Do you know that feeling you get when your pillow is so just right that when you lay your head down you don’t want to move.

That is the kind of feeling you should have when you partner with someone, whether it be an individual or a business team, to work with you to market your business.  Relaxed and comfortable, a good fit that makes you not want to move.

That is the kind of comfort I want you to feel when dealing with Pinksky, whether it be marketing objectives including internet and traditional, or Web design, development and maintenance.

It can often be a difficult decision to make deciding who you are comfortable with. I have been operating my own business for almost fifteen years and have had some great clients, that being said, on occasion when meeting with a prospective client the chemistry is not there.

Luckily I have a large network of like minded people and can always refer that client to someone who might be a better fit.

J

How much time do you spend online?  How much time do you spend marketing your business online.  It is a lot of work and can be seriously time consuming and at times can take you away from your primary reason for being in business. 

When you reach that point it is then that you should start to think about hiring a professional person to help with your online marketing plan.  That one person or company that spends all of their time making sure they understand all of the ways and proper channels that will promote your business in the most effective manner.  There are literally hundreds of avenues each business could follow to promote what it is they have to offer online.  Not all of them will work for all businesses.  It is important to know what direction you want to take. 

A doctor is not going to market the same way a film company might and so it goes for each business the importance of directing your marketing towards the audience you are trying to reach.  And knowing who that audience is will be a good start to putting together your marketing plan.

Another thing to keep in mind when hiring an internet marketer is to check their credentials and history.  Internet Social Media Marketing companies are popping up everywhere but are they actual marketers.  Anyone with a little internet or technological savvy can put up a website with a little glitz and glam, but what is there experience, education, knowledge, background.

A little bit of research should help you make an informed decision.   

I admit it; I am a Technological Junkie and have been for more years than I can remember.   It started when I took my first computer course in D.O.S in 1983.  From that moment I was hooked.  I learned WordPerfect and Lotus (in DOS).  I kept working on computers and reading as much as I could.  Most places I worked at back then still had typewriters but were starting to incorporate computers into the mix.

Sometime in 1986 I got my first Macintosh computer, I cannot even remember the version but it was a clunker. 

I taught myself Excel and my way around a mac and I did have my first computer crash without sufficient backup, Lost everything and had to start again. It was a good lesson in more ways than one, good practice as well as teaching me the importance of backing up data.

I learned to play very rustic computer games; I was given a book on fourth  ( I vaguely remember the basic concept, a computer programming language that at the time was a little lost on me but I will admit I wish I had taken it a little more seriously).

Let’s fast forward to late nineties, after 2 years studying for my MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer),  it occurred to me I loved the learning but I was also starting to realize my addiction. It was (and is) an expensive proposition based on the fact that Microsoft continues to change operating systems and we have to go with that ...therefore updating is constant and not cheap. 

At that time calls started coming, from friends, family and strangers; can you fix my computer?  That's when I started Sandcastle Management Services which later evolved into Pinksky Productions.

How serious is this obsession you might ask?  I have lost count when it comes to the computers I have purchased  (I have four on hand at the moment, 3 working one not, have given away about two and a few just went to the computer graveyard in the sky. (When I dispose of a computer I always remove the hard drive so have a few of those on hand also)), Oh and then there is the Mac I have in the basement that I forget about most of the time.

My obsession is not limited to computers but extends to software and books.  I have enough books on computers, software and programming to fill at least one isle in the library.  Finding a home for them is sometimes difficult because as much as I try to clear things and give things away; the books I have a hard time parting with.  I am convinced the minute that I get rid of one I will find myself in a situation where I will need to answer a question and the answer is in that book. And of course now my book collection is expanding to Social Media and Search Engine Optimization etc.  

                                                                                                                                            

I feel the same about my software, I know some of the discs I have I will never use and I am a little better at disposing of older software than I am of the books. I wish I could find the right place to donate old books and software that would allow those who have not been as lucky as I have to live and learn computer technology could benefit.  Anyone know of a place like that?   

The problem with my obsession well first it is not going to end….I am constantly filled with an urge to keep learning more (I have a standing subscription with Trainsimpleonline an Adobe Certified Software Training site) and secondly it is an expensive hobby (obsession).

On the plus side, I learn a lot, am very up to date on new technology, html, what works and doesn’t on the web and changes in all things internet, so I can  answer most questions thrown at me.

In the meantime I think I will research; there must be a way to get the information and technology to those who need it.

 

Good Monday Morning

Although I have been doing Virtual Administration for about fifteen years now, it isn’t something I have really promoted.  I have been busy making websites which is what I   like doing.  But, many of my customers  continue to ask me to do other tasks for them and of course I do.

So after many conversations with some of my colleagues I have decided to expand the Virtual Administration side of my business,because I still like to help my fellow entrepreneurs develop their businesses and websites and I would also like to  create more work for some of my fellow administrators. 

Additionally, in my continuous quest to learn more I will be starting online lessons this week in SEO Techniques.  I already have a basic knowledge and I also have on my team some expert SEO members.  For those of you that know me and have worked with me,  you know I am a hands on kind of person and even though I might not do all of the tasks myself,  I certainly need to know I can if necessary.

So while Pinksky Productions will continue to make beautiful websites we will also continue to make beautiful documents. 

I am looking forward to the growth of Pinkoffice.ca and am sure it is going to be a welcome partner to Pinksky Productions and sharing what I will be learning with you in the upcoming weeks and months.

Joan Culbert

Pinksky Productions

Pink Office

I have been on face book for a very long time now. It has become second nature, a natural part of my life.  I stay in touch with friends and family which is all so good, but lately I have had the chance to experience the wonderfulness of face book.

A couple o f months ago I hooked up with a close friend of over 25 years who I had lost touch with,  I am not sure who friended who but since then we have had a chance to catch up, get together & remember. 

Now, just this week I had a friend request from another friend I knew & worked with  (again) over 25 years ago.  At first I had no idea who was sending the request until I read the message.  She had married and her name had changed, but with a short reminder and a couple of emails later it all came back in a wonderful flood of memories.  I knew her mom, she knew mine.  Sadly and coincidentally we both lost our mothers three years ago.

We are catching up now.

I still have friends who refuse to join the fb movement.  To them I say you are missing out on endless opportunity  to contact and reconnect. 

And for my other friends who have yet to embrace the internet.  Let me know when you are ready and I will be there to help you get started. 

Because some of these moments are too good to miss, too good to forget and wonderful to be reminded of.

Joan Culbert
Pinksky Productions

Cooking

It is a well known fact that I love to work,  but I do have hobbies and interests and passions outside of work.  One of those passions is cooking.  I love to cook and especially love cooking for other people.

Lately cooking in my kitchen has become an even more welcome break at the end of the day ,   there is a new ingredient, that would be Peter Guo my friend from China who has taught me a whole new way to cook, not only ingredient wise, but socially.  I am learning to cook Chinese, not American Chinese but actual true Chinese cooking.  It is a entire culture that involves so much more than the actual cooking part.

It is Friday night and a couple   friends drop- in…we all make a dish…in the kitchen together we glide like a well oiled machine…olive oil and sesame oil….

We chop for each other, we get ingredients…dishes and vegetables are being passed around.wine is poured…languages are translated.  Peter is from Henan, (source of river,  is the meaning)  because the yellow river crosses through his province, the mother river  near middle  China….and as he is explaining to me now about where his province is we have an English lesson…Henan has .01 billion population

It’s so wonderful to live in this new culture.  Every word has a meaning and so I need to learn it all as we work to understand each other.   Did I already say it is so wonderful to live in this new culture.

Every  meal  conversation ends in a geography lesson, the atlas comes out, laptops are always on hand (one in Chinese) I am watching cooking shows in china and learning to cook based on sight  not words,  and one in English because of course I do not yet read Chinese and still like to cheat occassionaly.

In China each person makes a dish,  so tonight I am trying a new dish Crispy baked Basa, (Vietnamese Catfish)   Peter is making something that he cannot tell us what it is (it is his invention), ground pork made with hoisin sauce,  and wrapped in tofu noodle with fresh red pepper and cucumbers.

Susanne,  rice pilaf,  sauté dry brown golden pasta,  tbsp butter,  melt,  chopped onion, sauté a couple minutes,  add 1 cup long grain rice and pinch of sea salt stir and add one and a half cups chicken broth, Boil,  the simmer for fifteen minutes, then sit for five (I write this down mostly so I will remember).

 We are already planning tomorrow’s trip to the market to get our ingredients for fresh Sushi.

It’s good

Joan Culbert
Pinksky Productions

Beware Internet Dangers (Part 1)

February this year my website was hacked.  I found out through a colleague, it was very disappointing.  Not knowing why or how I began to do research.  After several days of telephone conversations with go daddy, who at that time hosted my account, what I was able to find out was the "hackers" do it for no other reason than they can & that my only option was to delete the site & upload a safe version from back up. 

Sadly I lost a years worth of blogs, (blogging is really about as it happens) & the momentum I had built over the past year came to a stop.

I continued my research, reading everything I could find.  A couple of  helpful sites were http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/2008/06/24/how-to-completely-clean-your-hacked-wordpress-installation/
 and
stopbadware.org

I was able to find the malware located in my website and remove it, as well I reported the villains to Google.  I also learned updates are extremely important, especially when working with Word press and PHP, in avoiding Malware.  Also it really pays to find a hosting provider that takes security seriously.

I have been wary about venturing back into the world of blogging, but am doing so now cautiously and with the hope that I will be more successful and that my new found diligence will prevent any further attacks.