CMD+Shift Design
Liz Andrade
Designer of print and web. Podcaster, Blogger, internet nerd and crazy cat lady.
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(Hey, that’s me!)
So the wait is finally over, Niki and I have been scheming about this for a long time now and then over the last couple weeks pulled it all off…
PageBreak is a design, business and marketing-themed book club and podcast, started by Liz Andrade and Niki Brown. The main goal of the club is to build a strong online community of designers, developers, freelancer (like ourselves) and to discuss and enjoy books about the stuff we love to do!
We’re starting out with the plan to pick a new book and record a show at the end of each month, so if you have a suggestion we’d love to hear them! You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or stream the show at pagebreakpodcast.com (we’re working on a site with commenting and all that jazz, so stay tuned…)
Book #1? Rework by 37Signals Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. Make it through the show (or download it and skip to the end) to find out what we’ll be reading for September, maybe you’d like to read along? If you’ve read Rework and you want to discuss it with me and Niki or other listeners of the show – head over to the GoodReads PageBreak group!
I Don't Work Weekends
After 2.5 years in business — I still think of myself as new to the game. I am just getting started, still learning and still have plenty of room to grow! However sometimes those who are even newer to running a business than me ask how I do it. How do I market myself, get clients, get money, do projects, etc, etc? I don’t have much of a strategy or a secret. My business plan consist of this, “Do work I am proud of for businesses that I want to see succeed.” I realize this isn’t very helpful information to any of you who might be looking to me to help you find your path on the entrepreneurial road, sorry about that. After my last post and the response I got from everyone about it, I have this idea that maybe instead of talking about the things I do that may contribute to me staying in business, perhaps it will be more informative to talk about some of the things I DON’T do. So, some of you may be shocked by this one…
I don’t work weekends.
From Friday evening through Monday morning my home office stands untouched (unless my cat sneaks atop the desk to chew on a pencil – the little bugger!) I have a separate laptop for personal use, like laying on my couch watching youtube videos or making mixed CD’s. If you were to call my work phone on a Saturday evening — you’d hear my outgoing message informing you of my regular office hours and that the office is currently closed and many of you who follow me on Twitter even know — my stream slows a bit as the work week comes to an end.
I don’t work weekends, Except For When I do.
I’m not going to lie, I do check in on email at least a couple times a day — But (perhaps it is because I’ve already set the standard with my clients,) I rarely GET emails and never get phone calls on weekends!
Now, there are exceptions. If a client has an expedited project with me, I work whatever hours are needed to finish the job on time — weekend, holiday, day or night. If I commit to doing a rushed project and my client pays the additional fees involved — I am at their beck and call until we finish. Also… while I never tell a client I will be working on their project over the weekend and I never promise any deliverables during my days off — sometimes I work cause I just like to! …I love what I do and it can be a lot of fun, so sometimes I am typing up a style sheet at 9PM or laying out a blog comment form on a Sunday morning. But, shhh… don’t let my clients know. ;)
Family > Business
If you love what you do so much, why don’t you work weekends?
I love what I do, yes — but even more… I love my family and spending time with them (and my friends — which I group in that “family” label.) is something I value. Doing work you love is important, but having people to share your life with — there isn’t anything more important than that!
Over-Time is Over-Rated
But if you work more hours, you could make more money and build your business faster!
In some cases this may be true. But, the general rule that working more hours means you get more done, is bullshit.
At my old 9to5, I spent the better part of my 4 years with the company skipping lunch breaks, logging 50 – 60 hour average weeks. I took work home, I worked on weekends and eventually… as you might have guessed — I got burnt out! I started having terrible anxiety problems, I gained about 30lbs as a result of skipping meals and binge eating before bed. I found myself overworked and under appreciated. And then one day, I decided to change that.
You’re thinking “Oh! This is the part where she quits!” No.. no… by the time I left to start my business I had actually found myself in a much healthier situation at my former post. The reason for THAT is because I made a conscious decision to stop with all the extra hours. I deleted all my work files from my home computer, deactivated office email from coming to my house. I started eating lunch (mostly) everyday and made it a regular habit to be out of the office no later than 6PM. After a week of this, I was amazed that instead of getting less done — I was getting MORE done! I felt less burnt out and happier, I was more productive! Since I knew my time at the office was limited, I worked smarter and prioritized tasks in a more efficient way. I was logging a fraction of the hours and getting the same amount (if not more) work done!
My Final Thought
So there you go… I don’t have some crazy secret strategy on getting more client leads… just a glimpse at how and why I do (or don’t do) the things I do. Is my logic on this warranted or do you think it’s in spite of this practice that I’m staying in business?
I recently started using the “Superstars” labels in Google Mail in a new way that has totally changed the way I keep track of emails! It is something that sounds really small, but it works great for me — maybe it will work for you too?
I have 3 Superstars enabled the Red, Yellow and Green. (You starting to see where I am going here?)
Emails I have read and need to reply to or follow up with by sending back something, I mark with a green star. If I have an email that I want to keep in my radar, but I am not ready to reply to just yet (waiting for more information before a reply is ready or something like that), those get marked with yellow. Red gets used only when there is no need to reply to the email at all – but the email may hold some information relevant to something I am working on. I want it easily visible, but it required no action perse.
I know this system isn’t rocket science, but in the last few weeks that I have been using it, I haven’t had emails fall through the cracks or those situations where you thought you had replied and then a week later get a “you still there?” from your client.
This also saves time, since I am not re-examining read emails to make sure I’m on top of them. I can do a quick glance at my inbox and see by the stars what needs to get done!
Do you have any simple tricks you use that make a big difference in your work day? Leave a comment and tell us about it!
One of my favorite things about Seth Godin’s work is his language. His books each have their own unique vernacular which can make grasping the concepts he is presenting to you really easy to understand – but make it a little difficult to talk about these concepts with those who have never read the book – or have experience with Seth Godin’s writing. Linchpin is full of new additions to the Godin Glossary like art, genius, gift, cog, factory, work, and even some old favorites like remarkable and tribe. His practice of giving new meaning to words reiterates his message of defining your own path (and sometimes your own definitions) in life.
The first line in this book is enough to keep a conversation going all night. “You are a genius.” Seth Godin says everyone, each and every human on this earth is a genius. Now I know what you might be thinking, Really? Everyone? Yeah I was skeptical too, but I kept reading.
We are all able (and have at some time in our lives — even if it hasn’t been since toddler-hood,) solved a problem in a way that no one had ever thought of before, done something remarkable! The reason why many of us aren’t practicing our genius and don’t even believe ourselves capable is for a multitude of reasons — many of which get examined in depth over the 236 pages of Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
Fear of judgment or not fitting in, fear of being noticed, being held responsible for our actions. All these tiny voices in our “lizard brain” that start being encouraged at the start of life — by parents, friends, school, media, etc. It’s something we accept as the way things have always been, you have to play by the rules to get ahead. Seth Godin says, if you want to be valued, playing by the rules is dangerous!
work, has been transformed in just a hundred years from doing things that involve heavy lifting to leveraging and enhancing your personality. (page 210)
The only way to affect change in another person (what Seth calls creating art!) is NOT fitting in, NOT falling in line and NOT following the map, but to make your own. Being remarkable (worth remarking about,) is not something you can do a little bit of while still playing it safe, to be a linchpin you must commit yourself to your art, acknowledge your genius and live up to it!
This book is inspiring, thought provoking and like many of my favorite business books, it doesn’t take any shit. You have no excuse for not practicing your art anymore… So if you are happy with the status quo… if living up to your genius is more responsibility that you are willing to accept, then this book is going to scare the pants off you — cause it gives you nowhere to hide.
If you’re intrigued — but nervous, give it a chance, be nervous, it’s OK. But don’t let it stop you, start reading.
the best future available to us is a future where you contribute your true self and your best work. Are you up for that? (page 2)
Today my client and friend Laura Marchbanks invited me to attend Visitors Day with the Networking group she is a part of (The Northstar chapter of BNI.) It was by far the best experience I have had at a networking event! I met some very friendly people, had a few laughs and ended up running out of business cards! I have not made any decisions about weather this group is something I want to make an ongoing commitment to — but it was a great way to spend this Tuesday afternoon and it got me inspired for some new blog material! So here we go…
If you are looking to get more involved in face-to-face business networking, you first will need to decide what type of group will best suit your needs, your brand and your business. There is no real right or wrong on this, it just has to do with what you are looking to put in and what you will be expecting to get out, so here is the basics on the 3 different types of face-to-face business networking groups that you might find out there.
The 3 Types of Business Networking Groups
Social Groups.
Social groups are pretty standard fare, and probably what most of us have had experience with when it comes to business networking. These are usually non-structured gatherings set in a social setting like a bar or party. The social business group is all about “mingling” or “schmoozing”, you “work the room” and meet various others that may or may not turn into business leads. These can be fun or painfully awkward depending on your personality type. I tend to not enjoy these that much since most of my experiences at these include people who aren’t having very genuine exchanges, they feel cheesy a lot of the time… but perhaps I just haven’t been to a good one yet.
Examples of Business Networking Social Groups and/or where to find out about them (some of these are local to the Pacific Northwest of Seattle, but it gives you an idea of what I am talking about): Your local Chamber of Commerce, Girl Power Hour, Biznik…
Referral Groups.
The main focus of this type of a referral group is to generate leads for your fellow members. These are often set up as non-compete groups – meaning every niche is only covered by one person in each group. (one tax attorney, one massage therapist, etc — you get the picture!) They are also very structured because they’re all about business! These types of groups can be good for those of you who enjoy structure, their clear cut agenda makes the socializing come easier – you know everyone there is there because they want to learn about you and your business and they want to talk about theirs. Plus the structured atmosphere gives you a sense of urgency about networking — if you know you have 20 minutes to meet the newcomers, you make it a point to talk to them, but when you have 2 hours to “work the room” you may end up migrating to a circle you already feel comfortable with.
Examples of Business Networking Referral Groups and/or where to find out about them (some of these are local to the Pacific Northwest of Seattle, but it gives you an idea of what I am talking about): BNI, I Take the Lead, Local Business Network, LeTip…
Trade Associations.
These groups are targeted to your industry. You see these a lot on sites like Meetup.com and they can be more social but tend to be more of a business support group of sorts. You meet for breakfast with 8 other local Freelance WordPress Developers and you can advise each other on client matters, marketing strategies, new technologies and all sorts of things you may not hear from other business owners who are not in your particular industry.
Examples of Business Networking Trade Associations and/or where to find out about them (some of these are local to the Pacific Northwest of Seattle, but it gives you an idea of what I am talking about) (for designer/developers/freelancers): AIGA, GAG, Mediabistro…