Your Next Choice

In an effort to reduce the training costs of our company, we have been looking into other ways to deliver the same quality of training that a live instructor can give without spending as much money.

After some deliberations, we have decided to create some training videos that can deliver the same message while saving some money at the same time.  We looked around to see if we could find a company that specialized in film to help us out as we had no expertise in the matter.

We contracted Actuality films to lend us their expertise in the matter.  Their company was very knowledgeable and was willing to explain to us how we should go about creating our training videos.  We only wanted to do this once, and they were very helpful when it came to organizing the storyboards and helping us to convey the messages we wanted in the videos.

We are going to start filming next week and hopefully will have everything completed that week.  There is a new group of employees starting early next month and we are hoping to try out the training videos on them to see how well they turn out.  I can’t wait to see the results.

Technorati Tags: actuality films, storyboards

It used to be that every time we needed to send a file, the accepted way was to attach it to an email and shoot it on over.  Unfortunately, with file sizes increasing exponentially these days, many email inboxes have limitations — and even if they don’t, downloading an email with a big attachment takes a long time for many computers.

Luckily, there is a much better way: SFTP file transfer.  This is a secure way to send a file that uses the same technology as uploading files to your website server.

There are many services where you can get a free file transfer if you’re just looking to do this a few times.  However, if you need to send a lot of files via FTP, particularly if it’s for your small business, you might want to look into a professional-level package.  Free transfers are often ad-driven, and that can send the wrong impression to your clients if you are not careful.

In any case, though, not relying on email so much anymore is the important thing, especially when you are transferring a lot of files or a lot of BIG files.  Bogging down a client’s computer with your huge email attachment can really be annoying and put you on their bad side, so be smart about it and look into alternate ways to send large files!

Technorati Tags: free file transfer, SFTP file transfer, small business

Ever since I got a web hosting account started working on my own website a few years ago, I’ve really taken an interest in web design.  I enjoy coding the HTML and seeing the results — I enjoy it even more when it looks the way I want it to!  I’ve designed my own professional website and my own blog templates, learning as I go by looking at free templates and researching HTML code online.

I haven’t considered it before,  but recently it occurred to me that I could easily pursue a career in web design.  My husband is currently in his next to last semester for his undergrad degree, and this semester he is taking a class on website servers to finish his final requirement for his minor.  When he comes home and talks about what they learned, I find it all pretty interesting.

For instance, it never occurred to me how much is involved in providing hosting on a web server.  But a managed server requires a lot more work than you would think.  Not only do you need to have redundant power and Internet connections — to make sure that the website doesn’t go down because the server loses power or connection — but there is also maintenance involved that I wouldn’t have thought of.  I’ll be interested to see what else I learn from my  husband’s class.

My main interests, though, lie in the coding and design of a website.  In fact, I am so interested that I’ve been thinking maybe I should get my master’s in web design.  It definitely would be an interesting career, and with my writing skills I’ll bet I could offer a pretty valuable combination of services to my clients!

Technorati Tags: managed server, web design, web hosting

Our first holiday season together, my husband bought me what is probably the most useful Christmas present I’ve ever had: a scanner.

I’ve gotten so much mileage out of that scanner.  I use it to scan documents for my business and payments from clients, as well as old family photos that we want to digitize so that we have more permanent copies than our old, fragile originals.

It’s a pretty nice scanner — it’s small and portable, which is convenient for taking it places when I need to scan our family members’ photos.  It also produces a really nice image.  What it’s NOT is one of those high volume scanners – it’s rather slow, actually, and the driver tends to slow down my system if I’m trying to do too much else at once.

All this scanning I’ve been doing has produced a need for data storage solutions.  I’m afraid that if I only have the digitized files — pictures and work files — stored on my computer, something will happen and I’ll lose everything.  So I’ve been looking into online storage or automatic backups.  Maybe that can be part of this year’s Christmas present…

Technorati Tags: data storage solutions, family photos, high volume scanners

I might have the opportunity to go to Fiji in a few weeks. I’m working out the details of the trip now. I’m at the stage where I’m trying to find a great Fiji hotel. There are so many good ones to choose from that it’s tough to make a decision about which hotel to stay at but I’m narrowing down my options based on what I do and don’t want while I’m there.

The sad news is that I’m going to have to take some work along with me if I do go to Fiji. As a result, it’s really important to me that I find a Fiji hotel which offers a business center on site. It’s also going to be important for me to have Wi-Fi access throughout my stay at the hotel.

All of the work that I’ll be doing is sure to stress me out a bit so I’m definitely trying to find a hotel with a Fiji spa in it. At the end of a long work day, I’m going to want to get a massage and a facial to ease all of that stress away.

Of course, I don’t plan on spending the whole trip indoors. I do want to check out the wonderful beaches of Fiji. I don’t want to spend much time getting to and from those beaches though. As a result, I’m searching for a Fiji hotel that has beach access. If I can find all of that at a fair price then I think that I’m going to go ahead and go to Fiji.

Technorati Tags: Fiji hotel, Fiji spa