KUALA TERENGGANU: "Kami sekeluarga tak sabar melihat cucu kedua maklumlah dia berdarah kacukan Melayu," kata Nicola Tyler, 54, ibu kepada Muhammad Kareef Daniel Abdullah, 29, atau lebih dikenali Mat Dan.
Nicola bersama suaminya Kevin Tyler, 60, dan anak bongsunya, Will Tyler, 25, ditemui pada majlis cukur jambul anak Mat Dan, Muhammad Zayne Danial James Tyler yang berusia 55 hari di rumah ibu mentuanya di Kampung Bukit di sini kelmarin.
Ibu kepada jejaka Inggeris yang fasih berbahasa Melayu dialek Terengganu itu berkata, dia teruja apabila mendapat berita mengenai kelahiran cucu keduanya itu pada 5 Mei lalu.
"Jika diikutkan, kami sekeluarga ingin terus ke Terengganu pada hari itu untuk melihat cucu tetapi dihalang Mat Dan.
"Dia (Mat Dan) mencadangkan kami datang pada majlis cukur jambul supaya dapat merasai suasana majlis yang biasanya dianjurkan untuk menyambut kelahiran bayi di sini.
"Kami tiba di Terengganu pada 22 Jun lalu dan akan pulang ke London 7 Julai ini. Jadi kami ada banyak masa untuk dihabiskan bersama cucu," katanya.
Sementara itu, Mat Dan berkata, dia masih belajar mengenai penjagaan bayi tetapi kian dapat menyesuaikan diri dengan kehidupan sebagai seorang bapa.
"Mulanya bimbang juga untuk menghadapinya kerana pertama kali menimang cahaya mata tetapi selepas lebih sebulan menjaga Zayne, saya berasa seronok.
"Cuma rehat tidak cukup seperti dulu, saya pula menjaga Zayne pada waktu malam, setiap satu hingga dua jam sekali Zayne bangun menyusu selain menukar lampin," katanya.
Menurutnya, dia dan isteri, Nadifa Adnan, 29, teruja membuat persiapan baju raya untuk anak dan mereka membelinya secara atas talian selain membuat tempahan khas.
"Tahun lalu saya beraya sebagai seorang suami dan pada tahun ini hari raya semakin lengkap dengan kehadiran Zayne," katanya.
Katanya, majlis cukur jambul itu lebih berseri dengan kehadiran keluarganya termasuk adik bongsunya dari England.
"Ibu dan ayah memang mahu datang lebih awal untuk melihat cucu berdarah campuran mereka tetapi saya sarankan kepada mereka untuk datang ketika majlis cukur jambul.
"Saya dan isteri seronok melihat bapa, ibu dan adik teruja bermain dengan Zayne dan bercadang membawanya ke London Disember ini," katanya.
sumber : bharian
Top 3 Reasons Small Businesses Fail at Marketing
I often speak to groups of small business owners and I keep hearing the same comment over and over again with many of them saying that marketers don’t matter or marketing doesn’t matter anymore.
There are many reasons I’ve heard as to why marketing doesn’t matter: “all my business comes by referral,” “I never spent money on marketing and my business grew,” “marketing is a waste of money,” “I see no value in marketing,” “marketing is all luck so why spend money on it,” and so on.
Oh, how they are so very wrong! Below are the top 3 reasons why:
1. Their definition of marketing is wrong
When business owners tell me that marketing doesn’t matter, they usually have a totally different understanding of what marketing is than those who recognise how marketing contributes to business goals where it enables you to charge the most money you can for your services and products.
Marketing is first about spending time building a solid foundation based on strategy before proposing a series of tactics aimed at lifting sales. Until the business finds a way to change the context of how their ideal customer views what they do, and then becomes become the obvious choice provider, they’ll find that their marketing efforts never seem to build momentum or gain any return on investment.
You must be able to enter the conversation taking place in the head of your customers. Or, to look at it in a different way, to be able to address the number one question on your customer’s mind at exactly the right time.
So, how do you do this? The conversation that is taking place in every prospective customer’s mind revolves around two major points. There is a problem they have, and that they don’t want… and there is a result that they want, and they don’t have.
Those who often misunderstand marketing believe that it is only about advertising campaigns, brochures, flyers, website, email marketing, SEO, tradeshows, social media, copy, etc. These are the tactics – the way you implement your marketing. I’d argue that marketing is essentially the core of business strategy because it is about understanding the current customer, tapping into their fears, their goals and their aspirations and then creating products and services that the ideal customer is willing to buy from a brand they now they know, like and trust.
2. They believe either they or their co-worker can do it
Sometimes in the “do it all yourself” world of small business (or even big business when it comes to it), it’s difficult to identify the areas that require outside help. A business may be able to set up their newsletter, add plugins to WordPress, write a Facebook or LinkedIn post, and clumsily create header graphics, but you need somebody who is trained, practiced, and skilled at looking strategically and holistically at the marketplace, understanding the customer, and then creating unique opportunities based on this understanding.
Just think about it for a minute; just because you have a calculator and excel does that mean you are an accountant? If you have a ruler, pencil and have watched some episodes of Grand Designs – does that make you an architect? If you post regularly to your friends on Facebook and Instagram – does that mean you are a social media expert?
So why do small businesses believe that by buying a Mac and some software they will become a designer, marketer and communications expert?
It needs to be led by a strategic marketer who can then develop an integrated marketing approach. Can you or your co-worker do this? In some cases, you can. But those who can are most likely to either come from marketing or consulting backgrounds where they have transferable skills and experience defining AND delivering against a growth strategy.
If you are a small business, you need somebody who will have a very solid, process, streamlined, consistent, repeatable approach. First, they will research and learn about your company in great depth, the dynamics of the marketplace and identify shifts, trends, and changes. From there, the strategic marketer will be able to present the different elements of your marketing plan in logical order of how you should construct them, update them, or revise them; and identify the key areas you should be focusing on – be it generating leads, converting leads, increasing transactions right down to changing prices.
3. They hire the wrong marketing help
There is a huge misunderstanding around marketing strategy, marketing tactics, and marketing execution.
There is a difference between being strategically capable, creatively capable and executionally capable.
Small business owners don’t hire a strategic marketing coach/firm to develop creative graphics and headers; nor should you hire an advertising/graphic design agency to handle marketing strategy. A small business doesn’t need to hire a consultant or a firm who is a strong marketing executor when their biggest need is a strategy for sustainable growth. You may get more attention, but not the best results.
Small Business: It’s All About Relationships
As the world of business becomes more complex, a small-business owner can no longer be an expert in all of the specialized disciplines a small business needs. Despite the fact that small-business owners must necessarily focus on producing and managing enough cash flow and on getting customers in the door, it is also critically important for them to cultivate and nurture relationships with a support team. This group includes:
Employees
A banker
An accountant/tax specialist
A lawyer
An insurance broker
A sales and marketing professional
Employees
Although thinking in terms of a “relationship” with employees might seem a little odd for a business owner, that relationship could be the most important of all of the relationships for the owner to cultivate. Because good employees represent a major resource in a small business, the time and effort the owner invests in nurturing that relationship has a huge return on investment. Employees who feel seen, respected and appreciated almost always produce more than anticipated.
Employees represent – in fact they are – the company to the customers. The business relationship with customers largely depends upon their experience and interaction with the employees. Happy employees tend to want to satisfy the customers, want to do a good job and want to stay in the job. This is important to the continuity of high-quality customer service and avoids the significant expense of employee turnover, employee retraining and the expensive but inevitable “rookie mistakes” of new, inexperienced employees. In addition, having trusted, long-term employees can free up the owner to handle off-site duties as needed. Establishing a retirement plan can benefit you and your employees.
A Banker
A banking relationship is an obvious need, not only for routine business banking, but particularly when capital is needed to grow, increase inventory, buy a building, bridge a short-term gap between payable and receivables or to address the seasonality of the cash flow in the business. The banker that an owner goes to for a loan should know the business owner, understand the history of the business and have an understanding of the owner’s judgment and credibility regarding the use and payback prospects for a loan. If the long-term relationship is there, or it is at least in the process of being built, the loan request has a much better chance of being approved. If the business has borrowed and repaid loans in the past, the established track record and relationship greatly enhance the approval prospects. (Loan protection insurance can help in the event of financial difficulty.
Accountant or Tax Specialist
A relationship with an accountant is equally important if the business owner is to be confident in the quality, clarity, timeliness and understanding of the financial reporting provided. A relationship with an accountant can also enhance the business’s credibility with a banker when the business is seeking additional capital.
Many small businesses combine the accountant and tax-specialist functions in one outside entity for convenience, time-saving and cost reasons. This is fine if the accountant has the requisite tax experience for the industry and the tax expertise for the specific business it serves.
Lawyer
Every business owner should have a relationship with a business lawyer, liability attorney or legal firm. When an owner invests money and effort in building a business, it must be safeguarded from loss as a result of a lawsuit.
Insurance Broker
As part of business risk management, the business also should have a relationship with and the trusted advice of an insurance broker who will provide the optimal coverage in the relevant areas within the constraints of the business budget.
5 Tips For Remote Tech Support for a Small Business
You may be the CEO of a new business with a lot of requests from clients or you may be an IT professional at a small firm where new infrastructure is required. No matter what position you are on right now, you need advanced technology solutions. However, you may want to keep in mind that installing and maintaining new systems can pose a challenge. So, you have to be ready to deal with this challenge. One way is to hire a dedicated employee or outsource the tasks to a good team of professionals. Given below are a few tips that can be used to organize remote tech support.
Identifying the results
First of all, what you need to do is identify your desired results. It’s important to keep in mind that each small business has its own requirements as far as tech support is concerned. So, it’s a good idea to decide on what you want to achieve. Moreover, you may want to find out about the technical issues that you may encounter. For instance, your requirements may be different if your area gets regular power outages.
Your next step is to make a list of your main IT tasks and the desired results that you want to achieve. This will help you get a better idea of your needs and choose the right type of technical support.
Choosing the provider
It’s not a good idea to take this decision without thinking a lot. You should take your time to do the research and look for the right company. The provider should have good reputation and a support plan that won’t break the bank.
Considering in-house tech support
A dedicated IT staff can help a lot provided you take into account all the important factors, such as the company size, tech challenges, and your internal and external needs related to your customers.
Considering hybrid solutions is also a great idea where you can bring a professional to handle critical issues. For other projects, you can use a remote IT support team. For instance, you can use this team to take care of emergency issues.
Investing in good software
Your business may have more than one location. Your commitments may be time-sensitive and your deliverables may be complex. Your customers or clients may be diverse with needs that keep on changing.
To meet these needs, you need to buy a reliable remote app in order to offer support to each of your client. The same app can be used by your staff to get access to important data as needed.
