How do you measure success?

How about your website’s success?

Drawing a blank? Then maybe it’s time to figure out your website’s “finish line.”  I’d be willing to bet that you had some sort of a goal in mind when you first decided to build a website.  What were you trying to do?

• Make a sale online
• Grow your mailing list
• Initiate contact with potential clients
• Share critical information with the community
• Drive business to a brick and mortar location

Each of these suggests a different ‘finish line,’ and if you aren’t watching it you’ll never know how useful your website has been.  No time is better than …

Looking for something to write?  Start by describing a scene from your ideal world.  Now tell me how your business or after-hours activities will bring it about.  Is there something that I, the reader can do to help?

If you knew of a way to protect your business from economic pressures, would you use it?
Cutting expenses is an obvious tool, but the real long-term solution is to focus on increasing profit. So let’s get specific.

For every business, there are five key areas that grow profits. A 5-10% increase in each of these areas can increase revenue by about 40% and profits by over 50%. The five areas are: increasing prospects, turning more prospects into customers, increasing your margins, encouraging customers to return more often and buy more when they do.
“Turning prospects into customers” is a significant goal
“Prospects” are …

I highly recommend to you Steven Pressfield’s short but powerful book, The War of Art. You could read in an hour to two, but don’t. Savor it. Better yet, ponder it. Let it sink in.

Pressfield begins by noting Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.

He is speaking of creativity, since he himself is a writer, he often using writing as the example. But he does not exclude the seemingly non-creative. He also considers the plumbing supply store, because there is no reason the …

We’ve all been to websites that offend our senses. It might be the copy, the color, too much flashing or that “something” you just can’t put your mouse on that sends you packing. In working with businesses in all industries and sizes the one common denominator is they all have a website. Unfortunately, not all of them are good and some are flat out annoying. Here are a few easy thought processes you can work through to help provide your visitors with a positive visit to your online office.
Be Clear About It’s Goal
I’m stupefied by the number of clients that …

“Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.”

There is a lot we can take away from the first Fundamental Principle of Olympism found within the Olympic Charter.

Yes, the Olympics are the world’s premiere athletic tournament – but they are also an invitation to reflect on the joy of effort and excellence in all endeavors.

What do …

Be it resolved in the year 2010, I will:

Websites are tools, and the tools that endure are the tools that serve a purpose.  Shovels are good at making holes, cars are good at moving people from one place to another.  If you want people to use your website, it must serve a purpose.  However, it is not sufficient for the site to serve a purpose for you, it must serve a purpose for whomever you want to use it.

What Purpose Should Your Website Serve?
And Whom Does it Serve?

There are any number of purposes a website might serve, but let’s take a look at some of the more common …

When the question is, “How many slides are sufficient for my Powerpoint presentation?” my mind irresistible chants: “he would chuck what a woodchuck could, if a woodchuck could chuck wood.”

That’s not really off point: You need as many slides as you need, but not more than that nor less.

In some situations presenters are told how many slides they must use, or can’t use. In fact, participants at Ignite! presentations get five minutes on stage to speak through 20 slides, each of which gets 15 seconds of display.  Tough parameters indeed, but I bring this up mostly …

Summer is here and we are seeing business people exploring the opportunities. Some want to re-structure their business to adapt to the current market; others want to start anew and follow their true passion. In today’s marketplace, any business endeavor involves the online world. Whether a website is needed just for informational purposes, or whether the website is the business itself, a website is needed, period.

But… not just a website… a good website. And, what makes a good website? Good planning. A website is a tricky thing to plan for.

• It needs to be flexible so it’s successful today and as …
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