HELP HELP PLEASE HELP
2012 BIG Jumpstart Back2Basics Blog Challenge
First and foremost, thanks to everyone who participated in the Challenge. I am so delighted that all the work I did to prepare the Challenge provided value to so many people.
Every minute I spent planning was completely worth it to me. The feedback so far has been uniformly focused on the benefit each person received by digging deeper into the core of ActiveRain - the Community Guidelines, the Weltanschauung and ActiveRain University.
The Challenge instruction post got lost at AR!
BooHoo? No - no problem ...
Just click the link above to see it.
So what about all that great information leads to HELP HELP PLEASE HELP? The reporting and the Tally Sheet required for verification of each person's posts. Once I verify the entries - YES ---- 100+ people times 21 = 2100+ entries to check ---- Then I send a list to Kerrie and her staff at AR and they award the points. BTW - Probably after Valentine's Day before my list will be sent in to her.
OK- but let's get to the HELP HELP PLEASE HELP! Only three of the first group of fifteen Tally Sheets submitted were complete. I am sending them back to each person to be done again. The Challenge includes submission of an accurate Tally Sheet. I need each person to be responsible for her/his Tally Sheet being accurate and I will be responsible for checking each one that is complete. UPDATE - Several of those who finished their Tally Sheets have offered to help with the VERIFICATION - Isn't AR GREAT!!
Bottom line - If you follow the further instructions here in this post and still have trouble, several AR members have offered to assist. Just email with your questions. That's what COMMUNITY is all about, isn't it?
Thanks to my training at ARUniversity, lots of technical details are easier for me now. The first Tally Sheet, available as a link in the Challenge announcement, was a Google document. Some people stated that they didn't know how to use Google documents and asked for a different format. Since the internal AR group communication link didn't work, (that's another story ...), I used my new Contact Management software. I created a group by putting a check mark next to all 100+ names. Then I entered the emails that I could find into my new contact manager system. I sent an email from the amazing Contact Manager program to the entire group with the Revised Tally Sheet I had created in Microsoft Excel. (BTW, I love this Contact Manager program because it is so easy to use, they will enter your data for you and the Support is so pleasant whenever you call. Write to me if you want to know more about the program.)
Not everyone received the email for several reasons. I didn't have emails for about 26 people. I took the time from my Office Manager's schedule to get her to write to each of them via AR. You know that involves using the dreaded CAPTCHA over and over. She barely spoke to me for a day after that - LOL! Only six people responded.
So then I made a personal phone call to the remaining 19 to ask for their emails. I got 12 and left messages for the other seven. I am sure you understand the time this is taking - look up each name and number, call, leave a message or listen to the person explain to me why he/she has so much going on in his/her life that he/she couldn't get around to responding. OK ... everyone who has had the privilege of sponsoring a Challenge has heard all the above before!
So - HELP HELP PLEASE HELP. Review the info below. If it isn't clear enough, please call ActiveRain with your questions. My explanations may not be the work-around you would prefer to use.
Send the Tally Sheet to yourself to see if it still has links after you finish it. If all the links are there and all the information is complete, then send it to the Challenge Group email to be verified for the 2012 Challenge!!! The majority of these first Tally Sheets came without links.
The biggest issue seems to be how to copy links- if so many people cannot get it right the first time, it is the signal that another skill set needs to be shared! Maybe a brief "LINK CHALLENGE"?
The second issue seems to be how to download an excel document so it may be completed on one's own computer. (We'll deal with Google doc's another time ...)
The third issue is just normal carelessness in reading instructions. We all do that from time to time. We all are too busy and this Challenge was a deeper plunge - each post could be as short as 50 words but each of the topics required your focus and skills - didn't they? The deal is - for this Challenge - if you don't fill out the personal info part at top - at the least your point delivery will be delayed and you don't get your points because I cannot verify points for a person whose name is not there.
My suggestion is to deal with the third issue first:
Personal Information FIRST!
1. Your name as you prefer it to be used.
2. Your telephone number if any questions arise.
3. Your email address - not via AR - your outside email address.
4. Your ActiveRain User name or "handle".
NOTE: Points are awarded by your ActiveRain User Name or "handle"Miss #4 and even if I verify your posts - your points are at risk!
SECOND, download the form before you fill it out and cannot save allyour hard work.
1. Choose option "Download" at the Attachment link.
2. Document arrives in "Read Only".
3. Go to Excel.
4. Click on "Save As".
5. Choose where you want to save it.
6. Name the document as you choose it.
7. Click "SAVE".
8. Now it is your document an you may do whatever you want with it.
THIRD, get the links from the titles/abstracts of your posts from your monthly list on your blog page in the right hand column. Just go and Copy/Paste the month of January - starting with Jan. 9th, of course. For example- here are two from Rebecca Gaujot's (W.VA) list of her past posts. - Still Challenged with SEO - Here's Some Links to Help You! - 01/28/12 07:21 PM
Do you feel overburden with this SEO? Still have a lot to learn about SEO Since the 2012 BIG Jumpstart Back to Basics Blog Challenge, there have been some great posts written on SEO. So, instead of trying to tell you how I have increased …
(27 comments)Do You Know What to do With Spam Comments? - 01/27/12 02:02 AM
For the 2012 Jumpstart Back to Basics Blog Challenge, I want to briefly discuss the fourth bullet in the Active Rain Community Guidelines:
Do not advertise yourself or your services in …
(40 comments)Once you have copied the list of titles/abstracts you want, from all your posts that were written after January 9th when the Challenge started:
1. Select the link you want from the list of your posts.
2. Highlight and copy the link.
3. Go to Tally Sheet category where you want to put that link.
4. Click into the cell and paste the link in that cell.
5. Enter the date - in any format you choose.
6. Click SAVE. (I SAVE continuously - I hate doing things over again!!!)
You may practice with Rebecca's titles/links above if you would like.
And that is why I am asking HELP HELP PLEASE HELP! I cannot finish the last step --- verifying for the points --- without your focus on your individual Tally Sheet completion.
Again - thanks so much for being in the Challenge.
Have a happy day -
Lynn
