Today, I attended the Victoria.NET Regional Conference in Ballarat, mainly focusing on the business sessions.

I will not talk in detail on what was covered, instead, I would like to share some of the highlights with you.

Coaching vs Consulting
Isn't it true that the little things in life make all the difference?
Well then, the differences between coaching and consulting shouldn't come to you as a surprise.
Where you tell your customers what they have to do in one, you actually set a plan for them to do what they think they should be doing to achieve their goals.
Have you guessed which is which?

Teams at work
Don't beat your team into submission, instead help to develop their skills.
Empower your team members.

Attracting the team you deserve
What are you doing that is not attracting the team you want?

Acquiring Customers
Work out your target market.
Measure your conversion rate of suspects.
Set your referal strategies (testimonials - survey results).
Keep a kit of past projects or successes ready with impacting images.
Fact to face meetings with customers is the best strategy to win business or convert suspects into leads.
When selling, listen and ask.
Don't go to sell, go to get them to buy from you.

AusIndustry - An Australian Government Initiative
If you're like me, an Australian developer aspiring to commercialise a technology, I recommend you visit AusIndustry.
In particular, check out their COMET program which aims to increase teh commercialisation of innovative products or services by providing support.
Also, their R&D tax concession program encourages private sector funded R&D activities, which you may take benefit of, if you own an Australian business.