Each year, the American Dialect Society votes for the “vocabulary item” (perhaps a word, perhaps a phrase ) that was in common use or had a high profile (meaning, all us common folk might not have used it but the media sure did).

Occupy, of course, refers to the movement about…uh, did anyone figure out what it was about? I live near Oakland, which got plenty of media attention for its Occupy Movement, and from what I read, the occupiers  focused on being, to say the least, an enormous inconvenience to residents, employees and small businesses in the downtown area. Hey, aren’t those business owners part of the 99%?

Dismount soapbox. Take deep breath. Let’s move on…

… and take a look at some of the other candidates, and individual category winners:

Word of The Year

Occupy beat out:

• FOMO, the acronym for “Fear of Missing Out,” which comes upon one when inundated by social media.

• the 99% - the opposite of the 1%, meaning Americans who aren’t rich. This is another way of saying “nearly everyone,” which explains why I have never heard anyone use it in conversation. So let’s turn briefly to the dictionary teams, in the US and UK, at Oxford University Press: Their global Word of the Year is squeezed middle. This term, coined by British Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, defines those who of us who bear the brunt of the tax burden yet have less and less ability to pay for it. Much more precise than “99%,” and more easy to define, not to mention easy to say.

• humblebrag - expression of false humility, used particularly on Twitter by celebrities and people who think they are celebrities. Witty but hasn’t got “legs.”

None of these is my choice for WOTY, but we’ll get to that.

Most Useful

humblebrag won this category, beating out occupy, FOMO and tablet. I’d cast my vote for tablet (”lightweight portable computer with a touchscreen to input data”) because people use it, ergo it is the most useful.

Most Creative

kardash - “unit of measurement consisting of 72 days,” coined by Weird Al Yankovic, in reference to Kim Kardashian’s marriage. This makes me chuckle every time I see it! Kim Kardashian does not.

Most Likely To Succeed

Cloud (”online space for the large-scale processing and storage of data”) was the winner, over Arab Spring. Along with tablet, I believe all these terms will succeed: They will enter the common vocabulary of the American English-speaking public.

My Word of the Year

Why do I prefer Arab Spring to Occupy? Arab Spring (Global Language Monitor’s word of the year) refers to the uprisings and social protests among many Arab nations. These rebellions not only began in the Spring, they were directed to bring an end to governments and policies in hibernation, and bring truths to light—but the harvest has not arrived, so we don’t yet know what fruit will be born.  Arab Spring has a more precise meaning than Occupy, and (although I don’t think it will enter common, everyday vocabulary), it will remain a quickly-understood phrase demarcating an crucial change in direction of the Arab world. “Occupy” will fade.  Mark my words.

Cross-Platform CMS

Over the past year Social Media Aggregators and Content Management Systems have become easier to use and increasingly important to maintaining the variety of online properties we each deal with.

Currently everyone builds their own toolkit of solutions, but I think that this year we’re going to see increasingly robust systems until it gets to the point where you can use a single pre-built suite to manage the entirety of your online presence from a single location.

Smartphones Overtake Traditional Computer Sales

Smartphones (and their tablet cousins) are where the real market growth will be this year. Not only do smart phones have a relatively short lifespan, but the improvement from one generation to the next is palpable. A faster processor doesn’t mean much on your computer, where most websites load before you even realize you’ve clicked a link – but on a mobile phone where we can still count seconds while a page loads, even a 20% boost in efficiency will be noticeable.

If you do not already have a website customized for mobile viewing, this is the year to think about adding such a template.

This is not to say that the desktop computer is about to go the way of the land-line telephones just yet, but they definitely have become an appliance rather than an innovation. When you go shopping for a new computer, odds are that you’re more interested in reliability, support, and durability than in “cutting edge” functionality.

We’ve stopped merging new technologies into the computer, and started looking for ways to merge computer functions into other technologies (internet TVs anyone?)

Voice Responsive Websites

Because we’re doing more and more of our computing from our phones, it’s only natural that we’re also going to want the functions of our phones on our computers. VoIP is already here with services like Skype and GTalk, but all the hands-free rules mean that our phones have also been designed to accept voice inputs.

I think that 2012 will be the year when we start seeing websites that capitalize on the same technology. We don’t yet have the technology for exact transcriptions, but a site that knows to open a new window or navigate to a specific page is entirely within our current capabilities.

The Death of 3D

The first Golden Era of 3D lasted about 3 years, from 1952-1955. It was a fad, a novelty that seemed to offer great potential but never delivered. Even though 3D offers the illusion of depth, it can’t offer multiple perspectives or create the sort of all-encompassing environment that would actually change the way in which we tell stories.

The new craze hit in 2009 with the release of Avatar. It’s three years are almost up, and modern movie makers have proven no more adept at using the technology to change the movie going experience.

Perhaps the true holographic projectors that are under development around the world will give 3D the tools it’ll need to last, but they’re not going to be commercially available this year.

What do you see?

Share your predictions for 2012 in the comments below!

There’s no magic in what I do. I call people and I ask them for their business; the ones that need what I have to sell, buy. Sales are different in the 21st century, consumers are savvy, they are price aware and they can fact-check us on the Internet. Instead of trying to sell them your products and services, how about you let them sell themselves? No magic needed.

It’s easier than you may think, too.

During your prospecting calls, ask questions instead of talking. Have the questions ready before you pick up the phone. Have at least three prepared. Tell them you just want to ask them a few questions, get their buy in, or schedule a time to call back.

Every time someone answers the phone, I ask, “Am I disturbing you?”

Every time.

If I am disturbing them, they tell me, and the next thing I ask is, “When would be a good time to call back?”

Most tell me immediately.

My point, always ask, always respect the answer.

Depending on who you are calling, some broad sample questions may be:

1. What would it take to earn your business?
2. What are you looking for in an architect/designer/insert your trade?
3. What can I do to make your job easier? (When you get an answer to this one, you have the makings for a long term relationship, listen to the answer!)

A max of five simple questions, stop at two or three if necessary, pay attention to the tone of their answers and let it guide you. You can tell when you have a willing listener on the other end and when you don’t. If they are willing, ask the questions. If they are not, schedule a time to call back and move on to the next call.

If you are calling prospects who have already said they want to work with you but they haven’t yet signed a contract, questions like these will work:

1. I am ready to partner with you, is there anything in the way of you signing the contract today?
2. I’d like to move forward with you, what do you see as the next step?
3. If not now, when? I’m happy to follow up with you and do what it takes to earn this job.

Be direct, ask exactly what you want to know, no sugar coating, no sales pitch. Ask the questions one at a time and listen to the answers. They will tell you what they want and when they want to buy it.

There is no magic. If you want more business, ask for it.

If you have your questions ready and ask them in a straightforward manner, you will get the answers. If you indeed have the value they want to buy, they will sell themselves!

10. Haphazard Growth

Some times a website won’t grow according to plan because there never was a plan to begin with. Poor navigation and uneven development are the hallmarks of an unplanned site. Some pages remain “under development” for years while others grow, and branch, and twist until even a modern Daedalus would get lost in their digital halls.

9. Hard to Update

If you need to call up outside help every time you want to make a small change to your site, it may be time to get a new site. Content Management Systems have been available for years now, and the current crop have been designed so that even a layman with no knowledge of computer code can make routine updates.

8. Social Media

Social Media has revolutionized the online world. Not only has it turned online communications into two-way streets, but it has produced a number of “public squares” where people can reach your business and talk about you whether you are involved or not.

It’s not enough to know about Facebook, Four Square, and LinkedIn, you want to capitalize on that wealth of content to keep your own web presence alive and compelling.

7. Failure to Deliver

You built a website, set benchmarks, marketed your business, and your online strategies just aren’t converting. If this sounds familiar, it’s time to stop throwing good bandwidth after bad.  Revisit your site, revisit your strategy, and come out swinging with a new approach that doesn’t have a history of failure.

6. Mission Accomplished

You knew what you wanted when you built your last website: double your sales; grow your mailing list 10x; build a profile of your typical customer. Whatever it was, you’ve succeeded. Now that it’s time to capitalize on your new position - you should make sure that your website has been retooled to help you pursue your next goal!

5. Old Image

Not only do strategies change, but so do businesses. Even if your goals have remained the same, who you are and how you represent yourself may have changed. Perhaps you’ve opened a new branch, evolved in a new direction, or just rebranded to show a new face.

Whatever you have become, your website needs to be a reflection of the present, not a scrapbook of the past.

4. Launching a New Product

A well tailored website is invaluable to a new product launch. Your website can be crafted to encourage current clients to try the product out. It can ensure that the new additions to your customer base continue to have a place on your site where they can feel at home. It can let you encourage buzz and help people spread it to their various social networks. And, of course, there’s always the possibility that you’ll need new functionality to market, sell, distribute, or talk about your new product.

3. Flash was The Cutting Edge

By now almost everyone has heard that Apple iPhones do not read Flash files. If you want your website to be universally accessible this means either removing Flash from your site or else building a mobile-only template which is Flash-free.

2. Poor Calls to Action

A good call to action is easy to find, fits the natural flow of the site, seems worthwhile to your visitors, and can be executed quickly. While there are ways to tack a call to action into an existing site, the best ones are part of an integrated strategy.  If you don’t have the best, it’s time you do.

Nothing happens without a good call to action.

1. Competition

Business is an ongoing struggle. Just because you were king of the hill one year doesn’t mean you’ll keep your position the next. Whenever a competitor blows you out of the water, it behooves you to get professionals on board who can look at your site – pick it apart – and let you know how you can steal a march on your competitors’ sites to get into a superior position.

Does this sound like you?

If you see signs that it is time to rebuild your website, give us a call at 925.222.5624 (222.5mbi).

Today, I want to point out how sloppy habits of spoken language do not translate well when written down.

I was like, how can he? And he was like, well, that’s what I like. So, like, I’m suppose to like that he’s like, It’s soooo great!?

How many times did you have to read that to translate the “likes”? That is a snippet  of conversation I heard at Starbuck’s last week.  (I was not eavesdropping. The speaker was on her phone in line behind me; I was a captive audience.)

If you hear that out loud, it makes some sense. But  when written down, it’s inane. It’s not easy to suss out, and gives the impression that the speaker is inarticulate and superficial.

Does that matter? She was speaking out loud, not writing it down.

Yes, it matters, because sloppy speech erodes your professionalism: If you overuse “like” when talking you’ll (a) sound sophomoric and (b) you will write that way—and sound sophomoric.

Good Like

To express affection. I like him. I liked The Muppet movie. I like gravy on my potatoes.

In comparisons.  Dave has scuba gear like Sheila’s.  Katia has grades like a Rhodes Scholar’s.

As a conjunction. Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should.

Bad Like

For emphasis.  She was, like, really crazed. I was, like, sure I’d win.

To indicate exaggeration or approximation:  We are, like, almost there. I am, like, quitting this job!

To quote.  He was like, Get out of my face.  She was like, Not me!

Alternatives

Don’t say it. The meaning remains the same:  She was really crazed. I was sure I’d win. We are almost there.

Use a better word. He told me, Get out of my face or He told me to get out of his face

She said, Not me or  She said she didn’t do it or  She denied the accusation, indignantly

Whether you’re writing it down or saying it out loud, it’s communication. What you say, and how you say it, communicates a great deal about you.  If you are running or representing  a business:

• Speak and write so your customer understands your message, and understands you to be mature and intelligent.
• Speak so that, when you are quoted, you don’t sound incomprehensible or like a 15-year old Valley Girl.
• Speak so that, when you write, you easily maintain good habits of grammar.

Steve Jobs

1955-2011

Steve Jobs is known for creating the Apple powerhouse not once, but twice. His ceaseless quest to marry function and design brought us the desktop, multi-font computing, the iPhone, the iPad, and many other inventions that will be with us for years to come.

John McCarthy

1927-2011

Though not widely celebrated outside of computing circles, John McCarthy was responsible for many computing advances that we now take for granted. He coined the term “Artificial Intelligence” in 1956, developed LISP (one of the earliest high-leveled programming languages) in 1958, and his ideas on computational time-sharing form the backbone of the modern trend in Cloud Computing.

It is worth taking a moment to think on their contributions, and the bright future that they have opened up to us.

An RFP can be organized into three main sections.

1. Information about the company requesting the proposal
2. Requirements the vendors responding to the proposal must meet
3. Clear instructions about the process itself

Information about the company requesting the proposal
The goal of this section is to quickly inform the vendor of who the company is, what it does, and what it needs. Consider including:

• Company description
• Brief history
• Key competitors
• Current website situation
• Reason(s) for developing a new website or re-designing an existing website
• Primary goals (what would make the project a success?)
• Secondary goals (what are other important but not critical goals?)
• Functionality list as clear as possible. For each task, include the name of the task, a description, what its purpose is, and links to examples if any. Such a list can include the need for:
  • a content management system
  • file, image, and video management
  • search engine optimization
  • social media marketing
  • press release archiving
  • searchable staff directory
  • etc.
• Any technical mandatories with their detailed specifications, such as:
  • site must be compatible with an internal CRM or inventory  system
  • site must be hosted in-house
  • etc.
• Budget range for project
• Desired timeline

Requirements the vendors responding to the proposal must meet
This is your chance to gather all the information you need about the vendor in order to make an informed decision. Consider asking:

• How many years have they been in business?
• Who makes up the team? Is it in-house? Is it local?
• Can they provide a diversified portfolio?
• Do they have comparable experience?
• What will their process be?
• Can they provide current references?
• Are they insured for general liability and errors and omissions?

This is also your chance to gather information specific to the scope of the project. Consider evaluating:

• Is each item adequately described?
• Have all functionality items been included?
• Was the project cost itemized?
• Was a timeline provided?
• Did they define technical terms?

Clear instructions about the process itself
It’s important that the process is described so all deadlines are met. Consider including:

• Who the decision makers are
• What criteria will be used to choose the final vendor
• All deadlines:
  • Deadline for questions about the RFP and how they should be submitted
  • Date when questions will be answered and where to find the answers
  • Deadline for proposal submission and how they should be submitted (online, printed, number of copies, etc.)
  • Date when vendors will be notified if they made it to the in-person interview step
  • Approximate dates for in-person interviews
  • Date when final vendor will be chosen and notified
  • Date when the contract will be finalized
  • Date when project is expected to start
  • Date when project is expected to be completed

The more specific the RFP is, the more specific the proposal will be. However, expect vendors to have questions, to include the assumptions they are making, and to provide costs in ranges since not all questions will be answered. Finally, the most important consideration is to make sure you compare apples to apples so you end up with indeed the best candidate.

For simple sites, the next step is to design the look and feel. For more complex sites, the next step is wireframing.

WHAT IS A WIREFRAME?
A wireframe is a visual representation of a web page without taking into account actual design elements. See the figure below.

Immediately you get a good idea of what the content of the page will be like and roughly where on the page it might be placed. You don’t know what colors will be used, or what the chosen images will evoke, or whether the buttons will have a 3D look or not. The purpose of the wireframe is to show what elements will go into the page, what their nature will be (link, image, pulldown menu, scroller, etc.), and the function they will eventually perform.

WHY USE WIREFRAMES?

1. Decrease the gap between the written specifications and the actual design. Wireframes help create a common language between the non-technical and the technical participants in the project. It’s much easier to show the image above and point towards the bottom of it than to say or write: “the home page will include a scrollable area of random content blocks which can contain text, images, or video.”
2. Protect the budget and the timeline. Wireframes reduce surprises. Miscommunication or mistakes are quickly spotted and rectified much earlier and much easier.
3. Provide an inventory of elements and functions that go into the page. It’s easy to make a long list of everything wanted on the home page. It’s not as easy to lay out those elements in an organized way, making sure there is still enough white space on the page. Wireframes make it obvious whether the page is getting crowded or if it needs more content.
4. Communicate the type and depth of content. Wireframes communicate very quickly if the intention is to have one large image or several smaller ones; 2 paragraphs instead of 6, 7 buttons instead of 5, and so forth. Many members of the team gain important information. Writers get an approximate word count, designers realize how many (or few) images they need to search for, and everyone realizes what content exists already and still needs to be developed. The image below quickly shows a video is needed.
   
5. Show click through without having to spend hours programming. See the 2 images side by side below. It’s much easier to show these than to say or write: “the user can interact with multiple filters to get narrowed down search results from the consultants directory with automatic pagination.”
   
   

WHEN TO USE WIREFRAMES?
We started by saying that more complex sites benefit by the use of wireframes. What do we mean? What turns a site from “simple” to “complex”?

1. When there are processes involved. If users need to click through a few steps to get the data they need, a wireframe makes sense. Before programmers spend time making things functional, the client can experience the process and determine if it’s intuitive enough.
2. When there are multiple ways of getting to the same content. In large websites, content is sometimes offered in different ways since users have different ways of looking for it. Wireframes show these different displays before too much time and money are invested.
3. When different audiences get different content. Wireframes will help the client put himself in the shoes of each audience type and see how the site will be experienced.
4. When home pages are really more like dashboards, such as in the case of intranets or password-protected member areas. Wireframes help organize the content into logical placements. See the image below as an example.
   

HOW ARE WIREFRAMES CREATED?
Wireframes are not created from scratch… or they would take too much time. There are software programs, many of them online, than provide drag-and-drop ways to quickly create these sketches. Standard web elements are included. Want to show a search area, just drag the search widget into the canvas. Want to show a video player, just drag the video widget into the canvas. Almost everything you need is available, and, when it’s not, you can import your own graphic. At mb/i, we use iplotz.

In summary, a wireframe is a preview that can save a significant amount of both time and money during the development process. It’s a communication tool that ensures both the client and the web developer are truly on the same page.

I recently had to write a letter of complaint to Kaiser’s billing agency to ask them to correct their statement that says I suffered a sprained neck in a car crash. I had a sprained ankle. I’d spoken to them on the phone and they’ve said yeah, sure they’d change that sprained neck to sprained ankle. They didn’t. The time came for me to put my complaint in writing.

Complaining in writing helps you:

• Marshal your thoughts and organize your argument
• Express yourself respectfully. When you take time to write and review, you have the chance to reconsider comments such as you moron, incompetent dunderheads or you’ll be sorry.
• Keep a paper trail, so you have a record of who said what, and when.

Know what you want

Why are you writing? You must know this before you begin. Why is not the same as what you’re complaining about. The what has happened. Why deals with what should happen now, because of it.

• What the complaint is: You got food poisoning at the restaurant.
• Why you’re writing: You want the restaurant to refund the price of the meal, or pay your hospital bills, or make their chef wash his hands, or simply apologize.

When you consider why you are writing, you can reach helpful conclusions such as:

• It’s not that big of a deal, I don’t really need to write, or
• Hmmm….maybe it’s not their fault. Maybe it’s mine, or
• I don’t need to write ten paragraphs on two pages—2-3 paragraphs is enough.

Be succinct

State what happened—briefly. Give the facts, but not too many of them. Stick to the main points. For example, suppose I find my morning newspaper too often delivered into the shrubs.  I could write:

• Last week, I found the paper in the shrubbery on four mornings. The week before, it was three mornings. This week, it’s been in the shrubs twice already.

Or I could write

• Last week, October 12-16, I found the paper in the shrubs on Tuesday, also on Wednesday and again on Friday. The week before (October 5-9), the paper was in the shrubs on Tuesday and Thursday. This week, the paper has been in the shrubs on Monday Oct 19 and Tuesday October 20.

Both of these paragraphs contain the facts. Which is easiest and fastest to read? Which gives the quickest overview of the problem? In the first example, the word “shrubs” stands out—and shrubs is the essence of my complaint. In the second example, the dates are conspicuous, as if they are important. They aren’t.

State what you want

Depending on why you are writing, you could want:

• A refund (Give me back my money)
• An exchange of merchandise (Give me a new one; one that works; one that’s better)
• A correction (sprained ankle, not sprained neck)
• A change in behavior (Stop throwing the newspaper into my shrubs)
• To be heard (We need a stoplight at First and Maple)

Don’t beat around the bush about this, or leave it out of your letter.  I’ve seen complaint letters about true problems, but the writers never say what redress would satisfy them. Maybe you won’t be promptly given you all you ask for—but provide a point of negotiation, so they can say “Too much,” “Just right,” or “Here’s more!”

Threaten politely

Sure, you can say what you’ll do if you don’t get what you want. You might choose to let the reader know that you will take legal action, or write a review on Yelp, or tell all your Facebook friends what happened. I told Kaiser’s billing company that I will not pay my bill until the bill is correct. They agreed to that.

Be matter-of-fact about such threats, without rancor. If I do not hear back from you by the end of this month, I will involve my lawyer in this discussion is a simple, drama-free statement.

Keep your integrity about this. It dishonors you if you threaten to tell all of your Facebook friends about the miserable vacation unless the cruise line gives you a refund—and the cruise line gives you a refund—and you then tell all of your Facebook friends about your miserable vacation.

The First Rule of Complaining

It all boils down to—as so many things do!—The Golden Rule. The first rule of the civilized complaint is to always, always, always speak as you would wish to be spoken to.

Hope you find these helpful.

PRODUCT-RELATED
1. How many products will there be at launch?
2. How many product will there be 3-6 months post launch?
3. How are these products organized? How many product categories?
4. Do products have options, sizes, colors, etc?
5. Are they physical products or downloadable files?
6. Are products perishable?
7. Does inventory on hand need to be tracked?
8. Will the site accept back orders?
9. Is there an autoship/enroll program? (i.e. wine of the month clubs)
10. Do wholesalers get different prices?

SHIPPING AND HANDLING
9. How is shipping to be calculated? Flat rate? Based on weight?
10. Will we be using either the FedEx API or the UPS API?
11. Are we shipping to all states?
12. Are we doing international shipping?
13. Do we need to handle multiple foreign currencies?
14. Will we need to add a handling fee on top of the shipping fee? What is the calculation?
15. Will the site need to print shipping labels?
16. Which states need a tax calculation?
17. Are we using the same tax rate across each taxable state?
18. Do we need to provide a tracking number to the user?

DATA INTEGRATION
19. Will the client be using a fulfillment house? If so, how is the order data needed?
20. Do we need to send data on the spot or as a daily batch?
21. Do we need to integrate into an existing accounting system? (i.e. Quickbooks)
22. Are we setting up user accounts so users can track their orders and order history?
23. What kind of sales reports are needed?

PROMOTIONAL/MARKETING
24. Do we want to offer promotional/discount codes?
25. Which types of codes? Percentage discount, buy one get one free, free shipping?
26. Are we integrating any affiliates? (i.e. Commission Junction)
27. Do we need to integrate with Google Shopping and/or Amazon?

SETUP-RELATED
28. Is the client selling only online or is there a brick and mortar store(s)?
29. Is a merchant account already setup?
30. Has a security certificate already been purchased?
31. What level of security do we need to have?
32. Has a payment gateway already been selected?