‘AnthemVirtual.com’ Archives
AnthemVirtual.com Update #6
Serendipity? Providence? Good? Bad? If you've been following my project, AnthemVirtual.com, you know my partner in the project is my wife, Renee. Well... make that "was my wife, Renee." Renee fired herself from the project. This was tuff for me; as I was very excited to be working with my best friend and explorer of life. I took the news kind of hard, even tho I felt that something better would come of it. The good news is that she didn't quit because of the project (sounds kinda like, "it's not you, it's me" doesn't it?). She didn't quite because we were in any sort of argument or disagreement, even. Like the former Governor of Alaska, Renee's services and efforts were, she felt, better focused elsewhere. That said, I took a few days to re-assess where I was at and what I wanted to do. On one hand, AnthemVirtual.com is ready to roll, with little else required other than individual persons (finding virtual agents, clients). Should I go forward with it alone? One morning the answer was 'Yes'. Then next it was 'No.' After a few excruciating days of this ping-pong match on the ol' brain-table, I decided that together AnthemVirtual.com, in the format it was in, was my best path forward if Renee and I were working on a project together. It just fit the talents of both of us. However, on my own, focusing on SelfEnterpriser.com was the way to go, while shifting the AnthemVirtual.com model I'd built toward serving the forthcoming concepts found within SelfEnterpriser.com (namely, a concept I affectionately call, PFAT for Life). The new, upcoming AnthemVirtual.com construct may be on bed-rest for a week or two while I implement a new format for the talk show, Up In Your Business! and a new, weekly online chat group where we focus on The Business of Being Yourself,™ the PFAT concept, as well as live chats with featured guests. I realize this is vague as far as the details of the new project; the details weren't the point of this update. Just wanted to let you know what was going on with the project. If you just can't wait for the details to unfold, tweet me at @DaveCharbonneau . "Have A Nice Dave." :) --Dave Charbonneau Image Credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhaggz/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
How to Conduct a Poll Using Gmail
Found (and used this tidbit from labnol.org Yes, No, Maybe? Conduct Opinion Polls Over Email using Gmail In some situations, a poll conducted over email may be more practical than running a web based poll because readers can vote through their email clients without requiring a browser. It’s as simple as replying to any other email and can be done even from mobile phones. Turn Gmail into a Poll Software Let’s see how you can quickly setup an opinion poll over email using only your existing Gmail account. The suggested approach will work best for polls that have a single question as in the following examples: a. Will you buy a Macbook Tablet ? (Yes | No | Maybe). b. Which is your favorite search engine? (Google | Yahoo | Ask | Cuil | Other). ++++ DCsays: I used this just today. If you want to know how to conduct polls or surveys, or simply get Yes, No, or Maybe answers via email, check out the rest of labnol.org's article, here. --Dave C. Image Credits
Project Update #4: AnthemVirtual.com
Okay, I can succeed with just those two items: A weekly plan and daily plans. I'm balanced because my plans include my body, mind, heart, and spirit. There's one more concept I came up with to help me keep my sanity. As this is a project launch that is essentially a new business launch, there are a lot of LITTLE THINGS that need to get done; and right now I'm the only one responsible for doing them. My motto has become "Get Going NOW, Tweak Along the Way". This means that the website won't be perfect; the process may not be totally smooth at first. That's okay. Keep moving. Otherwise, I'll get lost in the details, fall behind schedule, and find plenty of excuses to stall my progress. I created in my Wave, beneath my two weekly objectives, a TweakBox. In here I put anything and everything that needs to get done, but isn't priority. If I was budgeted for it, many of these tasks would likely be outsourced. This box allows me to, at a glance, see what needs to get tweaked and when I have a moment between peanut-butter sandwiches and playing tag (again, stacking: Family time with exercise), I can get some tweak time in. Now, there's an even more important role this TweakBox plays: It allows me to DUMP my thoughts as they arrive in my head regarding things that need to get done. Now, these thoughts don't cloud my productive time; they don't cheat me out of sleep or strive to raise my levels of anxiety. Writing things down puts you in control of the tasks. Having my TweakBox gives me permission to "do them when I can". After creating the TweakBox, I added a DailyBox, a WeeklyBox, and a ReadingBox. In these, I place the tasks that need to be done every day, or once or twice each week; as well as what books I want to read that apply to my work (right now it's "How Did That Happen?"). Again, I don't have to THINK, instead I FOCUS on the priorities, and I SNEAK in the Box-stuffs when I can. I'm about 5 to 7 days behind where I want to be in my 90-day plan... which feels like three months behind. This is good, only because I use the "pressure" to stick to the tasks before me. Make promises and keep them. It's a pretty simple plan. Kawasaki's book with some tactics from Ferriss, and the foundation of Covey, these help me format those promises in a way that keeps me in control of me, so I can move effectively forward in creating value. If you want a copy of my GoogleWave outline, email me at Dave@SelfEnterpriser.com. I'm happy to send you a copy, but don't want to make this post any longer than it already is. What's next? The value's been created, this week a system is being put in place to ensure consistency in that value; and marketing that value will begin (marketing, meaning making it easy for others to exchange dollars for that value). Tools: Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Tim Ferriss' The 4-Hour Workweek "Have A Nice Dave." :) --Dave C. Photo [...]
Project Update #3: AnthemVirtual.com
Let's see... I'm on day 29 of the AnthemVirtual.com launch. Many reasons for delay keep cropping up and begging me to call them excuses. However, this little drummer-boy is marching forward. I've been feeling overwhelmed with my acting-role of SuperDad. At the end of every day I found myself with feelings of great dissatisfaction, that I didn't get near enough completed. I finally found myself saying (okay, I was screaming), if I only had 3 hours of actual productivity every day, oh what I could do. Going back and forth with my wife, trying to figure out her work schedule with mine (hers is making money), along with the kids' schedules and the kids getting sick (seems each of them had something unique). On top of these "normal" abnormalities, there's an issue of chronic fatigue that comes into play in my frustration, too. Okay, enough of the Real-world (I only share to shout out to you and myself that there are no excuses good enough to stop me). Here's what I ended up doing. First, I realized that my 'night-owl' tendencies could serve me well. I have 3 hours from 10PM to 1AM every day. Viola! An instant 3 hours. Just what I was looking for, right in a time-slot that my fatigue rarely kicks my butt and the children are sleeping. Okay, next I needed to ensure that these three hours were PRO-DUC-TIVE! This meant I needed to have an absolute plan for things that were my absolute priority. Get this plan written down (long before the production period was to start; like the end of the previous work-day). Once things were written down, all I had to do was keep the promises I made (borrowed from Stephen Covey's '7 Habits of Highly Effective People'). As long as I'm making promises based on my priority objectives - to myself and others - then I do all I that is humanly possible to keep those promises, prosperity naturally follows (of course, tweaking priority objectives when needed). Create A WEEKLY PLAN using Google Wave (no other collaborators, just me). a. Plan should cover four areas: Heart, Mind, Spirit & Body (the PC in Covey's PC/P concept) b. Plan should cover top TWO major accomplishments for the business for that particular week (based loosely on Tim Ferriss' 4-Hour Workweek. If these are the ONLY 2 things accomplished this week, it will be a fantastic week for the business). Create a DAILY PLAN within the same Wave a. What are the TOP TWO accomplishments for the next business day. b. Any sub-tasks that need to go with this? I don't want to use anything more complicated than Wave, tho there are many project management programs out there; and I'll be using a project management program within AnthemVirtual. However, I want my Weekly Plan / Daily Plan to be very simple. As well, I chose Wave instead of a simple Google Doc only because I wanted to familiarize myself with Wave a bit more as I'll soon be using it to track communications between the company and our Clients [...]
Project: AnthemVirtual.com – 14 Days to Launch
I set out to launch Anthem Virtual™ in just 14 days. The good news, I'm "kinda" on schedule. The bad news, only "kinda". The other good news, I think I discovered a surefire path to getting projects completed. Here it is: Step 1. Get a general outline of what needs to be completed, and by when. Step 2: Fall behind in that schedule. Step 3: Get completely pissed off that you're behind; so angry, in fact, that you re-commit with total focus; thus, getting yourself back on track. ++++++++++++ Okay, that said... here's how I started this project: I started by sketching out a simple, general outline of for the projects Main Objective. Main Objective: Reach Break-Even in 90 Days or less. To do this, I used the outline in Guy Kawasaki's book, The Art of the Start. I focused solely on the section I call The First Five. He calls it: Part 1, Causation > Chapter 1, The Art of Starting, The Five Most Important Things an Entrepreneur Must Accomplish. My title is much shorter. I took notes on a fresh sheet of Google Docs. I made a 2-column table and placed summary details into the right hand column and left the left-column blank (I know, I know... Guy told me (in his book) not to do this anal kind of list-making, structure focused stuff. Well, to emphasize moving ideas from mind-to-market on the cheap, I had checked the book out of the library and needed to have a physical reference. When the idea earns sufficient excess, I promise to buy a copy of the book, and hopefully Guy will sign it for me). Anyhow, back on topic: So having the main points of The First Five really helped the planning process. As you can tell, I can get long-winded (long-fingered?) as well as go off on tangents (no, really. I'm serious). The First Five outline was completed on January 18, 2010; which put my goal of a 14 day official launch date on February 01. The next thing I did was I drew out a calendar for the first 30 days of my 90-day project. As this is my first project, I required it of myself to keep this calendar in front of me daily. Since paper gets buried, and an online calendar often gets glossed over (if it gets glossed at all), I took a dry-erase marker and drew out my calendar on our sliding-glass door. I included the start date, the two-week launch date, our First 30 day Milestone Objective, and the shorter-term tasks that needed to be completed. Our proto-type "product" was really a website; something we could share with our prospective clients, strategic vendors, and prospective Virtual Agents (those who will be contracted as laborers). Having a website that appealed to all three audiences could have put me in Hey Dave, Why Don't You Over Complicate This mode. However, realizing this ahead of time (thank you, past experience) I made it a point to make it as simple as possible. Keeping this simple remains an issue, but for now the focus needs to be on getting a product out [...]
The Rule that Rules the Rules
The following is an email from me to a web design guru. I was tired at the time, so I was rambling. Yet I THINK there was some wisdom in my carrying-on: Context: Improving the design of my website: I realize that most of our business will come from conversations and many of those from referral. I think a lot of folks have forgotten this (perhaps myself included) and seek to get EVERYTHING and more onto their website; seeking, really, to replace the human interaction. That might be okay for some super simple services or product sales (tho having a competent human a link away is always good), but I think human beings are making a comeback. As well, I don't need The Perfect Site. It's easy to fall into what I call the "One More Thing Trap" for entrepreneurs. If I had that ONE MORE book, just ONE MORE seminar, ONE MORE employee; or whatever. In this mode, little tends to get accomplished. Websites can certainly fall into this category. The rule that rules the rules is: Create value, make it easy to exchange that value with others. Any shortcomings will be forgiven. That said, I'll review the article (did you write it?) and see what I can glean from it. I wonder what's more efficient: Having a good foundation for a communicative project (e.g. website), or getting the raw, first time opinions from real people looking at it and giving their opinions? I suppose that BOTH is the better answer. "Have A Nice Dave." :) --Dave C.
