Snapco’s “Insight Before Website” Approach To Web Design

Before we jump into the subject of website development, you must first understand that an effective business website is not a product, but a service. If you approach website development from the consumer’s point of view you will be on target and the actual website design process will go a lot more smoothly. Let’s look at some important aspects of website development that will allow the design phase to focus more on function than fashion.

Website development must begin with a clear purpose

The only way to design an effective business website and have the ability to measure its success is to have a clearly defined goal before website development begins. By having a well-defined goal for your website, the design process can include elements that reinforce your purpose. The website development process will be more effective and you will eliminate any confusion from the very beginning.

Design phase of website development must be user-friendly

One major error in web design is improper or inadequate site navigation. Your visitors should never have to wonder where they are or how they can get to the information they need. All website content must be comfortable for the user and offer valuable information before they know they really need it. Your visitors really want to know what you can do for them and really aren’t concerned about how you do it. Your content must be simple, an easy read, and tailored to your target audience.

Website development must include elements that work together

If there are elements of your web page that really stand out, it should be intentional, not because they just don’t fit in with the rest of the page. To be effective, your website must present unity of design. Many web designers seem to feel that every square inch of a web page should be filled with something, but white space is essential for your site to breathe. Without sufficient white space your web design can become cramped and the different design elements will just run together.

Website development with a cluttered design is annoying

Don’t make the mistake of using excessive graphics, flash, pop-ups or any other design elements that don’t promote your site’s purpose. Anything that is a total distraction to your visitors is clutter and must be avoided. Design clutter causes your site to load more slowly and you only have a few seconds to grab a potential customer’s attention. People come to your site looking for information and anything that tries to direct their attention to things that don’t interest them is just an annoyance.

There are many visually appealing websites that are totally ineffective. Your business can have the best looking website on the Internet, but if people must go to the 15th page of Google to find it, it’s not really worth the time and effort in took in website development. There’s nothing wrong with a website looking good, but gaining visibility should be your ultimate goal and your website design must focus more on function and less on fashion.

At Snapco Design, our website design service offers custom small business website development that takes your thoughts and ideas and our design expertise to create small business websites that not only look good, but are easy for search engines and potential customers to find and enjoy. Contact us and let us help your business stand out above the crowd.

Insight Before Website; enables us to create purpose built sites that have predetermined objectives and the capability to serve it’s market as such.

Snapco Design

07 5390 8136

• Matt Jarryd

Successful Sales Professionals Must Have a Human Touch

Contrary to popular belief, good sales professionals are heartfelt individuals that genuinely care about people. A lot of people associate sales with a negative stigma, the used car salesman who will try to sell you everything you don’t need to achieve his own agenda. Don’t get me wrong – those types of sales people do exist, but they are not your most successful sales people. Successful sales professionals are relatable, outwardly revealing to their prospects their human side.

Problem Solver: A good sales professional is focused on learning about their prospect so that they can help them solve a problem they have. They are good investigators, learning as much as they can about their prospect so that they can be a helpful resource. A really good sales professional may even go beyond what their company can offer and provide their prospect or customer with additional resources to solve problems outside their scope.

Empathy: Because good sales professionals solve problems, they are also empathetic to the problems their prospects experience. They care. It is difficult to build relationships and connect with your prospects or customers if you are cold hearted. Prospects can sense when a sales person is genuinely interested in what they have to say and when they are just giving lip service to try and land the sale.

Build Rapport: A good sales professional cares about more than just making the sale. They value the relationship. In order to start this process, they need to break the ice with topics outside the scope of the sale itself. They make an effort to learn more about their prospect, their children and their hobbies. Clues to guide this initial conversation can often be found in your prospect’s office when you meet with them for the first time. Take some time to get to know them and let them know that you are interested in more than just closing a sale with them. Once you take the time to build this relationship, it will follow you for years to come.

Personable: A good sales professional needs to have a personality. Don’t get into a career where you have to deal with people if you are not a people person. Sales requires great people skills because you have to interface with customers, prospects and your internal office staff on a regular basis. You are often the liaison between the client and the company once you establish an account; therefore, it’s important that you know how to handle different personalities and learn how to relate to each. Good sales professionals can also manage conflict with a customer or prospect just as easily as they handle praise.

Adaptable: Sales professionals have to navigate change on a regular basis. Each customer or prospect has different needs and none of them fit nicely into a little box. As a sales professional, you have to learn to adapt to the different needs of the customers you serve. No one day is alike because no customer is alike. They all have different needs and you must be ready and willing to rise to the occasion to meet those needs.

Fearless: Sales professionals face rejection on daily basis. It’s not always easy to pick up the phone and make another cold call after receiving that rejection, but it is a necessary step to get that one person who will say yes and take a meeting. It’s a numbers game and the sooner you learn not to take anything personal and just move forward, the easier it will become.

Goal-oriented: Successful sales professionals know how to set a target and go after it. But, the difference between a good sales person and a bad sales person is a good sales person puts the pressure of their goals on themselves; a bad sales person places all of the pressure on the prospect. And, we know that a prospect under pressure will not buy. Focused, goal-oriented sales professionals are effective at building relationships and closing more sales.

The bottom line is good sales professionals are human just like you. They care about people and simply want to work with their customers to make their lives easier. While many make great income, they are not all about the dollar bill. Good sale professionals genuinely care about people.

Click here to book to a time to chat with me >>

Snapco Design – Digital Marketing Agency With a Human Touch 🙂

Planning – An Essential Part of Everyday.

A common productivity tip is to plan each day in advance, preferably the night before. But how exactly do you do this? How do you know which items to put on your next day’s to-do list?

If you aren’t careful, self-delusion can creep into your planning process. It’s tempting to put items on your task list that you think you’ll enjoy as opposed to those you really want to see completed and checked off. You may also end up jotting down too many items that seem urgent but which really don’t need to be done at all.

In order to plan each day intelligently, it’s wise to begin at the end. Imagine that it’s already the end of the day you’re aiming to plan. That day is now behind you.

As you look back on your day, you feel fantastic. You know you did your best. You think to yourself, “Wow… what an amazing day this was! I wish every day could be this wonderful.”

You feel great because you completed what you most wanted to get done. You’re now enjoying the afterglow of a day well spent.

If you do this quick exercise, it helps you clarify that each day is an investment. Some activities squander your time while others help you build a better life.

You can extend this process to weekly and monthly planning as well. Project yourself to the end of that time period, and look back with feelings of gratitude. Again, you know you did your best. You feel great about all that you accomplished.

Now as you look back, what do you see? What is it you feel great about? Which items did you check off your task list that left you feeling so satisfied?

Task completion feels good. You know that when you do your best and get a lot done, you feel great at the end of the day. You may feel tired and spent, but that afterglow is unmistakable. Similarly, you know that when you waste a day on trivialities, you don’t feel as good afterwards. You may look back and wonder where the time went and hope that tomorrow will be better. But hope isn’t a very positive feeling; hope is what you’ll find at the border between disappointment and desperation.

Start with the feeling you want to experience at the end of your days, weeks, and months. Get yourself to that place emotionally. Then project that feeling backwards in time and get a sense of the momentum that spawned it. That feeling arises when you’re in a state of flow, steadily completing the tasks that are most important to you.

This process won’t turn you into a workaholic. An unbalanced day will leave you feeling unbalanced afterwards. What you want to aim for is a smooth, flowing, productive day that balances your personal and professional life — the kind of day that will leave you feeling terrific if it becomes your default way of living.

As you project backwards in time, write down the tasks you imagine yourself completing during the day. Don’t think about what you’re doing with your time moment by moment. Simply focus on the miniature milestones. What did you actually get done? Why does that matter to you? How did you feel when you finished?

For example, instead of seeing yourself processing your day’s email, imagine the boost you feel from seeing your inbox empty and closing your email program. Instead of seeing yourself writing a blog post, imagine the feeling you get from clicking “Publish.” What are the milestones throughout your day? Identify those, and you’ll have your to-do list. Your to-do list consists of the action steps you need to take to generate those milestones.

A single day’s task list is usually short, typically 3-7 items. If you have more than 7 items, you’re probably overdoing it. You may be focusing too much on trivialities that seem urgent but which aren’t really important. Significant tasks normally require thought and concentration for extended periods. Those also tend to be the tasks that give you the greatest emotional boost when you finish them.

Focusing on the feelings is a quick way to cut through your mental clutter and get a sense of what really needs to be done right now. At any given time, you may have dozens of eligible tasks vying for your attention, but you obviously can’t do them all at once.

There are multiple successful and unsuccessful versions of each day. Some versions of your day will leave you feeling wonderful afterwards, and some will leave you feeling disappointed. You don’t have to be perfect in making the right choices here. You’ll eventually get to those other important tasks that didn’t make the cut for the next day’s list, and the exact order in which you do them may not be a big deal. The big deal is the habit you establish, the habit of flowing through each day doing what needs to be done and feeling great about your accomplishments.

You’ll probably find that when you apply this process for a few days in a row, your daily, weekly, and monthly tasks lists will become shorter, more focused, and more challenging. You’ll be less likely to put non-essential tasks on your lists because those don’t leave you feeling that you did your best at the end of the day. You’ll start incorporating tasks that truly matter to you, tasks you really want to see completed, so you can enjoy the results of having them done.

Women Entrepreneurs: The reality and struggles with bridging the gender gap

Gender inequality has always been a topic of controversy, hotly debated amongst sociologists and critical thinkers alike. The consistent strive to create equality amongst males and females has always been strongly disputed and debated by many. We here at Snapco Design are a very diverse team with a equal opportunity outlook which so many other workplaces are yet to adopt.

The stereotyped role of males within the home has more often been as the notable breadwinner, one who ‘brings home the bacon’, whilst the wife, as the dutiful homemaker, is responsible for child development and growth. These roles and expectations were often undertaken without dispute.

Moving forward from the archetypal designations to the modern generation of today, the roles of  males and females and the dictations of such roles have definitely undergone their evolutions.

Firstly, the concept of entrepreneurs has retrospectively been a role often associated with men. However in recent years, the advent of further education and the drive for gender equality, has voiced the opinion for change. Evidence of this is the observational changes for female participation within the workplace. According to Michaelia Cash, in a talk at the World Assembly for Women in Tokyo, ‘the curtain has now closed on gender equality being seen and treated as a “women’s issue”.’ This alludes to the acknowledgement made by both government entities and businesses that gender equality is a prevalent issue, both economically and culturally.

The notion of women being entrepreneurs in this modern day is no longer an absurdity but an observable reality; long has been the glass ceiling of holding women back in power roles. However in Australia, there is a gradual rise in change, with 228 entrepreneurs being female, presenting a slow yet steady increase of 3 percent over the course of two years.

An example of factors that are viewed as “holding” women entrepreneurs back, within the technology industry have been cited as being a lack of expertise at 34 percent, lack of confidence at 30 percent, and the lack of strong networks at 27 percent.

Sociologically, it appears that women may be lacking within the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) field, which could put them as the marginal few within industries that are heavily male dominated. Tertiary education institutions ought to delve deeper into the roles of women entrepreneurs within their academia, to encourage and advise students as role models, as well as nurture respect and value for female leadership.

Furthermore, the private sector can also contribute as the next stepping stone for women, in that it can endeavor to bring and provide the necessary networks available for women to build their connections, for example, through avenues such as sources of funding to mentorships. Research into unconscious bias suggests that during venture capital pitches, when both sexes present the same content, there is a general bias towards men; women were perceived to be less competent and did not have substantial innovative or viable concepts.

However, a study led by Vivek Wadhwa within the tech sectors around the world that were led by women, found that the companies were in fact more capital efficient, yielding a 35 percent higher return on investment, and bringing in a revenue that was 12 percent higher than those of their male-owned counterparts.

Initiatives such as the Saha Fund – India’s first Securities and Exchange board venture capital fund focused on women entrepreneurs – also shows a progressive step in the right direction. Ankita Vashistha, founder and CEO of Saha Fund, stated ‘Women are crucial to economic growth around the world but they need significant help in getting access to capital, getting support and guidance, especially in the startup phase’.

It can be easy for women to question and dismiss the notion of entrepreneurship, given that the obstacles faced not only tests the resilience but whether or not they can take that risk. Women entrepreneurs have embarked on paths where they’ve made mistakes, failed, and pivoted, all in order to get that big break. All these experiences are the mere foundations that demonstrate the difficulties that women face. It can appear fragmented, given that not all organisations may celebrate women entrepreneurs in support or training. However, given adequate support, mentorship, reinvestment in success and sharing of stories and prevalent advocating of more female entrepreneur roles within the working world, there is undoubtedly no limit on what women can achieve.

3 Questions You MUST Ask Yourself More Frequently As A Business Owner

Does your business have similar strategies and delivery methods to the competition? 

Do the procedures you have in place resemble that of the competitions?

Do you have objectives & plans that mirror your direct competition?

Had you considered these questions and what your answers might be at some point recently? No? Well  just for the sake of the exercise, take a moment to answer the questions now… Did you answer yes to all of them? If so, pull up the drawing board. The single most important back office factor of any business (small or large) that has any direct competition is how unique of an image you create and portray. Those on the side of the majority may want to take a look from the outside in to see just how much they blend into their market. No single business is doing things the “right” way. We all simply do things the way we know how, most alike business will have similar methods. The key here is to go beyond just doing what you know, take what you know and transform knowledge into power by developing a business model and brand that truly reflects the inner uniqueness of your business. Every business has something unique, you just have to figure out how to highlight it.

Being remembered & recognised is paramount. This is achieved by thinking in ways that corporate sheep will label as weird or unorthodox. Risk is good & weird is even better. No body remembers the guy that was profoundly the same as the rest. Take charge, think weird, think different… now you’re memorable. Memorable branding very easily translates to profitable business in the world of self-employment. Never taking risks means never truly giving yourself the chance of reaching goals.

You’d like help becoming memorable? As luck would have it, we would be more than happy to share some tips on how to become the “weirdo” that rises above the majority. Normality was never the cause of greatness as greatness is defined as being better than average. Average is the goal of no body but the end of the line for so many. People have comfort zones. Not you though.

There are no right or wrong answers here, but there is a distinct difference between surviving and thriving. Time to rise up and make those blissful dreams become your reality. Living and existing are of no similar nature. Be the very best version of yourself, now you are living & thriving

Have you ever read a story about a highly successful person that waited and procrastinated? Of coarse not because that would make for a wildly average book. Act now by calling our office phone on (07) 5390 8136 to speak with a consultant with a passion for being the centre of attention when it counts or send us an email – info@snapco.com.au Leave the competition in your dust.

The associated costs are impractical and harsh – If you stay the same that is. You can’t put a price on stunning memorable image. Being a dime a dozen business can cost you your future. Can you afford that? Invest in yourself, invest in your future, because you sure as hell deserve it.

Our Strategies Aren’t Without Famous Evidence. 

2 Undeniably Inspirational “Successful Weirdos” That Never Knew Normality.

Steve Jobs (Founder & Former CEO of Apple Computers)

Mark Zuckerberg (Founder & CEO of Facebook) 

A Pair Of Pretty Weird Guys, Always Raising The Bar, Forever Seeking Improvement, Never Ceased To Persue Further Successes. Determined, Different & Hungry… 

We have 2 challenges for those that remain sceptical about becoming professionally weird…

Name 1 organisation that is a leader within their industry that does things just like the others and lacks a unique image.

Name 1 highly successful individual that you have not at any point thought to be a little weird & a tad reckless.

HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS.

Sometimes it is the things that are the most obvious that shock us the most…

It is only the minority that reach real success… 

The majority view the minority as being the weaker links… 

BUT it is always the majority that engage in the never ending rate for success…

With this in mind, to be noticed, remembered & established as an obvious choice among competitors, you need to step out of the crowd & spotlight what makes you different.

Behavioural Warning: The above statement may cause immediate weird and unique thoughts which often leads to what was once deemed impossible. You’re welcome.

Phone: 07 5390 8136

Email: info@snapcodesign.com.au

Website: http://www.snapcodesign.com.au