Planning to succeed

This is the second column in the three years I've been writing for the News & Record that was deemed not-quite-right for the editorial pages. I'll take those odds.

I began this year with a column about how my husband, Rob, and I abandoned New Year’s resolutions in favor of a roadmap of goals, both professional and personal, to guide us through 2007. As I predicted in the column, we did not achieve the many goals we entered into our ridiculously elaborate Microsoft Project flowchart, both because we were overly ambitious in some areas, and because other areas became less interesting to us as the year wore on.

But the very act of creating the roadmap was enough to make this a year of unprecedented growth and achievement for both of us.

Mind you, we won no awards this year and we didn’t make our first million. But we did finish painting the interior of our house and delve much more deeply into our individual creative endeavors and even lost a little weight.

Rob and I are now looking forward to another New Year’s Eve brainstorming session to outline our hopes for 2008, which we plan to execute with a couple of minor modifications to our system.

First, I’m done with Microsoft Project. While a truly useful piece of software, it’s overly elaborate for our needs and I have neither the expertise to fully utilize it nor the desire to garner that expertise. Most likely, we’ll use OneNote which organizes information intuitively and will allow us to drop in any relevant digital materials, everything from Web pages to photo thumbnails, sketches and documents created in other programs.

We are also updating our check-in system. For the first few months of ’07, we sat down in front of our full Project flowchart each week to note any progress we made. But continuously seeing these lofty goals became overwhelming and our meetings petered out.

This year, we are borrowing an idea from our friend and colleague, Tamara McLendon, who has created an accountability system. Each week, Tamara identifies personal and professional micro-goals. For example, instead of the macro-goal of engaging X number of new clients over the course of the year, Tamara will commit to two networking meetings that week. Additionally, Tamara associates a pain, as she puts it, to failing to complete her weekly goals, which generally involves taking away something she wants, like an afternoon of reading at a coffee shop.

Like macro-goals, micro-goals should be achievable while also being ambitious enough to be challenging. Micro-goals should contribute to macro-goals, even if in incremental ways, and be specific enough to act as a guideline. So, for example, if one of my macro-goals is to keep my house tidier, then a weekly micro-goal of doing at least 30 minutes of housework five days a week is not only appropriately strenuous yet achievable, but its specificity will ensure that cleaning is a continuous and easy process; otherwise, I will procrastinate until I’m forced to do all 2 ½ hours of cleaning the night before my accountability meeting, or, more likely, simply fail to achieve that goal and be subject to the consequence du jour.

I must close with a word of warning: While a little self-imposed pressure can be just the thing to turn an aspiration into action, pushing yourself too hard can lead to overwhelmed inaction with the potential to derail aspirations for good.

As the neighborhood parent who occasionally drove me to elementary school would say, “Work hard and play hard.” Life’s too short not to aggressively pursue dreams, but it would be a mighty shame if those dreams became chores in the process.

Will blog for customers

I have been thinking more and more about the marketing potential of blogs. It's not a terribly new concept - using the random blog browse on Blogger, I've run into a handful of blogs as online stores. But it seems to me that artisans and smaller businesses could run free (excepting time and energy) marketing campaigns by starting a blog and linking it to as many aggregators as possible - or as are useful to the business.

For example, my buddy James, who I mentioned in my last column, is a metal artist - he makes decorative pieces, towel racks, candle holders, water art (think sprinklers but really gorgeous and intended more for beauty than functionality - he has one that's a ballerina with a metal mesh skirt - beautiful!). Though he's been working with metal for decades, he's just starting the business side of it and has no budget for any sort of advertising.

But a blog... he could post pictures of his latest creations and of himself working in his shop, posts about the (lighter) technical details of working with metal, of the contraptions he builds in order to work with metal, his inspiration for different pieces and even his musings as he works - and he is a guy with some seriously interesting musings.

I think a similar strategy would work for smaller businesses, like Rioja!/Wine Warehouse (they're owned by the same people). I was at Rioja! for happy hour yesterday, where I was again impressed by how knowledgeable and friendly the staff is (Jake, who explained to me a little of the growing conditions that lead to the wines I tend to like) and how relaxed and comfortable the atmosphere is. The same goes for the Wine Warehouse where I have never left without a wonderful recommendation and where I have never felt at all uncomfortable demonstrating my lack of knowledge about wines or asking for an inexpensive bottle.

But they don't advertise, and the vast majority of people to whom I mention Rioja! and Wine Warehouse have never heard of either. Again, a blog could act as a free marketing tool if they connected up with We101 and wrote posts on the latest bottles in, upcoming events, light technical info about wines (such as why some wines are so tanniny or how ice wines are produced), wine pairing tips and perhaps even the occasional wine-friendly recipe.

I think the things to keep in mind with a marketing-focused blog would be:

• Give 'em what they want to read. Blog marketing will only work if people have a reason to come back time and again, and if you spend the whole blog being too technical or too braggy or anything like that, people won't bookmark you.
  
• Post regularly. I think that for really specific blogs, like either of the above examples, people could get away with posting as little as once a week, as long as those posts are fairly substantive. But nothing turns me off faster than a blog on a business Web site that hasn't been updated for months.
  
• Choose aggregators wisely. Both of the above examples would do well to connect with We101 because both are focused on a local target market. But when looking at other aggregators, remember that talking to other artisans or wine store owners is nice, but not a way to build business. Find your potential customer market and sculpt the content to appeal to them.
• Take it seriously. Don't post when you roll in from the bar at 2am on Saturday. Treat it like a part of your workday, with the same attention to detail, particularly grammar and spelling, that you would a print ad you were paying thousands for. Use spell check; ask a coworker to give a look before posting if you can. And please, oh please, use polite language. Even if a wine does have some ass to it (my phrase, not culled from anyone at Rioja! or Wine Warehouse) think of a better way to say it.
  

Survival of the fittest businesses

So, I may have made it obvious by now that I'm a bit of a customer service... snob? Maybe. Connoisseur? I like that idea better.

Whatever terminology you choose, I have another story for you. In my ongoing battle to have two eyebrows (rather than one long, furry caterpillar stretched above my eyes), I occasionally have my brows waxed, generally at one of those inexpensive nail salons that sometimes over-wax, giving me that ever-so-surprised look, but are generally filled with nice employees. Last week, though, I decided to try out a boutique place, the kind of place where I expected to pay a little more but, in return, receive great service and appropriately thick eyebrows.

I won't bore you with the entire story (as I have done to so many friends since last Thursday) but these were the parts of the experience that set off my customer service radar:

• No Web site. I know this is picky, but I just don't see how any business in their right mind goes without some sort of Web presence, even if it's just a one-page site with business hours, basic services overview and contact info
  
• A disinterested receptionist answered my initial call and insisted on scheduling an appointment immediately, even though I asked for pricing first
• The waxer was 15 minutes late taking me for my appointment, though no other clients of hers came or went while I waited, and waxing generally takes a few minutes per client, depending on what area is being waxed
• The waxer then offered no apology, explanation or even acknowledgment that she was late
• She then left the door to the waxing room open; granted, it was just eyebrows but I never mind privacy when I'm crying in the name of beauty
• A woman, who I now assume is an owner along with the woman waxing me, came to the door and the two proceeded to have a business conversation - including a discussion about blowing off a vendor - while I was being waxed
• As I was leaving, the receptionist offered me a frequent waxer card which I turned down (because, of course, I won't be returning) and though she looked perplexed, she didn't ask me why

The inglorious end to this dually painful visit was that I had left my wallet at home and so had to return later to pay. Always fun.

My big debate, once the fiasco was complete, was whether I should give the business my feedback. An opinionated and business-minded friend offered an interesting perspective: businesses should be subject to natural selection, just like the rest of us. So, she gives feedback to businesses that she's invested in in some way - either they're generally great at what they do but have slipped up in one or two areas, or she just likes them for whatever reason. Businesses that are perpetually mediocre or she just doesn't like, she keeps her feedback to herself because she feels they are simply a substandard business and should run their course, eventually leaving the market more open for competitors who do a better job.

I see her point... and won't be filling out any customer satisfaction surveys for them... it's just too bad that my eyebrows look fabulous.

My customer service top 5

If I could have had a Great Customer Servers sidebar attached to my column today, it would have included (in no particular order):

1. Dr. Margaret Szott and her entire staff. Margaret is my dentist. I recently referred a friend to her (quite an easy recommendation to make) and she hand-wrote me a very personal, warm thank you note. Not that I was surprised - her office is marked by over-the-top warm interactions - her staff inevitably remembers who people are, our interests and if and how we're related to other patients. They actually make it a pleasure to go to the dentist.
   
2. Gene at Arthur's Fine Shoes. The owners of the store, Stan and Judy, are lovely, too, but I've grown quite a bond with Gene. He took great care of me the first time we met, even though I went into their swank store in my grungy food service get-up (back when I was working at Great Harvest Bread Co.). A year and a half later (truly), I went back in a second time to replace the Danskos that had saved my feet and Gene not only remembered me, but also the kind of shoe he has sold me AND the style of sock! Now, the time or two a year I allow myself to go in there (even I have a hard time resisting their shoes), we talk about our families and share a hug - I'm often tempted to go in when I'm just having a bad day...
   
3. Gary at the Costco gas station. I've had conversations with random people about Gary before - he's just the kind of person who really stands out for people. I call him my Five-Minute Philosopher because I can have a better conversation with him in the five minutes it takes to pump my gas than with the majority of people given hours. An intellectual and a kind-hearted man.
   
4. The crew at Amalfi Harbour. The first time I walked into Amalfi Harbour (only earlier this year though I've wondered about it for as long as I can remember), I wasn't sure what it's dismal exterior was hiding. But by the end of the appetizer, I was not only sold on the food, but felt like family to the wait staff.
   
5. Sean at Muse. An inclusive snob (in a good way), who provided the best fine dining service we've experienced. But I've already written about him.

There are plenty of other worthwhile mentions, I'm sure. Who doesn't love the "Hello!" at Pita Delite? Or Masoud's way of working the dining room at Zaytoon? Or the earnestness of the sales staff at the Great Outdoor Provision Company?

I'm a sucker for a great customer service experience...

Customer service gone right

I can't remember who originally recommended Wear Yours to me, but they've been doing my embroidery since they stitched the logo from my personal chef company, Dining with Ease, onto my first chef's jackets. It's exactly the kind of place I like to shop: not only are they the only embroidery shop I know of that doesn't charge a digitizing fee (trusting that repeat business will make up for that loss-leader), it is family-owned, with a serious emphasis on personal service and pride in workmanship. That pride stretches so far, in fact, that one employee spent a week mulling over our Jones CAN logo, which is complicated by a grid design, because she felt confident that she could do an even better job on it than the sew-out we had approved. She was right: her modifications made it absolutely spot-on.


We've been so happy working with them that when our most recent batch of shirts arrived and were unusable, for both size and quality reasons, I felt pretty strongly about talking to the owner about it. My hope was that she would offer some sort of apology and suggestion for getting a better result next time - after all, they're a small business and had all sorts of expense outlays to get our shirts done, and with our logos embroidered, it's not as though they could hope to recoup any of that money from the company from which they bought the shirts.

She exceeded my hopes by a long shot: she deducted one shirt that wasn't embroidered and split the difference on the remainder. I'm guessing that she didn't just eat the profit, but is actually losing money on the deal. I take no pleasure in that piece, but I do truly appreciate that she stepped up to the plate so firmly and graciously. She has changed me from a satisfied customer to a loyal customer and I can't encourage everyone enough to give them a try for any embroidery or screen printing needs.

Wal-Mart's step in the right direction

One of the reasons I decided to stop shopping at Wal-Mart a few years ago (except for when it's unavoidable - in Madison, where I work part of the week, the only real alternative to Wal-Mart is K-Mart unless I'm looking for fertilizer or high-end clothes) was because their low pay and lack of health coverage meant that tons of their employees were using state assistance to make ends meet - meaning that we, the people, were supporting Wal-Mart's oh-so-low prices with our tax dollars.

And though I still have no intention of running out to follow the bouncing smiling face to dropping prices, I do have to give them credit when it's due. Apparently, their newly overhauled health plan will not only present 50 customizable options that should make it more accessible for their employees, but they've included some innovative twists, like eliminating hospital deductibles and offering $4 prescriptions for 2,400 generic meds (1,000 more than its customers are offered at that price).

As the NY Times article says, no one has seen the fine print yet, and there are still barriers to getting all, or perhaps even most, employees covered, but I'll take baby steps in the hopes that they lead to giant leaps down the road.

The joy of listening

The #1 most important thing I learned from owning my first business, Dining with Ease, is that relationships really matter. So often, though, the kind of relationship building that happens in business situations is superficial, with participants listening less to the words of others and more for the gap in conversation in which to insert their elevator pitch.

In the past month or two, as I have been developing relationships with those who are involved in running, and those who contribute to, Shalom Greensboro, I've been reminded of what relationship building can be, which is a window into all that is fascinating about any given person.

The thing is that most people don't think they're fascinating. I sat across from a man, whose family name is plastered all over this town, who claimed to have no answer to the question of what makes him interesting. Forget about his charm, the path that led him away from and back to Greensboro and the quirky things he does to show his employees he values them.

But even people like him generally just need a few directive questions: What were you doing before your current employment? What have you read recently that you liked? What are your hobbies? How did you meet your spouse?

People need an invitation, not the third degree, to open up a little. Of course, the business benefits are plentiful, starting with an increased likelihood that the person will want to do business with you and/or refer you to others. But the part that people are missing while listening for their chance to pitch is that most people truly are fascinating.

As I reacquaint myself with the Jewish community and those that support it, I have heard stories of mob bosses (literally) in NYC, extraordinary kids, wild career paths and amazing expertise in areas as wide flung as blocking fur coats and improving the world through charitable kindness.

Ultimately, most people love to talk about themselves, making listening all the more fun.

My career path sort of meanders

This column was originally published in the News & Record on July 11, 2007

Despite a great deal of thought put into the answer, there is always one question that stumps me when meeting people: What do you do?

It is a straightforward enough question, I know. Many people even have a tidy one-word answer like “teacher” or “astronaut”. I don’t even have a single overarching theme – a fact that brings no end of confusion when attempting to answer the aforementioned question, and no end of enjoyment in my life.

Despite attempting the expected linear path from education to career to retirement, I have found myself as an unintentional practitioner of multiple income sources. People have written books about it, and some have made millions in their various endeavors. I stumbled across it while attempting to earn a few extra bucks during the start-up period of my first business, a personal chef service, then when transitioning from cooking to writing. I joke that I am a job collector, but the fact is that I have an automatic “yes” reflex when it comes to any experience from which I can learn something or work with people I enjoy. Working from home, often in pajamas (as is the state in which this very column is so often written) is the rhinestone bedazzling on the comfy sweat suit of my career.

These days, I’ve abandoned the common analogy of careers as paths in favor of stream imagery, with my career flowing at its own pace, guided by the landscape of opportunity rather than some predetermined set of goals (beyond extremely vague ones, like wanting work that doesn’t feel like work). Consequently, my working hours are divided into four primary occupations: writer, which includes this column and various freelance work and independent projects; co-founder (along with my husband, Rob) and CFO of Jones Computer and Networking, Inc.; copywriter for Lēde Public Relations; and, most recently, editor of Shalom Greensboro, the newspaper produced by the Greensboro Jewish Federation.

The upsides to embracing a career stream mentality are plentiful, including never being terribly dependent on a single means of earning money, exploring a variety of interests at one time, having greater control over who becomes a part of the circle of colleagues, employers and co-workers, and, hopefully, unearthing previously-hidden talents, interests and passions.

Of course, there are downsides as well. Juggling can be stressful and overwhelming when deadlines coincide or different loyalties seem to conflict, such as when I’m promoting clients for Lēde while also courting advertisers for Shalom Greensboro. Also, there is no passing of the buck; whether I am working as an employee at Lēde or as a primary at Jones CAN, it is ultimately up to me to not just complete my work, but to do so while meeting my own standards of quality.

Finally, there is the dreaded appearance of being a jack-of-all-trades but master-of-none. Besides my own desire to be an expert in at least one area (but having to keep my thumb on many), there is my need for those I work with to understand how very seriously I take each of my career streams. After all, in my stream, there is ample room for both serious dedication and the sheer pleasure of embracing opportunity.

Perhaps my forked stream will someday reunite into one, solid river, turning “What do you do?” into an easily answerable question rather than an existential conversation piece. I could wait and find out, or I could wade boldly to the center of my career stream and see where my skills and interests take me.

GIRLS Entrepreneurship Conference

Last year, the local chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners organized an entrepreneurship conference for high school girls. The young women came dressed in their most business-y attire and were given the chance to talk to mentors and learn about the opportunities and challenges of business ownership.

Last month, we decided to dissolve the NAWBO chapter (for a variety of reasons) and instead form an informal group whose sole project is putting on this conference each year. The Web site is up, thanks to Harvey McLendon (incidentally, our new Technology Consultant at Jones Computer and Networking). The group is also having informal happy hour meetings (starting around 5:30) at the Chop House on 68 on the second Thursday of each month, opened to anyone (as opposed to the former group which was only open to women business owners and sponsors).

I invite you to check out the program and come to our next wine-and-greet on July 12.

Women in business face slights

This was originally published in the News & Record on May 30, 2007.

A joke:

A husband and wife walk into a business meeting. They each say, “I co-own a business with my spouse.” The business people turn to the wife and say, “How nice that you work in your husband’s company.”

I know, it’s not funny, but I’ve never claimed to be a comedienne.

I am, however, a business owner, most recently of Jones Computer and Networking, which I own 50/50, straight down the middle, equal partners, with my husband. And though the majority of people I encounter in business situations take me at least somewhat seriously as such, I have had no fewer than three people try that terrible punch line on me in the last couple of weeks. They weren’t funny either, but then again, they weren’t trying to be.

My husband is the first to defend my role in the company, ever quick to point out that the “Jones” in our company name refers to both owners, not only the one with a Y-chromosome. He is the first to admit that ours is a company that never would have happened without the two absolutely essential elements of his extensive computer expertise and my comfort navigating the administrative and marketing requirements of business.

Of course, his appreciation and understanding of my role is far more important than the perceptions of those few and far between acquaintances. Still, I can’t help but wonder why, when I can easily laugh off reader mail that suggest the time of a little lady like me would be better served baking cookies than adding my opinion to public discourse, these seemingly innocuous and surely unintentional slights to my business role stick so badly in my craw. Perhaps I have undermined my own reputability as a business owner by being too casual with the conventions of business propriety and pomp; or maybe people make assumptions based on my age. Or maybe, as it seems to be, it is truly a reflection of society’s ingrained misogyny.

In the hopes of teasing out an answer, I have been trying a thought experiment: I have been imagining scenarios in which people might assume that my husband, in fact, works for me when we announce co-ownership. I have imagined him as the younger of our couple, and a role reversal in which I have the technical expertise while he manages the business itself. I have imagined myself in masculine, starched suits, and even in business with a completely and obviously inept man. But nothing seems to inspire a reverse, though equally flawed, conclusion except, just perhaps, a business in an industry that is traditionally considered “women’s work,” like nursing or child care.

I freely admit that this whole issue is intimately linked with my ego. Business ownership offers an amazing learning opportunity, and I take great pride in having developed from a new business owner who felt faint every time I had to give my elevator pitch, to a person who feels confident throwing my two cents into many business discussions. Ultimately, though, I can’t help but believe that these comments aren’t made in reaction to me as a person but to me as a woman.

I can offer no inspired insight to conclude this column; with most rights and perceptions of minorities in America, we have made great strides, almost far enough that continuing to fight seems excessive and indulgent. But the truth lies in the unguarded moments, serving as a reminder that true parity is ahead of us, but only if we choose to keep pushing.

Micky to attend same-sex weddings

It seems that Disney is working to shake off its history of exclusion (a la banning the long-haired in the 60s) and will start allowing same-sex couples to purchase its Fairy Tale Wedding packages. For the sake of fairness, I'm unclear whether their previous exclusion from these packages was intentional or a thoughtless side-effect of requiring a valid marriage license for booking. Now, the many Mickey lovers of the gay community can now enter connubial bliss with the grand rodent by their side.

The timing is right for such a move because even though statistics compiled by The Third Way show that the country is still a ambivalent about full marital rights for gays and lesbians (61% of Americans support legal civil union), an overwhelming majority believe that the GLBT community should have equal job opportunities (90%) and should be allowed to serve openly in the military (80%).

Interestingly, 56% of Americans do not think that same-sex couples lack significant legal protections. Sadly, that's just plain wrong. There are so many things that those of us in hetero marriages take for granted - that if our spouse is sick, we can stay with them in the hospital; if they should die, what's theirs is automatically ours; that if we have children and are both good parents, we have equal rights to see our children should we divorce. None of this is true for same-sex couples. I have one lesbian friend who is counting down the days until her daughter is 18 because her ex had sole legal custody (two people of the same gender cannot share legal custody under our laws) and has chosen to keep the child from her.

And though I think the civil rights implications of the gay marriage debate are the most important part, there are practical reasons that allowing the same rights of marriage to the GLBT community would benefit the whole country, one of which Disney has cleverly tapped into: the millions, perhaps billions, of dollars gays and lesbians would pump into our economy to throw the sames kinds of elaborate weddings that hetero couples indulge in. Someone should remind Bush - that kind of tax revenue could fund a couple more days in Iraq...