If I am to determine that we’re within our rights, this article and its associated comments will once more go live and people will once again be able to read my misgivings concerning the sale letter sent by Cardell Media Limited.

In the meantime, please read the subsequent adjudication by the Advertising Standards Authority against Cardell Media Limited regarding the sales letter I and thousands more received back in April this year.

British Telecom broadband blues

So how does a guy like me get by without broadband access? Because of where I live, I never had great broadband coverage to begin with — the village where I live is very much at the end of the line, so the potency of the connection has, by this point, dropped off dramatically, and one megabyte is all that can be mustered.

I first noticed a problem with connection on Saturday morning, while trying to check my email over cornflakes. I didn’t have much time because I was due out for an early meet-up with the guys from the gym to go shooting at a local gun club, a first for me.

Anyway, I soon realized there was no connection. I called British Telecom and their automated system confirmed there was a fault and sent me a couple of text messages, one giving an estimated time for when the line would be fixed. In the meantime, I had my iPhone.

I’ve since tried finding out why telephony access is down for my entire street on the British Telecom website, but they only provide a bland and vague statement, which asks that I contact (a presumably automated system on) a telephone number for more details, which is sadly ironic, given I was on their business support website at the time.

Things look brighter with Orange

On my return later in the day, the line was still dead, so I decided to contact Orange, the mobile service provider for my iPhone, to see what tethering packages they had. In fairness to them, it wasn’t entirely their fault that I spent the best part of fifteen minutes trying to find the right number, both in the printed documentation I got with the iPhone and on their website. That said, the website should be much clearer in that regard.

Eventually, I got through to a guy called Steve and I paid five pounds for the 500 megabyte tethering add-on for my account, and qualified for a 10% discount for being a long-standing customer (for several years), although there was some initial confusion about this because their system showed that a 10% discount already existed on my account, which apparently shouldn’t have. After a quick squint at my last two bills from Orange, I couldn’t find anything about that.

Moments after the call ended, I got a text message from Orange, telling me to turn my iPhone off and then on again and I would have tethering access.

At the end of my tether?

I suspected there were some issues with tethering an iPhone to my version of OS X (10.4.11 and not the most recent). I was right. I would have preferred to connect my iPhone physically, via the USB cable, but my MacBook Pro wasn’t having any of that.

A very mild case of Bluetooth ache

So I had to use Bluetooth, which didn’t exactly fill me with joy. However, the connection is brisk and reliable, aided by the fact that the 3G coverage by Orange is, over all, very good.

Aside from the USB issue, connecting my MacBook Pro to my iPhone was straightforward. I wouldn’t say it was simple because it’s not a core everyday activity, so it’s a bunch of options inside Settings on the iPhone and several more on the MacBook Pro. So even by Apple’s much vaunted standards in simplicity, I can see people easily coming unstuck here. However, I must allow for mitigating circumstances; those being me not using the most up-to-date version of OS X.

Of course, this being Bluetooth, proximity is everything — the closer the two coupled (or “paired”) devices are, the faster the connection. So my iPhone is delicately balanced on several cables protruding out of the side of my MacBook Pro.

Going 100% wireless, even if just for a short while

Is it possible for a web designer and developer to go 100% wireless? For now, yes. However, this is the weekend and I’ve not needed to shunt large files around. As a designer and a programmer, my needs can vary dramatically. Only this last week or so, I’ve been:

1. creating videos for an up-coming WordPress ebook, which I’ve uploaded to Octane’s own Channel on YouTube;
2. working on some designs for a client website, sending emails containing design drafts created in Adobe Photoshop;
3. making changes to the Octane website, some of which use data from BrightKite, a location-based photo sharing and messaging service;
4. while yesterday, I was uploading the videos and photos I’d taken at the shooting club onto Facebook, via my iPhone.

While we’re on the subject, join Octane on Facebook and get all of the latest business tips and advice, and become part of a growing community.

So that gives you some idea how diverse my activities can be, all of which are doable on a one megabyte connection, some of which doable on the 3G connection I have right now.

To be perfectly honest, I’d be screwed / lost without my iPhone. I can genuinely run certain aspects of my business while on the move. This really comes into play when I’m mobile and my clients need things then and there.

Recently, I’ve been toying with the idea of getting rid of the business telephone number and just using my mobile number instead, or even using other messaging services. But that’s a long-term plan.

Speaking of the long-term, mobile broadband will become much more commonplace and, to some extent, nudge out the need for a physical connection, allowing people to become even more mobile. However, costs are an issue right now, even in connections speeds aren’t.

For myself right now, any connection will do.

Octane’s new website

And the reason for all of this furious industry is, well, you! The writing side of things is gradually (there are often consequential lead times for certain publications) picking up, thanks to Emily Cagle Communications, but the previous website and blog just wasn’t cutting it — if I want to appeal to the publications, I have to make it worth their while pointing their readers to me.

More emphasis has been placed on simplicity, speed of navigation and clarity. So when you’re reading an article, you’re not being distracted by links and buttons left and right. Instead, you just read down through the article, and when you’re done, you have the option to share the article on a bunch of popular social networks, or contact Octane for more information.

The wonders of WordPress

All of which is neatly squeezed into the ever accommodating WordPress — fast becoming less weblog and more content management system. I’ve been able to kid and cajole it into doing things you won’t be able to do with your common-or-garden variety installation of WordPress. Oh no. Much of what you see here is WordPress after being given the Octane treatment.

The knowledge

So what’s changed? Apart from everything, there’s a new home page, which is essentially the blog aspect, now called Knowledge. By pulling all of the content to the front of the website, all of the knowledge I’m pouring into Octane is right at your fingertips from the moment you step through the door.

And if you can’t find what you’re looking for, use the search tool. Or use the category browser further down the page.

Media — in the press

Then there’s the Media section further down the home page, which is where all of my publication materials can be found. Each article is an excerpt taken from the publication itself, accompanied by a link to the PDF, ready for download.

Community

Further down the home page is the Community panel. Here’s where you can hook up with Octane and me, Wayne Smallman, on either Twitter or Octane’s very own Page over on Facebook.

Designed for the future

Or as close as is feasible. You see, things just keep changing. Which is fine, assuming you’re ready for change. I am. There’s still more stuff I want to do and the new Octane website has the potential to meet those needs head-on.

If you’d like to know more about using WordPress to manage your website, or you’re interested in my web design services, let me know.

Image used courtesy of Flickr and Frank Monnerjahn.

This is a pressing question for some, but not me. I’m happy in my skin, being a generalized specialist. And I’m not alone, either. Of my kind, their are many.

A brief history of specialization from a generalists perspective

When I started Octane back in ‘99, I had every intention of offering a load of different services — everything from video production to 3D visualization and animation, right out to interactive CR Roms, as well as web design. Why no mention of web development? That didn’t come about until about 2002, about the same time my offering began to slim down into something resembling what Octane offers now.

The fact of the matter is, I just couldn’t do everything, not unless I had loads of time and loads of money. Money? For the software to back that proposition up. In reality, I had a finite supply of the former and hardly any (certainly not of the disposable variety) of the latter.

Over time, my proposition was whittled down, not simply because I wanted to focus on the things that interested me, but the things people kept asking for and I was in a reasonably good position to commit to, without wasting either their time or my own.

Now, some of you may be thinking to yourself: “What the hell has liking something got to do with doing it?!” I do what I like — in a very literal sense. If I don’t like doing it, or don’t want to do it, I don’t. If chasing the pound means selling my happiness, then I stop, sit down on a spare patch of grass and watch that gold-coloured coin just roll away in front of me.

It is entirely possible to be a specialist in a number of areas, but not a huge number, or you’re just over committing yourself, no matter how talented / quick you are.

I don’t see many out-and-out specialists these days, not out in the wild. If they exist, they’re usually on a payroll somewhere, where the weaknesses of their narrow field of occupation aren’t so badly exposed, and they remain insulated by other specialists, who together form a greater whole. That’s fine for an agency of 3-5 people, but for outfits like mine, it’s neither ideal or possible.

So how do you become a generalized specialist anyway?

I’m fortunate in that what I do either sits beneath or bestrides other disciplines and professions, depending on how you go about your thing.

I suppose when I talk about a generalized specialism, what I’m really saying is: your knowledge is like the root of a plant, probably not too deep like a weed or a tree, but deep enough so that the winds of client inquiry and project-related problems won’t blow you away.

Make your specialisms overlap

For instance, if you’re a head of marketing, you can employ a web designer or a web developer to realize your internet ambitions.

In another instance, if you’re a web designer like I am, what you do is a function of marketing, so therefor you can reach across into adjacent areas, such as social media, internet advertising etc, to bolster your proposition.

Similarly, web development will bring you closer to IT (though not too close, thankfully), since it’s more than likely you’ll be interfacing with servers, internal networks and their specifics.

With that as a background, and knowing your client needs.

Build a proposition from a specialism

You can start to build out your proposition around those needs and then target certain areas so that your knowledge is deeper and more complete than their current needs require.

So why do this? Because once you understand more of what is possible, you will then realize how you can offer your clients more. However, this does require an element of vision; the ability to anticipate the future direction of your clients.

Recycle your specialisms

Sometimes, you’ll get the direction wrong, but hopefully not by much. And, if you’re smart, you’ll play around with the timing of projects so that what you know can be applied to more than one client at the same time, amplifying the return on your invested learning.

Sounds easy, yeah? Well, it’s a skill that comes over time. If you’re not adept at dealing with your clients face-to-face, or have trouble imagining what they might or might not like, then that too is an area of generalized specialism you need to work on.

Jack of all trades and master of none?

I’ve got letters after my name. Those letters represent 6 years of my life. After all that time and effort and all I get is a lousy degree?! If I’d wanted a masters degree, I’d have needed to invest another 2 years of my life.

It was said by Doctor Watson that upon meeting Sherlock Holmes, he knew nothing of the motion of the planets. Yet in his defense, he got by. Why? Because he was a detective and not an astronomer.

As you can see, the level of commitment required to be a master is not inconsiderable. So don’t worry, Jack! Learn what you need to know, and know enough to know you maybe don’t know enough and you’ll do just fine.

Image credited to Flickr and Andrew Rennie.

So who’s Wayne Smallman and what does Octane do?

Wayne Smallman is many things, but he is mostly known for his writing, his designing and his web development.

To pay the bills, Octane is a provider of web design & development and internet marketing services to a variety businesses of all shapes and sizes, scattered hither & yonder around the British isles, of which case studies are available for your perusal.

As for the writing, I, Wayne Smallman am the man behind the Blah, Blah! Technology blog — a mixture of science, technology and social media commentary and how-to guides (amongst many other things), all wrapped in my own unique style of opinion, observation, dark humour, all underpinned by an unbending faith in the soul of humanity.

I also write business support and advice articles right here on Octane, via my blog — less so the inimitable commentary and more a series of practical guides to help you steer your business through calmer waters, based upon my own years of experience, beginning in 1999, which is the year when Octane was founded.

In addition, I write for a growing number of publications (both printed and electronic), sharing the aforementioned knowledge and experience further afield.

I’m also the author of the popular ebook, The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media, which has been downloaded many hundreds of times by an eclectic mix of people from all over the world, eager to learn more about social media, and how it may benefit their businesses.

What’s your Twitter follow policy?

The question itself might be a little misleading if you’re new to Twitter. When you follow someone — or at least when I do — I don’t expect those people to automatically follow me back.

As in life, we don’t always find that we have that much in common with the people we meet, or we feel that the person that just followed us isn’t adding the right kind of ideas, thoughts and observations to our stream of Twitter updates.

As an example, if you’re an up-and-coming singer / songwriter and you were to buy the latest album of a famous singer, would you expect them to return the gesture? Of course not, because that’s not how it works.

I’m neither famous, nor am I singer. But the fact of the matter is, we are all different and to reciprocate for the sake of reciprocation is disingenuous.

So I might not follow you back if you follow me. And of course, the opposite holds true, too. Obviously, some people feel very differently about this, but this is my Twitter follow policy, and I’ve at least demonstrated my honesty on the subject, if nothing else.

Ideally, we’ll have many things in common, so here are a few things I look for before I follow anyone, or follow back:

1. A profile bio that tells me something about you, what you do and what you’re interested in.
2. A link to a website or blog that tells me more about you what you do.
3. Plenty of updates, so I know you’re an active Twitterer.
4. We both speak the same language, i.e.: English.

So is Twitter the place to be?

That really depends on what you want from Twitter. I could go into all kinds of detail, but ultimately, you need to know what you want from a thing before you invest time & effort in it — which, incidentally, is where my social media ebook might prove useful, if you’re in any doubt.

Facebook is another social network which you could also join, but it is a quite different venue to Twitter, in the sense that it isn’t public; your network of friends is closed to external sources.

Twitter commands a huge audience, so your efforts are as well spent there. So if you’re hoping to form allegiances, find friends and allies, or you simply wish to learn from those in your industry, Twitter is the place for you.

What now?

That’s as open ended a question as you could ever hope to ask! If you haven’t already, you could follow me on Twitter and join the conversation. And finally, thank you for your time. Always a pleasure.

In life, we live and we learn. The wise share what they know and help others avoid their own hard mistakes. And then there are those who choose to be unhelpful, egotistical and just plain ignorant. What was it I was saying about professionalism again?

“A huge salary is not a sign of professionalism. Nor is a insulting the competition, getting blind drunk in public, beating up your girlfriend, illicit affairs, gambling addictions, abusive behaviour or questionable TV appearances.”

Being openly hostile, ignorant, rude, stupid and generally annoying don’t count towards professionalism either. Case in point: the Q&A section on LinkedIn, sometimes littered with some very unpleasant replies.

So what is LinkedIn?

“LinkedIn is an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the world, representing 170 industries and 200 countries. You can find, be introduced to, and collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to work with to accomplish your goals.”

Goals. Remember that word.

A few days ago, I answered the question: “What are the key criteria for making a business decision?“, posed by Gary Lennon, co-founder of Ideas2Reality.

Yes, the question is a little broad, but I was reminded of what my dad once said when asked: “How long is a piece of string?” To which he replied: “Half its length multiplied by two”. There’s usually an answer to even the most ambiguous question, which his actually wasn’t, it was just broad.

Gary replied to me personally, and thanked me for taking the time out to answer his question sensibly. I was just glad to help. However, he’d posted the question in several different areas on LinkedIn and the replies he got weren’t all as helpful as my own.

I wasn’t in the least surprised. I recently made my thoughts very clear, concerning the total lack of professionalism exhibited by some on the LinkedIn Q&A:

“If you don’t like a question in the LinkedIn Q&A, don’t answer. Smart arse replies show a lack of professionalism, plus you look stupid.”

As a professional, the Q&A on LinkedIn is a perfect venue to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise, not only to the people asking questions, but to everyone else besides. The good news is, idiocy, rudeness and belligerence are usually self-regulating; why should anyone consider you as an expert if you’re acting so unprofessionally?

Gary called me on Skype a couple of days later, to discuss a great idea he’s working on, directly related to the question. Fortunately, he was fine about some of the replies he got, and laughed them off.

But it was towards the end of our hour-long conversation when he said something that really struck a chord and conjured up a very clear image in my mind, and sort of put the LinkedIn Q&A into its proper perspective.

“We’re all just trying to move the ball along. We might not be there to see the end product, but at least we try!”

Or words to that effect. And in an instant, I could see the business playing field before me. Immediately, I began to see business as a game of football / soccer.

Our loved ones are collectively the goal keeper, there to keep the other side from taking the advantage, to control the pace of the game and to get the ball in play again, back up the field.

Our financial backers, business support organizations and the many, many support groups and business forums like LinkedIn are the defenders, each taking a turn at moving the ball forward.

Our business partners, senior management and directors are the mid-field, linking the play from the back and holding the attacking line.

We, the innovators, the doers, the creators and the people with the ideas are the strikers, stepping in and out of the wild tackles, dodging the attempts to bring us down and take possession of the ball. We press our advantage, aiming to make a Net gain.

Fans go wild…

There have been trials. There have been tribulations. I’ve survived everything from the bursting of the Dot Com bubble to the current global economic downturn.

For any business to last ten years is a major milestone. But for a web design agency, I breath very rarefied air, shared by few others.

So how did I manage this feat? Simple, really. I provide a professional, honest, frank, qualitative web design and development service. No gimmicks. No discounts. No small print. No hidden extras.

I go that extra mile and give you more than you’d have hoped for. I don’t just do, I think first. I’ll ask awkward and probing questions. I’ll make you think about your business in ways you’d not considered. I’ll work with you to understand what it is that you need, not what you want — you might want a bar of chocolate, but you need to breath.

Together, we’ll uncover your “Organic Knowledge“, and I might even exercise my right to say “no” once in a while. In the end, you’ll end up with a company website or a web application that exceeds your expectations.

But if someone is looking for bargain basement prices, there’s always the Yellow Pages, because I never have and never will compete on price. If they want a discount, they need to tell me what is that’s the least important about their project and we’ll cut it loose, because that’s the only way I come down on price.

When businesses come to me, we establish relationships and everything is built outwards from that. Some of my clients have been with me nearly the whole ten years I’ve been in business. When they call, they call me directly. Sometimes, I might even talk my way out of some work, because I know that what they’re asking for isn’t the right thing, or at the right time.

Right now, Octane is working hard on several web application projects for a number of clients. Against the backdrop of this economic downturn, businesses are turning to me because they know that when times are hard, quality, honesty and professionalism are worth paying for.

So here’s to another ten years of web design success!

So why the major overhaul of the Octane website?

I wanted a totally fresh start. But more importantly, I wanted the Octane website to be the hub of operations for all of the other stuff I’m doing.

Octane is my business, but many more people know me for my popular tech’ opinion blog, Blah, Blah! Technology. And more recently, I’ve enjoyed great success with my free ebook, The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media.

The one thing I don’t lack is content, so the purpose of the Octane website is to pull together those sources of trusted and valued information and knowledge into one place, so people can learn more about the things I offer.

Right now, you’ll find two columns of links in the footer of certain service pages, like social media and internet marketing, the Octane blog and the home page itself. However, over the course on the next month, I’ll be integrating specific articles from the other two blogs directly into service pages.

How much would a website like Octane’s cost?

Good question! A guestimate of cost would be around the £1,300.00 (Net) mark, which would include:

• Design & Artwork — 8 hours / £360.00
• Web Design & Development (incl. custom programming) — 12 hours / £540.00
• WordPress, installation and setup — 8 hours / £360.00
• Hosting, Email and FTP — one-off £20 account set up and then £30 each year thereafter.

It’s taken me months to complete this re-design, but that’s because I’ve been fitting all of this work in between my client work, which actually pays!

What do you see as the key benefits of having a new website?

First of all, the re-design is a fresh look. Totally new. Secondly, as mentioned previously, I’m turning the Octane website into a hub for all of my other stuff. But there are other benefits, too.

1. A far cleaner, clearer design and layout means it’s much easier to manage and update the website and the blog.
2. A better layout also means that articles and pages are easier to read and find.
3. Having a business blog is a great way to raise awareness, engage with customers and expose people to your brand and your expertise.

Key points

Keeping the pace — the fact is, if I want to attract new clients, I need to demonstrate the strength and depth of my talents, and that’s what this new website does.

Room to grow — sometimes, you just out-grow a website, and fixing what you have simply isn’t practical. The previous design had served its purpose and something new, bigger and better was needed.

Having more to say — you can’t fit a pint of water into a half pint glass, can you? And that’s the problem I faced. So the challenge was making everything easy to find and read.

What’s next for the Octane website and blog?

As you can imagine, there’s a lot of work involved, not least the actual effort in creating the website and blog. Over the long-term, the value rests in keeping the website and the blog up to date. The typical schedule of activities would include:

• Updates to service pages, with links to new and related blog articles.
• New blog articles, based on a variety of different themes.
• Adding new case studies, linking to related blog articles.
• Adding new images to the portfolio page, also linking to case studies and related blog articles.

Right now, these are the very services I’m offering my clients who’re wanting to embrace and make the most of social media for their businesses.

I’d like to think there’s a good 1-2 years in this new website design, with maybe 2-3 years in the underlying structure, before I’d consider another major overhaul.

In the here & now, the timing of the new design is to coincide with the impending launch of a client website, and planned marketing efforts of my own.

Work has been good for me this year, with no real slow down, which is excellent. But I don’t want to sit back and become complacent! I always want more work.

If you’d like to know more about how Octane can help you business, feel free to contact me right now, or call 0870 755 0004 Monday to Friday 9am-5pm

Now, I’m guessing some of you are itching to give me an example of some totally average person doing something extraordinary, and quite aside from the fact that the person in question really wouldn’t thank you for describing them as being average, the fact remains that to do something amazing, no matter how average that person might be, for a moment — no matter how long or how fleeting — they did something amazing, which required of them to be amazing.

And so it follows that the people who constantly achieve masterfully in life and in business are the ones who do amazing things with almost clockwork regularity. But there’s a caveat; these people are also losers.

Losers? Yes. Losers.

I read a quote recently that stuck in my head and connected with me in a very profound way, which went along the lines of: winners lose more than losers. So here’s my expansion on that near truism: do not fear failure.

As humans, we are adept at learning from our mistakes. I’m not saying this is a quality unique to humans, but it’s a quality that we have shown an unerring capacity to capitalize on. In a very real sense, failure is the engine of success.

Either secreted deep within the dark recesses of their subconscious, or writ large on a sheet of paper in their offices, winners know that to fear failure is to fail once and fail forever.

Those who succeed most probably know and understand the true value of professionalism, and arguably as important, knowing what professionalism isn’t:

“A huge salary is not a sign of professionalism. Nor is a insulting the competition, getting blind drunk in public, beating up your girlfriend, illicit affairs, gambling addictions, abusive behaviour or questionable TV appearances.”

Of course, one could make an argument resting on the old adage: a death of a thousand cuts. And that would be a sound argument.

But that’s where this thought piece could easily turn into a thesis, and where we begin to fear the unknown.

2009 is the year I begin to fail graciously and then learn from those mistakes with a passion…

In the current economic climate, it’s essential your business cuts costs, raises productivity and efficiency while still providing an excellent service.

As a business, Octane has been around since 1999, providing web design, development and consultation nationwide. I can help your business succeed at a time when your competitors might struggle.

Did you think the web was just websites? It’s now also about sharing data & information instantly with colleagues and clients anywhere in the world.

And because I, as Octane, have clients in the manufacturing, engineering and healthcare industries, offering their products & services globally, I’m confident that I can help your business meet your present and future needs — personally.

1. Cut costs and raise productivity by being more efficient.
2. I’m a designer, a consultant and a programmer — 3 people for the price of 1.
3. Fully managed web hosting, email and support.

A sample of your FREE website critique

• In addition to the list of completed projects, why not add Case Studies and Testimonials?
• Add in CTAs (Calls to Action), to prompt visitors to call you, or complete your response form.
• By improving the way your website is built, you’ll improve the chances of being found on Google.

To arrange your free consultation call Wayne on: 0870 755 0004, or send me a message right away…