Why Business Objectives Are The Critical First Step to Website Design

Too often companies consider their website as an after-thought. They try and bolt on their website to their existing marketing as a separate entity. But then they get disgruntled when the web site is not the success they hoped for The reason the website does not perform to expectations is often because of a lack …

My Experiences as a Design Hacker. Now There’s a Name For It

I am a business owner first, and although I have been building websites since 2000 I had also been a hacker. Get a business idea, quickly build it myself, and get it in front of my market. If I got a bit of traction and some sales I would upgrade certain parts. I had some …

Custom vs Premium Themes – The Debate

Custom vs premium themes is a hotly debated topic and my opinion is a little bit heretical within the upper echelons of the web design community. I am a big fan of premium pre built themes. In my own experience on using both custom and premium pre built themes, I felt that while there were …

Pricing Decisions – Should Your Online Store Offer Wholesale?

The Lure of Wholesale Markets For an online store it can be a competitive advantage to create a brand yourself. In this scenario, more often than not the idea of wholesaling, selling to retail stores, gets put on the table. I have had only limited experience with selling products under my own brand, but in …

Minimum Viable Customer Service Process

When I started Wooassist and was looking at designing the customer service process, I decided that it would be more efficient to wait till we got our first customer, and deal with that customer myself, document how I handled that customer, and make that into a process the team could follow. I estimated it was …

Time Budget for Competing Objectives and Managing Accountability

With all the competing business objectives and the complicated web of businesses I have created for myself, the one thing I can control is how much time I spend on each part of my business. I have been doing this with a time budget for a few months now and it has given me some …

Morning Routine For Increased Effectiveness and Creativity

I recently picked up a book called “Daily Rituals” by Mason Currey. A fascinating account of the daily rituals of famous creative people. My morning routine is something that I hold dearly and when I was younger, was a discipline that I didn’t always achieve. It was obvious to me that both the quality and …

The Journey to a Systems Approach

The Problem. There I was, knowing I needed an internet strategy, knowing I needed to do fortnightly newsletters, knowing I needed to add more products on the website, have more blog articles, more Youtube videos. The list just went on and on. Every day and I’d have great new ideas for the website and everyday …

Outsourcing to International Contractors

Outsourcing to lower cost international contractors may not be for everyone, but it has become key to my working and management style. I have become an expert in delegation, just ask my partner and kids. I can outsource parts or all of web design and development, content writing, social media management, SEO and general admin …