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Are you a freelancer or a business owner?
I know many freelance developers who are good business professionals. One of the ways I can tell whether or not they want to be a business owner is whether or not they want to stick with Highrise as a contact manager. Basecamp is a more fully developed platform than its little brother, Highrise. Everyone knows…
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Staying connected against the current
Sometimes we have to fight the current in order to stay connected with people. They are probably not swimming away from us, just drifting, not trying to stay connected. We have to be the one doing all the work to maintain the connection. One of the wrong ways to do it is with the 'just…
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How social media practices influence CRM
The graphic below emphasizes how customer expectations have changed because of social media. But users of CRM tools have drastically changed their expectations as well. It’s becoming more and more important that the CRM tools you are using pull all the relevant social media accounts and posts into the customer view. When choosing a CRM…
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How to find a place to contribute
Whether we are are looking for an assignment or a job, we have to find a problem to solve. By the time a job description or RFP is written, the pain point that created the need has been obscured. Many more layers of “nice to have” skills and whistles have been added. The experience required…
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How to be referable
Face-to-face networking has always been a big part of my life, even though I'm very introverted and drained by busy meetings. Michael Katz does a good job of reminding us how to make the most of it. The problem we solve is… "we're not getting as much as we could from our customers." 'As much'…
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Learning from the PayPal mafia
PayPal's early path may well have changed the face of entrepreneurship, but the agile/lean lessons are not what inspire me. When building teams we often spend so much time worrying about skills and experience that we forget that trust and commitment come first. TechRepublic: How the 'PayPal Mafia' redefined success in Silicon Valley, 2014-Jul-5 by…
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Our constantly changing perspective
To benefit from experience we have to make sure its incorporated into our plans and perspectives. We have to keep changing constantly in response. Our plans have to evolve. Even our values. Brainpickings: 20-Year-Old Hunter S. Thompson's Superb Advice, 2013-Nov-4, Excerpted by Maria Popova Every man is the sum total of his reactions to experience.…
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Innovating with a safety net
To defend our business, we have to keep improving, but many of us don't want the anxiety of testing new things. As Steve Blank points out, we don't have to go out on a big dangerous limb. If we keep our improvements small and get them in front of customers immediately, we'll know if we're…
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Amazon continues making itself indispensable
I confess that well-deserved pity for Hachette authors has not led me to boycott Amazon. (Hachette can take care of itself.) As a book lover, Amazon has done more to improve my quality of life than any traditional publisher. Kindle, wish lists, free shipping for the patient, excellent search capabilities, a sound recommendation engine, and…
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You and your customer rate the relationship together
Customers have many ways to rate your service. Are you giving them the opportunity to bond with you or to victimize you? Recently, I had to meet some friends at a bar I'd never seen. So to set my expectations, I decided to look at the reviews on Yelp. I was surprised to see how…
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