Not So Computer Savvy but Brilliant in Business

I have begun to tweet at Twitter. It’s all new to me. Being a Twitter Newbie (novice) reminds me how confusing the Internet can be for those who are not quite so computer savvy.

Twitter Newbie

When I joined the Twitter community, I understood that it was a social networking and microblogging service. Okay. But what exactly is the purpose of it? I wondered.

I decided to tiptoe in anyway  just out of curiosity. I learned that the itty bitty messages I post in 140 characters or less are called tweets and if people find me interesting enough they can become a follower to see more itty bitty messages. It is like having a mini blog. There’s no pressure to organize your thoughts into one big message. You can just put in a famous quote, link to your latest blog post, ask a question, or just say what you are having for lunch. No kidding. It’s actually quite fun.

You basically answer the question: “What are you doing?” But you don’t have to really do that. Here’s a quick peek:

As I struggle to think of juicy tidbits of information to post at Twitter, I feel that same anxiety that some people feel as they explore the World Wide Web. It can be especially frustrating when the not so computer savvy people decide to have their first website. These people are brilliant with their business strategies. But they are Newbies on the Internet.

Example One:

One client recently asked me if she should add another web page to her site because she felt that she had to answer the same questions over and over again.

Perfect! I told her. Your web site should answer questions for you. It should make your life easier.

Great! she said. Then she mentioned how a client had asked her what her email address was. She thought for a moment and realized she didn’t know it. Visitors to her web site had always contacted her through her contact form and her daughter, the computer savvy one, answered the emails.

Example Two:

Another web design client asked me if it would cost any more to have a website done in color instead of  black and white. Wow! What a fascinating question. She was thinking in terms of the print world.

In the web design world, using tons of colors doesn’t cost a penny more. The only differences between the two images below is that the colored one has a slightly larger file size. If the colored one is added to a website, it will take a split second longer to load the website in a browser when someone comes to visit. But no one will notice the difference between these two little images, even with all those colors.

Read more about the differences between Web Design and Print Design.

Example Three:

In another instance, a client called me in a panic about his new live website. All the pages looked great, except the home page, he thought. So I asked him to refresh the page a couple of times in his web browser. This was a term that was second nature to me, but confusing to him.

Did you know that each time you access a web page through your web browser, the browser caches (stores) it? The browser does this so that images etc. do not have to be retrieved  from the web site each time you visit. Refreshing a web page makes the browser get new copies of all items on the page. Once my client refreshed his home page, all was fine once again.

The refresh button is located on the toolbar of your web browser. It looks similar to the blue circle below with the swirl arrow in it.

What is a Toolbar? A toolbar is a menu bar of buttons and input boxes on the browser. The standard toolbar includes the browser’s back, forward, home and refresh buttons, as well as the address box and search box.

What is a Web Browser? A web browser is a software application that enables users to access the World Wide Web. When you sit down and look at web pages, you are using a web browser. Examples are Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, and Camino.

Here is a great introduction to web browsers.

Anatomy of a Web Browser: Understanding Browser Terms

If you are also one of those not so computer savvy business people, don’t despair.

Just grab your computer (pc or mac), open up your web browser (maybe Internet Explorer or Firefox), and hop on the World Wide Web (internet). Check out some web sites and try a few search engines (maybe Google or Yahoo). Heck. Why not even take a peek at Twitter. You can find me there at Twitter/Crimson_Designs. Be prepared. I may have posted some juicy tidbits that day or you might just find out what I had for lunch.