I suppose it's a saying as old as marketing itself, but when trying to persuade people to take up an idea, sell the benefits, not the features. And yes, for you involved in technology adoption in a corporate setting, this includes you as well. Let me explain with a story. I gave my dad my... Continue Reading →
To make sure your e-mail gets read, write less. People have a tendency to read something when it's short. It doesn't give them an excuse to read this later. To ensure that your short e-mail contains all the points that you need to put across, consider using the inverted pyramid, making sure that your most important... Continue Reading →
I've worked in plenty of projects, at school, at work, and at play. One thing I've learned is to always overestimate the difficulty of a project. Especially if it appears easy. A friend and I are currently working on building a website for a local B2B (business-to-business) company during our spare time. When we first... Continue Reading →
I’d heard and read plenty of stories about the IT-Marketing divide, about how IT people don’t really see eye-to-eye with the “business” people. But I never really believed it because I’d never experienced it. As a business/marketing analyst I interact with both sides quite a bit of the time. So if it was so common,... Continue Reading →
Just five years ago Microsoft Excel was as alien to me as table manners is to a two-year-old child. Then during my university summer break in 2007 I got a job at a bank that changed all that. I learned that Excel makes calculations of complex formulas easy; Excel works great as a basic reporting... Continue Reading →
To write effective e-mails always assume readers are starved for time. Start with the most important points you want to put across whenever you write e-mails that are meant to inform or persuade. This ensures that as soon as your readers read the first few sentences of your writing they'll know what it's about. And even if they skim or... Continue Reading →
To be a perfect speller, follow these two rules: Be careful and double check -- Don't be complacent. If you have even the inkling of doubt that what you've just typed or wrote is wrong, don't risk it. Find out. Use a search engine -- In general it's faster than using an online dictionary. Most browsers... Continue Reading →
It is one of my strongest beliefs that touch typing is the most important computer skill that you can learn and should master. Here are 6 reasons why: It can help you become more productive. Time saved typing means more time for more value-added work. I cannot emphasise this enough. I've seen countless of my colleagues spend hours crafting... Continue Reading →
The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. -- Oscar Wilde Opportunity cost can help you make better decisions because it helps put your decisions in context. Costs and benefits are framed in terms of what is most important to you at the time of the decision. Every time we make... Continue Reading →
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