Tag: Business

What’s coming to WSSOPS in February

I’ve been working hard adding more information to my Windows SharePoint Operations Guide. In February subscribers will find information about an addition migration technique that is particularly handy when you want to merge the content of two SharePoint sites together. There is also a new section covering recommended SharePoint books not only for administrators but also for users. As well there is information site columns and creating additional document library templates.

 

I like to think part of the value of the Guide is that fact it gets updated with more information every month. So when you get the Guide you not only get all the information it currently contains (plus the other benefits) but also updated information (and any additional benefits) that come along for the period of subscription.

 

And you never know, there maybe some more special offers coming real soon, so stay tuned.

Get well Steve

For those that don’t know, Steve Jobs of Apple fame is taking a leave of absence due to health reasons.

 

He’s an inspiration guy who has endured many reincarnations, trials and tribulations.

If you haven’t heard the speech he gave at Stanford University a few years ago then I’d suggest you have a look here:

No matter whether you love or hate the guy, you have to admit that the IT industry would all the poorer without a personality like Steve Jobs. He has given us so many IT icons, from the Apple II, to the Mac, to the iPod and iPhone and more. I think any serious observer has to admire what he has created and his ability to create innovative products that appeal to masses.

 

Steve Jobs has faced adversity before and overcome. He faced serious issues before and overcome. I wish him all the best in this latest battle and compel everyone else to do the same because a world in which Steve Jobs is not an active player is a world a more ‘innovation-poor’.

 

All the best Steve and get well soon!

Hidden information

I am currently reading a fascination book called “Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means” by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. This was also after reading “Sync: How Order Emerges From Chaos In the Universe, Nature and Daily Life” by Steven H. Strogatz, which I didn’t find as good as Linked but none the less is still very interesting and a recommended read.

I’ve found that Barabasi’s book is far easier to read and understand and for me is more consistently interesting. One of the interesting concepts it talks about is the fact that most search engines can only index 40% of the web. The reason for this can be perhaps be explained by the following diagram from the book.

 In the central core are all the most common web sites that can be navigated from other web sites in the core. To the left are the “In Continent” web sites. These sites allow you to navigate to the web sites in the core but not back to the “In Continent” area. Likewise, the “Out Continent” web sites can be located via links from the core but don’t allow a return path. You also have smaller islands of web sites are separated from all areas.

We all tend to believe that the popular search engines fully index the Web. We expect that when we do a search we receive results from every web page on the Net. The more I read Linked the more I understand that the Web is not a random place, rather a network that is governed by links and their popularity, which develop in a way very different from what we expect.

Linked doesn’t only deal with computer networks it also applies its discoveries to things like social networks which has got me thinking. How many of us believe that we are truly “linked in” when we are in fact simply an island with a very small number of contacts? How many of us actually work to improve the number of social connections we have? Because these give us access to so much more information.

It is clear that the reason why Facebook and other social networking platforms have become so popular because they tap into this leveraging ability. However, I don’t think that you need to have Facebook to achieve this I must say. There are plenty of old fashion ways to move yourself closer to the core of information.

Anyone who is successful is always looking to boost their access to information. What are you doing?

Communicate like crazy

Many businesses are unlikely to have experienced a downturn like what we can expect to deal with this year. I have come across the following article “How to manage your business in a recession” by Fortune Magazine. There are 10 worthwhile suggestions about how you can go about managing in tough times, however I think the one that struck me as having the most relevance was “Communicate like crazy, balancing realism and optimism”.

 

It seems to me that during ‘challenging times’ most businesses tend to batten down the hatches and hope for the best. They tend to make responses which isolate themselves from the business community that helped them succeed during good times. During ‘tough times’ employees, customers and so on also share similar fears. Failing to provide information about your situation and direction only heightens those fears. Alternatively, providing unrealistic information can be just as bad because it is clear that every business is going to be affected by the poor economic conditions, so trying to tell people otherwise is just plain stupid.

 

There is nothing worse than not knowing, because most people only assume the worst. It is therefore important that part of any business strategy going forward is to ensure the lines of regular communication stay open. Whether that be printed newsletters, email marketing, town meetings, on site customer meetings, support groups, whatever, now is the time to ensure that you actually do more! Now is the perfect time, for example, to form greater alliances with your business peers to find out what they are doing to cope. If you stick your head in the sand you are pretty much guaranteeing that you are going to have little or no support when you need it.

 

I also like this from the final part of the article, “[m]arathoners and Tour de France racers will tell you that a race’s hardest parts, the uphill stages, are where the lead changes hands. That’s where we are now. When the recession ends, when the road levels off and world seems full of promise once more, you position in the competitive pack will depend on how skilfully you manage right now”. Your skill is a direct measure of ability to learn. So seek out those who have the skills you desire and learn, baby learn.

Incentives

I’m happy to say that The Computer information Agency is now providing gift certificates for referrals. This means that if you recommend our products or services you are entitled to a reward.

For example, if you recommend our Windows SharePoint Operations Guide to someone who purchases it then we’ll provide you with a $20 gift certificate from Amazon or a $25 gift certificate from Kiva.

For those who aren’t aware, Kiva is an organization that makes micro-loans to the very poor. I have spoken about this in a previous blog post and believe that it is really excellent way to help people overcome poverty. Even better it allows your donation to continue to work and help others. It feel strongly that even though we maybe feeling a ‘financial pinch’ currently there are many for are far worse off and we should be doing more to help.

Remember, all you have to do is recommend our products and services to someone else and when they taken them up you’ll get a reward. You can choose to reward yourself or help someone else in need, the choice is yours.

Further confirmation

It is never a good idea to dwell on the negatives but I’d like to firstly point out the reality here. In December the US lost over 500,000 full times jobs. This brought the job losses in 2008 to the greatest since World War II (almost 2.6 million). To me, there still seems to be an air of ‘it can’t happen here’ in Australia. Well the sorry news is that it is! As the article “Massive drop in full-time jobs” notes:

 

“The massive decline in full-time employment, down nearly 44,000 it’s a big worry”

The reality is that no matter what business are you in you need to start making changes simply because the environment is changing. Failing to do so may mean you eventually end up failing as well.

 

As they say,”you can’t control your circumstances only your reaction to them”. That’s why it is important to try and focus on the positive. Every market present opportunities, it is just a matter or recognizing these. In many cases this may mean stepping outside the normal comfort zone, which can sometimes be very hard.

 

The major secret is that you need to talk with people. Discuss things with your family, friends and your peers. You need to be constantly seeking out people smarter than you and considering their advice. You need to develop goals, short, medium and long if you want to prosper. Most people are happy to help where they can, so take advantage of that to lighten the load. If you put your head in the sand then no-one (including yourself) can help you.

 

Get out there and starting utilizing and growing your support network.

History lesson

I have always been a big fan of history. Not only do I find it interesting to help understand how we got where we are I believe that there are so many lessons to be learnt from history. Why? As simple as it sounds I firmly believe that history repeats itself over and over, with people making the same mistakes time and time again.

 

In that vain I came across the the following quote:

 

“Owners of capital will stimulate working class to buy more and more of expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take more and more expensive credits, until their debt becomes unbearable. The unpaid debt will lead to bankruptcy of banks which will have to be nationalized and State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to communism.”
– Karl Marx, 1867

Seems everything old is new again eh? These words from Karl Marx couldn’t be truer than they are today, over 142 years later! (don’t know if we’ll go down the communism road again but you never know).

 

My point? Sometimes the best indication of the future comes from the past, because we seem unable to learn from the past so we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes. Think about your current situation, what can you learn from what you’ve seen before? What can you learn from others who may have seen it all before? The answers are there but most people choose to ignore them. Will you be one of them?

 

*** Update *** it would seem the quote from Marx is false. For details please the comments on this post for details. I appreciate the time taken to correct my history!

How much to give away?

Many years ago I never used to charge when customers called me up with issues that were relatively brief. Normally, I’d be out on site somewhere and actually documenting the time taken was too difficult. I realized over the years that I was missing out on a good deal of revenue and providing many people with a ‘free-ride’ that wasn’t being returned.

 

The situation improved once I started using SharePoint to track these calls. At the end of each month I’d look down a list and see how much in total each client had requested of me. This would allow me to provide them an appropriate invoice for the time and handle an queries about the charges should they arise.

 

Now there are still some things that we all give away for ‘free’ but the question is, should we? It is ok to give something away if eventually it is going to generate you some income I believe. Let’s say that you help someone on the phone, the hope is that they’ll keep coming back or at least tell someone else what a good job you did. I think the secret is that you need to track closely what you do indeed give away for free so you can determine whether it does in fact provide any return down the track. If it doesn’t then you should probably stop doing it.

 

The other issue with giving away free stuff (whether your time or knowledge) is if the receiver doesn’t know what they are getting for free, then any ‘value’ from your side is lost. In this economic climate I think that it is more important than ever to ensure that customers know exactly all the services you provide which they receive. It is important for them to understand that their ability to contact you directly or have their call returned in a very short period of time is why they pay the amount they do. You availability does have a price. If you don’t somehow communicate that benefit they are simply going to take it for granted and in that case you are giving away something for nothing!

 

Now more than ever it is important to examine ALL the products and services you provide, even if you don’t charge for them, because they all have value. The choice you make about what to charge and not charge for needs to be communicated so that everyone understands the value that is being provided.

 

So take some time and document all the benefits you provide customers, including the ‘free’ ones and then use it to communicate with clients and prospects alike. Some things that you give away for ‘free’ may actually bring you more business but won’t if you don’t let people know.