Top 5 Things on Jason’s Mind – February 19th, 2015

February 19, 2015 / in General Information, Personal / by Jason Terry

Author: Jason Terry

Okay friends. I had a hard time writing about a single topic this week, so I am going to do another “Top 5 Things on My Mind” post.  I hope one of these gets you thinking, makes you laugh or helps you take action.

1) Companies are spending money on marketing and training again.  That’s a good thing.

We’ve noticed a jump in requests for new websites and LinkedIn training over the past quarter.  Almost double the normal volume.  Thank you to all of you that have sent opportunities our way!

I think that our type of business is an early indicator to where the economy is moving.  The services we offer tie directly to the sales and marketing efforts of the companies we help.  When companies start spend money on those efforts, it usually means the economy is in growth mode.

I’ve talked to quite a few companies lately about this trend and many are seeing the same thing.  More activity than normal.  Are you seeing that in your business?  I hope so!

2) One space or two after a period?

Completely random, I know.. but this has been on my mind for two weeks for some reason.  I stumbled onto an article that opened my eyes to the ongoing debate about how many spaces should be after a period.  One, or two?  I was taught two spaces in typing class in grade school. And there are a lot of people loudly claiming there should only be one space.

I think the most interesting perspective on the argument is that people might be able to tell you are over 40 if you double space.  Dang, that’s me.  I double spaced my sentences up to this point in my blog post.  Ugh.  What do you think?  Do you use one or two spaces?

Do a google search on “one or two spaces” and enjoy reading 70 million results.

3) Flywheel web hosting continues to be awesome.

We host all of our client websites at Flywheel.  There are a bunch of reasons that have made us raving fans, but the most important reason is that their customer support is excellent.  And it doesn’t hurt that we have had 100% uptime for months compared to all the problems we had with our previous web hosting company.

I’ve had two situations helping clients in the past week where a quick email or online chat with their support team solved our problems almost immediately.  You would think all web hosting companies would work like that to be able stay in business, but trust me, they don’t.

If your site is a WordPress powered website, you should be hosting it at Flywheel.  You’ll thank me if you switch.  And no, my link to Flywheel above is not an affiliate link.  We just love those guys and like spreading the word.

4) I’m looking forward to going scuba diving soon.  Are you taking time to recharge?

I love to scuba dive.  It’s like being in outer space without the expense of getting there.  We did the website for Midwest Aquatics at the end of last year and I’ve been diving with Darin and Cari for more than ten years.  Trista and I make it a priority to take vacation time together a few times each year.  It helps us stay out of the “work rut.”  I think it’s incredibly important to take time to recharge.

When was the last time you had a vacation?  Do a “staycation” in Kansas City.  Whatever.  Just take time away from work to breath, enjoy something you love to do, spend time with family and have fun.  I can’t tell you how many people tell me they wish they could go on vacation, but there is too much to do at work.  Or there are too many activities the kids are involved in.  If you haven’t taken a vacation recently, I challenge you to make it happen as soon as possible.

I love Mic’s blog post about the Top 5 Regrets of the Dying.  If you are having trouble taking some time off, it might give you some perspective.

5) Use Google’s free tool to test your site for mobile friendliness

I’ve had quite a few people thank me for mentioning Google’s free tool for testing their website for mobile friendliness.  In case you missed that in my blog post: “Is Your Website Mobile Ready“, here is the link to Google’s free mobile friendly website tester.

A funny story about that… I was at one of our newest website clients this week.  We tested their existing site with Google’s test and the result was “Not Mobile Friendly.”  I hadn’t tested their new site that we are building yet, and they asked to see the test on the new site.  Big smiles when it came back with “Awesome – This page is mobile friendly.”

Have a great weekend.  And yes, there were two more spaces after that last period.