Read one Irish entrepreneur's blog as she operates a business in Dublin
Where Are The Heros Gone?
November 26, 2003
I watched a marvellous programme on RTE last night about the heroic O'Rahilly family and the events that took place in Ailesbury Road during the tragic days of our Civil War. The central thesis of the programme was that back then, we were a nation of idealists. A small island packed with many young men and women who were ready to die for their country. To fight for the freedom of generations to come.
Such a contrast with The Irish Times article on the same day. A night out with the unfortunate gardai policing west Dublin. A landscape of violence alright but for all the wrong reasons. Sinister messages remain about cocktails of cocaine, steroids and semi automatic weapons.
How does all of this relate to the blog about one woman's experience running a business in Dublin you might well ask?
Despite the hundreds of individuals who were brave enough to give their lives for their country, there is still violence. Violence did not eradicate violence. The twenty-somethings of the suburbs stand like warped images of the ones who lived by the gun before them.
And what of me? Every family has its Easter Rising story. Mine tells of my Great Grandfather rushing in to his drapery shop in Henry Street as soon as he could on Easter Monday - speaking English with the British soldiers standing guard on street corners, commending the Rebels as gaeilge as they scurried through streets to re-arm, to re-group, and to resuscitate.
Twenty first century, I was doing my fair share of scurrying on Monday. A paper I had worked hard on all weekend was due and my internet connection chose that day to give up on me. The battery on my laptop died when I got to an internet café, so I was facing a bare black screen, and I couldn't get my work off my computer and away to the client. My mobile was taken away to be fixed. I was stripped bare of all my tools and I couldn't help thinking about how difficult life can be sometimes.
After reflecting on that marvellous programme last night, I got things into perspective. Difficult means not being able to express your beliefs, and living in a city that has the worst slums in Europe. Difficult is, when all around you, friends and family are dying for great causes - be it the Great War or the War of Independence. So I told myself to cop on, get on the phone to the technical support desks, and just get on with it..
Beauty Full Client
November 19, 2003
I'm doing some extra enjoyable work at the moment for a client, and the reason it's so enjoyable is because the content is all about things close to my heart. The client is Madison Clinic & Day Spa, located in Liffey Street in Dublin and they provide the full range of pampering treatments (facials to die for, massage, reflexology, manicures, pedicures...) as well as a number of other treatments guaranteed to bring joy to people's lives. One of these is the NLITE treatment which is a laser treatment for removing acne and acne scars. So if anyone out there has a hotline to Bryan Adams, give him a nudge!
Rather like the time I was helping my brother write the menu for his restaurant, I am literally drooling over the items on the beauty menu at Madison. If only all jobs could be like this one!!
PS - Madison offers vouchers for all of its treatments and therapies, but they're doing a special offer at the moment where the purchaser of the voucher gets a fantastic free gift. Visit the site to find out more.
Am I Boring?
November 17, 2003
Am I glad it's Monday again! Am free to work to my heart's content. Have become increasingly reliant upon getting lots of work done over weekends. This weekend however, my Loved One, was pointing out how boring I'm becoming...So I had to justify each hour I wanted to spend on the computer.
The thing is: when you've got 4 Intranets, 3 Pay-Per-Click, 2 SMS, 2 Website Development, and 2 Training projects on the go, as well as copious other proposals that need time and attention, it's kind of hard to fit it into Monday - Friday. But hey, I'm not complaining!
Bad Luck to "Dating"
November 13, 2003
I'm used to receiving copious amounts of spam from American spammers. Pardon me if I sound like I'm being anti-American, but it's the names (Carly, Randy, etc) and the spelling (organize, center) that give it away. However today I received spam from an Irish website - a dating service with some dodgy looking web address that I'm not even going to publicise here. If I ever come across anyone who claims to be connected with this lowlife website I will allow myself to vent the full wrath of my anger. Spam costs business money. And it destroys the good reputation of some internet marketers.
Here's a good tip to make it a little bit more difficult for spam bots to harvest your email address from your website. Instead of using the character "@", use "ampersand, hash sign, 64, semi colon" and it will shield your email address from those lowlife scumbag spammers. I have to put that in words because if I just use symbols it gets converted to @ on the web anyway. Hope that makes sense!
Time Management Programme
November 11, 2003
I think the single biggest problem facing me (and all new business owners) is that there is simply not enough time in the day to do everything.
Or rather, because I am doing everything, I find that I'm working increasingly long hours just to deliver to my clients and get things done.
That is why I'm following a time management system starting this week. I've got a sheet that's broken into 15 minute slots and I have to allocate a letter to each slot according to what I did with it. So C is for work done on behalf of a client. M is marketing...D is distraction, A is admin. Now I've added a few of my own, E for eating, and B for blogging. But even after using this system for 1 day, it's made me incredibly aware of how effectively I spend my time. Or not.
If you would like a copy of this time management sheet, I'd be happy to provide!
Right Place, Right Time
November 07, 2003
While I was meeting with and pitching SMS marketing to a Director of a design company yesterday, one of their clients rang and asked them if they'd know of anyone who could do an SMS campaign! Right place right time in extremis I think.
Luckily they were able to get back to their client and tell him that not only could they deliver an SMS marketing campaign, but they can deliver it at the lowest price in Ireland! That's right. Brightspark makes it possible for every company to try out SMS marketing. No longer do you have to endure a minimum purchase of 2,000 texts to see if it will work for you, Brightspark has removed that hurdle and brings SMS marketing to all.
Want to know more? You know what to do.
Another Milestone
November 04, 2003
How long am I in business now? Hmm, about 4.5 months and I've already finished an entire pack of business cards. I got 300 printed, that's 300 potential pieces of business for Brightspark. Those cards could be languishing in rolodex's, in desk drawers, or people's wallets.
If YOU are the owner of one of those cards, please don't leave it languishing any longer - go out today and find someone who needs their site promoted, their intranet developed, and their overall online presence enhanced. I know those cards look classy, but I got them created for a reason - to make me money!