9 Things your website needs to be functional and worth the money you spent.

A well designed web site is the platform that allows you to engage with potential customers. It is a brilliant marketing platform that promotes your brand, driving the growth of your company. Nothing new here! But, get the content and planning wrong and you’ll be disappointed at its performance. Here are 9 pointers that your web designer will be looking at when preparing your website.

1. Clear Navigation.
It goes without saying that your navigation needs to be easy to understand, clear and easy to find…

In a previous blog I was quite emphatic about how the images on your website look, going so far as to say that you cannot upload self made images. That you really do need to have professionally taken images for you web page. I stand by that, but, lets be honest, most small businesses cannot afford to have new images taken for each upload.

So, here I am going to attempt to give you some guidelines so that you can get really pleasing results for future images.

First up: Which camera?
Most of us use our cell phones for taking images…

Hey fellow entrepreneurs, I’m back in conversation with Paolo from Studio Rigo. Today we’re talking time management and money.

“Time is money” is a very old cliché, but it’s still true. If you waste time, you waste money and add major stress to your busy life. Most successful entrepreneurs work incredibly long hours. There are some people, though, who manage to accomplish so much more than the rest of us — and in less time. So, Paolo, what’s their secret?

Jacci, It’s simple, they are relentless delegators. They let go of all the things they know they don’t need to…

You need a website. Seven steps to get you there.

“A successful website does three things:
It attracts the right kinds of visitors. Guides them to the main services or product you offer. Collects contact details for future ongoing relations.”
– Mohamed Saad

Now that you have gotten a good understanding of your client base, decided on a logo, written that business plan (you did, didn’t you? Link) its time to look at your website. It’s time to decide if you want to have a big bold shop front or to remain your towns hidden gem and biggest secret.

Why…

Simplifying the business plan — so that you don’t run in fear!

This week we will be looking at creating a basic business plan for your business — and once again we are in conversation with Paolo Rigo fro Studio Rigo Tax & Accounting.

I have added an info graphic to explain it in a simple way. (Link at end)

Paolo, to get started, can you explain to us what is a business plan?

A business plan is a written statement that describes and analyzes your business’ objectives, how you will achieve them as well as giving opportunity for detailed…

“Customer Delight vs. Customer Satisfaction
Customer delight is the process of surpassing customers’ expectations to build a long term, positive experience around your product or service and brand. Customer satisfaction happens when you simply meet customers’ expectations.” (1)

Now that we have a better idea of who our clients are, we need to do some market research. What is Market Research? It is the means to meet your clients where they are. In a world that is increasingly going online and therefore creating huge opportunity that is not geographically bound to the area or country that your business is in…

Creating a visual pathway to understanding your client base.

If you have been following my blog you will see I did a inspiration board with you at the end of February. I love the way that they enable us to order our thoughts and get a visual grasp on what we are working on. So I thought it would be a great place to start our conversation about your tribe — the people who will make your business a success.

As an entrepreneur it is vitally important to know who your client will be. It basically determines the way you…

How to become a freelancer in Italy.

I cannot believe it is already March! Getting your logo designed, figuring out who your clients are and building a website are the fun things to get done when you are starting a business. The next step is making sure that the financial side of the business is all correctly set up. In Italy it is important to get it professionally done because believe me there is no easy option.This month I am going to be having a conversation with Paolo from Studio Rigo — Tax and Accounting.

As Paolo says it is…