I wrote an article for bootstrappers.mn on getting an office space, the pain, the joy, and all that. It starts off like: Let’s make this quick! Probably not. If we haven’t had an office but we see that as a part of the next phase of development of the organization, let’s just stop and think about it before we proceed. And let’s think a second time as well. Because it’s probably a larger step than most of us think we’re about to take. This conversation goes a little like many conversations we may have had with our parents about a number of things. Are you ready? Are you mature enough?…
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Bootstrapping Public Relations
I wrote an article on getting started with public relations for small and bootstrapped companies. It’s available on the Bootstrappers.mn blog at: https://www.bootstrappers.mn/post/bootstrapping-public-relations It starts off like: Public Relations (PR) is an industry where we gain exposure to audiences using news outlets and third-party publishers. These are news publications, magazines, books, blogs, and social media. We can buy advertising in any of them, but PR is making the news and not actually paying for placement in the news. The goal is to gain free coverage by talking about items that are of interest to the public. And the best strategy is to constantly provide value. Value to writers, value to…
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Balancing A Job And A Startup
I wrote an article on balancing having a day job and a startup on the Boostrappers.mn blog. It starts off like… There are a lot of ways to bootstrap a company. In the early days of building a product, this often means that we’re working a day job to fund a startup we’re passionate in. We’re hedging our bets with the day job so we don’t burn through our savings while we’re validating or finishing a product. But we’re serving two masters now. Or more, once friends, family, and other responsibilities are taken into account. We do need to be careful though. If we choose to keep our day job…
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27 Tips for Working From Home
I spent years working from home. Then I went to an office. Then I split time. Then I worked from home. And all of those iterations were just glorious. Until they weren’t! For those forced to work from home suddenly, there are some tips in my time in those trenches that might help others. To summarize it all, be mindful and deliberate. But here goes with more specifics (and I would love to learn more so please feel free to comment and add some)! Keep normal hours. One thing that’s worked for me is to still get up at the same time (maybe minus drive time or maybe not). Falling…
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New Perspectives On The Three Horizons Model
For a long time, the McKinsey Three Horizons model has been a systematic approach to look at the strategy of innovation in larger companies. It laid out three horizons, or time lines, that innovation comes in. Many enterprises have used the model to stay competitive in emerging markets. But we do so with a lower impact today than we used to. Even though incumbents in markets continue to grow quickly. Until we stop. Defining The Three Horizons Model The model came out in 2000, the same year the dot com bubble burst. Think about this: when Baghai, Coley, and White wrote The Alchemy of Growth, it was a disruptive model.…
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Tips For Writing Good Press Releases
Press releases are a timeless, yet current public relations avenue for communicating news, events, and updates regarding your business or organization to media outlets. These brief, informative writing pieces have managed to weather the test of time, with millions being emailed to newspapers, TV outlets, and radio stations every single day. The media loves press releases. They’re like tiny bundles of news stories dropped on reporter’s laps. Given that the media cycle is in constant need of content, you should be taking advantage of press releases with every opportunity possible. Here are a few basic tips for writing a good press release: Brevity. Reporters don’t have time to comb through 2-pages…
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RIP 12-15-17: Goodbye AOL Instant Messenger
Once upon a time, practically everyone who chatted on the internets used… AOL. Even people that didn’t pay for AOL. Because in a brilliant business move, AOL made their messaging platform free. And it brought a lot of people into instant, online communication. And it was way easier (and prettier) than the predecessors. But it was mostly on computers, not mobile devices. And with constant emoji being added, features being needed, and apps required to make it work on devices, it’s time for AIM to finally be no more. Sunsetting products is never easy. Especially one as legendary as AIM. So why do it? Text messaging, Signal, Kik, WhatsApp, and…
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My Latest @Inc Article On Complacency Is Now Available
My latest @Inc article is now online at https://www.inc.com/charles-edge/complacency-is-a-curse-heres-how-to-avoid-it.html. This piece focuses on what to do when things are going really good in an organization: more work! It starts a little like this: Running a company can be really hard. But when everything lines up just right, you hit a stride. The business feels like a well-oiled machine and almost seems to run itself. This is true not just for startup entrepreneurs but also for people who lead departments in larger organizations. But of course, business is never really easy. Just when you’re riding the wave, a crash always lurks up ahead. So if you’re fortunate enough to be in…
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6 Things Every Boss Must Do to Help Employees Stay Calm Amidst Change
My latest Inc Post, 6 Things Every Boss Must Do to Help Employees Stay Calm Amidst Change, is up at https://www.inc.com/charles-edge/6-ways-to-keep-your-cool-when-change-hits-your-com.html It starts off like this: I once spent hundreds of hours creating a training program and corresponding curriculum. It turned into a lesson on how quickly things change in the technology industry — the program was out of date within two years. The experience also was frustrating in another way. We had too many rules at the company about how things were created, so changing the program was a tougher bureaucratic slog than it should have been.
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Let IT Make Your Business More Tech Savvy
My latest Inc.com piece is up and available at https://www.inc.com/charles-edge/5-ways-your-it-staff-can-make-your-business-more-tech-savvy.html. It starts a bit like this (or totally like this as the case may be): Remember Nick Burns, the “company computer guy” played by Jimmy Fallon on “Saturday Night Live”? IT people have long been fixtures in the office (though hopefully seldom as grumpy as Nick). However, their jobs have been radically changed by two trends — the cloud and consumerization. To read more…