tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11842097421986714612011-11-19T18:13:18.691-08:00A Daily Dose of Business Awesomeness.Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.comBlogger1821100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-55081851252389595832010-12-09T17:32:00.000-08:002010-12-09T17:32:02.891-08:00

I really, really wanted to let this one go but it has seriously been bothering me for more than 2 days now. I was driving in my car the other day and this ad comes on the radio. I believe it was an ad for action.gc.ca where they had new regulations for credit card fine print and terms and conditions changes. The radio ad had one man pleading for the credit card holder to give him another chance

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-81975677573567284152010-12-09T17:21:00.000-08:002010-12-09T17:21:02.271-08:00

So I got the new Macbook Air - the totally decked out version. This was half a functional decision and the other half totally irrational (as with all of our purchases). Following up on my last post, where my supposedly "fixed" macbook air decided to black out on me again after I replaced its hard drive for two hundred dollars plus, I called and left a message where I worked hard to repress my

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-50240866556726409572010-12-05T22:10:00.000-08:002010-12-05T22:10:40.809-08:00

It happened this morning when I woke up. My Macbook Air had mysteriously put itself to sleep, or rather, turned itself off entirely, refusing to start. I did not freak out because of a data loss, since everything important had already been backed up, but I needed my computer to work on things, and not being able to work on things when I want to drives me insane. I booked an appointment to bring

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-48430578491408142372010-11-30T12:13:00.000-08:002010-11-30T12:13:24.904-08:00

First off, it's been a long, long time since I've posted and I might even consider myself a bit rusty, so bear with me. I recently started to use Twitter to promote for a hobby website of mine that I started on the side.  It's totally unrelated to the finance industry so I won't go into detail about it. The point of this post is to discuss the use of Twitter. I have noticed the majority of

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-72457601402622360332010-07-30T11:22:00.000-07:002010-07-30T11:22:03.425-07:00

Since my post on Winners Don't Quit a couple days ago I've gotten quite a few emails asking whether I'm OK and what's going on.  My only response at this time is that I"m handling the change in the business quite well and actually love the fact that we'll be able to reconnect with our roots and original goals of Changing Exchanging for the better.  I'm really living the entrepreneurial life,

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-11056540082294699122010-07-26T14:07:00.000-07:002010-07-26T14:07:49.065-07:00

I've hit so many roadblocks since day 1 in this business that it doesn't come as a surprise to me anymore when I hear this line: "We can't work with you because you are in the financial industry and are a Money Service Business."  I can't help but think that the big boys are influencing the regulations so that the growing businesses like PeerFX, that actually want to do something for the

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-79854335322146746892010-07-12T18:32:00.000-07:002010-07-12T18:32:31.505-07:00

I'm on the verge of spitting blood going through tons of resumes coming in for our PR and Brand Management position.  I think the job description really captures how fun and awesome this position will be, and its a job that I would have jumped at to do some real hands-on marketing if I wasn't already doing my job as President with PeerFX :) Here are a couple things I noticed that grinds my gears

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-39679327723426822492010-07-09T09:12:00.000-07:002010-07-09T09:12:24.626-07:00

How? 1) ...you are sending in generic cover letters? Blows me away how most if not all of the applicants to our PR and Brand Management position send in cover letters that sound like they just changed the name of the company.  I tuned out immediately after I read the first line.  "Dear Employer/who it may concern/hiring manager, I am a fantastic candidate for this job (because I have this

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-55453851449433815392010-07-07T10:11:00.000-07:002010-07-07T10:11:32.525-07:00

Earlier this week when I just got back from LA I was faced with some Monday morning crisis. I say crisis because it was unexpected news that was delivered to me with one week's notice to do something about it.  Usually getting your entire operations set up again takes more than a week. If I didn't find an alternative solution this crisis could put me out of business. This is a TEST. Did it

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-10261543839779112592010-06-29T13:20:00.000-07:002010-06-29T13:20:51.576-07:00

Complete BS. If you seriously think whatever you're doing has not been done or is not being done by someone else right now - let me tell you, it WILL be done by someone else SOON, really soon. Or for those that say other businesses can't do what they do - again - BS. Have you thought about the number of substitutes out there that do exactly what you do? Example:  Need: Quench ThirstSubstitutes

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-37797601862623263172010-06-27T22:27:00.000-07:002010-06-27T22:27:18.020-07:00

...because it limits your creativity for what you can do with your business. IMO, and this is similar to one of those theories that Dilbert makes up, the word should was not in our dictionary when we came into this world (yeah yeah, neither were the other 10 billion words we would soon learn).  As soon as we learned the word should, here's what happened. ...you should eat your vegetables. ...

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-67136555192953973872010-06-25T13:19:00.000-07:002010-06-25T13:19:05.908-07:00

Image by Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten via FlickrAccording to the new book titled "Herd" that I've picked up and just started the first few pages.  It'll have to wait until I finish "Rework" today :) Caught this excerpt from one of the blogs that I follow Inc.com by Max Chafkin. Social networking? Feels kinda like falling in love. Over at Fast Company, Adam Penenberg talks to neuroeconomist Paul

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-2723572495570735412010-06-24T08:57:00.000-07:002010-06-24T08:57:23.756-07:00

Image by adria.richards via FlickrI started reading "Rework" by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson.  I picked it up because on its front cover it said "Ignore this book at your own peril." - Seth Godin. Just kidding.  I flipped through and it did appear to be written by founders of businesses and not some businessperson who has never built a business before themselves lecturing us on

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-30956975745035161972010-06-21T15:13:00.000-07:002010-06-21T15:13:53.845-07:00

Image by roch lasalle (farinn veiða) via FlickrI've just returned from Toronto and luckily avoided the G20 that's happening starting this weekend.  There hasn't been a lot of positive press for the G20 happening in Toronto, especially on the point where many are criticizing us for the large sums we've spent on the event to date.  Here's what The Economist had to say about it in their online feed:

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-85660664669265054772010-06-18T14:24:00.000-07:002010-06-18T14:24:28.609-07:00

So a while ago Darren Dahl from the Sauder School of Business asked me to chat with him about some lessons that every start up owner should know or may have experienced and be able to relate to. I had just gone through an entire revamp of my website and made a decision to severe our ties with our old system, essentially incurring significant sunk costs.  It was worth it though, and a lot of

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-29484456102415853682010-06-17T07:59:00.000-07:002010-06-17T07:59:53.623-07:00

I've shared this link on Facebook already (see below) and when I read it I can agree with the fact that our list of to-dos just pile up everyday, but entrepreneurs start out getting all frustrated about why they can't finish everything on the day that they planned for it. THEN, we realized that out of all of our to-dos, there are multiple ways to deal with it, I think my different categories

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-73128422940233791392010-06-10T10:36:00.000-07:002010-06-10T10:36:44.391-07:00

Here we go again!  Our team has been traveling the country to bring on board quality salespeople, and met some interesting businesses that I thought we could feature in our webinar series.  I came across Rypple, and I see it as an online collaborative platform that makes performance reviews, an exercise that most managers dread and most employees hate because it's vague and fluffy, easier and

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-18700287634074537002010-06-03T10:07:00.000-07:002010-06-03T10:07:00.259-07:00

I think within over the past 2 days I've had this same conversation with 4 different people.  How do you network?  How do you build your network? I have to say that I rarely think about how I'm expanding my network, because I think what I do is build relationships instead.  Some people still like to tie it to the word networking, hence the term positive networking.  The way to do it is just

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-23324490316926284532010-05-28T14:39:00.000-07:002010-05-28T14:39:10.145-07:00

Many of us learned how to write our first business plan in business school.  My first business plan, was a whopping 120 pages of...fluff, diagrams, thousands of pages of projections, etc.  Read like a textbook - BORING. How does yours look like?  The longer I've been running PeerFX, the more I find that everybody is constrained on time, and usually a 20 slides slide deck or an exec summary is

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-13119760903868265952010-05-27T09:39:00.000-07:002010-05-27T09:39:45.581-07:00

Over the years I grew up with American Express being positioned as a prestigious, high status credit card brand.  They worked so hard on it that they made sure their cards were accepted only at places of high status - luxury restaurants, hotels, etc. Then I saw this at Eaton's Centre in Toronto the other day.  Made me think: "Burger and American Express?  Really?"  An Amex black card may even

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-24248647105792920582010-05-26T19:47:00.000-07:002010-05-26T19:47:23.851-07:00

Image by www.dld-conference.com via CrunchBaseJeffrey Hayzlett's book "The Mirror Test" is a hands-on guide for small business owners and entrepreneurs that are looking to start a business or are reevaluating their current way of doing business.  After reading it I actually think it's a wake up call for business owners and start ups that are getting too comfortable with what they're doing.  Jeff

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-72584422102292871542010-05-25T11:51:00.000-07:002010-05-25T11:51:14.358-07:00

I am sitting here in Timothy's World Coffee at the corner of Bay St and College St. The service is one of the best out of all the coffee shops I've been to, in many different countries including Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Canada and the US. The service was friendly, and it looked like the owner was manning the cashier today. They also heated up my sandwich and brought it out for me. I saw

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-48874853462599780022010-05-20T10:17:00.001-07:002010-05-20T10:17:44.113-07:00

Every moment spent whining, worrying, talking about a problem is one extra moment that you are NOT DOING ANYTHING. So just get off your behind and make things happen! Rant of the day.

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-33087581596060049232010-05-14T08:00:00.000-07:002010-05-14T08:00:58.848-07:00

Judge Says I'm GuiltyImage via WikipediaFor not doing things you said you would for your business?  For not being your best self everyday? Here are some key points that would tell you if you are guilty: You list out your agenda items for the day, don't end up completing them and push some items to next day (huge backlog) You are busy putting out fires and make up some excuse for not calling a

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-71848975709158173692010-05-12T15:27:00.000-07:002010-05-12T15:27:56.447-07:00

I find it funny - that most people perceive an office with tons of people bustling around to be a sign of stability, efficiency and hard work.  Contrary to this belief, most of the time these offices are overstaffed, people are looking busy on Facebook and expensing their friend's dinner gathering on the company's tab :) What's the problem with having a small staff base if things are

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-22573726158541803272010-05-11T15:25:00.001-07:002010-05-11T15:25:17.139-07:00

Today's webinar was a great success and we actually went overtime with questions from our audience. Definitely check out the presentation if you weren't able to attend!PeerFX Webinar Series - Successful Online Marketing for Small BusinessesView more presentations from Florence.

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-58907642459351479632010-05-06T14:45:00.000-07:002010-05-06T14:45:21.775-07:00

Since you guys liked the first webinar we decided to share more ideas with you through our webinar series - this time it's will be on successful online marketing for small businesses. Most people don't know where to start since there are 500 different tools they can use to measure different things such as website traffic.  Where should you put your money so that it generates the best returns for

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-4616732395790862072010-05-03T10:53:00.000-07:002010-05-03T10:53:04.188-07:00

As a teaser for our upcoming webinar tomorrow, we have put together an HR article that goes over 4 key questions for small businesses and of course included the answers from Raymond To, Founder and managing partner at Go Recruitment.  If you haven't signed up for our webinar tomorrow yet now is your chance!  RSVP by emailing webinars@peerfx.com!  Our next webinar will be on online marketing for

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-55413909199831047362010-04-26T16:56:00.000-07:002010-04-26T16:56:51.504-07:00

We're starting a webinar series sharing knowledge for small and medium sized business owners and key management personnel.  Our range of topics run from recruiting the right people, managing your finances, online marketing and more - everything you need to know if you plan on getting your hands dirty and getting things done for your business. Our first session is set for May 4th (Tuesday) and

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-31194985132682450312010-04-26T11:44:00.000-07:002010-04-26T11:44:18.399-07:00

I've started reading the new book by Tom Peters called The Little Big Things.  In the first couple pages he mentions that little things that cost you 2 cents can be worth much more to your business.  Such as candy on the counter top of your receptionist's desk. Yesterday I saw my own version of this.  I went for a quick lunch at a Chinese restaurant that served value lunch meals so the price

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-61618930252193045102010-04-23T16:30:00.000-07:002010-04-23T16:30:44.724-07:00

When a business is in its early stages of growth, I say that we should spend our resources focusing on generating MORE money inflow for the business.  What this means is we shouldn't be spending money on things that are an expense not directly related to generating more sales. Expenses related to generating more sales are salespeople, client lists, marketing efforts, etc. Expenses that add no

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-82754181542171280482010-04-22T10:02:00.000-07:002010-04-22T10:02:44.506-07:00

I did promise that I would summarize the book by Robin Sharma, but I also found myself literally 3/4 of the way through the book and despite my commitment to finishing the book, I didn't.  I wasn't about to put myself through another 1/4 of the same theme and message which Robin already made blindingly clear in the first 3/4 of the book.  Here's my 2 cents on what I think the book wanted me to

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-54413424690074762882010-04-15T12:36:00.000-07:002010-04-15T12:36:36.048-07:00

I think most people have heard of Seth Godin and maybe most of you have seen/heard/read the book Free Prize Inside!  written by Seth.  We are aware of these marketing tactics and Seth does a good job of bringing it to top of mind, so that we remember that "oh hey, this worked on ME before, so I should try out this tactic for my own business." Soon enough there were a ton of different businesses

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-34288785802845916582010-04-10T13:07:00.000-07:002010-04-10T13:07:42.638-07:00

I want to pick your brain, Pinky and the Brain.Image by drumecho via Flickrand do what?  I'm sure other entrepreneurs who have been building their businesses for a while now and those who are already successful have been approached by an email that involves the words "I want to pick your brain..." Most of the time I'm left wondering...where does this person think I can help him?  Usually these

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-4754058604102586022010-04-06T08:54:00.000-07:002010-04-06T08:54:34.172-07:00

This will be our first round and we are looking at selling common shares for private investors. We do have committed individuals that have started the round and for anyone interested you can contact us at info@peerfx.com to get more information on the round - cost per share, number of shares available, etc. So what are our stats? To date we have built our monthly transaction volume from $5000

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-71040180017382036352010-03-26T19:59:00.000-07:002010-03-27T12:08:35.344-07:00

Image via WikipediaOn my flight out to Toronto I read Warren Buffet's book on the Interpretation of Financial Statements. Quite a quick and easy read for those of you who have a grasp of financial statements already (ie. know that the names and components of the statements) So what does Warren look at when he's investing? 1) A consistent product - ie. low R&D costs. If the company has to keep

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-82253655496059107712010-03-25T23:58:00.000-07:002010-03-25T23:58:08.076-07:00

Image by sylvdoanx via FlickrI can't count the number of times I've made fun of accountants (Yes - I'm sorry but I do come from a Marketing and Finance background and you guys get a couple of shots in on us too :) It's all in good fun) The point is, lately I've actually revisited accounting and some of those liquidity, profitability, solvency ratios and analysis of financial statements. 

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-41413860672453120702010-03-24T19:13:00.000-07:002010-03-24T19:13:07.343-07:00

As promised, here's the rest of the review on the book. Some of the key interesting things I found and think both you and I can apply in our everyday lives. The remaining areas are: Relationships, Stress, Decision making, Parenting and Personality Relationships: Wanting to start a relationship? Staring for even a few seconds in a person's eyes will help develop mutual attraction. Rekindling

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-14201485056382781752010-03-23T09:48:00.000-07:002010-03-23T09:48:49.532-07:00

Cover via AmazonEvery two weeks I will be posting a book summary that highlights key points from a book I've recently read.  This first post is on 59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman.  The book is truly for busy people that hope to change some of their existing habits for the better.  Wiseman covers the topics of Happiness, Persuasion, Motivation, Creativity, Attraction, Relationships, Stress,

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-39152161972841800622010-03-19T00:35:00.000-07:002010-03-19T00:35:37.837-07:00

Right now I'm flipping through the book "How to WOW" by Frances Cole Jones.  I know it's 12:30am but I like to read before I sleep - they say you retain information better if you do that...? I have actually seen Frances present at a conference held in Vancouver before, and she is very composed, articulate and able to engage the audience in her own way.  I bought her book on that day and it is a

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-38606978297256900422010-03-12T10:23:00.000-08:002010-03-12T10:23:49.801-08:00

If you run a small start up, have you ever put up a job posting hiring for a CTO, CFO, COO (whatever starts with the letter C for "Chief" something?) We have tried this before and it has resulted in some amusing applications, interviews and reflections. Back when we were looking for a programmer we titled the job posting CTO, stating in the job description that this would be very hands on and

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-31389104996095553142010-03-11T09:17:00.000-08:002010-03-11T09:17:51.190-08:00

This makes me laugh because when you are in the early stages of a start up you really put to use all resources that you have at your disposal. Sometimes it is that friend that built the car from the bathtub. Ever looked to your friend that does programming or design on a freelance basis to design your website for cheap? We've either done this or considered it. When I first started out I

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-15528164722082274232010-03-10T15:57:00.000-08:002010-03-10T15:57:04.183-08:00

Image via WikipediaThe new book I've been reading is called 59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman.  So the bottom line to getting your dream job and acing the interview is to be likable.  Yes - it's as simple as that.  Despite the fact that many interviewers stress on the qualifications and personal skills of the candidate, studies have shown that the most likable candidate usually gets the job. Here

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-79356182452781634842010-03-09T08:44:00.000-08:002010-03-09T08:44:38.131-08:00

It's been a week since I've written and here's a little update to let you know what PeerFX has been busy with. Preparing for our FINTRAC audit - which took place yesterday - I did expect them to find some deficiencies in record keeping with some of our initial customer records when our online system was still in testing.  Knowing your friends and family isn't enough - you still need to write

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-40350580027174605092010-03-02T11:28:00.000-08:002010-03-02T11:28:47.269-08:00

So I asked my advisor Raymond about this today: If you were asked to put money into PeerFX today what would you be looking for? Raymond works actively with us and asking him this question would let me know where the main problematic areas of the business are.  Running this business I feel that more often than I would like I am working in the business rather than on the business. It really takes

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-91052351756156747402010-02-25T12:13:00.000-08:002010-02-25T12:13:02.254-08:00

Many of you are often asked: "So, who is your ideal customer?"  In other words, who do you want to buy your product? I have a staple answer for that as well for PeerFX - small businesses that have less than 10 employees, less than $10 million in revenues, and are growing international revenues with recurring monthly foreign currency transactions for receivables and payables. Great, this is the

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-26228622403230576422010-02-23T13:36:00.000-08:002010-02-23T13:36:52.673-08:00

There are a few companies that advocate promoting people from within to higher ranks as they gain tenure and experience within the company.  I'm not sure if this is the most efficient way to ensure you have the right people in the right place in your company. I'm sure if you have been a manager, run your own company or ran your own company before, you will know that some people are "soldiers"

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-69585827484420382232010-02-22T14:41:00.000-08:002010-02-22T14:41:47.457-08:00

The following mistakes happen so frequently when people want me to sign up for their services...just thought I would share it here and how I think they (and maybe you too) can improve their success rates. 1) Not Listening: You have done your research and you walk into the client’s office prepared to sell them on a solution that you prepared already. Great – it shows that you have done your

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-74516975412655135422010-02-20T11:37:00.000-08:002010-02-20T11:37:44.571-08:00

Image via WikipediaIt's almost the end of the month again. Some people think that it's OK to take a day off and relax. In the case of February, that's 3.5% of your monthly time. Maybe some of us do need to recharge and I'm not against it but the point is...a lot of people aren't aware or just choose to forget the importance of one day. Just a random thought that hit me sitting here on

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-79745989052657732512010-02-18T16:41:00.000-08:002010-02-18T16:41:08.666-08:00

I've been pretty under the weather the past couple days (down with the flu), and having to deal with people that are supposed to be older, wiser, more experienced than me but with a low EQ is driving me insane. It's OK to vent, if it's to the right party, if you know you have pull with the other party, and you won't appear insane to the other party. Those are just the basics. It boils down

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-29112289031817380912010-02-12T12:14:00.000-08:002010-02-12T12:14:10.325-08:00

Image via WikipediaI know. The word hate commands a strong emotional response and we tend to navigate away from that in business. Still, there are many "hated" business terms, just go around your office asking for a couple of them from your employees...you may get terms like "touch base, high-level, shelving the idea for now..." what you would probably read in Dilbert comic. So here's why "

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-22868286098985948862010-02-11T11:13:00.001-08:002010-02-11T11:13:29.697-08:00

Gotta appreciate technology that allows me to do immediate rants straight from the airport. I'm at the toronto airport now waiting in line to clear customs after waiting at the counter for half an hour. Customs is probably going to take another 20 mins and that's when the plane is supposed to take off. Not without me. They told me at the counter that they're not Air Canada - well right now I'm

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-34151640959725487122010-02-10T08:14:00.000-08:002010-02-10T08:14:47.794-08:00

I've been meaning to post about this over the weekend but of course friends and Superbowl festivities pushed that back as soon as I landed in Toronto. I hosted a workshop session at the Enterprize Business Plan Competition this year and it really was a great experience to go back to my business school to speak to aspiring young entrepreneurs.  When I first sent in my slides, which was 10 slides

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-643514828937026732010-02-09T15:46:00.000-08:002010-02-09T15:46:34.695-08:00

You know, I like how companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter continuously try to find more efficient ways for me to stay connected with my friends.  Google updated my Gmail today with the new Google Buzz and last night Facebook surprised me by changing its layout as well.  First of all, it's too much. Facebook: have tons of people been complaining about how the old layout really sucked?  If

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-8186749050826313862010-02-08T19:25:00.000-08:002010-02-08T19:25:52.782-08:00

I spent a total of one hour taking the GO train for a meeting today and spent the trip on the way out watching something that was quite fascinating.  On the GO train, there was a fellow in charge of Customer Service and his job was to make sure that customers got on and off the train in precisely 40 seconds that would allow him to lower the ramp, step outside while holding the speakerphone, warn

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-73628829484255464782010-02-04T16:25:00.000-08:002010-02-04T16:25:19.450-08:00

We're testing out one week of facebook ads.  Short time I know but at least we will get an initial response on whether people are clicking on the ads at all. I wonder how it'll turn out. When we used Google Adwords the average cost per click was $0.35, which isn't bad.  Now we are testing with cost per thousands impressions on Facebook, since we are aiming more at raising awareness and brand

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-75025237271946208972010-02-02T15:41:00.001-08:002010-02-02T15:41:09.680-08:00

Live blogging straight from the RBC branch on granville and 70th. This is priceless. I wish I could take a picture of the lineup with all these angry/impatient people. I've been waiting here for 10 mins now and only ONE person has moved. One person just left the lineup (smart decision). I wonder how long it's going to take with 6 people in front of me. All I'm trying to do is deposit a check to

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-24445472418637984682010-01-29T11:26:00.000-08:002010-01-29T11:26:31.860-08:00

Cover via AmazonLately I've been reading the book The 36 Secret Strategies of the Martial Arts (basically the same 36 principles of the Art of War) and am intrigued by the fact that these principles are being applied time and again in modern day business. One of the strategies is translated into "Sacrifice the Peach to Secure the Plum".  Applied to business, an example may be that you give up a

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-24874402326291054252010-01-26T12:10:00.000-08:002010-01-26T12:10:41.127-08:00

We've put up our ads on Monster and other channels in a search for additional salespeople.  (I figured after a post about getting fired I should give my readers some hope and talk about hiring) My advisors and I have chatted about the types of salespeople we are hoping to attract and what types of compensation packages we would be looking at.  We have received our first flow of resumes and have

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-21878030596112530782010-01-25T21:28:00.000-08:002010-01-25T21:28:53.088-08:00

The theory that founders usually get fired as the company finds a scalable model and product it in the market has come up quite a few times in conversation. I've been asked before whether I worry about this day coming.  I say I worry about this day not coming.  When it does, it means my baby has found a sustainable, repeatable, profitable model that will grow into a large company.  Beyond the

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-41457929567749222562010-01-22T08:54:00.000-08:002010-01-22T08:54:08.118-08:00

Image via Wikipedia Over the past week there have been many articles popping up on forbes.com rss feeds and other blogs that I follow that say it's a HUGE mistake for Google to leave China. The main focus seem to revolve around the 1.3 billion people that are in China making up the potential userbase for Google. The articles also reference the large amount of growth in internet usage in China

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-62761637605468801482010-01-21T10:28:00.000-08:002010-01-21T10:28:16.184-08:00

Image via Wikipedia Taking a short break from work to write about this thought. Just skimmed through my Google Reader posts and read a post on What is The Definition of an Angel Investor?  I am pondering the same thing after I read the author's opinion on what he thinks it is.  PeerFX is in the midst of positioning ourselves for expansion capital right now and I thought we were looking for

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-1780831456185353792010-01-20T09:06:00.000-08:002010-01-20T09:06:13.415-08:00

Image by Matt Hamm via Flickr So you've built a better mousetrap.  It's going to revolutionize the lifestyles of millions of customers. Do you assume that customers are going to beat a path to your door? Most if not all of you are smart enough to say no.  So how do you bridge the gap between your product and making your potential customers aware of your product? Here are a couple answers that I

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-45641772938972577622010-01-19T11:44:00.000-08:002010-01-19T11:44:39.297-08:00

Lately I've been thinking about what I should cover in my presentation for the Enterprize business conference.  I am speaking on the topic of implementation and as I was on the elliptical earlier this morning, I realized that one main factor why I've made it until today with PeerFX is due to having the time to starvation variable in my favor. Time to Starvation: the time you have to build your

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-18139158000773927972010-01-17T20:28:00.000-08:002010-01-17T20:28:28.373-08:00

Image by edans via Flickr Thank you to my brother Albert for the news.  I rarely see my brother so excited about anything related to business but here he was bubbling about this new thing Google's doing.  You know those Google maps that show you a live street view?  Well yes...they're planning on selling ad space on those live buildings that you see on Google maps.  This means that the

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-64781417836037757562010-01-16T10:07:00.001-08:002010-01-16T10:07:32.232-08:00

Oh here we go. I was curious about why all these bloggers that I follow write their posts while on the elliptical. I guess it's a certain lifestyle? I have to admit I'm trying pretty hard not to fall off right now. If I can master this then it means I can blog while I'm staying healthy - pretty efficient combo if you ask me. Now that I'm 100% again with enough sleep, I'm going to make good on

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-73015148575304590792010-01-14T19:45:00.000-08:002010-01-14T19:45:49.501-08:00

it's kind of like playing the Game of Telephone. When the direct decision maker isn't involved in the process of an entire project, and only views the finished product that his subordinates communicated to a contracted team, there is a lot of room for miscommunication. Specifically, the finished product isn't perceived to be a great product by the decision maker.  What does this mean?  A waste

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-23877817396313118222010-01-12T01:33:00.000-08:002010-01-12T01:33:59.350-08:00

Image via Wikipedia It took many years and reportedly over $237 million to create the movie Avatar.  I spent close to three hours in the movie theatre tonight watching the movie.  I have to say that the detail to the creatures in the movie are phenomenal.  I am curious about the amount of time and creativity it took to design the details of a Na'vi's body.  Their skin sparkles, they have four

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-79235718639476751992010-01-10T01:34:00.000-08:002010-01-10T01:34:29.754-08:00

Had to repost this here since this is exactly what I was talking about earlier today when my friend asked if I was looking for VC money. Bill summarizes it nicely with the following paragraphs - Sometimes the "call me when you got traction" line is an indirect no but it definitely is frustrating for entrepreneurs - if I got business lined up then not sure why I would want to involve VCs. Shrewd

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-91725527001848079392010-01-07T20:05:00.000-08:002010-01-07T20:05:20.383-08:00

I love hanging out at Chapters/any bookstore to get a sneak peek at some new books.  I picked up The Secret the last time I was there and read a couple pages to see if it's any good.  I remember reading something along the lines of you attract everything that happens to you in life. WELL, that being said, my body is clearing telling me that I need some rest. After my attempt at a vacation in

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-7976341521219039212009-12-28T18:39:00.000-08:002009-12-28T18:39:44.535-08:00

I have been spending my past week in Hong Kong, finally having enough time to spare to see my hometown.  It has taught me plenty of things about: Logistics: try taking transit or taxis here, it's a whole new experience - if you don't jump out quick enough the bus might close its door on you - it has happened before, look it up in the news;  Economics: that they might be wrong about there being

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-51009430435854687712009-12-18T09:21:00.000-08:002009-12-18T09:21:01.507-08:00

I got my phone bill from Rogers today.  It's $300. I blame it on the many long distance calls I've been making and my time away in the US.  I need to stop making phone calls and sending text messages + checking emails while I'm outside of Canada. What I just said, is what a customer would say if they have been conditioned.  It's hard for me NOT to be conditioned when roaming minutes are at

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-42480865265029236162009-12-15T10:07:00.000-08:002009-12-15T10:07:26.712-08:00

I think this concept has been around for quite a while and many would back this and say that it's an effective way of motivating employees to do more for the company.  Question: is MORE always better?  Often times you get employees that love the feeling of being in control of what they contribute at work...BUT, don't know what they can do to contribute to the overall BIG PICTURE that you're

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-49463519113530328872009-12-14T14:31:00.000-08:002009-12-14T14:31:31.506-08:00

YUP.  It seems like everything is moving online nowadays.  My friends and I were chatting about playing Secret Santa for Christmas since for once in three years we will all be in the same part of the world, so getting actual gifts and hand-delivering them just seemed like an awesome thing to do. Our issue: all of us are super busy workaholics, so...who wants to manage the Secret Santa game? 

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-11022665208674445852009-12-11T12:45:00.000-08:002009-12-11T12:45:56.464-08:00

I'm definitely not endorsing this but I just thought it's extremely interesting how people are identifying "new markets".  The Ashley Madison Agency promotes dating for married couples.  So....encouraging people to have affairs.  It was on the news this morning on CNN after a segment on the Copenhagen summit.  Interesting that they would promote such a service after something like that. What

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-66564031545892562982009-12-10T19:35:00.000-08:002009-12-10T19:35:18.853-08:00

I was just wondering what I should blog about when I saw this commercial on TV for Ally.ca.  Quite a clever set of commercials since I've seen a couple of their TV spots over the past weeks.  It makes fun of the fine print in credit card applications and offers.  The fact that many things are "limited offers" or have many "offer restrictions" is emphasized in their ads.  Here's Ally.ca There

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-29060381637312017362009-12-09T14:52:00.000-08:002009-12-09T14:52:20.114-08:00

So I'm back from a short break away.  Technically I never made it away from work - felt more like I was working remote from another country.  My Blackberry never left me so my emails kept reaching me.  Sometimes I admire people who are able to turn off their cell phones, PDAs or any other device that promotes instant communication.  Maybe next time I should leave the Blackberry at home and

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-60489552836891567302009-12-01T13:41:00.000-08:002009-12-01T13:41:17.527-08:00

I'm liking the look of our new site.  Right now we're integrating the social media components into our news & resources section so it'll be easier for us to keep everyone up to date with our progress.  I love how we get emails from people following us on different channels expressing their interest in our business.  It's definitely encouraging for us and 2010 looks like it will be a GREAT year!

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-31245272563791327892009-11-29T19:56:00.000-08:002009-11-29T20:10:31.450-08:00

Lately we've been working on bringing on board salespeople.I've been chatting with a few people from different companies that are at the front line ie. they're the salespeople bringing in the cash.It's interesting how companies motivate their staff. One case I came across that was inspirational for me was my friend that works for a large printing/document management company. Over 80% of my

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-18752645608591377482009-11-26T10:57:00.000-08:002009-11-26T12:06:12.758-08:00

Yes - that is definitely very encouraging to hear from a fellow entrepreneur who is further down the road than I am.I'm 2 years into building my business to take over the world (really, think big right?) and it's great to hear that other entrepreneurs have struggled along the same path. In fact, the main idea of the session was that there's still time for entrepreneurs who are just starting out

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-28735053517673766562009-11-23T14:17:00.000-08:002009-11-23T14:40:01.415-08:00

Got this passed along to me by my advisor.1-800-goog411. (a.k.a. 1-800-466-4411)Google is offering a free service right now that allows you to search and connect with the company you're looking for by calling the number and answering 2 questions.They ask you for City and Province and you answer ie: "Vancouver, British Columbia"They then ask you for the Business Name or Type of Service ie: "Avis

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-25319835720692097432009-11-20T09:10:00.000-08:002009-11-20T09:26:38.836-08:00

Making something exclusive seems to make something more desirable. In my opinion I think a lot of marketing tactics are based on psychology - how can it not be when most of the buying decisions that we make are emotionally driven? Or the fact that marketers like to speak of segmenting by psychographics in addition to demographics?It seems to work for some businesses though, and here are some

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-20671390096811208162009-11-19T08:32:00.000-08:002009-11-19T08:35:16.111-08:00

I woke up this morning to a couple emails asking if the site is OK. Regarding my post from yesterday with my hosting service provider...yes, PeerFX has been running smoothly thanks to our developers that took smart precautions. So in conclusion, everything's good :)

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-44012812013530012902009-11-18T23:05:00.001-08:002009-11-18T23:27:18.531-08:00

Many of you are probably reading this post thinking that it's my company declining clients that cost us too much money to serve.I actually meant it the other way around - we were declined hosting services because our hosting company didn't charge us for the 90 hours they spent fixing a problem that they caused. They saw that we cost them too much (well if they didn't mess up in the first place

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-84103588438520294112009-11-17T08:54:00.000-08:002009-11-17T09:04:26.899-08:00

The past couple weeks we've been gearing up for the brand transitioning that's going to happen over the next 2 months. I can say I'm liking the new look, which is much cleaner, has larger font and has incorporated much of the feedback that we've gotten from our awesome early adopters.Learned a few things about designing along the way that I thought I would share with my fellow entrepreneurs:1)

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-1210820001710925572009-11-16T08:07:00.001-08:002009-11-16T08:30:34.938-08:00

I'm sure that everyone knows about the crazy volatility that's been going on in the currency market recently for the CAD and USD.Of course, being in the business, we have to keep a close eye on the rates, and just this morning there's been a 1% change in the rate in less than 20 minutes. Back in the day the 1% change usually happened over the course of one day. This creates more opportunities

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-59630311856773348622009-11-15T20:35:00.000-08:002009-11-15T20:39:50.253-08:00

...is so fascinating.Even my brother knew about the Jimmy Choo X H&M shoes. He even googled them and told me that people were reselling the shoes for a much price; kind of like flipping houses but now..."flipping shoes". I'm sure all female readers of this blog post know about Sephora (and probably all the guys do too since they wait outside for their female friends). They had a weekend sale

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-64543750378080183752009-11-04T13:00:00.000-08:002009-11-04T13:21:43.793-08:00

So I wanted to take a look at our website before I went off to bed last night and discovered that the PeerFX website was down. Weird, I thought. The contract guaranteed 99.9999% of the time the site would be up (this is a reminder for all of us to look DEEP into the fine print, I'm sure somewhere in there is a provision that says they will base this on a "best efforts" scenario). So I thought,

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-84177484311304078552009-10-27T23:38:00.000-07:002009-10-27T23:49:07.641-07:00

Came across an interesting article in Google Reader stating that food coupons are now given out via SMS to 1000 Iraqi refugee families. I think this is a very good use of existing technology; and the additional fact that African farmers can now use their cell phones to find out where they could sell their crops is another useful application. One point that struck me in the article was this:As

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-76834076658439591222009-10-26T08:54:00.000-07:002009-10-26T09:18:48.516-07:00

I would agree with their headline of: "At Least One Company is Making Money off of Social Networking".I've seen the ads for this company's games on facebook too and it seems like they do put quite a bit into advertising. A lot of my friends are playing the game and it's showing up on my news feed all the time.An old friend of mine is also part of a company that produces similar games and is

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-62825471610209751422009-10-21T21:57:00.000-07:002009-10-21T22:33:34.886-07:00

Saw two similar complaints pop up on my iGoogle feed and makes you think about product design.When you come up with a business model, you are trying to solve a need; if it's just "really cool" but doesn't solve a need for customers, then you might as well forget it. This product that's being talked about and labeled as "dumb smart meters" by Fast Company are the smart meters that have been

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-29205549387827520832009-10-15T08:40:00.000-07:002009-10-15T09:16:30.590-07:00

Right now customers come to our website and book transactions. We process it and within a couple days they see the converted funds in their bank accounts.Emails are triggered and sent out during the transaction process at the following points:1) When you book the transaction you receive an email stating that your booking was successful;2) When we receive the funds for your transaction we tell

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-75952048653359740762009-10-13T20:12:00.000-07:002009-10-13T20:23:01.165-07:00

An interesting episode that happened over the weekend.I checked my blackberry in the morning and over the course of one day I got about 2 dozen emails from Central 1. All of them weren't sent out by Central 1.Which is weird. Because I thought only Central 1 administrative employees would have access to my direct email. Now everyone else on the Central 1 customer list had my direct email

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-26651714639957854132009-10-07T14:02:00.000-07:002009-10-07T14:14:30.990-07:00

I was a speaker over the weekend for a class for Certified Management Accountants and at first I wanted to present there to share my experience with the class and also get their input on how to develop our marketing strategy to achieve our target goals.Little did I know that I would meet contacts with connections all over the world, to different national banks, ethnic communities and potential

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-29497495085913781532009-10-02T15:38:00.000-07:002009-10-02T15:45:20.112-07:00

Just a sudden thought popped into my head. So...does me paying fees or paying for events/tickets online make it easier...just for me? Because I'm the only one getting charged for it. Ie. I go online to pay for an event I'm attending through Eventbrite, and the fee is $10. Doesn't it make it easier for the organizers to collect my fees as well if I pay online? How come they aren't paying for

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-84739781756458371722009-10-01T08:31:00.001-07:002009-10-01T08:36:16.552-07:00

There is none.At least for me anyway. I did a short presentation at the New Venture Design class that PeerFX originally came out of on Tuesday night. I have to admit it feels awesome to know that I'm sharing my little tidbit of lessons with an aspiring group of students in the audience.One thing though. There were repeat questions related to this "work life balance" thing. The standard answer

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-21337086301566307632009-09-25T15:28:00.001-07:002009-09-25T15:36:36.564-07:00

I'm reading a marketing classic called "Positioning" right now. I've already read it once but think I need a refresher, as I'm trying to think hard about PeerFX's branding efforts.I did some research the past 2 days on other online financial sites and how they brand themselves. I saw the usual colors...blue, green, white. (uh oh. those are the colors that we were thinking of too). The key

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-63507533671136628982009-09-23T21:38:00.000-07:002009-09-23T21:50:16.799-07:00

Trust No One.You hear this one often enough right?It holds true to a certain degree. The people that whine and complain about how they can't trust anyone in business just haven't realized and accepted the reality that everybody to some degree have their own agenda/motives behind each decision. Take for example, even an "innocent" introduction for a friend into your own company, these thoughts

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-13278721654603422952009-09-22T10:30:00.001-07:002009-09-22T10:35:43.576-07:00

Even though I've graduated from Sauder back in 2007, I'm still pretty involved with the school's activities relating to entrepreneurship. It's interesting since I've been asked to speak at 3 different events in the next couple months. They all want to know how it's like to build a business. I can probably summarize it with one word: HARD (for all the other entrepreneurs out there I know you

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1184209742198671461.post-47897966300139293032009-09-20T11:49:00.000-07:002009-09-20T12:01:13.370-07:00

I think one of the things as an owner of a start up that's challenging and interesting is you always have to figure out what to do next.Let's say we had an increase in our budget for the next month:Should you bump up your marketing budget? Should you increase the number of direct salespeople? Should you use the budget to improve your website/product?I believe that most start ups nowadays are

Florencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854540453999666499noreply@blogger.com0