Light, Motion and Magic

Happy Birthday to me! I began this Light, Motion and Magic blog a year ago - and what a great year it has been! Today I’d like to write a little about what I’ve learned from the blogging experience - and since this blog is all about being a woman entrepreneur starting my business - I’ll outline where my business efforts are right now.

This blogging experience has been terrific. There have been both outward and inward benefits to this blog. I started it because I realized that there is an online community that I would need to understand, reach out to and be a part of if I were ever going to make a success of my online business. That online community is every bit as robust as I thought it would be, and more. The other blogs and bloggers that I’ve followed, those I’ve communicated with in forums, and the additional Twitter community that I engage with has simply become a part of my life now. Yes, it takes up time, but it’s well, well worth it. I have a genuine fondness and respect for the friends I’ve made online, and the times I’ve reached out, I’ve rarely been disappointed.

On an internal level, I can’t overstate how important it has been, as I’ve gone through this business start-up process, to take the time to concentrate my thoughts and experiences as I’ve gone along. Yes, it’s been hard to think of exactly what to write about sometimes, but the effort has always been rewarding, and has often crystallized my thinking, or spurred me to more needed research.

I am very, very glad that I took the leap to try this online format, and I look forward to another year with you!

My latest test of patience in getting Miri Market off the ground is finally drawing to an end. Johannes will be done with the design enhancements soon, which I am very excited to see. After that, I look forward to getting reactions to the concept from people through online surveys and face-to-face research.

The economic conditions in which we find ourselves is going to affect my business decisions, without a doubt. It’s tough enough to get a business off the ground, even without the tremors of a looming economic crisis shaking that very ground. I will continue to move forward very cautiously. Admittedly, getting Miri Market going has been s-l-o-w-w-w-w, but I’ve always believed that the process will unfold as it should, in due time. Perhaps the delays have been a good thing, and I should be grateful that the nervousness of watching the economy this week was not compounded by having a container of new product to launch and sell! These are uncertain times, for sure, highlighting the need to minimize risk and do my research to make sure this is a product that will be well-received.

Thus, I start out on Year Two of this blog. As I proceed with my business plans through the months ahead I will continue to write about my experiences and bring to you my honest observations and insights. I thank all my readers, and I hope you’ll keep stopping by to take this journey with me.

Tags:blog, Blogging, business decisions, economy, Light Motion and Magic, Miri Market, online community

I was honored to be asked by Matt over at the Hill Library Blog to be interviewed by a guest blogger writing an article for them about online networking. I happily agreed!

I was contacted and interviewed by Michael Benidt at HiddenBusinessTreasures.com. We had a great conversation. He offered some solid tips on online networking, and I shared with him some of my experiences. The result is the article Your Blog Can Beat LinkedIn At The Networking Game.

The gist of the article is that maintaining a blog makes you a part of the online community, and gives you a legitimate reason for contacting anyone else with an online presence. Like networking at an in-person event, you just have to reach out and make the contact. And most of the time, Michael Benidt says, people are happy to respond! Although it’s very difficult to build a dedicated readership for your blog, it’s much more effective to concentrate on building your network through your blog.

Michael relayed one of my networking experiences this way:

Want another way to use your blog to make an initial contact with a big wig in your industry or topic area?

Anne Florenzano writes the blog Light, Motion and Magic. While starting her business she’s simultaneously tracing and documenting her own experiences as a way to help other women entrepreneurs benefit from her experiences.

Anne also happens to live in the Twin Cities, so she hangs out at the physical James J. Hill Library (yes, there is one) in St. Paul. Which just means that she’s pretty adept at finding people’s contact information.

One of the craftiest ways that Anne found to network using her blog was her To-Do List for Starting a Company. She read four top-notch entrepreneurial books and then collated the information from all four of them into an incredibly useful checklist.

You can probably guess what Anne did next. She contacted all four authors to let them know about her To-Do List and to ask permission to use the material. All four wrote back to her – including Guy Kawasaki and David Meerman Scott.

Now, I don’t know about you – but I haven’t written to Kawasaki or Meerman Scott lately. Anne has. And certainly, her contact with these famous authors is “brought to you in part” by her blog.

I left a comment on the article clarifying one point:

Thanks so much for mentioning me in this article! I must correct you on one small point, however. Contacting the four authors before posting my To-Do List For Starting A Company was not a “crafty” strategy. I contacted them with the honest intent of being totally transparent and to get permission to use their ideas from their books in my own way. I had no ulterior networking ambitions. Perhaps that is why they all did respond to me, and very kindly - because I was clearly being honest and straightforward. That being said, I agree very much that all the people we see online in blogs and forums - the well-known and the obscure - are just an email away. We just have to reach out to them.

I do think that Michael Benidt is on to something here. It’s true with online networking as it is in everything in life: we can’t just “sign up and sit back.” We’ll get poor results by waiting for something to happen or someone to come to us. We’ll get much better networking results by actively reaching out. I personally believe you need to have a very real and transparent reason for contacting people, but if you really do have a legitimate purpose, don’t hesitate. Networking is what this “blog” thing is all about, anyway!

Tags:Blogging, blogging community, HiddenBusinessTreasures.com, Hill Library Blog, Michael Benidt, networking, To-Do List for Starting a Company, Your Blog Can Beat LinkedIn At The Networking Game

Dane Carlson’s Business Opportunities Weblog summarizes a comprehensive list of blog headlines to use, put together by Copyblogger, 10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work:

1. Who Else Wants [blank]?
2. The Secret of [blank]
3. Here is a Method That is Helping [blank] to [blank]
4. Little Known Ways to [blank]
5. Get Rid of [problem] Once and For All
6. Here’s a Quick Way to [solve a problem]
7. Now You Can Have [something desirable] [great circumstance]
8. [Do something] like [world-class example]
9. Have a [or] Build a [blank] You Can Be Proud Of
10. What Everybody Ought to Know About [blank]

Now, did you know that headlines is a topic worthy of controversy? It is! Read this rant from 2007 Who else wants to rehash trite, formulaic headlines? I guess Copyblogger has been coming up with these headlines for some time.

I must confess that I don’t believe in reinventing the wheel every time I write. And these are serviceable headlines. But they sound so generic, unfortunately like too many generic posts I read.

I’ve got an idea! How about using these headlines more creatively, giving your title a little more zing…like:

Who else wants the secret of the method that is helping little known ways to get rid of [pesky bloggers] once and for all?

Or do you like this one?

Here’s a quick way to have, do and build a [mousetrap] you can be proud of that everybody ought to know about!

Just having some headline fun, folks.

Tags:10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work, Add new tag, Business Opportunities Weblog, Copyblogger, generic headlines, Headline fun

I hope you’re enjoying the new look of “Light, Motion and Magic!” I’d like to point out a few features.

For those of you who do not want to subscribe to a “feed,” you can now sign up to get my blog posts by email. In other words, every time I publish a post to this blog, it will automatically be sent to you in the form of an email. You simply sign up by typing in your email address in the space provided above and center, and click on the subscribe button. You will then go to a short form that requires you to type in the letters shown in a box - to verify that you are a human and not an automated spam program! Finally you will have to reply to a confirmation email sent to your email address, to make sure that the blog will go to the right address.

It’s an easy way for you to stay up on my adventures as a woman entrepreneur, and of course you can still come to this actual site any time!

As you can see, I now have a space on the right to feature my company, Miri Market. Click on the Miri Market logo and it will take you to my temporary Miri Market webiste. Don’t forget that you can sign up there to get my future “company” emails as well.

And finally, since my photo is above in the “About the author” section, I will no longer be putting my picture in every post. I will still use my photos and other images from time to time. I still have some work to do to fill out my blogroll and clean up the formatting with some old posts, but what you see is basically what you’ll be getting!

I hope you find this new design pleasing and easy to use. Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions.

MANY, MANY thanks to Eric Florenzano for handling the migration to this new Wordpress design, and for all his unflagging technical advice and help. (I couldn’t do it without you, sweetie pie.)

Tags:Add new tag, blog, Miri Market, Woman entrepreneur

I will be migrating this Light, Motion and Magic blog soon - hopefully this weekend - from the Movable Type blogging platform to Wordpress.

Why? Movable Type has been OK, but my son, Eric, who is my technical advisor, has had some problems with comment management on Movable Type, and generally feels Wordpress will work better for me in the future. Also, I’ve been ready for some time for a new, more professional look to my blog.

I will also be changing my hosting service to BlueHost. My son Kevin
has been happy with them. Do any of you have experience with BlueHost that you can share with me?

It took me hours and hours and HOURS looking through Wordpress templates until I found the one that satisfies my requirements. Now that I’ve found it, I’m excited!

I ask for your forgiveness in advance for any glitches that may occur during the transition.

Tags:BlueHost, Light Motion and Magic, Movable Type, Wordpress

Today’s post is a question, actually. First brought up (I think) by Kate at Neato Keen.

IS THERE A SITE TO FIND OUT ABOUT SPECIAL BLOG-WIDE POSTING CHALLENGES?

Like the day we were all challenged to post about what we could do for the environment, or like NaBloPoMo, the widely accepted “National Blog Posting Month” when bloggers are challenged to blog every day in November…

Who starts them? Is it different bloggers? Does one site propose a challenge and it goes viral and the whole blogging community seems to know about it? Is there a supreme blogging guru who issues, and every blog writes?

Would someone please tell me?

Tags:blog-wide posting challenge, Blogging, blogging community, Neato Keen

Part of the long-term process of starting my company is starting this blog. To participate in the online network of connections and community is an indispensable part of doing business these days. And besides that - I enjoy it!

I’ve been spending a lot of time on the social and blogging networks Facebook, Entrecard and Work It! Mom over the last week. Learning the ropes, making connections and visiting other sites is very time-consuming but well worth the effort. I wanted to write about it today when I ran across this post from Dazzlin Donna called Friendship Pockets Form Via Social Networks.

“Facebook, StumbleUpon, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, Mixx…need I go on?
There are too many social networks to even begin to list them all these
days, and keeping up with them can be a chore. But the advantages of
networking and connecting with others via these sites far outweighs the
hassles. You just have to find the few that you like best and
concentrate on spending time there, rather than dividing your time up
between too many places.”

Considering the time it takes to participate, she’s absolutely right about having to pick judiciously. Donna goes on to talk about the familiar names that one begins to run across - those that participate in several of the same circles. They begin to form what she calls “Friendship Pockets”.

“So who cares about these friendship pockets anyway? Well, I
think they do matter, because the pockets represent your strongest
networks. Those people who befriend you in several overlapping
networks are generally the ones who you can depend upon the most. These
are the ones you can rely on to help you share your sites with others,
the ones who will come to your aid when needed, and the ones who will
reciprocate when you help them out.

If you don’t already know these friends well, make an effort to get
to know them better. You obviously all share some common traits, and
together you can grow each others’ businesses faster than you can
alone. The tighter your friendship pockets become, the more strength they collectively have. Take a little time to develop these pockets further and your site will only benefit.“

You took the words right out of my mouth, Donna. Thanks for the great post!

Tags:Blogging, blogging communicty, business, Dazzlin Donna, Entrecard, Facebook, Friendship Pockets Form Via Social Networks, social networks, Work it! Mom

I will be taking a holiday hiatus from blogging until Monday January 7. During that time I will not only be spending time with family and friends, I’ll be doing some more business reading and research. I will be learning more about product development and manufacturing for my company, and delving more deeply into how to finance this enterprise of mine.

I also intend to study more about blogging and apply some new blogging strategies. Drew McLellan’s Marketing Minute has a great New Blogger’s Toolbox that I want to explore.
I also want to look at Bootstrapper’s Carnival of Business and Entrepreneurship #3.  I still have a lot to learn from Darren Rouse’s ProBlogger, and I want to know more about mindmapping for blog ideas.

I’ve started reading Marketing to Women by Marti Barletta and I’m finding it to be a treasure-trove of information about women consumers; I’m anxious to finish it. I have a long list of additional business books I want to read. With all this new information I hope to start 2008 as a better and more informed entrepreneur and blogger!

Whatever your religion or culture, I hope that you can lighten these dark days of the year with friends and family and good cheer. I send you my fondest greetings from here in cold Minnesota, and look forward to connecting with you again in January!

Tags:Bootstrapper, business reading, business research, Carnival of Business and Entrepreneurship #3, Drew McLellan, holiday, Marketing Minute, Marketing to Women, Marti Barletta, New Blogger's Toolbox

Since starting my blog, I’ve really enjoyed becoming active on the site Work it, Mom! I’ve had some articles published there and I participate in some groups and forums. I’ve also formed my own Work it, Mom! network of friends. Several of them have blogs. I subscribe to their RSS feeds, and read the blogs regularly.

This week I was particularly impressed with two Work it, Mom! buddies’ blogs. Especially notable was Nataly’s post in her blog Learning Optimism titled Having your own business means being scared every single day. Nataly is a co-founder & CEO of the Work It, Mom! site. Speaking about this first stint as a full-time entrepreneur she says:

What I’ve learned from my six-month stint as a full-time, no security
blanket entrepreneur is that mostly, it’s freakin’ scary. Yes, I said
scary. It IS exciting, and wonderful, and amazing, and gutsy, and
interesting, and fulfilling, and many other adjectives, but every
single day, it’s scary. And it’s the kind of scary that I’ve not
experienced before-a deeply ingrained, constant state of scary vs.
something that just comes and goes.

It’s enough to make me pause, and wonder if I should jump into this “owning my own business” game.
Nataly lists what she is scared of:

• I am scared of failure. I am really really scared of failure. Work It, Mom! is something I’ve created and I’ve gone out into the world saying “Hey, world! We need a community for working moms called Work It, Mom! and I am going to create it and make it into a real business.” The odds of success are tiny, the fear of failure is huge.

• I am scared of what my friends, family, and professional colleagues/contacts will think of me if I can’t pull this off.
  I wish more people talked about this openly. No, I am not doing this
  for anyone else, but to say that I don’t care what anyone else thinks
  is dishonest. We all care, opinions matter. I don’t want to let anyone
  down.

• I am scared of how working 15 hours a day will affect my family, my relationship with my husband, my daughter’s view of her mom. I’ve tried my best to make sure that I make time for them, but it’s a constant challenge.

• I am scared of the financial impact that potential failure can have on my family. I am the main breadwinner (currently on sabbatical in that capacity:), and it’s my responsibility.

And here’s one more, which you are hearing here first:

• I am scared of finding out that I’m not cut out for this.
  During the past 10 years of my professional life I always thought that
  what I really wanted to do was start my own company. I did things on
  the side-like this one-but Work It, Mom!
  is my first full-time entrepreneurial venture. It’s been tougher and
  crazier and riskier and more challenging than I imagined or ever
  experienced before. And I am scared of ever finding out that maybe
  running my own company isn’t something I can do. This one is the
  scariest of all.

I found this to be an incredibly honest and rich post about her experience. She’s obviously an intelligent and capable woman who is sometimes brought to her knees by the difficulties of being an entrepreneur. I have also hesitated to try starting my blog and my own business for many of the same reasons Nataly mentioned: fear of failure, fear of what people will think if I fail. Now I know, from the way I feel about Nataly, that many people WON’T think less of me for having tried these new ventures. I feel incredibly supportive and cheered by her efforts, and I can only hope others will feel that way towards me, whether I succeed or fail.

Now, it’s not all seriousness with my WIM friends. On the lighter side, check out Kate’s blog post on Neato Keen where she has discovered The Happy Manager site. Read the blog - check out the site - and by all means read all the comments too! It put a happy smile on my face, for sure!

Tags:entrepreneur, fear of failure, Having your own business means being scared every singl, Learning Optimism, Mom, Neato Keen, The Happy Manager, Work it

It’s Thanksgiving week, and I have a lot to be thankful for.

Thanks to some kind readers who let me know that the comment function on my blog was not working.

Thanks to my son, Eric, who was able to fix the problem. He also noticed that all the images were gone from my whole blog site; I’d accidentally erased them. They’re back on now.

Thanks to Gretchen, who sent me some of her favorite sites via email because she could not leave a comment:
http://www.mpdailyfix.com/
http://www.designobserver.com/
http://www.superherodesigns.com/journal/

Also Thanks to Angela who posted this to me, in lieu of being able to leave a comment, on the Boomers Back in Business forum at Startup Nation

“I read a large number of business blogs and here are some of my favorites:
Internet Marketing Sweetie
Pro Blogger
Copy Blogger
eMoms at Home
Entrepreneur’s Journey
Seth Godin’s Blog

Hey, you might want to also check out my ‘Ethical Blogger Award’ that
I’ve given to a handful of bloggers who I feel are very ethical in
business and blogging:
http://internetprofitplanning.com/blog/ethics-in-blogging-and-marketing-ethical-blogger-award/ “

Gretchen and Angela, consider yourselves having left comments! Your names will be eligible for my drawing.

If you’re reading this blog I hope you will take the time to check these others listed above. You might find them useful, too. And if YOU read a blog that helps you as an entrepreneur, leave a comment with it listed, plus the reason why you like it,
and you will be eligible for a prize drawing. I will be drawing 2
names, each to win a handy CHICO BAG, “The reusable shopping bag that fits in a pocket or purse!” from those who comment between now and Thanksgiving. Prizewinners will be announced on Friday, Nov. 23rd.

Tags:Angela Wills, Boomers Back in Business, Contest, Copy Blogger, Design Observer, eMoms at Home, Entrepreneur's Journey, Ethical Blogger Award, Internet Marketing Sweetie, Marketing Profs Daily Fix, Pro Blogger, Seth Godin's Blog, Startup Nation, Super Hero Designs, Thanksgiving