Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 12:38 pm | by Adam
Like other entrepreneurs, you think you have a great new idea for a business or a unique product that will be a best-seller. With the uncertainties of the market place, how do you decide if you should move ahead with your idea? Basically, there are three important steps to take that will assist you in making this critical business decision.
 Small Business Decision Tree Step 1. Set Realistic Expectations
The first step is to weigh your goals against your current resources so that you are setting reasonable expectations for a new business or product launch. Knowing your financial limitations is an obvious point, but it is just as important to assess your personal limitations. For example, you may have a solid savings account and the financial support of family and friends, but you are currently working 60 hours each week. Will your current work situation allow you the time and energy to develop a new business? On the other hand, you may have the time to develop an idea but have fewer tangible resources to use. As you think about starting a new business, weighing all of your resources against the potential outcomes of the business is vital.
One way to visualize your goal(s) is to think about where you would like to be with your business when it is fully operational. If your goal is to have your business serve as your full-time source of support, you can quickly estimate the desired financial goals for the business based on your current cost of living. If, on the other hand, you are thinking of your business as a supplement to your current employment, weighing how much time you have to put into the business versus how much the business will cost to run will also help you develop realistic expectations. In short, clarifying what you hope to accomplish with your new business is one key to deciding whether to move ahead.
Please come back tomorrow to read Step 2.
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 2:18 pm | by Adam
The World Wide Web has a voice now. That voice is your customer “tweeting” on Twitter, posting reviews on Yelp, reading, participating in and sharing blogs, networking through social communities, and getting advice from trusted resources such as other clients and friends. The search for anything starts on the web.
Now more than ever — your business needs to be optimized. All things digital—from websites to press releases, news coverage to social profiles, blogs, podcasts, you name it—must be optimized. And, they need to be succinct to your brand message and intertwined for cohesiveness. That way, when your potential customers or current clients use any of the various and growing digital channels to find what they’re seeking, they will be more likely to find you and not your competitors. Also, don’t forget they’re also finding your social channels in search engine results. When optimization is done right, you can pretty much ensure they’ll have a cohesive and strategic brand experience.
Users are now savvy, smart, and well-versed in the way the World Wide Web works. More than ever, they are connected and are an extension of your sales force — thanks to social media. For example, Addthis.com is a pioneering social sharing tool used by over 500 Million people monthly. Holy Toledo–that’s 30 BILLION monthly uses—even more than Bing. That represents heavy digital dissemination.
 Source: Mr. Mojo-Risin.com If you think your business would benefit from optimization and social media tools– and, we are confident that your business can benefit from these strategies–we are happy to help you improve your digital position.
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 2:14 pm | by Adam
Websites for Small Businesses
We get this question all the time. What type of website is best for my business? If you’re a business that regularly puts content on your website (blog posts, images, web apps, videos, etc.), you definitely need something more dynamic than a static website. 95% of all businesses need something that will allow for quick and easy changes, edits, and updates.
The industry has dubbed the software – content management system (CMS). The value behind a CMS is in its flexibility. Hence why I use such a system everyday — in fact I am using Wordpress right now to write this blog entry.
What Does a CMS Do?
Content management systems are very flexible, and thus you can use them for multiple purposes. There are systems for simple blogs to advanced data repositories. They all have similar features, though, including:
- Design: It’s easy to create and switch out the look and feel of your websites
- Editing tools: Most content management systems have tools for creating, editing, and publishing new web pages and articles.
- Multiple user management: Multiple people can be logged into a CMS and change different parts of the website, based on their assigned privileges.
- Upgradeable: It’s easy to add new plugins or functionality to a CMS
- Community / Support Group: The open source community stands behind one another providing ample resources for DIY quick fixes / code snipbits for helping your small business add a new application to your existing website.
The top thing to take away is that the CMS makes it much easier to manage a website, especially for those without technical or programming experience.
Reasons to Use a CMS for a Small Business
If you intend to update your website often, then use a CMS system. If you intend to blog, post press releases, or post pictures, go with a CMS. If your website is very simple or if it is actually a web application that is not about managing content, still go with a CMS system, you never know when you will begin to need to make changes.
It should not cost you anymore to purchase a CMS system as your website platform vs. a static website. If you are told something different then find a new provider. In fact many times it is easier / faster / cheaper for developers to use existing technologies (CMS systems) in their developmental process.
We live in a social media world. Everything is tweet this or tweet that — so the need to integrate social media content through use of widget is crucial. Most CMSs come pre-equipped for rapid deployment of such technology.
There are very few reasons not to use a CMS.
- Excess Baggage: CMS systems come with a ton of features, most of which you will not use. Site loading can be affected by the excess files associated with standard installs.
- Flexibility / Scalability: CMS systems are pre built to be flexibile – fit websites of all shapes and sizes. That said, as soon as you try to adapt a system to fit very specific needs, developers / site owners risk causing accidental code errors which ultimately can affect overal performance and site vulnerability. Joomla has over 32,000 files in its standard install.
Which One Should I choose?
The best advice I can give on choosing a CMS is to go with one that you are comfortable with. Most are free and include templates and plug-ins to get started. However, if you want your site to feel unique, you’re going to have to put in some hard work building your own design (or hiring an expert who can.)
For our clients we use only the most proven and popular content management systems including WordPress (a very popular CMS for blogs), Drupal (an open-source solution), Joomla (created in PHP), and Radiant (written in Ruby).
Related articles
Modified and repurposed from OPENFORUM.com
Category: Web Design
Tags: content management, content management system, Drupal, Joomla, opensource, php, san diego web design, san diego web programming, small business, website, wordpress
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