Archive for the ‘General Business’ Category
Operating in Trust
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
One of the things that we treasure most here at Classy Llama Studios is trust. We operate as a very close knit team, in an environment that is open, free and flexible. Its an incredibly powerful way to operate, and makes working together a beautiful experience because we don’t waste time on politics or power plays or jockeying for position. Everyone strives for the good of the team and the growth of our clients, and the synergy that is created by that is very powerful.
But maintaining an operating environment like this isn’t easy, and it requires above almost everything else that everyone on the team have a mutual trust and respect for each other. To work in an environment where you are very open, about everything including your faults, means that people have more opportunities than they would in many companies to hurt you. If you’re afraid of being damaged by something you say, or by expressing vulnerability in some fashion, you’re going to have a hard time being open.
In order to be open, to really work together, you have to believe in the quality and the intentions of the people around you. If you doubt your team members, if you always have questions in the back of your mind about whether or not they are really working for your best interest and looking out for those around them, then you won’t be able to be open. Instead, you’ll be operating in a very protective fashion. You have to guard yourself because you are the only one who is looking out for you.
The problem with operating in this fashion is that it is inefficient, stressful and a detriment to building a solid team. When everyone in a team concerned with guarding their rear, jockeying for position and making sure that there are no chinks in their armor, they spend more time being cautious and dancing around trying to find the highest ground than they do actually being productive.
The beautiful thing is that here at CLS, we don’t have to do that. We operate in an environment where it is okay to let down your guard because everyone else on the team isn’t a bunch of bloodthirsty piranhas looking for a weak moment to take you out. Instead, everyone here works toward helping everyone else out.
It really is the best way to operate. When you see a weakness in a fellow team member, you don’t jump on them and find a way to exploit the opportunity to make yourself look better. Instead, you strive to help that team member grow. You show them how to be stronger, how to improve, how to better themselves as a worker and a person. You flex as needed to help everyone find the best fit and role for themselves.
When this is the approach that everyone on a team is taking, you don’t have to defend yourself all the time. Instead, you can focus on doing things to really serve people. Here at Classy Llama Studios our goal is to selflessly serve the best interests of the other people on our team and our clients. It sound dangerous, serving selflessly. Doing things without worrying about yourself. But when you have a team of people who believe in trust and growth, who believe in really serving each other, then it really is very safe. Instead of you looking out for you, you have many people looking out for you. Everyone has your back, and you are free to run with the tasks you’ve been given.
Don’t waste time building an organization based on politicking and posturing and protecting yourself. Instead, focus on building a team where you can trust the people around you. Find people to work with who are solid folks, who care about those around them… and then trust them to be who you believe they are! When you can begin to trust the people around and live and work in an environment where people are watching your back for you instead of trying to stab it, you’ll get more done, you’ll be much happier, and ultimately you’ll be free to serve and protect and build up those around you – because you trust the people around you to do the same for you.
Trust is a choice. You can know a lot about a person, but choosing to trust them is an act of your will. It does mean you’re at risk of getting hurt, but if you are willing to trust the quality people around you, you might find yourself beginning to lose the armor, and instead be free to run a little faster, to work a little better and to breathe a little easier. Its a beautiful thing.
Cheers!
Posted in General Business | No Comments »
Productive Distractions
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
What is it that makes people hate their jobs?
“I don’t get paid enough?” Possibly.
“My boss is an idiot.” Feasible.
“The hours are too long.” Perhaps.
“I’m not productive enough.” … HUH?
That’s not something you’ll hear often. You’ll never hear someone complain that they’re not productive enough; probably because they’d get fired.
Why is this question avoided so often? I believe that productivity, or lack thereof, can play a huge part in how fulfilling a person’s job can be. Doesn’t it make sense for someone to be frustrated? 5 days per week, working 8-10 hours doing nothing, accomplishing very little, and making zero progress? Sounds like fun, eh?
Sadly, too many people believe this is the only option; they’ll have to deal with it for the rest of their lives; just holding out until retirement. Then!… Then they’ll be able to finally enjoy life and experience fulfillment. But until then, they just have to grit their teeth and deal with the dismal day that is their job.
At this point many of you are probably asking, “So how do I stop hating my job and start enjoying it?”
1. Leave your expectations for the day at the doorstep.
Many of us plan out a boring day the night before, or the morning of our job. We already know what to expect, the same thing as always. You’ve probably heard this referred to as “self fulfilling prophesy”. This doesn’t have to be the case. How about letting the day determine that for itself? And if you absolutely insist on having expectations, maybe try having positive expectations for a change.
2. Get to know your co-workers
It’s very comfortable for people to just clock in, and clock out. Grab your paycheck and head home. Try to get to know your co-workers and maybe even outside your job. Maybe you’ll share a common interest and who knows, maybe even be … friends! Believe me, working alongside people you know and have something in common with can make a world of a difference.
3. Welcome Critiques, but don’t take them personally
Don’t get mad if someone makes a suggestion. Take all critiques and criticism in stride. Learn from it, and move on.
4. Be Proactive
Take charge of your tasks. If you finish what you had planned for the day ask to take on something else. Or study and research. Take initiative on developing your personal knowledge and skill in your field of work.
5. TAKE BREAKS… Often!
“Oh no! If I take a break, won’t I be breaking some rule or something?” No.
In fact, studies have shown that periodic breaks throughout the work day are beneficial to productivity. This is what I like to call “Productive Distractions”. Breaks like these will help you clear your mind, regain your focus and feel refreshed.
Working at Classy Llama Studios is an incredible experience. Productivity is high, but we still have fun. It’s a great dynamic that is hard to find in a work environment. Not every office can fit into the same mold, but hopefully small adjustments like these can help make your 40 hours a week more enjoyable.
A snapshot of our favorite past-time around the office. Hacky Sack. (From left to right: Kristian, Rob, Erik, Kevin)
Project kick-off meeting. (From left to right: Joey, Kurt, Rob, Erik, Joshua)
Tags: Breaks, Job, Productivity, Work
Posted in General Business | 1 Comment »
The Three Keys to Optimizing E-Commerce Revenue
Monday, January 25th, 2010
Introduction
No matter what you sell online, there are three core constituents to revenue: Traffic, Conversion Rate, and Average Order Size. In fact, it’s a cubic equation: Revenue = Traffic (#) x Conversion (%) x Average Order Size ($). So if you generate 21,000 visits in a month with a conversion rate of 3.00% and an average order size of $156.23, your revenue is $98,424.90 (21,000 x 3.00% x $156.23).
If you can analyze each of these variables effectively, the e-commerce world is your banana. I hope that by the end of this article series, you’ll understand the “sub-variables” that affect each of these core revenue variables, equipping you with the tools to optimize your e-commerce revenue. (btw, many of these principles apply to business in general, not just e-commerce)
This first article will relate to generating Traffic and the variables that affect it.
Keys to Traffic
Traffic is calculated according to the following equation: Unique Visitors x Average Visit Frequency
Keys to unique visitor traffic are Medium (where they found your site) and Presentation (what they experienced through the medium/media that made them visit). The key to repeat traffic is the Visit Experience (their evaluation of their visit retrospectively). Every single person that visits your site has a corresponding medium and presentation history, and if they visit the site more than once, they have an experience history as well.
Medium
The primary factors of a medium are relevance and accessibility.
The key relevance question: Is the medium used connecting with the kind of people that will see value in what you offer and need it now or at some point in the future, preferably in the near future?
The key accessibility question: Is it easy for the recipient of the message to take action in response to the message?
Presentation
Every presentation has a persuasive effect that depends on two variables: To WHOM it’s presented to and WHAT is presented. WHAT you communicate is worthless without the right audience (they need what you’re offering and they need it now or soon), and likewise, it doesn’t matter how targeted and ripe your audience is for what you’re presenting if WHAT you communicate is poorly constructed. In fact, it can do more harm than good to make a poor presentation to the right audience by appearing unprofessional and incapable to deliver quality.
The presentation variables depend heavily on the medium in question. If it is word-of-mouth, the presentation is what is being communicated by the referrer to the referee. What are they saying about your site and what you offer? If it’s search marketing, is what you’re communicating in your ad relevant and does it point to a highly relevant landing page? Are you using highly targeted keywords with ad copy that is tailored to those keywords? There are quality questions to ask for each medium, and they vary significantly. But all media should be based on the same quality questions: Are we communicating to the right audience? Are we communicating the right message to that audience to effect the desired behavior (click a link, request a quote, submit an e-mail address, buy a product, etc.).
Visit Experience
Experience is the single factor that determines whether a unique visitor becomes a repeat visitor. In short, visit experience, how a visitor evaluates their visit retrospectively, is defined by if the visitor:
1. Felt that the content was relevant to them
2. Felt that they could navigate and access what they wanted easily and intuitively
3. Has a compelling, memorable reason to return.
If these three criteria are met, the experience will likely develop into a repeat visit.
E-commerce traffic means nothing if you can’t convert that traffic into sales. In my next post, I’ll discuss the key to optimizing the conversion rate.
Tags: conversion, E-Commerce, optimization, revenue, traffic
Posted in E-Commerce, E-Commerce Optimization, General Business, Magento | 5 Comments »
Magento SEO Case Study
Monday, January 25th, 2010
We have seen dramatic increases in site traffic and better native search positioning for our clients, but we wanted to be sure that the SEO value of sites that had built great positioning through years of business would not be lost when switching to Magento and using 301 redirects. As Magento Professional Partners, we now have access to a whole new world of resources through Varien, so we asked them about what results they had seen. Here is a portion of their response, straight from one of Varien’s many clients:
“Yesterday I attended a very interesting presentation of the new Jack Wolfskin online shop (Globetrotter in Germany) based on Magento (yet community, next year enterprise). They seemed to be very happy with your product and increased traffic (+ customers) by 600% in 10 months just by moving to Magento (due to better SEO capabilities).”
While the results are not necessarily typical, we have seen dramatic results just by implementing Magento with 301 redirects. Long story short, if you are thinking about switching to Magento and you are concerned with the impact of the change, don’t be. The greatest concern you should have is the clients you are missing by not using the robust platform of Magento to enhance your SEO.
Posted in General Business, Magento | No Comments »
