business info & tools

Refer to older posts…

Leading from behind

Published 16 January, 2008 | By TashWord

We recently did a bushwalk up a mountain with our family.

My six year old proudly lead us on the hike, making sure we all stayed together and in the ‘correct’ order, and pre-warning us of rocks and roots that might trip someone. To a six year old, it was important to be in the front and that made her the leader – although she was also showing some good leadership other than being in front!

Of course, her ‘leadership’ was done under supervision but I didn’t feel the need to shout my qualifications and experience, or to be seen as the leader to remain confident and in control of the situation.

Thinking about her leadership made me think about leadership of managers I have dealt with. In my experience, the best managers (leaders) were those who left us (their team members) to get on with our jobs, being there for answers and support as required, and occasionally giving a push or nudge in the right direction or towards a new challenge. In other words, trusting people to do what their job is, even if it means admitting they are better at it than the manager is.

The worst managers I’ve dealt with are perhaps more varied:

one who watched everything we did at times but then disappeared for hours or days so wasn’t available for support
one who had a less-than-honourable relationship and expected staff to respect him and cover for him. He also favoured some people and the rest resented it and did not work to their best
managers who micro-manage everyone and everything so everyone ends up frustrated and nothing is done particularly well
managers who keep details to themselves and don’t communicate with their team

However, the absolute worst manager behaviour to me is from those managers who blame anyone they can for errors, delays and problems, and accept credit for anything they were remotely involved with. That sort of behaviour builds resentment, destroys trust and doesn’t build a team – I mean, who wants to work hard so someone else can take the credit? Obviously, such managers haven’t realised that part of their role is management so the results of the team also reflect on the manager – apparent poor team results do not make the manager look competent anyway.

Nelson Mandela once said:

It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.

Maybe that quote should be lesson one in management courses/manuals, or given from senior managers to their juniors, as it sums up good management I believe – put your people first, give them the rewards and take the flack.

Do you agree with Nelson and me?

Posted in business info & tools | Tagged authority, leadership | 4 Comments

SMARTY goals

Published 11 January, 2008 | By TashWord

As promised in my New Year’s message, I wanted to explain what SMARTY goals are – and why they are better than other goals.

SMARTY Goals are:

Setting goals will keep you heading the right direction

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Timed

whY

And now for an explanation…

Specific – the more specific the goal, the easier it is to see your progress and feel some achievement. For example, ‘loosing weight’ or ‘getting fit’ may be common resolutions, but they aren’t specific. Much better to say ‘I will lose 5 kilos’ or ‘I will train so I can run 10km’

Measurable – make it so you know when you have reached it, and see improvement along the way as well. For example, ‘I will make $x more this year than last year’ is easy to see how close you are to $x and achieving your goal.

Achievable – you must be able to work on the goal. Setting a goal of running a marathon next week is unlikely if you currently get puffed walking to the letterbox, but a goal of walking for 10 minutes every day is achievable. Of course, part of being able to work on the goal means your attitude, too – you need to be willing to work on it and allow yourself to grow your abilities along the way.

Relevant – your goals must fit in with where you are, what your values are and your big life goals. Following someone else’s goals may not be relevant for you (e.g. don’t try to lose weight if you are underweight), and you may need to set different goals at different times in your life. If your values are to help people, then ‘I will volunteer at the community centre 3 hours a month’ is a relevant goal.

Timed – goals without a deadline are just wishes really. A deadline makes you take them more seriously and to act on them now rather than tomorrow. Deadlines need to be realistic to keep your goal achievable, but they also need to be tight enough to keep you motivated and working towards the goal. So a timed goal is something like ‘I will read a business magazine a month’, ‘I will sell 10% more this year’, ‘I will exercise 4 times a week’ or ‘I will lose 6kg by 1 August’.

whY– you need to have a reason to aim for your goal. The reason will keep you going even when it is hard and you don’t seem any closer to the end. And I’m talking about the real, deep reason for your goal. For example, ‘my doctor says I should stop smoking’ will only motivate you on a good day. On a bad day, you will need to know ‘I want more energy and don’t want emphysema like Uncle Jim so I will not light a cigarette now’. So what is your real reason (and there can be more than one) for setting this goal?

So let’s go back to our first examples – I want to lose weight and I want to get fitter. Now, let’s word them as SMARTY goals:

I will lose 1 kilo a month until I reach 60kg so I can fit into my favourite dress and keep up with my kids in the park.

I will exercise four times every week to be fit enough for the fun run in September. I want to show John that I can compete at his level and I want to feel proud of myself.

So what are your SMARTY goals for the next six months?

Posted in bit off track, business info & tools | Tagged achievable, goals, measurable, relevant, SMARTY, specific, timed | 18 Comments

Online magazine or newsletter?

Published 8 January, 2008 | By TashWord

I’ve had a client swap from online newsletters to paper ones recently and it got me to thinking about the relative benefits of a paper newsletter/magazine over an online version.

So, following on from yesterday’s discussion on blogs vs newsletters, today’s post is about online vs print for newlsetter

What are the benefits of a hard copy newsletter/magazine?

it’s easy to read – on screen reading is slower and harder, printing it yourself requires a printer and costs!
not everyone is online so a hard copy may expand your readership base, which is particularly important if you want to influence a wider range of people
many people find it exciting to get something in the mail, especially something that isn’t a bill!
it’s easy to mark your place if you can’t finish reading it in one sitting
it’s easy to make notes in the margins or underline specific points of interest
it can be stored for later use or handed to friends and colleagues
articles tend to be longer and more detailed in a magazine or printed newsletter which is great if you are after information

And how is an online version better?

it is very cheap to produce and distribute, and is therefore more likely to be available for free
it can be finished just before a publication deadline – hard copies need more planning – so can be more up-to-date
it can link to relevant resources, expanded information and the publisher’s website
it can be kept very short by just having article excerpts and linking to the main article online
the link/pdf/email can be passed onto friends

As a general rule, businesses will pay more to advertise in your magazine than in an online or email newsletter because it is the more conservative and better-known option, and it is more permanent.

Email newsletters become popular very fast because they were cheap to produce and could be sent straight to people’s computers. However, there are now so many email newsletters available that people become overwhelmed and don’t read all the emails they get. Additionally, there is so much spam flying around that legitimate newsletters and the like are often caught by spam filters and are not read.

So when contemplating what to do for your business, consider your budget, the purpose of your publication, what your market may like and how important it is for your newsletters to be read promptly. Remember, you can always do both or stop one if it truly isn’t working for you and your clients.

Posted in business info & tools, writing | Tagged magazine, newsletter, online | Leave a comment

Negative comments and controversary

Published 11 December, 2007 | By TashWord

I received an email today which discussed how he treated a particular negative comment on his blog.

The comment he received was apparently very critical, rude and insulting – effectively calling him dishonest and claiming he owed the commentor something.

Obviously, the blog owner could have deleted the message and been done with it or left it and replied to it. However, he decided to leave it and not comment on it straight away. A few more negative comments were added to the discussion – other people agreeing with the first commentor. But then, some of the blog owner’s loyal supporters jumped in – they defended the blog owner and strongly criticised the people making negative comments.

The blog owner had expected this and he took is as a chance for an active discussion, a controversy that increased traffic to his blog and some independant highlighting of his good points.

It was effective in that he had a discussion and it would have helped his blog and site rankings. Personally, I’m not sure I would have followed suit.

For one thing, some very negative comments were on his blog and they were first – some people may never read long enough to reach the positive comments. As a potential client, I wouldn’t be impressed by a blog discussion like that for two reasons – 1. why didn’t the blog owner make any response to his complainers and 2. I was probably reading the blog to learn something not hear about the person behind the blog.

I also didn’t like the fact that he was happy to have his supporters attack and flame his detractors. I prefer to not have any defamatory or hurtful comments in my professional dealings (blog, discussions, in person, whatever) so I would not allow a situation to build if I expected that outcome. It just doesn’t some across as professional to me.

I will write about how to deal with negative comments separately, but what do you think – is leaving a negative comment like that on your blog to spark a discussion a good thing or not?

Posted in blogging, business info & tools | Tagged blog, comment, criticise, negative, rude | 1 Comment

Keeping to the course

Published 6 December, 2007 | By TashWord

I did a bit more driving than usual over November and I noticed a few idiots on the road. You know the type – overtake every car they can, speeding well above the limits, but somehow staying in sight and stopping at the same red lights as you.

Honestly, it is costing them in stress and petrol use, and greatly increases their risks (of accidents and fines).

Yet travelling safely & steadily gets you where you’re going with less risk, less cost and you arrive ready for whatever awaits.

Thinking about these drivers, it occurred to me that driving is like running a business. Some people start a business and run at it, trying to make a fortune in the first six months, changing direction as each new opportunity or distraction arises. These people are often stressed and overworked.

Others take their time – do some research, study up on various topics, gather advice and opinions, set up systems, and so on – and develop strong foundations for their business. These people may sometimes be frustrated at things not going fast, but they stay the course and develop a good business.

Consistency, steady progress, solid foundations, patience, planning deliberate moves – all of these traits will make business growth a little slower but a lot stronger.

So how do you run your business? And how do you approach a major writing project?

Posted in bit off track, business info & tools | Tagged analogy, business, consistency, driving, patience, stress | 1 Comment

Trusting suppliers

Published 2 December, 2007 | By TashWord

Outsourcing is a valuable activity in business – you gain expert assistance, time and completed projects.

Yet many business owners choose to not trust their suppliers. Now obviously you need to maintain control and ensure suppliers are providing you with what you’re paying for, but you are also paying for their expertise.

I recently did some webcopy for a client. Amongst other things, I rewrote their about us page – both adjusting the content (as requested by the client) and improving the flow and grammar of the page.

The feedback from the client was ‘that’s good thanks, but we made a few changes to the about us text’. That’s great – they should take ownership and make changes so it is accurate and they are comfortable with the final copy.

However, when I looked at their changes I saw that they had replaced a lot of my text with their grammatically incorrect text again. By grammatically incorrect, I’m talking about sentences like ‘we started our business because my son needed…’ without indicating who ‘me’ actually is. It ended up not making much sense and looking very amateurish, unfortunately.

The point is that if you’re going to pay a professional writer, then take their advice on grammar, flow and style, even if you want to change the tone or content of the work.

I’ve heard graphic designers, accountants, web designers and database programmers express this frustration, too. In all instances, the professional has done what the client wanted but is disappointed in the result as they are aware of the errors. The professional is also unlikely to add that project to their portfolio so you won’t get any free advertising that way, either.

Question a professional by all means, make a suggestion even, but listen to what they tell you before you assume your way is best.

If you are not ready to take professional advice and direction, then maybe you aren’t ready to give up any control of your business and outsourcing won’t help you.

Outsourcing will help you and save you time, but only if you are ready to accept that help.

Posted in business info & tools, grammar & details, web content, writing | Tagged grammar, trust, writing | 1 Comment

Explaining outsourcing

Published 28 November, 2007 | By TashWord

What is outsourcing and why should you care?

Outsourcing is simply getting someone else to do a task or tasks for you. It can be a simple task (e.g. getting someone to stuff envelopes or do a letterbox drop for you) or a skilled task (e.g. hiring a professional web designer, accountant, writer or photographer)

Some of the benefits to you and your business if you outsource are:

Many hands make light work – it’s true!

save time as someone else does some of the work
you gain expert knowledge in many cases
you can potentially learn from the supplier
you can gain an outside perspective (great as a sole trader)
you may get a more professional result which will attract more customers
the project is likely to be finished sooner than you could do it on top of the other tasks you are performing

Although there is a cost to outsourcing, that is often paid for with the advantages above – for example, Brad designed his own website and it took 9 months before it was ready to launch. Later he realised that he could have paid Jim to design it and it would have been launched within a month, giving Brad an extra 8 months of sales to help pay for Jim’s service.

So if you are feeling overwhelmed in your business or are desperate for another day every week, outsourcing may be your best option.

If you have already done some outsourcing, how did you find the experience?

*Image courtesy of 123rf

Posted in business info & tools | Tagged advantages, outsourcing, tasks, time | 11 Comments

Why have a business blog?

Published 26 November, 2007 | By TashWord

I would write about the advantages of blogs, but I found this great post by Kenton Newby so I thought I’d link to that instead 🙂

Kenton wrote ‘Why every business owner should have a blog’ If you are running a business and don’t have a blog, this is a post worth reading and thinking about.

If you do decide to start a blog, you may find the audio and notes from the blogging for beginners talk I did last week useful, as well as my posts on blogging.

(July 2012 update – Sorry the notes are no longer available online but I am looking to produce some similar notes in an eBook format – leave a comment below and I’ll let you know when these become available).

Posted in blogging, business info & tools | Tagged beginnersKenton Newby, Blogging, blogs, business | Leave a comment

Protecting your business

Published 16 November, 2007 | By TashWord

I just found this great blog post about protecting your business. I’ve read about doing back ups many times, and even have back up systems in place :), but I haven’t thought about all of the insurance issues Michelle mentions in her post.

And having our power go on and off for the last twelve hours (I have literally started this post three times to have it stop every time. This time I am saving after every sentence, lol!) I am more conscious of the possibility of having problems – it doesn’t have to be a bush fire or cyclone to destroy your business.

I’m not sure about the tax situation here – she is writing about the USA so it may be a little different here of course but it’s still an interesting thought – how would you spend any business insurance money? Would you pick up where you left off, or would you start something altogether new?

Posted in business info & tools | Tagged backing up, business, insurance, protection | Leave a comment

Competition in business

Published 20 October, 2007 | By TashWord

Do you run a business? How do you deal with your competition?

I am about to write an article for the Business Mums Magazine on this topic, and the more opinions I have the better the article will be! So please share your thoughts here or answer the survey here – or both of course!

Word Constructions ~ for all your business writing needs

Posted in business info & tools, writing | Tagged BMN, business, competition, thoughts | Leave a comment

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