Successful Blog

Find the Genius in YOU — Stop Believing in the Box

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There Is No Box

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That box that everyone talks about — the one that we’re encouraged to think outside — came to be without a thought. No one decided or built a process called “Thinking Inside the Box.”

It was an accident, a management issue.

It’s easier and more efficient to run a school or a corporation of people when we teach, talk, and manage to the group.

Can you imagine how chaotic a school or a corporation would be if every student or every employee got to decide on his or her own creative version of “what works”?

So how can we bring leadership to every level and not ignite a mess that makes things worse? In the name of management, we build a bias toward one way of thinking in a sea of creativity.

Find the Genius in YOU — Stop Believing in the Box

When many of us weren’t looking, we learned about looking:

  • how to look at things the way other folks do particularly at the things our teachers revealed.
  • how to solve problems and show our work — or how to work them out the way we were shown.

We learned useful and appropriate skills for working in top-down managed groups:

  • to finish the calculation to the deadliest detail even though we already knew the answer wouldn’t solve the problem we were trying to solve.
  • to paint by numbers,
  • to color inside the lines,
  • to keep our curiosity inside the comfort of the teacher, the goals of the curriculum, and the norms of the group.

Within those boundaries our thoughts were caught much like a mime stays inside an invisible box.
And like the invisible box that the mime pushes and touches. The box that we think inside isn’t real.

The way to start thinking outside the box is easy enough — stop believing in the box.

Life Without the Box

The biggest problem with thinking inside the box is that for the mostpart, we’re relying on a model we learned, and so when we “show our work,” we’re really showing how someone else figured it out it.

Life without the box opens us.

New mind channels become available — creativity, flexibility, fluency, elaboration, and original thought. We break the habit of always doing “someone else’s work.”. The resources of your brain are freed up. Even better, it’s more fun, once you get used to it, because thinking outside of the proverbial box involves playing with ideas not just thinking.

DaVinci knew it.
Einstein knew it..
Lots of folks with divergent hair do it.

Most inventors only find the inside of the box to test things after they’re through seeing what they can do. Nothing new is achieved or gathered by staying where everyone else is thinking. And when we do get out of our usual ways of thinking, we land smack dab inside our own genius.

So let’s get on with getting out of it so that we can get into it.

Here’s one way to find the genius in you …

Even new creative, flexible, fluent, elaborative, original thinking needs structure. Let’s use a problem-solution format.

  1. Pick a problem.
  2. Move outside it. You can’t really see a situation when you’re part of it.
  3. Identify your greatest weaknesses.
  4. Look for how those weaknesses provides openings … Ask yourself “how can this weakness be a strength?” If your back is against the wall, no one can sneak up behind you. If you’re smaller, you’re more agile. If you’re unconventional, you’ve got surprise on your side.
  5. Leverage all of those new found strength into a single unexpected opportunity.

So, if you’re ready, I am. Enough with this introduction, let’s let the games begin. Everyone can think like a genius. It only takes a little practice, and a firm commitment. Throw away the darn box.

Put together your best out of the box thinking to find the strongest opening. Then check it against what a traditional in the box thinking would do to shore up any inconsistencies. That’s how to use your genius thinking to reveal opportunity.

Is inside or outside the box more comfortable for you?

Be irresistible.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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Introducing Power Writing for Everyone
Don’t Hunt IDEAS — Be an Idea Magnet
SEO–Five Traits of Relevant Content

Thanks to Week 311 SOBs

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Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

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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.

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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

Effective Logo Design that Reaches Your Target Audience

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Guest Post
by Christopher Wallace

The Best Logo for the Best Customers

In today’s fast-paced, competitive environment, getting your business noticed is not only a top priority but also a critical one. The marketplace is getting more crowded all the time and every business is in competition for the most precious commodity out there—customer attention. And when you think about it, what better way can there be to get that attention than an effective logo?

Next time you see the Golden Arches or the Playboy Bunny, notice how these images instantly convey messages about their brands that a thousand well-written words could never come close to matching. What about your favorite sports team? Try watching a game without seeing the team logo. You can’t. Instead, count how many times you see that logo displayed—on the players’ uniforms, in the stadium, on the programs—just about everywhere. Are logos important? You bet they are!

So what makes an effective logo? People have their opinions. Some favor simplicity, while others insist that pizzazz is king. Some think letters, numbers, and symbols are all you should see. Others favor pictures and drawings. Some insist on including the business name, while others prefer to let the audience figure things out for themselves. Which of these is the right approach?

Well, the plain fact is that there is no one-size-fits-all answer. It all depends on your business and the demographic you are targeting. A dynamic, eye-catching, attention-grabbing, and memorable logo can do wonders for your business. But it can also be useless if it doesn’t attract the customers you are trying to reach. Here are some common things to remember when trying to find the right logo for your business:

  1. Make it adaptable. Think about all the places your logo will need to be displayed—and then make sure the logo is designed in a way that makes it stand out in every setting. A few things you should consider: Does the logo still look good when you shrink it down? Will it retain its appeal when the colors are removed and it appears in greyscale or black and white? Can it stand out against the backgrounds of the different places where it will be showcased?
  2. Make it original. You may have the best-looking logo on the planet. But if somebody else thought of it first, then it’s not really yours at all. Before you go with it, do some research! Is there already a logo out there that looks a lot like yours? If so, you run two risks: (1) the possibility of a lawsuit; and (2) the likelihood of confusion between your brand and the other one. Before settling on something, do some checking online. One good resource to use is Tineye. Another is Google images.
  3. Make it timeless. Avoid saddling your logo with trendy images that will soon be out of date. An ideal logo should be able to withstand the test of time. If you have to change your logo every couple of years, then your brand will never have a chance to cement itself in people’s minds. Ask yourself this: how many logos do you see today that include images of bell bottom pants or cassette tapes? Remember that today’s trendy craze is usually tomorrow’s old news.
  4. Make it relevant. You know what your business does. But that doesn’t mean that others know. Your logo needs to communicate your product or service. You want it to become your calling card for brand recognition and loyalty. If customers look at your logo and scratch their heads because they can’t figure out what you sell or what you do, you will very quickly be forgotten. Make sure there is a recognizable tie-in relating your logo to your business.
  5. Make it meaningful to the right people. The important thing here is to completely understand your target audience. This means understanding not only your target demographic (i.e., gender, age group, household income range, marital status, etc.) but also what makes them tick. You want to understand how your target audience approaches life, what traits they exhibit, and what their attitudes are. Are they risk-takers? Do they like to spend money? Are they tech-savvy? Only after you know answers to questions like these will you be able to design a logo that reflects both their profile and their feelings.

In today’s business climate, a sharp and distinctive logo is a must. It will make your business stand out but it can also do a lot more. It can inspire trust, create brand loyalty, and generate instant recognition of your business. But it will only do these things if it is designed with a lot of care and forethought. That logo may look like just a little piece of art but in reality it can make a huge difference to your bottom line.

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Christopher Wallace, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Amsterdam Printing, has more than 20 years experience in sales and marketing. At Amsterdam, a leading provider of personalized pens , promotional pens , and other personalized items such as imprinted apparel and customized calendars, Christopher is focused on providing quality marketing materials to small, mid-size, and large businesses.

Thank you, Christoper! Your list is thought provoking! Great timing for this. 🙂

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Why Working From Home May Not Work For You

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A Guest Post by
Rachel Carlson

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Work Sweet Work?

Ah, the dream of working from home. So many perks – not having to get up early, no commute, no annoying co-workers, eating from your own fridge, break whenever you want, keep an eye on your kids – you don’t even have to get dressed if you don’t want to. Unless you’re one of the “lucky” people who actually have this privilege (between 2.8 and 44.4 million people in the U.S. work from home depending on who you ask), you’re probably reading this from a cubicle and dreaming of “freedom.” But hold on – working from home isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. I’ve been working from home for several years now, and I can tell you that it’s definitely not for everyone. Let’s start with the biggest hurdle…

Distractions

People who work from home don’t have a traditional boss looking over their shoulder. A freelance writer, for example, probably doesn’t have any boss at all. A medical biller probably has a boss, but the boss isn’t physically in the room, checking to see if work is being completed. This sounds great at first, but it really leads to a pressing question: do you have the motivation and focus to accomplish what you need to do? Remember that you’re on your computer – will you really write that report, or will you spend three hours watching YouTube videos? Even if you think you’re motivated, other little things can add up – by the time you’ve checked your email, looked at your social networks, poured a cup of coffee, taken the dog out, searched for your keys, made a trip to the grocery store, and taken the dog out again, you suddenly realize you’ve lost two hours.

So, be honest with yourself – some people need a standard work environment to get things done. To help you decide if this applies to you, ask yourself these questions:

  • How did you function in school when you had a big assignment? Did you wait until the last second to do it? Did you spend hours on a small assignment because you’d write one sentence and then go out and do other things?
  • Do you have a space in your house/apartment that you can devote solely to work? Or will you be trying to work three feet away from that tempting XBox?
  • How will your pets distract you?
  • How much time do you spend on social networks? Do you automatically open Facebook whenever you open your browser?

Of course, these things can be overcome. In the past, I checked my email constantly while trying to get things done. But creating a schedule, logging out of email and social networks, creating a designated workspace, and setting goals for each day has helped immensely. Just be sure you’re absolutely ready to take the plunge.

Hidden Costs

Cutting out the cost of a commute can be a huge financial relief, but working from home will cause you to spend more money on certain things:

  • Food – You’ll need to keep your refrigerator stocked more than usual if you don’t want to be running out for food all the time.
  • Internet – Obviously, you’ll need an internet connection. But having a clear wireless internet connection will help preserve your sanity. Being tied down to one spot while working from home is not only unhealthy, but it can also prevent you from working in other areas to be less distracted. (Sometimes I go out to my living room couch or the kitchen table if I’m having trouble focusing.)
  • Bills – You’ll be using more electricity, water, and heat/air conditioning when you work from home. It’s likely you’ll also have higher phone bills depending on how much you’ll be required to talk to others.
  • Equipment – Setting up a home office can get expensive. You’ll need to get a comfortable chair, a decent desk, and possibly some extra shelving. Also, your life will revolve around your computer. If something breaks down, you’ll need to shell out the money to fix it immediately. (Just the costs of printer ink can add up.)
  • Time – This is intangible, but if you’re unmotivated and suffering from distraction, you can end up working some very long hours to get work accomplished.

Of course, some companies will pay for some of these expenses. But if you’re freelancing, you’re on your own. So, if you’re considering working from home, be sure to weigh these costs against your current situation – and write off what you can at tax time.

Physical and Mental Health

As mentioned earlier, it’s dangerous to just sit around all day. Your current job might at least require you to move to other areas of the office now and then – maybe some stairs are even involved. Chances are, however, that you’ll be moving a lot less when you start working from home. Maybe this won’t bother you, but if you’re health-conscious, you’ll definitely want to consider this aspect of the job.

Finally, think about this statement: when you’re at home, you’re at work. This still weighs on my mind sometimes. While many office workers take their work home, it can still be nice to go to a physically different and comforting place at the end of the day. “Work-from-homers” have much less separation. If you tend to worry a lot about deadlines, or if unfinished work really bothers you, working from home might not be for you. You may find yourself constantly thinking, “I should be working right now.” So, be sure you can seriously separate work from your personal life – even if they both occur in the same place.

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Author’s Bio:
Rachel Carlson is a writer and student that works from home. While she spends a lot of her time writing, she also helps different companies like Clear Wireless with gaining exposure through various blogs and websites. She has recently started a new Twitter account and is finally going to give it a real shot. She can be followed at @carlson_rachel.

Thanks, Rachel. It takes a clear mind and focus to get out a blog post about distractions. Great job! 🙂

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Don’t Get Distracted When Your Workplace is Called Home

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You have the comforts of your living room to call your workplace, yet you find yourself more stressed out than if you were in an office space filled with varying personalities.

So, how can you better the situation so that you’re both productive and happy at the same time?

For many people who work from home, their days are littered with distractions – computer, Blackberry’s, phones, children, clutter, annoying family members and/or friends who think that your time is their time too.

Before you begin that new job from home, follow some of these guidelines to make for a better and more prosperous situation:

  • Set up strategy – Lay down the ground rules for all those who you will or may come in contact with during the hours you’re supposed to be working. If you have a significant other and/or children, set aside the necessary time daily for them, but make sure they know that your 9 to 5 hours are for work, not play. It is very easy to get distracted in such an environment and fall behind on the work that needs to get done.
  • Make the environment – If you’re working from your home in pajamas, are you really working or pretending to work? Many people who go from an office environment to a home working environment will note that they keep a similar routine. They get up at the same time five days a week, they tend to work the same hours each day, they get dressed as if they would be in a public workplace, etc. While lounging in your PJ’s and slippers may seem like a relaxing way to do work, it doesn’t always lead to productivity.
  • Have the look of a productive office – When you are working from home, you want the “office” to look and feel just like an office. That means buying the necessary equipment like a computer, printer, fax machine (if needed), etc. It is also good if you’re going to have clients coming by that you entertain them in a professional setting and make it so they feel like they’re actually in an office environment.
  • Record your equipment needs for tax purposes – While working at home may work for some and not others, there are some financial benefits to such an arrangement. First, you do not have to worry about commuting expenses and wear and tear on your vehicle. Secondly, you can deduct a number of items when it comes to doing your taxes. Many of the purchases you make for your business can be written off as expenses the next time around when doing taxes.
  • Understand working from home comes at an expense – While there are a number of advantages to working from home, some find such an arrangement to be a lonely experience. Even though you may enjoy the lack of stress that often comes with working from home, it can come at the expense of feeling isolated.
  • Take needed breaks – Given today’s world of instant communication, it is very easy to get distracted while working at home, especially in the arena of social media. Clients, co-workers, friends and family can be tweeting, texting, sharing and more, leaving you feeling like there is no end. If social media is an important part of your job requirements, know when to take a break and turn off the cell phone, Blackberry’s, computers etc.

Working from home can be a very positive experience; making it work is oftentimes the job in itself.

Dave Thomas, who has authored a number of articles regarding digital copiers writes extensively for www.business.com an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses.

GenConnect’s Laurel House and Liz Strauss Talk Owning It

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Who Gets You Where You’re Going

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In a lovely conversation with GenConnect’s Laurel House at BlogHer in August, we explored the questions:

  • How do you choose the people to be your team?
  • How do you move from behind the screen to behind the microphone?
  • What does it mean to “own it”?

Take a look …

How do you recognize the people who won’t let you fail?

Check out GenConnect – the place to connect with life’s experts.
You’ll find Laurel on Twitter as @QuickieChick

Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!