No – not you!
For the machine at technorati. ZJTFPAGEP3U5
Archive for January, 2010
Dummy Post
Jan 26
One of the frequent issues I find in dealing with people in the corporate world is that they have no idea HOW to turn their passions into profits. It is as if we get a corporate lobotomy after working in cubicle farm.
Can that corporate lobotomy be reversed? Yes. How? By looking at examples that will expand your mind. While I find these examples in people I meet and in books I read – I have now found a site that has dozens on the stories listed for your reading.
Jonathan Fields, author of Career Renegade (a great read!!) has a blog site dedicated to the stories of those who have broken free. The site is called Renegade Profiles.
Just as an example - here is one of those profiles about a “starving artist” who figured out how to make it work doing what she loves.
If you are stuck trying to figure out what to do – spend some time on Renegade Profiles!
Start With The End In Mind
Jan 20
This is from our IEM Blog.
Dale Callahan, IEM Director at UAB and author of “Discovering the Entrepreneur in You“, is bringing you his
8 Easy Steps for Starting Your Own Business.
Looking to break away and start something on your own? Tired of being held hostage in a company making stupid decisions and having no control?
Get a free lunch and learn the eight steps to starting your own company and making money on your own terms.
The first “Lunch and Learn” session is coming up
(yes, there will be free food, so be sure and sign up if you want to eat!)
The session will focus on reaching out to people who are interested in starting their own business and answering several questions about how to begin a business of your own.
These “Lunch and Learn” sessions are designed to give you a chance to talk with successful business owners and ask all those burning questions in the back of your mind.
Not sure if your idea is a good one?
Not sure how to begin your business?
Or maybe you aren’t sure how to fund your business venture?
All of these questions and more can be asked and answered in 8 easy steps with Dale Callahan’s Lunch and Learn sessions.
Click Here to find out more and Sign Up Today.
(can’t make Jan 22? That’s ok–there are more sessions available. Click Here to view more options.)
Don Appleby recently posted an article by MSNBC.
I love the title of article he is discussing. The title is
“Americans’ job satisfaction falls to record low”
and even better the subtitle
“Economists warn discontent could stifle innovation, hurt U.S. productivity”
Why do I love this depressing news? Because it says so much about what our society thinks about earning a living.
Let me see if I follow the logic….
- we hate our jobs – therefore
- we are less productive – therefore
- we are less innovative – therefore
- other countries start to beat us (the us here is the United States) in the marketplace.
Here are some things I think the authors and economists are missing:
- Other countries are suffering from the same dissatisfaction of the workforce. The desire to have meaning in life and work and have some control over our lives is not only for those of us who live in the United States – it is true of all people. It always has been.
- Some people will not stay in a miserable situation. While many will, others will decide to take there career and their job satisfaction into their own hands. They will go make something happen – and therefore be MORE productive. A few of these entrepreneurs can offset the lack of productivity in hundreds.
The disturbing thing about this article is that the assumption is that the only way to be productive is to work for someone else. Do these brilliant academics really think all workers in corporate America are productive? Have they ever lived a day in the life of someone suffering cubicle insanity – going to meaningless meetings, spending more time justifying they are working then actually working because the company demands reports of productivity, and then when something productive happens – it gets lost in the middle of some middle management power struggle.
In other words – do they think Dilbert is fiction?
The fact is, the United States (as well as other productive countries) have a history of productive that comes from innovation – and innovation rarely comes from large companies.
We must remember – people innovate – not companies. Very often the companies have a tendency to stifle innovation instead of promoting it. Very often people get fed up with their jobs at companies and become entrepreneurs and go and make things happen for real.
Even the large companies who succeed know that. How many small companies have the giants like Microsoft and Google bought in the last few years? They know it is easier to buy innovation then to innovate internally.
Perhaps the best thing we can do if we love our country is to follow the advice of the likes of Pamela Slim, Johnathan Fields, Dan Miller and many others who tell us to get out and make something happen.
Branding for Entrepreneurs
Jan 15
The other day at a meeting I heard Michael Bell from The Modern Brand talk about what to do when your small business revenues are down and business is slow. His pitch was to existing company owners and entrepreneurs, many of whom are hurting financially right now. While listening to his advice for marketing in hard times, I thought his ideas where excellent for start-ups – those entrepreneurs who have yet to escape cubicle insanity. So I have taken his six points and reworded them for those of you looking to break free of cubicle insanity and go it alone.
1. Think about your business goals. Define them and write them down. A good thing to do when starting, but as we grow we need to continually rethink and recalibrate. Most businesses –no , most people—- do NOT have written goals even though we have been told that those who have written goals do more, succeed more, and make more. Yes, even when the stats show only 3% of the population has written goals – so with this easy step you could set yourself apart from the crowd .
If you already have your goals written down, congrats! If not – do it! Note that most entrepreneurs and businesses I council do not have any written goals. Shame on them.
2. Make concrete offers in your marketing. As an entrepreneur with a start-up, you cannot be thinking of ads that are just there to brand you – like the NIKE branding campaign of “Just do it”. You need instead to think of a specific offer so that your marketing dollars can be tracked to real results. For instance, a Facebook ad for an ebook should be trackable so you can measure the effectiveness of that particular ad. I have recently pulled some magazine ads for this very reason – I could not track results. The editors tried the old tried-and-true trick of reminding me about exposure you get from magazines – but I happen to think that getting a solid return on investment works best for me. When you are starting, this is critical. Make your offers concrete and track them.
3. Make sure you are making the RIGHT offer. In others words, find out what matters to your customer and then deliver it to them. Appeal to the 6 basic human want-tos
- want to be happier
- want to be smarter
- want to be richer
- want to be healthier
- want to be attractive
- want to be safer
Remember that people do not buy features – they buy benefits. How does your product or service benefit them? How does it make them feel? How does if fill their “want-to” needs?
4. Find bargains. When people quit advertising, those in the advertising business get really flexible. You can 
get some real bargains right now if you are a start-up. But this can be true when business is hot. Advertisers often will work deals for start-ups, hoping if they can get their business early and prove themselves as bringing in the business, they will have a loyal customer later. Remember, everything is always negotiable! Do not be afraid to ask for some discount – ever.
5. Market to existing customers. While this is a little harder for a start-up with NO customers, you should think about the people who got you into the business. Who has been asking for your help? Who have you served on a volunteer basis? Reach out to them and their friends. After all, they know what you can deliver. Just get with them and offer them some tangible benefits beyond what you did for free.
6. Use social media. I am sure Michael was thinking to himself – you big dummies – you should do this ANYWAY. Social media is hot – and while not all your customers will be plugged in, you can get a long way by doing just social media. Brian Cauble, one of our IEM alumni, has touted to me the glories social media has won for him. Brian knows social media is NOT a toy, but a serious business tool. So look at your market and then play with tools like Linkedin, Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook. Test things and see what works. After all, they are almost free. (I say “almost” because they do take time and effort)
Let’s Have Some FUN!
Jan 11
I saw this video on Chris Brogan’s blog and at first thought it looked a little lame. But I continued to watch. I must admit that I see why Chris likes it -- this is a great message.
Check it out -- only takes 5 minutes.
You know, this message is not new -- but given that over 60% of people hate their jobs …… we must not be listening!
So we’ve talked about what we want, and we’ve talked about how to make what we want make money, but NOW how do we decide which options for making money are the best? Are some of them too crazy? Am I scared to try some of them for lack of funding or even lack of gumption? How do I handle those things?
Watch this video and find out. The final chapter in a three step series on how to make money from your passion.
Goals in 2010
Jan 6
I have been working for a few days looking back at my 2009 company results and looking forward to my 2010 goals. Have you set new goals – or perhaps dusted off your old ones?
The results of this time of reflection have been somewhat bittersweet.
- The companies (AskDrCallahan) revenue and profit was up – but not anything to be that excited about. Of course some business people are telling me I need to settle and be glad I am still in business. I am. I am blessed – but I do not settle.
- My time in 2009 (hey that rhymes) was spent poorly. A lot of time in busy work and a lack of aggressive action. I was just too timid to burst through some doors to make things happen.
- I was coasting – not really goal driven. In part, my goal setting process was so complex I spent more time setting and changing goals than I did making them happen. Also I was often overwhelmed not knowing what to do next.
- Many of my goals were not mine – I did not own them.
All this has led to some new goals and perhaps more importantly some new methods of self management. First the new methods….
- Set the goals that are measurable and specific. You know, goal that you know when they are done and have a deadline. I teach this stuff – but often fail to follow my own advice.
- Write down WHY I wanted this goal. This one thing made several of my goals change. I was amazed when I had to answer the why question – on some I did not have an answer.
- Make things easier. I tend to over-complicate things and then get frozen in complexity. (My wife laughs in the background) One example is our household budget – which I would pull numbers from Quicken and put into excel for further analysis. No more – use Quicken’s budget now and go with it.
- Be bold in 2010. I am tired of being timid waiting for the right time to do things. I need to get off my butt and do them. (Of course now I have a written record of what I said – so this should help;)
- Delegate. I am TERRIBLE about this. I hesitate to do it and when I do often struggle to get the results I wanted. Fortunately I have been blessed to be surrounded by very capable people who seem to know how to get it done even with a poorly laid out vision. This is all my own problem – and I intend to fix it. Anyone know of good workshops, books, or other material that could help?
Now here are some of the goals I have for 2010. (I will spare you the whole list)
- Attend a networking event each week. I tend to hate going out in public and doing these things unless I am the speaker. If I am speaking I feel like I either add value or not – otherwise I feel like networking events are an odd mix of people selling. But in reality, every time I go to a networking I get real results. New business deals, new people I meet with interesting stories, and new people I can help.
- Take a course on learning and remembering peoples names by Feb 15, 2010. I know a lot of us struggle with this – but I see some people who seem to remember peoples names – so I know I can get better. This is not a gimmick to get business – I want to focus on people as part of my core beliefs. And knowing and using peoples names is a great way to show people I value and respect them. I also am terrible about not using peoples names when I do know them – I plan to do better.
- Do one talk per month on Escaping Cubicle Insanity. This is an area where Boldness comes in. I love to give talks – kinda fun for me. But I so often think that nobody wants to hear what I have to say. So I wait until asked to speak. It was pointed out to me just the other day that the “cubicle insanity” is something of value to people and I am doing a dis-service to others by not putting it out there. So time to be bold and speak. (And to be bold – if you have a place you would like to hear about Escaping Cubicle Insanity – let me know and we will make it happen if at all possible.)
- Develop a social media connection pool of 10,000 Twitter, 1000 LinkedIn, and 5000 Facebook by October 31, 2010. I must admit, I really struggled with the WHY on this one. I am pretty new to social media – and I am not sure why these numbers except from input from others who know. But this is somewhat a leap of faith – not knowing where it will take me. But you can help – and connect to me any or all of the ways above.
- Increase the company pretax revenue 2.7 times by Dec 31, 2010. No, this is not how it is really worded, but to avoid putting real numbers on the page this should suffice. The company for me is really a series of companies that do different things. Two issues you might note – I am talking revenue instead of profit. The reason I am NOT measuring profit on this goal is ease of measurement internally AND I know our expense structure. A doubling of revenue means more than a doubling of profit – so I am happy with that. A second note comes from the comment I have gotten from some business leaders who say in the next few years businesses had best brace for survival instead of growth. With congress out of control, many businesses are afraid and just want to make it through. While I certainly see their concern, I refuse to live on fear, instead I plan to be able to adjust to what is going on and profit. A group of fools may be making the rules, but we do not have to be foolish in how we adapt to them.
- Run 3 miles (at one time;) by July 2010. I used to run a lot, and have gotten out of it. I really was not that interested in starting into running again, but I keep finding myself surrounded by runners like Suman and Jill, so I am motivated. I was going to do the marathon thing as a goal, but that is just not me.
I must admit putting these goals out there seems a little open to me – I tend to be very private and reserved. Of course this is not everything, I will keep some specifics to myself, but this is a lot for me to be public about.
Now what about you? Do you have goals? Want to share any? Better yet, how can I help you meet any of your goals?
