I'm trying something new. It's called the 2 and 2. I believe that no project should last for more than 2 weeks, and a task that takes more than 2 hours is probably a project that can be broken down into smaller steps.
The 2 weeks thing I lifted from 37signals. They state that projects start to wane after two weeks and enthusiasm starts to fall. Anything longer than two weeks need to be re-thought. It’s made me think of very large projects into smaller discreet projects with an eye on the whole.
Conversely, any task that takes more than two hours is too long for one task and can probably be parceled out into smaller task, and that larger ‘task’ is actually a project. Especially if it’s not getting done.
This has cause me to have a lot more projects on my plate, but I actually find that I am getting a lot more completed.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Posted on Thursday, August 20, 2009 in Productivity
Meeting notes: Opportunities
This is a business card meeting. We were going over some mockups of some of our more ambitious ideas. While none of them were chosen, it always good in a company to get away with as much as possible. They may not choose the design this time, but with enough priming they may be ready for it next time.
This is a written exchange between myself: ever pragmatic, and my co-worker: ever optimistic
Day to day, I keep thinking something good is about to happen
Posted on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 in
Mailbox value: When it’s not about the content
We are ramping up are newsletters again at The Budget Fashionista. We will have two flavors, a person can receive a daily newsletter or a weekly newsletter. The daily newsletter are for the hardcore folks who would visit the site pretty regularly anyway, I think it will be the weekly newsletter that we are going to find the most return on investment.
Email newsletters have laughably low conversion rates as its industry standard. TBF tends to run about twice that, and the people we work with are usually delighted by the return. This could be that we keep a tight reign on our newsletter list, we double opt in and we make it painfully easy to leave. People who are on the list want to be on the list.
First I use twitter to keep up with people I’ve met and my peers in the creative and tech fields. There is plenty I like to share, and learn from and with those people. it keeps me relevant and informed about my craft
Second, I use twitter because I like people. I especially like people who do something that is totally out of my sphere of influence. Connecting with those people is obvious but it’s the not so obvious people that I would not cross paths with day to day that interest me. “What is a blogger doing?”, “What is a sustainability expert doing?”. “What is a writer doing?”
In addition to being interested in other people, the third reason I use twitter is to stay informed, There has been plenty of general news, and news that only a few people might find interesting gets around on twitter hours before television and days before newspapers.
In a nutshell, I use twitter because it tells me what I don’t know.
These are my notes from a toastmasters speech given on 7/22. The speech was on data storage, the tools that are used and the importance of in addition to storing your data properly the information that gives the data context should be stored as well.
Okay here is my three-step plan for the newspaper industry. The short answer is give it away, charge more and don't worry about being first.
Let’s face it, no one looks to the paper anymore for breaking news. Newspapers should get out of the headlines business, because it literally is yesterday’s headlines. Here is what I’d like to see from newspapers:
1. Change you paper to a daily tabloid and give it away. Sell as many ads as you have to to monetize the thing. I’d take a general news-in-brief from the New York Times over the Metro any day. What you are really looking here is for the numbers. Also why you are at it. Make it as local as possible. Even a story or two of what is happening in my neighborhood would be nice. You can get a blogger or two, they don’t know their power yet, so you can get them for cheap or free.
2. Give me a single-serving paper when necessary. Much like single serving sites, Print a paper that is about one thing and one thing only and make people pay. I’d pay $5, $7 10 $10 bucks for a dossier of articles that tell me why Iran is going through what it is going through, and context of why it is important.
This week would have been ideal for a non-sensational look at Michael Jackson, why he is important and while you’re at it, throw in the others who died last week, and why they were important. But whatever the case tell me something I don’t know.
3. If you must break the news don’t reinvent the wheel, or use the same one you been using. Just use the tools available like twitter and text alerts. Be discriminating and substantive about what you break, and don’t worry about being the first. Just pass along the information. In an environment where information is free, the best asset you have is trust. If I can trust you to just give me the information and give it to me now, I won’t look anywhere else.
There you are newspaper industry go to it. Check out my friends over at metaprinter, they think about this type of stuff all day.
I'm a big fan of a business doing what they already do. This may sound a little obvious, but I believe there are tons of people and business looking to do the same thing that you already do, but are they as good at it as you? Are you as good at it as you should be?
Running a business at it’s essence is an exercise in focus. There are so many things that can be compelling, that is easy to chase after too many things. There is a balance however, one of my instructors at NYU, a student of Peter Drucker , likes the idea of trying many different things and sticking with what works. A great example is 3M, a business that started out in one but found success in another, innovation is maybe their business not scotch-tape and post-its—but I digress.
Interesting thought from Joe Webb, a graphic communications guru.
How many times have you heard the phrase “content is king”? Perhaps hundreds or thousands of times in the last 10 to 15 years. This has been uttered all those times as a justification for the dominance of publishers of all types—audio, video, text, and images—in the digital age. If it were true, the content kings would not always be whining about profits, downsizing, or restructuring. They’d be riding a wave of successes that emanate from their kingly dominance
He concludes that Distribution is King, which I happen to agree with. Ironically enough, at the end of the article there is no way share it. I’d love to have sent this to everyone I know.
This was the title a of a speech given by Greg D'Amico, one of my professors at NYU.
He covered six points that, although they were used in the context of the Graphic Communication industry, could be applied to any business environment.
1. The customer is our business
2. Focus on core-competencies
3. Create one-to-one customer relationships
4. Build strategic alliances
5. Enable a culture open to change
6. Hire a talented and educated salesforce
As suggested the only way to store something is to keep it moving. I'm busy archiving files from CD's I created as archives several years ago to assorted cloud services such as flickr, scribd etc., in addition to running across loads of bad poetry from my misspent youth, I came across this little gem, some mandates I'd written for myself.
Be Proactive
Plan Weekly Objectives
Focus on my reactions
Continue to learn
Be a better husband
Laugh
Smile
Do something creative at least once a week that has nothing to do work
Don’t be crisis driven
Don’t se excuses
Take responsibility
Take ownership
Fine solution before problems arise
Be preventive
Learn to say no
Delegate
Let go
Do my job
Take care of my business
Most of these things I’ve internalized, but it’s interesting to see again. I plan on putting this up again as a daily reminder.
10 things my father taught me about sales by Gary Dolgins
I found a one-sheet from Gary Dolgins, a salesperson, an adviser in my department at NYU, and I guy I look up to. It's a list of ten things he learned from his father about sales, which is a seminar he gives on sales. Why I don't consider myself a salesperson by trade. I am always selling. Here are the tips:
What is the most important thing about sales?
Overcome an objection gives you the OPPORTUNITY to ask for the order.
The first one who speaks looses.
Close early…close often. It never hurts to ask.
Listen to what your customer is saying. There is no crime in saying “I don’t understand”
You must have a reason to discount your price.
You’ve got to have a pitch.
Never hide success.
Always prospect. But, never prospect from the curb
Plan your work and work your plan.
Some of these are a little vague without the seminar, but some are dead on, and worth thinking about.
