Comments on: The culture of small http://aaronmentele.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/ personal blog of Aaron Mentele, web developer and partner at Electric Pulp Sat, 24 Jul 2010 06:48:01 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.3 hourly 1 By: DOCTYPE | Aaron Mentele, Charisma 18 http://aaronmentele.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/comment-page-1/#comment-41561 DOCTYPE | Aaron Mentele, Charisma 18 Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:38:59 +0000 http://charisma18.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/#comment-41561 [...] off to the next, new thing. (<header> tags, in this case.) Back when I used to blog, I think I mentioned how easy it is to run out of time. Maybe it was somewhere else, but the point is this: keep one eye on Cameron Moll. You don’t [...] [...] off to the next, new thing. (<header> tags, in this case.) Back when I used to blog, I think I mentioned how easy it is to run out of time. Maybe it was somewhere else, but the point is this: keep one eye on Cameron Moll. You don’t [...]

]]> By: Simple machines at Aaron Mentele, Charisma:18 http://aaronmentele.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/comment-page-1/#comment-15481 Simple machines at Aaron Mentele, Charisma:18 Tue, 05 Jun 2007 22:18:38 +0000 http://charisma18.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/#comment-15481 [...] I think that puts us close to a threshold. It wouldn’t take many more (employees) to lose the culture of small, especially as an owner of the [...] [...] I think that puts us close to a threshold. It wouldn’t take many more (employees) to lose the culture of small, especially as an owner of the [...]

]]> By: Greg Nelson http://aaronmentele.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/comment-page-1/#comment-7876 Greg Nelson Wed, 10 Jan 2007 06:01:48 +0000 http://charisma18.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/#comment-7876 Couple other points I will share for companies who do not have scale via sheer employee numbers is that scale has many variables for most businesses. In search marketing, especially the PPC side, our scale often comes through massive keyword campaigns or by understanding "terming". In less than 1 week, we can scale from zero and assuming the client offering warrants (product database or skus enable) to realistically 250,000 keywords all tied to unique ad clusters; we do this often. Yet, if time is tight, we may scale through various matching (broad, phrase, exact) and geo-targetting methods instead, possibly achieving similar results in say 1,000 terms. Ideally you use both but resources dictate when you get in a bind. The key is to know how to use that limited time to get maximum results. Also, for companies with limited time, I think it is essential to set client expectations. Do not overpromise, yet do not underpromise either...set a realistic promise; you know how you work. And, once you have clients, service your best ones at all costs. It is much harder to go fishing than it is to do a little whale watching. Couple other points I will share for companies who do not have scale via sheer employee numbers is that scale has many variables for most businesses. In search marketing, especially the PPC side, our scale often comes through massive keyword campaigns or by understanding “terming”. In less than 1 week, we can scale from zero and assuming the client offering warrants (product database or skus enable) to realistically 250,000 keywords all tied to unique ad clusters; we do this often. Yet, if time is tight, we may scale through various matching (broad, phrase, exact) and geo-targetting methods instead, possibly achieving similar results in say 1,000 terms. Ideally you use both but resources dictate when you get in a bind. The key is to know how to use that limited time to get maximum results.

Also, for companies with limited time, I think it is essential to set client expectations. Do not overpromise, yet do not underpromise either…set a realistic promise; you know how you work. And, once you have clients, service your best ones at all costs. It is much harder to go fishing than it is to do a little whale watching.

]]> By: Aaron Mentele http://aaronmentele.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/comment-page-1/#comment-7869 Aaron Mentele Wed, 10 Jan 2007 02:18:17 +0000 http://charisma18.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/#comment-7869 The importance of numbers [of employees] onboard a small company is sometimes misunderstood by big guys, but past performance is hard to dispute. It's pretty easy to point to volume of work if capacity is questioned, time in business (or in the industry) if stability is questioned, and/or client references if reliability is questioned. For anyone reading not familiar with IDC, Greg's company is a poster child for good [while] small. If the IDC playbook ever gets declassified, I want a copy. The importance of numbers [of employees] onboard a small company is sometimes misunderstood by big guys, but past performance is hard to dispute. It’s pretty easy to point to volume of work if capacity is questioned, time in business (or in the industry) if stability is questioned, and/or client references if reliability is questioned.

For anyone reading not familiar with IDC, Greg’s company is a poster child for good [while] small. If the IDC playbook ever gets declassified, I want a copy.

]]> By: Greg Nelson http://aaronmentele.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/comment-page-1/#comment-7866 Greg Nelson Tue, 09 Jan 2007 23:05:19 +0000 http://charisma18.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/#comment-7866 Great points in this post. At 1 time, I tried to "stretch" the size of IDC by adding in every contract worker I could think of when someone asked how many employees we have. It did not work for 2 reasons...1) I did not like the feeling of deceipt (sp?) combined with 2) when I would say "7 or 8" rather than a hard number, it was wishy washy. For years now, when someone asks, I respond "2 with a team of contractors who can assist us to meet all of our/your needs when necessary." You nailed the key though...we have 2 Monsters and looking to hit 3 soon. In our space is not necessarily manpower but rather the mind of the individuals and the ability to use task-rapidifying (not a word, but works) tools and software. 2nd time on your blog and each time, I have spent a good hour reading. Great content and writing style. Great points in this post. At 1 time, I tried to “stretch” the size of IDC by adding in every contract worker I could think of when someone asked how many employees we have. It did not work for 2 reasons…1) I did not like the feeling of deceipt (sp?) combined with 2) when I would say “7 or 8″ rather than a hard number, it was wishy washy. For years now, when someone asks, I respond “2 with a team of contractors who can assist us to meet all of our/your needs when necessary.” You nailed the key though…we have 2 Monsters and looking to hit 3 soon. In our space is not necessarily manpower but rather the mind of the individuals and the ability to use task-rapidifying (not a word, but works) tools and software.

2nd time on your blog and each time, I have spent a good hour reading. Great content and writing style.

]]> By: Aaron Mentele http://aaronmentele.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/comment-page-1/#comment-7839 Aaron Mentele Mon, 08 Jan 2007 01:36:27 +0000 http://charisma18.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/#comment-7839 <p>Hey Ryan. I'm not a lawyer, so I can only speak from personal level of comfort. With that lead, I think it's very important, both for legal reasons and tax purposes. I would never be comfortable without some degree of separation between business assets and liabilities, personal assets and liabilities, and business partner's personal assets and liabilities. EP has three owners, we file as an S-Corp. <a href="http://inc.com">inc.com</a> will have articles on the topic. </p> Hey Ryan. I’m not a lawyer, so I can only speak from personal level of comfort. With that lead, I think it’s very important, both for legal reasons and tax purposes. I would never be comfortable without some degree of separation between business assets and liabilities, personal assets and liabilities, and business partner’s personal assets and liabilities. EP has three owners, we file as an S-Corp. inc.com will have articles on the topic.

]]> By: ryan http://aaronmentele.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/comment-page-1/#comment-7838 ryan Mon, 08 Jan 2007 01:10:22 +0000 http://charisma18.com/2007/01/06/the-culture-of-small/#comment-7838 Awesome post. As someone considering starting their own company, I have a million questions. I'll just ask one for now -- How important is incorporating for a small developer? I know a lot of freelancers who don't do it. Awesome post. As someone considering starting their own company, I have a million questions. I’ll just ask one for now — How important is incorporating for a small developer? I know a lot of freelancers who don’t do it.

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