September 2008 Archives

Every business goes through tough times. Expecting to have season after season of continuous growth without any dips or downturns is pretty much unreasonable. And despite all your strong marketing pushes, there will always be times when business isn't as swift as you'd like it to be. But that doesn't have to be cause for concern. Well, OK, concern is good, but there are things that you can do to make slow times a whole lot less stressful on you and your finances.

My son is compelled to share his insights as he thinks of them. Here was today's: "If vanishing cream really made you vanish, then people playing hide and seek could hide in very obvious places." And I responf as any doting father would: "Uh, yeah. Right." So why do I bring this up? Because too many companies treat Internet marketing as a game of hide and seek with vanishing cream. Their customers are in the most obvious places, but they don't see them. It's not their fault. It's harder to see customers on the Internet, and the very technology we use to reach them often makes them seem invisible.

Every now and then I'll catch a conversation about monitor envy on Twitter. You know what I'm talking about...someone posts a picture of some crazy monitor setup and all the desktop junkies go nuts over the size and quantity of monitors in someone's setup. It's like every hard working computer junkie simply dreams of sitting at mission control with a monitor for every application.

My family has been dealing with a real crisis the last few weeks. My father-in-law, after 80 years of remarkable health, was suddenly hospitalized for weakness and back pain and subsequently diagnosed with bone marrow cancer. His outlook is terminal, but he wants to stay home if possible—"No nursing home," he regularly thunders. Now, I know that it's possible to care for Dad the way he wants, and I know it's possible to get coverage for it, but God bless me if I could figure that out from the Web. If you look at the Web sites of the myriad businesses that provide home health care, you'd be hard-pressed to do anything but give them a call.

No, this isn't a review of Google's new Chrome browser. But the release of that browser is a wake-up call for complacent Web developers—yes, even small businesses with Web sites count as Web developers. The browser wars are back with a vengeance, and while that is great for browser users, it's a pain in the pettute for Web site owners, because you need to test for the dreaded browser compatibility.

Some of you out there are the procrastinators, or live in fear of making a mistake. My friends', being in business is a gamble in itself. Don't expect to be perfect, you won't. And that is OK!