Solid Foundations For The Ideal Business

Yesterday I had the sheer pleasure of attending a presentation by James McNamara of the Impact Factory, at the Brisbane Business Growth Session.

I have to say, James’ presentation on How to Have a Life and a Successful Business was awesome! He shared so much valuable information, including several simple strategies to ensure that your business is built on strong foundations.

If you ever have the opportunity to hear James speak I urge you to take it. In the meantime, visit the Impact Factory website to read James’ 7 Proven Principles of Business Success.

Here’s to your success in business,

Donna-Marie

What Difference Does A Font Make?

Three people this week have asked my opinion on what font is best for a particular project so I thought I would share some of the basics of fonts with you – which type to use when.

Very generally, for documents that will be read from a printed medium – flyer, magazine, newspaper – a serif font such as Times New Roman, Courier or Georgia is best. Serif fonts are the ones where each letter has little ‘feet’.

For documents that are more likely to be read on a computer – websites, ebooks, blogs, emails – sans serif (without feet) fonts such as Arial, Verdana and Tahoma are the best. Serif fonts on a computer screen can tend to look a little blurry and people with less than perfect eyesight may have trouble reading them.

Of course, sometimes you will want a specific font that matches your style, brand and image. Generally, cursive fonts such as Monotype Corsiva will be considered elegant; handwriting fonts such as Kristen or Lucida Handwriting give a fun, child-like feel; fonts that lean to the right imply something that is fast or energetic; Comic Sans is something more relaxed or fun; strong bold fonts such as Impact or Broadway imply… well, bold or impacting.

There are no hard and fast rules but these are more general guidelines that seem to be universally accepted.

Here’s to your success in business…

Donna-Marie

What Can We Learn From The Founder Of Mrs. Fields Cookies?

“The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it.”

Debbi Fields
Founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies

Another Favourite Business Book

Over the weekend I decided to re-read one of my favourite business books – an oldie but a goodie, The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About it by Michael Gerber.

I must admit, this is one of those books that I don’t think I will ever tire of reading. It contains so many good ideas that I make a point of going over it every year or so.

In The E-Myth Revisited Michael explains that there are fundamentally three different ‘hats’ that a business owner will wear – the Entrepreneur, the Manager and the Technician. In other words, the business owner – the person who has all the ideas and sees the big picture; the business manager – the one who implements the ideas and sees that everything is running smoothly; and the mechanic who makes the products or provides the services.

As new business owners we often try to fill all three roles ourselves, but in reality we’re not doing ourselves or our business dreams any justice in doing this. We need to determine which of the three roles we are best suited to and then source partners, staff, contractors… others who can help fill the other two roles. Often it is necessary for a start-up micro-business to fill all of these roles initially however it’s a good idea to do so with a plan in place to fill the other roles as you are able to.

This book also talks about the importance of having systems in place so your business runs like a well-oiled machine and he outlines ways to help develop your venture into a turn-key business.

There are other topics mentioned in this book such as the various stages of business growth, however the two points mentioned above would have to be the main points that I have taken from The E-Myth Revisited.

In case you hadn’t already figured, The E-Myth Revisited is a book that I highly recommend every business owner or prospective business owner read at least once.

Not everyone will want their business to operate like Michael Gerber’s suggested model but it’s certainly worthwhile knowing this information.

Here’s to your success in business…

Donna-Marie

The Value Of Using Powerful Words

There is a great post on the Write Powerful Resumes blog about using powerful words  to bring your resume to life.

The example given is excellent:

“There is nothing worse than saying:

– Achieved strong results due to strong ability to assess situations and utilise strong relationship skills.

Even though only two words have been changed, look at how much more powerful and interesting this next sentence is.

– Achieved outstanding results due to innate ability to assess situations and utilise strong relationship skills.”

These tips are not only useful when writing resumes but are also valuable across all types of writing. Within my business I use my thesaurus often. I also have a ‘swipe file’ of suggestions for alternate words and phrases.

It’s amazing how simply changing a few words here and there can make such a huge improvement to the quality of the text.

Here’s to your success in business…

Donna-Marie

How To Have A Lifestyle In Business

Would you like to discover how to have a lifestyle in business?

What if there was a recipe for having a lifestyle in business… a step by step way to increase your profits and the outcome was enjoying a lifestyle with an abundance of time and money? There is such a recipe, which has virtually been a secret until now. A few have discovered it, and those who have are enjoying astounding time and money benefits.

James McNamara, founder of Impact Factory, will be sharing 5 Ways To Build Your Profits And Free Up Your Time at the Business Growth Session in Brisbane, Australia, on July 30th.

James McNamara

Full details are available here – bookings are essential. If you are in Brisbane, I hope you can join us.

Here’s to your success in business…

Donna-Marie

Are All Business Mums This Helpful?

The Business Mums Network is holding their second annual Business Mums Conference in Melbourne, Australia, this weekend – July 12th and 13th. In a wonderful gesture of generosity and appreciation for what she gained from last year’s conference, Kylie Short from Tilda Virtual Services (and Business Mums member) kindly offered a Big Girls Boots Scholarship for someone deserving to attend the conference.

In a similarly generous statement, Lucie Battaini from MultimediART also paid another member to help her to be able to attend this weekend’s conference.

I think these two ladies have demonstrated wonderful acts of generosity and I know the recipients of their gifts are incredibly grateful.

In another act of generosity, I checked my mail today to discover a lovely gift – a bottle of wine from Mandy Stevens of Direct Digital. This was a ‘thank you’ gift for something I helped Mandy with last week – something that was very simple for me to do and really didn’t require any form of payment or thanks. Receiving the gift has really made my day (and will be very much enjoyed!) – THANK YOU! And yes, Mandy is also a Business Mum.

Here’s to your success in business,

Donna-Marie

Business Networking In Brisbane’s Bayside

Many of you who live in Brisbane, Australia, know about the Business Coffee & Chat Mornings and Business Growth Sessions I organise on the north side of Brisbane.

Due to popular request we now have a bayside Coffee & Chat Morning too. Full details can be found on the website. We meet at Victoria Point on the second Tuesday of each month and at Everton Park on the second Wednesday of each month.

If you’re in Brisbane and have a small business or are thinking of starting a business, why not join us? This is a great way to associate with other local business owners, forming lasting alliances and a strong support network. If you work from home, this is a great way to get out of the house and meet other like-minded people.

Here’s to your success in business,

Donna-Marie