Up Market |
- What Can Businesses Learn from the NFL Playoffs?
- Web Design Zen: The Power of Simplicity
- Outsourcing — The Hidden Story
- Never Eat Alone
- Are Facebook and Twitter Overrated for Business?
| What Can Businesses Learn from the NFL Playoffs? Posted: 02 Feb 2012 08:30 AM PST
A: Unemployed. The NFL is not a multi-billion dollar industry by accident. Sure it's an exciting sport. But at the heart of its success is the fact that everyone involved must practice to keep their job. You must run efficient routes to be a great receiver. Success as a quarterback means the ability to throw the ball with speed and accuracy. Linemen must read blocking schemes and maintain a delicate balance of strength, weight, and agility. The same is true of other sports. To be a great golfer you must put in hours upon hours of practice. If you want success in basketball you must spend hours practicing jump shots and free throws. Sadly, where this is not true is in most of our jobs. We can see the connection between success and practice in sports. But we don't make that connection as easily when it comes to accounting, leadership, or marketing. Practice is for athletes. Not white-collar jobs. Or so the thinking goes. Yet if you want to be exceptional, then you must practice. It's as simple as that. That's Tom Brady's story. And that's what we can learn from the NFL. Brady is an average quarterback, with average abilities. At least he was. But thanks to his ridiculous commitment to practice he has become a 5-time Super Bowl quarterback. He's probably the greatest at that position. Not the most talented. Just the greatest. And as a Steelers fan, it pains me greatly to say that! Can you say the same thing about Tom from accounting? Has he practiced himself into a great accountant? Or is he pretty much the same as he was 10 years ago? How about you? What does your practice regimen look like? Do you even have one? Practice isn't just nice. It's necessary if you want to achieve your potential. Even more so if you're chasing your dreams. So here's 3 things you can do to start practicing. 1. Study more. Yes you heard me right. Studying is one of the best ways to stay on top of our disciplines. Technology, knowledge, and laws all change too quickly for you to rest on what you learned when you were in school. Even if that was just last year. For most of us it looks like reading. But for others it might mean paying attention to speaking styles of great teachers or observing a master carpenter at work. 2. Put in your time. But be deliberate. We know from Malcom Gladwell's book, Outliers and from Daniel Coyle's book, The Talent Code, that you need to put in your time to excel at something. The worst thing you can do is spend hundreds of hours flailing around without direction. Figure out what you want to excel in, and then work up a plan. Ironically Tom Brady's college "rival" Drew Henson, who never made it in the NFL, gives us the perfect example of this. He says, "I reached the level I did as a football and baseball player really being a 50 percent athlete my whole life. It all works until you get to the very highest level of sports, when everybody is basically as good as you or better, but has more experience or is farther along the development line than you are, and you have to play catch-up.” The same is true of business. 3. Review. In another brilliant book, The Accidental Creative, by Todd Henry, we see the role of review. Without reviewing what we've learned and collected, the information is lost. We don't see the connections. We don't see the relationships. And therefore all that effort is wasted. Simply knowing more isn't enough. You need to be able to act on that information. Maybe the reason you're not great is that you're just not practicing. I know that sounds harsh, but is it true? (And yes, yes, I know that other things matter too, such as luck and bringing your meaning to your work. But practice and effort are major parts of that equation.) So be honest. Then be thankful you're not in the NFL. How do you practice? Tell us in the comments! Photo by Torsten Bolten, AFpix.de at Wikimedia Commons  |
| Web Design Zen: The Power of Simplicity Posted: 02 Feb 2012 05:30 AM PST You might be surprised at how much time and work goes into making a web design simple. Rather than looking for ways to fit more stuff in, simple websites strip away the excess to deliver direct, concise messages in a limited screen-space. What you may not realize is that taking the "less is more" approach to web design has some added benefits. Beyond delivering faster-loading, easier-to-maintain websites, simpler sites also have a dramatic effect on increasing conversion rates. Every site, no matter what it sells or promotes, has to get its message across in microseconds – otherwise the visit and potential conversion (to subscriber, reader or customer) is lost. Below, you'll find examples of how to do simplicity right, as well as what steps to take to clear out the clutter on your own pages. Firetask – Empowering Task Management with a Clean, Simple Design Firetask presents an uncluttered, easy-to-navigate website that supports its goal to Firetask is a task management app whose easy-to-browse website fits several key points nicely into one screen-width. Not only can you see an illustration of the app at work, but the main features are neatly presented with easily-scannable "chunks" of text. The call-to-action form clearly lets you decide if you want to buy or try. What You Can Learn from This Layout:
iMyGarden – Plan Before You Plant iMyGarden combines easy-to-follow steps, features and visual proof in one place iMyGarden is an app that lets you plan and design a garden before you plant a single seed. This powerful little program walks readers through each step by having the main app image change when any of the steps are hovered over with the mouse. In addition, from this one screen-space alone, you can see the beginnings of user-created garden galleries, and a list of features offset by icons. The large call-to-action button and simple layout makes it easy to tell, at-a-glance, what this app is about. What You Can Learn from This Layout:
Vera Wellness – Simplicity in Service-based Businesses
Here's an example of a service-based business using simplicity in its design. Staying true to their color scheme throughout the layout, this design includes not just the aforementioned photo slideshow, but also coupons, a members' area, and distinct sections for each service. Even further within the site, each piece of navigation or call-to-action button is clearly defined and events are easy to browse. What You Can Learn from This Layout
These are just a few simple changes you can make to your pages to help boost conversions and keep visitors on your site longer. Remember, simplicity doesn't have to mean that your site looks like a poorly formatted Word document. It also doesn't mean that you have to sacrifice tried-and-true approaches for something a bit more unusual just for the sake of being creative. Think of ways that you can trim the excess from your pages, and you'll be well on your way to web design zen. Image Credits: Firetask.com, iMyGarden.com, VeraWellness  |
| Outsourcing — The Hidden Story Posted: 01 Feb 2012 05:00 PM PST
The hidden outsourcing “circle” As CEO of a publishing services business, I’ve often been contacted by “packagers” (companies who handle all aspects of publishing books except printing and marketing) who want us to proofread or index books that they have been contracted to work on from major U.S. publishing houses. Yes, it’s a strange arrangement. I mean, think about it — if U.S. subcontractors are being contracted by overseas companies who have been contracted by U.S. companies, what really is going on here? It basically means that such overseas companies don’t really have workers with the skills needed to do the work. All that they are doing is promising low rates for large volume contracts and then seeking out U.S. small businesses who are willing to accept work at a much lower rate. U.S. subcontractors may often do this because there is so much less work around now that it has been assigned to these same overseas companies. Hidden consequences of outsourcing Many overseas companies are not comprised of people who have years of experience and skills in the field in which they’ve set up business. They often lack a deep understanding of specific issues related to your area of business. So what are some of the hidden consequences of outsourcing? Here are just a few that I’ve encountered in six years of doing work for overseas companies: * Pushing work out in ridiculous time frames. For example, I had an overseas subcontractor ask me to write an index for a book over the weekend. This is a job that normally takes several weeks, and they wished to have it done in several days, and on Saturday and Sunday, at that. Naturally, I wouldn’t do it. But if they are getting some freelancers to do that type of work, you can imagine the effect that it has on quality. * Sneakiness, boarding on dishonesty. On many occasions the price that an overseas company agreed upon in an email changed in a later email after the project had already begun. I had to insist repeatedly to get the rate originally offered. In at least once instance, my words fell on deaf ears. Recently an overseas business asked us to only write a subject index, later to add on a name index and yet they expected to pay nothing extra for the added work. * Time difference difficulties. A while back I received a phone call at 2:30 a.m. from a foreign contractor. I let them know what time it was in the U.S. She replied that she realized this, but needed to talk about the project at that time since those were the hours that she was at work. Granted, your business might be very different from mine, and perhaps those to whom you would be outsourcing are not subcontracting back to U.S. small businesses. But whether they are treating U.S. subcontractors this way or being unreasonable with their own employees (far more likely), you can understand the effect it would have on the quality of the work that they are doing for you. You might think, “well it’s much cheaper, and it’s good enough.” But if cheaper and good enough are all you care about, you’re putting yourself at the bottom of the barrel. Is that where you want to be scraped from? It’s true, being cheaper is one way to compete, but the other is being better. Better at creating remarkable, superior work that makes your products or services stand out from the others. You’re not going to get that by outsourcing. Photo Credit: comprock  |
| Posted: 01 Feb 2012 02:30 PM PST Book recommendation: Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi
The core of his idea is that you need to meet a lot of people and learn how you can help each other. It's not about taking, it's about giving freely and accepting help freely. I like to help people so this is an easy way for me to network. I would help them no matter what, but most people like to return favors and so they are more than willing to help me with my problems. This doesn't feel like networking to me so I can do this. The title of the book deals with an issue I often have. When at business conferences I used to sit at a table by myself and keep my head in a book or magazine. I knew I wasn't getting the most out of the situation, but it felt safer. After reading Never Eat Alone I straightened my backbone and sat at tables with other other people. I also introduced myself to more people and had a more positive experience. It is not enough to just meet people and learn how you can help each other. You need to keep in contact with them so that the interest in you helping each other stays strong. I would often go to a conference, get business cards and brochures, and then never look at them again. I missed working with a lot of great people because I never took the next step. I read this book often to refresh the ideas in my mind. Networking is not second nature to me so using the ideas found in this book are helpful. I have business and writing goals and thanks to Keith Ferrazzi I am able to find people who can help me reach my goals. What goals are you having problems with? Perhaps by reading Never Eat Alone, and doing some networking you will also find success. If you want more information on Keith Ferrazzi and his books, blogs, and videos check out www.keithferrazzi.com. Image Credit: Keithferrazzi.com  |
| Are Facebook and Twitter Overrated for Business? Posted: 01 Feb 2012 12:30 PM PST
Well, after 14 years in a variety of IT/web/marketing roles and 3 years using Social Media for business I'm starting to question just how essential it really is. Of course it all depends on the type of business you run and who your target audience is but I'd like to share with you some insights on why I think Facebook and Twitter could be a little overrated. This from someone who has had years of practical hands-on experience running websites rather than just a Social Media guru or consultant who has only ever advised rather than implemented long-term. My day job is to manage 'the UK's biggest online community for young entrepreneurs aged 16-30′ and so it's important for us to engage with our users on the Social Media platforms they use. Having read all the books and immersed myself in the 'Social Web', I've totally bought into the idea of giving users choice about when and how they can interact with our service. I agree that the old way of expecting people to come to your site and passively consuming the information you present them with is no longer sufficient, especially if you provide a service like ours. In addition to a wide range of free articles, videos and how-to guides, our site includes a popular discussion forum where members can get free information and advice on starting a business and a social network which acts like a shop window to their business. We also use Twitter to share all our latest news and to signpost people to other useful business resources, a Facebook Page to do the same and a YouTube Channel to highlight all our latest videos which can then be embedded back into pages on our site or of others. Users can bookmark, share and comment on all content within the site and we have a LinkedIn group for former award winners too. We are indeed 'truly social' and our members regularly tell us how much they love this fact. The downside is that as a small team (4.5 people) covering the whole of the country, our strategy of embracing Social Media the way we have has given us a lot more work to do. That's not to say that it hasn't been worthwhile. It's certainly helped us reach new people, communicate with and nurture our existing online community, and provide even better (and faster) customer service to our users, partners, stakeholders and the media. It's also brought increased traffic to our site through referrals, recommendations, Tweets and 'Likes'. However, despite daily, day-long Social Media activity, the referrals from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube are still tiny compared to visits from Google. In fact, over the past 3 years, organic search on Google has resulted in almost 20 times as many referrals as Facebook, almost 50 times as many as Twitter, over 350 times as many as LinkedIn and a whopping 1800 times as many as YouTube! Furthermore, 53% of visits to the site have been via search engines with Google way ahead of all the others (33 times more effective than number two search engine Yahoo). Another 26% of visits were from direct traffic (those who clicked on a bookmarked link or typed the web address into a browser) and the remaining 21% were from referrals. So, rather than see Facebook and Twitter as the great panacea, I'm here to tell you that in my experience they are merely another (great) way to raise your profile, encourage and facilitate online conversations about you and your brand, and provide great customer service. But these are all intangible benefits which are difficult to measure when it comes to the bottom line. Therefore, I think you should think long and hard about whether you realistically have the time and resources to manage a Social Media presence effectively and whether it's really necessary for the business you are in. For the time being and for the foreseeable future, great content on your site that is useful and highly relevant to your target audience is still the key to success and so don't for one second think that it's no longer important or that Social Media will give you a shortcut to success! Image Credit: khalid Albaih  |
Q: What do you call someone who plays in the NFL but doesn't practice?
It’s easy to see why so many businesses are sending work to countries outside of the U.S. Maybe you’ve thought of doing so yourself. After all, overseas subcontractors can work for half, or less, of the rate of most U.S. subcontractors. And if your competition is already outsourcing, then it might be hard to beat their prices.
I will admit that when I read this book I was eating alone. But then, that was why I picked up this book. I am an introvert and networking is very difficult for me. However, I recognize that good networking can be invaluable to a business. So I read Never Eat Alone and learned a whole new way to network. It is a method that even I, an extreme introvert, can use.
If you listen to what all the 'experts' have to say, then you'll know you need to Tweet, Like, share and blog about your business if it's to have any chance of success these days. That's a given, right?| You are subscribed to email updates from Upmarket To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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