Branding David

One of the most important things to many people after a session is complete at a conference is to get a chance to look over the presentation’s slides once again as it can be difficult to write down all of the important information as people present it, and it can make a nice reference later on if questions come up, and so I quickly made my WordCamp Toronto presentation’s slides available in PDF form on the WordCamp Toronto Wiki that was put together for the event.

I also wanted to make those slides available here, with or without my own personal notes so that you not only could look over what I had written for everyone to see, but what notes I had for myself during the presentation, as well as some links or products that I forgot to mention while the spotlights were shining.

How to Run a Blog Like a Pro
PDF – no notes
PDF – with notes
Zipped JPG Image Pack – with notes

Below is the video shot by my cousin Mark Wood, who also attended the event. He didn’t have a direct sound pick up, and this was shot on the Canon PowerShot S3 IS, but I think it still turned out amazing, so a big kudos to him for taking the time to record it for me.

One of the things I have noticed quite often in talking to companies is how reluctant they are to start and maintain a blog. They seem to worry about what a layer of transparency will do to their brand and marketing efforts.

I have never understood this reluctance, having spent half of my career entirely online. I am of the opposite mindset where I don’t understand how most businesses plan to survive in this new age of technology, connectivity, and interaction.

If you can’t talk to your customers, how will you ever convince them to spend their hard earned money on your products or services? Marketing and branding alone won’t give a sense of how your business really works, and as such keeps your business disconnected from a huge pool of potential customers.

Companies like Dell have done a good job at changing how people online see their business by creating two streams of interaction, Dell’s Ideastorm, a website that allows customers and potential customers to share their ideas and Direct2Dell, a blog written by Dell employees about what the company is doing.

These ideas were revolutionary one and two years ago when they were started, and if a big company like Dell is willing to invest the time, money and energy into maintaining such customer focused services and communication, how can your business afford not to?

One thing I have learned in all my years working online is that people as a group are lazy, and to be honest, I am guilty of this as well sometimes, but as individuals, there are many things we can do to combat this side of our personality and in doing so, we will slowly get a leg up on the people and businesses we compete with.

Work When Your Energy is Peaking

Everyone has certain times of the day where they have the most energy to be able to concentrate and get things done in a manner that would take much longer during other parts of the day. Figuring out when you are at your peak energy can be quite difficult if you don’t have a normal routine, but it will usually be one, two or three times in the day where your concentration, creativity, and organizational skills are their highest.

For myself, I am able to get massive amounts of work done in the early afternoon between two and four, and then in the late evening between ten and midnight. This means I have four hours where I try to focus on my most important tasks, such as creating content, organizing various projects, or working on programming.

Outside of these special times, I deal with things like e-mail, phoning businesses, and other more menial tasks that would be a waste of my peak times.

Removing the Crud

Do you really need to watch three different prime-time television shows each night? Do you really need to rent movies every week?

There are so many things we do in our lives that are huge time wasters and because its consistent, it becomes a habit, and for some, an addiction, but removing the extra distractions in our lives can give us more focus, drive, and determination which can quickly lead to success.

Working from home, I sometimes find it very hard to not get distracted, but I have set aside some space for myself to have an office, and I am always working on streamlining it, so that it efficient for me, and free of as many distractions as possible.

Start Something!

One of the easiest ways to combat laziness is to start something. I usually start working on something I’d enjoy as it gets my energy up and as I am being productive my whole mood changes. It then becomes easier to tackle the tasks I don’t enjoy, and as long as I keep aware of my mood and energy level, I can bounce back and forth between various tasks that I enjoy doing, and those that I don’t, but the whole crux of this plan is that I need to start something.

One way to help with this is to get a system going that before the end of the day you start something new. For me, I do a quick planning mind map on the next article I want to write. I get the structure ready, but I don’t go any further than that, as it makes for a very easy start to my next day.

You would be amazed at how much of a boost to your mood it can be to complete something, even if it was nearly complete the day before.

Play Your Favourite Music

I am sure many of you have heard this before, but music can have a huge effect on your mood, energy level, and persistence in working on any task. I have found some good Internet radio stations in iTunes that fit my music tastes well, but I suggest everyone take the time to get together some music they can listen to that will help shut out the world, and focus on the tasks at hand.

Play things that make you feel happy, energetic, and powerful, and it will help when working on a variety of different things.

Reward Yourself

The last major tip I have is for people to reward themselves. We live in a world that doesn’t really “give” us anything, and so we must earn it, but if we are spending all of our time, money and energy on sustaining the bare minimum to live comfortably, then we aren’t creating a happy life.

If you enjoy reading books, as I do, buy yourself one each month as a reward for the work you have done. Rewards don’t have to be expensive. They just have to be something you enjoy, and something that will make the daily grind worthwhile. Make sure to remind yourself of what you are working towards by keeping a note in your wallet or purse, or a reminder somewhere else that you will constantly see.

Conclusion

We are all intrinsically lazy, but those that fight off laziness in a variety of different ways will find themselves outperforming others. Sure, there might be things you can’t do on this list, but everyone should be able to try one of these methods. Don’t let the side of you that is lazy win, as it only leads to the hard road in life.