Category Archives: Tips for Digital Immigrants

Best in Class Resources

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Rosemary Senjem

Here are resources I recommend because they are ‘best in class’ and have great tech support for non-technical people.

PLEASE NOTE: In my experience, it is best to put your eggs in separate baskets.
I recommend that you:

  • Keep your [hosting vendor] separate from your [domain name vendor] and your [web designer], even though they will all try to be your one-stop-shop for everything. It is in your best interest to have direct relationships with each of these companies.
  • All the companies listed here are better at the service noted here, than all the other stuff they are selling. You just need to keep clicking ‘No Thanks’ to finally get to the shopping cart, because they try to sell you lots of stuff you don’t need from them.

Web Site Hosting:

BlueHost.com for 6.95/mo. It is easy to install and maintain a number of great tools with their control panel, as well as manage email accounts and use promotional tools. Please use this link to let them know I sent you:

http://www.bluehost.com/track/handspundigital/CODE25

Buying & Managing Domain Names:

Buying a long term registration for your domain name helps you with search engines.

  • 10 year registration indicates longevity and seriousness.
  • 1 year registration says you might not be around next year.

The additional things you DO want to buy with your domain name include:

  • business registration
  • privacy

Event Pages, Invitations, Promotion, & Attendee Management:

EventBrite.com is a great pay-as-you-go service.

  • If your events are free, the service is free.
  • If there is a fee for your event, you pay them 2.5% +$0.99 per ticket sold with a max of $9.95 fee.

Please use this link to let them know I sent you: https://www.eventbrite.com/r/bestinclass

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Plan C: Full Control at the Best Price

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Rosemary Senjem

Ready to go to the next level? Ah… you’ve discovered that you get what you pay for and you’re ready to pay — but not too much!

This plan is for you:

  1. Buy your domain name.
  2. Host the account for your site and install a free content management system.
  3. Hire someone like Hand Spun Digital to help to plan, customize, and optimize your site to accomplish your business goals.
  4. Add other services that will provide more ease and return on investment.

Examples:

Check out my post about Best in Class Resources.

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Plan B: Free Web Site + Pay-As-You-Go Services

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Rosemary Senjem

Okay, so you tried the free site or at least looked into it. It is okay, but you want more…

This plan is for you:

  1. Buy your domain name.
  2. Get a free hosting and content management account for your site, that has no set-up and no on-going fees. (such as the services in Plan A)
  3. Add other services that provide more ease and return on investment, such as event registration and email management services.

Check my post about Best in Class Resources for specific vendors.

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Plan A: Do It Yourself for FREE

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Rosemary Senjem
  1. Get a free account for your site, that has no set-up and no on-going fees. (E.g. – Google Sites, Blogger or WordPress)
  2. I do not recommend doing this, but… you can even decide to skip buying a domain name and just name your blog and let the address for your site reveal which service you are using. Once your domain name is gone, it is ridiculously hard to acquire it. At least consider buying yourname.com.

Examples:

Plan B and C coming soon.

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Are You a Digital Immigrant?

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Rosemary Senjem

Back in 2001, Marc Prensky coined the term Digital Immigrants in his article, called “Digital Immigrants, Digital Natives” which was published by NCB University Press (Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001).

The test: Did you grow up using cell phones, email, chat, blogging and social media?

Yes: You are a Digital Native.
No: You are a Digital Immigrant (like me).

Another test: Do you send around email jokes about ‘remember when’ topics?

Yes: You are a Digital Immigrant.
No: You are a Digital Native.

Another test: Do you use your cell phone more for texting than talking?

Yes: You are a Digital Native.
No: You are a Digital Immigrant.

If you are a SUCCESSFUL Digital Immigrant, you probably:

  • enjoy learning new things
  • readily ask for help
  • ask younger people for help
  • are willing to try things to find out how they work
  • like to do online research
  • know how to tell if an online store:
    • is secure
    • has coupons out there for you to mine
    • offering you the best deal
  • leave comments on other people’s websites as you see fit
  • know how to use the Share widget that is all over the internet
  • have a Facebook and/or Twitter account

If you are a MARGINALLY SUCCESSFUL Digital Immigrant, you probably:

  • are quite good at what you do off line
  • enjoy email immensely
  • can surf the internet, but couldn’t start a free blog if your life depended upon it
  • can buy things online, but don’t fully trust when they ask for your credit card
  • don’t dare use PayPal or online banking
  • would benefit from asking for help more often, especially from people who are still in high school or college

Guess what? It doesn’t have to be so hard!

I’m compiling some tips for Immigrant Natives who:

  • want to get started with a web site
  • don’t want to blow a bunch of money, due to lack of familiarity with the lingo or concepts
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