All posts by Madhavan

Errors 403,404,405,…..

Technology, Web

As I sat to write a blog on 14th August, I could not open or login to this blog. Each time I tried to open the site, I got this message – “403 Forbidden – You don’t have permission to access [directory] on this server“.

I was worried if the site has been hacked by someone, but soon I understood that there was some problem with the server. After some interactions with a friend who is hosting this site, I decided to move the site to another server. Luckily, it worked. I am able to login now and blog. But only problem was that the entire process of shifting to another server took about a week.

Since I am a “web technology illiterate”, I decided to find out what this 403 is and what other numbers do I need to know. As I googled, I was taken to Wikipedia(where else?!!), where there is a good summary of all types of HTTP status codes. To my surprise, I understood that there are 5 groups of codes, and each group starting with the numbers 1 to 5. It was an interesting read, but with no specific insight. If you are interested in knowing more about it, click here.

Next time an error code pops up, I know where to look for an answer.

FOCUS

Books, Leadership, Personal Development, Psychology, ,

This 5 letter word is gaining more and more prominence. It was only a week back that Fred Wilson, the famous VC, blogged about “Focus”and how it led to the success of Steve Jobs.(Read my blog here). Today in LinkedIn, Daniel Goleman, the author of the path-breaking book “Emotional Intelligence”  announced the title of his new book(surprise, surprise) – “Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence“.

He asks “What do a world-class athlete, a star rapper, and a high-performing executive all have in common? Focus – how well they pay attention to what matters most for their performance. Focus is the hidden ingredient in excellence – but a different kind of focus matters for each of these achievers.”He then makes a very relevant point, “In the new normal we are inundated by a sea of distractions. Attention has become a mental ability under siege. We need to get smarter about how to maintain our focus.”  I can relate to this big time. The constant need to refresh the inbox to see if there are new mails, frequent checking of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn prompted by the fear of losing vital insights has an impact on productivity. That is where Daniel Goleman’s book comes into picture. More details about the book are available here or click on the image below.

9780062114860.jpg (429×648)
(Image Credit – Harper Collins Publishers)

Before I finish, I would like to add that his book “Emotional Intelligence” had an extraordinarily positive effect on my thinking. I would highly recommend that you get a copy of it.

Click on the image to read a good review/overview of the book.

emotional-intelligence

3.6 and Twenty Thirteen

Social Media, Technology

Yesterday, I updated my website to the latest WordPress version for the first time in 4 years.I started blogging using WordPress in 2009, but when I started, I had no idea what WordPress was. My friend Sudev Rajah purchased the domain on my behalf and hosted it in his server. He guided me how to login and how to start posting blogs. I did not know anything about WordPress themes or how to install them at that time.

But things changed after I started my own firm. For a start-up, having a very good website and generating traffic and leads through the website is today the easiest and most cost-effective way to build a brand. It was only after I started working on my own company websites with a bunch of young friends that I started to understand this fascinating world of websites. It also helped that I took up the responsibility of revamping the website of a Toastmasters Club that I am part of. (Interestingly, that website went on to win the best website award among 15 odd contestants in an annual conference of a Division.)

Coming back to the updated website, the latest version is 3.6 and is called “Oscar”in honor of the great jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. The theme has also been upgraded to the new “Twenty Thirteen“. The official WordPress blog about the new updates can be found here.

If you are one of those who wanted to have a website for themselves, but never really got around building one, you should try out the new theme. It is quite easy to use. As I was figuring out how best I can use the new theme, I came across some good resource in the form of a YouTube video. Watch it below and you will get a step-by-step advice on how to do it.

IDEAVIRUS

Books, Literature, ,

If you have read my previous posts, you would have noticed that I am a Seth Godin fan. I eagerly wait for his blogs every day, and he never fails to post a blog a day. As I wrote 2 months back, he crossed the landmark of having written 5000 blog posts. In my blog about his blogs, I had mentioned that I had read just one book of his – Purple Cow. Now, I have added two more to my list – “Tribes” and “All Marketers Are Liars“.

Just in case you are wondering how this is all relevant to you, this blog post is about another book he wrote and which is available for free download. The book is called “Ideavirus”and it is about “Viral Marketing”. If you are fascinated by how ideas spread, and how you can benefit from those ideas, click on the image below to download the book.

If you want further motivation to read this book, read this “Unleashing the Ideavirus is claimed to be the most downloaded eBook of all time.- Wikipedia”.

I have started reading it. Have you?

Why is LinkedIn the most popular social media platform for Fortune 500 CEOs?

Social Media, Technology, , , ,

Only 32% of the F500 CEOs have some form of social media presence(LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+). Of these, LinkedIn is not only the most popular(140 CEOs are on LinkedIn), but also added more number of CEOs to its list compared to the previous year. This is based on the annual study by CEO.com and DOMO. The picture below is self-explanatory.

This prompted a very interesting question from a friend and industry colleague – “28% of Fortune 500 CEOs have ‘presence’ on LinkedIn. But, why shun other social media platforms (Tw, FB, G+ etc.)? “

My take on this was “Serious business discussions, professional networking and idea sharing happen mostly in LinkedIn. Facebook is strictly for personal networking(at least for me). Twitter is too noisy, and it is very difficult to cut through the clutter. G+ is promising(and it has been that way for some time), but does not have critical mass.. For me, LinkedIn wins hands down when it comes to work related stuff. Perhaps most CEOs feel the same?”.

The report had this to say about LinkedIn “The way CEOs are using LinkedIn is changing, and that is partl ydue to the “Influencer” program on LinkedIn Today, which has CEOs lining up to be seen as part of this prestigious club of experts. Here are four Fortune 500 CEOs who rank as LinkedIn Influencers – Meg Whitman, Jamie Dimon, Jeff Immelt, John Donahoe. “

Which social media platform do you prefer?

PS: The study can be downloaded here.