My blog suffers....

The beauty of a freelance life is that you feast when you can and you do other things when it gets quiet. I am proud to report that I've had no downtime this year. I am embarrassed to realize my last post was a Happy New Year one. So, I'm delinking this blog from LinkedIn. I'll keep it alive in case, but really, I'm plenty of busy right now and not seeking new clients. This is a happy repository of useful links and thoughts, but it does not need to be featured! If you need me, send a LinkedIn message!

GA4

On Saturday, Google Analytics as we know it will stop. 

This is a Google blogging platform. It does not play well with the new GA4. 

Crossing fingers that the code snippet I just added to the site works. I don't get a lot of traffic here, but I do like to know what works :)

Treating myself like a client

Decided to apply for a Google scholarship to Coursera yesterday (see previous post) and it got me wondering about the analytics for this blog and if there is still any useful info buried deep within it. 

So, I went back to the beginning and started reading and realized a few things.  

First, I am not a good blogger. I rarely spend time here. I do leave myself some really useful tips that I regularly come back and review (ie, how to Adobe with difficult PDFs) but I'm not really consistently acting like a thought leader! 

Secondly, shame on me for not checking my analytics and realizing that I don't have data on the early years. Or to make sure that all my links work etc. I do those tasks regularly for my clients, but fail on my own site. That's not a great business plan if potential clients are coming here first. 

Finally, I need to hold myself accountable for making connections, celebrating them and being prepared to reinvent myself for another 10 years. So much has changed since I launched this blog (my third LOL) but I'm still here. 

Task for the week: Checking and fixing broken links in the old content. You'll see notes when I update the old posts:) 

Hello 2022

Blogging is not my thing. I have discovered over the last few years that I am a reactor to situations and that I love to help other people create, but I'm too busy to generate new and personal things right now.   

Hence, my last post was in March 2021. Because pandemic. 

I'm still going to keep this blog. It really is a great place for me to put tips and tricks I use with my clients and shortcuts that help me work smarter. So, here's my annual post to stay active :) and stay well. 

I'd like this pandemic to reach the endemic stage to launch the next phase of my career. 

#WearAMask #ProtectYourBubble #GetVaccinated

Blogger Site Map

I'm learning all about Google Analytics and the new GA4 code and how to add to a site to get data. I've got to figure out some data pieces so I'm testing these iterations on websites I can control.  Today's new hack is how to add a sitemap to a Blogger site.

Kudos to Xomisse for a simple fix. Just go find the one Google already made LOL.  Sometimes things really are simple.  

So, I've launched a new tag, I've added a site map, now we'll see what kind of fancy data I get back. 

EDX Post 2

So, the second post is due today and I decided to share my story about proofreading. Publishing it here again just to prove it is my original work (if that ever comes up).

***

As we move through the EDX course I am being reminded about information I learned long ago and am being challenged to improve my writing. Years of being asked for short summaries at work and writing for social media have hampered my creative writing abilities. I am going to try to write more after this course and see what I can create. 

That said, the most valuable thing about this class so far was reading blogs from the class. I do some freelance work and spend time proofreading papers for individuals for whom English is not their first language. I’ve read some really amazing pieces of work and am pleased when I can help turn a phrase or make their meaning clear.  

My favorite example of what I do for those clients came very shortly after I started that job. I was reading a paper from someone whose primary language was Asian.  They were describing some individuals and were trying to portray enthusiasm and exuberance in their account.  As I was reading along a phrase appeared just wasn’t right. They had written “it was above the wall.”

For the life of me I went blank. I knew that wasn’t right but I really struggled to determine the meaning. I ended up flagging the line, finished the chapter and then went back. Upon the second review it dawned on me that what they wanted to say was “it was over the top.”

I finished editing it and believe that I maintained the spirit they wanted to portray. It was an eye-opening experience of how sometimes terms just don’t translate well.  I hope it has made me a better editor and listener in that I want to hear what a person is trying to say even if the words come out jumbled.

Day Two HeWeb12

So, Day 2. Much busier than day 1 if you can believe it. I blogged two sessions:

Using the Right Tools  and Web Content Strategy.

Both were great sessions and I learned a lot. By the end of the day I had 15 golden nuggets!

Tuesday afternoon I did take the lunch break to walk over to see the Bronze Fonz and the Milwaukee Public Museum. It was a beautiful but cool day and a nice walk. The museum was actually small compared to many others I've seen (I might be a museum snob) but one of the Security Guards (Darlene) and I had a great chat about the butterfly habitat and walking sticks.

I also genuinely enjoyed the "Streets of Old Milwaukee" exhibit. I love the architecture and am learning a great deal about cities younger than mine.

I made it back for the poster presentations, the end of the vendor conference, a quick run around to earn SCVNGR points and dinner.

Day One HeWeb12

WOW, Day one of HeWeb12 is over. I had a blast. Not being a newbie anymore makes a huge difference. I've kind of figured out how to navigate the sessions, find the plugs and locate the people I've followed online. The only negative spot was the loss of wifi for a few hours, but that might have been good cause it got me to focus on the presenters more. I also got published today!

Check out the link at LINK: Cloud Computing Blog on Link 

And I was in the same room as Adam Savage from Mythbusters. His talk was unexpected and thought provoking. He answered every question I had and I managed to capture some thoughts on my camera. Hoping his thoughts about art and engineering actually got captured because I think my daughter would love to hear that word for word.

HighEdWeb and Link

So, I'm plotting my sessions for the HighEdWeb conference next week when I saw the "call for bloggers" from Link, the Journal of Higher Education.

It's been a while since I wrote for a journal but I miss it. So I sent an email to the editor and got a response back almost right away. I am now scheduled to cover three of the sessions next week with a possibility of adding two more once I finalize my plans.

I am really pleased I followed up. It will be nice to connect with the "reporters" covering the conference and also be able to contribute to telling the story that evolves in Milwaukee.

Three Words

Sending a shout out to Libdrone Books today.

I've come to know them through Empire Avenue (yes, I'm back into that again) and find their blog using three words to be a brilliant writing device. And I'm honored that my words have been used twice in recent months.

Go check them out, and if three words come to mind, share them. You might end up being featured in their blog! 

Deja Vu

{EAV:41ab1939ba9630d4}

So last year I tried Empire Avenue, changed some privacy settings on facebook and deleted my account with them. #fail on their part, I never got a notice but all my work was gone. So I quit.

The last month, I decided to check out Empire Avenue again. Very different, much better. Have connected with some interesting people and my shares are pretty good. (e)cpd623

Anyway, yesterday I reconnected my blog there. And this string {EAV:41ab1939ba9630d4} has to be in it to prove the blog is mine. So, here I am :)

Back in the saddle

So last week I met with a potential client, wrote a pitch, mailed it off and got a yes.

It's been a while since that happened and so I'm thrilled. I'll be helping to redevelop a website from scratch.

It was nice to get a YES as many of the clients I used to help have closed or moved away. So, finding this job really has reinvigorated me. I'm excited to have some new things to try outside of work and am always glad to expand my skill set.

When we launch the site, I'll share.

Cleaning up the social media

I think I'm overwhelmed. There are way too many social media accounts out there. With the advent of Google+ everything is shooting into overdrive.

So, I decided to start looking for any account I ever opened. So far I've cleaned up six old accounts and am debating if I "need" my other profiles out there.

Then in one last major attempt to purge a little bit from the ether, I found an old blog tied to a website with a previous employer. Deleted. But in the same venue I found two other work related blogs tied to that company too. I thought I'd left instructions of how to manage/delete, but they were overlooked. Three years later I was contacting my replacement to let her know they are there.

Makes me wonder what else is buried out there. I'm glad to say that I've always been well behaved on the internet, so even if I've really lost something, it's ok if someone finds later.

Blogger issues

So, last week, blogger crashed. People freaked out for a few days but it came back. I didn't lose any content and I haven't met anyone who did.

Technology is changing so much... I used to print photos, now I save on a computer... will I be able to access them in the future? I blog into the cloud...what happens when that server crashes or the company supporting it can't pay their bills...

Where are the archives of the future going to be? They say nothing is ever deleted that is published online... but I wonder how true that is. Only time (and resources) will tell.

Blogging in general

As a social media strategist, I understand that I'm supposed to prove my abilities in blogging, twitter, facebook etc. But, if I spend my time working on client projects and other work efforts, blogging for my own purposes seems redundant. 

Just went back through an older blog where I tested code and features for other users. It became a useful place for tracking helpful links, so I'm posting some here for my own future use: 

• Image Mapping: http://www.image-maps.com. I needed to map an image and it worked really well.
• Who writes it?: This site http://www.urlai.com says it can tell you about the blog’s writer based on the writing style. 
• My delicious links: http://www.delicious.com/cpd623

EDITED on 5/26/2022 to reflect that two of these links no longer work. Keeping the original focus of the article, but laughing internally at how much has changed since I published this post. 

Lost Six Months LOL

Well, I launched the blog and got busy and that was that.

Been writing (managed to double my word count for NaNoMoWrite month over last year) but didn't finish the 50,000 word goal. I do have a good idea for a novel now though and will continue to work at it.

Working on some web redesigns and expanding some social media outreach. It's been a year of changes and I am truly looking forward to flipping the calendar this month.