Category Business strategy

Business strategy

May 8 2013

N-VisionIT Interactive CEO Brent Mondoux receives Forty Under 40 Award

Ottawa Top Forty Under 40Thank you to my wonderful team at N-VisionIT Interactive for motivating me each and every day to give 100% and push myself outside of my comfort zone. Being recognized with a Forty Under 40 award is an honor and I consider it our entire team’s award, I couldn’t have done it without all of you.

Enclosed is a letter that our company sent to our customers and partners, but I’d also wish to thank all of my loyal blog readers as I sincerely appreciate your input, feedback and emails on a daily basis.

Dear Customer,

Every time we work on your website, mobile application or social media, we’re thinking about the big picture: How can we help you help others?

Because of N-VisionIT’s philosophy and because of the support of clients like you, our co-founder and CEO Brent Mondoux has just received the Forty Under 40 award from the Ottawa Business Journal and the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce. The award, which received 150 nominations this year, recognizes top entrepreneurs who give back to the community.

“I attribute this win to our team’s success,” says Brent, who co-founded N-VisionIT with Reid Ivens in 1999. Since then, our business has gone on to build websites, mobile applications and social media marketing campaigns for Fortune 500 companies including the likes of Sara Lee and Sony as well as both the Canadian and the U.S. government.

Just four years after we opened, N-VisionIT was named one of Profit Magazine’s Hot 50 Companies. Why? Because, as you know, N-VisionIT cares about helping you connect with and take care of your customers.

“We’re not here just to make clients more money. We’re making clients products and services that will help people, and this award is proof of that,” says Brent, who was named one of Ottawa’s Forty Under 40 because of his expertise in web development and social media, his achievements with N-VisionIT and real estate firm Amplified Investments, and his philanthropic efforts.

Thanks to a client list that includes you, we’re able to donate website creation and other resources to help charities and non-profit organizations help the less fortunate. Since we created N-VisionIT Gives Back, we’ve built websites that have helped raise money for rare diseases and donations for the homeless.

Please join us in congratulating Brent in his commitment to making the world a better place, and in his contribution to businesses like yours which are striving to do the same.

Sincerely,
The team at N-VisionIT Interactive

–

Brent Mondoux
CEO, N-VisionIT Interactive
brent@betterwebsites.ca

Ottawa web design

Feb 13 2013

Social Networking on LinkedIn for Business Success

Published in February 2013 Ottawa Chamber of Commerce newsletter

Social networking on LinkedIn for business success

Why do people go to networking events? Because it works! We meet new acquaintances, obtain new leads and in time these new connections transform into lucrative opportunities. As these new connections introduce us to others, the cycle repeats itself and our networking success begins to compound.

There’s no mystery that business networking still remains one of the most valuable methods of building and strengthening our connections; however, still today, many people have yet to discover the true power of networking on social media channels.

Social networking mirrors the same activities as business networking with one exception: face-to-face communication comes later. While business networking is still, and will always remain, a vital method of business development, there are many benefits to social networking that can bring your business development activities to the next level.

One of the most successful social networks for business-to-business networking activities is LinkedIn. Here’s why:

Unlimited connections

When performing traditional networking, your time is limited to the duration of the event and there are only so many people you can meet. LinkedIn eliminates time restrictions, giving you the freedom to research, target, and connect with the connections that you want to make. By controlling the quality and quantity of connections you are able to make better use of your time and target the best opportunities.

Better targeted focus

At networking events it’s challenging to target the best leads. LinkedIn enables you to learn the goals, accomplishments and interests of a potential connection prior to initiating conversation. We all know people do business with who they like and trust, so knowing a little bit about them prior to an initial conversation creates an advantageous position.

Easier referrals

LinkedIn makes it easy to ask for targeted referrals. Not only does it show you who in your network is connected with the lead you’re targeting, but it only takes is a simple message to initiate the process. At networking events, gaining targeted referrals is nearly impossible due to time and availability constraints.

Don’t eliminate your traditional business networking activity. Amplify your success by leveraging LinkedIn and other social media channels; believe me, your competitors are. Don’t leave opportunities on the table, it’s only you who will pay the price.

Join the FREE webinar on “Growing Your Business with LinkedIn”. Thursday, March 7th 2013

Click Here to Register.
Brent Mondoux is the CEO of N-VisionIT Interactive.
Aug 13 2012

Blogging for Business Success

Blogging for business

by Brent Mondoux, CEO, N-VisionIT Interactive.  Published by the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce.

Social media continues to evolve at breathtaking paces.  It’s becoming increasingly challenging for business professionals to decipher which endeavours reap rewards and which merely consume unnecessary time and energy.  With so many quick and easy social media options at our fingertips, many businesses are underestimating the importance of blogging.

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Jun 17 2012

Don’t Believe Your Own Lies or You’ll Kill Your Own Business

AssumptionsEach and every day I’m blessed with the opportunity to talk to dozens of leaders in various industries that span the globe.

One of the most common confessions that business owners have shared with me is that they are unable to keep up with the breathtaking pace of technology while keeping abreast of their own respective industries as they evolve.

The second most common confession is the one that troubles me the most.  Business owners have become so overwhelmed with technology that they are literally convincing themselves why they don’t need to adapt.

Some common statements heard in the last week alone include “My customers aren’t on mobile”, “Social media is a fad”, “News companies will cease to exist”.

Now let’s see… false, false, false!

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Apr 16 2012

How can I make money with my website?

Make money with websiteHaving talked to thousands of entrepreneurs over the last decade and a half, I’m still surprised by the large amount of companies that are still starting businesses without viable revenue models.  In fact many entrepreneurs are starting companies without any revenue model plan whatsoever!

Granted, there are companies without revenue models that have sold for breathtaking bounties.  Just this recent quarter, Draw Something sold to Zynga for $300 million and Instagram sold to Facebook for a whopping $1 billion.

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Mar 27 2012

Are coupon sites good for small business owners?

GroupOn coupon sitesToday I’m going to cover a topic that small business owners ask me almost on a daily basis.  If you’ve done a quick search online, you’ll quickly discover that opinions are all over the map, ranging from celebratory at one end of the spectrum all the way to demonization at the other end.

So then, what’s the truth?  Well, to add to the confusion, they both are!  Running a daily coupon shouldn’t be a split second decision and you need to understand both the pros and the cons of making this commitment.  Yes, you heard that right.  Running a coupon is a commitment… it’s a commitment to your company, your employees and your customers in a huge way.

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Mar 21 2012

Using Pinterest to Grow Your Small Business

PinterestA few months ago, barely anyone even heard about Pinterest.  Today, however, a very different picture has been painted.  With a staggering growth of 261.6% in the last 3 months, Pinterest has been taking the social media nation by storm!

Having already reached 2.2 million daily active users and gaining the coveted rank of being the 59th most visited website in the world (16th most visited in the US), there are already rumors of Pinterest being considered as an acquisition target of social media industry leaders, Facebook and Twitter.  Think the growth is about to wane?  Actually, it’s the opposite… now that the site is getting to be known, it’s growth is about to explode at an exponential rate that hasn’t yet been witnessed to date!

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Mar 8 2012

Thinking Outside the Box Creates Industry Leaders

Industry leadersWelcome to the year 2002.  Meet Company X.  Company X is a manufacturer of one of the world’s most popular hardware devices.  The market share of their products is a whopping 95%!  They’re on top of the world and completely untouchable by any potential threat!  Everyone who tries to stand up against them gets punished severely, ultimately suffering a humiliating and painful defeat.

Flash forward to 2007, essentially rinsing and repeating this story year after year.  The story remains the same… until another company comes along, swoops down and over the next 2 years they even out the market.  Suddenly it’s a 50/50 playing field, but the momentum seems irreversible and another threat enters the market.

Who am I talking about?

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Feb 29 2012

Finish What You Start!

Finish what you startIt’s been 2012 for a little over a month and a half now and I already feel that I’ve accomplished so much more than in the entirety of 2011.

Every January instead of a making a New Year’s resolution, I opt to do something a little more useful with my time, a process which can make not just one positive change in my life, but potentially many.  I recap all of my accomplishments from the previous year.  This includes reviewing each week’s summary on my “to do list” and highlighting my most significant successes that were accomplished and then highlighting the most significant tasks that still were incomplete.

In doing so I noticed that I had put a lot of my priorities on hold because I was starting too many new projects and so I’ve made a commitment now to simply finish what I start.  This forces me to prioritize the options in which I choose to invest my time in and has already made a significant positive impact on my productivity.  How so?

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Feb 24 2012

When Maximizing Profit Can Destroy Your Company

Maximizing profitsWe’ve all witnessed it – companies who maximize their profit at all expense – regardless of the potential consequences.  No matter what anyone says, maximizing profits should not be any company’s highest priority.  While it’s a vital lifeline within any company, often times it’s maximized at the expense of increased potential for long term success.

Because this article will touch on a number of real life instances, I will refrain from using these companies’ names to protect their identities.

After I publish this article, I fully expect a number of my trusted partners, colleagues and clients to call me, I know that I’ll hit a chord and well… the truth always hurts.  So here are the most common scenarios where focusing on the maximization of profits tend to erode a company’s potential for long-term success.

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