Yesterday, I got the question “why do you blog?” of course I had around a million answers to respond with. Then I realized that the reason the person asked was not to find out why I blogged but to see if there was any reason to why he should blog.
This got me thinking about what [...]
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Try McAfee for Free: Benefits of the Partnership between McAfee & Facebook
Posted By Annelie Näs on January 19th, 2010
From time to time, I help people fix various problems with their computers. Many of them use Norton Antivirus which at least used to slow your computer down. Therefore I recommended people to switch to another Antivirus software. Now it was a long time since I used Norton, so I do not know if this is the case anymore, especially as they recently released Norton Antivirus 2010, which has got a few great reviews.
However, I still recommend people to switch to McAfee Antivirus, the program that I have personally been using since I bought my last computer two years ago. I really like this Antivirus, because it only “contacts” me occasionally and when it does, I actually understand what it is asking for. Something that I have realized that other Antivirus software fails to do. Sure the program has many other benefits of using McAfee, but that is my personal favorite.
So why am I telling you all of this?
Here is why: In the Facebook blog the other day I found out that McAfee has a special offer on the McAfee Facebook Fan Page, where all fans get a six month complimentary subscription (Yes, that is correct complementary means free). Basically all you have to do is log on to their fan page “become a fan,” go to the tab “Protect Your PC.”
In addition they offer a reduced fee on the subscription after those six months for all the Facebook fans.
Now, they will ask for your credit card information when you sign up, but they won’t charge you anything. All you have to do is sign up for an account, fill in all your details, and download and install the software. (Before you do this, remember to uninstall any current antivirus software: here is why)
Now to the marketing:
Talk about a great offer and marketing campaign at a good time.
The offer is a result of a partnership between Facebook and McAfee, with the goal to: “Through this partnership, the two companies have jointly created security solutions that include McAfee security software, a custom scanning and repair tool, and consumer friendly education materials that Facebook will make available to its more than 350 million users. In total, this is a first-of-its-kind security offering that represents a major milestone in the fight to secure the Internet and reduce global cybercrime.”
The benefits of the Partnership
- As almost everyone is a Facebook user today, they manage to reach a big audience.
- People like me will spread and recommend this offer making the campaign viral, thus even bigger.
- Facebook shows humanity by giving their users a way to protect their computers.
- McAfee reaches new potential customers, from which they can earn long term profit.
Now, I hope you believe my words and my phrasing of McAfee and try it immediately and please come back here later to share your McAfee experience.
Does your effective work affect your customers?
Posted By Annelie Näs on December 12th, 2009
Today I stopped by the Belgian Chocolate Store Leonidas. I was going to by a few gift boxes with fresh chocolate pralines for my grandparents, as they have never been to Belgium, and it is a part of the culture here. I remember the first time I went and bought chocolate praline stores here and how luxuries it felt to have them hand-pick the pralines, put them in the box and neatly wrap it up. Before I moved to Belgium I had never bought chocolate in this way.
Thus, because the fact that they give their customers this feeling of luxury I think that the buying process in the store is definitely part of what they are selling. They sell the experience to pick your own hand made chocolate pralines.
Imagine my disappointment today when I came in the store and they told me to buy a box that was already picked before I came in to the store, instead of letting me watch as they do it. The part that is even worse is that I asked for a mix box with less dark chocolate and alcohol filled pralines, which is not a generic mix box. But, I still got a finished mix box, which was already wrapped. I hope the boxes were created during the day, but as the boxes what not labeled with packaging date, I have no idea if I bought old chocolate. Therefore, it did not feel special at all to buy Belgian chocolate today, which actually felt more disappointing that one would have thought.
I’m sure that Leonidas did this because they wanted to be able to sell more during Christmas rush hours, when more people buy chocolate. Maybe they even managed to sell a few more boxes, but what does that matter when people leave disappointed? In the long run, they may actually lose customers by doing this, and then the extra business they generated won’t have mattered at all.
Thinking about it I am not even sure how much extra they can have made from this, they were still a lot of people working, who were standing around as they had nothing to do. The lines were long anyway, and I did not find out about the finished boxes until it was my time to order.
From this story I want to convey the message that before you make it easy for yourself, make sure that it does not affect your customers or their experience. This is perhaps even more important when you are in a market with a lot of competition like in the case of Leonidas.
So before you make it easy for you self at least think of the following:
- How much will I gain of it?
- What is the potential risk of the change?
- How does it affect my customers?
- Will this change be good in the long run?
Listed: The pros and cons of online studies
Posted By Annelie Näs on November 5th, 2009
Studying online? Have you ever thought about doing it? Do you know how it works, what the pros and cons are? And most important is it something for you? Hopefully this review about online studies will help you get a better picture. I will not go in to details about everything, but mainly focus on the pros and cons and what the differences are between studying at the university vs. studying online.
If you have read the short bio to the left, you know that I am a business student who takes online classes. I have not only studied online, I have taken classes at the university too, and I have even done a study abroad program. Therefore, I hope to give you a wide picture about what is takes to study online and I will try my best to stay objective.
As the post ended up very long, I wrote a short list and a long list, choice the one that is good for you.
The short version:
Pros
- Freedom
- Place independence
- Better opportunities to combine work & study
- Everyone gets heard in an online discussion
- More individual contact with the teachers
- More time for discussions
- You learn self-discipline
- Convenient for researching
Cons
- No one in the seat to answer your questions
- Less contact with class-mates
- More difficult to get to know new people
- Might not be viewed as an advantage for future employers
- You cannot write in the margin on online material
The long version:
Pros
Freedom
One of the main benefits with online studies is the incredible freedom it gives you. You can study at home, in a coffee shop or in an airplane. It does matter what time you want to study or what time zone you are in classes and material are always available. You can combine your studies with your work or passions etc, without having to spend hours on making your schedules fit. In general how much freedom you want to have is up to you.
BUT: The only issue with this is that it can become too much freedom. Thus you end up getting nothing done, and fail classes because of bad planning.
Place independence
It goes a bit hand in hand with freedom, but I cannot point out enough. If you study online, you can live anywhere. Because you do not have to come to the classes, the classes come comes to you. Thus, if you live in one particular city you can apply of online classes all over the country or the world and just study where you live. While if you study were you live the amount of classes and opportunities are limited to the city you live in. Also, if you end up moving or travelling you do not have to cancel the classes, they come with you.
BUT: It is still not perfect way to take advantage of this opportunity, at least not worldwide because there is not any place where you can search for all online classes yet. Thus, you have to do a lot of searching to find the best classes.
Better opportunities to combine work & study
As a student you usually want an extra income, that extra job that lets you worry a little less about money than you normally do. Money is an issue for people who study online as well, as we still spend a lot of time in the books. However, since you do not have a school schedule to plan work around you have a lot more possibilities to find extra jobs. Most of which can offer you more hours and thus more money.
BUT: It is easy to start prioritizing a day job above school, since it is from the job you get your income. Thus, you have to be careful with taking on too many hours so that the job becomes the main priority.
Everyone is heard in an online discussion
In the normal classroom, there is often little time left for discussions. But the main is not that it is not enough time for discussions, but that there are usually only a few people who participates in the discussion, leaving no room for those who are less forwards. In an online class everyone gets heard trough forum discussions. Many discussions are obligatory and even though a few people usually gets heard more even in these discussion, everyone gets to say what is on their mind, which makes online discussions so much richer.
BUT: As the practice is only done online, people might not become better at being heard in offline discussions.
More individual contact with the teachers
While studying at the university I found that the times spent talking to a teacher was 10 minutes before, after class, or via email, because they have so many lectures and seminars to take care of. When studying online on the other hand I have felt that I get better and personal answers, they do not only answer my question, but have time to explain why, and if possible how I got it wrong. I guess this is because they have less time to perform lectures and more time for individual support, even though there are more students per teacher.
BUT: As you never actually meet your teacher when you study online, it is sometimes difficult to show and explain what you are having trouble with.
More time for discussions
+ As I mentioned before I think the timed spared for discussions at the university are a bit to sparse. Therefore online study forums provide the added benefit of being available 24-hours a day and for the whole course. That really gives time for discussions.
BUT: When you have all the time in the world people seem to lose the ability keep it short, and the discussions might become too long.
You learn self-discipline
If you did not have a lot of self-discipline when you began studying online, you definitely will after you have done it for a while. Since there is no classmates or teachers to push you to turn in a paper or sometimes even a reading schedule it is sometimes difficult to stay disciplined. But if you do not it is only your loss, so eventually you will have to learn.
BUT: Sometimes it takes a failed exam or even a failed course to learn, it is up to you if you can afford that.
Convenient for researching
University studies always mean that you need to do research, for papers, for explanations and even for words. When you study online you practically have your classroom in your computer or on the course website, therefore it is usually easier do combine your research with your other works, as half of it is not in print.
BUT: Many use copy and paste when they research which can be dangerous because you can forget where you took it and therefore copy past stuff that you have not written, and you do not want to do that!
Cons
No one in the seat to answer your questions
If you have trouble understanding something in a offline lecture or seminar you can always lean over and ask the person next to you, or raise your hand and ask the professor. When you study online to can always email a teacher or another student to ask a question, but since you two are not in the moment and instantly know what the other person is talking about, it might not be obvious what you are wondering about. Thus, it can sometimes be difficult to get your real confusion answered.
BUT: As there is no one there, to instantly answer your question, which mean that most of the time you have to figure out all the answers yourself. The benefit though it that this usually means that you learn more.
Less contact with classmates
Contact with your classmates it usually necessary to understand and discuss class work. When you study online this is sometimes a big problem. Sure, there are many forums and everyone have each other’s emails. However, there are rarely non-obligatory discussions about subjects that we write papers about etc. If the classes had been offline this discussion would have happened between classes, at breaks and in the lunchroom, know there are no natural times for discussions, which usually mean that they do not take place at all.
BUT: This is all up to you, if you want to have a discussion you can always be the one to bring up the subject and most likely people will write a few words with their opinions. It might not be as helpful as an offline discussion but it is always something.
More difficult to get to know new people and expand your network
When you study online you have the tendency to not get to know your classmates very well. Even though you might, do group work it does not necessarily mean that people take the time to get to know you. Many meet a lot of future colleges and business partners at the university and use does contacts when they graduate. People who study online seem to forget about part of studying and thus do not take the time to get to know one another.
BUT: Even though you do not expand your network through your schoolwork that does not mean that you will not meet new people. You can become better at networking in other parts of your life and thus continue to expand your network.
Might not be viewed as an advantage for future employers
If this is true or not, I do not know, but some people tend to see an online course as less difficult than an offline course. Why I do not know, but if future employers believe so an online student might have problems to compete in the recruitment process. I surely hope this is not the case, because online studies open up so many possibilities. However, as a prospective student you should consider this, what can you do that will make you more competitive in a fight for a job, in case you have a disadvantage because of your choice of studies?
BUT: Many of those who study online also have good jobs on the side. Hopefully, a future employer will see that the online student has more work experience compared the offline student and consider those when deciding on whom to hire.
You cannot write in the margin on online material
When you study you always have lots to read and never the time to read it more than once. Therefore, I always mark the important things and write small reminders in the margins so I will remember I only have to focus on the important things when it is time to study for a test or choice material for a report. When you study online a lot of the material is digital and even thought there are possibilities to make marks and notes in digital material the schools do not seem to know about these yet.
BUT: As always, there are solutions, even though they might not be what you are used to. For example, you can begin to write a summary of all the important things from each chapter you read or write down page and line of the important things to get back to later. I am sure you can find a solution that works for you.
To study online or not?
There they are, all my pros and cons and the “buts.” I guess this list can become a lot longer and that there are more factors to take into consideration. When I began writing this post, I asked on twitter for thoughts on the subject and a teacher for online classes said this: It requires special engagement. Anyone can choice to study or not study online, but if you do not have the special engagement to do it, it might not be for you.
Thank you @eamcc and @pcambron for your thoughts on twitter.
Please share your comments and experiences on the subject.
Boingo Wireless Follow-Up: Special treatment for Blogging customers?
Posted By Annelie Näs on August 14th, 2009
As I mentioned before I felt fooled by Boingo Wireless service, when I logged on to what was shown to be a “free.wifi.hotspot” and later was charge for the usage. I therefore both blogged about it and wrote to their customer service and wrote a blog post about it. I later found out that the responses you get from the two are very different: Here is the email I got from customer service:
“Annelie
Thanks for contacting Boingo Wireless.
You saw that the wifi was free.
The Boingo software client would have WARNED you of premium charges.
You selected a plan that specifically states you will incur premium charges.
The Charges are valid.
If you need further assistance please call customer support.”
I was very disappointed about their bad customer service, because aren’t the satisfaction of a customer most important? Perhaps they should have been a little more understanding, and then I might have tried their service again. However, only a few hours later I got this comment on my previous blog post
“We came across your blog and noticed you had a bad Boingo experience. We’d like to respond, if you don’t mind, to shed some light on what happened.
This location (with the SSID: Freewifihotspot) is part of the Anacapa nework and offers customers the choice between a free sponsored Wi-Fi session or paid access for their roaming partners. Since the Boingo software automatically detects networks that list Boingo as a roaming partner, it prompted you to connect to Wi-Fi within the paid access option. We agree that the customer experience isn’t optimal. We want you to be a happy Boingo customer, so we hope that a courtesy refund and free connect credit on your account will convince you to try our service again! Please send me an email so that we can adjust your account.
We appreciate your feedback and again, apologize for the unfortunate experience you encountered.
Sincerely,
Lauren Sanyal
Marketing Associate”
Not only did they apologize for the inconvenience; they also said that they were aware of the problem and agreed that the costumer experience was not optimal. Now, this is how I think that you should treat a customer, and because they did; there is a big possibility that I will use their service again.
Of course I wrote back to Ms. Sanyal and told her that I had not been as well understood from the normal customer service and said that I wanted the refund that she offered me. Then she responded:
“Dear Ms. Näs,
Thank you for your reply! As someone who is passionate about quality customer service, I am sorry to hear that you had an unfortunate experience with Customer Care. We appreciate the opportunity to turn your experience around, and I sincerely hope you will give us another try. We have refunded you $39.90 (for the two $19.95 charges you received at The Foodmaker-Linthout) and have added a connect credit to your account. So, the next time you connect in a Boingo hotspot, your Wi-Fi session will be on us!
I appreciate your open feedback on your Boingo experience, and please let me know if you have any further questions.
Best Regards,
Lauren”
I hope that my post here will shine a light on the unfortunate experience I had with customer care and that other customers should be aware of it. I don’t know is the experience I had was a mistake and that it is not Boingo Wireless policy to respond like that.
I want other people to be aware of the problem I had with the service until Boingo Wireless has fixed it, and about the different treatment I got. But I applaud that someone at Boingo Wireless is passionate about quality customer service. Thanks!
Why I will never use Boingo Wireless again!
Posted By Annelie Näs on July 30th, 2009
I while back I was in New York at the Newark airport, I was having some trouble with my bankcard so I needed to log in to internet and check what may be the problem. Since I carried around my laptop I decided to use their paid WiFi-service and installed Boingo Wireless on my computer to access it. The problems was sorted and I continued with the travelling not thinking about it again.
In Brussels, Belgium where I live now I have a coffee shop close to my house that offers a free Wi-Fi connection that I use from time to time as I like to study there. One day the sign for Boingo Wireless came up and it said that I could connect to the free.wifihotspot using Boingo Wireless. Sure I thought, why not?
I think I did so another day as well, but some other times the service did not show so I used the normal way to connect which takes a little bit longer.
Today I checked my bank statement and saw that I had been charged from Boingo, I though it must be a mistake and logged on to check it out. It turns out that they charge 19.95 USD per connection. Even though when you connect it says connect to FREE Wifi-connection.
And this is the reason to why I will never trust them again, and I hope that they won’t trick you with the same scam!
Update:
Do you want to know what happened? Read more here. Also read the comment on this post from one of the Boingo Employees.
279 days to overnight success
Posted By Annelie Näs on April 17th, 2009
I wanted to share and amazing free gift:
11,000 words of free advice on how to create your own success with your own project.
Download the manifesto at
http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/overnight-success/
I really need to read this: But I don’t have time now
Posted By Annelie Näs on April 9th, 2009
I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Perhaps you are doing research for work or you get a tweet with a very interesting link to an article or blog post that you really want to read. But because you are in the middle of something you cannot read it right away. So you put it away for later.
I usually pull up a word document and past interesting links there, especially if when I do research because I am used to find a lot of good interesting content that I want to read but that aren’t related to what I’m working on. In other cases I usually save it as a bookmark that usually get lost in the hundreds of bookmarks for pages I need to go back to more often. I’m sure you have your own ways to handle the issue.
Anyway, tonight about 30 minutes ago I found the perfect solution (from a tweet)
How it Works:
- You sign up very easy with a nickname your email and your password.
- Then you come to a the page above where you are supposed to click on the icons “I need to read this” and “Read an article” to your bookmarks bar.
- Then you can leave the page and go find some interesting articles.
- When you find an interesting articles you just press “I need to read this” in you bookmarks bar and it automatically saves the article to your reading list.
- When every you have time to read an article you just press “Read an article” and it links you directly to the oldest article in your list. (Without passing the main site)
- If you want to read a particular article you just log on to the site and find it in your list.
Pretty amazing tool right? I know that I will be a frequent user!
