Read one Irish entrepreneur's blog as she operates a business in Dublin
Worst Irish Commercial Site
January 30, 2004
And still on a web design bashing tip. . the latest IQContent newsletter slags off the Avonmore site as being the worst commercial site in Ireland.
I agree. It fails on a number of levels and is a true example of form over function. Designed by House of Design, who really should know better. I'm sure the designers had loads of fun creating the site, but it's a complete waste of time.
Brightspark's approach to websites begins with the question: What is the purpose of this site? How does that fit in with the business' sales & marketing objectives?
These simple steps clearly didn't happen in the Avonmore or House of Design boardrooms!
Unethical Web Designers
January 28, 2004
Oh you can tell the upturn has started! One of the web design companies that I have used for a number of projects has just let me down. The Managing Director of this company quoted for a job at the end of 2003. A sales person sent an email yesterday to tell me they were upping the price. Not by a couple of hundred I can tell you. But by €1275 on the design component alone!!! They've also added thousands more euro to the price of other components of the job, and really it's not acceptable, nor is it possible for my client to afford that fee.
My client is a small business owner who gave work to the web design company back in 2002, when times were tough. The web design company was glad of her business back when it was struggling to push out new product and win new business. My client delivers training for many government departments, her site is very public, and she is very generous in her praise of work well done. The designer has probably benefited in its pursuit of more lucrative public sector jobs.
Fast forward to 2004. The long awaited pick-up is showing signs of beginning. The web design company is applying its excellent designs to lots of government and other public sector jobs. Its prices are high, possibly the highest in the city, but the quality of design is second to none.
But it needs to address how it treats existing clients. Or more speficially, how it treats clients that are worth less than €10,000. Or maybe my client is part of a cull of smaller clients? I read in a book about how to successfully grow your business, that the best way to handle removing small clients is to introduce them to a competitor. That way you're keeping them happy and you're building bridges amongst the smaller players in your industry.
If this is a sign of how certain Irish businesses intend to treat their clients while on the rise, things are not looking good. I won't name the design firm in this blog, but if you are reading this and would really like to know because you don't want this to happen to you, then just hit the contact button on the top navigation and send us an email . . .
Denmark & US Get Tough on Spam
January 23, 2004
On Wednesday a court in Denmark fined a local telecoms equipment firm for sending up to 15,000 unsolicited commercial FAXES. These are considered spam under Danish law.
Denmark is one of six EU states to have implemented a European Commission directive on privacy and electronic communications. Ireland, Austria, UK and Spain have also implemented this directive that calls for stiff sanctions against firms who send torrents of unsolicited marketing messages, spam.
Meanwhile in the US, 2 of the world's most prolific email spammers face up to 20 years in jail for their annoying offerings such as reduced mortgage interest rates, internet history erasers, and investment advice.
Jeremy Jaynes, 29 is being held pending a request for extradition. Richard Rutowski is expected to surrender to authorities under terms being worked out through his attorney. Both are reported to have enjoyed affluent lifestyles - what I want to know is - who are the suckers that clicked the links and paid money over for Viagra/Investment Advice or whatever it was the spam email was offering??
World Food Market 2004
January 19, 2004
Speaking of social capitalism...
Last May, my brother and I were talking about how great it is that Dublin has become so multi-cultural. Both of us had lived overseas for more than a few years, we returned post Celtic Tiger and regularly marvel at the positive changes in this city.
I mentioned the Dun Laoghaire festival of world music as a great day out and began to describe how Dun Laoghaire gets transformed into a kind of Irish Notting Hill Festival at the end of August every year. My brother is a restauranteur, so he asked about the food element in the festival. There was none. This prompted me to call the festival organisers.
A couple of emails, telephone calls, and meetings later, my brother and I had a meeting with the festival organisers last week. The upshot of it is that this year the Dun Laoghaire festival of world music will have a festival of world food, and my brother and I are going to put it on!
Restaurants will be invited to take part, to represent their food type. And where a country's food is not yet represented by a restaurant, we will approach that community's group and invite them to prepare their food for sampling by the 100,000+ visitors to the festival.
My brother has a background in food going back a couple of decades and he was involved in food festivals around Australia. I have promoted many events, and have worked in sponsorship in Australia. This week, we are sending out a request for information to a number of event management companies, we will select a partner to work with, and get things underway for Dun Laoghaire's first Festival of World Food.
Avid readers of this blog can expect updates on the twists and turns of this culinary tale!
Is Social Capitalism Alive in Ireland?
January 13, 2004
The latest issue of Fast Company applauds social capitalism and draws attention to some of the more noteworthy projects taking place. Social capitalism applys the principles of entrepreneurship to social problems to improve lives, not to generate profit. majority of the cases highlighted are focussed on addressing social problems in the US, such as education and health, but there are a few that look to helping our brothers and sisters from developing nations. One example is Room to Read which aims to improve literacy levels in Nepal, Cambodia and Vietnam.
The reason I raise this in today's blog is because I'd love to know if social capitalism is alive and well in Ireland?
Since my return to this country in 2001, I heard one story about a successful entrepreneur who is building houses in the shanty towns outside Cape Town, but that's about it really. For a nation that used to pride ourselves on our giving - we were the highest per capita donors at Live Aid - I wonder if that spirit still survives, or if our recent increase in wealth has removed our memories of poverty and famine that spurred us on to act.
Speaking of famine, BBC showed a very interesting programme last night about Ethiopia 20 years on. Yes, it is 20 years since Michael Buerk's disturbing images of dying children hit the 6 o'clock news and made the world open its eyes and act.
There is no shortage of worthy projects and issues to tackle, I'm just wondering if there is a shortage of social entrepreneurs?
First Week Back
January 08, 2004
First week back for most people, except a few lucky ones who are in warmer climes. I have decided to take next January off, so note that in your diairies as I won't be available!
Because Iwas sick all over the Christmas/New Year period, I was rather glad to be back on Monday and have lots of contact with people. Chirpy? Yes, nauseatingly so, for anyone who was nursing the effects of too much grog and grub over the last few weeks.
Spent yesterday in a client's office working on the content of their intranet site. It's very satisfying to see the transformation in an intranet site like that at the end of the day on a job like that. Large tracts of information that is difficult to take in becomes bite-sized and scannable; out of date material and waffle gets removed, so the remainder is lean and mean and gets to the point.
The only problem was the content management system which let me down as today the client called to say sections are not showing. I have to go in and fix it tomorrow. I know I make my living from technology but sometimes I wish life wasn't so dependent on it.
Happy New Year!
January 02, 2004
First blog of the new year! I'm really looking forward to this year - am full of good intentions for what will be achieved. One of the resolutions stemming from that is "No time for time wasters". I think if I stick to that during the day, I will see myself working less during the night.
Expect some changes afoot in 04 on the Brightspark blog. I've changed my host provider and the new one offers me so much more! This blog will be produced using blogging software that automatically archives, and I'll be receiving an RSS feed so you can expect lots more comment on interesting happenings from around the world on the internet.
Best wishes to everyone reading this for a fantastic uplifting joyous and prosperous new year.