a ton about websites and coding to be successful at that.
YouTube comments are not the place to promote your channel; in fact, when people do that here on my channel, all I do is ban them from the comments section, and report them as spam. What I will say is if you want to use the YouTube comment section to get people interesting you, have a real conversation, and make sure that the About section of your YouTube channels been filled out, so that if they hover over your thumbnail, they can actually see what your channel is about and whether it’s something they’re interested in or not, based on the fact that you’ve contributed to the conversation. Think about YouTube’s comment section as a room that you’re in, and people are talking, and they’re laughing; if you come into that room, and everyone’s talking about their relationships, and their significant others, and you come in, yelling about whatever you want to yell about; those people are going to kick you out of the room, and they now think you’re rude.
So when you’re doing sub for sub, or telling people to check out your channel in someone else’s YouTube comment section, it’s actually the wrong way to promote your channel, and all you’re doing is hurting your channels growth because you’re being reported, and flagged as a spammer, and that’s not going to really get you anywhere. So just keep that in mind, and remember if you’re doing that in my comments section, you might think that I don’t pay attention to my comments because of how many subscribers I have, but guess what; I replied almost everybody; I kill 5 to 10 minutes of my day, every single day reporting spammers, and flagging people; yeah I do that.
Do everything you can to make your channel subscribe worthy, make it easy for someone to understand what the value of your channel is, and whether it’s a place for them. Think of your YouTube channel as an exclusive club for elite members that have particular interests and taste; you don’t want to have everybody subscribe to your channel, I mean maybe you do, but it’s not practical; your video content isn’t going to make everybody happy, so really care about the people who are subscribed to you, make sure that you’re encouraging them to share your videos, and make sure that you’re engaging with them; because if you’re replying to your comments, and you’re listening to your fans, then there’s a better chance there now share your videos, and promote your channel for you, which is just going to make it a lot easier, especially if you’re a smaller YouTuber.
Are you ready to convert your hobby channel into a Youtube Empire? This master guide will show you the most effective tactics and techniques the top 100 YouTubers use to create an all-year-round revenue stream. Check it out!
It’s time to ditch Facebook, before they ditch you as a publisher. Own your media. Facebook and soon youtube, twitter and even Pinterest are no longer viable options to learn or publish about current events and news. Multiple publishers have been shut out, or “ghosted out” of the newsfeed. Social media giants are now showing true face, they are political, they are moving towards the extreme, Orwellian left wing side of the spectrum. 2018 set a precedent, that is: we are censoring you if your political views don’t align with us. The rise of the soviet union of social media is becoming more and more evident. The irony is, you will see an increase in Facebook pages promoting child transsexualism, gay experimentation, and pro Trump bashing, while they close down, the independent journalist, the solo fact finders, traditional family businesses, Christian sites and other more conservative, traditional publishers, everything under the reasoning of they being “extreme” or saying offensive things that are offensive because they offended the feelings and hypersensitivity of someone else. The old days when you could post the funny meme will soon be gone. The tough police are nowhere, and is lead by the social media giants who once told us “we’re platforms” “not publishers”. Right now there is no difference between the way Facebook operates and CNN. in terms of content. They are algorithmically looking to steer opinion.
I have a business and I’m all about Facebook, is it reliable long term?
Stop please, stop relying on social media, and especially Facebook, see, using platforms is like renting an apartment, the landowner can kick you out without a notice, and you won’t be able to make a case against it.
Remember: Having your own domain and working on your own web properties is like owning your land. That’s where the efforts should be.
Are we living a new Book burning age?
Imagine this, a brand works for 8 years to build up a following. Facebook encourages that brands do this and give them the tools to do so. Then one day facebook simply shuts off access to that following, why? because you posted a meme. After seeing the countless alternative and conscious media pages shut down or lose all their reach, it doesn’t take much to see that what is actually happening is a mix of Facebook needing to make more money via advertising and censorship of certain voices. Many pages within this realm have even been “unpublished,” with no real explanation from Facebook as to why. These are pages that have spent years building up their platforms interacting with their followers and building a community. All that effort just to be kicked to the curb for no real cause?
It’s time to stop relying on Facebook, because they can just shut you out in one second for the wrong meme you post. Visit Websites Directly – Don’t rely on social media anymore. Take the time to go to websites you love directly, as this will ensure you see the content.
Scrolling through Facebook waiting for the next thing to catch your interest is basically the equivalent to flipping through channels on the television. Find your own content, according to what you are interested in. Unsure of what you’re seeing? Do your own research! It’s up to us to ensure we aren’t just rolling over and letting big corporations with their big agendas dictate our lives. Time to rise to this washed out Internet, take matters into our own hands and rise above!
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Documentation is great, but only when meaningful, and only when you can use it. Designing a website is not designing an operating system, in web design, you are dealing with a few files and assets. Don’t get me wrong, but when you need to put together 500 pages of diagrams, 23 hours of meetings and fill in a wiki-page with articles so you can make sure you properly nail down one single web page, you are in trouble.
Solution: create a single “pilot-project” document in google docs, word or plain text, use it as the product plan guide and focus your efforts in building the actual thing, not the paperwork and BS on how to build it.
Check out the most insightful and fun-to-read guide “The Nightmares of Web Design”:
It seems odd that many Web Designers can’t code their own designs, but it appears to be the case of many designers when they are starting. Today the profession of UX/UI looks more like a re-brand of another type of vector-design, instead of an evolution website design and production. As designers mature, some of them get even more distant from real production environments. while others, make the wise decision of opening up the skillset and bridge the gap in between a drawing or a real UI prototype. Many designers come from a strictly visual background and have phobia, disinterest or plain laziness to learn anything that is beyond drag and drop. Finally learning HTML and CSS in order to code front-end design is probably the best decision designers can make. Here are five solid reasons why I think designers should get their hands dirty with code and stop the snobbery of thinking they are the gods who create the rules and developers are their slaves who build what they say they want. Developers have their own new challenges especially in the field of Javascript.
Reason 1: The combination of designing in a graphics program along with HTML & CSS (And Javascript) is said to be greater than the sum of the parts. Many people view code as a restriction to a designer but when I learn to code I found it empowering. Far from being a restriction, it opens up a whole new realm of creative options and opportunities. Now you can move from digital crayons into working with the real materials of the web. Learning code makes designers great again.
Reason 2: Your designs will be brought to life in exactly the way you want them too. Making sure the design intention is carried all the way from conception to product. If you completely separate the duties of designing and coding there inevitably comes a point in a project where the coder ends up doing design, at which point the design may degrade. This isn’t the fault of the coder. It’s just not practical to go back to the designer for a Photoshop mock-up every time a new section or component of the site needs to be designed/added.
Reason 3: It’s even arguable that HTML & CSS is more a designer’s tool than developer’s. In fact, CSS is a declarative, semantic, user-friendly language strictly focused on presentations, therefore, geared towards “website design” from its conception. So, if you’re a designer who doesn’t code, it might seem like a daunting task to learn. Learn it, you won’t regret it.
Reason 4: It’s massively time-saving to be able to both design and code. Like I said in my last point, once you reach the point in a project where you feel comfortable designing in the browser you instantly cut out all those Photoshop mock-ups you would have handed over to a coder, only to re-do in code what you’ve already done in Photoshop.
Reason 5: If you’re a designer who can’t code, learning code opens up a whole new world of job opportunities with increasing salary advantages, whether you’re looking for freelance gigs or permanent employment in a company. One of the main reasons I learn to code was because I was so frustrated by the lack of opportunities for designers who can’t code.
In Conclusion: Obviously there are times when it’s just not practical or the best use of a designer’s time to be forever updating a website, especially with larger projects but on the whole if you care about how the content on your site is presented I think you get the best results with a designer that knows how to code.
Design takes more than just code and markup, also tools that can make the difference between good work with exceptional pieces. Check out designerweapons.com for resources and tools designers love.
Designers should move as fast as possible to the browser. What you see is what you get. No more spending time measuring every pixel before handing it over to engineers. It’s all in the code. You can easily iterate on your design without having an engineer to help you. Less questions and meetings with stakeholders, clients, engineers = Time saved = Money saved. Animation is no longer an afterthought. You actually think more about how a hover state should animate, or how you can solve the problems better with interaction. Sketch is great for getting a general concept of what you want to build together. But move to the browser as fast as you can. The benefits listed above should answer as to why.
There are many tools and techniques to jump-start the design process such as mind maps, braindumps, group discussion, SWOT analysis, reversed brainstorming and others. Each of these mind tools has its own key points that qualify it to accomplish innovative solutions or initiative new project ideas. One of the main tools and most generally known and used is brainstorming. In simple ways, it refers to holding a meeting with stakeholders to mix up ideas and discuss the problem and the challenges that they may face solving such problem. However, creativity does not work in this way. Designers, especially, cannot just be creative based on a scheduled time or by getting the command to become creative. Best creative ideas come to us while showering, brushing our teeth, cleaning dishes or while driving our cars on the highway. Asking someone in a meeting on “how to solve a specific problem?” does not help to get creative results at all.
What is Reverse Brainstorming?
If you want to reach creative output, the process needs to be creative. However, the above-mentioned brainstorming technique lacks the creativity needed to obtain the desired results out of the session. Reverse brainstorming solves the problem in a backward way. The method can influence the mind to inseminate clever ideas and solutions.
Reverse brainstorming is a design thinking tool
Instead of asking how to solve X problem, reverse brainstorming is about finding what causes the problem or how to achieve an opposite result of what is expected. This method helps a team to understand the problem and flashes the ideas that can be used to solve it among other ideas discussed during the meeting. Reverse brainstorming provides unconventional thinking mechanisms to reach solutions that other thinking methods do not achieve. As creative thinking requires a flow of ideas, reverse brainstorming can help teams to create with unique thinking methods. Reverse brainstorming can be applied directly to the discussion meeting or it can be used if ordinary brainstorming fails to reach the desired solution for the problem or the targeted creative approach.
Have you ever wanted or fantasized about having a full-blown screen on your wall, I love designing with the largest possible screen, that way I can see all the way to the pixel, I can experience this cinema-mode design which makes me feel immersed on whatever I’m doing, it can be a web page, a video, a composition in Photoshop, or just plain code. There are many projectors out there but one that got me because of price/vs lumens vs quality is the DBPOWER T70 . This is the projector we use for our presentations, entertainment, and design.
Get it from Amazon
I still own a mechanical keyboard from the 90’s in perfect condition, it was the keyboard of my first Amiga computer. Guess what, mechanical keyboards are coming back, or actually, they never went away… There is something about being able to type “hard” that you can’t experience in the newer ultra soft keystrokes of laptops. This keyboard is pretty fun to use when creating your designs. I can’t tell you too much about Chinese companies who are selling good old school mechanical keyboards, but Hcman one is fantastic, and it’s one of the cheapest. For the same price of that Logitech rubber dome keyboard you see at Walmart or Best Buy, can get a mechanical keyboard! The switches are very clicky, very loud compared to a normal membrane keyboard, so don’t get it if you’re planning on using it in an office with other people unless you want to be that guy. For me, it works since it’s just sitting in front of my gaming PC at home, and on a subconscious level the sound reminds me, “I own a mechanical keyboard now!”.
The instructions aren’t terribly clear for the lighting modes, but they’re fairly easy to figure out (FN+1 or 2 or 3 or 4…etc, and they can be reprogrammed with FN+Esc). The lighting colors can’t be changed, each row has its own color, but for $25 it’s not a problem. The only thing I really wish this had that it doesn’t is a USB hub in it like my previous keyboard, but again, most plain keyboards you can buy at Walmart for the same price don’t have that, and I can live without it.