Logo Design: Five Key Elements for Reaching Your Target Audience » Logo Design » Design Festival. SitePoint » Web Design, Web Development, Freelancing, Tech News and more. Alphabet of Web Business. When you are up to your elbows in running a business, it can often be easy to overlook some of the strategies or ideas we should be considering every once in a while. With that in mind, here is an alphabet of words to spark those all-important reminders. A is for Accessibility Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d already be aware of the need to make all your websites as accessible as possible.
It means that not only can sight impaired website visitors enjoy a better experience, it works to your advantage with search engines and other devices. James Edwards has written some great thoughts about accessibility in The Art of Accessibility and The Angst of Accessibility on the SitePoint blogs. B is for Business Cards You meet someone at an event, and swap business cards. C is for Communication For nearly every business, and certainly every customer, communication is vitally important. E is for Ethics How you approach business is as much about ethics as it is about profits. Opportunity and Profit – The Alphabet of Web Business.
We’re back again with another installment of the Alphabet for Web Business series; I trust that you find these two words inspiring and helpful. O is for Opportunity Many of us speak about innovation or “different thinking”, however much of the great inventions of the last decade have been the result of finding opportunities. To be successful, many businesses create a product or a service not being offered, or being offered badly. Look for opportunities every day – often hear clients grumbling they wished they had an easy way to send marketing emails, or manage web content, or; you get the idea. Create a product to help them. P is for Profit Spend your time focusing on your turnover? Let’s look at it this way; a business making 20% profit on $200,000 is making more actual money than a million dollar business only making 3% profit – and there’s a very good chance they have less clients, transactions, overheads and ultimately, problems as well!
Accessibility to Need. Quoting and Rates – The Alphabet of Web Business. We’re nearly at the end of the Alphabet for Web Business series, I hope you’ve enjoyed the snippets of wisdom and sparks of thought. Here are two more to encourage you further… Q is for Quoting An important part of the sales process is preparing a document to say what you’ll be doing, what the result will be, and how much it will cost. Typically called a Quote or Proposal, this document shouldn’t be taken lightly. The quote you send says a lot about you; how you’ve interpreted the brief, and what process you will undertake. If you’re not already, start including what is not covered, as well as any impacts of scope creep or changes. Take time to spell check and be as professional as possible; it really does reflect in how you’ll be perceived.
R is for Rates When was the last time you reviewed your rates? Make sure you reassess your rates at least every year – take a look at what others are charging, and any costs you have, and consider upping your rates, even if it is a few percent. Systems, Time, Upselling & Value – The Alphabet of Web Business. We’re nearly at the end of the Alphabet for Web Business series. I hope you’ve enjoyed the snippets of wisdom and sparks of thought. Here are four more to encourage you further… S is for Systems I’m not talking operating systems when I say system. I’m talking workflow and processes. I’m taking it for granted you have these systems all documented – you would be crazy if you didn’t. Take it upon yourself to listen and act – you’ll be pleased at the improvements, and your team will appreciate the opportunity. T is for Time No matter what we do, we still only have 24 hours in each day. Now that we know this, how should we spend it? U is for Upselling We’ve all been through that worldwide burger chain, where they ask if you would like fries or drinks with that.
Now, I’m not suggesting selling steak knives with a website, however if you can fulfill your customers’ needs with an add-on, offer it! V is for Value Something I learnt early on in business is that you should talk value not price. Wages and X-Ray – The Alphabet of Web Business. We’re at the second last installment in the Alphabet of Web Business series! I hope you’ve enjoyed the snippets of wisdom and sparks of thought. Here are two more to encourage you further… W is for Wages When was the last time you had a salary or wage review? If you’re solo, then it’s quite likely to have been quite some time. The same applies for what you actually pay yourself. X is for X-Ray Imagine having X-ray vision – you could see right into the bank vault, the server when it is having a problem or see what the neighbors are up to! The next time someone asks for you to redevelop their website, use your x-ray vision. Systems, Time, Upselling & Value Quoting and Rates Opportunity and Profit Accessibility to Need As Director of Bam Creative, and Chairperson of the Australian Web Industry Association, Miles spends his time managing his business or speaking about managing businesses.
You and Zany: The Alphabet of Web Business. It has taken a number of months, however here we are at the final installment of the Alphabet for Web Business series. I trust these final two letters will invoke some further thought or inspiration … Y is for You When I started my business, I did it for me. I didn’t do it for my employees (I had none at the time), I didn’t do it for the clients or the suppliers I now deal with. The whole reason I started in business was for my own personal motivations. That’s the most common reason any business founder starts their business. Cast your mind back to when you started – was it flexible time, was it the power of autonomy or the lack of accountability to another manager? How have you fared? Take time starting right now, and change your business life to start embracing he very reason you went into business – I guarantee you’ll be pleased you did!
Z is for Zany I see a lot of web business websites. You know something? I’m continually amazed at how boring most of them are. Wages and X-Ray. The HTML5 Herald.