Archive for September, 2009
Studying from Home? Think Again.
Sep 18th
I have been requested to do 2 more reviews for KAlliance as it has definitely helped them gain a new set of clients and has helped raise awareness about the services they offer. KAlliance is a company that offers computer training courses but they aren’t just any kind of computer training courses, these programs are certified and can definitely help improve your resume.
CBT or Computer Based Training is what KAlliance is known for along with online computer videos. They offer a variety of training programs with several different methods of being about to derive that information – such as internet, dvd, cd’s or online based learning. Their variety of training programs help you get certified, which is crucial in this industry. To be verified and trusted is a key in landing the new job or a promotion.
Companies and people want to know that you have the credentials and KAlliance can help you get just that. The best part about programs like this is what you can work on your own time at your own pace. I don’t know how many times I have just felt like if I sit through an actual scheduled class, that I might fall asleep or I won’t be able to pay attention. Well, with these online based programs, everything becomes so much easier because you don’t have to worry about going somewhere at a certain time, you can just get online from the comfort of your home, login and begin learning. Its just that simple.
So, I’m sure that you all have heard plenty about Kalliance and I want to know what your thoughts are on their programs and in the basic concept of learning online. I think it works out perfect for me when I take online classes at school but I wonder how certification classes are and the way Kalliance has it set up, I’m sure that they’re just a great way to absorb information and learn from the comfort of your home.
TaskCity – Freelance Platform Review
Sep 18th
A few days ago I mentioned how I was working on the Top 100 Bloggers on Twitter List and I said how I wanted to have a freelancer work on such a design. Well, immediately after writing the post, I was contacted by TaskCity to write a review about what they do. Interestingly enough, task city is a platform that will help you oursource your projects and management services.
Essentially, you can find knowledgeable and skilled professionals to help you complete your projects without having to pay the higher cost associated with doing so. It doesn’t really matter how far along you are in the thought process or even if you aren’t even sure you want to develop something, they have the solutions and the people willing to help you.
Something interesting about TaskCity is that, unlike other online freelance platforms, they offer several offline services as well. They have experts that can analyze your requirements and turn it into a project. They have free project management services provided by TaskCity experts to make sure that your project is being performed to the best of its ability. They even have a variety of other tools to insure that your project is on track and it even allows you to analyze the project on a step-by-step basis.
I did happen to browse over to the TaskCity website and noticed over 600 projects that were being bid on. Aside from that, if you are a programmer, you can even go through the TaskCity screening process in order to become an expert. Aside from that, if you are looking to have a project worked on, you can find experts, help within your city and even look up similar projects through the Find Work section.
The website is very well designed and the layout made it really easy for me to browse through the sections that I believed were relevant to me. From what I noticed, the hot items were iPhone apps that everyone seems to be developing these days. Aside from that, the project management tools include everything from a friendly user interface,t o charts and a milestone function to help direct your project step-by-step. Also, to note, TaskCity is an accredited BBB company, is VeriSign certified so it is secure and they accept Paypal.
Overall, its a great concept and I really think that TaskCity is doing a good job. I like the site design and it looks well established. I think that if you have some projects, then do give them a try. I already have someone committed to my project otherwise I would give it a shot myself, but maybe some other time!
How You Can Learn Online
Sep 18th
Something that I have learned through the internet is that no matter where you are, you can learn something from somebody. What I mean is, it doesn’t matter if you are in a different country, or speak a different language, all it takes is communication.
Even at my school, there are professors who live in different cities who teach a class known as “distance education” classes. The idea is to be able to retrieve information from such classes without the need of actually attending it physically. I have been talking about KAlliance quite a bit lately and their new distance learning programs are able to help you learn from your home or kitchen or wherever you may be.
Like I have been talking about recently, its really important to make yourself shine when it comes to the job market and the one way you can do this is by improving yourself by taking classes and things of that nature. To help you, here is a list I have come up with, to get the most out of things you can learn through an online medium.
1) Pay close attention to details – If someone mentions something to you that you feel is important, write it down and keep it with you for further reference.
2) Ask questions – Most times, if you’re having an issue, be sure to ask questions. Even if someone is available online, most times, they will be very willing to help you. This is also true of KAlliance programs where the instructor and assistants are available to help you through the course.
3) Be Motivated – Sometimes with online courses, it is harder to stay motivated. You don’t have a set meeting time and you just feel like if you are able to do something else, and put off the learning for later, then why not? But, you have to stay motivated.
I hope that this post has helped you learn a few things about online courses. As redundant or useless they may seem, the tough economy only means that you have to improve yourself and showcase your abilities in order to out-do the competition and this means that courses such as the KAlliance courses are the ones you need to take to help you succeed.
This week at Enkay Blog
Sep 17th
So I have been somewhat busy lately with school but I have tried to be active through Twitter and such and have done pretty well in terms of gaining new followers and even finding a lot more new people to follow. Today, I actually was able to put together a sample list of the Top Bloggers on Twitter. As I mentioned last week, you can follow @top100bloggers and I will add you to the list. The problem is that there were a lot of non-bloggers and advertisers that joined in so I had to do a little bit of cleaning up to come up with this sample.
Top 15 Bloggers on Twitter
The sample list is Top 15 bloggers on Twitter and you can see it in action below. Also, something to note is that the list is sortable and so you can display the results by the column you wish to see. I can tell you that your activity level (number of tweets) makes a big difference. Along with that the number of followers you have also makes a big difference. I didn’t weigh the number of people you follow as heavily because sometimes that can skew results. The idea is that if you’re popular enough, a lot of people will follow you instead of you following them. This can work against you and for you but I also had an algorithm to calculate the ratio of twitter followers to people you follow to generate the list below. Let me know what you think:
| Rank | Twitter Username | Blog | Following | Followers | Tweets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | @problogger | ProBlogger | 43187 | 77474 | 14209 |
| 2 | @bluefur | Blue Fur | 52548 | 51167 | 14421 |
| 3 | @shoemoney | ShoeMoney | 73 | 76790 | 6174 |
| 4 | @johnchow | John Chow | 116 | 47842 | 7805 |
| 5 | @bloggingTips | Blogging Tips | 11986 | 14155 | 429 |
| 6 | @smartbloggerz | Smart Bloggerz | 8037 | 9940 | 982 |
| 7 | @StephenFung | StephenFung | 3033 | 3046 | 7855 |
| 8 | @iphoneincanada | iPhone in Canada | 1178 | 2974 | 7159 |
| 9 | @clickbooth | Click Booth | 2571 | 4817 | 714 |
| 10 | @syedbalkhi | Balkhis | 311 | 1793 | 3170 |
| 11 | @marketleverage | Market Leverage | 1182 | 2589 | 1177 |
| 12 | @mldina | Market Leverage | 466 | 1142 | 3088 |
| 13 | @gerri50 | Ninety Nine Ways | 781 | 740 | 309 |
| 14 | @thenetfool | The Net Fool | 648 | 425 | 104 |
| 15 | @enkayblog | Enkay Blog | 466 | 356 | 166 |
How Can You Make The List?
Its pretty easy, all you have to do is follow @top100bloggers and I will go through and personally verify which users are actual bloggers and which ones aren’t. Also, hopefully sometime this week I will start following only those people who are bloggers so it will help make the generation of the list better. Right now, I’m having a freelance coder try and code me a script to be able to do this through a back-end database so we will see how that goes.
Finding Cheap WebHosting
Right now I use 1and1.com and I am very satisfied but lately I’ve been looking to find a webhost that will allow me to just the space to just test scripts and blog themes because sometimes what happens is that I do not want to have my databases inter-mingled during the process. This has happened once before where my WordPress database and my Test Blog that was also run by WordPress got mixed up and created havoc. I looked through a lot of websites and although 4CheapWebHosting was helpful, I still am on the quest to find a webhost willing to provide me with some space. The good thing is though, that I don’t need it to be a top-level domain name so if you have any suggestions, do let me know.
I Want To Host A Contest
My past contests have been great and I have been wanting to host a contest. I already have some things in mind so if you would like to host a contest on the blog that incorporates Twitter or even one that doesn’t incorporate Twitter, do let me know. If nothing comes up, then I will sponsor the prizes myself but as most bloggers would say, that would be the last resort!
Hope everyone is having a good week so far. Tomorrow is Friday! so, TGIF! Follow me on Twitter @enkayblog if you aren’t already and I hope to catch you around with my next post!
Getting Back on Track
Sep 11th
As many of you know, I have been out of blogging for several months now and getting back is hard but I think I have been doing good so far. There are a few things that I am currently working on so I figured I would give you guys an update as to what I am working on.
Top 100 Female Blogger List
I have started to go through my emails today and saving the URL’s for all the submissions and nominations that I have received. To be honest, there are probably going to be 300 total websites that I have so far for the list which is a huge increase as initially I only had 50 or so bloggers featured. I have lots and lots of emails to go through, approximately 600 or so which means that the list could be much larger than I am expecting so far.
To facilitate with the whole process, I have started a Twitter page @top100femblog so if you want to be on the list, just send me a tweet at @top100femblog with your URL and you will be added. You can also send an email to top100femalebloggers [at] gmail [dot] com. Twitter will definitely help me keep track of new submissions much more effectively.
Top 100 Twitter Blogger List
Yes, thats right. This is a whole new list which will feature the Top 100 Bloggers on Twitter. The list will be based on an algorithm that I am still figuring out at the moment. So, in the mean time, I am looking for bloggers who are willing to be featured on the list. If you’re interested, you can email top100bloggers [at] gmail [dot] com or follow @top100bloggers and send me a tweet and I will add you. Its that simple!
New Table Format
I have added a new table format which was previously powered by a WordPress 2.1 compatible plug-in so I wasn’t able to integrate it but now there is a new version that will allow me to integrate it and I already have the plug-in ready to go. So stay tuned for sneak peaks at this new table plugin and for more info.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend and let me know your thoughts! Also, if you want to just leave me a comment here, then you can do that as well and I will add you!
