Have you ever sat back and thought about exactly how much information is now located on the Internet? I recently read that according to a study conducted by the University of California-Berkeley the volume of information online has tripled since 2003. While everything and anything is now located on the web, it is beginning to cause major headaches in terms of a company's ability to organize and effectively use this information on a day to day basis.
This issue has led to the start up a several companies whose main objective is designing tools that enable companies to harvest all the relevant information they require. One such company, www.mozenda.com located in Salt Lake City, Utah has developed Mozenda Web Agent Builder 3.0 software that makes this task extremely manageable. The software is designed to extract precise parts of a website's content and then sort and organize this information into useable formats.
According to information from www.mozenda.com , Web Builder 3.0 allows users to automatically schedule and run these harvesting tasks. It also provides notifications when the job is complete. Other features include the ability to organize and store large quantities of data directly through Mozenda's Web Management Console.
With the amount of online content that is constantly being generated, software such as Web Builder 3.0 will become a necessity for companies to keep pace with this information explosion. For more details on this and some of their other innovations please visit www.mozenda.com
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
You are always Networking(whether you know it or not)
No matter what you or your company does, connecting with other people is a vital part of running and growing your business. Whether they are customers, potential customers, suppliers, business associates, or personal friends engaging them in any type of social interaction helps build relationships that is basis of your network.
In its most basic form, anytime you communicate with someone else you are in actuality networking with that individual. On the surface you may not see this as networking, but it is often these subtle interactions that can yield the most benefit. When most people hear the word "networking" they envision group meetings, organization functions, and planned social events. Simply meeting some associates for lunch to catch up with each other can be as powerful a networking tool as attending the local Chamber of Commerce mixer.
The key is to understand that anyone you interact with has the potential to help your business. You must also understand that this interaction is a two way street, as should be aware of how you may potentially be able to help theirs as well.This "mutually beneficial" exchange is the true essence of networking.
Networking is really about creating a working relationship with someone, as opposed to trying to find out "what can this person do for me?" Another key aspect is keeping your ears and eyes open whenever you are talking and more importantly, listening to others. It is amazing the information you can obtain when you make an effort to "actively listen" to others.
Once you embrace the concept that all social interaction is a networking opportunity, the more you put yourself in the position to benefit from your activities. Remember, networking is more about listening, learning, and sharing than trying to sell yourself or your company.
In its most basic form, anytime you communicate with someone else you are in actuality networking with that individual. On the surface you may not see this as networking, but it is often these subtle interactions that can yield the most benefit. When most people hear the word "networking" they envision group meetings, organization functions, and planned social events. Simply meeting some associates for lunch to catch up with each other can be as powerful a networking tool as attending the local Chamber of Commerce mixer.
The key is to understand that anyone you interact with has the potential to help your business. You must also understand that this interaction is a two way street, as should be aware of how you may potentially be able to help theirs as well.This "mutually beneficial" exchange is the true essence of networking.
Networking is really about creating a working relationship with someone, as opposed to trying to find out "what can this person do for me?" Another key aspect is keeping your ears and eyes open whenever you are talking and more importantly, listening to others. It is amazing the information you can obtain when you make an effort to "actively listen" to others.
Once you embrace the concept that all social interaction is a networking opportunity, the more you put yourself in the position to benefit from your activities. Remember, networking is more about listening, learning, and sharing than trying to sell yourself or your company.
Friday, March 13, 2009
How Fast can you Turn Your Boat?
Several years ago, the company I worked for at the time went through a series of seminars designed to institute a system of continuous process improvement. Various areas that were covered included leadership, facilitation of teams, empowering employees, and impacting sales. This variation of TQM (Total Quality Management) was specifically designed for our industry, beverage wholesaling but could easily be applied to any type of business. One of the fundamental concepts was change. Old paradigms had to be eliminated and people needed to begin to think "outside the box" to keep up with the fast paced changes in the market that every industry was facing.
One of the first analogies the presenting consultant used to explain the way we would be able to change was to compare the size of the company to the size of a boat. He compared large corporations to the Queen Mary in that because of the ship's size, it takes a fair amount of time to actually turn around. Corporations can not change overnight as new concepts need time to work their way into their culture. Small business on the other hand (for the sake of discussion a small business was described as having 200 employees or less) was compared to a speed boat that should be able to make turns rather quickly.
The greatest influence on change comes from the top down. Just like the Captain decides which direction the boat should go, a company's Senior Management needs to be the driving force behind any meaningful attempt at improving their company's performance. If all they do is talk about the need for change, but do not completely buy into the concept that it is a vital part of growing a business, all they will be doing is paying lip service to the idea and nothing will improve.
As an owner you have the ability to commit yourself, and thus your company to continuous improvement. This involves being willing to change what is not working and explore better ways to try and achieve your objectives. Too many companies fail to recognize this need out of fear, complacency, and/or not having the proper tools.
Once you make this commitment, you need to get the rest of your employees involved. In order to quickly institute the necessary changes to take advantage of a changing market you need complete buy in from those whom can make it happen. Think of your company as a sail boat that has a number of deck hands, all working together to quickly turn the boat in the proper direction to take advantage of the changing wind. Remember, no matter what the size of the boat, it takes someones decision to turn it. The timing of these decisions often mean the difference between sailing into calm waters or stormy seas.
One of the first analogies the presenting consultant used to explain the way we would be able to change was to compare the size of the company to the size of a boat. He compared large corporations to the Queen Mary in that because of the ship's size, it takes a fair amount of time to actually turn around. Corporations can not change overnight as new concepts need time to work their way into their culture. Small business on the other hand (for the sake of discussion a small business was described as having 200 employees or less) was compared to a speed boat that should be able to make turns rather quickly.
The greatest influence on change comes from the top down. Just like the Captain decides which direction the boat should go, a company's Senior Management needs to be the driving force behind any meaningful attempt at improving their company's performance. If all they do is talk about the need for change, but do not completely buy into the concept that it is a vital part of growing a business, all they will be doing is paying lip service to the idea and nothing will improve.
As an owner you have the ability to commit yourself, and thus your company to continuous improvement. This involves being willing to change what is not working and explore better ways to try and achieve your objectives. Too many companies fail to recognize this need out of fear, complacency, and/or not having the proper tools.
Once you make this commitment, you need to get the rest of your employees involved. In order to quickly institute the necessary changes to take advantage of a changing market you need complete buy in from those whom can make it happen. Think of your company as a sail boat that has a number of deck hands, all working together to quickly turn the boat in the proper direction to take advantage of the changing wind. Remember, no matter what the size of the boat, it takes someones decision to turn it. The timing of these decisions often mean the difference between sailing into calm waters or stormy seas.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Effectively Tracking and Measuring Your Efforts
Every business has goals and objectives they are trying to accomplish. The most important ones will be based on growing revenue and increasing profits, and other ones will be based on certain aspects of the business that contribute to these first two. When you put everything together, you will end up with a short list of issues that are critical to a company's future growth and success. The question you have to ask yourself as an owner or manager is, what systems do I have in place that can determine if we are on track to address these issues and achieve our goals. Sales and revenue can easily be measured, but you need to examine how are you measuring the actions that can positively, or negatively influence these two primary areas.
As a sales manager, one of my responsibilities was to access the performance of my team on a regular basis. Since sales numbers alone can be a complex issue with any number of factors contributing to gains and losses, there had to be a more complex system in place to properly track actions and measure results. We wanted to be able to measure effort, effectiveness,and consistency in each persons performance to develop a true picture of their work. Often times there would be someone who was doing everything right, yet their efforts did not result in increased sales. We also had people who, quite frankly got lucky and were in the right place at the right time and their sales gains were not reflective of their efforts. To address these issues, we developed a score card that tracked actions and measured results. These "point sheets", as we called them gave credit for positive actions and consistent effort. The theory is that if you keep doing the right things over and over again, you will eventually achieve positive results.
While every business is different, the general concept of a score card can be applied to every department in the company and every person no matter what their job. Everyone has work tasks assigned to them from the owner down to the person emptying the trash. In my personal opinion, every one's actions are equally important in relation to the role they play, therefore every one's actions should be tracked and measured. The only way you will instill accountability is to monitor performance. It is much harder for someone to make an excuse for poor results when there is an actual record of their efforts. By drilling this concept down to an individual basis, you will effectively guide performance of your company as a whole.
As a sales manager, one of my responsibilities was to access the performance of my team on a regular basis. Since sales numbers alone can be a complex issue with any number of factors contributing to gains and losses, there had to be a more complex system in place to properly track actions and measure results. We wanted to be able to measure effort, effectiveness,and consistency in each persons performance to develop a true picture of their work. Often times there would be someone who was doing everything right, yet their efforts did not result in increased sales. We also had people who, quite frankly got lucky and were in the right place at the right time and their sales gains were not reflective of their efforts. To address these issues, we developed a score card that tracked actions and measured results. These "point sheets", as we called them gave credit for positive actions and consistent effort. The theory is that if you keep doing the right things over and over again, you will eventually achieve positive results.
While every business is different, the general concept of a score card can be applied to every department in the company and every person no matter what their job. Everyone has work tasks assigned to them from the owner down to the person emptying the trash. In my personal opinion, every one's actions are equally important in relation to the role they play, therefore every one's actions should be tracked and measured. The only way you will instill accountability is to monitor performance. It is much harder for someone to make an excuse for poor results when there is an actual record of their efforts. By drilling this concept down to an individual basis, you will effectively guide performance of your company as a whole.
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