How to find opportunities for your business

Tuesday, March 25, 2008 11:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0

Are you trying to find ideas to start your business? Keep your eyes (and ears) open.

It's been a while since I posted a business lesson and over the Easter weekend, I heard a joke that relates to even the smallest entrepreneur.

Here's the joke:

Free Utilities for Burners and Your Network

Thursday, February 07, 2008 7:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Free | Comments: 0

Tired of your Roxio burning software? Need to document your network? Check out these free utilities.

Over time, if you continue to pay for burning software or hire a contractor to document your network, the amount of money spent can become costly.

Fortunately, there are companies out there providing exceptional software that accomplishes both of these tasks.

Why John Rambo is the Ultimate Freelancer

Monday, January 28, 2008 6:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 2

Here's some advice for freelancers on what to do and what not to do: John Rambo style.

After watching Rambo this weekend, I couldn't help but realize that John Rambo was a freelancer.

I'm not talking about the type of freelancer that goes crazy on clients the way Rambo attacked the enemy, but the way he handled himself before all of the fighting is what I'm referring to. Check out these similarities I noticed in the movie that relates to freelancers.

Small Business Backup Lesson: DO IT NOW!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 11:30 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0

What disaster recovery steps did I take to make sure this disaster doesn't happen again?

I recently had a business client of mine call me and tell me that their hard drive on their server crashed and their business was currently losing money. Fortunately, it was just the operating system that went South, so a reinstall of Windows Small Business Server 2003 was in order.

After recovering their OS, all of their data was retrieved and everything was back to normal. They felt relieved that their critical data was backed up, but they asked me two questions:

Is Nokia becoming the next Palm?

Thursday, October 25, 2007 11:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Mobile | Comments: 0

Nokia's N-Series is fast becoming a road warrior's companion.

Recently, I purchased a Nokia N800 for my mobile needs and found that there is an entire family of mobile devices. But after playing around with my Nokia N800, I'm beginning to realize that even though the hardware is there, the software isn't.

What I mean by the software is that it's not the operating system. It's the third-party community. There needs to be more software developed for the Maemo operating system. Heck, I'm still waiting for an MS Office package on the N800 (isn't OpenOffice available?)

Great Opportunities for Startups

Wednesday, October 17, 2007 11:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0

If there was ever a great time to start a business, now is that time with two great contests!

Over the past month, I've been seeing a lot of people talking about preparing your ideas and building a business. Now, even the big names are getting in on the action.

Sometimes reaching out and examining how startup businesses arrive at their ideas is stimulating and invigorating. There may be some ideas that spring up from the creativity pool, but there are some that spring a leak and drain the pool completely.

5 quick steps to make your business greener

Monday, October 15, 2007 3:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 1

Today's post is geared towards an energy-efficient Blog Action Day.

It's Blog Action Day and the topic is about how to make the world a "greener" place. On this blog, it deals with making a "greener" difference with your business.

A lot of large companies like Adobe, Hewlett-Packard, Palm, and Honda have taken the initiative to move towards a greener company. All it takes is one step to move towards a cleaner world.

Don't fall into these Credit Card traps!

Monday, August 20, 2007 6:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0

Everyone has a credit card, but does everyone know what the creditors do behind the scenes?

When you start up your small business, you look for cash in the most interesting places: banks, relatives, and maxed out credit cards.

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!

Does every project have to be half-fast?

Wednesday, August 08, 2007 4:30 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business Lessons | Comments: 0

Does every project have to move at the speed of thought? Only when implemented properly.

When customers ask me to build a website for them, I do my homework, find out what they want, who their target audience is, and start reviewing all of the details to design a web site. After talking to the customer about everything I've documented, I mention that it will take x number of months to complete this project.

At this point, I receive the "Look of Disbelief."

Top 10 Cell Phone-PDAs

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 5:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Gadgets | Comments: 0

Looking for a way to always stay connected while managing your contacts effectively?

I'm skeptical when it comes to the all-in-one devices, but for those who love the dual cell phone/PDA setup (a.k.a. Smart Phones), PC World reported on the Top 10 Cell Phone/PDAs in the market today.

For now, I'm still weighing my options for a device that assists me with my virtual office.

How to put your business on the map through Google Local

Monday, July 23, 2007 4:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Google | Comments: 0

Here's how to get maximum exposure locally if someone is looking for your services through Google.

If your business has a web site (which it most definitely should), one of your goals should be to optimize your site for search engines. Of course, there are so many optimization techniques available, but today I will only focus on one: Google Local.

Google Local is a service that takes you through an online wizard to add your business to the Google Local directory of businesses. One long-time client asked for assistance on how to become visible in the search engines if someone types in "Yoga in Powell, OH." I referred her to Google Local.

Handy Quotations for your site

Monday, July 02, 2007 11:30 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0

Inspire through quotes.

Everyone likes to inspire others and quotations are no exception to getting the creative juices flowing.

QuotationsBook.com takes a different approach to quotations. According to their site:

Ten Commandments of Small Business Owners

Thursday, June 21, 2007 5:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0

Obey the commandments and you will be successful in your business.

Honor thy customer.
If you didn't have them, where would you be?
Thou shalt never lie.
I've had my share of other businesses lie to me about certain aspects of what they offer and how they do business. This type of behavior seriously reflects on the way your company is perceived.
Thou shalt never be tardy
If you are going to be late to a meeting or something else comes up, call the customer and let them know instead of leaving them hanging.
Thou shalt provide quality over quantity.
The fastest and the most doesn't always mean the best. Allocate your time properly to account for a good product or service.
Thou shalt listen first, then speak.
Understand the overall picture when your client is talking to you. Similar to what people announce at presentations, "We'll take questions AFTER the presentation." Translation: For now, zip the lip!
Thou shalt be open-minded to ideas
My grandfather always told me, "Your mind is like a parachute. It works best when open." The best opportunities are available when you open your eyes and your mind.
Thou shalt take responsibility.
Being a small business owner means taking responsibility for your own actions and especially your employee's actions.
Thou shalt make mistakes.
Make the mistakes, learn from them, and move on. Don't sit and stew over them.
Thou shalt prepare documents.
Whether it be programming documents, networking documents, basic accounting documents, or even contracts, it's work that is absolutely necessary for your business to move forward.
Thou shalt target a market.
If you aren't targeting a market, why are you in business then? It's like you're blindly throwing darts without aiming for a target.

If you are interested in more business lessons that were learned the hard way, make sure you check out the Business Lessons under the Featured Sections.

Open Source Enterprise Solutions on a Budget

Monday, June 18, 2007 11:30 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Open Source | Comments: 0

When building your company, start out with the essentials and work from there.

Open Source software has taken a definite interest with small businesses and off-loads a great amount of stress from the owner in regards to licenses and subscription costs.

Since "open source" and "enterprise" are in the same sentence, don't assume that open source software doesn't have quality characteristics. Open source software powers most small businesses and gives them a sigh of relief when filling a certain business need with little or no cost to the business.

Lunch, Break, and Hour laws you should know

Tuesday, June 12, 2007 5:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 1

Do you know how long you're lunch is supposed to be...legally?

I took a little break last night and found an interesting post over at Legal Andrew called Lunch, Breaks, and Hour laws you should know (Ironic, isn't it?).

The entry describes what an employee is entitled to at their workplace when it comes to lunch, breaks, and general work hour laws.

Speed Links - Jun-11-2007: Small Business

Monday, June 11, 2007 4:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Speed Links | Comments: 0

Quick links for Small Businesses

Donald Trump has been moving towards the Internet for a while now with his Trump University and the newest addition to his netpire is the Marketing Maestro.
Freelance Switch shows how to Use High-Powered Tasks to Transform your productivity.
Small Business owners always want to see how far they can reach out to individuals. Om Malik at GigaOm reports on an Internet study that 53% of US Homes have broadband.
Here I go again with "the Donald". Five ways entrepreneurs can increase their cash flow.
The PowerHomeBiz Small & Home Business Blog shows you a couple ways on how to earn from your e-newsletters. You can probably apply GigaOm's article above to your demographics.

Speed Links - Jun-5-2007: Micro-ISV

Tuesday, June 05, 2007 12:00 PM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Speed Links | Comments: 0

Micro-Independant Software Vendor Speed Link posts.

Top 50 ways to sell more software
An exhaustive list of how to get your software in front of people.
10 Tips for planning your Web Application
General tips, but it always helps to go back to the basics.
Blurb Books a great tool for telling your story
Duct Tape Marketing recently came across a site that takes your words and images and creates hard-bound books. A great sales marketing tool.
Is your business idea the next YouTube or a Jump To Conclusions Mat?
Definitely a reference to Office Space to decide whether you have a great idea or not.
30 ways to promote your web application with little or no money.
Another exhaustive list of ideas on how to let people know that you created a web application.
Cool GTD Applications - The Ultimate Resource List
For you Getting Things Done junkies out there, here is a definitive list of applications to improve your efficiency.
5 Lessons IT Managers should learn from "300"
These lessons would apply to smaller shops as well as enterprise conglomerates.

First Impressions

Monday, May 14, 2007 6:09 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business Lessons | Comments: 0

First impressions are important with your potential customers.

A week ago, we decided to sign up with a lawn care service. The service seemed reasonable and we wanted a nicer lawn so the timing was perfect. I was getting sick of mowing dirt.

Fifteen minutes after the company's representatives left, we received a phone call from the company asking if tomorrow was acceptable for the first scheduled application. We were also told that they need to have access to the yard if its locked up. We do have a gated backyard that's locked up 99% of the time.

Inspiration from Steve Jobs

Tuesday, May 01, 2007 5:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0

Steve Jobs provides 10 golden lessons, but I prefer to call it inspiration.

Apple has been around for a long time and Steve Jobs has likely been a factor in its longevity. Mr. Jobs sparks the imagination and innovation of people inside, and outside, of Apple.

Ririan Project has a great post on the 10 golden lessons from Steve Jobs and is something for everyone to read and digest.