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An Acknowledgement Email is a concise, courteous message sent to confirm receipt of an incoming email or document. In professional and transactional contexts, it assures the sender that their correspondence has been received and sets expectations for follow-up actions.

Table Of Contents
  1. Historical Origins
  2. Modern Definition and Importance
  3. Key Components of an Effective Acknowledgement Email
  4. Best Practices and Etiquette
  5. Common Scenarios
  6. Testing and Optimization
  7. SEO and Performance Implications
  8. Moving Forward
  9. Sources and Further Reading:

Historical Origins

The concept of acknowledging communication dates back to formal letter writing, where couriers provided receipts upon delivery. As email emerged in the early 1990s, this practice transitioned to digital correspondence. Early internet service providers even restricted scrolling, making immediate confirmation of receipt a key user interaction—mirroring physical “delivery receipts” from postal services.

Modern Definition and Importance

Today, an Acknowledgement Email serves multiple purposes:

  • Receipt Confirmation: Verifies that the recipient has received and read the sender’s message or attachments.
  • Relationship Building: Demonstrates professionalism, respect for the sender’s time, and attention to detail.
  • Expectation Setting: Indicates when a detailed response or next steps will follow, reducing uncertainty and follow-up queries.

An acknowledgement email is a courteous response confirming receipt and often outlining next steps or timelines.

Key Components of an Effective Acknowledgement Email

  1. Clear Subject Line
    • Use “Re: [Original Subject]” when replying, or “Acknowledgment of [Topic]” for new threads.
  2. Professional Greeting
    • Formal: “Dear [Name],”
    • Informal: “Hi [Name],”
  3. Receipt Statement
    • “Thank you for your email regarding [Topic]. I confirm receipt of your message and attachments.”
  4. Immediate Next Steps
    • “I will review the documents and respond with detailed feedback by [Date].”
  5. Expression of Gratitude
    • “I appreciate you sending this information.”
  6. Polite Closing
    • “Best regards,
      [Your Name]
      [Position]
      [Contact Information]”

Best Practices and Etiquette

  • Promptness: Aim to acknowledge within 24 hours to convey reliability and respect.
  • Brevity and Clarity: Keep the message concise, focusing solely on confirming receipt and stating next steps.
  • Personalization: Tailor your acknowledgment to the context—mention specific documents or requests.
  • Professional Tone: Maintain courteous, respectful language without overly elaborate prose.

Common Scenarios

ScenarioSample Acknowledgement Phrase
Receipt of Important Documents“Thank you for sending the contract. I confirm receipt and will review it by Friday.”
Job Application Submission“I appreciate your application for the Marketing Manager role. I’ve received your materials and will be in touch soon.”
Meeting Request“Thank you for proposing a meeting on July 15. I confirm receipt and will send calendar invite shortly.”
Instruction or Assignment“I acknowledge receipt of the project brief and will begin work immediately.”

Testing and Optimization

  • A/B Testing Subject Lines: Compare “Re: [Topic]” vs. “Acknowledgment of [Topic]” to gauge open rates.
  • Response Time Analysis: Measure sender satisfaction based on average acknowledgment turnaround.
  • Tone and Length Variations: Test concise vs. slightly detailed acknowledgments to optimize sender perception.

SEO and Performance Implications

  • Keyword Placement: Include “Acknowledgement Email” in the subject line and opening sentence for on-page SEO.
  • Load Speed: Ensure minimal graphical elements so confirmations load instantly, supporting Core Web Vitals.
  • User Engagement: Clear acknowledgments can reduce follow-up emails, improving overall communication efficiency.

Moving Forward

An Acknowledgement Email is a fundamental element of effective professional communication. By promptly confirming receipt, setting clear expectations, and maintaining a courteous tone, you foster trust, streamline workflows, and enhance sender satisfaction. Implement best practices, test variations, and optimize for both user experience and SEO to master this essential communication tool.

Sources and Further Reading:

  1. https://in.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/acknowledgement-email-replies
  2. https://timespro.com/blog/mastering-email-etiquette-how-to-acknowledge-emails-effectively\&rut=1b012643d6b947d5d5d60de473c3344032a67fe528d6d3fe62a2da0736c05516
  3. https://ca.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/acknowledging-receipt
  4. https://influno.com/acknowledgement-email/
  5. https://www.business2community.com/email-marketing/how-to-write-acknowledgement-email-replies-with-samples-0506450
  6. https://www.maestrolabs.com/how-to/acknowledgement-email
  7. https://resources.turbify.com/write-acknowledgement-email-replies-samples-150030019/
  8. https://www.dnc.com/blog/crafting-perfect-acknowledgment-email-comprehensive-guide-structure-and-etiquette
  9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkdTAjM0Wws
  10. https://exclaimer.com/email-signature-handbook/14-follow-up-email-template/
  11. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/acknowledging-emails-really-hard-abhishek-shenoy
  12. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/acknowledging-receipt
  13. https://flodesk.com/tips/acknowledgement-email-templates
  14. https://designmodo.com/confirmation-emails/
    https://www.homerun.co/hiring-email-templates/applicant-acknowledgement
  15. https://moosend.com/blog/confirmation-email/
  16. https://www.getmagical.com/blog/how-to-acknowledge-email
  17. https://optinmonster.com/beginners-guide-to-email-marketing/
  18. https://www.founditgulf.com/career-advice/how-to-write-acknowledgment-email-replies/
  19. https://www.salesforce.com/marketing/email/

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“Above the Fold” is a fundamental term in copywriting and web design that refers to the portion of a webpage that is visible to users without scrolling down. This concept has its roots in traditional newspaper publishing but has evolved into one of the most critical elements of modern digital marketing and user experience design.

Table Of Contents
  1. Historical Origins
  2. Digital Evolution
  3. Modern Definition and Importance
  4. Variable Nature of the Digital Fold
  5. Key Elements for Effective Above-the-Fold Design
  6. Common Misconceptions and Modern Realities
  7. SEO and Performance Implications
  8. Industry Applications
  9. Testing and Optimization
  10. Future Considerations
  11. Wrapping Up
  12. Sources and Further Reading

Historical Origins

The term “Above the Fold” originated from the newspaper industry in the early days of print media. Newspapers were traditionally folded in half when displayed on newsstands, making only the top half of the front page visible to potential buyers. Publishers strategically placed the most compelling headlines, stories, and images in this prime real estate to capture attention and drive sales.

This physical limitation created a natural hierarchy where the most important content needed to be positioned “above the fold” – literally above the crease where the newspaper was folded. The concept was so effective that it became a standard practice in editorial design, with the most newsworthy stories and eye-catching imagery reserved for this highly visible area.

Digital Evolution

With the advent of the internet and web design in the 1990s, the term “Above the Fold” was naturally adapted to describe the visible portion of a webpage before users scroll down. The transition wasn’t immediate – in fact, in the late 1980s, AOL (America’s largest internet service provider at the time) didn’t even permit vertical scrolling, which significantly impacted how users interacted with online content.

As screen technology evolved and scrolling became more intuitive, the concept of “Above the Fold” became more complex. Unlike newspapers with their fixed fold line, websites now had to contend with varying screen sizes, resolutions, and device types.

Modern Definition and Importance

In today’s digital landscape, “Above the Fold” refers to the content that is immediately visible when a webpage loads, without requiring any scrolling. This area is considered the most valuable real estate on any website because it represents the user’s first impression and determines whether they’ll engage further with the content.

Research shows that above-the-fold content garners 57% of users’ viewing time during the first few seconds of a page visit. This statistic underscores why this area is so crucial for:

  • First impressions: Users form opinions about a website within seconds of landing on it
  • Attention capture: The initial visible area must grab and hold user attention
  • Conversion optimization: Key calls-to-action and value propositions need immediate visibility
  • Bounce rate reduction: Engaging above-the-fold content can significantly decrease the percentage of users who leave immediately

Variable Nature of the Digital Fold

One of the biggest challenges in modern web design is that the fold is no longer a fixed line. The exact position varies based on:

  • Device type: Desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones all have different screen dimensions
  • Screen resolution: Higher resolutions push the fold further down the page
  • Browser settings: Different browsers and user preferences can affect viewport size
  • Orientation: Mobile devices can be viewed in portrait or landscape mode

Many designers now use 600-700 pixels as a general guideline for above-the-fold content, though this should be adjusted based on analytics data showing the most common screen resolutions used by a site’s audience.

Key Elements for Effective Above-the-Fold Design

Essential Components

Clear Value Proposition: The most important element is a clear, concise statement that communicates what the business does, who it serves, and how it adds value. This should be immediately apparent without requiring interpretation.

Compelling Headlines: Sharp, attention-grabbing headlines that use power words to evoke emotion or curiosity. The headline should be the first thing users notice and should entice them to continue reading.

Strategic Call-to-Action (CTA): Primary action buttons should be prominently displayed above the fold, making it easy for users to take the desired next step.

Supporting Visuals: High-quality images, videos, or graphics that enhance the message and create visual interest. Visuals should support rather than distract from the primary message.

Trust Indicators: Elements like testimonials, certifications, or recognizable brand logos that build credibility.

Content Strategy Best Practices

Killer Offer: Provide an irresistible value proposition that immediately communicates the benefit of engaging with your brand. This could be a special discount, free trial, or exclusive content.

Clarity Over Creativity: While creativity is important, clarity should always take precedence. Users should understand what you offer within seconds of landing on the page.

Mobile Optimization: With mobile traffic continuing to grow, above-the-fold content must be optimized for smaller screens. This means shorter headlines, larger buttons, and streamlined layouts.

Minimal Distractions: Remove unnecessary navigation elements, widgets, or content that might divert attention from the primary message.

Common Misconceptions and Modern Realities

The Scrolling Myth

One persistent myth is that users don’t scroll below the fold. Modern user behavior studies show that most people can and do scroll, especially when the above-the-fold content successfully engages them and indicates more valuable content below.

The Rigidity Trap

Some designers become overly rigid about fitting everything above the fold, leading to cluttered, overwhelming designs. The key is to use above-the-fold space strategically to communicate core messages while encouraging users to explore further.

Device Diversity

The modern reality is that there is no single “fold” – it’s a fluid concept that changes across devices and contexts. Successful designs adapt to this reality by prioritizing content hierarchy rather than trying to fit everything into a predetermined space.

SEO and Performance Implications

Above-the-fold content has significant implications for search engine optimization:

  • Core Web Vitals: Google considers above-the-fold loading speed as part of its ranking algorithm
  • Content Prioritization: Search engines give more weight to content that appears above the fold
  • User Experience Signals: Bounce rate and time on site, both influenced by above-the-fold effectiveness, are important ranking factors

Industry Applications

E-commerce

Online retailers use above-the-fold space to showcase key products, special offers, and clear value propositions. The goal is to immediately communicate why customers should shop with them rather than competitors.

SaaS and Technology

Software companies typically use above-the-fold areas to explain complex products simply, often featuring benefit-focused headlines and free trial offers.

Publishing and Media

Content sites prioritize attention-grabbing headlines and compelling imagery above the fold to encourage article consumption and reduce bounce rates.

Lead Generation

Businesses focused on lead generation use above-the-fold space for lead magnets, contact forms, and clear calls-to-action that drive conversions.

Testing and Optimization

A/B Testing Strategies

Headline Variations: Test different headline approaches to see what resonates most with your audience
CTA Placement: Experiment with button placement, color, and text to optimize conversion rates
Visual Elements: Test different images, videos, or graphics to see what best supports your message

Analytics and Measurement

Heat Mapping: Use tools to understand where users look first and how they interact with above-the-fold content
Scroll Depth Analysis: Track how far users scroll to understand the effectiveness of your above-the-fold strategy
Conversion Tracking: Monitor how above-the-fold changes impact key performance indicators

Future Considerations

As web technology continues to evolve, the concept of “Above the Fold” will likely continue adapting. Emerging considerations include:

  • Voice Interfaces: How above-the-fold principles apply to voice-activated devices
  • Augmented Reality: Spatial design considerations for AR web experiences
  • Artificial Intelligence: Personalized above-the-fold content based on user behavior and preferences
  • Progressive Web Apps: Mobile-first design principles that prioritize speed and engagement

Wrapping Up

“Above the Fold” remains a crucial concept in modern web design and copywriting, despite its evolution from print media origins. While the physical fold has been replaced by a fluid, device-dependent concept, the underlying principle remains the same: the first impression is often the only impression you get.

Successful above-the-fold design balances clarity with engagement, ensuring that users immediately understand your value proposition while feeling motivated to explore further. The key is not to cram everything above the fold, but to strategically use this prime real estate to communicate your core message and guide users toward desired actions.

As digital experiences continue to evolve, the businesses that master above-the-fold optimization will be those that understand their audience deeply, test continuously, and adapt their approach based on real user behavior rather than assumptions.

Sources and Further Reading

  1. https://mailchimp.com/resources/what-is-above-the-fold/
  2. https://inkbotdesign.com/above-the-fold/
  3. https://theonlineadvertisingguide.com/glossary/above-the-fold/
  4. https://www.postaffiliatepro.com/affiliate-marketing-glossary/above-the-fold/
  5. https://emfluence.com/blog/above-the-fold-what-does-it-mean
  6. https://www.shopify.com/in/blog/above-the-fold
  7. https://www.invespcro.com/blog/above-the-fold/
  8. https://hnoc.org/events/history-symposium-2024
  9. https://kiwee.eu/blog/above-the-fold-myth/
  10. https://www.theedigital.com/blog/fold-still-matters
  11. https://www.semrush.com/blog/above-the-fold/
  12. https://www.marketingterms.com/glossary/above-the-fold/
  13. https://knowadays.com/blog/above-the-fold-best-practices-for-website-copywriters/
  14. https://optinmonster.com/11-examples-of-superb-above-the-fold-content/
  15. https://cxl.com/blog/above-the-fold/
  16. https://www.kurlycreative.com/blog/optimise-above-fold-content-homepage
  17. https://inspirationfeed.com/above-the-fold-website-best-practices/
  18. https://smartblogger.com/copywriting-examples/
  19. https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/copywriting-examples
  20. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/above-the-fold
  21. https://www.openpr.com/wiki/above-the-fold
  22. https://www.abtasty.com/blog/above-the-fold/
  23. https://www.geoedge.com/what-is-above-the-fold-atf/
  24. https://sarahwayte.com/copywriting/what-does-above-the-fold-mean/
  25. https://www.shopify.com/blog/above-the-fold
  26. https://www.adquick.com/adtech/atf-above-the-fold
  27. https://www.optimizely.com/optimization-glossary/above-the-fold/
  28. https://www.dynamicyield.com/glossary/fold/
  29. https://thegood.com/insights/above-the-fold/
  30. https://popupsmart.com/blog/top-above-the-fold-examples
  31. https://www.mccc.edu/~virtcoll/softchalk/sc002/sc0022.html
  32. https://startupbros.com/glossary/above-the-fold/
  33. https://www.demandcurve.com/playbooks/above-the-fold

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In the process of switching everything I have over to semi-self-hosted via Cloudron on DigitalOcean, I ran into an issue after setting up Mastodon.

Cloudron says that we can log in to our Mastodon instance with Cloudron OpenID.

Screenshot of the Mastodon button in Cloudron, with a little tooltip that says "Log in with Cloudron OpenID".

When we click on that, it brings us to the normal Mastodon log in page, but with an extra option that says, “Or log in with CLOUDRON”.

The normal Mastodon log in page with an extra option as described.

That’s awesome! It makes logging in so much easier.

But then I got this error:

Mastodon error that says, "Error creating an account for this identity."

Since Mastodon on Cloudron has closed registrations by default, I can’t register a new account without turning open registrations on.

Which I don’t want.

It wouldn’t be an owner account, anyway.

But there’s gotta be a way to manually create a user, right?

Of course! The command line interface (CLI)!

The notes of the install in the Cloudron dashboard imply there’s one already made, but it doesn’t seem that way. When I run…

# /app/code/bin/tootctl accounts modify <username> --role Owner

…to make sure that my main account is, in fact, the owner, it says that the user doesn’t exist.

So, I’ll create one with this:

# /app/code/bin/tootctl accounts create <testusername> --email=<test@cloudron.io> --approve

And then run this again:

# /app/code/bin/tootctl accounts modify <username> --role Owner

All good, right?

Except I need to approve my account via email.

DigitalOcean has Port 25 closed by default, which is the port used for SMTP (email).

You can contact them and try to convince them to open it for you, but they recommend you don’t host your own email.

That’s totally fair; I don’t really want to host my own email.

I’d rather run it through ProtonMail.

I went to set that up, but DNS takes forever. I want my Mastodon and I want it now!

No problem. Mastodon’s CLI can do that, too.

# /app/code/bin/tootctl accounts modify <username> --confirm

I am now on Mastodon.

MARCH 2025 UPDATE:

Self hosting has become too expensive so I have shut my instance down. I will keep this post up for anyone who as the issue and needs a solution.

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Three photos framed in orange. The first is a concert. The second is a group of people having fun at a color run or something. The third is people at a tech conference.
Three photos framed in orange. The first is a concert. The second is a group of people having fun at a color run or something. The third is people at a tech conference.

Especially for: Interior Designer, Real Estate, Home Designers, etc

This is something every town needs, only takes a couple hours per week tops (could be outsourced), and is, what I think, the perfect marketing tool for any designer in an area.

I’m going to hand the whole plan to you, right here.

The idea

A weekly events email newsletter.

I don’t know about you, but I’m frequently finding out about events in my town too late.

The problem is there’s no one place anyone in my area is curating all these cool events.

So, to find out what’s going on in my town, I have to check five to ten different websites.

After sharing this frustration with friends in several different states, they’ve expressed the same problem.

Most towns don’t have someone out there aggregating and curating all of these events into a single location for their neighbors to check.

Going one step beyond remembering to check…what if every Thursday an email came in “What to do this weekend in Palm Beach County”?

Personally, I would find that very useful.

You know what? I’ll go ahead and do it.

Here’s how I’m going to do it quickly without spending any money:

The Plan

I don’t want to spend any money yet because right now we need an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) as POC (Proof Of Concept).

Step 1: Get an Email Service

First, I’m signing up for Kit’s free plan (affiliate link), which will allow me to send emails to up to 10,000 subscribers for free.

I’m calling it What To Do in Palm Beach County and I’m grabbing the free domain option “wtdpbc.kit.com“.

Looks like there’s a 14 day trial for a higher level with more tools. Awesome!

Next, we need people to send to.

Step 2: Get Our First 10-100+ Subscribers

Depending on what you’ve already got going on, we should be able to start with at least 10 subscribers and as many as 100 or more.

I’m starting from scratch with this, so the first thing I’ll do is type up a quick note in my phone (feel free to use this):

Hey [friend], I don’t know about you but I’m frustrated with trying to find stuff to do in the area. I keep finding out about the coolest events too late and I miss them. So, I’ve set up a way to gather them and now I’m curating a list of everything I can find! I’m starting a free weekly email newsletter to share it. Every Thursday morning it will go out with all of the local events I can find for that upcoming weekend. Is that something you would be interested in? Obviously you can unsubscribe if you decide it’s not useful for you.

Then, I’m going to scroll through my phone and send copy that into a text message out to everyone I know in the area.

[Friend] will be changed to whatever their name is, and I will not be mass-texting. This is going out one at a time.

Since my client list is world-wide, I’m only sending this out to local friends and family.

But you should also send this out to any of your past clients in the area.

And, if you already have an email list started, you can send it out to them, too.

  • If they respond with a “yes”, ask for their email address and manually add them to your Kit.com account.
  • If they respond with a “No thanks” just say something like “no problem, let me know if you change your mind.”

I’ve never personally seen this bring in less than 10 people, and I’ve heard from others that it’s brought in as many as 100.

But even if it’s just your mom, that’s cool. Don’t worry about the numbers right now. We just started!

Step 3: Start Aggregating

The hardest part will be gathering all the info.

You could outsource this part pretty easily, but I’m going on a shoe-string budget (my specialty) so I’m doing it myself.

We’re going to start by opening a note on our computer and then we’ll go to Google and start searching.

First I’ll make a list of websites I know have local events listed, such as Meetup, Eventbrite, and in my area we have one I like called Pure Honey. I’ll also add all of the local venues I know of.

Eventbrite has a large amount of the paid events in our area, but it almost never contains the free events. We want to make sure we get a lot of free events in our newsletter.

Next, I’m going to go to Google and start searching these terms, one at a time:

  • events in palm beach county
  • music in palm beach county
  • shows in palm beach county
  • plays in palm beach county
  • concerts in palm beach county

Flip through the results and anything you find promising to check again in the future, add it to your list.

We don’t want to have to do these searches every week; that will take too long.

We want to have the list of places to check ready to go.

Although I do recommend at most once a month, at least once a quarter, take some time to do this search again to see if there is anything new to add to your list.

I’m also going to add Fandango to my list so I can mention new movies coming out.

From here on out, you’ll want to check every site on your list every time you’re composing your weekly email.

PRO TIP: use an RSS Feed reader to speed up your process. I’ll be using the one built in to the Vivaldi browser, but Zapier has a solid list with links to more information about RSS.

Step 4: Newsletter Format

To make sending emails easier, we’re going to use a template.

Kit has lots of starter templates, so if you don’t want to make your own you can just choose one you like. I’m going to grab the template “Dispatch” and modify it using something like the following format:

[Newsletter Name]

Issue # [Number] – [Date]

Welcome Message

Welcome to this week’s edition of [Newsletter Name]! We’re excited to bring you the latest happenings in our local community.

Music Events

Concert: [Event Name]

Date & Time: [Date & Time]
​Location: [Location]
​Description: [Brief description of the event]

Live Band: [Event Name]

Date & Time: [Date & Time]
​Location: [Location]
​Description: [Brief description of the event]

Art & Culture

Art Exhibition: [Event Name]

Date & Time: [Date & Time]
​Location: [Location]
​Description: [Brief description of the event]

Theater Performance: [Event Name]

Date & Time: [Date & Time]
​Location: [Location]
​Description: [Brief description of the event]

Sports & Outdoors

Marathon: [Event Name]

Date & Time: [Date & Time]
​Location: [Location]
​Description: [Brief description of the event]

Community Hike: [Event Name]

Date & Time: [Date & Time]
​Location: [Location]
​Description: [Brief description of the event]

Family & Kids

Story Time: [Event Name]

Date & Time: [Date & Time]
​Location: [Location]
​Description: [Brief description of the event]

Kids Workshop: [Event Name]

Date & Time: [Date & Time]
​Location: [Location]
​Description: [Brief description of the event]

Featured Local Business

[Business Name]

Description: [Brief description of the business]
​Special Offer: [Any special offers or discounts]

Community Spotlight

This week, we’re highlighting [Person/Organization] for their contributions to our community. [Brief description of their work and impact]

Stay Connected

Follow us on social media:

Instagram: [Link]
​BlueSky: [Link]
​Threads: [Link]

Contact Us

Have an event to share or feedback for us? Reach out at [Email Address].​​

Self Promo
​[here’s where I’ll self-promo]

Using this template, every week we only need to fill in the blanks!

Advanced Features

At this point, we’re ready to go. We can start sending emails. But…we’ve got a 14 day trial. Let’s see what that gets us.

Recommendations

In Kit, under the Grow tab, is “Recommendations”.

This is what they call “The Creator Network” and it’s basically free promotion. Actually, you can get paid to promote other newsletters, but that’s out of the scope of this guide.

We’re going to use it to grow our own newsletter for free.

I don’t know how well it will work since we’re focused on a local niche, but if it’s free then why not?

Sign up for the Creator Network and follow their instructions to get started.

Creator Profile

Also under the Grow tab is “Creator Profile.”

This is essentially a small website for your newsletter.

You can do all sorts of things with it, but at the very least what we want is a short description, a way for people to sign up, and a way to view at least the most recent newsletter issue.

This will be found at the `.kit.com` URL you selected earlier. IE mine is https://wtdpbc.kit.com. You can add your own domain name later if you want.

Go ahead and fill that stuff out; they’ve already got you started.

Learning More

There’s a lot more you can do to improve this moving forward, so I highly recommend you check out Kit’s free “Creator University” at https://learn.kit.com.

Aside from that, start sending your weekly email and don’t be scared! You’re ready to launch now. Like everything in life, you will learn more as you do it, so just go ahead and get started and improve over time.

If you followed this guide, send me a link to sign up for your newsletter. I’d love to see it!

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The blog header for "Perspective In Architectural Photography". It contains three photographs framed in orange. The First photograph is of the Rockefeller Center. The second photograph is of a fancy alley way in NYC. The third photograph is of the fireplace in The Campbell, a bar in Grand Central Station.
The blog header for "Perspective In Architectural Photography". It contains three photographs framed in orange. The First photograph is of the Rockefeller Center. The second photograph is of a fancy alley way in NYC. The third photograph is of the fireplace in The Campbell, a bar in Grand Central Station.

Although Jupiter is paradise (#ILiveWhereYouVacation), it can be homogenous.

We don’t have much of a diverse art culture.

  • All of the music is either Country or something like Rock-Reggae (not like The Police but like Sublime).
  • All of the buildings, houses or otherwise, pretty much all look the same.
  • All of the art looks like this:
AI generated "painting" of a beach with a big American flag.
AI generated "painting" of a beach with a big American flag.

Don’t get me wrong: I love both the beach and American Flags.

But living here for my entire life (5 generation South Floridian; my roots go deep), it gets old.

To give you an example of how much we see this stuff:

At our “Arti-Gras” festival of local artists, my wife and I decided to take a drink for every beach-with-a-flag painting we saw and, well, we had to get an Uber home.

We just have a lot of the same, all the time.

So when I decided to take up photography to add to my skills as a local marketer, I got bored really fast.

Naturally, as the son of a designer and an American Institute of Building Design (AIBD) employee, I gravitated towards architectural photography, especially taking photos of houses.

But as I said, they all pretty much look the same around here.

The beach looks the same every time I’m there. No need for more photos of that.

I was refreshed when I went to NYC to visit friends and finally had something different to photograph.

A new problem arose: These buildings are tall and they look very different in photos than when I’m standing there.

Why buildings “lean” in architectural photography

Turns out there’s this thing called “linear perspective” made up of a horizon line and a vanishing point.

Our eyes use this to perceive depth, which is as important to survival now when we’re driving a car as it was when cavemen needed to figure out how far away the mammoth is.

But cameras are made to keep lines straight in a way that allows us to see depth in a two dimensional image.

And that causes perspective convergence, sometimes called keystoning or the keystone effect.

The buildings look like they’re leaning.

Before someone replies with a “well actually…” — I am oversimplifying so that this blog post isn’t too long. If you’d like to learn more about the keystone effect, read this: https://pixelcraft.photo.blog/2020/07/14/why-do-buildings-lean-the-keystone-effect/​

How I solved this problem

The easiest, and probably most professional way to solve this problem is to purchase a tilt-shift lens.

A good one of these tend to run around $3000 on average. The best ones cost $6000 or more.

I don’t have that kind of cash for learning a new skill, so I had to resort to software.

Lucky for me, Adobe Lightroom has a feature for this.

They even have an AI that does it for you but I don’t recommend it.

Here’s an example of what the AI does:

Original

A tall, under construction building in NYC.

AI “Straightened”

AI "straightened" tall, under construction building in NYC.

You can see on the whole left side it’s stretched.

And then on the top left and bottom right, corners are cut due to warping. Stylistically I suppose you could be okay with this but it bothers me. Maybe because I know it’s AI’s fault.

I decided I needed to manually learn how to do it.

Manually straightening “30 Rock”

This photo was taken from just above the ice skating rink at the Rockefeller Center.

I manually straightened this one (and color corrected) to show that improvements can be made without AI.

Original

Photograph of the Rockefeller Center taken from the ground, looking up.

AI “Straightened”

AI "straightened" Photograph of the Rockefeller Center taken from the ground, looking up.

Manually Straightened

Manually straightened Photograph of the Rockefeller Center taken from the ground, looking up.

It’s still not perfect, since the building is so tall and I’m still learning, but it is much better.

Perspective is also important in interior architectural photography

Perspective correction even helps when you’re sitting at the bar and don’t want to stand up to take photos:

Original

Photograph of the fireplace in the NYC bar The Campbell.
Photograph of the loft seating and ceiling in the NYC bar The Campbell.
Photograph of the board and batten ceiling in the NYC bar The Campbell.

Manually Straightened

Manually straightened Photograph of the fireplace in the NYC bar The Campbell.
Manually straightened Photograph of the loft seating and ceiling in the NYC bar The Campbell.
Manually straightened Photograph of the board and batten ceiling in the NYC bar The Campbell.

Those were all taken at The Campbell in Grand Central Station.

After learning all of this, I’m left wondering how many of the photographers the AIBD ARDA entrants (particularly the winners) are using tilt shift lenses, “correcting in post,” or not fixing perspective at all.

P.S. I’m also working on learning food photography:

Photograph of a big Bacon-Lettuce-Tomato-Avocado sandwich.
Photograph of a crock of chicken wings wit a raspberry sauce.

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Learning new skills is important, and I love to do it, but I never really had a structure to it before.

I’ve found some information from Darren Hardy’s Darren Daily’s and I’m going to follow it, and of course blog the whole thing here.

Focusing on one thing per three months (quarter of a year) is doable for me considering I also have a full-time job.

My job does allow me quite a bit of learning time, as well as a budget for purchasing learning materials.

But, the things I want to learn don’t always align with the day job, and I don’t want to use day job time or money to learn things that won’t benefit them.

So, sometimes I will be able to work on them during the work week and other times they will have to be handled outside the hours of “9-5”.

The first part of this structure/framework is…

Darren’s 1-1-3-5-1-30-30-5 Plan

  • Define Number 1 Goal
  • Define Number 1 skill important to achieving Number 1 Goal
  • 1 Skill development plan per quarter
  • Identify the best 5 books on that skill
  • 3 audiobooks or podcasts
  • 1 comprehensive training program
  • 5 days a week, for 30 minutes, read the books (approximately 30 pages)
  • 5 days a week, for 30 minutes, listen to the audio (doing during NET time – no extra time)

Number One Goal

My number one goal for this quarter is to redesign and build a WordPress theme for AIBD.org, NCBDC.com, and ResidentialDesignAwards.com.

The theme needs to be lightweight and cohesive between all three sites, as they are owned by the same brand (AIBD).

Number One Skill

The number one skill is web design, and I can focus on that for one quarter.

Five Books

I’ve picked up a lot of books on this stuff over the years, mostly through Humble Bundle, so this should be easy.

I just need to dig through the 9001 files in my Humble Bundle Archive folder…

…Hmm yeah so there are a lot of books in here. I don’t know if it would disappoint Darren but I won’t be going through and looking up every single one of these to figure out which are the “best five”.

I’m just going to pick five I think look/sound good.

  1. Design for Hackers
  2. The Principles of Beautiful Web Design
  3. Type on Screen: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Developers, and Students
  4. Above the Fold
  5. Don’t Make Me Think

Okay, I did a little research here. A very small amount.

Like I said, I have a lot of books. I’ll get to some of the others eventually. These are the necessary ones for now.

There’s also a sixth book I’m reading now, Real Artists Don’t Starve by Jeff Goins, which is part of re-launching my “No Alarms Club” podcast (more about that in the future).

Three Podcasts

Since web design is a visual art, it’s tough to find podcasts that talk about the design.

There are plenty of web design podcasts but they tend to talk about the business of design.

I settled on these three:

  1. Shop Talk
  2. HTML All The Things
  3. The Subscription Web Design Podcast

One Comprehensive Training Program

Conveniently, there was a Humble Bundle for “Comprehensive UX + Web Design Mastery” via Team Treehouse, so I grabbed that and it will be the course I work through.

I’ll also need to learn WP Theme development, but I have a Udemy course already for that. Plus, I’ll be using Blocs which does a lot of the heavy lifting for me.

Moving Forward

Next, I need to schedule out the hour per day I will spend learning.

Since this is day job related, I can spend time on the clock working on it.

Mornings are usually pretty slow mentally, so I figure that’s the best time for learning.

Then there’s what Darren refers to as your NET – No Extra Time. That’s stuff like washing dishes and other chores, or taking a shower. Perfect for podcasts.

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My dentist’s business doesn’t have a website.

They may have some level of personal presence on social media. They may even talk about dentistry on their social media.

But they don’t have a website.

She told me they have enough business that they don’t need one.

That’s cool; word of mouth is the strongest form of advertising there is.

But what if you don’t have enough business that you don’t need a website?

You could sign up for a social media account, but then you’re beholden to their rules and their longevity.

Imagine if you had built your business site on MySpace, or LiveJournal, or even a Facebook page (Facebook pages get less and less views every year, unless you buy ads).

What if you say the wrong thing and they ban you?

What if you didn’t say the wrong thing but they ban you anyway?

They can do that, you know.

Or maybe they go out of business and disappear completely.

It’s happened.

That’s why I always push anyone who wants a presence on the internet to get their own domain name and start an email list.

And then build out their own website utilizing both.

It’s not as difficult nor expensive as one might think.

It’s my goal to make it easy and affordable for anyone, and I use WordPress as the platform to do that.

My Journey Into WordPress

When I told my wife I wanted to transition into WordPress hosting, management, and development full-time, she wasn’t impressed.

“Does anybody even still use WordPress,” she says to me.

This was just a few weeks ago.

According to WP Beginner’s 2024 market share analysis, WordPress still holds 65% of global Content Management System (CMS) market share.

And 38% of the top 10,000 websites are powered by WordPress, including a few names you might recognize such as Disney, Facebook, and Sony Playstation (coincidentally my preferred gaming platform).

Beyonce and Usain Bolt have been known to use WordPress (imagine Beyonce browsing the WordPress theme directory)!

BuiltWith.com reports (at the time of writing) 34,635,214 live websites are using WordPress, with 3,718,788 just in the USA.

Clearly, WordPress is not dead.

Even though Wix is spending a massive amount on advertising.

WordPress hardly needs it.

Mostly because WordPress is easy and affordable.

For example, Wix starts at $17 per month, and that’s with pretty limited features (“light” marketing suite, no analytics, no eCommerce).

I offer WordPress hosting starting at $10 per month, with full featured marketing, analytics, eCommerce, and other features.

It’s not that Wix is greedy or that I’m just altruistic and cutting profits for the sake of accessibility (although, I do that too).

It’s that Wix requires that kind of payment to run while WordPress does not.

My Beginnings

I started building websites when I was 13 (2001) using Lycos/Angelfire WYSIWYG builder, at 14 I discovered HTML and used that to build websites up until I was 19 (2007).

I loved (and still do) digging into the code and being able to type text that then immediately generates something visual I can share.

I also loved (and still do) writing, and now I had a way to share that more widely.

In high school I honed my HTML and CSS skills building custom LiveJournal and MySpace themes for myself and friends.

I wanted to go to Full Sail College and continue to study web design, but it was way too expensive.

So, I went to community college.

At 19, after a brief/failed stint in the USAF, I was introduced to WordPress.

I was working at a restaurant but in college for web design (I eventually got a degree in game design instead), but I got a side gig putting in data for a coupon website, which happened to be built on WordPress.

At 20, I got hired to work at an SEO company (now Analytic Call Tracking) full time, which used WordPress for all of their sites.

Through my 5+ years working with them, I installed, managed, and modified countless WordPress websites for them and their clients.

Learning And Growing

After Web 1 SEO, I got my degree in game design, but got a job working for a network of substance abuse rehabilitation centers.

Although I was hired as their Internet Marketing Director (which had all sorts of laws and rules to learn), I spent a lot of time managing their websites.

They were all built in WordPress.

When the rehab network sold, I was tasked with my first real WordPress challenge:

Moving sites from one host to the other.

Back then I was unable to find any reliable plugins to do it for me, so I had to do it manually.

It was tough!

Moving a WordPress still is, if you try to do it manually.

I eventually prevailed, but it took entire days and many headaches and calls to the hosting tech support to get it right.

My biggest lesson there was that sometimes there are things worth just hiring an expert to handle for you.

After that, I landed my current day job, Communications Director for the American Institute of Building Design (AIBD).

Working for a not-for-profit professional association has a whole new set of challenges.

As I was being hired, they were also switching to WordPress for their sites, so I was right at home.

My official job description was essentially marketing and public relations, but as time went on I found myself managing more and more aspects of the websites.

The COVID Pandemic happened, we all moved remote, and our dependence on Software as a Service (SaaS) increased.

We signed up for some cool software between 2020 and 2022 that solved a lot of our problems.

Honestly, we were thriving during that time.

But the problem with not having control over these things is that they can disappear.

It’s now 2024 and some got sold and their pricing increased. Some got sold and were swallowed and no longer exist.

I suggested we look for more self-hosted solutions.

We now run the majority of our organization through WordPress.

WordPress isn’t just a CMS anymore.

It’s now also our Association Management Software (AMS), too.

Our previous AMS, which was swallowed up, cost us over $300 per month.

The AMS they wanted us to switch to would cost over $1000 per month.

With Paid Memberships Pro, we are able to manage all of our members and certification for under $500 per year.

And personally, on this website, I run MailPoet which is an email service that runs through WordPress.

I was using ConvertKit (affiliate link) before, which is still the one we use at AIBD and I recommend to to anyone who doesn’t want to run their emails through WordPress.

My first freelance client project, recently, was a big failure, though.

She was the perfect client, but I dropped the ball and learned a hard lesson:

I am not a designer.

Hosting, managing, securing, and some development, I can do.

Design is not something I can do.

I can modify premade themes to do what my clients want, but trying to design something based on her specs was a mistake.

I got the site up and functional, but she ended up hiring another company to redesign her website after my failure.

Hard lesson, but she was very kind about it.

Looking Ahead

Now that I know what I can and can’t do, I’m confident in my abilities as a WordPress host, manager, and developer.

I love digging into the WordPress code (or plugin code) and adapting things to work the way I want them to.

My intentions are to move from my current day job into a full time freelance WordPress hosting, management, and development position.

I will continue to learn and grow in the field, adopting new technologies where I see fit, without compromising security and privacy.

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Someone in a copywriting group I’m in got this question from a potential client:

“If you were a soup, what soup would you be?”

They thought it was a pretty strange question from a potential client, but it’s actually not.

You see, back in the 12th-17th centuries, alchemists had to hide their esoteric knowledge in secret code.

At first, it was because the knowledge was so powerful that they didn’t want too many people to use it.

Imagine if any old bloke could turn lead into gold. It would completely destabilize the economy.

That’s not good business for the alchemists, so they kept their secrets behind symbols and metaphors.

Copywriting is the same.

It’s powerful, and we can’t just let anyone learn it.

Just like the alchemists, most copywriters are charlatans.

They’re not turning lead into gold.

They arrive with lead and hidden gold, and use slight of hand to switch them out so you think they’ve transmuted.

The true copywriters know about soup.

The question “If you were a soup, what soup would you be” was devised by an elite and clandestine guild of copywriters known as the Ink Illuminati to do two things:

  1. Figure out who the real copywriters are (for they will have an answer)
  2. Figure out what type of copywriter they are (as the answer will reveal)

Different soups have different meanings, so your answer is important but it must be knowledgable of the secret code.

Tomato soup means something different than chicken noodle soup means something different than Italian wedding soup.

Only the initiated know what the correct answer for them is.

And if you try to pick one, they’ll know just by your writing if you know what you’re talking about or not.

If you know the secret code or not.

If you can turn lead into gold or you’re just attempting slight of hand.

For your information, I’m a beer cheese soup (made with PBR) and if you’re interested in learning more about copywriting (for your music, or software, or whatever it is you’re working on), hit me up.

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You’ve probably heard of permaculture.

Permanent + Agriculture = PermaCulture

According to Bill Mollison, cofounder of the movement,

“Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems.”

Another thing Bill Mollison said,

“The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children.”

In 1978, I don’t think he was considering the impact computers and the internet would have.

Or electronics in general.

According to a 2021 study by Lancaster University, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) makeup between 2.1% and 3.9% of global emissions.

Techoptimists say increasing efficiency of computers will improve this, but they have been historically wrong.

In is 2023 essay on Frugal Computing, Wim Vanderbauwhede writes:

“We can’t rely on next-generation hardware technologies to save energy: the production of this next generation of devices will create more emissions than any operational gains can offset.”

Permacomputing is one answer to this problem.

Just like permaculture is permanent + agriculture, permacomputing is permanent + computing.

It’s quickly becoming a “buzzword” around both sustainability and communities.

Even kids tech magazines are talking about it.

Let’s take a look at the permaculture ethics and principles:

Ethics:

  1. Care for Earth
  2. Care for People
  3. Reinvest Surplus

Principles:

  1. Observe and Interact with the land.
  2. Connect and integrate the pieces.
  3. Catch and store energy and materials.
  4. Each component performs multiple functions.
  5. Least change for the greatest effect.
  6. Use small-scale, intensive systems.

Permacomputing.net has a page for Principles, which integrates the Ethics as well:

  • Care for life
  • Care for the chips
  • Keep it small
  • Hope for the best, prepare for the worst
  • Keep it flexible
  • Build on solid ground
  • Amplify awareness
  • Expose everything
  • Respond to changes
  • Everything has a place

Last year I had already decided to stop buying new music equipment.

I’m either buying used, repairing/refurbishing broken, or building my own.

Moving forward I’m going to be thinking (and writing) a lot more about permacomputing and how we can all live that life, especially from a musician’s standpoint.

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My favorite website is the Berkshire Hathaway website.

It has nothing to do with the company itself.

I invest in stocks because I feel like I have to if I want to retire.

I actually believe that shareholder value is a myth and that it’s actually bad for our economy.

The reason BerkshireHathaway.com is my favorite website is because it’s built in pure HTML.

It remains largely unchanged since 1997, which is the oldest Wayback Machine goes.

Seriously, go to https://berkshirehathaway.com/ and hit F12 on your keyboard (you might have to hold down the Fn key).

You’ll see your browsers inspector pop out.

You can see that https://berkshirehathaway.com/ doesn’t even have modern HTML 5.

It’s still built with tables.

A single Berkshire Hathaway stock (Class A) is worth half a million dollars.

Their entire stock portfolio is worth about $351 Billion.

That’s $351,000,000,000.

That’s enough money to buy everyone on the planet a hamburger.

Every day.

For a month.

But their website design hasn’t changed in almost 30 years.

Their website technology hasn’t changed in almost 30 years.

That’s awesome.

The site load speed is 116 ms with a page size of 198.1 kb.

For comparison, my website at the time of writing loads in 2.14 seconds with a page size of 2.8 mb.

And I’m not worth anywhere near $351 Billion.

The carbon footprint of BerkshireHathaway.com is rated A+, cleaner than 95% of websites, according to Website Carbon Calculator.

Again, for comparison, mine is a B, above 64% of websites.

This has inspired me to leave WordPress and build my website to be much lighter.

In 2025, GarrettMickley.com will join the SmolWeb.

If I can, I’ll have it running on a solar-powered server, too.

Until then follow my RSS feed or register for my email newsletter: