The Tale of a New Business Owner: Rob Christianson, Designer & Illustrator

I'd like to introduce Rob Christianson, a talented designer and illustrator. He recently decided to make the leap to being one of the great self-employed. Rob and I worked together at Media Partners and we came to discover a mutual enjoyment of silly, geeky humor. I would also come to learn over the three years we collaborated that he's enthusiastic, disciplined and talented. That all adds up to a perfect recipe for success, if you ask me. Here's the advice he is giving to other n0obs:

1. What is your biggest challenge since you decided to "go it alone"?

The biggest challenge has been finding a balance between pursuing new job contacts and spending time working on the projects I already have lined up, particularly the large "seemingly-endless" ones. If I only concentrate on bringing in new work, the bills don't get paid. If I only focus on my current projects, I'm damming up the stream of new work coming in.

2. What's the most rewarding part of being an independent?

Definitely being able to set my own schedule. Some days are longer than others, but it definitely gives me the freedom to schedule time off accordingly, especially concerning time spent with my family. Choosing my preferred projects has also really been a blessing.

3. What do you do to market yourself and what would you say is most effective?

Redesigning a website and keeping it updated, establish a strong social-networking presence through tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, JacketFlap and other sites (where I can build an interested following both generally and specifically within the publishing industry) and making personal connections whenever possible. Most importantly, be nice and not fake. People smell a fake from miles away.

4. What sorts of business administration tools do you use to make your life easier as a small business owner?

I use FreshBooks for keeping track of time spent on projects, client records, estimates, invoicing and more. It's a great tool, inexpensive, and easily accessible because it's hosted online. We've also started using MailChimp a bit - it seems easier to use than our previous Email Marketing provider.

5. What advice would you give other people considering "making the leap"?

Definitely explore if it's the right time and place to do so. I was laid off from my day job when I made the choice to go it alone as a freelancer, but with my family's support (VERY important) and personal faith that I'm making the right decision (the MOST important), I took the leap during a downtime in the national economic climate. Also, realize that you'll be spending a lot more time than you used to at a day-job just establishing yourself, so get the word out and network, network, NETWORK! The sooner you establish a prospective client-base, the easier that transition will be. A lot of prayer never hurts either. ;)

Try Not to Bug Your Customers when Marketing

I know, I know, this seems like a no-brainer, but it's so easy to get out of hand.

Once you have your business all set up, your mass email marketing templates crafted, your Facebook business account started and your focused Twitter accounts ready to go, it's hard not to want to jump all over the people you know like an enthusiastic puppy.

Some important things to remember:

• You don't have any customers. Unless you've purchased a working business, the people you're pinging, harassing, and advertising to are your friends and family. If you're careful they'll support you and pass along the word. If you're not, they might love you, but they will eventually tune you out. Just like when you were a whiny teenager.


• Start Slowly. Taking time to do test cases when you first start is a smart way to build your business. Share with your friends and family first (sparingly), then branch out slowly to other methods of marketing. This will allow you to deliver the level of service that you had intended.


• Let Your Customers Boss You Around. You have no idea which products will take off. What you might think is awesome might not resonate with your customer. Be flexible and let your customer tell you what they want. They'll make sure you're successful, if you let them.


• Spread the Love Around. Be sure to fill out your inventory. Whether that is blog postings, business listings, physical product, or virtual product, you'll want to have something to offer people coming to your site. You don't want your first customers to be disappointed customers.

A Link-Tastic Article on Crowdsourcing for Business

I was inspired by this article in the New York Times about crowdsourcing. They mention Wikipedia and Linux, two semi-non-profit type organizations. I was curious how businesses owners can and have made it work for them.

First, to define: "Crowdsourcing is a distributed problem-solving and production model. Problems are broadcast to an unknown group of solvers in the form of an open call for solutions." Wikipedia

Seth Godin talks about a "tribe" or a group of people who are excited about your product and want to connect (not sure how to create a tribe? Start a blog, get on twitter, engage in person). Why not use that group of people already listening to you and see what they'd like to see.

Here are a few popular examples of for-profit businesses using the concept of crowdsourcing:

• Apple - Oh the iPhone. Any shmo can make an app. It's juried for quality, and apple uses the pure VOLUME of applications created as an incredible marketing campaign to basically say to the consumer "Our phone can do anything". Thank goodness these guys have a huge fantanic customer base because they are pimping those apps out without so much as a credit.
  
• Threadless - A retail T-shirt company that allows you to vote on T-shirts submitted by users just like you. At the end, the company has new product, and the user feels connected to the product. The trick here is that it's regulated by the company to reduce the overall "crap factor".
  
• iStockPhoto - A retail stock photo company, started by a collection of graphic designers desperate for affordable stock photography, users submit their photos to a Gallery that can be purchased by other users. There is a juried process to ensure quality, so once again the "crap factor" is reduced tremendously.
• YouTube - Free online videos...the content created by the users to be watched by the users. This unfortunately has little to no regulation which basically increases their overall volume of content but does nothing to assure quality outside of companies patrolling for copyright infringement or the occasional decency remove. High "crap factor".

So, what can we learn from these crowdsourcing examples?

1. You can make money crowdsourcing (also interesting).
   
2. You need to regulate the masses. There's a reason the government doesn't let us vote.
3. Some of your users are super-duper smart.
   
4. When you're marketing, or creating products, talk the people who are really going to buying your product. They know what they want.
   

4 Small Business questions to ask your Web Designer

Making a new website can be an exciting and scary proposition. There are a lot of people that do "web design" and very few who are actual professionals. I've taken the liberty to list a few common questions that I've heard before and a few that I should hear more often. Chime in, if you think I'm missing anything.

1. What role did you play in the sites you've shown me?
   Everyone posts sites they've "worked" on but often times they don't go into detail about what they actually did for each project. This is key to finding out if they were the project manager, the actual designer, or just someone who scheduled the client meetings
2. Are you a designer, a developer, or both?
   Be aware of your contractor's limitations. All to often a developer will "design" a site and low and behold, it'll look like an engineer puked all over your domain. And sometimes, when a designer acts as a "developer" you can be presented with an image that will impress and amaze, but the sub-par technical implementation will lead to future costs.
3. Are you (or is the developer you're working with) WC3 certified?
   Making sure your developer/designer is WC3 certified is like making sure your car will only need a paint job in the future instead of an engine overhaul. One will cost you a couple of hundred bucks and the other will cost you thousands. (A Key: in this example, your site is the car, the programming is the engine, and your design is the paint job).
4. Will I be able to edit the site myself?
   You'll want this (also known as a content management system). You're designer will want this too. Having your vendor charge you a quarter hour's worth of work so you can revise that sentence to have an apostrophe on it will get old really fast. Some designers work with a content management system, but if they don't, refer them to cushycms.com. It will cost a little extra to implement, but it'll be worth it in the long run.

TIP: Your website does not generally include a logo design. You logo design is also known as your corporate identity and should be considered independently from your website. Consult your designer on their pricing for your corporate identity.

Resources for Small Business

I was just thinking the other day about how I'm a terrible business administrator. It's true. I suck. I do innovation, design, and big picture planning really well. But the accounting, legal business, and state departments are not my friends. So I thought I'd compile a list of online resources that might make my life easier.

Here goes!

Accounting/Invoicing/Time Tracking - This is my least favorite part.
Freshbooks.com - I love these guys. They have a comprehensive invoicing, book keeping and time tracking system that allows you to manage several client, contractors and employees. It is a web based application that you can take with you anywhere you go. From my research it's not so good for retail businesses but great for service driven businesses (like design, consulting, etc). It's free up to three clients, after that they have several reasonable business solutions.

Graphics & Design - Professional design and slacker student prices.
CrowdSpring - Set your price, describe your project and watch the designers run around like chickens to get your business. It's a pretty great process from what I understand. AND you can set your price. Did I mention you can set your price?

Weebly.com - Talk about the easiest way to set up a website EVER. This is the best online website WYSIWYG I've ever seen. You just pick a design, drag and drop your elements and publish. You can buy a domain, add a photo gallery, add text and pictures with just a click. It's inspirational. It would bring a tear to anyone who is trying learn CSS *ahem*me*ahem*. It's just so darn diddly easy.

Email Marketing - Nearly free marketing, a must have.
SendBlaster - If you don't have a customer relationship management (CRM) software or content management system (CMS) doesn't have a mailing list manager, you'll probably like this one. It allows you to put a field on your webpage that will add your customers to your list. A ton of convenient features and free up to 100 email addresses. After that it's 75 Euros for a year license and unlimited email addresses.

Long Distance Relationships - virtual meetings with those you love.
LogMeIn - This is a way for a person to see what you're seeing on your computer monitor. it's a great way to setup virtual meetings. For our purposes, this is a way to look at potential product ideas, and do market research. One of us "drives" and the other takes notes. This way we have the same experience, can discuss it and have cohesive notes. It's quite quite helpful.

General Information
Linkedin Q&A Section - I'm a general fan of this site just because it gives you a window into other companies through people you have genuine relationships with. But in the Q&A section you can solicit the opinions of professionals just panting to answer questions to prove themselves. This is an excellent resource.

Marketing: Finding YOUR Business Voice

Joe, this blog's for you.

Finding your business voice was such an incredible challenge for my business partner and I. Once we did find it, it was like a hand in a glove: just right. When I wrote Finding Our Business Voice I kind of copped out, saying that it just takes business experience to figure it out. It dawned on me (thanks to a little nudge from Joe) that everything takes a process. So, here are a few guidelines to find your voice:

• Meet your customer. Go out and meet several people you think you might be selling your product to. Asked them what sort of sites they go to. Ask them what magazines they read. Ask them what do they do for a living. Learn about the voices they gravitate to.
  
• Visualize your customer. Aw, hell, mock up a picture and tape it up to your desk along with a list of attributes that make them up. What kind of socks do they wear? Do they take public transportation? How old are they? Make it as detailed as possible, and prune it down later. This will help remind you every day who you're talking to.
  
• Know your product. One of the trickiest parts for us was understanding where our niche really laid. We learned that the more focused your product line is, the easier it is to market to your customer base. Even if you want to market to a wide customer base, make sections that appeal to specific interests. If you use this guideline to build your website as well as your marketing campaign, you'll win.
  
• Don't be afraid to be yourself. As most bloggers will tell you, their readers are drawn by their personality as well as the quality of their information. If your collateral is a personality as well as marketing material, people will feel more inclined to relate to your voice, and if they feel like they've gotten to know your company, they'll be more inclined to stick around. Look at Freshbooks, for example.
  

Marketing and Sales Before the Super Walmart

Isn't this desire for personalized, niche services just hearkening back to the times of yore (you remeber yore, dontcha?). Being impressed and mesmerized by the fact that companies are interested in engaging with you on a personal level through outlets like Twitter seems to smack of having salesperson in a store actually walk up and HELP YOU find what YOU'RE LOOKING FOR in a hardware store, doesn't it?

Doesn't the "new" and apparently noteworthy business model of specializing in niche products like bacon, candy, and toys especially for geeks just remind us of stories about bakeries that *gasp* just makes BAKED GOODS? Or butchers offering JUST MEAT? Or cobblers actually MAKING SHOES?

Maybe consumers are tired of generalization. Maybe we want people who do what they do best to DO WHAT THEY DO BEST. Maybe consumers just want help finding what they're looking for.

Maybe "yore" is pointing you in the right direction of your next marketing campaign. Or heck, maybe it's the answer to your whole marketing and sales strategy.

Finding Our Business Voice

So, I've had businesses before, but this new project I'm working on is different. Before I was a willy-nilly, seat-of-my-pants, ride the wave of excitement entrepreneur girl. I didn't set up processes that would make my life easier in the long run. I chose a partner with fewer resources than myself. I didn't understand what it meant to be a customer. I didn't even know what marketing is. Which promptly lead to increasing arguments with the spouse and overwhelming desire to take a month off of life.

This time, with no small contribution by my partners (hubby and official business partner), we've taken time to build out the systems and develop the plans to guarantee (as much as possible) our success. One of the most magical parts of this journey is the day we found our voice.

As you know, in this day and age, you can't just slap up a webpage, get a biz license and call it a success. The dot bomb days were aptly named. You have to create a lasting and genuine relationship with the people you intend to engage in business. Much like friendship, if you don't know what you stand for, it'll be difficult to find people who understand you. As a new business, we spent a lot of time feeling around for who and what we were so we could make a genuine connection with people. But when we settled into it, it was like coming home.

I would love to tell you there's a magic bullet for conquering this task. There isn't. For us, it just took time and business experience to settle into our skin and discover what we didn't want to be when we grew up.

Small Business & Family

I was commuting home (as I often do) on the boat the other day with a group and the topic of families, money and business came up. Because the Seattle area has lost of ton of large employers, many ex-employees are feeling out the idea of going it solo. If this isn't scary enough, many are unemployed. So, where does the new innovator procure some dough if they want to fund their marketing budget? If venture capital requires more than you see yourself doing and your credit is iffy, would you ask your friends and family?

The group I was sitting with were split. Half of them felt that asking their family would be the ultimate sacrifice. They would feel weak and vulnerable and as if their families would own a part of their soul. Others in this camp also lamented that they wouldn't want to put their families at risk that way. What if things went sour? What if you lost the business? Where would the money to pay them back come from?

The other half argued that they would want to give their family first crack at their success. They would get in at the ground level and therefore have a vested interest in seeing you succeed. They would also be far more forgiving (hypothetically) than a financial establishment.

To borrow, or not to borrow... What do you think?