In my last post, I wrote that God is right… that Sunday is best taken as a day off. Well, I don’t know exactly who to give credit to on this one, but I’ve discovered something else about taking time off. Namely, that you should take some each morning. What do I mean?
Well, I think most people start work by launching right into the task that feels the biggest or the most-pressing. This might be effective in getting that task done, but once it is, what next? Do you have a plan for the rest of the day? An ordered list of what you’d like to get done? A list of what you’d like to avoid? Well, probably not. After the first task is done, you probably feel unclear about exactly what to do next, and in what order. You probably Continue Reading »
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I’m in no way religious or anything, but I’ve got to give props to my bro G.O.D. on this - take a break on Sunday!
As entrepreneurs, we are often caught in our own business, it becomes an integral part of our life at which we work in it and think about it all the time. We get so consummed by it emotionally to the point at which we cannot see it clearly from an outside perspective.
This is a great example which goes about to show you how one single brilliant idea has the ability to change the world - PlayPumps. Kids play on a merry-go-round and pump water for villages at the same time. Girls benefit in particular because they are usually the ones fetching water, and now they can use the spared time to receive education.
Unless you have been hiding in a cave, you should know that Microsoft is trying to acquire Yahoo and all the dramas that went along with it (i.e. Yahoo declining the offer and Mircosoft turn “hostile”, Yahoo looking for deals from private equities and other media companies like News Corp., Google bringing up the whole anti-trust thing again in revenge for when Microsoft protested against Google’s acquistion of Double Click…)
Since opinions, speculations, & suggestions are ALL OVER the internet and paper about this ordeal, I thought I would chim in and give my 2 cents.
Is this a surpise?
Hardly, it has been widely speculated that Microsoft is looking to acquire Yahoo since 4th Quarter last year. In fact, in Merrill Lynch’s “Top 10 Internet Themes for 1H’08″ report, it has been mentioned and speculated. Seriously, for Microsoft to even stand a chance Continue Reading »
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New year is a great time for busy entrepreneurs like us to really sit down, think about what we did this past year with our business, set goals for the new year, and create a roadmap to get there.
In 2008, our company main objective is to create a better customer experience, by adding a full time phone support staff and toll-free support no. on all our websites. We’ll also refine our refund and shipping policies to give our customer stronger protection and more flexibility in returning products to us.
We’re launching two ecommerce sites (ShopBeads.com and GolfIsEasy.com) in late January, and may look into 1-2 more towards June. Our target this year Continue Reading »
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Its that time of the year when you should be sending Christmas cards or emails to people or organizations that are associated with your business. This includies your vendors, suppliers, partners, employees, and customers. So this brings us to one question - should we say “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas”?
For those of you reading who’re not from the US, you’d probably ask, “Why would anyone say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas?” Well, in the US, there’s something called “Political Correctness”, so apparently if you say Merry Christmas, it implies something about Christ and Christianity so people from other religion may be offended…
So in business settings, especially if you do business in the US, what should you say?
Well, I personally use “Happy Holidays” just in case, but really I dont think it matter that much… do people really get offended so easily? Do you really want to do business with people who are SO particular about irrelevant things?
Hot off the news, yesterday, December 10, marked the busiest online shopping day of the year for eBay.
Here’s some info from Business Wire:
While Cyber Monday remains an important milestone because it marks the beginning of the online holiday shopping season, data from eBay Inc. companies indicates that online shopping actually peaks on the second Monday in December. eBay Inc. companies have namedContinue Reading »
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I have consulted with a lot of companies and entrepreneurs on outsourcing - I thought I knew it all: call centers, virtual assitance, customer support, product manufacturing, website designs…
This guy Tim Ferriss, the author of The 4-Hours Work Week totally kicked my butt - he outsourced online dating.
Here’s a few snippets of a recent interview on Tim about this experiment:
Donovan: I hear you outsourced your online dating. Such a crazy concept. Could you explain the general idea?
Adding the Hackersafe badge on a already secured Yahoo store is probably the stupidest idea ever in the history of business - considering that it costs $1200 a year per site and does really nothing (for a Yahoo store anyway) besides adding a security badge on your website.
O well, as stupid as it is, it works… the conversion rate among my 3 websites increased by 20% overnight…
For those of you who’re not familiar, the term Cyber Monday refers to the Monday immediately following Black Friday, the ceremonial kick-off of the holiday online shopping season in the United States between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.
Whereas Black Friday is associated with traditional brick-and-mortar stores, “Cyber Monday” symbolizes a busy day for online retailers. The premise was that consumers would return to their offices after the Black Friday weekend, making purchases online that they were not able to make in stores. While the idea has not survived the test of time with sales data from recent years, however, Cyber Monday has evolved into a significant marketing event, sponsored by the National Retail Federation’s Shop.org division, in which online retailers offer low prices and promotions.
As an online retailer, you need to get your store ready for this big day. The couple most important factors include a clear shipping and refund policy, cyber Monday promotions, and most important - watch your advertising dollars to make sure they’re producing results. It is not unusual for Cyber Monday ad spending and search volume to triple - remember to monitor them closely!
