Friday, September 26, 2008

RSS Feeds Are Very Easy To Find

Business, Small Business.

Small business blogs, blogging and rss - two of the best and powerful promoting tools for small business today are blogs and rss feeds. You need to create an extensive network of contacts to make the most monetary proceeds and accolades from the small business trade industry related to your small business.


They are simple to set up and offer many benefits for the small business owner. - blogs have become all the rage for personal and business use for several reasons. RSS feeds provide fresh content that is updated in real time meaning it will never be content that has been parked on a page for awhile, and content that may not even be relevant anymore. They are great communication tools, they can be informative, and integrate with, interactive many other platforms with ease, plus a blog will gain popularity in a search engine usually much quicker than a standard website could for the same search term. RSS feeds on a wide and constantly increasing range of topics are obtainable easily through subscriptions to them and RSS readers. Content and distinctive features on a website and in a blog are powerful agents that pull substantial quantities of traffic to your small business website and blog. Many new browsers as well as the online blogs you can create have RSS subscribe and read features built into them making the process of getting RSS feeds for your website and blog that much easier.


Furthermore, the traffic that is pulled towards your small business website or blog comes from search engines redirecting them to your site. - the redirected traffic is gathered from search users searching for keywords specific to your website or blog, raising the likelihood that this traffic will have a higher interest in what you present to them on your real estate or small business website and blog. Why is this redirection from a search engine important to your website, and earning potential, blog? You do not need to buy expensive and complicated software programs to design and publish a blog online. RSS feeds are very easy to find. Blogger. com and other online blog creation tools help you create free blogs following simple instructions, ad ons, design templates, and automated processing and publishing in as little as five minutes. Simply look for and subscribe to them on the websites you visit in the course of your real estate or small business work, and also on those websites you visit to get current event news and entertainment suggestions from.


Your website designing tools may feature RSS, which will make it a snap to install RSS on your website. - many blogs and the newer browsers also have rss suggesting tools to help you find rss feeds you may not have known where to search for but that are strongly related to your small business or have a high interest level to them. Not to worry if your website designing tools do not include this feature. There are plentiful numbers of web articles and helpful advice and guidance in forums for small business, which can help you with the self installation of RSS on your website. You can still easily install RSS on your website. Blogging amplifies your connection with your contacts for durable working relationships that raises the potential for massive proceeds and enviable business reputation. RSS for your website and blog will also have a pleasant rank lifting in search engines with little effort on your part besides installing RSS and the subscribing to feeds.


Blogging also augments your rise in page rank in search engines. - there you have it. Small business blogs, and RSS are, blogging effective, powerful promotional tools with many benefits that you should take advantage of for the success of your real estate or small business.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Mobility Is A Crucial Factor In Business

Business, Small Business.

What a suitable extranet solution is made of - today, a suitable company intranet for small or medium - sized business comes with this profile: > does not require big capital investment. > user - friendly. > easily accessible from any pc connected to the internet. > web - based applications. Does yours come close? No need to install and manage servers; > Compatible with any browser and platforms. > Top - notch security. > Provides tutorial support and a consistent back - up system. > Packed with complete collaboration and communication tools, such as: Email capability, Documents and Contacts, Disk Storage Management, Online and Group Calendar sharing, Announcements, Task List, Opinions and Forums Panel, etc. > Available for customization. > Synchronicity with Outlook.


For a small or medium - sized business, its collaboration needs should not be costly. - however, contrary to this apparent lack, most small of medium - sized businesses still pattern their needs after those of larger companies, falsely believing that high - end solutions, or those that were written by more popular geeks are often the best. Unlike its larger counterparts, a growing business does not have enough resources to finance expensive IT infrastructures for collaboration or online communication. Thus they end up spending excessively for bells and whistles, which they could not use. In order to toe the line of competition in their favor, most of these newbie solutions provide similar top - notch packages as those high - end providers would, but at" friendlier" prices. To break away from this mold, examine other collaboration suites that have just joined the bandwagon of solution providers. Also, a suitableexchange server alternative is carefully designed to cater to the needs of its small or medium - sized client, and pack only those features, bells and whistles that have relevance to its operation.


Mobility is a crucial factor in business. - experience to believe! More and more virtual teams are set up to cope with globalization. Experience the difference of a new breed of solution - ASP Company Intranet. Apparently, a server - based company intranet lacks the flexibility that the current business trend demands. Avail of the chance that many ASP company intranet providers allow: hosted solutions 30 days free trial.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Good Luck With Your Jewelry Business

Business, Small Business.

4 tips to improve your jewelry business. - turning your hobby of jewelry making into a business could offer you a much more exciting time than you think. But without the correct organizational skills many people go broke or end up working for minimal wages trying to make ends meet. This can be a great and fruitful adventure on your way to setting up your own independent financial future away from the corporate ladder.


What do you think the number one thing is you need to be aware of when starting out? - it' s that simple. Keeping your cash flow positive! If you are not Beading for profit then you are going broke. Starting up a home jewelry business, or any other business for that matter means there are lots of jobs that you have to take care of yourself. While you might love what you' re doing there are still bills to pay so why not make a buck or two?


Most of the time there will be no one to help you. - these simple but important steps will help you to make sure that you get started on the right foot in your jewelry business. You will need to be your accountant, printer, designer, stock controller and many more things besides. Keep inventory of your stock. If you don' t know what you have in stock then how do you know what you need to buy? Now this sounds like a simple enough thing but so many people have no idea what they have in stock.


By keeping strict tabs on your stock level you can save countless hours wasted counting parts not to mention the money you save by not running to the store to buy another one of the same thing which you already have stuffed at the back of one of your drawers. - by knowing exactly what your pieces cost to produce you can then calculate the best price you can sell them for so that you can make your maximum profit. Cost out exactly what goes into your jewelry pieces including your time. Invoicing your customers. If your jewelry looks professional then it makes good business sense to have professional looking invoices for your customers. You have to bill people for the pieces that you have made so you will need an invoicing system that can easily create invoices that look professional. Consignment Records.


Here again you need to keep track of your stock, what' s sold, what' s returned, how much mark - up do you sell to them for. - hopefully you may be at a stage where other people are selling your jewelry for you. Following the 4 steps outlined above you should have a good grounding for beginning your home jewelry business. Good luck with your jewelry business.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

The Desks Are Meant To Be Kept In The Place Of Work

Business, Small Business.

Factors to be considered while buying office desks - if you are to buy some office desks, you will lay optimum importance on the price. Well, it is necessary to consider the cost of the desks you buy. Your main aim would be to buy some desks at cost - effective price.


But at the same time, you have to consider seriously some other factors so that your purpose of buying the desks is served properly. - employees are to spend a reasonable amount of their time with the desks. The desks are meant to be kept in the place of work. So, by the side of the cost, you should give importance to their taste and choice. Thus, they may fail to give their hundred per cent effort. If they are not happy with the office desks, they may not feel motivated to work. This, may bring productivity, in return down.


Try to know what type of desks they are comfortable with or they feel happy to work with. - so, keep the employees in mind when buy office desks. Nowadays, there are glass desks abundantly available along with the wooden desks. You have highly polished, modern glass desks within your easy reach. They give the place roomy look and necessitate less care. Some of the office desks are made of scratch - proof glass. Compatible chemicals are there to keep the glass desks clean.


They are very easy to maintain. - though you can have desks of similar design in workplaces, other rooms should have desks designed differently. It is the place where every newcomer visits first. One should be especially careful about choosing reception desks. So, in order to create an impressive first impression, a gorgeous reception desk is a must. There are options for people with small as well as big budget. Desks for reception are available in unlimited design and shape.


So, not only think about the cost but also give importance to other factors when you buy office desks.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

How You Intend To Market The Business

Business, Small Business.

How to write a quick & relatively painless business plan - if you' ve never written a business plan before, the idea alone can be overwhelming. Traditionally, a business plan is used to secure funding from a lender or a potential investment partner. It doesn' t have to be the nightmare of your imagination.


It serves as something akin to your business' s resume, outlining the purpose and scope of your business, marketing and management, identifying the goals, and establishing a basic balance sheet. - simply going through the process has value. Now, even if you aren' t going to seek additional funding, even if you' re going to grow your business by yourself from your office at home, you' d be wise to put together a business plan. It' ll help you develop a clearly defined vision of what you intend to do with your business and how you intend to do it. A storefront? These are some of the questions you should already have asked and answered before you sit down to write your business plan: == What" want" does your business fill, and what service or product will you be providing to fill that want? == Who will be your potential customer( this should be an established, niche market with die - hard buyers) . == Why will people purchase from you as opposed to the business down the street( in other words. what' s your Unique Selling Position) ? == How do you intend to reach your customers?


An ad in the phone book? - an internet campaign? Direct mail? Selling door - to - door? Okay, so let' s take a look at what you' ll want to include in your business plan. A combination of these? == Will you need additional funding and if so, how much will you need and how do you intend to secure it?


Most business plans are structured to examine four primary areas: Executive Summary - a decription of the business. - how the busines finances will be arranged and handled. How you intend to market the business. How the busines will be managed. Executive Summary: what the business will do, its Unique Selling Position, its ownership and, the business goals legal structure, your skills and knowledge and how they will benefit the business. Let' s take a further look at these. Marketing The Business: describe your product or service, identify your market niche, how big it is, and how you plan to reach it.


Financing The Business: estimate your start - up costs, project your monthly operating budget for the first year, outline your ROI( return on investment) and cash flow for the first year, project your income and expense balance sheet for the first two years, explain how you' re going to compensate yourself, establish who will maintain the accounting records and how they' ll be maintained, and if you' re in need of funding, explain how much you need and how it' ll be used by the business. - define your customer, detail your pricing, identify your competition plan, outline how you intend to attract and convert customers. Managing The Business: how will the business be managed day - to - day, what the hiring and personnel procedures will be, how the products or services will be developed and how they' ll get into the hands of your customers. That' s it. You' ll also need to account for equipment the business will need, rental agreements, and how insurance, etc. will be handled. In a nutshell.


If you' d like to see some free sample business plans to get a better idea of how they' re structured and how they read, here' s a good source for you: http: //www. bplans. com/ sp/ businessplans. cfm.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Thus Happy Eid Ul Fitr

Business, Small Business.

Come lets celebrate humanity in a form of eid ul fitr - india is a land of many cultures, as well as, religions festivals. But one such festival that keeps many of the enthusiasts waiting for almost a year is Eid ul Fitr. Each festival is celebrated with enthusiasm, Guru Purab and, including Diwali Christmas.


Well the festival Eid ul Fitr is commonly known as Eid. - eid ul fitr is celebrated after the completion of the holy month of ramzaan and sighting of moon crescent. The word Eid ul Fitr is derived from Arabic language meaning happiness. Eid ul Fitr is associated with sacrifice and kindness that is made during the holy month of Ramzaan in the name of God. During the whole day, one does not eat or drink anything, and has to, including water offer prayers at least five times a day - this denotes to discipline life style. Throughout the Ramzaan, every Muslim keeps the fast for the whole day beginning before the dawn till the time of sunset and Ramzaan is celebrated for a month. Eid ul Fitr also denotes to the celebration of life and is in a way a thanksgiving to God.


On the day of Eid ul Fitr and Ramzaan in general people indulge in charity, one can come across people sending food, apparel and money - known as fitra to the needy ones, so that they can celebrate the festival with happiness. - on the day of eid ul fitr, people dress up in new clothes and visit the mosque to offer prayers that the month of ramzaan took place peacefully and their prayers have been accepted by the almighty god. And when we talk about festival, then how can the food be far behind. And Eid or Eid ul Fitr can not be completed without the whole gourmet of Mughlai delicacies. Well food is an integral part of any festival that is celebrated worldwide. On this auspicious day, special kinds of dishes are churned out.


Various traditional sweets are prepared on this day, such as sweet sawain or vermicelli. - as food plays a major role in our lives and one of the most important factors to get connected with each other and humanity in general. It is prepared with special kind of attention, as it requires lot of time to get done. The muzafar is a dry form and sheer is in a liquid form. One can have two kinds of sweet vermicelli, one is known as muzafar and the other one is known as sheer. Both the delicacies are quite popular with people.


Hence, Eid ul Fitr is not all about food but also brings friends and families together. - and one can say that all the foodies look forward to eid ul fitr, as its other main delicacies include kebabs, chick peas and, biryani other regular food items. Well, there is one more tradition which is being followed for centuries. Eidi is money gifted to younger member of a family by elders as a token of love and prayers. One such tradition is getting gifts and eidis. So, what else one needs to get into the mood of celebration of Eid ul Fitr.


Thus happy Eid ul Fitr!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Paypal' S Ecommerce Tools

Business, Small Business.

Paypal and ecommerce - what you need to know - while running your ecommerce business chances are that you have had many questions along the way. There are simple answers to these complex solutions and, there are many, fortunately services on the web that will allow one to be able to take greater control and have greater organization on their ecommerce store than ever before.


One of the first questions that comes to mind for many webmasters who own ecommerce stores is how they will actually stock the inventory on their website as well as how to allow customers to pay for their items. - all of these services usually involve some sort of customer interface while having a backend for the ecommerce store owner to be able to track different issues with their online store. For ecommerce business owners the question of working with Paypal should be a no - brainer solution that doesn' t require much thinking at all. Paypal' s Ecommerce Tools. There are several tools that Paypal includes in their business services in order to help ecommerce online stores flourish throughout the web. Aside from that, Paypal also offers, however a unique shopping cart experience that will allow for greater integration of your products with their shopping interface.


For example, one of the products that they offer is to allow a virtual - type payment processing button to be added to your site in order for customers to be able to pay you. - there are actually multiple types of shopping cart interfaces that paypal allows business owners to choose from and all that needs to be done is for the application to be added to their ecommerce website. Disadvantage of Paypal. In addition, Paypal also offers the ability for major credit cards to be used as payment as. However, there are also many things that Paypal can' t do that the ecommerce store owner must take care of by himself or herself. Even though Paypal will take care of the payment processing, that' s about as far as their services go.


For example, one of the services that Paypal is not able to perform is the product and order fulfillment. - other services that paypal does not offer that you may be able to find with another ecommerce shopping cart or service is customer tracking, as well as the accounting portion of the ecommerce business, including the stocking of the inventory as well as the advertising tracking. Paypal does not include everything that many other shopping cart interfaces do and you can always have your Paypal payment processor integrated with your ecommerce shopping cart interface of your choice! The best thing to do when searching for an ecommerce solution would be to examine all of the possibilities that you have to choose from. Ecommerce store owners do have the advantage when using Paypal' s shopping cart that everything is included as far as their payment options are concerned, but many other options simply are not available for new ecommerce store owners. Event though Paypal may be excellent for some people to use, many of the other fantastic options for ecommerce owners simply aren' t there to use.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Let Us Consider The Popular Lanyards

Business, Small Business.

Beaded lanyards - the latest trend - many of you have heard the wood lanyard but you may not be aware of its exact and correct meaning. It may be worn around neck, arm or waist.


A lanyard is a cord or strap that is worn on left shoulder to hold ID badge, whistle etc. - when worn around wrist a lanyard is called" wristlet" . Lanyards are utilized for showing I cards as also for tugging cell phones and eyeglasses. Lanyards have become more and more widely known due to their capability to keep things close at hand while keeping your handsfree. Neck lanyards are of nylon, polyester and beaded lanyards. Lanyards come in various colors and types with different hardware at the bottom for holding on ID badge whistle etc.


Lanyards are utilized nowadays almost everywhere by businesses, hospitals and events, schools etc. - lanyards are made of cord, nylon or beads, cotton. Let us consider the popular lanyards. There is a large span of lanyards to choose from. Beaded lanyards are much like jewelry, colorful and of top quality for holding badges, eyeglasses etc. They feature various hardware attachments to secure small objects.


Beaded lanyards may be simple an inexpensive metallic chain. - these lanyards are available in different lengths and colors. The price of beaded lanyards is dependant on the quality of beads and wire used in its making. But there are other beaded lanyards which are almost unique. Some types of beaded lanyards are so exquisite as to look like jewelry. Beaded lanyards models have colorful designs of seed beads, crystals and oven, glass beads gem stones.


They are mostly designed by skilled craftsmen and can be costly depending on the material used in their making. - beaded lanyards made of blue, black or multi colored beads accented with silver and gold are a sight to watch and are quite famous. Whatever you might select, you can be certain to find a beaded lanyard to match and enhance your dress. Exquisite beaded lanyards made of sarovski crystals or semi - precious beads are available for customer with an eye for quality. You can have artistic beaded lanyards with sparkling crystals or colored plastic or even metallic beaded chains. Some of the best combinations of this type form a rare type of jewel lanyard.


Two different types of beads on one wire make a colorful combination. - many bead craftsmen also give jewelry pieces attached to match the beaded lanyards. This is an ultimate in coordinated fashion add - ons. The beaded lanyard designs are so beautiful that they are often copied in form of bracelet, anklet or earrings. The most popular choices of beaded lanyards are utilized for hanging glasses across the neck. These neck lanyards are called eyeglass necklaces or eyeglass holders. You can let the glasses hang around the neck when you are not using them with the help of these lanyards.


Beaded lanyards are elegant too look at but before putting your glasses on a beaded lanyard, you should confirm its durability. - so choose that beaded lanyard you always desired. Whatever the type of beaded lanyard you select, they are attractive and eye catching and make a fashion statement of a different kind.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

In Other Words, There Is No Automatic Copyright With These Works

Business, Small Business.

Using public domain content for your online business - let' s establish that anything that is public domain is free, meaning that if you want it, you just take it. It' s there for everybody to have. You don' t have to pay for it and you don' t have to tell anybody you took it.


That' s why it' s called public domain. - most likely, all his works are now in the public domain and somebody was smart enough to realize that people might be interested in reading some of these long lost treasures or obscure works. This is one of the reasons why you' ll go into a book store and see a" collection" of works by some author from long ago. Sometimes unknown writers and their works of literature become quite popular with just the right spin. In order to do that, you first have to know what constitutes a public domain work as far as the time period. The key is finding them.


This is where things get a little fuzzy and hard to keep track of. - any work that was published before 1923 is considered public domain. Let' s start with the easy one first. There are no restrictions, ands, ifs, or buts on this issue. But there is more to the public domain law than just this one thing. If the work was done before 1923, it is now officially up for grabs.


Okay, this is where it gets a little fuzzy. - so something created on march 2, 1989 would be copyrighted until march 2, 205well, i' ll be 102 by then so i won' t have to worry too much. Any work that was created after March 1, even if these, 1989 works are not published, are copyrighted for a total of 70 years after the creator of that work dies. Now, if a work was created after March 1, 1989 and is a work for hire or corporate authorship, it is copyrighted either for 120 years after creation or for 95 years after it has been published, whichever comes first. Now, we are left with the works that are created between 1923 and March 1, 198This is where it really gets sticky and confusing, if you' re not already confused. So anything that was created after March 1, is automatically covered, 1989, regardless of whether or not the author applied for a copyright.


All works created between 1923 and March 1, 1989 are copyrighted ONLY if all the proper paperwork has been filed to actually copyright the work. - therefore, finding public domain works that were created during this time period, takes a lot of digging since you have to research what copyrights were applied for and granted for these works. In other words, there is no automatic copyright with these works.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Let' S Take A Business Owner Who Creates A Positive Atmosphere

Business, Small Business.

Effectivebusinesstools.com: creating a positive business environment - the type of environment you create in your business for yourself and your employees will significantly impact how successful your business is. Here are a couple of examples. A generally positive environment will help your employees to be a lot more able to handle anything that comes up.


Let' s say that a business owner criticizes his employees, finds fault with their work, yells at them when they screw up or are late, and has policies and rules so that they are penalized for various infractions. - that business owner probably thinks that that is the best way to achieve the common goal that all business owners have, which is to ensure that their personnel are hard working and productive. His employees might work hard, but they will definitely not be enjoying their jobs and will often dread their interactions with the owner. He might feel that people have to be constantly hammered in order to work. First of all, none of the employees at that company will truly enjoy their work. But let' s take a look at what' s missing from this scenario.


They will all work but none will willingly go the extra mile for the business or for the owner. - now take the opposite scenario. And that extra mile, that desire on the part of the employee to make the extra sale or get out that big shipment today before closing time even though it' s tough, those are the things that really make a business more successful and competitive. Let' s take a business owner who creates a positive atmosphere. He does it by being encouraging and by telling people they are appreciated when they do a good job. He has discipline, he expects people to work hard, but he doesn' t hammer people to get them to do it. Sometimes, although this isn' t the only way to do it, he pays people a bonus when they do something really spectacular for the business.


Employees enjoy their work more, they want to do a better and better job, and they will go the extra mile. - what' s the effect of all this? Because they know their efforts are appreciated. The employees in the negative environment won' t bother. And if some emergency situation comes up, it' s the employees in the positive work environment that will move mountains to make everything go right again. And it is the company with the positive work environment that has the better chance of long term survival and success.

Monday, September 8, 2008

So How Does A Company Implement A Benchmarking Process For E - Products

Business, Small Business.

Competitive benchmarking of e - products - in the product world, benchmarking of competitive products is an important part of an overall product development process. Product benchmarking activities consist primarily of the acquisition of competitive products, product tear down and review, component attribute analysis such as size, and material type, mass, and a rigid documentation process allowing further product and comparison analysis of multiple products to be conducted. The establishment and implementation of an effective benchmarking process helps to identify cost reduction opportunities, and help to, functional improvement areas identify the Voice Of the Customer( VOC) that will drive the development of new products.


Unlike companies that produce and sell physical products, business that operate primarily online often fail to identify the need for such a benchmarking process. - e - products are typically not physical products but rather consist of items such as programming scripts, e - books, and web related, websites services. This is most common with businesses that are heavily dependent upon the development, and distribution of, sale electronic products( e - products) . These companies rarely identify the need for benchmarking of their non - physical product line. A common belief is that the lack of a physical, tangible product prohibits a company from conducting typical benchmarking activities. This oversight by companies to develop and implement a benchmarking process for e - products is not surprising. This can be understood as it is difficult, to tear down, if not impossible an e - product.


For these reasons, many online companies do not place emphasis in resource planning or in their development of a benchmarking process. - it is even more difficult to analyze the size, or material type, mass of an e - product. The reality is that a benchmarking process of e - products holds large, potential benefits to the companies that implement such processes. Rather than tearing down a physical product and counting the number of Bill Of Material( BOM) items, e - products require an investigation into the process, or service that, information is being offered. The most common approach for the benchmarking of e - products involves a detailed investigation of the process or industry shortfall that the e - product intends to address. By documenting the process that the script, or e, website - book implements, the process that is associated with the competitive product can be analyzed for applicability to current or future products to be developed.


Online businesses that implement a benchmark process stand to benefit in areas such as product development, and in the, market segmentation pricing and strategic placement of products within a particular industry. - companies that allocate either full - time staff or at least part - time resources to conduct competitive benchmark activities hold a strong advantage over companies that choose otherwise. In a competitive environment, these benefits can mean the difference between a profitable, successful business and another that may fade out of contention. The short answer is to develop and document a benchmark process for the organization. So how does a company implement a benchmarking process for e - products? At a minimum, the following activities need to be part of a fully defined and systematic benchmark process: 1) Competitive product acquisition - this activity involves the identification and procurement of competitive products within your intended target market segment. 2) Develop benchmark metrics - an important step is to identify and agree on the metrics of which each product will be measured. 3) Competitive product review - all products must be reviewed to the agreed upon set of criteria and the findings documented in a consistent manner. 4) Product assessment - the findings of the benchmark analysis must be reviewed by key members of the organizational team. 5) Feedback - activities must be put into place for providing feedback to critical processes within the organization( sales, product development, marketing, support, etc) A properly executed benchmark process for electronic products( e - products) can provide a myriad of important benefits to an online business. Data from these activities can be fed back to influence internal business processes such as sales, product development, marketing, and others.


Such a process will lead an organization through the acquisition, and analysis of, review competitive e - products. - if done correctly, the knowledge gained from benchmarking activities can steer an organization away from an overly competitive market or help to position a product in a less competitive niche. Overall, the existence of a benchmarking process is an important consideration for online businesses involved with e - products.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Many Want To Hide The Unsavory Aspects Of How Business Is Conducted In The Jewelry Industry

Business, Small Business.

Blue ocean strategy for responsible sourced jewelry - the most useful business book i have come across since jim collins' "good to great" is" blue ocean strategy" , by w. Blue Ocean strategy is about breaking through structures that primarily exist in how you perceive your company and the market.


Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. - the strategy helps you to see new opportunities. It is analogous to jumping through a cubic centimeter of opportunity to find an entirely" blue ocean, " opportunity. Once you see them, you have access to a world without competition. One example of success sited in the book is Circ du Soliel, opera and theatre, which combines circus. Another example given is the brand, which differentiated itself, Yellow Tail wine from the highly competitive wine business by altering the image of what it means to drink wine.


Circ essentially took an old, out of date event - the circus - and redesigned it into a power brand. - in contrast, what we have in the jewelry industry, particularly the 63 billion dollar diamond industry, is" red ocean" competition. A diamond is simply a commodity and only price counts. The term red refers to the blood of rival sellers. Grading certifications favor the large volume discounter who sells online. How many diamonds does someone buy in their life, anyway? The number of independent jewelers who closed down last year illustrates the danger of Red Ocean diamond business, yet many jewelers continue to base their entire business on diamonds.


What are the long term prospects of competing with internet sales among the next generation of buyers who do so much of their shopping on line? - diamond dealers will continue to fight to the death for a shrinking profit pool. How long will it take before independents realize that they have to create an alternative strategy to drive people into their store other than diamonds? Yet within the diamond industry, Hearts on Fire has executed a Blue Ocean strategy by creating a brand that gets fantastically high margins. Many other companies have the" heart. " However, only Glenn Rothman was clever enough to create a power brand, which he supported through his" university" and extensive sales training and marketing. We know that the cut on the Hearts on Fire diamonds is not unique to their particular factory in China. He took a product and redefined it, targeting the psychological profile of a particularly affluent customer one who is obsessed with brand and" perfection. " Fair Trade, Eco - friendly jewelry may very well be another Blue Ocean opportunity even more accessible and less costly to the average jeweler.


The people who merge values and purchasing decisions are not so concerned about the" cheapest price" and they often want to" buy local. " Here is a four action framework from the book that helps us understand more about how a Fair Trade, Eco - friendly and Socially Responsible brand might pursue a Blue Ocean strategy. 1) Which of the factors that the industry takes for granted should be eliminated? - offering fair trade and socially responsible eco - jewelry would separate any store from its competition and bring in foot traffic from a segment of society that might not necessarily come into a jewelry store to look for a gift. Many want to hide the unsavory aspects of how business is conducted in the jewelry industry. We want to differentiate ourselves by being upfront and having full disclosure. But a Blue Sky approach would have us differentiate ourselves by eliminating anything that disguises, hides or obfuscates practices within our industry. As I explain in my ten ways for a jeweler to sell to customers passionate about socially responsibility a customer can handle the truth and will appreciate all sincere efforts to change things and will support those companies that are proactive. 2) Which factors should be reduced well below the industry' s standard? Practicing strong environmental standards is an easy way to differentiating one' s company from the competition.


We reduce, any way we can, practices which are harmful to the environment in our own company. - we also reduce any ambiguity in the labor and environmental practices of our supply chain. The goal is to replace our suppliers who do not adhere to fair trade, environmental standards. We do this by investigating the practices of those we purchase from. Some of these changes can only take place when we garner support of the market. For example, some gems are available right now on a fair trade basis and they are reasonably priced.


But there is low hanging fruit. - if we are not sure about where our diamonds come from, then simply buy canadian. 3) which factors should be raised well above the industry standards? In fact, this has to be a major focus of how we redefine ourselves. Any action that moves us toward fair trade and ecologically responsible production and socially responsible business should be raised well above industry standards, which is very easy to do these days. Many articles on this site show how this can be started with little additional expense and huge potential payoff. 4) Which factors should be created that the industry has never offered? We can create this brand by that is supported by a network of suppliers who share these common values. Fair trade, as a market, ethically produced jewelry category, has never been offered.


In addition, we put forward this new brand in our marketing efforts.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Employees Spend Almost Half Of Their Lives In Office

Business, Small Business.

Computer desks for the professional work environment - employees spend almost half of their lives in office. However, the only difference remains in the fact that in maximum part of the working population in UK spends sitting in the office.


It is like a second home to them. - and it is due to this fact, selecting the right kind of office furniture becomes an integral activity. An employee is a great resource. Not only to provide the employees a good working condition, like computer desks, appropriate office furniture, also lends a touch of professionalism to the ambience. Not just the aptitude, but this resource also comes with the attitude factor which makes this resource - the ultimate and the best. The right kind of computer desks, adjusted at the right heights, with a support at the back of the chair is a must to keep employees fit and healthy.


But at the end of the day, an employee is a human being and it is the primary duty of the employers to take care of their staff and their well being. - at the same time we can not discount the importance of space in the office. Hence, the office furniture play a significant role in the premises of the organisation. It is very important to have adequate space in the office for free movement, smooth to and fro and at the same time not affecting the sitting arrangement. Therefore, it is a must to have only office furniture, which are ergonomically designed to suit your premises. Yes, this is true - not every kind of business can have the same kind of office furniture. It is also very important to have furniture, seats and equipments, especially computer desks as per the requirements of the business.


It also depends on the man hours spent sitting. - for instance, in a call centre, employees are expected to sit for a longer period of time, therefore their requirements from their computer desks are different from that of a sales person.