Starting the John Thornhill course meant opening the door to technical knowledge that had earlier passed me by and also to an interaction with a large number of people, which was also new.
Setting up my website needed time to perfect each step. Computers are unforgiving and 99% is never enough – one wrong step, or one element missed guarantees failure. Fortunately, as spring gave way to summer, I had the time to regularly set aside half a day to put in the time.
Linking up with optimize press, opening social media accounts took unexpected amounts of time. As the late British politician remarked: ‘young people are not awed with new technology, they take it for granted’.
I took it for granted that I would be able to do it everything myself, even when I tortured support desks for what they must have considered trivia. It occurs to me that many of those who started in the naughties (years 2000-2010) must have had to turn to their tekkies for what today is freely, or cheaply available.
The demands on presentation today have dramatically improved over the levels of 10-15 years ago.
Then, a functional website was a major achievement. Once it was completed, the tekkies warned that any change would crash the site, possibly terminally, but would definitely be extremely expensive to repair.
Today, we have no excuse not to have the full panorama of top quality gadgets on a site and regular updates are critical to stay competitive.
Still, processes on the computer elude me. My main photo on my site has disappeared and I have followed instructions, but cannot insert another copy. Also, Wealthy Affiliate does not support Jetpack which I need for my training. Software organisations update their models, which sets me off on a search, then a note to support. Support answers are amazingly quick, even on weekends, when some claim that they will shut over the weekend, but still provide swift service.
So, I am setting up my website in public, providing a work in progress to anybody who stumbles upon it.
Living in suburbs of capital cities, London then Moscow, mean that I knew and know few people, even though my flat is in two towers of a total 180 flats. People at different places where I have worked have left little trace in my life,with the exception of few friends with whom I have been in contact for years. Lecturing involves working with students, but only seeing my teaching colleagues when we assess theses. Administration departments are always busy, so I do little more than acknowledge them.
Clearly, internet marketing will broaden my horizons and dramatically increase my contacts and already has.
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