3 Recent Lessons in small business web design

Just a few things I've learned from recent small business web design:

1. Don't promise the world - look before you leap.
   I just moved a site from a set of static pages over to a wordpress CMS/blog - and boy did this take some work. But now the guy can do all his own pages again, and can also blog - which he's doing with abandon, even while I fix up links and do back-end work. It just turned out to be a much bigger job than I expected. So I have to go into overdrive to catch up on some other things.
   
   
2. In all things - follow your heart.
   Through this, I found that what irritates you and doesn't give you some joy at the same time - these things don't need to be worked on. Either quit doing them, or outsource them. What you like to do will change as you evolve - and we are always constantly evolving. This is known as learning. But don't learn stuff you hate - only spend time learning something that helps you get happier, the actual definition of purpose.
   
   
3. Always keep the value in mind.
   In a business, you need to work out the monetary equivalent. Reason for this is that people will see the value your work and so contribute to it. Anything given away for free isn't valued (usually), unless it is of incredible worth - and then they will work to somehow give something in return. Extra work should result in a bonus - especially if you don't ask for it (but do tell the person all the work you are doing so they know). The bottom line is that you have to always work at increasing your own value, in everything you do and everything your company produces.

I could cover references from Earl Nightingale, Napoleon Hill, and many others as to why these 3 lessons are important. And, as I get more work off my plate, I'll get into this and start getting these references out to you. But for now, I'm glad to have found them for myself.

Weak Tie and Strong Tie Networking - Social Media Uses

How to profit from both Weak and Strong Tie Networking - uses for Social Media


Here's some data I've not found anywhere else. I first ran into this reference through the One-Minute Millionaire ebook by Mark Victor Hansen and Robert Allen.

In that book they discuss the "weak tie". Now, I figured various things about this, but finally a comparative from another source came up. This fellow was talking (podcast) about how to develop a real, working network through Social Media contacts. And he made a lot of sense.

That's the "Strong Tie" - where you develop real business relationships out of mutual respect and benefit. Joint Ventures are an example - and a result.

The "Weak Tie" best example I've seen so far is when you have their email address and can send them regular notices about sales and whatnot. They stay on your list because you send them continually quality stuff. That's the trust relationship you have, but it isn't particularly a strong one - and you can relate to them because of their trust in you. Here's where you cover the mailing lists and autoresponder series.

Obviously, in the Strong Tie, you'd have mutual trust and a great deal of closer interaction. This is where the Master Mind comes in - what Napoleon Hill talks about in both "Think and Grow Rich" and "Law of Success".

The trick is to do both and know when you're doing what. Build weak ties all over the place and help them as much as you can. Build your strong ties into your mastermind group and assist them with their vision as they do yours.

Some of your weak ties may become strong ties.

Simple really - but I don't know anywhere else that this is explained, so I just did.

Cheers!