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It Only Seems that You Have to Walk on Water

June 19, 2008 by Liz

Look Out the Window

Ever wake up wondering why you bother? The goal you’re going for is way out there, and you’ve been here for a long time now.

Things, people, circumstances seem to be putting up barriers. That path that was once so clearly yours doesn’t quite so clear. You’re seeing clouds, not flowers. Your face-to-face with “what if” fears. Other folks win, not you.

Why not you?

See a wall, climb it. Find a problem, solve it. Need a skill, learn it. That’s how other folks get there. Those barriers will move out of the way, if you make it clear that you’re coming through.

Look out the window.

The whole world is a reminder. Scan the horizon. Your personal goal is there where you imagined it a while ago.

It only seems that you have to walk on water.

Let the horizon be your focus. Take a step closer. Keep going until you can say “I made it. I’m here.” Then look out the window again.

Every great idea, every world changing event began with one person overcoming fear.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Part 1: A Timely Interview with Matt Rissell of TSheets

June 18, 2008 by Liz

A SERIES in the quest to know more about the offline world

Part 1 in a 4-Part Interview with Matt Rissell

At Tech Cocktail8, I met Matt Rissell, CEO of TSheets. He’s a great conversationalist and in a business that serves folks who work solely offline, those who work mobile, and those who work mostly on the web. He seemed a perfect catch for an interview to find out more about closing the gap between the online and offline business worlds.

Matt, your tagline says “Time is money. Track it.” What does that mean exactly?

Great question Liz. First, let me begin by saying that we are passionate about helping people â€“ in this case, specifically, the business leader. More than ever, time has become more and more valuable as we cram as much into each day as possibleâ€¦

The old saying, “time is money”, has been around since, well, probably the beginning of time, but for some reason people seem to ignore this simple truth. 80% of the population is actually unaware of how valuable time is, how they invest it, and if they have employees, how much is wasted. TSheets wasn’t created because “I had a great business idea” but rather, I was the small business owner who was frustrated with managing labor expenses. With approximately 20 employees I went on a hunt for a time tracking solution. What I found were tools that weren’t practical for the small business owner. Thus, I had my friend build one. After our first month using TSheets for our time tracking, we reviewed the timesheet reports, and it became blatantly obvious that there was some serious time timecard fudging going on. Literally, my companyâ€™s ROI in the first month was $2,000 in reduced labor expenses and increased efficiency! I began to realize that time really does equal money.

To answer your question on a personal level – have you ever found yourself at the end of a busy day, week, month or even year when you realize that things are coming to a close and you begin to get this feeling of, “I know I have been busy but what the heck have I been doing? Where did the time go?â€ It happens to me all of the time. However, now I have a time tracking tool that tells me where I have been investing my time. I set up Job Codes and can now track how much time I have spent with my family, at work, exercising, and even the time I spend volunteering. It’s incredible to have a clear picture of my timeâ€¦ and to be honest, it gives me a real picture what my real priorities are.

I work with are businesses, universities, and individuals. Their needs are different. Their days are varied, often stuffed with meetings, research, or thinking. Many are professionals who find tracking time is not among their favorite things to do. Why would they even look at it?

Liz that’s a great point! We understand that time tracking probably isnâ€™t going to rank very high on the personal â€œTo Doâ€ list. It’s funny, because we are always saying around the TLab (the TSheets Office) that tracking time is as much fun as getting your teeth pulled. But our PASSION truly is – to simplify the life of business leaders by making time tracking fun and easy! Truly, everyone has the opportunity to be a business leader, whether they own their own business, are an employee or student. It’s a mindset not a position. We believe that time is just as valuable for the student, as it is for the professor or the business owner — so our service accommodates each person’s life â€“ regardless of their role.

Because of TSheets’ mobility, it has practical applications for all types of people at each stage of their life For instance, freelancers can track their time spent with each client. Bloggers can track their time writing, researching, or time spent surfing the Web. Students can set up job codes such as homework, internships, and class time. Businesses can track their hourly employee times. Sales Managers can identify areas of weakness to train behavior as opposed to simply managing results. Athletes can track Cardio, Weight Training, and sleep. The impact of having a clear picture of your priorities can literally be life changing.

Would you be interested in knowing how TSheets can track time from a cell phone?

Sure, how do you do it and why would I want to?

That’s the cliffhanger until tomorrow. . . .

Thanks, Matt!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Social Networking: It's Not Who You Know — It's Whether You Know Yourself

June 18, 2008 by Liz

Networking, social networking, friending, and making connections, the time it takes to keep up with such things can be tremendous and exhausting. It’s hard to reply to every bit of conversation and get some work done. I’m also left wondering about Stever Robbins’ question “Social media confuses relationships and databases.” He draws a possible life scenario based on just such connections.

“I have over 1,000 Facebook friends!” one Twitterer proudly exclaimed.

Why is that a good thing? Well, when your car breaks down, you can call 1,000 people who you know nothing about and cry “Help! I’m stranded by the side of the road all alone.”

One of those 1,000 people is George. George “friended” you because you remind him so much of his first romance. The romance ended badly, but George is determined to recapture the love of his life. “I’ll be glad to pick you up,” e-mails George. “What kind of flowers are your favorite?”

1000 friends who don’t really know me, but I can say that I know them.

Is that worth something? Not usually.

We have to know each other for the “friend” part to work or network like it’s supposed to.

It’s not who knows our names or the bits we write in our profile. That’s not enough for someone to know what we need or how to refer us. It’s who knows us, who knows what unique and valuable things each one of us offers that no other one of us does. It’s who knows how something, everything, will be different — better — because we were a part of it.

For someone to know our unique value, we have to know that ourselves.

So you see, it’s not who know, but whether you know yourself.

What different and unique things do you bring to the table?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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The Mic is On: It's About Time Management!

June 17, 2008 by Liz

It’s Like Open Mic Only Different

Here’s how it works.

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.
The rules are simple — be nice.

There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.

Let’s start with:

How do we track our time?
What makes us lose track of it?
Do we bill by the hour?
Do we lose money when we do that?
How do we make sure we have time for things we want to do?

And, we’ll talk about whatever else comes up, including THE EVER POPULAR, Basil the code-writing donkey . . . and flamenco dancing (because we always get off topic, anyway.)

Oh, and bring links about time management to share!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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Open Mic 7pm Chgo Time: It's About Time Management!

June 17, 2008 by Liz

We might talk about how we track our time, what makes us lose track of it, whether we bill by the hour, do we lose money when we do that, how we make sure we have time for things we want to do, and whatever else comes up, even flamenco dancing.

Oh, and bring example links to share — about time management.

The rules are simple — be nice.

Do be nice. 🙂

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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blog_promotion, discussion, letting_off_steam, living-social-media, Open_Comment_Night

Lasting Relationships and 15-Second Friends — Are You a Solo in a Social Media World?

June 17, 2008 by Liz

15 Days, 15 Seconds

At dinner last Friday with Beth Kanter, the scholar of social media and tech for nonprofits, used the phrase “a solo in a social media world.” That phrase has stuck with me. I wonder whether social media is changing the relationships I have with my friends?

Beth’s statement came at about the same time that Maki sent me to a study that explains the nature of relationships.

Some friendships are short and fleeting, while others may last years. Although a wide variety of factors go into determining the strength of our relationships, the long-lasting ones seem to share a number of the same characteristics, according to a recent study of a cell phone network.

Lasting relationships have these things in common. The most important of these is reciprocity.

The more often we connect with friends in a 15-day period, the stronger our relationship will be.
Most strong ties between two people lasted for just one 15-day interval. Only 20% of relationships lasted longer than a year.
The strongest factor in lasting relationships is reciprocity — returning a phone call.

It’s a simple thing. When someone calls, writes, comments, links, or asks for help, do we respond or do we let it ride? Lasting relationships last because we are persistent in nurturing them.

By knowing the characteristics of persistence, the researchers could look at the features of the network for the first 15 days, and predict what the network would look like in the future.

Now we have access to a world of online and offline relationships, but we still only have so much time for reciprocity. Does social networking put us in danger of making vast communities of fast 15-day friends — folks we meet today and hardly know in a year? Is social networking causing us to neglect the reciprocity that made our relationships last?

Social networking offers us access to start and spark incredible new relationships. People connect, relate, and do business, who would otherwise never have met. Together we accomplish, build, create, innovate, solve, fix, and nurture. Some of us even fall in love and get married. Social media can have powerful, important, and lasting effects.

BUT, a 140 character touch within 15 seconds isn’t the same as a conversation within 15 days.

Friday, Rick Wolff said, “Someday, somebody’s REALLY going to plead for help on Twitter. . . . ”

Will that tweet be recognized?

Lasting Relationships in a Social Networking World — is that the new balance we have to find?

I don’t want to be a solo in a social media world.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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