It’s big news when the big guys are in trouble. Small, women owned and minority businesses have always had difficulty with finances. Lack of cash flow and working capital is a leading cause of business failure. Noble Finances has some solutions that can help cure financial woes for companies turned down by traditional banking institutions.

The Atlanta Tribune’s “Moving Your Business Forward” (MYBF) event will be held October 9, 2008 in Columbus, GA. The theme for this 3rd annual MYBF conference in Columbus, GA is “Strategies for Business Growth: Finding Money & Understanding of the Benefits of Certification”.

Sandra Noble, that’s me, is featured on the financial panel at the Columbus MYBF event. I get to share about Noble Finances and the alternatives to traditional bank financing that we provide.

See our press release at
Need Cash Flow? Business Financing Secrets at MYBF

Register for Moving Your Business Forward Conference Columbus

Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC

SEO is more than optimizing your website for your keywords in isolation. There are other tools and techniques to boost your ranking. It’s about volume – how many times you appear and are linked to on the web. And in the World Wide Web / Web 2.0 circles you hear the motto “Content is King”. The more content there is on the web associated with your name and your site, the better your SEO and organic ranking.

So what do I mean by: less is better? Winning sports teams say they are #1. In Alexa, the lower number / rank the better. A rank of 1 means that this is the most frequently searched for and accessed website out of all the websites in the world. Being in the top million is an impressive list. See the even more impressive Alexa top 100 list.

Get the *FREE* report,
“5 Internet Marketing Success Tips”
by visiting http://www.Internet-Marketing-SEO-Success.com

Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC

Read the whole ““Why Business Analysts Are So Important for IT and CIOs” article in CIO.com

Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC

It doesn’t help to hear that Europeans and citizens of many other countries have long been faced with high gas prices. Or that, people in many countries are accustomed to spending much higher percentages of their incomes on necessities like food and clothing. Any decrease in standard of living is traumatic. The post World War II American dream was that the standard of living would be higher for our children. But that expectation is changing. All change requires adjustments. And the fear and stress associated with financial downturns can have profound effects on health and emotional well being.

As in software or technology implementations, satisfaction and success comes when the impacted people / users / employees embrace the changes. This is not automatic, especially in large scale implementations and projects. The consultants at Noble & Associates Consulting, Inc have found that change is rarely embraced unless change management programs have been put in place.

Americans who manage to still have adequate disposal incomes, are still vacationing. US travelers to Europe are shocked and disheartened by the lack of buying power of the US dollar. Other Americans are just bemoaning the fact that they either have less spending money or that the money they do have does not go as far.

So how can Europe be of benefit to the United States and it’s de facto recession economy? I saw a Managing Automation blog post about increased interest in procuring good, services and workers from the US. Due to close quarters and limited land mass, small cars have been in vogue in Europe. Our automakers are fighting for survival. As US automakers finally get on the fuel efficient bandwagon, perhaps they can sell more cars domestically and internationally. And, as suggested by the “Manufacturers Set to Take Advantage of the Downturn” article, perhaps the laid off engineer or executive should be floating their resumes overseas.

Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC

Friday, April 18, 2008

3:30 PM – 7:30 PM

At

The Knowledge Shop

Only $79.00, by April 16

$85.00 After April 16

Get More Info Now!

Directions:

Go to http://www.ksatlanta.com/

Knowledge Shop
(at the far corner of the Wal-Mart parking lot)
Marietta Trade Center
180 Cobb Pkwy SE #C-24
Marietta, GA 30060

In this seminar you will
· Learn internet marketing tools, tips, strategies and concepts
· Receive step by step instructions
· Get a hands-on opportunity to apply what you’ve learn.
· Leave with a web presence and a business email account.

Prerequisites:
· Knowledge of Windows, Microsoft Office products: Word, Excel, Outlook
· Beginning level experience with the Internet

Specific topics include:
· Marketing Concepts
· Creating a web presence (bring your credit cards)
· Opt-in pages
· Contact databases and Autoresponders
· Online Marketing Techniques (emails, article, etc)
· Traffic generation and getting leads
· Available resources

For More Information,

Contact Sandra at:
404-374-3384 or info@NobleAdvantage.com
www.GetPeopleToComeToWebPage.com

Give Me More Info Now!

I attended the Atlanta AFCEA (Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association) February 2008 meeting. The speaker, Mr. Joe Capps talked about the subject of moving to enterprise level systems and procurement processes. Instead of haphazardly developing technology in an “after the fact” manner, he advocated a more proactive approach – as in developing a strategy to move toward enterprise infrastructure, enterprise business applications and enterprise technology in general.

Additionally, a key imperative of the Department of Defense (DoD) is to change and accelerate the requirement to solution process. What’s known as Moore’s Law (based on Gordon Moore’s predictions about semiconductors), says that technology is rapidly changing. Probably about every 18 months. Where there is a need for the latest technology, Moore’s Law has financial, logistical and feasibility implications. The government and the DoD are known for red tape and cumbersome processes. But our country’s ability to respond to immediate threats requires current, accurate information delivered to those needing it in a timely fashion. He suggested the criticality of providing our war fighters with decision making data on how to even respond to five guys running down a street in Iraq. Wow!

Moore’s Law has implications in the private sector as well. Large scale technology projects often take 18 months or more to implement. That time is in addition to the time required to budget for, select and procure the software, hardware, and implementation partners. While ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), CRM (Customer Relationship Management), MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) and the like, may not be obsolete, there are sure to be upgrades, patches (corrections and fixes to software problems) and new feature by the time the system is finally rolled out.

So, what can be done? Knowledgeable consultants with system expertise can help companies and public sector entities develop a strategy and select the right software in the first place. Then, the right implementation partners can accelerate and provide Independent Verification and Validations (IV&V), project management and governance throughout the implementation process. If none of these things were in place or addressed during the course of the technology project, then you’ll probably need the cure for the “Post Implementation Distress” that is sure to occur.

You’re spending millions of dollars for enterprise initiatives. Wouldn’t it be worth spending a small percentage on ensuring that you get what you paid for? Perhaps you need a technical advocate to help you navigate through the planning and implementation process.

Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC

The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) is an umbrella group consisting of technology special interest group communities / societies. The newest society is called TAG Enterprise 2.0, and its focus is to explore and educate on Web 2.0 technology movement. Perhaps this phenomenon could be better described as a revolution and societal paradigm shift. It’s already second nature to the under thirty crowd. The wave is spreading to the over 30, over 40 and over 50 populations. And, this technology is being embraced more and more by the business community.

The first TAG Enterprise 2.0 meeting (March 5, 2008), featured Puneet Gupta, CEO and Founder of Connectbeam. Connectbeam’s product is used behind corporate firewalls for searching, tagging, social bookmarking and social networking. What they add to typical Google searches, is the ability to see
1) Who else in the organization has searched on the same thing?
2) The intent, context or tags associated with the prior searches.
3) The ability to connect with others doing similar searches.

Finally an application and strategy that makes sense for businesses of all sizes. Connectbeam already has an impressive list of clients, starting with Honeywell as their first customer. The implementation of this product enables companies to control their data, integrate with existing IT infrastructure, and incorporate data access and security requirements. Connectbeam’s product allows companies to measure the rate of adoption and increases in productivity as a result of implementing an Enterprise 2.0 framework.

I guess it’s innovate or be left behind.

Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC

As I mentioned in a prior article, all are impacted by this new internet / technology revolution. It may be directly by you accessing blogs, joining online social networks or accepting networking connection invitations. It may be indirect by your children or grandchildren helping you to do google and yahoo searches and researches. Or it could just be a societal impact. Whether you like it or not, those who embrace Web 2.0 and other internet features are affecting the way we run our businesses, purchase goods and services, donate money and run political campaigns.

This phenomenon is even being reported in government newsletters and government related article. It was reported that the U.S. Joint Forces Command’s (JFCOM) has set up a website to facilitate Web 2.0 activity. The membership of AFCEA (Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association) provides communications, IT, intelligence, and global security solutions to the military. The article “AFCEA Solutions Series Blazes New E-Trails” is all about Web 2.0.

A recent title in the Government Technology hnewletter was “E-Vote: Tapscott Says Web 2.0 Will Determine Presidential Campaign Advantage”. And who is Tapscott? Don Tapscott is author of Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything (Portfolio 2006). In my “What’s a Wiki” article on February 10th, I tried to put mind energy around the concept of a Wiki. Suffice it to say, a Wiki is one of those Web 2.0 things. Tapscott’s “Wikinomics” terms suggests that there is an economic impact to the use of Wiki’s.

Watch out for Wiki’s and Web 2.0.
WWW – It’s what’s happening now!

Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC

In Juergen’s talk, there was much mention of process improvement, although Six Sigma was not mentioned by name. The goal of Lean is to eliminate waste and non-value added activities. And the byproduct of waste elimination is lower costs resulting in higher profits. The eight types of waste are: over production, waiting, transportation, over-processing, inventory, motion, defects, rework. Parallels were given between manufacturing waste and administrative waste.

And, how to attack the waste? You Define, Measure, Analyze and Improve the process – key steps in the Six Sigma DMAIC methodology. Often the implementation of the Six Sigma methodology or its use in projects is considered costly and time consuming. But the principles can be simplified. After all over-processing is a waste. The goal is a Lean Six Sigma.

Bottom line, improving and streamlining processes reduces defects, eliminates waste, decreases costs, improves efficiency, increases profits and provides competitive advantages.

Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC

But, my first interpretation of her remark was “no more weight in 2008”. I like many other people need to shed some excess pounds. For many, the race is on to fix the body. Every January, there’s a big surge in the number of people at the gyms. Some turn to over-the-counter weight loss remedies and others head to the commercial weight center such as Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem and the like. The more enlightened might turn to Overeaters Anonymous (OA). It’s based on the same principles as Alcoholic Anonymous. So, OA has a 3 pronged approach, which treats overeating as a threefold disease – physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual.

Most would agree that lasting success with the battle against the bulge requires at least a mind and body cure. There are bi-modal techniques which focus on the healing mental / emotional triggers as a means to healing or slimming the body. Examples are psychoanalysis, acupressure, acupuncture, hypnosis, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT).

I actually attended a NLP workshop a number of years ago. NLP encompasses multiple techniques which are used to accomplish quick changes in behavior. There was a lady in the NLP class who was claustrophobic. In 5 minutes the lady was able to go into a closet and close the door and be happy about it. I saw that with my own eyes.

With NLP, the mind/body connection is studied, documented and utilized to make changes. One example is eye movements. Eyes moving up tends to means you are visualizing or accessing an image. Moving eyes to either side indicates you accessing sound data. Down to the right can mean you’re accessing a feeling. NLP uses eye movements and other physical cues as an indication of how people learn best – hearing, seeing or doing. And our language often reveals our preferences. For instance I worked for a boss who often used the phrase “I hear you”. What do think his preferred learning style was?

Knowing the NLP principles, allows me to notice when these techniques are used in other arenas. NLP is now being incorporated into sales training workshops. Kendall SummerHawk, a marketing and branding guru / coach, indicated that she is certified in NLP. Kendall uses NLP in her workshop to quickly help participants get over writers block.

I’m always working on generating more profitable business. People buy from those they know, like and trust. To the extent that I can get in sync with their body language the more comfortable they feel with me. It’s not manipulation, it’s about caring enough to pay attention, to observe and to adjust. This improves the experience of the prospect, friends or family member.

I have many years of experience as a business analyst. My company, Noble & Associates Consulting, Inc, specializes in business analysis. And what does a business analyst do:

1. We listen,
2. We interpret or analyst the situation, data or system,
3. We compile and document.

Good business analysts, and for that matter good managers, sales people, business people, people in general already listen. If we want to add value to our relationships and effectiveness, we need to add the NLP techniques of conscious seeing and feeling to our repertoire.

Sandra Noble
NOBLE FINANCES
NOBLE & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING, INC