Facelift Your Website

How many times have you refreshed the graphics or content of your website? Twice? Once? Not at all?

Many businesses are still hosting first-generation sites that went up at the turn of the millennium. Likewise, the majority of these sites are passé by today's "make-it-useful" standards. Sometimes embarrassingly so.

Internet-savvy businesses will refresh the content on their websites regularly. Think about the impression a site that's a year out of date will have on visitors.

It takes a little dated information for visitors to conclude they've hit a dead end . Plus, when a big-deal client clicks on your "urgent" invitation to attend an upcoming seminar, only to find that the event came and went a year ago he will feel annoyed and foolish. And you'll be toast.

So consider this a noisy wakeup call. It's the 21st century. Is your website still looking like it's 1999?

Site Specific Suggestions

Business sites obviously run a gamut. But for the purposes of site facelifts, differences boil down to how frequently you must make changes. Consulting services may update sites only quarterly or even annually. Ecommerce sites or research companies may require updates by the hour.

Whatever your needs, you can now find appropriate and affordable off-the-shelf software and third-party service providers to do the job. You can, for instance, put a fresh "skin" on your old site without disrupting any functionality.

Here are 11 ideas culled from web marketers and developers that can modernise your site without excessive costs.

1. Reduce the Number of Site Pages

Focus on redesigning only the core 10 to 15 pages, suggests Matt Greer, chief executive at Zeeo Interactive, a Web design services company. You can then archive any remaining popular or highly trafficked pages into Adobe PDF or Microsoft Word documents that are suitable for download.

2. Make the Site a Marketing Tool

If you're not yet capturing data basics, such as which sites and search engines visitors are clicking from or which pages get most visitors, get started now.

Use pre-packaged software or a web services provider to capture detailed information about site visitors. "The first question to ask is: 'When visitors come to your site, what do you want them to do?' " says Erin Duckhorn, spokesperson for Crucial Technology, an online memory upgrade provider. Once you have answers, you can define the tracking metrics and develop the content, navigation and structure that will quickly satisfy your targeted visitors.

3. Set up an E-mail Program

Create an incentive for visitors to register or give you their email addresses.. Once you have addresses, send out useful emailings. But make sure who have explicit permission to do so - and don't cause more harm than good by bombarding them.

4. Create an Online Reward for Prized Customers

Treat your best customers with perks or discounts. "You can give them their own area of the site without any special technology," says Wally Bock, a web consultant. You can also, of course, email special offers.

5. Speed Loading Time

Fancy graphics and animations are obstacles in the path of getting to information. Make sure your visitors can easily find what they're after.

6. Give Visitors Greater, Self-directed Control

In the past two years, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has reworked fairmonthotels.com [link] to expand online booking capabilities. Now, guests who make online room reservations can book dinner or spa services at the same time. The site has also added a "Fairmont Planner" that matches individual resort properties to guest profiles or needs, as well as a "virtual concierge" that offers more details about services.

7. Invest in a Content Management System

Stop relying on static HTML. Instead, invest in a reliable CMS (Content Management System) which lets you update your own website content without getting a developer involved. If you update content a lot, this will pay for itself quickly.

8. Ensure Visibility on Search Engines

The old home page of BreastCancer.org [link], a non-profit informational group based in Pennsylvania was dominated by a giant image of the organisation's logo, an illustrated character called Polly, which prevented search engines from finding the site. "The makeover moved a smaller Polly to the upper right corner of the home page and used text and text links to guide the not particularly Web-savvy users of this site toward the essential information they came looking for," says Ilise Benun.

9. Align the Site to the Organisation

You mighty've reinvented your business a half-dozen times over the past few years. How appropriate is your site now? What about secondary channels or pages? "Many businesses grow their sites in piecemeal fashion," notes Kevin McLaughlin at Public/i, a public relations firm. "As new sections are added over time, the same messages or positioning is not always reflected in the copy throughout the company's entire website." Make sure your site's messaging is always in tune with offline marketing.

11. Add Testimonials or Success Stories

"Very few sites do this and there's no question that they add major credibility for buyers," says Philippa Gamse, a web strategy consultant. Ask long-time customers for quotes or permission to post their case histories and their satisfaction with your services.

Any of these ideas will help update your online presence. But the real advice is simply not to get lazy. Pay attention to your website whenever you shift direction or significantly grow the business. All marketing and messaging must be seamless — consistent, uniform, multimedia and multi-channel.

10 Financial Yardsticks for Your Small Business

Time and again, accountants and consultants who specialise in small businesses say that such enterprises don't pay enough attention to cash flow. That's the measure of how much money you really have in the business.

Be Wary of Big Contracts

"Small entrepreneurs wind up taking big orders that get them in trouble," says Ronald Lowy, who heads a college business administration department. "They want the big contract, but they're not getting enough money at the front end of it and they don't have the cash reserves to pay workers and other bills while they're waiting to get paid themselves. They might show a profit on an accrual basis, but from a cash-flow standpoint, they don't."

Judith Dacey, a certified public accountant, calls a cash-flow statement "probably the most important thing in telling you if your business is on or off target." As an example she describes how board members of a non-profit group were not examining their cash-flow statements.

"They were hiring people and spending money on membership campaigns, and doing all of these things based on money they thought they had from looking at the profit-and-loss (P&L) statements," Dacey says. "They didn't realise that the profit-and-loss statement was an accrual statement, which basically means you are including paper promises of payments to come, not money that you have in the bank."

The non-profit board became aware of the difficulty only when the organisation bounced a check. Employees had to be laid off, and belts were tightened. "That could have been avoided if they'd seen the cash-flow statements," Dacey says. "A cash-flow statement tells you here's the cash that has actually come in and that you can work with."

A statement of cash flow starts with the bottom of your profit and loss statement — the line that shows your net income. Several adjustments are made to that number. The details are a little complex but a good accounting program that does a P&L and a balance sheet will also calculate this statement for you.

Tracking the Big 10

If you've established a way to track cash flow, then you can go on to organise and track 10 financials for your business. That's a big list, but don't panic: As with profit and loss statements, you can take advantage of software programs to automate tracking for many of the following:

• Your Assets

Tracking your equipment, furniture, real estate and other holdings should be easy. But to have a true idea of the value of your business, you also have to track changes in the value of those assets. More than one small business has found itself located on a piece of land that's worth more than the business itself. Similarly, you also will want to track the declining value of assets such as computers and office furniture.

• Your Liabilities

On the face of it, this is easy — liabilities are what you owe. But what you owe isn't always as obvious as a bill from your landlord. Payroll taxes are a liability that depend on the size of your payroll. Loans are a clear liability, but in repaying them you'll want to be able to track how much of a payment is applied against principal and interest.

•What does it Cost You to Produce What You Sell?

If you're buying a finished item for resale, this is relatively easy. It's trickier if you have to calculate all the factors, such as labour, that go into manufacturing a product.

•What's it Costing You to Sell What You Sell?

Advertising, marketing, labour, storage and the catch-all category of overhead — it's useful to know how much it costs you to get a product sold as well as what it costs you to create it.

•What's Your Gross Profit Margin?

This is calculated by dividing your total sales into your gross profit. If your gross profit margin is staying consistent or trending upward, you're probably on track.

Being able to track a declining margin can give you a heads-up that you must adjust your prices or your costs. In the worst cases your gross profit and profit margin disappear altogether. At that point, you'll be like the fellow who lost money on every sale but figured he could make it up in volume. Don't do it.

•What's Your Debt-to-asset Ratio?

This ratio can let you know how much of the stuff you have in your company is actually owned by someone else — your lender. Having this ratio climb can be a bad sign. It can happen as part of a major expansion, but it can also indicate that you're getting in over your head.

•What's the Value of Your Accounts Receivable?

This is the money you are owed. If accounts receivable are on the rise, you may be getting a warning that the folks you sell to are starting to stumble.

•What's Your Average Collection Time on Accounts Receivable?

This is probably one of the most aggravating pieces of information for cash-strapped businesses, because it tells you how many days you're acting as 'banker' for the people who owe you money.

•What Are Your Accounts Payable?

The flip side of accounts receivable. An increase in your accounts payable may merely reflect a larger amount of purchases overall. But an increase that hasn't been planned or managed can be an internal warning that your company's financial strength is waning.

•What's Happening With Your Inventory?

There are occasions, even in this just-in-time business world, when building up a significant inventory can be a good thing.

If prices for items you sell or use in production are relatively low, putting some of your money into inventory may make sense.

Being able to track your inventory can tell you whether business is increasing or slowing down. It also tells you how much money is tied up in this unproductive asset.

Knowing what's up with your cash flow is essential to your business. But sometimes the figures can be difficult to understand. Don't ever be afraid to turn to professionals for some help.

7 Signs of an Entrepreneur

Do you have the right personality type to successfully run your own business?

It takes an entrepreneurial fire in your belly to start a business and make it succeed. Not everyone has it.

How do you know if you have what it takes to start a business? There's really no way to know for sure. But I do find things in common among the emotional and family fabric of people ready to consider an entrepreneurial venture.

You don't have to fit all seven of these categories to be a good candidate for entrepreneurship. But it probably wouldn't hurt. In general, the more you have in common with these characteristics, the closer you probably are to being ready to try going out on your own.

1. You come from a line of people who couldn't work for someone else. I don't mean that in a negative way. People who are successful at establishing their own business tend to have had parents who worked for themselves. It's usually easier to get a job with a company than to start your own business; people who strike out on their own often have the direct example of a parent to look to.

2.You're a lousy employee. No need to sugar-coat this one. People who start their own businesses tend to have been fired from or quit more than one job. I'm not saying you were laid off for lack of work or moved from one job to a better-paying one. You were asked to leave, or you quit before they could fire you. Think of it as the marketplace telling you that the only person who can effectively motivate and manage you is yourself.

3.You see more than one definition of "job security." I am truly envious of the few people I know who have stayed with one employer for 25 or 30 years. They look very secure. But how many people do you know who are able to stay with one company for that long? In a rapidly changing economy, job security can be frighteningly fleeting.

4. You've gone as far as you can go, or you're not going anywhere at all. Sometimes the motivation to start a new venture comes from having reached the top of the pile where you are, looking around, and saying, "What's next?" Early success can be wonderful, but early retirement can sometimes drive energetic and motivated people totally crazy.

5. You've done the market research already. Don't even talk to me about your great business idea if you haven't put the time into figuring out if there's a market for your product or service. As the people behind any number of failed Internet ventures will tell you, "cool" doesn't necessarily translate into "profitable." Don't bother building it if you haven't figured out whether there's a good chance the customers will come.

6. You've got the support of your family. Starting a business is stressful under the best of circumstances. Trying to do it without the support of your spouse or other significant family members or friends would probably be unbearable.

7. You know you cannot do it alone. You might excel at promoting a business. Maybe you love running the financial end of the enterprise. You could be someone who starts a business because you have unique creative or technical know-how to create a product.

Any of the above is possible, but it's unlikely that you are going to excel at all of these tasks — or at all of the tasks involved in running any business. Forget all that doing it alone stuff. You are going to need some help sometime.

The willingness to get that help — having employees, partners or consultants for those areas in which you are not an expert — is one indicator of likely future success. "No successful entrepreneur has ever succeeded alone," development consultant Ernesto Sirolli writes in "Ripples From the Zambezi." "The person who is most capable of enlisting the support of others is the most likely to succeed."

5 Ways Blogging Can Help Your Business

Not long ago, a diary was a deeply personal thing — a journal of thoughts and observations, kept under lock and key and often buried in a dresser drawer.

The Web has a way of changing things. Now, a diary of thoughts, observations and insight — posted on the Internet — may be a way to boost your business.

Web logs, or "blogs" as they're better known, have become a way to engage readers and potential customers of businesses big and small.

A blog is a journal posted on a Web site, updated on a regular basis and containing news, opinions, ideas and brainstorms. It might also have links to other sources of information, other Web sites and other blogs.

Many blogs cut both ways, inviting readers to post feedback on what they see. While that can apply to everything from sports and entertainment, it can also generate interest — and, ultimately, income — for your business.

No, blogs aren't for everyone. But see how they can accomplish these five basic business objectives.

1. Expose a new or little-known product or idea

For Grant Smith, blogging makes a world of sense on a number of levels. Smith operates a business that provides streaming video e-mail and related video communications products. Since many prospective clients might know little about video e-mail, Smith says his blog is a natural way to provide specifics.

"I began blogging to get established in the technology," Smith says. "It can have a positive impact for business. Readers are always looking for more ways to find out information about companies and for ways to interact."

That, in turn, can lead to a more informed customer and a more time-effective sales process. Rather than taking time to pitch your product or service to a client who may not need it, a blog supplants you as an information source. If a prospect contacts you, that's great. If not, you've wasted no time in explaining something that generates nothing in return.

2. Improve your search engine rankings

Blogging also puts you in touch with prospects in other ways. As any company with a position on the Internet realises, Web site visitors that come via Google, MSN and other search engines can provide numerous leads. Blogs can add to the frequency with which search vehicles identify you and your company, particularly if your blog allows readers to post a response.

If done properly, blogs have a tremendous benefit relative to search engines, according to Brad Fallon, president of SEO Research, a search engine marketing firm. "With blogs that allow comments, every new post and every new comment becomes an additional Web page filled with additional keywords to be picked up by the search engine spiders," he says.

3. Position yourself as an expert in an industry or field

Blogging also can also prove an effective marketing tool to establish yourself as an authority in your field. Not only can that generate leads, it also sends a positive message about your credentials through the marketplace and also gives your business a face and a personality.

4. Influence public opinion

Blogging also allows users to bypass traditional journalistic venues and, in effect, become a publisher of their own thoughts and viewpoints. For Steve Rubel, vice president of client services at a public relations firm, blogs are also fast becoming a powerful influence on public opinion.

"Blogs have evolved into legitimate alternative sources of news on niche and micro-niche topics," Rubel says. "Anyone with a passion and dedication could become an amateur journalist. I feel some of these sites — in aggregate — are having just as much sway on public opinion as larger, more established media brands."

5. Engage in a forum openly with your customers

Just as important, blogs that solicit reader comments can provide a sense of immediacy with your customers. In one respect, that's a ready source of feedback on what you're doing right and what you need to improve.

"My blog provides a forum for customers to give feedback after plunking their money down," says Fallon. "The result? While the normal market is lucky to have one-half of 1% of customers send an unsolicited testimonial, I have already collected glowing testimonials from over 15% of my customers."

Product Links

• Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003

• Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Tools

• Solution Advisor

• Product Advisor

4 tech must-haves for your mobile office

<p>Everything changes when you trade in your desktop for a laptop and your office for a hotel room. </p>
<p>Sometimes this is for the better: You're liberated from your cubicle and free to go where your work takes you. </p>
<p>But sometimes things change for the worse. Productivity suffers when you're in an unfamiliar place. The way a laptop keyboard cramps your hands is sometimes enough to keep you from getting the job done right. </p>
<p>Here are four technology "must-haves" for the mobile office, plus some tools that can boost your productivity while you're away. </p>

• <b>The Right Software </b>
<p>It isn't just downloading the necessary applications onto your laptop or PDA, it's also knowing whether the programs are suited to a mobile office. Is your email program built for the road or adapted from a bigger application meant for a corporate network? Do the programs work together on your laptop or do they freeze when your processor gets busy? </p>
<p>These considerations can become big issues when you're travelling. That's something Tab Stone, a doctor from Los Angeles, knows all too well. He installed a new email program on his laptop before leaving on a recent trip, but it wasn't suited for mobile use. He had to uninstall it shortly before takeoff, but that disabled his backup email program. That meant he couldn't download any messages to his PC. "I could not fix whatever was corrupted with either a fresh download or a copy downloaded from the internet," Stone recalls. </p>
<p><b>The latest: </b> Contact-management software programs let you integrate data with your PDA, so you can download and synchronise contacts, calendar appointments and notes to your Palm Pilot or Pocket PC. There's also a web-based version for travellers who either lose their laptops or prefer to work from a desktop at their destination. </p>

<p><b>What's next? </b> Look for more integration between applications for wireless users. Contact managers are already assuming the role of email program, address book and database. The next step is making it more accessible to people who are using cell phones or PDAs. </p>
•<b> The Right Hardware </b>
<p>I'm not talking about owning the newest laptop computer. I'm talking about hardware that's created for life on the road. Let's face it: A lot of the gadgets on which mobile professionals depend aren't made with travellers in mind. For example, when Joachim Martin's laptop battery ran out on a recent flight, a helpful flight attendant offered to recharge it in a "secret" outlet in the back of the plane. "The batteries charged," remembers the software developer. "But when I got home, they were dead." The power source had to be replaced. Blame the airline, the battery manufacturer or even the unfortunate business traveller for not knowing better, but this kind of thing happens often. Phone plugs don't always fit; neither do power outlets. And a lot of the gadgets we rely on are traveller-hostile, impractical or both. </p>
<p><b>The latest: </b> Some hardware manufacturers are meeting the demand for traveller-friendly hardware with add-ons such as the Stowaway XT Keyboard. I've also been impressed with Microsoft's Mini Optical Mouse, which frees you from the restrictions of your laptop's finger-cramping pointer. </p>
<p><b>What's next? </b> As the convergence between cell phones, PCs and PDAs continues, it wouldn't surprise me to see devices that offer the ergonomic comfort of a desktop with the portability of a PDA. It won't come a moment too soon for many road warriors. </p>

• <b>The Right Connections </b>
<p>Connections are everything to the mobile office. </p>
<p>Remember Stone, the doctor without email? He eventually accessed his messages through an unwieldy web connection. Spencer Field, who recently returned from a trip to Melbourne, can also tell you about email trouble. He learned upon arrival that the dial-up numbers to his internet service provider (ISP) didn't work. "I thought that was probably the end of my online access," he says. "As a last-ditch effort, I let my fingers do the walking and checked out the Melbourne Yellow Pages for a local ISP." He found one and signed up for a one-month email account which gave him access to local numbers on his entire itinerary. </p>
<p>It isn't just internet connections that matter, but also hooking up to other devices such as cell phones, PDAs and laptops. Technologies such as Bluetooth let you communicate with other devices in an office or hotel room without the need for cables. </p>
<p><b>The latest: </b> According to a recent AT&amp;T study, the top barrier to working from a remote location is access to a high-speed data connection. Fast wireless networks are springing up everywhere — in hotels, airport lounges and coffee shops. And even though Bluetooth got off to a slow start, the concept behind it — which is to lose the wires — is fundamentally sound. </p>
<p><b>What's next? </b> It won't be long before Wi-Fi is as ubiquitous as cellular coverage and a majority of devices are Bluetooth-enabled. That's good news for those of us who work in a mobile office. </p>

•<b> The Right Web Applications </b>
<p>Web-based applications are so important to the mobile office that I've decided to give them their own category, even though they technically belong in the "software" section. The web is one of the most efficient ways for a mobile worker to gain access to a back-office system, intranet or database. </p>
<p>My ISP offers a rudimentary application that lets me check my email from the web. I can't remember how often I've had to use it because my email program failed to work properly. But I do remember the last time. I was stuck at a meeting out-of-town and my email account had sustained a spam attack — thousands of unsolicited messages — that would have taken hours to download. Instead, I logged on to the web and deleted them all in seconds. Were it not for the web application, I would probably still be downloading the spam. </p>
<p><b>The latest: </b> One of the most innovative Web applications is GoToMyPC , which lets you access the desktop in your home or office through the web. Another useful application for mobile users is web conferencing services such as Microsoft Office LiveMeeting. </p>
<p><b>What's next? </b> Expect these applications to become cheaper, more reliable and even more sophisticated. </p>