Successful Blog

Gathering Stardust for Liz Strauss

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Gathering Stardust - Liz Strauss

“If you love, you know that just as flowers need dirt, sad things can make a large heart even larger and able to love even more.”~ @LizStrauss

When news spread of Liz Strauss’s passing, the outpouring of love and support from those who love her has been heartwarming and full of stories, just as she would have loved.

Liz never wanted to be on a pedestal, nor the center of the universe. Knowing that, she touched so many lives in so many beautiful ways, and she leaves an incredible legacy.

Register here to be part of the informal, interactive virtual gathering (via Zoom) in celebration of her memory. Not a funeral, but something unique in the spirit that would make her smile.

Thursday, September 17, 2020 – Beginning at 1:00 PM Pacific Time

This time together will include:

1:00 PM – 3:30 PM – Pacific Time
Individual speakers
Opportunities to gather around a set of virtual tables and share your story of how Liz inspired and touched your life

3:30 PM – 4:45 PM – Pacific Time
Open Mic: the online room will stay open for additional hour at the end of the program and you are invited to stay in community for this time if your schedule permits

This event is being co-created and co-produced by Jane Boyd, Jeff Pulver, Gigi Peterkin, Rosemary O’Neill, and a small group of Liz’s friends, with love and gratitude from Eric Strauss.

Please follow this link to RSVP.

“No matter where in the world I might go, when I need them to, the stars always take me home.” ~ @LizStrauss

A message from Eric Strauss

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Liz and Eric Strauss

It’s Eric here (Liz’s son).

As many of you know, and I’m so heartbroken to say, my mom passed away yesterday morning. 😞

I miss her so much. It’s been hard, for me and also my dad. I know I’m not alone. I really appreciate everyone who has reached out to check on me during this time. It has helped more than you know. ❤️

I know she touched so many of our lives in so many beautiful ways. And she leaves an incredible legacy.

When news spread of her passing, the outpouring of love and support for my mom from those who love her has been so heartwarming and full of stories, just as I know she would have loved.

Many who knew my mom, as well as many from the SOBcon and GeniusShared community, have suggested doing an informal virtual gathering in her memory. Not a funeral, but something unique, in the spirit of what would make her smile.

Jane Boyd and a few friends of my mom are co-creating this.

If you’d like to join us, we’ve set aside Thursday, September 17, 1–3pm Pacific Time. More will be shared soon here and on social media

Love. ❤️

Three Must Read Tips for New Small Business Owners (No Fluff)

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So you are planning to start your own business or go solo? I have to warn you, it’s not for everyone, but most people who get a taste of it, love it and never go back to working 9-5.

And, with more and more people opting to freelance and companies becoming more open to the idea of working with freelancers, we are seeing a shift in how work gets done.

Whether you are just getting your feet wet out of curiosity or are trying to make some extra cash or because you are in between jobs, here are three tips about the reality new business owners can expect:

Start Part Time

Owning a business can be scary. There is no guarantee, and you get out of it what you are willing to put in. While it’s tempting to jump in head first, a better approach is to start freelancing part time on the side while keeping your current job.

Therefore, you will have safety net just in case things don’t work out. You’ll also still have a regular income while you are figuring out freelancing and trying to etch out your niche.

The good news is, now is the best time to get the ball rolling! As it happens, Covid and its lock-downs have done one good thing: It has caused the demand for digital businesses to skyrocket:

The whopping 50% increase in internet use in some areas of the world is so significant that many have speculated about the possibility of the increased demand, breaking the internet (don’t worry, experts are saying that we are fine – for now).

The forced self-isolation to prevent the spread of coronavirus has provoked rapid changes in consumer behaviours. The most obvious result of this is the increase in online content and consumption.

Source: Megaphone Marketing

Treat Freelancing Like a Business (Because It Is)

Just because you are a great graphic designer doesn’t mean you are a good business person.

Many new freelancers overlook the importance of treating freelancing like a business. Freelancing is both a skill and a business, and you need both to be successful.

Set up an invoicing routine

One of the biggest ways people not experienced in business fail is by failing to ensure payments are delivered on time. Make sure you have a mobile invoice system like Invoice2Go that allows customers to pay with both credit and debit cards.

Create a better phone system

If your business involves a lot of communication (with clients, partners, remote employees, etc.), set up a better phone system early on. It will save lots of money and help productivity. Here’s a good virtual phone system for small businesses to consider.

Phone system for small businesses

Keep an eye on your ROI

It may sound obvious but too many businesses don’t have a good system for tracking and analyzing ROI. For digital businesses, Finteza is a comprehensive web analytics platform that will help you analyze and predict your ROI:

Web analytics

It’s a Battle of Attrition

Most freelancers fail because they give up too soon. Building a strong client base and having success in your industry takes time. It takes time to build the necessary connections, develop a portfolio of work, and hone in on your area of specialization.

If you can battle through the lean times at the beginning, you’ll be able to reap the rewards once you get your footing. This is where starting part-time definitely helps!

If your business is still slow, here are a few resources to help:

Are you up for the challenge?

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Book Review: Killer Visual Strategies, by Amy Balliett

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Killer Visual Strategies, by Amy Balliett, is a rapid fire compendium of design and marketing advances, taking the reader all the way from cave paintings to Snaps.

The structure of the book includes real-world examples and exercises, intended to reinforce each design rule. And as you’d expect for a book about visual design, there are helpful graphics and “key takeaways” to assist the text skimmers. Amy is able to weave her considerable experience as an entrepreneur, communicator, and agency owner into the stories that illustrate each key rule.

I read this book as a PDF, but it would really lend itself as a hard copy reference, sitting on your shelf next to Everybody Writes (Anne Handley’s indispensable guide for copywriters). You will probably want to refer back to the step by step design process, or the guide to color or font selection, when you start working on future visual projects.

Should most projects have a strong visual component? It turns out that our brains are wired to respond faster and more deeply to visual content, so unless you’re writing the next War and Peace, you can benefit from the art and science contained in this book.

The chapter on data visualization works on two levels. First as an amateur designer, you come away with a much clearer methodology for presenting information. Second, as a consumer of data, you are a much more informed customer. After reading this book, you’ll never look at Buzzfeed charts the same way again.

Many marketers or solo entrepreneurs have to occasionally dabble in design. The strategies offered by Balliett act as guardrails, gentle nudges to keep beginners on the right track. Entire books could be written on each of the topics she covers, but there is enough meat on the bones to be a valuable resource.

I’d recommend this book for marketers, entrepreneurs, or anyone whose work brings them in contact with the visual arts. It’s a quick read, but deserves a permanent spot on your reference shelf.

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is a writer, speaker, and Co-Founder of Social Strata, makers of the Crowdstack community platform.  You can also find Rosemary on Twitter as @rhogroupee.

Disclosure: I was given a digital version of this book for review purposes. 

Five Reputation Management Tools to Use

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Nowadays there’s a lot of personal information publicly available on the web. We all have an “online persona” which is directly related to the way people see and judge us as individuals.

Unfortunately managing your online reputation is everything but an easy task.

There are many social media channels where people can spread unbiased opinions about others, tag inappropriate photos, and otherwise mess with your reputation. As a blogger, your name stands for the quality and authenticity of your posts, apart from your personal and professional interest in having a “clean and positive” online reputation.

As Google says: “Your online identity is determined not only by what you post, but also by what others post about you – whether it is a mention in a blog post, a photo tag or a reply to a public status update.”

If you want to influence the way people see you online, it’s important to understand that there are two basic techniques for managing your online reputation.

  • Constantly monitor what people are saying about you and respond instantly when necessary.
  • Actively develop your reputation by creating “positive” content. Create a hub such as a personal landing page where people can easily find everything about you in a simple and compact format. Hiring a solid digital performance agency would be helpful here.

With those two techniques in mind, here are six simple, yet effective tools that might help you along the way to monitor what people are saying about you as well as actively develop and influence your online reputation.

1. Google Alerts

Google Alerts let you get notified whenever your name or email address gets mentioned publicly on the web. To use Me On The Web, just log into your Google dashboard and click “Set up search alerts for your data” – it’s as easy as that!

It is also a good idea to use a SERP tracker to monitor your branded search results.

2. SocialMention

As Inform Buki rightfully states, social media is the branding powerhouse, so it is only natural that you need to monitor your brand on social media.

Another brilliant tool to track your name across the web is Social Mention. It’s a social media search engine that searches blogs, comments, bookmarks, events, news, videos and micro-blogging services. You can select the sources you want to search and employ email alerts or a personalized RSS feed to stay up-to-date.

But don’t take it from me. Here’s their official description.

“SocialMention allows you to easily track and measure what people are saying about you across the web’s social media landscape in real-time. Social Mention monitors 100+ social media properties directly including: Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, YouTube, Digg, Google etc.”

3. WiseStamp

Easily create a HTML email signature and automatically add it to your outgoing email with WiseStamp. Email signatures are effective tools when it comes to building your personal brand and an ideal starting point for influencing your online reputation with anyone you contact via email.

Having a professional email signature is very important – it should at least contain your full name, basic contact info, and a link to your main website or personal landing page. To see it in action, here’s a detailed tutorial in how to add an email signature in Outlook.

Cloud PBX is a useful tool to set up as well as it will let you be more in control of your contacts.

4. Linktree

Take advantage of a clean and simple app for building awesome personal landing pages in minutes with Linktree.

Linktree sites are free, customizable, and help you manage your information all in one place like your bio, social networks links, your blog, and contact details. Once created, you can provide one simple link where people can find out everything about you and follow you around the web.

5. Knowem

Knowem helps you to secure your personal name or username on over 590 social media services and websites.

You’ll hardly use any of the services you sign up to via Knowem, but assuring that your name or pseudonym will not be related to any undesirable content on those websites is worth the effort.

I hope these tools will definitely help you to maintain your online reputation. But if you would like to grow your online reputation then here is a great resource with some proven social media marketing strategies that will help you to grow your online reputation.

Are there any reputation management tools I have missed? Please share!

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Are You up to Speed on Your Business Finances?

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Running a business means you wear many hats and have a lot on your plate to deal with.

That said the biggest focus should be on how your business is doing financially. If you lose focus here, you could in fact end up losing your business if not careful.

So, how up to speed are you on your business finances?

Don’t Let Financial Issues Cost You Your Business

In looking at the impact various financial matters can have on your business, here are a few to focus on:

1. Bringing in enough revenue – How good of a job are you doing bringing in revenue? If you have been in business for a few years now, it is wise to compare revenue numbers from prior years. This can give you a good sense of if your business is headed in the right or wrong direction. If you see indications that revenue is heading south, you can at least be aware of it and try to turn things around. Figure out if it is only your business having financial issues or more a sense of the industry you are in. If the former, you need to put a stop to the bleeding sooner than later.

2. Knowing the financial rules you face – From taxes to commission revenues, be up to speed on rules you face. For instance, if someone asked you what is ASC 606, could you answer that question rather quick? ASC 606 involves the accounting of commissions and how they are tracked and reported. Things like this you need to be aware of and any changes that come with it. This is why having a top-notch accountant for your business proves crucial. Small financial mistakes at a company can oftentimes be overcome. What you do not want to have happen is having major ones put you on the brink.

3. Erasing debt – One of the worst things you can have hanging over your head as a business owner is a large amount of debt. With that being the case; are you dealing with sizable debt? If so, are you taking any action to deal with it? Not dealing with it can leave you in financial rough waters for years to come. An example here would be credit card debt. While it is fine to use a business credit card for some needs, do not rely on it all too often. If you do, you could see that balance become rather high in a short amount of time. In the event you only pay the minimum each month, think of those interest fees. Those fees are in essence like throwing money out the window. This is why using cash more often and paying down any credit card debt makes a lot more sense. If you do have sizable credit card debt, look to see about doing a balance transfer. You may discover another bank with better financing rates.

As you go about reviewing your company finances, be sure to look for any red flags.

If you find red flags with your finances, do all you can to lower them.

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.