Happy Tuesday!
I hope you've settled in after a great MANTS show.
I'm emailing you because you indicated that I could add you to my list. I send out a funny story with a business message about every other week or so. I also include helpful and interesting links at the bottom. Think of it as a little entertainment, a little business.
For more of a taste of what I write about, here are a few recent hits:
If you read the rest of this email and want to unsubscribe, click here. (My motto is that if it isn't a HECK YES it's a HECK NO and no hard feelings.)
Lastly, because I so enjoyed talking with you at MANTS (and as you get to know me, you'll realize that I'm not blowing smoke when I say that), I want to give you something back! My team and I would be thrilled to do a custom web review video for you. No strings. No charges. A little gift from us to you. Just email me by Friday, January 24th with your web address and we'll get one out to you over the next week.
Thank you for letting me share that with you. Below is what a "regular" email newsletter from me looks like.
Have a great week!
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"So if clubs are trump (the winning suit), then the jack of spades becomes a jack of clubs."
My friends were teaching me how to play Euchre.
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Euchre is supposed to be part of one's midwestern DNA, but somehow I never learned the game. They were kind enough to teach me and it took something like three hours before I was ready to play a closed hand. Partially because our conversations went like this.
Me: "Ok, so when do you start by laying down an ace in your hand rather than a low trump card?
Them: "That's strategy, Katie. Let's get the procedure down first."
Me: "Ok, so when do you tell the dealer to pick up?"
Them: "That's strategy, Katie. Let's get the procedure down first."
Me: "Ok, so why does Marcy like to limit the number of suits in her hand and Jeremy does not?"
What do you think they said?
There is no Strategy without Procedure
It's no secret that I've been streamlining my business procedures.
Lately I've realized that as I've added procedures:
1) Everyone got calmer. I got calmer. My team got calmer. My clients were calmer, because we all knew how things were supposed to work. We weren't guessing about who was supposed to do what, when, and what would happen if we didn't do it.
2) Procedures made us more efficient, which allowed us to grow. That's because we weren't spending as much time on routine things that happen every day, every week, or every month. We had brainpower left over to think and plan!
The thing is, when everyone knows the rules (procedure) and is used to the rules (procedure), things move faster. I am still a sloooooooooooow euchre player because the procedure of the game is not yet ingrained in my head. I have to repeat to myself, every 30 seconds, "must follow suit. Must follow suit. MUST FOLLOW SUIT." I can't even get to strategy until I have followed the procedure. Which means I have little chance of winning.
In business, it's hard to grow without procedure, because strategy is what helps you "win." (I define "winning," business-wise, as helping my clients grow by doing fulfilling work that I enjoy, and . getting paid what I would like to be paid. Your definition of winning might be different from mine.) And, repeat after me, "There is no strategy without procedure."
My business procedures are my rules, such as:
- What kind of work I want to do.
- What kind of work I always want to refer to others.
- How contracts and payment terms are set up.
- When rush fees apply.
- What I pay in referral fees when work is referred to me.
- How meetings are conducted, and the steps for scheduling, running, and processing a meeting.
- When I send bills.
- When I pay contractors.
- How financials are tracked.
- What gets billed hourly and what gets billed flat rate.
- How work moves through the system.
My business strategy revolves around using my resources wisely, such as:
- Who is the best person to be an account rep for website projects?
- When do I want to do a push for referral work?
- When do I want to "open the faucet" for a specific type of project?
- What should my email schedule be? What should my clients' email schedules be?
- What is the best timing for a client's product launch, and which resources should be allocated toward that?
- Is there anything I currently do that I want to move away from?
- Is there anything I don't do that I'd like to explore?
Luckily, in business, you usually have more information to use when implementing strategy, where as in euchre, you hope that if your partner tells you to pick up, they're holding both of the trump suit jacks.
I can see, by reading my two lists above, that it would be impossible for me to make good decisions about strategy without being clear on my procedure.
You might actually be holding a trump card — the card that lets you "win" (however you define it) and all you need to do is make some lists (define your procedures) in order to realize it.
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It gets harder when you can't see your partner's cards!
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How to play euchre
Facebook Delinter
(Is Facebook pulling and old image when you try to share a page? This tool will help.)
Monday.com
My project management system I can't live without. Trello is a close second.
HEX Color Code from an Image Tool
Never guess how to match your link colors to your branding again.
New book I just read and loved
The Happiness Lab
A new podcast I'm listening to with science-based info about how to improve your mood.
Change: everyone's doing it!
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