Escape from Cubicle Nation

Why work sucks and how to fix it free call - join us!

I am delighted to participate in a conversation about the corporate and entrepreneurial workplace led by Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It co-authors Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson.

I have read about them for quite awhile now with interest, after learning about their wild (and successful) experiment to turn workplace expectations upside down at Best Buy.  To paraphrase the tagline from my friend Jonathan Field's blog, they ain't your momma's HR consultants!

While they will certainly discuss how to make your day job much more bearable, they will also talk about how to ensure your new entrepreneurial venture doesn't become a smaller version of your stressed-out corporate life.  4-hour Workweek Tim Ferriss was pretty excited about the book, which he discussed in a two-part interview on his blog.

We will be joined by Michael Port, who should have lots of good insight to contribute after the launch of his latest book Beyond Booked Solid.   

Call Details:

Date:  Tuesday, June 3rd
Time:  3pm EST
To sign up:  Go to www.caliandjodybooktour.com

Here is the link to the book if you want to check it out before the call.  After reading about what they are doing, I am glad that there are good people working on the inside to create a better corporate culture for both employers and employees.  You all know I gave up my fight a few years ago, but it doesn't mean change can't and shouldn't continue to happen!

Cali and Jody will be on Good Morning America tomorrow (Monday) morning (update:  they changed schedule to Tuesday morning), so if you can catch them there, you will have a leg up on the topic for Tuesday.

Even if you can't attend live, sign up to get the recording.

Free monthly coaching calls now on one sign-up page

I have been offering free monthly group coaching calls for anyone interested in leaving their cube for the last year or so.  It has been a great way to talk about specific issues faced by cube jumpers, as well as get dialogue going between blog readers.

I set up the calls since I was overwhelmed with the amount of individual email questions I received on a daily basis.  I wanted to answer each of them, but found it impossible with limited time.

The calls are recorded and shared with those that sign up.  They are a lot of fun!

To make sign up easy, I just created a page on this blog which has all the calls for 2008 (visible always under my picture in the left column with the title "Sign up for FREE monthly coaching calls).  Feel free to sign up for any or all of them.

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 [email protected]

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.  :)
 

Questions about leaving your corporate job and starting your business?

As I get ready to take a little time off when the baby comes (due at the end of this month), I am holding my last monthly free-for-all Escape from Cubicle Nation call tomorrow, Wednesday September 5 at 3pm Eastern time.

To register, go to this page.

I will most likely pick these up again (I do have one scheduled for November, but will see how life is at that point!) but will need to take a little hiatus so that you aren't subjected to either my sleep-deprived rants or a screaming newborn baby on the calls.

In these conversations, we talk about whatever is on your mind as it relates to leaving your corporate job and starting your own business.  If we have a lot of people on the call, we may not get to every question, but I will do my best to make sure we cover a lot of topics.

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

Hope to talk to you tomorrow!

Free-for-all escape your cube call Wed, June 6

For some reason, I keep forgetting to blog about our free monthly Escape from Cubicle Nation calls.  They happen the first Wednesday of each month.

This is a no pressure, participatory, open conversation among readers of this blog where we talk about whatever is on your mind related to escaping the cube and starting a business.  Support and ideas among participants is the best part, in my opinion.  Calls are recorded for those who sign up in case you can't escape your desk to participate in a mid-day call.

So please join us:

Escape from Cubicle Nation Q&A Free-for-all
Wednesday, June 6
3-4pm Eastern time US (GMT - 5)
To register, go here.

Make sure you follow instructions to verify your enrollment.  Hope to talk soon!

Free Escape Q&A Call at 3pm EST

Sorry for the late notice -- I almost forgot to tell you that today is our monthly free question and answer call where we discuss whatever is on your mind on the topic of leaving your corporate job to start or grow your own business.

I now have a web page that lists all the classes for the rest of the year where you can sign up and get the call-in details:  check it out here.

Today's call is from 3-4pm Eastern, which is 12pm Pacific, 1pm Mountain, 2pm Central and 8pm UK time.

I will record the discussion for anyone who signs up and misses it.

I always enjoy the calls and hope you can join us!

Free escape call tomorrow at 3pm Eastern

Where did the month go?  It is already time for our monthly free-wheeling Escape from Cubicle Nation call on any topic you choose.  It happens to fall on my Mom's birthday, so don't forget to remind me to call her!

Details:

Escape from Cubicle Nation Teleclass
Date:  Wednesday, March 7
Time: 3pm Eastern or GMT -5 (12pm Pacific, 1pm Mountain, 2pm Central, 8pm UK)
To register:  Send a blank email to [email protected]

Once you sign up, you will get an email from me that asks you to confirm your attendance.  Once you do so, you will get the email with the call-in details.  In case you miss the call for any reason, it will be recorded and shared with those registered for the teleclass.

I hope to talk to you soon!

Are you ready to start your business?

One of the scariest issues facing aspiring entrepreneurs is knowing if you are ready to jump into the process of starting a business.  Common questions include:

• Is my business idea good enough?
• How can I find time to design my business while working full-time, spending time with my family and getting enough sleep?
• What should I work on first?
• Do I really have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur?

I want to spend some time hearing about and giving some coaching advice for these and other fears that you might face, so I have set up a couple of free, hour-long calls:

Are you ready to start your business?
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
11am - 12pm Eastern Standard Time (GMT-5)
To register:  Send a blank email to [email protected]

Are you ready to start your business?
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
6-7pm Eastern Standard Time (GMT-5)
To register:  Send a blank email to [email protected]

This is a busy week for free teleclasses .. we have our regular monthly Escape from Cubicle Nation Q&A Call also on Wednesday.  I recommend this one for those of you who are either already in the process of starting a business or have been in business for a short while.  We address whatever is on your mind, and the participants often chime in with great advice.

Escape from Cubicle Nation Q&A Free for All
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
3-4pm Eastern Standard Time (GMT-5)
To register:  Send a blank email to [email protected]

For all of these classes, you must confirm your registration by clicking on the link in the confirmation message addressed from me, Pamela Slim (pcs (at) ganas.com).  If you don't confirm, you won't get the call-in number and passcode, so look out for the message!

All calls will be recorded and available for those who are registered for the classes.

I look forward to hearing your questions and having some great conversation.

Still time to sign up for free call 1/3/07

I just realized that January 3 is upon us tomorrow ... the date of this month's free Escape from Cubicle Nation teleclass.  Details:

Escape from Cubicle Nation Teleclass
Date:  Wednesday, January 3
Time:  1pm Eastern (10am Pacific, 11am Mountain, 12pm Central, 6pm UK - updated, I had 5pm before, which was wrong - sorry! )
To register:  Send a blank email to [email protected]

Once you sign up, you will get an email from me that asks you to confirm your attendance.  Once you do so, you will get the email with the call-in details.  In case you miss the call for any reason, it will be recorded and shared with those registered for the teleclass.

To date, we have had open-ended conversations, covering everything from advice for a new consultant with lots of enthusiasm but no paid experience to fears faced by first-time entrepreneurs.  I started the calls as a way to deal with an overload of great email questions and not enough time to respond to each one.  It has been a grand experiment, as I am always looking for ways to reach more people in efficient and effective ways. The dialogue and advice from all participants has been the best part.

Starting next month, per the request of many, I will focus the calls on a particular topic.  Please let me know what would interest you.

Since we are fresh in the new year, it would be a great time to talk about your plans for 2007.

I hope you can join me!

Come join me on first-ever Q&A call 10/4

I don't know about you, but I have been *buried* in emails lately and have felt in serious slacker mode for not getting back to people quickly enough.  I was sharing my tale of woe with my coach and she suggested hosting a free teleclass every month to connect with my readers and offer an alternative to going to bed at 1am every night just to clear out my in-box.

I love the idea!

I thought that we could start by keeping the hour open to see what questions are on your mind.  If there is interest in covering particular subjects in future classes, I can plan for that in coming months. I know that common questions I hear are things like:

• How can I find time to develop my business idea when I am working full-time?
• What can I do if my spouse is terrified of me making the leap to entrepreneurship?
• How do I begin to market myself?
• What kind of business should I start?

I am sure that you have many more questions - I can't wait to hear them!  I can't promise that I will have a silver-bullet answer for each, but will do my best to ease your mind with the support of others on the call.

Call details:

Escape from Cubicle Nation Q&A Call
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
1:00-2:00pm Eastern Standard Time
(10am Pacific, 11am Mountain, 12pm Central, 6pm UK)

To sign up:  Send a blank email to [email protected] (no subject required)

And this is VERY important - to make sure that I am not being a sleezebucket and spamming you, you *must* reply to the confirmation message you get after signing up.  It will come from me - pcs (at) ganas (dot) com and the subject will be "Confirm your request for information from oct4teleclass"  Just follow the simple instructions in the email and you will verify your sign-up and receive the call-in details.

If you can't make it for whatever reason, I will record the call and share it with those that sign up.  Don't worry, we will make sure to disguise the names of our companies and/or snarky bosses to protect the innocent (or guilty, as they may be).

I'm looking forward to meeting you!