Blog
One more from the road: To Read File
We all have them: the stuff we’re not ready to chuck out yet and want to read, to give further consideration. Stick all that stuff in a ‘to read’ file. Could be a container of whatever size (I prefer a poly pocket folder about an inch wide) that you can grab when you’re heading out the door to an appointment, on a trip, whereever. Sitting on a plane right now, I can read them all then throw them away. More space on the way back. Okay, they’re gonna take my laptop away now. Love you, love your show. Jessica Find...
read moreThe glamour of travel (or not)
I have seen spectrum on which people reside where travel is concerned. At one end, you’ve got anxiety, trepidation, and nausea. At the other, giddyness, excitement, and potentially nausea. (So maybe it’s a continuum?) Anyway, I land firmly on the giddy, excitement, “oooooh let’s go!” point. I love the potential. I love sitting in the airport watching people. I love listening to the announcements, hearing who eeds to get to their gate, and watching plane arrive and take off. For the most part, all I see is...
read moreAdvertising fail?
A little inspiration and curiosity this morning as I read the paper at my local coffee joint. Background: today is Saturday. The section of the paper I’m reading: a very thin D section, exactly 6 pages long, front page contains the funnies. On page 4, opposite the movie listings, I see the ad promoting a “local small business marketing consultant” … “providing the tools to develop a marketing strategy and grow your business with confidence.” This ad placement, right next to Miss Manners, strikes me as one...
read moreAffiliate Programs: Making money when you buy stuff
Three times this week, I’ve had conversations which boil down to the naivete of business owners. The only way to bust outta that naivete is by learning. By putting yourself outside of your bubble. Of course, going outside the bubble also means we also have to “up” our critical thinking. I am continuously learning. I have my fair share of naievte. Hell, I’m going on a two day treck to a leadership conference in Vancouver BC and sitting in a room with 200 business owners who are 1-3 financial levels ahead of where I...
read moreTransition, Change and New Media
One of my daily activities (read: systems) is to learn. I spend a lot of time reading about topics revolving around education, business, and practical arts and creativity. Why those three? They interest me. A trend I’ve seen in all three is the enormous amount of change in our world occurring right now. Don’t know what instigated it, just know that change is happening an an ever faster speed. MC calls is a harmonic convergence. Sounds about right. Here are a couple of things for you to inspire and make you...
read morePushing Paper for the Sake of Pushing Paper
What seems like ages ago, I worked in an office and was asked, “Can’t you be happy just doing the filing then going home?” No. I can’t. I am a change agent. I am not a paper pusher. There is no reason to push paper for the sake of pushing paper. In fact, pushing paper back and forth is frankly a waste of time and squandering your brilliant skill sets as an entrepreneur. Yes, you may love labeling file folders but ultimately, pushing paper back and forth is not going to get you to that freedom you want from your...
read moreSmall business system to hire the RIGHT person. Four things you gotta know.
I was at a speaking gig the other day and was talking about delegation and gave the example about hiring 2, 3, 4, ahem 6, admin assistants or virtual assistants and one of the people in the room said, ”We call that Catch and Release hiring.” I laughed so much, if I was drinking milk, it woulda come out of my nose. What a perfect way to describe how we small business employers tend to hire people. If you’re like many solo-entrepreneurs or small employers, we really don’t know the best way to hire people for long...
read moreAdministration: Small business systems with tentacles
Fourth in our line-up – Administration… Think of this sphere like the octopus with tentacles: it reaches into the other three spheres (Marketing and Sales, Operations, and Customer Service) and hangs on. Administration is the “keep the lights on” sphere. It’s where hiring, bookkeeping, continuing education, quality management, A/R, A/P and business planning live. The Admin Sphere is dichotomous*. Building systems for your behind the scenes in Administration takes a fair amount of balance and all...
read moreDelegating and mucking around with it on your own (Oh, Technology…)
Most of you had two, yes TWO, emails from me today. And while hey, it’s bonus, it was not my intention. Two emails happened because I didn’t follow my own advice and mucked around with stuff instead of letting my delegatee take care of things as I had assigned them. Me and my itchy entrepreneurial fingers. By my pokin’ around in the behind the scenes system (on their turf), I inadvertently set-up a different/old/duplicate email format to go out to all my peeps. And then that just messed up the other stuff and I...
read moreSmall Business Systems: When it’s Over, Just Walk Away?
In the last couple of days, I’ve talked with three people who are just DONE. Done with struggle, done with wearing 20 hats. D.O.N.E. Each of them has decided to let their business fade into the glorious sunset. Each of them, for their own reasons, is choosing to: retire, to sell all their stuff and move to their dream location, and to obtain employment working for someone else. And that’s awesome for them. As our own “boss” we get to choose when we’re done. It’s part of the freedom we have to create...
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