Katie EP of Cool Springs Press asked me to check in with them and tell them what I wanted, what I “NEED” as a garden writer today. Hmmm. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. I know exactly what I need. Let me tell you what I NEED!
I need a place, a website, a filter, a techie geek, a visionary, practical person or group of people to tell me what I need to know tech wise. Yeah, I know Guy Kawasaki is there, Seth Godin is there, Chris Brogan is there, Jean Ann Van Krevelen is there, Walt Mossberg is there but when I get there there is no there there. The information is scattered all over the internet and I need someone trustworthy to sort through the crap and hype and help me determine what I really really need (and yes, what I might want if I can afford it). I want to look, compare, ask, whatEVER! I want someone to help me sort out the importance and facts about Twitter, FB and the forty faces of Facebook, Networked Blogs for FB, Businesses on FB, Plurk, WordPress, FourSquare, Digg, the iPhone 3 vs 4 and when do you spring for 4 if not now? Do I need Photoshop and do I need a class for Photoshop and where can I get a class on Photoshop and can I get by with Adobe Photoshop elements? I want to put pictures in frames on my blog page. I want to add some pages to my blog, so it looks more like a website. I own a dozen For Dummies books and I don’t consider myself a dummy. I have them sent to my house via Amazon so no one knows I need Excel for Dummies, WordPress for Dummies, Elements……..
I see other people mastering these things. Who can teach me? Where do I go? My time is valuable too. Know that I don’t mind paying to have someone do it for me, but the whole idea of writing/blogging/self-publishing is doing it yourself. Show me how. And tell me what is coming at me. Help me decide if I need to do any, all or some of these things.
I just realized, I need a tech coach. That’s right, that’s what I need. A tech coach. Or a great class with expert-wizard-teachers. I’d like to spend a couple days talking to everyone about what they use, why they like it, how they found it, and what they think is next. No, I don’t want to spend a lot of money on this cuz the gear is already breaking the bank. Besides, all the hip tech people seem to know how to hack and jailbreak their toys so they can teach me those tricks too.
And I want someone who is nice to tell me this stuff. No looking down the glasses or making jokes of my inability to grasp the glory of a tetrabyte in a nanosecond. Be kind.
Just thinking about all this stuff exhausted me.
Katie, thanks for asking.
Wow, serious tech rant tonight, MA. But totally justified. This shouldn’t be that hard, nor require a consultant, nor a coach. But it is. And it takes time to climb the sisyphian learning curve. Maybe it’s time to just go back to gardening, canning, and fermenting strong drink. At least that provides warm comfort on cold rainy September nights.
I hear you, Mary Ann! Sometimes I feel like I’m just barely hanging on to the tech train’s caboose as it goes screaming past.
Me too Mary Ann! I live with a real actual Adobe husband. I get free tech support to a VERY small degree as he’s simply too crazed with his own work.
So I plod along and try to keep up as best that I can.
Love the idea for GWT!
Amen, to all of the above! (I especially llike Mark’s recommendation of fermenting strong drinks.) I lost track of how much time I spent trying to download Feedburner and insert of “subscribe by email” plugin. It’s still not right, but I needed to stop before I chucked the computer against the wall. I absolutely agree with your requests.
Best, Amy
YES. A page on each topic where we can all post our experiences and recommendations would be a place to start. For about a year now I’ve been struggling to learn to do VIDEOs and can’t tell you how much time and money I’ve wasted.
One big problem in searching online for recommendations is that program and product reviews are usaully written BY and FOR technies, not for people like me.
It is unfair to tell us we should go back to the kitchen if we can’t figure this stuff out… especially when we are ASKING for help! I think a yearly 2-day class is in order, and presented by a compassionate soul. Let’s hear it for compassion for those of us who are older, wiser and less quick with the techie stuff, please.
Mary Ann, to see my name listed with people like Chris Brogan, et al is really an honor.
And girl, I completely understand how overwhelming this can all be…I mean, it is my JOB to understand it all and it can still be overwhelming! Having one place to go with filtered content and specific how-to’s makes a lot of sense.
If you were a billionaire, I would let you hire me (at an exorbitant rate) to be your personal tech coach.
Jack or Jane of all tech trades master or mistress of none for sure. I know just enough to get me into trouble and never enough to stay out of it. I hear you sista!
You said it, sister! And perhaps the tech coaching could be aimed at different skill levels–there is a stream of new bloggers who need “beginner” assistance, for instance.
Honestly, if I weren’t married to a systems analyst, I’d still be in the dark ages. He makes it possible for me to do digital photography, iWhatevers, downloads, uploads, sidewaysloads etc. Your post reminded me what a blessing my dear geek of a husband is!
Boy. I remember the good old days when I worked in print. We had an artist who handled all things graphic. We had printers and mailers who handled all things production and distribution. All we had to do as editors is crank out the compelling content. (And I had the luxury of traveling from time to time with a professional photographer.)
Now I find myself being the content provider, the writer, the editor, the graphic designer and the circulation director.
Keeps life interesting, doesn’t it.
Mary Ann–this was a FANTASTIC post, and I am SO SORRY to be so late commenting. Thank you VERY much for posting such a helpful list and commentary, and thank you to all of the commentors!
I agree–there is a lot of technical mumbo jumbo to deal with, and some help sorting out what you need to do, what you don’t need to do, and how to do it is in order.
THANK YOU again!