I’m not much into video games. I have nothing against them (although they can eat up time like crazy) but I just have other things on my radar that are more pressing for me. Regardless, I can appreciate a good video game, not just for its artistry but for what it can teach business owners:
Video games are a great intersection between technical proficiency, artistic ability, and user experience.
When those things intersect in the right ways, a compelling game is created. Your business is similar:It’s an intersection between those three things.
- You need technical proficiency to make sure your website and backoffice operations are running correctly
- You need artistic ability in your design, branding, marketing, content creation, packaging,
- You need a positive user experience throughout the entire process, from the time someone first interacts with your business until long past the time that they’ve purchased and used your products.
Click here to read more »
In a couple of days, my calendar is going to ping me with a reminder. It’s going to say “One month in – how’s it going, Heather?” This reminder is for me to review the new business strategies I intended to integrate into my business this year.
Each year, I list out a bunch of strategies I want to integrate into my business. Some are marketing strategies, some are productivity strategies, some are customer service strategies; that kind of thing. I always have a really bold and vibrant vision of the year ahead and it’s easy for me to actually create so many strategies that I simply can’t implement them all effectively.
Click here to read more »
In my reading I’ve enjoyed the writing of Duct Tape Marketing creator John Jantsch. You can read his blog over at Duct Tape Marketing.
In a recent blog, The Three Natural Phases of Successful Small Business Growth, Jantsch talks about the 3 phases that he sees small businesses progress through.
The first phase is foundation, the second phase is growth, the third stage is momentum. Jantsch describes each phase and encourages readers to identify where they are.
To recap (and to add on to what Jantsch has said):
Click here to read more »
If you’re a business owner who is stuck at your desk for lunch, you might be getting work done but you’re missing out on the powerful networking opportunities of a business lunch. That’s where BusinessLunchClub comes in. BusinessLunchClub is where entrepreneurs on Twitter have lunch. If you’re stuck at your desk but want to do some networking, tweet while you eat and add the hashtags #businesslunchclub, #bizlunchclub, or #blc.
Read 8 Ways to Use BusinessLunchClub to Grow Your Business.
Here are a couple of tips to help you get more out of BusinessLunchClub: Click here to read more »
Time management is a must-do activity that most people struggle with at one time or another in their personal and professional lives. Because life isn’t a neat and tidy place, we end up overbooked on some days and underbooked on others, and sometimes distracted with meaningless things and sometimes so overwhelmed that we’re not able to spend time with people we love.
There are plenty of good time management techniques out there, and I find that different techniques are right for different people, depending on lifestyle and what kind of business is being run.
Click here to read more »
In my project management work I’ve worked with small and large companies to perform a variety of project management and program management tasks including product implementation, business development, strategy initiatives, and more. I’ve collected some observations over the years from my experience in working with small and large companies and I’m jotting it down here:
My role with small businesses when managing their projects is to help busy entrepreneurs who don’t have time to give the attention to the project that it deserves. They may have a vision for the project but simply don’t have the energy or space to get any traction on it. They’re busy running their business so it makes sense to outsource that effort to someone who can get it done for them.
Click here to read more »
I can’t imagine a business that doesn’t want some kind of growth. That’s exactly the way it should be. But not all growth is good and in the past couple of blogs I talk about business growth that can sometimes be a problem.
So far, I’ve talked about out-of-control business growth that costs so much up-front, the business cannot keep up. And, I’ve talked about business growth that spikes (increasing then decreasing) so that the business is stuck with a high bill from the brief burst of business. Click here to read more »
Did the title catch you off guard? I hope it did. After all, business growth is the mantra of… well… every single business out there. And it seems good. All of it. After all, who starts a business and doesn’t want it to grow? And it seems like the sooner it grows and the faster it grows, the better.
But the reality is, ALL business growth is not good. Click here to read more »
