1. DON’T overload your Business Blog with Ads
There is nothing worse than large ads on entry to your blog or your blog being inundated with flashing text selling everything from fishing rods to miracle weight loss pills. I assume when you made the decision to put ads on your business blog, it was to act as an alternative revenue stream. However, if the sheer mass of ads is putting users off reading your blog or visiting your business site, then it may be time to rethink your strategy. I personally will not read or comment on a blog that is smothered in advertising. Check out How To Advertise on Your Blog Without (Completely) Selling Out.
“A profit margin on my project? – sure I got paid, isn’t that all that matters.” — End quote.
I’ve heard this four times in as many days and it is the theme tune of many small and not-so-small enterprises who are grateful for having cash flow. Big, big mistake. I call it Profit Margin Shame (PMS – what did you think I was talking about?)
When people (outside of big business) are asked about profit margins the reaction can be one of embarassment on the part of the business person. It is considered to be politically incorrect to even recognise the possibility that your company is making a profit and by inference a margin on every sale that you make.
Ah, but add a bit of sweetness (honey if you’re healthy, or golden syrup and cream if you’re not!) and suddenly it’s not so bad. You are getting healthy, nutritious food that can only do you good.
This is a big day for us that has been 2 years in the making. We are opening MyProjectTracker for what in the industry is called “Open Beta”. In simple terms this just means you can start using MyProjectTracker for FREE. This final phase is to ensure there are no “funnies”. We will launch commercially over the coming months with some special deals for those of you who sign up now.
MyProjectTracker will help your business deliver projects more effectively. We encourage collaborative communication between your team and your customer. But just as importantly, we help you to manage and track your project costs.
We believe that accurate and real-time reporting is key to any business. With MyProjectTracker, we will let you know how the budget is doing, how the timelines are looking and whether you have any problems that you need to worry about for every project on our simple dashboard.
All of your projects and data will remain safe and sound once we GO-LIVE, so don’t worry about having to make changes. We’ll look after all of this.
The other day, I was reading an article about project reporting. The final part was really good and delivered the right focus and direction i.e.
“to design reports that are relatively easy to produce, ask the right questions, are well-structured and well-formatted, and contain needed data.”–end quote.
However, two aspects of this post made me growl!
Project management elitism is one my bug-bears and the following unfortunately did not help dispel this view.
If you are not a parent, do not leave this little analogy on how project management and parenting have real elements of similarity- this is all still relevant to you.
Project management begins when a concept is to be taken from an idea into a reality.
Parenting begins in a similar way. Certainly for the first child, the parents have only a vague notion of what it will be like. Then they hear those famous words from the mid-wife or doctor saying “it’s a boy or it’s a girl or it’s triplets (ahem!)” and it brings them firmly into the world of parenting.
In business parlance, parenting would be a program of work to deliver a well-rounded individual out into the world. Click here to read on! »
Is your business too small to take credit card transactions? Are you getting caught out with cheques “bouncing”? Well with the introduction of the Square, that may no longer be an issue.
The scrum – it conjures up images of two teams battling it out on the rugby pitch for possession of the ball. In the context of this post though, nothing as sporty I’m afraid. However, scrum is a very useful methodology that can be applied to your business projects.
Scrum is a way of working that, as part of your project, you deliver pieces of the project that can be understood by the end-customer. To help you along, lets design and build a house as our project.
Keeping up with trends and understanding your market environment is key for any business owner. The last thing that you want is to be letting down your customers or falling behind your competition because you are not current with changes or trends in your business arena.
Successful entrepreneurs are a breed to their own. They are people who take personal responsibility. They are people who are prepared to do whatever it takes to make their business or project successful. They are people who always have a plan!!
A franchise is the simplest example. Same name, same products, similar locations, same customers – yet different coffee shops / sandwich bars achieve widely different results. This is a fact. But why? The answer is because of the owner/driver. The name, concept, what you charge, etc, in the bigger picture are irrelevant. It is purely down to hard work, conviction and getting the most out of your people.
Have you not noticed how successful people can easily migrate between industries? This is because successful people don’t get caught up in ideas or names or the market.
