Newsletter – May 2021

Here’s the technology and people update for May 2021.

Finally, I managed get out of the chair I’ve been sat in for the last 12 weeks and go somewhere quiet, tranquil and by the sea. Kep. Where my life has briefly turned into the series of swimming pools that determine ‘normal’ life. It’s fantastic to be able to work outdoors and I’m grateful for being able to work anywhere where there’s a decent internet connection. You can see a few images on Instagram.

Since cryptocurrency seems to be very ‘In’ at the moment, I took some time to learn and have a go at trading. Since the market is extremely volatile, and seems to fluctuate wildly dependent on what Elon Musk says it’s not a game for the faint hearted. However, with this wild volatility there are some serious gains (and of course losses) to be made. I’m reasonably risk averse and have still managed to make a reasonable return by just following the patterns. I hope I didn’t speak too soon on this one.

PRODUCTIVITY
It’s been an odd month, where I’ve struggled to get some of the recalcitrant tasks done. No matter how hard we try, we think tasks are closed all of the information sent and that will be the end of that, only to have people come back and say there’s something missing, there’s another problem. I need something more, or worse still no communication at all.

PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS
I continue my love of ToDoist, and added it to my recent YouTube video detailing my most productive apps on the iPad. I’ve also looked at adding a few filters to better present the tasks relevant to that particular part of the day.

ASANA & PIPEDRIVE
Asana has been super quiet this month. No client enquiries at all and very little news. Pipedrive on the other hand has been the opposite, lots of discussion and new client work. I’ve seen many SME’s looking to build better lead generation, quicker response to clients and making sure they take advantage of all of the growth opportunities available to them. Lead Generation is #1 reason clients are calling me right now and I’ve seen some really fascinating ways of finding and bringing leads to niche businesses. I’m attending a Webinar tonight that calls itself ‘The Million Dollar Lead Magnet” so expect more on this subject.

CONSULTING
Lots of new clients this month. Web Development, Lead Generation, Operations Automation, and tying systems together. Most clients have come from the UK and the US, but Australian business has seen an increase recently.
I’ve also learnt quite a lot about the Pharmaceutical Industry. It’s complex with lots of regulation and somewhat old-fashioned ways of working. The sort of industry that is now ripe for technological innovation and secure data transfer, along with e-commerce style ordering and delivery of drugs to patients. This is being seen globally and I’ve spoken to clients in the US, UK and Cambodia about taking advantage of technology in this sector this month.
Let me know if I can help here.

TECHNOLOGY
A few new entrants in technology this month:

• Webflow – a great web development platform that I can see rivalling WordPress. Cheap, easy to use, and I was impressed by the SEO and speed of the platform. I’ve taken out a subscription to test it.
• Hosting – speaking of WordPress, I’ve been looking at new hosting companies. Google is rolling out its ‘Core Vitals’ measurements that are all based around speed of websites. Google wants all sites to load in 2 seconds or less and will start to penalise you in rankings if your site is too slow. I’m testing out Cloudways* and they weren’t without their own serious technical issues when I started but seem to have fixed things pretty quickly.
• Readwise – I read a couple of physical books while I was away, and the Readwise App* allows you to scan the page, reads the text and adds it to your highlights. For #productivitygeek’s like me I have Readwise sync with Notion and Roam so even the physical highlights are available to me in my second brain.
• Notion – released their API this month so now we can get information in and out of Notion via Zapier – my next task is to sync my content publication calendar in Notion with my Google Calendar.

RECENT PROJECTS

• Linking Webflow to Airtable for management of leads
• Building a WordPress website and getting leads into Pipedrive automatically
• Linking Airtable data for display in WordPress websites in embedded maps, tables and info cards
• SEO, Website speed tests and hosting speed comparison
• Teaching Google Analytics basics to my startups

MISCELLANEOUS LINKS

Needing more Slack in your schedule (no not the App)
Feeling Blah ! – It’s called Languishing

That’s it for this month. As always, I genuinely love your replies, and continue to be interested in some of the challenges you face and problems you want to solve. Please do let me know what you’re up to.

Chris