July 2009 Entries
Since my blog about working in a home office generated more comments than any other recent post, I thought I would provide a lagniappe.
Peter Shankman is noted web guru who has built a multimillion dollar business out of a spare room in his home. If anyone is an expert on home based businesses, it’s him. He provided some insightful tips for home-officers, summarized here:
Have more than one way to get online. That way your business won’t go out just because your cable does. “I have a wireless card, I have a BlackBerry, somewhere in the closet I have a modem,” notes...
More of us are working out of a home office today than ever. There are pros and cons:
· No one to interrupt you, offset by no one to interact with
· Boss not looking over your shoulder, but also not giving you regular feedback or direction
· Quiet, often TOO quiet
· No commute, but then you don’t have the “think time” before work, or the “chill time” after
· More flexible hours, offset by a 24/7 environment
· CAYA (come as you are), but then you have no excuse to buy new clothes
You get the idea.
But as a home-based worker/entrepreneur, you need to adjust...
I subscribe to HBR Blog posts on management and marketing, and today's blog from
Peter Bregman, captures some terrific ideas on how to assure that your day doesn’t slip into a fire-fighting melt-down of what once was your “to do list.”
We all begin the day with a sinking feeling that we won’t get it all done. And the best of us focus on how we can strategically address the often conflicting events and still strategically survive. Our to do list is the typical survival tool. But at day’s end, is yours still sitting pristinely on your computer, or hanging on the bulletin...
Participating in social media such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogging, and so on is a requirement for an organization today…whether large or small. But there’s so much info and chatter coming in through social media that it can overwhelm you, eat up your time, and ruin your productivity.
Since I have begun to comment on social media tools, many of you (well, at least three or four) have asked how to manage the almost overwhelming volume of input on the web, and exactly what has value enough to pass along.
Simplification is the key to staying in touch, and yet still continuing to...
I have always liked Yoda, the Jedi Master introduced in the first Star Wars film.
In a recent blog posting, Henrik Enberg reminisced about Yoda, and applied three of his most prescient (at least in the context of the movie’s plot) statements to business and leadership.
1. Don’t Try. Do.
Luke: “I cannot believe it.”
Yoda: “That is why you fail. Do or do not… there is no try.”
2. Overcome your fears.
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”
3. Your world is a reflection...
Andy Sernovitz posted a terrific short and sweet blog last week on how to build Word of Mouth surrounding any idea, concept, product, or pearl of wisdom you might have.
1. Make it EMOTIONAL
2. Make it PORTABLE
3. Make it REPEATABLE
His reference was targeted at the online world, but it can also apply to traditional media, email, direct mail, or even personal conversations.
Think about it….
“The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself." --Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright, novelist and poet
There was a terrific column in Harvard Business Review (HBR) recently that addresses the pro’s and con’s of off-site strategic planning meetings. This brings back some memories for me, as I often received push back from my CFO when I would begin investigating our annual retreats. “Why can’t we save some money and just have it here?” he would ask. My answer would always be the same, “Because it just isn’t as effective.”
The author agrees with me. She bemoans that as a result of the current economic crisis, many companies are cancelling strategic retreats, and trying to address the issues with short meetings during normal...
Over the weekend I was cleaning out an old desk, and ran across several dozen postcards. Picture postcards. (For you youngsters out there who may not know what a postcard is, ask your grandfather.) I flipped them over and read a few of them, fondly remembering when I might have gotten them, and how I felt when I found it in my mailbox.
A nice jaunt down memory lane. And then it hit me…every one of the cards had a message that was FEWER than 140 characters long. Typically a very simple message, “Having a wonderful time, wish you were here,” or “Our room is in the...
Those of you who have followed my musings over the past several months have seen a many postings about social networking, especially Twitter. Although I have mentioned it in the past, LinkedIn has been underrepresented in those discussions. That’s an unforgivable oversight, as LinkedIn is probably the most important social/business networking tool available.
Since beginning to use LinkedIn, I have made several contacts that have directly lead to business, and a number of connections with important business influencers who I would have been typically been unable to meet and interact with personally. All of this happened because of LinkedIn. In my last thirty years...