Read one Irish entrepreneur's blog as she operates a business in Dublin
Steve Jobs Inspiration
October 27, 2005
My cousin, Robert Coyle of Bloom contacted me today to tell me how they'd won Silver at the NNI's Press Builds Brands competition. Well done to Bloom, but what transpired from the congratulatory email is this :
Steve Jobs Magic!!
Robert sent this to me, and I thank him for it. If you don't read anything else today, find 5 minutes to read this. God the man is a poet, a philospher, a genius of our time. (And sorry Robert, I don't mean you, I am referring to Steve Jobs).
Here is a couple of paragraphs that really spoke to me, but really you owe it to yourself to read the article.
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Have a happy bank holiday weekend, and if you're going away, drive safely.
Don't know whether I'm coming or going...
October 26, 2005
With the busy-ness in email marketing activity right now, I never know what date it is. Because I'm always working on emails going out 2, 3, 4 days hence, I'm already in November! Last year was all about search engine optimisation, this year it's more about emails.
I love working on emails, they're one of my favourite things. Firstly, because they bring such amazing results - clients are always bowled over by the graphic and professional quality they bring to their communications, results are fully trackable so it brings new life to contact databases. Secondly, because the success of an email campaign lies in words. And that's what I love.
Greetings from Paris
October 22, 2005
I love paris in the autumn time. Leaves are yellowing and floating through the blue sky, temperature is not yet too cold, and all the 'grands magasins' have their winter collections in - mmm, boots and knitwear, coats, scarves, hats....it's very easy to be chic in this city!
I'm here on business, taking a new client through the steps involved in preparing a functionality spec for a tri-lingual CMS for a tri-lingual website. The business is based around property so it's bound to be a success. For Brightspark, it's a first time to work on a multi-lingual site/CMS, so it's an interesting learning experience.
Recruitment Drive Continues
October 16, 2005
Placed an ad on Jobs.ie last week and the response has been terrific! Interviewing begins this week and am hoping to make an offer before the bank holiday weekend.
Two of my good friends are helping me out on the interviewing because I fear that I might like everyone too much! Need an outside set of eyes and ears to help me select the right person.
In amongst new sites coming on, continued email marketing for clients, as well as the usual search engine optimisation and pay per click activity and proposals for new projects, it's all very exciting!
Just Knocked Google Off #1!
October 07, 2005
Ha! It's not very often you get to say that you've knocked Google off position #1 on its own search engine! Just put the Brightspark recruitment ads up - using a combination of pay per click, personal contacts, and jobs sites to find the right person.
Are you the right person?
We're looking for someone who has some web development skills, is highly organised and is keen to work for a growing business like ourselves. Starting at 3-4 days per week, you can work from home some of those days if it suits you better.
Get in now and grow with a growing business. Read our job ad.
And if you know someone who's got some web development skills, who is keen to get back to work, or move into a company that's open, dynamic, and fun, then please pass this on.
Construction Industry Website
Have you ever had a look at construction industry websites in this country? On the whole they're pretty uninspiring, until now...
We've just launched a new website for Tricastle Construction Limited which provides exactly the type of information that visitors to the site will be looking for.
Decisions made by the Big Property Moguls in Ireland are not made on the basis of a website and how good it looks, so there has been a tendency for contractors to overlook this key way of communicating with people. But when future skilled employees are researching which companies they want to work for, one of the first places they will turn to is the website.
Tricastle's site provides information on its strong health & safety record, its open and friendly culture, and the fact that they are currently recruiting! It also features some rather nifty images of recent and current construction projects they are working on.
Automated Blog Update
October 03, 2005
New feature to the site - when I post an entry to the blog, it automatically updates on the home page, so you can see - at a glance - when the blog has been updated. This saves you having to click in to the blog area, makes the site more user friendly, and is of course much more efficient for me as I don't have to update the home page manually.
This was brought to you by a very talented perl scripter, whose details I can provide to you upon request!
Don't Give To Collections
October 01, 2005
the ones that leave the cheap plastic bags at your door.
I have just watched "Hotel Rwanda". It is essential viewing for anyone who claims to have a heart. I'm only glad I didn't watch it in the cinema because of the unbridled passionate sobbing throughout. The dvd was paused a good many times, the intensity of that film is unlike anything I've ever seen.
You might well be reading this and wondering "what has this got to do with business? And what's she doing saying not to give to collections?"
I'm referring to the ones that send the cheap plastic bags through your door claiming to be collecting for Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. I only got one today - a photocopy that mentioned the horrors of Africa (drought, war, AIDS) and profiled some countries that they claim to 'help'.
These sicken me.
If you read them very carefully you'll notice that they are worded in such a way as to imply that your goods that you are giving are going to help poor people in deserving countries. The sickening thing is that, in many cases, they are not.
Many of these collections are run by private enterprises and the clothes, household goods, etc that you donate are SOLD by the companies involved to retailers who SELL ON the goods. So some fat cats are living on the profits of your altruism.
Please read the flyers very carefully before giving to these charities. And if you're unsure, and thinking, "maybe some of the good will go to the people"...sit down and watch Hotel Rwanda and see how much good "we" did for the people there when they needed us.
So it's ended, millions of murders later. And now, in Prospering Ireland, the land of Entrepreneurs and Go Getters, we have companies (registered companies) whose sole aim is to capitalise on people's generosity to give.
I have heard that during Live Aid, Ireland gave the most per capita of any country. Certain 'astute' business people have made a business out of this.
Read the leaflets through your door very carefully.
And don't mistake what I'm saying as an excuse not to give to the ones who do genuine work - Trocaire, Goal, Concern...alll the 'brand names' - in this case it's best to stick to them.