Oomph Group - OomphTalks

New improved its www.oomphgroup.com V3!

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 11:57:52 PST

After a few intense months of researching and exploring graphic platforms and content strategies, of working with designers and of transferring and reformatting mountains of content, we are finally ready to welcome visitors back to the new www.oomphgoup.com!

The redesign of our website has been a long and time-consuming process, but one that makes for an interesting story, because it vividly illustrates how companies must adapt their online presence today to stay apace of the vast changes that have swept the Internet in the past couple of years.

Our first site, launched in late 2006, was a standard HTML website. To get it done, we retained a graphic designer for the interface design and a web designer to code the site and get us up and running on the Internet. When the site went live it was a hit; the colours and the graphic elements resonated with our target markets and the site gave us instant credibility.

The HTML site's lifespan was very brief however. It quickly became apparent that directing a web designer to update the content was very time-consuming and expensive; we would need a different approach. Luckily, at that moment we were introduced to Your Web Department, an innovative start up with a unique 'content management system' that would allow us to make all the changes ourselves.

To say that YWD changed our work life is not an exaggeration. We could not have developed and marketed our company the way we did without the ability to quickly add pages, sections, copy, widgets and forms and without YWD's built-in SEO tools to optimize the site and help us grow our web traffic. The pay-off for being in control of our site has been incalculable: not only have we saved a lot of money, but being able to test and tweak content according to response and traffic has enabled us to adapt to Internet changes and trends while learning important 21st century marketing skills.

Fresh content brought a new challenge however: as the volume increased and the way in which we used the site evolved, the graphic design and the site's layout began to get in the way. The colours, figures and content made for a cluttered interface: instead of attracting and retaining visitors, the rich content we had spent so much time developing was having the opposite effect: people would land, become overwhelmed and leave.

It became clear we would have to redesign the site. Being 'educated consumers', this time around we approached the exercise in a completely different way. Instead of starting with the graphic platform, we asked Your Web Department's CEO Paul Chato to help us create a system for organizing the content in a simpler, more intuitive manner that would allow us to 'flatten' the site and cut out sub-pages.

Once an infrastructure and 'wireframe' were developed, Flavio Mester, YWD's creative director, developed a graphic concept that retained our lively colours but that is based on an interface that is simple and lets the content stand out.

The results have been phenomenal: our workshops are now much more prominent and traffic in those pages has gone up; the vast amount of rich content we have collected is now much more apparent and more easily accessible; the 'stickiness' of the site has improved tremendously: many more people stay after landing and visit duration has gone up: the average visit time is now 5:15 minutes - not bad for a non-media site...And last, but not least, the number of people who are inquiring about our services has gone up and who landing on the site and sign up for workshops has gone way up!

What do you think of our new website? Do you find it easier to find and read content? Do you have any suggestions? Let us know! We want visitors to really enjoy their experience and are happy to look at suggestions to improve the site.

How to better leverage the #1 business development tool for professionals

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 11:49:15 PST

Rachel Foster is a friend of Oomph's and one of the best copywriters we have met and worked with! Given the important place that referrals play in the marketing mix for professionals, we invited Rachel to write a column on the topic. Enjoy!

*******

As a professional service provider, you understand the importance of finding a steady stream of clients. You've probably tried many marketing strategies - paying for expensive advertising, spending months developing a website and even going outside your comfort zone to make cold calls.

However, you might not be spending enough time developing your most effective business development tool - a referral marketing program. According to RainToday.com, 79% of buyers rely on referrals from colleagues and peers when selecting a professional service provider. This means you need referral partners who are willing to 'talk up' your services to their networks. The benefits of creating a referral marketing system include:

Reduced marketing costs. When your best clients come from referrals, you may not need to spend much on other forms of marketing.

Higher quality leads. After someone hears a glowing review about you from a friend or colleague, they may come to you ready to buy. Research has proven that up to 60% of referred leads will become clients.

Increased revenue. Referred clients tend to spend more than non-referred clients. This is because people refer others who are serious about buying, not simply price shopping.

Here are four ways you can find referral partners:

Ask your clients. Satisfied clients can be your #1 source of referrals. The best time to ask for a referral is after a client pays you a compliment for a job well done.

Partner with other professionals. One of the most effective ways to generate referrals is to partner with other professionals who also serve your target market. For example, an interior designer and an architect or a lawyer and an accountant have the potential to refer many clients to each other.

If you'd like more referral partners, make a list of professionals you can partner with and set out to establish a relationship with them. Coffee or lunch meetings are a great first step. When setting up meetings, mention you'd like to get together so you can learn more about each other's practices and explore opportunities for mutual referrals.

Join a referral group. Referral networking groups, such as Business Networking International (BNI), can be a very effective way to generate leads for your practice. In 2009, BNI Canada's 5,400 members referred $69 million in business to each other - that's an average of $12,778 per member. When you join a referral group, you should take on a volunteer role and schedule one-on-one meetings with the other members. The more you get involved, the greater your chances of success.

Give referrals. The people who receive the most referrals are often generous about giving referrals. You might think you don't have time to find referrals for yourself, let alone for others. Here's an easy way to refer business to your network: when you hear someone complain about something, ask them how they're fixing the problem. If they don't have a good answer, offer to refer them to someone in your network who can help.

Now that you know how to find referral partners, try this exercise: aim to find one new referral partner and give one referral every week for the next month. You may be surprised by how fast your business grows.

***

Strengthen Your Referral Program with Powerful Testimonials

Special Offer for Oomph Group Blog Readers and Newsletter Subscribers

As a professional service provider, you know testimonials can be a key part of your referral marketing system. When written correctly, they provide social proof of your credibility and make it easy for others to refer you business.

However, you might find it difficult to gather the strong recommendations that earn a potential client's trust.
Perhaps this is because:

You're too busy with your day-to-day activities to find time to collect testimonials.

You feel uncomfortable asking your clients for praise.

You've requested testimonials in the past, but they have either never appeared or don't convey the full benefits of working with you.

To get great testimonials, you need a system that not only makes it easy for your clients to provide recommendations, but also takes the pressure off you. Click here to discover a proven system for getting compelling testimonials that motivate customers to do business with you. Plus, learn about a special offer for readers of The Oomph Group's blog and newsletter.

Rachel Foster is an award-winning business-to-business (B2B) copywriter who helps technology marketers and professional service providers generate more leads and sales. Visit www.freshperspectivewriting.com to download free B2B marketing reports and subscribe to the monthly Fresh Marketing e-newsletter.

MailChimp - E-mail Marketing

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:52:52 PST

MailChimp is another SAAS/web-based e-mail marketing application. It functions similarly to Emailbrain, but is a more robust application that integrates various other options for customizing your e-mails and offers additional applications like a blogging platform, a survey tool and shopping carts.

If you are active on different social media websites, MailChimp might interest you, as it synchronizes your e-mail marketing and social media work: it includes social share links in your e-mails and easily integrates with Twitter campaigns. Another great advantage MailChimp offers is special coding to make your e-mails mobile-friendly - a plus today when more and more people check their e-mails from their smart phone.

MailChimp offers different plans starting with a free subscription for 500 contacts and 3,000 e-mails per month. The next package is $15/month for 501 to 1,000 subscribers and allows unlimited e-mails. If you have 3,000 names the monthly fee will be $50/month.
MailChimp also offers standard tracking tools for opened e-mails, clicked links & bounced messages.

http://www.mailchimp.com/

Clicktime - Time Tracking

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:39:09 PST

Clicktime is a time tracking and management software that offers many user-friendly features.

It allows employees to track their time on different projects as well as expenses. The Estimate Comparison Report enables managers to compare the estimated time of a client file or project to the actual time spent. Tracking down unfinished timesheets is also easier thanks to a color-coded dashboard that points out who hasn't completed their timesheet. Users can also export the data from Clicktime to any accounting, HR or payroll system.

The prices begin at $10/user/month with a 'Basic' plan that includes daily and automatic backup of data, 40+ reports, customizable data export, report builder, notifications by email for incomplete timesheets, flexible security for users and managers, mobile web access from handheld devices, desktop application for offline access, free email support, free phone support [U.S. and Canada only] and data export capability. You can also get optional modules like timesheets approvals, expenses tracking, time-off module, audit trail/DCAA compliance and advanced job estimation for $2/month for each module. Other fees include: a $60startup fee, a $49 startup fee for each optional module. The 'Corporate' plan is $12/user/month and has the same features and same optional modules as the 'Basic' plan as well as the following options: Access to Divisions, Associate tasks with jobs, Restrict jobs/projects by division or employee, Customizable Employment Types, Variable session timeout settings, Custom Messages and Alerts, Priority technical response, High-speed report server and Data import capability.

SurveyGizmo - Online Survey Tool

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:34:21 PST

SurveyGizmo is an online survey tool which allows you to easily conduct simple and complex surveys, evaluations, polls and HR studies. This web-based software is very user-friendly as you can create online surveys, polls or website forms in minutes. SurveyGizmo allows you to ask over 20 different types of questions: from textboxes, dropdown menus, radio button to captchas (type words from an image), you will be able to ask whatever you want. There are also a lot of options for customizing questions like text formatting, word size and number limits, various textbox or table properties, options for question numbering, as well as options for customizing the templates to match your corporate branding.

Other handy features include:

Options for distribution of surveys like links to your surveys in e-mails or embedded directly on your website (JavaScript, iFrame, HTML). The system offers integration with MailChimp. For users who do not use MailChimp, SurveyGizmo allows survey invitations to be through e-mails (the number of e-mails you can send depends on the plan you are on).

Protection against duplicate votes.

Easy report generation that allows you to convert your data into graphs and averages and export results into CSV, PDF and SPSS files.

Social media integration that makes it easy to announce and publish links to your surveys on your Facebook wall and as Twitter updates.

The company offers 4 different plans beginning at $19/month with the 'Personal' plan with which you get 1 user account, 1,000 responses and e-mails per month and the 'Basic Logic' options. The most popular is the 'Pro' plan at $49/month which includes 1 user account, 5,000 responses and e-mails per month and the 'Advanced Logic' options. Bigger companies might be more interested in the 'Enterprise' plan at $159/month which includes 10 users account, 50,000 responses and e-mails and the 'Advanced Report' options' or by the 'Dedicated' plan for $599/month which includes 40 user accounts, 1,000,000 responses and 100,000 e-mails per month plus all the 'Account Manager' options.

ConnectWise - PSA Software

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:28:31 PST

ConnectWise is a Professional Service Automation (PSA) software for the IT services industry. It combines help desk, dispatching, service level management, project management and CRM into a single, web based application, with integrated time-tracking, billing and reporting.

The software has 5 main sections:

the sales force automation section which includes a CRM software, a marketing manager for marketing campaigns, sales opportunity management, a sales forecasting software, purchasing and receiving.

a capture, plan and schedule section including service ticketing, a project management scheduling software, a dispatch and scheduling software, a time management software, clients reports and a client portal.

a service management software which features a configuration management module, a managed services software, a dispatch management module, MSP (Managed Service Platform) agreements, SLA (Service Level Agreements) management and a help desk software.

a track, approve and invoice section which has a time and billing management software, a time billing software, a RMA (?) tracking module, a service workflow automation module, an inventory, a response and resolution tracker.

an analyze and report section which includes a performance manager, a utilization and realization module, a knowledge management module and standards reports.

ConnectWise offers a 120-day free trial. Prices available on request only.

Box.net - Simple Online Collaboration

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:55:53 PST

Box.net is an online storage service that allows you to upload, organize, store, manage and access your files from anywhere. Box.net has grown in popularity due to the outstanding set of features it offers. These include:

Excellent project management tools that allows you to share files with colleagues and make notes and comments in a handy discussion feature.

A robust content search makes it easy to look for specific documents.

Desktop synchronization that automatically 'synchs' files on your desktop with files uploaded to the system.Mobile integration: can access Box.net from your smart phone; Iphone and Ipad owners can preview documents, make comments and more.

Security: One of the priorities of the company is to ensure security of the files stored on their platform. To this end, you can set passwords, expiration dates for files and control folder access. Additional security features are available with the Box Business edition.

They offer different plans: the 'Lite' plan includes file sharing [1GB of file storage with a 25MB size file limit] and smart phone access. The 'Individual' plan includes the expanded file sharing [10GB of file storage with a 1GB size file limit + password protected files and faster uploads] as well as the mobile application. For corporate users, the Box Business edition, which is priced at $15/user/month, [15GB of file storage per user with a 2GB size limit file] includes expanded file sharing, enhanced collaboration with full-text search option, download stats, document tracking, desktop file synchronization and integration with Google apps. If you want a bigger plan, the 'Enterprise' plan might be what you are looking for as it includes all the options of the 'Business' plan plus the secure and scalable content management [encrypted storage transfer, full custom branding, role-based access control] as well as Salesforce.com integration and dedicated support. The price of this plan is only available on request.

Simply HR - HR Tool

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:47:37 PST

Simply HR is a web-based software program that allows you to manage your human resources and helps you to stay in compliance with employment legislation.

A comprehensive program, Simply HR offers many tools to save time and money like tracking employee absences and holidays; employee records; training and professional development; virtual clock in and clock out; employment forms; and also expense accounts - gathering all the information into one system that makes it easier to track HR activities.

The company offers a 30-day free trial. Subscription fees are available upon request.

http://www.simplyhr.com/

Effortless HR - HR Tool

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:46:58 PST

Another web-based software program, Effortless HR offers employee management, time tracking for individual tasks, custom reporting, online file storage to keep your recordkeeping up to date and allows you to gather your employee records and keep track of their time. Effortless HR also offers information on U.S. State employment laws and offers a collection of HR templates.

The company also offers a time-limited free trial and several subscription packages starting at $29.95/month for the 'Basic' package which includes 2 user accounts, 100MB of online file storage, 100 HR and business forms and other options. There is a 'Plus' package at $44.95/month where you get 6 user accounts, 300MB of online file storage, 325 HR and business forms, all the 'basic' options plus employee time tracking and company property tracking. The 'Ultimate' package is priced at $99.95/month offers an unlimited number of user accounts, 2,000MB of online file storage, 325 HR and business forms. It also includes all the 'Basic' and 'Plus' options plus you get the custom handbook builder (a $295 value).

http://www.effortlesshr.com/

Basecamp - Project Management

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:46:28 PST

Basecamp is a web-based project management program that helps project teams to collaborate easily. One of the most popular project management tools on the internet, Basecamp offers time tracking, file sharing, private messaging, task and to-do lists, and even chat rooms.

Basecamp has 4 different plans depending on the size of the firm and your needs. Their pricing begins at $24/month for up to 15 projects and up to 5 GB of storage. There is no limit regarding the number of users but it doesn't include the time tracking option. The most popular plan is the 'Plus' plan for $45/month that allows for up to 35 projects and 15 GB of file storage as well as time tracking.

http://basecamphq.com/

Clio - Practice Management

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:45:47 PST

Clio is an online practice management software program for lawyers practicing as solos or in small firms.

Clio recognizes lawyers' concerns with file security and is set up so that traffic to your web-browser is secured using bank-grade 256-bit SSL encryption. Data is stored in an enterprise-class, secured hosting environment that is backed-up daily to aid recovery in the event of an emergency.
Another great feature is their document management system. Clio allows users to quickly and securely store/access electronic copies of relevant file correspondence, all organized and linked to the appropriate client/file. The system also offers offsite, backed-up electronic document storage.

Other features include trust accounting and account management, task reminders to help you stay on top of your work, time tracking, one-click billing, performance analysis and reporting among many others.

Clio has two monthly packages, each offering access to all of the system's tools: $25/month for non-attorney support and $49/month for an attorney.

http://www.goclio.com/

SurveyMonkey - Marketing Resources

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:44:48 PST

SurveyMonkey is an online research service that makes it easy to create, publish and analyze surveys and polls. The system allows for a wide range of question types such as matrix choices, open-ended questions, multiple choice, yes-and-no and rating scales. As well, users can customize their templates to match their corporate identity and for question types and response validation methods.

One great benefit is that Survey Monkey makes it possible to promote the surveys and access respondents through a wide range of platforms and systems like e-mail, websites, Facebook, Twitter and even banner ads.

SurveyMonkey has 3 different plans starting with the basic free plan that includes 10 questions and 100 responses per survey, intuitive survey web-based tool, 15 pre-designed question types, real-time results and 24/7 customer support. The second, or Pro Plan, for $19.95/month, includes the 'basic' features plus unlimited questions per survey, branded surveys and URLs, and expert survey templates. The third, and most popular option, is the $16.95/month 'unlimited' plan which includes the 'basic' and 'pro' features and allows unlimited questions and responses.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/

Did you know that your office copier is a security risk?

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:30:12 PST

Technology and the Internet have been a boon to fraudsters and identity thieves. As a result, most of us no longer carry important ID materials in our wallets, and we use shredders to dispose of financial and other sensitive information, as well as anti virus and other computer security tools.

At Oomph we are very focused on security and have pretty good risk prevention systems in place. I was therefore surprised to read a story recently in the Toronto Star on the security risks posed by high-tech copiers and then, a few days later, a blog post written by a Toronto man about a privacy breach incident with a video camera he had purchased.

The first story should concern anyone who uses a multi-purpose copy machine, especially the large ones that copy 35 to 60 pages a minute, standard equipment in any mid size or large office. As it turns out, these copiers contain hard drives that store the information that is scanned or copied and they also retain the e-mail addresses, fax and phone numbers used to transmit the content. As with any computer - which is what these machines really are - the files can be accessed for viewing or downloaded from the hard drive through the office network, remotely via the Internet or by connecting a laptop to the copier.

Most of us don't think of the office copier as a computer with data, so we don't take basic security precautions.

People are often lax with password security, so it's not too difficult to get at them in an office, guess what they are, or find them on the Internet. As well, and this is apparently very common, we don't erase the hard drives when we're done using the copiers, thinking that the machines are on their way to a scrap yard, when many are actually auctioned off or resold on Craigslist and Kijiji.

***

The other story, along the same lines, I read in the blog of a Toronto Twitter friend, Mitch Garvis. Mitch bought a video camera at a reduced price because the box had been opened. These promotions are quite common - I bought a $500 netbook for $250 in the same manner. My netbook had never been used, but the camera Mitch bought had recorded the [very graphic] bedroom activities of a young couple, something Mitch discovered when he connected the camera to upload video of his new baby...

He still shudders at the thought of what might have happened had he uploaded the video in full view of his family... Not the only negative repercussion possible, as he points out.

What if the content was booby trapped with computer malware designed to capture his keystrokes and passwords and those of the people on his e-mail list, exposing them all to identity theft and fraud?

Or, what if he wasn't an ethical, upstanding citizen but a nefarious character who chose to take advantage of the 'windfall' by selling the video on the Internet or by extorting the young couple?

The interesting coda to this story, and why it matters in a business context, is what transpired when he contacted the retailer, a prominent international chain, to bring the incident to their attention. He spoke with two supervisors and a store manager, all of whom gave contradictory information, demonstrating that the store didn't have a policy or protocol in place to a. prevent this type of situation from happening [something that could not be that rare for a large electronics retailer], and b. to manage the fall out in the event the content they unwittingly distributed was malicious or had fallen into the wrong hands.

*******

We are dependent on an unending range of technology - some of which we understand and manage accordingly, and some that we don't. When you think of the information that is routinely photo copied in a law firm, at an insurance company or in a financial services firm, the potential for damage in the event of an accidental or unwitting disclosure is truly frightening...

Both the photo copier and video camera story show that the security issues companies confront are very complex and difficult to deal with, whether you're an international retailer or a litigation boutique. Understanding every single machine you use in the course of your workday is critical to prevent unintended breaches of information!

*******

I am curious and would like to know if those of you who are reading this article knew about photo copier hard drives as a security risk, if you know of an incident and/or any steps you've taken to manage the situation.

ClearFit - Great People Management Resource

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:19:52 PST

ClearFit.com makes hiring easy by providing people and businesses with a powerful, user-friendly online service that matches employers with millions of job seekers. The company also helps employers ask the right job interview questions and assess candidates' job fit and qualifications.

ClearFit has a unique pricing structure: The first 5 candidates who apply are free f you like what you see from the first 5, including their full hiring assessment results, resumes and personalized interview templates.

If you like what you see from the first 5, the price is $349 no matter how many candidates applied.

http://clearfit.com/

The legal platform is changing

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:00:42 PST

It never fails: no sooner are we done creating our content strategy for the next 6 weeks and every story feature, blog post, news tidbit, tweet and Facebook utterance is carefully timed and choreographed to flow in one smooth whole that a topic comes along begging and pushing for a spot in the lineup.

That's the case with today's comments, which were prompted by a post in a legal blog called Law21: Dispatches from a Legal Profession on the Brink.

Law21 is written by Jordan Furlong, a partner at Edge International, a legal consulting firm. Mr. Furlong knows whereof he speaks: he graduated from Queen's University Faculty of Law and articled with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP before beginning a career in legal journalism. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Bar Association's flagship magazine National for a full decade, was Founder and Executive Editor of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association's CCCA Magazine, and Managing Editor of The Lawyers Weekly newspaper.

The blog post I am writing about today, titled 'The platform is changing', succinctly describes the revolution that is rocking the legal profession and completely altering the way legal services are delivered. The article is a must-read - not just for lawyers - but for all professionals, because the trends Mr. Furlong describes are so far-reaching that they will surely extend beyond the law and influence the way other professional services are delivered.

The platform of the title refers to '...the traditional, top-down, hourly-billing, pyramidic law firm, where lawyers set the parameters for where, how, and at what price their services would be made available'. The changes, illustrated with actual examples, run the gamut from cuts in partnerships at major firms after steep drops in equity partner profits [as low as 35% in some cases]; to respected firms disappearing without warning; corporate law departments cutting down on work by outside firms and turning to alternative fee arrangements; and extensive cutbacks in the hiring of law students and new lawyers. Last, but not least, he mentions the upcoming restructuring of the legal profession in England and Wales, which will open the doors to full-scale equity ownership of law firms by non-lawyers.

Many people, especially those with a couple of recessions under their belt, will think these changes are typical of an economic downturn and that in time everyone will go back to business as usual. But - and this is the whole point of the post - Mr. Furlong warns this is not the case this time around: 'what we're seeing is more fundamental than that. The traditional platform for legal service delivery is giving way, overburdened by its own inefficiencies, inflexibility, and market-unfriendliness.'

As for the new, emerging platform, he is unequivocal: it's the Internet, where virtual or distributed law firms with minimal overhead, software that can process simple documents and basic transactions, quasi lawyers in local markets and experienced lawyers in other countries all competing for clients who can choose '...the type, quality, and timeliness of service [they] want at the price [they're] prepared to pay.' He concludes by writing that 'law firms will emerge and compete on these bases as well, but they'll be far from the only game in town.'

I agree completely with everything Jordan Furlong has to say. Because of the need to stay current with client market trends, I am always reading and surfing industry journals, blogs and forums. I have seen the reports documenting difficulties and failures, but I am also seeing many stories describing new programs and services and profiling savvy practitioners who are now sprouting to capitalize on the new opportunities.

But more than any newspaper or Internet story, I meet and speak every day with many of the revolutionaries that are leading the charge. I can tell you that, as much as it's a whole new game out there, it's also somewhat of a reversal, because, after a long period where large firms held sway, the pendulum has swung back and sole practitioners and small firms are once again moving to the forefront of the profession.

Most of the people I meet who are pushing the professional envelope are:

Savvy sole practitioners, many of whom are mature Boomers who have practiced in large firms, and are now relishing the array of opportunities and flexibility made possible by the Internet;
Recent graduates and young professionals practicing as solos or in small firms, carving out unique niches [i.e. climate change law] or practicing in unconventional settings and arrangements.

To me this is very inspiring; Oomph was created with solos and small practitioners in mind and, as much we are now working with many mid-and large sized firms, we will always continue to help solos and small firms move forward, realize their professional dream and thrive. We're ready for change and for the new reality - bring it on!

Salestrakr

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:56:25 PST

Salestrakr is a web-based contact manager and CRM. The product is designed for people working in business development and sales teams. Salestrakr allows you to schedule meetings, assign tasks and attach files to keep track of all your conversations, e-mails, meetings and other interactions with each contact.

Salestrakr only has one package: $395/year which includes 1GB of online file storage and capacity for 1 million contacts.

http://www.salestrakr.com/

Infusionsoft

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:46:14 PST

Infusionsoft is a Client Relationship Manager [CRM] that combines a standard CRM database with an e-mail marketing system that enables users to store their contacts and conduct e-mail campaigns all in one database. As with other standard e-mail marketing programs, Infusionsoft enables users to track e-mail openings, clicked links, bounced addresses and forwards - all information that helps optimize future campaigns. Infusionsoft also enables users to automate follow-up actions like sending letters, faxes and voice mail messages to increase response rates.

The company offers a 15-day free trial. Subscriptions start at $199/month for the 'basic' two-user plan that includes 10,000 contacts, e-mail marketing with up to 25,000 e-mails, integrated contact manager, intelligent automation and multimedia marketing. Next is the 'deluxe' plan for $299/month for 2 users, 50,000 contacts, 75,000 e-mails and the same options as the 'basic' plan in addition to purchase orders, invoices and a shopping cart. Lastly, the 'pro' plan for $499/month with 2 users, 500,000 contacts, 200,000 e-mails and the same option than the 'deluxe' plan.

http://www.infusionsoft.com/

Drop.io

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:35:32 PST

Drop.io is an online file sharing platform that easily allows users to share all kinds of documents like images, video and audio, and other digital content. Users can control who they share their files with and also set up a specific periods of time when the files are accessible for sharing.

Drop.io's users vary from families sharing pictures to large organizations looking for a fast way to share important documents. The best part? It's free.

http://www.drop.io

Emailbrain

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:10:25 PST

Looking for a tool to optimize your e-mail marketing campaigns?

Emailbrain is a web-based application [SAAS] that allows you to create, manage, send and track your newsletters. Emailbrain also includes many tools to help you manage your e-mails and brand image like an easy-to-use HTML editor and personalized templates. You can also track who opens your e-mails, see which links have been clicked on and which messages have bounced.

Cost: The company offers plans starting from $9.95 a month for 2,000 credits [1 e-mail per credit]: you can also get 40,000 credits for $109.95/month. Monthly plan credits expire at the end of the month but you can also buy additional credits that are non-expiring. Emailbrain offers one big advantage over its competitors: you only pay for the number of e-mails or newsletters you send out and not for the number of e-mail addresses on your list.

If you're looking for a basic tool at a very low price, don't look further, Emailbrain might be just what you are looking for.

http://www.emailbrain.com/

Planning for Fall: Marketing Audit

Fri, 07 May 2010 00:15:02 PST

As the hazy days of summer fade away, we often feel reinvigorated, ready to take on new challenges and seek new opportunities. Early September is a great time to take stock of where your business is at and, this year when we're all battling a major recession, the area to assess is marketing.

A thorough marketing 'audit' starts with an assessment of the current economic climate, of the threats and opportunities that it presents, and of your firm's strengths and weaknesses vis-à-vis the situation.

Look for significant new developments in the following areas:

General economic, industry and professional trends: What are the biggest changes that have taken place?
Target market trends: Have your clients been affected, and if so, how? Are your target markets growing, stagnating or shrinking?
Competitive trends: Have new firms entered the market? Are they bigger and more skilled than yours? Smaller and less sophisticated? Is the market so competitive that clients can negotiate lower fees?

What is the result of the changes?

Sales and revenue: Have your sales & revenues dropped? If so, how?
Have clients reduced projects' scope of work or stopped work that was in progress? All clients, just a few, or a just a certain group?
What type of projects and at what stage?
Have new leads dried up? By how much compared to previous years?
How much are your sales down compared to the previous three years? Do you know exactly how much revenue you need to replace?
Are any clients booming? Asking for different services?

Are the changes temporary or permanent?

Is the situation temporary or are the changes semi-permanent or permanent? If the changes are temporary, when do you expect normal business levels to resume?

How are you managing the changes?

Look at your firm to assess whether you have the financial, professional and human resources to respond to changing economic conditions and evolving markets.

Are your current services and project delivery models adequate to changed market conditions?
Do you need different skills or special expertise to be able to service markets that have changed or to tap new, emerging markets? If so, what are they?

Lastly, look at your goals and objectives

Are you on track with your mid and long-term plans?
Do you have to reassess your goals and objectives because of changes in the market place?
Where would you like to be one, three, five and ten years from now?
Are the changes enabling you to do work in areas or with clients you've always wanted to?

The information gathered so far will give you a very good idea of where you stand. Now you need to take a look at your existing strategy and marketing materials and see whether they're adequate or whether you need to make changes to adapt to the new conditions.

Is your brand positioning adequate or do you need to incorporate significant changes to:

The issues and situations your service addresses and/or the needs it satisfies?
The solutions and benefits your service provides?
Is your value proposition relevant?
At the moment, everyone is reassessing their needs and many clients are looking for new approaches and fresh solutions. Are you offering new ideas or just the 'same old, same old'?
Is your marketing strategy adequate or do you need to incorporate significant changes to:
The markets and types of clients you are targeting?
The line-up of services you are offering?
The types of tactics you use to promote the firm and sell your services?

These are tough questions, but it's important to take the time to think them through. Your answers will help you identify areas where significant changes have taken place and make it easier to revise your marketing plan and activities accordingly.

Going solo: Ready, set, thrive: How to successfully work alone

Fri, 07 May 2010 00:07:19 PST

The Globe and Mail's Report on Small Business invited Oomph to meet with Laura Zizzo, an enterprising young lawyer who has just launched her practice. The meeting enabled Laura to ask questions and receive advice on challenging areas.

A young lawyer passionate about climate-change law meets a savvy marketing expert to discuss how best to run her company

By Angela Kryhul - Special to the Globe and Mail - Published Oct. 20, 2009

Laura Zizzo is breaking new ground as a lawyer and an entrepreneur. In July she opened her own practice specializing in environmental and climate-change law. The twist is that in addition to legal advice, Ms. Zizzo is providing climate-change consulting and advisory services.

'The legal profession is changing from lawyers who just provide legal advice to lawyers who understand a client's context and can [offer] consulting,' Ms. Zizzo explains. 'I wanted to be in a position to work differently than how a traditional lawyer would work.'

Ms. Zizzo earned a bachelor of science degree in environmental studies in 2004 from the University of Waterloo. She studied law at the University of Toronto and was called to the bar in 2008. After a year as an associate at Toronto law firm Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, where she spent most of her time working in environmental law, Ms. Zizzo, 27, struck out on her own this past summer so that she could be completely immersed in environmental and climate-change law.

Operating under the name Zizzo Climate Law as a sole practitioner, Ms. Zizzo needs basic advice on how to set up and market her business.

She sat down with Johanna Hoffmann, president of Toronto-based Oomph Group Inc. Ms. Hoffmann, an entrepreneur who has managed four of her own companies over the past 20 years including a successful public relations and marketing agency, advises the owners of professional and knowledge-based firms on how to avoid common business pitfalls. Ms. Hoffmann conducts workshops on topics ranging from people management and operations to marketing communications and financial systems and management.

Setting Up the Business

Ms. Zizzo operates her business from home and rents a desk in the Centre for Social Innovation building in Toronto where she has access to boardroom space.

Ms. Zizzo is playing it smart, Ms. Hoffmann says, by keeping her overhead to a minimum until she builds steady workflow and revenues and she has a credible venue where she can meet clients. Ms. Hoffmann also suggests that sole practitioners eventually consider incorporation to take advantage of better tax rates and to protect their personal assets against liabilities.

Ms. Zizzo has a good idea of how much money is coming into and out of the practice every month, but she hasn't established a budget or a bookkeeping system. Entrepreneurs need to get a handle on their numbers early in order to avoid costly bookkeeping mistakes, and so that they know how much to charge to cover expenses and earn a comfortable living, Ms. Hoffmann explains.

Ms. Zizzo needs both a bookkeeper and an accountant who understand consulting and legal practice because, as a lawyer, Ms. Zizzo is required to have separate trust accounts for each of her clients, Ms. Hoffmann adds.

Taking it to the next level

Ms. Zizzo should seek out specific advice, including talking to the Law Society of Upper Canada, on how to run a consultancy and a law practice simultaneously, says Ms. Hoffmann, who thinks Ms. Zizzo may have to set up two separate businesses.

Check list

Contact Canada Revenue Agency to register your Business Number and GST/HST accounts. Canadabusiness.ca has lots of information about starting a business.
If you're operating a home-based business, talk to an insurance broker about what's not covered by homeowners' insurance.

Target markets

Company or brand positioning is all about communicating the value and benefits a client will receive, but Ms. Zizzo is struggling to articulate how her firm helps organizations identify and manage risks and opportunities related to climate change.

It may help to write a 25-word mission statement that clearly identifies what a company does, for whom and the value it brings to the table, Ms. Hoffmann says. 'Most professionals have difficulty arriving at their positioning because most of them do exactly the same thing as their competitors.'

Entrepreneurs also need to anticipate shifts in the market by not putting all of their eggs in one basket. If you identify between two and four target markets, Ms. Hoffmann explains, 'in the event of an economic, regulatory or a political change, you do not all of a sudden find yourself without a single client.'

Ms. Hoffmann suggests that Ms. Zizzo target established industries, such as oil and gas, that must deal with environmental issues; large organizations that want to act as good corporate citizens by undertaking community betterment projects; and clean technology companies. Ms. Zizzo has also identified the engineering and architectural fields as potential users of her services.

Taking it to the next level

Within each of her four targets, Ms. Zizzo would identify five key companies. This exercise will produce at least 20 firms she can start approaching for work over the next year, Ms. Hoffmann says.

Check list

Write a positioning statement that articulates the value of your service.
Carefully choose the name of your firm. Avoid naming your firm after yourself if you eventually want to sell the business.

Marketing

The marketing for Zizzo Climate Law consists of business cards and a website which features a podcast and a blog. Ms. Zizzo is networking like crazy at environment-related events but wants to know how to go from 'we're connected, we're on the same page, to actually getting work.' She has accumulated hundreds of business cards.

Ms. Zizzo is very strategic in her big-picture approach to her practice, but she's being overwhelmed by the details associated with networking, Ms. Hoffmann says. She needs to start moving in the same circles as the corporate decision makers employed by her 20 targeted companies 'because that is where her work is going to come from, far more than other young people who are passionate about climate change,' Ms. Hoffmann says.

'You need to weed out all the time-consuming activities. You've got to be surgical about it, you don't have a choice.'

Taking it to the next level

Public speaking is one of the most efficient and effective ways to get your name in front of potential clients, Ms. Hoffmann advises. Ms. Zizzo needs a speaker's profile outlining her expertise and a list of five topics she can offer as educational workshops and keynote presentations to her targeted industry associations.

Check list

Create a website for your business. If cost is an issue, set up a blog for free in Google Blogger or WordPress.
Invest in a customer relationship management database, such as salestrakr.com or zoho.com, to keep track of contacts.

Juggling act

Although her practice is only a few months old, Ms. Zizzo is already feeling consumed by the day-to-day management of the business.

That's not unusual, Ms. Hoffmann comments. Many professionals hang out a shingle because they're passionate about their work, but they often find they're spending more time as office manager and salesperson.

The key is to delegate some of the management and routine tasks to employees or contract workers. 'If you don't plan it, you will wake up one day with a very successful practice, but, for a long time, you haven't done any work that you love,' Ms. Hoffmann says. 'Never lose sight of what you love to do so that you can make room for that.'

Taking it to the next level

Ms. Zizzo should hire an assistant or intern to take care of routine tasks such as entering business cards into a database so that she can devote her time to high-value, billable tasks.

Check list

Keep track of your billable and non-billable hours using online time tracking and invoicing software such as Freshbooks.com

Angela Kryhul is principal of Kryhul Media Group, a Toronto content strategy and management company that advises small and medium-sized businesses on how to align their online content with marketing communications goals and objectives.

Starting Your Own Firm

Thu, 06 May 2010 23:59:36 PST

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OOMPH GROUP INC. TEAMS UP WITH MILLS & MILLS LLP
TO LAUNCH A WORKSHOP OFFERING STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS FOR STARTING A NEW CONSULTING OR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRM

[Toronto, November 23, 2009] - Oomph Group Inc. has teamed up with Mills & Mills LLP to create a new workshop aimed at professionals who wish to launch their own practice. 'Starting Your Own Firm' will debut on December 9, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. at the 401 Bay Centre in downtown Toronto.

'Starting their own firm is a dream for many professionals, but making the leap and setting up a new practice can be a bewildering experience that requires knowledge and skills not usually learned in university or while working in a firm,' said Oomph President Johanna Hoffmann. 'With Denise Robertson and David Mills, we have created a program that guides prospective practice owners through the legal, financial and operational issues they must contend with to successfully launch a practice.'

The result is a dynamic, full-day workshop that shows participants how to choose the correct legal structure for the practice; how to protect the firm and their intellectual property with contracts for clients, employees and contractors; how to finance the start up and establish banking and financial systems and protocols; how to name the firm and create a marketing and business development plan; and how to set up basic operational and project management systems.

'We are delighted to team up with Johanna and Oomph,' said Denise Robertson, Chair of the Mills & Mills Design Law Group. 'Finding all the information needed to start any business is very time consuming; this program covers a wide range of essential topics, with practical step-by-step directions tailored to the needs of a regulated professional practice.'

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PROGRAM LOCATION, DATES, FEES AND CONTENT

Date: Wednesday, December 9 at 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Location: 401 Bay Street, Suite 1600, Toronto
Registration fee: $400 + GST. Registration fee includes a light lunch, refreshments and a 90+ page practice manual with step-by-step directions
Program details and registration information available at: www.oomphgroup.com/startingyourownfirm

How to approach the practice strategically: why are you going out on your own? Where are you headed & what would you like to achieve? How much money would you like to earn? Do you have what it takes to run your own practice?

How to choose a practice structure and legal framework: buying vs. launching your own firm; choosing partners; choosing your practice structure & legal framework - i.e. sole proprietorship, corporation or partnership; required federal, provincial and municipal registrations and permits;

Risk management systems and protocols: due diligence to ensure compliance with professional regulations and standards; protecting your business and intellectual property with effective & user-friendly contracts; privacy legislation - the PIPEDA Act; computer safety 101; practice back-ups and continuity preparedness;

Financial set up and management: financing the office set up and practice operations: insurance; how to set up the banking and financial administration system; assembling an effective financial support team; how to create a budget and profit plan and cash flow management system; operational set up and management;

Marketing and business development: choosing a name for the firm; developing a brand strategy & writing key messages; developing a graphic identity and branded practice and marketing tools; setting up a website; establishing a marketing budget & marketing tactic mix;

Practice management systems, protocols and standards: client & case management protocols and standards

.
ABOUT OOMPH GROUP INC.

Oomph Group Inc. helps professionals be successful by providing them with convenient and affordable workshops in the areas of human resources, marketing and sales, general business and financial management. Oomph programs are accredited for continuing education by leading professional and regulatory organizations.

.
ABOUT MILLS & MILLS LLP

Established more than 125 years ago, Mills & Mills LLP provides legal services of the highest quality to businesses, individuals, charitable and not-for-profit organizations. The firm is notable for its Design Law Group which advises design professionals on all aspects of the business of design - a dynamic and continually evolving field that includes: intellectual property law; professional services agreements; construction law; incorporation, purchase and sale of design businesses; shareholder and partnership agreements; complaint and discipline proceedings; and litigation.

Throughout its history, the firm's lawyers have distinguished themselves in many ways within the practice of law and beyond: one was the Premier of Ontario, two others were the Attorney General of Ontario, one was the Treasurer of Ontario, one was the Toronto City Solicitor and others have become High Court Judges. Ralph Shaw Mills Q.C. was one of the last Canadian lawyers to appear before the Privy Council shortly before appeals from the Supreme Court of Canada to this highest court of the United Kingdom were abolished.

- 30 -

For further information please contact:

Johanna Hoffmann at 416-977-5402 or at: jhoffmann@oomphgroup.com or:

www.oomphgroup.com/startingyourownfirm

Evernote - the amazing save-all application!

Thu, 06 May 2010 23:54:25 PST

Although it's been around for quite some time, I have just discovered Evernote, a web-driven service that allows users to collect notes and information - from all types of sources and with a variety of methods.

I have been using it now for about two weeks and everyday I discover another great use, so let me tell you about it...

First, how to get it: log on to www.evernote.com and sign up for an account - free or Premium for $5 per month. Premium allows 500 MB of content per month and a greater variety of file formats [like MS Word or Excel]; free accounts get only 40MB storage, a limited range of file types and small ads or promos on the desktop. I have found the 40 MBs to be sufficient, but if you are snapping and storing lots of photos you might need the Premium package. You can upgrade anytime, so try the free version out and if you love it and want more storage you can subscribe.

With Evernote you can store information - text you type in, clippings of webpages, screenprints grabbed from a website, photos taken with your mobile and sound files.

File, label and sort it all! ! You can set up 'notebooks' in which to file each note you take. As well, you can add 'tags' to each note, so you can easily search for everything you've stored. There is no limit to the number of notebooks and tags you can use.

Works at your desk and on the go: you can access Evernote from your Smartphone - it's compatible with BlackBerry, IPhones and other mobile brands. What this means is that you can enter text or recorded sound notes from a meeting or a photo you've snapped with your phone, assign it to the correct notebook and presto! it's synchronized with the web app and will be waiting on your office computer, neatly sorted and filed when you get back to follow up. Amazing, no?

Access your info on the road. You can also access your notebooks through your mobile, so you no longer need separate lists for shopping or for tasks.

I love it for clipping blog ideas and keeping track of websites we want to write about, since it's much easier and faster to use than bookmarking a site or copying and pasting the information into a Word document. Now I surf, clip, file and then log when I'm ready to blog and browse lots of handy ideas, sites and tips I've stored along the way!

Do you use Evernote? Let me know! www.evernote.com

Since everything is in our heads, we better not lose them... Coco Chanel

How do you explain what you do?

Thu, 06 May 2010 23:51:26 PST

When asked 'what do you do?' most professionals will answer 'I'm a management consultant' or '...a lawyer' or '...an accountant'. While correct, the answer is so generic that it provides the barest minimum understanding of what you do and doesn't take advantage of the opportunity to explain your expertise or unique approach to practice.

Professional limits on promotional communications and reluctance to brag account in part for the low-key answer. More likely, however, the real reason behind the vague response is that most professionals don't have a 'brand positioning', meaning that they have not developed a well thought-out description that tells their various audiences—clients, stakeholders, suppliers and employees—what they can expect from the firms' services, how the firm solves clients' problems and what the difference is between the firm and its competitors.

Why does it matter?

Buying a professional service entails a leap of faith— that a very complex and often expensive process will unfold smoothly and provide the results or the solution the client is looking for. When researching buying options clients are confronted with brochures and websites that list practice areas and services. When interviewing professionals, they are given the same service descriptions along with explanations of how the process will unfold and examples of past projects and client lists.

Usually, there is little or no information given that addresses the issues from the clients' point of view. Other than the knowledge that the firm has professional skills in the area the client requires and that performance is adequate —at least in a number of cases as proven by the client list—there is little else to go by when trying to figure out who to hire.

This makes buying professional services a huge challenge, both for experienced consumers and for the large number of clients who are hiring a professional for the very first time and have little or no understanding of the service they are buying and of the process they are about to embark on.

It's the reason why clients will often hire the cheapest ['all else being equal let's pay the least'] or a firm that is less qualified but that came through a referral ['better the devil you know'].

The services professionals render and the process they follow have been largely determined by tradition and by regulatory standards. This is why it seems that most firms provide the same service and that the main difference between one firm and the other lies in the people and their expertise, talents, personalities, attitudes and approach to the work - the attributes at the core of a firm's culture.

This worked well when there was less competition and firms did most of their work locally, but in a more competitive climate or when firms have to go beyond their local market to procure work, saying you've got professionals who provide the standard range of architectural, human resources, accounting or chiropractic services is no longer enough.

Now you have to be able to describe the attributes that make a firm special and the value these attributes bring to clients. You have to communicate the firm's brand.

The Net and the iGenerations join the Boomers, GenX and Millenials...

Thu, 06 May 2010 23:49:47 PST

While most of us are just learning to understand 'Millenials', which are the children of Baby Boomers, researchers are busy identifying and describing two new and distinctive demographic groups: the Net Generation, which are kids born in the 1980s, and the iGeneration, those born in the '90s and in this decade.

Both groups are the result of the ever-accelerating pace of technological change which 'may be minting a series of mini-generation gaps, with each group of children uniquely influenced by the tech tools available in their formative stages of development' according to an article in the New York Times.

'For instance,' says Larry Rosen, a professor of psychology at California State University, 'Net Generation kids spend two hours a day talking on the phone and still use e-mail frequently. The iGeneration, on the other hand, spends considerably more time texting than talking on the phone, pays less attention to television than the older group and tends to communicate more over instant-messenger networks'.

What is interesting, and of great consequence for all of us, are the resulting behavioural traits and communication habits. Dr. Rosen said that 'the newest generations, unlike their older peers, will expect an instant response from everyone they communicate with, and won't have the patience for anything less.'

'They'll want their teachers and professors to respond to them immediately, and they will expect instantaneous access to everyone, because after all, that is the experience they have growing up,' he said.

Imagine having these groups as clients or employees... Young employees and clients are already forcing companies to alter how they manage and sell - something I've learned from my work with firm principals in Toronto and from interviews with furniture dealers in California and Texas. Traditional approaches that worked with Boomers, GenEx of GenY employees and clients are having to go by the wayside...

An interesting read! The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by their 20s

Microsoft Issues 13 Security Updates

Thu, 06 May 2010 23:41:03 PST

Today was a big computer security day at Microsoft: 13 updates with 5 classified as 'critical', which means, as Brian Krebs of KrebsonSecurity explains, that 'Microsoft considers these flaws so serious that attackers could exploit them to seize control over vulnerable systems just by getting users to visit a hacked or malicious Web site.'

If you are on a PC to get your updates:

Vista or Windows 7: click 'Start', type 'Windows Update' and choose the resulting option.

Windows XP & W2k: visit the Microsoft Update website. If you browse using Mozilla Firefox [like we do] you'll have to launch MS Explorer as Microsoft won't let you update using a competing browser...

If your computer is set up to receive automatic updates, be on the lookout for the message prompting you to install the updates in the next 24 to 48 hours.

A security tip: If you want to visit a software vendor's website to look for updates, use your browser and do a search or enter the website name directly into the browser's address bar. Don't click a link in an e-mail which might lead you to be tricked by a booby-trapped 'phishing' message that takes you to a malicious website.

For more security information visit Brian Krebs at: www.krebsonsecurity.com

The shortest summary in the world on designing a green home

Thu, 06 May 2010 23:36:24 PST

Today marks the first of what we hope will be a regular feature: blog posts by experts in topics of interest to our professional audience.

The first post comes courtesy of Gabriel Draven of Village Technologies, a contracting firm that specializes in the installation of energy-friendly systems and green technologies.

Gabriel works with architects and interior designers and has learned to provide guidance on how designers can help their clients understand and buy green technology - something he demonstrates in this post. Enjoy!

We've all changed our light-bulbs. The question now becomes, what comes next as we attempt to turn our homes into high performance, energy efficient homes.

If you're like many contractors and designers, your clients are likely starting to ask these questions with greater frequency. The market and consumer preferences and objectives are clearly turning, albeit slowly. The goal is to help you work with your clients as this market evolves.

We're often approached by people just days away from pouring the slab of their new, custom-built home, asking us how they can make it 'green'. Not to be pessimistic, but if you're pouring your slab, it's probably way too late to make a real difference.

One of the big barriers to the development of green buildings is that a whole generation of builders and clients (and their engineers) needs to be re-educated. So, the following is the shortest summary we're able to write on how to build a green home:

Step 1: Get the right people on your team right away. Who are the right people? They are people who are open to doing things in a new way. Get this first step right. A lot of people are getting advice from their engineers and architects who are designing the same buildings they were trained to design in the 1970's. We had a whole different set of assumptions in the 1970s about the way the world would work, assumptions like energy being cheap, limitless and consequence-free. Those assumptions don't hold any more.

Step 2: Get the green people in right away. Building a green building means thinking green right from the start. This is the least expensive and most effective way of building green. Basic design decisions - like how you decide to orient your building to the sun - will impact your energy costs for decades to come. There are people who know how to do this and who can compliment your team.

Step 3: Design your building using an integrated approach. Every decision impacts another. Thinking this through will be the cheapest way of doing things. Spend a little more on insulation and natural day-lighting and functional windows that enable natural ventilation and you can spend a lot less on heating and cooling equipment, ventilation systems and lights. Moreover, the operating costs will be lower for the life of the building. According to the California Sustainable Building Task Force, spending a little bit up front on 'green' pays for itself 10 times over in operating cost reductions over the life of a building. Merely having this insight, bringing it to your client and helping them assemble the right team and process will be a powerful differentiator in the marketplace.

Step 4: Take a broad view of costs. If your client is building a home intends on living in for years to come, they're going to be stuck with higher operating costs in perpetuity if they don't build an efficient green home. Further, green homes are generally more comfortable than conventionally built homes and all evidence is that they will hold their value better and longer. Taking a broad, life-cycle oriented view of costs will pay dividends for decades to come.

Gabriel Draven
February 2010
www.villagetechnologies.ca

Popular CRM Programs

Thu, 06 May 2010 23:31:53 PST

Desktop-based

ACT! by Sage
- $229.99 Now at 20% off $183.99 per user

SAAS-based

Microsoft Live CRM
- Has a version for professional services with project, resource and customer management modules. Features include: group workflows; dashboards for department and project managers; group/team scheduling and schedule tracking-modules
- Two versions: on demand [SAAS] or on-premise
- $44/user/month with free 30-day trial

SalesTrakr
- Great starter CRM product
- Has many features but limited segmentation
- Great interface
- $99 per user/year with free trial

Zoho CRM
- More robust than Salestrakr
- Extensive customization and sales support features
- Links with MS Outlook but e-mail marketing solution isn't very good
- Three options: Free plan [up to 3 users], Professional Plan $12/user/month; Enterprise Plan $25/user/month

Aplicor
- Integrates accounting, time tracking, project management and other modules into the CRM system
- For mid-market sized companies with a decentralized workforce

Salesforce.com
- Extensive e-mail and Google integration
- Have various versions starting at a Contact Manager for $5/user/month; Group for up to 5 users at $25/user/month; and Enterprise for unlimited users at $65/user/month

What is the difference between you your competitors?

Thu, 06 May 2010 23:24:12 PST

Can prospective clients understand the difference between your firm and a competitor's? Can they readily identify how you are uniquely positioned to address their situation and satisfy their needs in way that other firms can't?

Being able to identify and communicate a real point of difference is one of the most difficult challenges any company owner will face. To shed light on this complex issue we spoke with Axle Davids, the founder and CEO of Distillity Branding, a Toronto-based brand identity, naming and design company with a twist. What's the twist? Axle and his team are pioneering the use of inventive technology applications and systems to help companies discover and define their brand promise, position, personality and value proposition - all in one day. Their work is fascinating and has earned them a spot at the Mars Discovery District.

Why is the point of difference so important? Because it is why a customer will chose to resolve their need with your promise instead of the competition's.

What's the diff?

What does your idea do better than the competition? What feature or quality makes your idea unique? Perhaps your idea takes place in a one of a kind permanent location. Maybe you've acquired a patent for a unique material or process. Or, perhaps your idea stands out for something simple that may not sound revolutionary - but is dramatically different in your industry or niche. (Like decent customer service or rates for wireless in Canada!)

Unique, Compelling, Relevant, Credible

A great point of difference is hard to come by. It needs to be unique, compelling, relevant, and credible. By 'compelling' I mean the point of difference forcefully engages the customer's attention. By 'relevant' I mean it is very important or significant to the customer. By 'unique' I mean exactly that. No one else is delivering on the difference, and you can convince people that only you can do it. By 'credible' I mean solid, not an abstract fluffy idea that has no teeth nor authenticity.

The biggest blunder right off the bat

It is sad that so many people misunderstand the basic concept of positioning. The term itself implies 'positioning' against something else. The customer's need and frame of reference are not what is being positioned. What is being positioned is your brand's difference against other brands' differences. Don't make the all too common mistake of leaving the competition out of the question. And saying that there is no competition is no excuse. Defined honestly, even if you are the only game in town, the customer's need should be able to be fulfilled - however partially -- by alternatives.

This is how we do it

In our Distility 1day1brand sessions, we make sure everyone understands how positioning works. Only then do we go forth and...

The team brainstorms all the emotional benefits, functional benefits and key features the competition credibly promises the customer.
We brainstorm what additional benefits and features we might credibly promise the customer.
We extract the features, emotional benefits and functional benefits that we think are most different than the competition.
We review each one and ask 'How well does this resolve the need we identified for the customer?'
We brainstorm fresh differences, purely from the customer's perspective. This is because sometimes the client is so steeped in the details of their brand that they can't see the most brilliant point of difference because it is so blindingly obvious.
We promote the differences that are compelling, relevant, unique and credible. We demote those that are not.
We rinse and repeat until we settle on one point of difference.
Occasionally, if a very strong case can be made that two differences are equally strong and important, we choose both.

Innovation is a dangerous point of difference

Sometimes our clients are so enamored by their innovation that they can't think of anything else they would rather have for their point of difference. We have to work hard to remind them that what they perceive as a positive difference, Ex. First use of X technology, may be seen as a negative by the target customer. Most customers don't want to buy something that is different because it is new. To the contrary, they want to buy solutions that are proven, and no risk.

Why is the point of difference so important? Because it is why a customer will chose to resolve their need with your promise instead of the competition's.

To learn more about Distillity click here

What's your professional personality?

Thu, 06 May 2010 22:02:37 PST

Being able to describe your services and approach, how you solve clients' problems and how your firm differs from its competitors in words that resonate with clients, prospects, employees, suppliers and other stakeholders is the first part of the branding equation.

The next is defining your firm's personality and tone the tone you will speak with. A brand's personality is described in a similar way as that of a person, with descriptive traits like visionary, serious, simple, powerful, efficient, friendly, traditional, innovative, artistic, adventurous, reliable, conservative, solid, etc.

The tone refers more to the words and type of language you use; it can be formal and serious or playful and simple.

Your brand's personality trait and language tone must be congruent with your profession and clientele. For example: if you are a lawyer with a corporate clientele, your brand personality might be conservative, reliable and efficient and your corporate colours might be dark blue, green or grey. But, if you are an entertainment or IP lawyer whose clients run the gamut from rock bands to sculptors and web app designers, an appropriate personality would be innovative, visionary and friendly, and your graphic identity could easily incorporate bright colours or edgy black-dominant schemes.

Most professional corporate identities use similar colour schemes and neutral language, which makes it difficult to differentiate one firm from the next. Architecture and interior design firms often use black with white lettering, law and accounting firms dark blue or green. But once you define a personality and tone you can begin to craft an identity that is unique, sets you apart and helps to establish a powerful connection with prospects and clients.

Is your brand: inclusive, persuasive, intelligent, exclusive or humorous?

If your firm were a person, would it be: dynamic, reliable, friendly, professional, caring?

What impression do you & your firm convey? Traditional, modern, global, green, urban, conventional?

What's your style? Formal, young, feminine, masculine, conservative, funky?

What's your work style? Accurate, innovative, relaxed, flexible, practical?

If you were to describe the your firm's personality and tone would your current identity, corporate colours and language still work?

Tell Oomph!

Thu, 06 May 2010 22:00:26 PST

We are getting ready to launch a new workshop on business development for professionals. This will be an intensive two-day program that will enable participants to develop messages that clearly communicate their competitive difference and the value they provide. As well, each participant will receive a step-by-step plan for marketing their services tailored to their practice and circumstances. Follow up coaching sessions and support will help participants implement the plans.

We conduct a grat deal of research for each of our programs.For the first time, we will also be looking for comments and suggestions here on our blog as will be conducting informal surveys on our website, Facebook Fan page and Twitter.

What we would like to know is this: can you describe - in clients' language and terms - what makes your firm and services different from those of your competitors? Yes, No, Somewhat?

Tell us how you arrived at the language you use to describe your firm & services.

Computer Security Alert

Thu, 06 May 2010 21:39:25 PST

Most everyone has their computer set up to receive automatic operating system updates. However, we all use many other programs [like ADOBE Reader or Flash] that aren't updated when Microsoft or Apple issue patches for the OS. Unless you have dedicated software to track all out-of-date programs or follow security websites - and most people don't - staying on top of these fixes can be difficult.

This matters now because, as companies like Microsoft get serious and very good at managing security, crooks are looking for new weak spots to embed and destribute their malware. Enter popular software like ADOBE PDF Reader, Realtime Player and others.

We use Secunia PSI, a service that scans our system for all software installed and alerts us to needed upgrades. We also follow two top security blogs: F-Secure and Krebs on Security, so we know what the top trends and security issues are.

Going forward, we will publish security alerts for common threats, so visit the blog to stay on top of computer safety news. You can also follow us automatically by clicking the RSS button below or on Twitter at: OomphGroup.

Current Alerts:

Adobe Reader: The Adobe update, available from this link, brings Acrobat and Reader installations to version 9.3. Updates are available for Windows, Mac and UNIX systems. Adobe has special instructions here for those who cannot for whatever reasons upgrade and need to stick with the 8.x version of these programs. With Adobe Reader becoming a common vehicle for malware, many security experts recommend switching to other free readers like Foxit Reader. [We did and we like it a lot]. If you still want to use Adobe Reader you can block Java for an instant security boost. To do so: in the Reader click Edit > Preferences > JavaScript, and clear the Enable Acrobat JavaScript box. Some more advanced PDF files, like animated slideshows, may not work well, but most will work just as before, and you'll have blocked most PDF-related malware.

Adobe Shockware Player: an update that fixes at least two critical flaws in Adobe's Shockwave Player. Don't confuse this with Flash, another common multimedia player. As Brain Krebs explains:

Both Flash and Shockwave are multimedia players. They can give you extended and predictable abilities across a range of browser brands, versions, and platforms.(Sometimes you might hear someone refer to 'Shockwave Flash', but these are actually two different multimedia players.)

Flash has a small player which gives it a wider distribution. Flash is included in every Netscape download. Flash also has a very fast startup time. The way the Flash format interleaves media and instructions also helps it start quickly.

Shockwave has a deeper player. It offers multiuser chat, XML parsing, HTML manipulation, an extensive and fast scripting language, distant file retrieval, programmatic control of vector shapes, and bitmap manipulation.

The current flaws are in Shockwave Player version 11.5.2.602 and earlier. Adobe recommends that Shockwave users actually uninstall the program (Windows users can do this via the Add/Remove Programs menu), and then reboot before attempting to install the latest, patched version (v. 11.5.6.606), available here.

And, just in case you also have Flash, the latest, most secure version of Flash is v. 10.0.42.34, so if your version of Flash is lower than that, it's time to update your Flash Player as well. Adobe shipped an update in December that fixed at least seven critical vulnerabilities in Flash. Instructions on how to update the Flash Player to the latest version are available here.

Let us know if you find these updates helpful and if you find all these patches from different vendors and companies confusing.

This is how marketing works today

Thu, 06 May 2010 20:55:12 PST

In December we received our first invitation to guest on a blog, and the way we received the invitation, and what we are doing with it shows what marketing for professional firms and small businesses is all about today.

Background:

Oomph joined Twitter in April of last year and dabbled sufficiently to realize that you need a plan for it to be effective. While sick during the Xmas holidays, I set out to master Twitter. Surfing around, I came upon @constructionlaw - Christopher Hill, a construction lawyer in Richmond, Virginia. Christopher specializes in mechanic's liens, occupational safety issues, contract consulting and review and general risk management for all levels of construction professionals from contractors to subcontractors to material men.

As a marketing tactic, Christopher had started a blog - www.constructionlawva.com - that has grown into a virtual magazine, thanks to valuable content on the business of construction, marketing, occupational safety, bond claims, contracts, mechanic's liens and Green building. As the blog's popularity and traffic grew [and probably to procure content from others] Christopher launched 'Guest Post Fridays', a section where other lawyers and construction industry specialists get to put in 'their two cents' worth'.

Enter Oomph. We had been invited to present a marketing seminar at Design Trends Toronto/Construct Canada where we met Paul Barker, the Managing Editor of Contractors' Advantage. Paul thought we had important information for his readers and invited us to do a story for the magazine. The story ran last Spring.

When I read some of the marketing posts on Construction Law Musings, I thought my column would be perfect and I contacted Christopher. He agreed and, voila! we received our invitation. I researched Virginia Green rebate programs and revised parts of the column so it would be relevant to his blog's audience.

Why does all this matter you ask? For two key reasons:

We are beginning to get people signing up for our workshops from regular website traffic - meaning people who landed on www.oomphgroup.com because we turned up in a Google search. Having a presence and 'making noise' on the Internet through blogs like Construction Law Musings is critical to enhancing our 'searchability'. This is what Search Engine Optimization is all about.

We are getting ready to extend our audience globally through webinars, so exposure to a targeted industry audience like Christopher's in the USA is vital. I hope all his visitors will click through to www.oomphgroup.com, see our fabulous value-added content and sign up to receive our blog feed, our newsletter and other information.

The guest blog post appeared today and, as you can see from this blog post, we are now making as much noise about it as possible. @constructionlaw and @OomphGroup both 'tweeted' about it, trying to drive our Twitter followers to the blog. We also added #construction #law and #smallbiz hash tags to our tweet, in the hope that anyone following these topics will click through as well. Now I'm blogging about it, I'm about to tweet about this blog post, and then I will distribute the post's content to all our newsletter subscribers. And so on and so forth...

So here are the marketing lessons to be learned from this episode:

Public Speaking: this is how I met Paul Barker and landed valuable media coverage.

Twitter: this is how I found and met Christopher Hill and how I landed on his blog.

A blog: this is how I [and thousands of others] have learned about Christopher's expertise, law firm and services on the WWW and about Oomph. Also how:
- We establish powerful networks and relationships with other professionals.
- We increase traffic to our respective websites and boost our search rankings.
- We leverage value added content we own that is otherwise sitting tucked away on a hard drive...

Connectivity: above all, the lesson here is that all your tactics - be it blogging, public speaking or social media - have to be connected and executed as part of a plan so they all feed and support each other. As it so happens, this is the topic of our new marketing workshop: Best marketing tactics to promote your firm.... Info on the program and registration is here.

I would like to hear from readers: Do you have a plan that links your various marketing activities so they all boost each other?

Security Update

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 15:31:14 PST

Security update week came and went with a couple of notable items:

Another update for Adobe Flash Player that fixes two critical security holes in the web browser plug in. Flash's newest, patched version is v. 10.0.45.2, and applies to Windows, Mac and Linux installations. You can check your version of Flash and download the latest version here. Adobe also patched Adobe Air.

According to KrebsOnSecurity some PCs running Windows XP are crashing - complete with the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. At first it was thought that Microsoft's patch had a bug that caused the crashes. Now it appears that the systems that have crashed are infected with a 'rootkit' known as 'TDSS', 'Pakes' or as Win32/Alureon.A. The infection resides in a Windows storage driver called 'atapi.sys' located in %System32\drivers\. If you are having problems after the updates of the past week, you need to get your computer checked by an expert.

Are You Still Selling Roof Replacements?

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:32:37 PST

Well, our star turn as guest blogger on Christopher Hill's 'Construction Law Musings' came and went. We're delighted as it was great to establish contact with Christopher and the post drove quite a bit of traffic to our website.

The article offered marketing tips for contractors and, now that there's no danger of scooping Christopher, we are running it here. Enjoy!

2010 is just getting going and it looks as if the long-awaited recovery is finally beginning to take hold. This is good news for everyone, but especially so for the construction industry, which has been so affected by the collapse of the housing and mortgage markets.

Recessions are incredibly and difficult to navigate, but for companies on solid footing, business downturns provide the extra time needed to take stock and refine or restructure the company's direction, services and management systems. 'The first step is to define your value proposition,' says Gabriel Draven, co-founder of Village Technologies Inc, a Toronto-based leader in the design and installation of energy conservation and recovery systems. 'Ask yourself: what problem are we solving for our clients or, what do our clients value most about our service? This is critical because, as Mr. Draven says, 'If you can't answer this question and you are not able to describe your value effectively to potential clients, then you are left having to compete on price alone.'

Indeed, if you describe what you offer as 'drywall installation' or 'roof replacement' you are selling a generic service people will buy at the lowest possible price. But, if you present your services as a powerful solution to clients' problems, you will be more able to justify your fees because clients will perceive what you provide as a valuable benefit.

'The question of value changes over time,' explains Mr. Draven, 'so you need to be aware of the larger trends in the market place and position your business and services accordingly. Right now people are starting to value energy efficiency. Soon, an aging population will need homes that will remain affordable and comfortable, so demand for energy efficiency will continue to grow as will the need for barrier free designs and retrofits'.

To tap and incorporate market trends into your value proposition you need to research the areas you are interested in and become an expert in all related technology and construction systems. As well, knowledge of government financing programs and other pertinent data will enable you to provide extra information that can help reposition you from a 'hammer and nail guy' to a valued counselor or consultant.

In addition to providing a way of differentiating yourself from the competition, being 'on trend' enables you to 'package' services that tap market demand and drive sales in times when people aren't embarking on large-scale building projects. Current examples include energy audits and long-term home maintenance and renovation plans, which are precursors to actual building projects.

Another value-driven option is the packaging of services aimed at specific market segments. Women and elderly home owners often need help with seasonal home maintenance tune-ups, like the installation and removal of storm windows and the cleaning of eaves troughs. While not significant from a building point of view, these types of services are great for establishing long-term relationships and for generating ongoing bread-and-butter business to help weather economic downturns.

Teaming up with a specialist and combining forces to sell a service to existing and past clients is yet another option. 'The growing need for energy management, conservation and recovery systems and the wide range of government funding and rebate programs provide an excellent opportunity for driving sales right now,' states Mr. Draven. 'We are teaming up with contractors who don't have our expertise in this area but who do have an extensive Rolodex. We encourage them to review their current and past client list, to identify prospects for energy system upgrades and we help them pitch and procure this type or work.'

Tapping clients to 'up sell' is only effective if you have diligently provided good service, otherwise they may not want to see you again. Using the slowdown to review and revamp your client and project management procedures is another valuable strategy for driving future sales. In an industry that has often been plagued with poor service, haphazard project management and shoddy business practices, a firm that can guarantee satisfaction, outstanding client service and impeccable project management will always find clients willing to pay for top quality service and who are happy to tell their friends about it.

Construction Law Musings is here.

Village Technologies is here.

Easy to follow 'how-to' computer guide for non-techies

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 15:54:09 PST

Our workshop manuals are filled with how-to advice and we admire anyone who sets out to explain complex business and technical processes in a manner that is simple to understand.

We couldn't have been happier then to discover one of the best websites ever: How-To Geek, the 'friendliest' source of computer and technology how-to articles on the WWW.

True to their name and promo blurb, the site is replete with handy advice, reviews, user forums and even games. Categories with hundreds of how-to articles include Windows 7, Windows Vista, Microsoft Office, Firefox & Web, and Geek Stuff. Absolutely worth a visit! www.howtogeek.com

Stuck with piles of business cards?

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 15:53:35 PST

Is the pile of business cards collected at networking events and trade shows getting bigger and bigger and you can't find the time to enter them all into your database? We've just discovered a great resource that does it all for you and at a great price!

Shoeboxed is a web-based service that scans your business cards and receipts and enters the data into an online account from which you can export business card data to Salesforce, LinkedIn, your email client, and other programs. Receipts can be sent to PDF, Excel, Quicken, Quickbooks, Freshbooks, Outright.com and Evernote.

The service is available through a monthly subscription. The starter 'Lite' package is US $9.95 per month which enables you to send in 250 receipts and business cards to get you started with 50 more per month. The most popular or 'Classic' package is US $ 19.95 per month with 500 receipts and cards as a starter and 150 more per month.

When you consider an average hourly fee for professional services and the time it takes someone to enter all the data on 50 business cards into a database, paying $9.95 is a bargain, no? www.shoeboxed.com

Client Relationship Managers

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:07:42 PST

Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, a large,multi-practice, multi-regional law firm in the United States, is making news with the announcement that they have hired Debra Nussbaum, a reporter who worked at the Philadelphia Enquirer and the New York Times, as a full-time client interviewer.

Ballard Spahr had previously hired a consulting firm to conduct client interviews and found the information they gathered to be invaluable. The firm's Chairman, Arthur Makadon, told Law.com: 'Too often we were just not aware of what our clients were thinking.' In reviewing the interview data Mr. Makadon said they realized 'this might be something the firm could benefit from doing on a regular basis'.

Ms. Nussbaum's appointment highlights a new trend in legal services marketing: the creation of 'client interviewer' positions as a way of improving the delivery of services and the client experience. Some practitioners believe this may be one of the most effective ways to boost profits and business development by lowering client defection rates and upping client referrals.

What do you think? Is this something that would work outside of the U.S.? Can you see it being implemented in your firm? Let us know!

For the complete article click here.

A great read just got better

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:06:30 PST

Design Observer was launched in 2003 as an online blog devoted to design. Founded by Pentagram partner Michael Bierut with Jessica Helfand, William Drentel and Rick Poyner, the site quickly became a favoured destination for practitioners and aficionados alike, and a forum for intelligent and insightful commentary and discussion that attracted 175,000 readers each month.

Although the blog meant to cover a wide range of design disciplines, it was mostly focused on graphic design. That's changing now however, with the addition of four new sections: Observatory, Observermedia, Change Observer, and Places.

The new 'Design Observer Group' will tackle a much wider range of design topics and issues. Change Observer will focus on design as an agent of social change and explore 'design strategies aimed globally at improving health, education, housing, and the environment,' according to a statement. Places will feature content from the eponymous journal and offer visitors access the 25-year old journal's archive of 1250 articles. Observermedia will showcase audio and video content including Debbie Millman's 'Design Matters' internet radio archive as well as features by other contributors. Observatory will continue covering design and visual culture as it did under the Design Observer banner. The Design Observer homepage will feature the latest content from each of the four sections.

Now that we're nearing the last few weeks of summer and many are heading off for a few days of relaxation before we all rev up again, bookmark this fabulous site and enjoy some of very best reading on design anywhere. www.designobserver.com

Great summer reads - Part II

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:03:49 PST

Just in time for one of the last weekends of the summer, we're following our entry on Design Observer with a list of Internet blogs and 'e-zines' written by some of the world's leading writers, thinkers, experts and commentators, and also by regular folk with a real talent for writing and expressing funny, quirky or fascinating points of view.Here are some of our favourites:

Culture & Education:

Hands down, the best resource on culture on the web is Open Culture, a compendium of cultural and educational media. Open Culture 'explores cultural and educational media (podcasts, videos, online courses, etc.) that's freely available on the web, and that makes learning dynamic, productive, and fun. We sift through all the media, highlight the good and jettison the bad, and centralize it in one place. Trust us, you'll find engaging content here that will keep you learning and sharp. And you will find it much more efficiently than if you spend your time searching with Google, Yahoo or iTunes.' The list of topics and the participating institutions is mind-blowing and, best of all, much of the content is in the form of podcasts you can listen to anywhere. Examples: 'Philosophy for Beginners' from Oxford; 'Masterpieces of Western Art' from Columbia; and 'Virgil's Aeneid: Anatomy of a Classic' from Stanford. In addition to the arts and humanities, there are dozens of technical and scientific titles in engineering, chemistry, physics, computer science, artificial intelligence and mathematics. If languages are more your thing, you can learn Arabic, Chinese, Dutch or Spanish. Ole! www.openculture.com

Original Wavelength is written by Rana Sinha an author and a cross-cultural interaction and management consultant based in Helsinki. The latest entry is an overview of hell in 17 religions and cultures and includes this gem: 'Chinese Hells - Move over Abu Ghraib! Someone from a government department with a background in social security and law must have designed the Chinese Hell. There are 18 types or subtypes for each type of punishment. There are Chambers of Maggots, of Eye-Gouging, of Disembowelment, of Tongue Ripping etc., for 'peeping toms', 'people who force good women into prostitution' and 'crooks who use loopholes in the law to cheat and engage in malpractice'. originalwavelength.blogspot.com

Art & Visual Arts:

Art News Blog: digs up new stories, reviews, guides, and articles found online and shares them each day. Stories have an international focus with an emphasis on the visual arts. www.artnewsblog.com

Cronaca: A compilation of news concerning art, archeology, history, and whatever else catches the chronicler's eye, with the odd bit of opinion and commentary thrown in. www.artnewsblog.com/w.cronaca.com/

Modern Art Notes. A blog about modern and contemporary art. The Wall Street Journal has called MAN 'the most influential of all visual-arts blogs. www.artnewsblog.com/

Arts & Entertainment:

ArtsBeat, a blog by reporters and critics from The New York Times. Includes reporting from arts events from around the world. artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/

Literature:

Chekhov's Mistress. Written by an ex-Wall Street banker and advisor, the blog is devoted to discussing all-things literature. Has a great links section. www.chekhovsmistress.com

Another great literature and art blog is Guernica, a Magazine of Art & Politics.www.guernicamag.com/

Music:

Rockers have also taken to the blogosphere. Notable web auteurs include:

Pink Floyd's David Gilmour: www.davidgilmourblog.com/

David's Journal by Talking Head David Byrne, http://journal.davidbyrne.com/

Moby's Journal, an idiosyncratic entry by techno star Moby, http://www.moby.com/journal

The Economy & Business

The Business Insider provides an often hilarious take on economic and financial news. Edited by Henry Blodget, Merrill Lynch's erstwhile Global Chief of Internet research and the poster child for Wall Street's greed and misguided Internet adventures during the dot com boom. In addition to general economic and stock market news covered in the Clusterstock & Moneygame sections, Sillicon Alley Insider and the Green Sheet focus on new media and sustainable industry news. www.businessinsider.com

News

The one-stop-shop for news junkies: the Huffington Post. Noted Picasso biographer Arianna Huffington gathers all the news that's fit to follow [sorry NYT!] in one handy site. If it's noteworthy, serious, scandalous, wacky, frivolous or entertaining, and it's been featured in a newspaper, TV, radio, blog or some other mass media platform, HP gives you the headline and an eye-catching graphic in one of 12+ sections. www.huffintonpost.com

Internet, Technology & Social Media

TechCrunch: A blog covering the Silicon Valley technology start-up communities and the wider technology field. Edited by former corporate lawyer Michael Arrington, TechCrunch has become one of the most powerful voices and influencers in the tech world. www.techcrunch.com/

Mashable is another huge tech blog focused on Web 2.0 and social networking news. What's great about Mashable is that, in addition to tech news, it has a gigantic 'how to' and resource archive with step-by-step directions on how to 'Use Facebook for Professional Networking' and more.mashable.com/

Great summer reads - Part III

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:03:07 PST

We hadn't planned on a third installment of great summer reads, but when we saw the latest 'Off the Record' blog post in the Architectural Record website we knew we couldn't pass it up.

The hilarous review of how architects are portrayed in the movies was prompted by a new Steve Martin comedy. 'Oh no. Not another sensitive male architect on the big screen!' was written by Chales Lin. We were alerted to it by a Tweet...enjoy!

Gary Cooper's archetypal architect-as-rogue, the egotistical Howard Roark in 'The Fountainhead.'

The Making of an Oomph Program

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:46:33 PST

Creating a new program requires extensive research and dozens of interviews with practitioners. The process starts off with a list of issues we think need to be addressed. Once the list is done, we test it by interviewing three to five practitioners. A thorough review of our findings results in a revised questionnaire that is given to another five practitioners. Once that round of interviews is complete, we collate the findings and draft the program's outline, which we test again with another round of interviews. After the full scope of the program is finalized we begin writing. All along we ask practitioners to review the content and do the exercises to make sure the content is relevant and accurate and that the exercises work the way they're supposed to. A final edit, and the first full version of the program is complete and ready for submission to accreditation organizations.

Our process results in programs that truly reflect professionals' and knowledge-workers' unique culture, ethos and approach to work and that effectively address the complex set issues they need to manage in order to practice successfully. As well, talking to practitioners on a daily basis means we have our finger on the pulse of what's happening, enabling us to include content that addresses the major trends sweeping the professions and the industries practitioners work in.

We are always looking for program suggestions and for practitioners who are interested in particpating in our surveys and research. If you would like to do so, please contact Johanna Hoffmann at 416-977-5402 or via e-mail at: mail@oomphgroup.com.

Outsourcing

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:46:17 PST

The Globe and Mail's Report on Small Business is a veritable treasure trove of business information and advice for small firms. It appears quarterly as a magazine that is distributed in the newspaper, but some of the most interesting content is published on an ongoing basis in the ROB's website www.reportonbusiness.com/smallbusiness/.

Although a lot of the content is geared to manufacturing, retail and hospitality companies, there is a fair amount of excellent information for knowledge-based and professional firms. My favourite are blogs where entrepreneurs recount their challenges and coping strategies and articles that are practical and contain a lot of how-to advice.

A case in point is an article this week on the growth of outsourcing as a business strategy for small businesses, who can save time and money by outsourcing repetitive tasks or who can benefit by positioning themselves as providers of outsourced services. Click here for the article. Enjoy!

Total Computer Meltdown

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:46:04 PST

Was it synchronicity, the universe testing us or just a garden-variety fluke when my computer went on the fritz exactly one month before launching a tour of southern Ontario featuring 'What If?' - our risk management workshop?

Who knows, and who cares if it was some grandiose Jungian principle at play or just a *&%@$! computer doing what computers do - the result was the same: total paralysis for a couple of days and [self-induced] partial paralysis for two-and-a-half weeks...

Three hard-drive reformats + one new computer setup later, we still don't know if the operating system got corrupted when a Microsoft system update ran at the exact same time as a Symantec virus definition update and our remote backup, or if the hard drive just broke - I'm still trying to catch up with work and haven't taken the computer back to the shop [trip # 2] - but whatever it was was pretty traumatic and the worst computer occurrence I've had since I learnt my way around WordPerfect 5.1.

As with everything else, there was good news, bad news and big lessons.

Good news first: the chapter on computer safety in What If? works. Thank goodness I follow my own advice and back-up faithfully as prescribed - so we didn't lose any data.

The bad news: the degree of enslavement to a gizmo. Without a computer it's very, very, very difficult to work or run a business. This is depressing.

What did I learn?

Backing up your data is just step 1. To truly minimize the pain and inconvenience of a complete meltdown you need a 'ghost' of your hard drive - a duplicate of your entire system and all its settings so getting up to speed takes no more than a day. Otherwise you're in for a prolonged nightmare to reconnect, reconfigure and reinstall everything from the e-mail accounts [half-a-day and 5 techs @ the e-mail host] to every password you need for logging on to the dozens of websites we seem to log on to nowadays... [printed list of computer & internet passwords anybody?]

Lesson # 2: Do not underestimate computer occurrences/don't be lazy [same thing in this case]. My undoing, and the reason why a three to four-day headache turned into a two-and-a-half week nightmare: I didn't want to waste a couple of days reconfiguring a new computer we had because I was certain that mine was going to come back with everything miraculously restored. Right.

Lesson #3: The blue screen of death? It's now black.

Office Design

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:45:46 PST

Business Week has a great section on 'Innovation and Design' on its website with lots of interesting articles running the gamut from graphic design & branding to architecture and industrial design.

At the moment they have a special report on office design where they focus on new workplace trends and how companies are using interior design to manage change in the workplace.

There's a feature article on 'Innovation through office design' and lots of mini case studies with slide shows of great offices [Intel, BMI & Bloomberg], a poll ['Would you prefer to work in an open plan office?'], a profile of Studios Architecture, and an article where a psychologist explains how to decode personality types depending on where people sit in a meeting. Seriously.

Worth a visit. www.businessweek.com

Should you cut your marketing budget in a recession?

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:24:36 PST

We're huge fans of the Innovation section on BusinessWeek.com because it covers a fascinating range of stories on architecture and industrial, interior and graphic design.

The current issue has a great interview with Philip Kotler, the S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the author of just about every major marketing text book of the past 40 years.

Deciding how much money to spend on marketing when business is down is one of the most difficult decisions business owners and managers have to make. Conventional wisdom says that marketing budgets should be maintained to prevent losing market share and to capitalize on new opportunities.

Not always, argues Professor Kotler in 'Marketing in the Age of Turbulence'. He believes that if you can't accurately measure the return on your marketing expenditures you're better off saving yourself the money. Only if you are well positioned to benefit from the downturn and can accurately the result of marketing activities should increase the marketing budget.

We agree! To read the complete interview, click here. To learn more about marketing in tough economic times click here.

Dynamic Lawyers revolutionizes access to legal services and law firm marketing

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:14:25 PST

Dynamic Lawyers is a web site that is revolutionizing how people access legal services and how lawyers promote themselves.

The brainchild of Toronto business lawyer Michael Carabash, Dynamic Lawyers was launched to address two pressing needs: first, the growing lack of access by ordinary people to legal services because of skyrocketing costs, and second, the difficulties that sole practitioners and lawyers in small firms face when trying to market and grow their practices.

Michael's solution, inspired by Craigslist, is an electronic platform where people can post legal questions anonymously and get a response from lawyers via e-mail for free. Both sides benefit: for the public, the system provides the opportunity to conduct research and meet lawyers in a manner that isn't intimidating or that costs money. For lawyers, the system provides an ongoing stream of potential clients and the opportunity to establish a relationship and demonstrate professional expertise.

The site accommodates questions covering most common legal areas including personal injury, labour and employment, family, business, criminal, highway & traffic tickets, immigration, insurance, landlord and tenant, intellectual property, real estate, tax, and wills and estates.

As well, Dynamic Lawyers is building a library of free legal resources. They've begun by posting answers to 41of the most common questions dealing with business structures in Ontario. Of particular interest to professionals who team up with other firms for joint ventures is a blog entry explaining the basics of joint venture agreements and contracts. You can access the blog entry here.

www.dynamiclawyers.com

World Trade Center towers postponed

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:54:49 PST

The real estate market in New York has been hit hard during the current recession and now, two of the three towers planned World Trade Center have been put off indefinitely. Lack of access to financing and low demand are the culprits. Read more here.

Canadian economy a model for others

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:45:43 PST

Even though we're also in a recession, Canada has fared much better than most other Western economies. This is due in large part to economic regulations and systems that prevented Canadian banks from engaging in many of the go-go banking practices that sunk their counterparts across Europe and the United States.

The result is that Canadian banking officials and regulators like Julie Dickson, the superintendent of financial institutions, and Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, are now celebrities on the global banking circuit, and foreign government officials, regulators, bureaucrats, bankers and media are quite interested in what they have to say.

In a sign of the world's interest in Canadian economic affairs, the New York Times has launched a new series of articles on how Canada regulates its economy. The first one, 'How Canada Does Banking', appeared today as part of the Economix blog in the Times' Business section.

Canadian business leaders often complain, as did bankers for the past 15 years, that our regulations hamper Canadian companies from competing on a global scale. Perhaps they do, but as we now clearly see, they also protect us from the worst excesses of unfettered business practices. Being an economic role model for the world is something that we Canadians, a generally low-key and humble lot, should be rightly proud off.

For the New York Times story click here.

Another bit of good economic news

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:56:29 PST

It looks as if we are finally beginning to turn the corner - economically speaking.

In what is very good news for Oomph clients in architecture, interior design & engineering, the Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation has reported that housing starts across Canada were up 9% in May. The surge was specially strong in Ontario and the Prairies and weakest in British Columbia, where the sector remains quite depressed.

For details in the Globe & Mail story click here.

The worst may be behind us

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:45:44 PST

The GM bankruptcy, an economic shocker few would have imagined possible a few years ago, leads the news today. Yet, in spite of this catastrophic failure, the TSE, the NYSE and other stock exchanges around the world, soared today on news of higher commodity prices and improved economic data.

Indeed, in Canada GDP figures show that the rate of economic contraction in the first quarter of 2009 - 5.4% - was much better than the 6.5% economists had expected and that the contraction in February and March was much lower than that of November and December. Coupled with a rise in the price of commodities and minerals, a drop in inventories, and a smaller decline in consumer spending, it's looking as if the worst may be behind us.

The road back will be slow and tortuous and we may yet still experience an economic shocker or two, but it looks as if the cataclysmic meltdown everyone feared in late 2008 may have been averted.

Way too early to crack open the champagne, but perhaps time for a frosty beer while we ponder plans for a more enjoyable than expected summer. Salud!

Details here and here.

How to be a good boss in a bad economy

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:44:40 PST

The McKinsey Quarterly interviewed management professor and author Robert Sutton of the Stanford Graduate School of Engineering on the topic of 'How to be a good boss in a bad economy.'

Professor Sutton says that when times are tough and people fear losing their jobs, they become very vigilant, scrutinizing their bosses' every move looking for signs of impending change. This can make a bad situation worse - especially when the spotlight falls on superiors who have lost touch with their employees' needs, a phenomenon he describes as 'toxic' and a common occurrence for many people who rise through the ranks and accrue power.

This observation echoed a comment made by Dany Levy, the founder of DailyCandy.com in an interview for 'Corner Office', a blog in the New York Times. Ms. Levy says that to be a good leader you have to know what it's like to be 'a scrappy little nobody.'

Watch Professor Sutton and read an excerpt of the interview here and read the interview with Dany Levy here

Security Flaw in Adobe Reader

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 02:56:22 PST

Security Fix is a Technology blog in the Washington Post written by Brian Krebs. It is our favourite source of informatioln on computer security because it is aimed at regular computer users and it is written in simple language and with step-by-step instructions we can understand and follow.

In the future, we will relay information on major security threats to readers of our blog.

Our first dispatch concers a serious flaw in the popular Adobe Reader which affects all currently supported, shipping versions of Adobe Reader (9.1, 8.1.4, and 7.1.1 and earlier versions) for Windows, Mac and Linux. Adobe recommends disabling Javascript in Reader until it can ship a patch.

What makes this worrisome is that in February malware writers and hackers exploited a Java-related vulnerability to brak into scores of computers.

There are now other free options to the Adobe Reader. As Mr. Krebs writes: 'I think diversity is a good thing, especially in computer software and operating systems. Given equal or better alternatives, using a software package that is not the clear market leader is often a smart move from a security perspective.

For some time now, I have recommended the free Foxit Reader over Adobe's PDF reader, which I find bloated and slow. The potential security benefits are an added bonus.'

Information on Foxit Reader is found here. Mr. Krebs recommends these other readers as well: Sumatra PDF and PDF-XChange Viewer

Canadian housing sales rise 7 per cent in March

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:03:15 PST

The Canadian Real Estate Association has announced that the Canadian housing market appears to stabilizing. This is great news for everyone, but specially so for A/E/C professionals.

March figures show a 7 % increase over February's 10.3 % activity gain. Details here.

Oomph Group - OomphTalks

New improved  its www.oomphgroup.com V3!

What do you think of our new website? Do you find it easier to find and read content? Do you have any suggestions? Let us know! We want visitors to really enjoy their experience and are happy to look at suggestions to improve the site.

How to better leverage the #1 business development tool for professionals

Rachel Foster is a friend of Oomph's and one of the best copywriters we have met and worked with! Given the important place that referrals play in the marketing mix for professionals, we invited Rachel to write a column on the topic. Enjoy!

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Strengthen Your Referral Program with Powerful Testimonials

Special Offer for Oomph Group Blog Readers and Newsletter Subscribers

MailChimp - E-mail Marketing

Clicktime - Time Tracking

SurveyGizmo - Online Survey Tool

ConnectWise - PSA Software

Box.net - Simple Online Collaboration

Simply HR - HR Tool

Effortless HR - HR Tool

Basecamp - Project Management

Clio - Practice Management

SurveyMonkey - Marketing Resources

Did you know that your office copier is a security risk?

Most of us don't think of the office copier as a computer with data, so we don't take basic security precautions.

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I am curious and would like to know if those of you who are reading this article knew about photo copier hard drives as a security risk, if you know of an incident and/or any steps you've taken to manage the situation.

ClearFit - Great People Management Resource

The legal platform is changing

Salestrakr

Infusionsoft

Drop.io

Emailbrain

Planning for Fall: Marketing Audit

As the hazy days of summer fade away, we often feel reinvigorated, ready to take on new challenges and seek new opportunities. Early September is a great time to take stock of where your business is at and, this year when we're all battling a major recession, the area to assess is marketing.

Look for significant new developments in the following areas:

What is the result of the changes?

Are the changes temporary or permanent?

How are you managing the changes?

Lastly, look at your goals and objectives

The information gathered so far will give you a very good idea of where you stand. Now you need to take a look at your existing strategy and marketing materials and see whether they're adequate or whether you need to make changes to adapt to the new conditions.

Is your brand positioning adequate or do you need to incorporate significant changes to:

Going solo: Ready, set, thrive: How to successfully work alone

A young lawyer passionate about climate-change law meets a savvy marketing expert to discuss how best to run her company

Setting Up the Business

Taking it to the next level

Check list

Target markets

Taking it to the next level

Check list

Marketing

Taking it to the next level

Check list

Juggling act

Taking it to the next level

Check list

Angela Kryhul is principal of Kryhul Media Group, a Toronto content strategy and management company that advises small and medium-sized businesses on how to align their online content with marketing communications goals and objectives.

Starting Your Own Firm

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OOMPH GROUP INC. TEAMS UP WITH MILLS & MILLS LLP TO LAUNCH A WORKSHOP OFFERING STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS FOR STARTING A NEW CONSULTING OR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRM

Evernote - the amazing save-all application!

Since everything is in our heads, we better not lose them... Coco Chanel

How do you explain what you do?

Why does it matter?

This makes buying professional services a huge challenge, both for experienced consumers and for the large number of clients who are hiring a professional for the very first time and have little or no understanding of the service they are buying and of the process they are about to embark on.

It's the reason why clients will often hire the cheapest ['all else being equal let's pay the least'] or a firm that is less qualified but that came through a referral ['better the devil you know'].

Now you have to be able to describe the attributes that make a firm special and the value these attributes bring to clients. You have to communicate the firm's brand.

The Net and the iGenerations join the Boomers, GenX and Millenials...

Microsoft Issues 13 Security Updates

The shortest summary in the world on designing a green home

Popular CRM Programs

Desktop-based

SAAS-based

What is the difference between you your competitors?

Why is the point of difference so important? Because it is why a customer will chose to resolve their need with your promise instead of the competition's.

What's the diff?

Unique, Compelling, Relevant, Credible

The biggest blunder right off the bat

New improved its www.oomphgroup.com V3!

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OOMPH GROUP INC. TEAMS UP WITH MILLS & MILLS LLP
TO LAUNCH A WORKSHOP OFFERING STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS FOR STARTING A NEW CONSULTING OR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRM