3 Important Business Lessons from US Presidential Campaigns
February 15, 2008
Undeniably, this coming US presidential elections will be one of the most memorable events in modern history. No, this is not one of the many blog posts about political beliefs and self-serving agendas. Rather this is about taking lessons from the world of politics and applying them to running a successful small business.
Find the Right Color for Your Small Business
February 13, 2008
Choosing the right color or color combinations for your small business as well as brand is very crucial. You may find it hard to believe but there are several studies proving the psychological and emotional impact of colors. Sad to say, many entrepreneurs still overlook this seemingly trivial angle.
Marketing is a Habit
February 11, 2008
Consistent marketing is one of the key factors in running a successful small business. Though this is a fairly common advice you get everyday, many entrepreneurs still believe marketing is a quick-fix solution to get things moving.
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MyCanaryWharf.com Site Review
November 22, 2007
This morning as I was browsing around the local “The Docklands” newspaper I came across a full page advert for “Santa’s Arrival” - an event to be help in the Canary Wharf on the 24th of November.
I thought this was an excellent event to take my two daughters and decided to book the tickets online. The advert clearly mentioned the fact that there were only a limited number of seats available and that tickets are on a first come fir served basis. It also mentioned the web site - www.mycanarywharf.com as the pace to visit for the booking.
So I log on to the Canary Wharf web site and my impressions were quite positive. The design is clean and the layout is uncluttered. There is a huge heading on the top that says “MyCanaryWharf Shops & Restaurants” and the top right corner, a logo that says “Urban Style”. I thought that “Urban Style” was like a sponsor or some thing but the logo is hyper-linked to the same place (1).
Anyway, so I start looking for the booking link for the “Santa’s Arrival” event for which Canary Wharf had put out a full page advert. I spent a good two minutes scanning the page but could find no mention of that event. So I started looking for a link to the events section of the web site. The “events” link is called “What’s On” (2). Perhaps it is stylish in quite urban but menu items should be clear and self explanatory. It took me a few milliseconds to realize that “What’s On” might have a list of events. Not much time wasted but for a casual visitor this starts to erode one’s patience.
So I click on the “What’s On” and am greeted by the events page. Nice and simple layout again and I can see a list of events quite clearly. The second entry is for the “Santa’s Arrival” event. So I move my mouse over the heading title so I can click it to get the to the actual page related that event. Amazingly the heading title of each event is not hyper-linked (3). Of course because of nice CSS styling none of the hyperlinks look like hyperlinks but one of the basic rules of usability is to hyperlink heading titles as well as the “more…” links (4).
Anyway, I finally get to the event detail page and find some good information on the actual event (5). However there is not mention of booking tickets, a link to the booking section or even a phone number where one should call to book tickets!
I spent a further 10 minutes trying to find the link to the booking section thinking that perhaps I had missed it some where. Not finding one I promptly send the admin an email outlining this issue. This goes to show that usability issues on a web site (big or small) would really erode confidence on the whole brand itself.
UPDATE: I got a call from Leah, Canary Wharf admin about the email I had sent them. She apologized for the inconvenience and said that reason the link for booking is missing is because the tickets had sold out. I appreciate the fact that she had taken the time to call me back. However perhaps a small note on the web site indicating the same would be much better.
Being an Internet Entrepreneur is not easy
April 27, 2007
Having been an internet entrepreneur for a number of years now, I have come to realize it is not an easy job. Recently, I started having scaling problems in my business. Scaling problems means you are becoming successful. But my accounts speak other wise. I tried in vain to find some one to offer me some advice.
The main problem I see with the current entrepreneurial scenario is the lack of support for entrepreneurs. Yes, there are some business breakfast networking groups etc. But I believe these are al just ways of trying to drum up sales for all the members involved. People come to these meetings trying to market their own services. They are very tight lipped about how they are solving problems in their businesses - starups or established.
There are a few online support groups, forums and blogs. Then again I was dissapointed with the lack of experienced entrepreneurs pitching in and answering questions. Most of the replies to any business problem questions are from inexperienced entrepreneurs who try an pass off themselves as business gurus. These people do more harm than good by passing off half baked and some times down right wrong answers.
