#casual conversation in the code solving channel

[stellarstarryyy]

People got so off topic in the en abime discord that the GMs had to come in (in character) and scold us 😭

[rockyschexneider]

From Polyester to Pixels: How the 70s Leisure Suit Revolutionizes Modern Marketing

From Polyester to Pixels: How the 70s Leisure Suit Revolutionizes Modern Marketing

Remember the leisure suit? That curious ensemble from the 1970s that took the fashion world by storm, featuring bold colors and even bolder fabric? It wasn’t just a fad; it was a statement. At a time when fashion was overdressed and stuffy, the leisure suit sauntered in as a symbol of freedom and rebellion against convention. It took the rigid, uncomfortable formalwear of the past and transformed it into something liberating.

Now, let’s hit rewind and explore why a lesson in double-knit polyester might just be what your digital marketing strategy needs today.

The Leisure Suit Manifesto: Comfort Over Complexity

The essence of the leisure suit wasn’t its ability to strut into business meetings or mingle at lavish galas. Nope. It was about offering a chance to appear sharp while staying relaxed. The leisure suit was, above all else, a solution to a problem—a protest against the stringency of everyday suits.

What if your marketing strategy was more like a leisure suit? What if it offered solutions to people's problems instead of showcasing polished perfection that feels alienating? While intricately styled pitches and jargon-laden posts might bop their heads respectfully in the boardroom, they don’t jump and jive in the real world.

A Groovier Approach to Modern Marketing

Think about how you engage with your audience. Affiliate marketing doesn't have to feel like a choreographed dance rooted in rigidity. Like the brave fabric warriors of the ‘70s, push for authenticity. People are clamoring for sincerity—a touch of reality in the glossy world of digital spaces.

Consider this: rather than crafting your message in pixel-perfect precision, let it breathe. Make it relatable. Address your audience's real problems with genuine compassion. This approach applies whether you're creating a blog post or launching a network campaign.

The Power of Relatability

Back then, the leisure suit had an uncanny ability to speak to a generation ready to let their guards down. So, when crafting your next campaign, channel that convivial vibe. Don’t chase perfection; chase connection. Make your content feel like a casual conversation rather than a formal presentation. Invite your audience into a comfortable space where they feel seen and understood.

Digital Dress Code: Letting Your Marketing Breathe

Feeling inspired to don your metaphorical leisure suit in your next marketing endeavor? Start by assessing how your strategies can align more closely with your audience's values and needs. Ditch the pomp and circumstance. Solve a problem repressed under layers of formality.

Imagine your marketing campaigns as a casual Friday in the office of the digital world—minimal fuss, often maximum impact. Allow authenticity and relatability to become the fabric of your marketing endeavors.

The Sneaker Under the Suit: Adapting for Success

Consider delving into strategies that reflect this retro-turned-modern mindset in practice. Start with a free training session that shows how approachable affiliate marketing can be, without endless setups or tech hurdles. This trial aims to deliver real results in a timeframe that would impress even the busiest modern '70s hustler.

And speaking of keeping things groovy and current, pay attention to opportunities, especially when they are scarce. As MAP Phase 3 launches, don't miss out on securing a position with longevity at an unbeatable entry price. Whether you're swinging between decisions or skeptical, remember timing can be as sharp as a Jive dance move when it involves secure spots in a profitable venture.

Where Polyester and Pixels Meet

In a world where communication is often overthought and underdone, let's wear our leisure suits proudly to deliver approachable, effective marketing. Authenticity cuts through the noise just like polyester did back in the day, challenging conventions, and ushering in comfort over constriction. So, next time you're planning a campaign or crafting a message, think polyester—think leisure suit. After all, it's not about being the fanciest in the room, but about being the most relatable and human.

**

[astonishinglegends]

Ep 201: The Disappearance of Frederick Valentich Part 3

“I am prepared to swear on oath or submit myself to any lie detector test to substantiate this, my statement.”

– Don Cox, who observed a triangle-shaped UFO for 45 minutes from his yard in Adelaide, 385 miles northwest of Valentich’s last known location, just 28 minutes after his radio fell silent.

Description:

As we wrap up our coverage of the Frederick Valentich story in Part 3 of our series, we'll continue our conversation with Melbourne resident Chris Tyler about his research into the case and other possibly related UFO incidents around the same time and area. We'll also examine the Australian Department of Transport accident report's remaining findings and discuss its conclusions. As you begin to reach your own conclusions, it's essential to keep several factors in mind which make the usual mundane explanations seem inadequate. The high number of independent sightings of aerial phenomena occurring in proximity to the disappearance suggests Valentich wasn't alone in witnessing it. The distance a Cessna cowling was found from a potential crash site and the lack of definitive markings makes its discovery inconclusive. Even if the cowling did come from Valentich's plane, it still doesn't account for what caused him to ditch, let alone other missing debris and Valentich himself. Perhaps the most surprising revelation comes from the summary of the report itself. Rather than dismissing the possibility of a UFO entanglement, an official government statement lists it as one of four likeliest scenarios. Remember that Valentich himself never suggested he interacted with a UFO in his last transmission, despite being painted as obsessed with them by his skeptics. When these factors and more are taken together, it's no wonder this incident is one of the most baffling and tragic in the phenomenon's history and leaves us all to wonder, what happened to Frederick Valentich and where did he go?

Location:

Moorabbin Airport, where Frederick Valentich took off from on October 21, 1978, headed for King Island across Bass Strait.

Reference Links:

“UFO suspicions still cloud disappearance of Frederick Valentich” from Melbourne’s Herald Sun

The strange noises heard on Valentich’s last transmission, posted on Facebook by A.U.F.O.A. – Australian UFO Action

“How the 40-year-old mystery of a UFO in New Zealand lives on” from news.com.au, about Quentin Fogarty’s UFO experience

The UFO Documents Index on NSA.gov

Cape Otway Lightstation

“What is the Aurora Australis?” on Universe Today

The Green Flash

“The Disappearance of Flight N3808H, Puerto Rico, 1980” blog post by “karl 12” on AboveTopSecret.com

“Disappearance of flight N3808H 28th of June, 1980” with pilot’s radio transmission on YouTube

“UFOs, USOs and the Island of Puerto Rico.” by “karl 12” on AboveTopSecret.com

“Jet Fighters disappear as they approach UFO in Puerto Rico” section of a documentary on YouTube

“Two F-14s kidnapped by UFO near Puerto Rico” forum thread on unexplained-mysteries.com

“The Valentich Disappearance: Another UFO Cold Case Solved” by James McGaha and Joe Nickell on Skeptical Inquirer

“Spooky Space ‘Sounds’” from nasa.gov

“What Is This Flying Object??? Occurred at Cape Hatteras Lighthouse - 1/7/2021” on YouTube by Wes Snyder Photography

The “PPRuNe” forum or “Professional Pilots Rumour Network” discussing Valentich's radio transmission

The Melbourne Marvels podcast and their episode on “The Unresolved Disappearance of Frederick Valentich”

“10 Truly Bizarre Incidents From The Bass Strait Triangle” from Listverse

The Unsolved Mysteries Wiki on Fandom.com for the Frederick Valentich episode

“Lost yacht mystery continues 30 years on” from abc.net.au

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on Wikipedia

“Race Tragedy Tale / Oracle CEO tells all to St. Francis Yacht Club” from SFGate.com

“'Holy grail' or epic hoax? Australian Kelly Cahill's UFO abduction story still stirs passions” from ABC South West Victoria news

“Capturing the Light” – The true story of Dorothy Izatt on Amazon Prime

Close Encounters of the Third Kind feature release date information on IMDb

The Frederick Valentich case on the original Unsolved Mysteries, Season 5, Episode 2 on Amazon Prime

“Last Light: the Valentich Mystery” from The History Listen with Kirsti Melville on ABC.net.au

“Disappearance of Frederick Valentich” on Wikipedia

“What Happened to Frederick Valentich? Possibly the scariest UFO case ever” by OzWeatherman on AboveTopSecret.com

“Valentich Case Files Finally Released” by Kandinsky on AboveTopSecret.com

“The Valentich Abduction/Disappearance: 40th Anniversary” by MirageMan on AboveTopSecret.com

“The Abduction of Fred Valentich” from The Unexplained Files on Discovery UK – YouTube clip of Melbourne Flight Advisor Officer Steve Robey describing his radio communication with Valentich

Complete episode on the Valentich disappearance from The Unexplained Files on the Discovery Channel

Cessna 182 “Skylane”

Valentich’s missing aircraft report online, from the National Archives of Australia

Download of Valentich’s missing aircraft report as a PDF

Bass Strait

Moorabbin Airport

“'Truth' was out there after all –An accidental discovery sheds new light on the mysterious disappearance of a pilot in 1978, writes Miles Kemp” from The Advertiser

Australian UFO researcher, Keith Basterfield

Melbourne, Australia

Tasmania

King Island, Tasmania

Visit King Island at kingisland.org.au

“Biography of Bette Nesmith Graham, Inventor of Liquid Paper” on ThoughtCo.com

Bette Nesmith Graham on Wikipedia

Australian crayfish

The TCAS or Traffic collision avoidance system

“What C.S. Lewis and Martin Luther Would Say About Our Coronavirus Panic”

Black Death

Second plague pandemic

“Plague was one of history’s deadliest diseases—then we found a cure” on NationalGeographic.com

Suggested Listening:

Melbourne Marvels podcast – “a podcast about true stories from Melbourne” CLICK HERE to listen to their episode on “The Unresolved Disappearance of Frederick Valentich”

Check out our good friend Gledders’ paranormal podcast, ANOMALY, where he, his co-host Steve Freestone, and Forrest discuss some of the more weird and wild events of 2020 and more in his latest 2-part series. Click here to subscribe and listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, the website at anomaly.co.uk, or anywhere excellent podcasts are found.

And then after that, check out Gledders’ “80’s Mix Tape” for the best in 1980s music, Saturdays, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the UK, or stream anytime at Huntingdon Community Radio HCR 104 FM!

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Credits:

Episode 201: The Disappearance of Frederick Valentich Part 3. Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel. Sound Design by Ryan McCullough; Tess Pfeifle, Producer, and Lead Researcher; Research Support from the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a.k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2021 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

[suzanneshannon]

Clips from my DEV AMA

I recently did an AMA over on DEV. Just taking the opportunity to port over some answers here like a good indiewebber.

If you were starting out as a front end dev in 2020, what would you say is the first thing you would learn and why?

You need to put yourself in a position where it's your job to create and take care of a website. Even if that feels like a stretch for you early on. Get the domain, get the website on the public internet. Put your name on it. Now you've given yourself stakes, and you'll learn technology because you must make your ideas come to life.

For me, 650 years ago, that was putting up a website for the ol' college band. We needed a website! That sounded like fun to me, and I managed to struggle through buying a domain, hosting, and putting up a WordPress website. Then, over time, I learned front-end web technologies because I wanted to change up the design, change up the templates, add cool features, etc.

Get yourself a project and learn through the project.

How do you determine what you want to turn into a blog post and what you leave as a simple Tweet?

I usually won't avoid the tweet. The tweet is usually a good proving ground for the blog post anyway. If nobody cared, eh, maybe not that good of a post. If it does get good engagement, it's like the conversation around it is useful in the creation of the blog post. Plus, tweets are so easy to kick out the door. Blog posts, for me, on purpose, have a longer schedule that includes editing and scheduling and such.

Here's an example tweet. Just a silly little UI experiment. I didn't feel like waiting to blog about it to drop the demo. But from the Twitter thread, I got some interesting technical feedback, info about what parts people were most suprised by, and some other related ideas. That will, hopefully, lead to a much more robust blog post.

I even treat DEV like that, honestly. I wrote this blog post reaction quickly here, but then refined it for my own blog with some of the feedback.

Do you have a favorite CSS-Trick, where you were just like "wow"?

I think "scroll shadows" in CSS is one of my favorite CSS tricks of all time. It's originally by Roman Komarov, but explained and improved by Lea Verou. I saw a tool the other day around the idea by Stefan Judis.

It's a real mind-bender involving four-layered gradient backgrounds, each positioned, sized, and colored differently, and then behaviorally different regarding scrolling.

It's not just a neat trick because it has real UX implications. Showing a shadow of where you can scroll is important UX. Consider this story of a recent design update in iOS that led to complete confusion around UI actions hidden behind a place you could scroll to, but had zero affordance on how to get there. (Happens to me all the time in Spotify, for the record.)

What would be your top 3 pieces of quick advice for developers trying to follow a similar path to growing their influence and exposure?

I think writing is literally the only way.

I can't think of a developer with influence who has that influence for anything other than writing. Or if it's not writing, then it's a YouTube channel or some other form of creating public stuff.

How much do you see yourself personally playing with Houdini APIs as they are released? Which API are you most excited about (Painting, Layout, Typed OM, ...)?

This super-low level stuff sometimes feels over my head. It's hard for me to picture the industry implications of stuff like this just by looking at specs, ya know?

To me, it seems the Layout API has the most powerful potential.

What I'm imagining right now is that Houdini doesn't affect normal day-to-day front-end developers like me that much. I won't be writing much Houdini code. But I'll use fancy things that other people create, because it does something useful for me. Just like most people don't write their own libraries or have published npm packages — they just use them.

It's fun to be wow'd by Houdini. If anyone is looking for that, make sure to look at Vincent De Oliveira's showcase website.

What is your favorite thing about working at CodePen and/or CSS-Tricks?

You know what I really like? I like getting into the office every day and having a pretty decent amount of freedom of what I'm going to do that day. I'll probably have meetings. I'll probably have some stuff on the ol' calendar. I'll probably have some team expectations I'm trying to meet. But I also usually have plenty of time to pursue things that are interesting to me at the moment.

Sometimes I'm in the moment to drill through some emails. Sometimes I want to tinker with some demo that sounds like fun. Sometimes I want to write up a thought or record a video. Sometimes I want to plan something out or document something. Sometimes I want to talk something out with other people or do some pair programming.

I'm fortunate that I'm the boss (lol) and I put myself in that position on purpose so I have that freedom.

What is something that you wish we could add in CSS?

I feel like every time someone asks this we all should take every opportunity to scream Container Queries! until we get them.

The idea is that we should be able to write CSS that says, "When this element is this wide, this CSS should take effect." And not just width, but whatever media queries we have at the page level already.

The best demo of a use case out there is Philip Walton's page.

I want to write a card component that shuffles itself around based on how wide it is, not how wide the page is, because there isn't always a direct connection between those two things (e.g. a card component can show up in a narrow sidebar on a large screen, but be full-width on a tablet or something).

Every component can be in a situation like that, so for the love of CSS, let me write media queries scoped to those components. I echo a lot of other people when I saw that if we had this, the vast majority of media queries we write would be these, not page-level.

Do you think it's worth suggesting a { position: above-fold; }?

I'm not sure I've ever made a big fold-based decision once in my career. Not a big fan of that thinking. THERE IS A LINE IN WHICH THIS IMPORTANT MODULE MUST NOT CROSS, haha. Prioritizing the most important stuff to be higher up the page, sure. Websites don't fold like newspapers.

Plus, we've got viewport units now, so if you absolutely need to position something in the top visible viewport area, you can.

Since you've been writing blog posts for so long, have you developed a process for writing one?

Sorta! It still feels pretty casual to me (let's call my writing medium quality), so it's not like I'm renting a cabin in the wilderness and finding inspiration in the sunsets and cheap whiskey.

I write down every blog post idea that comes to me. I try to keep that list fairly public but I also have a personal list where I can be even sloppier.

I put as much context into those lists as I can, so I can hope to summon up the same emotion that made me write it down in the first place. If I revisit the idea a week later and can't, it's probably not a very good idea.

I write up the post with as much context as I can. Light research is typically involved.

We have a lead editor on CSS-Tricks, so it's reviewed by at least one person before being scheduled.

CSS or CSS-in-JS?

I see a ton of cool stuff happening in CSS-in-JS. I think it solves a lot of interesting problems for certain websites. For example, I very much like the idea of having the option to write styles that are scoped to a component programmatically, and thus are tree-shaken when the component isn't used automatically.

But the web is a big place, and dare I say most websites aren't built with JavaScript-powered component models. Thus, CSS-in-JS isn't necessary or appropriate for a lot of sites.

Although, two things to be clear:

You can't have CSS-in-JS without CSS. CSS-in-JS is still styles that are applied to elements. It doesn't absolve you from learning CSS.

The CSS-in-JS landscape is wide. It's a little hard to talk about so vaguely. Each project in the bucket of CSS-in-JS handles things a bit differently and how the styles are applied to the site is even quite wide. I think it sometimes gets lost in the arguments that some of the approaches literally make a CSS stylesheet that you link up like you would any other CSS — even Sass-produced CSS — which there doesn't seem to be much argument about anymore.

The post Clips from my DEV AMA appeared first on CSS-Tricks.

Clips from my DEV AMA published first on https://deskbysnafu.tumblr.com/

[emorphistechno]

How to Market your Mobile App?

Mobile app marketing involves interacting with customers throughout the lifecycle — from hearing about your app for the first time to becoming a loyal customer. To do this effectively, you need to figure out who will use your app, where to find those individuals and prospects, what to tell them, and what they want from you.

Today’s mobile devices are pocketable supercomputers, and they become highly effective business tools when coupled with broadband networks and public cloud services. People are shifting progressively from the unconnected globe to the connected one. Around the world people are purchasing and adopting smart devices with superb pace, trying to alter their approach towards lifestyle – changing the way of entertaining, interacting, educating and shopping.

Companies are now mobilizing revenue generating streams and procedures. For instance, retail banking is shifting focus on digital-internet banking apps through smartphones and tablets. This move is continuous and is experienced in other industry sectors, where mobile apps empowered smartphones and tablets are evolving and replacing the personal computers and laptops.

Smart wearable-wrist band, boot has become a mainstream consumer and enterprise tool. “Data Snacking” is an individual’s capacity to interact with small bits of data, at regular interactions with relevant information on interested topics via smart wearables. This phenomenon will continue to advance as watchmakers cater for smaller wrists and high fashion standards. These devices will also begin to be used as part of multi-factor authentication systems.

The mobile app developmentsector is flourishing and ever-evolving year after year. We are seeing mobile app industry maturing in smartphones and tablets to wearable phones and the Internet of Things. Increased emphasis is now in place on app analytics and mobile app marketing.

Mobile app marketing activities should revolve around the three pillars of funnel – customer accretion (addition), customer incitement (motivation) and customer retention. The funnel idea is helpful, albeit customers often go back and forth between phases, so you can also hear this referred to as the “mobile engagement loop.” In fact, each phase needs distinct approach and tactics, and each is needed for a successful marketing strategy for mobile apps.

Customer accretion stage explained

This is the first step where users relate with your app. The important question to be answered here is – How do you get them to download and install the app? Of course, the first part of building a cool app is getting people to use it. From a messaging opinion, you need to persuade a potential customer that your app can help solve a concern they have. The channels for sending these marketing messages are listed below:

Social Networking Platforms: Undoubtedly, the most popular channel for app download and installation is social. And the most efficient channel is paid social advertising, in specific. An even more efficient channel is to get users of your app to hire their friends as customers once your app has momentum – something like a referral app.

Incentivization: A popular approach is to offer a product giveaway, sweepstakes entry, or some other tangible reward in return for an app installation. One shortcoming of using real-world incentives is that users who sign up this way may end up immediately removing your app as soon as they receive their reward.

Search Advertizing: Google Play and Apple’s App Store both give in-store advertising that app executives can buy to drive downloads. Ads appear when customers search for app keywords — for instance, advertisements for mobile payment applications may appear when a user searches for “send money.”

Cross promotion: If you have more than one app, using one app to encourage another is a useful way to obtain customers. For instance, if your business generates a restaurant database, you can place advertisements in it that refer to your travel app, as consumers who are interested in one might be interested in the other.

Listing on App Stores: App stores requires description – text and photo of each app. Writing listing is critical to convincing users to download it. Among other variables, the text in listing impacts whether consumers will see it as they look for applications in your category. Moreover, the reviews and ratings received also impacts the download rate.

In determining the right strategy, it’s important to keep track of Cost Per Acquisition (CPA). Channels like app store listing, or a web page, or organic social posts — is a zero-cost investment, although time consuming. Paid ads can be expensive, though are easier to optimize and scale. Comparative analysis between CPA and customers’ lifetime value determines the worthiness of time and cost investments. And the lifetime value calculation depends heavily on whether you can drive adoption, and then retain, the users acquired.

Customer incitement (motivation) –

Once the app is installed in the mobile, the next thing in mind of the marketer should be to keep the customer motivated to use the app. According to research study conducted by Adjust, which analyzed 8 billion app installed worldwide and found that apps gets uninstalled within 5 days from the day of installation, summing up within a week. Entertainment apps gets uninstalled in the quickest possible time, within a days’ time after last usage.

Image Source & Stats Credits to eMarketer

Thus, it becomes quintessential for the marketers to drive an adoption and motivation strategy, so that users are gelled to the app all the time. We list down below the mobile app channels for effective communication:

Push notifications: Keep in your mind, to send push notification, may be one notification per day or in case of any important updates. It is very easy to brand push notifications, and one can even specify specific call to action with single tap.

In-app messages: Like push notification, in-app messages are delivered to the user while they are using the app. One can place real time updates by tracking active users on the app.

Messenger centre: The marketer can leverage passive channels inside the app, the dedicated place to look for important messages and notifications.

Welcome messages: There are two approaches to the welcome message, after the first app installation, the marketer can send welcome messages on registration details viz. mobile number and email address. The second approach is to send welcome message when the user opens the app.

Onboarding flow: This can be a short video showcasing how to use the app. This can increase engagement and trust. One can also brag about the salient features, and application benefits.

Cross-channel marketing: These efforts are focused to send dedicated messages to mobile and email, again the end motive to engage and re-engage.

Conversion Incentives: This is a subset to the incentivization discussed earlier, here certain coupon codes can be floated for instance to be used for online shopping on ecommerce site.

Customer retention –

Keeping your customers involved is a long-term proposition; retention is particularly crucial because it is a main factor in calculating a customer’s lifetime value, and hence whether your attempts were profitable.

User retention is just as significant a factor in the achievement of your product as it informs you what element of your product engaged with your client and what makes them leave your product to another. Here we list down user retention strategies:

Coupon codes for discounts: For products they are interested in, send users discounts or coupons. For retail, travel and local apps, these are the most productive. To get them back into the app, use your understanding of what the user expressed interest in before — perhaps even what’s in their cart.

2.    Specific content: Can you provide an exclusive guide for a sports app to build the ideal bracket,     which is only accessible through the app?

3.    Featured communication: Let users understand about your recent update or improvement and assist them to use it. For instance, if you just added the capacity to share playlists on Facebook from your music app, let users know.

4.    Better Personalization:  You’ve likely learned a lot about them once your customers have been using your app for a while. Can you use this understanding to make your app more useful? If you’ve just restarted your recommendation engine, for instance, send users a push notification inviting them to see their fresh options.

Summarizing it all

Whatever channel you use, user attention is a valuable resource, and make sure that what you send is valuable and relevant. Be sure to answer these questions whenever you send a message:

What is your message’s objective? Is it worthwhile for your consumer?

When you receive it, what action do you want the customer to take? This will assist you more efficiently communicate your purpose and better assess its efficiency.

Where does message matter in context? All about context is mobile messaging: time, place, user preferences.    

Will you take care of your customer? If you’re a famous and a big popular, sending 20 push notifications a day might be okay. If you’re not so big, you might not even need to send a weekly push notification because your user is casual that doesn’t care about fresh characteristics.

Originally published at – http://bit.ly/2Yxonr6

[topicprinter]

Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.Today's interview is with Barron Cuadro of Effortless Gent, a men's style publication.Some stats:Product: Men's Style PublicationRevenue/mo: $8,500Started: November 2009Location: New York, NYFounders: 1Employees: 1Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?I’m Barron and I run Effortless Gent, a men’s style publication focused on helping guys feel confident and look sharp in the clothes they wear.Through our written articles and video content, we teach guys how to build a Lean Wardrobe, which essentially is a versatile set of clothes unique to every guy’s situation that easily mix and match and make dressing well much easier.EG generates on average $8,000/mo through a combination of ad revenue (display ads, brand sponsorships), affiliate revenue, digital products (an eBook and self-guided style improvement program), and 1-on-1 online or in-person styling consultations.What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?Growing up, I’ve always been interested in my own personal style.I loved being experimental and trying new trends. I learned through experimentation that how you dress can change the way you feel about yourself, as well as how other people perceive you.Because of this, I was usually who my guy friends turned to when it came to questions on matters of style.Throughout high school and college, I noticed the same questions were being asked over and over, and I remember thinking that I should start a simple website with all the answers to these questions so I wouldn’t have to repeat myself over and over… I could just point them to my website.So in 2009, I was looking for a side hustle project where I could combine my love of design, clothing, and my coding skills, and Effortless Gent was the result.At the time, I was working as a front-end developer at a San Francisco-based technology company. I was in my mid-20s and still at the beginning of my career, but I’ve always had an entrepreneurial side. I didn’t love the limitations and restrictions that came from working at a job.I knew I wanted Effortless Gent to be my full-time business one day but I wasn’t entirely sure how I would make that happen in the beginning; I just remained open to any and all possibilities.I worked at my job during the day, and in the evenings, after dinner until 1 or 2 am every night, I would work on my site.At first, it was just planning and strategizing, then actually designing and building the site, and finally, creating content regularly.I remember keeping up this routine almost nightly for a long while… at least the first 2 years. I never felt forced to work on this; I loved it, enjoyed it, and found it both exciting and challenging. Exciting because of the possibilities, and challenging because of my limited time to work on it.Take us through the process of getting started and launching.I should mention I have a web design and development background, and back in 2009 it definitely came in handy, but nowadays it’s so much easier to put together a website that actually looks good.Back in 09, most people used Blogger, Tumblr, and Wordpress.com sites, and even Wordpress themes weren’t as robust and easily customizable as they are today.When I officially launched, it was literally me just flipping the switch and making my site live on effortlessgent.com. I double-checked everything and made sure my first post was already published before I made the site live.(screenshot of the site in the very early days, via Wayback Machine)My main goal back then was to create content consistently, week after week. Since it was a brand new site with no readership, I didn’t know what would resonate and what wouldn’t, so I covered a wide range of topics within the realm of men’s style.Experimenting allowed me to figure out what worked and what didn’t, and helped me hone in on both what I wanted to write and what resonated with my readers.I started with 3 shorter articles per week, and eventually moved to 2, then 1 longer piece per week tackling a specific topic. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong amount of content to produce when you’re first starting out, though consistency is definitely key.In those days, I promoted the site mostly through Twitter. I believe Gary Vaynerchuk once talked about how back in the Wine Library TV days, he would use Twitter’s search functionality to find conversations related to wine and engage with people. I did the same thing, but for men’s style… like if guys were tweeting about outfit- or style-related things, I’d jump in on the conversation (assuming I had something relevant and useful to add), maybe I’d send them a link to an article I wrote, and repeat. I would do this over and over.I also used my Facebook page to promote new content. It’s a little different nowadays since organic reach is practically nonexistent and you have to pay to boost your posts to your own audience. Back then, there were no restrictions and everyone who followed your page could see what you posted to it within their own feed.Today, I continue to promote new articles and YouTube videos through Twitter, our Facebook page and smaller group, as well as via our email list.As far as effectiveness, social as a whole is our smallest traffic source, accounting for maybe 12%. Google search is our largest, at around 82%, so because of this, we focus on optimizing SEO as much as possible. I wasn’t always the best at this, and admittedly have only taken an active approach these past few years, so my editor and I are constantly going back to older articles and adding focus keywords, optimizing titles, updating the content, and so on.One piece of advice is, if your business is reliant on good content, make sure you optimize your SEO for everything you publish. In fact, I suggest doing keyword research before even writing down your first word. Doing keyword research will influence the direction you take the article or video, and it’s much easier designing a piece of content around a good keyword or phrase people actually search for, than it is to retrofit a keyword to an existing piece of content.Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?Consistently creating helpful, entertaining articles with actionable advice, as well as working to build relationships with my readers.Currently I’m producing one piece of new content per week, either a written article or a video for the YouTube channel. And the rest of the week is spent either promoting it, brainstorming a new piece of content, or updating and republishing old content.I’m a bit smarter with my approach to SEO nowadays, but I still keep it really simple. First, I think of some ideas I’d like to create content for. Then, I dive into keyword and keyphrase research.I use the webapp AHREFs for my keyword research–this tool is $99/mo but is incredibly detailed and granular with data. It helps me nail the perfect keywords to target. A good free option is Keywords Everywhere, which I also use… as well plain ol’ Google Keyword Planner.After gathering my target keyword or phrase plus a few related keywords, I can then write the article, the message and takeaways will be clear, and there’s a much better chance that Google will know what my article is about.A lot of the SEO best practices and strategies I picked up from sites like Moz, or friends who know a bunch more than I do. One course I do recommend because it’s super simple to follow along and implement is called SEO For Bloggers. My friend Matt (course creator) has built a number of successful niche sites and he’s all about white hat, long-lasting, Google-friendly SEO practices, no shady practices or tactics that try to game the system.I do most of my communicating with readers via my email list. Every week I send out a note. I keep it very simple and casual in tone, text only, and include a link to the content I want them to check out.Usually I’m letting them know about a new article or video, or perhaps a big sale at one of our recommended stores, or I’m doing a digital product launch for our eGuides and course.To grow my list and attract subscribers, I created a eGuide called The Lean Wardrobe, a PDF all about putting together a no-nonsense wardrobe, that's sent directly to them once they subscribe. My thinking behind this is that no one wants another email newsletter subscription, but my target reader has a specific problem he’s trying to solve (he wants to dress better) and this free guide will get them started on the right path.What’s the business model and how you do make money?I knew I wanted to create digital products, so in the beginning, as my audience grew, I would talk to them constantly, either through email, Twitter, or within the comments section of each article.I needed to learn what their struggles with clothing were.I also wanted to understand how they thought and the words they used to describe their struggles. I knew that speaking their language, using the phrases they did, would be helpful when describing what my product was and how it would help them.I discovered my audience was mainly guys my age (at the time, mid-20s), usually coastal, and either in school or getting their first jobs. They knew dressing well wasn’t their strong suit, and they felt the pressure of adulthood and the necessity to dress the part.So I took what I learned over the first 2 years of writing style articles regularly and getting feedback from my readers and put together my first eGuide which was called Graduating Your Style. In it, I laid out the basics for leveling up your wardrobe from a college kid to a young adult man heading to his first serious job.I took my readers along for the ride during the whole process of building out the eGuide. I got their feedback with titles and content, and in general, updated them regularly leading up to the launch. I did this, of course, to let my readers know I did have a product coming out, and that I wanted them to buy it.Graduating Your Style launched for $26. I gave a $10 off code to the first batch of buyers, and in the first month, made $6,100 in sales. I can’t remember exactly what my list size was at the time, but I’m almost certain it was no more than 1,000 people.So not a ton of money, but selling my first product validated the idea and I knew I could continue to evolve, create more products, and monetize in other ways as well.I created several other products since then—a few other eGuides, a membership site, a style improvement course—and diversified the income streams with display ad revenue, as well as brand partnerships, affiliate relationships with brands, and personal styling both in-person and online.As far as traffic growth, it’s been slow but steady. SEO is one area I regret not being more strategic about earlier. In 2016, after 7 years of consistent growth, I saw traffic plateau and even dip a little. I did a bit of research and realized I lost ranking and referral traffic on a few keywords that were bringing significant traffic.So in early 2017, wanting to prevent any more loss of traffic and knowing I could be much more proactive, I started taking SEO very seriously and formed a strategy to optimize every piece of content I created. I’m also going back to old content and consolidating posts around a strong keyword or phrase, or simply updating and re-publishing articles that are already good, but just needed to be refreshed a bit.(traffic from the day I started the site up to Jan 2019)There’s still a lot of work for me to do here, but I’m hoping that with these improvements to the content and my overall on-page SEO strategy, traffic will break out of that plateau and continue its upward climb.Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?So diversifying income streams definitely helps, but can also distract (insert analogy about spinning plates here), and I’m learning the longer I do this, the better it is to focus on 2-3 streams and really dedicate time and effort into both maximizing and refining those.For example, one of my largest revenue generators over the past 2 years has been brand partnerships. This is when I create a piece of content and a brand or product sponsors it (the sponsor has no say over the content).But recently I’ve taken a step back to consider where I want the business to be in the next 1-2 years, and what I want to spend most of my time on, and I decided it wasn’t brand sponsorships.So for 2019 I’m actively scaling back on those types of projects, and instead re-focusing my energy on selling my own products as well as continuing to create great content for my readers and viewers. Coincidentally, my display ad and affiliate revenue grows the more I create and promote good style content that brings readers to the site.What platform/tools do you use for your business?We use so many different tools to run the site and business. A few of note:Effortless Gent is built on WordPress and hosted by WP Engine.For our sales pages and opt-ins, I use LeadPages. For affiliate link management within WordPress, we use Earnist (which recently has become free, the founder is launching a new affiliate link management WordPress plugin called Lasso).I use ConvertKit for email and Asana for tasks and communicating with my editor and writers.For drafts and edits, we work within Google Docs before moving the whole article into a WordPress draft.For keyword research, I use AHREFS and a Chrome plugin called Keywords Everywhere.What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?When I was first starting out, the two books that influenced me the most were The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss, and Crush It! By Gary Vaynerchuk.The 4-Hour Workweek introduced me to the idea of location independence and the possibilities with an online business, and Crush It! teaches you how to become a brand, choose a medium for your message, and focus on authenticity in everything you do.I feel like the messages of both books are still very much applicable today, and are a good place to start if you’re still toying with the idea of starting a business, a brand, a blog, anything.Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?I think the most common advice would be to just start, but I’d say doing your research, establishing both your point of view and your target reader/customer avatar before writing and publishing your first piece of content is really important. I really like Donald Miller’s body of work that teaches you how to build a story brand, if you need a framework for how to do so.And that’s not to say your avatar or point of view won’t change, but knowing what you stand for (or against) and who you’re trying to reach is monumentally important, otherwise, what are you even doing?I’d also advise to start small and be consistent. So if you’re going to be a content creator, focus on producing content regularly, whether that’s 1x a week or 1x a day. This is especially important in the beginning because if it’s something like a YouTube video or a blog post, your fans will tune in regularly on those days you commit to publishing. Also, it helps to establish that habit in your own routine.Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?I’m currently looking for more freelance writers to join the team. This is a paid position, and I’m looking specifically for writers whose focus is solely within the men’s style and lifestyle vertical, or who have experience writing these types of articles.Where can we go to learn more?Our homebase is always at https://effortlessgent.com.Liked this text interview? Check out the full interview with photos, tools, books, and other data.Interested in sharing your own story? Send me a PM

[shuying877]

Customer Service Executive job at GEM Live Malaysia

GEM Live is a dynamic technology start-up operating within the realms of Kuala Lumpur's entertainment, lifestyle and F&B industry. We are a lifestyle booking app for the F&B and entertainment industry which offers privileged experience to its users; and GEM X App – a comprehensive venue management app solution designed to be the backbone of a merchant's business. Both apps work hand-in-hand in creating an ecosystem which drives consumer spending and merchant profitability

– Providing quality customer support through Digital channels for our customers and merchants. – Delivering excellent customer service and experience to customers via email, social media and live-chat; and respond appropriately in a timely manner. – Providing accurate information on products and services to our customers and merchants. – Be a subject matter expert of GEM Live from the point of view of customers to backend production. There’s always something new being developed so this is an ongoing challenge. – Strive to impress customers with exceptional service and continually search for ways to improve processes and deliver additional value to the customer. – To meet service targets by achieving both service and productivity level by ensuring that all requests/queries are answered within the stipulated SLA set by the company. – Maintain deep understanding of our standard operating procedures (SOP) to ensure highest and most accurate form of support. – Continuously identify work process improvements and communicate to Team Manager.

You will enjoy the opportunities of:

– An attractive annual salary – Being a part of a fun, young and vibrant start-up work environment and culture – Great exposure and connections in the entertainment, lifestyle and F&B line – Dress code – smart and casual every day! – Staff special discounts

– Candidate must possess at least SPM/STPM/Pre-U/Diploma or Degree in any field. – Experience in call centre will be an added advantage. – Multi-lingual with the ability to speak and write English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin. – Able to converse in mandarin is an added advantage. – Must be able to multitask, set priorities and have good attention to detail. – Willing to work in shift rotations. – Able to work on public holidays and weekends. – Customer-orientated with good interpersonal and communication skills. – Strong computer navigation skills and PC knowledge. – Strong and proven problem-solving skills. – Provide high level of professionalism and competent customer service.

From http://www.startupjobs.asia/job/40342-customer-service-executive-customer-service-job-at-gem-live-malaysia

from https://startupjobsasiablog.wordpress.com/2018/09/09/customer-service-executive-job-at-gem-live-malaysia/

[ameliamike90]

Customer Service Executive job at GEM Live Malaysia

GEM Live is a dynamic technology start-up operating within the realms of Kuala Lumpur’s entertainment, lifestyle and F&B industry. We are a lifestyle booking app for the F&B and entertainment industry which offers privileged experience to its users; and GEM X App - a comprehensive venue management app solution designed to be the backbone of a merchant’s business. Both apps work hand-in-hand in creating an ecosystem which drives consumer spending and merchant profitability

- Providing quality customer support through Digital channels for our customers and merchants. - Delivering excellent customer service and experience to customers via email, social media and live-chat; and respond appropriately in a timely manner. - Providing accurate information on products and services to our customers and merchants. - Be a subject matter expert of GEM Live from the point of view of customers to backend production. There’s always something new being developed so this is an ongoing challenge. - Strive to impress customers with exceptional service and continually search for ways to improve processes and deliver additional value to the customer. - To meet service targets by achieving both service and productivity level by ensuring that all requests/queries are answered within the stipulated SLA set by the company. - Maintain deep understanding of our standard operating procedures (SOP) to ensure highest and most accurate form of support. - Continuously identify work process improvements and communicate to Team Manager.

You will enjoy the opportunities of:

- An attractive annual salary - Being a part of a fun, young and vibrant start-up work environment and culture - Great exposure and connections in the entertainment, lifestyle and F&B line - Dress code – smart and casual every day! - Staff special discounts

- Candidate must possess at least SPM/STPM/Pre-U/Diploma or Degree in any field. - Experience in call centre will be an added advantage. - Multi-lingual with the ability to speak and write English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin. - Able to converse in mandarin is an added advantage. - Must be able to multitask, set priorities and have good attention to detail. - Willing to work in shift rotations. - Able to work on public holidays and weekends. - Customer-orientated with good interpersonal and communication skills. - Strong computer navigation skills and PC knowledge. - Strong and proven problem-solving skills. - Provide high level of professionalism and competent customer service.

StartUp Jobs Asia - Startup Jobs in Singapore , Malaysia , HongKong ,Thailand from http://www.startupjobs.asia/job/40342-customer-service-executive-customer-service-job-at-gem-live-malaysia Startup Jobs Asia https://startupjobsasia.tumblr.com/post/177889838334

[startupjobsasia]

Customer Service Executive job at GEM Live Malaysia

GEM Live is a dynamic technology start-up operating within the realms of Kuala Lumpur's entertainment, lifestyle and F&B industry. We are a lifestyle booking app for the F&B and entertainment industry which offers privileged experience to its users; and GEM X App - a comprehensive venue management app solution designed to be the backbone of a merchant's business. Both apps work hand-in-hand in creating an ecosystem which drives consumer spending and merchant profitability

- Providing quality customer support through Digital channels for our customers and merchants. - Delivering excellent customer service and experience to customers via email, social media and live-chat; and respond appropriately in a timely manner. - Providing accurate information on products and services to our customers and merchants. - Be a subject matter expert of GEM Live from the point of view of customers to backend production. There’s always something new being developed so this is an ongoing challenge. - Strive to impress customers with exceptional service and continually search for ways to improve processes and deliver additional value to the customer. - To meet service targets by achieving both service and productivity level by ensuring that all requests/queries are answered within the stipulated SLA set by the company. - Maintain deep understanding of our standard operating procedures (SOP) to ensure highest and most accurate form of support. - Continuously identify work process improvements and communicate to Team Manager.

You will enjoy the opportunities of:

- An attractive annual salary - Being a part of a fun, young and vibrant start-up work environment and culture - Great exposure and connections in the entertainment, lifestyle and F&B line - Dress code – smart and casual every day! - Staff special discounts

- Candidate must possess at least SPM/STPM/Pre-U/Diploma or Degree in any field. - Experience in call centre will be an added advantage. - Multi-lingual with the ability to speak and write English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin. - Able to converse in mandarin is an added advantage. - Must be able to multitask, set priorities and have good attention to detail. - Willing to work in shift rotations. - Able to work on public holidays and weekends. - Customer-orientated with good interpersonal and communication skills. - Strong computer navigation skills and PC knowledge. - Strong and proven problem-solving skills. - Provide high level of professionalism and competent customer service.

StartUp Jobs Asia - Startup Jobs in Singapore , Malaysia , HongKong ,Thailand from http://www.startupjobs.asia/job/40342-customer-service-executive-customer-service-job-at-gem-live-malaysia

[dawnajaynes32]

Why You Should Adopt a Business-Minded Approach to Design

Call for entries: The HOW Logo Design Awards closes at 11:59pm EDT on Monday, Oct. 30.

by Jamie Myrold, Vice President of Design at Adobe

Mysterious things happen in corner offices. Things involving spreadsheets and forecasts—things that only an MBA can understand. We designers are artistic souls who just want to create.

Does that sound ridiculous? It should, but it also contains a grain of truth. In an environment structured around sprints and iterations, designers may feel distanced from the business realities that their work supports. When deadlines are tight, the process becomes the purpose, and our true work—connecting with customers—can become subsumed in the chaos.

image from Getty | Yuri Arcurs

New Customer Base, New Challenge

Here at Adobe, a design challenge emerged when we discovered that a lot of casual users were downloading software intended for creative professionals. These are powerful programs with a lot of features, including some that require a solid grasp of the technical issues around things like resolution and portability. Not every function can be intuitive.

But frustrated users soon become former users, and we weren’t retaining these non-professional customers.

Has there ever been a clearer case of a problem that could be solved with design? We set to work, focusing on, of course, the user.  But the resulting designs lacked a cohesive center. Of course we wanted to retain customers, but there are many roads to retention. Should we tutor? Inspire? Something else entirely? We had a lot of questions. But the question we had to answer first was, Why did we wander off course?

Every creative professional knows that feeling. Sometimes designs fail because they were an experiment that didn’t come together, and that’s okay. But something else was going on with this project, and we had to figure out what it was.

We Didn’t Know What We Didn’t Know

We’re the user experience team. We think about users. Of course we want to delight them and make the world a better-designed place, but that’s not the reason companies hire us. Companies need to be profitable, and pleasing users is the path to profit. When the needs of the users and the needs of the company conflict, the design team has to find ways to bridge the gap.

But we’d designed without knowing the business goals our work was meant to serve. So that raised a second question: Why didn’t we know the business goals?

We realized during the brainstorming process that we’d taken a backseat to the business experts. This isn’t a matter of laying blame; everyone has their area of expertise, and the whole point of cross-functional brainstorming is to arrive at a solution that serves the business holistically. But everyone at the table needs to feel equally free to contribute. Our designers didn’t feel they had authority to express a strong point of view.

This is a box that a lot of creative professionals lock themselves into. We can feel that our expertise is specific to our discipline. We may be great designers, but we’re not qualified to speak on strategic business matters.

However, anyone working in a business knows more than they think they know about their customers, products and competitors. Those three things are the same three things that MBAs are concerned with. An MBA will have a deeper and more nuanced understanding of them, but that doesn’t mean a designer’s ideas aren’t valid. After all, conversations have to start somewhere, and every exchange of ideas is a chance for both sides to learn from each other.

High Profile, High Pressure  

When projects are strategic, the whole company is watching—especially the C-levels, and with good reason: These are the people who are accountable to the board and shareholders.  If the project goes well, this attention is a boon; designers gain respect throughout the organization when top executives are excited by the results. But along with that promise comes a lot of pressure.

The type of people who rise to the top of large organizations tend to focus on results rather than process. That can be stressful for a design team, since the act of designing is one of exploration—there’s no straight line from inception to completion. When changing business needs cause executives to move deadlines forward, the design team can become driven by anxiety instead of the desire to do the right thing.

Sometimes the process must even be sacrificed entirely. When a CEO says, “Go and do this thing,” he knows what he wants but not what it looks like—he’ll recognize it when he sees it. Then the design team has to figure out what is expected without any direction.

That leads to a third question: But how do we do that?

Business Literacy is No Longer Optional

Designers are quietly realizing that business knowledge is necessary to produce excellent design. Increasingly, design schools are teaching business, and now there are even design MBA degrees.

But for the most part, design schools don’t prepare people for the workforce, so team leaders need to help their designers get up to speed. One way to do this is by encouraging their designers to learn about business through both formal and informal channels. Thanks to self-paced classes like those offered by Udacity, Coursera and even free MOOCs offered by brick-and-mortar universities, there is nothing stopping any designer from becoming business-literate.

Building business expertise into the team’s skill set benefits both the individual designers and the company as a whole. A designer with the ability to articulate ideas and the confidence to challenge the ideas of others can do more than bridge the gap between technology and users; that designer can also align the end user experience with the goals of the business.

Build a Business Star Brand

Designers shouldn’t wait for business leaders to outline business goals. Every business problem is a design problem, and designers should recognize that the design process can actually help define and streamline a business goal. That’s a contribution any executive would appreciate. So rather than waiting to be led, ask what problem needs solving and use design-led thinking to ladder up to the business goals.

Jamie Myrold is VP of Design at Adobe. Myrold has led large-scale design efforts at Adobe for more than 11 years, touching nearly every product in market today in some capacity. Most recently, she led the redesign of Adobe Acrobat and created the all-new Adobe Document Cloud.

Want more from Myrold? Check latest episode of the HOW Design Live podcast, in which Myrold discusses what designers of the future need to know and learn, what constitutes a “design-led” company, and whether designers need to learn how to code.

Creative Strategy & the Business of Design 

Learn how to integrate business considerations into your creative strategies.

Learn how you can play a role in the conversations that usually happen before and after a brief is dropped on your desk.

If you know how to participate in that dialogue, your work will be more closely aligned with the needs of the client and their business.

LEARN MORE

The post Why You Should Adopt a Business-Minded Approach to Design appeared first on HOW Design.

Why You Should Adopt a Business-Minded Approach to Design syndicated post

[madehq]

III. Open Source, Open Attitude

Wherever possible, Made favours open-source platforms and open standards for development and delivery.

That’s not to say that there is no place for proprietary technology. Sometimes a singular vision for product can be diluted by collaboration, and perhaps that’s historically been best exemplified by Apple’s products. Software targeted at virtual, commercial markets, such as ticketing, might be best served by proprietary tech. But when it comes to the plumbing of the Internet, we think open source won the argument some time ago.

With open source development stacks, the barrier to entry for ‘kicking the tyres’ is low

When considered from a budgeting perspective, the most obvious difference is the sticker price. It might take more than a little digging to find what the proprietary price is, and often it’s eye-watering compared to the $0 open source equivalent. But to focus on that number exclusively is naive. Open source is not always as user-friendly and the total cost of ownership, which includes installation and maintenance, needs to be considered.

The real advantage to open source is that you can be part of the development conversation. Maybe that’s getting your must-have feature onto a product backlog. Or maybe you need to be involved in getting a bug fixed in a Slack channel at 3AM when you’re trying to mitigate packet-loss on a network somewhere. Whilst IT departments might prefer the peace of mind of an enterprise support contract, that’s really just insurance. We find open source communities to be more responsive and creative. Thriving open source communities want to make the Internet a better place for users and for developers.

When you work with open source development stacks, the barrier to entry for ‘kicking the tyres’ is low. You don’t need to handover credit card details; you don’t need to evaluate cost benefit; you don’t even need to fill in a corporate enquiry form to get up and running. GitHub is the default medium for getting stuck-in. This encourages developers to consider their options for solving the development problems of the day. When you’re tied into a proprietary development stack you look to that vendor to solve all of your problems. When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail. You become cut off from development and architecture patterns used by the developer community at large. A kind of vendor-centric Stockholm Syndrome kicks in.

Issues of scale are at the heart of open source projects that power Internet infrastructure

Another key advantage to open source, and one closer to the heart of our clients’ concerns, is that it’s more likely to scale. That’s because issues of scale are at the heart of open source projects that power Internet infrastructure. Whilst IIS is a fine web server, and .Net is a fine software framework, Microsoft’s target market is corporate IT departments. Its defaults are set up for corporate Intranets - steady, medium levels of traffic. In contrast, the websites of our clients are characterised by moderate traffic interspersed with extreme traffic levels, with no warmup period. You won’t find a huge amount of accessible knowledge about scaling the Microsoft stack from a casual Google search, because it’s not a problem most of those developers are facing. It’s not that the stack can’t scale, it’s that it’s not really in the culture.

Whilst it’s possible to run proprietary operating systems on top of Amazon Web Services, it goes against the grain, because the lingua franca of cloud technologies are the open-source stacks. You will find it much easier to adopt the patterns of AWS if you’re using some variant of the trusty LAMP stack.

Under its new management, Microsoft is becoming increasingly developer friendly, and has steadily adopted some of the practices of open source. At the same time, an increased usage of software as a service, and microservice architectures has led the OS community to be less zealous in its pursuit of GPL licensing across the board. So the picture is moving. ‘Openness’ might increasingly be about a willingness to document and publish APIs, rather than distributing source code per se. Either way, we prefer to use tech that’s open.

Required Reading

CentOS a community-driven free software effort focused on delivering a robust open source ecosystem.

Nginx helps you deliver your sites and apps with performance, reliability, and scale. 

SilverStripe is the intuitive content management system and flexible framework loved by editors and developers alike.

Varnish a web application accelerator also known as a caching HTTP reverse proxy.

Symfony The standard foundation on which the best PHP applications are built. 

AngularJS an open-source front-end web application framework.

React a JavaScript library for building user interfaces.

Next month: Agile, Delivery, Robust Governance