None of us can go it alone. We all work in an interconnected community of people. After reading a recent WSJ article on "How to Succeed in the Age of Going Solo" (link: http://on.wsj.com/d87Gv7), I was reminded once more of the power and importance of finding a network of people. Employment trends are showing more and more people taking on self-employment, with more and … [Read more...]
Visionboard for your Success
I invite you to take a look at my own visionboarding process: I've been working on some variation of this for the last 3 years now, and I've been keeping a "attainable goals" list since 2001, when I first started being more proactive, positive, and engaging with my chosen line of work and my personal and professional mission statement. My main purpose in being here on the … [Read more...]
Website Trends for 2010: Top 5 Predictions
Here are my top five predictions in website trends. Believe me, there is so much information out there, but as someone who makes a living developing websites (and who has been doing so for the last 10 years), I highly recommend you configure your action plan for actively updating your website. 1) Go Mobile. Have you created a mobile version of your website yet? This … [Read more...]
FOCUS on the Future
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone! The close of the year is an excellent time to do some reassessment and set a course for the new year. If I could have you remember just one thing from all your web browsings, I'd like you to remember this: FOCUS your efforts. By FOCUS, I mean: F – Follow your passions O – Overcome obstacles C – Continue your … [Read more...]
Getting Back to the Basics
On my blog at ASuccessfulWoman.com, I invite new members to post what their goals are. So far, most of the declarations have been about transforming energy in some way: such as financial ("double my income") or spiritual ("get back to the basics in my life"), or interpersonal ("increase my Twitter or Facebook followers") I have been thinking a lot about energy transfer … [Read more...]
Coaching as an Asset to your Business Development
How does your business make a difference in the world? In 2006 I began an intensive coaching process with Rob Seidenspinner of Sage Circle Coaching. Rob is a personal and professional coach and I was looking for specific insights into how my personal "story" was influencing my business outcomes. The benefits I’ve seen are as follows. Not all of these are directly … [Read more...]
Your Product or Service: How to Price it Right
I've always believed that you must price your particular product or service at a level that provides value for others at a price they're willing to pay. There are two parts of a price tag: one is the actual sale price of the item. The other is the value that the purchaser finds in buying that item. The actual sales price is just a number. However, the item is essentially … [Read more...]
Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, or Custom Content Management?
Having built over 250 websites in the last ten years, I have a good sense of what tools would be a good fit for a particular project. If you're thinking of building a website for your own business, you'll want to identify some key needs around the following: 1) your budget -- how much can you realistically spend 2) your timeline to get the website up -- when do you need a … [Read more...]
Asking the Right Questions for your Website Process
When you're doing any new process, it can be difficult to understand the correct questions to ask. We are often called to give estimates on website development, including web design, customization, functionality, social networking integration, ongoing maintenance, and search engine optimization. There is so much information in this field -- as I'm sure there is in yours --- … [Read more...]
Five Principles for your Project’s Success
Having done my Malcolm-Gladwell-esque "10,000 hours of experience" (in his book Outliers, Gladwell suggests that it takes 10,000 hours for someone to become an experienced professional, in any field), I feel like there are some fixed principles that apply to all of our clients, who run the gamut from nonprofit to small business to public agency. We've found that the individuals … [Read more...]