I sent an email newsletter to my clients and colleagues today about my services this year. Here is part of it for those who missed out but are interested.
Writing, web design, training
Nine years ago I set up First Bite of the Apple to provide Mac support and training. Every year my work changes a little and for the last 18 months I’ve been increasing the amount of writing I do. You can read my regular column and other contributions in New Zealand’s Macguide magazine. Then there are my Blog and the weekly MacTips, as well as my Learning Centre articles. In addition I’ve recently had several substantial contracts for plain language editing and writing for the web.
The web design work is increasing too, and includes regular maintenance for several clients.
The adult education classes I’ve been teaching off and on for 25 years have occupied many hours, but last year I decided to stop teaching community classes as I wanted my evenings and Saturdays back.
In a few weeks time I turn 50 and this has been an appropriate time for me to consider the direction for the next few years of my life.
I want to provide very high quality writing, web design and training services. In order to be effective in those endeavours I need to focus on them more clearly, and that means dropping the computer support work I’ve been doing.
Services
From now on I will provide training but I won’t be offering general computer support or a telephone Helpdesk. That means that I’ll teach you how to use Word, for example, but if you could print from Word yesterday and today it’s not working then you should seek help from one of the places I’ve listed above. Similarly, if your computer crashes, you can’t eject a CD, the Internet’s not working or you’re just having a problem with your Mac you should look to a mailing list, web forum or your dealer for help. I’ve listed half a dozen useful addresses below.
Good sources of Mac help
If you’re having trouble with your Mac where can you turn? There are many places [for New Zealanders] to find help:
- The MacTips Archive.
- NZMacs mailing list.
- NZMac.com forums.
- Wellington Macintosh Society.
- Your local Mac dealer.
- Apple NZ.
Note that if you buy Applecare within 12 months of buying your Mac it entitles you to three years of phone support and repairs.
Training
I can train you to use your Mac (in general), advise on purchase, backups and protection against viruses and other nasties, such as identity theft, as well as on specific software such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, AppleWorks, the freshly announced iWork, the iLife suite (iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes, iDVD), Keynote, Photoshop (also Elements and ImageReady). I can advise and train you on many other applications as well (just ask). I can teach you how to use your digital camera, your scanner, your iPod, a wireless network and maybe even your cellphone.
When it comes to the Internet, I can train and advise you on email (including mailing lists, newsletters and dealing with spam), making and using web pages, RSS feeds, FTP, and how to ensure that the email you send or the web page you make meet high standards of credibility and good citizenship.
