November 2003 - Posts
Franklins.Net Sales Weasel Todd Follansbee has come up with what I think is a great read for all developers, and .NET developers in particular. This can be found online at http://www.franklins.net/YourCareer/YourCareer.aspx
Knowing how to get the technology and training you need is an esssential skill
You might question if .NET will help you financially. Here is a recent quote from Computer World:
“… there are certain IT skills for which companies are willing to pay a premium right now. On the technical side, .Net experience is perhaps the hottest skill, with network security experience running a close second”
Below are a set of instructions on how to convince your boss/company about .NET and training. You will find these skills to be helpful in a variety of areas. After all, technical knowledge is only one part of career development in the IT world. You need more then just knowledge and these skills will be of tremendous help. This is all free, as is our support. All you need to do is ask.
Traditionally developers make lousy salesmen so we offer a set of selling skills tailored for developers. We also provide the support tools to get training approved in your company. Here's how to figure out the pieces of the puzzle we offer. They all build upon each other, one piece alone will not get the job done. Most important is the PDF that describes sales methods which are perfect for developers. They are analytical, effective and require no hype or gimmicks. Download and print the PDF first and read it. The other support pieces follow:
- Selling Your Boss is a PDF that will that describes the sales method. Download and print the PDF and read it. When you understand the technique, review the two short PowerPoint slide shows
- Selling .NET is PowerPoint slide show that a developer used to convince a multi-billion dollar comapny to adopt .NET.
- Selling Training is a 3 slide study from that the American Society of Training and Development that compares the bottom lines of companies that support training versus ones that don't. The study makes dollar suggestions for training budgets based upon these successful companies.
- To accompany the training document, we provide a zipped folder of success stories from companies who came to us for .NET Training and went on to develop great .NET Apps (picture yourself in the next batch of success stories!).
- Lastly we recommend a number of .NET Rocks! Shows that: discuss .NET, compare it to other technologies, and review implementations and benefits.
If you spend the hour it takes to learn this content you will be well equipped. Call on us for suggestions and insights. We have much experience in the psychological side of selling to people. You may be surprised at the tools we can give you just over the phone. We won’t make a sales weasel out of you however understanding the psychological triggers of the people in authority can make all the difference.
Besides it’s worth the trouble. If you don’t, sooner or later you’ll be asking us if we want fries with that...
Well, we still don't have our 15MB pipe up and running yet. Leave it to SNET to never once deliver a PVC on time as long as I have been dealing with them.
Anyway, the show we did from the PDC is now online at MSDN's .NET Rocks! Mirror. It's a short one and the sound quality is merely tolerable, but it's the best we could do under the circumstances. Enjoy!
Coming up: Robert Green, Don Box, and Sam Gentile. Good stuff!
Also, we're considering going back to a weekly show, but we need more advertisers to make it worth the effort. I'll keep you posted.
So I decided to take the plunge and get an upgrade for my Dell Laptop. I have an Inspiron 8200 (1.7Ghz P4, 512MB, 60GB). For about 600 bucks I was able to add another 512MB RAM and another 60GB hard drive. Had to say good bye to mister floppy, though (awwww). Anyway, now I'm prepared to take on Virtual PC 2004 and install all my favorite OSses... cept Longhorn alpha of course, seeing as how everyone says it's slower than president W trying to remember the correct grammar for any sentence with more than seven words and no mention of terrorism.
I'm really happy with the Dell. I had an older Insprion that got ripped off. Bad hard drive and audio. This one is much better, and it's a breeze to work with on the road. No problems syncing up to projectors.
I thought I'd bring this one back from the dead. I wrote this as a guest column in VBPJ right before Windows 95 shipped. It seems like you could almost substitute Linux for OS/2 here.
Function ChoseOS$()
If Exist(DOS) Then
Do
DoEvents
Loop Until Not Exist(DOS)
End If
If Trim$(Windows95$) = Windows$ Then
If Val(OS2$) = 0 Then
Do
Run WindowsNT$
If Performance(WindowsNT$) < TOLERABLE Then
NTVersion! = NTVersion! + 1
Else
ChooseOS$ = WindowsNT$
Exit Function
End If
Loop Until NTVersion! > OS2Version!
'-- Fall through to Windows 95
Else
Do
If Shell(OS2$) = MACINTOSH Then
Call FTC()
ChooseOS$ = Windows95$
Exit Function
Else
If Exist(OS2_Device_Drivers) Then
If Exist(OS2_Applications) Then
Dim OS2Apps(3)
For I = 1 To 3
Run OS2Apps(I)
Next
If IBM Is StillInBusiness Then
ChooseOS$ = OS2$
Exit Function
End If
End If
End If
End If
Loop Until Now = Windows95_ReleaseDate
'-- Fall through to Windows 95
End If
End If
If RamRequired(Windows95$) > FreeMemory() Then
Call RamSupplier
Get More_Ram
End If
Run Windows95$
If Not GPF(Windows95$) Then
ChooseOS$ = Window95$
Else
'-- Last resort
Flavor = Int(Rnd(999999) + 1) * 999999
ChooseOS$ = Unix$(Flavor)
End If
End Function
I am just going to bed after a successful day speaking to the Oklahoma City .NET Developer's Group. I actually did two talks. They have a lunchtime talk at a local restaurant. About 50 people came out for that. Then they have an evening meeting, at which there were less than 20 people. I did my “So you THINK you know what an object is” talk, and they loved it.
A couple of the guys took me out for a beer, and I ended up sitting in on drums at some blues bar in Bricktown. We had to get out of there fast or else it would have been an all-nighter, and I have a plane to catch in the morning.
This is a great group! I hope to come back next year.
I had a great time last night on “All Hallow's Eve”. It's a tradition at my house to scare the living crap out of the kids as they approach the house for candy. Last year I didn't do anything for logistical reasons. The year before that, I drew a big pile of leaves in the front lawn and put up a sign that simply said “Angry Leaves”. I hid in the leaf pile and jumped out at opportune moments. The year before that I sat slumped in a chair wearing a big troll mask pretending to be stuffed.
This year I built a remote scarecrow with an exploding balloon head. I got a couple 90W halogen floodlights on stakes and put them in the ground about 3 feet on either side of the scarecrow. Then I took a powered speaker and a wireless microphone receiver, and plugged it into a remote-controlled power switch. I covered the wires and speaker with a small tarp, then I put the scarecrow on top of it. The scarecrow was hung on a photography light stand: Jeans stuffed with a long pillow, a dowel stuck through the top of the stand. Then I put a shirt over that. I taped a big orange balloon (with a goofy face drawn on it) to the top, and attached a model rocket engine ignitor. I put a bucket of candy at his feet, and hid in the bushes with my wireless mic, power remote control, and model rocket launcher.
When kids walked by I flipped the switch and the yard lit up. I then said something like, “hey kid, come'ere.... I got your candy right here” I waited until they were really close before I popped the balloon, sometimes saying, “hey, do my eyes look green to you?” This is fun.
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