The Blog - Where Business Collides with Human Nature

The never ending supply of push button tech tools baffles even the best entrepreneur.  Success is not always based on acquiring the latest software program.  Just as the electric screwdriver is now a way of life for the construction worker vs. the manual screwdriver so is the importance for having the right software to stay competitive. 

There are limits and over-consumption can create a mountain of trial and error.  Even the latest social media tools change the platforms so frequently that retraining and more retraining minimizes profits even though sales may increase.

How to choose the right software at the right time? 

At what point does a small business owner get questions about ERP software answered?.  (Enterprise Resource Planning Software)  ERP software is NOT simply accounting software.  With enterprise software, business leaders attempt to analyze the business quickly with one commonality in reporting.  To get the questions answered about enterprise resource planning software, we have turned to the expertise of Gerry Poe. 

The Best and Worst Experiences
During the Startup of Yotpo

Branding.  How many books and articles have been written about marketing and branding?  My soapbox for entrepreneurs includes "branding is a symptom" and is the result of consistently over-delivering products or services vs. what is promised.  A small business owner does not always have the resources or foresight to create a high impact image like larger companies do.  Which comes first?  Will it be what people say about your business?  Or is it the result of a marketing plan which specifically decides the brand identity? 

The top 100 blogs list has been announced by Technorati.  Technorati is the leading blog search engine and directory; Technorati.com indexes more than a million blogs.

Business success for the online marketing entrepreneur is a bit more complicated than what the hyped-up marketers advertise.

Evaluating results by first evaluating skill and will saves time, frustration and heartache.  Regardless of the role (employee, boss, business owner, vendor, freelance or self), there will be bumps and marginal performance.  Emotions rise quickly when entrepreneurs stake their future success on the results of others.

When performance is poor, instead of going down the emotional path and putting energy into all the reasons results are bad and how important success is to the business, it is time to ask a question:

Is the issue a symptom of skill?  Or is it a symptom of will?

Will the employee say, "Boss, I don't know how"?

Or will they say, "Boss, I didn't feel like it"?

Here is a short list of the best screen capture software tools for business owners.  There are other screen capture tools but these will provide great documentation and support along with a very short learning curve helping you avoid time consuming training.  I personally use either Snag-it or Jing most often, but as a fan of Faststone, it is tough to ignore their product, Capture. 

The social media websites want to be the hub of everyone's life and business.  The software geniuses create platforms which will be easier to use, faster to set up and of course a bit more fun.  The goal for them is to be a utility company which of course creates "automatic income."

Above you will see a mindmap which shows a strategy for how to think about taking a business online.  This was made with TheBrain.  This mindmap shows one primary website at the core with all others as either roads or doors to the hub.

At the hub is where conversion happens.  Conversions occur when the visitor is willing to give an introduction with an email or make a payment.

As 2010 comes to a close, it is time to tackle taxes and planning for your business.  If you are an entrepreneur who believes that debt is overwhelming and bankruptcy is the next step, here is an article from Wystan North:

Stephen Covey has told us for many years in his book "7 Habits for Highly Effective People" to begin with the end in mind.  The concept is not new.  To achieve a goal, focus on the end by clipping out a photo of the "dream" and posting it on the refrigerator.  For business success, using a pro-forma balance sheet creates the target in advance, which keeps a business on target.