Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Learnt new and easy way to update my blog
Despite of my curiosity to explore new things, I always think twice to use anything which is technology related – due to a fear of loosing privacy and then also due to misuse of my information. The day I purchased my laptop, I wanted to try windows live writer – however considering my experience of using Microsoft products, I always postponed it. 
Today, I finally decided to use this service and frankly – found it useful. Its easy to install and also easy to use. You don’t need to stay connected always to write a blog, draft it and publish it later whenever you get connected and add watermark, which is a cool feature.
I am sure, this tool is going to help me a lot in updating my blog regularly – at least I hope so since its not supporting my lazy thoughts to wait till I connect with internet.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Funny Situation...
Since I went with my family, I was roaming here and there and suddenly I noticed a door in front of a shop with a sign “Ladies Toilet” with a lock and no one to attend it along with charges and a FINE print “You Will Get Keys at Gents Toilet”
What the FCUK – why will a girl go to gent’s toilet to get the keys - especially when it’s on the other side of the building and with no direction markings?
I can only imagine a chaos when there is urgency – God knows what the complex maintenance team is thinking!
What the FCUK – why will a girl go to gent’s toilet to get the keys - especially when it’s on the other side of the building and with no direction markings?
I can only imagine a chaos when there is urgency – God knows what the complex maintenance team is thinking!
Struggle to Survive!!
One fine day we took a small break from office work and went out to grab a quick refreshment to fill our energy levels. As usual the place was crowded so it took a while to capture a corner at that place – adjacent to which a road construction was going on. While sipping the tea, we noticed a group of guys working there. In between them there was a handicapped person– most probably suffering from Polio whose legs were not working. He was looking confident, full of life and happy. To our amaze, he was actually one of the most active guy in that group who was carrying the construction material over his head and making sure that work won’t stop for any reason. He was carrying out all sort of jobs which a normal man can do however with a difference that he was having a smile on his face.
It was quite an experience to see him working since in today’s economy where managing a food for those who are below poverty line is like winning a war especially when your body is not supporting you fully. He was independent and I am sure he must be taking care of his family.
He sat an example for those who take advantage of their physical challenges and look for simple way out of struggle. I also appreciate the team who allowed him to work with them - Hats off to them for believing in his abilities and I am sure they are not disappointed.
I’d like the world to recognize such talent and help them to understand the meaning of life. Begging is a curse, don’t encourage it – instead give them opportunities to prove them.
I URGE you take responsibility and help such warriors who fight daily to survive in this cruel and mean world to win respect and peace.
BE HUMAN!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
SEO Audit - Free Web Based tool
From the initial days of my career in IT industry, I got very much impressed by how SEO tactics help companies in increasing their profits without investing much on marketing efforts. Companies used to hire professionals and consultants like me who can help them to reap maximum benefit out of these online marketing strategies/efforts and help them to grow faster than their competitors.
In process of learning about search engine optimization, search engine marketing I tried to collect information from experts who have fair amount of experience in this field but somehow I felt that the due to the fear of competition some of them were reluctant in sharing the knowledge. After few efforts, I thought that its better to extended my search with the help of different search engines like Google, Yahoo, AOL etc so that I can have an access to different forums, blogs and can connect with experts around the world. After collecting the high level information, first thing I did was to search the free tools which could potentially help me in doing the SEO audits of websites - based on which I can provide my recommendation to my potential clients.
Searching free tools for SEO Audits and website analysis was not a simple task since the list of the tools was huge and there was no single tool which can do all the required stuff. I remember that after completing the 1st level of search I was having a list of more than 140 tools, which went down to 20 after reviewing them one by one and again in those 20 only few were totally free tools and rest were partially paid (Incase you want to use full services). I will start sharing the details of those tools in my blog one by one so that in case any new comers wanted to search for this information, they can easily access it.
In process of learning about search engine optimization, search engine marketing I tried to collect information from experts who have fair amount of experience in this field but somehow I felt that the due to the fear of competition some of them were reluctant in sharing the knowledge. After few efforts, I thought that its better to extended my search with the help of different search engines like Google, Yahoo, AOL etc so that I can have an access to different forums, blogs and can connect with experts around the world. After collecting the high level information, first thing I did was to search the free tools which could potentially help me in doing the SEO audits of websites - based on which I can provide my recommendation to my potential clients.
Searching free tools for SEO Audits and website analysis was not a simple task since the list of the tools was huge and there was no single tool which can do all the required stuff. I remember that after completing the 1st level of search I was having a list of more than 140 tools, which went down to 20 after reviewing them one by one and again in those 20 only few were totally free tools and rest were partially paid (Incase you want to use full services). I will start sharing the details of those tools in my blog one by one so that in case any new comers wanted to search for this information, they can easily access it.
I will start with one of my favourite Web based instant SEO audit tool - Xinu Returns. It’s one of the best and freely available web based tool which is really helpful for beginners to understand the analysis, however it has one drawback - you cannot download the reports into excel (But you can copy past the stuff :) which is a good thing).
PS: I have seen few small companies using this free tool and charging their clients like anything!
PS: I have seen few small companies using this free tool and charging their clients like anything!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Media Alert from Nielsen news - Top 10 Blogging Topics in May
Swine Flu was the most discussed topic in April 2009, according to Nielsen news. Bloggers were helping world by providing useful information related to this. In India itself, according to today’s news 31 infected patients/cases have been found so far. According to experts its cure will take at least 6 more months to come to India – though I am not sure it’s available any where else too.
Recently released Nielsen news shows that in the month of May, Swine Flu has been dropped to number 8 wherein Memorial Day and Star trek has taken the top position. Politics again is able to take position in this list – thanks for Barak Obama's desire to pass a new credit card reform law and his visits to different places.
Here is the list:
1. Memorial Day
2. Star Trek
3. Barack Obama
4. Dick Cheney
5. Notre Dame
6. Cinco de Mayo
7. Mobile Phones
8. Flu Virus
9. Sonia Sotomayor
10. Terminator Salvations
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Selling Tips
Being into sales, I feel this is a hard time for sales persons to convince our potential customers. Recession, bad economy has given us a solid challenge and we are trying hard to reach our targets. Companies are looking for magic cure so as they can increase their sales. However, since there is no magic cure available (As far as I know) I believe (based on my search) that there are few steps if we follow can have a positive impact on our sales efforts.
1) Fill the sales pipeline: I have seen and met many sales persons who experience tremendous peaks and valleys in their sales because they do not consistently prospect for new business, may be they are busy in servicing existing client or any other reason. They neglect to prospect because it is the least enjoyable aspect of their job but when the sales drop or business with their current clients ends, they scramble to generate new business. If we invest time in filling our pipeline on a regular basis, we will seldom have to worry about reaching our targets.
2) Ask high-quality and relevant questions: I believe that majority of sales people (even seasoned pros) fail to ask their prospects and customers high-quality questions. This can only happen if either they are not trained about the product/service they are selling or they think that they do it. Unfortunately, this leads to mis-pitch the product, service or solution which causes the prospect to raise more objections.
3) Have patient Ears: I believe that the best listeners are best sale people. If we invest time asking great questions it is critical to listen to what the other person tells us. Many things can get in our way and prevent us from accurately hearing what has been said. The best approach would be to summarize your conversation at the end of discussion and share that with prospect to check the accuracy of your summary.
4) Focus on presentation: In sales, presentation is only focused on customer, his needs and the solution you can provide. It's not about us, our company or our product. I have seen that virtually every sales presentation starts with talks about company, stats about how long they have been in business, who they have as clients, etc. In fact I in the start of my career my approach was the same. However the correct approach is to prepare a presentation in way that it meets the specific needs of each individual customer.
5) Challenge to build Trust: I personally believe that if people don't trust us chances are they won't buy from us. We all know that our prospects are inundated with calls and emails from other people like us who are trying to sell them something and tell several stories. Due to large number of these calls, decision-makers are getting more reluctant to trust someone they don't know. That means we need to demonstrate exactly why a prospect should trust us. We have to show them our worth in a professional manner, treating them with respect and dignity and respecting their time.
6) Show value: The best way to demonstrate value is to show exactly how our solution will benefit our prospects. However this doesn’t mean talking at great length about it or telling prospects everything there exist about our products or services. This means discussing the aspects of your solution that are most relevant to each customer or prospect in a simple way.
7) Value your own Words: My personal experience has taught me that sales people frequently fail to follow their commitments. To make a sale, they commit something which they can’t deliver and this leads to quick loss of trust and lack of respect.
8) Time to Stop: I have seen sales people who continue following a lead even when it is clear that a sale will not happen. This usually happens when pipeline is not active with prospects or they are new into sales or have tremendous pressure to achieve the targets. I feel that, If we know we have done everything we can to move the sales process forward, we should take a break and think whether it is the best use of our time to keep trying to make it happen or just to let it go.
There must me many other things which I have missed here and hence would request you to share your thoughts based on your experience.
1) Fill the sales pipeline: I have seen and met many sales persons who experience tremendous peaks and valleys in their sales because they do not consistently prospect for new business, may be they are busy in servicing existing client or any other reason. They neglect to prospect because it is the least enjoyable aspect of their job but when the sales drop or business with their current clients ends, they scramble to generate new business. If we invest time in filling our pipeline on a regular basis, we will seldom have to worry about reaching our targets.
2) Ask high-quality and relevant questions: I believe that majority of sales people (even seasoned pros) fail to ask their prospects and customers high-quality questions. This can only happen if either they are not trained about the product/service they are selling or they think that they do it. Unfortunately, this leads to mis-pitch the product, service or solution which causes the prospect to raise more objections.
3) Have patient Ears: I believe that the best listeners are best sale people. If we invest time asking great questions it is critical to listen to what the other person tells us. Many things can get in our way and prevent us from accurately hearing what has been said. The best approach would be to summarize your conversation at the end of discussion and share that with prospect to check the accuracy of your summary.
4) Focus on presentation: In sales, presentation is only focused on customer, his needs and the solution you can provide. It's not about us, our company or our product. I have seen that virtually every sales presentation starts with talks about company, stats about how long they have been in business, who they have as clients, etc. In fact I in the start of my career my approach was the same. However the correct approach is to prepare a presentation in way that it meets the specific needs of each individual customer.
5) Challenge to build Trust: I personally believe that if people don't trust us chances are they won't buy from us. We all know that our prospects are inundated with calls and emails from other people like us who are trying to sell them something and tell several stories. Due to large number of these calls, decision-makers are getting more reluctant to trust someone they don't know. That means we need to demonstrate exactly why a prospect should trust us. We have to show them our worth in a professional manner, treating them with respect and dignity and respecting their time.
6) Show value: The best way to demonstrate value is to show exactly how our solution will benefit our prospects. However this doesn’t mean talking at great length about it or telling prospects everything there exist about our products or services. This means discussing the aspects of your solution that are most relevant to each customer or prospect in a simple way.
7) Value your own Words: My personal experience has taught me that sales people frequently fail to follow their commitments. To make a sale, they commit something which they can’t deliver and this leads to quick loss of trust and lack of respect.
8) Time to Stop: I have seen sales people who continue following a lead even when it is clear that a sale will not happen. This usually happens when pipeline is not active with prospects or they are new into sales or have tremendous pressure to achieve the targets. I feel that, If we know we have done everything we can to move the sales process forward, we should take a break and think whether it is the best use of our time to keep trying to make it happen or just to let it go.
There must me many other things which I have missed here and hence would request you to share your thoughts based on your experience.
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