Promoting any new business can be difficult. A great place to begin is the internet- where you can spread the word to more people, quickly. The best part? Most of it is free! Here are 5 steps to promoting yourself in cyber world:

1. Have a Website, and make it good.

This is the not-free part, but it’s the most important step of marketing online. There are many options for an affordable website- you can have a great, simple site for under twenty dollars a month and expand when necessary.

What’s a good website? Just make sure it expresses your company at its best. Some general rules:

* Pick a good domain name. Are people more likely to remember www.sally&scrapbooks2343.com or www.sallyscrapbooks.com?

*Clarity is key. Take a good look at your site. Can you read everything without squinting? Does it look disorganized or jumbled? Are there too many fonts? Look at the first thing that jumps out at you. Is that the first thing you want a viewer to notice? Have at least three people take a look and give you some feedback.

*Got style? You want your site to be clear- but you want it to be boring. After all, not boring! Play around with the layout. Put in some pictures. Some color. Think about the your favorite websites and why they are your favorite.

*Stand out. Think about your business- why is it special? Maybe you’ve got a great story as to why you started it. Maybe you’ve got a perspective on scrap booking. Maybe you are just great at what you do. Show it! Express yourself, and your company, through your website.

2. Spread the Word.

Here’s where networking meets self promotion. Check the web for scrap booking groups and forums (scrap booking.com and scrapjazz.com both have message boards). Log into these sites and check out the message boards. There are usually many messages asking for advice in scrap booking, tips, etc. Here’s where you come in. Give your advice; give tips, feedback, conversation, just get out there! And at the bottom of every message, provide a link to your website.

A site that might be very useful to you is MySpace.com. It’s not a specialized site- instead it’s a large site with many different people and groups. There are several scrap booking groups. This is a great site to network and promote your business. Sign up and make a profile of your company, with a link to your website, of course. Join groups, start groups. Leave messages on topics in your groups- be friendly and helpful, and always link to your website. You make “friends” on MySpace- they either ask to add you or you ask to add them. Make as many friends as you can through groups and networking. You can then send out “bulletins” with specials, advice, or events that get sent to all of your fiends. Networking on the web is really a win-win situation: you get to meet and talk to great people with similar interests, and you gain more exposure.

3. Blog

A blog is a great way to show people what you are all about, and promote your company. What is a blog? Well the definition is ever-changing, but you can pretty much think of it as your own newsletter/ journal. You can write anything in your blog- advice on scrap booking, what it’s like to be the owner of a scrap booking company, etc. There are many different sites that host blogs, including blogger.com and blogspot.com. A great new blog site is writingup.com. Here you can begin a free blog, and you can even put google ads on it and make a bit of off of that. A good method to blogging for business is to spend just as much time promoting as you do blogging. Example: Spend 15 minutes every day writing a blog related to scrap booking or to your business. At the bottom of every one of your blogs, include a link to your website. Then spend 15 minutes “commenting” (responding with advice or feedback) on other people’s scrap booking blogs. And at the bottom of every comment? Your website address or a link to your blog.

4. You’ve got mail.

It’s important to have a n e-mail address that any customer looking at your website can find out, and reach you. Maybe they have a question, or they want to know if you can do a special project for them. You do not want to lose a customer because they didn’t know how to reach you. So, make sure your e-mail address is easily located on your website, and check it daily.

5. Follow-up

Promoting your company on the internet can be fun and very rewarding. It’s important to remember, though, that it’s still work. Which means you have to do it. If you begin networking on the web and anticipate to see results immediately, you will probably be disappointed. But if you put effort in, state an hour every other day, after a month you will surely have gained great exposure for your company. It’s important to stay visible- stay current with message boards and posts. Take time to connect with people. Stay creative and find what works for you.

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Competition for competent staff in countries like India is intense. The environment is similar to what U.S. experienced during the Internet boom, when it was very difficult to attract and retain good talent.

Many companies are finding that high turnover in their offshore team is creating disappointing results. You’ve invested valuable U.S. staff time to train your offshore team and put in a lot of hard work to do trial runs. When several months have passed, you conclude that your offshore team understands your issues, so you reassign and/or remove staff at your U.S. location. After all, you cannot afford to duplicate staff forever! But not long after you make this move, you learn that the key staff members and/or team leads dedicated to your offshore effort have left the offshore team! Although the offshore organization says that they are addressing the situation and there’s no need for you to be concerned, you realize that there is no way that they can meet your needs without investing additional resources from head-quarters. And you doubt that such resources are available.

In Part 1 of this article, I discussed how to understand the real nature of the issue and not totally rely on the numbers your offshore vendor provides. In this (Part 2) article, I will provide best practices on how to address the issue.

Whose responsibility is it anyway?

While the offshore vendor is obviously responsible, you the outsourcer also have a role to play. You cannot leave it entirely to the offshore vendor.

Best Practices to address attrition

The conventional response by offshore vendors to this issue is to offer increased compensation and address other HR related issues. While this is necessary, it is not sufficient for assuring satisfactory performance on a long term basis. In fact, in some of the industry surveys compensation came in as number 3 factor in overall job satisfaction. Job content and how they were treated were higher. That said, if your salary scales are not competitive, you will experience turnover.

• Examine the type of work offshored: It makes a critical difference whether you offshore only routine tasks or give your offshore team challenging assignments. One of the motivators for the offshore staff is the type of assignments and opportunity to learn and progress. On the other hand, you do have routine tasks that some one has to do and most likely you have offshored these tasks to begin with; in such a case, establish a planned progression for key performers so that they can see that by staying with you, they will continue to have the opportunity to learn.

• Examine the offshoring model: this is not intuitively obvious. Some companies have gone offshore and established a subsidiary of their own, without considering minimum size that is necessary for effectiveness. In the current environment where demand for skills is high, if you do not have local branding and your size is “small”, it will be hard to retain key personnel; they can see better career opportunities at a larger organization.

• Establish rotation plans: Provide opportunities for offshore staff to travel to the U.S. either for short term or long term depending on your need and what the staff members can do. Use the opportunity to do team building and establish personal rapport between your U.S. and offshore staff.

• Have U.S. personnel visit offshore facilities on a regular basis; this should include technical and managerial and executive staff; it promotes team building.

• Recognize and reward contributions: Treat offshore staff the same way you would your U.S. staff; when some one has made a major contribution, make sure they are recognized publicly and rewarded; some times small gestures like a thank you e-mail can go a long way to keep offshore staff motivated. Your offshore vendor may have their own reward system; make sure that you inform their management about members who are excelling in their performance. Other simple things that can go a long way – company T-shirts, coffee mugs etc. You should also consider setting up financial rewards based on their length of service to your company.

• Promote your company, its vision and the experience they can gain by being part of your team. Since, most offshore staff members are desirous of broadening their expertise, they will value highly the opportunity to be part of your team. Executive visits should include sharing the company’s vision on an ongoing basis.

• Recognize reality: Majority of staff in offshore organizations tends to be younger – in the early 20s to early 30s. Many of them are keen on building up their resumes and salaries as quickly as possible. So there is an inherent impetus for attrition. Account for this in assessing feasibility/economics of offshore outsourcing and plan your operations to address it on an ongoing basis.

• Stay involved: Offshore outsourcing does not mean you can sign a contract, sit back and count your savings; you must still actively manage the offshore organization as if it is an extension of your own organization, though it is legally a separate entity.

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According to ABC news, Zivity.com is a new pay-for-nudity web-site, for those 18 and over, that is currently being tested to invited members only by its San Francisco area staff. How the site works is that members will pay $10 a month to surf the masses or to promote their own nudity page.

As members surf, they will be to vote 5 times a month on models and photography skills; each vote is worth .80 that is split equally between model and photographer. Since Zivity offers this pay for nude photography, current tax information will be needed from members with this, discouraging the potential underage users.

In my opinion, I am not sure that a site like this can survive over years to become one of our on the internet community household names. Today, when you click into Zivity you will see a very professional looking photo of a blonde girl with too much eye make-up, who is spotlighted with a photographer over a darkened background.

Perhaps many photographers viewing this promotional pic are thinking that they can do superior than that, so they are joining the 30,000-person waiting to become members. Yet, there is a reality factor every time you invite professional photographers to compete with amateurs; professionals know what they are doing, and people will vote accordingly.

As people sign-up for Zivity and pay their $10 a month, they will be doing so in hopes of making cash through votes. This means that all body’s and camera gear must remain pristine over time, for members to last longer than one season. At $10 a month, a model and photographer must make $20 in eighty-cent votes to cover their fees monthly.

While it is true that some members will be there as viewers only, this site might be prone to a constant flow of $10 membership cancellations and sign-ups. With any web-site you must invent a solid-core user base that will be with you for as long as the site is alive. Mass nudity that charges users is not conducive to a solid core user-base.

Once you mix a request for membership fees along with the idea of mass nudity, you are subconsciously requesting the American public to purchase pornography; a thought that many people equate to illegal activity. On the other hand, when a site is free to use, these same people may attempt to use it out of curiosity or personal reasons.

Zivity does not seem to be thinking of their potential for an unstable user-base, and potential bad image that can happen when bonds with nudity; they appear to be thinking of people on free -to-use MySpace who slide a few nude pictures by the system, or adults already associated with adult entertainment elsewhere.

I wish Zivity well, just as I wish all new web-sites well despite content. Opening a new business is an exciting time for those working behind the scenes. My personal vote though, is that this site is doomed to be a young death before it starts.

There are already many pay for porn sites online, and while Zivity is trying to offer a new twist to this age-old game, I just do not believe that their twist hold enough pizzazz to capture a long time paid membership audience. Amateur photographers can not compete with pros for money, and the paying public is fickle; people demand choice on where to spend their entertainment dollars.

With the number of home sales dropping, and the tighter restrictions in the mortgage industry, many homeowners are finding it harder than ever to sell their homes and upgrade to a larger home. Because of this trend, home renovation projects are on the rise as homeowners are finding ways to make their current homes more livable, while adding value to their home at the same time. The easiest way to add value and create the feel of a new home, is to renovate your kitchen.

In a kitchen renovation, the kitchen cabinets represent the largest expenditure in your remodeling budget. Since they are the centerpiece of your kitchen, many of the other decisions about your kitchen will be based off of your cabinet choice. Your countertop, appliance, and hardware decisions will depend on the style and layout of your kitchen cabinets.

The biggest issue with traditional, store bought cabinets is that it could take 8-10 weeks before delivery, so it is very important to make your cabinet selection prior to do starting any demolition or remodeling of your kitchen. There are cabinets available on-line, that could be delivered within 2-3 weeks, but it will depend on what style and construction you are looking for. We will talk about the differences in cabinets later on in the article.

Before looking at cabinets, it is important to come up with a target budget and a basic floor plan or layout. With the average kitchen remodel costing $40,000-50,000 it is important to accurately calculate all of the expenses involved with your project. While it may seem like a challenging project, even a DIY Homeowner with minimal experience can design and layout their own kitchen with accurate measurements and a couple of templates. This could save you a significant amount of money by not using a kitchen designer.

In the event that you think this is a project that you are comfortable tackling, you can either use a kitchen designer or go to one of the home improvement centers and take advantage of their free design services.

There are several factors that are going to affect the cost of your cabinets: cabinet brand, construction, wood type, and features. It is important to research all of your options. What you will find is that a higher price doesn’t always correspond with higher quality, and some of the lesser-known cabinet lines will actually have a stronger construction.

There are however, a few general kitchen cabinet buying tips that may help you in your kitchen cabinet research.

Kitchen Cabinet Wood Choices

Whether you are buying custom made cabinets, stock cabinets, or RTA cabinets, they will all offer a wide range of wood choices. Solid hardwood cabinets, such as Cherry, Maple, Birch, Hickory and Oak typically cost much more than laminate or veneer finished cabinets.

Face Framed Kitchen Cabinets

Face framed kitchen cabinet construction is the most prevalent kitchen cabinet construction type in the United States and usually it is lower cost. This construction technique involves the building of a kitchen cabinet face out of hardwood pieces. Typically the cabinet face is constructed using several 1″x 2″ vertical and horizontal hardwood pieces. The face frame is then married to the front of a particleboard or solid plywood kitchen cabinet box. It is highly recommended that you try to find cabinets that use solid wood or solid plywood for the cabinet box.

Particleboard and Fiberboard will have a tendency to sag or warp over time from moisture. Even mid-priced RTA cabinets are available that are made from solid Plywood sides. Hardwood or veneered/laminated cabinet doors and drawer faces, are then attached via hinges and roller mechanisms to the face frame and cabinet box.

Frameless (European-Style) Kitchen Cabinets

Frameless kitchen cabinet construction is becoming increasingly popular today as frameless kitchen cabinets are considered to be more contemporary. With frameless cabinets there is no face frame. The kitchen cabinet doors attach directly to the sides of the cabinet and are secured with pins and dowels. The advantages of this type of construction, is that there is wider access into the cabinet space and the hinges are completely hidden. Typically “ready-to-install” kitchen cabinets are constructed in this manner.

Kitchen Cabinet Finishes

There are many Kitchen cabinet finishes to choose from when using natural woods. Cabinet finishes include stain, paint and glazing options. In addition there are my types of distressing techniques that can also be employed on kitchen cabinet surfaces. Some options include Rasping, Antiquing and Rub-thru.

There are also many types of laminates that you can choose from.

Kitchen Cabinet Sizes

Kitchen cabinets come in a variety of standard shapes and sizes, however custom sizes can also be easily specified and manufactured – at a price. Standards kitchen cabinet sizes, known as stock cabinets, are usually much more affordable then custom or semi-custom cabinets and usually have shorter lead times. Most manufacturers, unless custom built, stock universal sizes so if you have a kitchen designed at supply store or by a designer it will usually be transferable to another cabinet line.

Kitchen Cabinet Quality

If you plan on living in your home for many years, do not skimp on your kitchen cabinets. They are constantly used and abused, and only the sturdiest will stand the test of time.

The best kitchen cabinets employ solid frames, doors and drawers and are fully self-contained (closed backs), with reinforced corners. As I mentioned before, it is important to look for cabinets that have a plywood box versus particleboard or fiberboard. This is why it is important to look at all of the cabinet lines that are available, even cabinets that are sold on-line.

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