Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Electronic To-Do List Tool
Almost a year ago, I wrote a post about my own explorations in creating an on-screen to-do list.
As it turns out, that's been a very popular post. Well, let me clarify: people searching for to-do list widgets has been very popular search. (If that's how you got here, see this post for a link to one.)
But if you haven't yet tried moving your to-do list from your desk to your computer screen consider these benefits:
Get serious
On a scrap of paper or post-it, tasks on the list appear to be less important. Typing it up your list makes you give it the kind of attention that you would a letter or business outline. Doing so sends a message to your subconscious that this is serious business to attend to.
Editable
The things you first write down on your to-do list may not be the highest priority, but on paper, if they stay at the top, you are more likely to try to get those done first. You risk not taking care of your highest priorities if you don't re-arrange the list. Even putting numbers next to the items in order of importance doesn't change the visual impression of what's most important. If your list is on paper, you have to waste time rewriting. On-screen, you can cut and paste quickly.
Visible
Lists on paper have a way of disappearing. On your computer screen, you're able to keep your list open and up all day.
The folks at 37signals (makers of Basecamp, a popular project management web app, and Backpack, an online sharable notepad) have Ta-da List, an easy, free to-do list tool that you can share with others, if you choose.
As it turns out, that's been a very popular post. Well, let me clarify: people searching for to-do list widgets has been very popular search. (If that's how you got here, see this post for a link to one.)
But if you haven't yet tried moving your to-do list from your desk to your computer screen consider these benefits:
Get serious
On a scrap of paper or post-it, tasks on the list appear to be less important. Typing it up your list makes you give it the kind of attention that you would a letter or business outline. Doing so sends a message to your subconscious that this is serious business to attend to.
Editable
The things you first write down on your to-do list may not be the highest priority, but on paper, if they stay at the top, you are more likely to try to get those done first. You risk not taking care of your highest priorities if you don't re-arrange the list. Even putting numbers next to the items in order of importance doesn't change the visual impression of what's most important. If your list is on paper, you have to waste time rewriting. On-screen, you can cut and paste quickly.
Visible
Lists on paper have a way of disappearing. On your computer screen, you're able to keep your list open and up all day.
The folks at 37signals (makers of Basecamp, a popular project management web app, and Backpack, an online sharable notepad) have Ta-da List, an easy, free to-do list tool that you can share with others, if you choose.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
The Top Five Surprisingly Necessary Qualities For Small Business Owners
(Note from Tara: This post is by Mark Silver, and appears on his Heart of Business blog. Used with the author's permission.)
It’s no joke, many small businesses end at a young age. Their owners, burnt out, broke, or simply preoccupied, give them up for good.
It can be a long, winding, rough path to get a business going. I’ve heard the same stories you have about the overnight sensations. But, for the vast majority of small business owners, it can take a lot of elbow grease and a lot of time before there seems to be any solidity.
When someone does move the sewing machine back into their home office, dusts off the resume, and heads back out into the job market, sometimes my heart aches for the missed opportunity and broken dreams. Other times I just nod, thinking it’s the best choice.
When is it which? And, more personally, how do you know whether you should stick it out and keep pushing, or give up?
A baseline assumption before we begin.
There are obvious questions: Are you providing a quality product or service? Do people need, use, and pay for things similar to what you’re offering? I’m going to start with the assumption that these are already established.
The real issue is that business comes, but not easily. You’ve been working really hard at it, and you’re exhausted and wondering if you should give up.
What does it really take to raise a business?
It doesn’t take an MBA from Harvard, or anywhere else. It doesn’t take spiritual enlightenment (although a grounded spiritual practice helps tremendously). And, it certainly doesn’t take a once-in-a-era miracle.
But it does take certain qualities. Five of them, in fact.
The Top Five Qualities
Everyone I’ve seen who’s gone from struggling to successful in business has been able to access these qualities, perhaps imperfectly and inconsistently, but they’ve got ‘em, and they cultivated them. And it pays off.
1. Vulnerability.
It’s okay to take off that armor, Lancelot. It’s too heavy and hot, anyway. Vulnerability is when you are open to letting things in. Want more money? You need to be vulnerable. Need help from others? Vulnerability. Learning about your blind spots, or something new about marketing… yup, vulnerability.
It’s the ability to say “I don’t know.” It’s the willingness to risk falling in love, and opening your heart. It’s when you say: “I can’t do it on my own. Can you help me?”
On this entire list, I rate vulnerability as the single most important success indicator for small business owners. Without it, you’re alone in the world, and can’t receive what you need. And, it’s hard to access the other four qualities without it.
2. Creativity.
Here’s how I define creativity: the ability to see how unlike things go together. Kinda like Sufism and Business, right? Creativity isn’t the power to create something out of nothing- it’s the insight to see what odd, strange, unlike things can be combined to be useful.
This helps in creating unique offers. This helps in finding a place to fit your home office when there isn’t a spare bedroom. This helps in spotting opportunities and niches.
It’s actually a poetic quality- and successful business owners cultivate this ability to fit odd pieces together in (sometimes) useful ways.
3. Trust. (or Faith.)
The stereotype is working seven days a week, late into the night, getting it all done. Yet, you can’t work ten to twelve hours every day and be truly productive. Things start to break down. You miss opportunities, fall blind to miracles. You need spaciousness.
And to get that spaciousness, you have to have trust. Without the deep trust in your heart that you are going to be okay, you can’t wrestle your to-do list to the ground and leave things, sometimes important things, undone, so you can access your creativity and aliveness.
4. Sovereignty.
You are in charge. It’s important, with vulnerability, to get advice, to learn, to let other sources of wisdom and experience guide you. But, when it comes down to it, you set the course.
Your business is a precious being, a vehicle for hopes, dreams, and transformative work in the world. It can provide a living for you, and perhaps others, and can help many people with some problem that’s creating struggle for them.
Finding inside yourself the willingness to act, sometimes with less care and more boldness. To take actions and make decisions, even if they are at times messy and imperfect. To be the captain of your ship. Without Sovereignty, you don’t have a business, you have a job.
5. Patience.
Wait for it… wait for it… Actually, the quality of Patience isn’t about waiting for your ship to come in. Patience is described by Sufi author and scholar Neil Douglas Klotz, in his book The Sufi Book of Life, as a pathway:
It’s no joke, many small businesses end at a young age. Their owners, burnt out, broke, or simply preoccupied, give them up for good.
It can be a long, winding, rough path to get a business going. I’ve heard the same stories you have about the overnight sensations. But, for the vast majority of small business owners, it can take a lot of elbow grease and a lot of time before there seems to be any solidity.
When someone does move the sewing machine back into their home office, dusts off the resume, and heads back out into the job market, sometimes my heart aches for the missed opportunity and broken dreams. Other times I just nod, thinking it’s the best choice.
When is it which? And, more personally, how do you know whether you should stick it out and keep pushing, or give up?
A baseline assumption before we begin.
There are obvious questions: Are you providing a quality product or service? Do people need, use, and pay for things similar to what you’re offering? I’m going to start with the assumption that these are already established.
The real issue is that business comes, but not easily. You’ve been working really hard at it, and you’re exhausted and wondering if you should give up.
What does it really take to raise a business?
It doesn’t take an MBA from Harvard, or anywhere else. It doesn’t take spiritual enlightenment (although a grounded spiritual practice helps tremendously). And, it certainly doesn’t take a once-in-a-era miracle.
But it does take certain qualities. Five of them, in fact.
The Top Five Qualities
Everyone I’ve seen who’s gone from struggling to successful in business has been able to access these qualities, perhaps imperfectly and inconsistently, but they’ve got ‘em, and they cultivated them. And it pays off.
1. Vulnerability.
It’s okay to take off that armor, Lancelot. It’s too heavy and hot, anyway. Vulnerability is when you are open to letting things in. Want more money? You need to be vulnerable. Need help from others? Vulnerability. Learning about your blind spots, or something new about marketing… yup, vulnerability.
It’s the ability to say “I don’t know.” It’s the willingness to risk falling in love, and opening your heart. It’s when you say: “I can’t do it on my own. Can you help me?”
On this entire list, I rate vulnerability as the single most important success indicator for small business owners. Without it, you’re alone in the world, and can’t receive what you need. And, it’s hard to access the other four qualities without it.
2. Creativity.
Here’s how I define creativity: the ability to see how unlike things go together. Kinda like Sufism and Business, right? Creativity isn’t the power to create something out of nothing- it’s the insight to see what odd, strange, unlike things can be combined to be useful.
This helps in creating unique offers. This helps in finding a place to fit your home office when there isn’t a spare bedroom. This helps in spotting opportunities and niches.
It’s actually a poetic quality- and successful business owners cultivate this ability to fit odd pieces together in (sometimes) useful ways.
3. Trust. (or Faith.)
The stereotype is working seven days a week, late into the night, getting it all done. Yet, you can’t work ten to twelve hours every day and be truly productive. Things start to break down. You miss opportunities, fall blind to miracles. You need spaciousness.
And to get that spaciousness, you have to have trust. Without the deep trust in your heart that you are going to be okay, you can’t wrestle your to-do list to the ground and leave things, sometimes important things, undone, so you can access your creativity and aliveness.
4. Sovereignty.
You are in charge. It’s important, with vulnerability, to get advice, to learn, to let other sources of wisdom and experience guide you. But, when it comes down to it, you set the course.
Your business is a precious being, a vehicle for hopes, dreams, and transformative work in the world. It can provide a living for you, and perhaps others, and can help many people with some problem that’s creating struggle for them.
Finding inside yourself the willingness to act, sometimes with less care and more boldness. To take actions and make decisions, even if they are at times messy and imperfect. To be the captain of your ship. Without Sovereignty, you don’t have a business, you have a job.
5. Patience.
Wait for it… wait for it… Actually, the quality of Patience isn’t about waiting for your ship to come in. Patience is described by Sufi author and scholar Neil Douglas Klotz, in his book The Sufi Book of Life, as a pathway:
“This pathway can also help us work with projects or relationships where
progress is likely to be slow, over a long period of time. The heat of patience
and discomfort may, like a cooking compost pile, produce amazing future effects,
ones we couldn’t dream of…”
You aren’t going to make (six figures, a million, insert your lofty goal here) by New Year’s. Or by next New Year’s. But maybe three or five New Year’s hence, you just might. If you have Patience.
Can you order these Qualities on Amazon?
Uh… no. You can’t. That’s the troubling thing with these kinds of intangibles, you can’t buy them, you can’t create them, you can’t quantify them.
So, how do you get them? Let’s do the quick one-two-three.
Finish reading this article at Mark’s blog...go.
Mark Silver is founder of Heart of Business, a business consulting and healing practice that incorporates the Divine into work. He’s a Sufi healer and successful independent business owner in Portland, Oregon. Read more about Mark at Heart of Business.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Happy Anniversary to Me
May 2007 marked the official beginning of my life as a self-employed copywriter and an entrepreneur.
As I look back on the year, I’m struck by how much I’ve done, how far I’ve come and how truly exciting this new life is.
Referrals and repeat clients are now keeping me solidly booked as a writer. My Craigslist advertisements are refined to such a point that I pick up new clients each week. At networking events and in the community, I’ve learned not to introduce myself as a copywriter (a title which means absolutely nothing to the average person), but as the person who “translates business owners’ passion and vision into marketing messages that sell.” Today, instead of leaving networking events with nothing but pockets full of business cards, I leave with new clients.
As spring arrived, Maternitique blossomed as well. Persistence in marketing paid off. And so has my commitment to constantly improving it and seeking excellence. Through seeking feedback, studying page view trends, analyzing conversion rates and identifying my most effective lead sources, I’ve discovered ways to make the store more appealing, more effective at converting browsers to buying and, most importantly, to make it speak to the consumers I’m trying to serve. While there is still not enough business to make the store a raging success yet, the “trends are in the right direction,” as my boyfriend reminds me.
What amazes me the most about all of the lessons I’ve learned and exciting achievements I’ve accomplished in just one year, is just how far a distance it is from where I started. What began as a hope and a dream—to be self-employed as a writer—has become reality. The company that began as a fantasy—a place where modern, professional women can go to feel beautiful and nurtured as mothers—now exists and is growing exponentially.
Wow.
Creating these entities was, and is, a process. It came step by step, moment by moment. First, I had to exit the “rat race”—to be willing to leave the most traveled road. I found signs posted by others on this independent pilgrimage and followed them, putting my faith in their advice. Then came the hard part: staying the course and trusting my own sense of direction when things didn’t seem to be looking like I’d expected them to.
This week, I had dinner with a colleague and shared the snapshot of my endeavors with him. When I was done, he asked: “What are you going to do in the near future? What’s next?”
“Continue.”
As I look back on the year, I’m struck by how much I’ve done, how far I’ve come and how truly exciting this new life is.
Referrals and repeat clients are now keeping me solidly booked as a writer. My Craigslist advertisements are refined to such a point that I pick up new clients each week. At networking events and in the community, I’ve learned not to introduce myself as a copywriter (a title which means absolutely nothing to the average person), but as the person who “translates business owners’ passion and vision into marketing messages that sell.” Today, instead of leaving networking events with nothing but pockets full of business cards, I leave with new clients.
As spring arrived, Maternitique blossomed as well. Persistence in marketing paid off. And so has my commitment to constantly improving it and seeking excellence. Through seeking feedback, studying page view trends, analyzing conversion rates and identifying my most effective lead sources, I’ve discovered ways to make the store more appealing, more effective at converting browsers to buying and, most importantly, to make it speak to the consumers I’m trying to serve. While there is still not enough business to make the store a raging success yet, the “trends are in the right direction,” as my boyfriend reminds me.
What amazes me the most about all of the lessons I’ve learned and exciting achievements I’ve accomplished in just one year, is just how far a distance it is from where I started. What began as a hope and a dream—to be self-employed as a writer—has become reality. The company that began as a fantasy—a place where modern, professional women can go to feel beautiful and nurtured as mothers—now exists and is growing exponentially.
Wow.
Creating these entities was, and is, a process. It came step by step, moment by moment. First, I had to exit the “rat race”—to be willing to leave the most traveled road. I found signs posted by others on this independent pilgrimage and followed them, putting my faith in their advice. Then came the hard part: staying the course and trusting my own sense of direction when things didn’t seem to be looking like I’d expected them to.
This week, I had dinner with a colleague and shared the snapshot of my endeavors with him. When I was done, he asked: “What are you going to do in the near future? What’s next?”
“Continue.”
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Weekly Affirmations for the Self-Employed
Success is a journey, not a destination. I am living my success.
Where's Blogger?
I now understand what is meant by "blogger burnout."
Bear with me, dear readers. I will be back. My apologies for the thin updates over the last few weeks. I've been quite happily busy working with the world's most fantastic copywriting clients and shipping tons of orders to the world's most beautiful pregnant moms.
Does that mean there is no food for business thought? Au contraire. There's lots. But I just haven't had a moment to share.
Coming soon, I promise.
Bear with me, dear readers. I will be back. My apologies for the thin updates over the last few weeks. I've been quite happily busy working with the world's most fantastic copywriting clients and shipping tons of orders to the world's most beautiful pregnant moms.
Does that mean there is no food for business thought? Au contraire. There's lots. But I just haven't had a moment to share.
Coming soon, I promise.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Shared to me, shared to you
My friend sent me this bit of inspiration today and I thought it was a great way to start the week.
– Cynthia Kersey
'Slow and steady wins the race.' It's not glamorous, but it's true. The tragedy is that most people never even get in the race, and many of those who do hope that success comes easily and swiftly. When it doesn't, they're out of the race, before it really begins. What they don't realize is that the decision to be unstoppable is never made just once. It is made moment by moment, again and again.
– Cynthia Kersey
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Moms' Business Contest Launches Today
Whirlpool's fourth annual Mother of Invention Grant Program launches today, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day.
From now until July 31, moms with business, service or product ideas can enter to win support for their entrepreneurial visions. The contest provides seed money and consultation to moms to turn their invention, business or service ideas into full-fledged businesses. Contest winners receive:
* A $20,000 grant for the grand prize winner
* $24,000 in grant money for the four runners-up
* Home appliance prizes
* Invitation to business boot camp where winners will receive guidance from Whirlpool and industry experts
New this year is a category focused on moms who create an environmentally friendly product/service or use natural/recycled materials to create their invention.
Mamapreneurs are innovative, hard-working, creative, resourceful women. If you're one of them and think you have a great idea to share with the world--go for it!
And happy Mother's Day!
From now until July 31, moms with business, service or product ideas can enter to win support for their entrepreneurial visions. The contest provides seed money and consultation to moms to turn their invention, business or service ideas into full-fledged businesses. Contest winners receive:
* A $20,000 grant for the grand prize winner
* $24,000 in grant money for the four runners-up
* Home appliance prizes
* Invitation to business boot camp where winners will receive guidance from Whirlpool and industry experts
New this year is a category focused on moms who create an environmentally friendly product/service or use natural/recycled materials to create their invention.
Mamapreneurs are innovative, hard-working, creative, resourceful women. If you're one of them and think you have a great idea to share with the world--go for it!
And happy Mother's Day!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Benefits of Networking: Increase Your Odds
As a small business owner, there are many reasons to network; one of them is that you just never know who you’re going to meet. To be in the right place at the right time to meet the right people takes more than sheer luck—you have to get out and try to make it happen.
When asked in an interview how aspiring screenwriters should keep going after their “big break,” Diablo Cody, the writer of “Juno,” recommended networking and staying visible. Talking with everyone about your work wherever you go, she said, is the start. Being part of the industry network even if nothing seems to happen is the key. Eventually, something will. Being “discovered” isn’t an accident, she insists. Yes, the real break happens with luck, she acknowledged, but you improve your chances of being that lucky if you stay out in front of people.
Getting to know people, whether through your church, children’s school, neighborhood, trade associations, volunteer or sports activities, can lead you to exciting opportunities.
When asked in an interview how aspiring screenwriters should keep going after their “big break,” Diablo Cody, the writer of “Juno,” recommended networking and staying visible. Talking with everyone about your work wherever you go, she said, is the start. Being part of the industry network even if nothing seems to happen is the key. Eventually, something will. Being “discovered” isn’t an accident, she insists. Yes, the real break happens with luck, she acknowledged, but you improve your chances of being that lucky if you stay out in front of people.
Getting to know people, whether through your church, children’s school, neighborhood, trade associations, volunteer or sports activities, can lead you to exciting opportunities.
Weekly Affirmations for the Self-Employed
I can change course if my business goes in a direction I no longer like.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Start-Up Leader in Corporate Social Responsibility Shuts Down
Oh, I'm so sad at this news. Just yesterday morning our local news source quoted the President and CEO of Nau, Inc. saying that the company was closing in on its capital raising goals and was poised to take off.
Then later that afternoon, the company announced instead that it is closing its doors. I just read the news in my morning's paper, but apparently it was put up online yesterday at World Changing.
For those of you who haven't heard of Nau, they were a Portland start-up that manufactured eco-friendly clothing and deployed a radical business model of sustainability. From their corporate charter to their employment practices to the low carbon-footprint of their retail locations, the company was committed to living and breathing environmental leadership.
The bold founders of the company dreamed big, acted big and enacted big goals, successfully garnering international attention for their efforts and more than $35 million in venture capital investments.
But it wasn't enough.
And the news is a heavy dose of reality to those of us starting businesses of our own. It's a humbling reminder that included in the reality of starting up a small business is the looming possibility of not making it. And if a heavily financed company led by top-level executives from companies such as Patagonia and Nike can crash and burn...what about the rest of us?
Chills.
In March, I met Nau CEO Chris Van Dyke after he delivered an inspiring keynote address to kick off the Shop 08 Conference for retailers. His belief in the utter rightness of companies to protect the community, employees and the Earth was practically tangible. His belief that it is possible for companies to be committed to profitability as well as to a social bottom line was sincere.
I believe in those things, too, and I know that with the closure with Nau, the passion, beliefs, goals and visions of the founders and employees don't disappear. They will find their way back into the market soon.
Then later that afternoon, the company announced instead that it is closing its doors. I just read the news in my morning's paper, but apparently it was put up online yesterday at World Changing.
For those of you who haven't heard of Nau, they were a Portland start-up that manufactured eco-friendly clothing and deployed a radical business model of sustainability. From their corporate charter to their employment practices to the low carbon-footprint of their retail locations, the company was committed to living and breathing environmental leadership.
The bold founders of the company dreamed big, acted big and enacted big goals, successfully garnering international attention for their efforts and more than $35 million in venture capital investments.
But it wasn't enough.
And the news is a heavy dose of reality to those of us starting businesses of our own. It's a humbling reminder that included in the reality of starting up a small business is the looming possibility of not making it. And if a heavily financed company led by top-level executives from companies such as Patagonia and Nike can crash and burn...what about the rest of us?
Chills.
In March, I met Nau CEO Chris Van Dyke after he delivered an inspiring keynote address to kick off the Shop 08 Conference for retailers. His belief in the utter rightness of companies to protect the community, employees and the Earth was practically tangible. His belief that it is possible for companies to be committed to profitability as well as to a social bottom line was sincere.
I believe in those things, too, and I know that with the closure with Nau, the passion, beliefs, goals and visions of the founders and employees don't disappear. They will find their way back into the market soon.
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