Three Actions When You Hit a Tech Snag

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

It happens to me daily and sometimes several times a day: I hit some snag with a technical issue. I don't like it when this happens to me. Sometimes getting through the tech issue can consume hours of time and energy.  Yet it is a reality of our world and culture—whether we like it or not. In this article, I want to give you several illustrations of tech snags and then several actions to take when it happens.

This coming week for several days I'm attending a bootcamp (an intensive conference). As a part of the preparation, the leaders asked us to survey our target market with a specific question. I crafted my question but then needed to figure out which online tool to use for collecting the input. I know about several of these tools but each tool I tried, I ran into technical snags where when testing it, I could not get it to work properly. It was frustrating and time consuming to resolve. To resolve it, I reached out to one of the leaders of this bootcamp and asked for help. In a short time, I got a response and worked through the issue and made my survey.

One of my relatives struggles with technology issues—like when I want to send this person some photos from my phone. Each time when I speak with her, she claims, “I'm dumb with _____.” When I hear these types of statements, I explain to her that everyone struggles with these issues and it has nothing to do with being dumb or smart. It is a part of our world and culture. I hope my explanation helped her work through the tech snag. My caution to you is not to speak such things to yourself because they become self-fulfilling. There is a solution to whatever issue you are facing, you just need to persevere and find it.

This week I found a charging device for my phone. I had purchased this device months ago but never used it and the charge had worn out so it wasn't working. As I looked at this device, I could not figure out how to charge it. I was inclined to throw it away—yes that frustrated with it. Eventually my wife found a connection on the device (which was not immediately obvious to me). This connection was different from anything I had seen before. Instead ot throwing it away, I looked to see where I could possibly plug this connection. With a couple of attempts, I found a place to start recharging this device and got it to where it is a useable tool again. I'm glad I didn't throw it away.

My hope is you learned some insights with each of these three recent tech snags. The overriding principle I want to emphasize is: there is an answer to your tech snag. You have to use different resources and persist to resolve it. Here's three possible actions when you hit a tech snag:

1. Ask Google to help you. Yes this one is obvious but many of us forget to use the obvious tool called Google with tons of technical help for you.   

2. Go to YouTube and search for videos that will help give you the answer. Whether basic or advanced, there are often resources here to help you with your tech issue. 

3. Ask someone for help.  Is there an online help tool? Can you fill out an online form and write support to resolve it? Is there a friend you can email or call and ask for help? I pay an annual fee to the Geek Squad and don't use them often but when I need them, they readily come to my help on some technical issues. Also use inexpensive tools like Fiverr.com.  I have a designer with a good rating that I use for some small design issues occasionally. Maybe Fiverr would be a route to help you through your technical issue.

4. (Bonus Action) Keep working at it until you find the solution. It may not be something you can resolve in a day or two, but keep chipping away at it and you will find the answer. You can't be the only person who is having such an issue that needs resolution. You have to be persistent with these tech snags to get them resolved. 

These tech issues are going to continue. We live in a technology driven world. Do you have another resource or maybe another action item? Let me know in the comments below. 

Tweetable:

What actions do you take when you hit a tech snag? Get ideas and insights from this prolific editor and writer. (ClickToTweet)

Is It Worth Buying Twitter Followers?

You don't have to be on twitter long before you see the ads and messages to buy followers. Maybe you have been stuck at 1,000 or 2,000 followers on Twitter.  It can be tempting to purchase followers and instantly boost your numbers. Should you buy followers?

In the publishing community, your social media numbers are public record. In a few minutes, any editor or literary agent can check your twitter numbers. Then they can make a decision whether the information in your proposal or pitch is real or exaggerated. Marketing departments in publishing houses are looking for authors with a large reach and social media connections.

I've recently seen a number of bloggers and social media experts tell their audience to never buy followers. To them it is a big no-no. I understand their reasoning and the encouragement for people to naturally grow their followers. In this article, I want to take a contrarian position and give you some ideas why you should buy followers.

First I want to tell you that I've purchased followers—not 10,000 or 20,000 at one time—but I have done it several times. Have you looked at my twitter followers (currently over 152,000). Why would I need to buy followers since I have more followers than social media guru Joel Comm? Several months ago, Joel released the third edition of his terrific book, Twitter Power 3.0 from Wiley.

I've been on twitter for many years (since 2009) and my number of followers has been growing. I didn't instantly get to these numbers. I love to experiment with different techniques to see if it will increase my followers. One of the aspects that I've tried is to purchase followers. 

Before I did it, several people warned me that I will be kicked off Twitter. It's possible but did not happen. Others contended these followers are fake and not “following” my tweets or information. That is maybe true but buying followers is a way to instantly boost your number of followers. This boost can impress new people who follow you and also others who are looking at your work to possibly purchase your books or even publish your work.

I did not spend a lot of money to buy followers. I've seen these ads and costs to purchase followers. They are outrageous and nothing that I would do or recommend. Here's the details of how I added followers. I went to Fiverr and searched for “twitter followers”  You will see pages of ads and possible vendors who will add a certain number of followers for $5.  I have no idea how they fulfill their promise to add new followers—but I know they do it and have experienced it several times with different vendors.

For a minute, let's think about this service. Your twitter following is stuck at 1,000 or 3,000 and you want to increase them.  Would it help your credibility or presence to go from 1,000 to 3,000 followers or 3,000 to 5,000 followers in 24 hours? I believe it would and for a minimum cost. I'm not advocating that you go overboard with this technique.  Yet buying twitter followers could help you in the platform building process or building your presence in today's marketplace.

If you use this technique in moderation, it is not the no-no, never do it that others advocate.  Have you ever purchased followers? Did it help you or hurt? Let me know in the comments below.

Get Something Done for Five Dollars

Normally I am a pure do-it-yourselfer in the things that I do online. 

• My blog has over 1,000 searchable entries.
•  I have learned to create Ebooks which I sell or give away as tool to build my mailing list.
• I often teach through teleseminars which I do myself.
•  I’ve even created my own membership course about book proposals. And I've even launched a product where you can learn to create your own membership course.

You may have noticed I have a number of websites. Unlike some of my friends, I do not outsource the building and related tasks to others. I’ve chosen to do it myself.

Like many new projects, I’m always learning something and at times I make a few mistakes in the process—nothing severe but some minor goofs. It is one of the results of doing the work yourself.

Yet every now and then I get stuck. There is something that I need like a banner or a header or something that I can’t make myself. I do reach out and get help in these situations. For any entrepreneur, the trick when you do hire someone else is to do it economically and make it cost effective.

Notice I call myself an entrepreneur? I believe every author should gain a bit of entrepreneurial spirit. That bent toward business will help you in your publishing life.

Recently I was stuck. I needed a graphic artist to make a minor modification to four different images. I knew exactly what I wanted to change but I’m not skilled to use graphic programs like Photoshop. I had to hire someone to move forward with my forthcoming project.

I learned about Fiverr.com. It’s a site where people offer to do a particular task for Five Dollars. Other people had told me about the site but I had never used it.

You can look around Fiverr.com without registering. I planned to use it so I “joined” the site and created a username and password.

I was searching for a graphic artist. Looking at the feedback, I selected four artists who looked like they could accomplish the job I needed. Also I selected people in the United States.

Fiverr has a system where you can send a message to the prospective graphic artist about your task. I used the system to write a simple email to four different people. 

In my email, I described what I needed done and asked if they could handle this task. Within 30 minutes, I heard from one of the emails that this artist could do my work. Two other artists responded that they could also handle it and I never heard from the fourth person.

I hired the first person and paid my $5 through paypal. The site holds the funds until the job has been completed to my satisfaction.

In the internal email to the artist, Fiverr only allows one attachment. I had to bundle my four images into a single zip file and attach them for the artist. In my instructions, I was specific about what I needed done.

Under the guidelines, the artist promised to complete the task within three days. 

I received the completed work in less than an hour after sending it. I looked at my files and they were exactly what I need. I released my funds to the artist with my positive feedback. I found the process amazing that I could get something done quickly and for a low price.

There are several keys to notice:

1. I had a specific task and had specific directions about what I wanted done.

2.If I had not been as specific, the results could have been poor.

3. I selected several different possibilities and gave the task to the first person who responded.

Have some of you used Fiverr.com? What type of experiences have you had with it?