Working From The Basement

Ok admit it you had a grin on your face this morning when you woke up and saw the snow.  If you think the people that you work with that do the daily commute are jealous on a normal day, they really feel it on a snow day.  Even though I work from home on a regular basis there seems to be something special about a snow day.  The pace of the people around you seems to slow down, you linger round the kitchen longer getting your coffee and reading the paper.  I even make it a point to work in my PJs for awhile, maybe it’s the snow or memories of snow days when I was a kid, but I feel calmer.

If you are lucky the people that live with you can work from home too, with today’s telecommuter options there should be no reason to risk life and limb for an office job.  So savor the coffee aroma listen to some music and enjoy your snow day.

WFTB – Michael Lawson

We write a lot about networking events here on WFTB, for the obvious reason that they play a major role in meeting clients and finding resources.  These events are not strictly business-oriented, and people attend for various reasons. While it is a great way to socialize and make some real connections, it doesn’t always work out that way.  I’ve had this article sitting in draft mode for awhile now, and after reading Chris Brogan’s “Stop Humping My Leg” post on his blog yesterday, I finally decided to publish it.  I have met many people I like at these events and whom I would consider real friends, but as Chris mentions in his article, simply: “if you hump my leg, you risk screwing yourself.”

One of the benefits of Social Media is that it can accelerate trust, friendships and client interactions, based on the amount of information you can find about people and their companies on Social Media sites.  This usually works to each person’s advantage, but once and awhile, just like in real life, it is one-sided.  Like Chris mentions in his article, it is about building relationships, and that is not as simple as just knowing about the other person from their online presence.

Social Networking events such as the CT TweetCrawls are a good way to meet people, and I have been both promoting and reviewing them on WFTB.  My own social media guidelines allow anyone to become a LinkedIn Connection, but don’t assume I am going to let you be a Facebook friend.  Notice that LinkedIn calls people “connections,” which is not a big commitment in my view, while Facebook uses the word “friend.”  This may be the crux of the problem and may just be a word to most people, but to me it means something.  I use Facebook to communicate with the people that I know and have usually met in person.

When you do meet in person (and if you have been following somebody on Twitter and they followed you back), don’t assume that they are your best friend.  Just like in any social setting introduce yourself in a respectful manner and let the person know that you are a follower, then start a conversation.  Even if you have had a conversation online don’t assume the other person remembers it. There is nothing more annoying than somebody assuming that you know all about them, too, especially if they use an alias.

The way you post information about yourself may also be exacerbating the problem, if your posts are too personal you may want to rein them in.  Using your real name as your nickname can also be an issue, but it is up to you to create your online identity and presence.  I have multiple Twitter accounts for exactly this reason, and for me that strategy has worked well.

A lot of people are using Social Media resources in different ways to promote products, services and themselves, so your views may not agree with the other person.  If you consider someone a spammer, for instance, you should not feel guilty about unfollowing or unfriending them; but, you can also use filters to hide their posts as a compromise.  We are all learning the rules as we go (and the problem is there are really no set ones), so for now I would suggest be patient and understanding, but don’t allow people to be abusive.  Just like in real life, we have to interact with people that we don’t exactly get along with – you should use the same techniques with Social Media.  Just remember to bring your Miss MS Manner’s book and we should all get along.

WFTB – Michael Lawson

While attending the TweetCrawl in Glastonbury last month Suzi Craig and Lisa Davenport announced that they would be throwing a party to raise money for Operation Home for the Holidays (OHFH).  Which at the time seemed like it was going to be just another CT TweetCrawl event; well it didn’t turn out that way.  Along the way this was planned to be a Rave Party, Dinner Event and ended up being something even more spectacular. Now I really don’t think Suzi or Lisa actually sleep, because to pull this off with all the changes in less than a month is simply amazing.

The goal was eventually set to raise $25,000 which even in a good economy with only a month’s time frame is a tough task.  This was to be done originally through traditional large business sponsorships of the event, well that didn’t happen.  Money is really tight and trying to get even smaller donations from larger clients is harder than ever. So what happened instead, the little guys pitched in, and I think we did really well (and by “we” I mean everyone who donated or helped)!  Not only did the event go from being a traditional fund raising dinner (albeit in a warehouse), but it became kid friendly, fun and spawned these other events listed in this article here.  I also got up on stage and raised money by singing bad karaoke.

A lot of small businesses, micro-businesses and individuals donated and continue to donate without having to go through corporate hoops. (Hint: check out the sidebar on the right of this blog to donate until December 4^th, 2009.)  Dealing with the smaller donors is harder, but with the Internet and an existing Social Networking presence it is a lot easier than it used to be.  Suzi and Lisa where able to rally the troops (literally, just check out the pictures in the resources at the end of this post), and raised over $12,000 which is a pretty good amount with still over 2 weeks left to go.  It wasn’t even the money that was the most amazing thing, but the donations of time, food, auction items and raffle prizes that rolled in.  (yes I won the first raffle with no superglue this time, but I still got yelled at…) I was by no way an insider into this, and other than going to TweetCrawls, participating online and raising money I can only imagine the amount of work done to pull this off.

So to everyone who participated, I think congratulations are in order for a great fund raising effort, especially Suzi Craig, Lisa Davenport, Enza Dandeneau and The Marlborough Business Association who planned the whole thing.  The food was also excellent and was provided by Agave Grill which was one of the first TweetCrawl hosts.  The MCs where Ann Nyberg and Damon Scott who did a great job keeping the event moving along throughout the day, and announcing the winners for the auctions and raffle prizes.

To everyone wondering how my efforts paid off I was very close to my goal of $250 most of which was handed in at the Karaoke event. My personal thanks to everyone who showed up to watch me make a fool of myself and to anyone else who donated.  One thing I learned from this is just because your business is small doesn’t mean you can’t contribute to a larger cause and do great things, Micros Rock!  On that note I’ll leave you with a serenade…

Resources:

Suzi Craig’s The Deep End Article here:
Stephan Krauchick’s Video here:
CT TweetCrawl Page here:
Brent Robertson’s Photos here:
Seshu’s Photos here:
NEW: Order T-Shirts online here:

The photo used in this article courtesy of  Brent Robertson, his other photos of the event can be found on Facebook by using the resource link.

As I mentioned above we are still trying to raise money so please click on the ChipIn widget on the right sidebar to donate or buy a Limited Edition T-shirt for $15 (Leave a comment on this article if you want one). Also you can order prints ($10 each, 5×7) from Seshu, and 20% of the proceeds will go to Operation Home for the Holidays.

WFTB – Michael Lawson

Count me among the many of you who work in the basement, although I’m not running a micro-business nor am I self-employed. Technically, it’s more accurate to say that I sometimes work in the basement and sometimes I work a bit farther away. For example, I spent last week working in California where there are plenty of home offices but almost no basements (Perhaps a west coast version of WFTB would be called “Working From The Spare Bedroom”?). The trips out of the basement afford me the best of both worlds.

I’m a freelance producer and sometimes writer. It’s the producing work that sometimes takes me out of my basement. Last week, I was on a Los Angeles sound stage shooting an infomercial with a crew of fifty, which is about forty-nine more people than are usually in my basement. We also had one fairly famous celebrity, which is exactly one more than the number of celebrities ordinarily found in my basement.

Despite the lack of celebrities, my basement, also known as my World Headquarters, is a comfortable and productive place from which to work. In addition to my desk (which I built and is the envy of most visitors) the basement is equipped with a gym, treadmill and stationary bike all of which call to me on a regular basis. Unfortunately, more often than not I ignore those calls which no doubt accounts for my need to work in loose fitting sweats. Who knew that the mere purchase of a treadmill is not enough to get into shape? The world headquarters is also outfitted with a large screen television and a surround sound stereo. I find that productivity drops when the TV is on so I try to keep it off during the day. On the other hand, I seem to be more productive with music so the stereo is frequently on usually with Itunes or Pandora.

For this most recent shoot, I spent a week in the World Headquarters prepping the job. I generated countless emails, worked the phones and tinkered with the budget, all while wearing the afore-mentioned sweats and a t-shirt. But the advantages to this set-up are not limited to sweat pants. I’m can run to the store or pick up one of my kids after practice all without missing a beat. And yet when everyone is home, the basement still affords me a quiet place to work.

While working from home has become commonplace today, it is not for everyone. People often worry about letting the distractions of the home interfere with their productivity. It seems some would prefer the structured environment of an office to keep them on track but I’ll take the basement any day. I have very little trouble with distraction when I’m on a project like the infomercial as there is usually way too much to do and little time left for distraction. It’s when I’m between paid work and left with only my own personal projects that I let distractions creep in. When I’m simply rewriting the screenplay, working on the latest blog entry, or perhaps writing a guest column for WFTB, I’m much more likely to find things that suddenly need to be done around the house (I’ve done two loads of laundry while writing this column) before I settle in to work. But eventually I do settle in and there is no better place for me to work.

There are countless other benefits to working at home. For instance, office politics are non-existent in my basement and I don’t wait in line for a cafeteria lunch. Also there are no annoying co-workers in the next cubicle who talk too loud, steal my desk supplies, or reek of too much perfume. On the other hand, I will admit that most people in an office don’t have to deal with a large fluffy cat that complains a lot either. I’m sure that I could go on about the advantages to working from the basement and ordinarily I would but I do still have two loads of laundry to fold and a cat to feed.

About Jeff:

Jeff Vibes is a freelance Producer/Writer who lives in Connecticut with his wife, two sons and one extremely demanding cat.  He has been in the film industry for over twenty years.  In addition to countless commercials and infomercials, Jeff has also worked on documentary films and movie publicity all over the world.

Originally from Connecticut, Jeff spent twenty-two years living in California before returning to Connecticut in 2001.  Since then he has continued to work primarily in both California and New York.

He spends his down time (a misnomer if ever there was one) attending his son’s baseball games.  Any remaining time is spent writing unproduced screenplays and personal essays.  Some of his writing can be found on his blog “The Random Vibes” at

http://www.therandomvibes.blogspot.com/

Jeff can be reached at jvibes@mindspring.com

Excellent references (all well paid of course) are available upon request.

WFTB – Jeff Vibes

OK, by now you are probably wondering what a picture of me dressed up in a blue bunny fur coat and a cowboy hat is doing in this article.   Well the CT TweetCrawlers are meeting at Public’s in Middletown Wednesday night for Karaoke and I thought I would present a challenge.  If we can get 25 people to vote in the poll to get me on the stage in this getup (My Halloween Costume) and donate $10 to Operation Home for the Holidays, I will do two songs dressed like this.  Since I am mostly bald shaving my head would have been a bad fund raising idea at best.

So please pledge your support in a comment attached to this article and vote on the sidebar poll. I am looking to raise a mere $250, but would like to do better.  In order to get more people to attend please go to the Facebook Page for this event and invite your friends and direct them to this post to pledge their support.  You can also post a link to this article on your Facebook page or use Twitter, the more the merrier. Public is one of the best night spots in Middletown and is always a lot of fun, please come and join us.  Also remember that the “Open House to Bring Them Home” Party is now free this Saturday.  Below are the details and links for both events, we hope to see you there.

UPDATED EVENT INFO FOR KARAOKE FUNDRAISER:

Wednesday November 11^th 2009
Karoake TweetCrawl at Public’s in Middletown
337 Main Street
Middletown, CT
6:00pm – 9:00pm

UPDATED EVENT INFO FOR MAIN FUNDRAISER:

Saturday November 14^th 2009
Operation Home for the Holidays TweetCrawl
The Warehouse of Lisa Davenport’s Home Gallery
9 Austin Drive
Marlborough, CT
1:00pm – 5:00pm
This Event is now “Open House to Bring Them Home” party
Kid Friendly and lots of Raffles and Prizes, please RSVP on Facebook.

WFTB – Michael Lawson

When Diana and I started this blog it was pretty much for shits and giggles, well almost.  After attending Podcamp in Boston this year we wanted to try publishing content centered on small and micro-businesses.  Initially promoting the site just using the Social Media skills we had acquired in the past year also seemed like a good idea.  Since I already had this domain name registered it was just a matter of installing WordPress on one of my servers and setting up email.   If you ask me I don’t even remember registering this domain name, but the name fit and we where off to the races.

Our goal was to create a collaborative site; the reason for this is that both of us had gone very spotty on our independent blogs.  Writing one or two posts a week isn’t as hard as writing the three or four a week which is what I believe is the minimum you need for an independent blog site.  Still with our busy schedules it is still fairly difficult to maintain the pace, but we did it.  This will be our twentieth post in a month’s time which is right in line with what we wanted.

A funny thing happened though – I don’t think Diana and I have written very many articles from our original lists.  This is because we picked a really broad subject area to write about based on our everyday experiences and interactions from which we get fresh ideas. A lot of these ideas come from the comments left by our readers; these outnumber the articles 3 to 1, when you consider all the Social Media postings. The feedback we get when we attend networking events has also helped drive and motivate us like we never imagined.  So what started as a cathartic release on the joys and frustrations of the small business owner has became something bigger.

I included a chart at the beginning of the article to depict our traffic patterns using WordPress statistics which show some predicable results.  When we tweet and link the articles on Facebook, traffic is double or triple what it is if we don’t do anything.  Our rise in Google rankings is also helped by our frequent updates and posts linking us to other sites.  So anyone thinking of a way to drive traffic to their blog or website needs to post frequently and share the information using Social Media techniques.  Diana’s articles also usually rank higher than mine when we measure direct links back to the posts. This may be because I tend to promote Diana’s posts more than mine or she is just more popular, either way it is an interesting phenomenon.

We intend to expand the blog over the next few months to include podcasts and video to keep it fresh and interesting.  We really appreciate everyone’s feedback and comments both good and bad, and if you want to contribute please let us know.  We are particularly interested in expanding WFTB beyond Connecticut so if anyone is interested in covering events in different States please contact us.  Thanks again everyone for a great first month and for reading what Diana and I quietly refer to as the Seinfeld of blogs (it’s about nothing and everything, but it’s always entertaining).

WFTB – Michael Lawson, Diana Bartolotta

Bet the title of this article got your attention didn’t it, well that’s the point. Sticking out in the crowd with all the information available to us today is hard. The real title of this post should be how to write a ransom note, but the serial killer title just sounded too good to pass up.  While you can’t really plan on what is going viral, you can stick out from the crowd by just being different. A good example of this is the wedding entrance dance video that even made it to an episode of the Office. I’m sure they didn’t plan on it being such a phenomenon, but it was unique and got passed around on the Internet.

 Just look at your mail box to figure out what does and doesn’t work. How many of those slick and square mailers with lots of colors do you use as Frisbee’s and throw toward the circular file. On the other hand look at those fake governmental mailers that trick you into opening them, with special seals and wording.  I am not recommending these practices but it is obvious that just a slick flyer with pretty colors doesn’t grab your attention anymore.

In my last business I signed up for Robin Robin’s Technology Marketing Toolkit and while I am not endorsing this product I must say at the time she had some good ideas.  One that caught my attention was sending out a plain typed paper, like it was done on a manual typewriter, believe it or not this stands out especially when it is about technology. A friend of mine makes sure that he buys the most colorful and varied stamps to put on an envelope with different denominations.  He also slaps them across the envelope so they stick out; this ensures that his envelope will at least be looked at. If you are still engaging in traditional marketing and it is no longer working for you try something different next time.

On the Internet you have to learn how to get noticed and draw attention to yourself.  After all this is what Web 2.0 is all about getting people interested in you or your services and seeking you out. Social Media sites such as Linkedin, FaceBook and Twitter let people learn about you and your brand at a more personal level. So don’t be afraid to take a few chances and be funny, or supply information that relates to your personal interests.  You have to be very careful about not spamming them, so creat a Facebook Page and Linkedin group and invite people to join. If you have a flair for writing then start a blog, especially if you produce a newsletter now.  Wordpress.com is a great place to start, or you could just contribute an article to WFTB or another collaborative blog. If you are handy with a camera consider doing videos and posting them on YouTube, try and keep them under 2 minutes though, but we’ll discuss more about that in a later article.

My main point here is that if you are broadcasting a message that is the same as everyone else you are not going to be able to use Web 2.0 techniques to your advantage. If you’re doing traditional marketing it has to stick out from the crowd or it  gets thrown away.  So start thinking viral and send out your first Ransom note to your prospective clients.

Sidenote: I created the Ransom Note on my Iphone here, just for some fun.  In case you can’t read it, it says “Buy my Product or Else!”.

WFTB – Michael Lawson

Me and Lisa Davenport holding the rug I won

I went, I saw and well I didn’t Crawl, but I did gingerly step around things.  This week’s TweetCrawl was held at Lisa Davenport’s Home Gallery in Glastonbury.  The Home gallery was the first TweetCrawl I’ve been to that was not in a restaurant and I must say it was fun.  My only problem was that I was afraid to put my drink down on any of the nice furniture.  Another thing that was really interesting was that I stood all night while the people new to the TweetCrawl just sat down in the comfy chairs, how’s that for conditioning.

This was the first time Diana and I went out to specifically promote this blog, and based on the results the day after I found that the TweetCrawl is a great place to get traffic to your site.  I also won the door prize again and I am beginning to wonder if my business cards are embedded with superglue.

This TweetCrawl had over 60 people registered for it, and I think most of them attended. A lot of people new to Social Media took up refuge on the couches and received some training on a laptop.  I had a lot of great conversations with people about contributing to this blog and picked up on some great people to follow.  This didn’t stop me from mingling with the group now known as the regulars, and heading out to the Diamond to continue our conversations afterward.

Suzi Craig has been working hard on these events and announced a couple of changes.  In the next month there will be an event or two every week and even a Party in a warehouse.  I emailed Suzi about this and she made a couple of points.

• December is a bad time to schedule anything so there will be nothing in December (as of now).
• A lot of people have been unable to make these events so she is scheduling them throughout the week.
• By spreading to different venues and more diverse locations more people may attend.
• Suzi also announced a fund raising campaign to help Governor Rell bring troops Home for the Holidays, which means you need to have an ambitious schedule.

Suzi also hinted at more changes to come next year, not bad for something that’s only 6 months old and was initially promoted just on Social Media sites.  While I hope to keep trying to make a lot of these, I am afraid even a person normally stuck in a basement like me won’t be able to keep up.  This is by far one of the most fun networking events in Connecticut at the moment and attracts a great bunch of people.  I also promised Suzi that I would not put my business card into the drawing for the next few weeks, so come out while you still have a chance to win something.

Some semi-irregulars and new people hanging out at TweetCrawl

Suzi’s Deep End blog can be found here.
Additional Information can be found at the TweetCrawl Group page on Facebook here.
TweetCrawl Twitter name @CTTweetCrawl.

Again we would like to thank Tim Tracey for contributing to yesterday’s blog and being our first guest blogger.  Anyone interested in contributing to Working From the Basement please just signup as a registered user and shoot a message out to @WFTB on Twitter.

pictures courtesy of the CT TweetCrawl Group on Facebook…

WFTB – Michael Lawson