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Answer Upon - So You Don't Believe in Outsourcing
Setting unreasonable financial goals for your business can make you crazy! You may think you are motivating yourself to achieve more by setting your expectations high, but the opposite is often true.Big businesses have systems and algorithms for projecting their financial goals, and so should you. Yours can be much less sophisticated and complicated and can yield the same result.When your business is new, setting your goals is kind-of a shot in the dark. Unless you have some data on which to base your projections, you will most likely be estimating. Talk to people in
• working with the designer (or designers) and developers to making sure everyone involved understood what you do and who you do it
• reviewing, rejecting, and/or approving designs before you ever see them
• writing copy appropriate for each product
• proofreading • overseeing all the various vendors to make sure workflow is on schedule and work is correct
... and only calling you for selection, fact verification or final decisions.
Then again, maybe you like a challenge. Or maybe you just need to micromanage everything. Because by the time you’re done, you’re likely to end up with a disjointed marketing “program” (for lack of a better word). And when and if you finally do call in a marketing person to revise your marketing material, you’ll probably
Working as computer consultants for small businesses can be very financially rewarding and very gratifying. In this article you'll learn about some of the benefits you'll realize as computer consultants.You Can Pick Your WorkAs computer consultants, you have so much flexibility that you're not likely to get bored. You choose what you want to do. It’s a lot of fun. You get to select exactly which technologies and the platforms and the products that you’re able to sell, service and support. You don’t have to get boxed into working with products that you don’t want to deal w
Especially when you’re over committed and could use a little help.
All too often, new business owners decide they don’t need to hire any outside services. You know how it goes….”I can do this myself. How tough can it be? It’s just a simple direct mail campaign.”
Big mistake! Trying to do it all yourself …unless it’s your area of expertise….usually costs you more in the long run. And most of the time, the work looks pretty unprofessional.
Here’s the scenario…
You’re starting a consulting business. You decide you need business cards, a logo, a handout of some sort and a website. Pretty basic. You figure you can hire the right people and manage these projects yourself.
So you do. You brainstorm some names for the company, run them by a few friends and select one for your business. Next you find a designer whose work you like and meet with her. You describe the services you’ll offer and what colors you do and don’t like. Maybe you’ll even have some sketches of what you think your logo should look like.
So the designer (working with minimal direction) starts to work. Unless you’ve given her detailed information on your target market, your niche, how you see your identity developing, this designer is pretty clueless. But she comes up with some designs. Once again, you go to some friends and family members for feedback. Based on the general consensus, you select a design (hopefully, it will fit with your company name and what you do). You can now either leave it up to the designer to get printing quotes for your business cards and stationary. Or you can do it yourself and get some price comparisons. You’ll need to know what type of stock you’d like, paper weight, quantities, etc.
Next you want to start on some sort of handout or brochure. Do you stick with your logo designer? If so, better make sure you’ve seen some samples of brochures she’s done. Often designers specialize in one product or another. I’ve worked with great logo designers who can’t do other collateral.
And what about your web site? Is your logo designer also able to do site design? What about development? Not all designers are developers. In fact, most aren’t. The best developers I’ve found started out as web folk, whereas my best designers are sticking to what they do best – graphic design.
You also need to decide how many pages your site will be, what they are (the menu), how you want the site to lay out (site map), whether or not you need a dynamic or static site, what elements need to be included, etc.
Still happy with your decision? Better make sure you nail down the costs on all of this so you’re not surprised upon completion.
Lastly, don’t forget about the copy. You need some for your brochure. You need different copy for your website. They’re different types of marketing tools and the copy needs to be written in a different style for each. But everything needs to work together (be integrated) so you don’t look like a fractured company. Your brochure and website should have the same look and feel….but the approach is different.
If you’re still managing this yourself -- kudos. Especially if you have time to do any selling or networking or research. Because you’ve taken on full-time work as a marketing person/project manager.
To think…. you could have saved yourself a lot of aggravation and time if only you’d called in a marketing specialist at the beginning. Then you’d have one person who could manage all the above projects for you:
• working with the designer (or designers) and developers to making sure everyone involved understood what you do and who you do it
• reviewing, rejecting, and/or approving designs before you ever see them
• writing copy appropriate for each product
• proofreading • overseeing all the various vendors to make sure workflow is on schedule and work is correct
... and only calling you for selection, fact verification or final decisions.
Then again, maybe you like a challenge. Or maybe you just need to micromanage everything. Because by the time you’re done, you’re likely to end up with a disjointed marketing “program” (for lack of a better word). And when and if you finally do call in a marketing person to revise your marketing material, you’ll probably f
Factoring of receivables is an arrangement whereby a company sells its accounts receivables to another company (banks and other institutions) that specializes in buying them and obtains the necessary financial accommodation. It is the most popular method of short-term financing in the US. Factoring offers the following advantages: relief to manufacturers and sellers from the bother of collection of book debts, saving in time and man-power required for debt collection, and last but not the least, adequate and better source of financing.The factoring institutions render the follow
So the designer (working with minimal direction) starts to work. Unless you’ve given her detailed information on your target market, your niche, how you see your identity developing, this designer is pretty clueless. But she comes up with some designs. Once again, you go to some friends and family members for feedback. Based on the general consensus, you select a design (hopefully, it will fit with your company name and what you do). You can now either leave it up to the designer to get printing quotes for your business cards and stationary. Or you can do it yourself and get some price comparisons. You’ll need to know what type of stock you’d like, paper weight, quantities, etc.
Next you want to start on some sort of handout or brochure. Do you stick with your logo designer? If so, better make sure you’ve seen some samples of brochures she’s done. Often designers specialize in one product or another. I’ve worked with great logo designers who can’t do other collateral.
And what about your web site? Is your logo designer also able to do site design? What about development? Not all designers are developers. In fact, most aren’t. The best developers I’ve found started out as web folk, whereas my best designers are sticking to what they do best – graphic design.
You also need to decide how many pages your site will be, what they are (the menu), how you want the site to lay out (site map), whether or not you need a dynamic or static site, what elements need to be included, etc.
Still happy with your decision? Better make sure you nail down the costs on all of this so you’re not surprised upon completion.
Lastly, don’t forget about the copy. You need some for your brochure. You need different copy for your website. They’re different types of marketing tools and the copy needs to be written in a different style for each. But everything needs to work together (be integrated) so you don’t look like a fractured company. Your brochure and website should have the same look and feel….but the approach is different.
If you’re still managing this yourself -- kudos. Especially if you have time to do any selling or networking or research. Because you’ve taken on full-time work as a marketing person/project manager.
To think…. you could have saved yourself a lot of aggravation and time if only you’d called in a marketing specialist at the beginning. Then you’d have one person who could manage all the above projects for you:
• working with the designer (or designers) and developers to making sure everyone involved understood what you do and who you do it
• reviewing, rejecting, and/or approving designs before you ever see them
• writing copy appropriate for each product
• proofreading • overseeing all the various vendors to make sure workflow is on schedule and work is correct
... and only calling you for selection, fact verification or final decisions.
Then again, maybe you like a challenge. Or maybe you just need to micromanage everything. Because by the time you’re done, you’re likely to end up with a disjointed marketing “program” (for lack of a better word). And when and if you finally do call in a marketing person to revise your marketing material, you’ll probably
Marketers know that a story is a good way to engage prospects. But too often the marketer wants to tell a self-serving story about the company instead of about how the company helps the prospect or customer.Chest-thumping puffery does not sell. Tell me about how you can make me more money, save me some time, provide me work/life balance and I’m listening and more likely to ring the register. Otherwise, save your time and money because I just tuned out.Do you know why people buy your product? I often do customer interview projects for clients to help them uncover the reaso
Next you want to start on some sort of handout or brochure. Do you stick with your logo designer? If so, better make sure you’ve seen some samples of brochures she’s done. Often designers specialize in one product or another. I’ve worked with great logo designers who can’t do other collateral.
And what about your web site? Is your logo designer also able to do site design? What about development? Not all designers are developers. In fact, most aren’t. The best developers I’ve found started out as web folk, whereas my best designers are sticking to what they do best – graphic design.
You also need to decide how many pages your site will be, what they are (the menu), how you want the site to lay out (site map), whether or not you need a dynamic or static site, what elements need to be included, etc.
Still happy with your decision? Better make sure you nail down the costs on all of this so you’re not surprised upon completion.
Lastly, don’t forget about the copy. You need some for your brochure. You need different copy for your website. They’re different types of marketing tools and the copy needs to be written in a different style for each. But everything needs to work together (be integrated) so you don’t look like a fractured company. Your brochure and website should have the same look and feel….but the approach is different.
If you’re still managing this yourself -- kudos. Especially if you have time to do any selling or networking or research. Because you’ve taken on full-time work as a marketing person/project manager.
To think…. you could have saved yourself a lot of aggravation and time if only you’d called in a marketing specialist at the beginning. Then you’d have one person who could manage all the above projects for you:
• working with the designer (or designers) and developers to making sure everyone involved understood what you do and who you do it
• reviewing, rejecting, and/or approving designs before you ever see them
• writing copy appropriate for each product
• proofreading • overseeing all the various vendors to make sure workflow is on schedule and work is correct
... and only calling you for selection, fact verification or final decisions.
Then again, maybe you like a challenge. Or maybe you just need to micromanage everything. Because by the time you’re done, you’re likely to end up with a disjointed marketing “program” (for lack of a better word). And when and if you finally do call in a marketing person to revise your marketing material, you’ll probably
There are people who believe that a great elevator speech needs to be delivered with enthusiasm. They would like everybody on the elevator to hear it and be moved. That is why many rehearse their elevator speech to deliver with passion an exciting answer to the question, “What do you do?”In truth, the stirring performance that you rehearse for a traditional elevator speech might impress your spouse, and it might earn a ribbon at a Toastmasters meeting; yet, a compelling elevator speech – one that compels strangers to ask for your business card – is best whispered.The t
Still happy with your decision? Better make sure you nail down the costs on all of this so you’re not surprised upon completion.
Lastly, don’t forget about the copy. You need some for your brochure. You need different copy for your website. They’re different types of marketing tools and the copy needs to be written in a different style for each. But everything needs to work together (be integrated) so you don’t look like a fractured company. Your brochure and website should have the same look and feel….but the approach is different.
If you’re still managing this yourself -- kudos. Especially if you have time to do any selling or networking or research. Because you’ve taken on full-time work as a marketing person/project manager.
To think…. you could have saved yourself a lot of aggravation and time if only you’d called in a marketing specialist at the beginning. Then you’d have one person who could manage all the above projects for you:
• working with the designer (or designers) and developers to making sure everyone involved understood what you do and who you do it
• reviewing, rejecting, and/or approving designs before you ever see them
• writing copy appropriate for each product
• proofreading • overseeing all the various vendors to make sure workflow is on schedule and work is correct
... and only calling you for selection, fact verification or final decisions.
Then again, maybe you like a challenge. Or maybe you just need to micromanage everything. Because by the time you’re done, you’re likely to end up with a disjointed marketing “program” (for lack of a better word). And when and if you finally do call in a marketing person to revise your marketing material, you’ll probably
Too often in life, we fail. We fail not because we set our goals to high and miss achieving our aspirations. Instead, we fail because we set our dreams too low and we achieve them. If we achieve what we set out to do then how is this considered to be a failure? Failure occurs when we are not fulfilling our highest aspirations. Theresa Castro, executive career coach and author of The Dark Before the Dawn: 70 Secrets to Self-discovery, provides insight on what anyone can do while they are in the midst of wanting to change careers.ADOPT THE INNONENCE OF A CHILDWe begin
• working with the designer (or designers) and developers to making sure everyone involved understood what you do and who you do it
• reviewing, rejecting, and/or approving designs before you ever see them
• writing copy appropriate for each product
• proofreading • overseeing all the various vendors to make sure workflow is on schedule and work is correct
... and only calling you for selection, fact verification or final decisions.
Then again, maybe you like a challenge. Or maybe you just need to micromanage everything. Because by the time you’re done, you’re likely to end up with a disjointed marketing “program” (for lack of a better word). And when and if you finally do call in a marketing person to revise your marketing material, you’ll probably find that turning everything over to a specialist -- who does this all the time – would actually have cost you less than doing it yourself.
At least you’ll know better next time.
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