Beth's Contradictory Brain

Leaps

I was wondering the other day when we get to teleporting and telepathy. (Now that would be an A T & T that would make some money.)

Seriously. Thinking back over the leaps in technology in the past fifty to a hundred years, aside from medicine, most have been in travel - trains, cars, airplanes - and in communication - telegraph, radio, television, phones, cell phones, computers. But what real leap can be made from our current travel and communication? We can be anywhere in the world within about 24 hours. We can talk to anyone in the world at any time. The next step would have to be doing both instantly - traveling by teleporting and communicating by telepathy.

So other than leaps in medical care, what do you think will be the next big technological leap?

Charles "Chuck" Schwab

I'm a stock investor. Back when we loved going to Vegas, I figured that investing in the stock market wasn't so different than gambling. On one trip to Vegas I won about $400 and turned around and invested it in some stocks. I've used Sharebuilder for over four years and love it. I've even gotten little Zach an account and a few investments, and finally got Nerdstar into a Roth IRA. I've stuck with the "buy what you know" and have had decent returns. Two big misses were not buying Apple when it was about $16 before the term iPod had even been invented, and not buying Whole Foods at $44 when I knew how solid a company it was.

Anyway. I've seen a couple of versions of the new Charles, no wait - call me Chuck, Schwab commercials and think they're insulting. Obviously, they want a younger demographic to start investing with them. That's smart. But thinking that going from Charles to Chuck and using animated people to sell me on their product is hip and not talking down to me, well, I'm not so sure. Then again, I'm not big on paying someone else to do what I can do for myself.

If you were looking for someone to trust your money with, would these new commercials gain your business?

HR versus Marketing

What I'm finding as I do google searches and read other sites talking about business blogging is that it's all about marketing. Marketing people trying to sell blogs as a marketing tool. I'm finding I tend to put marketing people just below lawyers and politicians.

So what's going to make me any different? I don't have an ass-kissing, smoozing, suck-up bone in my body. Maybe that will be my downfall. Or maybe I'll find the business owners who feel like I do about marketing and we'll find someway to do things differently.

The other difference is that I see business blogs to be more useful as an HR tool. I keep thinking you put the receptionist in charge of the blog and replace water cooler talk.

I'm still thinking thru some of this. We'll see where it all leads.

Don't Reinvent the Wheel

While being a stubbornly independent person, I'm trying to not get caught up in reinventing the wheel when it comes to this business endeavor.

I finally made it to Barnes and Noble today to read some books on consulting. It's encouraging to read the ideas I've intuitively known, such as keeping the business cards simple, but it's also daunting all the things I don't know. So, thank God for the internet and bookstores!

I'm realizing all the things I didn't anticipate having to do, like networking and marketing, in order to do the things I want to do, help companies set up blogs. It looks like my job is going to start off being a lot more about education. It's hard to sell someone on something they don't know exists.

The cool part of this is that it's still all falling under those ideas of things that I listed over a year ago that would be cool to do in an ideal job. Before this idea came up, I was thinking about trying to move into HR and doing training and such. In every job I've ever had I've trained all of my fellow employees. I like doing that, and I'm good at it.

The one good thing about all the things I don't know is that I won't get stuck in "the way things are done". If what I'm ultimately trying to get people to do, blog, is new and innovative, why get stuck in the old ways of selling it? Know what I mean?

Envy and Thanks

I found a great list of CEO blogs over on The Big Blog Company's site.

I'm in total envy of The Big Blog Company's site. To say they are light years ahead of me could actually be an understatement. Thank God they're in England and not here in the states! But it's also cool to see a group of people with pretty much the same vision for how blogs can improve a company's communcations. It's reassuring that this venture isn't just plain nuts. I just have to keep plugging away one step at a time.

I'm so lucky to be in a position to have the time to try this. Nerdstar has been so supportive in her encouragement, and by being a great sounding board. She's also letting me continue to put off having to get a normal job for a while longer. Thanks, baby!!

I can be a little slow

Nerdstar and I actually had another social engagement last night. We're not sure we can handle all this socializing! We met up with a couple of people from her 351st Unit who are living in San Antonio. It was fun!

During the hour and a half drive down there my brian was back to obsessing over this new blog business venture. I was debating if the site should be a blog and what the content would be and how to make it a blog and that I don't know how to make it a blog technically. Which led to a lot of thinking about exactly what all services I'm offering, if I should expand that list, and a fee structure. Some of that will be a little more clear when I get a few clients and see what "web presence" they already have, if they have a web person already, and so on. I'm starting to see that my target client might be businesses who don't even have a website yet.

Maxine left a comment saying step one is to get a DBA. I read that and said, "what's a DBA?" About thirty minutes into the drive my brain was thinking that there's probably somewhere I should register this little busines venture, it struck me "doing business as" DUH! I laughed and then left her a voicemail saying that yes, I'm a little slow on the uptake, but at least I'm not totally daft.

Other than this obsession draining my energy, I'm enjoying this venture. Because some part of me sees it as an experiment and not a real business it's fun to do these little steps.

Now I drive by businesses and think, hmmm, what could they blog about? I saw a billboard for a locally owned and operated funeral home and thought, "now that would be an interesting blog." We parked next to a car that had one of those magnetic signs on the door advertising personal chef services. They would have a totally cool blog. And so on.

After figuring out this DBA stuff and getting the business cards I'll be looking into how to reach out to the small businesses in Austin.

Learning Curve

I’m not really a business person. Owning a business and being my own boss has always been something I was interested in, but probably more in a theoretical sense. I have no illusions that being your own boss means work is any easier or even more fun. I’ve never attended a business class. I don’t read business magazines or websites.

So why am I giving this new venture a try? Three weeks ago I didn’t really see it as a business. I saw it as a way to meet great people and help them improve their business communication. I have a couple of skills that I think could be beneficial to businesses, communication and problem solving, and I think blogs are revolutionary at this point in time. Blogs have certainly been revolutionary in politics and media in the past year. I believe they can be just as revolutionary for businesses.

Now I find myself with a little business and up against a steep learning curve. But I still don’t want to become a “business person”. I’m taking this in baby steps, which is probably an accurate phrase because I see this as something I’m growing.

The two or three weeks leading up to Christmas isn’t a great time to try to get business done. That’s a good thing for me. It’s giving me a cushion to feel things out, figure out the next little step and hopefully be more ready once the new year is here.

Small steps one and two, just to show how small they are: get business cards, make a list of five or ten business here in Austin I think could have really cool blogs and their contact info.

Dialogue

Elizabeth left these comments, which I really, really appreciate, and here are my thoughts...

You need more color on your site and pictures. You need to tell the story quickly as well and in detail.

What I really dislike about so many websites, especially business sites, is that they are too busy and ugly. I'm not selling looks, I'm selling me and my ideas - both of which are plain and simple. I wanted my site to reflect that.

Also, if you're selling a blog then why don't you make a blog within the business site? Instead of going to your personal blog, which can turn off customers if they don't like what you are saying, you have a blog right there. Encourage them to respond to your posts. Make it interactive because that is what you are selling them, interactivity.

I thought about making it a blog, but I want a static site, again that is very simple, to put the idea out there. Even if that site were a blog, the front page wouldn't be and there would still be a link to the blog part. Since I'm trying to convince people to be transparent, that's what I decided to do - BE transparent - hence the link to my blog. Again, I'm selling me as much as the service of starting a blog, if you're turned off by my site then are you really someone who would be a good client for me? The link to the business category is what the blog content that would be in the business blog, it's a link one way or the other.

Hope this helps. I think it's a good idea but you need to advertise, advertise, advertise. People won't know you're there unless you shout it out.

You have to walk a fine line between convincing a company they need a blog and convincing them that no one in their company can do it so they need you.

The advertising will come in time, I'm still figuring out how to achieve that without feeling like a complete networking whore.

At this point I think my market is just about any business out there. Just because a company has tech people doesn't mean they have found the person within the company who can be that company's voice.

I'm not looking to be their blogger (unless some absolutely fantastic company wants to pay me a lot of money to do that), I'm looking to explain to the 95% of companies out there who don't have a blog why they need one and help them find the right people to write it.

I'm sure the business site will evolve over time, and I'll probably do some editing and clarification in the next week or so. It might even become a blog at some time. So again, I really appreciate the feedback!

Good Comments

Adriana left this comment below:

Good luck! We have been a UK blog consultancy for a good part of two years and our role so far has been mostly educational. Yes, we have done a few groovy blogs but there is a big difference between the US and the UK where most people don't even know what a blog is yet...

But things seem to be getting better, so onwards and forwards.

Part of what made it hard for me to even consider this as a business is that it all seems so obvious to me, mostly because of the writing of several other bloggers. It took someone else telling me that the benefits of blogging aren't readily apparent to most business people. I do agree, and hope, that this is a good time to start this up.

A lot of articles about making money blogging are like this one and talk about how bloggers make money but don't talk about how a good blog for your business can make that business more money.

This artilce in the WSJ really caught my attention. Why are businesses putting all this effort into finding out what's being said about them online when they could very simply have their own blog and have a lot more control over those conversations.

So yes, a lot of it will be educational, but I'm hoping to get paid to educate them. I intend to be the person explaining the benefits and helping them find their voice for those conversations.

I'm So Excited

Presenting my new business blog:

blmbusinessblogs.com

One of the best things to come out of working on the Habitat documentary was hanging out with Murray and talking about blogging and films and business. He gave me the kick in the butt I needed to take a chance.

I’ve started a consulting business to help businesses set up a blog. It sounds way more involved than it is. For now it’s simply a website putting the idea out there. In trying to write the content for this simple site I’ve realized some pretty cool things.

I remembered that back while Nerdstar was still in Iraq I started writing some things I’d be looking for if I ever got to look for that ideal job. Ideal for me is sitting around with smart, enthusiastic people talking about ways to improve communication. I’ve long daydreamed about being a consultant, but I’ve never thought I knew enough about any one thing to be a consultant, and I haven’t been all that interested in going back to school.

The one thing from my last job that I’m proudest of is that I got an internal website started that was part blog, part information warehouse. There were only about fifteen people in a small office that needed constantly updated information to do good customer service, but it was all a mess until we got that website going. I’ve always thought it would be cool to go into any business and do the same thing. I just couldn’t imagine anyone being willing to pay me for it! (And it remains to be seen if they will!)

The other big lesson is that transparency is hard. I want the business website to be simple, and I didn’t want to invest in blog software and such when I’ve already got a blog. The obvious answer is to simply link to my current blog and set up a business category. But wait, that meant that any potential business client could also read about the rest of my life. YIKES!

Bingo, that’s the whole point. If someone is going to be doing business with me, then I have to trust them. Especially if what I’m selling is a way for them to be transparent.

I have no idea what will happen from this new site. Maybe a dream come true, maybe nothing. I have no expectations, I’m just putting it out there.

That said, I would appreciate more than anything any feedback you have!!

Restaurant Web Sites

It's so hard to find a restaurant with a good website. The weekly lefty rag, The Austin Chronicle, has a resturant guide with a long list of local restuarants, but, the only info on them is location, hours, price range and type of food. Nerdstar was in the mood for a nice bowl of gumbo and we were looking for somewhere other than Papadeux to get one. What good is an online restaurant guide if it doesn't even have the menu posted??

Then I decided to google several of our favorite restaurants here in Austin to see if they even have a website, much less if it has their menu on it...

Magnolia Cafe's site. This is the only one I found.

And CitySearch, where the restuarants also get nice little write-ups, isn't any better for detailed info.

I told Nerdstar we should start a website called Eat Austin. It would be a huge undertaking to get all the info in there, then to keep it updated. If we knew how to get paid for the venture we'd do it in a heartbeat. Any ideas/suggestions??

Update:
I decided to submit this entry to next week's Carnival of the Capitalists.

Thanks for the ideas so far. Part of what I'm wondering is if there is a valid reason this sort of website doesn't exist already. Is it too time consuming to deal with at least 100 different restaurants, getting all their info, billing them every month if it's set up as a pay to be included site, keeping it updated for openings and closings?

Obviously it'd be easier to get restaurants owners/managers to pay to be on a site that already exists. Is there some way to get startup $$ to cover all the time getting the site up and running and then do something like blogads to keep revenue coming in?

We're just brainstorming this and wondering if anyone out there has tried this venture already.