Archive for Planning
6 Ways to Get the Most Out of Attending a Conference
Posted by: | CommentsThis past weekend I attended Podcamp Toronto. It was an amazing weekend, in part because of the people who were there and in part because I had a plan. I went into the weekend knowing what I needed to get out of the event and how to get it. My personal event strategy is one that can be used for any conference you may attend.
1. Choose Your Sessions
Unlike some conferences, at Podcamp you didn’t have to register for individual sessions ahead of time. Even so, I spend a good bit of time looking over the sessions and the speakers. Before I got there I had a list I really wanted to attend.
However, I didn’t carve that list in stone. I know from past experience that sometimes the best sessions are not the ones I was expecting. So I kept my ears open. There were a couple of sessions I attended solely because some else said the speaker rocked. In each case, they were right. Being flexible about the sessions made for a better weekend.
2. Plan Who To Meet
Registration for Podcamp is public – you name goes on a wiki when you register. There was also a LinkedIn group and Twitter hash tags for the event. In spite of this, I didn’t see anyone who I really felt I needed to meet.
However, I didn’t just throw up my hands. I decided one of my goals for the weekend was to meet five interesting people who I would want to contact later and continue the conversations we had.
Setting this goal was very important for me. Although many people who know me personally may not realize this, I’m actually very shy. My natural inclination is to sit in Read More→
My Computer is Dead! Don’t Let this Happen To You
Posted by: | CommentsLast Friday, after about seven hours on the phone with tech support, it was determined that while my laptop wasn’t quite dead yet, it was well on the way. And couldn’t be brought back to life without some major repairs: a new motherboard, memory and whatever else isn’t working.
On the plus side, this was three weeks BEFORE my warranty ran out. When was the last time you ever heard of that happening? I thought they were designed to break three weeks after! Not only that, but about a month ago I had purchased an external hard drive and had been backing up my data. I should have everything I need.
The downside is by the time I send the laptop off to Dell, they fix it and send it back, it will have been at least two weeks. I can’t run my business without a computer for that long.
As a result, Friday was one of the most stressful days I’ve had in a long time. By the end of my marathon session with tech support, my brains were melting out of my ears. All I was good for was having a nice glass of red and watching truly mindless t.v. Anything with a plot was beyond me.
I didn’t want to go out and buy a new computer; I’d have my old one back probably better than new in a few weeks. Not to mention I had not budgeted for a major purchase right now.
Guess all my brains hadn’t leaked out my ears because Read More→
Using Google to Market Your Business Part 2: Google Analytics
Posted by: | CommentsTable of contents for Using Google to Market Your Business
- Using Google to Market Your Business
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 2: Google Analytics
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 4: Google Keyword tool
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 3: YouTube
I have to confess that I’ve been dragging my feet about using Google Analytics. Everyone was telling me how important it was but it just didn’t seem like a priority. My web hosting gives me fairly good stats on traffic, keywords people were using and the countries visitors are from. What more could Google Analytics do?
Apparently, a lot!
First you can track how many visitors came to your site, which pages they visited and how long they stayed. You can also see how these people came to your site; did they type in your URL, click a link from another site or come from a search engine.
If you notice certain sites are Read More→
Back to school – a new beginning for the entrepreneur
Posted by: | CommentsAh … the first day of school. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since I’ve headed off to class the day after Labour Day, September still feels like the true beginning of the year. Everything is possible.
And although I can relive the beginning of the school vicariously through my son, I also use this time to start fresh myself. The summer is mostly over; the mornings are cooler, the leaves are starting to turn and I feel less of the urge to take off for a day at the beach.
And even though I begin each January with a new vision, goals and action plan for my business, I often also use the beginning of September as a time to take stock of where I am. Am I still on track or am I falling short? Are my goals still valid or do they still need tweaking?
The beginning of September means there’s still a third of the year left to go. Summer vacation is over and if I put my nose to the grindstone I can still accomplish a lot by Christmas.
Although I have learned the hard way that my goals and vision are not something I can write down and forget, I still need some prompting to really take a hard look at what I’m doing. Read More→
Using a Mastermind For Your Business – Part 2 – How to choose members
Posted by: | CommentsTable of contents for Using a Mastermind Group
- Using a Mastermind For Your Business
- Using a Mastermind For Your Business – Part 2 – How to choose members
Yesterday I wrote about the benefits of being part of a mastermind group. However, any mastermind is only as strong as its members. So if you are creating (or joining an existing group) choose wisely.
How many?
Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast rule about what’s the optimum number for a successful mastermind group. It really depends on the group’s goals, frequency of meeting and personalities of the members. If you’re planning on meeting weekly, a group of ten may be unwieldy and take too much time for each member to get heard. However, if you have a long monthly session, a group of ten might be perfect.
For more frequent meetings, smaller is better. A mastermind of Read More→
