Category Archives: Genenral

Choose your business alliances carefully

Posted on by gianniponzi

As a lot of you will know, I recently became involved in a really exciting new Company called Ad Dynamo. My “job” is to make sure it grows in Ireland and that our clients a amazingly happy with the service.

With this in mind I’m leveraging (sorry, I have to use at least one buzzword per post ;-) ) all of my business contacts and looking for new ones.

In the best possible way for all parties, I hope!

I’ve recently been trying to decide on who I approach and with this in mind I’d like to share a thought I had.

Choose CAREFULLY. Yep, pretty obvious :-)

While a possible partner might look incredibly attractive, never forget what YOUR core values are and make sure you compare them to THEIR values and make sure they share at least some of yours.

In the end they are in business to promote THEIR services so your priorities will always be further down the list.

If you share common values, the risk of your company being incorrectly sold, should be decreased.

Lastly, if you were hoping for some scandalous accusations, sorry to disappoint you. :-)

When it all goes wrong

Posted on by gianniponzi

I recently received a plea for help from someone who is currently locked out of their hosting account and their site is down.

So, following on from a  post by James Larkin, I thought I would add my thoughts to his questions about WHY people should go down the route of engaging a professional developer who charges for their work, rather than “someone I know who is into IT gadgets” and “will do it for free”.

Quite simply, that person WILL one day, most likely disappear without a trace.

“What will happen to my site?”, I hear you ask.

Well, in most of the cases I’ve come across, you won’t know your CP login detail and to put it simply, your site is unmanageble.

In other words, you will NOT be able to update text, you will NOT be able to add new shiny sections to it and you will NOT be able to manage your domain / email etc.

So, here a FREE tip. If you have the choice between engaging the free services of a second cousin who is the next Steve jobs , or a person who does this for a living,  PLEASE chose the second option.

It will save you a LOT of stress and expense in the long run.

BaNAMA Republic ?

Posted on by gianniponzi

It seems today is NAMA day for me.  Earlier today I was drawn to an interesting discussion with Sen. Dan Boyle on Twitter and later on read David McWilliams’s article in the Sunday Business Post about the same subject.

It seems that while the Irish Government has a tough job on it’s hands to “sort thing out”, it could go a long way in building trust with the Citizens of this Country, by trying to find the best possible solution to the NAMA issue. I am no Economist so I won’t even try and explain what is going on.

All I know is, something doesn’t add up and it seems as though the tax payers of this Country are left with a bill that COULD be a lot smaller than it will be.

Why would anyone in their right mind pay for something based on a POSSIBLE future appreciated value ?

It seems the Euorpean Commission thinks the same way. Hopefully this means that the Irish Government will feel obliged to rethink the price they were going to pay for assets which are “worthless” and nobody wants.

For a better insight as to what the EC is on about, you can read David McWilliams’s post here http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/2010/02/28/it-took-europe-to-rein-in-nama

Changing face of Politics?

Posted on by gianniponzi

I was wrong………………

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Today I have my very first meaningful “discussion” with a Politician. While this post is about the encounter, it’s also about the Twitter effect on the World. Many scoff at this “silly waste of time” while admitting that they “don’t know anything about it actually”. It’s impact has been felt Worldwide.

From Obama to the so called average joe soap, everyone now has a real opportunity to share their ideas, slowly leveling the playing field for all.

But I’m getting carried away…..

Most who know me, know I have strong (ill) feeling towards Politicians.  This isn’t by accident, but by the years of reading about the countless Governments who repeatedly promise the World to their Citizens and invariably let them down. Badly.

To cut a long story short, today, a Politician not only answered some of my questions (and many others following him) but seemed to do so in a genuine and truthful manner (I did say I was a cynic didn’t I ?).

Senator Dan Boyle, @sendboyle, made some interesting points re: NAMA & the economy, all the while “…multi-tasking. Playing music in the background. “. Impressive :-)

This post isn’t really about those subjects, which have been beaten to death by now, but more about the fact that a Politician would take time out on a Sunday, to listen to people’s ideas / worries and general rantings.

His comments that the property peak may take a lot longer to come around again, was refreshing and I believe more accurate than most people would hope.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t 100% sure which Party he represented (I had to check his Twitter account). I don’t really care.

I’m interested in people who genuinely listen to others and are willing to take action, without the buzzwords and posturing.

My natural reaction is to be skeptical, but for now I’ll give Sen. Boyle the benefit of the doubt.

I will continue to follow…….