Small Business – Top 10 Secrets for Web Design Success

Do you need a great checklist on website design & maintenance for your business website. This is not geek speak but a practical list to go over regularly in order to get the best out of the time & money that you have invested in the site. And guess what it was written 10 years ago, but is still relevant for today, even with the massive changes that have occurred over the last decade on the internet.

Creating a web presence? Madison, Wisconsin-based web designer and marketer Christopher Parr offers the inside scoop on what you should know — and what you should avoid.

1-Know your audience. Create a site for the customer, not what someone in your company or an agency “thinks” the site should say or do. Also, consider the new visitor — look at your site with this fresh perspective — and explain who you are and what you offer at a brief glance.

2-Simplify the site. Make it fast and easy to navigate. The colors and images should naturally flow from section to section. Be intuitive.

3-Update frequently. No one will return to your site if the content never changes. Give potential customers a reason to come back for more. From their view, a stale site reflects the nature of your company.

Please do read the rest of the article, print out & use as a checklist. It goes to show that when it all boils down to it these business basics haven’t changed much…. it’s just the delivery options that have. Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ all have been fairly recent developments which can help as long as the fundamentals are there, after all it’s all about the content and usability .

I would love to hear if this has struck an accord with you

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Small Business Start Up – Passion and skills required for success

New Buiness start up - your skills are one bit of the donut

Use your skills as one part of the business skill set

Wanting to start up your own small business? Having a passion is a must.. Then there are skills. Yes you do need skills, but not in all areas on business. In fact the skills need not be financial or administrative or sales. But you do need something that will help your business succeed. Something that your can transfer into the business environment.

In this case study the owners of a new bagel business used skill that were complementary to succeed.

Metro Bagels was built to fill a local need. Garling and co-owner Jeff Dale, who are longtime friends, were talking one day when the idea of opening a bagel shop was brought up.

“We were hanging out, trying to figure out what to do to support our families,” Garling said. “Jeff had been baking bagels for a fundraiser at our kids’ school, and we thought, ‘How about a bagel shop?’”

Garling and Dale began by taking their business to the area farmers’ markets to see if there was any demand. And there certainly was.

Garling credits their teamwork when he talks about their success this year.

“Jeff has a graphic arts and marketing background, plus his baking skills. And I have a background in running businesses,” Garling said. “That’s the key to our success. Things are going well. We love this location and business is growing.”

If you are considering starting a small business, think about what skills you have that could be used in your enterprise. The skills could be drawn from what you are doing in paid employment or a hobby. The important thing is to have a passion to succeed. In saying that, also make sure there is a demand for your product/service as well as getting profession advice. Your local small business bureau can help with low or no cost solutions.

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