Archive for the ‘Strategy’ Category
You may want to consider this update I received from colleague and Kyle Shannon mystery series author, Linda Mickey. An excerpt: “Happy Spring. There is some big news in the publishing world that has a direct impact on me and thousands of other writers. Amazon announced that unless certain publishing companies (mine included) use Amazon’s printing company, Amazon will not sell the book. An article in Business Week points out that Amazon’s real goal is to print ALL the books it sells on a print-to-order basis. Why? Because warehousing is costly. If Amazon switches to a print-on-demand business model, it will save millions of dollars. It’s a smart business move on their part and they have the marketplace muscle to pull it off. There’s only one problem. Amazon’s print company, Booksurge, is not a good printer. iUniverse (my publisher) and others switched to Booksurge’s competitor because of quality issues. The Internet is full of complaints about Booksurge’s quality. (Some copies of my first book, Greased Wheels, had green pages that matched the cover.) Why am I telling you all this? Because I want to assure you that my books are available at www.bn.com and www.powells.com and many other book selling sites. If they order from Amazon, I cannot guarantee the books will ever ship. Barnes and Noble also has a $25 free shipping program. As always, thank you for your support. Keep reading!”
Most of us work from home; a few of us have outside offices. I’ve always worked from home, but am now getting ready to split my time between my home office (ChronicBabe HQ, or CBHQ) and an outside office space I’ll share with a group of cool, creative folks. It’s exciting! But it creates some questions and challenges for me: - How should I keep my computers connected? I use MS Outlook to manage my calendar, email, task lists, etc. I don’t want to bring my main computer to the remote office (let’s call it CBHQ2) but I want access to all that stuff. I’ve checked out GoToMyPC and it seems workable. I don’t like to work for hours at a time on my laptop, so I’ll probably get a dock so I can use a bigger monitor, keyboard and mouse. And finally, So…I’m ultra-curious to hear how other folks prepare to work offsite. What software/ hardware/ equipment/ gadgets help you? How do you balance your time? How do you minimize distractions? Handle paperwork? Chime in with a comment!
The Trib featured ideaxchanger Jackie Sloane this month discussing the benefits of virtual networking. If you would like to learn more about e-networking and e-marketing, come to my presentation tonight. Hosted by Independent Writers of Chicago, I’ll be highlighting the work of several ideaXchangers in a discussion titled “Writing for the Web: How to Find, Get, and Do Your Next Writing Gig Online.” On Thursday, mix your virtual and physical networking at the mediabistro.com Chicago party for creative, content, media, and publishing pros at D4 Irish Pub & Cafe, just in time for the holiday. My cohosts and I enjoy getting to know your professional endeavors and introducing you to people with similar goals. Hope to see you at one or both events!
I found this article, Recession Spending: Ad Cutbacks Don’t Always Make Sense (byAndy Marken, President, Marken Communications) in one of the b2b advertising e-newsletters, and only after I read it, did I notice that it was written back in 2003. Despite the fact that online advertising plays such a big role in marketing budgets today, the basic info in this article is still sound. If you stop advertising when the economy gets tough, you’ll have an even harder time when the recovery comes. The trick is to market a little differently, not to stop.
An ideaXchanger asked me this question, so I thought I’d post here for everyone to get in on the discussion, especially for those who are into GTD. First, I’ve been in goals partnerships of some sort for over 5 years and have found them indispensable. In short, a goals partnership helps two or more people achieve their goals in a mutually supportive and accountable arrangement. It’s a two-way exchange, whereas professional coaching is better if you need to focus solely on your own goals. You can set it up in any number of ways. Some are more organized and linear; some are more brainstormy and collaborative. Curious? Check out the power of goals clubs and this online goal-setting community.
I just devoured Seth Godin’s The Dip It’s not rocket science, but it’s still a powerful idea. And after a few months of upheaval and the opportunity now to sit back and make a fresh plan for 2008, it’s just what I needed to read to get me in the right mindset to plan for success. I give it my highest recommendation!
I can get pretty maniacal about process. When I was first learned about the Getting Things Done phenomenon, I glommed onto it like a process-obsessed moth to a properly indexed flame. At the same time, I knew how easy it is to the processing overtake the doing. In the intervening time, I think I’ve developed a pretty good — yet still evolving — system for organizing my life. The system is centered on a tool called Kinkless GTD. This is my master vault, where I keep all my to-dos, organized by project. On the surface, it is simply an outline written in the excellent OmniOutliner. Underneath the surface, however, are scads of scripting and formatting rules developed by one Ethan Schoonover, using OmniOutliner’s support for third-party scripting. He calls the package Kinkless GTD, or kGTD. This system is not for everyone. It can be clunky at times. For me, it works, because it embodies the principal of GTD I value most, which is to Get Things Out of My Brain. Everytime I have a thought about a project, I write it down in my kGTD document, filing it under the proper project. Everytime I get an email from a client, saying she’s going to delivery something by X date, I write it down in kGTD, tag it as “Waiting on” and list the date it’s supposed to arrive. Everything anything happens, it goes down in my kGTD outline. The benefit being, if all my to-dos are one place, they’re easy to retrieve. The first thing I do everyday is open up my kGTD file, sync (which removes done items and changes the formatting of due items so they stand out more), and then scan the document for items to do today. I write those down on a separate list — usually a notepad next to my keboard — then work exclusively off that list for the rest of the day. If I’m feeling really energetic, I’ll even mark down time slots for each task, so I know, realistically, what I’ll be getting done today for sure. What was revelatory for me about GTD was not the specific systems it describes, but the philosophies behind them. Get stuff off your brain and onto paper. If you’re frustrated, fix the process. Put stuff where it belongs. I’ve tried lots of other tools, and I keep coming back to kGTD, because it’s the easiest tool that allows me to accomplish those goals.
Been collecting links for a while, so I thought I’d do a little purge into a post here. Some of the best blogging articles I’ve read lately (many on referral from Matt, Sandy, Andrew and others - thanks guys!):
I ask because I’m finally reading David Allen’s Getting Things Done So - tell us what YOU do to stay organized. I’m eager to hear any little detail you would like to supply! |
, which I chanced upon in Barnes aand Noble the other day. It’s a great little lunch break read, with one really big idea that has me seeing things in a new way in this new year. The essential idea is: get comfortable being a quitter. But quit strategically, when you realize you’re in a situation that isn’t worth the work to complete. And quit the distracting pursuits that take you away from the really big pursuits that are your passion and offer the best success potential.