Annie Anderson | Blog

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I’ve been working on desktop wallpapers for Easter just for fun. These were made for my computer so they’re 1440×900 as I have a widescreen monitor.

Anyway, you may go ahead and download any of them for your own personal use but you may not alter them in any way or sell them. However, please do feel free to share them with your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers or whomever might like them.

Happy Easter!

So, enjoy the backgrounds and have fun!
Speak soon,
Annie

PS - I am available for design projects if you’re looking for a graphic designer. I can also write copy and other materials. Just give me a shout!

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Today I’m going to talk about a project currently underway for my husband. Now, this topic might not excite you but please don’t discount the value of what I’ll be sharing here for that reason. You may just find a couple of things that could be modified to fit your business.

Last week I mentioned a new website called Northwest Stone Guide that I’m creating on behalf of my husband. Well, this project has now morphed into the main project plus a secondary project on Landscaping so I thought I’d share the process I’m using to get everything in place.

I find it’s helpful to organize things right from the beginning so each piece can be kept on track from day one. After discussing exactly what my husband had in mind, we brainstormed business names and corresponding domain name ideas. Neither of us liked the same thing so we took my husband’s favorite and my favorite and mashed them together to come up with Northwest Stone Guide. I then purchased northweststoneguide.com, uploaded WordPress and the Launchpad theme so the site would be live (and not an advert site for my hosting company or a blank page), added a FeedBurner feed to the theme, then set to work on the next phase.

Over the course of the last week, I did some minor research for local things we could include as well as information, photos and other materials that will ultimately make the site we envision.

Next steps include:

• Contacting local businesses. I’ll asking them if they’d like to be included in our directory. There will be headings for Builders, Stone Wholesalers, Granite Fabricators, Tile Craftsmen, Architects, Interior Designers, Landscapers and probably other categories as well.
• Writing content. Since the site will be an informational site about all things relating to stone (granite, marble, travertine, slate, etc), we plan to include info on each of the common types including where it comes from, how it’s processed, what the major uses are (countertops, flooring, etc) and other info that people often ask when they’re considering using these materials in their homes.
• Newsletters and mailing lists. I’m not entirely sure, but I think we may offer a couple of newsletters and mailing lists. Some will be targeted to the service providers who will use the site and others to homeowners and other people who come looking for recommendations and such.
• Monetization. Right now, the idea is to monetize using Google Adsense and that type of thing. However, I am also toying with the idea of paid adverts as well. This way, businesses will get more exposure and allow their companies to be featured on the main page as well as in their category listings. And I’m thinking of having both a free and a paid directory. The free directory will simply list the company website and contact info. And the paid directory will allow the company to have a larger listing although I’m not sure what all info will be included. That part is still in development.
• Miscellaneous. We are tentatively planning to create a short ebook of some kind that will be free to download. This will be aimed at homeowners who are looking for more info about using stone either in new homes they may be building or remodels of their current homes. It’ll include info on how to pick the right contractors and fabricators as well.

Once all of that stuff is figured out and configured on the site, I’ll make it live. Actually, I’m planning to make it live as soon as I have contacted enough local businesses and written enough articles to make the content worthwhile to people who might find the site. At that time, I’ll also start advertising it and of course, any business that has agreed to a listing will get some promo stuff they can pass on to their clients. I’m hoping to have the website live by mid-April, sooner if at all possible.

If you’re in the Seattle area, check the site out. All that is there right now is a placeholder with an RSS feed subscription or email subscription. Go ahead and sign up so you’ll get updates as soon as things are announced.

For a more complete list of projects, see the post from March 10, 2008 “Exciting Things Ahead.”

Design is the topic for tomorrow! See you then!

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This morning I happened upon a great article about customer service over at Alexander Kjerulf’s website and thought I’d talk about that a little bit today too. Alexander’s article, “Top 5 Reasons ‘The Customer is Always Right’ is Wrong” echoes my own sentiments.

One of the points he makes is that employers must value their employees and it’s near impossible to do so with a silly policy that the customer is always right. That kind of thinking doesn’t value employees at all and ultimately leads to poorer customer service because employees become resentful.

As Alexander notes:

Rosenbluth argues that when you put the employees first, they put the customers first. Put employees first, and they will be happy at work. Employees who are happy at work give better customer service because:

• They care more about other people, including customers
• They have more energy
• They are happy, meaning they are more fun to talk to and interact with
• They are more motivated

On the other hand, when the company and management consistently side with customers instead of with employees, it sends a clear message that:

• Employees are not valued
• That treating employees fairly is not important
• That employees have no right to respect from customers
• That employees have to put up with everything from customers

When this attitude prevails, employees stop caring about service. At that point, real good service is almost impossible - the best customers can hope for is fake good service. You know the kind I mean: corteous on the surface only.

I completely agree with this. As someone who has worked in customer service in a variety of industries over the past 20 years, I’ve seen poor employee/employer relationships develop because of this very thing. And when my parents implemented the philosophy that the customer is NOT always right in their retail business several years ago, we saw business sky rocket in a matter of months.

You know, it’s kind of like disciplining your children - when they understand the boundaries, when the boundaries are consistent, children are often much happier. They feel safe, they feel secure and they know you care about them. They know they can trust and respect you.

Sure, your customers might test the boundaries now and then but over time, you develop a track record of consistency and fairness and pretty soon, others start flocking to you because they know you’re honest and responsible. And that’s what helps business grow.

I hope this has been helpful to you. Let me know your thoughts. Tomorrow we’ll talk about some of the various projects you’ll see around here soon.

Chat later,

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This weeks Reading List has some great stuff on it . . .

• Bottom Line’s Prescription for Natural Cures by Bottom Line Books
• CSS Webdesign for Dummies by Richard Mansfield
• Buzz Marketing with Blogs for Dummies by Susannah Gardner
• The One Day Marketing Plan by Roman G. Hiebing
• Good to Great by James C. Collins
• Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Photographers by Martin Evening

Coming up later, I’ve got a post on a great article I read today about customer service. You know the old adage “the customer is always right?” Well, new thought shows how untrue and how damaging to customer service this line of thinking really is. So check back later today for that article. Better yet, why not subscribe to the RSS so you get updates as soon as they’re posted?

Also, check out some of the recent posts on my other sites -

Beyond Real Estate - Real Estate Local: Tanked

The Weight Loss Papers - Healthy Shopping

And lastly, if you’ve read any of the above books, I’d love to know your thoughts. Please feel free to post in the comments. I’ve heard positive things so far about Good to Great and The One Day Marketing Plan.

Oh - one question - although I post the Reading List weekly usually, I’ve not really done any reviews of the books I’ve read. Would you like to see that here? If so, again let me know in the comments. Of course, you’re always welcome to send me an email too. Either way, don’t be shy!

Til later,

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I read the BlogHerald pretty often and yesterday there was a post by Lorelle VanFossen that is totally in line with the topic for today - writing.

In her post, Lorelle says that blogs are public documents and if you put it out there, you simply open yourself up to everything - “compliments, criticism and condemnation.” She lists some truths about blogging that she says you need to know:

• It’s your blog. Blog what you want.
• Want traffic, blog for traffic, but don’t expect to turn them into readers.
• Want readers, blog for the readers. Readers return.
• Writing well pays off better than not.
• Blog consciously.
• Don’t surprise readers.
• Blog consistently.
• If you open the door to comments, be prepared for comments.
• Blog comments are content. You control them.
• Blog comments are content. Comments are mini-resumes that speak for their author.
• Expect insults.
• Expect nasty commenters.
• Expect spam and splogs.
• Expect inconsiderate and thoughtless commenters.
• Expect nasty, inconsiderate, and thoughtless fellow bloggers.
• Expect unexpected, random acts of kindness.
• Expect fans to feel like they are your friends.
• Expect a support group and network to form in and around your blog.
• As a blog reader, you are not judge and jury. You are the audience.
• As a blog writer and publisher, you are the entertainment. It’s your stage. Use it wisely and well..

And I completely agree. Blogging may be a different form of media - writing - but that doesn’t mean it’s “safe” or free of criticism. Blogging, in my opinion, is journalism. It might be personal journalism, but it’s journalism. And just like any journalist, you’re subject to that same scrutiny. If you don’t want that kind of publicity, don’t put yourself out there. But then, what’s the point of blogging?

You could, of course, close comments on your blog but then it kinda defeats the purpose of a blog - to communicate with your readers. To me, that’s entire point of blogging - to communicate in near real time with others. That doesn’t happen in many other media avenues. They’re pretty much one-sided. I think this is why blogging has such a huge appeal to a lot of people and businesses.

I especially like Lorelle’s assessment that “writing well pays off better than not.” I couldn’t agree more. Using proper grammar and spelling are important, not just because it looks more professional (even if that’s not your aim), but also because it’s so much easier to read something that is well written.

When we learn to read as youngsters, we learn to read words and sentences in proper structure so when we see something written wrong, our brains have to stop briefly to decipher it. Even if you’re a bad speller, you will find it a bit harder to read articles and what-not with spelling mistakes simply because your brain and eye have learned to read things in their proper structure.

Now, I know there is an email floating around out there that demonstrates you can read garbled words because your brain and eye will fill in the gaps based on the beginning and ending of words. I have no idea if that’s scientifically true or not but I do know that typical spelling and grammar mistakes don’t follow that pattern. So the bottom line is, write as well as you can, write clearly and check for errors before you publish your posts for your readers’ sakes. After all, that’s who you’re writing for, isn’t it?

You can read the rest of Lorelle’s post at http://www.blogherald.com/2008/03/17/blogs-are-public-documents-bloggers-and-commenters-beware/.

PS - I’ll post the links I meant to post yesterday here in a little while. Sorry about that!

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I’ve read all kinds of cool things around the web this past week and it’s difficult to pick but a few of those for my first “official” Around the Web post.

Before I get into the topic, let me just say I’ve begun using a non-web-based RSS reader. Until recently, I’d been using Bloglines which is a terrific service and I still really love it. In fact, I continue to add new feeds to it just so I always have a backup of everything to restore my non-web reader should I ever need to or to use when I’m at another computer.

My problem, though (and the reason I’m trying a stand-alone RSS reader), is that it just adds too many open tabs to my browser and then it’s harder to keep track of what I’m really looking at, especially if I want to visit the site of one of the articles in my reader. Then I have not only the RSS aggregator page open but also the pages I’m viewing plus now an article of one (or more) of the feeds. It gets rather cumbersome.

Using a stand-alone aggregator, like Vienna, allows me to open an article for further perusal without messing up what I’m working on in Firefox. I can leave it open and come back to it as needed without interfering with web-based work. And vice-versa.

So that’s my side note for today.
On to the topic at hand . . .

One of the biggest subjects that stood out to me in the past week, are the posts on making money online. I’ve probably read hundreds of them (no exaggeration, either) in recent days (it seems like everyone is talking about it) and so I want to take a moment to point out a book I read a few months ago - The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss.

In this book, Tim basically talks about automating your own business so that you can live your dreams. It’s a very interesting concept that deserves a lot of attention, especially with the economy and mortgage issues we’re facing in the US.

One of the ideas I like best is outsourcing. Now, Tim advocates a large amount of outsourcing not only for your business, but for personal things as well. To me, some of the personal stuff seems almost frivolous so I likely will not follow every suggestion in the book but I do think having a team (something I’ve talked about extensively in real estate training programs I’ve done) is worth it’s weight in gold.

There are a few concepts I do not fully agree with in the book but overall, I recommend it if you’re even remotely considering your own business or if you have one already. It will certainly get you thinking and hopefully, taking action.

You can find out more about Tim and the book at his website http://www.fourhourworkweek.com.

Later today, I’ll add a post with links to some good articles I’ve found on this topic. Until then, have fun checking out Tim’s website.

PS - Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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You might remember last week I asked the question as to whether or not is was useful to set up some type of schedule for blogging. Some of you sent me comments via email confirming my thoughts - thank you, I appreciate that.

A couple days later, I saw a post on Caroline Middlebrook’s site about her plans to create one. So, I have decided that I will indeed create a framework for myself to work within. I think it will not only help me keep organized, but will ultimately make it much more valuable for you - the readers of this blog.

Beginning this week across all my blogs, I will be implementing a schedule. I’ve tentatively set a topic for each day of the week (not the same on each blog) and for this blog, it will be as follows:

Monday - Stuff from around the web. This will be news, ideas, thoughts, tips, and whatever else I’ve found on someone else’s blog or another site that I found useful and want to share.

Tuesday - Writing. I’ll talk about writing, publishing, digital books, print books and anything else to do with writing. I’ll share my experiences and thoughts about being a writer at times as well.

Wednesday - Reading List. Just a weekly list of books I’m currently reading. Feel free to comment! I’d love to hear your thoughts on books you’ve read too. I might also post reviews and such on Wednesday’s or maybe even just something fun or out of the ordinary to keep things lively.

Thursday - Projects. All the projects I have going - this will be details on updates, news, questions and such. (On that note, I’ve just updated the Overcome Writer’s Block ebook and uploaded the new file in a post just below. Go check it out.)

Friday - Design. As you may know, I’m not only a writer, but a graphic designer as well. Even though I’ve been in design since 1991, I decided to go back to school and update my degree so this will be not only about what is going on design wise, but also about school stuff.

Saturday/Sunday - Real Estate. And as you may also know, I have worked in Real Estate for about 10 or so years now. I’ll be posting about trends, thoughts, future outlook and all things RE related.

If there is something you’d like to see here, please let me know. This blog isn’t just for me . . . My aim is to make it a place you enjoy visiting, where you find useful content and develop a network of peers that helps us all grow.

That’s it for now. Get ready for tomorrow! And don’t forget to check out my other sites for a similar post of what will be happening there.

See ya soon!

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