tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64910649865261643932024-03-13T21:23:39.638-07:00Honest SmeRecoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6491064986526164393.post-46665813800468102702016-09-11T17:26:00.006-07:002016-09-14T14:49:58.962-07:00How to plan for website success, audio reading of Avinash Kauskik's Digital Marketing and measurement model<h2>
How to build a successful website</h2>
<h3>
How to put down your tools, and form a plan</h3>
<b>Listen to the post below, and write your website plan or risk investing a lot of money in building a website that doesn’t work to the objectives of your business.</b><br />
<br />
If you want a successful website, then follow these steps and <i>avoid</i> the temptation to rush to pen-and-page designing your website or building a website yourself. These steps are pointless if you haven’t taken the time to establish a measurement plan for your website.<br />
<br />
This is a reading of Avinash Kauskik's blog post titled "<a href="http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/digital-marketing-and-measurement-model/">Digital Marketing and Measurement Model: Web Analytics</a>". Avinash is a renowned digital analyst and marketeer. His blog post is dated, but still highly relevant today.<br />
<br />
Help your web developer help you, by setting out your measurement strategy. It's rarely down to your design or snazzy video- lack of objectives, goals, KPI's and targets are <i>key</i> to being able to effectively market your website, and measure success by segmenting your data.<br />
<br />
<audio controls="">
<source src="http://spark.honestsme.com/sites/default/files/Avinash-Kaushik-Digital-Marketing-and-measurment-model-voice-recording-read-outloud.mp3"></source>
If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element
</audio><br />
The five key steps to creating your measurement plan are outlines in the audio reading above. These are:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Setting your business objectives</li>
<ol>
<li>Ask yourself- "Why do we exist?"</li>
<li>Are they <i><b>DUMB</b></i> goals? (Doable, Understandable, Manageable, Beneficial) </li>
</ol>
<li>Set goals for your business to reach the objective</li>
<li>Identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) to reach these goals </li>
<li>Decide on the <i>targets</i> for each of your goals</li>
<li>Segment your goals so that they can be analysed in isolation </li>
</ol>
Recoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6491064986526164393.post-91730489721529680312016-09-11T17:26:00.001-07:002016-09-12T06:41:10.550-07:00How to plan for website success, audio reading of Avinash Kauskik's Digital Marketing and measurement model<h2>
How to build a successful website</h2>
<h3>
How to put down your tools, and form a plan</h3>
<b>Listen to the post below, and write your website plan or risk investing a lot of money in building a website that doesn’t work to the objectives of your business.</b><br />
<br />
If you want a successful website, then follow these steps and <i>avoid</i> the temptation to rush to pen-and-page designing your website or building a website yourself. These steps are pointless if you haven’t taken the time to establish a measurement plan for your website.<br />
<br />
This is a reading of Avinash Kauskik's blog post titled "<a href="http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/digital-marketing-and-measurement-model/">Digital Marketing and Measurement Model: Web Analytics</a>". Avinash is a renowned digital analyst and marketeer. His blog post is dated, but still highly relevant today.<br />
<br />
Help your web developer help you, by setting out your measurement strategy. It's rarely down to your design or snazzy video- lack of objectives, goals, KPI's and targets are <i>key</i> to being able to effectively market your website, and measure success by segmenting your data.<br />
<br />
<audio controls="">
<source src="http://spark.honestsme.com/sites/default/files/Avinash%20Kaushik%20Digital%20Marketing%20%20and%20measurment%20model%20voice%20recording%20read%20outloud.ogg"></source>
If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element
</audio><br />
The five key steps to creating your measurement plan are outlines in the audio reading above. These are:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Setting your business objectives</li>
<ol>
<li>Ask yourself- "Why do we exist?"</li>
<li>Are they <i><b>DUMB</b></i> goals? (Doable, Understandable, Manageable, Beneficial) </li>
</ol>
<li>Set goals for your business to reach the objective</li>
<li>Identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) to reach these goals </li>
<li>Decide on the <i>targets</i> for each of your goals</li>
<li>Segment your goals so that they can be analysed in isolation </li>
</ol>
Recoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6491064986526164393.post-47694205412563282252016-01-02T09:09:00.002-08:002016-01-02T09:09:54.882-08:00New small business checklist for your Online Strategy. Two simple tips<h2>
A small business check-list for helping starting a business' on-line presence.</h2>
<h3>
1 Have you claimed your business on Google Maps? (it's free)</h3>
<h4>
What is it?</h4>
<div>
Google allows you to register your business location with them, this helps your business be found by location. They don't even <i>have</i> to use your city name because Google usually 'knows' what city a customer is currently in. The maps also provide direct links to your opening time, your website, and reviews (if any). Don't miss out, your competitors are taking advantage of this, so should you!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zhoAmezLe-E/VofzP9nNgtI/AAAAAAAApHc/IIToGFIW7_w/s1600/Get%2Blisted%2Bon%2BGoogle%2BMaps2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zhoAmezLe-E/VofzP9nNgtI/AAAAAAAApHc/IIToGFIW7_w/s320/Get%2Blisted%2Bon%2BGoogle%2BMaps2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h4>
How do I do it?</h4>
Go to '<a href="https://www.google.co.uk/business/go/befound.html">Be Found</a>' on Google's website, where you will need to have a Google account if you don't already.<br />
<br />
Next choose your location, and pin-point your location on the map!<br />
<br />
Google will <i>confirm</i> your the legitimate owner of the business by sending through the post an activation code to your business address.<br />
<br />
This code verifys your the owner of the business once given back to Google. Fill out as much information about your business as your can (opening hours, telephone number(s), and website etc).<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Your goal is to make it as easy as possible for customers to find you, contact you, and feel informed about the things they shouldn't need to ask.</blockquote>
<h4>
Look out for tech businesses over selling this as a 'service'</h4>
<div>
We at Karma Computing have had customers rang up by sales teams attempting to sell this free feature of Google as a product. Of course if you don't have time, agree a fair price. Just don't let yourself be fooled by these businesses into thinking its an expensive service.</div>
<br />
<br />
<h3>
2 Reserve your business name on social media sites before they get taken!</h3>
This is a must for starting business checklists. Reserving your name online is the process of registering accounts (such as on Twiter & Facebook) to preserve your 'username' in order to prevent other users from taking it.<br />
<br />
This prevents the unfortunate situation when you wish to make a start on a marketing campaign for your new business but find that your business name is already being used by someone else!<br />
<br />
<h4>
Save time: Find out business name availability automatically</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ms2vnCVu73c/VogEESx0RyI/AAAAAAAApHs/y4d7dT1kYFg/s1600/namecheck%2Breserve%2Bbusiness%2Bname.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ms2vnCVu73c/VogEESx0RyI/AAAAAAAApHs/y4d7dT1kYFg/s320/namecheck%2Breserve%2Bbusiness%2Bname.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
You can use a service called <a href="http://www.namechecklist.com/#!enteryourbusinessname">Namechecklist</a> which will go out on your behalf and ask various social media sites if your business name is available. Make sure you stop to think of any extra social media sites that might be missing from the list. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Sites to consider:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Instagram</li>
<li>Google+</li>
<li>Facebook</li>
<li>Twitter</li>
<li>Younow</li>
</ul>
<div>
Namechecklist has the added bonus of checking your website address availability (also called a 'domain name'). This article presumes you already have a website and therefore a domain name.</div>
</div>
<br />Recoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6491064986526164393.post-40628826230233563252015-12-20T15:21:00.000-08:002015-12-20T15:21:05.850-08:00Website Builder for small business: Build my own business website<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JoaUUFWR4cY/Vnc3rdt6CNI/AAAAAAAAo-M/cXw9wbFSfxM/s1600/honestsme%2Bwebsite%2Bbuilder.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JoaUUFWR4cY/Vnc3rdt6CNI/AAAAAAAAo-M/cXw9wbFSfxM/s320/honestsme%2Bwebsite%2Bbuilder.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3>
Have you ever wondered?</h3>
<br />
<ul>
<li>How to make a business website?</li>
<li>Build my own business website</li>
</ul>
<br />
Don't just settle for a pretty website, create a business website that actually <i>does something useful </i>for your customers.<br />
<br />
There are <i>many </i>website builders out there, they all have one thing in common: They're <i>great </i>at building beautiful business websites, yet nearly all<b> <i>suck</i></b> at specialising to your industry. We call these 'brochure websites', they look the part, but don't do much after that.<br />
<br />
This is where your competitors are cashing in.<br />
<h2>
Take a look at what your larger competitors are doing</h2>
<div>
In summary: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Successful websites don't just look pretty. They have tools and features specific to their sector which helps generate more customers. </blockquote>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The desire to be self sufficient is in the nature of a small business owner or start-up. To create a business website, UK business owners starting out often go with generic website building tools. The result? A generic business website. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Compete effectively: build a business website with tools relevant to your business</h3>
<div>
Where larger businesses in your sector differ, is that they build features into their website (tools) to make their websites more useful to their customer. For example:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>An online booking system for beauty salon, so customers don't have to call</li>
<li>Decking calculators on DIY websites which do the maths, so you don't have to</li>
<li>Easily receiving and replying with quotations to customers</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
Having such features built into a website separates a big successful site from the rest. It doesn't have to be expensive either, you can build such a website on a budget. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<h3>
Have a website tailored to your sector </h3>
That's why we've built HonestSME website builder, we're only releasing it to a few people to begin with to ensure we get things just right. Along with the tutorials and seminars needed to explain how SMEs can build the best online presence.<br />
<br />
We've seen too many SMEs get fobbed off with generic websites. Do <a href="https://karmacomputing.co.uk/page/contactus">get in touch</a> with our parent company Karma Computing if you'd like early access.Recoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6491064986526164393.post-24015729358083036282014-08-16T07:32:00.002-07:002014-08-16T08:53:22.446-07:00Build your own: Online Business Planning toolset - The best free tools<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E7ZYudeihSQ/U-9bskZTkQI/AAAAAAAAh98/ElYtzl3Yb0I/s1600/business%2Bplan.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E7ZYudeihSQ/U-9bskZTkQI/AAAAAAAAh98/ElYtzl3Yb0I/s1600/business%2Bplan.png" height="247" width="320" /></a></div>
Making a business plan is a tool for communicating your business ideas to others, identifying flaws and attempting to promote future success with a clear set of goals.<br />
<br />
Because the best ideas come to us wherever we may be, it's useful to formulate our plans- or at least make a note of them whilst we're on the move. We can use simple methods like:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Emailing ourselves reminders</li>
<li>Post-it notes</li>
<li>The dreaded 'writing on hands*'</li>
</ol>
*Only writing only on <i>your own</i> hands is probably more sociably acceptable...<br />
<br />
There are a multitude of tools to help with these note keeping: Evernote, Google Keep and GoodToDo (just to name a few commercial solutions).<br />
<br />
What we need, however, after that note taking process, is a solid tool which we can sit down with and work with to form a solid business plan.<br />
<br />
For a quick and easy resources for hard-copy free business templates, a few reliable sources include:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4e2Pawqqq9w/U-9ccY35I9I/AAAAAAAAh-E/3IKxxCHQfDs/s1600/princesTrust.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4e2Pawqqq9w/U-9ccY35I9I/AAAAAAAAh-E/3IKxxCHQfDs/s1600/princesTrust.gif" title="" /></a>
<li>The Princes Trust <a href="http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/pdf/businessPlanGuide.pdf" target="_blank">business plan guide</a> & <a href="http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/docs/BP_Electronic_Business_Plan_Workbook_Sep13.doc" target="_blank">word business plan template</a> offers one of the most frank (and therefore productive) guide and template to get you going.</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GbGjColMJSA/U-9ivnpTpII/AAAAAAAAh-U/0aUkV6Pj7eA/s1600/freemind%2Bbusiness%2Bplan%2Bexample.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GbGjColMJSA/U-9ivnpTpII/AAAAAAAAh-U/0aUkV6Pj7eA/s1600/freemind%2Bbusiness%2Bplan%2Bexample.png" height="87" width="200" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>For the more visual planner 'FreeMind', is a free open source too for mind-mapping. It's possible to use this tool to plan your business visually, and even link to external resources such as financial reports, and market research findings. </li>
</ul>
<div>
Here is a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4tZBQF6L9gFSjhtVEx2LUJrUEU/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">sample FreeMind business plan</a> example, naturally, you will have to <a href="http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Download" target="_blank">download and install FreeMind</a> which is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux. </div>
<br />
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
Establish your business planning tools workflow</h2>
<div>
Use what works best for you- obviously. There's no point wasting time learning some fancy software if all you really need is a word processor, good old pen & paper, a whiteboard. Get rid of the procrastination gremlins and make life easier for yourself. Whatever the tool you use check that, for you, it's: </div>
<ul>
<li>Easy & quick to use</li>
<li>Free, preferably open source*</li>
<li>On-line or easily updated on the move</li>
</ul>
<div>
*We mention this because a lot of extensive business planning software markets itself as 'free', when if fact it's more 'free entry' where the next step is a upgrade from their inferior free offering. Start with something which is free from the onset, and you will not experience this misleading false dichotomy. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The reality is the tools on the market today will try and take money off you before you even get started. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
'Enloop', for example will charge roughly £172.52 a year for their full-fledged on-line business planning tool, and 'Bplans' Business Plan Pro product costing £103.99. This is a tall order for a task which essentially involves putting your ideas on paper, assessing the risks, and attempting to gauge future business based on similar market behaviour. Some may argue the forecasting capabilities are unmatchable; read on for a free solution for that too.<br />
<br />
By putting together the tools outlined above, <a href="http://freemind.sourceforge.net/">FreeMind</a>, and freely available business plan templates, it's quick and easy to make-your-own flexible business plan using these tools.<br />
<br />
All that remains is a simply financial planning and accounting software for small business. For that, we recommend the <a href="http://www.honestsme.com/2013/08/small-business-accounting-software-for.html">GnuCash Accounting Software</a> which we reviewed recently which also has a mobile app, allowing you to <a href="http://www.honestsme.com/2014/01/mobile-accounting-software-for-free.html">record your expenses</a> when on the move with your mobile. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p6zNCAptiOw/U9GZ5Z9iBmI/AAAAAAAAhzk/FPagMXlznbc/s1600/coffee-shop-entrance.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p6zNCAptiOw/U9GZ5Z9iBmI/AAAAAAAAhzk/FPagMXlznbc/s1600/coffee-shop-entrance.png" height="320" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Third place' at the coffee shop cubicle,<br /> is not the only option</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
`<i><span style="font-size: large;">We</span></i>` - Referring to business owners.<br />
<br />
The rational is simple- we're board of taking up so much time in the Coffee Shops and ticking off the waiters. It's sunny outside all we need now is to break away from the norm and go-it-alone to the great outdoors of office in a park. Yes, it can be done.<br />
<h4>
The third space coffee cubicle - the status quo </h4>
We love the coffee shops, swapping the coffee at home for a free Wifi connection elsewhere by the full glass window of a Starbucks, embracing their "third place" philosophy. A philosophy which, promotes the social acceptance to stay sat in the corner of a coffee shop for an inordinate amount of time buying very little coffee. It's on their website if this post is not to be believed. The third-place concept has been around since the 90s, a "home away from home" which is not strictly for work related activities, but is taken advantage of by those liking a Café cubicle. Not all coffee shops appreciate this annexation of a table for four hours, however, and may even spot you coming should you dare become a regular by refuting your receipt concealing the closely guarded password to the toilets.<br />
<br />
Café Ziferblat, consequently, is now offering a 'pay per minute' coffee shop where <i>coffee is</i> <i>free</i>. Instead the time is paid for.<i> </i>There's one in London should you be passing. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ziR3tl6Eovg/U9GfMq79gcI/AAAAAAAAhz0/kJ8OkjRmt7c/s1600/2608975252_6c9f3d7d9b_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ziR3tl6Eovg/U9GfMq79gcI/AAAAAAAAhz0/kJ8OkjRmt7c/s1600/2608975252_6c9f3d7d9b_o.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<h4>
Yes we can: Working in the park. On a bench</h4>
<div>
The beauty of working in the fresh air cannot be understated. Don't be guilty, your working where you've always wanted to work anyway- away from the <i>distractions of the office</i>!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This is so true it bares repeating- if you ask people where they get most of their work done, it's rarely their place of work. It's usually 7pm, when the office is quiet- late at night or in the bath. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Taking the o-natural approach to working outside simply makes sense, for many people it's where your relaxed and can toil with problems in a non-disruptive environment. Wifi in a park- what wifi? Yes this used to be a problem. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-krCD0FeO47c/U9Gic-a3UJI/AAAAAAAAh0A/Svv_Eoc6ivc/s1600/2851170276_a156db7388_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-krCD0FeO47c/U9Gic-a3UJI/AAAAAAAAh0A/Svv_Eoc6ivc/s1600/2851170276_a156db7388_z.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A small handy portable solar charger is all you need to<br />keep you going for a good few hours in the park.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But is no more- there's always the very practical solution of tethering ones mobile phone. Create a wifi hotspot with your mobile and your all set. The real challenge here is <i>power. </i>For this, there's an equally pragmatic solution. Extended battery packs and portable solar chargers for your mobile. </div>
<br />
Portable chargers are so cheap now: A quick search on ebay will find a reliable solar charger for less than £20. Look for chargers with standard USB sockets on then. Don't be distracted by the overpriced 'iPhone' or 'Samsung' only chargers. Electricity is electricity. So long as you equip yourself with your phone's usb cable, your better off with a solar charger with USB sockets to keep your devices tops up.<br />
<br />
Likewise, your laptop might not be able to keep up with your intense working in the sun. Laptop batteries have improves, though your options aren't limited for extended power. Most non-apple laptops have a removable battery which can be upgraded to an extended battery pack. Lenovo laptops are especially notorious for catering to this need and provide 'Lenovo certified' extended battery packs. Again, just look for your laptop model with the word "extended battery". It may not be possible to find vendor certified extended battery packs for all brands, there will always be non-brand alternatives. A spade is a spade.Recoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6491064986526164393.post-74441918354258670792014-06-14T04:47:00.001-07:002014-06-14T04:47:05.763-07:00Why offering customers free returns it not so insane<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bpIs-4F4754/U5wsC0UYqEI/AAAAAAAAhAY/xKbf7_IGm5c/s1600/BenBois_French_parcel_post.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bpIs-4F4754/U5wsC0UYqEI/AAAAAAAAhAY/xKbf7_IGm5c/s1600/BenBois_French_parcel_post.png" height="200" width="173" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Offering free returns completes<br />
the full circle of trust. <br />
(It's not the sale).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
In short, as reputable sellers whom want to be respected online, we should aim to keep returns to a minimum by being genuine, never over selling on promise, and then convert unavoidable returns into surprising customers with a hassle free service which they reward the seller with an increased level of trust.</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>"</i></span></b>The true score is made when a customer is given a hassle free returns experience, they will feel safe to order more next time. In many ways, it's your returns experience which "seals the deal" and not the sale itself. - You want continued custom, not a one-time hit.<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>"</i></span></b></blockquote>
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<u><br /></u></div>
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<u>Paying for returns- the rationale</u></div>
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A seven year (American) study found that the 'wrong size' was the number one reason for returns (<a href="http://www.chargeback.com/blog/top-10-reasons-for-a-product-return" target="_blank">Dr. Petersen</a> et al 2009). However, it's misguided to look at returns as a bad thing when we look at the <i>full circle</i> for the customer. It found 13% returns is the sweet spot for increased follow-up orders because they come to trust the retailer more. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
-This makes sense dons't it? If you know you've got the freedom to return, hassle & cost free, your going to be more comfortable buying more. The study affirms this. </div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="175" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/pwpfQV0Y2EE?rel=0" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" width="300"></iframe>
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It's about building the trust, according to psychologist & retail consultant Kit Yarrow, observes that <a href="http://business.time.com/2012/09/04/why-a-good-return-policy-is-so-important-for-retailers/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Women especially</a> see their relationship with on-line retailers as a very personal one, and feel violated when not treated as a 'friend' or trusted member. Being a 'happy customer' doesn't stop when the item arrives. </div>
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It's alarmingly true, think about the last time you returned something to an on-line store which didn't go to plan. After being treated badly, how to you feel shopping there again. Did they factor in your previous spends with the company? </div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
The true score is made when a customer is given a hassle free returns experience, they will feel safe to order more next time. In many ways, it's the returns experience which "seals the deal" and not the sale itself. The deal is the relationship with the customer, trusting us to buy again, despite our faults. A sale is a small part of that continuing relationship. </div>
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</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<u>Reality- when returns are hitting the bottom line</u></div>
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Of course, if a significant number of returns start to happen, it tells us something's not right with the offer being presented. It's <i>not </i>an indication to penalise customers further an unfriendly returns policy. Poor product descriptions this is the <i>third</i> top reason for returns on-line (<a href="http://www.chargeback.com/blog/top-10-reasons-for-a-product-return" style="background-color: transparent;" target="_blank">Dr. Petersen</a> et al 2009).</div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Your product descriptions – online or in print – should be as accurate as possible. A great deal of effort should go into crafting detailed product descriptions that answer just about any question a customer might have – especially online. Extra effort should be put into proofing these same descriptions for accuracy before they’re released to consumers. Generally, customers buy because they like what they see. If they don’t get what they see, they start thinking that maybe you’ve pulled the old “bait and switch” – leading to returns that could have been easily avoided.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #666666;">- J. Andrew Petersen study</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
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</blockquote>
</blockquote>
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</blockquote>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<u>What the customers are saying (or shouting!)</u></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<a href="http://missguided.co.uk/" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">Missguided.co.uk</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> (a random example) sells is a typical on-line retail store, they're generally badly reviewed on-line- but </span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">primarily</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> for their returns. It's very easy to find positive review, however, commending the quality of the products vs their low price. So what's the problem?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One customer points out "Charging for returns says one thing to me, and that's that they get so many they can't afford to cover it themselves and remain sufficiently profitable" </span><a href="https://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.missguided.co.uk" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">the review</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">.</span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<u>Square pegs round holes.</u></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Isn't it it's the worst kept secret people buy feelings not things? Truth is people do buy more once they come to trust the retailer they're buying from and retailers can partly build that relationship with returns. </div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
For a detailed discussion on retailing on-line, the panel "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwpfQV0Y2EE" target="_blank">Britain's Retail Empire 2013</a>" interview with mywardrobe.com and others comes highly recommended.</div>
Recoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6491064986526164393.post-59366705144936615212014-04-24T06:59:00.000-07:002014-05-01T13:27:21.379-07:00Use a free antivirus and firewall<a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SYw2oyL7JSk/U1kYqhkVEeI/AAAAAAAAgl4/rexvgJGDxPE/s2560/1398347933431.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SYw2oyL7JSk/U1kYqhkVEeI/AAAAAAAAgl4/rexvgJGDxPE/s350/1398347933431.jpeg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> Having worked in a large enterprise, it's common place to never keep using a system which has had a virus infection- it's just too risky to keep using a system which has once been infected. There's simply no quick fast easy way for an enterprise to check what damage a virus may have done- even after 'removal' a virus may have re-created itself into another form which is not detectable to the current virus scanner (this is known as ' Polymorphic code' which changes itself every time it runs making it much harder for virus scanners to detect. <br />
<br />
So what can be done? Well as with the common cold- the first and best steps are prevention. This is the primary role of you're firewall to try to prevent known attacks from reaching your computers inside your network. A few well revered free firewalls for windows include:<br />
<br />
> ClamAv<br />
> Comodo Firewall & Internet security<br />
> Avast internet security<br />
> ZoneAlarm<br />
<br />
Both Comodo and Avast also offer complete free internet security suites with antivirus, firewall and spyware protection. <br />
<br />
There's little functional difference between the two (given they are both in competition with each other) so it's really a matter of preference- which one is easiest enough for you and is the least distraction?<br />
<br />
Avast, although free, still requires you to register yearly for a licence key- so they get your email address.<br />
<br />
Comodo doesn't have this restriction and therefore has the 'convenience factor'. Give both a try, remembering not to run both at the same time- unfortunately antivirus products generally do not play well together! <br />
<br />
Distraction is a key point here. Everybody hates frequent popups from security programs asking "do you want to allow this program to run?". Thankfully, this is becoming behaviour of the past. Today many security products are able to automatically make this decision for you when it recognises well known, trusted, applications.<br />
<br />
The non-free McAfee antivirus suit has told us it used it's own network of customers to 'learn' common safe applications and aggregates this to decide if the programs on your computer are safe to run.<br />
<br />
Free solutions such as ClamAv also employ this strategy, albeit in a less automated fashion, by a community of submitters who submit unknown applications and files to the central database inspection. It's also true that free antivirus products do in fact outperform commercial products sometimes, killing the argument that you are safer with a commercial solution.<br />
<br />
In conclusion, beware of claims saying your always better protected with a commercial antivirus- this simply isn't the case. <br />
Instead, focus on identifying a solution which is the least distracting to you.Recoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6491064986526164393.post-39069580826495685732014-01-17T14:36:00.003-08:002014-01-17T14:36:52.413-08:00Immersive Immersion for Duolingo<div style="float: left;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/m_kPTLN1UFo" width="420"></iframe>
</div>
Duolingo is a popular free online tool to help learn a language. It's won multiple awards (including best education start-up in 2013 by <a href="http://crunchies2013.techcrunch.com/voted/?MTE6NTY%EF%BB%BF" target="_blank">techcrunch</a>).<br />
<br />
It's effectiveness is often brought into question- people are naturally inquisitive by "free" end "educational" in the same sentence. But the awards, and over 20 million users must put Rosetta Stone in an awkward position.<br />
<br />
Immersive immersion is an experimental script written to help users who find hearing a language particularly useful for retention and comprehension. Let us be clear, this is <u>in no way associated with Duolingo</u> and any bugs, error are fault of the developer of the script and not Duolingo.<br />
<br />
Duolingo is a beautifully smooth online language learning application. Users learn by progressing through lesson units which gradually progress to more complex language constructs.<br />
<br />
Additionally, Duolingo offers an 'Immersion' section where users can translate real-world website articles written in the language they're learning. This is fantastic for reading comprehension, however there is no option for audio playback of the sentences.<br />
<br />
Installation of the script: (<a href="http://expandier.co.uk/tutorials/web-programming/javascript/audio-playback-for-duolingo-translation-articles-immersive-immersion-script#installation" target="_blank">instructions can be found here</a>, <a href="http://www.duolingo.com/translation/fc8b9e31dc551e1f7fbc6c29deacfa6e" target="_blank">Spanish translation</a>, <a href="http://www.duolingo.com/translation/92fe0cc52190fc01d922a0d6d874278a" target="_blank">German translation</a>). Will allow the playback of sentences being translated as demonstrated in the video.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z7vmzXBYtJk/UtmuQY-4l-I/AAAAAAAAbw0/X5cqNb4KAWw/s1600/pointyhand_by_johnny_automatic.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z7vmzXBYtJk/UtmuQY-4l-I/AAAAAAAAbw0/X5cqNb4KAWw/s1600/pointyhand_by_johnny_automatic.png" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>The script supports all languages which Duolingo supports</li>
<li>It is <i>not perfect</i> and therefore only recommended for interested parties for experimentation</li>
<li>It helps make the translation of articles a much more fun, immersive learning experience. </li>
</ul>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Recoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6491064986526164393.post-22088408454351658222014-01-15T12:07:00.000-08:002014-01-15T12:07:16.938-08:00Mobile accounting software for free<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KtnFImMUKas/UtbnSa7cpeI/AAAAAAAAbwA/8cH1MSKGo1s/s1600/calculating_expenses_johnny_automatic_worried_about_a_bill.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KtnFImMUKas/UtbnSa7cpeI/AAAAAAAAbwA/8cH1MSKGo1s/s1600/calculating_expenses_johnny_automatic_worried_about_a_bill.png" height="320" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calculate mobile expenses the easy & free way. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Storing receipts on your mobile- keeping track of expensive is important for the annual tax return. You know how it all adds up; one ream of paper here, pens, postage and the printer ink needs replacing. Here's our requirements for a free, mobile accounting app:<br />
<br />
It must:<br />
<ul>
<li>Be free</li>
<li>Track both expenses and credits</li>
<li>Work alongside (integrate) with a robust account system(s)</li>
<li>Easy to use</li>
</ul>
The recommended app fulfills all these points:-<br />
For keeping record about purchases, mobile expenses, which need to be tracked. Taking a photo of the receipt is easy at the time- but clumsy later.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Which expenses app is best?</h3>
We all know there are many apps available for this purpose, but we found that a combination of GnuCash on the Desktop / Laptop followed by GnuCash Mobile app on the phone. Why? Because we often found that by using other apps we were often making a sacrifice between a good app over our existing fully fledged accountancy package (whether that be QuickBooks, Sage, or GnuCash).<br />
<br />
There's simply no need to totally remove your existing accounting solution. Just sync your mobile expenses with your existing accountancy package.<br />
<br />
With GnuCash, you can import your existing accounts, and then have the app automatically email you your accounts at the end of the day so they can be imported to your full accountancy package.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Don't sacrifice a your existing accountancy package for the sake of an <i>good</i> app</h3>
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</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JC-Mes4bBJ8/UtboNOHAmCI/AAAAAAAAbwQ/QudOE4XGHI8/s1600/gnc-cash.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JC-Mes4bBJ8/UtboNOHAmCI/AAAAAAAAbwQ/QudOE4XGHI8/s1600/gnc-cash.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GnuCash Mobile Edition is practical & free.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Additionally, by using GnuCash mobile app- you don't have to be locked into using a certain accountancy package. Often other 'free' apps will make their money by offering an online service, or additional accountancy package to use your app with when you get home.<br />
<br />
You save yourself this vendor lockdown (and a few pounds) by using GnuCash mobile which supports accountancy formats OFX & QIF which both QuickBooks, Sage and GnuCash support.<br />
<br />
GnuCash for mobile, which is currently only available for Android devices can be found from the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.gnucash.android&hl=en" target="_blank">Google Play Store for GnuCash</a>.<br />
<br />
It is highly recommended to explore the benefit of pairing this app with GnuCash- a free, reliable accountancy package for small businesses. <a href="http://www.honestsme.com/2013/08/small-business-accounting-software-for.html">See our full review of GnuCash to see if it's right for your needs. </a>Recoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6491064986526164393.post-75963274913118851052013-08-05T05:30:00.000-07:002013-08-05T07:26:34.493-07:00Small business accounting software - for free<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpcrOuOawe4/UfqDeYQ0AyI/AAAAAAAANWU/ehutgeNrxr8/s1600/johnny_automatic_money_bags.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpcrOuOawe4/UfqDeYQ0AyI/AAAAAAAANWU/ehutgeNrxr8/s320/johnny_automatic_money_bags.png" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Free Bookkeeping software for SME's</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Looking for suitable small business accounting software?<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Save £400 a year with this free alternative.<br />
For the past week we've been reviewing the popular free accounting software 'GnuCash' which is aimed at small businesses and is also suitable for maintaining personal accounts along with basic payroll.<br />
<br />
-GnuCash for over 15 years has proven itself a viable free alternative to solutions such as 'Quickbooks small business' which currently costs £33.60 a month.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Our Criteria:</h4>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Free bookkeeping solution that:</li>
<ul>
<li>Saves time & is easy to use</li>
<li>Helps see the financial health of the business</li>
<li>Automatic report generation</li>
<li>Reliable, with reconciliation </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<h2>
Our findings</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tv3b_U6aq80/Uf-BhxwL7ZI/AAAAAAAANlk/AaN6tkThjXU/s1600/gnu-cash.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tv3b_U6aq80/Uf-BhxwL7ZI/AAAAAAAANlk/AaN6tkThjXU/s1600/gnu-cash.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">GnuCash is available from <a href="http://www.gnucash.org/">gnucash.org</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<ul>
<li>GnuCash does more than basic accounting including:</li>
<ul>
<li>Invoicing</li>
<li>Budgeting (cash flow forecasting)</li>
<li>Scheduled transactions</li>
</ul>
<li>Can be challenging for people totally new to accounting, though the <a href="http://www.gnucash.org/viewdoc.phtml?doc=guide">documentation is freely available</a> and approachable. </li>
<li>Surprisingly helpful at forecasting business heath (by using budgeting features) </li>
<li>Easy to install & backup</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>
Ease of use- simple bookkeeping software</h3>
<div>
We selected GnuCash as it performed well in all of the above tasks, there is a learning curve though if your new to basic accounting principles. It is encouraged to either read the accompanying book 'GnuCash 2.4 Small Business Accounting' or read their <a href="http://www.gnucash.org/viewdoc.phtml?doc=guide">on-site documentation</a> which is free. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Easily visualise where your money is going / coming from</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kxATTqmYoSQ/Uf-L3_CDRkI/AAAAAAAANl0/b1QAUt_f6HI/s1600/gnucash_graph-report.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="289" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kxATTqmYoSQ/Uf-L3_CDRkI/AAAAAAAANl0/b1QAUt_f6HI/s320/gnucash_graph-report.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
After your initial account set-up, which is handled with a step-by-step 'wizard setup', the accounting software really starts to shine with:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Profit & loss reports</li>
<li> Expenses piecharts</li>
<li>Customisable reports / graphs</li>
</ul>
<div>
We found this to be invaluable for SME's to get the big picture on their outgoings, and identify where savings could be made.</div>
</div>
<h3>
Double-entry Bookkeeping is supported</h3>
<div>
GnuCash supports double-entry bookkeeping, meaning that transactions are automatically balanced for you. For example imagine two accounts: A "Current Account", and a "Savings Account" if you were to transfer £50 from your current account to your savings, you would only need to enter one transaction from your current account and your savings account would automatically credited. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The above is important to remember when first setting up your accounts with Gnu cash, if you have-multiple accounts then be careful not to enter transactions twice; you only need to enter one side of the transaction and GnuCash will credit/debit the receiving account for you. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Getting set-up with GnuCash</h3>
<div>
GnuCash is compatible with both Windows, Mac (and Linux). The installer can be found on their website <a href="http://www.gnucash.org/">gnucash.org</a>. </div>
<h4>
Post installation tips</h4>
<div>
Setting up your first accounts in GnuCash using the accounts wizard is simple, simply select the accounts which most closely match your need. For most small business accounts simply:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li> Un-check 'personal accounts'</li>
<li>Select 'Business Accounts'</li>
</ol>
<div>
This will cause GnuCash to set-up initial accounts for your business. If your continuing your accounts from Arpil, for example, enter in the 'opening balance' for these accounts and follow on from there. </div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To move existing accounts to Gnu cash, Microsoft Money(TM) and Quicken imports are supported natively. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
However, for simpler accounts with fewer transactions it is just as practical to manually enter past transactions as this gives you full control over your accounts set-up.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h2>
Summary of Small Business accounting using GnuCash</h2>
<div>
With it's 15 years of history, GnuCash is arguably the best free accounting software for small businesses. SME's can save a lot of time and money by using GnuCash over proprietary alternatives costing over £400 with limited support. It supports all (and more) of the expected features a small business would expect. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For support for GnuCash, feel free to post questions below- and we will follow-up with a reply, then accompanying article for further details. What would you like further clarification on?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/aqAaScYVeRQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
For a basic video introduction to using GnuCash, Quentin Stafford-Fraser has recorded a 'GnuCash absolute basics'<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Recoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6491064986526164393.post-73917134064775696802013-08-01T09:18:00.001-07:002013-08-01T09:31:26.388-07:00Small business marketing - advertising on a budget<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S1nrcn7zCXQ/Ufo_PY1vCfI/AAAAAAAANVw/vWOsFuauDyU/s1600/teddywithbugle.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S1nrcn7zCXQ/Ufo_PY1vCfI/AAAAAAAANVw/vWOsFuauDyU/s1600/teddywithbugle.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blow your SME trumpet!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here's how the conversation usually goes:<br />
<br />
SME: "I need to get noticed online, how can I get a greater presence on the web?"<br />
<br />
E-Marketer: "Have you heard of Facebook sponsored posts, or Google Adwords- we can ensure you're on the first page of Google. LinkedIn have just started promoted posts too, watch out don't miss that"...<br />
<br />
[pause]<br />
<br />
-<a href="http://www.honestsme.com/2013/08/small-business-marketing-advertising-on.html#budgetsmeMarketing">Click here to jump to saving money on SME marketing</a>-<br />
<br />
Before committing any budget to online marketing, consider cheaper, <i>more sustainable </i>forms of marketing- small business advertising can be done on a budget, it mostly revolves around people, building relationships and writing useful content for your target audience.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Engage with people, talk about what your interests are. <br />
Filling a
twitter stream with artificial, or ‘sell, sell,sell’ tweets will only
attract more of the same." - Entrepreneurs Thoughts <a href="http://entrepreneurs-thoughts.co.uk/marketing/no-one-will-do-your-social-media-for-you/">'No one will do your social media for you</a>'</blockquote>
<br />
<h3>
It's not necessary to be on all social media sites- it's impractical </h3>
Whilst it's important to <a href="http://www.honestsme.com/2013/07/small-business-website-5-critical.html#secureYourBusinessName">secure your business name</a> on the popular social media (SM) sites to avoid impersonators of your brand- it's not relevant to be on every social media site.<br />
<br />
SM sites are maturing into niches, spend time on those which better match your business, for example a business selling eye catching jewellery is better suited to dedicating time to sites like Pinterest, and Tumblr over a business selling consultancy services which would be better suited submitting articles to relevant news sites or journals. <br />
<br />
<span id="IdentifyYourMostSuitableSMsite" style="font-size: large;"><i>-Remember 'place' from the 7Ps of marketing</i></span><br />
<br />
Don't waste time and resources by spreading your efforts across multiple SM sites, identify the suitable social media platform (remembering '<b><i>place</i></b>' the 7p's of marketing) for your service or product. It's better to choose one, and do it very well than spread efforts to thinly across multiple platforms.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q8hnKKxCHVU/Ufp-kGN-unI/AAAAAAAANWE/SQ7vjpjN3i0/s1600/powerposter.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q8hnKKxCHVU/Ufp-kGN-unI/AAAAAAAANWE/SQ7vjpjN3i0/s320/powerposter.png" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SM is a two-way medium:<br />
don't talk at people, talk <em>with</em> them.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table border-collapse="1">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Social Platform</th>
<th>Niche</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Pinterest</td>
<td>Image driven, does your product / service produce eye catching imagery. Pinterest users are aspirational, 'pinnings' items they like, think are worth sharing, or plan to buy. For example, restaurants, jewellery shops and clothing flourish on Pinterest.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Twitter</td>
<td>Rumours, news and gossip travels fast on Twitter- it is a very disposable medium therefore understand messages have a short shelf life (as does yesterdays news). Does your SME operate in PR, news, events or gossip sectors? Choose the platform which matches your <i>P</i>roduct and match this with the <i>P</i>lace which you conduct your SM marketing.
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Facebook</td>
<td>Facebook's demographics began as predominantly students in America (<a href="http://web.mit.edu/varenc/www/facebook.html">Varenc MIT</a>) but saw immense growth of the 55+ age bracket of 922% between 2009 - 2010 (<a href="http://istrategylabs.com/2010/01/facebook-demographics-and-statistics-report-2010-145-growth-in-1-year/" rel="nofollow">istrategylabs</a> 2010). To engage with Facebook, take part in popular Facebook groups related to your industry- 'info-graphics' work well on Faceook, as text simply isn't engaging enough to grab attention. </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2 id="connectWithRealPeople">
Make genuine connections with <i>real</i> people</h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
Traditionally marketing was an extremely passive activity whereby the receiver of your message could not easily engage or respond to your message. </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Welcome people's feedback (both negative & positive)</li>
<li>Encourage sharing*</li>
<li>Ask questions</li>
</ul>
<div>
*Especially true larger organisations who are not akin to the new sharing culture of the internet- rather than patrolling and guarding content on copyright (images, text, video) promote sharing of this to benefit from exposure to a larger audience.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h2 id="budgetsmeMarketing">
Save money with efficient marketing</h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpcrOuOawe4/UfqDeYQ0AyI/AAAAAAAANWU/ehutgeNrxr8/s1600/johnny_automatic_money_bags.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpcrOuOawe4/UfqDeYQ0AyI/AAAAAAAANWU/ehutgeNrxr8/s320/johnny_automatic_money_bags.png" width="233" /></a></div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Focus your efforts on only the one social media site to begin with, by <a href="http://www.honestsme.com/2013/08/small-business-marketing-advertising-on.html#IdentifyYourMostSuitableSMsite">identifying the most relevant platform</a>. </li>
<li>Take full advantage of the free account all social platforms offer</li>
<li>Don't be tempted to pay for sponsored ads, your genuine <a href="http://www.honestsme.com/2013/08/small-business-marketing-advertising-on.html#connectWithRealPeople">connections with real people</a> are worth much more.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Time investment</h3>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" -<a href="http://www.ted.com/speakers/john_wooden.html" target="_blank">John Wooden</a></blockquote>
Remember that on-line marketing is a two-way thing, ask questions, put forward your offerings but remember SM sites are not the place for blatant adverts. Instead, submit pictures of your craftsmanship-- a restaurant for example or debate the current fashion in clothing.<br />
Take 3 minutes and jot down three topics, questions or phrases which relate to your SME that a customer might be interested in. Phrase them as a question and you've then completed the first step to creating interesting engaging posts.
<br />
<form action="#">
<textarea col="10" rows="10" name="paste_code"></textarea> <br />
</form>Recoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6491064986526164393.post-59555496490090408842013-07-31T11:11:00.000-07:002013-07-31T11:19:19.048-07:00Email newsletter templates- Free and professional<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SjoqU9dooRs/UflDmKQJZHI/AAAAAAAANUQ/8rBX0wk7wsg/s1600/johnny_automatic_newsboy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SjoqU9dooRs/UflDmKQJZHI/AAAAAAAANUQ/8rBX0wk7wsg/s1600/johnny_automatic_newsboy.png" width="196" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Read all about it: Stop wasting money on newsletters!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There has been a surge recently in the demand for email newsletter templates online.<br />
<br />
The aim of this document:<br />
<ul>
<li>Where to get free, professional email templates</li>
<li>Be free</li>
<li>Easy to manage & measure ROI</li>
</ul>
In this case, obviously the return on investment is the time taken to create, and send out your email newsletters.<br />
<br />
-For this reason, it needs to be quick and easy.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Introducing MailChimp</h2>
Stop. We know your keen, insistent on using Microsoft outlook e-mail templates... but truthfully there are better offering available today which are free and <i>miles more</i> measurable than your average Outlook template.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Hold up- MailChimp isn't even free, is it?</h3>
So long as you don't intend to send more than 12,000 emails a month, MailChimp remains "<a href="http://mailchimp.com/pricing/free/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">free forever</a>" with standadrd features including:<br />
<ul>
<li>Drag and Drop editor for creating newsletter templates</li>
<li>Coupon Codes</li>
<li>Social Sharing</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
What about email newsletter templates</h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_tyhlEUB-v0/UflIIBlPieI/AAAAAAAANUg/MmHArc4_nQ8/s1600/mailchimp-newsletter-templates-draganddrop_mobile.1696461228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_tyhlEUB-v0/UflIIBlPieI/AAAAAAAANUg/MmHArc4_nQ8/s1600/mailchimp-newsletter-templates-draganddrop_mobile.1696461228.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Free mobile friendly email templates</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Your able to create stunning, free newsletter templates from within Mailchip.<br />
<br />
Also there's a bonus: <br />
Without getting too technical, MailChimp's newsletter templates are also 'mobile friendly' which means they'll also look great if your customers read their emails from their phone. This is important because if an email is 'too large' for their mobile, they are just going to delete it (after all, if it's not enticing enough that's what we all do).<br />
<br />
It is a great time saver; the newsletter templates are professional looking, and you can automatically create one which matches the colour scheme of your website by giving Mailchimp your website address.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Why switch to Mailchimp over outlook</h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HiiAM_ef3P4/UflPiCo0fxI/AAAAAAAANUw/xxmTSlc1doA/s1600/bananabunch.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HiiAM_ef3P4/UflPiCo0fxI/AAAAAAAANUw/xxmTSlc1doA/s1600/bananabunch.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beware of the MailChip mascot </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<ul>
<li>It's easier to manage large mailing lists</li>
<li>Email newsletter templates are professional & mobile friendly</li>
<li>The interface is incredibly intuative</li>
<li>The support from Mailchip is next-to-none</li>
<li>It's free so long as you send less than 12,00 emails a month</li>
<li>Their mascot is a Chimp.</li>
</ul>
<h2>
Remember to ASK permission- or risk getting blocked</h2>
We've all thrown junk mail from our letterbox straight in the bin, and for good reason- we never asked for it. The same principle holds true for email, except with email we can, and must, embrace the 'permission marketing' principle (a term popularised by marketing writer Seth Godin).<br />
<br />
With email, we can filter out email for spam- and consider, do you want your brand to be associated with sending non-permissive marketing spiel? A customer which actively wants your offers, and news will welcome your messages. Don't fight the tide, else the technical robots of the web <i>do have the power</i> to penalise you for sending spam- it's a bit technical, but just know that your SME must ask permission before sending and there's nothing to worry about. <br />
<br />
<h3>
How to create effective e-mail newsletter campaigns from the get-go</h3>
Set out your aims as though you were the recipient, what would you want as a customer of your product or service?<br />
<br />
Perhaps loyalty discounts? MailChip allows you to send special emails to 'groups' on your mailing list which can be used to send discounts to your most loyal customers.<br />
<br />
Do you keep a record of your customers birthdays? If your a restaurant, why not give your them a pleasant surprise offering a free bottle of wine if they book you for the occasion?<br />
<br />
Both of the above are personalised, <i>relevant </i>offers. As best as you can, craft your newsletter to be relevant to those to which you are sending. Perhaps they are new clients, do you have exclusive 'welcome' offerers to offer?<br />
<br />
<h3>
Track the effectiveness of your newsletter</h3>
There's little use in blindly sending an email to 1000 people. With Mailchimp you can experiment with different newsletter templates and content and review reports of:<br />
<ol>
<li>How many people actually opened my newsletter?</li>
<li>Did anybody click a link in my newsletter</li>
<li>Was the newsletter shared via social media?</li>
</ol>
Of course, this sounds like a lot of work- but the truth is much of these stats are automatically collected, and presented to you for review. Take advantage of it, and your able to build more effective newsletters over time.<br />
<br />
<br />
Do you use a service other than Mailchimp? Thus far we've found it to be the easiest, most professional offering for SME's especially given its £0 price tag. <br />
<br />Recoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6491064986526164393.post-85406151887559820042013-07-31T08:29:00.000-07:002013-08-01T04:15:27.582-07:00Small Business Website - 5 critical questions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oc_t2G97Wc0/Uff2E2jvjkI/AAAAAAAANSw/C8NYAGa_Eew/s1600/hawk88_homepage.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oc_t2G97Wc0/Uff2E2jvjkI/AAAAAAAANSw/C8NYAGa_Eew/s320/hawk88_homepage.png" height="304" width="320" /></a></div>
Five key questions to ask yourself before committing to a pay-per month or 'one-off' website service for your small business website.<br />
<br />
More often than not with a little research you can can secure a near free small business website- without the monthly overhead.<br />
<br />
Before we explore the 5 critical questions it's important to identify the expectations of what a website should do for your business. What do you want your business website to achieve?<br />
<br />
By identifying this, you can relate to why the critical questions are so important.<br />
<br />
Generally a business website comes in two forms: e-commerce, and lead-generating websites. For example, a beauty clinic may not sell products on its' website but does want to 'sell' enquiries'.<br />
<br />
Thus the high-level expected outcomes of a website for your typical business website include:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Attracting customers (think about what would attract you, as a customer)</li>
<li>Generating leads (ask yourself: How many leads do I expect a month?)</li>
<li>Generating sales (ask yourself: how many products do I expect to sell per month?)</li>
</ul>
It's very easy to over estimate your monthly sales; Google your main competitors reports to gauge their success (bare in mind this will be over-hyped). <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of taking a large market and multiply by 1 % and saying 'how hard could that be'...getting 1% of any market is not that easy". - Guy Kawasaki - The Top 10 Mistakes of Entrepreneurs (<a href="http://youtu.be/HHjgK6p4nrw?t=8m49s">source</a>)</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yhpO4KsFQ18/Uff_yWS2MKI/AAAAAAAANTQ/qgv_Bxll_A8/s1600/stamp_effect_grunge.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yhpO4KsFQ18/Uff_yWS2MKI/AAAAAAAANTQ/qgv_Bxll_A8/s320/stamp_effect_grunge.png" height="320" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Without routinely updated content, nobody will find your website!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<h2>
1. Have a plan for content</h2>
<div>
This cannot be stressed enough- we see evidence of this all to often; Clients whom focus to much on the design of their website, and forgetting what really gets customers there in the first place. Copy-writing for this reason is a growing business. Without this, your website becomes stale and loses it's footing on search engines. After all, nobody wants to be directed to a website with out date, stale information.<br />
<br />
The reason copy is so important is simple- <i>this is how people find your business on search engines</i>. Customers do not find a new business by searching for 'professional looking design'. Instead, build your website around the topic areas your target market would be researching before making the commit to buy. <br />
<br />
<h3>
How to address content- practical steps you can take</h3>
<div>
Think from your customers perspective- what questions might they have before buying product or enquiring about your service? <i>Your website</i> needs to be one answering these questions. For example consider a local garage wanting to promote it's MOT servicing. Questions perspective customers might be asking include "Cost of MOT", and "Can I drive without an MOT". If your website answers the questions perspective customers are asking, your more likely to win their favour. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005B1LBS8/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B005B1LBS8&linkCode=as2&tag=expaltd02-21" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B005B1LBS8&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=GB&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=expaltd02-21" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Free Book From Google</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The process we're describing here is known as 'ZMOT' which sands for 'Zero Moment Of Truth' a term coined by a Google employee which is available as a free book and well worth the read. It explains the buying process of people on-line including the importance of content, and is especially useful for local businesses which target their surrounding areas. </div>
</div>
<div>
<h2 id="secureYourBusinessName">
2. Secure your business name online</h2>
</div>
<div>
This is simple but easily forgotten: register your business name on all the various social media websites to secure ownership of them. This does not mean your business should be active on every social media site there is, but is does give you the opportunity to use your own name should you chose to do so in the future. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A free tool to check if your business name is still available on all the social media sites at once, you can use services such as '<a href="http://knowem.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Knowem</a>' to check your business name availability. This also avoids the PR danger of a another person impersonating your organisation on-line by using your business name.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h2>
3. Quality Photographs</h2>
</div>
<div>
Just like window shopping in the real world, we buy with our eyes. Don't go half-hat on your product photos. Simply ask yourself if you were the customer, would you appreciate a small, unclear picture? Probably not.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-st7yDtTAp3Y/UfkT931CynI/AAAAAAAANTg/H8NesIVjEko/s1600/Affordable+cheap+photo+studio+white+box.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-st7yDtTAp3Y/UfkT931CynI/AAAAAAAANTg/H8NesIVjEko/s320/Affordable+cheap+photo+studio+white+box.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For less than £40 it's worth the investment for professional looking photographs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div>
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<div>
What's more, it's increasingly easy to take your own professional product photographs; Affordable photo studio white boxes are available on-line. For example this photo-box (left) achieves professional looking photos for under £40.</div>
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<h2>
4. Ability to update website yourself</h2>
It should never take a call to a company or web developer to be able to update your own website; today tools known as content management systems (CMS's) allow the average Joe to login, and edit the content on your own business website. The latter is vital, so your website can be kept up-to-date and relevant to your consumers.<br />
<br />
'Wordpress' is the ubiquitous, free CMS most commonly used to day. Typically, a web development service will use Wordpress (which is free), and build a custom template over it to math your branding requirements. - Be cautious of web design services which try to sell Wordpress as their own creation, remember it is the design service you are paying for, and quotes should reflect that.<br />
<br />
Whichever CMS your website uses, before committing, ensure this choice does not lock you into your supplier (vendor lock-in). The key question to ask is:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
-Can I export by content in a common format (XML, csv, sql, latex, text)?</blockquote>
Without this ability your site would be locked into whatever proprietary content management system your supplier give you. With the ability to export data from your CMS in a common format, however, this give you freedom to move to another CMS in the future should you need to. </div>
<div>
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<h2>
5 Content Strategy</h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o6ZM7z544TY/UfkacYFL5uI/AAAAAAAANTw/MSXXUQPsd9U/s1600/johnny_automatic_feather.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o6ZM7z544TY/UfkacYFL5uI/AAAAAAAANTw/MSXXUQPsd9U/s1600/johnny_automatic_feather.png" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Lets start at the very begining, a very good place to start"- Sound of music</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Is your content:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Relevant to your business?</li>
<li>Helpful?</li>
<li>Does it include calls to action?</li>
</ol>
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0321620062/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0321620062&linkCode=as2&tag=expaltd02-21" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0321620062&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=GB&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=expaltd02-21" /></a> After reading the book "Content Strategy for the web" by Kristina Halvorson, which largely promotes a change in attitude towards content for your website which useful resources (questionnaires, example spreadsheets) to better organise the management of content on your web site and beyond (social media is also content, lest we forget).<br />
<br />
The problem, however, is quite simple- we're often "too busy" or "cannot see the value" in content which leads to websites going stale, being lax in content quality. It's no more complicated than input = output. Invest in content, make it measurable by using free analytics tools (such as Google Analytics) and soon one can measure the effectiveness of your content.<br />
<br />
Set yourself a goal today to either<br />
<ul>
<li>Identify existing outdated content on your website</li>
<li>Draft an article which is relevant to your target market and helpful</li>
</ul>
People are very passive when it comes to reading content on the web, we scan we don't <i>read</i>. Bullet points and use of graphics is of paramount importance to keep engagement. Give your visitors an action to take else they <i>will</i> just leave. Typical calls to action are "Book now", "Don't miss out", and of course "click here". All sound terribly rudimentary but not having at least some form of call to action will loose you leads.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NQnFbVzIyxg/Ufks0QXBAcI/AAAAAAAANUA/W2BMg8Lz1YA/s1600/heatmap_eyetracking_jakobNielsenWithPermission.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NQnFbVzIyxg/Ufks0QXBAcI/AAAAAAAANUA/W2BMg8Lz1YA/s1600/heatmap_eyetracking_jakobNielsenWithPermission.jpg" height="221" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nielsen, J. (2009), Eyetracking heatmap. Retrieved
July 31, 2012, from Useit.com, Eyetracking useit.com/eyetracking</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Research undertook by Worcester Polytechnic Institute found<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Generation Y may prefer pages that include a main large image, images of celebrities, little text, and a search feature." (Djamasbi, S. et al 2010)</blockquote>
-<a href="http://users.wpi.edu/~djamasbi/PDFS/2010%20djamasbi%20et%20al-%20IJHCS%20%28journal%20version%29.pdf" target="_blank">Source(pdf)</a> <br />
<br />
The research, used eye tracking to gauge where visitors looked first, and which areas of the page won the most attention producing 'heat maps' of interest. Taking advantage of the findings that most people from western society begin their focus in the top left, and only 'skim read' toward the right should be considered when placing important calls to action. <br />
<br />
<img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=expaltd02-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0321620062" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
</div>
Recoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6491064986526164393.post-61802478421014156332013-07-30T06:21:00.000-07:002013-07-30T13:26:24.618-07:00Free Project Management<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vs2j84QmC0Q/UffGmKtHTFI/AAAAAAAANSE/I539qwRXWK8/s1600/johnny_automatic_open_file_drawer.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vs2j84QmC0Q/UffGmKtHTFI/AAAAAAAANSE/I539qwRXWK8/s320/johnny_automatic_open_file_drawer.png" width="316" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By free project management software we mean a piece of software which will fulfil the following requirements:</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be truly free</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have a small learning curve </span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be intuitive to use</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-545dcdd1-2fdb-8caf-a3df-d3352fce8e93" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Above all, it must help things </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">get done</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Introducing Web2Project</span></h2>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After much research reviewing other project management offerings, time and time again we came across dead, or no longer maintained projects set to create ‘the best free project management app’. This is understandable, open source project management projects require a tight team of people working toward a common goal. The latter can be challenging in a paid working environment, let alone a non-paid project.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Web2Project is recommended as it has stood the test of time, rather it is a ‘fork’ (late 2007) of an older project called dotproject which is no longer maintained. A brief shot of Web2Projects features include:</span></div>
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google / Apple iCal integration*</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Create project tasks which depend on prior taks being complete</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tasks can be set budgets </span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Automatic Gantt Chart creation</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gauges actual project finish date based on completeness of tasks</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*The calendar integration is not two-way in that only event created via Web2Project are pushed to your gmail calendar. For example an event cannot be added to your project calendar from Google calendar- although a solution to this is being looked into (as per </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfbkR65NntM&feature=youtu.be&t=5s" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Web2Project youtube interview</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Published on Jun 12, 2013)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8yymSdM6WQ8/UffHab_0nqI/AAAAAAAANSQ/bnHoZxIuo3U/s1600/web2projectlogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="72" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8yymSdM6WQ8/UffHab_0nqI/AAAAAAAANSQ/bnHoZxIuo3U/s320/web2projectlogo.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why Web2Project, what are it’s disadvantages</span></h2>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Right now Web2Project focuses on getting the job done, it </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">works </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as a project management tool for small teams and larger enterprises. It “overkill” for a one person project according to the lead developer. That said, the ability to track progress of a large project can be a good motivator to give you that ‘big picture’ of where you are with a project.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where Web2Project arguably falls down is its lack of design, which is currently stuck in the past. The default design is predominantly grey and blue, however a newer modern theme is on the way with the 3.0 release. To put this into perspective, however, it is very hard to fault Web2Project based on it’s core functionality. The design of a project management application should not be how pretty it is, it should be how well it helps your organisation get the job done. In essence, there are </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">many</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> free project management solutions available which look the part, but lack the years of tested development and features that web2project has under its belt.</span><img height="152px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/1xsVI5fJGjaPDVUeql2obj2fbYC4gGilzMYa2CMX6NnOOUE2EsiWMxQs8UMZEXq8JCwcLsS9sgxtVyViaI_4zPz6RV9uMzu8ZCAjbDU8gtsScXN1vUyiiiF6" width="563px;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A note on ‘Free’ project management software</span></h2>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many offerings we review, and this is true for most applications, claim to be ‘free’ on the onset but after delving into the features of such tools, more often than not the ‘killer feature’ is often an add-on or an upgrade to a ‘pro version’. In some cases it is baring on dishonestly when a solution is marketed as free, but then later the customer is told “it’s free apart from that feature” or “if you have x number of users you have to start paying”. There’s nothing wrong with these freemium models, but users looking for a free project management solution are looking for just that- don’t try to fool them. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where to get web2Project</span></h2>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The installation of Web2Project is documented at: </span><a href="https://github.com/web2project/web2project/wiki/Installation#wiki-Welcome" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://github.com/web2project/web2project/wiki/Installation#wiki-Welcome</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Are you using another free project management solution, or currently using web2project? Post your experiences below. </span></div>
Recoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05193035170562016813noreply@blogger.com0