Quintessentials - Part 2 - What makes your website work?

Quintessentials for your website.

We have been in the business of creating web solutions for over a decade now. For the past four years we have transformed into one of the finest website design and development organization with alliances across the globe paving satisfaction and smiles for our clients.

Four years for a human, is like a hundred years for the internet. It has evolved so much. And it has grown and expanded in giant leaps every day. So many tools and applications and information have found their way on to the World Wide Web.  Some of these are effective and good. But most of it is waste, trash and ineffective.

We should understand that the internet is one of the finest marketing medium. It should be considered a part of a business media plan and used in a manner where you can measure its effectiveness and as a tool that works best when the client and the developing team who builds the page has a precise idea of what it is that they are setting out to achieve and whom they want to reach out to.

I have clients who come to my office and demand the finest graphics and design and short timelines and competitive costing. They haggle and bargain for a few hundred. The project finally loses energy and effectiveness. It becomes a group of people stuffing in maximum colours and a few tools to impress the client instead of focusing on what it is that they need t achieve to make the site effective.

Remember that if a Website should make an IMPACT, the team should create it after having a crystal clear vision of What and How you want your Visitor to behave.

In these few years we see a flood of changes. We have smartphones and tablets, we have varied screen sizes where customers access the site, we have high speed internet, we have infinite social sites to reach out to. And so much more is in the future.

A great website with good reach, with an impact to make the visitor behave in a particular way in the shortest time is the need of the hour. This is a matter of maximum importance today and we need to address it now. As developers and designers we need to educate our clients about how the web is transforming. It is of grave consequence to cheat your client and give them what they want at the expense of damaging his business for the future. It will surely affect your existence as a web solution provider.

Be brave, Be honest. Develop a spine. Bring your ethics and values to the forefront. History has proved that if you are only a short term visionary, you will cease to exist in the longterm. It costs a packet to generate the latest solutions. But if you stand up to it and have the strength to inspire your clients, you will bring about a world of change for your client, which in effect will come back to you in the form of more business and long term survival. Have no doubts about that!

Ask yourself a few simple questions that can make your relevance clear.

1. Who/What/Why am I building this site?
2.  How will anyone find out about this website?
3.  What factors have made me use this design concept?
4.  What is the action I want a visitor to take when they are here?
5.  What have I created on this website that will guarantee that action
6.  Is there anything else I can do here?

It is wise to know that the reason for creating a website is to make an impact on someone to act upon an information. 

The first step in this case is to understand the person who you are speaking to and the action you want them to do. Remember that you are talking to one person at a time and you need to have a perfect idea through extension surveys of the “ONE” you are talking to if you want to create the perfect content/layout/graphics etc to make them take an action.

Doing a website in any other manner is Trash!

Sameer Ansar

CEO – Quintessence Technologies Ltd.

Mail: sameer@qtlindia.com

Web: www.qtlindia.com

"BEING WITH..."

Being with anything"100%" is not easy. In fact its near to impossible.

* How can we be with our family 100% when the office tension is pounding in the hidden corner of your brain?

* How can we be with our studies 100% when we are irritated and thinking bad thoughts of parents who have troubled us to study?

Years ago when I attended a training session, they asked us to close our eyes and focus on the voices in our head. Its not easy but as the seconds passed, and the silence around was intense, i slowly started to hear my inner voices. And it was not one. It was a thousand voices.
"What is this guy asking us to do?"
"What am I doing here?"
"This is so stupid"
"Have I paid my phone bill?"
"Can I ask that cute girl out for coffee?"
"Maybe she has a boyfriend?"
"Do I have enough money to last the week?"
"When did I last call my mother?"
"I wonder what they have for dinner at the hostel today?"
And so on and on and on and on and on........

There is so much activity in the brain that we lose focus of what we are doing currently and move on to the next. As a result we do everything half heartedly and just for the sake of completing it. There is no chance for Being With anything, nor for the 100% in it.

Life passes you by so fast that before you know it you will miss out on so much unless you start putting your soul and heart into whatever you do and be with that 100%.
Give your all out when you play with the kids...dont let your office tensions come in between.
Give your 100% when you spend time with your family...its your most prized possession.
Give your full focus and passion at the office...its where you earn your bread.
Give your love to your friends...they will love you as much as you do.

Look up once in a while and thank God for the wonderful moments you have been given in this life. BE WITH the God above for a few moments. You will find peace and the strength to face what comes after. And the faith to move mountains...with ease.

And never forget...find the time to BE WITH yourself too. You deserve it.

BACK...to make a change.

Its been awhile that I have stopped writing this blog. I can say a countless stories and excuse myself. Let me sum it all up by saying "sorry" to myself.

I am back to make a change and inspire myself and any one who would reach these lines. I promise myself that I will try and write at least a line everyday.

Do ensure your participation and comments to guide me as I start anew. I thank my wife, companion and friend who is my biggest inspiration to start all over again. +Nishana you are the most cherished part of my life.

Since I seem to be in a mood to thank people let me go the whole way.
A special thanks to my mentor and role model, Mr. R. K. Menon, my M.D., whose trust and faith in me has paved the way to encourage me to scale new heights everyday with confidence. Sir, you are one of a kind.

A warm thanks to my father and mother who gave me the values I stand by. The sacrifices they made to ensure my education and foundation shall never be in vain. I shall make you proud every moment.

A smile for my brother Sajith, who continues to inspire me with his feet on the ground, yet head high up in the clouds as he scales record heights in business and personally. Your support to the growth of this company can not be measured. Your encouragement to my ideas, whether dumb or great has been magical. Thanks da.

A kiss to my sister Reshma who shows magic in her passion for whatever she does. Truly international standards in her cooking and home making. She makes it all look so simple. I salute her focus.

My daughter and son inspire me to go the extra mile. I can never imagine how Zahibaa can just walk away from the food she loves so much to be healthy. And how Zohrab is so focused on doing his craft and gaming that he leaves no stone unturned to get what he wants(and ensures we pick up the stones too). How I wish I was half as determined as you guys.

To my sister in law(nay...my sister) Haseena who is an amazement as she juggles so many chores and gets all out to achieve success. What an achievement you have done singlehandedly. Your children are a testimony to your love and care and systematic focus to achieve. Farzeen has grown into the most confident and focused lady creating a magical family. Fayaz has grown into a most becoming gentleman and crossed the seas to US. He is now the most eligible bachelor in town. What an inspiring story. And we are impressed at your money management and growth and zest for life. Keep smiling.

To my team at Quintessence, those who are here and those who have moved on yet ensure their connection with us. Your are my family and I am deeply humbled at the contribution each of you have made in this growth. To each of you I salute you all a million times. Thanks for the respect and the friendship. You have stood by us in times of trouble and fun. God bless.

To everyone who I have been in contact with and shared some vision of yours to my tomorrow, I thank you. I thank my school Principal Mrs. Roy for the determined grit and courage to rise up to adversities and achieve with principles and values. My school friends and teachers for every bit of warmth and sunshine in my heart and head during those sunshine years...the best ever.

I thank the Secretary at Bombay YMCA for the encouragement to hold a mike inspite of my speech deficiencies. To edit the magazines at Hostel and college. I thank each of the persons I came in contact there. For an angel like Mr. Kashyap Shah who has been my most silver coated friend in thick and thin till date. What you are to me is infinite Kashyap. And to my other silver bubble friend Namrata who polished my values to finesse. Who pointed out my mistakes and clapped on my small victories. And taught me that I can do my own contributions.

I thank God for shaping me through the amazing family on my fathers side and my mothers. What a large number of warm hearts and love we went through in childhood. The uncles and aunts and grandparents. Each one was a teacher. Especially my father's father(Uppa) whos success was also feathers we used in our cap. And my mothers mother who showed us that business needs a focus, passion and simplicity.

I thank each of you and everyone of you who have crossed my life. The shortest moments have etched your name in my life. Like Ramesh Batavia who inspired me to create a business plan and make the fences to realise it. Like Arvind Vinayak my guide to the advertising world who showed me that I can be creative. Like Animesh Shah who recommended my writing skills for my first real job. Like Khasim who gave me my first job in advertising and putting his confidence in me and paying for my college fees in advertising. Like Biju and Parul who called in me in to take care of their new venture when I was out of a job and desperate. Yet smiling and guiding me even when I let them down so terribly.

For all the people I may have missed out, remember that you are always in my mind and heart. Its just that I may have forgotten you for now.

God sends angels in my path whenever I am in desperation leading me ahead with confidence and smiles. Thankyou God.

Are you Adopting yourself or adapting???

Its good to understand who you are in terms of how you fit into wherever you are and whatever you do.

If you are a good ADOPTER you will be able to keep on seeking out new ideas and make them work for the better.

However, if you are an ADAPTING PERSON, what you are is someone who is always adjusting with difficulty with what you are expected to become.

The adopter meets life Head-on. The adapter meets life and its battles only in Defense mode.

To be an Adopter, what you will need is a spark of curiosity, passion and excitement,whereas the adapting person is always someone who is associated with fear, irritation, lack of trust and trying to find something with least trouble.

I believe that its easy to be an adopter if you can let go of all the meanings and issues you attach with life.
Its easy to fly free if you can enjoy whatever you do.

I understand that its difficult to discuss this and make the adapting person understand all this!!!

Sameer Ansar
www.theqtl.com
www.theqtl.blogspot.com

100 percent participation...Transform

For those of who who are starting a new day everyday, here's some advise.

"If you are planning to work, then please do work with complete participation".
Why work if you cannot be inspired by your own work?

If you can be fully in love with your work,
If you can give selflessly to ensure the output of whatever you do...
you will have surely get the results for that.

The biggest waste of a person's life is to do something that you want to show as hard work,
and then to interrupt it, compromise on it, cheat on it and yet, have the confidence to call it work.

In the same amount of time that you are wasting on nothing,
you could simple go ahead and double your effort
and get a lot more for that change.

GO TRANSFORM.

Sameer Ansar
www.theqtl.com
www.theqtl.blogspot.com

The excuse for everything in life

WARNING : If you are looking for excuses... it is the first sign that your project is in trouble. 

Some of us even start looking for excuses even before a project even starts.

Unconsciously, we start looking for an excuse or for someone to put the blame on. 
This helps the person to regain confidence and peace. [It's surprisingly easy to be relaxed if you have excuses ready and feel that the others will accept it.]

I used to be like this. When I get a responsibility, I would think "Hmmm, I can start doing it, and if it doesn't work out perfectly, I can point out it was the problem of  ..." 

Then, as the work speeds up...as leaders come along and things happen, we keep adding and making a better excuse list, ensuring to remember all the factors that were out of our control. When I started my career as a salesman at Culture Club, Mumbai I often found myself imagining and finding reasons for myself about why I was unable to close a particular sale. Sometimes I would start making an excuse for a failure even before I started the sales call.

I have come across tons of people who have perfected the style of excuses with creativity. (Wrong astrology sign, helpless to change the system, childhood issues, etc). They always fail in whatever they do and live in the failure. They are okay, though because they always have an excuse ready to use. It soon becomes very easy for them to turn around and run when the going is rough.

Let me make a scenario for you thats the opposite of the excuse using life: 

Imaging how it would be if you just stop looking for excuses at all?

Instead of trying to find excuses, what if our team was made up with people who are focused on NEVER taking up excuses. If we start now to purposely STOP taking up the opportunity to use an excuse or the luxury to blame someone, you may Transform the work you are doing and the person that you are.

If you are inspired enough to be focused to drive well and never ever stopped by a policeman, you will not need to blame the brake and the accelerator. THINK.

Sameer Ansar

www.theqtl.com

www.theqtl.blogspot.com

What's the point of "POPULAR" ?

Most of the people I have met believe that "popularity" is the most important thing in the world.
Technopark Beauty Queen, Employee Union president, maximum friends on Facebook, Filmfare award winner or how many people are waiting in line to see you ...

To all of you who are after this "popularity", please understand that popular is almost never a the sum total of your impact, or genius, or style/form. "Popularity" rarely reflects your guts, hard work or the confidence to lead people and projects(and the sense and understanding that you might go wrong along your way). It never shows what you have learnt (or unlearnt) in your motivated focus for achievement.

I accept that being popular (at least on one day) is a great way to get elected MLA or MP or Minister.
But in general, the search for popularity is high pressure and damaging because it corrupts your work, eats away at your focus and style of giving the best results and will surely make you compromise to please some anonymous people or public.

It is worth considering "what is the value" or symbolism of losing some election or some other popularity contests.
It might help if you understand that "Losing" these contests means or tells you that the opinion of some vague strangers is absolutely worthless. They don't know you, they're not interested in what you have to offer and you should discover that their rejection actually means nothing. It should empower you to even bigger things in the future...

When you understand this nonsense and start to focus on delighting an audience you truly care about, you will start to remove the power that the unknown public has on your mind. That is when you will really understand the meaning and power of "POPULAR".