Small Business Blog

I run across great sites and articles all the time but do not always have enough material to make a post about them. I’m going to start a series on “My Favorite Links” to showcase some of these great sites and articles for you to view at your leisure. Have a great weekend!

10+ Things to Do with Dry-Erase Markers via Lifehack: If you are an office-supply junkie like my aunt, you will love this article.

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading: Inspired talks by the world’s greatest thinkers and doers. You could lose track of time exploring this site. via Lifehack

The Blogger’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization: More information than you ever wanted to know about blogging. A valuable and unbelievably free resource. via Copyblogger

Discover the .EDU Underground: Information on thousands of academic sites with information on art, science, technology and business. Take a class from UC Berkeley via YouTube or attend a lecture from Stanford from your iPod. via Lifehacker

Caroline Middlebrook’s Twitter Guide: If you are thinking of using this tool for your business (it’s not just for the kids, you know!), Caroline has a great tutorial.

I’ll publish this list at least monthly, and if you have a favorite new site you want to share please let me know in the comments below.

What do want your readers to see when they come to your website? Studies on eye tracking have shown where readers look first and most, which gives you valuable insight in how to construct your website.

Some interesting points:

• Readers were found to follow an “F” pattern in reading a website. Keeping your main content aligned in this format means more people will read it.
• Readers ignore fancy formatting and fonts because they interpret them as ads and not the information they are seeking.
• Type size influences behaviors - larger fonts encourage skimming, smaller fonts encourage focused viewing. You should tailor this to your market.
• Readers like lists.
• People generally scan the lower portion of a page.
• Smaller paragraphs are better - white space is visually appealing.
• Navigation tools are better at the top of the page than at the side.

For a full list of the findings and how you can better tailor your content to your reader’s eye, check out Christina Luan’s article. Thanks to Seth Godin for alerting us to this in his blog.

Do you struggle with keeping your email organized? People usually fall into one of two categories:

• Organizing email to death with dozens of folders
• Keeping thousands of emails in the inbox with no system whatsoever

My old system consisted of keeping my “to-do” emails in an unread status to remind me that I still had work to do. The problem with that is that sometimes those emails get unintentionally clicked and revert to “read” status, which means my reminder is gone. My day is much too busy to use the extensive folder system, but I do know people who use it and they seem to spend a lot of time filing items they will likely never need again.

The solution? A 3-folder system within an email program like Outlook or Gmail that contains a search function. This idea comes from Gina Tripani at Lifehacker, and I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks with good success.

Why only 3 folders?

• Archive is for anything you want to keep but do not need to access regularly. By using the Search function in your email program, you will easily be able to find the email about widgets by simply typing in “widgets”
• Action is part of your to-do list. If you need to perform a task, put the email in your Action folder. Check it several times a day and prioritize your work as needed. Move items to archive or delete as you finish them.
• Hold is where you keep action items awaiting response from someone else. Again, you will check this one regularly and move items out as you get the necessary information needed.

The goal is to keep your inbox empty and your mind clearly focused on what needs to be done. Too many times we keep unnecessary items, which makes it harder for us to see what we really need to do. My husband calls this “nesting” and he says I’m a pro. I guess I never realized the habit had seeped into my email box. That is, until I had 782 emails in my inbox.

This system is working great for me, and I have an empty inbox for the first time in…well, ever. Try it yourself and see if it works as well for you.

[Note:  You can number your folders to keep them together on the dropdown list (1-Archive, 2-Hold, 3-Action) - that’s what I did]

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, many are making plans to travel, entertain family and friends, or even get started on holiday shopping.  For those of us with service businesses, this is often a much-needed vacation from work.

This is my favorite holiday, not only for the delicious food and relaxation with friends and family, but also to remind me of the abundance of my life.  It has been an extraordinary year for my business and my personal life, and even the hardships along the way have contributed to my overall abundance.  We spend so much time thinking about future goals and long-term plans that we sometimes forget to appreciate what we have right now.  

Take a minute to think about all you have accomplished this year both individually and with your family and friends.  The key to real happiness is not having everything you want, but wanting everything you have. 

I wish you a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

I will be in New Mexico celebrating with my family and friends, so Small Business Blog will be dark until Monday.  

All of you have probably sat through a boring presentation at one time or another. In fact, most of us here have probably even given a few boring presentations (self included). This slideshow from Alexei Kapterev is a funny but true account of how most people do this.  Thankfully he follows up with some excellent tips on presenting in a way that will not kill your audience with boredom (there is no audio).

(via Lifehacker)

Thanks to my “technology consultant” Ken (who is actually a well-informed friend who keeps me updated at no charge - thanks, Ken!), I have a great new product for you. Microsoft Groove is a easy way to transfer files without the headache of zipping, relying on email, or wondering if everyone is working from the same version of the file.

I used this for the first time a few weeks ago to transfer a hundred or so pictures to Ken from a recent trip. It worked like a charm and took less than minute, start to finish!

Microsoft Groove allows you to create “workspaces” where you can share files with others. For instance, a web developer might have a Groove workspace with a designer and the client to collaborate on a website project. On a personal note, a mother may create a workspace to share pictures of her children with grandparents, aunts and uncles. You simply create the workspace(s), invite the appropriate members, and then add files as needed for everyone to retrieve. One of the best features of this product is that you can access your Groove folders even when you are offline. What a great way to be productive in an airport or train when you don’t have internet access! The minute you go back online your work is synced up.

You can get a free trial of Microsoft Groove for 60 days. After 60 days you can continue using Groove for free for a year, but you will not be able to add any new workspaces.

Feel free to add me to your first workspace if you want to try this out. I’ll send you a picture of the official Small Business Blog Dog, Max.

Have you noticed all the recent books about drastic life changes or experiments? For instance, Esquire editor A.J. Jacobs spent a year reading the encyclopedia in a quest to know everything, and his latest experiment is living according to biblical law for one year. In Self-Made Man, Norah Vincent spent one year living as a man to research gender roles and communication styles.

My friend Karen and I were discussing this phenomenon last week and wondering what experience we would try in a similar book project. Would it be something less drastic that fit in with our existing lives? Or would we throw caution to the wind and immerse ourselves in a foreign culture or participate in dangerous and exciting hobbies?

Since our conversation I have been thinking about the Year of Discovery as it pertains to my business. Putting myself in a different frame of mind and dreaming of “what ifs” has allowed me to put a couple of goals on the calendar for next year that I might not have considered otherwise. What would you do with your Year of Discovery?

Last weekend I attended the Crave Seattle show. It was basically a lot of vendor booths separated by category (shopping, pampering, cooking) focusing on attracting women clients. One of the booths was for Holiday Golightly, a company specializing in group travel planning for girlfriends. This is a fun group of people, and they carry that message from the witty name of the company all the way down to the disclaimer on their email marketing messages.

You know the ones: “This email was sent to you because you requested information from us. Please click here to unsubscribe at any time.”

The Holiday Golightly team took it a step further and made that message fit in with their overall brand:

(If you’d prefer to be removed from our mailing list, we’ll cry about it for a few hours, wondering “Why? Why? Why? What did we do wrong? Were we too needy? Too distant?”, and then beg and plead – but just inside our heads – and then we’ll tearfully remove you from the list, all the while listening to sad Barry Manilow songs that will forever remind us of the brief time we had together. And it may sound pathetic, but you can come back to us any time if you change your minds! Don’t tell Dr. Phil we said that! Call us!)

To unsubscribe, email info@HolidayGolightly.com and callously write “unsubscribe” in the Subject Line. Go ahead. Break our hearts.

These people sound like a lot of fun, even when you are breaking up with them. Actually, with a message like that, they probably don’t have many breakups. It reminds me of the Southwest flight attendants who make the safety instruction interesting enough to actually pay attention.

Are you putting your personality or message on every face of your business? Even the boring ones?

As we draw closer to the holiday season, many small business owners are considering what to give their valued clients and business associates. Depending on your industry and budget, your gift could range from an email greeting card to an expensive personal gift. The goal is to show your clients you appreciate them and look forward to a continued business relationship in the new year.

Below are several ideas to fit any budget:

• Use your email marketing system to design an electronic holiday card you can send to every client in your database. This is the least expensive option and can also be used in conjunction with gifts for your special clients. Average cost is $15 total to email up to 500 people.
• An online system for generating cards like Send Out Cards allows you to send personalized custom cards directly from your computer to as many people as you want. The cost is as low as $1.03 per card including postage, so if you have a large database or want to make an impact with a custom card, this is a great solution for you.
• A gift of meaning is always appropriate. Buy a product that benefits a cause, or make a donation on behalf of your clients in causes you both believe in. One of my favorites is the Pay It Forward Program at Affirmagy which sends a blanket printed with positive affirmations along with the book Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor’s Soul to a breast cancer patient as an anonymous gift. The cost is $39.95.
• Looking for an easy solution that fits a variety of different people? Check out Magic Envelopes for a selection of gift catalogs at various price ranges you can send to your clients. Let them pick out their own gifts without knowing how much you spent (catalogs start at $25 and go up to $500). This gift even includes shipping charges, so your client only has to pick their favorite item.
• A service is always a welcome gift, anything from a book of car wash coupons to hiring a personal chef for a month’s worth of meals.

What are you doing to show your appreciation for your clients and trusted business contacts this year?

Last week I took a seminar from professional organizer Debbie Rosemont of Simply Placed. My goal was to learn some tips for my clients who struggle with organization, and I really never expected it to impact me so much personally.

Regular readers know that I am all about systems, but I have to confess that I am much less organized in my paper life than I am in my electronic life. In a moment’s notice I can bring up a specific detail about a project with a single customer on my laptop, but if you give me a piece of paper - a grocery list, a receipt, or a piece of mail - I become paralyzed with indecision about what do with it.

Debbie addressed those mental processes that block us from truly being organized, and she also spoke about the myth of multitasking. Since taking the class, I have implementing just a few strategies to start (at Debbie’s suggestion), and I can already tell a huge difference not only in my attitude but also in what I produce. I’ll keep you posted over the next few weeks as I implement more of Debbie’s strategies in my life.

Are you interested in learning more? Check out my interview with Debbie.

 

 Debbie Rosemont Interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If you are in the greater Puget Sound area you can attend Debbie’s next GO System seminar on December 13 at the Sammamish City Hall. Click here for registration information.