Getting Down to Business

Getting down to business

Wednesday, 12 October 11

How to be successful


What is success?


success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm

“Winston Churchill


Money?


you have reached the pinnacle of success as soon as you become uninterested in money

“

Thomas Wolfe


money doesn't bring happiness and creativity. Your creativity and happiness brings money

“

Sam Rosen


A better lifestyle


work to live. don’t live to work.“Hank Kimball


it didn’t work out as you expected, did it? You’re working longer hours and under constant stress.http://bit.ly/gdtb1


http://bit.ly/gdtb1

http://bit.ly/gdtb1

as business owners the responsibility rests with us. We are always one bad decision from disaster.


we treat working long hours as a badge of honour. In reality it’s killing us.http://bit.ly/gdtb2


http://bit.ly/gdtb2

http://bit.ly/gdtb2

you cannot use the fact that you love your job as an excuse to have no life.


I can no longer drag myself into the chaos. Cup after cup of brewed coffee no longer gives me the energy I need to finish the paperwork that lies upon my desk.Prayer of a burnt out office worker


establish good habits now. Take control of your working life.


the four pressure pointsbringing in businessdealing with clientsfeeling out of controltoo much work


Bringing in business


you can be the best web designer but if you cannot sell you are lost. Your work will not speak for itself.


to have peace of mind about where the next pay check will come from, you need a plan.


Who are you targeting?


you cannot wait for your audience to find you. You have to seek them out.


you should never be too busy to market. Failure to do so leads to boom/bust business.


Dealing with clients


Aaaaarrgghh I hate my clients! Hate! Hate! Hate!!

“Alwani Othman @NiniAlwani


we offer a service to our customers. We need to act like it.


the client is not the enemy. We need to work with them, not against them.


education, education, education


my client wants constant updates! What do they want from me, email updates or a website?

“

A prominent web designer


Boo!


it’s hardly surprising clients reject our designs when they are suddenly confronted by a finished piece of work.


creating a website should be a journey you and your client goes on together. It is a collaboration of parters.


Feeling out of control


Think of our culture’s obsession with productivity: with the need for “hard work” and working long hours to get things done, with the need to be busy busy busy all the time, with the need to make lists and check them off. But for what?

What’s the point of all this obsession? It leads to burnout, stress, anxiety, unhappiness, greed, confusion, and no time for family, friends, and yourself.http://bit.ly/gdtb4


http://bit.ly/gdtb4

http://bit.ly/gdtb4

a mind like water: How does water respond? The answer is, totally appropriately to the force and mass of the input; then it returns to calm. It doesn’t overreact or underreact.

“

David Allen


there was a time when I would lie awake worrying. Worrying I had missed something, that I was out of control.


each day should have a beginning and an end. A point where you set the goals for the day and a point where you bring work to an end.


we have tasks in notebooks, email, task lists, post it notes, our head and countless other places. No wonder we are stressed.


if your email client checks email every five minutes that equals over 22,000 interruptions in a working year.


one of the single biggest improvements you can make to your stress and productivity levels is to only check email twice a day.


awayfind.com gives me confidence to do what I need withouthovering over my inbox 24/7.Merlin Mann


working in short 25 minute sprints (followed by 5 minute breaks) provides structure and focus to my work life.


I am a philistine. When people talk about recycling, I don’t think of saving the planet. I think about saving me work.http://bit.ly/qnvDZv


http://bit.ly/qnvDZv

http://bit.ly/qnvDZv

Too much work


there is nothing worse than turning away great work because you are already working on something mediocre.


there seems to be a unjustified fear of hiring employees among freelancers.


I provide jobs to my staff not because I am a nice guy, but so I can work on what I want to and leave IE fixes to somebody else.


working with other freelancers sucks. It kills your margins and turns you into a project manager. Nobody wants to be a project manager.


when hiring you can either hire against your weaknesses or clone yourself. I prefer the former. Two of me would just be disturbing.


We all hate admin so hire a part time person to deal with it.


we all hate being interrupted so use a service like Money Penny to take your calls.moneypenny.co.uk


So what does success look like?


To me success is being confident and in control while working on what I want in a collaborative relationship with my clients.


Every day, even a sad day blurred by headaches and filled with business meetings, is magical and infinite. This dance, this particular proton dance, will never come again. This tune we’re too busy to hear will not be played again. Never forget to be thankful for your life.

“

Jeffrey Zeldman


Thanks. Questions?

@boagworld


Getting Down to Business

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