Looking to update your website? Make sure to do these things first.

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Redesigns are very dangerous

I read once somewhere that a site redesign is one of the most dangerous things you can do in your business. Why? You run the risk of spending countless hours of work, costs can quickly spiral out of hand, you could alienate an existing customer base that was used to using your site a certain way, and you can cause a near riot of egos and opinions within your company.

I saw this firsthand back when I was working at ESPN. We were doing a refresh on the Fantasy Games website, and everyone had an opinion.

• The VP was focused on making it very easy to buy our products so we can hit our revenue numbers.
• The edit team wanted our content front and center, people were coming to the site for information.
• Our lead producer wanted to focus on navigation for user’s actual teams… most people check on their fantasy teams every day, make it easy to get to them.
• The engineering team just wanted to make sure all the back-end stuff kept working and the site loaded quickly and efficiently.
• And the designer was taking this all in, trying to make the site balance aesthetics with functionality, speed with ease of use… without killing anyone.
• My job was to make sure he didn’t kill anyone. Thankfully, I succeeded.

Redesigning your website. First things first.

As you may know, I love design. I love designers and secretly wish that I was one, so I have to do the next best thing and try to do my best to be one, while knowing when to step back and learn from them.

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Jim gives preparation tips and tricks when giving a core conversation speech at SXSW, or at your next meeting.

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$1,200 in 10 minutes

I made $1,200 within the first 10 minutes of being an entrepreneur.

How did I do that? Well, it wasn’t through marketing or selling a product or closing a deal. On November 1, 2011 I was called into a director’s office and was told my position had been eliminated. Although I was a bit shocked at the sudden layoff, I was actually pretty thrilled at the prospect of starting my own business.

I walked back to my desk, checked my personal email, and sitting in my inbox was an invitation to speak at SXSW 2012. I still wanted to go to the conference, but obviously my company – now my former company – wasn’t going to pay for it.

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Jim shares his thoughts on the trends from SXSW 2013.

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“The New Serendipity”

By: Unknown; Overheard in a group of people
Takeaway: Put yourself in a position to succeed
According to Wikipedia, the word serendipity means a “happy accident” or “pleasant surprise”; specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful while not specifically searching for it.

Trying to describe what goes on at the SXSW Interactive conference can be difficult, and so can choosing a single trend that emerged from it. In past years, major launches from Twitter (Microblogging) and Foursquare (Geolocation), made it easier to define a bigger trend in new media.

So whether the person I overheard talking about the term was referencing the panel with Kevin Rose called The New Serendipity, or just the overall trend of it, as referred to in the Wall Street Journal (Serendipity Is the New Synergy), I think we’re on to something.

Because our digital world is so fractured, there isn’t one trend or company or way of doing things that is right. Rather, our lives both inside and outside of work are made up of hard work, luck, and chance encounters. Pay attention, then put yourself in the right places at the right times for serendipity to happen.

Let’s explore some quotes from panels I attended to see what else emerges.

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Will 25 sponsor mentions ruin Jim’s favorite podcast?

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Risk of Failure

When you start your own business venture, everyone talks about the risk of failure. You’re putting in a lot of time, effort, and money with the knowledge that there is a good chance that you might fail.

Restaurants fail at an alarming rate. Less than half of businesses are around after 5 years. This Wall Street Journal study shows that 3 out of 4 venture-backed startups fail.

Heck, I live on a busy block in New York City. The corner restaurant has flipped 4 times, my gym has changed names 3 times, and last week the relatively new Naked Pizza (I saw that coming) was shut down and replaced with a new business called Joe’s Pizza (didn’t see that coming).

Risk of Success

So when you do launch something completely new to the world, and it succeeds wildly, you think you have it made, right? Not always the case.

I’ve been a fan of the Adam Carolla podcast for many years. In fact, I’d guess that I’ve listened to more than 90% of his shows dating back to his launch in 2009, but also before that when his radio show could be downloaded.

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A simple mind game to make better decisions as an entrepreneur.

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Business Leadership

When most people think about business leadership, they think about the CEO. That’s right, the Chief Executive Officer. A few famous leaders immediately come to mind: Steve Jobs from Apple, Jack Welch from GE, even Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook. Barack Obama could be considered the CEO of America, Inc.

What’s great about being an entrepreneur and owning your own business, is that you can also be the CEO.

You can have the same level of decision-making power and authority as any of the big boys, even if you’re the only employee. Every decision is yours to make, from the products you want to sell, to the color and design of your website, to how much vacation you take.

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