I’m not a big fan of getting all reflective, goal-hungry, and sentimental when a new year rolls over (I prefer a more constantly-flowing kaizen approach) but this my one year-end indulgence. As Seth said, it doesn’t matter whether these things were a hit or not (though thankfully they were all successful!), just that I shipped them. Here is my list.

• Delivered two presentations at the CMS Expo in Chicago
• Launched a highly successful and innovative QR code scavenger hunt for the Massage Therapy Foundation
• Donated over $2,000 in money and services to worthy non-profits
• Won the “Supplier of the Year” STAR Award from ISAE
• Delivered presentations at national conferences from Massachusetts to California
• Concepted, organized, and marketed a successful first-ever ROWE Bootcamp
• Launched the ROWE Online Training Community
• Launched the Massage Learning Network – an e-learning community for massage therapists
• Ran a highly-successful B2B Power Team meeting for my BNI Chapter
• Completed the Thrive Progam from Reachmore
• Won three Addys at the 2011 Addy Awards
• Registered SpinWeb as an an official Authorize.Net reseller
• Became a BNI Training Ambassador and launched the BNI Central Indiana Advanced Business Training program
• Moved SpinWeb to a great new office

Most of these things were done with help from my outstanding team at SpinWeb. A huge thank you goes out to those who contributed and assisted.

I enjoyed this exercise and it helped me see 2011 with a new perspective. It also helped me see what things I wanted to ship but didn’t, which makes for a some nice goals for 2012.

What did you ship in 2011? I would love to hear via your comments below.

However, there is one email function that I wish more people used: redirect.

Redirect is an awesome function that makes communication much more efficient in certain cases. Most of the time, if someone wants to send an email on to someone else and delegate the responsibility for followup to the recipient, he or she will forward the message. Then, the recipient will have to either start a new email to the original sender (which eliminates the original message thread), or reply and then swap out the email address so that it correctly gets sent back to the original sender.

However, there is a more efficient way to do it. By using the redirect button, the email gets sent on to the new recipient while preserving the email address of the original sender. This means that it looks to the new recipient as if the email was originally sent to him or her. This also makes it very easy to reply to the original sender.

In Apple Mail (you are using a Mac, right?) instructions for using redirect can be found here . I’ve customized my Apple Mail toolbar to display the button at all times. Apparently you need a plug-in to do it in Outlook. Thunderbird also has an add-on for it.

So if you, as person B, receive an email from person A and you need to delegate it to person C to reply to person A, use the redirect button instead. It will save person C some time and effort and is a smoother hand off.

I’ve been having some interesting conversations recently with other professional services firms that bill their clients based on time. It’s interesting to me because a few years ago, SpinWeb made two very significant changes:

1. We implemented ROWE
2. We eliminated time-based billing

Yes, the two are related.

Pre-ROWE, we billed our clients based on time. We would do the old-fashioned dance of “hmmm… I would estimate this project at 70 hours” and then hope we  magically hit that target. We all knew we were simply making up numbers out of thin air and hoping it was remotely accurate. It was a huge pain. Every time we did this, at least one or more of these things would happen:

1. No matter how many times we called it an “estimate,” our clients would hear a fixed price
2. Once the invoice was sent, we would end up arguing over money (see #1)
3. Employees would forget to track time, which caused us to lose money or spend time going back to find the hours
4. We would be penalized for being efficient (less money)
5. Our clients woud be penalized if we were inefficient (over-billing)
6. We would fudge and edit time reports to avoid arguments
7. We would spend 10% of our productive time just dealing with all the minutiae of tracking time

As you can see, time-based billing is not much fun. However, it is such an accepted norm in professional services that not many people really question it. They just accept it as “the way things are done” and continue to trudge along with all the lost productivity and pain that comes with it.

However, when we implemented ROWE at SpinWeb a few years ago, an interesting thing happened. As we eliminated time as a measurement of productivity and started focusing 100% on results, we also began to extend that mindset to our services. It became more and more ridiculous to apply time to our internal results and so we began to see how we could revolutionize our billing, as well.

Soon after implementing ROWE and using the tools from that experience, we moved to a 100% value-based billing model. No more time tracking.

It has been one of the most tremendously positive changes we have ever made at SpinWeb.

No more making up numbers. No more arguing over money with clients. No more babysitting employees to remind them to track time. No more answering questions like “how much time should I bill for this?” five times a day. No more making up different prices for each project. No more scary “estimates” that leave clients fearful of over-billing. No more being penalized for being efficient.

All these issues: gone.

Clients are happier. Employees are happier. The company is more profitable. Everyone is more productive. Best of all, we have not had a single argument over money since the switch.

I cannot stress how much of a dream it has been to move to a 100% value-based billing model. If you are still billing based on time, let me assure you that it’s possible to make the switch. If we can do it as a web services firm with lots of moving parts and complexities, I’m confident that anyone can do it.

Have you moved to value-based billing? I would love to hear your experience.

So my friends all know that I work in (and own) a ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment) and they are probably sick of hearing about it. When they talk about their jobs and the 9 to 5 grind, I try my best to keep my mouth shut but it’s tough. You see, I look at work from a different perspective now.

I sometimes tell people that I look back at our pre-ROWE days at SpinWeb and it seems like the Dark Ages. They laugh when I say this but I’m dead serious. It’s almost impossible to truly describe what a ROWE is like until you experience it. I thought SpinWeb was “flexible” before but after going ROWE, it was obvious that we didn’t truly get it until we went through the training. The Indianapolis Star did a nice story on this recently.

Even if you think you’re already a ROWE, you’re probably not. Trust me.

So I’m making a lot of noise about it right now to the point that I’m sure plenty of people are sick of hearing about it (sorry)! Why am I doing this?

Imagine that you lived in a town where everyone drove broken cars. Their cars were all broken because they were running on a certain type of fuel that had been around for a while but was no longer good for the engine. The fuel was no longer meeting the needs of the modern cars but that everyone just accepted this fuel as the norm. Some cars ran better than others but in general, they all puttered along, frequently broke down, and generally weren’t all that efficient. Because of this, everyone in your town was always complaining about driving and about what a chore it was to get anywhere. Then, one day, you discovered a different, newer kind of fuel that cleaned your engine, made your car more reliable, and helped it run faster. By using this fuel, your car ended up running at speeds twice as fast as all the other cars, stayed clean and efficient, and hardly ever needed repair. Suddenly you could get from point A to point B in record time and driving even became fun! Your productivity shot through the roof and no one else could keep up.

What would you do?

Well, I’m guessing you would tell everyone around you about it. Now, imagine that you started telling everyone to go buy this new type of fuel, but instead of getting excited, you got responses like “that new kind of fuel sounds scary,” and “my car would never accept it,” and “my husband/wife wouldn’t be interested in hearing about it.”

Would you start to look around in disbelief? Would you be completely baffled at the resistance? Would you have any explanation for why your friends and neighbors were not interested in getting their broken cars to run like yours?

This is exactly how I feel about ROWE. My company has been a ROWE for about three years and I cannot even begin to explain the difference. Here are some specific things that have happened since going ROWE:

• Productivity has literally doubled (measured by number of projects completed weighed against number of people)
• Employee retention is at an all time high
• Employee satisfaction is at an all time high
• Customer service is at an all time high
• Employees are motivated to work faster and find better ways to get things done
• Process improvement is in overdrive
• Employees are able to spend more time with their families then ever before
• Employees have their lives back

These things are real. These things matter. These things are good for business.

So this is why I make so much noise about ROWE. The traditional workplace is broken. Some workplaces are more broken than others, but most are basically broken. ROWE fixes it. It’s that simple and that life-changing.

ROWE is good for both employees and bosses. It’s easy to see why employees love it but bosses are frequently terrified of it. It doesn’t have to be that way. I cannot make this point enough: ROWE is good for business. It’s proven. It works.

So this is why I am co-presenting a ROWE Bootcamp in Indianapolis on September 13th. Yes, it costs money. I understand that this may seem like a deterrent to some. We are flying in Christy Runningen who is a seasoned ROWE facilitator and HR expert. We are paying for travel expenses. We are paying for materials. We are paying for support. We are putting resources into making this a fantastic training event. It takes time, effort, and money to do this but we are passionate about bringing ROWE to others because it’s simply the right thing to do.

Many other organizations have gone ROWE and are now (like me) looking around in disbelief at the traditional workplaces around them, wondering “why is everyone still working like it’s 1950?” This is why you see such passion and zeal among people who have embraced it.

So, I hope this explains why I make so much noise about ROWE and why I want to see as many open-minded, progressive, productivity-focused small businesses/departments as possible at the ROWE Bootcamp. If you’re undecided, you may want to consider attending the upcoming informational conference call. In order to make ROWE a reality, bosses need to listen, understand, and accept the training that is available. Additionally, employees need to speak up.

So forgive me if I get a little over-zealous but I wish you could see ROWE from the other side and how it truly transforms lives and businesses. And while everyone else is busy making schedules, punching the clock, and spending half the day in meetings, we’ll all be producing results like never before.

Each hack on its own my not be much, but when you add up the time saved and the friction removed with each item, it quickly adds up. Here are my favorite productivity hacks and tools that help me get more done.

1. Use reQall to capture ideas. Anyone who has read “Getting Things Done” by David Allen (affiliate link) is familiar with the idea of ubiquitous capture. This is the idea that if you are equipped to record ideas and action items at all times, then you keep your brain clear for creative focus while at the same time ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks. I love reQall because it lets me simply speak notes into my iPhone which are then transcribed and emailed to me for later processing.

2. Use Tungle to schedule meetings. I cannot find the words to explain how much I heart Tungle. How much time is typically wasted playing phone tag or sending emails back and forth doing the “when are you free” dance? Tungle solves all that by allowing me to book meetings in 30 seconds by sending out a link that allows others to see my open times, suggest time slots, and automatically add meetings to my calendar. I think anyone who doesn’t use Tungle is stark raving mad.

3. Use TextExpander to save typing. How often do we type the same blocks of text over and over? Meeting details, locations, addresses, messages, etc. TextExpander allows me to save commonly used blocks of text into an archive and then magically pop them into data fields with a simple shortcut. For example, my email signature becomes “ssig”, my name becomes “nname”, and my Tungle link becomes “ccal”. It saves tons of time and helps me maintain my workflow without copying and pasting things. TextExpander is for Mac only but I’m sure there is some Windows alternative out there but I wouldn’t know about that.

4. Use the same GoToMeeting details for all my meetings. Not everyone knows this but you can set up a recurring meeting in GoToMeeting and simply re-use that meeting over and over. You just schedule a meeting, check the box that says “Recurring meeting” and poof! Use the same meeting details over and over. You never have to set up another meeting again. The bonus hack with this is that I have a TextExpander shortcut set up so that when I type “ggoto” it drops in the meeting URL and other details into emails or calendar invites so I can effortlessly schedule meetings and send GoToMeeting info in a matter of seconds.

5. Follow Inbox Zero. Merlin Mann made Inbox Zero popular during a talk he gave at Google. I have since adopted and tuned the system to help me process email faster and be more productive as I manage it. It takes discipline but when I follow the system, it helps me get more done.

6. Keep up with online articles using Instapaper. I subscribe to a lot of blogs and see lots of information go across my radar on a daily basis. I love this because it keeps me informed and helps me stay in a state of continuous learning. However, if I read everything in real time I would get nothing done because I would be reading blogs and articles all day. Instead, I save interesting articles to Instapaper and then catch up with them on my iPad when I have more focused reading time, such as when I’m on a plane or winding down at night. This helps me avoid missing useful educational material while not letting the input slow me down.

7. Migrate to a Kindle. I love to read but transporting a bunch books when traveling is cumbersome. Once I went Kindle, I never looked back. For those who use the common retort “but I like the feel of a real book” I say: give the Kindle a try. Trust me. It is awesome. I love being able to carry an entire book collection with me on a tiny device that gives me the ability to choose what I want to read any time and switch books with the click of a button. And it looks and reads like real paper. The Kindle is truly a revolutionary device. Oh, and don’t waste your time on the alternatives like the Nook, etc. Go Kindle. Trust me. Since moving to Kindle, I find myself finishing more books than I ever did before.

8. Use a hands-free cellphone device. Talking on the phone can take up a good portion of my day. This includes sales calls, client meeting, returning voice mails, etc. By keeping a hand-free device handy, I can turn driving time into productive meeting time. Yes, I realize that even with a hand-free device there is still an element of distraction while talking and driving so please don’t yell at me for suggesting this. Just be careful. It’s amazing how many phone calls I can get through as I drive from one destination to another with a bluetooth headset. It’s also helpful as I walk around the office or do other non-intensive tasks. I can also get a lot of laundry folded while returning phone calls! My favorite is the Plantronics Voyager Pro+. It looks dorky but has excellent sound quality.

9. Leave actionable voicemails. How often do we play phone tag with someone by leaving voice mails that say “call me” with no additional details? Sometimes you really do need to discuss something in real time, such as sensitive or emotionally-charged issues. However, much of the time we spend too much time playing phone tag unnecessarily when we could be moving action items along by leaving better voice mails. When I leave a voice mail, I usually leave very specific details that give the other person information on exactly what needs to be done. Sometimes I can leave a message that simply answers the question clearly and specifically. Other times I leave details on where the information can be found online. I will sometimes even briefly offer multiple options/answers for different scenarios. The point is, I leave details that are useful to the other person, rather than just saying “call me back.”

10. Convert “coffee meetings” to video conferences. If you do a lot of networking like I do, you probably get asked to “get together for coffee” quite a bit. While there is nothing wrong with having coffee (or in my case, a smoothie) with people, a lot of the time these are simply exploratory meetings that may or may not be a good use of your time. If I said yes to every request to get together for coffee, I would be spending all my time driving to Starbucks. So if someone asks me to have coffee as a “get to know you” meeting, I suggest that we do a short video conference (or phone call) instead. This helps keep the meeting short and more actionable. There is something about meeting at a coffee shop that seems to make meetings last longer and lack focus but a video conference or phone call tends to be a medium more conducive to a clear agenda and an actionable conversation. With so many options for video conferencing, like Skype, GoToMeeting, and Google+, there is really no excuse to avoid it. If both parties don’t have a webcam, do a phone call instead.

11. Use Highrise for a CRM. Just about all organization need a good CRM to keep track of contacts and opportunities. Highrise is the best CRM I’ve found for those needing something simple and easily accessible. The thing about Highrise that makes me productive is the fact that it removes friction from the process. I’ve used CRMs in the past that required me to log in, paste in notes, click a bunch of buttons, and generally jump though hoops to get things done. This either caused me to waste time in the application, or not use it all all, which is even worse. Highrise makes tracking communication almost effortless. I can Bcc my Highrise dropbox to record correspondance, I can set up opportunities in a couple of clicks, and I can set up tasks and reminders in seconds. Additionally, I can record voice notes using the iPhone app and append them to contacts while on the go. This saves me even more time.

12. Manage my social networks with HootSuite. I have profiles on all the major social networks and I also manage accounts for a few other organizations. HootSuite lets me manage them all in one place. It also lets me schedule certain posts using an editorial calendar which lets me focus my time and accomplish more by batching my distribution and block scheduling when I work on my social marketing.

13. Store receipts in the cloud with Shoeboxed. I used to hang on to business receipts and then toss them all into a big file cabinet periodically. Then, if I ever needed them again it would be a nightmare since I had no real filing system. It was also annoying to hang on to all that paper while traveling. Now, I simply scan business receipts using the Shoeboxed app on my iPhone, discard the paper, and all my receipts are now stored in a nice, organized, searchable database online. This saves time and effort, not to mention storage space. Shoeboxed saves me even more time when I want to create an expense report. I just select the receipts I want to include and it generates an accountant-friendly expense report in seconds.

14. Manage personal finances using Mint. I think Mint is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It’s a personal finance app that lets you bring all your accounts into one dashboard, manage budgets, and track spending with a few clicks. It eliminates the need for budget spreadsheets, recording transactions, and doing math (gasp!) to get an analysis of your finances. Mint keeps it all in one place and even has a mobile app for when you’re on the go. Mint saves me incredible amounts of time on personal finances.

15. Use OpenTable to schedule dinner appointments. Ok, so this is not always a problem but I do sometimes spend more time than I want to when I’m trying to set up a dinner appointment and I go through the routine of choosing restaurant options, calling around to see who has reservations available, and getting it booked. Rather than go though that routine, I pull up the OpenTable app on my iPhone, let it locate me and suggest restaurants near me, and then choose from available reservation times to book my dinner appointment. It all gets done in a matter of seconds. OpenTable does save a little bit of time but for me it’s more about eliminating friction from the process.

16. Keep a todo list in Backpack. Like Highrise, Backpack is a 37 Signals product and it’s slick. It’s a super-simple todo list, note taking app, and simple project storage system. I organize my todo lists by context (calls, blogs, errands, etc.) and then use the iPhone app to track items throughout the day. Backpack gives me a one-stop repository for all my todo lists and ensures that nothing falls through the cracks.

17. Shop for household supplies with Alice. I hate going to the store. For this reason, I love Alice. When I’m about to run out of an item like paper towels, deodorant, or toothpaste, I simply scan the product barcode with the Alice app on my iPhone to add it to my shopping cart. Then, once I reach a critical mass of items, I place the order with a few clicks and a big blue box containing my items appears on my doorstep a few days later. It’s like magic! I cannot even begin to add up how much time I’ve saved by eliminating shopping trips since using Alice.

These are some of the productivity hacks and tools that help me get more done in the limited time I have. Do you have any favorite techniques that work well for you? Please share below.

With a warning like that, I couldn’t resist. I had already snagged it on Kindle previously so I clicked and dove in.

This is my kind of book. It’s short, direct, irreverent, and bold. It’s kind of a kick in the pants for creative people. If that’s you, and you need a kick in the pants,  I think you’ll like it.

Here’s what I enjoyed most: it addresses the dark, nagging, lonely thoughts that we all have while fearing that we’re the only ones struggling with said thoughts. Anyone who creates things struggles with the same resistance and demons and  (or “dragons” as they are referred to by Pressfield) and this book did a phenomenal job of boiling it down to the core, raw elements and attitudes necessary to overcome them.

Did I mention that it’s short? It’s so awesomely short that you can finish it in an hour or two. Seriously, just pick it up or download it and settle down to read it when you get a break and you’ll digest it before you know it.

Read this book if you’re stuck in your project, business, art, or whatever. Then get to it.

So I gave a presentation called “Internet Marketing in 90 Minutes a Week” during the afternoon slot. Now normally, I am pretty confident in my speaking. I usually get great feedback, I spend hours and hours tweaking my content to be very high value, and I genuinely love connecting with the audience.

However, at Blog Indiana I did not have an outstanding experience. It started off with some technical glitches that involved me having to use a handheld microphone instead of a lapel mic (I hate handheld mics!) so that sort of bummed me out. However, the real problem was how I was targeting my presentation. Because my title was catchy, I filled the room and they had to open up the side wall in order to accomodate everyone who attended. This was awesome and as a speaker I love to see this. However, as I was giving my presentation, I started to realize that I had made a mistake.

My presentation was not about Internet marketing, it was about content marketing – which is much more specific. In my effort to create a catchy, demand-creating title, I had boxed myself into a corner of having to deliver something sensational to a crowd that included some pretty savvy marketers. To be fair, their were some beginners in the crowd, as well, who learned a lot but a lot of the attendees were already doing a many of things I was covering and were probably not all that impressed.

As I continued the presentation, I got more and more upset with myself for getting the title out of sync with the content and I felt terrible for incorrectly setting expectations. My presentation was a great overview of how to be productive with a content marketing plan but I could tell that a lot of the attendees were there to be wowed by my supposed ability to boil all of Internet marketing down to 90 minutes.

The presentation went ok and didn’t bomb or anything and I even got some decent feedback afterward, but since I’m a perfectionist I was pretty bummed. I beat myself up over it and got really upset.

I was even more upset because I was giving the same presentation the next day as a webinar. How could I repeat the same mistake? Then I realized that I didn’t have to. Two hours before the webinar, I changed the title, tweaked a few slides to get even more specific, and then presented “Content Marketing in 90 Minutes a Week.” Guess what? It went great. I could tell that my message was flowing logically, my content was accurate and relevant, and I got a ton of great questions and lots of positive feedback afterward.

What did I learn? Well, one thing I learned was that I need to be careful when creating presentation titles. I tend to come up with titles first and then create the presentation afterward which can sometimes backfire. More importantly, however, I learned that it’s ok to fail and then course correct. Not every presentation is going to be a 100% knockout. Sometimes I will make a mistake and deliver 73%. As long as I understand what went wrong and can course correct, it makes me a better speaker.

Was it a little awkward to change my title two hours before the presentation? Sure, a little. But all I had to do was explain very honestly why I did it at the beginning of the presentation and then it was on to delivery. It wasn’t awkward because I believed in my message again.

Has anyone else had experiences like this as a speaker? I would love to hear your stories in the comments below.

While there are plenty of enterprise solutions for surveying employees and constituents (such as solutions provided by Chris Woolard at Walker in Indianapolis), what if your needs are more modest and you want to do some quick and dirty data collection? For this task, I absolutely love LinkedIn Polls.

With a LinkedIn poll, you can set up a single question, create multiple choice answers, and then collect responses along with detailed demographic information. LinkedIn Polls is dead easy, powerful, and social. Not only can you easily create polls, but you can easily post them to networks, contacts, and groups. LinkedIn also makes it easy to share your poll on other social networks or even embed it on your website.

If you are a presenter, like me, you can use LinkedIn Polls to gather data to use in your presentations. If you are a marketing director, you can use polls to support your decisions and initiatives when reviewing strategies with your team. If you are a non-profit exec, you can use polls to satisfy boards of directors who are looking for data to support decisions.

I created a simple poll for one of my upcoming presentations on personal branding. If you view this social media profile photo poll, you’ll see that it displays all sorts of interesting information on the people who responded, like:

• Age
• Gender
• Seniority

It also allows you to filter by specific responses to see which groups favored which responses.

Is the LinkedIn Polls app an enterprise-level survey tool? No. However, for simple needs it can be a powerful and inexpensive way to gather data.

Additionally, the more groups you join and the more connections you make, the more higher your chances are for getting a critical mass of data to use in your reporting. That’s yet another reason to work on building a strong LinkedIn profile.

Hangouts allow up to 10 people to conduct a video conference at no charge as long as they have high-speed Internet and good quality microphones and webcams. I included a demo of hangouts in my post on video conferencing options.

I think this could be very useful to association boards that are often made up of individuals who are in different geographic locations. Additionally, volunteer boards are often short on funds which can limit the number of face to face meetings they can have. This means that conference calls are often used to communicate between meetings but lots of people on a conference call can sometimes get unwieldy.

Video conferencing can make meetings more personal and can help the conversation flow a bit more naturally than it does on a conference call with audio only. Google+ hangouts work remarkably well and have the added benefit of using VoIP, which eliminates the need for toll-free call-in numbers or burning cell phone minutes.

I serve on more than one association board and I’ve suggested to one that we try video conferencing next time. I would love to hear if any other boards are using video conferencing either with Google+ or other systems. If you are moving to video conferencing, please share your experience below!

The key to turning ideas into reality is execution. 99% of the people I talk to (made-up statistic) may have a great idea but they seem to struggle with actually executing it. Much of the time I’m in that group, as well. I can point to all sorts of ideas that sounded reasonable at the time but for one reason or another never turned into a business or a product.

However, the good news for me is that I do end up executing a lot of my ideas and I seem to be getting better at it as time goes on. One technique that I have adopted to help me decide when and how to execute is the one-page creative brief.

The one-page creative brief is sort of a “sniff test” for me so that I can decide if my idea has merit and if I’m ready to start making it happen. So much of the time, I think we (myself included) get bogged down in the minutia of details and “what-ifs” that we end up analyzing an idea to death before we even take any action. So now I filter my ideas through the one-page creative brief process. It’s pretty simple. I take my idea and I turn it into a single page document with bold headers like “title,” “description,” “problem solved,” “customer,” etc. and fill in all the basic information that would explain it to an investor, a partner, an employee, or my mom. The sections you use will depend on the idea so there is no one-size-fits-all. I am very strict about keeping it to one page. If it bleeds into two pages then I’m already on the slippery slope of creating a business plan and that’s a great way to get sucked into a lot of analysis with no action. If I can’t distill my idea clearly into a one page document then I figure my idea is either not far enough along to execute or I don’t have enough passion behind it to explain properly.

Generating a one-page creative brief also gives me something to hand to partners that I might want to collaborate with and gives everyone a starting point to quickly digest the idea. It also keeps me on track because I can continue to refer to it if I feel like I’m over-analyzing something.

If you find that you have lot of good ideas but have trouble executing them, try using a one-page creative brief to distill your idea into something more real. I’ve found it to be incredibly helpful and has led to a lot less fluff and a lot more action.