Escape from Cubicle Nation

Ready to freelance? Learn from Michelle Goodman of "My So-Called Freelance Life"

Just about an hour ago, Daniel Kehrer asked me (on Twitter of course!):  Are you finding lots more folks going freelance because of the economy?

Glad you asked Daniel!

In today's podcast, I talk with Michelle Goodman, author of the new book My So-Called Freelance Life.  It is chock-full of information for people who are considering freelancing on the side, or as a full-time pursuit.  The conversation is about 43 minutes and you can find it here.

Michelle and I talk about all kinds of nuts and bolts questions about freelancing including:

• How in the world do you get your first client when you work full-time in a "real" job?
• Should you ever work for free to get started?
• How to you contract for work appropriately to avoid scope creep?
• Should you bother to list your services on the "bidding" sites like Elance or Guru?
• When can "competitors" be a great source of referrals for your business?

I think one of the best ways to test the waters of entrepreneurship, even if you are not ready to leave your job for a few years, is to do a freelance project.  Enjoy the conversation, and the book!

Great way to start the new year: set up a personal board of directors

I may have set a new record for the shortest time from concept to production for a podcast:  20 minutes ago, I shared on Twitter that my best friend, Desiree Adaway, set up a personal board of directors last year and just sent me her annual report.

Desiree is the Senior Director of Volunteer Mobilization for Habitat for Humanity, and at the end of 2007 felt the need to get expert advice and insight from people she trusted and admired.  So following Jim Collin's advice, she set up her own board.

Many people were interested in hearing her story, so I called her up and recorded a podcast on the spot. It is about 16 minutes - listen here.  I hope you enjoy our conversation in which we cover:

1. What is a personal board of directors
2. How to choose good members
3. How to make sure the relationship is mutually beneficial
4. How to get the most out of the mentoring relationship

Desiree and I learned of the concept from Jim Collins in Good to Great.  Here are a few articles which expand on the topic:

BusinessWeek:  Good to Great Expectations
In Jim's own words from the Fast Company Design Conference in Phoenix, 2000:  Why have a personal board of directors?

Desiree was willing to share the introductory letter she sent to her perspective list of personal board members:

Pam,

I am a fan of Jim Collins. About 5 years ago I read an article he wrote for a magazine. It spoke of  an idea he came up w/ at the Stanford Business school for his students:

Do you have a personal board of directors? I don’t mean a traditional corporate board, nor do I mean an informal board of business advisors. I mean a personal board of directors composed of seven people you deeply respect and would not want to let down. A group like a set of tribal elders that you turn to for guidance at times of ethical dilemma, life transitions, and difficult choices, people who embody the core values and standards you aspire to live up to.

 I have been thinking of this concept more and more over the past few years. Who are the folks that embody the core values that I aspire to live up to?  Used well, a personal board helps one find creative alternatives to life’s challenges and is a terrific place to turn for advice on handling crises and ethical dilemmas.  The best personal boards contain a diverse spectrum of backgrounds and perspectives.  I desire potential board members that meet my standards of thoughtfulness, insight, and experience. Respect for my board counts more than intimacy.  I am looking for board members who, while strong in their views, are nonjudgmental and compassionate. The best board members will dispense wisdom like Socrates—by asking questions, drawing analogies, and making observations.

I would like humbly request that you become a member of my board of directors.  Trust that if you accept this position I will be extremely selective in how I use your time and when and how I will call on you. I will only contact you for critical decisions.  What about “payments” to my personal board members?  The best payment I can think of is  to simply  emulate  you by giving time and guidance to others, especially younger  people who need mentors. Additionally,   I promise to keep you informed of my progress. In fact, in following Jim Collin’s advice I will write a letter once a year or so to my board. My personal “annual report” will help me take stock of my life on a yearly basis.

Please understand if you cannot take this task on, I understand totally. If nothing else, just wanted you to know that I am a fan of yours as well!

Thanks in advance!

Desiree Adaway

Good luck to you if you decide to move forward with your own board!

If you want to reach Desiree, she is at dadaway (at) habitat (dot) org.  She doesn't have a blog yet, but we can all work on her to start one. :)

Blog basics for beginners: Interview with Nathan Bowers

I get a lot of questions about blogging from people who are considering starting a business and are new to the social media world. 

So does my friend Nathan Bowers, who is a web developer by trade, and also an artist/musician and all-around renaissance guy. 

Nathan and I connected on Twitter recently and started a whole series of offline conversations which resulted in this 2-part podcast interview. We wanted to reduce anxiety for new bloggers, and also draw the connection between the importance of good technology crossed with good content.  As we both noted, there are plenty of popular blogs with crappy designs, mine included.

Part 1 of this interview covers: (Listen here - 24 minutes)

1. Defining a goal for your blog
2. Securing an effective domain name
3. Choosing a blogging platform
4. Choosing a blog host
5. Measuring the success of your blog
6. Design basics

Interview notes for Part 1:

Seth Godin's advice on naming
Neutron LLC naming case studies

Part 2 of this interview covers: (Listen here - 24 minutes)

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
2. Creating compelling content

Interview Notes for Part 2:

Wordpress All-in-one SEO plugin
Art and Fear Anecdote from the book Art and Fear

As a side note, Nathan walks his talk and recently redesigned Fred Wilson's popular blog avc.com. He made the connection with Fred by commenting on his blog frequently, and suggesting improvements.  Fred was so intrigued that he hired Nathan, proof that valuable business connections come from social networking done with integrity.

Oh, and for regular podcast listeners, I did something different this time and used Skype.  How does it sound?  Thanks Matthew for patiently explaining to me how Skype recording works!

(Update later this evening:  so sorry I messed up a few of the reference links when I originally posted this - fixed now!)

How to develop an entrepreneurial mindset

For this week's podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing Gary Schoeniger, founder of the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative. 

Gary has a really interesting story -- from dead broke desperate handyman to successful entrepreneur.

Over the last 15 years, he has interviewed hundreds of successful entrepreneurs to discover which skills are critical for starting and running a business.  Many are not what you think.

My favorite advice from the interview:  

"Find a problem.  Figure out how to solve the problem.  Find more people with the same problem and you have a business."

I like that Gary's views make me think.  I have been in "do what you love (and work and work and work and work) and the money will follow" mode for so long that the "problem/solution" model was very intriguing.

Listen in on the 40-minute interview here.

---

Note to regular podcast listeners:  I have been veering off my "every 2 weeks" publishing schedule a bit as I am writing my book.  I need to do this in order to get the work done.  Once the book is turned in (September 15, come heck or high water), I will come back to a more regular schedule.  Thanks for your support and understanding!

Is there such a thing as a cool job?

My friend Alexandra Levit just wrote a book called "How'd You Score That Gig? A Guide to the Coolest Jobs- and How to Get Them."   Her book bubbled up from lots of conversations with friends at social gatherings where inevitably one person would describe a cool job that no one had heard of.

Despite what you may think of my opinion based on my blog's name, there are certainly times and places for a "job," rather than striking out on your own.  If you have to be your own venture capitalist for awhile, you might as well do it in an interesting profession! The more time that goes on, the more I see that feelings of liberation erupt from your own positive thoughts and beliefs, no matter your work configuration.

I interviewed Alexandra for my podcast where we discussed not just the contents of her new book, but also what it is like to be a successful self-employed writer.  She gives some tips for choosing book topics that are not just interesting to write, but that may pique the interest of publishers.

Listen in to our 33-minute conversation at this week's podcast.

Realistic expectations for making money in your startup business

Sometimes I feel a bit schizophrenic, on one hand encouraging people to not stress so much about leaving their corporate job to start a business, and on the other hand feeling extremely uncomfortable about all the "start a business in 30 days in your bathrobe" nonsense that permeates the internet.

Sparked by a blog post my good friend and fellow entrepreneur coach Philippa Kennealy wrote called Can you maintain your income as an entrepreneurial physician?, I invited Philippa as a guest for this week's podcast on realistic expectations for making money in your startup business.

Find it here - it is about 38 minutes long.

Like anything in life, you will have people at every end of the spectrum, some who get lucky making tons on money in their first year, and others who take a decade to make serious cash.

In this interview, I talk to Philippa about:

1. Her own experience building both a coaching practice and a coaching business (there is a difference, which she explains!)
2. What she learned by launching The Entrepreneurial MD, a coaching business focused on helping physicians learn business skills, enhance their medical practices and start new businesses
3. They key questions to ask before launching a business
4. Realistic time frames for getting your income flowing after launching your business  

Our advice may seem a bit conservative to some of you who have big plans to make a huge sum of money your first year in business.  My response is threefold:

1. If you can make a  huge sum of money your first year in business, do it.  Don't let us or anyone else stop you.
2. Faster is not always better. There are really great things that result from taking the time to plan and launch a business.  For people that have a lower tolerance for risk (financial and otherwise), slow and steady growth can be a lot less scary and more rewarding than an all-or-nothing 100 yard dash. 
   
3. If you think it is easy to make huge piles of money your first year in business, you may want to test your assumptions. Real world testing is the best ... launch a small product, do a consulting gig or two, try to get some new clients on the side of your day job.  I hope I am wrong and response #1 applies to you.  But I would rather you temper your optimism with realism than fall on your face and lose more than you need to.
   

I am curious what you think of the conversation. 

5 reasons entrepreneurship is the best personal development on the planet

If you want to grow as a human being, you could climb really tall mountains.  Or run marathons.  Or study the great written works.  Or study yoga in an ashram.

Or ... you could put your entire livelihood at risk and become an entrepreneur.

I don't think running a business is for everyone.  But I do think that it is the best way on the planet to learn about yourself.

In this 9 minute podcast episode, I list 5 reasons why I feel so strongly about this.  You can find it here.

Listen in to see if you agree or disagree, then share your opinion here! 

Pam's podcast calling in sick

Quick apology:  Last week I mentioned I was going to resume my podcast today.  Unfortunately, I got bronchitis, so I would at best sound like Lauren Bacall and at worst break into ghastly coughs in the middle of trying to explain my point.

Kindly grant me one week to recover, and I will be back at you on Monday the 25th.

Although it is hardly related to the subject of the podcast, the only topic I can think of at the moment is "Lessons learned from two months of watching germs float from one member of my family to the next, in an unending circle."

I have no answers, only seek advice.  Let's hope this is the end of it, and that your household is free of such misery. :)

Update on free calls and podcast

Free Monthly Calls

A number of you have been asking when I am going to resume my free monthly Escape from Cubicle Nation calls, where whoever feels like it jumps on the phone with me for an hour to discuss all things cube-fleeing related. The answer: right away!

I am hosting a call this Wednesday, February 6 from 3-4pm EST.  To sign up, send a *blank* email to escape-qa-feb08@aweber.com

As soon as you sign up, you will get a confirmation message.  Make sure you follow the link to confirm that you indeed signed yourself up for the call, then you will receive a message with the call-in details.  This is not to annoy you, but to comply with the CAN-SPAM Act rules.

If you can't make it but want to listen in, sign up anyway and I will send you a recording of the call.

Podcast

I took some time off from my podcast right before I had my baby.  I absolutely love to do them, but they can get very time consuming, as the podcasters among you can certainly attest!  I was also doing a weekly radio show with VoiceAmerica which was great fun, but tons of effort.

So here is what I am going to do moving forward:  Resume the bi-monthly podcast, and include both solo narratives and interviews.  This will make it a bit easier to manage on my end.  Thanks for your patience, and I look forward to getting back in the swing!  I will publish a new show on Monday, February 18.  To sign up for the feed, go here.

I appreciate that you have missed these two offerings since they have been gone. Seth Godin said on our call last week that *true* permission marketing is when people get mad when you don't write.  So the fact that you care enough to ask for them back tells me that I am on the right track.

Feliz Carnaval, meus amigos brasileiros!  Happy Mardi Gras my LA friends!

And remember USA'ers among us, go out and vote tomorrow, on Super Fat Tuesday.  :)
 

What to do when you hit the "starting a business is too hard" wall

Even the most optimistic and motivated aspiring entrepreneur will reach a point where frustration or anxiety grinds progress to a halt.  This is otherwise known as "hitting the wall."   

It can happen when doing things you hate such as:

• Making sales and marketing calls
• Trying to crank out a first draft of a book or product
• Filling out government or legal forms (my personal most hated activity)
  
• Creating a business plan

What can you do to not let frustration derail your dreams?  My five recommendations in this week's 7 1/2 minute podcast (found here) include:    

1. Scream, whine, wail, swear and complain
   Give voice to those screaming demons inside that say that they are frustrated, angry, dismayed, disillusioned or tired.  Just don't do it in a public place, or you may be arrested or lose your job.
   
2. Step away
   Remove yourself from the physical environment that is causing you stress as quickly as you can.
3. Find a source of immediate beauty or calm
   Get yourself to a full-body extra-sensory environment that invokes calm, physical relaxation and peace.  The more senses that you can engage in this exercise the better.
4. Reconnect with the reason behind your entrepreneurial endeavor
   Remember what excited you about this idea in the first place.  Was it lifestyle?  Contribution?  Meaning?  Money?  If the idea doesn't hold water anymore, let it go, and free up space for something else.  Also identify what resources you could use to make the endeavor easier for yourself.
   
5. Make a very clear and specific goal to complete one task
   Choose one thing that is very feasible to accomplish and do it.  Celebrate your success, and get back on the path of step by step progress on your plans.

We all get frustrated sometimes - it is part of the human condition.  Don't let a moment of frustration derail your dreams.

What do you do when you hit a wall?

---

And for those of you who pay attention to these things, you may notice that this podcast came out on Tuesday instead of Monday.  Let me just say that walls don't just come up when you are starting a business.  It never ends.  Thank god for the cheap therapy of podcasting!  :)