Improve My Business

Several years ago, I was copied on an email from an irate manager that still sticks with me to this day. In the email, the manager was basically venting his frustration with the habit of everyone in the department sending “fire and forget” emails, not following up, and assuming that sending an email is an acceptable solution to practically every problem.

It sticks with me because it is so true! Email is such a part of our lives that we hardly think about it. All to often, we send an email then mark a task off our list. But emails often require further elaboration. We don’t take the time to express our feelings in email, and if we do, we can get sucked into spending an hour writing an email that “sounds” right. We don’t want to be accusatory, or demanding, but sometimes we need to relay importance and urgency or just make a point. In return, we need confirmation of understanding.


How often have you received a reply that led you to think that you are being ignored, brushed off, or worse, by the person you sent it to? What does it mean when you have sent out a 5 paragraph email and get a reply of simply “ok”?


Everyone is occasionally guilty of bad email etiquette, both senders and receivers. I encourage you to take a moment to read this short article titled 14 Email Do’s and Don’ts, from Amit Asaravala at TechSoup.org, then consider your own email habits and how you can improve your email communication.

Technorati Tags: communication, efficiency, email, Streamlining, working smarter

My local library not only has automated the checkout process (mounting a barcode gun for self-checkout) but also prints out a little slip of paper detailing the due dates for the books, and the amount of money saved, both today and for year-to-date.  The slip tells me that I’ve saved $368 to date in 2009 - presuming I’d buy hardcover books.

This subtle reminder of why I should continue to use the library got me to thinking - what have I done lately to remind my clients why they want to continue to work with me?  What can I do to keep that value front-and-center with them?

What can you do to keep your value proposition in front of your ideal client?

Technorati Tags: customer, value

I find that seeing lots of different ideas on one page is really helpful when trying to come up with a creative solution.

The easiest of these is via brainstorming, where ideas are captured and (purposely) placed randomly on a piece of paper.  (Randomness is key - if we listed them in order, the mind automatically gives more weight to the top idea).  Once these ideas are captured, you can sort them via affinity diagrams, fishbone/cause-and-effect diagrams, or mindmaps.

I’ve talked about affinity diagrams and cause and effect diagrams in previous posts, so let’s talk a bit more about mindmaps.  Mindmaps are graphical representations of not only the ideas, but their relationships.  For example, if doing a mindmap about a vacation, I may have something that looks like this:

For folks who are visual learners, mindmaps are a great tool.  There are several free programs out there; I like Freemind and MindMeister.

What have you used a mindmap for, and how has it worked for you?

Technorati Tags: cause-and-effect diagram, de-clutter, fishbone diagram, FreeMind, mind map, mindmap, MindMeister

Clutter - it’s everywhere if we let it be… and it’s insidious, sneaking up on you.

When we moved to a new home we had a chance to declutter, and although it was sorta weird not putting everything out that we had in the old house, it was also really nice.  Although you don’t have to move abodes to declutter (that’s pretty extreme) - you can take some easy steps.

Here are some tips from a variety of experts:
From SCJohnson:  tips for decluttering your home

from Lifeorganizers.com: 10 ways to declutter your home and office (cable/wire) organization and organize your desk

Now, I was able to find these sources in literally seconds; and the info they provide is great.  What are some de-cluttering tips that you use?

I open mail at the recycle bin - if I don’t need it, into the recycling it goes.  If I do need it, it gets handled right away or the next day (hopefully).

I clean the kitchen counters off every evening (if I can/I’m home, etc.) so nothing has a chance to build up.

I file invoices as they’re paid, and don’t print them out from the accounting software until they are - so I only print once, not twice, and I file it right away.

What’s your best idea for decluttering - either at home or at work?  Do tell!

Technorati Tags: de-clutter, organizing, process improvement, Streamlining, stuff-onomics

I was so pumped reading the article by Chris Brogan on the Oakley facility here in the US - especially the testing that goes into the product to ensure that they  live up to their hype.  Since Chris said it so much more eloquently than I could, I’ll encourage you to go to this link to read the article (and add Oakleys to your “Must have” list…)

If every company had Oakley’s commitment to excellence, imagine what we’d accomplish…

Technorati Tags: Chris Brogan, Oakley, sunglasses, testing