Common Sense Success

One of the biggest things missing from vast parts community at these times of hardship is commonsense.  I don’t know if it is the media that is feeding the freenzy or if it is just expressing the concerns already out there, but the headlines seem to be all about doom, gloom and pestilence.  Where has the commonsense gone?

Yes, the economy is proving to be a challenge and many people and businesses will feel the full, negative effect of it.  Yes, there is a new, particularly contagious strain of the flu making it way around the world but it is no worse than seasonal flu (about 36,000 people in the U.S. die annually from seasonal influenza).

Maybe it is time for a little practical commonsense.  The following thoughts from Seth Godin are written on the whiteboard above my desk.  Maybe you will find them useful to regain your practical, action focused self.

• See what is possible
• Know specifically what you want to achieve
• Make good decisions
• Understand the tactics to get things done and change minds
• Earn the trust and respect of the people around you

It’s Web Conference Season

This week sees me at my yearly absorption of all great web trends at the Web Directions South conference.

In real-time I will be sharing insights via Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/leahmac) and I will be gathering my notes together when I get a chance for some clear thought and posting here, the best of the information.

At the end of October I’ll be doing a “lunch and learn” half-day session for clients to discuss how these insights might specifically work for them. Just one way I can add some extra value for them

How to Work Solo and Sustainably at the Same Time

Every time I open the newspaper lately there is another big corporate company making commitments to sustainability and carbon neutrality.  These commitments are both good policy and good marketing.  But do we soloists and small business owners need to leave the sustainability statements to the big guys?  I think not.

So here I am to put out the Working Solo sustainability policy statement and at the same time challenge each of you to commit to and announce your own policy.

Sustainability Statement
Working Solo is committed to running a business that is both socially and environmentally sustainable.  We will seek to minimise and, if possible, avoid adverse effects on the natural and social environment.  Our services will reflect the needs of our clients, our community and be delivered in a way that means our staff, our services and our business are around for the long term.

Environmental & Sustainability Objectives and Commitments
We will:

• actively manage water, energy, paper and resource consumption throughout our office;
• commit to recycling and waste management and to the purchase of recycled products where possible and within reasonable cost boundaries;
• use environmental criteria when choosing prospective suppliers and the selection of products for all operations;
• utilise 100% green energy for our office;
• offset all emissions from business activities and operations and use suppliers who also do the same;
• ensure that we meet or exceed any relevant environmental regulations where we operate;
• volunteer our services and expertise to environmental and social situations and organisations that will represent the same sustainability principals and ethics or Working Solo.

Now it’s your turn … what are the commitments that you and your business make to a more sustainable business environment?

If you are interested in one of the sustainability projects we have recently supported you can visit the FMCG Sustainability Institute.  We were happy to create their website and are providing ongoing web and technology support.

What to Do When They Cut Your Connection

So you’ve got a backup plan for your computer data (you do don’t you?) and you have started using SaaS services to ensure you have access to your business information from anywhere. But what plans do you have in place for the day that some bright spark takes to your telco’s infrastructure with an angle-grinder or back-hoe?

Thousands of services on the Telstra network were effected when vandals managed to cut 2 fibre optic cables in Sydney’s west on Saturday. Many businesses and homes they are still without service. The Sydney Morning Hearld is reporting that -

About 5000 western Sydney homes and businesses remain without phone, internet and cable television services after vandals cut a Telstra communications cable.

Even though this type of incident doesn’t happen everyday, it is not a one-off occurrence. Almost 20 years ago when I was working for Telstra someone with a big grudge and even bigger angle-grinder stepped into a communications tunnel in front of a major central Sydney telephone exchange and proceeded to take down tens of thousands of services. There are also numerous tales of cables being dug up during roadworks, general construction and even whilst laying other cables.

So what would you do if you came into work this morning and their was not telephone, internet, eftpos terminal …? Use your mobile? Ever thought how mobile phone traffic is carried across the network?

” … there are still thousands of customers without services like phones, Foxtel, internet, businesses without Eftpos and several base stations are still not working for mobiles …”
-Warwick Ponder, Telstra spokesman from SMH article [my emphasis]

So that area can forget about using their mobiles as a backup, unless they decide to do business away from the out of action base stations.

The chances of you not having communications are not restricted to Telstra customers or Sydney. Char Polansky at Essential Keystrokes had to deal with a hi-speed cable outage just a couple of weeks ago. Char asked readers of her blog for suggestions to get around not having communications. My suggestion was that she develop a relationship with another small business where she could set up her laptop and work from their premises (this is my suggestion to everyone by the way).

What would you do if you couldn’t communicate digitally with the world?

BTW – Go and have a look at my article in the latest edition of The Calm Space. It has a suggestion that might be useful during short term outage.

New Year – New Changes

First and foremost let me wish you a very happy 2008! May this year contain all the things that you are wishing/planning for.

The second, and main purpose of this post is to ask you a question (yes you sitting there quietly reading away thing that no one is watching).

Even though I’m on my mid-summer/new year holidays and there is plenty of others things to be doing (like watching cricket and hanging out with my man) I’m also in planning mode for Working Solo. There are already plans afoot for 2008 that are very exicting but one of the things that I’m going to complete before I get back to officially working (on Jan 14) is a new look and feel for this site.

So I’m asking for your feedback …

If you could change ONE thing about the Working Solo website, what would it be?

Any and all suggestions will be considered.

Plans to Finish up 2008 (aka Where did the year go)

The number of people that are saying “where did the year go” seems to me to get greater each year. Is that about the speed of our society / economy / technology or just that we are getting older?

This year I am honouring a resolution that I made last December (who said resolutions were just for January) – I’m going to be more organised for December and have a plan on how the next few weeks are going to be used in the business.

So for this week and next I will be -

• focused on tidying up all the clients projects I have on my plate
• sending a note to all my clients who still need to get me content/details so the project can be finished setting a deadline of next Monday (10th) to receive any oustanding material (otherwise the project will have to be moved into January).
• sending out Christmas cards and other tokens of my appreciation to clients, champions, advisors and friends thanking them for helping me have a great 2007.

Once these next 2 weeks are finished I will be spending the week before Christmas focused on Working Solo (as Michael Gerber would say “working on the business, rather than in the business). There are many ideas running through my head about how I can best serve my clients (current, past and future) and now is the time to start planning for 2008, so when January comes I can hit the ground running.

Allocating (and following through) on this business development time in December is one of the biggest things that I haven’t been doing that I need to change. For me planning and development activities in January makes me feel like I’m already behind the game; running to play catch up right from the very beginning.

I will be taking 3 weeks of annual leave from 21st December to 14th January. My clients will know how to contact me if things are urgent but often it is them who encourage me to have a good break, as they need me to be at my best to help with all the great ideas they have been brewing for the new year.

To all the solo and small business owners who read this blog – I’m curious as to what you end of year plans are and how you will be handling the transition from this year to the next.

(btw – the graphic in this article is the 2008 slogan not just for Working Solo but for the Maclean family this year. If you like it don’t just grab it but ask instead as this is covered by copyright).

Walk to Work Day tomorrow

For those of us who are self-employed and work from a home based office the concept of a walk to work day couldn’t be easier – how hard can it be to walk from your kitchen to whichever room your desk is in (or even to the garage).

So tomorrow’s National Walk to Work Day (here in Australia) should have the support of every home-based business owner.

But I want to extend the challenge to you, my home-based colleagues, just that little bit more …. instead of staying within the confines of your house I want you to get out the front door and walk a little further.  Whether it is around the block, across the suburb or even a few kms more the choice is yours.

In my experience, walking before you sit yourself down in front of that computer can be a great way to clear the mind and get some oxygen in the system before the day gets out of hand.  Now I must admit that over the past couple of weeks I haven’t been doing this but that is about to change.  In fact I’m going to make October Walk to Work month.

What are you going to do?

[tags]walk to work, work at home, entrepreneur health[/tags]

Hello to all The Australian Readers

If you have headed here from the article in the Entrepreneur section of today’s Australian newspaper, let me give you a warm welcome. If you would like to get a regular dose of tips on small business technology then you might want to subscribe using one of the links over there on the right. You might also want to browse the archive to see if there is anything of interest to you.

A big thank you to my client Megan Tough, who was also featured in the article, for recommending that the journalist call and speak with me.

If you are a regular reader and would like to see the article (currently it is not online at The Australian website) then let me know.

UPDATE:  You can find the article, Interactive Beats Static, written by Ed Charles online.

Carnival of Entrepreneurs 16th Edition

The [tag]Carnival of Entrepreneurs[/tag] has travelled halfway around the world and landed in Australia (it is around 19385 kms from Montreal to Sydney).

Highlights

The highlighted posts this week were actually inspired by Wayne Hurlbert’s post on politeness. Each of these highlighted posts not only thought about themselves when submitting their post to the carnival but they also thought about the carnival host. By taking a few extra minutes in the submission process and providing a well-rounded description they not only piqued my interest but also made my job of host just a little bit easier. Something for everyone to keep in mind for future submissions. Thank you!

So here are our respectful participants …

As I mentioned Wayne Hurlbert at Blog Business World raised an interesting subject that may seem old-fashioned, but is just as relevant today as ever, when he talks about Politeness: Respect for others pays.

Being a polite and courteous person makes one a rare individual in today’s world. Politeness, and a genuine concern for the rights and feelings of others in our society seems to have slammed the door in our faces. A culture of rudeness has become a feature of modern society. Whether it’s loud cellphone conversations, line cutting, or terrible customer service by staff people, finding politeness in the world is on the decline.

Jim Logan touches on a subject that was very familiar to me when I worked in the corporate technology world – white papers. He is urging those of us still inclined to them to Use white papers with caution in complex sales lead generation.

White papers are wonderful documents. I encourage my clients to use them in their sales process. I’ve personally used them in countless sales opportunities, where they’ve proved to be effective at advancing an opportunity. More companies can and likely should use them more often. As much as I like white papers, I don’t use them in lead generation. Here’s why:

John Peter at OhCash.com touches on some interesting thoughts with that old chestnut of Business Networking Techniques. He has some good tips for those of us (and I am talking me here) that still hate this part of business.

Clearly business networking is one of the most effective methods of generating and maintaining business, but how do you do it? When you first enter a room full of business people, how do you overcome your fear and work the room.

Dave Prouhet, the Editor at Business Advice Daily presents some useful and interesting tips on Starting a Home Based Business.

Thousands of men and women make the break each year and exit corporate America to join the ranks of home-based business ownership. Some would argue that a home-based business is just like any other business, except for the location. Well, yes and no.

Jack Yoest presents Managing Management Time: Harvard’s Monkey Paper by Oncken posted at Reasoned Audacity. Every capitalist thought leader and opinion maker dreams of creating a cliche that enters the popular language, the popular culture. The Tipping Point. The Three Second Rule. The Monkey on Your Back. The Monkey on Your Back is one that I had heard of in other contexts but here Jack shares this expression as the situation where an individual has the next move in an assignment (based on the classic article, Management Time: Who’s Got the Monkey? by William Oncken, Jr. and Donald L. Wass)

Wilson Ng presents Choose your Battles posted at Reflections of a BizDrivenLife.

We are so used to competing, that we spend a lot of time and resources winning or excelling in unnecessary things in which has no meaning or bearing to your overall goals. “I was not harrowing myself into unnecessary battles in which winning was meaningless. And I made myself think — what are other life battles which we spend so much energy to be ahead, instead of just letting go? Why not compete where and when it is important? Why not choose your battles?”

Self-Knowledge

Pete Aldin (aka The Riddler) actually encourages us to live our strengths in all their gory, I mean glory, in his post Don’t Turn Away from Your Strengths – Support Them at Great Circle.

Do you put a lid on your natural personality and aptitudes? No! You find out what’s missing in your skillset and work on that instead! Don’t downplay your strengths – find new ways to support them.

Carolyn Manning, it seems, has been reading some of the same books and thinking some of the same thoughts that I have lately in her post Less Will Always Be More posted at Thoughts & Philosophies.

While it’s a great idea to keep an eye on starting up, we also need to think about slowing down. “The world won’t blow up if we don’t personally clean it.”

In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honore is one of my favourite books of the past 12 months.

Pushpa Sathish presents 101 Bonehead Mistakes Every Manager Should Avoid (what a great title) at Business Intelligence Lowdown. These tips even work for those of us who manage ourselves. Solopreneurs also need to forgive their “staff” occasionally. And yes there are 101 tips – lots of food for thought even if you don’t agree with them all.

We’ve all heard that “To err is human, to forgive divine,” but how many of us realize the truth behind that old adage? We tend to make more than our share of mistakes, and most of our compatriots show that they are 100 percent human and zero percent divine by never letting us forget our trespasses. And in case you’re a manager or superior of some kind, the divinity aspect goes flying out the window.

Debra Moorhead is suggesting a slightly different way to get organised in her post Using Vision Boards to Organize Your Life.

Everything came together for me visually. I have a difficult time visualizing, so I knew that creating a vision board would help me, but I did not expect a life altering experience. Even with all the good vibes out there about vision boards, I still just thought it would be something just “cool” to do. Interesting arrangement – be, do, have!

Nala at The Abundant Life wants to know Is Your Life Working For You? If what you are doing each and every day isn’t working then something has to change.

Our life is either working for us or it is not. Either way, we know. I don’t simply mean your job … or your TV habits … or your drinking habits … or your work ethic. What I mean is something much bigger: is your way of thinking and being in the world working for you?

The Positivity Blog takes a look at Why some people almost always are successful. One of the best ways to succeed is to model yourself on the characteristics of successful people. In this post at the Positivity Blog Henrik Edberg shares 14 qualities of success that he has gleened from studying people like Michael Jordan, Thomas Edison, Eleanor Roosevelt and Henry Ford.

Stephanie West Allen at idealawg scared the pants off me with her post title, Decrease snake consent: Soon those workplace jerks will look kind of silly. Just like Stephanie I don’t like snakes – but especially the reptilian kind. In her post she raises the point that our reactions actually give the human “snake” some of their power.

I am reminded that snake consent is a choice each of us can make or choose against. There is an inverse relationship between snake consent and self-esteem. Examining that relationship gives us valuable insight.

Business Knowledge

Amy L. Fontinelle at Personal Finance Advice presents Ten Tips for Entrepreneurial Success . There is a wealth of good advice in Amy’s 10 tips, and not just for the new business owner (sometimes those of us in business a while need a reminder). I particularly like tips #3, #4 and #5.

Sudhanshu uncovers where the convergent world of technology may be heading in the post Why Web 3.0 would really be Mobile 2.0? The start of Moogle.

The mobile market, they say, is wide open. Mobile search is still in its infancy, so are most of other applications.

Emmanuel challenges people looking to start there own business to take a long, hard look at some of the critical factors to success in the post Before you go the crazy route? at Inspiring Excellence, Realising Ambitions.

You must realize that family support is also an important factor to business success. Otherwise, you might start feeling lonely as you go through your endeavours.

Matthew Paulson at Getting To Graduation presents Writers: How to Make $1000 a Month from Associated Content posted . Matthew is an entrepreneur in the making, who in amongst a large demand on his time from study and other activities still manages to find time to write 30 articles a week that allows him to pocket around $1000 each month. Not a bad part-time job!

Joseanes at Money And Investing looks at the minefield that can be incorporation in the post Incorporating… Too Many Options. This is the path that is taken for a North American business owner, so I wouldn’t recommend that too many of my fellow Australians follow this path. The final paragraph though seems to be universal -

What Happens If I Do Not Incorporate? Nothing. You still live a happy life. You can make an Sole Proprietor business or a Partnership. You still get income to report and pay taxes on them and you can still open accounts for the business. The only difference may come if you need some personal legal protection from debts or claims/lawsuits.

Ted Reimers has put together a post on the Best Business Schools for the Entrepreneur at CampusGrotto. If you are looking to back your entrepreneurial skills with some big business school academics then Ted has put together a list of 10 options primarily for people in North America (unless of course you want to travel).

My Additional Recommendations

There are many reasons that some very good blogs don’t get around to be included in carnivals such as this – too little time, not knowing the carnival exists or even plain old apathy. So I have decided to add a section to this week’s carnival where I reach out and include some of my favourites of the past few days.

18 Stupid Mistakes Bloggers Make in their First Year
This post by Christine Kane is one of the best blog-versary posts that I have come across. Christine shares that she has

“learned more this year about websites, blogs and the internet than I ever thought I’d want to learn. Lots of what I’ve learned, I’ve learned through my mistakes. Some of what I’ve learned, I’ve learned from other people’s mistakes.”

I particularly liked tips #1, #2 & #3.

How the Discovery Channel Can Help You Score Links
Brian Clark is always font of knowledge about how to best position your blog to attract attention but in a recent post, How the Discovery Channel Can Help You Score Links, he used a phrase that I love “we are all geeks”.

When it comes to our own profession, hobby, or circumstances, we’re all geeks. We want to know the latest specialized details that matter to us, and we love it when that information is presented in an interesting or even entertaining manner.

Getting Still #3 – Stilling Your Thoughts
Káren Wallace has been posting a series on Getting Still and one of the most valuable to me as an entrepreneur is her post on Stilling Your Thoughts. I call this trying to stop the “business owners brain” syndrome. At times stop my mind from becoming awash with all manner of business thoughts is like trying to close the airlock on a submarine when the water has already started coming in. Karen shares something that many entrepreneurs struggle with -

For me, and for quite a few people I talk to – meditation by sitting and clearing the mind is very, very difficult… and I find that I can gain a better result with a moving meditation where my body is active (added benefit there:) and my mind has to be calm .

And so the carnival comes to an end for another week. As I pack up all the trappings and send it over the seas once again to Ben I will remind you that you have only one short week to submit your posts for next week’s carnival.

Enjoy your week!

Conference Envy

Chris Owen, my very good friend and chief pink-people-connector at Pink Apple, has a very strong case of conference envy. She says that she loves being in Australia but at times wants to be closer to North America and Europe for the ease of access to conferences.

But there are times when you wish you were a little bit closer to the action! It’s a bloody long and expensive flight to the US or Europe.

My disappointment ands yearning has been prompted this time because if I’d been able I would be attending a blogging conference called SOBCon 07.

I started to write a comment on her post and decided that after 3 paragraphs that it was too long for a comment and decided to post it here and trackback to her instead. The other reason that I decided to put it here is because I feel that Chris is not alone (feel free to tell me whether I am right or wrong).

So here is my open answer to Chris (and to anyone else that is listening/reading).

Chris, Darren has loads of great contacts but I would imagine that his time is caught up in speaking at many of these conferences, running his business and having a life. So why not look at getting a few mates together and arrange a space/time yourself (much like Phil and crew have done).

I believe that this conference has come out of Liz Strauss’ open mic night on the SuccessfulBlog and from months developing a strong network of good contacts (I’m not 100% sure on this and would love to here from one of the main organisers for [tag]SOBCon 07[/tag] with more details). And now they are going to get together in person and invite other people along for the ride.

There are so many great [tag]bloggers[/tag] here in Australia that we don’t connect with and that would be able to deliver the same content, and possibly more. [tag]Des Walsh[/tag] comes to mind immediately.

What is it that you would be looking for in this conference Chris? Information? Connection? What would a conference like this do for you? (yeah I know too many questions)

There are a variety of conferences and meetings held in [tag]Australia[/tag] that bloggers go to at the moment but I suspect that many of these are targetted to the high-end (the geeks, full-time, already now a lot crowd). I suspect what you are looking for Chris is something targetted at the regular business owner that wants to know more about how to be a better blogger. Yes? No?

If someone else organised this (eg. if I could be tempted) how much interest is there really?

The huge North American or European conferences would be great but right here in our own backyard we have the experience and wisdom to satisfy even the more ardent business blogger.

[tags]conference, Darren Rowse, Phil Gerbyshak, Chris Owen[/tags]

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