Ultimate Human Performance; Using Flow as a Business Tool

In this post we’ll investigate how using flow (ultimate focus) can be useful in business and how it can lead to the ultimate human performance.

We have always had an interest in the power of the human mind. Which goes beyond being mindful, but moves also into the paranormal, spirituality, neuroscience, hypnosis, auras, chakras, Tao, physics., science fiction, gaming and more relevant to business, performance, decision making and strategy.

Vision and decision making

Core elements in business are always visioning (=strategy) and first, second and maybe third stage thinking (=decision making). Both impact on performance. Inspired by Jack Black’s “Mindstore” and after reading “Bold”, I decided to pick up “The rise of superman”.

Flow

Which is all about finding Csikszentmihalyi’s flow. In flow, we are so focused on the task at hand that everything else falls away. Action and awareness merge. Time flies. Self vanishes. Performance goes through the roof.

The advertisement for flow

Flow naturally transforms a weakling into a muscleman, a sketcher into an artist, a dancer into a ballerina, a plodder into a sprinter, an ordinary person into someone extraordinary. Everything you do, you do better in flow, from baking a chocolate cake to planning a vacation to solving a differential equation to writing a business plan to playing tennis to making love. Flow is the doorway to the ‘more’ most of us seek.

More advertisement for flow

From a quality-of-life perspective, psychologists have found that the people who have the most flow in their lives are the happiest people on earth.Flow directly correlates to happiness at work and happiness at work directly correlates to success. A decade of research in the business world proves happiness raises nearly every business and educational outcome: raising sales by 37 percent, productivity by 31 percent, and accuracy on tasks by 19 percent, as well as a myriad of health and quality-of-life improvements.

Extreme athletes and flow

Yep, it is an advertisement for flow. Steven Kotler uses the extreme athletes as the medium to tell the story of flow and what we can learn. In their case it is very simple. Extreme athletes take huge risks. Risk narrows the focus very rapidly. It’s flow or die. Literally. But what these athletes do, is showing what flow can do. Performance goes through the roof and it is iterative. One builds on the other. In between a lot of those athletes die. But they don’t care. Because they live life by the fullest. A fantastic quote from the book; “It is not often that Death is told so clearly to fuck off.”

You don’t have to be an extreme athlete

You don’t have to risk life and limb to achieve the same. The book itself is a rush. And you can learn how to get in your own flow. Like being mindful, flow is another route to happiness. Csikszentmihalyi discovered that the happiest people on earth, the ones who felt their lives had the most meaning, were those who had the most peak experiences.

Getting into the flow

So what do you need. You need risk, you need a rich environment, you need novelty and unpredictability, you need self knowledge, you need purpose, you need a challenge, you need skills, you need clear goals and you need action. Which where flow is different from meditation. You can only get into flow by doing something. It works on individual as well as collective level. This leads to focussed activity. Focused activity produced a significant reward: it alters consciousness, creating experiences very similar to “mystical.”

Goals

Goals are particularly important. When the brain is charged with a clear goal, focus narrows considerably, the unimportant is disregarded, and the now is all that’s left. Just as important, in the now, there’s no past or future and a lot less room for self — which are the three intruders most likely to yank us to the then.When goals are clear, metacognition is replaced by in-the-moment cognition, and the self stays out of the picture Applying this idea in our daily life means breaking tasks into bite-size chunks and setting goals accordingly.

Groups

In a group setting these goals need to be shared. You need familiarity, blending egos, a sense of control, close listening and an always say yes rule, our final trigger, means interactions should be additive more than argumentative.

Group flow

Group flow is a social unifier and social leveler, creating what cultural anthropologists call “communitas” — that deep solidarity and togetherness that results from shared transcendent experiences. That’s why people who seek out group flow often join startups or work for themselves. Serial entrepreneurs keep starting new business as much for the flow experience, as for the additional success

What happens in flow

You develop a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention. A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness: The merging of action and awareness. From the explicit brain system to the implicit brain system. Extremely fluid brain control. Gamma brain waves. The appearance of the Voice, the voice of intuition — the center of the zone’s mystery. Carl Jung defined intuition as “perception via the unconscious” and the Voice is the end result of that perception — the unconscious mind broadcasting its perceptions to the conscious mind.

The amygdala (fight, freeze or flight) switched off. Transient hypofrontality and quieting of doubt. The unstuck in time. Ultimate focus. This is also why the Voice comes through so clearly in a flow state. With self, time, and space erased from the picture, all explicit complexity is edited out. It’s not that the Voice is turned up louder in the zone, it’s that everything that stands between us and the message is removed from the picture. The ultimate experience and in some way connected to “Infinite possibilities”, which is all about creating the ultimate experience.

Dopamine, norepinephrine, endorphins, anandamide and serotoninThese five chemicals are flow’s mighty cocktail. The same cocktail mentioned in “Out of our minds” and the cocktail created by immersive games. Video-game players get into flow so frequently that Csikszentmihalyi’s ideas have become the most widely accepted theoretical framework for explaining the lure of the joystick. Studies have shown that the amount of flow generated by a video game directly correlates to everything from player engagement to overall product success.

The business case for flow

“Because flow involves meeting challenges and developing skills,” explains Csikszentmihalyi “it leads to growth. In the state, we are aligned with our core passion and, because of flow’s incredible impact on performance, expressing that passion to our utmost”. In 2007, South Korean researchers looking at e-learning (electronic games, Web-based learning tools, and electronic tutoring) discovered significant correlation between flow and positive learning attitudes and outcomes.

Neuroelectrically, flow’s baseline brain-wave pattern of low alpha/high theta also boosts creativity, which is the essential skill for CEOs. McKinsey established that executives in flow are five times more effective than their steady-state peers.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University have found that from the marketing side of this coin, online flow experiences attract customers, mitigate price sensitivity, and positively influence subsequent buying behaviours.

Creativity and cooperation are so amplified that Greylock partner venture capitalist James Slavet, in a recent article for Forbes.com, called “flow state percentage” — defined as the amount of time employees spend in flow — the “most important management metric for building great innovation teams.” Because flow is the hallmark of high performance. When we watch a live concert or a traditional sports event, we’re essentially paying to watch people in a flow state.

When performance peaks in groups there is a collective merger of action and awareness, a group flow. As a result, in group flow, spontaneity, cooperation, communication, creativity, productivity, and overall performance all go through the roof

Time-based accounting (paying people for hours worked) needs to be replaced by flow-based accounting (paying people for the amount of time they spend in flow at work). What matters is not the amount of time you’re present, but the amount of time that you’re working at your full potential.

The ultimate reason

Flow helps you learn faster. And the ability to learn faster than your competitors is the only sustainable competitive advantage.”

Bookbuzz

From a Bookbuzz perspective reading “Thinking fast and slow”, “The future of the mind”, “Coherence”, “Carrots and sticks don’t work”, “The shallows”, “Out of our minds”, “Bioteams”, “Reinventing organisations” and many, many other books, it seems that it is all coming together.

Flow will become the ultimate motivator. It captures everything. Purpose, meaning, learning, happiness, productivity, creativity, speed, left brain, right brain, product and service design and ultimately business success. Companies will not only get Klout scores, they will get flow scores. Helping and training to achieve and apply flow. Very happy companies, with very happy staff with very happy customers.

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Cyber Security Tips: Stay Smart Against Cyber Hackers

When it comes to corporate cyber security attacks, the biggest threats originate from an unlikely and most of the time, unaware source—the employees.

According to a recent SolarWinds study, untrained employees are noted as the largest threat at federal agencies (53%). Furthermore, organizations without security awareness programs report security incidents costs to be four times higher than their peers. And as recent attacks have shown, recovering from the hack is no small cost.

Simply put, employee actions are one of the biggest threats when it comes to the fight against cyber hackers. Reasons range from lack of awareness, lack of training and lack of organizational security protocols. From sending emails to the wrong recipient to opening attachments from unknown senders, everyday employees add risk to their organization’s work and data. But the threats don’t just come from lack of email training either. Weak passwords are an additional risk, as more than one billion passwords are already stored in a Russian database.

The first step in the fight against cyber attacks is by having employees become aware of their actions. Below are SolarWinds’ 7 Simple Cyber Security Tips every employees should know and use in their daily work.

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Confidential Company Information – A Lesson from Game of Thrones!

Game of Thrones is arguably the biggest television series of all time with each season eagerly awaited. As such, it would have caused its broadcast network (HBO) some consternation when four brand new episodes were leaked online in early April before the episodes were due to air on TV. This raises the question of confidentiality and how many companies will need to protect their valuable confidential company information to remain competitive and successful in their industries.

General Options

The main options open to HBO in this scenario, and any employer in general, are as follows:

Learning points on how the company can prevent the same from happening in the future.
Commence an investigative process and consider possible disciplinary sanction up to and including dismissal;

Prevention Better than the Cure

Employees of HBO will no doubt have very robust confidentiality clauses in their employment contracts which prohibit them from disclosing any information relating to the company and/or their products. Such confidentiality clauses act as a deterrent and mean that employees are less likely to disclose confidential information or data. In the event that an employee does disclose confidential information then an employer will have a clear policy in place to justify taking disciplinary measures up to and including dismissal. Having signed agreements for confidentiality is absolutely key in these cases, as the most basic response from any employee would be to plead ignorance of any wrongdoing “I didn’t know that I couldn’t”, “Nobody told me” etc.

A strong signed agreement will negate any such response and clearly show that the employee signed their understanding of a confidentiality agreement. If such clauses are outlined in the Employee Handbook, then it is again hugely important that an employer gets signed understanding of the company handbook returned from each employee. Ensuring the most up to date IT and Confidentiality policies available are in place should also be paramount if security of information is key to the business. Reviewing these policies regularly and updating them in light of any technological or relevant advancement should also be a proactive approach taken by the company. Remaining successful in any business area should always involve being proactive to change, instead of being reactive once an issue has arose.

Another avenue which employers should be interested in exploring is issuing “reminders” to employees in advance of any upcoming area likely to have risk of confidentiality issue. A lot can be said for simply holding a meeting with employees to advise them of what lays ahead and how the company envisions risks coming from this. Reminding such employees of the agreements they have made and how serious the company would view any breach of this would go as far as any method in protecting against a disclosure of private information. It would also be a good approach during this meeting for the company to flex their muscle in advising how robust their IT and Confidentiality policies are, which may act as a deterrent to any employee considering a breach.

Disciplinary Procedures

With these preventative steps, and a fact finding investigation completed beforehand, the employer can easily proceed to disciplinary procedures against the employee. Depending on the scale of the confidentiality breach and circumstances involved, such disciplinary proceedings may be viewed as Gross Misconduct in which case the employee should be suspended in light of the formal disciplinary proceedings. Previous precedent of how the company has dealt with confidentiality breaches would also have to be considered and followed again when applicable or possible.

Resignations

Employees who have resigned and are working out their notice period, as well as those who are in the final days of a fixed term position are naturally those most likely to be involved in a secure information breach. While this may seem unfair to suggest, it is one of the most common queries we HR Consultants receive with regards to confidentiality and resignation.

For simple and obvious reasons such employees are the most “at risk” to be involved as they are in a period of transition and the trust involved in the employment relationship can potentially be affected by an employee having one foot out the door. One way to approach this potential could be to discuss such concern informally at the acceptance of resignation meeting, or if the employer has heard through the grape vine that an employee is likely to breach confidentiality, a short letter could be issued to them after an exit interview to remind them of the agreement they had made. As the employment agreement ends once the person leaves the company, such agreements can be a lot more difficult to pursue as a matter of civil law. Therefore, a short letter reminding the exiting employee of the agreement, but also suggesting legal proceedings would have to be taken against the person should a breach come to light after they have left, would also go a long way to protecting the valuable information of the company, and ensuring the trust involved in the employment relationship holds strong both during and after the employer/employee relationship.

In addition, an employer may consider exhausting any Garden Leave clauses whereby the employee would not be required to attend for work for the duration of their notice period. Garden leave allows an employer to ensure the employment relationship subsists, thus ensuring the confidentiality agreements remain actionable, whilst an employee is out of work and cannot cause any further damage.

If you have any queries in respect of the above article then please do not hesitate to contact our 24 Hour Advice Service on 01 855 50 50.

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7 Ways To Kick Out Negative Effects Of Work Burnout From Your Life

At some time in their career, many people reach to the point of burnout with their jobs. While some consider quitting the job, it is not an option for many especially those who have no other job vacancy waiting for them. In order to identify work burnout before you start dealing with the problem, take a look at common symptoms that indicate the need to tackle a total burnout situation at workplace:

Emotional and physical fatigue
Decreasing health conditions
Frustrations
Reduced efficiency
Resentful behavior
Lack of motivation

All these are the most common symptoms among those who are experiencing burnout at jobs. If you can relate yourself to any or all of these symptoms, take an action to help yourself today before it gets too late. Following is a list of few measures that you can adopt to make things better at workplace:

Find Out The Root Cause

Diagnosis is always essential before you take any medications. Similarly, you cannot cure burnout at workplace unless you figure out the real reason behind the problems. Take help from colleagues at work who understand your situation or are experiencing the same for helping your figure out, and suggest appropriate measures to cope up with troubles if you are unable to identify the root cause on your own.

Take Vacation

Sometimes all you need to forget and resolve problems at work is a vacation. Hectic daily routines, tight project schedules and long meeting with the clients often become overwhelming and make you tired and frustrated. Take time out from your busy schedule, and plan a vacation with family or friends to unwind and refresh yourself. If you have no time or no finances to plan lavish vacations, visit a nearby location or simply book a resort in the nearby town to get some relaxing time away from work.

Stress Management Programs

Stress management programs are a taboo for some people with issues but definitely one of the best remedies to cure workplace burnout and relieve stress. While sometimes people feel more comfortable with taking help from counselors who can help an individual with particular issues, group counseling or stress management courses can also be an option to meet others with same problems and learn tricks for quick stress management.

Accept The Unchangeable

Change what is in your hands, and accept what you cannot change. This is one golden principle everybody who wants to avoid workplace conflicts and workload stress must follow. If you do not like your boss or any co-worker due to their working habits or any personal reason, realize that changing somebody’s behavior is beyond your ability. So,alter your behavior to make situation better at work instead of exhausting yourself out in efforts to change others.

Develop New Hobbies

Developing new hobbies is a great way to relax and refresh your mind when you get home from work. If nothing can be changed at work, try to spice up your personal life by adding new interests and hobbies so that you have something to look forward to in your daily tiring routines.

Figure Out When To Say No

Learning to say No should be developed from early life. For instance, in the colleges when you can’t do the project due to any circumstances you should realize the weaknesses say no to it and get help instead like essay writing help with essays. Likewise in companies, many employees fear bad performance reviews and therefore, develop a tendency to say yes to every task they are asked to do at work. While sometimes this fear can be true, the best option would be to politely inform your boss about your job description and how extra work might affect your health, performance and personal life if you really want to avoid stress.

Get A New Job

Winners never give up. However, if everything else fails, switch the job instead of losing your hope on a good career ahead. It is a bad idea to decide in a burst of anger or emotional moment to quit any job. Be wise, and take your time to make the decision by weighing pros and cons of quitting.

Maintaining good health is equally important as successful careers. So, make sure to adopt all the measures you can to improve your health, mood and personal life while pursuing a successful career at workplace.

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Avoid Making These 4 Common Startup Mistakes

If you’re planning to start a business, you’ll find there are way too many opportunities to learn the hard way. Inexperienced entrepreneurs end up hurting themselves financially when they start a business and fail to avoid common mistakes.

Experience is a great teacher. And someone else’s experience is an even better teacher. One way you can avoid unforced errors in business is to learn from the painful lessons of other business owners.

Here are some common startup mistakes.

1. A Failure to Understand Your Clients

If you’re considering a business-to-business (B2B) operation, be certain you’ve walked a country mile in your potential client’s shoes before you start dispensing advice about how to travel.

You might think you’ve found the perfect market. You might believe you understand exactly what people in a certain line of work truly need. But unless you’ve been in that line of work, you should think again.

Zach Clayton is the owner of Three Ships, a digital marketing company. He says he spent way too much time showing clients detailed reports about how his company delivered a strong return on investment (ROI).

One day, a client company offered him a role as an interim chief marketing officer.

“I had no idea how hectic and overwhelming that job actually is. You’re in marathon management meetings. You’re arguing with the head of sales about the right lead goals. You’re hiring a new PR firm for the West Coast,” he says. “I realized clients were too busy solving other problems to go three levels deep on understanding all the technical work we do.”

Now, he operates with clients on much simpler terms.

2. Allowing the Perfect to Become the Enemy of the Good

Not every project is going to launch perfectly. Accept that while you’re new at this.

Entrepreneurs struggling for a first-class level of presentation in a new release or product launch often allow themselves to say no to something that is good, but not perfect.

Sure, your brand name is on the product and you certainly want to leave a good impression. However, you’re also faced with competition. Some of your competitors in the same space may capture market share because they don’t allow themselves to be caught up in perfection.

If you have a great product, go ahead and release it. If there are some wrinkles that can be ironed out, do so in a way concurrent with your launch. Don’t lose money because you’re stuck on absolute perfection.

3. A Failure to Prepare for the Regulatory Environment

Strictly speaking, your business will have two sets of enemies. The first set of enemies will be your competition. The second set of enemies will be the various regulatory agencies that insist on forcing you to spend money to comply with current laws.

Many entrepreneurs go into business fully aware of the first set of enemies and are ready to tackle them. But many forget about the second set of enemies and end up paying costly fines or, worse, being shut down for a while.

Hire a good attorney to be sure your business is compliant with prevailing regulations. This is one area where you must be proactive. You simply can’t afford to wait until something bad happens and then hope to fix it after the fact.

If necessary, seek the proper training for your employees so they can perform their jobs in line with government standards, and able to maintain OSHA compliance.

4. Being Too Stingy

It’s easy to fall into the “cutting corners at any cost” trap, especially when you’re first starting out and want to stretch each dollar as far as it will go.

The old adage about it taking money to make money is still valid. You have to spend money to earn money. Get used to the idea.

That’s why you should seriously consider opting for a “go big or go home” strategy when it comes to new purchases. Sure, you can buy refurbished equipment and second-hand, lower quality hardware and still launch your business effectively.

But you should also think about the future cost. If that equipment depreciates faster and needs to be replaced sooner than higher quality equipment, have you really saved any money?

Also, what’s the opportunity cost associated with the extra effort required to ensure older equipment functions properly?

In many cases, your best choice is high quality. That doesn’t mean you need to spend an extra 50% just for a brand name, but you want to ensure that you’re getting a great product for the money. Many entrepreneurs don’t do that, and regret it later.

Starting a business can be a wonderful, fulfilling experience. Be sure you do it right and avoid some of the common mistakes made by your fellow entrepreneurs.

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Local SEO Guide for Small Businesses

Follow our local SEO guide below to increase engagement with your customers online.

The big marketing buzz these days is local SEO, and you’re probably wondering what the big deal is. After all, isn’t traditional marketing enough to attract customers? The answer is, no, traditional marketing is no longer enough to address the mobile shopping habits of today’s consumers. People conduct local searches on their laptops, smartphones and tablets every day to find things close by, for directions, store hours, and to see if particular product is in stock.

What Connected Consumers Want

It’s not so much what consumers are searching for, it’s how they’re searching for it. Recently, Google commissioned two separate research studies for research on local SEO, Understanding Consumers’ Local Search Behavior.

Today’s consumer wants convenience. They want to find products quickly and easily. They are using mobile devices more than ever, too. If you can’t give them the information they seek, they will move on to the next business on the list. Here’s more compelling facts the Google study uncovered:

Four out of five people utilize search engines for local information.
Half of all consumers who did local searches on their smartphones frequented the store within 24 hours.
Over 60 percent of consumers use location information in local ads for a store’s phone number, address and directions.

According to ComScore, 88 percent of smartphone users and 84 percent of tablet users conduct local searches regularly, and that number is rising. With local searches resulting in twice as many purchases than non-local, businesses must understand how to leverage local SEO using strategic search marketing methods.

Here are some time-saving local SEO strategies you can employ today that will have you thanking yourself tomorrow:

Be Mobile Friendly

Optimize your website for mobile devices, because if it isn’t mobile-friendly, any SEO marketing you conduct to drive people to your site will only make them want to leave it. Why waste your time and money on marketing if your site isn’t viewable on mobile devices?

How to Start

Use tools like Google’s Mobile Friendly Test to assess how mobile-friendly your website is for visitors. All you have to do is enter the URL of your website and it generates a checklist of what you should improve, as well as a guide showing you exactly how to make the improvements. You can use their Mobile Guide to learn much more about mobile websites, too.

Be Search Engine Friendly

Make sure that your website shows up in local searches with some simple website SEO. Remember, location, phone numbers and business hours are what people look for, so be certain to update them immediately if any information changes.

How to Start

Put your complete address, phone number and hours of operation on the footer of each website page.
Add captions to images, which are the second-most read copy element on a webpage.
Add an alt tag to your website logo, including company name, city, state, address, and business type.
Include at least 300 words of quality content on your home page to let people know what your business is all about.

Be Local Listing Friendly

When listing your business, always remember to include either your NAP, or name, address and phone number, or your WAP, website, address and phone number. Be certain your information is consistent across all the different platforms and databases.

Even a tiny mistake can create major problems, such as a misplaced period. Changing your address causes problems, too, so if you spell out “street” in some listings, don’t change it to “St.” in others.

Aside from your local Chamber of Commerce or business association, add your business to as many online local directories as possible, including:

Google My Business: This is the latest Google offering and it is free. Complete your profile and choose as many business categories as possible. Upload images, add business hours, phone numbers and addresses.

Yahoo Local Basic: The basic is free, but you can also pay to use advanced options, such as Localworks and Local Enhanced listings.

Bing Places for Business: Bing accounts for one third of online searches, so set up a free listing there, too.

Apple Maps Connect: The Apple Maps app is popular, and you can add your business for free. You’ll need an Apple ID to sign up.

Be Review Friendly

Encourage your customers to write reviews for you. You should never have to pay for reviews. Subtle reminders should do the trick. Encourage consumers to leave reviews by placing an attractive reminder near your checkouts. Offer incentives, like a small discount or free gift. Add QR codes to cards at checkouts or posters in restrooms to make it easier.

Prompt people to post reviews on the following sites:

Facebook
Yelp
Google
Yahoo
Bing
Foursquare

Adding your business to various directories and review sites can bring your business to the top of most browser searches. Once you’ve done your local SEO footwork, your customers will do their footwork right to your door.

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How to Write Good Copy for your Website: A Complete Guide

Do you want to know how to write good copy for your website?

Don’t worry, it’s really not all that hard but it will improve your conversion rates, dwell time and improve your ROI from your digital marketing.

Telling tales

Let’s start at the beginning: does this web development story sound familiar?

You agonized over the design of your website
You pondered over the product pages
You searched high and low for the perfect images
You discussed endlessly your digital marketing strategy to drive visitors to your site
You pencilled in plenty of budget for PPC

And then your developer calls. It’s time to start ditching the ‘Lorem ipsum’ and populate your site with real copy.

A moment of panicked silence is followed by you dropping the phone and frantically scrabbling around for all the marketing materials you can lay your hands on to purloin phrases and pinch paragraphs from.

Web copy converts

Copy converts. It’s a powerful tool not an afterthought.

What did we think our visitors were going to do when they got to our site: imbue our messages by osmosis and convert into customers by alchemy?

Writing great web copy is absolutely central to your web marketing strategy.

And the truth is that producing effective copy for the web will not happen by cutting and pasting catalogues, sales flyers and corporate brochures.

The good news is it’s easy

The good news is that writing great copy for the web is quite straightforward, and you can learn all you need to know in what follows.

The sad fact is that there are far too many businesses out there that simply don’t create compelling or even readable copy. And there are just as many whose copy fails simply because it has written as if the web were a book or a magazine.

Writing great copy is one thing. Writing great web copy is another thing entirely.

So, let’s show you how easy it is to do it, and you need never run round the office in a blind panic again.

First things first

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The web is not a place for flowery, circuitous introductory paragraphs. If you have something to say, say it first (preferably in bold).

Think of a pyramid. It’s wide at its base until it narrows to a focussed point.

Now turn it on its head. Its point comes first and everything else builds out from this.

This inverted pyramid is how you write for the web. You don’t beat about the bush to get to your point (or key takeaway, marketing message, USP etc.). You beat all the bushes away till there is just this: and then you say it clearly. Straight away.

This tactic is not unique to the web. It’s used by journalists too who always make sure that in their first couple of paragraphs the whole story can be found.

This tactic, though, is especially true for the web. People don’t read web pages: they scan them. Study after study has proved this to be the case.

When we scan we quickly check the top and then let our eye take in what we consider the most important parts of what follows: we do not often read all of the text.

Because people are going to scan your copy you need to make sure they can get the important information and key messages upfront, or they will get lost in the mix.

When people can’t find exactly what they want straight away they vote with their clicks and your bounce rate notches up.

And first things last

Whether you are writing a blog post or a product description it’s still a great idea to wrap things up in a summary at the end of the article. (This is particularly true for longer articles/descriptions).

You could do this using bullet points, with a feature box detailing the main points or in your closing paragraphs.

The scanning eye does not take everything in. There is a good chance it may have missed what is a crucial point when it reaches the end of your page.

By summarising your key points (and maybe even including a link back to where they appeared on the page) you can ensure that people can play catch up on what they have sped past.

Heading in the right direction?

The headline you use is critical in engaging attention. It is also critical for your SEO. Get it right and you have won half the battle. Get it wrong and you have lost the war.

Here’s Brian Clark of Copyblogger on the importance of headline:

“On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. This is the secret to the power of the headline.”
(‘Don’t read this or the kitty gets it’ in Copywriting 101)

That’s how important it is.

There isn’t space here to give you a masterclass on crafting the perfect heading, but you can find plenty of tips and tricks in the Copywriting 101 eBook that can be downloaded free at the link above.

(Is it worth it? Is the opportunity to engage 80% of your visitors worth it?)

Here are some quick pointers:

Make sure your most important keywords are here:
just think about what your audience might be searching for
Adjectives create interest:
change ‘Car cleaning guide’ to ‘The modern guide to cleaning and protecting your car’
Get them interested: change ‘Car cleaning guide’ to ‘Are you wiping £s off your car’s value every time you clean it?’
If social sharing of your content is important to you try to keep your headlines under 65 characters.

Write for the scan

There are a number of other things you can do to cater for the scanning eye, but first let’s see it in action.

Typically we scan in an F-pattern:

We focus on a couple of sentences at the top of the page
Our eye trails down the left side
We also quickly glance at a few lines near the middle

Examples of the F pattern found on a corporate About Us page, a product page and a search engine results page (source: Nielsen Norman Group)

Look at how the product page (centre) and the search engine results page (right) are structured with broken up text that aids the scan.

Now look at the corporate About Us page (left), where the large chunks of unbroken text, simply leaves large sections left unread.

So what tricks can you use to encourage the scan?

Short paragraphs
Clear subheadings
Using formatting (like bold, font size or bullet points)
Careful use of images

These all, however, allow you to do the same thing: break your text up and divide it into short, clear sections.

Paragraphs

Paragraphs in books and those on web pages are very different beasts.

This is not a paragraph for the web:

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

But this is:

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.

It has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.

This dummy text has even survived the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged, and even desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker now includes versions of Lorem Ipsum.

See the difference?

On the web a sentence can be a paragraph.

Huge chunks of text are like a brick wall to the scanning eye. Text that is broken up helps it do its thing (and forces you to use concise language and simpler sentences).

Subheadings

Subheadings are simply another way to help the scanning eye find what it wants.

Just as a book is divided into chapters you should divide your web pages into subsections that signpost the different points you are making.

And, of course, if you are using heading tags (

,

) you will be doing both the scanning eye and your SEO a favour too.

Bullet points and numbered lists

Another way to break up your text is with lists.

Why do bullet points and numbered lists help?

The bullet point or numbered list creates natural breaks in your copy, tends to be short and punchy – which is perfect for inviting a quick scan and they add variety to your layout.

Let me try that again:

Why do bullet points and numbered lists help?

They create natural breaks in your copy
They tend to be short and punchy – perfect for inviting a quick scan
They add variety to your layout

See what I mean?

Keep it simple

It’s important you know your audience. This will affect the sort of content you provide and the language that you use.

Accessibility is the cornerstone of the web. For most businesses it is advisable that they keep their language simple. If you are writing above your audience you will quickly lose them.

Writing simply is not easy. You have to learn to do it.

Keep your sentences short: it keeps them simple
Strip out technical language and jargon
Avoid complicated explanations or break them down into steps
If you are writing for a niche: use their language
If you are writing for a broad audience: avoid niche terms like the plague

To write simply you are going to need to forget everything they taught you in school. If you find it hard, write how you usually write, and then rewrite for the web.

Be careful where you add personality

Adding personality can bring blogs to life but it can also alienate a customer nearing a buying decision on a money page.

This comes down to brand identity. If your marketing copy has a tone of voice and personality you need to reflect this in your web copy. If it doesn’t: don’t add it.

A bit of personality on your blog posts and other content can really help to bring it to life and gain shares.

Be liberal with your links

Links to other web pages on your site are critical to its success. They are important for your visitors and your SEO.

The eye scans because it is looking quickly for important and relevant information. A link helps the eye realise there may be more relevant information on another page and it helps your visitor to get straight to it.

Links also help you keep things concise. If you go into something in more detail elsewhere there is no need to do so again every time it is mentioned.

Links also let you include a summary at the top of every page with ‘anchors’ to places on the page where this section can be found. How handy is that?

Finally links encourage the search engine spiders to crawl your entire site, leaving no page unturned.

It’s time to put it all into practice

So there you have it: a simple guide to writing great web copy.

There really are no more excuses for taking that corporate brochure and plonking it on the web.

Here are the main things you should make sure you do with your web copy:

Whenever you write say the important things first
If it’s been a long page summarise it at the bottom
Your heading must work for SEO and draw your readers in
Break your text up using short paragraphs, subheadings and formatting
Write simply and avoid jargon
A bit of personality can win the day or lose the visitor – use it carefully
Keep everything clearly linked in

Easy, huh?

Of course, the truth is that this is how the best copy is structured.

Writing copy that persuades and inspires action is another story altogether. And it’s a tale that ends in conversion.

You can find some helpful pointers in this web copywriting guide. But for now you should be happy: you are well on the way to crafting copy that is designed for the web.

And you’ll see immediate results.

The post How to Write Good Copy for your Website: A Complete Guide appeared first on Small Business Can.

5 Inspiring Business Success Stories

Generation Y finally decided to take matters into their own hands after the 2008 Economic Crash and that’s how the new startup era begun. A positive point about the new generation’s approach to business is that they took into consideration the mistakes their parents made which led to the big recession. They took the harsh experiences from the past, added their enthusiasm and energy, and converted all that into hundreds of successful startup companies. Listening to more experienced businessmen and constantly searching for positive influences made the Millennials one of the most successful generations in American history when it comes to business. Here are some of the most influential business people from last few decades. Business success stories can serve as inspiration for those looking to follow in these guys footsteps.

Steve Jobs

Although Steve Jobs usually advised his followers to “…find what you love…” and that “…great work is to love what you do…” he didn’t actually follow his own advice and spent his entire life trapped in a business he hated, and of course, we all would like to know what it’s like to be in that “golden cage”. New age hipsters who live in self-sufficient agricultural communes, walk barefoot and preach Eastern Mysticism are definitely not the right material for a geeky business person with a briefcase in one hand and an iPod in the other… Or are they? It is important to focus all your skills and talent on a project you feel right about and after the first million you are definitely going to love what you do.

Marissa Mayer

Marissa Mayer was one of the first Google engineers and isconsidered by many to be the most influential woman in the tech world. Marissa later became the CEO of Yahoo and during this time, this 37-year-old businesswoman learned that when there is no bad feeling telling you that you are not ready for something it means you have chosen the wrong path. It’s there to make you work harder and push through, because for every opportunity there’s a happy ending, and if you work hard enough, something great is just around the corner.

Sergey Brin

Sergey is one of the founders of Google, and currently one of the richest entrepreneurs on the planet. But a few decades ago he was just an average Joe…or was he? He was sending a gif photo together with his CV back in the mid 90’s when there were no online .gif makers. When he takes a break from building conscious machines he likes to share his experiences with younger entrepreneurs. This renaissance man believes that knowledge has been the key to his success, and that it is always good to know more, which is why Google’s mission statement is: “Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Mo Ibrahim

Mo Ibrahim is one of the most successful businessmen in Africa and a subscriber to The Giving Pledge, which means he has pledged to give at least half of his wealth to charity after his death. He also has a foundation that awards The Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership to leaders who have provided healthcare, education and economic development to their people. But how did Mo Ibrahim become so financially successful? After completing his education, he worked for British Telecom, and served as the technical director for Cellnet, BT’s subsidiary. He then founded MSI, a successful company that dealt in consulting and software and was which was later bought by Marconi. MSI’s spin-off, Celtel, later became the biggest mobile operator in Africa. For Ibrahim, the most important characteristic of a successful entrepreneur is a belief in oneself and a can-do-spirit, which drives one to try something nobody has tried before. With this perspective, thousands of people all around the world have made millions and achieved the best results in their industries.

Arianna Huffington

Huffington Post is one of the most popular blog and news aggregators. It was purchased by AOL for $315 million and Huffington is still its President and Editor-In-Chief. Before founding this successful media channel with Kenneth Lerer, Andrew Breitbat and Jonah Peretti, she was a prize-winning writer, columnist and political commentator. Huffington thinks that failure is just another step towards success, and that only those willing to fail, learn and adapt are the ones who will succeed.

The post 5 Inspiring Business Success Stories appeared first on Small Business Can.

Small Business Project Management

Project management is a process that is always evolving through various processes and methods, and businesses of all sizes are on the lookout for ways in which it can be managed more efficiently. For small businesses in particular, project management is a powerful tool when used smartly. Not only can effective project management improve the performance but it can empower. Small businesses can use faster project speed as a competitive advantage, can train quicker and reinvent projects with specialised skills and teams, something a large business can often overlook.

History of Project Management

To really understand how important project management is and how effective methods can be you should take a look back through history and examine the changes, impacts and developments you can learn from. To help you on this learning curve, take a look at the Telegraph Courses Project Management Timeline data graphic which explains why project management is so important and how it has been used and developed throughout history through to modern day builds.

The timeline starts by looking at the Great Pyramid of Giza, composed of 2,300,000 blocks of stone, 450ft high and built in 2570 BC. This amazing piece of history took in total around 20-25,000 workers to complete the project. It is estimated that it took around 20 to 30 years to build. Following on from this is the Great Wall of China. This build would have been comparable to around £300bn in costs today.

In those times there were basic management systems put in place, which shows the beginnings of Project Management in action. These included people management, time management and materials management. As the data goes on to show more modern builds such as the Shard, the tallest building in Europe have adopted different project management approaches.

Industry Growth

The industry in the project management field is growing as the data goes on to show. This is really useful for small businesses and start-ups to see as it gives an insight into the types of project methodologies used and predictions for the future.

Looking at the global Project Management Outlook, it provides an overview of sectors to watch in various countries. This is interesting as it explains how sectors are progressing. For example, in the United Kingdom it is suggested that IT and construction are two main industries to watch, as there is a huge demand for those working in Project Management with the correct skills. So should your next project build be targeted to these sectors as they look likely to provide success?

One thing small businesses/start-ups should be keeping track are these trends. Furthermore, some of the future Project Management Industry trends include remote project teams, independent consultants, mobile Project Management apps and the usage of big data as a project management tool. All of these are important for small businesses and startups to understand as it helps gain a step forward as being aware of these future predictions means being prepared and ready to adapt to them.

Future of Entrepreneurs

Just like the Pyramid build do you feel you have the capable skills to develop your business from the ground up and project management it? If you are not sure then you can use the data graphic to answer this question. If you answer yes to the following then you should have what it takes to become an entrepreneur PM which is crucial for the success of a small business.

Do you get the big picture?

Can you cope with uncertainty?

Are you patient?

Are you a leader/motivator?

Are you proactive?

Can you delegate?

If the Pyramids can still stand strong today then so can your small business, it just means adopting the right methods, principles and methodologies.

The Commitment in project management is shifting and although the change is slow the key focus is still on entrepreneurial skills, youth entrepreneurship in particular is becoming a framework for teaching the 21^st century. So it is evident to see how important the shift will become already and how businesses will strive in the future; learning from the motivated youth entrepreneurs of the 20^th century.

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Deko Foods – Ethnic Food Producer to Create 20 Jobs in Meath

Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation, Damien English TD welcomed the announcement that a UK-based company will establish operations in Meath, creating 20 jobs.

The jobs being created are with white-label ethnic food producers Deko Foods Ltd.

The company was introduced to Ireland through ConnectIreland, the company responsible for delivering the Government’s Succeed in Ireland initiative, as part of the Action Plan for Jobs, in association with IDA Ireland. Enterprise Ireland has also been instrumental in helping the company to establish in Ireland.

Welcoming the announcement, Minister Damien English, T.D., said; “I am delighted that Deko Foods has decided to establish a base in Kells. This adds to a growing number of companies who have chosen Meath to set up their business.

ConnectIreland Project

“This announcement is another ConnectIreland project that is being supported by the enterprise agencies and is a great example of how local communities can work to win valuable new jobs for Ireland and, in particular, regional areas throughout Ireland.”

Deko Foods Ltd is a specialist white-label manufacturer catering for the Afro-Caribbean and South-American segments of the worldwide ethnic foods market. In order to meet international demand for their food and drink products, Deko Foods will establish a processing plant in Kells Business Park.

The company, which will focus on manufacturing dry, non-perishable food items at the Kells base before expanding, hopes to hire 20 employees in the coming three years. Recruitment is already underway for a number of junior positions, including full and part-time warehousing staff and administration.

CEO of Deko Foods

Yomi Aiyegbusi, Founder and CEO of Deko Foods, said: “We chose Kells, due to its close proximity to both Dublin’s seaport and airport, and also because we found a suitable premises there, ideal for our type of operation. Another incentive was the level of government support and funding provided to new businesses choosing to locate in the Kells area; it’s exceptionally higher than other regions.

“I was also introduced to several other food producers and packagers in the area, all of whom assured me that Kells and its neighbouring towns could provide the necessary resources my business requires, like the right staff. I currently need to recruit an office manager, receptionist, warehouse clerk, forklift operator and four production staff.

“Ireland is perfect for us as it has a rich agricultural heritage and because of its proximity to the UK, where we have an established consumer base. Aside from its English speaking, highly literate population and its attractive tax system, another attraction was the many incentives Ireland provides to new and foreign businesses, especially those that are export-driven or invest heavily in R&D.

“As most of our revenue is generated from export sales and we invest heavily in R&D and NPD, these were significant deciding factors for us. But the ultimate deciding factor was not only Ireland’s hospitable and relaxed nature but also because Ireland is a progressive EU nation that encourages entrepreneurship and is slowly becoming a cosmopolitan hub for not only European but world business. We wished to be part of that progress.”

The company was introduced to ConnectIreland by local Meath man Hugh Morris. Hugh previously introduced Luxembourg-based company Mafic to ConnectIreland, and the subsequently located in Kells. Simply by striking up a conversation and asking companies to consider Ireland, Hugh has now been instrumental in securing 110 jobs for his local area.

Kevin Stewart, Meath County Council; Joanna Murphy, COO ConnectIreland; Minister for Skills, Damien English TD; Yomi Aiyegbusi, Deko Foods; Hugh Morris, Connector; and Nick Marmion from Enterprise Ireland celebrate the announcement of 20 jobs for Kells

Michael McLoughlin CEO of ConnectIreland commented: “Securing companies like Deko Foods for regional areas is testament to the great work being done by connectors right across the globe. Simply by asking the question ‘have you considered Ireland’, people like Hugh are helping to create job opportunities in their own counties. This company was considering locating in Spain until Hugh introduced them to ConnectIreland.”

This announcement brings the number of projects created in Meath by ConnectIreland under the Succeed in Ireland initiative to five, creating a total of 160 jobs in the region. Four firms have located in Kells, a fifth in Gibbstown.

Michael Cantwell, Divisional Director with Enterprise Ireland added: “This is great news for Meath and EI congratulate ConnectIreland and warmly welcome this food Foreign Direct Investment from Deko Foods. Enterprise Ireland’s Food Division will continue to work with the management as they build their manufacturing operations in Ireland.”

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