No. Dangerously wrong.

Weber Shandwick recently released a new report called The Company Behind The Brand: In Reputation We Trust [PDF] that breaks down exactly why business owners should be concerned with the online footprint they’re leaving (or not leaving) behind. One of the most interesting parts of the report for me was the finding that any disconnect between corporate and brand reputation triggers a sharp consumer reaction. That means even if your product or service is excellent…if the image of your brand is less than stellar, it will still hurt you.

According to the report, when a consumer learns that a product they like is made by a company they have a negative relationship with (54 percent of consumers responded they’ve experienced this), 96 percent of consumers took some kind of action.

What kind of action?

The most frequent response was that consumers stopped purchasing the product (40 percent). In fact, surprised consumers were twice as likely to STOP buying the product as they were to continue to buy it. And this is a product they originally admitted to liking! That was pretty startling to me. Just as noteworthy – consumers who didn’t immediately stop buying the product went online to try and learn more about the company.

Both of these statements speak to the importance of creating a positive Web presence.

1. Consumers are using social word of mouth, online reviews, and other online content to form a judgment about your company. The judgment they form is then strongly tied to whether or not they decide to purchase your product.
2. When consumers are conflicted, they go to the Internet to answer the “should I trust you” question. They’re then using the information they find about your brand to help them make that decision.

It doesn’t matter if you’re not trying to target a national audience. Local consumers are using the Web to find information about local businesses. It’s up to you to make sure they’re finding the right kind of information.

What should every small business be doing to help build their Web presence?

1. Create a Web site: Your brand Facebook profile or Google+ business page is great. But your business still needs a Web site. Some place where you can talk about your product/services, establish credibility, introduce your team, offer resources, and be found for hyper-local keywords.
2. Blog: There are few better ways to build industry authority than with an active blog. Producing content on a regular basis also ensures there’s always something you can promote and be found for.
3. Get involved in social media: Maybe that means getting active on Twitter or Facebook. Or maybe it means developing a presence on a Q&A site like Quora or participating in a small business networking site like BizSugar. Either way, find out where your audience is engaging online, and set up a satellite community there. Talk to your audience and let them get to know you on a more human level. Just don’t get too human.
4. Get involved in your community: Whether it’s sponsoring your town’s little league team, speaking at local events, or putting together an industry-related group at the local high school, by getting involved in the community that you live in you help to build a positive reputation offline, which can then carry online when people write about your efforts, link to sponsors, etc.
5. Guest blog on relevant sites: Guest blogging is a great way to build goodwill, establish industry credibility, and introduce your company to people in other networks.
6. Solicit & manage online reviews: This is a biggie and it’s only becoming more important. We’re going to sites like Yelp, Google Place Pages, TripAdvisor, etc, to learn how the experiences others had with your brand. Make sure you’re not only doing what you can to encourage customers to leave reviews, but positively responding to any negative or neutral comments that may be there. You not only help save that relationship, but you show everyone else who may find that review in the search results that you’re listening, you care, and that you hear them.

Online reputation management is important for businesses of any size. It’s about creating a positive Web presence to make your brand one that people trust and want to engage with. Because, as the report mentioned above shows, it doesn’t matter how great your product is – if people don’t trust you, they won’t be interested in it.

From Small Business Trends

Why Online Reputation Matters to Small Business

View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends

Why Online Reputation Matters to Small Business is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

Every business is driven by an initial idea. Even as you protect the practical parts of the business, do things to protect the dreamer in you:

• the one who believes you can make money and do something that matters at the same time;
• the one who believes you can create something that doesn’t exist;
• the one who believes you can solve problems that others ignore.

As you grow your business, be sure to give that part of you a chance to grow too. In “5 Tips Today’s Entrepreneurs Can Learn From J.K. Rowling,” Susan L. Reid says:

“Focus on the unique something you have to offer to the world. The rest will surely come, in ways you may not even be able to imagine.”

Business is driven by service. 

We build businesses around taking care of people but it’s easy to get caught up in the list of what has to be done and forget that business really is about the people who want and use what you have. It’s all about taking care of them.

In “What Do Today’s Fast Food Junkies Like?” Joel Libava refers to a study by Market Force that tries “to find out why customers chose one fast food restaurant over another.” It turns out that friendliness and customer service matters more than you may think.

To me, service is a key way to differentiate your business. Take care of the customers and take the service to another level.

Leadership is driven by service. 

John Mariotti, in “What Makes an Effective Leader?,” says:

“Effective leaders have to be ‘servant leaders.’ They have to be coaches and cheerleaders and collaborative problem solvers…Only when a tough decision must be made should the boss/leader step up and say, “OK, here’s what we need to do.”

Taking a service position allows you to step back and see your team. It gives you the space to create an environment where they can be heard. You need to know what they know, and the only way you can do that is by listening.

Idea Photo via Shutterstock

From Small Business Trends

Service Matters, Leadership Matters and Ideas Matter

View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends

Service Matters, Leadership Matters and Ideas Matter is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

But as Mike Gorsage says in Scaling Your Business with Technology, to get the right technology you must be sure to  “ask the right questions.” The right questions can make the difference between a business-elevating purchase and financial waste.

Below are a few questions to consider when you make your next technology buy.

COST: What is the immediate and long term cost?

MONTHLY FEES: A $10 a month item/service makes it easy to purchase that tool and start using it, but at the end of the year that was $120.00.  Is the low monthly fee and easy access worth the long term expense? Would a solid desktop tool and a remote backup be a better option?

FREE?: Can free tools grow with you? If they cannot, they may cost you more in a business crisis. Free tools can often mean no support. When you need more extensive solutions and live customer service, is there a paid option that you can grow into? I like Google email, but I love customer service. I use their business email options because now I can pay to upgrade to a plan with support (if I need to).

CUSTOMER SUPPORT:  How good are they when I have a problem?

Of course we prefer reliable tools that never “break.” In reality humans run this world and there is bound to be a forgotten scenario or an unavoidable situation at some point. In those situations we need help. Customer support matters.  The sales department is often extremely helpful prior to a purchase, but long term support is the key.  Yes, you are the favorite client before you’re a client, but you want to be special after pay.

CAPABLE SECURITY – What is the standard for security?

You no more want someone breaking into your website or network, than you want them breaking into your physical premises.  Look for a provider that is relentless about security improvement, especially when purchasing cloud computing. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

CHANGE – How much do I have to change my business flow in order to use this technology?

Sometimes as small business owners we’ll get excited about a new technology tool and the relief it could bring. But before we can successfully implement this relieve, we still have more questions:

• What is the learning curve to implement this change?
• Who on your team will spearhead this change?
• What is the expected integration date into the regular flow of your business?
• How long before the switch to the new technology is completed?
• Is the effort to change worth it?
• Given the circumstances (cost, need, support, team), is this the right tool for you?

Answer the right questions up front. Save time and money on the back end. Questions sparked our businesses—like what can you do? Who can you do it for? And quality questions help us improve our business.

Want to know what other small businesses think about technology?

SmallBizTechnology is exploring this topic as we speak, taking a survey.  Weigh in with what you consider important.  Take the technology buying survey now.

From Small Business Trends

Shopping for Small Business Technology: What Matters Most?

View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends

Shopping for Small Business Technology: What Matters Most? is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

View full post on Business Pundit

Font Matters More Than You May Think is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

In the past few years, so much emphasis and shifting has gone to the Web/online world because that is where the growth and movement trends are. In-person networking has taken a hit, as evidenced with declining enrollment in chambers of commerce, fee-based networking events and professional organizations. It’s not that people don’t want to go; it’s simply a matter of finances . . . or is it? Are we substituting an e-mail, tweet, post or text for live, in-person activities. thinking that is going to grow relationships?

We can never forget how important and powerful people getting together for face-to-face interaction can be. Nor can we allow sending e-mails or texts to replace that interaction. Blending your online and offline activities is important because today, people are communicating and engaging equally in both places. The online and offline worlds are interdependent and interrelated.

If I meet you online and strike up an online relationship that has value and interest to me, then taking it offline is going to enhance that relationship and help it progress. If we meet in person, then staying connected online is going to enhance our relationship and help it progress until we meet in person again.

Why is face-to-face networking so important?

• The power of personally connecting and human interaction accelerates relationship building. In 10 minutes I can learn more about someone, and they about me, in person than in six months online!
• Finding common ground comes from having a conversation or discussion on the phone or in person. The energy that passes between people finding out that they have a hobby, favorite book, peer or life experience in common can be profound.
• Making decisions on what the next step is and putting the plan in motion can happen in one minute on the phone or in person, as opposed to multiple e-mails.

I just moved back to my hometown of Ft. Lauderdale after a four-year career detour on the southwest coast of Florida. Although I have many roots from many years and careers, I am reconnecting with the market four years later and in a different professional capacity. I have decided to tap into my network and ask to be connected to like-minded people they know. I will reciprocate and network them with people I know to do the same for them. Finding out what events, groups and activities people go to is a much better way to find connections.

If you haven’t been out and about enough, set some goals this year to reconnect in person in your community, business world or hobbies. Go where you already have commonality and know people. It’s a much easier and faster way to get connected, get personal and make some new friends and connections–and you just might get that job, interview or new customer.

How are you choosing your networking events?

From Small Business Trends

Why Networking in Person Still Matters

View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends

Why Networking in Person Still Matters is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

It might be a garage or a sunlit atrium, but the place you choose to do what you do has an impact on you.

More people get engaged in Paris in the springtime than on the 7 train in Queens. They just do. Something in the air, I guess.

Pay attention to where you have your brainstorming meetings. Don’t have them in the same conference room where you chew people out over missed quarterly earnings.

Pay attention to the noise and the smell and the crowd in the place where you’re trying to overcome being stuck. And as Paco Underhill has written, make the aisles of your store wide enough that shoppers can browse without getting their butts brushed by other shoppers.

Most of all, I think we can train ourselves to associate certain places with certain outcomes. There’s a reason they built those cathedrals. Pick your place, on purpose.

View full post on Seth’s Blog

The space matters is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

This year has been one of the hardest of my life. Scratch that. It’s been the hardest.

I won’t go into details, but suffice to say …. the tough times have helped me appreciate the people who love me (and vice versa) and the things that matter most to me.

(Although some may disagree that I enjoy being a private person, I am. But I have to say … Twitter and blogging through posts like this are great therapy for me.)

Throughout this year, I’ve gotten some excellent advice from the friends and family I cherish. I’ve hung onto their counsel and words of wisdom.

One of the best pieces of advice I got this year was from my friend, Lisa Sabin-Wilson.

She said simply:

“Ignore the noise.”

In my weakness, I have often added: “Stupid people don’t matter anyway.”

(I hope you laughed, as I did.)

But kidding aside, I’ve tried hard to do just that:

Ignore everything and everyone that doesn’t matter and that which just adds noise, frustration, anger and other negative things to my life … and focus on who and what really does matter to me.

So with that …. here’s the GOLD I treasure in my life (aka what matters to me) … most everything outside of this is just loud static noise:

MY FAMILY

This year, I have leaned more on my family than I ever have in my life. To my family, I have always wanted to be and have been “the rock.”

This year, they were my rock.

Having to rely on anyone but myself has been the ultimate humbling experience of my life (and prideful self). With my face on the ground and my life in shambles, I was forced to rely on them.

My father and mother have, at times, carried me. Consistently, they reaffirmed my value in their lives and to the world.

They simply walked with me, and said gently when I was at my worst, “I love you.”

Through my personal struggles, in the last 6 months I have grown closer to my father than the other 33-ish years of my life combined.

At the lowest point in my life, he gave me the biggest compliment of my life in a text message …. one I have treasured. He said:

“I want you to know I’m proud of the man you’ve become, and the son you’ve been. I will always be there if you need me.”

I said back to him … that I could win every award in life, I could make more money than I ever needed, I could be admired by most. But nothing was more confirming or worth more than having your father, the man you respect most, say that.

I would take that over anything else, any day of the week.

My mother has been equally as amazing. She’s always been an incredible mother, in fact, an inspiring and supportive mom, to me. She’s also one of my very best (and I would add, annoying) friends in the world.

We have laughed so much together through my life … and yes, mostly at each other’s expense. (Chop, Char!)

This year, she’s literally rushed to my side and helped me patch together the pieces. She’s seen me at my worst and my weakest … and loved me despite all of it.

My brothers, sister-in-laws, cousins and other family members have been like wings to me. They have come alongside me and given flight to my soul when it was crashing.

In my lowest moments they rescued me. Pointed me upward and onward.

Sometimes they just sat in silence with me. Sometimes they cried with me. They got mad with me. Then they helped calm me down or pick me up. Often, they just hugged me.

They drove hours to be with me in the middle of the night. They were there to see the bile of life thrown at me. And to see me at my lowest.

They were simply there for me when I needed it most.

My nephew Hunter and my niece Rainey have been blissful reminders of the joy in life.

The moments I have spent with them have been physically exhausting (they are 2 and 5) …. but some of the most refreshing, joyful, fulfilling moments of my life.

They lift my spirit with just their little smiles.

In August, when I got to spend some time with my “RainBear,” as we were swinging on a porch swing, she just leaned over to me and said, “Uncle Coco, I love you.”

(Yes – they call me Uncle Coco and I love it.)

With those sweet words, I felt life and joy pour back into me.

With five words, she recharged my soul.

I have no children of my own. So, long ago, I decided to pour all my ‘daddy love’ into them as I had opportunity.

This year though, I made a little mental switch and emphasis as well with them … I determined that no matter what, I would attend as many of their dance recitals, little league games, and “special moments” as I could.

More than anything else, I want them to look back fondly on their lives and along with their parents and grandparents … to see me there with them for every big milestone of their life.

I want them to know I loved them. That I was there for them. It is the one lasting legacy I want to leave them. And I will do all that I can to fulfill it for them.

To my family, thank you for being my rock. I love you.

When I doubted myself or my value to the world … you rushed in to offer the most kind words that I have etched onto my heart to remember forever … and to strive to continue to live up to always.

MY TEAM

Next month marks my three-year anniversary of starting iThemes.

I can safely say, it’s been the hardest job I’ve ever had … but the most fun and fulfilling.

My favorite song — my life song — “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd says, “Be something you can love and understand.”

Along this journey, I have always felt I was living that lyric. I loved what I was doing and understood how it factored into life and the world and it gave me purpose.

But honestly, at times this year, I have wanted to quit it all. Leave. Be done. Hang it up and go dig ditches.

I didn’t … because I was always reminded of all the people involved in our business (to date around 15 people).

The thing that matters MOST to me about our business is our team. They have committed their working lives to our shared vision that we call iThemes.

I consider them my extended family.

I feel a special responsibility and bond to them.

I love and care about them deeply. I work FOR them. And ultimately, as every leader should, I serve them (sometimes poorly).

I do seek as many opportunities as possible to give them the just limelight they deserve. And this year in particular they have shown their love and dedication to the life we’re building together at our fledgling startup.

(My theory has always been that you spend the most time around the people you work with … so why not enjoy them?!)

(Also, by the way …. being family doesn’t mean everything is perfect. Think about your dysfunctional family — yeah, we all have one — for a second and you will see the light. Being a family means we fight, we disagree, sometimes we can’t stand each other … but at the end of the day, we’re still family. We might not always like each other but we are building this thing together.)

This year in particular we have had a lot of distractions, challenges, frustrations and obstacles. Some outside. Some inside. Some because of me.

The first part of the year in fact we were consumed with people and elements outside of our control. Sometimes admittedly it’s bled into the second half.

As I said, sometimes it was me, personally, that was the problem … and I had to apologize, move on and earn your forgiveness through my actions.

But a couple months ago at our retreat, I echoed what we had all agreed together to do but never really spoken it:

• Ignore the noise.
• And focus on what really matters.
• And what matters is each other, and our community.

We have to always ask ourselves often two primary questions:

• Are we having fun?
• Is our community supportive of us? (meaning are we taking care of them)

If we can’t answer those honestly and with conviction, something has to change and we need to seek out what must change and change it.

Yes, I have asked our team (and every new person we add to our team) to be committed to each other and our community.

There are no exceptions. And we’ve gotten better at holding everyone, including me, to this standard.

That doesn’t mean forsaking family (I have never asked anyone to do so, nor will I ever do so, including asking them to put the team above their families) or working 100 hours a week (our team works well beyond 40 hours a week but not because I ask or demand them to. Loving what you do and being a part of something bigger than yourself can often produce such results).

(By the way, when others who have spent time around our team see this, I find extreme validation and confidence in making such bold statements.)

I’ve simply asked our team to be focused on what we’re doing while they are at work … do it to the best of your ability (give each other your all) …. and have a blast doing it.

I feel like if we do those things, we’ll be successful, and our community will continue to support us.

My hope is that they will see the results of having a great culture, awesome workplace, and passionate work can produce.

But I said this to them in person, and now share it here ….. they have been amazing this year to me personally. I could not have done it without them.

There have been (and probably will be more) moments where I have to “check out” to attend to other matters.

Each time I’ve had to do so, they have said, “Go. We got this.”

Few people in the world know about that. Few people realize how special that trust and commitment is to me.

But when I had to check out of the business, the team we have assembled, who are responsible for creating the culture and the amazing business (and products, training and support) we have at iThemes (yes, I’m damn proud of what we’ve built together – no apologies, take it or leave it), have thrown their lives into building, maintaining, preserving and protecting what we do and the life we’ve built together.

Although I’d let them talk for themselves, I believe, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are in 100% agreement with the above statement.

We’re proud of what we do, the products, services we offer, and, most of all — of each other. We are a team. There are no rockstars at iThemes.

Most of the people who know of our little team do not know 99% of what actually goes on just in our Oklahoma City office from day to day.

They have no clue about the lunches we share together. The inside jokes we create. How we meet tight deadlines and rally around each other. Or how often they pick fun at my expense.

OR … how immensely hard each of our team works FOR our community (often well before 8 and after 6 and yes, into the weekends!) … to make sure we’re helping our customers get what we promised them when they purchased our products.

In the highs and lows we experience together, we are there for each other.

I love my team. I cherish my team. I hope I honor them with my life, my work and my heart.

And they have shown their love for me — of which, again, I am humbled and so thankful for.

They could probably make more money and have more personal fame elsewhere. But I’m so thankful they continue to choose our business and each other.

It makes life so much more fun.

That’s why when people attack our business, I take it personally. I probably always will. (Again, no apologies.)

Attack me and I’ll gladly defend myself.

But if you attack our business and the team who works their butts off each and every week for it and our community, then … YOU have a problem.

Then … I stop ignoring the noise and decide to mute it.

My team is my family.

Some come and go.

For those who have embraced the culture, philosophies and values we espouse (all for one and one for all), to them alone, I am most proud.

I count you as true friends who I do anything for – night or day.

Lastly, I am so appreciative of my business partners. You do not care for or want the limelight, so I will merely mention you generally but as I have said many times to you and others …. you have been and are the best partners I could ever have asked for.

Without you, this little startup could never have happened. You free me to do what I do best. And at the heart of it, before being even my business partners, you have been true friends to me.

To my team and my partners, I say:

Thank you for being just who you are — some of the most amazing, talented, supportive people on earth, who I am honored to call, my team and my friends.

In many years to come, I can’t wait to look back with you on the months and years we’ve spent with each other and see what we have done …. TOGETHER.

I leave you with this African proverb gleaned from a recent workshop I attended which says it all (and yes, we need a shirt for it):

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Let’s go even farther together in 2001, together. #BOOM

MY FRIENDS

Yes, I just said my team and partners are my friends and my family. But there are others who are not a part of our business or my immediate family who mean the world to me.

Through personal adversity, these friends have rallied to my support …. often, when I didn’t ask.

My father passed on some advice about “true friends” he heard recently …. (paraphrasing) he said that if you can count on one hand the number of solid-to-the-core, TRUE friends you’ve had at the end of your life that would do anything for you and that you can count on anytime, then you’ve lived a blessed one.

I know I have lost some “friends” this year. In retrospect, I know it was healthy for me (and maybe for them too). It was burning off the chaff in my life.

At the risk of irking some, I’m going to go ahead and mention the ones who have been there for me, and proved by their actions they are a part of my cherished “inner circle” of true friends.

First, Jeremy Stowe …. one of the funniest, most authentic pastors I know. But really, just a true, lifelong friend.

StoweBucks, you’ve spoken truth into me when I didn’t want to hear it, listened to me when I was irrational, and then told me bluntly I was plain stupid.

You’ve also just “showed up” at the right time so many times I can’t keep count.

You are truly “my brother’s keeper.”

I will ride shotgun for you anytime, my brother.

The others are in the category of what I call “business friends.” But truly, deeply, I realized earlier this year that some of the best friendships I’ve ever made in life have been “business friends.” And honestly, I hate that term, but it’s the best I have right now. (Or maybe it’s “true friends I’ve met through business.”)

In this category, I have these great friends to mention specifically …. Lisa Sabin-Wilson, Grant Griffiths and Jason Schuller.

LSW — thank you for being my friend. For investing your time, energy and wisdom into our business and more importantly, our team. For personally, calming me down, helping me get perspective and sobering me up to reality. And thank you for making this “our year.” You are the best! And some time in 2011, we’ll share a book byline together.

Grant — I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you more and more. You’re a cranky old fart, but I love all of you! You were one of the first people to simply ask, “How are YOU doing, really?” I won’t forget that. You show up regularly on our weekly show just to hang out together (sometimes in our office, always at conferences) and we love you for it. Your friendship and loyalty to me personally has been #massive.

Jason — and really I should add his awesome firecracker of a wife, Christine, too. You are the definition of sincerity and authenticity. You are the real deal. I appreciate that at your core you are a great human being …. simply doing the work that makes you happy and fully content in that and continuing to put people first. You are a great example and model for me. Thank you.

There are more to mention here … but for those not mentioned you know what you mean to me because I tell you and hopefully more purposefully, show you. Just like you’ve done for me so many times over and over.

OUR COMMUNITY

Throughout everything, I am, each and every day, thankful for the customers who makes up the community at iThemes, PluginBuddy and WebDesign.com.

As with everything in life, there will always be naysayers and people who oppose what we do and how we do it, who aren’t happy, and who willfully seek out our demise.

Those people are noise (and lighter fluid to our motivation and drive to be and do better for those who support us – you).

We’re not a “fit” for everybody and that’s simply ok with me and us.

Our true community supports us with your hard-earned money, allowing us to do what we love, as we support you.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that.

If it was simply about money, I’d given up a long time ago. Yes, I’ve profited from our business. I don’t apologize for that though because I’ve personally worked harder in the last 3 years of this startup than any previous job combined. But money has never, nor will it ever, rule me or what I do. It is simply a means to an end. (The people that truly matter know this already, so I’m merely preaching to the choir here.)

If it was simply about fame and my own glory, I wouldn’t seek you out personally at WordCamps and other venues to get to know you and what you do, chat with you on our webinars, respond to as many emails personally as I can, or do our weekly iThemesTV to let you meet our awesome team and to give credit where credit is rightly deserved. If it were about me, my partners — yes, I’m a minority business owner in iThemes — and my team would gladly kick me out of it and I hope they would. (My team and my partners are my counsel of elders so to speak. They keep me accountable. They keep me on the right track and have helped me not to make some miserable mistakes. On many occasions they’ve confronted me, to my dismay and despite my initial unhappy reactions to it, but I’ve been better for it. So has our company.)

What drives me is … living my passion and dream (I created the ideal job for myself, one that changes every day with new and harder challenges at every turn) … recruiting, developing and being around an incredible team of truly inspiring people … and seeing how high and how far we can climb together … for a community of awesome people who supports, loves and wants what we offer them.

I know we have to earn the trust of our community, each and every day. I know we have to keep innovating, keep providing great products and services and keep improving FOR YOU.

That has always been our pledge and our promise at iThemes.

But please understand … we won’t always be perfect. We have never promised that. You might doubt some decisions or even disagree with ones we or even I make. You could in fact get so mad at our business model or pricing structure or at a dropped ball in what we do and decide to leave us.

That’s OK.

We will apologize when we’re wrong and seek to correct it. But we’re not for everyone.

I do hope you give us the opportunity to either make it right … or let us explain our position … before you leave.

So often, your input and constructive feedback is like cold water on our faces.

We need to hear from you. We want to hear from you. We might not always like it. We might not always agree with it. But nonetheless, I readily invite you to give it!

(We did our first-ever town hall this fall to get more of it and on daily and weekly occasion through iThemesTV chat, email and in the forum allow you to constructively offer your feedback — and I hope you feel we welcome it.)

But please hear me on this next point ….

At the root of what we do is the realization that if we don’t provide great solutions to our community’s problem and keep consistently improving, our customers will vote for our continued existence with their pocketbooks. Or not.

I do hope you will allow us the privilege of communicating our position first and directly. Or at least reserving judgment until you’ve heard our side of the story.

Like any startup, we’ve faced our share of competition, challenges and adversity ….

I compare entrepreneurship to a roller coaster. There are the highest of highs (like this month when you voted with your pocketbook to make this our best month in our history, or our inaugural launch day in Jan. 2008) and low lows (some of which I thought were the end of us or me) … but in the end …. it is you who makes all this possible.

To our community … I THANK YOU. We thank you.

You are amazing. Keep pushing us to be and do better … for you. Keep supporting us with your pocketbook and we promise to overdeliver as often and much as we possibly can.

If we don’t, please tell us how we can fix it.

GETTING TO THE END …

There are so many and so much I have left out. I had to hit the high notes. And again, this is about me and those who have been there for me this year.

Again, I refer back to what my friend LSW said ….

• Ignore the noise.
• Focus on what matters.
• And all of you …. are what truly matters to me.

Merry Christmas (belated), Happy Holidays and here is cheers to walking with you in 2011.

Related posts:

1. Business Is Always Intensely Personal
2. Two Feet Firmly Planted in the 30s
3. More Money Not Key to Happiness

View full post on Cory Miller | Adventures in Entrepreneurship

What Matters to Me is a post from: Home Wealth Project
Special Thanks: Kissimmee Auto Repair, Kenyan Safari Package, Sell Medical Practice

Go to work on a regular basis.

Art is hard. Selling is hard. Writing is hard. Making a difference is hard.

When you’re doing hard work, getting rejected, failing, working it out–this is a dumb time to make a situational decision about whether it’s time for a nap or a day off or a coffee break.

Zig taught me this twenty years ago. Make your schedule before you start. Don’t allow setbacks or blocks or anxiety to push you to say, “hey, maybe I should check my email for a while, or you know, I could use a nap.” If you do that, the lizard brain is quickly trained to use that escape hatch again and again.

Isaac Asimov wrote and published 400 (!) books using this technique.

The first five years of my solo business, when the struggle seemed neverending, I never missed a day, never took a nap. (I also committed to ending the day at a certain time and not working on the weekends. It cuts both ways.)

In short: show up.

View full post on Seth’s Blog

The first rule of doing work that matters is a post from: Home Wealth Project
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Tim Davlin, the mayor of Illinois’ capital city of Springfield, was found shot dead in his home this morning in an apparent suicide. Davlin was supposed to show up for a probate hearing discussing a cousin’s estate this morning. After Davlin didn’t appear at the hearing–he had failed to provide the financial accounting for the estate, and his former lawyer had a claim against the estate for $19,000 in legal fees–police found his body at his house. From the Chicago Tribune:

In October, the (State Journal-Register) newspaper reported that Davlin owed the federal government nearly $90,000 in unpaid income taxes, and liens had been filed against his home. The lien notice filed in the Sangamon County recorder’s office showed that Davlin owed income taxes for the years 2003, 2005 and 2006.

At the time, the mayor blamed the problem on a dispute with the IRS over taxes owed on investments he cashed in to buy the home. Sangamon County property records have shown that Davlin bought the home for $237,500 in 2004. He earned more than $119,000 a year, according to city payroll records from earlier in 2010.

Davlin announced last month that he would not seek a third four-year term in 2011, telling Springfield radio station WFMB he wanted to leave office before getting burned out. Davlin insisted at that time that financial issues had nothing to do with that decision involving the nonpartisan post he called “grueling.”

“No one has any idea what it’s like until they’ve been there,” he told the station.

Davlin was investment and insurance broker before being voted into the mayor’s office, according to the Tribune. According to the information available, he wove himself a web of misery through an unsatisfying, stressful job, bad financial decisions, and family issues (if you read into the court case). It’s sad to see a successful person with a lot to offer succumb at a relatively young age.

It’s also a poignant reminder that public and professional success mean nothing if the world inside of your head is unbearable.

Here’s the city of Springfield’s tribute biography to Mayor Davlin.

View full post on Business Pundit

Mayor Tim Davlin Reminds Us of What Matters is a post from: Home Wealth Project
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Ideas Are A Dime A Dozen, Execution Is All That Matters is a post from: Home Wealth Project
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