Well, consider this: that’s 14 hours a week you’re devoting to educating yourself. Over a year, that’s over 700 hours spent learning something new and exposing yourself to new ideas. Compare that to the many times you’ve probably heard a colleague or classmate joke and say, “D is for Degree!” and state that as soon as they finish school, that’s the last time they’ll ever touch a book.  How do you think that person fares in the job market eight years later?

People are naturally resistant to change. It’s why Fortune 500 companies pay change management consultants $300 an hour to help them through the process. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to be open and willing to learn and try new things, and seek out new experiences. Learning beyond your degree can and should be more than just reading. So take a moment and reflect: what’s something you’ve always wanted to do or to know, and what’s stopping you?

A friend of mine has a degree in management, but whined it didn’t teach him what he needed to find a job. He reads People magazine and any gossip column he can lay his hands on, but when do you think the last time he read a book on corporate strategy or information technology was? True, sometimes the degree isn’t enough to fulfill your life’s dream: but the answer isn’t to just go out and get another degree (as some try). Instead, try and identify what’s really holding you back, and then fix it yourself. For example, another friend has his bachelor’s in English, but that hasn’t stopped him from getting marketing certifications and reading books on business management so that he can get the jobs he’s after.

Between the two, I think we all know who has the better long-term career prospects.  But it wouldn’t be the case if you didn’t look beyond their degrees.

Suddenly your urgent issue is pushed to next week, and by then the molehill has grown into a full-scale mountain. Yuck. But that’s where TimeBridge comes in. TimeBridge adds the missing automation that most major calendar services are missing. When the Email Calendar replaced the secretary, suddenly busy professionals were stuck planning their own meeting times, sending reminders, and then nagging people to attend when they run late. A tool that was meant to make them more efficient turned out to be a covert way to make people do more with less.

TimeBridge combines screen sharing, conference calling, and SMS/Email reminders to herd the cats together into the meeting. It also adds in some very cool Agenda setting features, which automate most of the tips I suggested in my post on Setting an Agenda for more effective meetings. So, how does the cost-benefit analysis work out?

Myself, I sit in approximately 10 meetings per week, with an average of five people in attendance. If each of these meetings starts 3 minutes late, that’s 30 minutes wasted per week. 30 minutes, times five people, is 2.5 hours of total time wasted every week. For just myself, 30 minutes over 48 work-weeks is 24 hours a year. But for a business with more than 15 people, TimeBridge costs $115 per user. So, which is cheaper? Even if TimeBridge can only save 12 of those hours, it’s still paid for itself five-times over. Not to mention the other costs it saves by combining screen-sharing, conference calling, and other services I would have to pay for separately.

And then there’s also the intangible mental benefit, of having the stress of picking a time taken off of me, and left up to a group vote. I can suggest up to five times that work for me, and let the rest of the attendees vote on when they want to get together. It sounds great on paper, I guess I’ll just have to look for the opportunity to try it out.

If you’ve tried it, let me know what you think. I’m definitely interested in learning more.

The company derives its name from the Great Law of the Iroquois that states, “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” Every time you use a Seventh Generation product you are making a difference by saving natural resources, reducing pollution, keeping toxic chemicals out of the environment and making the world a safer place for this and the next seven generations. – http://www.seventhgeneration.com/about

The future-focus is what caught me. A lot of organizations make very near-sighted decisions. In fact, one of the widely cited reasons for Fortune 500 companies having poor performance is that they must make short-sighted decisions due to the quarterly reporting requirements in the US. If you have to show a certain return every 4 months, it’s hard to plan ahead for the next five years, let alone 500!

We’re faced with tough decisions like this in every day life: For example, putting solar panels on a roof might not have a pay back period of less then ten years, but the long term benefits could be substantial in terms of reducing consumption of fossil fuels and increasing usage of renewable energy.  (Mind you, I’m not qualified to speak to the Total Energy In vs. Energy Out part of that decision, go find an Environmental Science guru like Madison Quinn for that.)

There are easier decisions though that we can make though, using the seven generations mindset. Like choosing whether to toss a banana peel in the trash or in a compost bin, or to purchase a six-cylinder sedan or a more fuel efficient four-cylinder. Catch someone in the act of choosing the lazier approach, and you’re liable to hear a very half-hearted excuse: “Oh, I prefer the six-cylinder for when I’m driving through states that have higher speed limits…like Texas.“

Really? And just how often have you driven through Texas at 100 MPH?

“Oh…I haven’t…yet…but I might.“

Yes, that was a real conversation I’ve had. I understand the mindset, because really it’s the one I’ve had for the majority of my life. But I’m trying to change that. Thankfully I’ve been able to find friends who’ve been helping me educate myself, and also books like The Necessary Revolution to teach me about the practical, hands-on business-side of the equation. (Note: the book itself is a bit of a paradox, given that it’s 480 pages long.)

As uninspiring as low-hanging fruit might be, I challenge you to pick one thing you can do for generations to come, and commit to it. This isn’t just some New Year’s resolution that you blow off because it’s a New Year’s resolution (such as being less redundant for the sake of being less redundant.) It doesn’t have to be a major change, but just something that you can do to make a difference. But don’t be silent, don’t keep it to yourself. I want you to measure it, and publish it. Anywhere.

Weigh the amount of stray paper you dig out of the trash during the month and put in the recycling bin; and then post it as your Facebook status. It’s simple, and it tells people you care. Remember: our values are typically the average of our friend’s values. So when the people in your zone of influence notice that you’re doing something, they might decide to care about it too. You don’t have to be a movie star like Brad Pitt, or musician like Madonna to make a lasting impact. It just takes time and transparency.

I.E. — Id Est — That is

I.E. is short for the Latin phrase id est, which means that is. When you see this you should think “specify”, because what you’re doing is specifying exactly what you’re talking about and making things clearer.

E.G. — Exempli Gratia — for the sake of an example

E.G. is short for the Latin phrase exempli gratia, which research tells me means for the sake of an example. When you see this phrase, you should think “including, but not limited to…” because it’s a limited example, and not necessarily the specific item you’re intending to mention.

About.com has some great examples of when to use which. I’ll give two examples that one might see in a managers’ report:

1. The SAP T-Code for entering a purchase order, i.e., ME21N, is very useful for anyone working in the purchasing function.
2. Any SAP T-Codes for cycle counting, e.g., MICN, should be restricted to users participating in the stock-taking process.

The first example names the specific t-code* that was being implied. The second gives an example of one such t-code of the several that are used for cycle counting in SAP ERP.

*T-Code is short for transaction code, and is a short abbreviation that can be used to navigate the system. If you’ve ever worked in SAP, chances are you’ve spent time memorizing them like letters of the alphabet.

I hope that helps!

Cost vs. Schedule vs. Scope

“Designers, you have 5 hours and $100 to make a cocktail dress that represents something avant-garde…”

In the challenge, we have the cost, the timeline, and the scope of the project. So what always happens?

Someone overspends their budget, doesn’t have enough materials to complete it, and then runs out of time and sends some poor model half-naked up onto the runway to strut a vulgar thong with a bikini top that’s only half sewn. Mind you, something like that might actually be plausible for an avant-garde cocktail dress, but that’s not my point.

My point is, you can be the best designer, programmer, or engineer in the world, but if you don’t pay attention to the triple constraint, you will end up missing the mark with disappointing results. The best way to avoid this is to consult with an experienced project manager up-front. Have them ask the questions needed to narrow down the scope of the engagement (i.e. five why’s), and work out what the nity-gritty details are (work breakdown structure) that you need to make happen in order to be successful.

You’re there to provide the technical know-how to do the job (how to paddle the boat), they’re there to bring the management discipline to keep all the rowers moving in unison.

In the meantime, I’ll brush up on my sewing, and figure out a way to covertly google “avant-garde” on my phone without the cameras catching me.

Do you go the traditional route of philanthropy? Beg the well off and very rich to give to the very poor? You can try to compete with every other social problem on people’s minds, but at the end of the day you’re still competing for part of the money they’d rather use to put food on their own table, and keep a roof over their own family’s head? With every new charity and cause, it’s increasingly hard to be successful this way. You can make an impact, but what if there was a better way?

That’s where social enterprise tries to solve the problem. So just what is a social enterprise?

“Social enterprise harnesses the power of the marketplace to solve critical social or environmental problems,” – Social Enterprise Alliance, (http://se-alliance.org/).

The idea is simple: rather than have the primary goal of a business be to “maximize shareholder value” (profit for the sake of profiting the owner), a social enterprise places a social goal over personal profit (profit for the public good).

While every definition of success is different, one can roughly define it in this instance as “providing the most customer value, for the most social benefit.”

With this in mind, we can identify three key elements that offer a better chance of succeeding:

1. Offer something people were going to buy anyway

TOMs sells shoes, something almost every American buys at one point or another (with very few exceptions). So what do you know of that people buy regularly, but can be improved on and used to fill a social need? Can you employ at-risk teens while teaching them web-design? Can you put laid off textile workers to work making clothes, while using the proceeds to clothe the homeless? The possibilities are endless when compared with the Big Box Store competition.

2. Don’t justify the buy with the social impact, focus on delivering a superior product

While they may be a little more expensive, TOMs’ established a reputation of being well made, comfortable, and stylish. Their pricing is interesting in that they also mention the One For One Movement, which leads the buyer to believe (in an off-hand way) that they are really purchasing two pairs of shoes, not one. For every pair sold, one pair is donated. So this puts the implied price of the shoes on their feet at less than the full price. Which brings us to the third element…

3. Have a clear social value to complement the customer’s value

With One For One, TOMs shows exactly what you can do with the purchase a single pair of shoes. Ethos water, sold through Starbucks, is not as clear. For a $1.95 purchase, Starbucks will donate $0.05 to the Ethos Clean Water Fund, which provides grants used to make clean water more accessible in developing countries. Many have pointed out that simply donating $100 to CharityWater is the equivalent of purchasing 2,000 bottles of Ethos. Not quite the One For One benefit of TOMs, since many of the Ethos grants impact small villages.

So, in summary: a successful social enterprise should focus itself on a product that people buy every day; that you can produce while delivering good customer value, and marketed with a clear social benefit the impact of which can be understood at a glance.

“If you buy X, we can do Y and Z.”

And it’s just that simple…or not. It’s up to you and how creative you can be.

“In English, Doc?”

“You’re using a good $5 word, but it’s slightly off from what you’re really trying to say.”

So now, thanks to her sage advice, I’m on the lookout for homophones (words spelled differently that mean different things) and semi-homophones (words that sound similar to one another, but have nothing else in common). Now, a good editor can pick up what your intention was, and help you fix the mistake, but sometimes in the heat of writing you look back and have no idea what it was you were trying to say.

I won’t really go in depth with the words I used to butcher (and really embarrass myself online), so instead, here’s some low-hanging fruit you can act on immediately.

Obtain vs. Attain

These two are a favorite of mine because they’re so similar that it’s scary (obtain is used to help define attain). The only real distinction is the level of difficulty required.  When something is difficult or took effort, you can emphasize  this with attain. When you come into possession of something, it’s obtain. When in doubt: write it the way you speak it. (If in a cover letter you write that you attained your Masters’, be sure to say ‘I attained my Masters’ in the interview.)

Irregardless vs. Regardless

Irregardless is not a word, it’s a redundant phrase. Both the prefix irr and suffix -less negate the root of the word “regard” so whenever someone says it aloud, I guarantee someone else within ear-shot is snickering behind their hands.

Affect vs. Effect

A stock price is negatively affected by bad news, but the effects of the stock price declining by 20% could be a shake-up in the company’s management. The best way to keep these two clear in your head is Input vs. Output. Affect implies an input (outside influence), effect is an output  (something created from).

Or, if you’re in marketing or  consumer behavior, you probably know of affect as being an emotional state as well. In that case, you’re on your own deciding when to use it.

Method vs. Methodology

Business Process Managers are big on methodology, it’s true. Methodology is used to describe a system of methods, where as a method is just the process or procedure used to do something. So while a firm may have a “proprietary methodology for web design,” it is also more likely to say that “the actual method used to construct a wireframe is standard User-Interface design.”

Here’s how I remember it:

When you’re actually doing something, use method. “I devised a new method for uploading current inventory data to SAP during go-live.”

When you’re describing a named practice or collection of methods, then it’s methodology. “I am familiar with ASAP Methodology.”

For even more of these, I refer you to the Common Errors in English page over at Washington State University.

How about you? Have any that trip you up on a regular basis?

That’s what the study of signalling is all about for economists and game theorists. Signalling, for those who haven’t had the chance to take Game Theory yet (which is available free of charge at the MIT OpenCourseware site) involves the interpretation and analysis of asymmetric (lopsided) information. (A related post of mine on signalling for Online Businesses can be found here.) Basically, one party knows something, the other doesn’t, and must interpret based on the signals they observe. This can be viewed in many ways. The number of years of education someone has (12 for high school graduates, 14 for associates degrees, 16 bachelors, 18 masters, 20 doctorate) can be a very powerful signal about their intelligence, their values, and what jobs they’re suited for.

So when you join a professional organization and put down your membership on your resume or CV, you’re announcing several things to a prospective employer:

• “I am interested in this industry/occupation…“
• “I value continuing education in this field…“
• “I associate with other professionals in my field…“
• “I intend to seek/have already sought certification for this profession…“

The list goes on and on. So, to look at it from the reverse, what questions should an employer have for someone who does not belong to a professional affiliation in their line of work?

• “What do you do to keep your knowledge current?”
• “How often do you interact with other engineers/managers/analysts in your field?”
• “What certifications do you have/are seeking in this area?”
  

The lack of affiliations doesn’t necessarily indicate deficiency or lack of interest, but it could. For me, $120 a year to stay in the loop on the latest happenings in the field of Project Management is worthwhile. For others, they might prefer the extra 30 lattes from Starbucks that could buy them.

Wait, you mean I could be having a whole month of lattes instead of affiliating myself with PMI? That really puts perspective on my values, when you consider what a coffee snob I am.

How about you? What choices have you made to try and show prospective employers that you care about what you do?

1. Extended Validation SSL Certificate

An EV SSL certificate encrypts information sent from the user’s browser to your server by 128-or-256 bit encryption. More importantly, in order to get one, you must confirm your identity with one of the Certification Authority (CA), which can be as extensive as having your attorney or C.P.A. provide a Verified Legal Opinion / Verified Accountant Letter on your behalf.* Basically, they’re using their trusted reputation (as an officer of the court or licensed accountant) to validate to the CA that your corporation or LLC’s information is what you claim it is.

Then, once approved you’re issued a certificate to install on your server. When information is encrypted, the browser bar will turn green, display a padlock sign, and you might even get a little logo to display somewhere on your site showing who your CA is. When you pay the thousands of dollars a year for a Verisign SSL, you probably will display it. When you pay $75-100 a year for a GoDaddy EV SSL, you might not.

2. Better Business Bureau Accredited logo

Although the BBB has been called useless by a number of people in recent years, it stems from it being misunderstood. The BBB originally was an organization designed to promote truth-in-advertising, and to act as an independent form of dispute resolution for customers. The problem is, if a business is going to cheat someone, it makes it very unlikely that they’ll voluntarily follow the BBB’s decision. As a result, customers realized just how powerless they were to prevent bad businesses.

However, when it comes to eCommerce, a BBB logo tells the consumer that your business has been around for at least one year, and that you are committed to resolving disputes. You should normally link the logo to your business’s online record at the BBB, to show your case history to provide a level of assurance that complaints aren’t being made. Worth noting: One point of past contention was that only dues-paying members of the BBB were eligible for the highest A+ rating, with the rest only being eligible for A.

3. TRUSTe Privacy seal

TRUSTe is probably something that Facebook would never be able to get with the way Mark Z is going these days. (Just kidding! They’re already a client supposedly.) It represents your business’s commitment to user privacy, and it enforces it through scanning of your site’s code, as well as third party dispute resolution for customer complaints. The TRUSTe seal can range from a low of $9.95 / month, to a high of around $1,000 a year. It depends on the amount of traffic your site gets. While TRUSTe claims that businesses are seeing fantastic ROI from their services, it’s important to realize that this trust-mark is still being established and learned about by consumers. It helps that a large number of major ecommerce sites are using it, so adopting it sooner than later will give your business an edge in the marketplace.

Like with the BBB though, be prepared to answer disputes as they arise. They might happen, although ideally they won’t if you follow the policies outlined by TRUSTe.
So, all told, if you combine the three above (EV SSL, BBB Accredited, TRUSTe Privacy seal) you have the basic combination required to have a trusted online business. It shows that three independent sources have vetted your information, that you are who you claim to be, and that you are committed to customer satisfaction when it comes to matters of privacy and advertising. If nothing else, in terms of lowering the total overall friction that occurs when a customer reaches for their wallet while sitting at the keyboard, you’ve already overcome a lot of obstacles that exist in their mind.

Install Google Toolbar for IE 8.

That’s it. You don’t even have to use IE or the toolbar, just install it. Simple, no?

Enjoy!

Side note: for those wondering “What the crap is Google Quick Search Box?!” it’s just a useful little tool that sits on your windows taskbar. You hit Ctrl+Space to bring it up, and can use it to search the web, open programs, or do any number of other useful things. It’s different from Google Desktop in that it doesn’t index or cache the files on your computer.

Motley Fool Spend-Less Kit

For those who have a hard time keeping track of their money, there’s the Motley Fool Spend-Less Kit. It’s a wrapper for your credit or debit card that acts like a check-register. Studies show that when asked to tally up your purchases on the spot, you will spend less. It makes you consciously aware of the amount of money you’re spending, and forces you to re-evaluate the utility (economist-speak for satisfaction) you get from each purchase. Plus, since it acts like a check-register, it can help you balance your checking at the end of the month and spot for fraudulent charges.

Mint.com

If you haven’t tried this awesome aggregate tool yet than you’re missing out. Mint downloads a copy of all of the transactions from the bank accounts you enter (checking, savings, investment/retirement, loans/mortgage) and gives you a dashboard for your finances. Put another way, you give it a bunch of trees, and it shows you what the forest looks like. It breaks things down into how much you spend on groceries, housing, insurance, entertainment, etc. and helps you adjust your spending by making you aware recurring trends. All for free.

Calorie Count

A terrific free tool, Calorie Count does like its name says and gives you the ability to track not only the calories in the food you eat, but the nutrients in it as well. At the end of the day, it gives you an analysis of where you were deficient so you can gage your overall health. It shows trends in key areas like carbs, protein, and fat intake. Also, it lets you track your activities, showing how many calories you burned; as well as your weight, letting you set goals and giving guidance on how to reach those goals over time safely.

Traineo

Traineo is similar to Calorie Count in that it lets you track weight, activities, and to a lesser degree your overall diet, but not at such a granular level as to grade the quality of what you ate. Traineo Plus, the paid version, gives you access to better trends, showing when you are likely to reach your goal based on your weight-loss to date, and tells you exactly how many calories over/under you are in reference to your goal. The free community also has plenty of tips and people to keep you motivated. Also, making your goals publicly known gives you that much more of an incentive to accomplish them, and for this Traineo lets you invite people to be Motivators on your account.

The Hacker’s Diet

The Hacker’s Diet isn’t really a tool, but it is definitely worth mentioning. A book written by AutoDesk founder John Walker, it presents the idea that a.) your body is a system and b.) once you know the how a system works, you can hack the system to improve it. Best of all, it’s available free online. Included in it are tips for tracking and measuring your progress, and how to interpret the analysis it presents. It’s written from the perspective of both the Engineer and the Manager, which for someone like me (a technology management major at a predominantly engineering school) it’s incredibly fascinating.

How about you? Do you have any money or fitness tracking tools you’d like to share?

“We don’t want to get so bogged down with checklists and forms and procedures that we lose our entrepreneurial spirit and perish in the fires of eternal corporate-sell-out damnation…”

To which my response is usually, “That’s nice, how does Chapter 11 sound instead?”

I understand where they’re coming from. Most entrepreneurs (or accidental entrepreneurs) are jaded against big business. They see the waste, the inefficiency, and endless layers of middle management and they flinch when someone proposes doing that to their baby.

What they missed seeing are examples of modern management done well. That’s where your forms, procedures, and checklists are built FROM your business’s best performance, in an effort to repeat it again and again. They’re not force-fit on you from some other organization unless you find that your business is doing it all wrong. And if that’s the case, well, you might be in the wrong line of business.

So what does any of that have to do with an Intranet? Everything!  What large businesses excel in, what they live for, is documentation. And documentation is the best way to determine a.) what you do well b.) what you do poorly and c.) what you can repeat.

Intranets are also nice in that they give you an environment where you can control access. While I don’t advocate putting Trade Secrets anywhere that open, you can put a number of things that you would never share with clients or vendors, but think your business as a whole would benefit from knowing.

One perfect example of this is year-to-date sales performance. While some managers like to be very hush-hush on how well the business is doing in fear that people might leave, being open allows you to connect with employees when it comes to making hard decisions like cutting costs, or needing volunteers for new sales ideas and customer proposals.

So, how to make it happen. Here’s two ways:

You can use a pre-made tool like Backpack (http://backpackit.com) from 37Signals, the makers of Basecamp and HighRise CRM. It costs anywhere from $24-a-month for 6 users up to $149-a-month for up to 500 users. (On a per-user, per-year basis, that’s $48 a year per person on the low end.)

Backpack lets you create a variety of pages for whatever you need. You can include pictures, files, ad-hoc to-do lists, and share those pages with people in your company. What’s more, it adds a central calendar to your organization, so you can see what everyone’s obligations are at a glance.

Alternatively, if you need an email service, Google Apps (http://google.com/apps) makes for a pretty good small business intranet, at right around the same price point ($50 per year, per employee). In addition to the ability to create internal pages using Google Sites, your organization gets privately branded gmail accounts @yourcompanydomain, and also access to Google Docs, all with increased storage. Google Sites has a bit more of a learning curve over Backpack, but can do essentially the same thing with a bit of manipulation.

So, here’s the business case: if you’re a company of 6 users (Owner + five employees), that’s a cost of about $300 over the course of the year just for access. It would probably also take about $3,000 worth of labor before you start to see a noticable return on the investment.  (About 20 hours of each person’s time, valued at $25 an hour.) This is what you need to begin documenting what each person does, how they do it, and why they do it the way they do.

For example: a bookkeeper might write, “I stamp each invoice with “Entered”, and hand-write on the date after I enter it into QuickBooks. If I see a one in the file and it’s not stamped, I know it’s not in the system yet. If we get a duplicate invoice, I staple it to the invoice I already entered.“

So the question is: can an Intranet save your company $3,300 worth of mistakes, office expenses, travel, or increase sales to make up the difference?

The technology is there to promote collaboration and replicate what’s been called either the university effect or synergy.  Basically, where by forcing knowledgeable people in different disciplines together (sales, marketing, operations) you arrive at results that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.

The answer is up to you and your specific needs. Some companies realistically can’t justify having one because they either have other substitutions for it (such as a weekly lunch) or just aren’t suited for it (such as an ice cream stand in a resort town).

So, here’s a question. How do you collaborate now? Does your company utilize the tool well, or poorly?

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

You don’t have to be Steve Jobs, equipped with a Reality Distortion Field to make it happen. You just have to take the time needed to practice and prepare. So, to help with that, here are three tips to help you on your way to Charisma-based leadership:

1. Talk about something you’re passionate about.

People will always notice when you’re speaking about something from the heart. I believe that there are some people in this world who can talk about postage stamp glue in a way that would keep me riveted and on the edge of my seat. I also believe that if I tried to give that same speech, I’d do such as poor job that people would reconsider buying a postage reader just to avoid the substance at all costs. So when possible, stick to things that are deeply meaningful to you.

2. Smile – you’ll put everyone at ease, including yourself.

When I first went roller skating, I noticed signs around the rink that said “Keep Smiling”. Everyone stumbles every now and then, but if you can keep smiling you’ll keep right on skating. The same is true when speaking to people. Some people describe it like going on stage–regardless of how you’re feeling, try to find a reason to smile and then start talking. People will relax and trust your words,  focusing on what you’re saying, rather than the grimace you’re sporting.

After all, who’s going to believe that the company just had its best quarter ever if you look like you just swallowed a toad?

3. Practice before you preach.

Some people psych themselves up in a mirror. Others practice, drilling their words over and over until it’s as natural as breathing. Myself, I talk to people a lot before giving an actual presentation, but I don’t share the actual presentation itself, jut the main talking points. Very ad-hoc, saying something along the lines of “This is what I was planning on talking about…” I find I get more authentic feedback on individual ideas than an entire, pre-planned speech.

Remember: Nobody is going to tell your baby is ugly to your face. It’s not in our nature to be blunt, or direct, especially if we think someone’s feelings might be hurt. So keep that in mind when receiving feedback.

Well, there you go. Three tips to help you inspire the hearts and mind of others. Hopefully you’ll use it to go out and raise $10mil to fight cancer or AIDS, rather than start a suicide cult. So here’s hoping

According to the recent CNN Money article, IBM has failed to meet analysts’ revenue targets for four out of the last eight quarters. (In the interest of full disclosure, I am an IBM shareholder, and am not advocating buying or selling the company’s stock.) So, did it work? Did the marketing campaign drive sales, or was it part of something larger?

If you view Smarter Planet as part of a long-term re-focusing of the company’s brand, it makes sense. It’s a strategy to help move IBM away from just software services, into more of the actual creative and innovating technological consulting it has the capability (but hasn’t necessarily) supplied in the past. As part of the Smarter Planet campaign, they’ve been on a recruiting binge for anyone with any real analytical know-how, and have been buying and leveraging their analytical software portfolio (which includes Cognos) to try and win large projects aimed at improving resource efficiency.

Myself, I’m coming from an ERP Systems background, where about half of the systems implemented either a.) fail to go-live, or b.) fail to obtain a positive return-on-investment. (One article I found claims that as many as 72% of ERP implementations can be considered a ‘failure’. ) The main issues plaguing ERP are the same ones that are likely to affect Smarter-Planet-type campaigns. Namely:

• Insufficient funding
• Lack of support from key stakeholders / senior management
• Insufficient training for users of the new system

Anytime you hear about a new system, followed by the phrase, “Let’s try to do this on the cheap“, you know you’re in for a long road of heartache. Is the same true for Smarter Planet projects? Are they being shortchanged by near-sighted cost-consciousness, or are the stakeholders involved looking at the long-term cost benefits that can be obtained by starting these projects now when labor and material rates are at historic lows?

Any thoughts?

Because the skill-set needed to do the work changes so rapidly, companies are much less likely to believe in the “career employee;” someone who stays on the payroll for 30 or 40 years, and then retiring on a defined-benefit pension. That would require advanced management practices which include planning for ongoing training and development for the entire workforce. A cost no employer wants to take on. And so instead, outsourcing is called upon to meet the changing needs of companies.

Thanks to outsourcing sites like ODesk, Elance, and RentACoder; a contractor can be sourced, hired, paid, all without a single face-to-face meeting. This allows small companies to draw upon a labor pool that spans the globe, something previously limited to only the largest of corporations. And, as an added benefit, they can theoretically pay Philipino labor-rates while earning New York City sales. The carry trade is huge; but it comes at a cost: money flowing out of the local economy that will not come back. Or that’s the fear. But what about the reality?

The reality is that having an inexpensive source of highly-skilled labor that a Middle-class American can afford to hire allows us to retain the role of “Innovator” while other jobs and roles and titles are sent overseas. Now, easier than ever, an ordinary person can take $10,000 and invest it directly into a company that they own 100% of, and pay to design, program, market, and sell a computer game, program, or phone app. No rent for office space, payroll taxes, equipment purchases required.

It’s a shift, but one that doesn’t have to hurt us. Not if we have the courage to change with the times, and take on the responsibility to ourselves that is being abdicated by our previous employers. We have to commit to personal development, lifelong learning, and the creation and maintenance of market-valued skills that will get and keep us employed. Or, alternatively, we can create a new idea and see it through to completion, and reap the profits. It’s up to you which you choose, but either way you can come out for the better.

Remember: it’s not a problem unless you have a solution. Otherwise it’s just a complaint. I for one am tired of just sitting around complaining. I’m ready for solutions.

Personally speaking, I think the next big breakthrough we’re looking at is web inspired by life. Monitors, sensors, and applications feeding information into databases hosted in cloud servers, with insight being delivered from algorithms that tabulate, format, and display the information to the web user.

For those who aren’t familar with the versions, here’s how you can break it down.

Web 1.0 – Static Web

This was very one-way. A webmaster would create a webpage and host it online. A web user would then go visit the page. The most interaction between these two might be a friendly email, or a signature in a guest book (does anyone remember those?)

Web 2.0 – Dynamic Web

This was the start of two-way interaction online, and technology evolved to embrace this new use. Ajax, jquery came about to make the web more user-friendly, and made pages modifiable, with individuals contributing and changing websites in real time. Social media networks evolved form this usage, with people working in conjunction with search engine robots to codify the web (semantics, tag clouds, labeling, public bookmarking and sharing).

Web 3.0 – Automated Web

Technology feeds the web, and the programs exist to quantify and display the information. Example: Twitter for plants.  The sensor reads the moisture information for the plant, and sends it to a Twitter feed via WiFi. Another example is the “smart” electrical boxes that monitor energy usage in homes. An automated process, which people view and then use to modify their own behavior. They’ll either water their garden, or turn off their lights, or turn off their A/C for a few days to save money.

So that’s my belief. I think people will be using the web to interpret the world around them, and make use of the advanced analytics tools that the web offers to change how they act to improve their lives. Companies that recognize this trend can get ahead of the curve and make a lionshare of the profits to come from it. Facebook and Google are already doing this; Facebook is automating the sharing of personal information online, and Google is partnering with energy companies to put the information online.

How about you? What’s your view of Web 3.0?

So, you’re asking “What’s the problem?” The problem is, they’re supposed to attempt delivery to the residence first. The leasing office has told the drivers countless times that many residents are home during the day, and that they’re expected to go knock on doors. They don’t. And worse, the leasing office misplaces packages for days. They found a package delivered March 16th on May 10th, and called me up angry that I hadn’t picked it up until I reminded them that I was there on March 17th looking for it–then they just wanted to get off the phone).

So, I’m waiting for my Thule roof rack system I purchased off Amazon to arrive. I’m home most of the day Saturday when it’s scheduled to be in. 2PM I hear the knock on the door, and a FedEx guy is standing there with 3 of my 4 packages. Before saying anything else he points at the door-hanger sitting there on my door and says, “That wasn’t me.“

Strange, right? The three packages he had were shipped from Pennsylvania, and the one that was missing was from Arizona. I looked at the hanger and say it said “Delivery Attempted: Business Closed. Reattempt delivery on Monday” or some logistical gobbledygook like that. Needless to say, I’m annoyed.

He can’t even get me the package, because it wasn’t riding on his truck. I’m fuming because I was home all day and would have heard someone knock. Why couldn’t they just do their damn job?! The second guy did….sortof. I’d thank him for doing so, but you shouldn’t get thanked for doing your basic job duties, you should get thanked for going above-and-beyond, which he definitely didn’t do–such as scheduling the package for IMMEDIATE redelivery.

Instead, I have to go call their 1-800 number and get them to relay the message. Did it happen? HELL NO. So not only once, but twice FedEx failed to deliver on their common carrier agreement. I paid for 2-day service (well, sort-of, I pay annually for Amazon Prime which comes with 2-day shipping) and when they can’t be bothered to KNOCK on my door, just stick a note and rush off to the leasing office it’s very annoying.

So I guess the leasing office was closed to show an apartment (aka doing THEIR job), so now I have to wait 2 extra days to get a package.  All I can say is, it better come tomorrow (Monday) or FedEx is going to be receiving phone calls every half-hour telling it to get its act together. Sigh.

That’s why I send everything priority mail or express mail. Much cheaper…even though (when I heard last) USPS outsources the big haul between major distribution centers to FedEx trucks. Anyone hear anything about that?

FedEx and the US Postal Service inked a seven-year agreement that involves the post office buying space on FedEx planes to transport its Express Mail, Priority Mail and First Class Mail and FedEx locating 10,000 overnight collection boxes at post offices nationwide.

Though FedEx and USPS execs said the current deal didn’t cover Internet or e-commerce arrangements, the agreement could provide greater efficiencies to USPS’ Internet deliveries since some e- commerce vendors like Amazon use Priority Mail a lot for lightweight shipments.

I never was able to find if they renewed that deal.

I was reading an article in BusinessWeek called “Ten Management Practices to Axe“. One of them was Social Media Thought Police. I was shocked an appalled to learn that some employers forbid employees to have LinkedIn accounts, and engage in other forms of social media. My surprise stems from the fact that I was born and raised in New York, where the law protects employees’ rights to engage in “Recreational Activities” (defined as “any lawful – leisure time activity, for which the employee receives no compensation and which is generally engaged in for recreational purposes, included but not limited to sports, games, hobbies, exercise, reading and the viewing of television, movies, and similar material.” NY Lab. Law§ 201-d(1)(2).)

So, I did a quick Google search for states that have similar protections, and was SHOCKED to find only New York, Colorado, and North Dakota have such protection. Wow. So while I definitely think that should be a Federal Law, the fact of the matter is it isn’t. It varies from state to state just how much free the employee is on his or her own time. In the article I found entitled “Responding to Criticism on the Web” at Human Resource Executive Online, they included a really good sample social media / blogging policy to set some ground rules with employees over what’s acceptable and what isn’t.

Why do this? Because when you tell them your expectations up front, you don’t look like you’re being arbitrarily vindictive later on. You already told them what you, the employer, would consider reasonable online behavior by one of your employees, and if they violate that policy they will understand the consequences. It has the benefit, aside from the transparency it provides, of helping you get your employees involved in your own brand’s social media efforts, without having to worry about the legal repercussions of potential sexual harassment or posting of confidential information in public.

One last thought: I know that in states without recreational activity protections everyone (non-union/contract) is subject to employment at will. What one should realize is that the employer is also subject to exercising common sense and good judgement when making employment decisions. If they get a reputation for firing someone just for setting up a Twitter or LinkedIn, they’re going to have a hard time retaining good talent in the future.

Plus, given the nature of social media, and how quickly information spreads, firing a well-known social media personality could have other negative impacts that go beyond the initial offense itself. Sort of damned if you discipline, damned if you don’t. Even more reason to have a good policy in place….

Both the Kobo eReader and Sony Reader Touch feature 6″ e-Ink displays. Navigation on the Kobo is done by a D-pad, where as the Sony uses an intuitive is a touch-screen.

Kobo eReader ($149):

• 1GB internal memory, expandable by SD card
• Battery worth 8,000 page-turns, 2 weeks
• USB and Bluetooth (via smartphone) connectivity
• Supports: “ePUB, PDF, and Adobe DRM”
• Quilted back for better hands-on experience

Sony Touch Reader ($199):

• 512MB internal memory, expandable by Memory Stick Pro Duo or SD card
• Battery worth 6,800 page turns, 2 weeks
• USB connectivity
• Supports: “Adobe^® PDF, Microsoft^® Word, BBeB Book^® and other text file formats, as well as EPUB/ACS4 and connection with Adobe Digital Editions. You can even play back unsecured MP3 and AAC audio files“
• Huge Plus: ability to highlight text with a stylus and jot down hand-drown notes and annotations

For a difference in $50, I think it just depends on your preferred interface. The two are very comparable, even if the Sony supports a ton more formats and has a slick touch-screen interface. Myself, I’m willing to shell out the extra cash, and grab an SD card just so I can have my hand-drown notes.

For a while now, I’ve been publishing my explicitly project-management-related material over at PMRockStar.com. So, I just did this killer post on Balsamiq Mockups that you might want to checkout. Who knows, maybe you’ll find a new way to connect with an emotionally distant boss?

Okay, that’s a push I know. Still, give it a glance, let me know what you think. A word of warning: my tone is decisively more ‘snarky’ at PM Rock Star…why? Because Rock Stars are entitled to a little bit of attitude that regular consultants don’t flaunt.

Enjoy!

P.S. There’s also a reviews of Tom’s Planner and Basecamp Viewer, so give those a peak too!

It’s a simply as Copy-Paste, but with one little twist… when you go to paste the information (such as from Sheet1 to Sheet2), select “Paste Link” instead of the normal Paste or Paste Special. Instead of pasting in the value, it pastes in the name of the cell(s) you’re copying from.

i.e. =Sheet1!A2 , =Sheet1!A3, etc.

This is especially handy when you have renamed sheets to be something more descriptive.

=’Tim”s Budget’!A2

Cheers!

Processing credit cards by cell phone is nothing new. In fact, the iPhone has made this a notoriously simple process for a while now. The interesting, new  Square Up app sets itself apart with a free card reader you plug into your phone, and ultra low rates and processing fees. While the 0.15% difference won’t make a huge difference in your bottom line ($150 for $100,000 in gross credit card sales), the real money-saver will be the $0.15 processing fee for businesses with high-volume, low-dollar sales. (Think independent cafés, tutors, hot dog /ice cream carts, or craft-fair sellers, garage salers.)

Some other novel uses? Let’s say you’re a bookkeeper whose client is notoriously late paying. Now you can settle up with them (via their corporate AmEx) on the spot every time you stop by the office. No more excuses about them leaving the checkbook locked in their secretaries drawer when she’s out sick.

How about you? Can you think of a novel way to use this? I’d love to hear it!

According to recent reports, sales of Google Android phones have finally surpassed Apple’s iPhone in terms of US market share, holding 28%; second only to RIM’s Blackberry with 36%. Apple by comparison makes up only 21% of smartphones in the US. With this in mind, why is it development for these two larger groups has been so paltry by comparison?

Up until now, it’s mostly it’s been a game of divide-and-concur. For Blackberry devices, developers have to release multiple editions (or at least create sophisticated programming) to handle the differences between trackball devices and touch-screen Storm phones. Similarly, Google Android has been released with multiple editions of the Android OS, causing developers to pick and choose which versions of software to support. The Apple iPhone, by comparison, is fairly standard, regardless of which version of the iPhone used. Developers could focus on the current version of the OS and work with standardized hardware specifications.

So why start to focus on Android now? For one thing, the timing is right. Android phone sales are at record highs, and are only going to climb higher since Apple’s iPad deal extended the AT&T exclusivity agreement. Verizon, one of the leading providers of Android phones (including Motorola Droid, Droid Eris, and HTC Incredible) has an arguably better network and short of them offering the iPhone in the near future, many users are likely to find these phones meet or exceed their needs that would make them consider switching to an iPhone. With T-Mobile and Spring also offering Android phones, the potential customer base for Android apps dwarfs that of the iPhone.

Also, up until now, developing an App is a lot like playing the lotto. Some will lose money, some will break-even, and some will bring in huge amounts of cash. But considering that the Apple App store already has over 170,000 applications, your chances of standing out are slim. The odds of standing out improve considerably when you limit the competition to 30,000 (Android) or 5,000 (Blackberry).

So, do you have an idea for a killer Android or Blackberry app? If you need help developing it, get in touch with me. I can help you estimate the cost of developing it, as well its future sales potential. Working with developers might seem a little daunting at first, but I can help you translate your requirements into programmer-speak to help get things moving. It’s what I live for.

So, what does Leslie do? Quite a lot. Her “Hire me” page lists  a number of a ways a VA can help a busy professional. The key things I noticed that distinguished her was knowledge of social media, and ability research. After all, anyone can claim a textbook knowledge of social media networks, but when someone  has almost 500 followers on Twitter there’s nothing ‘textbook’ about their knowledge: it’s completely hands-on.

So, if you feel like you’d like to get in touch, here’s her contact information.

• Twitter: LeslieAJoy
• LinkedIn: Leslie Joy
• ODesk: Lesie Joy
• Blog: SocialMediaMercenary.com
  

What have your experiences with a VA been like? Most I’ve talked to can’t remember life before using one; describing the difference as being like night-and-day. I’d love to hear your impression.

Thanks Leslie!

I think it’s nice that we can take time to celebrate the parts of Mexico’s culture that we Americans adore. Namely, sipping tequila, drinking cervesas like Corona or Dos Equis, and enjoying a nice, frosty-cold margarita.

According to Wikipedia:

is a holiday held on May 5 that commemorates the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín. It is celebrated primarily in the state of Puebla and in the United States. While Cinco de Mayo sees limited significance and celebration nationwide in Mexico, the date is observed nationwide in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day, the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico.

So there you have it. Everything you ever wanted to know about Cinco de Mayo.

Buenos Noches!

It indicated that asking for payment within 21 days yielded the fastest payment. For a young, cash-hungry business, this is very important to know. They also found that adding a late (or liquidated damage) fee of 1.5% per month increased the time to get paid, but resulted in a higher percentage of invoices paid. So, I suggest you go read the post, and see their two examples of the best terms to use, one if you need every penny you can get, and another if you just need fast payment.

When dealing with larger companies (aka anyone bigger than you are) you might have your payment terms dictated for you depending on the negotiations involved. Unfortunately, due to limitations in their software, they weren’t able to give information on whether discounts help encourage prompt faster payment (i.e. 10/2, net 30). Personally, knowing what I do about the corporate buying process, if you even hint at offering a discount most firms will only pay you the discounted amount, regardless of how long they take to pay. (Yes, many accountants have bragged about this bullying right.)

I’m curious to find out if they have any insight into dunning (payment reminder) notices. Ideally though, you won’t need many by setting the payment terms correctly up front. For example: Aflac is notorious for sending 3 payment reminders a month: “Your payment is due in 3 weeks…” “…2 weeks.” “…1 week.” I’m sure that being obnoxious might help you get paid, but it certainly erodes any trust you might have with your better customers.

Me, I’m just thanking my lucky stars that I’ve had nothing but grade A, professional clients up until now. All pay on time, some pay early, and they’re always up-front and honest throughout the process. At the end of the day, knowing highly they value integrity really means a lot.

Who am I telling, and what do you agree with? Can I track down the last email exchange we had, and piece together a meaning. Probably. But as a busy professional, I’m not going to waste my time, I’m going to waste yours. So my reply is likely to be equally ambiguous: “Please elaborate.” Pixetell helps you escape the game of communication ping-pong.

It is a screen (meaning desktop) recorder, voice recorder, and webcam integration tool rolled into one. With it, you can create the ultimate multi-media message. After all multiple medias, when used correctly, help eliminate ambiguity by displaying more information at once. The other person can see what it is you’re talking about (like a change to an excel spreadsheet or logo design), and hear your comments while you gesture with the mouse.

It’s got a sweet price point of $9 for basic functionality, or $19 for advanced (with enhanced security). The tool is so helpful that CNN Money just did a write-up of it the other day, showing how it helped a landscaping business get back on track and cut costs dramatically. It decreased the need for face-to-face meetings, and reduced errors from ambiguous communication dramatically. Plus, clients were impressed with the enhanced presentations the firm was able to put together, without having to hire a top-notch design rock star.

For myself, as someone who spends 80% of his time describing technology functionality, I can see a world of potential benefits. Hopefully you will too.

Update 5-4-2010: I received a phone call today from an unknown number (probably a call forwarded from Skype), and spoke to an individual (who’s name I didn’t catch unfortunately) who claimed to be with Ontier Inc., the parent company of Pixetell. Basically just saying that they were available to be sure I had a terrific experience with their product, and to reach out if I had any problems or questions. Wow. Needless to say, I was impressed.

That’s something very important to take into consideration when choosing tools. If a good tool comes with outstanding support, it just makes it that much better in my book.

Under the new initiative, start-ups can for the first time:

• access IBM’s software portfolio through a cloud computing environment, including IBM industry frameworks to accelerate software development;
• work side-by-side scientists and technology experts from IBM Research to develop new technologies;
• take advantage of dedicated IBM project managers to assist in product development;
• attend new IBM SmartCamp mentoring and networking workshops with VC firms, government leaders, academics, and industry experts at the global network of 40 IBM Innovation Centers to build business and go-to-market plans;
• tap a new social networking community on IBM developerWorks to connect with other entrepreneurs and more than eight million IT professionals from around the world.

Sounds decent, no? I’ve included a link to the press release in case you want to go learn more about the IBM Global Entrepreneur Initiative. Or, if you want to just go ahead and sign up, here’s a link to their main page.

Key Things To Note

The actual site differs from the press release in some minor ways. For example, the block quote above (taken directly from the press release) promises dedicated IBM Project Managers. However, under this list of benefits on the main page, they indicate you will be assigned Project Resource Managers. They might sound similar, but in my past life as an IBMer, anything with “resource” in the name managed some type of resource. (i.e. people, equipment, software, etc.)

Glancing at the FAQ, I think my suspicions on this are correct:

Your project resource manager is an expert on all the benefits of IBM Global Entrepreneur, helping you use the benefits and resources available to you that can enable your product to work with IBM products.

Your project resource manager can assist you in all phases of your project including: defining and documenting objectives, designing applications, system or platform testing, or getting ready to go-to-market. Your manager will contact you within three business days of your acceptance in IBM Global Entrepreneur.

So while they might actually help you do some of the planning, don’t kid yourself: they’re there to sell the benefits of IBM product, and get it embedded into your new company all in the name of a “Smarter Planet!“

Microsoft’s Similar Program: BizSpark

BizSpark is actually targeted toward start-up companies with less than $1milion per year in revenue that are focused on a software-plus-services model. The two programs have similar goals (training on proprietary software, server technology, and visibility to funding sources) but differ based on the nature of the start-up companies involved.

Final Thoughts

Don’t get me wrong: IBM is a terrific company to partner with, and the fact that they’re reaching out to spur innovation is great! But be prepared to have an army of Intellectual Property lawyers do battle on your behalf if the IBM technology experts do too much of the thinking. The pet name “I Blame Microsoft” comes from the fact that IBM paid Microsoft to develop their infamous operating system, but didn’t specify it was Work-for-Hire. One of the biggest blunders in the history of technological innovation, and it’s a lesson they haven’t forgotten. (Oh, except for SAP, but that’s for another day.)

I really don’t know the specifics for either PartnerWorld, or the Global Entrepreneur Initiative, but I’m sure they’ll make it clear once you’re actually accepted into the program.

Good luck!

It used to be something of a challenge to install any form of Linux on a machine correctly. There were device drivers to track down, wireless card adapters that needed to be installed just right and a number of other trifling issues that were enough to keep the mainstream, non-computer-savvy public out of the Linux pool. Even though I grew up using computers from the time I was four, it didn’t mean I had the gumption in me to try and run a Linux distro on my machine. But then came Ubuntu, and everything changed… Ubuntu has come a long way in trying to be the user-friendly version of Linux everyone cam know and love. The word ‘Ubuntu’ is a Southern African word, representing a philosophy that means “humanity toward others” and showing care to all mankind. For more on this, see the Nelson Mandela interview I’ve embedded from YouTube:

What fascinates me about Ubuntu is the shared values and the culture they have managed to create in the community. It’s probably this, in addition to the chance to have great software, that entices people to volunteer hundreds of thousands of man-hours to program, troubleshoot, and document the Ubuntu operating system. After all, there are thousands of open source projects where they could be spending their time. And I’m sure some work on more than just one system at a time.

If you currently run Windows Vista, and can’t afford the upgrade to Windows 7 Professional in the near future (either through Student pricing or otherwise), I would highly recommend trying Ubuntu. It has much better use of system resources (i.e. makes better use of the memory, processor, and GPU) than the resource-hog Vista, and will leave more processing power and memory free for applications you’re trying to run. You don’t have to get rid of your primary Windows system—it’s actually quite easy to set up your machine for dual-boot where you can choose which OS to boot up each time. Also, you can try installing Ubuntu on a Flash Drive or LiveCD first, just to get a taste. It will load using your computer’s hardware, and you may or may not be able to save changes you make depending on how you do it.

Even if you only try surfing the Internet on Ubuntu, I think you’ll be impressed. Aside from being speedy, you’ll also find it’s much more secure than windows. Why? Thousands of passionate eyes watch Ubuntu code for errors, while hundreds of sleepy, overworked engineers create Windows security patches. Enough said.

If you try it and need more help, you can call me (although I’m definitely not the best person to ask about anything beyond configuring dual-boot or basic Linux troubleshooting). Better, you can check out UbuntuLinuxHelp.com (a terrific resource) or the Ubuntu Help Wiki, which volunteers contribute to.

Last thought I’ll leave you with is the importance of supporting good causes and showing ‘Ubuntu’ to others. There are probably millions, and I know you can’t contribute to them all…but do try to pick at least one or two and do more than just go through the motions. A rule of thumb for me is to pick something that really impacts your life in some way, and go out and try to make it better. Many do this with diseases, such as cancer, that may have taken a loved one. Others might support Wikipedia, because of the importance open access to information has in freeing people from tyranny.

As for myself? I show Ubuntu by showing people Ubuntu. One more person freed from the Microsoft Monopoly the better for free market enterprise! (A value very near and dear to my heart!) 

Case in point: take the show “Bang for your buck!” on HGTV. It’s horribly misleading! For example:

Homeowner spends $100,000 on a kitchen remodel.  The value of their property before the remodel was $300,000. After, it assesses for $378,000. According to the hosts of Bang for Your Buck (BFYB), that’s a 78% Return on Investment (ROI). Right? WRONG!

A $78,000 increase in value that cost $100,000 is a 22% LOSS (or negative return on investment). If you said that to a homeowner on the show, they would burst into tears. Or think about it this way: you spend $100,000 to buy stock, and the price immediately drops to $78,000. Someone would be kicking themselves thinking they’d just made one of the worst mistakes of their life.

Compounding the issue is that most people don’t use cash for their rennovations: they finance them at 4-6% interest. So a 22% loss right out of the gate, compounded by 4-6% in interest fees per year means that the real estate would have to appreciate by 5.1-7.1% a year for 20-years to break-even. Lucky for us, that’s mostly been the case up until now.

The reason why so many people put so much of their hard-earned savings into real estate is that they can legally buy into a speculative investment on-margin (aka with borrowed funds). For stocks, that limit is somewhere around 50%. For real estate, you’ve been able to get up to 100% financing up until recently. Few people can even come up with the 20% equity needed to avoid PMI which can sometimes run as much as $100 a month!

It’s eerily similar to the 4-square model used to sell cars with negative equity. Too many salespeople count on your inability to follow-the-dollars and realize just how bad of a deal they are trying to put you into. So, first on anyone’s agenda should be a course in financial literacy. If you try that and still can’t understand the moving parts, I’d suggest getting a really good financial advisor who can help you recognize a bad deal. It could mean the difference between retiring at age 50 and age 75. Yikes!

For many digital citizens, I’m sure this is a regular problem: trying to explain an Internet-life to people who are non-native. It’s like describing an addiction to someone who’s never been addicted. They can’t understand, simply because they haven’t experienced it first-hand.

To help alleviate at least some of the criticism, I’m sharing a link to an article that describes the 8 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers. (As a disturbing side-note, one of the suggestions my spell-checker just had for my version of criticism was eroticism. That would make for a VERY different, but probably more popular, blog.)

Begin with the end in mind

The article brings me to my thought for the day, which is about beginning things with an end goal in mind. As a business student, we were told to always plan for an Exit Strategy before starting a new venture. After all, not everything is a perpetual, never-ending quest. Sometimes you find that Holy Grail and can pack-it-in and go home. In a business’ case, that could mean seeking to cash-out through a sale or IPO, close down and sell-off all assets, or continue operating indefinitely until inflation and competitors finally kill your profit margins. (This always happens without some form of  innovation.)

So, what does that mean for a blog? Really, just that before you start writing, it’s a good idea to sit down and list what the goals are. Here are several that I’ve used:

• Personal leisure – writing is therapeutic and meant to serve as a life account or journal
• Content Monetization - you plan on selling ad-space or offering paid referral links
• Lead Generation – the blog serves to drive new traffic and visitors to a main page to spur sales
• Branding / Professional Reputation - an easy method for establishing thought leadership, popular in technical communities

It might be one, or some combination of the four. If you know what you’re setting out to do, it’s a lot easier to make plans and explain to others why you’re doing it.

“Mom, I’m spending four hours a week blogging so that by the time I get ready for my next job search, I’ll have established myself as a coherent, analytical thinker who is very current with the Dog Walker industry, and dog park social norms.“

At the same time, you’ll know that to establish yourself as a thought leader for Dog Walking, you’ll need regular, consistent posts on dogs, parks, toys, and probably animal psychology. You can keep an eye out for content that serves this purpose, and be ready to pounce when you spot it.  You might also be looking for referral programs to online stores like 1800PetMeds, and sign up for them once your traffic is high enough to warrant it.

So, that’s my question for you. Why do you blog? Is it one of the reasons I listed? What about the article on the 8 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers? Do you follow any of them? I know I try to.

What Dropbox does is allows you to create a folder on your computer, called My Dropbox, that synchronizes your files across all of your computers, and also online. It’s faster and easier to use than Microsoft Groove, and gives you mobile access to your files. The free account gives you 2GB for free, but if you sign up from my handy invite link, they are supposed to give you an extra 250MB of storage room for free as well.

Pricing for additional storage starts at $9.99 /month or $99 / year for 50GB, and $19.99 / month or $199 / year for 100GB. Given how sweet the sync works, I’d say it’s definitely worth the money if you’re a heavy file sharer, or find yourself jumping between computers constantly and don’t want to rig up your own file server with SSH connection.

Think you have no use for it? Think again: Gmail limits you to 25MB per attachment. If you have anything larger than that, you have two choices: direct file transfer via Instant Messaging program (AIM), or find some other online system to host your file. Rapidshare is one potential solution, but even they limit you to 200MB per file for the free version. With Dropbox, all you have to do is create a share folder, and you can share whatever you want securely. It will sync to their computer, where they can copy it off at their leisure.

Does something like this make an IT Admin cringe a little, with the thought of company secrets walking out the door? Perhaps. I’ll be honest, I don’t know how easy it is to block, but smart companies will already prevent PC users from installing unauthorized software on secure machines. In reality, it’s not much more of a threat than say, a thumb drive…and I can’t tell you how many confidential documents are probably sitting out there on non-secure flash storage. (For more about a secure alternative, read my post on the IronKey, the world’s most secure, hacker-proof flash drive.)

Wow, this post turned out to be longer than I thought it would. Must be that McFrappé kicking in…

Update: Lifehacker just had a great article titled “The Cleverest Ways to Use Dropbox that you’re not using!” Definitely worth a read!

In the article, written by Don Martelli and found found here at Technorati, it discusses the idea that most of us tend to assume our friends all know each other. This is especially true when friends are of the same race, or background. As a result, we assume people know individuals that could really benefit from conencting.

“In order for networks to be useful, you need to accurately see how your networks are connected,” says Reagans. “People with high NFC [Need For Closure - i.e. people who strongly prefer order and predictability] tend to overuse heuristics – educated guesses based on past experience – and are therefore much less likely to benefit from networks. It could also hinder their careers. Even if they know what kinds of contacts are valuable, their inability to accurately see relationships will limit their ability to select the right contacts.”

So,  the area where most people fall down is not necessarily knowing which contacts benefit themselves the most; rather, where they can connect people within their network to create value for others. As Keith Ferrazzi emphasizes in his book, Never Eat Alone, it’s not about what you get from others, it’s what you can give them of value to develop a strong working relationship.

The old analogy was that we developed favor with a person, like a pie, and every time we used it we lost that favor until we replenished it. Keith’s analogy is that relationships are more like muscles; which when worked grow stronger over time, giving the individuals attached the ability to do great things. But only if they’re used.

My Experience with Networking

Those who knew me when I was really young (3-8 years old) knew I was a very outgoing, happy child. I’d talk to any stranger I came across which naturally worried my parents about me being kidnapped. Needless to say, that never happened. But then through middle school and high school I became shy and not very outgoing.

That changed again when I got to college. I read books like Verbal Judo and Never Eat Alone, and really gained a new perspective on how to talk to people and interact. Life is so much easier online, when you can just disconnect, log-off, or block a person who annoys you. Face-to-face, it’s never that simple, so more tactful methods are required.

After that, I was invited to join the National Society of Leadership & Success, which has a phenomenal training program that I would recommend to anyone. They did telecasts of amazing speakers, and organized us into “Success Networking Teams” of five-to-six members. Together, we set goals, and held each other accountable for reaching them. The biggest thing we learned, was how to trust others, receive advice, and hold someone else to task, which is always a lot harder than just doing a job yourself (something any people manager can attest to).

So I knew a bit about networking. It gave me a taste for leadership roles, and encouraged me to seek them out. After completing the society’s training, I joined the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization, of which Clarkson University’s had won Best Chapter nationwide the year prior. As a growing, thriving organization, it was easy to get caught up with a group of my peers trying to do amazing things in the community. (The club raises around $10,000 each October to support Breast Cancer research, and last I checked was running four different businesses to give students hands-on work experience in a very remote part of NYS where internships are hard to come by.)

My first and strongest networks at Clarkson developed because I was willing to give my time and effort to a club I had no prior affiliation with, and as a result I was able to develop a lot of useful connections that I still use to this day. The club helped connect me with job opportunities, and went far beyond the two years I spent with them. Many of its alumni worked at IBM with me, and many who were hired after me were also very involved with CEO.

Is there a point?

My point, if there is one, is that I completely agree with the muscle analogy. So, for those looking at their networks, perhaps as they’re mapped out on LinkedIn or Facebook (via Mutual Friends or whatnot), take a moment or two to think about who you would introduce, and why. Who is working on a book that might need an editor? Who is starting a business that needs a website? I recently connected my parents (who needed financial planning) with an old High School acquaintance who was a financial planner that had achieved an important Chartered Retirement Counselor certification. Just look for win/win scenarios and you’ll be surprised how many times you start to hear from the people you connect.

Give to get. You can’t go wrong.

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The first is “How to Restore Your Privacy on Facebook” and the second is “Delete Facebook apps that now have greater access to your data”. I suggest reading each and taking the recommended changes ASAP!

The last thing anyone wants is a crazy ex, prying employer, or other snooping entity to have unauthorized access to their information, so be proactive about protecting your info. You just never know what could happen. And don’t let someone tell you that “only the guilty have something to hide.” Why do you shred your credit card bills? It’s not because you’re trying to hide something out of guilt. You’re trying to protect your information from prying eyes so it can’t hurt you in the future.

These issues in mind, would you use the new Docs.com solution from Microsoft and Facebook? I’d rather use Dropbox.com or Google Docs to collaborate. At least Google promises to “not be evil”…Facebook can’t say the same.

You can feel free to go read the Reuters article I found where the Facebook founder sticks his foot in his mouth yet again. Seriously, this guy pisses me off almost as much as the people who picket soldiers’ funerals, or priests that say homosexuality causes people to molest children.

According to the article, when asked about privacy concerns Zuckerberg responded, “I think what this actually means is that people are going to be sharing less of their information when they don’t need to around the Web.“

I may be interpreting this wrong, but do you seriously expect me to research my date on Facebook so I don’t have to actually talk about what her interests are in person? Give me a break! If everyone in the world is more willing to share personal information with complete strangers instead of actually telling it to the people they know, then we’re in for serious problems as a society.

Please don’t be fooled. Facebook wants to own your information and market it for the highest dollar. That’s why they routinely block third-party programs that try to log into the system and scrub out all of your personal information for you. At one point, Facebook claimed that the content was theirs, they owned it once you submitted it. While they may have backpedaled a bit after users revolted, I wouldn’t put it past them to try to pull a fast one as quick as they can.

Paid membership to Facebook might just be the only way to keep your data private. A way of making up for lost revenue from the advertisers they could be selling your information to. As a business person I understand the need for a business to make money, but it sickens me that they aren’t being up-front and honest with people; or giving them an easy exit if they want it. Not illegal, just unethical.

True or false: when you delete your Facebook account, it’s gone?

False. It stays dormant and can be ‘reactivated’ at a later point in time. (Supposedly there is a now a feature to completely delete it, but this still will not remove any activity your account has had such as wall posts or messages.)

True or false: a divorce attorney can hire either a private investigator, or a third-party company (through app programs like Farmville) to access your profile and discover details about an affair.

True. And it can cost you big time in court, even if it only gives the appearance of impropriety.

Is it sinking in yet just how far-reaching the effects of this are? I hope so.

I was thinking about this yesterday while sitting in a Great Clips waiting to get my hair cut. They had a sign posted, “We accept all competitors discount coupons!” (It used to be “We Accept All Competitors Coupons” but they had trouble with too many Free Sports Clips redemptions. In fact, Sports Clips had been printing ‘Free haircut for new customers’ coupons at the local grocery store checkouts for a while, but has since discontinued it. Too many people cheating the system by visiting multiple locations. But that’s more poor planning on the part of the marketers.)

Chick-Fil-A (I think) accepts all competitors coupons as well. A former assistant manager for the company commented on struggling to find fair equivalents for things like a “Free Six Inch Subs” or other products that they just didn’t offer. But Chick-Fil-A is about customer service, and they’d rather make people happy and have higher LTV from their precious fast-food customers (for which this is a lot of competition). I’m not sure if this is still the case though.

So what’s the benefit? By accepting a competitor’s coupon, you are growing sales, enhancing brand loyalty, and benefiting from the advertising dollars spent by your competitors. You can set any restrictions you like to prevent abuse (i.e. “Discount coupons only”) but that depends more on your priorities as a manager. So what’s holding you back? Worried it will cut into already thin margins? Look at the broad picture: not many people come in to buy only one product. Even if you lose money on the one, discounted item, good sales and marketing techniques should ensure you at least break even by cross-selling other products.

In the case of the hair salon, if you come in to redeem a free haircut, they’d be silly not to try and sell you product for your hair. (Then again, product at a hair salon should be like fries at McDonald’s, with them asking every single time.) With the right sales practices in place, offering competitors’ coupons should be a very low-risk opportunity to grow your brand, regardless of what the competition is offering. For more information on how to tailor your own offerings for the best results, read this handy article on commonly held coupon myths.

Large client that has me doing some advanced IT project management work. Confidentiality agreements (along with general courtesy) prevents me from naming names, but it’s a very well known one. In IT, you have to be very careful not to mention what you’re working on, since doing so can give your client’s competitors an unintentional advantage and tip them off to mission-critical initiatives. (Think loose lips sink ships, which is also a line from the Fall Out Boy song. XO) I’m fine with competition, but you won’t benefit from my loose lips without paying for them. Erm, what? Oh damn, that makes it sound like I’m open to bribery or something. I’m not, but if you really want me to be nice try donating a hefty lump of cash to the Wikimedia Foundation or something. I might even consider giving you a smile for that. Just kidding! Seriously though, other than that, it’s been a wonderful time of year. A great Easter holiday spent with my family (for the first time in years it seems), and it coincides with my Dad’s birthday, so two-birds with one stone–erm, two celebrations with one visit. And the weather is decent for once! I visited New York for the 4th of July last year, spent an entire week in rainy, cold 60-degree weather. Now it’s a nice, bright, sunny 80 degrees. A few quick shout-outs to some favorite blogs of mine:

• http://mamaswinerack.wordpress.com – a nice wine connoisseur who gave a polite mention of my lucky duck wine post, pretty much confirming that I have no taste but a good grasp of marketing  ;)
• http://auditninja.com – an accounting blog which is under development, stop by from time to time and bug the author to post more about stocks, bonds, and that drummer brother of his
• http://travel-eat-run.blogspot.com – former co-worker and soul mate of mine who blogs about her three favorite things in life: travel, eating, and running. Warning: may be considered obscene by some audiences, so discretion is adviced.
• http://sxsp.blogspot.com – an amazing writer who I discovered by his Iron Gym review on Amazon.com. His sense of humor keeps me motivated and focused on my own life goals.

Oh, and for those looking for some excellent online marketing solutions, check out Pervasive Marketing (West Coast) and RevenFlo (East Coast). I know both of these companies’ owners personally, and have nothing but wonderful, glowing praise for each of them. That about wraps it up for tonight I think. Thanks for reading! Update: and thanks to Mel for catching those two typos! I really appreciate it!

http://lifehacker.com/5508283/how-to-set-up-a-mail-merge-in-gmail-for-personalized-mass-emails

Just keep in mind: send too many emails and Gmail could potentially lock your account, thinking you are a spammer. The commenter at Lifehacker wasn’t sure about this, but it’s better to  be safe than sorry.

If you have over 500 recipients, you might consider a mail list server such as MailChimp, iContact, or Constant Contact.

Enjoy!

The heart of the matter is about compromise, and how it’s best not to even consider it. If an employer or client starts out by asking you to make concessions, work long hours, take pay cuts “for the sake of our good relationship” that should be a huge red flag that they aren’t worth your time. Period. It may not even be anything that extreme, it could just be minor culture conflict, or a lack of respect for the other individuals in the organization.

Fundamentally, people are at their best when they are working for their passions. When you are passionate about a company, when their goals and values align perfectly with yours, it makes it easy to want to give them your best performance. There’s nothing to hold you back emotionally, no sense of dread or regret hanging on your conscience. It’s easy to work with a company you love and help them improve. When you’re starting out in-the-hole, in the sense that there are things already that you don’t like going into the situation, it’s impossible to get everyone on board. Your values are already in conflict, and the changes you’d love to help them work toward implementing are not likely to ever see the light of day. They simply don’t fit with the culture that’s already in place.

There are always instances of movers and shakers, individuals moving mountains and completely turning an organization on its head. All in a never resting quest to see their vision made reality—but not everyone has that kind of all-out drive or boundless energy. In fact, in most cases when this type of dramatic change occurs, it comes from organizational necessity, in that the company is experiencing some type of ‘pain’ (low productivity, inefficient systems, low morale) and change is being forced.

So, back to the sales analogy: when buying into a new relationship, avoid compromise in the form of your values, passions, and interests at all costs. A recruiter will promise you anything to get an open slot filled, even if they know there are no opportunities to advance into your desired area of expertise. (Note: Most head hunters work on commission, equivalent to 20-35% of the position’s first year total compensation.) Similarly, a client may promise to explore some of your “more creative” ideas in the future, but don’t expect it to happen on their dime anytime soon.

Instead, settle down and wait for the right opportunity to present itself. You’ll know Mr. or Ms. Right when they appear. In the best case, it should feel just like a Hollywood meet-cute, where two destined lovers cross eyes for the first time and know right in their heart that they were made for each other.

And worst case? Ask for more money. At least then you can fool yourself into believing that the grief you put up with is worthwhile.

They’ve already explained it pretty thoroughly in their “What is Glide?” page:

Glide OS 4.0 is a comprehensive Ad-Free cloud computing solution. Escape from the daily barrage of online floating, pop up, banner and streaming ads and email spam. In addition to providing you with an ad-free alternative, you get more storage, more features and more control over how you share your private information and personal files.
Glide is a free suite of rights-based productivity and collaboration applications with 30GBs of storage. Setup and administer up to six family member accounts including child accounts from your Glide settings panel. Users who want additional storage or would like to add additional users can upgrade to Glide Premium now with 250 GBs for $50.00 a year or 20 cents per GB per year. With a Glide Premium account you can setup and administer up to 25 users. The Glide OS provides automatic file and application compatibility across devices and operating systems. With Glide OS you also get the Glide Sync App which helps you to synchronize your home and work files.

Right now, it’s got barely more functionality than a Google account. Where it stands out is that a free account comes with 30GB of space, which can be used to host and share large files with friends.

If choosing between free operating systems (Glide OS and a Linux distro, like Ubuntu) then Linux is definitely going to win. I could see employers potentially adopting it for remote workers who need controlled access to systems, but even that would take radically changed controls.

For the time being, I’m going to dig in and try to learn more, and maybe make some recommendations to the group that they can use to improve. It’s worth a try, but for simplicity’s sake, I wouldn’t move any important work out of Google Docs just yet.

For those who aren’t familiar, Rick Rolling was the process of sending some a YouTube video that appeared to be interesting content, but was in fact just a video of Rick Asterly.

With that in mind, here’s Charlie the Unicorn Part 4:

So, what about the job formerly done by a webmaster? Since it’s mostly maintenance it’s easy to outsource, so long as the vendor is quick to respond to requests for support. The number one reason organizations resist giving up control is that they find response rates less than professional. Compared to having someone on staff who handles these on the fly, slower but much more cost-effective. The best solution is to work out an SLA or Service Level Agreement up front.

Service level Agreements

I’m talking about going beyond the typical Web-hosting SLA that most are familiar with. These will usually outline technical aspects of a service such as “Server Uptime” (typically at 99% or better). This same type of agreement can easily be applied to any situation with regular maintenance involved.

Example metrics include:

• Response time after initial support request (usually no more than 24 hours)
• Time to complete requested changes (usually no longer than two business days)
• Automatically completing regular updates (fixing deadlinks, correcting content, broken images) that the company gets notified by users about via the webmaster @ XYZ.com email address

With a good SLA in place, it shouldn’t take much poking or prodding on your part to get your outsourced web team to do their job.  The expectations are outlined in advance, and the penalties (usually in the form of account credits) are also spelled out without you having to rely on their good graces or business sense to correct issues when they occur.

The Upside of Outsourced Web Design

With a good SLA in place, an organization can enjoy the regular benefits of outsourcing this function to a web firm. These come from having access to individuals with ample training, advanced skills plus the experience to do the job in a way that surpasses expectations; all on a pay-per-use basis. They will typically work with a number of customers, and can leverage that experience on your own website.

Think about the following aspects:

• Knowledge of User Interface (UI) design
• Accessibility  requirements  for individuals with disabilities
• Security issues
• Privacy and legal concerns

Decisions involving any of the above benefit from seeing a range of examples that are done well elsewhere, (industry best practices), and can be repeated on your own website with a little creativity.

Squidoo really embraces charities. Here’s how:

Lensmasters build webpages called “lenses” — pages that snap their point of view on a particular topic into focus. They can earn royalties from the ads on these lenses, and if they sell things on the page, like books from Amazon, or kitchen gear on eBay. Now here’s the cool part: When they set their earnings to go to a charity we support, that charity gets the donation. For free!

Pretty great, right? It gets better! To help encourage these lensmasters to build, Squidoo openly encourages linking back to your other websites. They want to highlight the best websites in existence, along with any relevant products or services that their viewers would find useful. The company is creating a huge win-win in many areas.

The user has access to free, advertising/commission supported knowledge. The lensmaster can receive traffic to their websites or services away from Squidoo through building awareness.  And, if they so choose, their favorite charities can receive funding based on how well their lenses do.

While a single individual or business might not ever get rich from their activity on Squidoo, they can still make an incredible difference in the world through the cumulative contributions they help generate. For a client, it’s a great way to engage in Social Enterprise and Search Engine Optimization at the same time. After all, at the core of SEO, the number of high-ranking sites linking to yours matters more than anything. Inbound links are estimated to account for around 60-percent of the total ranking score that search engines assign websites.

So, why wait? Head on over and sign up. Even if it’s only to create a lense that describes your company and where it’s located.

Small companies lacking the time and money to run a full staff of customer service representatives typically find that faced with distancing themselves from the customer through telephone auto-attendants, email auto-responders, and complicated phone trees. Why? Because the alternative is having zero time in the day to actually get any work done. So where do you strike the balance?

The quant-happy managers would suggest using Pareto analysis and isolating the 20-percent of customers that account for 80-percent of sales. At that rate, it becomes much more cost-effective to assign dedicated Account Executives to enrich the relationship. The other 80-percent of customers therefore become relegated to automation-isolation, and finding themselves removed from your presence can be easily drawn away into the loving arms of a competitor. Worse yet, what if your client base is so diverse, and individual transactions so small, that the distribution is too even for even the Great Pareto to work his magic?  As my vegan-chef-and-novelist friend Theresa H. would say, “The plot thickens!”

I reference her because she once ran a terrific independent café in Upstate, NY. When discussing her selection of coffee suppliers it seemed she settled on a smaller, local coffee roaster because of their (surprise surprise) outstanding dedication to customer service. Even if it meant making a special trip out to her location to deliver something she needed.

Another acquaintance of mine who is a general contractor working in residential construction swears by Curtis Lumber (an independently owned, local competitor to  Home Depot and Lowes) for the very same reason. On one delivery, he noticed he was short by a box of nails. He called up the store, and Curtis sent out a truck to drive 50 miles to where he was, just to drop off the missing box. Profitable to sell a single box of nails? Absolutely not. That was almost 20 years ago, and he’s been a customer for life.

So, while some automation is helpful be sure to keep a watchful eye on the low hanging fruit; the moments of excellence when you can really distinguish yourself from your competitors. They do occur. Not only that, train everyone in your company to look for them, and then empower them to act. You can set a dollar amount cap if you need to. Remember: when a business thinks long-term, they are around long-term. Those that don’t can burn bright and go out while you continue to shine.

While it’s easier for some to resist the location sensation than others, some of these web apps have an almost Pokémon like addictive quality to them. Earning badges, leveling up, becoming the virtual ‘mayor’ of a popular drinking establishment. All are possible thanks to Internet deciding to come along with us wherever we have cell service.

Google Latitude

The simplest of the three to comprehend, Google Latitude lets you share with your friend exactly where you are at any moment of the day. The program uses your cell phone’s GPS (required by most carriers for enhanced 911 service) to relay your location online.

Definitely not for those of us who are less than faithful, or employee skipping work to go to a ball game. (It comes with a full list of privacy settings, but unless you take the time to configure them you might just start referring to your phone as ‘the little snitch!‘) Unlike the other two, Latitude doesn’t require you to periodically ‘check in’ to tell people where you are. Automation in this case can be both a blessing and a curse.

Foursquare

Foursquare is about four things: checking in, sharing your experience, earning points/badges, and getting crowned mayor. Scrolling through a list of locations near you (based on what other users have added), you check in whenever you’re out someplace. Restaurants, bars, hotels, gyms. You name it. You can leave tips for other users, or add new locations that don’t exist yet. Based on the different requirements you meet, you’ll unlock different badges to display on your profile. Neat!

Foursquare also shares your location with people you’ve connected with as friends, so if you’ll always know where the gangs at as long as everyone checks in. Need an added bonus? Thanks to Foursquare’s travel and tourist popularity, Mayors are finding themselves being offered freebies at their venue of choice. Hows that for rewarding customer loyalty?

Gowalla

Like Foursquare, you have to physically check in with Gowalla. However, users report that it’s easier to find oneself in off-the-beaten-path locations that don’t have street addresses to describe the location. Gowalla also offers more easily customized icons for locations, and instead of a earn-points-and-badges system, you have an online passport with stamps showing the locations you’ve been. (Note: if you have a Blackberry, just go to their mobile site on your phone, since there’s no dedicated App for that platform. Sort of a plus given how limited the memory on these devices are.)

Business Use

Businesses trying to coax people through the door should definitely jump on these tools while they’re hot. Typically, early adopters will see the most return, and although Foursquare and Gowalla are heavily used in major metropolitan areas they have yet to really establish strong footholds in less densely populated and trafficked areas.

Location Based Advertising

I don’t think it’ll take long before you check in on one of these platforms and you see a digital coupon or special offer pop up on your phone. It’d be a great revenue source for these companies, and an even better deal for the people using it.

I did a quick google search on the term “white paper” and found a blog that had written on the subject back in ’08. When I saw the blog just referenced an article on Wikipedia, I decided to do like any good researcher and focus on the primary source, not secondary (or in this case tertiary) providers. So, what did Wikipedia say?

The Word of Wiki

For Americans, the only thing you care about is the section entitled Commercial White Papers:

Since the early 1990s, the term “white paper” has also come to refer to documents used by businesses as marketing or sales tools. White papers of this sort argue that the benefits of a particular technology or product are superior for solving a specific problem.

These types of white papers are almost always marketing communications documents designed to promote a specific company’s solutions or products. As a marketing tool, these papers will highlight information favorable to the company authorizing or sponsoring the paper. Such white papers are often used to generate sales leads, establish thought leadership, make a business case, or to educate customers.

There are three main types of commercial white papers:

• Business-benefits: Makes a business case for a certain technology or methodology
• Technical: Describes how a certain technology works
• Hybrid: Combines high-level business benefits with technical details in a single document

So, a white paper does two things: highlight a business benefit, or show how a technology works. At the best of times, it does both, and a product or service is sold. (Huzzah!)

If you want a real primary source on the modern-day white paper, I recommend seeking out Wiki’s primary source of information, Crafting White Paper 2.0: Designing Information for Today’s Time and Attention-Challenged Business Reader. Normally I’d be suspect of a vanity-press published book, but if you’re a professional who writes persuasive marketing material for a living chances are you don’t need vetting by one, you are the expert.

Starting Out

So, in short, here’s the basic steps to creating a killer whitepaper:

1. Identify your target audience (marketing personas are great for this)
2. Research ‘pain points’ or common issues that this audience experiences
3. Identify key features of your product/service/technology that addresses those features
4. Keep any puffery of flowery language to an absolute minimum! As they say in Dragnet, “Just the facts, please!“

In essence, the white paper is the inverse of a case study. In a case study, you highlight a situation a past client had and how you addressed it with your products and or services. With a white paper, you highlight a particular product and demonstrate what issues it can fix. If you’re not the technical person in your organization, sit down with the person who is! Engineers and other technical buyers are very ‘fact or crap‘ and will know if you’re not accurate.

Length and Format

Length should be no more than 15 -20 pages max. If you’re at 30 pages and well on the way to the next great American novel, give up now! (It’s not a white paper, it’s a sleep aid.) IBM offered ‘redbooks” for these lengthy, in-depth reviews of technologies. Unless that’s what you’re going for, remember brevity is your friend. If I can deliver twice the knowledge in half the length, my chances of someone passing it on to a friend or colleague as a “quick, helpful read” go up dramatically!

And format? Clear, well-laid out, and consistent. Consider hiring a freelance copy editor to convert your manuscripts for you. At the very least, look at dozens of different companies and copy their style. A note on hiring a freelancer: Chances are, they already have outstanding tools (like Adobe InDesign) to do this quickly and more efficienty than you could dream. (Sorry MS Word!)  They can help you critique the content, draw out key facts and figures so they’re easy to see at a glance, and really help turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. If you need a really good one, contact Melissa Johnson.

Lead Generation and Sales

Modern marketers advocate requiring nothing more than entering an email address into a form before downloading. Other companies want name, company, title, number of employees, type of industry, etc. right down to what blood time the reader has. People are nervous giving out this information to just anyone.

You need to make the distinction based on what your organization can do in terms of lead nurturing. If you plan to hand over leads directly to sales, you want them ‘well qualified’ and will probably require all of the above. If you plan on developing a lead over time through repeated contact and relationship building, then go with the first.

Hybrid method? A two-page form. First page you collect their name and email, and then after displaying a link to download their copy, ask for additional information and let them choose whether to provide it. A little more complex, but it’s a meet-in-the-middle type approach.

Begin with the End in Mind

Remember, this is to generate sales. Fundamentally, every business exists to make sales. Those that don’t wither and those that do flourish. You can’t just write a white paper, put it out there, and sit back and wait for the sales to come. Follow up! Even if it’s just an email sent the next day asking them what they thought. It’s better to do something to re-engage that potential client than to let them learn and run into a competitor that same day.

I say this because it’s also common practice to take white papers and show them to clients as an “independent, third party overview” about a technology to close a sale. “See, it’s not just us saying it, they say it too.“

Ridiculous.

Happy writing!

As unsightly and silly as it is, Technorati verifies not through invisible meta data, but instead by having you include a code within a blog post. Case in point:

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I didn’t expect this post to survive this long, but I just got an email reading:

This is an automatically-generated email.

Thank you for submitting your blog claim on Technorati. Unfortunately, we encountered a problem reading your blog. Our engineers are investigating and we will update your claim status as soon as we are able.

So, hopefully it’ll be resolved quickly.

Alright, just kidding!

Seriously though, if you want to sign up, just pop on over to the Case Studies page found above, and I’ll be more than happy to let you know when the first white papers and eBooks come out. Really, I had signed up for a free MailChimp account a while back, and this was just the perfect excuse to try it out. So, a lot of you are probably wondering, “What the heck is a mail chimp?!“

If you’ve heard of iContact or Constant-Contact, mail chimp is essentially the same thing, but with a very Web 2.0 user-interface and better pricing for users who have smaller subscriber lists. (I could be wrong on that though, so feel free to call me out on it if I am.)

If you don’t already have a simple email subscribe form on your website, chances are you’re missing out. The question is, by how much. As Malcolm Gladwell pointed out in his breakthrough novel The Tipping Point, most people are quickly becoming immune to this modern form of direct-marketing. With spam filters, message rules, and custom-sorting inboxes, its easy for a reader to completely ignore your email unless it really stands out. That’s where Inbound Marketing shines through!

When someone subscribes to receive your content, they’re effectively saying they want to see you. The trick from that point is to make sure that they remember who you are, and that you don’t get buried miles deep in their inbox. This calls for creative subject lines and good timing of scheduled deliveries.

Unfortunately, timing depends on your user. Are they night owls? Are they professionals who check their email at work, first-thing Monday morning to avoid having to do anything? Only you can answer these questions, and usually only through experimentation. (i.e. Segment a list, try different times and subjects on different segments, and see what happens.)

So, for now my updates delivered at the Speed of Ape. What’s your preference for email marketing services? Should I switch, or see what Mailchimp can do?

Following that logic, phrases such as “As per your request, I submit to you the following:” quickly becomes “Here you go:” Short, sweet, and to the point. I love it already! Especially when it comes to online writing, it hurts reading comprehension when you’re too wordy. Or formal. You want to write for the widest possible audience and leave a lot of white-space for their eyes to jump around on the screen. (Computer reading causes fatigue incredibly faster than paper.)

Hop on over to MIT OpenCourseWare and check out Management Communication for Undergraduates. It’s great! These tips come from lecture notes titled “Style in Management Communication“:

• Eliminate nominalizations (turning verbs into nouns, i.e. turning ‘reviewed’ into ‘a review’)
• Stacked nouns – using two or more nouns in a row unnecessarily (i.e. assessment review)
• Redundancies - these can happen many ways, my favorite example given is “terrible tragedy”
• Avoid negatives – such as writing “Don’t do X” instead of “Always do Y”

Here’s my little example that I came up with.

Style is something that is personally identifiable and should never be used in a way that confuses and obfuscates meaning.

Compare that to:

Style is something personal that identifies the author’s writing. One should always be clear and open in professional writing.

Not great, but I’m no Charles Dickens. Still, that’s what I’m using to improve my writing over time. It’s okay though. Professional writing has its own unique characteristics and flaws, just like keys on a typewriter. If everyone sounded the same in their writing, it’d be incredibly boring to read.

So, how about you: Do you have any great tips for stellar writing? I’d love to hear them. Or hey, forget tips, how about some crazy mistake you made that embarrassed you or your company? (I once over-relied on Find & Replace to change client names in a template. Then I neglected to read the result. Big no-no! One typo and you’re in for an epic fail!)

Cheers!

Ah well! It happens, but you get on with life. And no, that thumb image isn’t something I actually took today, I was no where near Hearst tower. It’s just a friendly stock photo from stock.xchng to help set the mood. I know I sometimes sound like I’m against using stock images altogether. I’m not. Just when it comes to displaying people on your website. Or, as I like to call it, “Dayum! Who the hell is she and what department can I find her in?!“

As David Meerman Scott likes to say, [paraphrasing here] we don’t always exist in a perfect world of happy, multi-cultural, cross-generational teams. If you do, that’s great, but it’s still better to show your real employees. Otherwise it’s just ‘visual gobbledygook’ so to speak. It’s meaningless to the viewer because it conveys no real information about your company or who you are.

I’m told in California you drive to the weather when you want it to change. It’s an interesting thought. Almost like a world where you can go backward and forward in time just by traversing a distance: in-comprehensible until you experience it for yourself.

Alright, enough rambling, back to whatever it is I’m supposed to be doing at 6 o’clock in the afternoon. Probably cleaning.

Oh Roomba! Ready for num-nums?!

Not that all Lucky Duck wines are from Argentina. They have an Australian Shiraz, and a large collection of other wines from around the world. It surprised me when I hopped on the web to search for the company that bottled/imported it, I couldn’t find a website dedicated to the brand. Just a bunch of reviews from different bloggers from January through present. Hmm. Odd.

The copy on the back reads:

Lucky you! We searched the globe to create a collection of authentic, great tasting international wines, with layers of flavor.

Deep aromas of blueberries and chocolate. Enjoy Lucky Duck alone or paired with grilled meats, vegetables, or sharp cheeses.”

Imported & Bottled by Lucky Duck Winery Ripon, CA.

This is a company that could really benefit from having a social media presence. They’re an inexpensive wine being sold during a prolonged period of unemployment and economic downturn. A witty brand that wants to bring a variety of wines from around the world into one of America’s most prominent discount retailers definitely has an awesome story to tell. I just wish they were telling it.

Know any other great or off-beat brands that are under-utilizing their following? I’d love to hear about them!

Update: 3-31-2010
I would have never guessed this would be the most visited post on this website. Maybe I should have. It just really justifies my point that this company needs a website ASAP because they’re missing out on a great opportunity to impress their customers. They obviously want to know more!

If you stopped here by mistake, feel free to leave a comment. It’s neat when people gather in random places online because of a exciting new product their enjoy.

The box they package the headset in is the same one it ships in - a great way to save on waste!

That’s right! I wish I had thought to take more pictures of it while I was unwrapping, but I didn’t even think about it until after I had discarded most of the packaging. Very limited amount of plastic, minimal use of ink on the cardboard, it’s an environmentalists dream when it comes to recycling. The only plastic in the entire packaging was the shipping label.

For those interested in a USB compatible headset for talking and chatting with people online, I’d say this is a terrific device. The call quality is great, and my voice has never been clearer when talking to people. I find it to be very comfortable and easy to wear for extended periods of time (I talked to an old college friend for just shy of 3 hours today on it) and the clarity was amazing.

So, now I understand why they offer free shipping on a product under $25. I can’t imagine it costs them more than $2 to ship anywhere in the continental US. If you’re interested in buying one, I’ve included a link so you can go and check it out. What sets this apart from buying from Amazon is that there’s only half the packaging–no repacking packages into larger boxers to ship out.

If you can’t return an item bought online to a retail store, then why bother with retail-friendly packaging? It just doesn’t make sense to make it pretty when the entire experience with the product prior to sale happens online. I can only hope Amazon and other major online retailers and manufacturers start following suit.

His name’s Alex Polimeni, or @auditninja on Twitter. You’ll see from his blog, auditninja.com that after he finished his Bachelor of Science in Financial Information & Analysis at Clarkson, he went on to grad school at Bentley University. While there, he got his Master of Science in Accountancy which is ranked #30 nation-wide and #3 in New England by US News & World Reports; as well as a Graduate Certificate in Taxation. To date, he’s passed 2 out of the 4 parts of the Massachusetts CPA exam and is waiting on the results from test #3.

Right now he’s considering any accounting related projects just to keep him busy until he finishes his CPA. So, if you’ve hired freelancers on ODesk before, stop on by and take a glance at his profile. You’ll notice he’s taken a few of the tests they have for ranking contractors, and scored very well:

Top 10% for Accounting Principles, and Top 10% for US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

So what’s with the “Audit Ninja” handle? Ask him! While most people think of audit as the scary, negative thing the IRS does to negligent taxpayers, it actually is a really helpful tool for businesses in the hands of anyone else. Auditing, in its most basic form, is  a process for evaluating something for effectiveness and correctness, with recommendations for improvement as the primary output. It’s not about scaring people, it’s about making things better.

The ninja bit? I’ll leave that one up to him to answer.

Like the song “Fifty ways to leave you lover,” there has to be innumerable ways to ruin any good marketing campaign. While I was browsing Bnet.com, I came across this great article entitled “Eight Ways to Ruin Your Social Media Strategy” by Catharine P. Taylor. It’s a must-read for anyone trying to engage with customers online.

Personally, since becoming a Certified Inbound Marketing Professional through Inbound Marketing University, I get asked a lot about the benefits of social media and what kind of organizations benefit from it the most. It’s understandable.  Social media for business benefit is a tricky concept to grasp, and one that schools are only just now starting to address properly in their curriculum. Here’s my short, standard, one-size-fits-all answer:

Social media will benefit any organization that wants to connect with its customers on an individual level.

The reverse is also true: social media will irreparably harm any organization that doesn’t want to connect with its customers on an individual level.

If you are passionate about what you do, being actively engaged in customer blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn can help grow your brand considerably. A great example of this done well is Freshbooks: they don’t just hang around their own Forum waiting for their customers to show up in their own sandbox, they actively go out and engage with people on websites all around the internet. (See the comments in my previous post on Freshbooks if you don’t believe me. It’s true!)

So, just remember: it’s best to focus on the positive benefits of social media, and not just fear what might go wrong. The negative aspects are completely avoidable if you take time, do careful planning, and try to understand the people you’re communicating with before jumping in. Doing so will help you ensure that you not only make a big splash, but it’ll drench all the right people in the process!

Overall, I think the tool is pretty darn near perfect. No matter what kind of business you’re in, there is probably a way Freshbooks can help you. Freshbooks has an outstanding support team, and terrific support forum. For things that don’t work perfectly, they’re there to help almost as soon as you post or email. Awesome!

My background: I’m trained in enterprise procurement processes. Procurement is just a fancy word for “purchasing” or “buying stuff.” That’s right, the largest companies in the world hire people to just sit around all day and buy stuff from other businesses. Sounds like a dream job right? HA, as if! No, the job of the buyer in modern business is ridiculously complicated. It’s a position of low authority but high responsibility. (But that’s off-topic.) So, for logic’s sake, let’s just say I’m familiar with the other end of the invoicing process: logistics invoice verification, where you receive an invoice, check for authenticity, and approve it for payment by Accounts Payable.

As a small business owner, I can track my time in Freshbooks and create an invoice directly from that record. Freshbooks will email a link to that invoice to my customer (no attachments to get munched on by spam filters or antivirus programs!) When the customer clicks the link, it takes them directly to the invoice, no log-in required. They can then pay that invoice online with a credit card, Paypal, Google Checkout, whatever I’m set up to accept. Or they can mail me a check. Awesome!

What about my less-than-tech-savvy customers? For $1.79, Freshbooks will print your invoice, fold it, and mail it to your client along with a return envelope. That’s a pretty sweet deal. (Literally, do you know how much time I spent licking nasty envelopes as a bookkeeper?) Seriously though, if you have 20 customers it’s easy to assume printing those invoices, stuffing envelopes, and mailing them out would take at least an hour a month. And that’s if you’ve got someone awesome doing it for you. Minus the cost of postage, envelopes, printer paper, and toner, I’d say you’d be darn near breaking-even before you include the cost of labor. Yuck. Better to let Freshbooks handle that.

Times are tough. Even the best of clients are paying later than usual. Freshbooks is a stellar Accounts Receivable tool that helps you collect the money you’re owed. Surveyed users reported they started receiving payments 14 days sooner after switching. One reason is probably because you can easily set up automagic dunning notices (payment reminders) for overdue invoices, which always helps with troublesome clients. Eventually, they’ll get tired of your emails and letters and pay you.

My advice: try their free account first with 3 of your clients. See how it works. When you’re sure you love it, start moving all new clients there. If you have an existing (legacy) system, start by sending all new invoices out of there, and then move late ones if you feel it’s warranted. If you need help with a migration plan, get in touch with me. I’d love to help you.

The HP learning center provides a large variety of free, instructor-led classes on a wide range of technology and business related topics. Sample courses include Digital Photography, Photoshop, Small Business Marketing using MS Word, etc.

Overall, I think it’s a great way to develop a strong consumer interest in HP products without pushing their products explicitly. Instead, they’re doing it by creating the reputation of a ‘trusted technology advisor’ and helping people learn to use technology better as a whole, making them a more savvy consumer in the process.

Disclaimer: I will never buy another HP. Never, ever, ever, ever, not even if they paid me to do it. Never! Why? Because you shouldn’t have laptops generating over 150 degrees in heat. I had an HP Pavilion dv2000 that I loved dearly, which burned out not one, but two motherboards. Despite there being a recall out on the dv2000 which is exclusively an Intel processor model, the tech support rep lied to me over the phone and said this issue only affected AMD units. Note how dv2000 is in the name of the recall in the article I’ve linked. Since they refuse to stand behind their products and their bad engineering, I can’t endorse them as a company in the future.

Lenovo has much better thermal engineering, and Apples are effectively idiot proof. So these two companies are getting the majority of my technology spend going forward.

Coming soon: a review of my Lenovo Ideapad S12 with Nvidia Ion GPU that I bought to replace the failed HP. Plus, here’s a coupon, via Lifehacker, to help you save money: 12″ Lenovo IdeaPad S12 Netbook for $329 + free shipping (Regular Price: $440 – use coupon code USPS12555).

Enjoy!

I was over at CNN.com for the first time, in a while. I used to love browsing it each morning in the old Marvin Library at HVCC before class, but with all the changes the site’s undergone lately, it’s not really top on my list of news sources anymore. Still, when I saw this headline, it caught my attention.

From the article:

“If you think about Digg right now, if you put a Digg button on [a Web page] it’s kind of like gambling in that if you hit, you hit big,” he said. “But if you don’t hit, there’s not a lot of value.

“We’re trying to address that as a tool and say that … I should be able to send a predictable amount of traffic to those sort of smaller and medium-tier sites.”

So look for the change.

What the Digg change means for Social Media Marketing

It used to be very difficult to use Digg as a marketing tool. People who submit only their own articles are frowned on, and the need to bug hundreds of your friends to Digg all of your articles to try and get them noticed is incredibly cumbersome. Even throwing a Digg button on a site to help the process might not give you that much of a buzz boost, considering how few people actually Digg regularly when they can Tweet or share a Facebook status.

Overall: faster Diggs and real increases in traffic from a modest amount of voting should make it worthwhile for any site owner to reconsider adding a Digg button to their pages.

I’m referring to MIT Open Courseware, coursework MIT has made freely available to any interested individual online. It’s nothing new really, in fact, MIT and 20 other schools in the US have joined the Open Courseware Consortium, a group of schools and coporations world-wide  who have joined up to make education freely available. So what is Open Courseware? According to the website:

“An OpenCourseWare is a free and open digital publication of high quality educational materials, organized as courses. The OpenCourseWare Consortium is a collaboration of more than 200 higher education institutions and associated organizations from around the world creating a broad and deep body of open educational content using a shared model. The mission of the OpenCourseWare Consortium is to advance education and empower people worldwide through opencourseware.”

I was lucky enough to be able to go to college, but not everyone has that same opportunity. For a lot of people, life has a funny habit of not turning out exactly according to plan. For others, their plans might not even include college because of the prohibitive cost of tuition, and opportunity cost of not being able to work full-time.

Access to education like this is only possible with reliable Internet connections. For this reason, I am a huge proponent of rural broadband access. With it, people in some of the poorest, most remote communities in this country can have access to high-quality education. However, there is a huge stigma attached to anything free, especially something that’s free that doesn’t come with a degree or any piece of paper saying you attended, or passed a single test.

As a community, we undervalue what we are freely given. Because of this, I hope more people will take advantage of the great service MIT and schools like it are providing us.  After all, their donation is meaningless if it sits unused. So, if you’re a lifelong learner like me, be sure to stop over to the website and watch a few videos, or grab a few lectures to listen to next time you’re driving. You never know how it might help you later in life.

Then I found this gem of article called Reading Online Text: A Comparison of Four White Space Layouts. It was a study funded by Microsoft and performed by the University of Wichita.

The study found that when good margins are used, and optimal leading precedes each letter, reading speeds decrease by around 7%, but reading comprehension is increased by around 16%. Also, readers reported decreased fatigue and eye-strain from reading on a screen that made good use of white-space.

So while I still don’t care much about the aesthetics of different fonts on the page, I now pay close attention to the critical effect of white space. Anything that makes my writing easier to read for extended periods of time, and leaves the reader with a deeper impression makes it worth my time to critique.

How about you? Got any good tips on fonts?

Hubspot linked to a very brief study conducted by Harvard Business Review to see what effects a Fan page has on an existing brand, Dessert Gallery. The results were surprising!

“Facebook changed customer behavior for the better [...] Though they spent about the same amount of money per visit, they increased their store visits per month after becoming Facebook fans and generated more positive word of mouth than nonfans. They went to DG 20% more often than nonfans and gave the store the highest share of their overall dining-out dollars.“

So, with this in mind, what are some good ways to keep Fans interested and engaged with your brand?

I’ll draw on the experience of Slow Jed’s Mudhouse, a coffee-shop in Upstate NY that had a strong Facebook following. One of the ways they connected with their customers was by holding polls where fans would vote on the upcoming drink special of the month, which included such potent potables as the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. The manager’s logic?

“If they’re voting for it, they’re more likely to order it when they come in.” Definitely common-sense stuff, yet crucial to maintaining brand loyalty.

Other fun ideas include:

• Offering day-of coupons and one-day specials
• Getting feedback on upcoming products
• Announcing contests exclusive to Facebook fans
• List a joke of the day, something tasteful that makes fans smile when they read it

The idea is to offer meaningful, valuable content that keeps Fans coming back to you both online and in-house. Just be sure to acknowledge any questions or comments left, and always do so in a polite, respectful way that shows how much you truly care. If you can show them the love they can’t get anywhere else, you’ll be rewarded with increased business and a ton of positive buzz.

Just pop on over to Microsoft’s 2010 Beta website and you’ll be able to download a trial copy of the new software. Word has it they’re releasing it to OEMs in April 2010, so it should be hitting the market soon. All the more reason to grab your free beta copy before it becomes pay-to-play.

What’s got everyone so excited? Check out the Top Ten Benefits of Office 2010 to learn more.

To me, it just looks like it has enhanced web functionality and easier ways to share information between office products. But I haven’t really dug deep enough yet to say, so you’ll have to be the judge. My guess is there isn’t enough functionality to really get people excited. After all, the beta was first announced back in November 2009, with very little mention of it in the mainstream.

Let me know what you think!

If you haven’t been there yet, pop over to JohnnyLee.net and check out his interactive Whiteboard project, using a Wiimote and infra-red emitting pen.

Simply install his program and then sync your Wiimote with your computer via bluetooth. If you feel as though you lack the technological savvy to build your own IR pen, simply check out one of the advertisers over at Wiimoteproject.com. Several companies manufacture everything from Wiimote holders to several colors of light pens used to make this project work.

This is a great way to get PC tablet functionality on a shoestring budget. Personally, I’m a paper-maven, so anything that lets me handwrite notes AND store them in my computer is a huge plus in my book.

Let me know if you try it. I’d love to hear about how you’re using it!

Even Tim Ferris, author of the New York Times best-seller The 4 Hour Workweek advocates the practice, as mentioned in his Nine Bad Habits to Stop Now list, shown below:

“[Number] 3. Do not agree to meetings or calls with no clear agenda or end time
If the desired outcome is defined clearly with a stated objective and agenda listing topics/questions to cover, no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes. Request them in advance so you “can best prepare and make good use of the time together.”

The worst thing a project manager can have on his record is hundreds of resource hours allocated to meetings with no valuable progress to show for it. So, to help others avoid wasting time, money, and the respect of those around them, I’ve written a quick, 5-step guide to setting (and sticking to) an agenda:

Step 1: Define the Goal

It’s best to go into every meeting with the desired outcome in mind. What question needs to be answered? What decision needs to be reached? What deliverable is the group tasked with completing? Ask “Is this relevant?” frequently throughout the meeting to keep from going off-track. The goal of the meeting is the goal you already set for it. If something else comes up, document it, but leave it for another meeting.

Step 2: List the Participants

This will force you to think about who is absolutely necessary to get the answers you need. When you know exactly who should be there, you can schedule the meeting once, and not run into situations such as “Oh, we can’t possibly answer this without Bob, let’s see if he’s free…Oh shoot! He’s stuck on another call [where they don't need him] for the next two hours!” Sound familiar?

Step 3: Define the End Time

Be realistic, but at the same time, don’t be overly generous. Parkinson’s law states that the perception of work to be done will increase to fill the time alloted to it. Just because you scheduled a two-hour meeting, doesn’t mean you won’t get lucky and finish in 30-minutes. Additionally, planning on too short of a meeting will result in the inevitable “follow-up meeting” that will have to occur when time runs out and things still aren’t finished.

Step 4: Allocate time to individual speakers

Send out a quick email informing everyone, “If you have anything to present at tomorrow’s meeting, email me back before X-time today to get on the Agenda. Remember: for the sake of productivity, if  your issue is not on the agenda, we will not have time for it.”  Then, based on your response (or lack thereof), start dolling out minutes. Remember: 5-7 minutes may not seem like a lot of time, but once the person actually says their piece, you will be surprised at how much time is left over.

Step 5: Appoint Chairperson, Minute-taker, and Time-keeper

While you don’t have to know (or follow) Robert’s Rule of Order to hold a meeting, you should still appoint individuals to these roles. The chairperson will help keep conversation from breaking down into chatter and noise by acknowledging speakers in turn. A minute taker will make sure that all of the “key takeaways” your group discovers aren’t immediately forgotten the second you step out of the room. Lastly,  the time-keeper is there to remind people to move things along when you dwell on something too long, or you go off-track.

It sounds tedious I’m sure, but once you get into the habit of setting agendas it becomes second nature. Plus, the time you save will more than make up for the few extra minutes you spend typing up a formal outline and emailing it to your team. People around you will appreciate your newfound respect for their time, and in turn, like you better as a human being and coworker. You might even win an award for saving your company money and “strengthening the bottom line.”

So, that being the case, what are you waiting for?

This certification acknowledges Foundas’s proficiency in inbound marketing principles and best practices. These principles include: blogging, search engine optimization, social media, lead conversion, lead nurturing and closed-loop analysis.

Foundas is a project manager and IT consultant in the Charlotte area who provides outsourced management and technology leadership services to leading organizations and individuals. This certification adds to his already considerable web-development experience, providing enhanced insight into industry best-practices and optimization methods.

With this, Foundas has joined an elite group of Inbound Marketing Certified Professionals. In total, only 1,300 individuals world-wide have successfully passed the IMU program.

To complete the Inbound Marketing Certification, Foundas completed 16 in-depth classes covering each facet of inbound marketing and passed a comprehensive certification exam. (View the full list of classes: http://inboundmarketing.com/university/classes)
The courses are taught by a knowledgeable faculty of professors, including New York Times’ best-selling author Chris Brogan, Google’s Analytics Evangelist Avinash Kaushik, Internet celebrity Gary Vaynerchuk, best-selling author and international speaker David Meerman Scott, and more. (View all professors: http://www.inboundmarketing.com/university/professors)

This certification is administered by HubSpot.

About InboundMarketing.com

InboundMarketing.com is an online community and certification program for marketers. The site’s content teaches a new style of marketing that emphasizes business uses of social media, content creation and search engine optimization for marketing. InboundMarketing.com is hosted and moderated by HubSpot, Inc. Register for InboundMarketing.com at http://inboundmarketing.com/user/register.

About HubSpot

HubSpot, Inc. provides Internet marketing software that helps businesses get found online, generate more inbound leads and convert a higher percentage of those leads into paying customers. HubSpot’s software platform includes tools that allow professional marketers and business owners to manage search engine optimization, blogging and social media, as well as landing pages, lead intelligence and marketing analytics. Based in Cambridge, MA, HubSpot can be found at http://www.hubspot.com. HubSpot’s free marketing tools can be found at http://grader.com.

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Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m thankful to be able to afford to live where I do; I just think some marketers are using silly terms to convey the wrong message. (Look back at my post on SERVQUAL for more of my rant on perceptions needing to exceed expectations.) When you look at the actual definition of the word luxury, and what a “luxury” apartment complex should to imply, you’ll see why these companies are setting themselves up for failure when it comes to pleasing tenants.

Luxury is defined as “a material object, service, etc., conducive to sumptuous living, usually a delicacy, elegance, or refinement of living rather than a necessity” (dictionary.com). Basically, something that goes above and beyond the burdens of the everyday.

When an apartment complex in the Charlotte area uses the word luxury though, they usually mean “maintenance included at no additional charge, appliances purchased in the recent decade, pine cupboards lacking dry-rot, counter-tops without cracking.”

Using the correct, dictionary definition of luxury, let’s map out what we’d expect from a luxury apartment complex:

• Granite/Fau-granite counters
• Hardwood cupboards
• Stainless steel appliances
• Built-in water filtration system
• Hardwood floors or epoxy-sealed concrete
• State-of-the-art fitness center
• Tennis courts, and
• Salt-water pool

If you’re moving to Charlotte, you might still be forced to choose one of the luxury apartment complexes simply because the non-luxury ones cost too much. One place I visited tried to charge me an extra $40 per month for “upgraded shag carpeting” and another $30 per month for “improved light fixtures” that I had priced out as being $25 at Wal-Mart.

In retrospect, I suppose the Worthington offers a kind of luxury in terms of apartment living, even if it’s only “not being ripped off my sleazy landlords for moldy shag carpet.” Still, I stand by my assertion that it’s far from what most people would expect because of the basic meaning behind the word luxury itself.

CutePDF Writer is a free product offered by Acro Software. What it does is create an easy way to print your important documents, webpages, electronic receipts, (anything really) to a PDF file instead. Whenever it’s a page you will only a.) need temporarily or b.) want to scan and archive anyway, CutePDF Writer makes a great alternative to printing.

When you’re ready to print a file, you just select the CutePDF printer, and once you click Print it will give you the opportunity to name the PDF file whatever you want, and then choose where to save it. Because it’s a free product, it lacks some of the advanced features of other PDF creators on the market. For a simple printed-page replacement though, CutePDF has more than enough quality.

So go ahead, install it and keep track. You’ll be surprised how many sheets of paper this handy little program will save you over the next month or so. If you like it, and want to try some advanced tricks, try hoping over to RightSignature.com and signing up for a free account.

RightSignature lets you upload documents, add your electronic signature, and then send them to the intended recipient. A basic account is free and has more than enough features to (for example) complete a W-9 form and send it to your client, or sign an estimate before sending it to a  prospective customer.  That way, you can skip the Print-Scan-Email or Print-Sign-Mail routine, and save a little bit of cash in the process.

By ourselves, we will never fully realize what we don’t know. In project management, this is typically referred to as an ‘Unknown-Unknown’—or, the thing you don’t know that you don’t know. However, PMI Methodology has a means for addressing these pesky issues, and it’s called Seeking Expert Judgment.

The methodology teaches you to go and seek out the experts and get their opinion. Because of this, good project managers don’t have to know everything about the area they’re working with, but having some personal experience is still required in most instances. (After all, you can’t call up a SME at 3AM to get their last take on your timeline.) In general, it helps address one of the key problems with the art/science of management: anyone can pick up a book or skim a technical paper and get the knowledge they need to do a task; but there’s no replacing the wisdom of someone who’s already gone ahead and done it before you.

Tying that back into my original point; the only way you’ll remain ignorant is if you choose to sit alone in a vacuum. For me, that’s really comforting. Interacting with friends and colleagues in daily life is typically enough to realize just what areas you should work on first. As for myself? I’m still learning ‘proper’ English grammar from my editing-guru of a kid sister. Seems I missed that somewhere in my 15 years of ‘formal’ education.

For me, personally, as a consultant and person who spends a lot of time in meetings where laptop use is discouraged, I would love one. Anything that lets me sketch, doodle, etc. while simultaneously being productive is incredibly helpful. I’m someone who functions by jotting down thoughts on a page, and while I hate killing trees it really is the only substitute without having an expensive tablet laptop.

Plus, if anyone’s ever used a laptop on a plane, you know it’s next to impossible without rigging the seatback in front of you to prevent it from reclining. (A handy gadget for which, called the Knee Defender, only costs $14.95, but will most likely start World War III on the flight.) The iPad is a great alternative, letting me listen to music, read eBooks, surf the web (if my flight has WiFi), all without having to worry about the person in front of me laying back his seat and shoving the lid of my down to an unusable 45-degree angle.

So to each their own. I can see the merits of the device, but definitely understand why people would prefer the Lenovo U1 or traditional Lenovo X-series Tablet laptops.

This is just a quick plug for a very talented young designer who contacted me through longtime friend and copy-editor, Melissa Johnson.

Her name is Amanda McCollum, and for those interested in seeing a portfolio of her work, you can find it on her website. I found  the variety of traditional and digital work to be quite interesting,  in addition to various graphic design examples she had listed.

What really stands out about this individual is that a.) she is very aggressive when it comes to completing tasks and b.) she has the patience of a saint. When she proposed re-designing the logo for my site, I provided very little direction. (Of the 12 different breeds of clients defined by FreelanceSwitch, I am definitely #7.) Project-planning background aside, when it comes to creative endeavors I rarely know what I’m looking for; just what I like.

For people like me, she’s brilliant. Once a job is underway she continually follows up, seeking the feedback she needs to get the task finished and the design to where it needs to be for final approvals and sign-offs. With a bit more experience and the opportunity to prove herself, I’m certain she’ll prove to be a terrific addition to many design teams.

Sea Dreaming - Amanda McCollum - Designer, Illustrator, Graphic Artist

IBM LotusLive is…well, it’d be easier to list what it isn’t: Expensive. Considering the cost of fully-scalable enterprise-level intranet solutions, at between $3-15 per user / per month, it’s a rate that is really dirt cheap. Especially compared to having to own a server and pay for IT support.

True, I’m slightly biased. I was an IBMer, and I miss being in the loop on a lot of the tools they’re rolling out with (and more importantly, actually being able to beta test them). When I saw in the news that Panasonic was implementing the IBM LotusLive solution and sun-setting Microsoft Exchange I got really excited.

The idea is that the first year they’ll switch 100,000 employees over to LotusLive, with the remaining 200,000 to switch over the next two to three years. It makes fiscal sense for a large company like Panasonic, but even more sense for small companies.

If I’m a small business owner with 5 employees, to get access for everyone it’ll cost approximately $1,100 a year. Compared to the cost of running my own server, and paying for computer support at $100+ per hour, $1,100 is a drop in a bucket. Plus, security is taken care of by IBM. SSL encrypts the information going in and out of the cloud, so I don’t have to worry about setting up additional SSH or VPN connections on my employee’s workstations. Plus, through advanced administrative tools, I can configure my authorizations even further to control who has access to what.

The last point I’ll make is about customer service. Google is notoriously lacking in this respect; evidenced by their recent Google Nexus phone fiasco, and the fact that they’re looking at a hybrid Google Apps reseller program (last I checked anyway) to provide front-line support to customers. With IBM, support is coming directly from the same people who have access to the developers. This just makes more sense in my opinion.

Well, that’s my take on the whole thing. What’s yours? True, it might lack online editing ability, but with IBM Lotus Symphony available for free, this isn’t really a must-have as it is a nice-to-have. Plus, anyone who’s ever tried to do sophisticated formatting with Google Docs knows it has a long way to go before really challenging OpenOffice based solutions.

Also, did you hear the one about Microsoft Word 2007 being blocked for sale due to copyright infringement? Cracks me up. With that many developers, you’d think that an “innovative” company would be able to figure out a way to come out with a new version of Word without willful copyright infringement, as was found by the appellate court.

Exciting times!

So here’s what I’m going to do, since I’m so helpful: I’ll show you how in less than 10 minutes you too can have the same results, and keep the $120 you’d pay to LifeLock.

• https://www.experian.com/freeze
• https://annualcreditreport.transunion.com/fa/securityFreeze/landing?
• https://www.freeze.equifax.com/Freeze/jsp/SFF_PersonalIDInfo.jsp

At each of these three pages, you will have the chance to enter your information, answer 3-5 questions to prove your identity, and then place a security freeze. Although it can cost as much as $5-10 to do over the phone, doing it online is typically free.

Remember to record the PIN numbers you are given at each of these sites, as you will need them to allow for a temporary lift so a creditor can check your file later, if you yourself choose to apply for credit.

Tighter control and restrictions than a Fraud Alert (which has to be renewed every 90 days), and very useful in helping to deter identity theft. It may be a little cumbersome to apply for a 0% credit card at a department store (yes, they will actually have to call you and verify who you are), but worth the hassle if you value your good credit.

Also worth noting: this won’t keep your existing creditors from having access to and updating your file. Keep that in mind before you decide to do anything that would trash your credit, thinking that they won’t be able to update it without your permission. That’s just silly!

Note: I just viewed LifeLocks’ website, and it looks like they’ve added a few other services in addition to just doing the Security Freeze. (i.e. WalletLock: cancel all your credit cards with the help of a call center worker.) I personally don’t think they’re worth the money. Instead, why not get $20 worth of Track-It-Back stickers, and get your physical wallet back? (As well as cell phones, iPods, gadgets, doodads, thingamabobs, and hoojadidgits too!) It’s my humble opinion, but I’d love to hear your perspective.

Sometimes it makes sense: I might email my boss, and he emails me back to confirm, and in that same email he will CC his administrative assistant to assign her a task relevant to our discussion. In that instance, she’s an interested third-party and has a genuine use for seeing the chain of communication.

But what about two colleagues disputing material facts about something that took place? As each of them references someone who would agree with them, they add a CC. Those CC’s might contribute, adding others to the discussion, and with each increasing participant there is less individual interest in the contents of the discussion.

This is distracting at best, and at times is downright soporific. The net effect of long, irrelevant email conversations filling inboxes of everyone in a group drains productivity and takes focus away from the organizational initiative. So here’s a few tips on how to cut down on aggro and help keep the contents flowing into your email inbox relevant:

1. If the recipient is nearby, walk over and talk to them. It will give you an instant response, reduces the electronic paper trail, and gives you the added benefit of a little physical activity.
2. If you have to send an email, keep it to five sentences or less. The human short-term memory is limited to between four-and-nine chunks of information, so five sentences is all your reader will be paying attention to anyway. Make them count!
3. Consider using bullets instead of full sentences. This helps provide clarity and keeps your reader firmly on track. For an easy response, they can even enter their comments in a second color between your bullet points.
4. Avoid finger-pointing and name-dropping at all costs. If you feel this really has to happen, CC all relevant parties at the start, and invite them to a sit-down meeting or conference call (if remote) to hash the issue out ASAP. This prevents disagreements from dragging out over weeks and keeps everyone in the group on track.

Have you had any experiences with email aggro? Do you use any tricks to help keep it to a minimum? I’d love to hear them!

• Network administrators
• Script kiddies
• Remote hackers

That’s right. Some script kiddie running Cain and Abel could be logging your passwords as you type them in. Isn’t that a comforting thought? Think about it next time you check your Bank of America website from a Starbucks.

When you or I surf for business, we are typically required to run a VPN or other SSH that encrypts the data we exchange between our machines and the servers behind the company’s firewall. With our personal information however, we’re not always so lucky. For that reason, I ended up asking for (and getting) an 8GB IronKey for Christmas this year.

One of IronKey’s main selling points (in my humble opinion) is that it allows you to surf anonymously through use of the company’s private TOR (the Onion Router) network. More secure than the publicly available TOR network (which has potential for information being compromised by unknown nodes) the IronKey’s TOR makes use of advanced proxy and encryption technology which is pre-installed in the portable Mozilla Firefox that comes on the drive. Even blog author and consulting network administrator Michael Kassner seems to agree that the IronKey comes “pretty darn close” to being simple and secure web-browsing from insecure locatiions.

You may have heard in the news today that companies like Sandisk, Kingston, and Verbatim are having their encrypted USB drives compromised through a backdoor. IronKey released a statement explaining why they do not believe their devices shares a similar architectural flaw that these other devices suffered from.

All in all, I’m glad I’m using an IronKey. Perfect or not, it gives me a little more piece of mind and makes it just that much harder for someone to get my information that shouldn’t.

Of all the self-publication services I’ve seen, I like Lulu.com the best. They have a simple, easy to use interface; easy to understand pricing; and a team of customer support agents ready and willing to help you out if needed. Also, as you’re self-publishing, you have the option of assigning Lulu as your publisher in order to get a free ISBN for your book; and you can use their listing services (known as either extendedREACH or globalREACH) to list your book at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and with other popular booksellers.

Don’t want to list Lulu as the publisher? You can purchase an individual ISBN and be able to list yourself as the publisher, but it will cost you around $100 (bought through Lulu’s YourISBN service) or $125-150 through other sources like myidentifiers.com.

Not the writing type? You can still get in on the self-publication game. If you’re someone who constantly gets stuck editing other people’s writing, or is someone exposed to a variety of fresh voices that maybe need a leg up (think barrista at a coffee house, holds a M.A. in English Lit, and is inundated with poetry hours) there’s also the Lulu Partner Program. It’s limited to organizations, and has an annual fee, but it’s really more of an affiliate program than anything else. For some people, they can make it work for them. After all, 3-8% of lifetime revenue from the authors you turn on to Lulu is a pretty sweet deal. So if you are surrounded by individuals with the drive and tenacity to self-publish, why not play a role in helping them get there?

Note: I have not personally self-published through Lulu, nor am I receiving any compensation for this review. My opinions are purely my own, and based on the experiences of friends who have self-published.
Example: We Change, by Theresa Houghton.

Happy publishing!

Initially, a polite rep at an unknown facility wrote back informing me she had authorized a $100 credit toward future travel if I ever chose to give them a second chance. To use the credit, I would have to call in and let them handle the reservation.

What she didn’t say is that to call and make a reservation one has to pay an extra $15-30 booking fee for doing it over the phone instead of online.

I replied, stating that their “low cost” airline had cost me $230 in extra rental car charges and hotel fees. Why would I use their airline when I could fly Delta or my favorite, US Air for the same net price?

Another friendly rep wrote back, apologizing and saying she had increased the travel voucher by $50.

Personally, I think that’s a slap in the face.

Don’t worry Airtran. Since you don’t want my business, you won’t get it. Other airlines are just as happy getting my dollars instead.

www.businesstoolsblog.com

I found the tip on how to create a drop down selection in excel to be particularly useful.

Check them out!

To fix, first close all open programs and then go to Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> click Device Manager (found under Devices and Printers)

Expand “Display Adapters“. This should contain your graphics card (in my case it says NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT).

Right click on the video card and select Update Driver Software.

Windows will find an update (which is probably available) and install it automatically. Once it finishes, simply Restart your system.

Second Life should now work.

Hope this helps!

A little empathy for a stranded traveler goes a long way

As a management consultant, I spent more time on planes than most people do commuting back and forth to work each day. If I had to tally it, I would say my annual airfare expenditures total in the tens of thousands. (Not bragging rights, just facts I’m not too proud of.) During that time, I’ve managed to come just shy of Gold status on US Airways, hold Platinum with both Hyatt and Marriot, and Gold with Hilton. I spend a lot of time traveling, and have been in some nasty travel spots. This recent bout with Airtran is, without exaggeration, the worst experience I have ever had in my history of flying airlines.

In Quality Management, there is a a method used to measure the quality of a service. After all, as something intangible and experienced (not physical and tangible), it’s harder to evaluate a service the way one normally does, with bar charts and measurements. So in order to do that, the SERVQUAL survey was developed.

SERVQUAL measures five attributes:

• Reliability
• Assurance
• Tangibles
• Empathy and
• Responsiveness

In the survey, a user is asked to evaluate their Expectations in each of these areas (usually on a scale of 1 to 5) and then their Perceptions of the service. If the Perceptions (what they feel they got) are rated lower than their Expectations (what they expected to receive) then there is a gap, and an indication of poor quality.

You don’t have to be a quality manager to know gaps are bad, and that they should be corrected ASAP.

The shortfall in each of these categories gives companies a method of focusing on problem areas and correcting them. Are their salespeople over-hyping the service? (Setting themselves up to disappointed.) Is the marketing literature advertising something that doesn’t exist? In AirTrans case, there is. It’s called the Airline Quality Rating, on which they held the number one spot. Hmm. Quality is good right? Sure it is. But not if CUSTOMER SERVICE is lacking.

AirTran succeeds in one category, and one category alone: Tangibles. They have good seats, free Sirius-XM satellite radio in every seat, WiFi (available for purchase) on flights, and free basic drinks and snacks.

In my humble opinion, they lack in every other category. They were reliable only in that every flight was delayed by 40+ minutes, causing me to miss connections. They rerouted me to a different airport,  but got me there so late I couldn’t even rent a car (1:45am when I was supposed to arrive at 11:00pm). They didn’t even have a gate agent present to meet us, let alone offer stranded travelers accommodations. Their gate agents were downright rude, completely apathetic to the needs of a stranded traveler (they get to go home to their own bed at night–we don’t!) And worst of all, they were completely unresponsive to requests for help, either over the phone or at the gate.

Airtran, the Airline Quality Rating might have you down as #1, but in my book you get an F.

US Airways, United, American, Southwest, keep on doing what you’re doing! Especially US Air, I’ll be a customer for life as long as your competitors are like Airtran.

</rant> </bully pulpit>

Hi Everyone,

Hope your plans for the Thanksgiving holiday have been settled. I myself am actually visiting my family in Upstate New York for the week, and am happy to say I’ve been enjoying every minute of it. It brings me to a topic very near and dear to anyone with a traveling job: work/life balance.

A lot of companies preach “work-life balance”. They say it’s important, they even go so far as to write it into their high-level business strategy in the form of corporate vision statements or organizational values. Here’s something that can really show your staff you walk the talk though: march into their office around holiday time and tell them to get out!

“Out! Go home to your loved ones! If nobody loves you then come home with me!”

Wow. Do you wish someone had done that for you?

At the end of our long years, there are only three things we’ll ask ourselves:

1. Was I a good person?
2. Did I make a difference?
3. Who did I love, and who loved me?

How many people ever reach the end of their life and say “I wish I had spent more time at the office“?

How many people do you think would subsitute the words “at the office” for “with my family“?

So if you feel that to-do list itching in the back of your mind, try to ignore it, if only just this once. No matter what holiday you celebrate or what beliefs you hold, family time is worth the time. That’s something that everyone can respect, and stand behind in both work and life. How’s that for balance?

Talk to him!

So many people are afraid to voice their concerns that they are doing themselves a disservice. Many professionals rely on customer feedback, and denying them that crucial ingredient can create recipe for long-term disaster. Nipping small errors in the bud when they occur can save a project manager long-term headaches, and potential cost over-runs.

As for the knowledge worker? He benefits from knowing how to better meet his customers’ expectations, and is able to work more efficiently. Instead of revisiting the same item time after time with nitpicking changes he can move on to things that actually interest or challenge him.

Try creating an environment with open and honest feedback on your project. You might actually be stunned at the results you see in just a short time!

I was thinking just today about Open Source technologies and how wonderful they are for the budget minded. Well, allow me to back-track. I had started off thinking about my graphic design skills which, I will be the first to tell you, are lacking. But why were they lacking? Did I lack the ability to physically use the software? (As a leftie my answer is, to a limited amount, yes.) Even more-so was my lack of accessibility to the software. After all, I knew AutoCAD in my teens mostly because my father had a copy on the family computer. That was within his field (engineering).

Adobe Photoshop, however, was not. Obtaining it wasn’t really feasible either. It is extremely expensive to a student on a budget, and still moderately expensive to a developing professional. Most of the individuals I knew who did have a copy, seemed to have come by it through digital age “fell-off-the-truck” circumstances. With that in mind, I thought of the open-source alternatives, GIMP and Inkscape. I was rather amazed at how far most open source project had come during the last decade, and started to think about how commercial-companies would compete in the future. After all, if someone could get a comparable product for free, why pay the high price of “non-free”?

Was it the need for support? Some allege that’s why major corporations stick with expensive solutions like Microsoft Office instead of rivals like Open Office, Google Apps or Zoho. IBM tried to address this by providing support for a customized version of Open Office known as Lotus Symphony (for a fee of course).

Then I realized: I was asking my question backwards. It wasn’t a question of why people choose commercial products over open source. It’s a question of how those commercial products came into existence in the first place. After all, the most popular Open Source alternatives have always chased after one thing: imitation of commercial products without copyright infringement. It’s not about who is going to pay a programmer to write open source, like some Renaissance era patron of the arts. When a need arrises it will be met by an Entrepreneur–an individual who solves a problem for a profit! An entrepreneur will take the risk of funding the development of the solution, then patent (or copyright) it!

Some (questionable) economists have outright dismissed the entire ability to patent and copyright as being beneficial. They seem to have thought, through some backward, socialist logic, that individuals should not be allowed 20-or-more year exclusive rights to the profits that result from their ideas. What they forget is that it’s that very protection of their ability to obtain their reward (risk/reward theory) that encourages the individual to disclose how they did it, so that our technologies aren’t kept completely proprietary and potentially lost to the ages. Instead, they are made available to the public to learn from and improve upon. It is the collaborative nature of patents and copyrights that have kept us from having to re-invent the wheel time and time again.

What about Open Source then?  I can’t really wrap my mind around it. A bunch of programmers have an idea to do something. Okay. Then they decide “we’ll work for free.” Okay. Then they make it freely available to the public to use and enjoy, providing they don’t sue when it crashes their computer. Yup, got that. But then that same programmer will also produce work-for-hire for investors, entrepreneurs, and other people because at the end of the day they need food on their plate and a roof over their head. Something isn’t quite making sense.

In the end, it’s entrepreneurs and businesses to the rescue. Many open source software products are released under dual-licenses. “Free for personal use, commercial use $29.99.” Otherwise stated, “If you don’t make money, we don’t make money. If you make money, kick some of it back our way.”

Ah! Now you’re speaking my language. This is pay for performance. That’s something I can comprehend! Fundamentally, the thought is “this will help you earn money, so I am going to ask for a portion of it for my time.” So when a computer programmer or software engineer participates in an open-source project, what they’re really saying is “I don’t know what the best use of this will be, so I’ll leave it up to other people to figure it out for me. If they make money, I’ll make money.”

What a concept. We’re spreading risk among the masses, and we’re donating the reward to the public at large. I wonder what it will look like in another 10 years.

The role of a bookkeeper in a small business is closer to that of a corporate controller of CFO: you’re there to help the owner make good decisions on how to get the most out of their money. With that in mind, the training these individuals receive is highly varied, with some having little more than a high school diploma and an online correspondence course. I’ve been amazed at the ranges in salary a good bookkeeper or staff accountant can command from these entrepreneurs, from minimum wage all the way up to $80 or $90 an hour. When the person is competent, and not just working in the function of a data-entry clerk, an entrepreneur can get tremendous benefit from their advice.

The problem is this: most freelance bookkeepers (or CPAs who have bookkeepers on staff) charge business owners a fixed rate no matter what is being done. Initial entry of receipts get billed at the same rate as constructing financial reports and depreciation schedules. With that in mind, when I saw the potential for owners to have a systematic approach for dealing with data entry I got excited realizing how much savings potential there was.

Step 1: Establish your chart of accounts. You can do this by signing up for a free service such as Outright.com, or by paying an individual such as a Certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor to set up your own company Quickbooks file. (Note: Outright.com only works if you’re a Sole Proprietor or Single-Member LLC. Unfortunately, their tool just isn’t robust enough for Corporations just yet, but hopefully that will change in the future.)

Step 2: Sign up for ShoeBoxed.com’s monthly service, which ranges around $9.99 to $50 a month, depending on your volume. If you only have one or two trips to the Office Supply Store each month, you can probably get away with their lower level one. If you’re a contractor or property manager running to Home Depot every day, then you’ll want the $50 a month option.

Step 3: Send Shoeboxed all of your receipts at the end of the month for catagorizing, scanning, and then import them into either Quickbooks or Outright. If you go over your monthly limit, simply pop the receipts in your scanner and upload them into Shoeboxed’s system for catagorization and storage.

Boom. You’ve instantly cut down on 80-90% of your data entry and rudimentary catagorization that wastes your bookkeepers time each month. Now instead they can spend the time devoted to your business on better things, like tracking down overages, or helping you find ways to cut unnecessary costs.

Another fact you probably didn’t think of: the IRS document retention periods require you to hold onto most original receipts for 7 years. Ever check a magnetic receipt about a month after you get it? How about 6 months? Can you even read it? At the jewelry store, it was common practice for me to feed my receipts into the copier/printer daily, and then staple the original onto the copy made. The IRS allows for PDF records to be submitted in the event of an audit, and a system like Shoeboxed becomes even more cost-effective when you realize that what you’re really paying for is two things: categorization of expenses and document storage.

Two birds, one stone–er, shoebox rather.

I was speaking with a friend and  local Realtor® in the Charlotte area recently, and the topic of Virtual Admins (or VA’s as some refer to them) came up. He spends the majority of his day fielding phone calls from customers, responding to emails, and prospecting via the internet for new sales leads. I mentioned to him that with services like Phone.com, and Elance.com and ODesk.com, that he could set himself up with a virtual office with a dedicated professional handling the majority of routine tasks and sales research.

Unfortunately, he finds that he couldn’t quite afford the typical $13-16 one would pay for a local resource. When I mentioned that there are individuals in the “developing world” that are typically willing to work for much less than that, he became quite uneasy with the conversation. For good reason: both of us are from Upstate, NY, an area where individuals have seen many families devistated through overseas job outsourcing by major companies. Typically, once a job leaves the US it doesn’t come back. But is that true of all jobs, or just manufacturing ones?

I presented the argument like this: a.) he couldn’t afford a US-based VA to start out anyway,  and b.) having a VA will help him grow his business to the point where he most-likely can afford to hire someone local. Just because the job starts off overseas, doesn’t mean it needs to remain there. As long as none of his clients private information is being transferred outside of the country, it really shouldn’t be of concern to them.

He asked me about the other side of it too. What about that person in the Philipines or other location that needs work  too? Would it be fair to dump them just because he could then afford someone local? It sounded rather like a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” type of scenario. In truth, I don’t have a good answer. I would imagine that the person would be happy for having the work, regardless of the duration, since it transfers wealth into their hands and allows them to care for their loved ones easier. It allows them to, eventually, hire help themselves and grow their own businesses, much in the way my friend would be doing. Sort of like each of them being in the right place at the right time to help one another find success together. A symbiotic relationship.

What’s your opinion? Would you use an overseas VA, or would you wait until you could afford one that was inside the country? Is the temptation for inexpensive labor too great for individuals to eventually give up? Is it financially irresponsible to not take advantage of those types of resources because of the fiduciary duty to one’s shareholders?

Personally, I’m comforted by the thought that “inexpensive labor will help me grow my business to the point where I can employ many individuals locally; not just one initially.” Do you think that logic is accurate, or am I just deluding myself?

Thanks.

A basic PR looks like this:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Local Entrepreneurship Blog Gives Instruction in PR Writing

Charlotte, NC – September 25, 2009 – Local entrepreneurship and leadership blog ChristopherFoundas.com has taken to giving instruction in the art of PR writing. Excited about the prospect of being able to instruct new, budding entrepreneurs in the art of PR, the author was pleased to announce, “Make sure you take advantage of any direct quotes from the President or other organization executive–this is the only content safe from journalists or editors changes as they don’t want to be sued for libel, or, otherwise put, changing your direct words.” Its true, other content is subject to change, as the editor or journalist thinks is necessary to make the story fit their paper. A direct quote from someone important in the organization is usually immune from this, so keep it short and make it count!

About Christopher Foundas:

ChristopherFoundas.com is the quasi-professional personal website of Christopher Foundas, Charlotte-based entrepreneur, project manager, and IT consultant. The blog not only contains tips for small business owners looking to optimize the way their systems run, but also pays tribute to outstanding leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs anywhere they’re found.

Contact:

Christopher Foundas

cfoundas@christopherfoundas.com

ChristopherFoundas.com

Charlotte, NC

# # #

So the basic elements are:
1. Release time – either FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE or HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL [Date/Time]

2. Headline

3. City/State/Country and Month/Day/Year

4. Body of release, preferably with a quote from someone in the organization

5.  Company / Organizational info

6. Contact information

7. ### to signal the end of the release.

Now, you might not have the contacts in the local media you had hoped for. Lucky for us, in the age of strong declines in newspaper readership and online news sites relying on RSS feeds for content syndication, it’s relatively easy to submit your PR to an aggregation service once its finished. To do this, you can use the following tools:

PRWeb.com

Ranges between $80 and $360 per release, with each of the four levels offering different functionality to the user. According to their site “PRWeb distribution encompasses the largest online news distribution network. From the smallest business to the Fortune 500, PRWeb news and press release distribution has helped more than 40,000 organizations maximize their online visibility and achieve worldwide media coverage.”

Businesswire.com

A more service-oriented PR service, with local offices available to help budding entrepreneurs write their releases and figure out which target circuits will work best for them (and at what price point).  As their site says, “Business Wire’s proprietary news network simultaneously delivers press releases directly into the editorial systems at newspapers, wire services, disclosure services, television and other media, posts them full-text into leading portals and websites, targets them to industry and consumer systems, archives them in major databases and makes them available via RSS feeds. Our system inserts social media tags and adds search engine optimization features, including hypertext links, bolded text and bulleted lists.”

PRNewsWire.com

This service has an annual membership of $195, and prices range from “search engine optimized web-only posting for $125 to full-blown Multimedia News Release with video for $3,750[...] PR Newswire offers a range of solutions.” As an additional resource to entrepreneurs and small businesses, they have a small business PR toolkit online with plenty of other helpful tips on getting the best press for your buck. (http://prtoolkit.prnewswire.com/)

Also, I also recommend anyone with SEO experience to read their blog entry on Press Release optimization: it’s a useful way to make sure you get the most out of every announcement.

There you have it: three good places to start your press coverage today without having to hire a potentially cost-prohibitive marketing firm (at least to start). Remember, the sooner you do it, the better as these release services are watched by journalists, investors, lenders, as well as (best of all) potential customers for your business.

Evernote (www.evernote.com)

The company has put together a very informative video on what the Evernote tool is and how it works (see below). What I like is that it surpasses Google Notebook, which I never really found a use for, through the use of mobile integration tools. At $45 / year for the premium version, it’s very fairly priced for a document / web clip repository.

About Evernote

As elephants never forget, I’m rather pleased to find they’ve been placed in a cloud for my benefit.

The tool also integrates with JotNot, an iPhone scanning app which costs $3.99 for the premium version (a must have to integrate).

Another handy tool is Jott. (www.jott.com) It’s a voice-to-text system that allows you to send txts, make lists, schedule appointment reminders, and a bunch of other nifty things. Instead of barking orders at a secretary, bark it into Jott instead for around $12.95 per month for the Jott Pro Assistant account.

On a personal note: What fascinates me most with tools like these is the increased potential for computerized, extended human memory. What you can’t train your own brain to memorize for you, you can put into a computer and organize. Almost like the Pensieve memory-viewer device found in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series. It will be interesting to see how people interact with technologies like this on an increasing level over time.

When people are young, they think of business as involving accountants, suites and ties, a lot of math and very strict rules. In truth, it’s far less so: there are more shades of gray than in a Mens Warehouse, and rules are far less rigid than one would imagine. In truth, there is only one firm and fast rule in business, and that’s the Golden Rule:

He who has the gold makes the rules.

Otherwise put, “Whomever has something worth more than the other names the price for giving it up.”

So, if I’m the waterman in the desert, suddenly I look a lot more serious, a lot more professional you might say, than the kid pushing lemonade on the rainy suburban sidewalk. I obviously have a much more mature business plan, and as long as I’m not gouging people on price who’s going to complain? The number one way to move from being hobbyist to professional is to make sure you are offering something that is worth more than the price being charged for it. Perceptions must exceed expectations.

But what about when people use the phrase to describe you as being discourteous? Perhaps they thought you needed to exhibit a certain level of formality that they’ve come to expect from a person in your position. (East Coast vs. West Coast jumps to mind. Or even North vs. South.) I’ve got potentially good news for you in that what’s “professional” is based on your location more than anything else. Although the internet presents some challenges to this, the basic idea is wherever the business is based determines the customs they should exhibit. (Wearing brightly colored shorts in Bermuda is just fine–but try that in Boston and see what happens.)

Still, even if morally you are in the right, there’s still something wrong if your customer, colleague, or coworker is offended by the way you conduct yourself. In that case, talk to them, see what made them say it. You might just learn a dramatic new insight about yourself that will help propel you to a much greater level of success.

Or you’ll learn that the person who said it is just a clown. Either way, it’s good for you.

He who has the gold makes the rules. She, on the other hand, doesn't need gold to make the rules.

1. Open Office (http://www.openoffice.org/)

Think MS Office, but free. While Open Office may not have all of the newest features of its Microsoft rival, it gives the cash-strapped-bootstrapper some definite float on their money until they can afford the office suite for every employee.

2. Open Workbench (http://www.openworkbench.org/)

Price MS Project lately? How about any other project management software? Open workbench provides comparable computing power that exceeds many expensive alternatives, even if it doesn’t match the ‘real deal’ just yet. (That comes from someone with formal training and certification in PMI Methodology.)

3. dotProject (http://www.dotproject.net/)

dotProject is to Project Server what OpenWorkbench is to MS Project: another free tool that delivers more than enough functionality for the small business owner. You might need someone technical to help you install it (but then again, you would with Project Server also). Here’s a tip though: look for Webhosting with CPanel, since it will automate the install process and get you and your online colleagues to work faster!

4. Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/)

An operating system for the more technically advanced. Sure, you might have to spend some time learning how to install the drivers for your laptop’s wireless card, but if it saves you $100-200 in operating system costs (per computer) the hour or two of frustration learning can really pay off. (If your company is buying 5 computers, that’s $500 in savings. I’ll let you calculate the hourly rate!) As a plus, Ubuntu comes with a ton of free, open source software (such as the fabled Adobe Photoshop contender, the GIMP!)

5. Evolution (http://projects.gnome.org/evolution)

Evolution is a terrific alternative to Outlook, incorporating some of the powerful contact and task management we’ve come to know and love from the MS product. Best of all? It comes pre-installed on most Gnome-enhanced Linux environments, and there’s a spiffy Windows version for those who haven’t quite made the leap yet (mentioned above in #4).

Even if I don’t inspire you to run right out and convert everything you use to open source, just keep it in mind the next time you have to purchase another tool. Take a few minutes and see what truly free (not shareware/trialware) alternatives there are, and whether or not they’d be right for your organization.

Key Employee retention helps one avoid expensive replacement costs

Finding them isn’t the problem though. Keeping them is: how can a small business that lacks the ability to offer a top salary or even competitive benefits hang on to the keepers of their keys once things start to heat up again? Here’s a few ways some are trying to stay in the game:

1. Culture & Values

Large, bureaucratic corporations typically are a bit lacking in the soul department. While some are trying to actively engage with their local communities, most are making a rather clumsy job of it. So whether it’s just having a passion for what your business does, or taking time to actively engage with the local community; entrepreneurs have a chance to give employees something they can’t get anywhere else: a cleaner conscience.

2. Flexible Vacation & Working Hours

Have you ever used the phrase, “Where else will you be able to go and do your shopping in the middle of the day when there’s no crowds?” How about, “Sure you can work longer days and take a half-day Friday. We love work-life balance here.”  If not, you might want to try it. Small businesses can distinguish themselves from their large corporate counterparts by offering laxer policies around time requirements. There’s some real benefits to this: by allowing your employees to work when they’re most productive (morning, mid-afternoon, or evening) you’re actually getting more bang for your buck. Not to mention preoccupied individuals not focused on their work will do a haphazard job, and could end up costing you considerable amounts.

3. Equity / Profit Sharing

What better incentive to give an employee is there than offering them a piece of the profit pie? If you’re afraid of offering a huge ownership percentage (10%+) only to have someone run off with part of your business, there’s some good options to help prevent that, ranging from vesting schedules to ‘golden handcuff’ agreements. A blog is far from legal advice (so be smart and consult a good corporate lawyer) but the idea goes something like this:  That office manager you couldn’t live without might only get 0.5% per year ‘vested’. That means that if they leave 3 years later, you’re only out 1.5% of your company. If you include a “right of first refusal” type clause, they can’t sell that to anyone else without offering it to you first. The schedule could accelerate after that, so after 5 years they accrue a full 1% per year.

On the other hand, a profit sharing agreement might be simpler and easier to implement. You make an agreement to share an amount (typically between 10-30%) of the company’s annual profit with its employees based on criteria like seniority. It gives them an excellent reason to hold down on expenses and fight to increase revenue, since all of a sudden their annual bonus is on the line. Plus, if it’s a profitable company to begin with, it might be enough to entice them to stay for the long haul.

4. Training & Education Reimbursement

The local state university typically runs about $1,000 a semester for part-time enrollment. With that in mind, it’s a small price to pay (approx. $3k per year) to help a dedicated employee obtain a graduate or other degree. You can always make stipulations such as needing to stay with your organization for 1 or 2 years post-graduation or risk having to pay that amount back.  Between the time it takes to complete the coursework and the additional stipulation beyond completion, you could help give your employee a strong incentive to stay an extra 3-4 years. More than enough time for the successful small business owner to increase sales enough to compete on salary (for the right person of course).

Access to training is another great way to show employees you care about their skill-set while also investing in your organization. Whether its a company-wide subscription to Books24x7.com, or paying for attendance at a seminar, employees appreciate the thought that you’re looking out for them and embracing their interests.

5. Meaningful Work

Perhaps more powerful than anything else is the ability to offer an employee a role that is meaningful and presents them with the opportunity to work to the best of their ability. Few people like to be micromanaged, and recent trends show workers enjoy being able to take ownership of their job and use a wide range of skills to complete tasks. Overly repetitive, monotonous jobs tend to frighten an individual almost as much as the prospect of a 30-year cubicle jail sentence.

These are just a few ways some companies are holding onto people. How about your own? What has your firm done to hold onto the people you couldn’t bear to lose?

The Treasure Chest - Not all of them are full of riches

Below are five tips you can use to make sure that your idea will actually show a net return.

Tip #1 – Just because its never been done, doesn’t mean it should be done!

Big companies have a lot going for them–access to capital, distribution, and of course some really, really smart employees. They pay these individuals big bucks to explore future options, and chances are if no one out there has ever tried what you want to do before; there might be a good reason for it. To start out, it’s sometimes (not always) better to focus on incremental improvements that you can then leverage into big wins. In the end however, you need to go with your gut (or better yet, sound market research!)

Tip #2 – Don’t throw good money after bad!

If you didn’t see a return on the first $1,000 you invested, chances are another $1,000 isn’t going to help.  In all seriousness, if your bootstrapped business venture is showing genuine promise, but just needs a few extra bucks to float until the checks start arriving that’s one thing. Just don’t be like so many dreamy eyed inventors pouring their life savings into an idea that isn’t panning out after a reasonable period of time.The same is true of friends and family approached by wound-be entrepreneurs. Be tough, and have a reasonable expectation of return on investment, and don’t merely rely on empty promises of would-be-riches.

Tip #3 – Speak with an expert, it might just save you time and money!

Engineers love to talk about their work. For that reason alone, the majority of people are afraid to start a conversation with them. If you can stomach the thought of hearing one of them drone on and on, it might just save you a great deal of time and effort exploring that great new idea you had. Even if it’s not their area of expertise, engineers are trained to be analytical problem solvers, using the resources they have as efficiently as possible.  Sometimes a little creativity is the nudge they need to prod them on the path to grand discoveries. (Just make sure that you feed the golden goose, not that it dies when you really need it later.) The same is, of course, true of other industry expertise.

Tip # 4 – Just Because they love it for free, doesn’t mean they’ll pay for it!

A new restaurant starting out decides it wants to aggressively grow market share. So it runs promotions. The first week it advertises free food and is stunned to find people lined up around the block. It continues this promotion for a second week, stunned at how well they’re being received by the market. The third week however, its back to reality, and prices start being charged.  Suddenly, a place that was standing room only is a ghost town, leaving its owners scratching their heads’ in frustration. Everyone loves a free product; but it takes real ingenuity and desirability to make something people will pay hard earned money for. That isn’t to discourage you from giving free samples however;  just remember that free has a tiny, bite-sized limit.

Tip # 5 – Not all clients are worth having

Look at who your target market is. How good are they at providing prompt payment? How often do they argue and complain over petty issues? Is it worth the time, aggravation, and damage to your mental well being? Many small business owners have found themselves putting their blood, sweat, and tears into projects with creeping scope and soaring costs, only to be stiffed for payment in the end over a minor clause in a contract. If a client’s ability to pay is ever in doubt it is best to request a large up-front deposit (25% minimum), and a signed and dated  Statement of Work. Serious clients appreciate the risk being taken on their behalf and will happily pay the deposit. Clients that can’t, won’t, or don’t intend to ever pay will normally start their bickering then, and it should give a business owner advanced notice that they’re in for a long, drawn out headache of a collections process.

These are just five general ways to help avoid potential money-pits and empty treasure chests for would be profiteers. As navigator and captain (and deck swaber) of one’s own ship, its up to you to make the final decisions on whether or not to enter dangerous waters. Just be sure to weigh the risks carefully. Remember: with no risk comes no reward, but with too much risk, there’s also no reward.

It must sound like a slap in the face to some. A college student, with little or no real-life experience crosses the stage on graduation day, and is awarded a degree in “Entrepreneurship”. During the previous four years of college, that individual may have never so much as risked a single dime, or talked to a single shop owner; and yet according to the University, they are now an expert in the field.

Try telling that to the small business owner who busts their butt to close enough sales to meet payroll each week.

Still, more and more business schools across the US are adopting the widely popular “Innovation & Entrepreneurship” style major. The premise makes sense: teach students how to write business plans, pitch ideas to VC’s and Angel investors, and give them skills in consumer research and market analysis. It sounds like an entrepreneurs dream: all of the things that may have held them back early on bundled up in a neat little package.

In truth, the idea even worries some colleges. Industry recruiters aren’t going to hire someone with a degree in “Entrepreneurship” when the very name implies they’ll be leaving once they have enough start-up capital to bootstrap their own company. Worse, what if they run off with some of your firms intellectual capital that you didn’t protect well enough? To address this, colleges softened the name of the major with “Innovation”, stressing that the program emphasizes creative thinking and re-designing and improving systems.

Their concern makes sense. What if the hard-pressed Entrepreneurship major doesn’t have an easy time coming up with an idea for a product to sell? Will they be forever stranded at the heels of some mad inventor, forced to turn a genius’s ramblings into a commercialized product? Hardly the corporate-free-life craved by some would-be entrepreneurs. Forced into a symbiotic relationship with an engineer or computer science major, helping them realize their dreams but not their own.

So the question is, are innovation degrees truly innovative? Can they lead students to founding great companies that employ the next generation of American workers? Unfortunately, only time can tell. Until those first few batches of graduates have a few years (and a few notches) under their belts we won’t be able to see the true benefits of the major. One can only hope though that entrepreneurs by life choice (not degree) can recognize the value these graduates can bring to their company, and give them a chance to learn from the real deal.

On the surface, the dilemma is simple.  Someone just needs to sign a lease for the space, pay rent, purchase equipment, coffee beans, cups, and some chairs and they can start brewing! It may sound simple, but are you going to take the time, money, and risk to do it? What if you’re the only one who wanted coffee in that complex? What if the coffee you brew only tastes good to you? What if the very second you sign the lease,  someone right across the street opens the doors to a fabulous cafe?

These things happen, and its for that very reason entrepreneurs should be revered. They take the risks required to solve some of society’s largest problems, everything from street-side coffee-shops to advanced robotics labs. Entrepreneurship is a difficult subject to discern, yet one so vital that colleges and universities across the nation are starting to offer degree programs in ‘Innovation & Entrepreneurship’.

The ability to innovate and solve a problem is something that definitely sets an individual apart; but perhaps even more important is the difference between being an observer and a doer. This is the fine line between someone who can recognize that there’s a problem, and someone who will actually act on it.  Forget leader and follower–anyone can make a critical observation and point it out to others. Its a rare few that have the tenacity to act on it.

A serial entrepreneur might go broke three, four, or more times before finding their big win. In the end however, they find a way to endure, to persevere against the odds, and to keep driving toward their goal. If their aim is true, and the problem is one society is willing to compensate for, they reap the unwritten bounty for their efforts. If they do it well, they might actually make ‘profit’.

Entrepreneurs are everywhere because problems are everywhere. The next time you stop and think ‘I wish’, remember, wishing isn’t just the realm of genies and fairies. There are other people looking to help make those little wishes come true.