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Archive for the ‘Work Burst Tips’ Category

Why are some Droid applications hitting the ball out of the park?

On February 18, 2012   /   Work Burst Tips   /   Leave a comment

Since I’m working on a client’s project to create an app for the Droid, I am also reminding myself of the critical points to assess and put into the application. I reviewed a few articles online I thought you might find useful and basic.

Signs of a Great User Experience, on ReadWriteWeb.com, here, talks about the success of some marketing products like Fire compared to similar projects. He reminds us that the user rules, and everything needs to be geared towards making what you’re doing the most fantastic user experience you can find! How does your site change the user from that point on? Now, that’s good question to ask!

Some of the most downloaded applications on the Android Market, are Read the Full Article . . . →

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Don’t be mediocre. Brand well.

On February 10, 2012   /   Work Burst Tips   /   Leave a comment

Branding is the buzz word for the personality you develop to intentionally connect people’s thoughts and feelings with your product. Branding well synthesizes multiple factors from “your purpose” to “your audience” to “what do you want your audience to do.”

A smartly branded website carefully selects everything from color to navigation to design style to locations of interaction to give a perception about who you are and whether you should be trusted.

Put People Burst on your team for a smart website development with the right branding.

                Get Started Now.

I wanted to show you a few examples of great websites which communicate very differently. Which approach to branding fits your purpose and feel?

Matt Mullenwag, founding developer of WordPress: This is his personal site.

screenshot of Matt's site

Playful, colorful and personal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wall Street Journal, all business and information.

 

Wall Street Journal screenshot

Grid like pattern using colors to focus on reading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charles “Chip” Marshall, an author’s epic story feel brand.

screenshot of charleschipmarshall.com

Splash page, bold colors (epic feel), immediacy of content like picking up a book to browse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pinterest, to intersect social sharing with keeping your favorite things in one place. Read the Full Article . . . →

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Submit Your Best 60 Second Business Description: Learn from Others!

On February 8, 2012   /   Work Burst Tips   /   Leave a comment

A few days ago I gave you a challenge and template for writing your best “Tell someone in 60 seconds who you are!” piece.

zooming off in toy car Today, I invite you to submit what you wrote. In March, I’ll post them, and you can get ideas from others as you read what others wrote.

It’s time to be entrepreneurial folks! Put on your thinking caps, pull out your pens … on your mark, get set, GO!

Read the Full Article . . . →

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#1 – Get Rid of the Coffee & Still Be Productive Today!

On February 7, 2012   /   Work Burst Tips   /   Leave a comment

caped man  No, this is not a post about the ill-effects of a coffee driven life! This is about producing in high gear, effectively and long-term.

What good is your business, if you don’t produce? Aren’t there days you roll out of bed in the morning and think “I need a vacation?” Or perhaps this is the day you need about 5 more cups of coffee before you’re ready to hit the ground running with a sales call or networking opportunity?

If you haven’t met David Seah, you should. He’s pretty open about how he attacks a process – so that he’ll keep moving ahead rather than slowly draining and accomplishing nothing!

You want to accomplish great things today! And David has some tools to help you – no coffee needed.

“The Emergent Task Planner” is the tool I use most often to keep me focused and moving ahead. David created it, for times like these. Read the Full Article . . . →

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Making a Brochure and You Need a Picture – FREE????!

On February 2, 2012   /   Work Burst Tips   /   Leave a comment

Yep, it’s possible. With the dawning and sharing of licenses, you can find a great image for your publication for free. Be careful! The image you find must be “licensed” for the specific way you’ll be using it. Creative Common License is becoming, well, more common. I’ll list resources below. Read the Full Article . . . →

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I Challenge You to Write Your Business Story!

On January 31, 2012   /   Work Burst Tips   /   Leave a comment

Carmine Gallo, a communications coach, warns that most businesses do not know how to tell their story. Do you know how to tell your company’s story in 60 seconds? Have you written it down and practiced it?

I challenge you to hone this down. Now!

Telling your story well is your bread and butter. Other people can’t tell who you are or what you do unless you tell them. And other people won’t “value” what you do, unless you can say it in a compelling way.

Here is Carmine’s video on developing that story, and the 4 components which need to be in it.

Four Steps to Quickly Share Your Business Story

Read the Full Article . . . →

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Okay, Go Ahead, Do Your Own Website . . . But Do This …

On January 27, 2012   /   Work Burst Tips   /   Leave a comment

I applaud all of the “do it yourself” website builders out there! By far the best program built for that adventuresome do it yourself-er is WordPress.

It doesn’t matter what kind of website you’re making or what software you’re using to make it.

You MUST use these 3 very basic communication & design integration practices – to make this a site worth putting up!

Read the Full Article . . . →

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Celebrating John Rhea’s Design Innovation

On January 26, 2012   /   Network Professionals, Work Burst Tips   /   Leave a comment
John Rhea at the University of Virginia

Congratulations John!

One go-to-guy for People Burst in the design world is John Rhea. Mr. Rhea freelances “after-hours” for people needing design products like logo designs or full motion picture video spots.

Recently John completed a project worth telling you about! John’s “day job” is as webmaster for the  University of Virginia. We applaud his innovation in – The Curry Blog.

It’s beautiful, full of finesse, and starts a new wave Read the Full Article . . . →

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Little Known Tricks to Help Your Non-Profit Thrive.

On January 4, 2012   /   Work Burst Tips   /   Leave a comment

What’s the stuff no one tells you about? There are lots of books out there about starting nonprofit corporations and how to incorporate. I would suggest you look through Nolo resources for that kind of information.

I want to talk with you about some practical, nuts and bolts advice.

This is a simple list of 5 top mission critical items any nonprofit should watch carefully during and following incorporation:

  • Always tell your story, in as many ways as you can. Everything rests on how well you can articulate your reason for existence to many types of audiences on the drop of a dime (but hopefully $10,000, right?). I write down “my story” to match as many scenarios as I can imagine really happening. This may seem like an exercise to keep you busy while the teacher’s out of the room, but I promise it will pay large dividends. Write it out!
  • Your story needs to include who you are, why this nonprofit exists, and a warm story or statistic about it’s impact. Have an elevator speech available with a follow-up question to engage the elevator! Read the Full Article . . . →
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Business Ideas: Is this a great idea?

On May 31, 2011   /   Work Burst Tips   /   Leave a comment

Business ideas are the centerpiece of what you do, how you’ll make income, and why you exist.

You’ve seen all of the “get-rich” schemes out there, haven’t you? And if you’re a true entrepreneur, you have several good ideas in your back pocket about starting a new venture. But … that doesn’t mean you should do it!

Here is my number one starting litmus test about whether you should do it or not. Do you love that kind of work? Can you roll out of bed for the next 10 years loving this business?

Here’s the deal. You can’t “conjure up” passion. The “professionals” tell you to make a goal and apply meaning to it – so that you’ll “get passionate” about it. However, I say if you’re not passionate about this for the long haul … you’ll get scorched, run over by trucks, your dog will disown you, and debt could bury you!

#1: Your overarching business idea and plan must match a natural curiosity and passion sustainable for at least 10 years and beyond.

#2: What’s in it for OTHER people?

It is a mistake to go into business with an idea you won’t care about in a few months … especially if no one else will care either! (Do you hear the fizz leaving the can?)

For further reality checks around your idea: Bnet wrote an article recently on 7 Dumb Business Plan Mistakes. It’s a good place to start.

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