A couple of years ago my wife and I decided to install a pool in our back yard. We asked around among our friends and acquaintances for references of pool installers they knew. After some work we settled on a short list of five installers. We decided to check them out further, initially by looking at their websites to get an idea of the scale of their operations; what projects they had completed and to read their client testimonials. At least that’s what we hoped to do. The reality was very different.

Only two of the pool installers actually had websites and one of these was only one page long – it basically showed their contact details. The other site looked like it had been designed by a primary school student. It was three pages long; had two photos of (very unappealing) pools and no client testimonials. Shaking my head I realised that the selection process was likely to take a lot longer than I had expected.

It shouldn’t be like this. Why make the job of the customer any harder than it needs to be? Why not produce a website that paints an accurate and compelling picture of your business that customers will understand and will help expedite their decision to do business with you?

Nowadays it is common that anyone you meet will check you, or your business, out by “googling” you. We all do it. This might be purely out of interest or for more commercial reasons. Whatever the case, your website is now the public face of your business and how it is presented will reflect on how you are perceived in the market-place.

It is no longer acceptable just to have a website – it must be a good one. Many websites are so inconsequential that it wouldn’t matter if they existed or not. The bad ones will detract from your public face and be a liability to your business. Here are some things to watch out for:

• Websites that were designed 5-10 years ago and haven’t been updated since. They look “ancient” and tired. Many have out date content.  Ten years ago they may have been cutting edge but now they’re just embarrassing.
• Websites that are boring – i.e. content and appearance. If the content puts you to sleep then don’t expect anyone else to read it. Make it interesting.
• One page websites. Get a proper website or don’t have one. The “toe in the water” approach won’t add to your business prospects

Whatever you do avoid the DIY approach to developing your website. There’s a good reason that graphic designers go to design school. Use these experts to help you. It doesn’t need to be expensive. However, consider it an investment in your business, not a cost. Spend a few bucks to get it done properly and then continue to invest in it regularly to keep it fresh and contemporary.

Don’t be like the pool guys. Make your web presence fresh, modern and compelling. If you make it easier for customers to do business with you, they just might.

** To learn more about where the image of Billy leads you, click www.booneoakley.com for a creative view of YouTube and website development.

Fast COmpany have created an article highting 6 really cool tips for creating an engaging brand. “You never see a logo by itself,” says Yang Kim. Instead,  it’s usually part of an overall brand that when well-executed takes into account everything from self- and outward perception to media landscape. For their new book, Kim and Budelmann culled their top 100 picks from 3,000 submissions of recent work around the world.

Here is our favourite of the 6, for the full list head over to Fast Company:

Logo Flexibility: Can you have a constant logo that is still recognizable but also for its variety? Absolute Vodka perhaps? And also, Kapulica Studio. The K is constant but the treatment of it ranges form rigid to flexible – making variety also part of its graphic identity.

To see all 6 steps, click here.

A BATHING APE are creating a special pop-up store alongside fishing brand DAIWA. The collaboration will come to life on July 24th, as both companies officially open the retail spot  dubbed 144H, for the amount of hours it will remain open to the public. Featured product include fishing supplies, outdoor goods, and fishing apparel. Further information on the opening is available here.

When you break business down to its fundamentals it is actually a simple concept. Basically, you need to have a product or service that solves a market problem,  that you can sell in large enough quantities and at high enough prices to earn an acceptable return on investment for the owners of the business.

It sounds straightforward doesn’t it and if markets were static it would be. Unfortunately, markets are evolving and changing rapidly with new competitors entering and leaving and customers expectations becoming more sophisticated every day. In the midst of this flux managers need to make sense of where their businesses are positioned; where the greatest opportunities and risks are and what they should do next.

Understanding which levers to pull is a critical first step. To comprehend this it is important to recognise that there are only three ways that a business can make more money:

This should not be a ground breaking revelation and neither is the fact that if you improve all three at the same time, you should make a lot more money. The problem comes in organising what to do and how to do it. A process that I have used in the past is to attempt to write down 50 things that would improve a company’s sales. Can you do it for your business?  Stretch yourself by adding 25 ways to improve margins and 25 ways to reduce costs? Try completing this exercise. Allow yourself enough time to do it and involve as many people as you need to.

100 answers might seem like a lot. It is. That’s the point of the exercise. Take your time and don’t stop until you have the lists completed.Don’t short-change yourself – 100 is the target. Maybe 10-15 answers might be worth pursuing, but you won’t know that until you’ve done the full 100. Allow your mind to roam freely and don’t exclude any outlandish items. Once the list is completed, sort and prioritise them into an order based on the greatest possible impact in the shortest possible time. Then pick out the top three priority items from each list and figure out how to action them immediately. The balance of the list should be reviewed regularly and a plan to implement any suitable ideas completed.

Doing this exercise allows you to identify most, if not all, of the relevant improvement opportunities in your business. It is a lot of work and you’ll need to allocate a good chunk of time to get it done. It is, however, one of the most powerful ways to understand your business at a very deep level. Spending the time to do it properly every year will uncover previously hidden gems of opportunities that otherwise may have been missed. Pulling the right levers then becomes a lot easier…

Image via The Denver Post in an Amazing Series of New York City from the Sky that should not be missed. Our top 5 are profiles. Click here to view the complete series of 60.

Tammy Camp has produced a detailed look at the State of Online. A few pop up such as Myspace and Facebook being a more powerful or chosen platform for uploading video content. Only 7% of users pay for online content and the major demographic sits between 14 and 29.

What are your thoughts?

Source | Tammy Camp

Inside most modern companies, strategic innovation is still being approached from fragmented departments in covert labs with almost zero consideration for the end consumer.

Whilst this is changing, there is still an imbalance in the approach for companies and leaders in relation to innovation strategy.

Running a think tank for a business in Sydney last week, the idea of creating a collaborative approach to innovation came as a surprise to both the CEO the strategic team.

Fragmented approaches to innovation breaks down the very foundation in which you are setting out to establish in the first instance.  For innovation to work, it relies on collaboration and lateral thinking as the best ideas are almost always discovered in the most unexpected places. Business leaders need to create a culture, which captures these insights and constant surprises for the business to develop an innovation culture.

It seems business leaders often miss the point in innovation planning and forget to bring the end user into consideration. The end user is critical to an effective business model.

This however can only be created through collaborative approaches. Creating pipelines to leverage the way in which we engage with the consumers to create en-encompassing approach to strategy. After all, the best ideas come from the most mysterious of places. Or, more specifically, they come from your consumers.

Companies need to start to adopt social and collaborative methods in growing their business. The importance of creating and involving diverse and eclectic network of consumers into your planning and ideation sessions are critical.

Direct communication with consumers will soon become the norm. If it isn’t already!

In the future, innovation will be a collective of ideas creating a house or portfolio of innovation rather than a particular big idea. Businesses need to tap into the minds of the consumer more so than the minds of a stale bard of directors as as a stage 1 focus.

image | Upperkut

Economists believe we are currently in the worst global economic times of the past 70 years. World growth rates are low or negative and unemployment has increased significantly. Some sectors have been hit harder than most with massive job losses in the finance and manufacturing sectors. The once-revered USA car makers have been fighting for their lives and some financial institutions have failed.

This has resulted in a large population of displaced workers, including many professionals. Most of these people have enjoyed uninterrupted employment until now. It is a new, frightening experience for some people especially if they have mortgages and other debts to service.

The longer someone is unemployed the more depressed and helpless they may feel about their circumstances. They may begin to doubt their abilities and their general demeanour may be affected. This may become obvious to potential employers and make it even more difficult for them to find work.

Anybody in this situation should have a set of coping strategies to deal with this period of their lives. No doubt this time will pass. However, the better planned and structured the person is the more they will take away from this experience. Here are some suggested coping strategies to turn this time into a positive adventure:

• Associate with positive people who are making forward progress with their careers and lives. While it may be more comfortable to hang around with other displaced workers this may not actually help you move forward.
• Get fit by establishing a regular fitness regime. Exercise is great source of positive stress. Not only will you look and feel better but you’ll also be able to think more clearly.
• Build your profile. Use this time to raise your profile to that of an expert by writing a book, article(s) or blog. This will repay itself many times over.
• Volunteer. Rather than sitting at home volunteer for a non-profit organisation and get involved in some part of their business. These organisations are crying out for help and by contributing it will raise your self-esteem.
• Family Time. Allocate more time with your family to do fun things. Treat this time as a gift, not as a burden. This time is priceless.
• Set a work plan. Each week write down what you want to achieve for that week – i.e. 2 job interviews, write an article, network with 5 people etc. Hold yourself accountable for achieving this plan.
• Contemplate your navel. Figure out what excites and interests you. Investigate a career or lifestyle change, if that’s what turns you on.
• Look for inspiration and motivation everywhere. Read motivational books; watch motivational movies; attend motivational events etc. Anything that will help to move you forward is a good thing.

There is no point in sitting around waiting for things to happen. They won’t. Get out there and make it happen. Have a plan and work it hard. Create and build your own momentum. There are lots of opportunities out there even in challenging times. You just have to hunt them down.

OK, ignoring the painful soundtrack for a brief moment, The Honest Tea campaign is a good idea and a lot of fun. The company makes the claim social responsibility is central to Honest Tea’s identity and purpose. Nice to see 96% of Boston locals are supportive of the honest approach. Lets hope the cool kids who swiped a few bottles get to see this.

Via Alice Telford on Facebook

A new sub culture has silently wheeled onto the London bike scene. Eco-friendly cyclists have reclaimed the car-heavy city for their own and now, they have even got their own coffee shops.

Look Mum No Hands! is one such bike-loving institution, a hybrid mix of coffee shop, bike workshop, café, bar and cinema. Cyclists are welcome to jump off the saddle, rest, refuel, have their bike mended whilst they watch live Grand Tour screenings.

A haven for lycra enthusiasts, this cool and comfy garage café boasts an array of features that any amateur cyclist or even hardened pedestrian would enjoy too—a well stocked bar of Belgian beers, wines and juices, outside tables, a light and airy interior and tasty home-cooked food (try the cassoulet). Also in the pipeline are film evenings, exhibitions, an accident legal advice service, free safety checks, competitions and book launches.

http://www.lookmumnohands.com/

via London Unlike

The TED Fellows program continues to empower visionary makers and doers from around the world (with a specific focus on Asia-Pacific, the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East). With 23 new TED Global Fellows, who join 20 exceptional Senior Fellows. The fellows span a wide spectrum of disciplines—from photojournalism to biotechnology to digital choreography. —and makes for a promising Petri dish of creative cross-pollination.

The 2010 TED Global speaker lineup includes fifty remarkable speakers and performers—from neuroscientist Sebastian Seung to musician Annie Lennox to humanitarian design advocate Emily Pilloton to web personality Ze Frank. The new talks will be conducted between July 12 and July 16.

The pick of peeps to follow on twitter to keep up to date with TED Global, complete with speaker soundbites and stage photos, follow @brainpicker or visit www.ted.com.

This is a great infographic that looks closely at the changes in prices heading south since 2000. Sourced via Mint, the graph indicates what lies behind many of the prices are business strategies: Starbucks, for example, has made it’s basic coffee cheaper on the theory that it’s better to bring more people through the doors, so that they might purchase higher margin items. In recessionary times, lower prices are often the best tool that businesses have to fight off ugly sales results.

In Australia, we are all too familiar with the Banana shortages in 2001 sending prices sky high however this graph has been created considering the US economies. Interesting take aways for us however not surprising is the Music CD, Levi’s and domestic travel.

Via Mint