Archives for May 2008
Meet Sia — the Heart of a Web Hosting Company
It’s the People
The intimate scope of SOBCon automatically draws a certain kind of people together. I’m the luckiest one because I get to meet them all in conversations as we pull the event together. That was how I met Sia Liolios. Sia is with Top Hosting Centre, a sponsor of SOBCon08.
I wanted to share this lovely person I met with you. Sia agreed to answer some questions about herself and what she does for a living.
Sia, THC, I know you to be lady who cares deeply about your customers. Tell me how your company started and how you came to be a part.
THC doesn’t have an extraordinary birth story. It’s a branch of ProWeb Consultants Inc, the “mother” company if you want, at it was born simply because ProWeb Consultants wanted to take care personally of the hosting solutions for its clients. Many companies want to have all their web services in one place – from design to online marketing and hosting. It made sense to create THC as an option for our clients. Eric Vanier, the CEO and my husband (which tells you how I came to be a part) monitored the Web for a long time and saw a need for better hosting solutions for bloggers – which determined him to make THC public and to launch it as a hosting solution for bloggers and small businesses. We soon saw that this was the best possible choice: bloggers are a rare breed, so human, warm and real. I was “observing” how my husband ran the business for a long time, then I felt a natural affinity for the people who asked for advice and support.
If there is one thing a customer really hates, it is half answers and a closed door when he needs help. We don’t keep our clients waiting for answers and we always help. It is not only our duty as service providers. It’s our mission.
What gets you up in the morning? How do you stay so positive?
My kids – they are quicksilver! It is strange to associate your work with your family sometimes. It doesn’t feel right to think about business and the kids, does it? But in the end, aren’t the kids what we are working for? Aren’t the kids what we are living for?
We run our business with family values in mind and we always think about the possible implications and interactions between business and personal life. Positive thinking and living help keep a healthy balance between the two. I managed to make positive thinking more than just a philosophy: it’s a way of life.
Sia, I never knew a child who wanted to be a web host when she grew up. What did you dream about becoming when you were 8 years old?
I often daydreamed about being on a farm riding and caring for horses. Actually I still do, but don’t know if I still have the energy and strength it takes. Maybe one day !
Do you find that dream of the 8 year old fits with what you’re doing now?
We have many dreams when we are young. Some are forgotten, some cherished like treasures. All these dreams have some common traits: they are bold, full of hope, magic. If I only think about these attributes, I dare say that yes, a childhood dream fits in our adult lives.
If everything moves forward ideally, where will you be three years from now?
Top of the world! Hey, it’s my dream!
How do you hope THC will change the world?
We don’t aim to change the world, we just hope to make it a little better through care, respect, honesty, attention. Everything else (like sponsoring a good cause, donating something to a school, going green) comes naturally, because we care and we want people to be happy.
THC, Sia and Eric are making it possible for us to have a second professional signer, so that our deaf participants will be able to fully understand what they won’t be able to hear.
Thank you, Sia! I feel lucky I met you.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Thanks to Week 132 SOBs
Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,
Successful Blog SOBs.
I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.
They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.
I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.
Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.
Want to become an SOB?
If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
SOB Business Cafe 05-02-08
Welcome to the SOB Cafe
We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.
The Specials this Week are
All Things Workplace features a description we might find familiar.
Helped orient you to your job
By “orient,†you mean get my photo IDs and have me sign a bunch of papers, then yes…otherwise, that would’ve been the actual people in my dept.
Connected Content features an explanation we could all us.
Too many folks, not just tech writers, work for companies that seem caught in an endless loop of misdirection and no direction. They have processes and flowcharts that, while detailed, don’t always reflect what’s actually having to be done on a day-to-day basis…many times at management’s own instruction.
David Bullock features a look at the order of stuff.
Are you checking the right things in the wrong order and not getting the results that you want?
Too many times when I speak to clients, they are using the right tool at the wrong time.
Thomas R. Clifford features a way to test stickiness.
I think you’ll have fun taking this little quiz. I did! The “The Stickiness Aptitude Test,” or SAT, was designed by The Heath Brothers and Guy Kawasaki.
Lives Less Ordinary features another view.
The images above are all taken through the viewfinder of my children’s kaleidoscope. Every time I slightly adjust the kaleidoscope, the patterns change. The components remain the same, but the view alters radically.
Best of Mother Earth features a new natural attitude supplement.
In the land of what I do best, I sort all that hype and gobbly gook and help my clients figure out what might be a fit for them. I like everyone to feel that they actually know why this stuff is going into their body.
Related ala carte selections include
Chris Brogan features new beginnings.
Start at your own pace, and go as slowly as you need to for you to feel comfortable getting to understand all these services, but here is a list . . .
Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
10 Life Lessons for Reinventing Yourself
Annie Galvin Teich is a wise woman, whom I’ve known for over a decade. She’s be a friend, a business colleague, and an advisor. In the past two years, she has changed paths and joined us on the Internet. I’ve asked her to share some of what she’s learned in that extraordinary transition.
10 Life Lessons for Reinventing Yourself
by Annie Galvin Teich
Two years ago I was suddenly faced with an opportunity to change the course of my life and career. I’ve launched two businesses and three websites with varying degrees of success. These are some of the things that I’ve learned:
- People don’t do business with companies. They do business with people they like. You can and will be surprised by how much support you’ll find in your personal circle – business colleagues, industry acquaintances and, of course, friends and family.
- It’s all about connections. Your definition of success will morph and change as you meet and learn from others. The opportunities that appear along the way are usually a function of who you know.
- We are stronger than we think we are. When you have passion, conviction and determination, you can bounce back off the mat. Sometimes all it takes is a hot bath, a cup of tea or a nap and you’re ready to go another round.
- People are kinder than we think they are. Don’t make assumptions about people. Sometimes they are just waiting to be asked to help. Be nice.
- You don’t have to imagine your future in detail to create it. Many of us stop ourselves from taking a gamble because we don’t have what we think we need to be successful. It really is okay to move forward without these things as long as you understand that the destination can change.
- Getting up every day to work hard at moving forward creates its own momentum. It is impossible to work 10-12 hours a day for 6 months or 2 years without getting somewhere. You may end up somewhere you didn’t plan, but that is usually okay.
- Friends keep you honest. They know you; they love you; they support you; they pick you up when you’re discouraged; and they keep your ego in check.
- If you think you understand how much work is involved, triple it. Click your heels together three times and repeat after me!
- Backing up to go forward is often a wise thing. Sometimes you find that you’ve gone off on a tangent that, as compelling as it was, is not taking you in the right direction. Part of this new learning is realizing that you are not always going to make the right decisions. As the GPS navigators say, “recalculate.”
- Being able to laugh in general and at yourself in particular is good medicine. This new landscape you’re creating is exhilarating and scary. But you have to keep it in cosmic perspective. Laughter is good for you. Don’t take yourself or your learning moments so seriously that you can’t have a good chuckle. Life is too short.
It has been a remarkable journey.
You’ll find Annie at The Teich Group, New Publishing, and Crazy 4 Kids Books.
Thanks, Annie! You still inspire me with what you take from life!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
What Do You Do in a World of Too Much Noise?
Seth and Dave Are Right
Last night a trackback didn’t make it here. I saw the link in the list at the broken Technorati index. Dave Olson was asking, “Is it getting really noisy in here?” Dave mentioned that Seth feels it too.
On the other hand… it also seems to be getting harder and harder to find original content. Seth Godin noted that yesterday. Too much noise… not enough signal.
Brings up an interesting phenomenon I think. When given too many choices, people often opt out of the whole decision.
I’ve been thinking about the same thing for some time. As I look back at what I’ve been doing my answer seems to be how I always respond to too many voices shouting at the same time.
I’ve backed away to get some perspective. I’ve tried to sort the messages into meaningful chunks. I’ve gone outside. I’ve talked to people who don’t listen. I’ve listened to people who don’t talk at all.
Now I talk to one person at a time and when I do, I talk as softly as I might.
It’s easier to listen to what folks are saying if we don’t shout back to be heard. It’s easier to hear whether their noisy words have meaning when they are away from the crowd. It’s far easier to know whether the crowd’s talking wisdom when we check in with the world on the ground.
Maybe our circle has become too focused on the people inside.
Dave’s blog post ends with “What do you do?”
I finely tune my personal frequency — that value I most admire. I adjust my signal to a low decibel and broadcast my strongest message as clearly and as often I can.
Head, heart, and meaning are important.
Head, heart, and meaning are the keys to life.
What do you do in a world of too much noise?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. I’m checking in the hotel today!
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