Sometimes a quick-start is exactly what one needs. My first appointment this morning was scheduled for 08.00. Much earlier than I normally start. It got cancelled................but this gave me the opportunity to spend some time blogging.
After a few weeks of doing very little, today is the day that everything gets back to normal. Back to blogging, back to twittering, back to LinkedIn. Back to work? No, I haven't stopped working. I even worked through Christmas. Not a lot, but still.
All this writing has paid off though. I signed on a big client who had not been referred to me, but found me via the internet. I'm so proud and happy that this has happened. It means that social media networking works.
A new client also means I have to take my own medicine and do more of this. So, back to work. My next appointment starts in 45 minutes and I still have some twittering to do.
Of course I want to write one, a year-end-year-beginning post. I see them everywhere and it's only to be expected that I would write one as well.
The past year has been one of major change. We changed country, climate, home, diet, lifestyle and work. Work involved a change of mindset, but only slightly. I read a lot about how people who go from employment to self-employed need to change their mindset. From employee to business-owner. Some claim that only a paradigm shift makes a business successful. I cannot get my head around that as yet. The motto of the last company I worked for was 'Enterprise First'. Clean, clear and basic. And that's what I felt like when working for this company. What I did was in the interest of the company, knowing full well that when I did well for the company, employees would also benefit. That's what I continue to do. I do well for my company and it will do well for me.
Hopefully 2011 will be a year of further change. I hope to expand my customer base and I hope to do this on the basis of the quality of the work I deliver.
I wish the readers of this blog the very best as well. May they prosper and be happy and healthy.
Today's blog post is nothing more than a list of my very favourite music. My favourite ever ever ever must be Herman Brood's Saturday Night. But I like a lot of different music, Gene Pitney, Frank Sinatra, (old) BeeGees, Small Faces, TheThe and wonderful, wonderful Kenny Werner. I picked out a few of my favourites to share with you.
Many of you know I live in Spain. I have written about it many times.
Many people I meet on the web and in real life think Spain is very old fashioned. The way to do business here is completely dependent on your network. You need family, relations and a strong network to find a job, or customers or anything to earn money. It is often called nepotism. This is the way it has been done for centuries. It seems to work, by the way.
But, since a few months I've had to rely on the internet for finding work. And after a few months I find that I am completely dependent on my network. I need family, relations and my network to find clients. Exactly the way it is done in Spain. And it seems to work.
I think about this a lot. Is the internet pushing us back in time, or is this the way things work in general? Is it that the world is now so big without boundaries that we fall back on things that served us well in the past to give us a sense of security.
Whatever it is, it is a different way of working and a challenge which I much enjoy.
In my attempt to share some of my knowledge with others, I have made a short videoclip about managing inboxes. It is one of the issues I know many people struggle with. There are tools on the market that are supposed to help with managing the inbox, such as categories and flags, but I find they are lacking in effectiveness. Rather, they make reading the inbox even more complicated. I use a system which is based on scheduling and actioning. If done right, it means an empty inbox and does away with the need to remember things. Below is a short instruction video which explains the principles of the system.
This should give you a lot to work with. If executed well, it will help you manage your email. This way of working can be transferred to other areas such as tasks lists or snail mail. If you are interested, but feel that this video hasn't given you enough, please don't hesitate to contact us.
I tweet, of course I tweet. If only to find out what Twitter is about and not to become a person who doesn't understand new media. But what is it about? I do get useful information via Twitter, it has given me a chance to connect with people in my new country. It gives me news alerts and that's great. But still, what am I doing on Twitter?
Without doing anything my followers are up to a 137 (5 November at 09.38), and they just keep on coming in - I do have to block some of them. But, why do they follow me? They don't seem to read my tweets, or are they just not interested. And if they are not interested, why do they follow me? Is it just to get to a certain number of followers/following, and if so, why?
Yesterday when I reached a 100 followers I decided to ask them why they follow me. And the best answer (IMO) would get two hours of my time. Only one person answered. And if she remains the only one, she very deservedly gets 2 hours of my time.
As much as I'm trying to find parallels with the real world, I haven't managed to find one yet. Any comments much appreciated - don't hesitate to tweet.
