Archive for June, 2009
The importance of a corporate presence on the Web
Posted by admin in Corporate Website on June 13th, 2009
A corporate website provides a window on the World for your company and an insight for clients and investors.
Entrepreneurs may want to be cautious when starting a new venture, but a corporate website is a necessary first step. It doesn’t have to be expensive, and can grow with the company into a fully featured online business tool.
Whether users seek information or reassurance on your company, your corporate website is the best way to communicate effectively by delivering a message and an image that you fully control.
Features will typically include:
- About us, contact us, about the company, history
- People, the team, employees, biographies, executives
- Products, services information
- Contact us, send a message
- Community, our values, corporate citizenship, standards of conduct
- Terms of use, legal, user agreement, privacy policy
And eventually:
- Employment, jobs, careers, join the team, join us
- Customer support community
- News, in the news, press, publications, brochure
- Investors, ownership
- Downloads, media, library
- Store locator, find a store, find our products, locations
- Links
- Blog
In a technology driven world, no matter how far your target audience is, if they look for your company, products or services, they MUST be able to find you.
For customers, clients, investors or prospects, if you don’t exist on the Web, you do not exist in the World.
What Makes a Good Training?
Posted by admin in What Makes a Good Training? on June 13th, 2009
What makes a good training course? That is not an easy question to answer and there are many aspects to consider.
There is no doubt that with the growth of Internet and computer technologies, personal training has never been more important to all individuals and professionals wanting to keep up with the industry.
What to look out for:
- Technical expertise.
In order to run a training course on a particular topic, the training provider should be competent, professional, and experienced within the specific field.
- Training material.
The written material is also key to its success. Rather than expecting participants to write lots of notes, loosing track from the topics, the best courses are those that supply a comprehensive training handbook and other adequate supporting material that participants can refer to once they leave the course.
- Adaptability.
The aims of the training should be carefully assessed to provide the most accurate program. By determining precisely what participants expect from the training it is possible to focus on what is most important and work on practical and tailor-made exercises.
- Class size.
It is essential that the class size is manageable. Each participant should have access to all the relevant equipment and receive the attention they deserve. Often the bigger the class size the poorer the results. For companies, it is far better to send a number of smaller groups than to expect a trainer to teach a large group of participants (this also reduces the impact on the business by having a large number of people away from the office at once). A maximum of about 6 participants is ideal.
- Class homogeneity.
For a better result all participants should be of a similar skill level to avoid frustration from either having to wait or being left behind.
- After-course care.
Many training providers assume that once a particular training is over, it is the end of their relationship with the participants. However, offering an ongoing service that lasts beyond the course completion is the sign of quality from the training company. Some companies offer a post-course technical support service and a comprehensive consultancy service.
In short, good trainings rely on the trainer to assess the participants’ level, set the target/s, give clear explanations, provide practical exercises and encourage interaction within the group. These are the main keys to making training a great and useful experience.
Your Logo
Choosing a logo is an important step toward good marketing. Your logo is the first thing people will picture when hearing the name of your company. Therefore a successful logo must be easily recognizable and identifiable by your current and potential clients and/or customers.
The first thing to consider when developing a logo is its purpose: a logo being used primarily on a website may differ from one printed on promotional objects.
If you wish to use your logo for multiple applications you must consider one that will look equally as good in small and in large prints. You should also consider whether the colours you use can be easily reproduced for a variety of purposes.
Above all, remember that your logo symbolizes your company. It should represent the image you wish to communicate to your customers and clients, i.e. if you are a lawyer, your logo would normally be professional and conservative, while in a more creative domain, something a bit more fun and light-hearted may be appropriate.
Your logo should be original. If it looks similar to other designs it will be difficult for customers and clients to distinguish it from other companies’. A unique logo will help set you apart from the competition by conveying the idea that you have something new and different to offer to your potential customers and clients.
Your logo must also be appealing to your target audience: Upper middle class business people and teenagers are unlikely to share the same tastes.
Think: Who are you, what do you do, whom for. Does your logo convey the right message?