Posted on Podcast

Business Communication – Critical For Success

Of all the skills I have learned, business communication has paid the greatest dividends.  This is not a difficult skill to learn.  However, practice, experience, and honest feedback are the key ingredients to become a master. Business Communication – Short and Sweet The old phrase “short and sweet” is a great way to sum up what I have learned.  The audience for any business communication (email, documents, presentations, etc.) value time and clarity.  They start with the assumption that you know what you are talking about.  Thus, it is up to you to confirm that assumption or prove them wrong.  Of course, that is not the only measure of successfully communicating your ideas.  There is also a need to convey the... Read more

blogging tools
Posted on General

Blogging Tools To Help You Be Productive and Successful

As we start a new year, it is an excellent time to look at tools that can help your blog.  Of course, there is always our Launch Your Internet Business series of tutorials.  However, we are going to look at some specific tools to help once your site is live instead of just launching it. Blogging Tools Come In All Forms We start by considering all the ways tools can help our blogging.  There are some that help us write faster, better (SEO and grammatically), communicate to our audience, and more.  For this article, we will look at a wide range of tools and how they can help. Write Better – Grammarly The best tool I have come across personally is Grammarly.  You can... Read more

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The Value of Varied Development Environments

When we get serious about development we have to use enterprise tools.  These include version control, defect tracking, change management, and multiple development environments.  These development environments range from pure development to testing, staging, and finally production.  In this episode, we explore how to build and use each of these. Development Environments Cover the Full SDLC A good series of environments will address the various areas of the software development lifecycle.  There might be one for design, prototyping, and clickable demos.  As you progress through the SDLC the demo environment can grow into your sales environment.  Thus, features can be mocked up and shown to customers.  There should always be at least one development environment.  Preferably there is an environment for... Read more

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Sleeping Well In a Busy World

src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/6053701/height/360/width/450/theme/standard/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/” height=”360″ width=”450″ placement=”top” theme=”standard”We all have busy lives.  That is just a part of modern life.  However, those of us in the develpreneur world can have it even worse.  Sleeping well can be quite a challenge when you are facing deadlines and always trying to push for that next goal.  Nevertheless, sleep is a critical factor in health and even long-term productivity so let’s look at ways to get some rest without sacrificing productivity. Sleeping Well Vs. Sleep Hacking Sleep hacking is a popular topic among those that value productivity and squeezing everything they can out of life.  The downside is that the goal of sleep hacking is finding ways to limit our downtime instead of maximizing it.  Over time... Read more

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Side Hustle To Passive Income

A Side Hustle will typically earn money by trading hours for dollars.  There is a hustle or level of work that is required.  However, there is also income related to that hustle.  This is a good step towards total success and we need to move forward from hustle to passive income.  In other words, do not simply invest in your career and skills, invest in future revenue. Side Hustle Vs. Passive Income A typical side hustle is either doing work for hire or a service that pays you for your time.  An Uber driver is a good example of this.  Also, a developer that works extra projects is an example of this.  Passive income is where your income is not tied... Read more

looking ahead
Posted on General

Looking Ahead to 2018

We recently looked back at the advances of 2017.  There were a lot of changes, and it looks like 2018 will continue the momentum.  So, as we wrap up 2017, it is time to start looking ahead to 2018. Looking Ahead at Java The big thing in 2018 is likely to be Java and all of the changes in the new version.  Although Java 9 was introduced towards the end of 2017, it will take time to be implemented.  There will be some pilot projects in early 2018 I am sure.  However, the second half of the year should see a push for developers that have some Java 9 experience.  As usual, it takes time to back in the new changes... Read more