Independent Thinking » Independent Thinking

Knowing When To Fold (How an IABC Business Column Comes to an End)

Daria Steigman — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 08:03:23 +0000

Sometimes you have to know when to let go:

The best small business owners are constantly innovating—rethinking a product, redesigning our Web sites, tweaking our marketing approaches, testing productivity tools and technologies. It’s what we do.

But we’re really bad at stopping the things that are part of our routine but shouldn’t be anymore. Like advertising in the yellow pages. Or sending a telex rather than a tweet. These might have been useful or cutting-edge at one time, but now they’re just eating up your resources and/or your attention.

My latest IABC business column is out, and it’s all about knowing when it’s time to fold.

For the past year, I’ve been struggling to figure out what content should be “held” for the column versus what I’m writing about here (let alone anywhere else). It’s become a chore, one more thing to do, without seeing a compelling business purpose to put the time into it anymore. So I’m letting it go.

Read the column here. There’s also a nice “Top 7″ editors’ picks list–their favorite Independent Thinking columns over the years.

What are you doing today in your business that you need to let go?

Photo by laffy4k (Flickr).

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How To Build a Thriving Corporate Culture

Daria Steigman — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:59:44 +0000

Zappos has nothing on the Corner Parking Lot in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Just watch The Parking Lot Movie, a funny, fascinating documentary that debuted at SXSW 2010. It has everything: class-ism, culture, hiring people you trust, empowering your employees, “corporate” culture, and building your tribe.

Seriously: Find it. Watch it. It’s an instructive look at a lot of workplace concepts we talk about a lot but don’t see much in action.

Photo Credit: Attendant Corey Gross with Parking Gates, by Jon-Philip Sheridan and Alexandra Miller.

Are You For Sale?

Daria Steigman — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 17:11:39 +0000

Assessing value can be one of the toughest challenges facing any business. Bring small business folks together for a conversation, and the topics of rates and handling negotiations routinely come up. Pricing is often in the eye of the buyer—budget, need, demand, and perceived value all come into play. And that’s before you, your credentials, and your “value-add” even walk in the door.

My latest Independent Thinking column is out, and it explores rates, scope, referrals, and the importance of choosing wisely:

For any business, the perception that you are for sale can be deadly. After endless holiday sales, retailers have trained us to wait for the “real” (discount) price to kick in. Is this the message you want to send to your clients and prospects?

While I’ve talked about some of this before, the column goes into a little more depth–including some good food for thought from Kristie Aylett and others on the topic of referrals. Read the column here.

Photo by antwerpenR (Flickr).

9 Steps To Your Social Media Check-up

Daria Steigman — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:40:58 +0000

Your work is all around you. The reality in this age of spidered content and 24/7 WiFi is that other people can find out a lot about you really fast. And this holds true whether you’re online a little–or a lot. Heck, I bet even people who live “off the grid” are finding themselves tagged in pictures on Facebook or otherwise showing up online. So doesn’t it make sense to know what’s there to be found when someone checks you out?

My latest Independent Thinking column provides guidance on where to look and what to look for when conducting your own social media check-up.

It also includes a book giveaway aimed at those of you new to social media. My friend and colleague Beth Schillaci has written Your Social Media Roadmap. It’s a workbook that takes you through the process of building a strategy and identifying what channels make sense for your business.

Book Contest Details

Want to win a free copy of Your Social Media Roadmap? Beth Schillaci has given me a signed copy of her book to give away here. Read the column, and then come back and leave a comment here on my blog about your social media goals for 2011 and what you hope to learn.

The best answer (judged by me) wins a copy of the book.

Photo by Ivan Walsh (Flickr).

How to Set Up Your Business to Maximize Brand and Bottom Line

Daria Steigman — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 16:02:02 +0000

Is your business structured the right way?

There are legal, tax, and liability implications to how your business is structured. Not just the legal structure (e.g., LLC or corporation), but also whether you have an operating agreement and how it’s written. And what about equity (both for founders and key employees)?

My latest column for IABC’s CW Bulletin is out, and it’s all about how to set up your business the smart way. Some sample fare:

Legal, tax and liability implications aside, adopting a formal structure has a business value… It’s a lot easier to make the case for yourself as a business professional if you’re set up to be one. In this era where putting up a Web site and printing out business cards is cheap and easy, it is more important than ever that your business signals that it’s around for the long haul.

Read the complete article here.

Bonus reading: Fred Wilson has a good piece about employee equity and vesting over at A VC.

Photo by bucklava (Flickr).

7 Tips for Smart Financial Management

Daria Steigman — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:37:38 +0000

Anyone who has built a successful business knows that entrepreneurship involves more than just identifying a sellable product or hanging out a consulting shingle. It takes a business mind, long hours, lots of sweat equity—and a healthy dose of financial risk management.

My latest column for CW Bulletin is all about financial management 101. It features advice from Anita Campbell, CEO of Small Business Trends, and offers seven tips to get organized, be smart, and seize the right opportunities. It’s not sexy stuff, but it is designed to reiterate the importance of some things you’re hopefully doing already and maybe give you some new ways to think about managing your cash flow and taming your business expenses.

Read it here, and then come back and add in your best financial management tip.

Photo by Steve Snodgrass (Flickr).

The 9-Step Plan to Managing Your Time

Daria Steigman — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:59:53 +0000

My latest column for IABC’s CW Bulletin is out, and it is about time: how we claim it as business owners, and how we can manage it to keep ourselves from being overwhelmed or letting critical tasks and projects slip through the cracks.

It can be a challenge for even the most organized. I’ve written before that it doesn’t take a superhero. While I wish I had a time turner, like Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter books, I live in a world where the wizardry is really just a product of hard work.

The column looks at 9 strategies for managing your business. They range from identifying the five business buckets to prioritizing the big stuff to understanding cash-flow cycles.

You can read it here. Then come back and tell me: What would you add?

Photo by Laffy4k (Flickr).

Let’s Talk About You

Daria Steigman — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:05:40 +0000

This blog turns 2 today. It all started with a 74-word post about communications, business, and unique selling points. But the blog is here because of you — my community.

So in honor of our second anniversary, let’s talk about you:

Who are you? I know who some of you are — but not all of you. Whether you’re new or a seasoned reader, please take a minute to introduce yourself to the Independent Thinking community.
What do you want me to write about? I’ve tried to stay true to my pledge to write about business, entrepreneurship, communications,social media, and how technology is impacting the way we work. But what kinds of posts resonate with you? Is there something you’d like to see me write about more? Something that’s missing from this blog?

Thank you. The comments are yours.

Photo by mischvelente (Flickr).

What Book Has Influenced Your Career?

Daria Steigman — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:01:52 +0000

There’s a LinkedIn discussion going on right now in one of my groups about the books that have made you the person you are today. While I knew many people would cite inspiration texts, philosophers, and business gurus, I had to stop and think whether there were any media that resonated that much. I scanned all the books on my shelves. Nothing popped out.

Then I realized there is one documentary and one poem that did make a difference:

I saw Harvest of Shame when I was 13 (props to an amazing teacher), and it made me want to do something to help migrant workers. Ten years later, when I knew I needed a graduate degree to break out of my dead-end job, I chose labor relations.
Wordsworth’s The World Is Too Much With Us is 14 lines long, and it turned my 17-year-old self upside down. I came to college planning to study economics and business so that I could live and work overseas. But then I found poetry and my passion. And that took me into that dead-end job, which took me to labor relations–and eventually to that blowtorch that helped shape who I am today.

The rest of my library? Some really great stuff that’s made me an educated woman and/or given me great ideas and insights. But made me who I am? That’s a much smaller list.

What about you? What media have helped forge your path?

3 Must-Ask Questions Before You Go Online

Daria Steigman — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:58:50 +0000

Should you be on LinkedIn? Plaxo? BizSugar or Open Forum? While it’s easy to be online, the vast array of options can leave even the social-media-savviest business person overwhelmed. At last check, my AddThis button linked to over 230 separate platforms/sites.

Because time is a finite resource and we can’t be everywhere, I recommend applying a simple three-pronged business test for social presence:

Will it help me be found?
Will it help me connect with my audience?
Will it help me identify new business?

I explore these questions in some detail in a new IABC CW Bulletin article, Bringing Social Media to Your Business. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Photo by jenny downing (Flickr).