With the holiday season upon us, knowing what to give as a gift is on everyone’s minds. I have a few suggestions to make gift selection easier.
- With Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust
you’ll learn everything you need to know about how to be successful in social media. Considering how hot social media became this year even if it’s just to get a better understanding of what’s going on this book is a must read.
- Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone.
is another great book about social media with tools and tips on how to get the most out of this emerging space
- A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
lets us know why right brain thinkers are the best thing since sliced bread. We need to be ready when right brain thinking becomes the way of the future and this book outlines it in easy to read manner. We follow the author as he takes tests and talks about what he learns about how the brain works and why it matters in today’s business world.
- Unclutter Your Life in One Week
is a step by step guide to de-clutter your life. What a better way to begin 2010 than to get rid of all the crap you don’t need. This book outlines how to go about doing just that in an easy to follow way. There is even a website Unclutterer.com if you need more tips.
I hope these recommendations make finding a present easier or maybe you could decide to get one of these books for yourself. Happy Holidays!
There are lots of myths out there about what being an introvert means. Introversion simply means that an introvert recharges his/her batteries alone.
Myths about Introverts
- Introverts don’t like to talk
- Introverts are shy
- Introverts are rude
- Introverts don’t like people
- Introverts always want to be alone
Introverts’ Strengths
- Think before speaking or acting
- Listen more
- Know a lot about a few topics
- Are reflective and appear calm
- Are more detail oriented
Shyness and introversion are not the same. Introversion may appear to be shyness because introverts are more self contained.
Shyness is a social anxiety, an extreme self-consciousness when one is around people… Shy people may feel uncomfortable with one-on-one situations or in group situations. It is not an energy issue; it is a lack of confidence in social situations. It is a fear of what others think of you. It produces sweating, shaking, red face or neck, racing heart, self-criticism, and a belief that people are laughing at you.
– The Introvert Advantage, Marti Olsen Laney Psy.D
Famous Introverts
Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president
Sir Alfred Hitchcock, film director
Michael Jordon, basketball player and celebrity
Thomas Edison, inventor
Grace Kelly, actress
Gwyneth Paltrow, actress
Laura Bush, former 1st lady
Bill Gates, software pioneer
Candice Bergen, actress
Clint Eastwood, actor/director
Charles Schulz, Peanuts cartoonist
Steve Martin, comedian/actor/writer
Harrison Ford, actor
Michele Pfeiffer, actress
Katherine Graham, late owner of the Washington Post, author
Embracing being an introvert
Being an introvert means accepting introversion unique traits. According to the Myer Briggs test I’m an INFP. Taking the test just confirmed what I already knew about myself. But it is a great starting point for personal development since it helps highlight your strengths.
Introverts get more of their stimulation internally, whereas extroverts seek outside sources – Debra L. Johnson, PhD.
There is nothing wrong with being an introvert. It’s just a different way of experiencing the world.
Recommended Reading:
Self-Promotion for Introverts: The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead
The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World
Stop Pushing Me Around!: A Workplace Guide for the Timid, Shy, And Less Assertive
The Introvert’s Corner and Self Promotion for Introverts blogs from Psychology Today
Also known as your elevator pitch. I read in Michael Port’s book titled, Book Yourself Solid, that the reason most entrepreneurs fail is that they cannot explain what they do to potential clients. Your job title isn’t what you do either. Telling people I’m a user experience designer results in “huh?! what is that?” even using the more widely used term “information architect” or “ interaction designer” means nothing to people outside the industry.
So how do you talk about what you do without confusing people?
There is a simple formula to start with “I help…” and what ever it is you do for your target market. Another way according to IIise Benun, author of Self Promotion Online, is to come up with a 10 word blurb in various ways. First by asking the questions “What do you do”, then “For whom” and finally “What do they get”. You then write the blurb from the problem-solving perspective.
Your “who and do what” is an important part of your marketing strategy. If you can’t explain what you do to someone they won’t see any value in your services.
Spending time crafting different ways of explaining what you do to others is important. It helps you focus on who you really want to work with and what your target audience needs to hear in order to trust you.
What exactly does it mean for a site to be human-centered?
It means that you don’t have to look at the site and wonder what it is supposed to accomplish. What am I supposed do now?
A site that leaves you wondering why hasn’t achieved it’s goal. The action should be so bright you need to wear shades to not know what you’re supposed to do.
What story does a site/product tell? Is it clear? If it isn’t how can you fix it? Sit down and ask yourself what your audience might think.
Do a “What’s in it for me” a.k.a WIIFM analysis to see what your audience thinks your site is. If it fails that test you know you need to rework your site.
Your message isn’t clear.
Not to worry you can fix it. Put yourself in the position of what your potential visitor is looking for and why they are coming to your site. Make up a little story about what you want your visitor to do and that will help inform your design decisions.
I have an iPod touch and I’ve been using it for the last few months to stay organized. So far keeping a calendar has been great. I’m rarely ever late for an appointment and I’m less likely to forget one as well. Here are five other applications that I can’t live without.
- Mint– Companion application for the Mint.com financial website. Allows me to stay on top my finances across multiple institutions
- Gratitude journal from Happy Tapper. I’ve been keeping a gratitude journal for over a year now. It’s a great tool to keep me focused on what’s going right rather than wrong in my life.
- Remember the Milk is a great site and application combo that allows you to track your to-dos. It also is available for the Blackberry
- Evernote is a great tool to store everything from links to voice notes. It allows you to create notebooks for different topics. It also is available for the Blackberry
- Tick which is a great time tracking tool that works with Tickspot.com. Setting up an account is easy and no credit card is required to try it out. The time tracking works with Freshbooks (the BEST online invoicing system that I’ve found).
If you are looking to get more organized and stay on top of things these 5 applications will help to do that. You’ll feel better by keeping a gratitude journal and you’ll be more organized too.
In the book Love is the Killer App – How to win business and influence friends by Tim Sanders talks about about what it takes to be a lovecat. A lovecat is someone who isn’t afraid to be a nice person a.k.a a great human being and still be successful.
Being a lovecat isn’t just about being nice. A lovecat consists of knowledge, network and compassion.
Offer your wisdom freely. Give away your address book to everyone who wants it. And always be human.
The 10 must read books for aspiring lovecats are:
- The Experience Economy
- Corporate Religion
- The Inventor’s Dilemma
- What the CEO wants you to know
- The Tipping Point
- The Circle of Innovation
- The Art of Happiness
- Love
- Simplicity
- Leading the Revolution
Being a lovecat isn’t easy but what is the alternative?
The final part of creating my business plan was doing the left brain stuff a.k.a doing the finances.
The part I most dreaded was looking at the ins and outs of the money aspect of my business. Without it you have no business but still dreaded looking at dealing with the numbers. Now that I’ve done it I don’t feel so bad. I now have a framework to move forward with.
A business plan is supposed to be fluid not static.
So I now know where to put my attention in my business and what product and services to create and which ones are not worth pursuing.
If you don’t have a written business plan I highly recommend doing one. I thinking having it as reference is a great resource. If it is on paper you can still make changes nothing is written in stone.
The areas I covered in the finances were:
- Cost of my services
- Cost of my products
- Business expenses e.g. Advertising, Printing, Membership dues, etc
In case you missed it. Here’s the presentation I did on Tuesday on mind mapping.
On Monday I wrote about creating my business plan. The next hurdle for me is figuring out what services to offer. Sure, I could offer a ton of services but I’ll get better results overall if I focus. My business plan is created using scrapbook paper, stickers and clippings from magazines.
I currently have services listed on my site but I want to fine tune my offerings. Trying to be all things to all people is not my goal. Being a jack of all trades…master of none isn’t good for the wallet. I would bet that most generalists would agree with me with few exceptions.
A lot of business books talk about how hard it is for people to pick a target market for their services. This I can say with honestly is totally true. You do feel like you are giving up something. But that is a scarcity mentality. You can’t service every single market.
Everyone does not need your services.
So I’m working on narrowing my focus and redefining my strategy. Having it all out of my head and on paper makes the task of work on my business plan that much easier.
Growing a consulting practice without some kind of plan would have been a waste of time.
I recently finished writing my business plan. I figured it was time. I’ve been procrastinating about it for ages. But you can’t run a business if you don’t know where you stand or where you are going.
I’ve tried several approaches to creating a business plan – templates, kits etc. and none of it worked. Then I discovered the Right-Brain Business plan by Jennifer Lee. It’s a kit that offers the reader an e-book plus visualization about their business. I found this route of planning much easier that the left brain approach I’d tried before. Just using numbers and statistics just doesn’t cut it. Not that this right-brain approach ignores the numbers. It doesn’t. You still have to figure out the cost of doing business but that’s after you’ve done all the creative thinking about who you are, what your business is and what your unique selling point it.
To learn more about the right-brain business plan visit Artizen Coaching.
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