To network: Connect in a respectful and personal way with those in your same situation

The Truth About Networking (Do you Build or do you Bet?)

Posted: 02 Sep 2009

Editor's Note: I rarely accept guest posts on my blog. But Carlos Miceli from OwlSparks is an exception because his writing is elegant and poignant. So I actually reached out to him for this guest post, and he was happy to oblige. Enjoy!

Image from marcandrelariviere via Flickr

Networking is a common goal for most people involved in social media. We know it takes time and effort, but the payoffs can be quite gratifying.

The thing about networking is that value is king. You show your value and connect with those that you think will be valuable to you. It's logical then that valuable people get targeted more than others. It's Pareto all over again.

Considering this, I see two ways for successful online networking:

#1 – Building.

This is the hard one, statistically speaking.

If you do something remarkable, they will come. Not because they are suddenly nicer, but because it's good for them too. Spreading your story enhances their reputation as well. Value goes both ways.

There are two problems with this approach:

First, building something remarkable enough to get their attention is not easy at all. Odds are against you.

The other problem is that they are all set. They don't need you. The irony is that if you build something truly remarkable maybe you won't need them either…

#2 – Betting.

(I love this approach, it has given me fantastic results).

Catch the next wave.

Don't play the safe path, reach out to other beginners.

All winners were rookies at some point, connect with them in that stage.

Everyone begins with 50 subscribers and 100 followers.

Go after them before it's too late.

And believe me, the worthy ones leave the first stage very quickly.

So, there you go. Don't waste your efforts talking to those that are just too busy to listen. As appealing as reaching out to the Chris Brogan's and Gary Vaynerchuk's may sound, you're investing a lot of effort for very little return.

Instead, take risks; you have almost nothing to lose when you are starting. Connect in a respectful and personal way with those in your same situation.

I would take connecting with the future Seth Godin over being just another follower of today's one any day.

Editor's note: I reached out to Carlos when he was in his beginning stages because I do think he's the next Seth Godin. I highly recommend his blog, OwlSparks. Subscribe here for daily insights.

 

From Twenty Set

 

Structuring one's day

The Answer to Less Stress? More Structure.

Posted: 01 Sep 2009

From Tony Bacigalupo: As small business owners, we all know the feeling of being 5 hours into the day and not having accomplished anything on our to-do list. Or looking up at the clock and realizing that you've just worked for 15 hours straight without a bite to eat.

The fact is, by being your own boss, you take on full responsibility for your time. Without someone to tell you when or where to work, it's up to you to discipline yourself.

The problem? Most people are lousy at holding themselves accountable – at work and at home. And particularly when it comes to balancing the two. For instance: How long is your list of really important personal things that you haven't done in weeks?

It's all about structuring your day and creating accountability. And there are ways to do this both big and small:

Structuring Small: Personal Reminder Services
There's no shortage of productivity-focused services. Tools like Remember The Milk can help you stick to a schedule and not forget the important things on your list, while the well-titled HassleMe simply nags you about anything you like, at any interval, over email. The more sophisticated iPing will actually call you.

If these, or similar services, sound like something that can help you, Mashable has a rundown of 30 different reminder services here.

Of course, while reminder services are a useful supplement, really building the discipline needed to structure your day productively might take a more concerted effort.

Structuring Big: Group Co-working
A few years ago, Brad Neuberg, a freelance developer in San Francisco, found himself working around the clock with too little time for personal maintenance. He consulted a life coach, and they together came up with the idea of "coworking"—which, in its original incarnation, was a special event where participants would share a structured workday.

In his words: "Unlike a traditional office, in the Spiral Muse Coworking Group we begin the day with a short meditation and circle to set our personal and work intentions, and check in physically and emotionally with where we are. Then, we work in the amazing Spiral Muse house, sitting at tables or relaxing on couches as we do our work. Even though each of us is doing separate work, perhaps programming or writing a novel, we can feel each others presence, run ideas by the community, or take breaks together at the "watercooler." We take lunch as a group, and then later in the day have a 45-minute break where we do a different healthy activity every day, such as guided yoga, meditation, a nice walk, or perhaps a bike ride in the sun. We end the day at 5:45 PM sharp, supporting each other in both starting a good work day at 9 AM and ending our work in a healthy, balanced way at the end of the day."

While the structure Neuberg set up might not work for your particular needs, it's an interesting model to draw inspiration from. What could you do within your business to lend better, healthier structure to your day? If you adopted a version of Neuberg's example above into your company's culture, what would it look like?

 

From OPEN Forum Articles

 

Blogging: 5 Tips For How to Start and Grow a Successful Blog

5 Tips For How to Start and Grow a Successful Blog

Posted: 02 Sep 2009

From Jill Fehrenbacher, Inhabitat: Blogs are becoming the ubiquitous calling cards of cyberspace, and it seems like everyone is starting one: from your sister, to the mom next door, to corporate marketing professionals trying to carefully cultivate their brand's public image.  I've been blogging for the past five years, and my green design sites Inhabitat and Inhabitots rank in the Technorati top 100 - and I'd like to pass on some of the tricks of the trade I've learned through relentless trial and error.  Hopefully my tips will allow you to skip some of the trial and error part and get started in the right direction. In order to be successful at blogging, one must follow certain criteria, while also blazing a unique trail. Here are five surefire tips to help you pave a successful path to growing a relevant and profitable blog.

1. Choose your niche wisely Decide on a topic for your blog and then deliver your news and information in a fashion that will entice and engage readers. Select your theme well, and make sure it's something you're passionate about, as you'll be married to it day in and day out, constantly sourcing information for content. Also, consider the competition in your genre. The more unique your chosen topic is, the more chance of success you will have.  If your topic is well-covered on the Internet, find a way to set your blog apart with unprecedented delivery or a larger than life personal perspective. 

2. Find a unique perspective Set your blog apart by making it a first hit, go-to resource for people interested in its subject. Conformists needn't apply to the blogging realm. The most successful blogs are the ones that offer a highly unique, specialized perspective that can't be found anywhere else on the Web. Be the first to break stories, publish noteworthy posts frequently, say something original, and provide unique, compelling content.

3. The medium is the message Blog visitors are a new breed of readers who value their time and are looking for instantaneous access to information. They want information to be chopped into bite-sized, palatable pieces that are interwoven with eye-candy imagery. Pictures really are worth a thousand words in the blogging world, and punchy, well-written, concise text will always be preferred over long, explanatory prose.

4. Network, Network, Network The backbone of a blog's success is that people know about it. Get the word out about your blog by establishing meaningful, reciprocal connections with other bloggers in your field. Feature link roundups on your blog to showcase the efforts of other bloggers, putting you on their radar. Build a community among the readers of your blog by asking questions in your posts, soliciting feedback, holding contests and giveaways, and encouraging involvement.

5. Become a student of other successful blogs Check out Technorati's list of the Top 100 Blogs, and study them to learn what makes a successful blog tick. Blogging is a relentless state of trying to outperform not only your competitors, but yourself. The more you know what works and why, the more you can tweak your blog and shape it into an ultimate success story.

 

From OPEN Forum Articles

More diverse habitat creates more ways for the many forms of life to survive and evolve

Diversity: A Lesson from Mother Nature

Posted: 25 Aug 2009

From Haily Zaki, Inhabitat: Diversity is a pretty simple concept.  In nature, biodiversity is the standard measure for a healthy habitat.  The more diverse the habitat, the more ways there are for the many forms of life to both survive, and more importantly, evolve.   The same can be applied to your life and work.

For small business owners whose businesses are naturally more nimble and agile, the changing landscape of the economy – while challenging - can also offer up different opportunities to expand, collaborate, and innovate if you can cultivate and encourage diversity in both life and work.

In work, some businesses are turning to their competitors to band together to go after bigger projects.  Competitors can also make great collaborators, as it turns out.  Others may rely on creative business incubators, like BAKERY, that bring together a collection of complementary 'ingredients' to help each other bake up more business.  Maybe it also means you start sharing your insight and experience in other ways.  As the Wall Street Journal reports, there are more Americans making their living today as bloggers than there are lawyers.  This doesn't necessarily mean you should trade in your day job, but exploring different venues of increasing visibility and communicating with others in your industry and beyond can never hurt.

In life, staying diverse can mean any number of things.  If you've got a few extra days a week on your hands with reduced work weeks, then now might be the time to go back to school to take a refresher course, or learn that second language once and for all, or rekindle a passion for a long lost hobby.  There are innumerable cases of pink-slip survivors who have turned personal ventures into new and successful businesses.

We're all part of an economic eco-system of sorts, if you think about it.  And the more creative and proactive we all are in our individual ways, the stronger our collective chances are for continued evolution.  (If diversity is the spice of life, then undying optimism is the sugar!)

From OPEN Forum Articles

Skills involved in setting priorities

How To Set Priorities

Posted: 10 Aug 2009

From Henry Blodget, The Business Insider: In a recent post, I argued that the key to success in a small business is to focus on doing one thing extremely well.  A small company simply doesn't have the resources to compete with bigger, richer companies if it's trying to be all things to all people.

While trying to do one thing extremely well, however, you still need to figure out how to set priorities and allocate your company's limited resources.

If you're like most entrepreneurs, you'll have a dozen things you could be doing at any one time, as will everyone who works for you.  If you and your employees all behave like billiard balls, bouncing in a hundred different directions, you'll be toast.

So here's how to set priorities:

• Figure out the one product or service that is working the best (customers like it).
  
• Put 90 percent of the company's energy and resources into expanding that product or service and making it better.
  
• Tell every employee to prioritize their time by doing only the things that are most likely grow that product and make it better.
  
• Outsource or ignore everything else.

Everyone in the company should know that everything they do should be focused on making that one key product or service a success.

In many cases, this will mean letting go of minor details and focusing on what really matters. And ultimately, in a small business, only three things really matter:

• producing a good product,
  
• selling the product,
  
• not running out of money

Salespeople should not call "everyone."  They should only call their most promising prospects.  Engineers should not try to make the product "perfect." They should focus on making it GOOD.  And so on.

If you can get everyone in the company focused on producing and selling one good product and not getting distracted by a thousand opportunities and details, you'll give yourself the best chance of success.

And do you do with the remaining 10 percent of your time?

Think about what to do next.

 

Source: OPEN Forum Articles

 

How to design - gain clear, thorough understanding of the user, collaborate multi-disciplinary, experiment rapidly via prototyping

Design Thinking 101

Posted: 03 Aug 2009

From Matthew E. May, How to Change the World: "Design Thinking" has rapidly moved to the forefront of the current management zeitgeist as a fresh take not just on how to rethink key products and services, but also how to reframe everyday processes and projects. In an effort to create a cross-company culture of innovation and collaboration, businesses all over the world are taking a page from design firms, and realizing the rewards.

Graduate schools including Stanford's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (aka d. school) and the Rotman School of Management are helping to lead the way, taking the broad view that the designer's approach to solving problems goes far beyond the traditional role of design in "making pretty." Rather, they believe the designer's blend of creativity and logic is applicable to all aspects of business, and that irrespective of job title, everyone can be a designer of sorts.

What's driving the move is the very real pressure to innovate in a fiercely competitive marketplace, fueled by a down economy. That pressure falls on the individual, who is asked for higher commitment, more adaptability, quicker progress, better execution, stronger decision-making, and freer thinking. At the same time, they're told to manage risk, meet short-term objectives, and only bet on sure things. All within the confines of environments that are often anything but free: powerful systems, rigid structures, conflicting agendas, privileged information, political posturing, and limiting rules. The truth is that uncertainty, risk and failure are all part of innovation, and the ability to meet business objectives doesn't always square with the personal capabilities needed to innovate as required.

The solution? Think like a designer, work like a designer.

Great design is a result of a clear and thorough understanding of the user, creative resolution of competing tensions, multi-discipline collaboration, rapid experimentation via prototyping, with continuous modification and enhancement of ideas and solutions. The best designers leverage their expertise, pursue possibility, reject the status quo as a matter of course, view opposition to their ideas as an inventive challenge, refuse to let bureaucracy and hierarchy stifle their creativity, and use cutbacks and resource constraints drive new ideas and methods.

So what is "Design Thinking"?

Citing a 1969 book by Herbert Simon called The Sciences of the Artificial, Wikipedia defines it this way:

Design thinking is a process for practical, creative resolution of problems or issues that looks for an improved future result. It is the essential ability to combine empathy, creativity and rationality to meet user needs and drive business success. Unlike analytical thinking, design thinking is a creative process based around the "building up" of ideas.

This raises the question of just what that process looks like. When design firm IDEO agreed in early 2005 to help Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City make their chemotherapy process more patient-friendly, the first thing the IDEO design team did was to take Sloan-Kettering staffers along with them as they followed patients throughout the entire treatment process, including the round trip from home to clinic. That allowed the discovery of a patient stress point: anxiety over treatment, the cause of which was the fact that patients didn't know what to ask, and the huge information binder was far too daunting.

Understanding the situation allowed designers to ofer up a number of possible solutions, some of which were then carried out in much the same fashion as a scientific experiment. In design lingo, that meant "rapid prototyping." One pilot entailed simply handing out index cards with "frequently asked questions," such as "Where can I fill my prescription?" A few trial runs indicated that reviewing the cards during a quick guided tour of the clinic eased patient anxiety tremendously. The experiment quicly became standard operating procedure.

That's a pretty clear strategy: Investigate, Design, Experiment, Adjust. What a great I.D.E.A.

For more insights from Matthew E. May, visit his past blog posts at here and follow him on Twitter here.

 

From OPEN Forum Articles

Efficient innovators plan less, act more; do research before design

New Managing Article: Plan Less, Act More

Posted: 26 Jul 2009

From J.K. Glei, Behance: Conventional wisdom privileges the notion of coming up with a well-thought-out plan over taking incremental action and learning as we go along. Of course, the real truth – and the best method – falls somewhere along the "shades of gray" spectrum between the two approaches. Dwight D. Eisenhower may have stated the challenge and the solution most succinctly when he said: "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."

In countless conversations with business people and creatives, Behance has found that the most efficient innovators balance planning and research with a healthy appetite for taking action early and often. London-based industrial designer Philippe Malouin, who was recently featured in the New York Times Magazine, is a good case in point. "A good way to get an idea off the ground is to try it," says Malouin. "As simplistic as it sounds, many people don't bother to explore and experiment as much as they should; too much time is spent on the computer; model-making is a great problem solver."

He goes on, "I believe that the best way to stay organized is to start working on the first conceivable aspect of any project as soon as they occur, even if that particular aspect isn't the most fun to start working on. I think the bits of work that are the least fun to work on should always be thoroughly finished and out of the way before you start working on the creative side of things. In other words, research before design."

With so much information available to us these days, it's easy to lose momentum by spending an excessive amount of time planning. As Malouin points out, the best balance is a healthy dose of research followed swiftly by lots of trial-and-error testing.

Not surprisingly, our ideas (and our plans) don't usually spring from our heads perfectly formed. By taking action sooner rather than later, we can quickly bring our ideas down to earth, and have hard data to measure the distance between our original plan and a real-world execution. As productivity guru Merlin Mann, the blogger behind 43folders.com, said in a recent interview: "My wife reminds me sometimes: 'You have all the information you need to do something right now.'"


***The Behance team researches productivity and leadership in the creative world. These entries are adapted and edited by Jocelyn K. Glei from the Behance team's past articles and research. Behance runs the Behance Creative Network, the Action Method project management application, the Creative Jobs List, and develops knowledge, products, and services that help creative professionals make ideas happen.

From OPEN Forum Articles