Brainstorming Sessions

Early Morning January 10, 2013.

Every year we try to come up with new ideas to implement for our business and come up with new projects to help us create more connections with people who might have the same interests.

As a small business, instituting new projects or revisiting old ones and putting a different spin on them has helped us maintain our heads above water when the well has run dry. At the end of last year, Raul decided that we were going to do small brainstorming sessions after various small business people asked him for some advice about projects they wanted to get off the ground.

Brain Drain Game

Raul gets countless of calls from friends and acquaintances that want to do what we call brain drain; pick your brain for ideas, go forth with them, and never contact Raul or myself to know if they were successful.

After many years of playing the brain drain game, we decided to start creating sessions that would serve many purposes.

Disruptive Approach

One purpose would be to help individuals with an ongoing or new project that needed a creative or disruptive way of tackling the obstacles they were facing to get the project off the ground.

The Right Technology

A second purpose was to push entrepreneurs and small business owners to identify the right type of technology and platforms where they can connect with other like-minded individuals.

Getting the momentum going

Lastly, our goal is to also see these projects, through brainstorming sessions, come to fruition and have the small business owner state the success of the project.

Our First Sweet Session

Just recently a small business owner whose wife set up a cupcake, cake, and events company called, Dolce Maria’s Sweet Creations, approached Raúl for a Brainstorming session. We offered four brainstorming packages and they immediately scheduled a session the same week.

Once the session commenced, many ideas flowed between Raul and the client. As the session drew to a close, the clients appeared pleased with the key observations and recommendations offered.

The key objective was for the small business owner to see their value proposition in the services and product they are providing.

Creating a Road Map

To close off the small project we sent a roadmap in the form of a document covering:

-       Overall objectives

-       Accomplishments met within the session

-       Primary and Secondary next Steps

-       Online, Communications, and Business Recommendations

-       Assistance with Pricing Strategy

-       Recommended Reading

-       Tips on using Images on Instagram and Pinterest

We would love to help you make those small or big ideas in your head into successful projects and businesses. Contact us directly.

 

When not to use Groupon or other Discount Sites

As a small business we are always trying to keep track of our expenses and save money for those days that might be extra rainy. As advisors to other small business owners, we are always providing cost effective methods for advertising to obtain new or returning clients.

Filling a Void for Slower Times of the Year

Our latest client, Fit911 Studio’s owner Andres Vazquez was looking to fill a void for those clients who go away on vacation during the holiday month of December. If you have ever frequented Puerto Rico during the holiday season, things don’t get back to normal until after January 6th .

We talked about several options with him and he brought up using Groupon to offer some packages for new clients. We were talking to another person who had used Groupon to sell some pastries and she explained how it was more costly than profitable. We relayed this information to Andres and we suggested using Facebook ads to obtain those new clients.

Facebook Ad and the Ultimate Payoff

He gave us the permission to create the ads, and ultimately he gained 15 clients; five more than he had hoped for during this slow period. Four options were offered to individuals looking to get a jump-start on their new year’s goals.

Our recommendations for this small business owner paid off and now the excellent staff at Fit911 Studio will train new clients.

Although the popular thing is to appear on sites that are promising potential clients up to 90% discount on your services, a small business must evaluate how profitable this will ultimately be for them.

So before you end up giving most of your profit to Groupon and the other discount clones, ask yourself these questions:

How much will Groupon and other discount sites take from your profit?

What other alternatives are there for advertising on the web along with your blog?

If you are having problems with coming up with a creative way to advertise your services, we can help you with a brainstorming session. In our next blog post, we will talk about how short sessions with CIMA IT Solutions Corp. can be a positive outcome for current and future projects.

 

If your interested in finding out how to kick start any new effort or project drop us a line or two and we can gladly advance you that info via email.

 

 

Brewing a Fresh Cup of Content

For those who love coffee, a fresh pot of the black gold will get your day started. Others might choose tea or exercise to get their day started but the same idea of fresh tealeaves or a fresh new pair of running sneaks can all be thought of as a start to an awesome day.

Just like a fresh cup of coffee, fresh and exciting content is becoming scarce. In previous posts we’ve written about plagiarism on a national and local level. The individuals have the pressure of writing by themselves and this is in no way an excuse for what they did. But when you can bounce ideas off of a team member or group, it is a lot easier.

Writing as a Team

Writing as a Team can also become challenging but it sure does help when two or three brains are brainstorming about what topics to write about. Using a white board in your office or meeting room can certainly help a team of people come up with topics to write about and how to organize the content. In team discussions there might be even three or four topics to write about with even more content to elaborate on.

But if you are one person or a two person company writing various blogs, the best times to think of topics is when you talk to someone else over a meal or cup of coffee or road trips. We come up with a topic or several to write about when we are on road trips to visit family or out doing errands. One comment or idea can spark an in depth conversation about a possible topic for anyone of our blogs.

Tools to help with writing

I use both technology and paper and pen to write things down. Raul uses various tools such as Omm Writer and provides a detailed outline here of what else he uses to create blog posts. I also use Mind Node and Word for my blog entries. One cool thing that Raul has been doing lately is writing all his ideas on sticky notes, posting them to a wall, and then arranging them into categories where the ideas start forming into common themes.

There isn’t one way to do things as long as they are efficient for you, the company, and clients. The most important thing about writing a blog post is that you are highlighting these key factors:

How your company provides a service

How your company works with clients to resolve their issues and needs while building long lasting relationships

and most importantly how your company makes clients successful

What is your company doing to create fresh, new, and original content?

 

Thank You and Welcome Archer-Signs to the CIMA IT Family

Archer-Signs.com

 

We are happy to announce that Archer-Signs.com is our newest client with a brand new website underway. Archer-Signs.com is a company based out of Milford, Connecticut that has been in the signage business for over 30 years with staff that has a combined 75 years of experience in this industry.

Archer-Signs is a leader of enhancing their client’s brand with the use of images either created by Archer or brought to them for an attractive and competitive sign to inorder to stand out from the competition.

Stop by and visit their new home on the web and if you need signage that is local and Federal ADA compliant, this is the company you are looking for.

 

 

Puerto Rico 140Conf MeetUp unites Entrepreneurs

Recently Raul (@rj_c) has been helping out our friend @Mark_Hayward, owner of The Palmetto Guesthouse in Culebra, Puerto Rico, with organizing a 140Conf Meetup in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Once the details were finalized, we were able to spend time with @JeffPulver , founder of the 140Conf.com and @AlanWeinkrantz who helps with media relations of the #140Conf. We also met Gilad Zirkel and Marc Fischman from @Hashtagart (@Zirkel and @MarcF) who accompanied Jeff and Alan.

We stayed at the San Juan Marriott (Our Client and sponsor of the event) where the event took place and enjoyed conversations with people from all industries in Puerto Rico. The great thing about the event was that many of the individuals, 125 in total, were small businesses owners, entrepreneurs, web and app developers, bloggers who write on a variety of topics, and even a professional clown.

Jeff took the microphone and told us what sparked the #140Conf and what he expected people to learn while attending. One of the key takeaways that stuck in my head was that he wanted all types of people attending the event. There is no elitism and everyone from the farmer to the fisherman should attend this conference.

Prior to the event, Alan had the chance to tour and interview Dana Montenegro, owner of  Seriously Creative or @Space4Ideas on Twitter. This leads us to the video below where you can hear Dana explain the concept behind this unique workspace and his views on startups and entreprenurialship.

I agree with Dana when he says there are talented individuals on this island that are starting their own businesses and collaborating with like minded individuals provided that they are able to come together and meet. This is exactly what the 140Conferences are about; collaboration, innovation, and perhaps the chance to work together in order to create mutually beneficial opportunities.

If we are to enable these types of collaborations on the island we must find Sponsors to bring this 140Conf, that is becoming a global event, to Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. If you or your company are interested in Sponsoring, please let us know in the comments or contact form.

Were you at the #140Conf Meet-Up in San Juan last Tuesday? 

What were your key take aways?

Thanks to Alan Weinkrantz for the video.

 

Which piece of the price chart would you like?

As a small business we are always looking to shape-up our business and try new ideas that we put into practice. Recently we decided that we needed to provide a better understanding of pricing for the websites and blogs we design, develop, and or implement. Instead of just providing one option to small, medium, and large sized organizations, we decided to offer a wide variety of options to choose from that will fit your business goals.

Starting the Conversation at a Price Point

From the options we are offering start from $399 to $7999.99 on up. As you go up in price, there are more details that are enhanced, added, created, and customized for your web or blog to function as people search for your services.

There are small companies and organizations that still don’t know why they are not attracting new clientele.

How can you stand out amongst all of the companies that provide the same service as you?

By providing new customer’s a place to read more about your customer service accolades, how you have been recognized by your peers in your specific industry, and what new services or products you will be able to provide for them in the coming year.

We invite you to take a look at our new pricing chart and give us your feedback on where we can start off for your specific needs.


Compare Features & Pricing

$399+
$599+
$999+
$1,999+
$4,999+
$7,999+
Home Page
SEO Enhanced
PHP
Blog & RSS Feed
Unlimited Blog Posts
Content Editor
Newsletter Set Up
Sharing Via Social Outposts
WordPress or other CMS
Unlimited Pages
Creation of Social Outposts
Periodic Backups
Editorial Calendar
Custom Art Design
Professional Photographer
Customized Mobile Site
E-Commerce
Content Creation
Logo Creation
Multi-Language

Shape up your business for 2012!

It is a new year and during this month we know that many people will be making resolutions to lose weight, eat healthier, become organized, and enhance their personal lives in all sorts of positive ways.

Resolutions?

What resolutions will you make for your small to medium sized business or organizations for this New Year?

Every business should have a need to re-organize and re-structure for the new year.  Setting company goals for individuals who help run your business is something that should always be done but more importantly to provide focus to those employees on what you expect of them in the coming year.

As a previous employee for companies like Perkin Elmer LLC and Pitney Bowes we had our performance reviews.  In the case of Perkin Elmer, we actually wrote down what we wanted to learn and achieve for the coming months and years. It was up to us in being proactive with our short-term and long-term business goals. Proactive employees means successful projects for the upcoming year translating into a healthier business environment.

Shape Up Your Business

How do small and medium sized companies help shape their business? 

If you still don’t have a website, or feel the one you have is not living up to your audience’s expectations, make sure you get one made by professionals you can trust. The team and I are ready to help small and medium sized companies with enhancing their web presence by starting with a current state assessment of where your business is and how they are using the internet to market services.

Another way you can shape up the company is by looking at your current marketing strategies. If your company needs help with marketing strategies we can provide detailed recommendations and observations of what is being done well or even better yet  identifying areas that need enhancements to meet current business goals and assure the best quality services.

Consulting with our team regarding the content of your website can also help you reach new clients and also put the spotlight on your management and resources while highlighting their expertise and how they can help new and returning clients.

As I have stated before, attracting clients with quality content is important and when it comes directly from your organization it shows that they you are committed towards creating better relationships with your clients and audience.

How has your company started shaping up for this year? How are you involving your resources (employees, management, and staff) to meet those goals?

Photo Credit by by eclipseGrafx

 

 

 

 

What to translate on Your Web Site!

Like many other small business owners I know who had translated their web sites I was hesitant to translate my corporate site into Spanish. It clearly involved a lot of work. Most of the key areas of my site have been moved over. I have also translated the latest posts. Preferably you can translate 100% of the site but in the case that you can’t do 100% at once here are some tips on how we prioritized what to translate first:

1. Most Visited Content

Take a look at your analytics software and see what content has been viewed the most or created the most interactions.  Once you have determined what people wanted to read the most you can include these as top items to translate.

2. Updated & Fresh Content

If you look at a post and it has content that is not fresh or the situation has changed I would leave those posts as a last priority. Make sure you transfer content into the language a new audience of people wants to read about and look for. If you find content that can be updated go ahead and update both posts. If the updated content has relevance with your audience feel free to put it as a priority if not then leave it towards the end.

3. Key Services and products

Make sure you translate information on your key services and products. If you went through the trouble of translating your site you have to make sure these items get put on the top of the priority list. This will open the possibility of people searching for your products in the target language to find you.

4. What is Relevant to that Target Market

Take a good look at the content that might resonate with the possible visitors and community you are translating your corporate website for. Capturing their attention more often was the main reason why you decided to move your site over.  It might be a good idea if you also move those items in your priority list.

Overall I really recommend that you move as much of your site as you can. If you are not sure you can handle translating 100%. Translating parts of the site, prioritizing your most relevant content, might not be a bad idea.

If you don’t have all your content translated make sure to explicitly explain to your customers where that the content has not been translated. Also set clear expectations to explain if the content will be translated and what else they should expect in the future on having more translated content.

Would you see any value in translating any of your online presence to a new audience like for example Spanish readers?

Interested in translating your  website?

contact.png

 

Identifying Other Lines of Service that Complement Your Current Ones

As a small business we are always trying to find ways to be lean enough to make changes to keep our business running in different business cycles.

We are constantly changing our menu offering in areas where we might be able to serve our old clients better and attract new clients. Some of these new services pop up as ideas when we listen to our clients and audience.

Our First Client

Our first translation services customer for was John Jantsch (Author of Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself - affiliate link). John needed some legal documents translated from English to Spanish. Thanks to our friend @mark_hayward we where able to identify the opportunity and find a resource in our network of partners that could deliver a quality legal document translated in Spanish.

I did use my good friend Chris Brogan as a reference for that small job, and Chris identified the opportunity of offering translation services from English to Spanish and vice versa. This was a great idea since we offer services where we communicate and create content in multiple languages.

Implementing the Idea

After weeks of planning, identifying resources, and getting things in order, I can gladly say that we executed on Chris Brogan’s advice by adding translation into our services menu.

Thankfully we have great resources as friends and supporters of CIMA IT Solutions.  This increases the opportunities for us to serve our clients better and helps us build our business organically.

How do you identify when a New Service is needed?

Do you keep your service menu fresh?

by Daquella manera

CIMA goes along for the ride with Food Truck Freak in Chicago

As we write this, we are craving some of the Vegetarian options on some of the food trucks that can be located with the FoodTruckFreak.com .  I have to say that we are more than happy to be part of this awesome concept.

We want to thank Alex Levine for choosing CIMA IT as her business partner to help people in Chicago find their favorite food trucks. The website, in its Initial Phase, has the following:

  • Profiles of Food Trucks with
    • Yelp Reviews
    • Facebook Like Box
    • Foursquare Check Ins
    • Latest Tweets
    • Next Stop on Schedule
  • A Food Truck Locator
  • Truck menu
  • A comment area so people can leave their opinions on each food truck.
  • Blog with reviews of food trucks and experiences.

There are many extras to be added to the site. So if you are in Chicago or are planning to visit, stop by the site and take a look at the options these great culinary artists present to the public on wheels.

With just a few days as a live page, FTF has been mentioned in three news articles; one from London and two from Chicago:

Food Trucks are in gear to stay : Writes about how some people in the Food industry think that Food Trucks have come to a lull or will see its demise soon but sites like FTF prove otherwise.

 

Food Truck Freak helps you find trucks without Twitter Fuss : Writes about how FTF’s site has a feature that allows you to know where the food truck will be located in advance instead of guessing or checking twitter.

Stop the Twitter Stress! Find all your favorite Food Trucks the Easy Way : Writes about how FTF’s site aggregates and facilitates finding your favorite food trucks in one spot.

Our best wishes to @alexklevine and the rest of the FoodTruckFreak.com team.