I got my BA in English with a concentration in Communications / Media Study. These posts represent my interest in those fields of study, including: Movies, Television, Websites, Blogging, HTML, CSS, Social Media, etc.
I finally got the Froyo (Android 2.2) update pushed to my Nexus One today, and I noticed digital zoom as an option in the new Camera app. I ran an experiment by placing this ad down on the counter, and standing in the same place taking photos at 2x, 1.5x, and 1x digital zoom.
I finally got tired of the hassle and hours it took me to update my WordPress.org-powered self-hosted versions of two different blogs–danielgreene.com and smithersgreene.net. Trying to upgrade my blogs to WordPress 3.0 was the last straw.
I’m a guy who started writing his own HTML and CSS in 1996; in fact, I was one of the first handful of brave ones on the Internet to style valid HTML with CSS knowing that most browsers couldn’t handle it. After all, what did I have to lose? Little old me with his personal website.
This was a decade before Flickr and YouTube and Facebook and Twitter allowed you to post content with ease and let them take care of the code, and years before every major website was written in structural HTML and styled with CSS. This was back when you had to either have a self-hosted website or something like AOL Hometown Web pages. This was when “Web Designers” would charge you an arm-and-a-leg for a page and a couple of links. I was okay with the idea that, if I wanted a site that used proper HTML (without proprietary structural markup) and CSS, I had to get an ISP to host my own website. And I had to write all my own HTML & CSS.
Things have changed in the past few years. Even with WordPress.org, I had more freedom to blog without worrying about the coding. When I didn’t have to worry about updating WordPress and editing .htaccess pages and PHP files, it worked great. But I hated it when I would break my site when trying unsuccessfully to upload new versions of the blogging platform software. I thought, “Why can’t it be more like posting content to Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, or YouTube? I can’t break those sites. There must be an easier way.”
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It’s been such a headache for me to manage my WordPress.org-powered blog that I’m thinking of moving it over to WordPress.com. I didn’t realize until recently that I could even have it all on danielgreene.com. I read this article called WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org tonight, and I realized that, on WordPress.org, none of the Pros are helping me and all of the Cons are hurting me, whereas on WordPress.com, none of the Cons would hurt me and all of the Pros would help me. I’m not a PHP programmer nor do I really want to hire one to manage my site for me. I freak every time I have to update from one WordPress software version to another. Automatic updates always hang. Manual updates are a pain. With WordPress.com it’s all taken care of, and I could focus solely on what I really love to do, which is write and share media. The terms of service for WordPress.com forbid ads, but I don’t earn more than maybe $100 a year in Google AdSense ad revenue on danielgreene.com anyway. With the money I’d lose, I’d gain time— and peace of mind! And the few “legacy” pages I have, such as my Style Sheets Demo Page, while pioneering in its day, hardly seems relevant anymore. I could probably even put some of that CSS into a WordPress page anyway.
What do you think? Any reason why I shouldn’t turn danielgreene.wordpress.com into danielgreene.com and move my blog over here?
I just remembered that I forgot to share the good news with everyone that The Smithsonian featured a photo of mine last March. It appeared in a Click! Photography Changes Everything post in the webzine The Bigger Picture – Visual Archives and The Smithsonian.
I am honored even though I realize that The Smithsonian has featured photos by thousands of photographers over the years. Still, how many people can say that The Smithsonian featured a work of theirs. It’s exciting to be a part of a great American institution.
Heads up, customer service representatives! The way you talk to me is bugging me. Here are some of the phrases I could do without:
You say ‘with’ at the beginning of the sentence or at the end, not both. Better yet, don’t say this prissy phrase at all. Just ask me what my name is, please.
‘Happy’ would be more than happy enough. Don’t tell me you’ll be happy to help me. Just help me.
No, you don’t. Anyway, I’m not asking for your empathy. I’m asking for your help. You don’t need to say, “I know I would be really frustrated if I couldn’t get on the Internet, use my apps, or make phone calls and text.” What I really feel you are doing with these empathic paraphrases is subliminally reminding me how much I need my cell phone and your service. Thanks, but I don’t need to be reminded that you have me by the balls. 😉
Few things in this world are definite, absolute, fantastic, or perfect. You are using empty superlatives. And it really bothers me when you use them in every sentence. “I can definitely help you with that. I can definitely understand your concern. I can definitely get you over to another representative who can help you with that.” You know what? That’s not communication. It’s interference.
Believe it or not, I am relatively patient. Ask me to hold and I’ll hold. But ask me to bear with you every 15 seconds and you try my patience. Just put me on hold, do your thing, and get back to me. Every moment you ask me to give you another moment is a moment you could solve my problem while I chill out.
Really? A slow computer? That is so last century. Another screen? I don’t care how many screens you have to get to. That’s your business. I don’t need to know how you do your job. I just need you to do it.
No! 99.9% of the time, no. Your question presumes that you helped me with anything in the first place. If you have to transfer me to a higher level of tech support, you obviously couldn’t help me. I know you tried to help me, but you didn’t help me. And if I asked for your help before but I didn’t get it from you, why would I make the same mistake twice? Just transfer me so I can get the help I need, thanks.
Here’s what you can do, reps: tell your bosses that your customers aren’t happy with the scripts. Yes, I know you have scripts. Everyone has scripts. Don’t tell me you don’t have scripts. Tell your higher-ups that those scripts are tired, old, and irritating (to the customers, that is; you don’t have to tell them you you really feel). Tell them your customers are asking for plain English, short scripts, and real help. And when you don’t have a script telling you what to say, don’t say so much.
Here’s what you can do, customers: tell your reps what I just told them to tell their bosses. Ask to speak with a supervisor and tell them how you feel. Share this on Facebook. Retweet it on Twitter. Print it and mail it to your granny; that is, if she isn’t on Facebook already.
Here’s what you can do, bosses: listen to your reps and your customers! If you are a process designer, systems engineer, customer satisfaction specialist, or what-have-you, then you are a highly-educated, well-intentioned person. So take note. Things were better when people talked plain before you taught them to talk pretty. Let your reps keep it short and sweet. Keep their scripts to a minimum. Teach them succinctness and simplicity.
Drop the nonsense. You could boost customer satisfaction and efficiency by talking less and doing more. You could serve more customers in less time. And you could seem smarter doing it.
What are your pet peeves? How do you want to be helped? Do you have any ideas on how to give good customer service without talking so much? Leave a comment, and if it’s not spam, I’ll allow it. 🙂
Daniel Greene 