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Casual Articles - Use Their Terminology -- Not Yours
Emails are quite a powerful marketing tool, if not misused. Misusing electronic mail is an actual trend. It happens to us all on a daily basis. You’ve received them: the very inviting email that suggests to visit a certain website where a wonderful Russian lady awaits to become the perfect bride, or to read news from a Nigerian magnate that wants to give us a few million dollars, etc…These are really annoying Spam emails, but these are not the only emails that are Spam. Even legitimate companies perform a type of less insistent Spam to sell their products. As a matter of fact they do not really Spam, but send unsolicited commercial emails. Because people don’t really know th
For a lower level of explanation, I’ve often tried to relate IT issues to things that are familiar to the average person. For example, I’ve frequently used a plumbing analogy to help explain why a system change is so difficult. I describe a hypothetical house-building project, and ask why it might be a big problem if the homeowner changes the location of a bathroom after the wallboard is up. The answer is obvious to most people, yet the concept of a difficult system maintenance change (like expanding a purch
FOREX is huge business. It’s the mamma of all industries. Almost $3 trillion dollars is exchanged on the Forex currency market every day. With all that money going around, it’s no surprise that there are scammers and hyenas everywhere. You don’t hear of too many scams in the Bonsai tree market, do you?There is a forex scam problem in the education section of the market in particular, because it isn’t as regulated as the other sections – the forex dealer, broker, institution side. The latter need licenses, government certificates etc., to operate. However, these so called “forex gurus” that show you how to make a killing following their trading systems - they don’t nee
In the last couple of months, I’ve seen two interesting examples of explaining IT in user terms. At Southern Company, CIO Becky Blalock had a breakthrough in communication when she explained IT in terms that are more understandable at a power generation company. She told her business users that just as Southern Company uses coal to generate power and then distribute the power to its customers, the Southern Company IT organization uses data to generate information and then distribute it to the business users. The business users got the point, and they began to understand some of the similarities between power distribution and the distribution of information.
At The Home Depot, Chief IT Architect Barbara Sanders uses a similar approach to define the stages that a new technology goes through before it’s implemented in a live production environment. Her architecture organization issues “building permits” to pilot projects for new technologies, and then delivers a “certificate of occupancy” when the pilot is proven and the technology is ready for general release. Everyone at Home Depot understands exactly what that means, and there are far fewer questions about why a new technology isn’t yet in use.
I’ve used similar approaches myself. At an architectural firm that specialized in designing college campuses and the buildings that go with them, I explained a plan for a future intranet by showing a campus metaphor for the intranet. Users enter the intranet through the “quad” in the middle of the campus, and then enter various “buildings” (subsystems), always coming back to the quad to navigate from building to building. I identified virtual classrooms for training, a “history department” that keeps records of the buildings the firm has designed in the past, a virtual library of white papers and presentations, an engineering library of details for Computer Aided Design (CAD), and even a transit station for “public transportation” to take the intranet user to selected areas of the Internet. By translating difficult technical concepts like home pages, databases, and gateways into terms with which the architects were familiar, I was able to help the firm understand the benefits of an intranet, as well as some of the issues they would encounter during construction.
For a lower level of explanation, I’ve often tried to relate IT issues to things that are familiar to the average person. For example, I’ve frequently used a plumbing analogy to help explain why a system change is so difficult. I describe a hypothetical house-building project, and ask why it might be a big problem if the homeowner changes the location of a bathroom after the wallboard is up. The answer is obvious to most people, yet the concept of a difficult system maintenance change (like expanding a purcha
A loan for personal purpose must come at cheap cost so that it is not at all a repayment burden on the borrower. Cheap personal loans are meant for serving the purpose of offering a low rate loan to all type of borrowers. You can take cheap personal loan for any purpose like home improvements, meeting wedding or holiday expenses, for debt consolidation, or for buying a car.Cheap personal loans means you are approved a loan at lower interest rate. a low rate is best ensured when the borrower is willing to offer his or her property like home as security of the loan. Secured personal loans come at cheap rate of interest. The loan amount as secured cheap personal loans varies fr
In the last couple of months, I’ve seen two interesting examples of explaining IT in user terms. At Southern Company, CIO Becky Blalock had a breakthrough in communication when she explained IT in terms that are more understandable at a power generation company. She told her business users that just as Southern Company uses coal to generate power and then distribute the power to its customers, the Southern Company IT organization uses data to generate information and then distribute it to the business users. The business users got the point, and they began to understand some of the similarities between power distribution and the distribution of information.
At The Home Depot, Chief IT Architect Barbara Sanders uses a similar approach to define the stages that a new technology goes through before it’s implemented in a live production environment. Her architecture organization issues “building permits” to pilot projects for new technologies, and then delivers a “certificate of occupancy” when the pilot is proven and the technology is ready for general release. Everyone at Home Depot understands exactly what that means, and there are far fewer questions about why a new technology isn’t yet in use.
I’ve used similar approaches myself. At an architectural firm that specialized in designing college campuses and the buildings that go with them, I explained a plan for a future intranet by showing a campus metaphor for the intranet. Users enter the intranet through the “quad” in the middle of the campus, and then enter various “buildings” (subsystems), always coming back to the quad to navigate from building to building. I identified virtual classrooms for training, a “history department” that keeps records of the buildings the firm has designed in the past, a virtual library of white papers and presentations, an engineering library of details for Computer Aided Design (CAD), and even a transit station for “public transportation” to take the intranet user to selected areas of the Internet. By translating difficult technical concepts like home pages, databases, and gateways into terms with which the architects were familiar, I was able to help the firm understand the benefits of an intranet, as well as some of the issues they would encounter during construction.
For a lower level of explanation, I’ve often tried to relate IT issues to things that are familiar to the average person. For example, I’ve frequently used a plumbing analogy to help explain why a system change is so difficult. I describe a hypothetical house-building project, and ask why it might be a big problem if the homeowner changes the location of a bathroom after the wallboard is up. The answer is obvious to most people, yet the concept of a difficult system maintenance change (like expanding a purch
Think like your customers to get a feel for what they might type in.Write your Product Description explaining in detail exactly what it is potential bidders will be bidding on. Depending on the value of the item you’re selling you will either write a long description or a short description.The last thing you want to be doing is spending hours writing up descriptions for items you’ll only make $ 3 profit on.Make sure you have covered all the points that include the items features and most importantly the benefits to the customer.• Title description • What type of listing is it? ‘Buy it now’ or auction? • Listing Description. Is it compelling?
I’ve used similar approaches myself. At an architectural firm that specialized in designing college campuses and the buildings that go with them, I explained a plan for a future intranet by showing a campus metaphor for the intranet. Users enter the intranet through the “quad” in the middle of the campus, and then enter various “buildings” (subsystems), always coming back to the quad to navigate from building to building. I identified virtual classrooms for training, a “history department” that keeps records of the buildings the firm has designed in the past, a virtual library of white papers and presentations, an engineering library of details for Computer Aided Design (CAD), and even a transit station for “public transportation” to take the intranet user to selected areas of the Internet. By translating difficult technical concepts like home pages, databases, and gateways into terms with which the architects were familiar, I was able to help the firm understand the benefits of an intranet, as well as some of the issues they would encounter during construction.
For a lower level of explanation, I’ve often tried to relate IT issues to things that are familiar to the average person. For example, I’ve frequently used a plumbing analogy to help explain why a system change is so difficult. I describe a hypothetical house-building project, and ask why it might be a big problem if the homeowner changes the location of a bathroom after the wallboard is up. The answer is obvious to most people, yet the concept of a difficult system maintenance change (like expanding a purch
Time and time again I see the most crucial thing to ANYONE’S success being their Mindset.Your mindset will make or break you in network marketing. That is why it is so CRUCIAL to develop the wealth mentality first and foremost…and prime yourself for nothing but success. So what is the wealth mentality?Simply enough…it is KNOWING that you are already abundant.It is believing that there is absolutely nothing that can stop you from manifesting your goals.And it is having faith and conviction in your own abilities that is so powerful it could cut through steel.When you build that level of confidence in yourself…nothing can stop you. People feel the
For a lower level of explanation, I’ve often tried to relate IT issues to things that are familiar to the average person. For example, I’ve frequently used a plumbing analogy to help explain why a system change is so difficult. I describe a hypothetical house-building project, and ask why it might be a big problem if the homeowner changes the location of a bathroom after the wallboard is up. The answer is obvious to most people, yet the concept of a difficult system maintenance change (like expanding a purch
With the continual upheaval in the American corporate job market, many Christians are turning to Christian based home businesses as a means to achieve the job security and personal freedom their corporate job could not provide them. In this pursuit, it is important for opportunity seekers to understand the true meaning behind a “Christian based home business.”Individuals pursuing a career change into a home based business need to carefully analyze the business model of each company they are investigating. A delineation needs to be drawn between companies that market and sell Christian merchandise or services and companies that operate with a core set of values that mirror
For a lower level of explanation, I’ve often tried to relate IT issues to things that are familiar to the average person. For example, I’ve frequently used a plumbing analogy to help explain why a system change is so difficult. I describe a hypothetical house-building project, and ask why it might be a big problem if the homeowner changes the location of a bathroom after the wallboard is up. The answer is obvious to most people, yet the concept of a difficult system maintenance change (like expanding a purchase order number) is in no way intuitive to these same individuals. Using the plumbing analogy makes the issues clear.
Similarly, most people seem to be able to relate to an example of trying to add four additional floors to a house that has a foundation designed for a single floor; they know that such a change will necessitate some major foundation work. But it’s usually extremely difficult to directly explain why, for example, a system designed in Microsoft Access for a single user can’t be easily expanded to be available for hundreds of users on an intranet.
For additional perspective, think of the problems that doctors have in telling their patients about complex diseases and their treatment. The best doctors are able to get their message across using examples from cars, plumbing, electrical circuits, construction, and other generally understood processes. Other doctors just throw medical jargon at you and expect you to figure it out. Which kind of doctor inspires more trust? Which kind of doctor would you rather have do your surgery? Amazingly, we base our opinion of a surgeon’s competence not on his or her surgical abilities, but on the ability to communicate with the patient.
IT is the same kind of thing. Since business users can’t judge our technical ability, they base their judgments of us on our ability to communicate clearly. Communication is an important part of every project, but it’s especially important when your business users don’t understand what their IT organizations do for them. The next time you have to explain something, try using an analogy that your users can better understand. You’ll find that you communicate better, and you’ll get a lot more support.
© 2004 MakingITclear, Inc. This article was originally published in the November, 2004 issue of the MakingITclear® Newsletter, a free monthly email newsletter published by MakingITclear, Inc. MakingITclear is a registered trademark of MakingITclear, Inc.
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