I am so busy building the business and keeping clients happy by just emailing and calling that the other communication conduits seem almost like noise. My focus is about my clients's needs and not mine. I would like to think that I am on my "game" but this piece of the puzzle is escaping me - I would love to hear feedback from others!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Blogging, Twittering, Networking... Time?
I pose this question to readers of the blog and other entrepreneurs - "When does everyone find time to blog, tweet, network with others and then... pay attention to family and yourself?"
Friday, December 18, 2009
Weeeew - Its been an interesting year!
So where do I start?
First, 2009 had a terrible start for Venturality and the country. I was considering my options and I wasn't sure if "janitor" was something that I wanted to add to the resume. So we kept at it.
With a not-so-sane determination, projects and opportunities started coming back in the May/June timeframe. While there are still economic and employment issues, Venturality is positioned to realize a rebounding economy in its early stages. (I say "positioned" because I hate to use the word "lucky" - luck is winning the lottery)
Many of our new projects are web development focused - less "managed services" needs. "Managed Services" has a very strong undertone of IT infrustructure - and less web development. I have stretched the definition to "a company that provides managed/outsourced end-to-end web technology solutions". (thats a mouthful) Venturality does great web development - scalable, performance enabled web sites. However, Venturality also knows how to host the development, testing and production environments very well.
So I pose this question - is it confusing to clients to be really good two different technology focuses? Development and hosting may seem disparate, but we provide the best client experience when control all aspects of the project.
I would love some feedback :)
With that said - I wish for 2010 to be a great year for everyone!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The 3SmallPixels.com Fable
3SmallPixels.com was to be our upcoming foray into web design and marketing. After, some hard convincing from the rest of the team I have decided that we need to stay the current course of strictly being an IT managed services provider (MSP). So our fledgling idea is now DOA... before its prime...
Its easy to get caught up in your own head with new ideas and offerings - that is - "drinking your own kool-aide". So I started on the web design effort without much feedback. It was going to be grand - I tell you "GRAND". What is that ahead? looks like? Reality?!
One of my team members approached me during one of our planning meetings and suggested we reconsider the effort. I listened to my team and felt that the input was dead-on. It was outside of our core value offering and we have partners that can do it much better than any team that I might cobble together at this point in our timeline. Creating another DBA (doing-business-as) group would require additional marketing, business plan and resources. All of these items require time and money - both of which seem to be a very very scarce lately!
So the moral of the story? It is fun to chase ideas, but you may look silly if you are the only one running after them.
BTW - another reason I like to say "We" instead of "I" :)
Its easy to get caught up in your own head with new ideas and offerings - that is - "drinking your own kool-aide". So I started on the web design effort without much feedback. It was going to be grand - I tell you "GRAND". What is that ahead? looks like? Reality?!
One of my team members approached me during one of our planning meetings and suggested we reconsider the effort. I listened to my team and felt that the input was dead-on. It was outside of our core value offering and we have partners that can do it much better than any team that I might cobble together at this point in our timeline. Creating another DBA (doing-business-as) group would require additional marketing, business plan and resources. All of these items require time and money - both of which seem to be a very very scarce lately!
So the moral of the story? It is fun to chase ideas, but you may look silly if you are the only one running after them.
BTW - another reason I like to say "We" instead of "I" :)
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Its the little things...
Today, the new air conditioning unit for the new "cloud space" (ok, ok, its the new server facility). Why did this make me happy? I was like a kid with a new toy.
I guess its because I LOVE to build things. The new server facility has been something that I have built from the ground up - by mostly me - my two hands and a couple spare brain cells (I have to gaurd them closely). The air conditioner is one of the final pieces to make this real and complete.
Also its a nice digression from the day-to-day management stuff. If the perks weren't available - I might have taken a different path ;)
Nothing like a power drill, some screws and some vision to make it interesting.
I guess its because I LOVE to build things. The new server facility has been something that I have built from the ground up - by mostly me - my two hands and a couple spare brain cells (I have to gaurd them closely). The air conditioner is one of the final pieces to make this real and complete.
Also its a nice digression from the day-to-day management stuff. If the perks weren't available - I might have taken a different path ;)
Nothing like a power drill, some screws and some vision to make it interesting.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Surprises?
Keep an eye out this week - we have a couple of announcements! (well, at least we think its exciting)
Saturday, September 13, 2008
3 months later...
Argh... It has been almost 3 months since I said we would be posting our new website with our new branding. (well, I have a slight excuse - my wife and I have had our first child July 20th!). I am still hoping to launch it still this month - I will keep everyone posted.
So I have come to believe that refreshing your web presence can be a great incentive to refine your marketing message - its just a little time consuming. I have tried to have other members of the team craft this for me but without defining the message myself it is hard to tell others to do it for you!
Speaking of team members -we have added Ms Danielle Long, as "Client Services Manager" to the team. This is a key position for client interaction - project management, contract creation (did I mention she is an attorney also!), and business development.
Here is the intro that was sent out:
"As Client Services Manager, Danielle Long brings several years of business and legal experience to our team. She holds a J.D. from Loyola University of Chicago, School of Law and was most recently employed as Assistant General Counsel with a large privately held corporation. In her previous employment, Ms. Long worked as a business liaison between her employer and over thirty franchisees. In this role, she was responsible for overseeing the offering and acquisition of several new subsidiary corporations. She also implemented an accountability and training program for all corporate managers. Her previous employment law and contract management experience will be a valuable addition to the Venturality team.
In the role of Client Services Manager, Ms. Long will be responsible for client project management for all phases of client projects, from initial project quotes to final project delivery. We are excited about Ms. Long's addition to the team and furthering our ability to deliver the quality that our clients have came to expect."
So I have come to believe that refreshing your web presence can be a great incentive to refine your marketing message - its just a little time consuming. I have tried to have other members of the team craft this for me but without defining the message myself it is hard to tell others to do it for you!
Speaking of team members -we have added Ms Danielle Long, as "Client Services Manager" to the team. This is a key position for client interaction - project management, contract creation (did I mention she is an attorney also!), and business development.
Here is the intro that was sent out:
"As Client Services Manager, Danielle Long brings several years of business and legal experience to our team. She holds a J.D. from Loyola University of Chicago, School of Law and was most recently employed as Assistant General Counsel with a large privately held corporation. In her previous employment, Ms. Long worked as a business liaison between her employer and over thirty franchisees. In this role, she was responsible for overseeing the offering and acquisition of several new subsidiary corporations. She also implemented an accountability and training program for all corporate managers. Her previous employment law and contract management experience will be a valuable addition to the Venturality team.
In the role of Client Services Manager, Ms. Long will be responsible for client project management for all phases of client projects, from initial project quotes to final project delivery. We are excited about Ms. Long's addition to the team and furthering our ability to deliver the quality that our clients have came to expect."
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