Don’t ever let biases cost you or someone you love the chance to flourish

Don’t ever let biases cost you or someone you love the chance to flourish
Personal blog by our CEO, Brent Mondoux

At the age of 3, Aiden was developmentally behind by 18 months. He hadn’t yet been able to crawl, couldn’t chew food, never focused on the television for more than 15 seconds, he couldn’t tell us what was causing the challenges. Specialists ranged from speech therapists, physiotherapists, eye specialists and a typical week included 3 specialist appointments each and every week for two years. Financial challenges aside, the stress and strain on our family was unbelievable and both Nat and I suffered a great deal of stress and tension that was extremely challenging to deal with. We both felt lost and afraid to share our fears with the ones around us who loved us and continued to support us through all of this.

As Aiden was nearing the age of 4, our team of specialists from La Ressource in Hull, Quebec (a phenomenal team of specialists each with their own respective areas of expertise) started to eliminate some potential causes for the challenges – he had no muscular issues, his eyesight posed no significant challenges (despite a birth defect called collaboma in both eyes) and his developmental delays weren’t being driven by any auditory disability.  At this point the specialists urged us to try a small dose of ADHD medication. This entwined my wife and I into a ball of emotional doubt, because like so many others we were uneducated and overreacted to the stigma that the media has put on the use of this medication. Our parents also held their own differing degrees of doubt, as they also struggled to cope with the unknown possibilities of the diagnosis.

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

Thank 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

Social Networking on LinkedIn for Business Success

Published in February 2013 Ottawa Chamber of Commerce newsletter 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.

Five ways to identify weaknesses in your website and how to fix them

I’d like to talk about a topic that most people avoid.  It’s a taboo topic because most business owners are typically positive, upbeat individuals who tend to avoid the negative.  Heaven forbid that any pessimism ever shadow the company!  But… is it pessimism to admit one’s weaknesses?  Absolutely not!  So long as once the weaknesses are identified, the beholder of said information approaches these weaknesses with positivity and puts into place a plan to eliminate them.

So then, when talking about websites, how do we find our weaknesses and more importantly what do we do to fix them?

How to Choose the Best Vendor for Your Project

Over the past several months my company has been inundated with a higher than average amount of request for proposals.  While we’re used to being solicited for several proposals every day, the last few months we’ve witnessed more than triple!

Every week we take the time to determine which ones we will bid on by using our typical approach.  At the beginning of each day we sit down and prioritize, consider the types of projects along with the quality and detail within each.  Finally, we assess the feasibility of any budgets identified.

I’ve noticed a trend that is evidently growing.  A whole lot of request for proposals start out with wording that reveals an issue with the contract awarding processes of many companies.  While the wording slightly varies, it typically starts with “We previously hired a development team that could not deliver….”

The Day I Almost Lost My Son and Wife

 

The Day I Almost Lost My Son and Wife
Personal blog by our CEO, Brent Mondoux

Let’s go back to March 17^th, 2004…

It was a frantic day and everyone was tired.  My beautiful wife had been in labour for three days with no eating and mere minutes of sleep.  She somehow managed to keep a smile on her face but she was exhausted.  While one of the nurses had good intentions, she forgot to check the hospital registration forms prior to administering a drip that included a pain killer that Nat was allergic to.

After three inductions, the fourth one finally succeeded and our beloved son, Aiden, was on his way, but nothing could prepare us for what was about to happen.   I’ve replayed his birth over and over in my head and every time it feels as if time has stopped, just like it did that very day.

Our beautiful little boy, Aiden, was born but he wasn’t moving.  I looked on in fear as the doctor looked up at us and spoke in a calm, controlled tone as if it was routine “You cannot hold your baby yet.  Don’t panic, you won’t hear him cry for a while.”

Your website is search engine optimized but you’re still not near the top… why?

In the past several months, I’ve noticed a dramatic shift in the ranking of hundreds of companies on most search engines.  Unfortunately, consequentially, I’ve also suffered temporary hearing impairment as a result of business owners’ alarm bells going off at decibel levels not previously witnessed to date.  Why is that?

Quite simply, the Internet has become a critical medium for the generation of revenue for many companies.  Many of these companies rely heavily on the revenues generated from their organic traffic, or unpaid search results.  The result of losing even a few positions in rank, often times is the difference between a business that is thriving and a business that is bleeding.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t take much to shift the tide, and the difference between a few placements could easily result in the loss of 70-90% of a companies’ targeted traffic.  Think about how you use a search engine.  Most individuals open the first 3-5 links that catch their eye and within a minute they’ve narrowed down their potential customer list to 2 or 3 options at most.  If your website is not one of the links that catches their eye, then you don’t even have a chance to make a sale…. zero percent!!! That’s horrible odds!

How Do You Welcome New Customers?

How do you welcome your new customers?  When they join your family do you simply sign a purchase agreement and fulfill your obligations or do you strive to create something more?

Do you aim to build long-term mutually beneficial relationships with all of your clients?  Of course you do!  How do you make that expectation clear and pave the path towards achieving this goal.

Social media superhero saves businesses with top-secret strategy

N-VisionIT Interactive SM2 social media superhero.

Ottawa, ON, Aug. 21, 2012 – Deep beneath the streets of Canada’s capital lives a superhero who catapults brands into the Internet and saves businesses from the perils of poor social media marketing.  His name is N-VisionIT Interactive CEO Brent Mondoux. His superpower? A top-secret strategy known to agents as SM2 – social media superhero methodology.

Mondoux invented the revolutionary SM2 so businesses could arm themselves with a new weapon in the fight to increase website traffic and sales. SM2  helps businesses build loyal, authentic communities using long-term, customized social media strategies.

“It’s not just how to use social media. It’s how to use it well, today and over time, as your business changes and as technology evolves,” said Mondoux, whose company has created websites, mobile applications and social media strategies for clients around the world, including government agencies and Fortune 500 companies.

Blogging for Business Success

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.