Recent Work: Downey Potato Farms

Today we launched the new site for Downey Potato Farms.

As a family run company with long-standing community ties, I wanted the site to be a fitting complement. A clean, classy look was the result.

Recent Work: Shelburne Public Library

We recently went live with Shelburne Public Library's new website. Larger than my typical project, I was happy to take on the challenge of delivering a website the members could be proud of.

A big thanks goes to the talented library staff, who worked diligently developing content for the site.

While I love to pat myself on the back, in this instance I'll defer to my client...

Mike,

Many thanks for your excellent work. I look forward to our ongoing relationship with Shelburne Public Library.

Sincerely,

Rose Dotten
CEO
Shelburne Public Library

I couldn't have said it better myself ;)

Recent Work: SIL Program

This week I completed work on silprogram.com.

This site represents my specialty: smaller, direct sites with a clear goal and purpose. Kind of the 'everything you need, nothing you don't' approach.

The program helps underprivileged youth transition from group homes (and similar arrangements) to independent living. I like the way the site delivers all the vital information in a clean, concise fashion.

Recent Work: Tracy Gustafson, CA

Tracy contacted me looking for a simple website to help promote her accounting practice. Nothing flashy, just the vitals: what she does and how to contact her.

Good guidelines for any site. Don't try to wow your visitors, just give them the information they need.

The end result is a clean, functional design that fit well within her budget.

Think Inside the Box

I hate when people ask me to 'think outside the box'. What they're really saying is:

"I have no idea what I want, but I want it to be creative and original and awesome."

While creative and original are great, they're not necessarily required to be effective. In fact, it's usually better to ensure there's good stuff inside the box.

This means...

• Having a clear, focused message
• Writing in a tone that respects the intelligence of your audience
  
• Ensuring the piece is free of spelling and grammatical errors

Truly creative ideas are rare. Sound writing and clean design should be your goal. Like building a house: make sure the foundation is solid before picking out your blinds.

Recent Work: Stayner Lions Club

Each summer the Lions Club of Stayner, Ontario hosts a Summer Dance. Along with the usual array of music, food and beverage, each participant has a chance to win a customized classic truck.

This event is a major fundraiser for the group and they make smart use of their website to provide the important details.

Marketing Tip:

A website is inexpensive to maintain and can easily be revised. Let it become the foundation of your marketing efforts and direct people online through other advertising venues.

Recent Work: J. Corsi Developments

I recently completed a new website for J. Corsi Developments.

The company had updated some of their marketing material and wanted the website to reflect the new look. The end result was a simple, clean design - exactly what the client was looking for.

Recent Work: NOAFEM

I recently worked with Northern Ontario Agri-Food Education & Marketing on their new website.

The two primary goals were:

1. Setup a way for them to post news and events
2. Update the look and feel

I came up with a clean, stylish design and used Blogger to establish an easy-to-update News & Events section.

In Plain 'Anglais'

Last week I was trying to find the website of a small Canadian insurance company. My Google search proved useful but, in my haste, I clicked on the entry for the French version of the website.

No problem. Canada being a country with two official languages (French & English - just in case) I knew there would likely be a link to the English version somewhere in plain view.

And I was right...sort of.

The link was in plain view; in the top right corner of the screen where I expect it to be. The only problem was instead of the link to the English version of the site being in English (too easy I suppose), the link was in French. Hmmm.

Now, if you're trying to direct someone who only speaks English to the English version of your website - so you can sell them products and services and make money - wouldn't it stand to reason you would put those directions in English.

Just a thought.

Recent Work: Doney Funeral Home

I recently worked with Doney Funeral Home to design their new website. The goal was to give it a simple, classic look.

One of the primary tasks was to develop a Visitations/Current Arrangements section that the staff could update on their own. I used Blogger and some customized design work to give them exactly that.
 

Email Marketing Guidelines

I don't believe there's a better marketing tool for small businesses than email. With minimal costs, the return on investment (ROI) from an email marketing campaign is typically substantial.

That said, there's a right way and wrong way to do it. Here's a few tips to do it right.

Have a clean mailing list
Don't send to anyone who isn't a) a past/present customer or b) a friend/relative. Emailing strangers is no better than those telemarketers who call every night at dinner time.

Let people off the hook
Give recipients the option to remove themselves from your mailing list. Put a note at the bottom of your email that says, "If you'd like to be removed from our mailing list simply reply with REMOVE in the subject line." Make sure to excuse these people from future mailings.

Use the BCC field
When sending a mass email, place all recipients in the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) field. Placing 200 email addresses in the To field for everyone to see is bad etiquette and disrespects the privacy of your list members.

Give them something useful
Beef-up your email campaign with useful tips and information your list members will appreciate. Or include a coupon or discount code. These kind of things help to build trust and like-ability.

For more email marketing tips and guidelines click here.

 

Where's your cheese?

Change can be tough to deal with. We get comfortable in our situation and resist alternative paths or destinations.

I recently finished reading Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson. The story clearly conveys the importance of embracing change and not being afraid to fail. Change is inevitable - those who can accept it and move on will always be ahead of the game.

A very short, but impactful read.

To purchase this book visit my store at Amazon.ca (Canada) or Amazon.com (US).

 

The Laws of Simplicity

I'm a firm believer in keeping things simple. Complexity requires careful thought, something we seem to rarely have time for these days.

However 'simple' shouldn't be synonymous with 'crappy' so here's some guidelines to help you do simplicity right:

The 10 Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda.

 

Three zero's...

An accountant once told me: "The only difference between a $20,000 business and a $20 million dollar business is three zero's.

He's absolutely right.

Factoring out the specific needs of your industry, most businesses are the same. We all have customers to manage, bills to pay, invoices to collect, office equipment to fix, employees to keep, contractors to oversee, etc...

So what you ask?

The point is: Every business owner has to handle these 'boring' tasks in the course of running his/her business.

The lesson is: Find a way to minimize the time you spend doing these things and maximize the time you spend delivering value. Have a bookkeeper come in on Fridays and use those days to take important customers, suppliers and employees out for lunch.

Little things like this can set you apart from the competition.

 

Bad Timing?

I'm involved with a company that recently launched their flagship product after 3+ years of development.

Can anyone say bad timing?

That said, there are lessons to be learned from starting a business in tough economic times:

1. Stay Lean. Avoiding unnecessary overhead allows you to keep the doors open even when sales are down.
   


2. Reduce costs. Landlords and suppliers are likely in the same position as you. They might be willing to offer better prices in order to keep your business.


3. Look for opportunities. When we're busy, we seldom take time to explore opportunities. Take advantage of the slow times to find potential in new markets.

The good thing about starting a business in a recession is it forces you to be vigilant from day one. When money's flowing in there is little time or incentive to take a microscope to every aspect of our business. In times like these, we have to.

A good reference on managing a business in uncertain times is The credit crunch: a practical guide by Grant Thornton, LLP. Worth a look.

 

Take it from Einstein

One of my favourite quotes comes from Albert Einstein:

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

I honestly believe this should be hammered into us from our first day on Earth. The best things in life are the simplest things. Nothing has ever been improved by increasing it's complexity.

In terms of business communications, simplicity and clarity should be the primary goal.

Get Real...

I'm always happy to see signs of a common sense revolution taking place. The movement towards getting back to basics and keeping things simple is one I endorse wholeheartedly.

One company who also believes in this movement is Chicago-based software developer 37signals. So much so, they wrote a book on it. Getting Real is about just that - focusing on the important stuff and not wasting time on b.s.

As someone who abhors meetings, I love this excerpt from a chapter entitled 'Meetings Are Toxic':

There's nothing more toxic to productivity than a meeting...They often contain at least one moron that inevitably gets his turn to waste everyone's time with nonsense

So true. While the book generally espouses wisdom from their experience as software developers, most of the ideas in this book can be applied to any business.

Don't Make Me Wait

I hate getting to a website and having to for 10 seconds before I can see any of the information I'm looking for.

And why do I have to wait?

Because the company thinks it's important I revel in the $10,000 animation they overpaid for. It's not a movie intro, it's the homepage of your website. I'm not going there to be entertained, I'm going there to find out:

a) If you have the product/service I'm looking for
b) How to contact you so I can give you money

Stick to the basics - let me know what you do and how I can contact you. Save the animations for Hollywood.

If you own a business, read this...

I just finished reading an eBook entitled 'Your Business Brickyard' (1.5MB PDF).

Simply put, the book focuses on a back to basics approach that will make your business easier and more fun to run. It's common-sense stuff, but as you know 'common sense isn't so common'.

It's 33 pages, only takes about an hour to read, and it's free!

Recent Work: TMA Net

I recently completed a website for a Virginia-based telecom consulting firm TMA Net. As with most of my sites, I kept it simple and clean.

I developed a simple layout based on the logo and content provided by the client.

Design Tip:

The visual quality of a website hinges to a large degree on the quality of your corporate identity (logo and colour scheme). It's basically the foundation of all marketing material you produce.

My advice: Have your logo designed by a professional graphic designer and be willing to spend a little more for one with a solid portfolio. It's a one time fee and worth every penny.

The greatest story ever told...

OK, maybe not. But I just finished reading the Joy of Not Working by by Ernie J. Zelinski and it turned out to be a real eye opener.

The book proposes that we've become such a work-focused society, we've lost the ability to truly enjoy our leisure time. The goal is to help us rediscover the value of not working. As someone who always believed in 'working to live', I found this book to be a great reinforcement.

If you're interested in stepping out of the rat-race, this is fun read which is sure to make you think.

Purchase this book from: Amazon.com (USA) or Amazon.ca (Canada)

Let it go...

One of the best pieces of business/life advice I ever received came from a "Learning to Sell" class I took when I first started my own company. The lesson was this:

Let go of the outcome

Simply put - don't focus on the end result, focus on the process. Be courageous enough to ask for the business, without worry about hearing 'NO'. If that happens, so what, you move on to the next customer.

This nugget of wisdom applies to other areas of life as well. Often we play out scenarios in our head and bring them to a negative conclusion. Let the conclusions be what they are, and put your energy into getting there.

What's a Business Communications Specialist?

Simply put: I help you communicate with the people who are important to your business. This usually means customers, but it can also mean employees, suppliers, banks, shareholders - you get the idea.

Over the past 10 years, I've done stuff like:

• Handle employee communications for one of Canada's largest telecom companies (think red).
  
• Designed dozens of websites for small/medium sized business across North America
  
• Written business plans and proposals which have helped clients secure over $500,000 in financing and contract revenue
  

In short, whatever your communication goal, I can design a solution that fits your business...and your budget.

Contact me today to get started: 705.241.1902 or mike@mtasso.com.

Custom PowerPoint Portfolio

Custom PowerPoint presentations can add clarity and bit of flare to your next speaking engagement. Here are a few samples...

Azion LLC

Est-El Developments

Tidewatch Consulting

Prosperi Co. Ltd.

Website Portfolio

Here a sampling of some of the websites I've designed. If you're interested in a new website, my design packages are affordable and include domain name (ie. yourcompany.com) and hosting.

38 Gourmet
AdvancedChill
Auto Centre Dufferin
Azion, LLC
Colorado Training Associates
Denise Downey: Homeopathic Doctor
Doney Funeral Home
Downey Potato Farms
Est-El Developments
HICO Bookkeeping
Hollyhawk Foster Care
Innisvale Cemetery & Crematorium
J. Corsi Developments
LanternaGroup
NOAFEM
Shelburne Public Library
SIL Program
Stayner Lions Club
TDM Innovations
TMA Net Inc.
Tracy Gustafson, CA