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What are the key benefits of a Customer Data Platform (CDP)?

Key benefits of a Customer Data Platform (CDP). In short, it offers the elimination of data silo's and provides consistent messaging, personalized journeys, privacy compliance and real-time decision-making.

Slides on LinkedIn

How to make LinkedIn slides? The short story: save a presentation as PDF and upload as document with a LinkedIn post.

How a CDP is different from CRM, Data Warehouse and DMP

To properly place the CDP in the vast landscape of tech marketing, I briefly list what is NOT a CDP in order to contrast it with similar systems.

Real-time personal experiences for your customer

Customer Data Platforms (CDP) provide a unified, comprehensive view of each customer by collecting data from multiple sources and tracking this data over time. Why and when does your business needs one?

Typeface: to serif or not to serif

If you are starting your website or blog then one of the most important, and perhaps one of the easiest, is which kind of typeface you choose: with serif or without serif (sans-serif).

Is WhatsApp social media?

Seems a simple question with a simple outcome. On a personal level, it is yes or no. But after a coffee table conversation on this topic with a good friend, it turned out that I thought WhatsApp is a connectivity app, and she thought WhatsApp to be a social medium.

Humankind’s greatest social experiment

What happens to the bodies and minds of children who have to deal with a constant barrage of digital stimuli? A review of the film #KidsOnTech.

Mastodon or Twitter after all?

Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter has caused a stir on that channel. What are the alternatives?

Create images from text promptly

Your own AI images promptly and through a text prompt. With Playground AI you create images using Stable Diffusion and DALL-E within no time.

Quick tip: Do screen recording on the iPhone

Quickly recording actions on an iPhone can be very handy. It is also built in by default, but requires some adjustments before you can use it. I briefly outline the steps.

Do dashboards protect against flying mud?

Our view of the world is increasingly shaped by dashboards. A good reason to take a moment to find out the origin of the word, which yielded a remarkable insight.

Lions on the loose in Prague! By Ernest “GPT-3” Hemingway

Can GPT-3, the AI language system, also pick up style cues? The easiest way, of course, is to ask directly and write something in the style of Ernest Hemingway.

Internet tracking: how to put a stop to it

I, like most other internet users, am routinely followed as I browse the internet. There is a sneaky note on my back with who I am. How do you regain some privacy?

Playing with AI-system DALL-E

Get started with DALL-E, the AI-system from OpenAI that composes new images from a daily language sentence.

Review: Influence, Robert Cialdini

The subtitle is The Psychology of Persuasion. A classic book about six ways by which our behaviour can be influenced.

Discover Google Discover

Google Discover is a news service provided by Google. In Android and the Google App. As a blogger, can you optimize for Discover?

Export Kobo highlights and notes to your Mac

How do I get my Kobo highlighted and annotated text exported to the Mac? Here I highlight the most structural method that requires a one-time adjustment.

Made to stick, Chip Heath & Dan Heath

Inspiring and insightful book on why some ideas survive and others die. Here is a quick overview of the main principles and a link to the model.

Gated content and paywalls

Learn about the term "gated content". It is content that is partially visible and for which you make a transaction, with personal data or money, to read or experience it. Let me explain.

Are you digitally literate?

I didn't have a quick answer to the question if I am Digitally Literate, and I started to find out what Digital Literacy means.

The secrets behind the QR Code

The QR code has made great headway lately, mainly due to corona. But it existed for years and led, for the consumer, a dormant existence. How do QR codes work?

Get copyright for web content

Quick guide to make sure you have the proper rights to use content on the web. I also list and explain the most used forms of copyright.

Review: The Founders by Jimmy Soni

Review of the book The Founders by Jimmy Soni. On the origins of PayPal and it's founding team.

Fix Kobo Clara crashes and freezes

Fixes for when Kobo Clara crashes and freezes. Put your frozen e-reader back to life and prevent crashes.

Playing in the interactive sandbox

The intuitive digital experience of an interactive sandbox.

Four professional writer roles for the web

Taking a wider view on writer roles for the web. This article guides you to understand writing roles, or, if you are a leader, to find the right writer for your team.

Free e-books on your Kobo using a computer

How do you put copyright free e-books on the Kobo e-reader using a computer?

Content creation is an art, marketing technology is a craft.

Today I had a great insight into the contents of my blog and actually about my professional life. Content creation is an art, marketing technology is a craft. And together they are hard to beat.

Why choose Wix to manage your valuable content?

Hosting and managing your valuable content is a far-reaching choice. When is Wix an option?

What a silk map learned me about content

I create content for the web, but what is content? I tell a story about a silk map to explain the word and concept of content.

Three ways to enrich your website with top images

Where can I find suitable images for a website, blog, landing page or social media campaign?

Plagiat or copyright infringement

When is copying text plagiat, and when is it an infringement on copyright? I made a rookie mistake and corrected it.

Review: The Cryptopians by Laura Shin

In clear, non-technical language, Laura Shin takes you in her book The Cryptopians through the history of the legendary Ethereum blockchain.

Lead Magnets and privacy law (GDPR)

What are the rules for Lead Magnets within the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)?

Review: The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby

If you are interested in the world of Venture Capital, Start-Ups and Silicon Valley, you simply must read this book. A well-written book with a very thorough foundation.

Clear writing for your webpage

How do I write for a web page? Collect notes and create keywords. The next step is to come up with a working title and find my full recipe in this article.

Writing recipe for your website

Start writing for a website? I use a little trick to get going and get things clear. I brief myself as a copywriter.

English editor correcting the American translator

When automated translation is part of your writing workflow, make sure to align the tools to be consistent in terms of language and spelling variants.

Borrow or buy? Your own Linktree

When you create or produce content, make your own Micro Landing Page instead of using Linktree.

The outside of a web page

Unseen is unloved. This certainly applies to the outside of a web page. But does a web page have an outside? A short introduction to Open Graph.

Shoot your images portrait AND landscape

Tips for producing your own images for a webpage with social media campaign. In short: shoot landscape and portrait.

Pixels per Inch (PPI). Measured as a line or a square?

Pixels per Inch (PPI) are not measured on a surface, but as a line. Learn and play with screen resolutions and physical properties of a screen.

Stay safe online with VPN

VPN is vital for your digital resilience. A tunnel to free information. Find the basics in this article.

Writing for Landing Pages

My experiences writing and creating landing pages for your new customers

From Kobo to Twitter in 18 seconds

Quick iPhone workflow for quoting text on your e-reader and share to Twitter.

Blog writing with Ulysses

A easy to use and fun workflow for writing, translating and publishing blog articles. On Mac and iPhone. I will use paper, Ulysses, LanguageTool, Deepl and Ghost.

Size a stack of images to the same dimensions

A stack of images with a random height and width that all need to go to the same dimensions. And you cannot use CSS cover option. Get out the digital scissors and maginifying glass.

Double security (2FA) within Apple ecosystem

I found out that Apple has integrated Two-Factor Authentication into MacOS and iOS. I explain how 2FA works and how it looks.

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

I took a good look at Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and I explain why I prefer an authenticator app above SMS.

HEIC, a blood type for images

What is .HEIC and why did Apple make it the most difficult file format? Great question and here you find answers and proper workflows to go to more common file types like JPG.

Review: On writing, a memoir of the craft, Stephen King

A valuable classic, part of the canon. Not only an inspiring book, Stephen King wrote a surprising, scary and painful journey.

No code automations

Personal experiences with no code automations, API's and webhooks. How to string together modular application to create a complete and dynamic website.

Building an audience for my blog

Personal journey in building an audience for my blog. SEO, republishing and social media. My latest experiment: Revue.

The Attraction of a Lead Magnet

Attracting online leads for your business or project with a lead magnet.

Electronic paper and digital ink explained

Why are electronic paper and digital ink so gentle to the eyes and why is it that these screen consume so little energy.

Website revamp

I revamped the design of my Ghost Blog and I explain the choices. Also I have gone from self-hosted to Ghost Pro.

Digging into Web3

Web3 is not so much a fact yet but more of a vision and perhaps best explained by looking at what Web1 and Web2 entailed.

Review: Building a story brand, Donald Miller

Insightful book on building a story brand. How to clarify your message, so customers will listen. Short summary and review.

Portrait and landscape images on social media

Avoid images being grossly mutilated when posting portrait or landscape images on social media. Tips for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

Graymail, what is it?

Graymail is (not/almost) spam. Let me explain it briefly, it can help you optimize your marketing reach.

Mint your first Non-Fungible Token (NFT)

NFT’s are pretty overwhelming if you are outside to the crypto crowd. I wrote a practical step by step record of how I minted my first NFT.

Broadcast a live video

Once you have a live production ready, you will want to broadcast it. In order to this you can connect it to a broadcasting service like YouTube, Twitch or Vimeo.

Make Instagram posts from your computer

Instagram posts from the browser: Small step for many, giant leap for photographers with an archive.

Google’s AMP is dead

Google's AMP will be switched off, and I argue that this is a good thing.

From Typewriter to the Matrix

Follow the white rabbit down the hole. From Stephen King's memoir of the craft to computer coding and the Matrix film. A short article on single-spaced-fonts.

Site Search explained

Working with search for a website is fun. It is a bit like collecting mushrooms from the wild. Same three steps: collect, improve, serve. Let me explain with examples.

Web analytics made simple by using Plausible

How I try to ditch Google Analytics for Plausible. Cookie free, simple to use and speedy. And find out why this is harder than you expect.

Three principles of storytelling marketing

Find your theme, create story arc and bring stakes into play.

iOS 15 Visual Look Up: The needle and the haystack

The new iOS15 Visual Lookup finds words in the tiniest of corners. A story on how I searched for SOUL and found it in a little Amsterdam bookstore.

Host your blog on Ghost

If you want to stay independent as a digital producer claiming your online spot is crucial. With Ghost you are in a good position to build, grow and nurture this spot.

Micro content. Small text, big impact.

How small bits of text called micro content explain and support your marketing message.

A Story Tellers tale

How StoryBrand inspired me to professionally use Story Telling.

Writing my first StoryBrand

Locked myself up in the Swiss mountains to focus on writing a StoryBrand for a client. StoryBrand is such a simple and powerful method. Dry facts come to life with shaping a story. The audience and the message become clear and vivid. I am in the flow and will make

Semantic web and the knowledge graph

The semantic web is not to be confused with web3 (as I did). The semantic web is about describing the web of connections between ideas and objects.

Read Medium articles on Kobo

A quick how-to for reading Medium articles on the Kobo Clara ereader. Easier for the eyes and a less noisy device.

Does my business need a Digital Experience Platform (DXP)

DXP is short for Digital Experience Platform. A short introduction into this recent class of software that I describe as a single-vendor MarTech stack.

The function and importance of metadata

When you scale any digital solution you probably will need to work with metadata. Meta means something like higher and beyond and is a rather invisible abstraction. It is information, in the form of data, about other information.

Live video streaming, a primer

One of the big changes, transformations, of the COVID pandemic is the rise of digital video. Not only the consumption of these videos through On Demand platforms like YouTube and Netflix, but also the actual personal production.

Aspect ratio and orientation of images

Quick guide for working with aspect ratio and orientation. Use landscape or portrait for image, video and destination screen.

Resolutions for screens and images

The exact meaning of resolution in a digital context is fuzzy. I will list the different uses of the word and resolve confusion. This article will help you find the sweet spot between sharp looking images and proper file size.

The miracle of your screen

How the three colors of light in your screen can be made visible and how we are able see a large part of our world through this little wonder.

Record and edit a professional screencast

My personal aim was to have a Screencast set up where I can share actions on my screen, comment the actions, both with spoken instructions and visual pointers and distribute it on a modest scale. The secondary requirements were to have clean and pleasant audio and video with a technical

High Dynamic Range (HDR) video

What is High Dynamic Range and how can I put this technology to use for better images and videos.

Record and stream HDR video

I explained how you can view the colourful HDR video's [https://www.hoeijmakers.net/high-dynamic-range-hdr/] on your own screens. But how can you produce an HDR video yourself and make it available to an audience? Record HDR What made me dig into producing HDR  video was a casual remark by

Audio compression and codecs

A primer on Digital Audio for streaming music to a device such as a mobile phone or wireless headphone. For the digital producer and the interested consumer.

Audio ecosystem examples

Examples of audio ecosystems. The interconnected parts and the type of hardware and compression in the flow from digital stream to ear.

Digital audio explained with stacks of paper

Different aspects of Digital Audio explained and demo’ed by using stacks of paper. A useful analogy to make it tangible.

Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI)

There is a lot of fraud and spoofing when it comes to email. How do I know the email you send me is from you and your brand?

Measure Page Speeds with Core Web Vitals

How speedy a page loads looks like a simple question. You clock the time it takes in controlled situation and there you go. The reality is a bit more complex. You want to track and analyse the experience of real users. There are loads of different browsers, network speeds, devices,

Self-hosting a Ghost blog

A summary of how to set up the digital blog system Ghost on Digital Ocean and maximize it using Cloudflare.

Using Squarespace for a year

A relationship of a year is a great time to evaluate. Puppy love is over, is there real love?

Optimize Squarespace for Search Engines

Attract visitors to your Squarespace site by optimizing the content for search engines. Check the basics here.

Create your website within 60 minutes

What are the options if you need a website very quickly? Just say within an hour or so.

For images on the web stick with JPG and PNG. For now.

Want to keep it safe? Just go with the flow and choose JPG or PNG.

Bias in Twitter’s automated cropping

Somewhere on Twitter, an algorithm decides what is deemed striking or important in your oddly sized images. Saliency makes the automated cropping function choose. But can saliency be biased?

WebP and AVIF, the challengers of JPG

Online check to see if your browser supports WebP and AVIF. Concise guide on the new image formats.

Four ways to build your website or blog

This post helps you choose the best path to sustainable online succes. Showing up online is one thing, staying on top another. For you to make the right choice I lay out four different paths.

An explanation and demo of App Clips

App Clips have the potential to shake up the digital and real world. Here is a quick primer on how it works. And you can run it yourself.

Share Kobo e-books with your family

A step-by-step guide on how to share your Kobo e-books with your partner and other family members.

Load free ebooks on a Kobo using the iPhone

Download free ebooks on your iPhone and put them on your Kobo without the need for a computer. A life saver on the road.