Annie Anderson | Blog

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Sometimes being an entrepreneur has its drawbacks. Like accountability, for example. Who do you have to be accountable to? At times there’s no one but yourself. And this is the downfall of many well-intentioned new businesses.

I think this is part of the reason social networks have taken off so well in the past year or two. It gives people a simple way to not only network with others and meet new people, but also to be accountable. If you tell a friend on facebook or twitter that you’re going to do x, y and z this week, you start feeling guilty when you put it off. Plus it’s fun to see what others are doing - it provides a sort of healthy competition.

The same is true for weight loss. And I think this is why there are so many weight loss blogs out there today (mine included). Because it gives us someone besides ourselves to be accountable to. Being accountable to other people helps us be accountable to ourselves. In the end, we get more done, we complete our goals and benchmarks and we feel better about ourselves. Maybe our businesses grow too.

That is why I share what I do about my projects with you. I hope you find some motivation in them and maybe even some ideas for your own life or business. Having a support network is essential to success. In Napolean Hill’s classic “Think and Grow Rich,” he devotes an entire chapter to the mastermind group. I think social networks are like mastermind groups - they allow members to share and explore ideas and this helps other members grow and succeed too.

When we help enough other people get what they want, we ultimately get what we want in the process as well. What social networks are you on? You can find me on several. A list of them is here.

Speak soon,

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!

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,

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!

This week, you’ll notice a lot of stuff happening. My husband is home on vacation for the next 9 days (doing some remodeling in our house and keeping the kids occupied) so I’m busy, busy, busy! I have tons of ideas on the table, many of which are being put into action as we speak. I intend that by Friday, much of what I’ve been working on the past few months will be live. Yay!

This is so exciting!

Projects on the table:

NW Stone Guide - this is a new project my husband is the mastermind of. He works for a granite and tile wholesale place and has been working in this industry for quite a few years now so he has a lot of knowledge in the stone market that he wants to share with others. NW Stone Guide will have local resources including stone fabricators, import warehouses, builders and remodelers, and info on all things stone. It will not only be for homeowners looking for info, but we also hope to make it *THE* portal for all facets of the industry. All that’s there right now (that viewers can see, anyway) is a nice little subscription form you can fill out to get updates so that once the site is live, you can have a look. You can subscribe via RSS or email.

The Write Point - my original writing and design project. It used to be a site for all of my writing and design endeavors but it’s now primarily a blog on writing - including fiction and non-fiction tips, writing how-to, editing, publishing and everything else. The site is in redesign right now as I add new stuff but it is live and you can check it out. Subscribe to the RSS feed for updates.

Weight Loss Papers - a new-ish site dedicated to my pursuit of a healthy lifestyle. It’s about weight loss, healthy eating, balance and just living life in the best way I possibly can. The tag line is “A Journey in Lifestyle Creation” - which really explains it all. I hope you’ll visit and come back to it often. My plan is to update at least 3 times or more per week about what I’m learning about all things health, etc. Ultimately I plan to have some recipes, articles on exercise, and other topics of interest. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed over there as well.

ASAmedia Group - where my writing and design business is now located. This is the actual business side of things. It is live but not everything is there yet. This is the project I’ll be pushing hard this week. Right now, you can see the *copywriting* section when you visit the homepage but the *design* link will take you nowhere. At least for now. I’m opening my business up for writing clients so if you are thinking of hiring a writer for any of YOUR projects, please check it out. This is the first time I’ve opened up my business to new clients in 2 years. So, if you might want to work with me, you should seriously jump on it right away. Just go fill out the form on the bottom of the Copywriting page and I’ll get in touch with you as quickly as I can.

So . . . As you can see, lots of stuff going on! The office door is closed, radio is cranked up and the To Do list is dwindling!

See you again soon!

As promised, my review of James Brausch’s newest “Testing” newsletter he so graciously sent me over the weekend . . .

I have never read James’ newsletter until now so I can’t compare this one to any previous newsletter but I must say as far as newsletters go in general, it was an easy read. No fluff and puff which is always nice. No ads for his products (or anyone else’s). Just simple, clean info. I like that.

Frankly, with a newsletter name like “Testing,” I was expecting it to be rather dry and dull. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Though it did have quite a bit of statistical data, it wasn’t boring. James presented his results of the tests he’s been doing in a straight-forward and easy to understand way that was even simple for me to understand - someone who’s a little math-phobic.

The most interesting part of the newsletter, though, was James’ comment that people value money more than time. I find that alarming because money is something we can usually somehow get more of but time is a commodity that once it’s gone, it’s extinct - we can’t get ever get it back and we certainly cannot make more of it.

The second thing I thought incredibly interesting was that half the people in the intern program never complete the first task. That is startling! I mean, here they are getting something for free and the chance to learn some sound business techniques only to quit before they’ve even done anything with it.

Overall, I really enjoyed “Testing,” however, I was a little disappointed at the format of the newsletter. That part was definitely dry and boring. Now, I realize it’s impossible to please everyone all the time but really . . . I’ve read financial data reports that were more visually appealing. Being a very visual person, I like what I’m reading to have at least some character - a bit of color, some distinction between each section - something to make important things stand out.

Bottom line - if you’re an internet business owner interested in learning more about multivariate testing methods and statistics, this newsletter is likely right up your alley.

You can see other reviews here at Testimonials for Testing Newsletter post on James’ blog.

I’ve been using this totally cool service called “I Want Sandy” - a digital personal assistant. Very cool!

Take a look at this . . .

===================
Hi there!

I’m Annie’s personal email assistant, Sandy.

Annie asked me to drop you a line and introduce myself.

Here’s a note from Annie:

Hi,

I’d like you to meet Sandy. Sandy, meet a friend of mine.

Talk amongst yourselves!

Annie

I help my clients by remembering life’s daily details (meetings, birthdays, to-dos, phone numbers, bookmarks, etc.) and sending reminders just when they need them — so they can focus on what’s important. And I can do the same for you!

Sign up for free in just seconds! Click here to get started.

Sincerely,

Sandy

P.s. If you’d rather I didn’t contact you again, click here.
===================

This is an email she will send my friends if they wish to sign up. If you want to sign up - it’s totally free to do so - drop me an email real quick or post your name and email in the comments and I’ll see that Sandy contacts you ASAP.

PS - Look for my review of “Testing” - James Brausch’s monthly newsletter. I’ll be reviewing the latest copy that just came out today on Tuesday afternoon.

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