Why can’t I come up with an idea like that?

The insinuation here is that all of us are just one fantastic idea from fame and fortune. I believe this to be true. The more subtle insinuation here, however, is that it’s only the lack of a great idea that’s keeping us away from the success that is rightfully ours. This part is totally ridiculous.

Guess what…

Your ideas mean nothing.

I wrote a post about this before, about how an idea is only good as far as you’re willing to take it. The great (or crappy) ideas that remain in your head do no good (or bad) and just serve as an annoying reminder of your lack of time, motivation, or both. As such, the success that you’re apparently owed (I suspect this is a primarily American belief but have not gone far to prove it) isn’t being held hostage by a mental deficiency indicated by your lack of Golden Egg ideas, it is, in fact, just your lack of desire to make the idea happen. This is good news, I promise.

You see, ideas are merely step one of a one million step process and, as such, are just simple, albeit painful, indicators that your life is going to get harder and your free time will suffer a devastating loss. To most people (this off-hand majority calculation was formed by calculating how many people I know have had a great idea and acted on it to success or failure), this terrible beacon is just the scare they need to file the idea under “no thank you but I reserve the right to bitch about it when I see someone else do it.” This is a very common state of mind and it’s probably fine that way.

Your obsession means everything.

To some, this “idea as a starting gunshot” concept is familiar. It still marks a long road of hard work ending in potentially catastrophic failure but the fear that this causes is more closely related to a roller coaster than it is to a serial killer (with the understanding that some of us have similar issues with roller coasters as we do with serial killers). This fear becomes a challenge and our strong desire to meet this challenge comes in the form of obsession.

There’s more to idea-based success than just obsession but it’s the first thing you’ll want to look for when you’re evaluating the probability of your success. If you have an idea (any idea) and an obsession with making it a reality, the road ahead will be as clear as it possibly can be. Your task isn’t easy and your sucess anything but guaranteed but the car is packed, the tank is full, and the kids just started a movie. Pick a good route, stay alert, and stop regularly and you’ll have a nice trip.

Meet the insane idea.

The family road trip metaphor explains the majority of ideas that we get. These ideas are like, for example, a great new way to store vegetables or a unique content distribution method or a product to clean a dashboard. These ideas are helpful, address a pain point, find a gap in the market, and succeed or fail based on decisions made throughout the process.

But there’s another type of idea that plagues us. This idea is like a non-stop, 8 Red Bull marathon drive from San Diego to Miami. This idea might not seem so good at the start and might not be well thought out but it has a champion, the driver, that infects others with his enthusiasm. This is the insane idea.

This idea is so loud and so bright and so sudden that you forget about the hard work ahead and the obstacles in the way. All at once, the idea becomes monolithic: you can’t move it and you can’t get past it, the idea must be dealt with. You’re left powerless but ecstatic, happy to hand over the controls of your life to something ethereal and unsure but so promising. Your life as you’ve known it is over.

The insane idea is the great equalizer.

Whether you’re the type to file your ideas away or grind through each one methodically, you’re completely susceptible to the insane idea. All that differs is how you react to it.

The idea-filer’s primer to the insane idea.

The first thing you’ll notice is this strange tingling in what feels like the absolute center of your body. This is your obsession germinating like a bean sprout, touching very strange, metaphysical parts of you. It’s also the mark of your eventually complete loss of rationality. Don’t be alarmed.

Next comes frantic planning. We’re talking drawings, sketches, late-night to early morning typing, writing, and researching. The idea isn’t fully formed yet so it feels incomplete. You’ll add features and benefits and add-ons and bells and whistles. There’s no sense of how the idea will come together or if it is sound, just frenetic, unfocused activity.

At some point during this planning stage, you reach a stage that traps many, many people (for good reason). All this planning has brought you to where you need to actually take a step forward to make the idea happen. The problem is multifaceted: there are so many steps to take and so many ways to take each of them. If you had the domain experience to generate the idea, you’re probably missing the necessary business, marketing, and technological acumen to nuture this idea to maturity. Conversely, if you’ve got the goods in the acumen department, you’re probably missing the domain knowledge about the market you’re charging into headlong.

The decisions you make at this step plant the seeds for success or failure (remembering that your idea is a failure right up to when it succeeds). Read more than you think you can handle, discuss things with a broad range of people, and take advice from people who have been down this path before. Paramount to that, don’t make decisions until you have to and, when you do make them, follow through. Nothing will derail you faster than ignorance combined with indecision. Hang on tight.

The idea-farmer’s guide to the insane idea.

You’ll also notice the obsession germinating but it will feel more familiar to you, if maybe a bit stronger than you’re used to. You’ll go through the same planning phase (like you have many times before) and face the same multitude of decisions (like you always do). But you have a different problem to contend with.

Since you’re all “been there, done that,” you have a starting point, previous experience to draw upon, and your own advice to follow. The insane idea, however, doesn’t give a flying dingleberry about any of this. The idea has control of the car and you’re just in the back seat yelling impotent directions and fearing for your life.

What starts to become clear is that you’re not out of control, you’re just playing by a new set of rules. The idea at the wheel may not know how to drive but it shares a goal with you, the frightened passenger: to see the light of day.

So just stay calm, respect the maniac at the wheel, and enjoy the scenery. The idea has no directions and no map but it has a destination and it needs your help to get there. Your idea might change it’s mind, make a sudden turn, or hop on the wrong freeway and it’s your job to remind it of where you’re both headed and guide it back on track. Remember the lessons you’ve already learned but also remember that the rules have changed. Hang on tight.

Bonus section about me: Insane ideas make life worth living

Sidenote: I’ve noticed that blog posts that talk about the author as the main character can come across, at best, as boring and, at worst, as terribly self-centered. As such, I’m trying to move relevant but non-essential personal information to the end of my posts so you can choose to just ignore it if you’d like. You’re welcome.

I consider myself, for the most part, an idea-farmer. I like good ideas and I typically know what to do when I get one: abandon it (see this great video with Ira Glass on abandoning ideas). I have have exponentially more ideas than I have time to implement them but, inexplicably, I’m always ready for another.

I’m currently working on a nice, normal good idea and my obsession with bringing it to fruition (along with a co-obsessor) is making sure it will see the light of day. This idea is fun and has become more of a hobby than a 3rd job.

I have, however, lived through two insane ideas, both of which were sudden, drastic career changes. I call them insane ideas because…

• I had no choice but to follow them through
• I had no idea what I was getting myself into
• My lack of experience did nothing to dissuade me from chasing after them with gusto

My insane ideas changed my life, twice. I consider myself lucky because both changes were very positive and both saved me from intense boredom, abject dissatisfaction, or worse. The first insane idea, to get a chemistry degree and work in sustainable transportation, was only good because it lead to the second insane idea, abandon most of my formal education to work on the web. They work in mysterious ways these ideas.

I’m always looking for people with insane ideas who either need a push forward (that part is free) or need hand-holding throughout (that part isn’t but let’s talk). There’s nothing I like more than exchanging ideas with motivated people. Maybe I’ll spark an insane idea or maybe I’ll talk you down… you never know until you ask!

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Your website should be doing two very important things:

• Provide an easy way for people to find more information out about you. This supports email marketing, in person networking, and any kind of word of mouth that you provoke. At the very least, your website should do a great job at doing this. It should be easy to find the right information, the site should showcase your strengths, and there needs to be a path forward for people wanting to take action. Just getting this right is hard enough without help.
• The other thing a successful site should be doing is concentrating on the actions that bring in revenue. Helping people find out about what you have to offer is great and, at this point, basically due diligence for all businesses. Identifying what it is that you want to do and where your revenue needs to come from is a critical step to having a site that pays for itself and more.

OK, here’s the straight dope, ready? I think the fundamental issue with many, many websites out there is that few people have identified what activities contribute the most to their bottom line. Who buys what you have to sell? Who emails you about your product? Who perks up when you talk about what you do? Who do you really want to work with?

Here are a few things to think about:

• Do you know who your buyers are? Do you have an idea in your head about who buys your product or hires you? This is critical. If you don’t know who it is you need to talk to then your message will be weak and your efforts unfocused.
• If you do have an idea, even a vague one, of who these people are and how they find what you have, are your events targeted towards them? Are you emailing them? Do they have blogs? Do you read them and comment on them? Can you find them on Twitter? Are you following them? Can you recognize one out of a crowd?
• You have a national audience because of your website… that’s great but that means your competition is also 100 times larger. If, however, your product or service has more of a local appeal, think about paring down the focus of your site, email marketing, and otherwise. The more focused your efforts can be, the more success you’ll have.

So, what can we do for your site? At this point, nothing. There is not much that can be done with a website until we really know WHO you’re talking to and WHAT you need to say to get their attention.

What can we do for your predicament? So, so many things!

Here’s a few steps to move this process forward. Each of these steps could take 10 – 20 hours apiece if you’re serious about really making a change to your business.

1. Figure out, through your previous buyers and anyone who has expressed interest, who your audience is. Talk to everyone you can to get a profile of who buys your products or who needs your service. Do they buy other types of products? What software do they use? Where do they spend their free time? You’re looking for a profile of the type of person you need to seek out.
2. Sit down with what you have (hopefully many pages of notes) and FIND THESE PEOPLE. Look for commonalities and find where they go. Send out an email poll through your email service and find what they’re reading, what websites they are on, what events they go to, what kind of food they like, where they drink coffee. Know these people in and out so you can speak directly to them. If you know what they do, where they go, and how they interact, you’re in a MUCH better position to find them and talk directly to them (literally and otherwise).
3. Now, take a long hard look at this profile you’ve built and figure out what you’re doing right and where you’re going astray. Does your website appeal to your potential buyers? Ask them directly. Are you holding events they would be interested in? Have you found the site that they all frequent?

Sound a bit like stalking? Well, if you’re concentrating on one person then, yes, I imagine this feels a little creepy. But the goal here is to discover a profile of a person, the theoretical client. If you’re not right where your clients are, where are you? Where are your competitors?

I know this is more “brain storm” than “step-by-step” guide to success but I’m much more of a fan of finding your own path. I also find it hard to believe that one persons path to success will work for everyone else. Without a true desire to succeed and the ability to just get out there and try a few things, you’re not going to get anywhere.

Sit down with a laptop and a pad of paper and FIND YOUR AUDIENCE!

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Yahoo Pipes being blocked from accessing Craiglist feeds

After thinking for a minute, I realized I wasn’t getting my daily emails either. A quick search confirmed what I thought originally: Pipes is being blocked from accessing RSS feeds from Craiglist. Strangely, though, the info I found was 6+ months old. I’m not sure why this would have been working for me for many months and now just tank.

I used to feed job information from San Diego, Los Angeles, and Seattle into a Yahoo Pipe sort that discarded all the ads that didn’t fit what I do. I understand about 10% of what Pipes is capable but this 10% worked very well for me. Every morning, I had a list of available web development gigs in the nearby area that I could apply to. Not that anyone gets much of a response from Craiglist but, still, it was good to be getting myself out there. This little hiccup is not the end of the world but I’m confused. Why would Craigslist make it so much less convenient to use them? Why lose the community goodwill? It’s doubful that many people were using the Pipes/RSS combination so why not just let us do it?

I’m assuming that they’re trying to reduce data scraping (where sites/robots/people mine data on one site and use it as their own)  but why is the RSS option still there?

Update 2/16/2009: The block might be temporary… who’s ruining it for the rest of us??

Update 2/16/2009: emailed Craig, as directed, received a response:

craig@craigslist.org to me

asking tech team now regarding problem, thanks!

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chocolate chip cookie from roboppy on Flickr.com

There are a lot of good ideas running around. I’ll bet you most of the people you know have a good idea for a business or a product or a website. Ask around, see what people say. I think you’d be surprised by how many good ideas there are out there. It begs the question: why aren’t we all rich?

I see three components to success story based on a really good idea.

1. The good idea itself. Let’s assume the idea is good (meaning that it is physically and fiscally possible, it’s not a direct copy of something else, and it addresses a real need).
2. The motivation to really and truly act on this idea (meaning that you get a team together, cash out your savings or get a loan if you need money to start, and do the damn thing like you actually care).
3. The ability to maximize the amount of money you make from this idea (meaning, simply, that you [or someone on your team] have the business sense to make a profit, minimize expenses, and market successfully).

People get so caught up on the first step, the idea, that they forget the rest of it. If you forget about the second step, you might as well forget about the first one. If you forget about the third step then, congratulations, you have a hobby.

This all relates back to a conversation I had recently with a client. He had a great idea for a video series that has a real chance of becoming popular. He’s probably one of the few people who would/could do it and, if done properly, I think it has viral potential. Sweet, a great idea, one step down.

Since the video relates directly to something he does on a regular basis, having the motivation to do it shouldn’t be too hard. Add a little personality, a bit of music, some creative editing and I see Hollywood in his future. Well, that or some good popularity on YouTube and, potentially, a sell-able DVD.

So, let’s assume the first two are on lock and the videos will actually be created. What then? I have no doubt that people will want to see the videos and send them around to their friends but will this happen if they cost, say, $2.99 to view? Probably not. What about a monthly subscription for full access? Probably not. What about only offered on DVD? Probably not. So how does this idea translate into a paycheck?

Cash by Bashed on Flickr.com

It’s going to take real time to create and edit these videos and no one wants to work for free so these videos have to point to income. The simplest thing to do is to have the videos gain attention for T-shirts, CDs, or shoes or something of that nature. At the very least, the attention gained by the free videos does something financially productive. The only “problem” here is that the items being sold don’t relate very well to the videos. As such, people who are only interested in the video might not give a crap about the other stuff. This is where we get creative:

• First, you need free versions and paid versions of the videos. The free versions are lower quality (for online posting) and include an ad bar at the bottom (get a sponsor?).
• Think of the videos in terms of a series of themes, each theme with it’s own series of videos. Each theme is a skill and the first 2 or 3 or 4 videos are free. Want the rest? Download them for $4 per theme or $20 for the whole set. All the videos will be higher quality, ad free, and burnable to a DVD. Also, offer everything on DVD for $25. Now the videos are monetized.
• Don’t stop there, though. Do you have anything else for sale? What about those T-shirts or an unrelated DVD or maybe a service? Wear your shirts and mention your service on the video. Even better, include a 15 second introduction on the free videos hawking your wares.
• Last but not least, always think of what’s next. You want the current venture to be leading to the next one. Are there more video series that can be done? Can you write a book about it? If the videos become popular, use that popularity to go down other roads and create/promote similar things.

In the end, one of the 3 idea components will likely out-weigh the others in terms of how it contributed to the eventual success. This might be luck (you were lucky enough to come up with an amazing idea or lucky enough to randomly meet the best teammate or were lucky enough to time certain things just right to cash in) or something else but it doesn’t eliminate the importance of the other three being present.

If you have a great idea and just don’t know what to do with it, send me an email or a Twitter and I’d be glad to talk it over with you. If I can help you in a professional sense, that’s great. If not, maybe I can help you get perspective. And don’t worry about me stealing your idea… I have enough great ones to keep me busy for a long time!

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Why I read this blog

I started reading YEB because I am young (ish?) and an entrepreneur, for the  most part. I figured, hey, this thing must be written for me.

From what I’m read, I’m guessing that the staff don’t have a long history of starting and raising successful companies. I don’t say this because the advice is bad, I say it because it had more of a “hey, let’s get together and figure this out” feeling rather than a “I’ve done this and this is what works for me” feeling. Nothing wrong with that at all, it’s a great way to build community.

After a while, I really wanted to read about people who had really made it and how it all came together for them. Coincidentally enough, YEB started interviewing experts more and posting words from famous business starters from all different industries. Perfect!

I read the blog for the interviews and the Entrepreneur University section, for the most part. They include write-ups about other things but the unique content they provide me are the sound bytes.

Thanks YEB! Keep it going!

Tools and resources for entrepreneurs and business minded individuals who are growing their business at the Young Entrepreneur’s Blog!

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Are YOU prepared? The greatest opportunities are spawned from the most formidable obstacles and deep wisdom is born from painful circumstances. Good always triumphs and there IS something good that will come from these hard economic times. Be prepared for the coming opportunities by:

• Getting out of debt.
• Setting up an emergency fund.
• Establishing a common sense budget.
• Living within below your means.
• Updating your skills and resume.
• Having a prosperous mindset at all times.
• Educating yourself on financial matters.

Be careful, stack loot, and stay financially safe. It’ll all be over soon but don’t lose more than you have to.

No related posts.

After this last 2 weeks, I totally understand what that means.

See, I had a great idea at the end of last month. It started out as a cool idea (which is far less dangerous) but after talking with someone else about it, it turned into a really good idea. Now, after several brainstorming sessions, it’s become a GREAT idea and there’s no turning back.

I wanted to write about this great idea not to actually introduce the idea (because that would be silly at this point) but to chronicle what’s going on and what I’m doing about it. I look forward to more of these great ideas in the future and I hope to learn from my mistakes as well as my good moves. Also, if you have a GREAT idea and don’t know where to start, maybe this will help.

First, find someone.

Find someone and find them quickly, especially if you have sense that your idea is a really good one. Find someone you trust and find someone that knows what they’re talking about with respect to your idea. If you have a software idea, talking to an English major might not be too helpful, especially as you’re trying to put the different pieces together.

Also, make sure this is someone you can trust. The chances that your idea would be stolen and implemented without credit to you is pretty low but the closer to zero the better.

So, step one, go talk to someone you trust, someone that knows what they’re talking about, and someone that might want to help. It might be hard to find the right person but this is a critical step. Here’s a few hints:

• How did you figure this idea out? Is there someone you work with that could help you? Be very careful about the fine line between proprietary information from the company and your own idea. The closer tied to the company you work for, the easier it might be to get sued.
• Are you in school? Professors are great resources for things like this. They like to help students (most of them) and it’s unlikely they would be motivated to steal your stuff.
• In my opinion, finding someone you trust is the most important thing. If you don’t have anyone that really knows what you’re doing, at least find someone with half-a-brain that you can trust.

Talk to this person you find, blab the whole idea, and then get their honest feedback.

Second, get it down on PAPER.

Literally on paper. Paper and pen is underrated these days (ever thought that would be said). Write furiously, draw sketches of what it looks like, take notes, just get it all down. Get the idea as it is and get the idea of what it could be. Write down everything you want it to do/be and everything it could do/be. Get everything down, the bad, the good, the ridiculous, the impossible, put it all down. Do this with the person from above if they want to be involved or by yourself if not. Keep taking notes for a few days, mull it over, let it sink in.

The other thing to say about this step is that you might find yourself with an incomplete plan and a sudden urge not to chase after this idea. You also might get so caught up in planning this thing out that you never end up doing it. Be very “present-minded” as you’re planning out your idea so you don’t miss any internal red flags and yuo’re sure you want to commit a piece of your life to this project.

There’s no substitute for a good plan that outlines everything you could expect in the beginning but don’t wear yourself out planning absolutely every single move you are going to make.

Third, get it down on computer.

Now it’s time to boil that plan down a bit. Type your notes up and start mocking things up that need pictures. Here’s a few tips:

• When you transfer into a computer, write it in the most functional way you can. If your idea is a new business, format it like a business plan. This won’t be your final copy but the closer to the final copy you can be thinking, the less work later.
• If you’re working with 2 or more people on this, use something like Zoho or Google Docs so everyone can share. There’s no reason to be emailing master documents between people and risk losing changes. Just put it on line and relieve some stress.
• Remember to always be painting a picture. If you can use Photoshop, make realistic models of the interface you want to design or the web page you want to build. Make a video, draw something on paper and scan it into your computer, take a screenshot of a similar site and change it around in a Paint program. You’re going to need to explain things to people eventually (or right away) and if you can show them a little piece of the reality you’re creating, you’ll go a long way towards selling them on the concept.

Fourth, think long and hard about the money, the time, and the marketing.

Listen, I haven’t been neck deep in business forever but if there’s one thing that I know it’s that this is where things quickly break down. If you’re taking out loans for this great idea, you better have a solid plan on how you’re going to pay them back. If you’re using your down payment money for your house, make sure you have things in place to pay yourself back.

Also, consider how much time you really have to put towards this project. If you off-the-cuff assume that you’ll do all the HTML or writing or layout work but you have a full-time job and a family, think again. Time doesn’t just come from nowhere and you may have to resort to paying people to accelerate the process. Figure in extra money for staff, for incidentals, and for yourself.

Finally, and this might be the hardest, come up with a plan for how you’re going to get the word out there. Great products, great websites, and great blogs don’t just appear and suddenly become popular. Even if you’re offering the most amazing thing in the world, you’re still going to need to get the word out there.

Come up with an idea of how many people you need to reach and then figure out how you’re going to talk to those people. You can’t just say “email marketing” if you don’t have already have a list of people that want to hear from you (unless you’re a spammer). Your marketing plan won’t go anywhere if the only thing written down is “website.” How will people find your website?

Good luck with your great ideas!

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I’m at a crossroads between several different career paths and, though I know, for the most part, what I want to do and what I don’t want to do, the state of the job market and the industries themselves have to play a part in my decision. On my own, I can only know about career opportunities by what I read in blogs and what I experience myself so, at time like these, it’s good to have someone to talk to that can put it all into perspective.

Microsoft’s perfect developer job description

I asked my friend to tell me what kind of trends he is seeing in online design/development (if any). Where does he think things are moving? More importantly, where is the money? Is it worth it to learn a language or use your people skills?

Here’s what he had to say (verbatim but broken down):

I think that the online design/development world is currently going through some major changes.  This is both product wise as well as company/business wise.  Over the past year there have been a lot of changes around Adobe, Corel, Apple and even here at MS.  Check out Expression, if you haven’t, to see some of the things that we are starting to do.  I think a large trend is moving from overall design to building experience that are truly media rich (video, interactive, etc).

I just started working with Expression Blend 2 to design a Windows user interface for a developing piece of software. This software allows you to draw things in completely scalable format and then see the XAML code that was created. I liken this to being able to draw vector graphics in Adobe Illustrator and then seeing the equations that are needed to make the artwork.

The application also lets you manage the “code behind” files (created in a language that I don’t understand like C# ["see-sharp"]) which creates an interesting “generalist” situation where I can have a hand in both the aesthetic design and the application code itself.

The implications behind this situation is that versatility is poised to become a skill in and of itself. There will always be a need for a specicalist but the Henry Ford style production line scenario, in software design at least, is going the way of the dinosaurs. If you’re taking computer science classes, it might behoove you to also pick up a few art classes or a digital design minor if it is available.

Taking this idea a step further, picking up two (or more) different disciplines at the same time means that you’re going to sacrifice something: sleep, your life, or absolute mastery of either. In order to be the best at something, it takes lots of practice which stems from complete commitment. It would be impossible (or, at least, undesirable) to put in the work to become the best, say, formula one driver AND the best short story writer; one of the two must suffer. But, if your intention was to simply blend the two as best you could and become really good in both, this is possible. You could probably become a world-ranked driver and someone who wrote great short stories (about racing, likely).

How do you build skills that are needed? Branch out.

To become a great designer and a great software developer, you would need to bring the two together. I would say that web development does this very easily. As a rule, if you’re writing usable, good-looking web pages on your own then you’re going to need a solid sense of layout and style as well as a good eye for syntax and, if you’re using Javascript or PHP, some idea of functions, variables, and good programming practices. Bringing it all together successfully means that you’ve learned all of this and practice it on a regular basis. There is just no way to be the top technology blogger with an award-winning blog that you designed and built yourself along with custom sidebar widgets implemented by you. Show me this guy or gal and I’ll show you my resignation from the field. You can, however, understand search engines, have a polished writing style, know how to construct themes, know enough PHP to not ruin anything, have a sense of design, and put it all together on-line. Understanding each of these skills and also knowing your resources well enough not to memorize everything is key.

This idea of versatility was echoed by another person at Microsoft I talked to recently. He works for the MSN team and has a background in journalism. He said (paraphrased):

There are amazing developers out there. These people can write code that works well all day long. There are also great graphic designers out there. But the person with great development skill and a strong sense of aesthetics is the one I’m hiring on the spot.

Versatility is key and there is nothing better to convey versatility than to actually SHOW versatility. Learn Blend and create something in it. Create something in Illustrator, modify it in Photoshop, then start a blog and post it on the web. It’s one thing to read the books and it’s a whole other to use the skills, hone them, practice them, and put yourself out there.

Answering my money question, the Microsoft recruiter said:

The money is in all of these areas, especially if you are using the latest products and are well versed in the product offerings that are out there.  If you already have some language knowledge, or know how to work with managed code such as Java or C#, etc. and have people skills, then you are in a good position.  If you look at the .NET Developer Platform and Visual Studio as well as other developer tools, more time is spent on creating a rich experience (application, UI or whatever) and less on overall coding.  That is why companies like MS make these tools for developers.  So, basically, if you can master the use of these and code ad hoc, then, IMO you are set up fairly well.

I’m the type of picky person who wants a career doing things I enjoy AND I want to get paid well doing it. Am I asking for too much? I don’t think so.

Should you learn a new programming language? The answer is yes.

There are hundreds of programming languages currently in use around the world so knowing one language perfectly is probably to your detriment. If, however, you understand the concepts of syntax, systems architecture, and variables very well and are able to use several different languages, you are set up well for progressing in the future. When you start a new job or gain a new client, there is a variable learning curve based on information related to that job. If, for example, you learned Adobe Flash and Actionscript perfectly, you might have a hard time picking up the Javascript that is necessary for one job. Being knowledgeable and able in several different disciplines shows that you are flexible and able to pick up new skills. It also becomes more likely that you’ll find a job that requires one of your existing skills.

The other part in that paragraph that it’s easy to breeze over is the comment about having people skills. I’ve worked in several different industries and, let me tell you, there is no substitute for a positive attitude and an open mind. In my own experience, there are more people that think that their skills excuse them from getting along with others than those who put their people skills first and their productive skills, robust as they may be, second. Especially in the sciences, being personable and likable goes a long way.

Last but not least, my recruiter friend makes a very astute observation about the tools available to people these days. While I choose to write HTML in a notepad, there are tools out there like Dreamweaver that are making it easier and easier to create great content without being a ten year veteran of a certain piece of software or coding language. This speaks directly to my mission statement, helping people do more with the technology available to them. You might want to get into design or upholstery or personal training but don’t know where to start or how to manage everything that needs to be done. Through Google, blogs, free software, and a plan, you can do a lot more with your time than you ever thought possible.

The relics of the past clinging to old processes, dusty and stagnant tradition, and archaic methods are finally beginning to see some competition from people who know how to manage their time and are smart enough and brave enough to see past the status quo and blaze a new path. The people clinging on to the “same old same old” are getting surpassed, naturally, by those who have an open mind. Maybe the old way to do things is a way that’s going to be around for a while (think about books and the Amazon Kindle) but if you’re not at least looking at other options then you’re going to be blindsided when change happens.

Just think of all the industries, products, and companies that seemed like they would be around forever – newspapers, fax machines, radio, any of the number of collapsed financial institutions. When you assume nothing is going to change and when you take it for granted that the way things are is the way  they will continue (and the way they should be without question), you put on the figurative blinders. Learning new tools, new techniques, new pieces of software, meeting new people, trying new things… these all either lead to great new innovations and change they way everything is done for the better OR they reinforce what is already in place which is just as good. Nothing has replaced HTML as a web presentation language (unless you count XHTML which I guess you could) because there isn’t anything better right now. What did affect HTML was CSS and now that’s the standard. Sadly, there are still people coding exclusively in HTML but this won’t go on forever.

So, there’s a bit of job advice from a guy in the know and a little analysis from the guy who breaks it all down. If you think you match what they’re looking for up there in Redmond, feel free to send me your resume and I’ll pass it on!

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Anyone charged with finding business for themselves dreams of the days when you’ll be able to reject more projects then you take. In the meantime, drumming up business can seem like a very daunting thing to do. There are lots of places to find ideas but what will work for you depends on what work you do, what you like doing, and what resources you have at your disposal. It can be frustrating to face an empty inbox or a clear schedule but if you’re not going to get out there and do the leg-work, no one will.

I’m new to all of this… how can this help?

I’ve worked with several people who wanted to increase the amount of paying customers they were seeing. Together, we came up with a few ideas for how this could be done. Some of these things work and some of them don’t but if you’re at a slow spot, it’s certainly not going to hurt you to market yourself a little bit.

Idea #1 – More/better search-able content.

If it’s been over 6 months, it’s time to change, update, and add to the content on your website. Even if your information is timeless, correct, full of tasty keywords, and prolific, it pays to continue to build on what you have. I can’t think of one popular site out there that has information on it that doesn’t change. What to write? You can detail the services you offer. Do you teach a class? Are you attending or speaking at an event? Do you do something that no one else does? Write about it and post it on your site. Search engines can’t do much to find your site without text and if your site is just a few sentences and your phone number, why do you have a website? Tell a story about yourself.

Contact me if you need help coming up with ideas, want a second pair of eyes, or you’re not sure how to make your content as findable as it could be.

Idea #2 – Strategic flyers

Internet marketing is one piece of the puzzle, but maybe you’re missing another big piece. Put a flyer together (or have someone like me do it for you) and put it in coffeeshops, post it on college campuses, and tack it to appropriate corkboards locally. Not everyone uses the internet to find everything they need (I know, crazy, huh?). Get yourself out there locally and don’t be afraid to talk to different people.

I can help you lay out a flyer, figure out what to say, and make sure that it’s optimized for printing. I also know some amazing print designers if you want to take it to the next level.

Idea #3 – Hit the streets

Talk about what you do to everyone you meet. Almost anyone I meet for the first time knows what I do after a minute or two of conversation. I’m not pushing it down anyone’s throat but it can be a great icebreaker, first of all, and it can always lead to paid work. Not meeting many people? That’s not true, you meet new people all the time. You talk to people at the store, on the street, to people ringing you up, to other people in line, maybe to classmates. If you’re afraid to put yourself out there then it’s going to be hard to drum up any business.

Let me help you design a business or use the internet to find groups in your area.

Remember: it’s only as hard as you make it.

This kind of leg-work can seem like the hardest thing in the world to someone who doesn’t know where to start or has no experience in it. Working for yourself, even if it’s a part-time, off-hours hobby or niche, has to involve putting yourself out there and making your services known. Answering ads and helping friends only goes so far with respect to interest generation. Once you’ve milked your network, it’s time to move beyond.

The one thing I keep in mind when I post on this blog, reach out to a potential client, or hand a business card to someone is that I’m a unique person offering a unique service. I might not be the only one doing what I’m doing but only I do it the way that I do. There are people out there who don’t know me that couldn’t find a use for what I’m doing if they tried (these are the people falling behind their peers, FYI). There are also people who aren’t a fan of my aesthetics or my color choices or my layout tendencies. These people will never call me for a job and will never use my services. There are, however, far more people that could use what I have to make their lives easier. There are small businesses out there who want to do more with the internet but just don’t know how. And there are individuals who just want what they have to work. I can help all of these people but, until I find them or until they stumble onto my site, they’re putting up with processes and equipment that does not work.

Take a chance, risk a little bit of rejection, and make yourself known. You’ll be glad that you did.

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After first seeing an interesting printing style called letterpress on an art and design blog, I got it into my head that I wanted to have a set of business cards made in that style. At the same time, I was talking to a complete stranger on a forum about his upstart letterpress printing company. They had not even gotten the press yet but were going to be up and running in no time. I knew it would take me forever to design what I want (I had zero experience with Illustrator, the program I needed to use to design it) so I took his email and got started on the design process.

Many iterations, a page orientation change, and many hours bumbling though Illustrator, I had my design (you can see the iterative process here):

All through the design process, I had Preston Grubbs, co-founder of Fresh Impressions printing, on my Google Talk application, talking me through the design, making suggestions, and teaching me about the process. He was helpful, friendly, and a complete professional. We chatted at long length about paper weight, ink color, design elements, and the process in general. I had never met him before, never talked on the phone, but I was already convinced that I would be completely satisfied by the end of the process.

The check was sent, cleared, and cashed, the paper ordered, the plate created, and pictures to ease my anxiety about the whole thing. Finally everything was complete and I had a tracking number. Here’s where Preston and his partner really started to shine.

When the cards showed up, they weren’t really what I expected. I was new to the process so I may have been confused but I wanted to talk to them about the final product. Preston told me explicitly “BE HONEST” when I told my opinion so I typed out an email detailing my issues. Here was the response:

I talked with my ‘business partner’ and we both agreed that we would be more than happy to reprint them. Unfortunately, last night we did a little more printing and we were able to fine tune the press even more. It turns out we were using our roller gauge incorrectly so we were putting down too much ink, therefore creating an inconsistent ink density as well as impression.

If you would like, I will express you some of the samples we printed last night on various stocks to show the quality we have reached now. We will not be able to reprint on 220lb because it is so much more expensive, but hopefully we will be able to do the pearl 110lb now or we also have access to some really amazing handmade paper that receives a beautiful impression. I can send all of this to you today if you would like me to and you can choose what you want your reprint printed on.

Again, I apologize for you not being happy with it and hopefully this doesn’t affect our relationship and you will accept our offer.

I was honest, he was honest and nothing beats complete honesty in a business relationship.

I kept some of the original cards on the thick stock and had a new set of cards printed on the thinner (but, in my opinion, easier to manage) paper stock. They were printed quickly and shipped out as promised. When they showed up, I was totally impressed:

In the end, I’m helping Preston get the attention of someone who might be able to help him rise to great heights in this printing endeavor… though there is no doubt in my mind that he could do it on his own. These cards are unique, tactile, and each one feels like a work of art. Preston’s passion for what he does shines through in every communication and especially in the product itself. I would never hesitate to recommend his services to anyone.

Thank you, Fresh Impressions, for your unmatched service and truly “needs-to-be-seen” product.

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My first post about HTML emails was a bit premature. This list should have come first, then that post, then this one about sending HTML via Thunderbird. I realize my mistake and I apologize. I think that’s a good firt step towards regaining your trust. I hope we can move on from this, I really do.

I also realize that I might be missing my audience by posting this potentially overly-technical information. I am, however, consciously taking the risk for a very important reason: I hope, like me, that you always want to learn more. Maybe you have no interest in putting an HTML email together from scratch, that’s just fine. This blog is about figuring things out, doing the best with what you have, and understanding the stuff that you might, in the end, contract out to another individual (hopefully me).

I bring to you the W3C (via JCH) Beginner’s Course in HTML for Emails. This list below are links to classes on the W3C site along with instructions for how to use it. Because you use a limited subset of HTML and CSS to put together emails, it’s probably a good idea to just concentrate on this subset. Go ahead, learn everything, but if the point of learning HTML is strictly for emails, you might end up confusing what is allowed with what is not.

If you already know HTML and CSS, it might be a good idea to walk through these anyways. You might regain a long-lost HTML tag or element you never thought about anymore. It’s also a good idea to get am HTML table refresher (because you don’t use them hardly at all, right?).

I’m new to all of this… how will this post help?

One of the easiest ways to keep in touch with current/potential clients is through a regular email to a subscribed list. This is probably the easiest thing you can do as a boot-strapping business owner. Bulk-email services are very affordable and putting together an email is not difficult. Likely all of the HTML services out there offer you a few (or a lot of) different stock templates to send your email out on. Simply drop in your pictures and text, upload your list of emails, and blast away… but is it that simple?

Not in the slightest. The trick to HTML emails is getting them consistent across email clients and avoiding the ol’ spam filter (which can catch you even if you have your recipients’ permission). The best way to do this is to use valid, well-formed HTML markup and CSS styling.

OK, so it’s not too likely that you’re going to write one of these from scratch. In that case, use these tutorials to understand the stock templates that your using so you can modify them to your liking. If there are a limited number of stock templates to use, it’s a good idea to know how to at least change the font, color, header, and images to personalize the email to your business. You can also make the email look like your homepage to get that visual connection. Last but not least, you’ll want to make sure that the template is up to snuff before firing off all those mails. Remember, once you send, you can’t go back.

Walk through the classes below and try out a few of the techniques in the W3C Try-It editor (found on each page). It’ll take very little time and, in the end, you’ll have a better idea of what is actually going on instead of just praying and hitting send.

W3C (via JCH) Beginner’s Course in HTML for Emails

Basic HTML training

Introduction to HTML

Elements of HTML
For HTML emails, don’t worry about the “head” or “html” elements.

Basic HTML tags
Minimal elements are used in emails; headings are not used because of inconsistent handling across email clients.

HTML attributes
This is good information but we will be using styles (CSS) more than attributes.

Links to new documents and pages

HTML tables
This section is very important for HTML emails; all layout is completed using tables.

Lists and list items
The necessary elements are ul, ol, and li

Working with images
Pay close attention to floating images and “alt” text

HTML colors
Important but there is more flexibility available (see next link)

HTML colors (advanced)

HTML reference
Not everything on this list is used for emails but it still makes for a good reference.

Basic CSS training

Introduction to CSS

CSS syntax
This section is very important; many errors that occur are syntax errors.

CSS styles how-to
The only styles that are used in emails are in-line styles

Text formatting
Most of these work but some don’t; ignore letter-spacing, text-indent, word-spacing, white-space

Working with fonts
Note that “font-size-adjust” does not work in some email clients.

Borders in CSS
This works fine; can also be done in pixels (see link below)

CSS padding
Padding can also be done in pixels (se link below)

List formatting
Some markers work, some don’t (ignore everything but list-style-type and stick to the simple ones)

Pixel values

Additional resources

MailChimp – HTML Email Guide

MailChimp – HTML Email Tips for Web Designers

Sitepoint.com – coding HTML emails

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On the WaMu homepage… that was quick. Should I stay or should I go?

No related posts.

The reason to ask yourself this question (repeatedly) is to make sure that the time you invest in learning new things goes to good use. If you like learning how to use things and do it quickly then maybe more time should be spent picking things up, playing with them, and deciding whether or not to use them. If, like most of us, you have limited time and want to simplify your daily life, it’s time to make a Technology Taming Plan.

How does one go about making one of these plans? The process goes like this: figure out what your goal is (gain more eyeballs on your website, sell more products, better connect with people), choose your methods for getting that done (re-design the site, start a blog, start networking on-line), and then pick the best tools for getting it all done. The key is to take each step by itself and not move to the next until you’ve completed the preceding one. This is the best way (that I know of) to make sure you don’t get bogged down in logins to site you don’t use, applications that take up hard drive space, and electronics that sit unused.

I’m new to all of this… how will this post help me?

We all have problems with getting done what needs to be done. Sometimes the problem is a lack of motivation but that’s not always the whole story. It’s hard to dig right in without a plan of action or a place to start. It’s hard to clean your house when everything is a mess and you’re not sure what to tackle first. The same goes for moving your business, career, or personal life forward. If you know you want to make a change but you’re not sure of the first step to make, it’s very important to be clear about what you want to do and be aware of the tools out there that can help you do this. The implements can appear to outweigh the opportunities but this is not the case. Having a plan and taking specific action will always move you in the right direction (as long as you know what that direction is).

I’ll show you how to figure out your goal, think about ways to achieve it, then find the tools to get it all done. Of course, this is just a brief overview; if you need more in-depth help, talk to me!

Step 1 – What do you want to do?

Just like any endeavor in life, having an outcome in mind is the very important first step in progression. Whether you reach that outcome or not is not important but having one in the beginning is. Having a goal to point your effort towards gives important direction to everything you do. It also serves to keep you focused on the reason WHY you’re working so damn hard. Going to college is very difficult if you’re not sure what you want to do with what you’ll have at the end. Putting 100% into your work is very difficult if you don’t care where you’re going. Having a successful business, practice, or freelance operation is impossible if you’re not clear on what you want to accomplish.

The same goes for properly using the technology around you. If you buy a Blackberry but you don’t know what you’re going to do with it or why you need it, you’ll probably just end up making calls on it. This is fine but you chose the wrong tool for the job. If all you were going to do was make calls, you probably don’t need more than about 16 buttons and a 2×2″ screen. If, on the other hand, getting email, having access to the web, and keeping a detailed calendar is essential for what you do then the investment was a good idea and so is the time you will take to learn the functionality.

But even that is jumping a bit ahead of ourselves. The first thing to do is to evaluate where you are and where you want to go. Because it’s going to be difficult for me to generalize this, let me give a few examples using clients that I have.

You’re an artist

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that being an artist these days is a lot harder than it was not too long ago. Though, ostensibly, this country is the land of the free, it’s still not all that easy to blaze your own path and do your own thing. The expectation out there is “get money” and if you’re not chasing that then what, exactly, are you doing?

The artists that I help don’t seem to be affected so much by this sociological construct but they still want more work than they are getting right now. So, we talk about expanding into new markets. The first thing that needs to get nailed down is literally what they want to accomplish in the end.

One thing everyone on the internet wants to do is to be more visible on search engines; this includes artists. Putting your art on a website is tough, partially because it’s hard to search for particular images (if they are not tagged properly) and partially because art doesn’t have to always lend itself to a long description (making it even harder to find). This, however, is a great first step. The goal is “get better search ratings in the major search engines.” Congrats, that’s a goal! You’re not seeing enough people from the internet, you’re not getting as many hits as you think you should, and you’d like to improve that.

Another thing I hear from artists is that they want to teach more people and lead more classes. More students means more tuition and more tuition means the bills are getting paid. This is another perfectly legitimate goal, “enroll more paying students in my classes.” You’re teaching 10, you have space for 15 so you want to boost enrollment by 50%. Or you teach one-on-one three times a week, you’d like to do it 5 times a week to fill up your time. Every time you talk to someone, hand out a card, send out an email, or take any step forward, think about asses in seats and you’ll stay on target.

You’re a freelance financial consultant

I know a very successful freelance financial consultant who does not have a web presence of any kind. He’s neck-deep in phones, computers, printers, spreadsheets, and digitized income statements but he doesn’t have anything out there that grabs people on the internet. There’s nothing wrong with what he’s doing because he has more business than he can handle. But let’s say he started to train people to do some of what he does. Now, he has employees who are doing the less-sensitive work and he’s freed up to work with the more important clients. Since the number of people he can hire is basically infinite, his income potential is not being realized by being strictly word-of-mouth.

So, this consultant decides he wants to “find qualified people that I can train to handle certain parts of my business.” This is an ambitious, well-directed goal that, at worst, will make you meet a few new people and really figure out if this is the direction you want to go. You’re starting out working 16 hours a day and you’d like to maintain your income but only work 10. Or, you can hardly keep up with what you’ve got and need help keeping it all straight. You want to expand but you need the right people. This is a great place to start.

"People" by PieterMusterd on Flickr

Now that you’ve found a few junior accountants to take some of the math off of your hands, you want to find businesses that need your help. You want to “discover specific potential clients who need your expertise.” You work with 100 businesses and you want 300 in your Rolodex. You helped sell 5 businesses last year, this year you want to triple that. You know exactly where you’re at now and you have a clear idea of where you want to be soon.

In addition to building your business, you’re going to need to know what other people are doing as well. You want a unique and useful offering for people to come to you and start buying what you have. You want to price competitively (or contrastingly) and make sure that you’re not missing the boat on something else. You need to “collect good competitive intelligence to shape your offerings.”

Get it?

Don’t bite off too much at this stage because you’re just going to end up frustrated. At the same time, don’t limit yourself because you’re not exactly sure how to get to where you’re going.

You need to walk a fine line between vagueness and specificity to get this step right. Be vague enough so that you’re not naming actual things you’re going to be doing (yet) but be specific enough so the goal doesn’t end up “make more money.” You want the direction in place so the next step, choosing a path, is easier.

Oh and WRITE THESE DOWN, write them all down regardless of what came out of your brainstorming. If you don’t have these on paper, you’re not going anywhere. It sounds a bit silly but this reminder will help you keep your eyes on the prize and your nose to the grindstone. It’s also very important for focusing on what you need to do.

By the way, try to keep the list short. I’d recommend two or three items but, to be honest, that’s a bit hypocritical because I have four of them:

• More online connections (Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter)
• Bump up my monthly freelance income to a certain amount
• Add more people to which I can subcontract work
• Add more/better sites to my portfolio

Remember, the more of these you have, the worse your focus will be on each one. It might be better to take one or two on at a time and, when they get to a good level, move on to the next. But, again, that’s me giving advice without taking it! :)

Step 2 – How are you going to do it?

You have the toughest step out of the way, choosing the outcome. Now let’s start thinking about how this outcome will come about. I’ll use the examples from the previous section.

“Get better search ratings in the major search engines”

Everyone wants better search ratings but how do we go about getting them? Spend 5 minutes reading on the subject and you’ll realize that getting better ratings comes down to three things:

1. Keywords (choosing them and using them)
2. Incoming links (sites that have a direct link to you…more popular sites and more reputable sites are always better)
3. Content following Seth’s 3U’s: useful, unique, and updated.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? It is simple but it isn’t easy.

So, our goal is in mind, we (hopefully) are aware what our situation is right now, what’s next? Now, we pick apart the paths we can take to determine the way forward. I’ll start with the first one, keywords. If you don’t know what I mean when I say “targeted keywords” then it’s time to spend some time on Google (or call me). What you will figure out is that you need to choose some keywords that describe your offering and always use those in your writing. There’s your first how from this goal, “choose the best keywords for what I do and use them in my content.” We’re not sure exactly how to pick them or the best way to write about them but we’ve got an action to take and we’ve got the reason why.

Let’s also say that you decide to boost your incoming links. The only real way to do this is by creating good content and then getting people to read it and link to it. You’re going to need your keyword skills from above and you’ll need Useful, Unique, and Updated content. You’re also going to need people online with websites that want to link to you. You need to “make yourself known in the online world and create something that people want and/or need.” Again, you’re not certain how but you know what and why now.

“Collect good competitive intelligence to shape your offerings”

Competitive intelligence is a funny thing. Not enough of it and you risk being in the dark, overcharging, and being generally uninformed. Too much of it and you might start cloning your competitors and end up a mushy, gray mix of all of them. You want to know what they’re doing but be careful what you wish for!

OK, so you want to know about your competitors and you promise to heed my warning. Now it’s time to think about what you want to know and how you’re going to get it. Let’s say you want to know who your direct competitors are and what kind of press they are getting. To do this, you’re going to need to understand the industry (if you don’t already) and keep a pulse on it. You want to “keep an eye on the industry at large, specifically who is playing and what they are announcing.”

Watching the industry change and progress while keeping your eye on the key players is an important for step, to be sure, but you want more than that. Maybe you’ve identified 1 or 2 or 3 specific companies, locally or otherwise, who are all competing with you for the same customer pool. It would be great to know what some of their clients (or former clients) have to say about what they offer. You want to network a bit and “find people with specific knowledge about your competitors.” You sneaky devil, you.

Get it?

We’re knocking out the critical parts of the Technology Taming plan and getting down to brass tacks with the first two. These two are conceptual and work together to make sure that when you start to look for solutions to your problems that you’re not choosing things that don’t get you to where you want to go.

What we did in Step 1 and Step 2 was take care of the “why” and the “what.” The why will keep you focused on what you’re doing, even if the road is a bit bumpy. The what keeps you on-point in finding your solution instead of trying everything out there. Maybe one of these “whats” aren’t going to get you what you want but, if you’re honest about your intentions and your objectives, the only thing left is to try out your predictions.

Step 3 – What tools are you going to use?

Now we get to the fun part!

This might be the step where you call someone like me to help you find and learn the tools you need to use to do the actions you planned out to accomplish the goals you’ve set. But, if you want to go it alone and discover the tools yourself, here are a few resources (besides plain-ole Google):

• Lifehacker.com: I was resistant to this site at first if only because they cover SO much ground and I was jealous. Eventually I realized that they were a great resource but left a lot of legwork to be done, which I like.
• Google Blog Search: This little tool is getting used more and more by me. Blogs can have great, timely, very palatable information and, more often than not, you’ll find one with the author’s opinion mixed in which can help to make decisions.
• Forums (like the Computer Community at VWVortex): Forums on the internet can be frustrating and time-sucking but, take it from me, they can be unbelievably useful. Ask the right question and you can start a firestorm but it’s the debates that can give you some of the best information. My advice is to join a general-purpose one and build your reputation there then milk it whenever possible!
• Yahoo Answers: I’ll be honest: there are some INANE conversation topics on this site (stay away from the Relationships section) but there are also some smart, talented people who patrol these boards and answer questions. Sign up and start to answer a few questions and watch your addiction grow as you get points for answering. Interesting idea for sure and a great place to learn what other people are doing.

So, let’s go through the actions that we chose for the goals we want to accomplish. Keep in mind, these are just suggestions. If you’ve tried these before or simply want more information, I invite you to research them a bit and post back here with what you find. Finding the right tool for the job is rarely as easy as it seems. Don’t stop at the first answer; keep researching until you find a few things you can work with.

“Choose the best keywords for what I do and use them in my content”

Keywords are a funny thing… so funny that I’m not going to go into really deep detail about them. The key (no pun intended), however, is choosing words that don’t have tons of competition but do have a lot of people searching for them.

The only place, in my mind, to start is the Google Keyword Tool. This handy page will help you figure out the best words to use in your articles, blog posts, and general content. Just type in a(several) word(s) or phrase(s), fill in the captcha, and, behold, your list of terms. What this tool does is collect synonyms of the word you typed and then tells you what the competition is, how often it was search for, and what the search volume looks like on average. What this tells you (succinctly) is how hard it is to rank for the keyword (competition), how many people search for that term (value), and the growth rate (value versus average). Look for low competition, high value, and growth or stability instead of decrease.

Once you pick a few of the right keywords, start including them in your content (organically) and keep track of your website analytics or incoming calls/sales to see if the change made a difference.

“Make yourself known in the online world and create something that people want and/or need“

Wow, that’s a big one isn’t it?

Plain and simple, the only way to do this properly is to start at the bottom and build your on-line reputation. This is a tough thing to do and, trust me, if you don’t enjoy it AND see a palpable benefit, you will never continue the effort needed.

Making yourself known is one half of the equation. There are seemingly infinite ways to gain some ground on this but here is what I’ve been doing:

• Started a blog. Read other blogs, commented on them, linked to my blog.
• Signed up for Facebook (I know a lot of people on there anyways). Signed up for Twitter (took a while to build any kind of following on there… try following others). Linked the two together.
• Signed up for LinkedIn. built a great profile, recommended many former co-workers. Now, their counter-recommendations act as testimonials on this site.
• Signed up and spend some time on a few different forums. I try to give at least as much as I ask for.
• Stay in touch with many people

Everything on that list is an action I would be doing anyway but, because I have a whole online persona/profile to maintain, I do it with even more gusto.

Building an online network is mostly a slow process unless you’re already established somewhere and just missed the internet boat for a while. I’ve found it very frustrating for a while but, as time goes on, it’s very enjoyable, allows me to meet a lot of new people, and expose myself to many more projects and collaborators. In the end, it’s essential.

Creating something that people want and/or need is a whole other thing. To be honest, sometimes this is like starting a business with every step forward. I’ll be honest: I certainly haven’t figured out the silver bullet here though it seems like others have. Here are my thoughts on the matter:

• Use the keyword tool above and a blog
• Use google.com/trends and google.com/news to see what’s growing out there. If you’re game, try to jump onto a pop culture or fashion trend (especially if you’re in the industry). If you’ve been gathering your network and can move fast, it shouldn’t be too hard.
• Two words: viral video (a video that garners a lot of attention quickly). Get yourself on Youtube with something off the wall.

Weak list for sure but I can’t help you TOO much…  I need to keep some stuff for myself, right?

Honestly, this is just a matter of putting yourself and your talent out there any way you can. Do what you love and do what you’re good at then do it how only you can do it and you’ll hit the moon in no time.

“Keep an eye on the industry at large, specifically who is playing and what they are announcing“

You need to sign up for Google Reader and get your RSS on, for sure. Use Google Blog Search and look for words that describe your industry, look for blogs that get at least a few comments a day, make sure you like what the author puts out, then subscribe. Now, go to Google News and search a relevant phrase. Is this information that you’d like to see on a regular basis? On the left, there is a tiny “RSS” link you can click. Do that and add this subscription to your Reader as well. Repeat until you have a few solid streams.

Find at least ten blogs to sign up for and read them in Google Reader at least a couple times a week. Feeling good? Now take it a step farther:

• Sign up at Technorati and look for blogs in your segment with good authority.
• Sign up at Digg and keep an eye on stories in an appropriate category.
• Learn how to use Yahoo Pipes (look for an intro post soon). This is advanced-level.

Get it?

It’s all about finding the right tools for the job. Search them out, try a few, and switch it up if they don’t work for you. There are millions of ways to get information, thousands of pages that can help you do what you want, and just as many applications that can help you out. Keep your eyes open and your fingers moving!

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Dripping in High Key by brtsergio on Flickr

Seth Godin that is. The lesson comes from this post and only set sunk in yesterday. Key point:

I discovered a lucky secret the hard way about thirty years ago: you can outlast the other guys if you try. If you stick at stuff that bores them, it accrues. Drip, drip, drip you win.

It still takes ten years to become a success, web or no web. The frustrating part is that you see your tactics fail right away. The good news is that over time, you get the satisfaction of watching those tactics succeed right away.

The media wants overnight successes (so they have someone to tear down). Ignore them. Ignore the early adopter critics that never have enough to play with. Ignore your investors that want proven tactics and predictable instant results. Listen instead to your real customers, to your vision and make something for the long haul. Because that’s how long it’s going to take, guys

Drip, drip, drip the work pays off and all the time you spent getting it right comes back to your two-fold. An example:

Let’s say you take on a website project for friend of a family member. Let’s say it took a while and you didn’t get paid very much because you did it out of love. You keep changing it and updating it and, after a while, it becomes your own. You’re not being paid anymore but you just want that other person to have something nice. And they appreciate it!

Now, let’s say you get busy elsewhere and you stop correcting errors, stop checking for 404 errors, stop updating the blog. A few links change and you forget to check them. In the meantime, your friend, so happy that he has someone like you to help him out, is handing out your card to everyone he knows, telling everyone how incredible you are. He says “go to my site, check it out, it’s incredible!”

One day months later you get a call from your friend and he’s all smiles. He talked to someone that wants to talk to you about a job and he has two people with your card that want to call you about the site. Suddenly, you hope they didn’t click on that one link or notice the wrong copyright date. Maybe they saw a 404 or a few typos and reconsidered. Maybe they got the impression you were a full-time webmaster and were confused why everything wasn’t in tip-top shape. Suddenly, you wished that realized that payoff can take some time.

If you put your name on it, put your best into it. The work you do know could (and should) come back to haunt you later and it’s up to you whether this phantom is benevolant or not. Deliver on time repeatedly, concentrate on quality output (be it product or service), and take care of your customers so when someone inevitably asks them “Hey, where did you get that?” the respond will be “Oh, Josh made it, he’s great, here’s his email” rather then “Ugh, don’t ask.”

In the response above, replace my name with yours. Unless of course you want me to help you make something great in which case, you’ll inevitably say that! :)

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• Show up early…. yes, you. Everyone needs to show up early. Depending on the amount of work that needs to be done, staff members should be on-site and setting things up AT LEAST an hour before people start showing up. Registration tables, video demos, installations, presentations… everything takes time to get ready. WHY: Because it looks silly to be dinking around with technology and paperwork while people are showing up. Have you ever gone to a great hotel and had the concierge tucking in her shirt, the computers getting installed, and the bellhop tying his shoes in the middle of the lobby? Look like you know what the heck you’re doing and be ON POINT well before the people show up.

• If you’re presenting, have some kind of back-up in case everything blows up. Have another story, have a riff on-deck, have a prop… have SOMETHING to keep that energy going. Presentations stop, internet access breaks, and wireless mouse batteries run out; be ready for it. Distract attention from the control panel windows that are going on and tell an embarrassing story about yourself. Don’t slam your OS or your software or your IT department or yourself – that gets awkward. Don’t walk people what you’re doing, multi-task. WHY: Though every great (and many good) speaker(s) can recover from a screeching halt, not everyone knows what to do DURING the screeching. If you’re lucky, there’s an IT person around who can fix the problem on the fly but you still need to keep that attention (if you even had it in the first place). Technical problems will always happen and usually at the worst times. No one is rolling their eyes at you as long as you don’t make it worse on yourself.

• Have excellent IT staff on hand. Actually, this rule is for everyone at all times. Find someone, hire someone, pay them well, treat them like they are all-important (because they are), let them work the way they want to, make sure they understand security and privacy, make sure they’re not painfully anti-social, and befriend them. WHY: There is no work-around for having a great IT guy/gal. Having someone who can quickly (and correctly) fix problems instills massive confidence. Most people (I’m talking 90% [conservatively]) don’t know how to fix fairly basic computer problems. Having someone to help these folks is very valuable. Having someone that can fix everything else as well is priceless. The IT Admin for the company I’m contracted with is smart, capable, cool, calm, collected, patient, and knows it all. It’s a pleasure to watch him work his magic.

• Does your audience need files? Documents? Installs? Data? Databases? Put all this stuff on a cheap USB and give it to them with instructions. Not possible? Sensitive data? Put all this stuff on several USBs and train your staff on how to implement. WHY: The more people armed and capable (actually capable) to help your audience, the quicker that problems will be solved and the better the conference will run.

• Give each of your staff members a pack of sugar-free gum. Tell the ones presenting that if they chew gum during the presentation that they will be fired. Then say, “Just kidding… but seriously.”

• Just saw this – if your projector isn’t fitting the whole screen on the big screen, adjust the resolution on the computer running the presentation. In Windows XP, right-click the desktop, select Properties, select the Settings tab, and drop the screen resolution down (try 800×600).

• Drink less sleep more, even if you’re having fun. WHY: Sounds ridiculous, I know, but just go with it.

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I’m always taking a second look at what I do and what I own (or want to own) to make sure I don’t fly off the deep end and create more work/stress for myself. Here’s what I do to keep it all together.

Taming your tech means: making it work how you want it to

The first part of this tamed tech meme is probably the most obvious. Taking control of your digital life means learning how to use what you have and using it well and fully. Buying a web-enabled phone because you want to have your email with you wherever you go and never learning how to use it or accessing your email remotely but losing the organization scheme you used before is also letting your technology tame you. Learning how to get your Gmail or Hotmail through the mail program built into your phone and managing the system when you can over the web is taming technology.

If you find a gadget, a piece of software, or a web page that can solve a nagging problem, then, naturally, you will spend the time to learn it as best you can. But so many people don’t take the extra time to learn that extra little bit and end up with more products then they need. Taming your tech means making what you buy work completely rather than throwing more money at a problem and ending up right back where you started.

How I apply this in my life/business: I do a lot of digital image manipulation and have been for quite a while (about 6 years). I pull and modify screenshots, make my personal photos look better, and make various web images. Would you believe that I just bought Photoshop? I’ve been using free programs like Paint, Paint.net, and Photofiltre. This put me at a bit of a disadvantage because, now that I actually need Photoshop, it’s hard to re-learn what I know in other systems. The upside is that I can recommend some great free programs and still got the work done.

Taming your tech means: using only what you need

This second part ties in to the first part but is more about removing than adding. Owning and using technology should do nothing but make what you’re doing perceptibly better than it was before. This could mean work, this could mean family and friends, or this could mean entertainment. If having three email accounts, two blogs, two computers, a web-enabled phone, an ipod, a digital camera, and a printer/scanner helps you do what you need to do, then it’s not a problem learning, maintaining, and replacing all of the above. If, however, having all of this only serves to distract, disturb, and annoy without improving anything, then it’s time to reconsider some or all of it.

Everyone is welcome to drown themselves in as much technology as they can wrap their paycheck around but, if your goal is productivity or a gain in personal time or effective business reach, then maybe charging and syncing everything is doing more to hold you back. Taming your technology is taking control of the gadgets you use and using only what works.

How I apply this in my life/business: My laptop is probably 7 years old, one of the PCMCIA ports doesn’t work, and is somewhat limited as to what it will run. Am I saving for a new one? Am I waiting for the right price? Is it collecting dust in the closet? None of the above. This little guy lets me write, organize files, code for the web, brainstorm, answer email, and surf the web. These are the only things I need to do while on the road these days so there is not a compelling reason to upgrade.

Taming your tech means: keeping your tech to yourself

We’ve all seen it: the cell-phone guy/gal, noise polluting an entire coffee shop; the kid with an ipod turned up so loud you can make out the lyrics; friends who talk to you while writing an email to someone else on their Blackberry. It’s so east to retreat into our own little worlds, especially when we’re fooled into thinking we’re somehow better connected because we have more channels of communication at our disposal. When we fall for this trap, though, we start to lose touch and move away from society at large. Taming your technology means being aware of the impact that your technological life has on other people. This could mean giving your phone or computer a break when you’re around others, being cognizant of the noise your device(s) are creating, or facing your gadget addiction before it saps money aware from more important things.

I’m going to take this point one step further and say that taming your technology means staying as close to sustainable as you can, even if it means making sacrifices. We all have our lives to live and our jobs to work, but if you’re leaving 2-3 computers on all night, commute in something that gets less than 20 MPG, and still replace light bulbs with incandescents, it’s time to tame your technology.

How I apply this in my life/business: I’m in the 97th percentile of energy use in my neighborhood according to the power company (LINK). I run the computer overnight sometimes but every light bulb is fluorescent, computers and electronics are on power strips that get shut off at night, and I charge things in my car (“free” electricity). When it comes to my social impact, you can find me with my phone always on vibrate, leaving the room to take a call, and my music high enough to drown out the din. I’m no Miss Manners – or Mister for that matter – but I make it a point to be aware of my surroundings enough to avoid dirty looks.

Taming your tech means: staying on top of it

Sometimes the question has to be asked: why bother? With so many work opportunities (reputation-building, networking, side projects), communication options (blogs, micro-blogs, social networks, email platforms), entertainment channels (books, social media, television, movies), productivity tools, it’s impossible to try and take it all in. It is tempting, however, to try. When we start to get mire ourselves in fabricated “have to’s” (I “have to” post on my blog, I “have to” update my profile, I “have to” sign up for that site), our priorities, work, and personal life suffer. It’s very easy to make more work for yourself by trying to be everywhere at once and keep tabs on every trend that’s remotely relevant to you. It’s also very easy to create time sinks with poor organization, poor set-up, and a lack of planning.

It’s hard for me to present a universal rule for everyone to follow but I will say this: if you’ve ever asked yourself if something should go/be replaced/be completely renovated, keep asking until it happens. If you’re not getting any benefit from it, should you keep wasting your time doing it? Also, if you can fix it or replace it for a significant benefit, what are you waiting for?

How I apply this in my life/business: I don’t spend much time on any social network and I don’t actually participate in social media beyond Digging or Stumbling the occasional site that really catches my eye (or submitting my own). I find that neither one contributes much to my life so I’m not motivated to keep them up.

A portion of my digital time is spent blogging, one of those activities that you either get and do or don’t and avoid. The few hours I spend every week staying on top of updates gives back by keeping me in touch with the industry(ies) that I’m involved in, helping my improve my writing skills, and adding a bit to my reputation by offering up a piece of myself up-front. It’s something I like to stay on top of that also serves a purpose.

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General invoice template (.XLS)

This took me about an hour to put together and I modeled it (slightly) after another template I found on-line (I didn’t like the format or the look). It’s clean, simple, and easy to use. Here are the steps on how to customize it a bit and use it for your business:

1. Open the template and fill out the company name at the top as well as the information on the bottom left. If you want to include a promotion or additional piece of information for all invoice receivers, change that text as well. If not, right-click that big, gray box and select Format Cells… > Alignment > Merge Cells. While you’re there, also go to the Border tab and select None under the style. Lastly, select No color under the Fill tab.
2. Now, save this template so you don’t have to go through all of these steps again.
3. Now you’re ready for customer information. Fill in the Date (this is the date that the invoice was created), the Customer Name, and the Customer Number (or another identifier).
4. Under the Date column, enter the date that the service/item was furnished. In the Description column, enter what was sold or the service performed. I also include the billing unit I use (such as “Consulting, hourly”) to make the invoice make a little more sense.
5. Under Amount, type in the amount of hours or widgets provided. Now, enter the price per widget/hour in the Price column (I told you this was easy) and you should see the Total column activate and show the proper total amount. You should also see the Total and Due fields at the bottom populate.
6. Keep entering in line items until you’ve got everything on there. Now just delete the cells under the Total column that weren’t used. This will not affect the total at the bottom.
7. If the customer has already paid you for all or part of the amount, enter that in along with the date and the Due cell will update.
8. Now, save it as a recognizable and scalable name (meaning that you can replicate the style over and over for the same and different customers). I use the customer’s name followed by an underscore character then the invoice number for that customer (simply “001″ or “002″ or whatever number of invoices I’ve sent) then another underscore and, finally, the date in 8-character format (mmddyy). For example, if I was invoicing myself today for the first time, the invoice file name would be “Cunningham_001_041408.”
9. After you’ve saved it, simply print it out and mail it. If you’ve going to email it to the customer, I would suggest turning it into a PDF file using something like PDF ReDirect (free).

And that’s all there is to it! Enjoy!

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