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DCS-Media provides reviews, techniques, technologies, programming and design tips to help you conduct not just business, but smart business.
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:
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:
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!
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.
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.
What Silicon Valley could learn from Columbus, Ohio
Friday, May 25, 2007 7:00 AM
Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0
Man, I love this town!
Wil Schroter's BIGGER Blog posted an article about what Silicon Valley could learn from Columbus, OH.
His post goes on to say that Silicon Valley is almost blinded by the startups and technology and how the companies who build these services do not consider what a customer is or does outside of Silicon Valley. They only care about what is happening inside of Silicon Valley.
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.
Google Apps for your domain (for your office)
Thursday, February 22, 2007 1:00 PM
Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0
Google Apps for your domain has gone premium for businesses.
Wow. Where do I start with this news since I've seen it here, here, here, here, here...oh...and here.
I am happy that Google Apps are moving towards a business model, but even happier that they are pursuing a MS Office mentality. Collaboration is what businesses need, but with the proper security enabled. I have noticed a couple URL's with Google that are missing the "https" at the beginning.
Small Business Briefs
Wednesday, February 21, 2007 7:00 AM
Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0
A collection of newsworthy articles for the busy entrepreneur.
Every entrepreneur will experience growth of their business, whether it be gradual growth or 90 degree-angle growth. If you are a Micro-ISV and are growing by leaps and bounds, keep in mind you may have a team atmosphere as opposed to a single person company. Mr. Cornwall at The Entrepreneurial Mind discusses how to handle a transition from Entrepreneur to Team and knowing the differences between the two.
If you are an entrepreneur of your own company and have a product in the market, you may be providing your own support line. Joel Spolsky from Joel on Software discusses seven steps to remarkable customer service. The stories Mr. Spolsky talks about pertains to most Micro-ISV developers and shows a great deal of experience in learning how to cope with customers.
Small Business News Briefs - January 29th, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007 5:00 PM
Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0
Here are the Small Business Briefs for the week.
Duct Tape Marketing
This week, congratulations to John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing. He released his first book appropriately called Duct Tape Marketing
The book creates a roadmap for charting your small business into marketing waters. I've got a copy on the way and I'm definitely looking forward to reading it.
The Beginner's Guide to Web Design Contracts
Wednesday, January 24, 2007 8:00 AM
Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0
Web Design contracts are a very important part of your career as a freelance web designer. It protects you...and your client.
A company emails you and says, "Based on the proposal you created, we want to move forward with the site. Could you please write up a contract for us?" Now what?
Contracts are not only for the client's protection, but for yours as well. According to Wikipedia, the definition of a contract is as follows:
Small Business News Briefs - January 15, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007 2:00 PM
Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0
Inventors seem to be getting a lot of attention lately. Here are some news briefs to push you more into developing a product.
Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Evening (It's evening somewhere, right?)
Everyone should already know about the acquisition of eBay buying StubHub ("Where fans buy and sell tickets"), but I'll just make a mention of it here. It's a great stepping stone for eBay and as the article suggests, "It's a natural transition for eBay."
11 Tips for Time Management in a Web Worker World
Wednesday, December 13, 2006 5:00 AM
Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0
Interested in managing your time better? These 11 steps from Web Worker Daily will assist.
I've found myself running rampant sometimes trying to complete projects by a certain deadline. If web developers can't find the time to manage their time appropriately, then when will you make the time?
Web Worker Daily posted an article on the 11 Tips for Time Management in a Web Worker World. These tips are key in your daily work schedule. As a matter of fact, 3 of the 11 list email and browser management. Email and surfing can be time consuming. :-)
Collection: Pricing your products
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 2:00 PM
Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0
Here are some alternative ways of pricing your product with links.
Ok.
Are we all in agreement that there are no silver bullets in determining how to price a product?
10 Tips when you have a Brilliant Idea
Thursday, October 05, 2006 6:30 AM
Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0
Got a great idea? Here's how to act and make sure you benefit from it immediately.
How many of you have had a great idea, but never acted on it?
PowerHomeBiz Small and Home Business Blog has posted an excerpt from a book called Your Little Legal Companion: Helpful Advice for Life's Big Events.
Competitive Analysis
Tuesday, October 03, 2006 6:00 AM
Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 0
An excellent article series for comparing your product to your competition.
If you have a product, one of the more vital business tools is the competitive analysis. This analysis compares your product to others in the market and shows strengths and weaknesses.
Dan Brown on Digital Web Magazine has a two-part series of how to conduct a competitive analysis (Part 2) and talks about the different layers of the analysis, which provides better products overall.
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