Posts Tagged ‘Business Strategy’

If Your Life Were a Quote – What Would It Be?

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

thumbsThis is such a fascinating question. There are so many good quotes. My favorite quote this year has been “It’s All Good!”

Now that doesn’t mean that nothing adverse has happened. We’ve certainly had a most unsettling year that has caused concern in all parts of the world. What the quote means to me is that I’ll make the best of what happens. I’ll learn from mistakes and get through the hard times. I also like the phrase, “Learn and Move On”. Having a positive attitude and outlook on life is the way I choose to live. It sure beats getting caught up in negativity, drama and worry.

You can make things happen! If you believe and focus all your intentions on what you want to happen – it will happen. It may not be in the timeframe YOU want (like right now!) but it will happen. Whatever your thoughts and dreams and goals are – continue to believe. Doubtful thoughts and negativity will delay the process.

At the end of each year, I write down the lessons I’ve learned. This helps me remember what has happened and prepare for the year ahead. I like to do this rather than making New Year’s resolutions.  I also review my Life List (things I want to do sometime in my life). It feels good to reflect, review and look forward to exciting things in the year ahead. “It’s All Good!”

With this I close and wish you ALL GOOD THINGS in the coming year.

Online Goals & Expectations

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

marketingPretend you are opening a store in a busy shopping mall. As a savvy business owner you will budget for the monthly rent, utilities, security, signage, advertising, marketing, fixtures and inventory. Will you expect to begin making money the minute your doors are open for business?

As a website owner, let’s use the retail store analogy – you invest money in the building of the website or the retail storefront. Next, you open your doors for business or your website goes “live”. The thinking is that once the website is built, the search engines should find you immediately and the cash register will start ringing. Is this realistic? Why are online expectations so drastically unrealistic from offline expectations?

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Organizing with Google Calendar

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

There are so many different methods to organize our busy lives. Some people like to use old-fashioned paper calendars, others like iCal, Blackberry, iPhone or Outlook. I decided to spend two hours with Google Calendar and share my experience.

calendar_logoIt’s pretty easy and user-friendly. Since I already use Gmail – I installed the Google app so a mini calendar shows up on the left sidebar below my labels. The Quick Add feature allows you to type in something like: 3pm 7/19 Meeting with Client Name, location, phone.  It can be typed in any order that makes sense to you. Then Google Calendar automatically places it on that date with a default of 1 hour. If I type in the time frame like 3-5 pm then it blocks out that time on the calendar. I put everything on one calendar – both business and personal. There is the option of creating several calendars though and that may make sense for your activities.

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Top Ten List for Hiring a Top Web Professional

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

1. Big Red Flag. No website? If the person you are planning to hire doesn’t have a site of his or her own, this is a big red flag. How will they know what works or doesn’t work if they haven’t tested it on their own site? If they are a professional in business they will have a website. Their website is a true reflection of them – study it carefully looking for anything that may indicate “this company looks great!” to “I have some doubts in working with this company”.

listen2. Listen to me. Can you hear me now? Are they really listening to what you want/need? OR immediately writing out a prescription like a bad doctor based upon what they think you need. If it is the latter – run-Forest-run.

3. Experience. How many years of experience does this person have? How will this benefit you?

4. Resources. How many resources does this person utilize? If they work only with one program or have one resource and derive all information/facts from that one source – probably not in your best interest to hire someone with such limited resources.

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Talk to Me

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

How do you like to communicate with potential clients who visit your website?

If you prefer email, here are a few tips:

  • Include your email address more than once on your Home Page and several times throughout your site.
  • Consider having your email address in a larger font to make it stand out.
  • Ask your web person to use an anti-harvesting script on the email address so you won’t get spammed.
  • Forget the cute graphic envelopes or postal boxes that say, “Email me”. When the page is printed, the recipient won’t know what your email address is.
  • Check your inbox several times a day and respond promptly to all inquiries. If a potential client sends you an email they will expect an immediate response – no later than 24 hours. The quicker you respond, the more likely you are to get the sale. (more…)

Diversify with Multiple Profit Centers

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

wheatI grew up on a farm in Nebraska and my dad was a diversified farmer. This meant we had cows, pigs, chickens and a variety of crops. With this type of diversity we were always insured of multiple profit centers. If it was a bad year for soybeans then the price of corn may have been higher and carried us through. If hail wiped out an entire crop then we had the beef or pork to rely on.

Every business owner is similar to a farmer. Here are my top 3 analogies.

  1. Are you putting all your eggs in one basket? In other words, relying on one big client or one method of marketing for all your business income? This is very risky. What if it’s a bad year for soybeans?
  2. Are you giving away the farm? Do you continually give away free information and unpaid consulting time to help others? This practice cuts into your time and directly impacts the flow of income. People who take advantage of you this way are not ultimately whom you want to work with.
  3. Are you trying to do everything yourself? This is the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make. They try to feed all the chickens, plant the corn, bale the hay, do the books, work on the website and still spend quality time with the family. It’s impossible to do it all WELL and it’s exhausting. This is the best recipe for burnout and failure that I know of. We can only “do-it-ourselves” with the help from others.

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