Technical Writing Tips

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2010-10-31T06:35:00.001-07:00

Why Marketers Suck At Customer Service (And 3 Ways To Improve) http://ping.fm/dQCTB

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2010-10-31T06:33:00.001-07:00

How To Make Money With Small Email Lists from Yaro http://ping.fm/zTlVM

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2010-10-31T06:31:00.001-07:00

How to Run a Fearless Small Business from Copyblogger http://ping.fm/MMNoZ

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2010-10-10T15:07:00.001-07:00

How Social Networking Has Killed Digg and SEO 1.0 http://ping.fm/BglqN

2010-10-10T14:28:00.001-07:00

Getting Things Done On Twitter http://ow.ly/2RmSF gtd

2010-10-10T11:42:00.001-07:00

RT @MMidas: Job description: "What do SocialMedia Managers do? Part 1" @econsultancy http://bit.ly/cxQSyD

2010-10-10T11:27:00.001-07:00

12 Step Plan to Become a Business Consultant http://ow.ly/2Rkfw

2010-10-10T11:23:00.001-07:00

How to Face Your Critics http://ow.ly/2Rkcb leadership

2010-10-10T11:18:00.001-07:00

Digg to Facebook integration link broken http://ping.fm/vUklT help! @digg

2010-10-10T08:45:00.001-07:00

Donald Trump Guide To Breaking Bad News - http://ow.ly/2ReoS

2010-10-10T06:55:00.003-07:00

Does Social Media Generate ROI? http://ow.ly/2R2kf marketing

2010-10-10T06:55:00.001-07:00

Does Social Media Generate ROI? http://ow.ly/2R2kf marketing

2010-10-10T02:36:00.001-07:00

Is Your Virtual Assistant a 21th Century Slave? http://ow.ly/2Reop

2010-10-10T02:07:00.001-07:00

How 9 yo Children Use Google AdSense http://ow.ly/2Redd

2010-10-10T02:05:00.001-07:00

Can Going To Church Make You Rich? http://ow.ly/2Recn how successful business models work

2010-10-10T02:02:00.001-07:00

RT @abnormalmarket: 5 Things Not To Do On LinkedIn http://ping.fm/fRKmT

2010-10-10T01:58:00.001-07:00

How to Rewire Your Life http://ow.ly/2Re8T relates to article by @remarkablogger

2010-10-09T23:31:00.001-07:00

How to Get Links on SEO 2.0 and Other Blogs http://ping.fm/bFeMw

2010-10-09T15:01:00.001-07:00

The Smart Way to Comment on @ChrisBrogan Blog http://ow.ly/2QRZb

2010-10-09T12:13:00.001-07:00

Focus Writer: Distraction Free Word Processor http://ping.fm/df5Ky

2010-10-09T12:06:00.001-07:00

Why Youâ€™re Crazy If Youâ€™re Not Using Upsells In Your Business http://ping.fm/0rga2

2010-10-09T09:05:00.001-07:00

Why Bill Gates Chose Warren Buffett as his Role Model http://ow.ly/2R2qv

2010-10-09T08:45:00.003-07:00

12 Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a New Business http://ow.ly/2R2gS

2010-10-09T08:45:00.001-07:00

10 Harsh Truths About Project Management http://ow.ly/2R28f what you need to avoid as a pm

2010-10-09T08:40:00.001-07:00

How to Write a Business Needs Statement document http://ow.ly/2R27i and some mistakes to avoid

2010-10-09T08:10:00.001-07:00

RT @smallbiztrends: How Small Businesses Use Web Apps â€“ and What to Look For http://bit.ly/9foaLs

2010-10-09T07:15:00.001-07:00

The Secret Power of Learning to Say No http://ow.ly/2R2I7

2010-10-09T06:57:00.001-07:00

RT @Holly_Hanna: Great List of Resources for Women: http://bit.ly/47iRlZ

2010-10-09T06:51:00.001-07:00

Why Older Waitresses Get Bigger Tips Than Younger Ones http://ow.ly/2R2nb harvard

2010-10-09T06:30:00.001-07:00

The Jose Mourinho Guide to Market Research http://ow.ly/2R25z

2010-10-09T06:03:00.001-07:00

Best Practices For Developing Social Media Policy For Facebook and Twitter http://ping.fm/hQU0l

2010-10-09T05:59:00.001-07:00

Best Practices For Developing Social Media Policy For Facebook and Twitter http://ping.fm/jwB2c

2010-10-08T14:48:00.001-07:00

How to Get Your Blog Added To Google News http://ow.ly/2QRXo

2010-10-08T09:45:00.001-07:00

Uploaded Social Media Policy Templates to Payloadz.com http://ow.ly/2QIPh alternative to clickbank and ejunkie

2010-10-08T08:26:00.001-07:00

How Much Should You Pay For a 500 Word Blog Article? http://ow.ly/2QFy5

2010-10-08T07:45:00.001-07:00

Sixteen Things That it Took Me 50 Years to Lear http://ow.ly/2QDG9 from Dave Barry

2010-10-08T07:43:00.001-07:00

Harsh Truths On Why You Wonâ€™t Make Money Blogging http://ow.ly/2QDC7

2010-10-08T07:40:00.001-07:00

Is This a Better Corporate Social Media Policy? http://ow.ly/2QDuM

2010-10-08T06:55:00.001-07:00

Should Doctors accept Facebook friend requests from ex-patients? http://ow.ly/2QB7P

2010-10-08T05:45:00.001-07:00

What Jose Mourinho Taught Me About Market Research http://ow.ly/2QyGM

Incredible Prayer Flags in Tibet

2010-10-08T05:15:00.001-07:00

We added our prayers when there. More photos on Flickr here
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Social Media Policy For Doctors, Hospitals & Private Practice

2010-10-08T05:07:00.001-07:00

While most Social Media policies provide guidelines for Facebook, Twitter, and blogging, others are entering into this field. This article shows how Social Media is being adopted by those in Private Practice, such as health professionals, hospitals and doctors to connect with customers.

Dr. Bertalan MeskÃ³ writes, â€˜Iâ€™ve been writing about applications and web tools that can save time and energy for medical professionals. Providing a clear social media policy has clear advantages so itâ€™s always a pleasure to read other doctorsâ€™ own guidelines. Here is an excerpt from a recent article:

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2010-10-08T03:55:00.001-07:00

RT @leonita: The Leonita Ardhyan Daily is out! http://bit.ly/cgPm1T ▸ Top stories today by @klaritidotcom @joinred

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2010-10-08T03:02:00.001-07:00

i love this dog http://ow.ly/2Qv6t you will too!

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2010-10-08T00:08:00.001-07:00

RT @SuzanneVara: RT @jonathanfields The McKee-Fields Story Sessions Part 2 http://bit.ly/91ITek

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2010-10-07T14:52:00.001-07:00

RT @Ed_Dale: 5 Free Ways to Improve Your Typing Skills Online - http://j.mp/ddxOY8 -way cool

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2010-10-07T03:03:00.001-07:00

Should Doctors Use Social Media to Friend Customers? http://ping.fm/ZWq2X

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17 Email Marketing Mistakes To Avoid

2010-10-02T09:31:00.001-07:00

In the last sixteen years, email has helped me win more business than any other tool. It’s turned cautious readers into enthusiastic buyers. It’s brought in prospective customers from the edge and driven repeat traffic to the money pages. Here are some of the mistakes I’ve made and how to get around them.

Emails Mistakes To Avoid

One of the dilemmas for web marketers is how to know what their customers really want. Email is one of the best ways to form a strong relationship with your readers.

It’s an inexact science. Everyone has an opinion. Here are some of mine!

1. Plain Text v HTML

Some of world’s biggest web marketers send out plan text emails. John Chow and Yaro Starak are two good examples. I’ve experimented with this format and have to say that it does seem to work, well, for certain types of content.

If your readers are after tutorials, for example, plain text will be fine. If it’s a Fashion newsletter or something up-market, then a splash of color is in order.

Plain text is also very powerful as the reader is ‘forced’ to read the text. Maybe guided is a better word but you get the idea. There’s nothing to distract them. Click-throughs can be very high if you use plain text with a single call to action.

2. Size Matters… kinda

The word count of your emails, and possibly the number of images, may also affect how readers respond. Some prefer short, snappy emails. Think Seth Godin’s pithy observations.

Others prefer long, detailed articles. ProBlogger and CopyBlogger are both, on average, 800-1000 words per post.

Some of this depends on your readership. If you’re sending 3 more emails per week, they may prefer short posts and/or abstracts.

But not always…

3. Use Abstracts Rather Than Full Post

One way to address this is to offer an abstract, say twenty words and then a link to the site.

The advantage is that you get them to the site where they can add comments, interact and/or buy something.
The disadvantage is that they may not be curious enough to click-thru, have web access at their work office, or feel that you’re trying to trick them into having to visit their site.
I give the full feed in my emails. I don’t want people to feel short-changed in any way.

4. No Endorsements or Testimonials

Use testimonials as social proof that others enjoy your newsletter. Get the right balance here with the wording and photos. Text that sounds too polished and flattering will make the readers suspicious.

Use the real words folks have sent you (a few typos never hurt) to give it that authentic sound. Try to avoid re-writing what they said.

If you don’t have testimonials for your newsletter, see if your current blog readers have favorable things to say about the site and then refer to this.

5. Hi, {Firstname}, we got your email!

Is there anything worse than a personalized email that’s gone berserk? If you’re going to use it – I don’t – be careful and test first. Most email software companies will have videos no how to do this right.

6. Not Testing Subject lines

Ever wonder how your email looked in different browsers?

Instead of setting up accounts on Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook, use this free tool to see how your subject line will look. It also shows how it will look on mobile devices. Great way to test your subject before you send it out.

Remember, if people don’t like your subject line, the email doesn’t get read.

All the effort you’ve put into writing the article, finding the right image, creating links and so on… all wasted. Test and test again until you see which subject lines work the best. See http://ping.fm/PtAHn

Tip: 5 words works best for me, especially if there is some call to action or pressure put on the reader to click Open.

7. Buying Email Lists

You can buy emails links if you’re mad enough but why would you? It’s about as effective as walking down the high-street with a megaphone talking about your blog. Think anyone will buy?

Instead, learn as much as you can about email list building, write content the folks want to read, and test. I use the Reports tools in Aweber to see where I’m making progress and what needs to be refined. Feedburner is fine for broadcasting for your can’t dig down segment the lists, schedule emails or broadcast followups.

If you’re serious about using email to drive sales, invest in a Aweber or Constant Contact. I’ve also heard good things about MailChimp.

8. Keep It Consistent

Even if someone leaves your company, there’s an argument for keeping the email address active if that person has a large readership. Think twice about changing the name in the From field as you may confuse the readers and/or give them a reason to unsubscribe.

Don’t change a winning team!

9. CAN-SPAM Compliance

‘Real’ companies include their physical address at the footer of their email. I know this can be made up but most companies do comply with the Can-Spam Act and add their contact details in the footer. They also make it easy for you to unsubscribe.
If you don’t include this in the email, aside from the legal obligation, it shows your subscribers that you have a legitimate identity and that can phone you if there is a problem. Remember to add the country code suffix as well.

10. Email Schedule. What Email Schedule?

Create a schedule and then stick to it. This ‘trains’ your readers to expect your emails. I look forward to certain emails during the week and make time to read them. Your readers are probably the same.

Also, don’t chop and change the schedule. Keep to the same schedule for at least a month. Don’t push too hard or be over-ambitious. Try to get one out per week. If you can manage that for a week, try then and so on…

11. Don’t Send on Wednesday

Choose the best day to send the emails based on YOUR stats.

9 out of 10 web marketers will tell you that Wednesday (or is it Thursday now?) is the best day to send emails. Their ‘research’ shows it.

Well, if they all use that day, you choose another.

Makes sense, right.

Also, think of your readers. If you’re sending out an Entertainment email, maybe Friday lunchtime is that best so they can plan their week.
Sunday also works for me as people have time to browse and aren’t in a hurry.

12. Remove Deadwood

If they haven’t read your emails for six months, delete them.

Why?

Different reasons. One is that large ISP counts the number of bounced emails (e.g. From dormant accounts) and may punish you if your negative rating gets beyond a certain level.

Again, my buddy Aweber has tools that let you do this.

13. Not Testing Before Sending

One of the advantages of Aweber is that I can sent test emails to different accounts before I sent it out.

It sounds like a small thing but it lets me see what the email will look like from the reader’s perspective.

Sometimes I catch a typo. Other times I look at it and see it needs to be revised. The tone doesn’t feel right or there are too many links.
Testing helps with this.

You don’t get a second chance with first impressions.

14. Use Special Reports

Let’s say you have a site about Travel. Send out special issues every quarter with tons on info getting your readers ready for special events. Focus on a single issue, say traveling to Asia for the first time. Include a link to a PDF version of the ‘report’ so they can keep it with them and/or share with friends.

Sprinkle in some links to your money pages or affiliate sites.

15. Use Follow-ups To Sell Longtail Products

Create a list for each type of class you offer (Yoga for Strength, Qigong and so on). When members enroll at the beginning of each new rotation, ask them to sign up for that list.

With a follow-up series for each list, you can prepare students with tips they can use to succeed that particular discipline, clothing suggestions, links to buy any special equipment they’ll need and a short biography of their instructor

Here’s an idea. Say you run a site about Finance. Follow up after 5 days and tell the new readers that you have the 5 part free newsletter about Personal Finance. Send them a link to a sample issue. If they like than – and take the course – send them another email towards the end offering another free course about Buying Shares For the First Time.

You get the idea. Don’t let your list sit there. Use it as much as you can. If the quality is good, no one will complain.

Then sprinkle some links into the newsletters that go to your money pages or affiliate sites.

16. Use Your Email Signature, Business Card and Stationery

My email address includes links to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and my email account. I also add a PS for sales, discounts, and special offers that we run from time to time. And it’s very effective.

Over the course of the week, I’ll email several 100 people. Some days I have 200 emails in my inbox when I arrive. Many of these are getting in touch with me for the first time.

Adding my contact details and social media sites to the email, makes it one step easier for them to contact me. It takes one minute to setup but can be very effective in the long term.

PS – always use a PS. We all tend to scan down to the end of a document, report, or email from habit. Add a little ‘linkbait’ there and some will take a nibble.

Don’t forget to add your email to your stationery; you never know where it ends up. Business cards are the same, especially if you make them creative.

17. Impossible to Recognize “From” Names

My ISP sends me emails from nobody@nameofisp.com. This isn’t the best way to engage with your customers. Personalize the email’s From field so it shows a real name.

As my name Ivan isn’t that common, I use it where-ever I can. It stands out from others and helps reader remember my posts.

Even if you’re a one-person company, you can create names for different functions in your business.

Rather that everything going to info@, create Sally, Tom, Stacy, Dion… and use these for your Sales, Customer Support, Finance emails.

You’d be surprised how many small companies use this tactic to big themselves up!

Are You Making These Mistakes With Your Emails?

Those are some of the ways you can get it wrong with email. I know I have and am still learning. If I were to nail down three things that really help, I would say:

Make the sign-up super simple. Don’t complicate things and get too fancy. Place the web form in the top right of the web page. Use simple words like Sign Up! or Subscribe! Don’t be clever, clever. Include a small benefit in the text near the form, such as free reports, discounts or gifts. Links to previous issues are another way for cautious readers to sample the goods first.
Write interesting headings. Study how others do it and write out 20 variations of their headlines. After a while, you’ll get into the right mindset and see how they do it. Like all things it takes practice.
Stay in touch. I send out one personal email every month. I just say hello, share some info, maybe giveaway a free book. Something that lets the reader know that I’m not taking them for granted.
That’s it for now.

What else would you add?

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How Much Should You Pay For a 500 Word Article?

2010-10-02T09:18:00.001-07:00

I’m curious. How much would you pay me to write a 500 word article for you?

Ok. I don’t do freelance work at the moment. But, if I did, how would you go about it?One way to scale your internet business is to outsource writing tasks to Virtual Assistants and Freelancers. The upfront cost (payment) is offset by the extra sales you’ll make (returns) on the time you save.

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Warren Buffett Business Plan Writing Tips

2010-10-02T01:26:00.001-07:00

‘The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective.’ Warren Buffett

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How to Get Started on Your First Business Plan

2010-10-01T13:42:00.001-07:00

Writing a Business Plan can be intimidating at first. There is so much to cover and it’s difficult to know where to start. One suggestion is to prepare yourself to go forward. What do I mean?

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2010-10-01T13:35:00.001-07:00

Ernest Hemingway’s 10 Steps to Better Writing
One of tricks that Hemingway plays on the reader is that while the prose is ‘ordinary’...
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55 Hour Train Trips To Tibet With Kids: How to Survive

2010-09-30T11:02:00.001-07:00

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Content Strategy: Using Cards To Index, Organize and Structure Websites

2010-07-09T04:50:00.001-07:00

One of the alternative careers I’ve considered as a Technical Writer is Information Architecture. Information Architecture is worth considering if you’re attracted to organization of data, for example, indexing, rather than writing. I get a bit tired to typing at times and enjoy other tech comms activities such as analysis, diagramming, and documentation planning. This short article gives some insight into how Information Architecture is used when developing websites. So, for those of who want to retain your writing skills and move into web-facing career, maybe Information Architecture is worth exploring.

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How to View YouTube Mobile on Your iPhone

2010-07-08T17:27:00.001-07:00

YouTube Mobile can be accessed by visiting m.youtube.com on your phone.

From Alex Chitu, "Google's services have a big advantage: a lot of mobile phones include applications for services like YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Search. Unfortunately, the native applications are rarely updated, so users miss the new features added to Google's services.

A good example is the YouTube application for iPhone, developed by Apple, which still uses 5-star ratings, doesn't support captions, annotations or search suggestions and offers a single sharing option: email. Google's YouTube application for Android is not much better, even if it's updated faster."

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How To Write Case Study Analysis For Marketing Plans

2010-07-04T01:28:00.001-07:00

To prepare your case study analysis, you need to understand the four parts that hold the case study together. Once you have grasped how to structure your case study, you are then in a better position to refine this document and make the sections flow more smoothly from one topic to the next. Your case study should be built around the Situation, Problem, Solution, and Evaluation.

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Is Apple The World's Most Popular Cult?

2010-07-04T01:26:00.001-07:00

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I say Cult? I was offered a job with Apple many years ago and turned it down. They struck me as a bit odd. Think different campaigns were somehow a tiny bit sinister. I couldn’t put my finger on it didn’t buy into it. Later I realized that most successful companies in the Valley are cult-like to some degree. It’s an Us versus Them mentality. Not my cup of tea.

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26 Ways to Handle Customer Complaints

2010-07-04T01:25:00.001-07:00

The more you sell, the more complaints. Nothing personal. Oscar Wilde said, ‘the only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about.’ It’s the same on the web. If you plan to run a business, you better get ready to deal with the complaints.

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Google Webmaster Tips: Get Your Site Verified & Increase Your PageRank

2010-07-04T01:24:00.001-07:00

Google Webmaster Tools is one of the hidden secrets on Google. Use this to add your site directly to its index, verify that Google sees your site (and sub-domains), and also fix the errors it has identified. Split testing has shown me that sites indexed this way perform better than sites that rely on xml sitemaps. FYI you can also add sitemaps here.

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Checklist: How To Value Your Website or Blog

2010-07-04T01:20:00.001-07:00

Create a handover checklist. Itemize what you need to do (and dates) and what they need to do (and dates). See this as a small project that needs to be coordinated. Create a list of tasks, allocate them and assign dates. Share this with the new site owner.For example:

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Getting Things Done: How To Make Friday Your Busiest Day

2010-07-04T01:17:00.001-07:00

Friday is my busiest day. Most folks power down and go into weekend mode. Not here! Ask yourself, ‘why do I go down a gear on Friday?’, ‘How does this benefit my career?’ Ok, let’s be honest. We do this because others do it. Right? This is a high-risk way to manage your career. You’re letting others determine how you behave. And it damages your career in many, many ways. Here’s an alternative approach.

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12 Step Plan To Get Started as a Small Business Consultant

2010-07-04T01:14:00.001-07:00

Most people think it’s difficult start a career as a business consultant. I used to think the same in my early 20s when I started in IT.

In retrospect, I should have made more efforts to establish myself as a consultant earlier; the benefits certainly outweigh the downsides. As luck would have it, I was forced into a consultancy role when I lost my 9-5 job.

Time to learn to hustling and bring in business. Harvard Business Review refers to it as The Hustle Strategy.

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How To Write Content For Your Blog Every Day of the Year

2010-07-04T01:13:00.001-07:00

In this short video I explain how to create content and to remove the barriers that stop most people from creating content on a daily basis. It’s not difficult but you do need to have a system that lets you maximize your opportunities to create content and reduces the barriers that stop you from doing this. For example, you can create more content for your blog – and generate more business – if you work in batches.

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GTD: 37 Tips to Increase Your Business Writing Productivity

2010-07-04T01:11:00.001-07:00

This article on business writing reminds us that our sales, marketing, business, and proposal development does not stand alone. It is process of a larger process that involves planning, research, writing, editing, proofing, submission and acceptance.

This list gives 37 ways to improve your next proposal. Scroll through it and tell me what I missed.

Show that your response is logical and organized
Make the information easy to find. Cross reference against the Request For Proposal
Include a table of contents for proposals over 10 pages in length
Ensure that your Proposal is in compliance with the RFP
Arrange material in order of priority to the reader (see Audience Analysis guidelines)

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How to Make Six Figures, Part 2

2010-07-04T01:05:00.001-07:00

What do soloists who make six figures have in common? To find out, we asked this week’s guest, Mike Koenigs. Mike is best known as the guy who created the Web 2.0 syndication service, Traffic Geyser that distributes over a million videos per week and generates top ranking, web traffic and leads in minutes by sending video content to over 70 video sites, social bookmarking, social media, blog and podcasting directories.

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Case Study Writing: 20 Great Tutorials

2010-07-02T23:58:00.001-07:00

Twenty articles to get you started with your case study writing. It’s all here.

Case Study methodology, SWOT, grounded theory, interviewing SME, Media Kit, Marketing Plans, how to promote your products and services, raise its market profile, and construct, format, design and publish your document.

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Inside SEO: Why the About Us Page is the Second Most Important Page on Your Blog

2010-07-02T23:57:00.001-07:00

You find a blog you really like. You want to learn more. You’re thinking of buying from them. What do you do? Click About Us, right? Most people do. Now, pretend you’ve never visited your own site. Remember, you know nothing about you. Nothing. Look at your About Us page? Be honest, what’s the one thing that’s wrong with it?

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5 Entrepreneurs like Kobe Bryant Who Overcame Discrimination To Succeed

2010-07-02T23:56:00.001-07:00

Should you use a role model to develop your business?

Maybe you should: the top business magazines say, ‘be yourself, be authentic, share your story’ Or maybe you shouldn’t. For entrepreneurs, using a role model creates a dilemma.

Does it mean you’ve sold out? Do you lose street cred? Can you really copy someone else and be true to yourself?

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My Top 10 Worst Money Making Ideas from Neil Patel at Quick Sprout

2010-07-02T23:55:00.001-07:00

I know most of these ideas sound foolish, but I was a kid/new entrepreneur when I came up with most of these business ideas. The point I am trying to make is that you to will come up with a lot of dumb business ideas, which means that you will fail a lot. Just don’t get discouraged because sooner or later you’ll learn to come up with good business ideas.

And if that doesn’t encourage you, just look at Mark Cuban. At one point he had a business idea that revolved around selling powdered milk. In his eyes, it tasted as good as the real thing and you wouldn’t have to worry about expiration dates. But as you know, that isn’t how he made his billions.

PS: If you are looking for more bad business ideas, check out this post by Jeremy Schoemaker and this post by Brian Armstrong.

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Business Case Templates: 15 Ways to Write, Format and Create

2010-07-02T22:58:00.001-07:00

Looking for funding for a new project but not sure where to start? One way to get the funding you need is to create a Business Case. This outlines the benefits, competitive edge, and other gains the company stands to make if it invests in this project. For certain projects, the Business Case is a fore-runner for a Request For Proposal (aka Invitation To Tender) where business proposals are accepted from external firms.

Business Case Template

Over the coming weeks, we’ll look at how to write, review and assess business proposals. For now, let’s focus developing the Business Case.

I’ve put together this Business Case checklist which covers most all areas related to the project/service you are exploring. This checklist should help you address areas such as Achievability, Benefits, Costs, Critical success factors, Resources, Risks, Scope, Strategic fit, and Value For Money.

Business Case Checklist

To ensure that your business case is complete, examine the following points:

Achievability — this ensures that you (and other parties) have the experience, expertise, and resources to manage the project. Examine different approaches that can overcome any potential obstacles, e.g. additional resources, timelines, or budgets.
Assumptions — speak to all stakeholders and gather their main assumptions, e.g. in the case of outsourcing IT development, that the Intellectual Property Rights will be owned by your organization. Examine whether these assumptions are valid or not.
Benefits — outline the benefits, and opportunities, that each option provides. Identify the high-level benefits that align with your company’s main business objectives, and explore how these benefits can be measured
Costs — obtain indicative figures for the cost of the project over its entire lifecycle, not only the implementation costs. You may want to factor in 15-20% for scope creep, if appropriate. Also, determine who will pay for the project, if they have agreed to do this, and the payment method. Examine how to get an acceptable balance of cost, benefit, and risk.
Critical success factors — seek consensus with the other stakeholders on what constitutes success. If you do not take this step, stakeholder will have different expectations of the final deliverable. Define success factors that are specific, measurable, and achievable; identify any other factors that could affect success, such as the delivery of other parallel projects.
Dependencies — outline the internal (e.g. staff availability) and external dependencies (changes in the marketplace, new government legislation).
Options – gather details on all available options that could meet the business needs. Consider the trade-offs associated with each option, and the degree to which each option meets the project’s needs. Make sure that you have included the overall supply chain’s needs, i.e. the organization, partners, suppliers, staff and customers.
Procurement — send an Invitation to Tender (ITT) to prospective contractors. Evaluate their bids. Hold presentations with the most impressive bids.
Project Group — identify those (individuals, units, and departments) who are involved and/or affected by the project. Determine their interests and endeavor to resolve any potential conflicts.
Resources — scope the anticipated resource and capabilities requirements that you will need, such as staff, IT, workspace, equipment, and funding.
Risks – Capture all anticipated risks – plan contingences. Prepare a high-level estimate of the costs for each risk.
Scope – define what is in/out of scope with the existing budget; scope what can be delivered with a reduced budget, with indicative delivery dates; ensure that there are no conflicts with other on-going projects. Look at the impact that delaying the project or under-delivering could have.
Stakeholders — identify their role, responsibility, availability, and contingencies if they become incapacitated/released from the project.
Strategic fit – confirm that the project is still required and that its objectives are in line with the company’s business goals.
Value For Money — examine how to get Value For Money from the contractors, contractors and other third parties. Agree what constitutes VFM with the project stakeholders.

Once you have checked off these points, your business case should be ready to send to the project stakeholders.

What are your thoughts? What have I missed?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also runs the popularBusiness Planning Blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com. Follow him on Twitter @ivanwalsh

Posted via email from Business Plan Tips

Business Case Checklist - 15 Ways to Write Better Biz Documents

2010-07-02T22:53:00.000-07:00

Business Case Checklist - 15 Ways to Write Better Biz Documents

Business Case Template

Over the coming weeks, we’ll look at how to write, review and assess business proposals. For now, let’s focus developing the Business Case.

Business Case Checklist

To ensure that your business case is complete, examine the following points:

Achievability — this ensures that you (and other parties) have the experience, expertise, and resources to manage the project. Examine different approaches that can overcome any potential obstacles, e.g. additional resources, timelines, or budgets.
Assumptions — speak to all stakeholders and gather their main assumptions, e.g. in the case of outsourcing IT development, that the Intellectual Property Rights will be owned by your organization. Examine whether these assumptions are valid or not.
Benefits — outline the benefits, and opportunities, that each option provides. Identify the high-level benefits that align with your company’s main business objectives, and explore how these benefits can be measured
Costs — obtain indicative figures for the cost of the project over its entire lifecycle, not only the implementation costs. You may want to factor in 15-20% for scope creep, if appropriate. Also, determine who will pay for the project, if they have agreed to do this, and the payment method. Examine how to get an acceptable balance of cost, benefit, and risk.
Critical success factors — seek consensus with the other stakeholders on what constitutes success. If you do not take this step, stakeholder will have different expectations of the final deliverable. Define success factors that are specific, measurable, and achievable; identify any other factors that could affect success, such as the delivery of other parallel projects.
Dependencies — outline the internal (e.g. staff availability) and external dependencies (changes in the marketplace, new government legislation).
Options – gather details on all available options that could meet the business needs. Consider the trade-offs associated with each option, and the degree to which each option meets the project’s needs. Make sure that you have included the overall supply chain’s needs, i.e. the organization, partners, suppliers, staff and customers.
Procurement — send an Invitation to Tender (ITT) to prospective contractors. Evaluate their bids. Hold presentations with the most impressive bids.
Project Group — identify those (individuals, units, and departments) who are involved and/or affected by the project. Determine their interests and endeavor to resolve any potential conflicts.
Resources — scope the anticipated resource and capabilities requirements that you will need, such as staff, IT, workspace, equipment, and funding.
Risks – Capture all anticipated risks – plan contingences. Prepare a high-level estimate of the costs for each risk.
Scope – define what is in/out of scope with the existing budget; scope what can be delivered with a reduced budget, with indicative delivery dates; ensure that there are no conflicts with other on-going projects. Look at the impact that delaying the project or under-delivering could have.
Stakeholders — identify their role, responsibility, availability, and contingencies if they become incapacitated/released from the project.
Strategic fit – confirm that the project is still required and that its objectives are in line with the company’s business goals.
Value For Money — examine how to get Value For Money from the contractors, contractors and other third parties. Agree what constitutes VFM with the project stakeholders.

Once you have checked off these points, your business case should be ready to send to the project stakeholders.

What are your thoughts? What have I missed?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also runs the popularBusiness Planning Blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com. Follow him on Twitter @ivanwalsh

PS: The Business Case Template is here.

For Better Market Research Get Real Clicks not Fake Answers

2010-06-29T23:40:00.001-07:00

For real information, watching what people do is way better than asking them what they think, what they did, or, the worst case, what they intend to do. That’s why I like this new click-based and search-based research so much. Don’t go with what people say; go with what they do.

A great recent example is Marketing Profs’ In Social Media Era, Facebook Rules.

The data is fascinating; but the methodology, and the tool used, is even more so.

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How To Submit Your Video to YouTube?s Editors

2010-06-19T06:24:00.001-07:00

While there are several ways to get your videos on the YouTube homepage, this is the simplest, the more legit and the most rewarding. To do so, you need to understand how the Spotlight Videos option works in YouTube. The screenshot below is an example.

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Business Rules vs. Business Requirements

2010-06-19T05:18:00.001-07:00

Business Rules vs. Business Requirements from Klariti Smart Business Tips by Ivan Post by Ivan Walsh. Follow me on Twitter. One area where many graduates and business analysts get tripped up is confusing Business Rules and Business Requirements. We looked at how to write Business Requirements last week, so let’s look at what Business Rules and Business Requirements have in common and where they differ. Business Requirements – Excel Template Difference Between Business Rules and Business Requirements? What is the difference between a business rule and a business requirement? * Business Rules – these are statements (or conditions) that tell a person whether they can perform a specific action that relates to how the business operates. Business Rules also give you the criteria and conditions for making these decisions. * Business Requirement – this may include what you need to do to enable the business rule to be implemented. In other words, a business requirement may not be valid if it contradicts or breaks an existing business rule. Example of Business Rules Let’s step back a minute. My Dad has three pet ducks at his home. One water duck and two land ducks. Yes, it gets very loud sometimes. So, here are some rules regarding the ducks health and safety: * Ducks cannot be given bread. It may choke them. * Ducks cannot be left unattended when swimming. They are poor swimmers and may drown. * Ducks must be given water with all meals. Helps them digest. * Duck must have buddies. They’re very socialable and pine when alone. * Ducks must be kept out of the kitchen. Yes, I see the irony :) Ok, these are some of the rules we have for the ducks. From Business Rules to Business Requirements Now, imagine we were building a new apartment block for millionaire ducks. No doubt there will be many requirements about their lifestyle, feeding, entertainment and transport. While gathering and defining these requirements, we need to consider: * The new apartment owners must not allow folks to give bread to the Ducks. * If you’re building a swimming pool. They can have a pool if it’s a requirement, but they also need a life guard. You get the idea, right? Connection Between Business Rule and Business Requirements Now that we’ve looked at how Business Rules work, let’s look at how and where they are connected: 1. Do business rules exist even when you can’t implement a requirement? Yes. The Business Rules inn independent of the requirements gathering process. It can and must exist independently of other processes. 2. Does implementing a business requirement mean complying with the business rule? Depends. In general, Yes, but there can be exceptions. 3. Does implementing the business requirement make it easier to comply with the business rule? Yes. The connection will be stronger across all business process and allow greater understanding of how the Business Rules to Business Requirements function. Sample Business Rule This is an example of business rules for a bank taking credit card applications over the web. Example: Taking Credit Card Applications Over The Web Business Rule: Customer has an Email Address. Business Requirement: Ability for bank staff to send and receive emails to the customer. Now if we change the business rule: Revised Rule: Customer must have a valid Email Address. Note: A second rule is required to define ‘valid email address’. An Email Address is considered Valid if does not return as ‘undeliverable’ within 60 minutes of being sent out. Additional Business Requirement to support Business Rule: System will immediately send email to customer once email address is received. The email is not batch processed but sent in response to each email received. Note: The smallest change in the wording of the business rule can have significant impacts on other business processes. When testing business requirements make sure that you consider all possible scenarios where the revised business rule will impact other parts of the business. Recap * Business rules describe what you may or may not do in a specific business scenario. It also gives the criteria, conditions and exceptions for making these decisions. * Business Requirements capture what a user must do to implement and/or comply with a Business Rule. * You may need different sets of business requirements to implement different sets of business rules, for example, when dealing with complex business processes with complicated conditions and exceptions. * Business rules are independent of business requirements and shouldn’t be changed to accommodate a requirement. Be careful when changing a business rule in case it impacts how a business process functions. Conclusion There is one final point I want to share. Make sure that ownership of the business rules is properly assigned to someone – and make the person accountable. One approach is to assign this activity to a business analyst with strong skills in document control and with the ability to push through new versions of revised Business Rules. Try to find the most practical solution for managing your business rules. We used a networked Excel spreadsheet at a large European bank and it worked very well. All documents were version controlled and we followed a strict naming convention which made it easier to retrieve and update the rules when needed. Don’t get tripped up on the technology. Once the team understand how the documents are structured, written and shared, then you should be fine. Also, remember to purge out-dated business rules. This means you’ll have fewer documents to manage and should speed up annual audits if/when the auditors want to check your document repository. Final tip: in the Excel spreadsheet, cross-reference the business rule to the business requirements so you can quickly identify where one change impacts another. About the Author: Ivan Walsh shares Small Business and Small Business Information for Entrepreneurs at Klariti. He also runs a Business Planning Blog

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Documenting Business Rules & Business Requirements

2010-06-19T05:17:00.000-07:00

Business Rules vs. Business Requirements

from Klariti Smart Business Tips by Ivan

Post by Ivan Walsh. Follow me on Twitter.

One area where many graduates and business analysts get tripped up is confusing Business Rules and Business Requirements. We looked at how to write Business Requirements last week, so let’s look at what Business Rules and Business Requirements have in common and where they differ.

Business Requirements – Excel Template

Difference Between Business Rules and Business Requirements?

What is the difference between a business rule and a business requirement?

Business Rules – these are statements (or conditions) that tell a person whether they can perform a specific action that relates to how the business operates. Business Rules also give you the criteria and conditions for making these decisions.
Business Requirement – this may include what you need to do to enable the business rule to be implemented. In other words, a business requirement may not be valid if it contradicts or breaks an existing business rule.

Example of Business Rules

Let’s step back a minute. My Dad has three pet ducks at his home. One water duck and two land ducks. Yes, it gets very loud sometimes.

So, here are some rules regarding the ducks health and safety:

Ducks cannot be given bread. It may choke them.
Ducks cannot be left unattended when swimming. They are poor swimmers and may drown.
Ducks must be given water with all meals. Helps them digest.
Duck must have buddies. They’re very socialable and pine when alone.
Ducks must be kept out of the kitchen. Yes, I see the irony

Ok, these are some of the rules we have for the ducks.

From Business Rules to Business Requirements

Now, imagine we were building a new apartment block for millionaire ducks. No doubt there will be many requirements about their lifestyle, feeding, entertainment and transport. While gathering and defining these requirements, we need to consider:

The new apartment owners must not allow folks to give bread to the Ducks.
If you’re building a swimming pool. They can have a pool if it’s a requirement, but they also need a life guard.

You get the idea, right?

Connection Between Business Rule and Business Requirements

Now that we’ve looked at how Business Rules work, let’s look at how and where they are connected:

Do business rules exist even when you can’t implement a requirement? Yes. The Business Rules inn independent of the requirements gathering process. It can and must exist independently of other processes.
Does implementing a business requirement mean complying with the business rule? Depends. In general, Yes, but there can be exceptions.
Does implementing the business requirement make it easier to comply with the business rule? Yes. The connection will be stronger across all business process and allow greater understanding of how the Business Rules to Business Requirements function.

Sample Business Rule

This is an example of business rules for a bank taking credit card applications over the web.

Example: Taking Credit Card Applications Over The Web

Business Rule: Customer has an Email Address.

Business Requirement: Ability for bank staff to send and receive emails to the customer.

Now if we change the business rule:

Revised Rule: Customer must have a valid Email Address.

Note: A second rule is required to define ‘valid email address’. An Email Address is considered Valid if does not return as ‘undeliverable’ within 60 minutes of being sent out.

Additional Business Requirement to support Business Rule:

System will immediately send email to customer once email address is received. The email is not batch processed but sent in response to each email received.

Note: The smallest change in the wording of the business rule can have significant impacts on other business processes. When testing business requirements make sure that you consider all possible scenarios where the revised business rule will impact other parts of the business.

Recap

Business rules describe what you may or may not do in a specific business scenario. It also gives the criteria, conditions and exceptions for making these decisions.
Business Requirements capture what a user must do to implement and/or comply with a Business Rule.
You may need different sets of business requirements to implement different sets of business rules, for example, when dealing with complex business processes with complicated conditions and exceptions.
Business rules are independent of business requirements and shouldn’t be changed to accommodate a requirement.

Be careful when changing a business rule in case it impacts how a business process functions.

Conclusion

There is one final point I want to share. Make sure that ownership of the business rules is properly assigned to someone – and make the person accountable.

One approach is to assign this activity to a business analyst with strong skills in document control and with the ability to push through new versions of revised Business Rules.

Try to find the most practical solution for managing your business rules. We used a networked Excel spreadsheet at a large European bank and it worked very well. All documents were version controlled and we followed a strict naming convention which made it easier to retrieve and update the rules when needed.

Don’t get tripped up on the technology. Once the team understand how the documents are structured, written and shared, then you should be fine. Also, remember to purge out-dated business rules. This means you’ll have fewer documents to manage and should speed up annual audits if/when the auditors want to check your document repository.

Final tip: in the Excel spreadsheet, cross-reference the business rule to the business requirements so you can quickly identify where one change impacts another.

About the Author: Ivan Walsh shares Small Business and Small Business Information for Entrepreneurs at Klariti. He also runs a Business Planning Blog

Inc.com: The 5 Types of Entrepreneurs

2010-06-18T17:57:00.001-07:00

Home-run sluggers want to change the world in a big and obvious way, says serial entrepreneur John Warrillow. They are not thrilled with incremental success, and the trend toward serial entrepreneurship is not necessarily appealing to them. Sluggers would rather make a single business their lifes work, and make it big (if at all.) They are not as amenable to early exits or succession planning. Fred Smith of FedEx is an obvious example of a slugger.

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Posted via web from Small Business Strategies

Why I Won?t Buy From You!

2010-06-18T17:56:00.001-07:00

Actually the answer is pretty simple. You haven’t given me sufficient reason to choose you over your competitors. Today’s customer has more choice, more knowledge, and even tabbed browsing to evaluate you and distinguish you from all of your competitors. In the few seconds they’ll invest in your website, if they can’t decide why you might be the solution to their want or need, they’ll close that tab faster than your Flash promotion can ever engage them.

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Checklist: Buying Your First Digital Camera

2010-06-17T20:17:00.001-07:00

You want to buy a digital camera but not sure where to start. The options are to go low and buy something inexpensive (but maybe you’ll regret the quality), get a mid-price camera, learn how it works and then get a top of the rank camera. Or bite the bullet and get the best digital camera.

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Google Docs and Backwards Compatibility+ new document editor, code-named Kix

2010-06-17T02:08:00.001-07:00

When Google announced a new version of Google Docs in April, it was obvious that not only the user interface has been changed.

The new document editor, code-named Kix, is so different that Google had to change the way documents are stored.

"The new Google document editor doesn't use the browser to handle editable text. We wrote a brand new editing surface and layout engine, entirely in JavaScript. (...) To you, the new editor looks like a fairly normal text box. But from the browser's perspective, it's a webpage with JavaScript that responds to any user action by dynamically changing what to display on each line," explains Google.

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Growing a Business Franchise with Podcasts

2010-06-17T00:12:00.001-07:00

The audience for podcasts is growing. Fun and simple to produce, podcasts are an effective way for a franchise to connect with and attract more customers.

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Why I Returned My iPad

2010-06-16T09:03:00.001-07:00

Being bored is a precious thing, a state of mind we should pursue. Once boredom sets in, our minds begin to wander, looking for something exciting, something interesting to land on.

And that's where creativity arises.

My best ideas come to me when I am unproductive. When I am running but not listening to my iPod. When I am sitting, doing nothing, waiting for someone. When I am lying in bed as my mind wanders before falling to sleep. These "wasted" moments, moments not filled with anything in particular, are vital.

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Harvard Biz: How to Translate Training Plans into Results

2010-06-15T22:08:00.001-07:00

Ask yourself these questions: Are the participants in your management development programs "on the hook" to apply their learnings to real issues back on the job? Will the content of your programs give managers new insights into getting things done? Do the designs of the programs allow time for participants to create implementation plans? Are your program instructors pushing past casual discussion and facilitating specific back-at-work application of learning?

Have you built in follow-up to make sure that managers translate their learnings into action?

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Tips for Email Procrastinators + Spend Time on Your Subject Line

2010-06-15T21:15:00.001-07:00

If your subject line doesn't compel readers to open the email, the rest of your content goes unseen. Make sure it clearly presents the email's value while staying consistent with your past subject lines.

In fact, you can use existing messages to guide you.

Keep track of patterns in open rates to see which subject lines earned the most opens, then mimic the format with your new one.

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How to Stop Microsoft Word From Crashing Business Documents - Part 1

2010-06-15T18:19:00.001-07:00

Post by Ivan Walsh. Follow me on Twitter. If your Microsoft Word files suddenly become huge and start crashing, here’s one way to fix it. Sometimes Microsoft Word files explode from 1 to 10MB in a few minutes? I've creating some very large business proposals in Microsoft Word and learnt a few way

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The subscription economy is here. Are you ready?

2010-06-15T08:42:00.001-07:00

Subscriptions used to be just for newspapers and magazines, but not anymore. The last 10 years have seen a dramatic increase in companies using the subscription model to offer everything from music, movies and textbooks to even cars for a monthly fee. Every day, more and more traditional players are joining the “subscription economy” in response to changing consumer habits. For most companies, this shift means relearning a lot about selling, pricing, packaging, and building customer loyalty. As we move to this new economy, companies need to move away from a manufacturing-oriented, product-focused way of thinking, and embrace a world of services that fundamentally change customer relationships.

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A Short Lesson in Attaining Excellence

2010-06-15T00:24:00.001-07:00

In sales and life, it takes a little extra effort to go from satisfactory to excellent.

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9 Tips on Marketing Travel Websites

2010-06-15T00:11:00.001-07:00

The hotel industry is characterized by the fact that there are literally hundreds of affiliate reservation sites you can list your hotel with. These sites take a small percentage of your booking fee for the promotion they provide your business. Its worth taking a little loss here as they’re working their butts off to market your services. Since you’re getting someone else to do all the hard work for you, it stands to reason they be compensated for it…

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Robert Scoble: Is It Time To Give Google Buzz Another Look?

2010-06-14T18:05:00.001-07:00

Robert Scoble posed the question, “Should we give Google Buzz another look?” Last week at SMX Advanced, Matt Cutts said almost the exact same thing when answering a question posed by Danny Sullivan. Here is what Matt said:

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The Gil Grissom Guide to Microsoft Word 2007

2010-06-14T17:18:00.001-07:00

She wants to update her new business plan and add Notes, Messages, Quotes and other pre-formatted styles. The Styles in Microsoft Word 2003 and 2007 seem to be different.

Even Gil Grissom would have a hard time doing this.

She’s right. The Microsoft Word user interface in 2003 and 2007 is very different.

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How a ?Middle of the Road? Mentality Will Grow Your Online Business

2010-06-14T07:55:00.001-07:00

I’ve been guilty of throwing out the baby with the bathwater in this space many times. I remember being asked to speak at an internet marketers conference in the USA 4-5 years ago and coming away from the experience feeling sick in my stomach. The hype, trickery and manipulation of some of those presenting turned me off completely.

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Three Ways Business Can Scale With Social Networking Technologies

2010-06-14T07:54:00.001-07:00

Why can’t businesses scale with social technologies? If you work for a healthy company, you’ll always have more customers than employees. As social network adoption continues to move “up and to the right” in adoption graphs, the amount of discussion generated from customers is only going to increase while your internal social strategists and community managers may only marginally increase.

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Your Niche Is You - Forget What the Experts Say

2010-06-14T03:53:00.001-07:00

A Life Coaching case study that explains why you are a niche.

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Why Bill Gates Chose Warren Buffet as His Role Model

2010-06-13T21:11:00.001-07:00

Should you use a role model to develop your business? Maybe you should: the top business magazines say, ‘be yourself, be authentic, share your story’ Or maybe you shouldn’t. For entrepreneurs, using a role model creates a dilemma. Does it mean you’ve sold out? Do you lose street cred? Can you really copy someone else and be true to yourself?

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How to add a Flickr Slideshow to your Wordpress Blog

2010-06-13T21:09:00.001-07:00

You can add a Flickr Slideshow to your Wordpress Blog using this single line of code. All you need to do this is a Flickr account, the tag you want to use and you’re done. That’s it. Here’s how to create the slideshow.

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Sherlock Holmes Guide to Finding Hidden Styles in Microsoft Word 2007?

2010-06-13T21:03:00.001-07:00

How to find hidden styles in Ms Word

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Arlington Cemetery guilty of mismanagement and wrongly-marked graves

2010-06-13T09:20:00.001-07:00

After a six-month-long investigation into issues circling the Arlington National Cemetery, including improperly marked graves, mismanagement, bad recordkeeping, and wire fraud, the Inspector General of the Army determined that the cemetery was at fault due to “dysfunctional management, a lack of established policy and procedures, and an overall unhealthy organizational climate.”

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Viktor Frankl: Why to believe in others from TED Talks

2010-06-13T09:15:00.001-07:00

From the TED Talks video series

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HOW TO: Download Google Pac-Man Game for Free

2010-06-13T09:13:00.001-07:00

If Friday’s Google Doodle didn’t feed your Pac-Man fever, you can now download the special Google version of Pac-Man and play on your own time. Over at StackOverflow, users worked together to figure out how to extract and host the special version of Pac-Man, created by Google in honor of the yellow guy’s 30th birthday, for play online or off.

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5 Marketing Techniques Luxury Real Estate Agents Use

2010-06-13T09:12:00.001-07:00

Throw in an unexpected benefit/offer. One thing I love about luxury real estate is that the "freebies" are often completely unexpected and sometimes irrelevant things, but could sway the right buyer. For example, I saw one property listed where purchasing it would also mean that the title of "Count of Carbona" would convey to the new owner.

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North Korea Develops Anti-Aging Super Drink - No side effects, so far...

2010-06-13T05:41:00.001-07:00

According to North Korea's official news agency, a drink produced by North Korea's Moranbong Carbonated Fruit Juice Joint Venture Company can cure aging and all disease. 'It, with effects of both preventive and curative treatment, helps improve mental and retentive faculties by multiplying brain cells. It also protects skin from wrinkles and black spots and prevents such geriatric diseases as cerebral hemorrhage, myocardium and brain infarction by removing acid effete matters in time.' It also has no side-effects." Last month North Korea announced its fusion breakthrough, and now it has a super drink. One can only imagine what wonders may come in July — perhaps self-buttering toast.

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Posted via web from Small Business Strategies