They are a great bunch of people, and the room was abuzz with ideas and connections. Most of the business owners are solo operators, while some of them have support staff and consultants to assist with their business.  A large member organisation runs the conference and supports the development of HR in the SME sector in Australia.

What I love about being with these people is that they really learn from each other.  It reminds me how important it is to have people around you who can provide objective feedback and qualify your own ideas about what’s best for your business.  It proves the concept, “the power of three minds is the equivalent of five solo minds”.  You can learn and accomplish so much more with others who are passionate and motivated to succeed: just like you.

It’s tough sometimes as a solo business owner to get the same level of stimulation you might get working in an office with many others, each with their pros and cons. All the sessions and topics presented were informative and useful, yet I realised that most of these people come to the conference simply to mix with others and hence learn from each other. The jewel in the event is the ability to network in a group of like-minded individuals who can help you on your journey.

Too many business owners forget the benefits of mixing with other business owners. Sure, we have competitors who we may not want to be close to, and we are busy and focussed on our business responsibilities… but we all need opportunities to mix with others like us.  Personal development, professional development, networking, mastermind groups: there’s lots of ways to do it.  Just be sure you do – it’s really important!

When following the steps outlined in Ferris’s Dreamline worksheet, the cost for those things that we put off every year (a great holiday, a car upgrade, a gardener, etc) are typically not that much in total monthly income — remembering that figure is on top of the usual household costs. In fact, some of my “costs” also could provide an income, if using a low-cost virtual assistant. (Part of the outsourcer’s work could be billed to clients, or at least free me up to do more billable projects.) Tim Ferris blog – Ideal Lifestyle Costing has all the necessary calculators to work out costs of your own ideal lifestyle.

Also, qualified remote support staff can be outsourced for as little as US$300 per month (around $2 an hour) and they can do a variety of things like follow up calls, invoice creation/reminders, link building for your SEO, etc… all those things that eek away your daylight hours. Because they are working specifically for you on the projects you need, there won’t be any staff time wastage or double-instructing. See www.remotestaff.com.au for ongoing administrative tasks, or ask about the specialists at Infusionoz.com.au for higher level tasks like web design, e-marketing, CRM implementation, and content writing (also offering good value/prompt attention services and located in Australia).

Of course, remote outsourcing goes hand-in-hand with automated technology and streamlined systems. Great systems means higher productivity. Higher productivity for the average small business owner might mean more billable hours, with less stress and chaos in their lives. For a Mumpreneur it might mean more time to spend with family because her income doesn’t drop with periods away from the business.

So many business people are still stuck in the paradigm of exchanging time for money – what is my hourly rate, how many hours can I bill?

But when we see our business as a marketable entity – with products (passive income), Intellectual Property to record and protect, and a brand to promote – we start to see it as an Asset. We may even have a saleable asset, if someone else could take over the systems and product sales down the track and continue the revenue streams. Does that sound worthwhile?

Blogs must show a consistency of voice. A voice that is perhaps not always going to be completely Politically Correct, but sometimes bring up a salient point that no-one has hitherto suggested, or break a new story. This is why blogging is different to writing web page content – sharing, helping, and throwing out ideas is the MAIN aim. Promoting is secondary. Get it?

Some Key Blogging Tips

Remember that the habit of posting has to be done like clockwork, through busy times and lean times, through computer meltdowns and people meltdowns. Outsourcing will take that load off you, but make sure the writer is clued into your audience and your core topics.

Don’t get bogged down in the blog posts. It’s meant to be fast.

“Think of your blog as a thick marker – and each blog post a single idea designed to inspire, engage and stimulate.” - Gavin, Servant of Chaos (pro blogger)

Learn yourself from the best commentators/bloggers, and then educate your audience. Snippets of other author’s comments, or related facts, makes each post interesting. While blogging may seem lonely at first, soon real comments from readers and a great social media strategy will get you past the blogging blues.

Stats:
While Technorati states it is tracking over 112.8 million blogs (figures in 2009, and exclude China), only around 21% are actually active.

More about Blogging for Small Business and a book you can buy at Servant of Chaos.

In fact, after my trip I felt rather exhausted and relieved that I was home.  I almost needed a holiday to get over my holiday!  On the plane coming home I started to reflect on my trip and what I’d gained from it.  I always like to do this, because I strive to get something new or valuable from my experiences.  As I was scanning through the last 10 days, I realised I had packed in so much that I didn’t get the chance to relax. My brain didn’t get a break!

Yet every time I can get away from home, the office, my clients and responsibilities – I feel refreshed and ideas flow to me naturally.  So I’m looking forward to Easter so that I can stop, unwind, recharge and create some space between me and my work.

When you get the chance to relax at Easter – switch off the computer, mobile device, and just recharge the batteries. It will do yourself – and likely your business – the world of good.

I must share with you something that happened on the weekend that has got me thinking… and that has made me realise the ‘social media’ age that we are now living in and how important it is to be a part of it.

Last night I went to the Adam Hills live performance at the Powerhouse in Brisbane, seated just a few rows from the front (I love being up close so I can see expressions and the REAL person!!).  Adam came onto stage to a very excited crowd and within minutes he had discovered a man seated in the front row who looked a little like Santa.  Actually maybe a LOT like Santa! No kidding, and his name was Lex Cush.  Lex went along with Adam’s frivolity of wanting to take a picture of them both together and he then posted it on his blog page via his mobile phone, and then posted a tweet (on Twitter) to see who could come back with the funniest caption.

This might not sound that strange, however it was a live show and Adam was sitting on the edge of the stage with his mobile phone in hand, sending tweets and reading some back.  Not your usual stand-up comedy!  And it wasn’t just the photo of him and Lex that was posted either, as he found humour in some of the audience’s surnames (and admittedly it was VERY funny) so had to ID them and of course take more photos to post off.

After a little while Adam checked his mobile phone for responses and read out some tweets from around the world, with proposed captions for the picture of him and Lex, and we had a laugh.

What struck me as both funny and interesting is that one of the tweet replies came from a guy in the audience… who used his mobile to respond to Adam’s tweet.   As Adam remarked: “how funny that you’re communicating with me via a satellite and we’re about 15 metres apart”.

That is exactly the sign of our times:  tweeting, blog posting, re-tweeting, and using mobile phones to post comments and keep in contact with strangers all around the world, at any time, anywhere.

Not everyone is up with it though… it’s generally seen as a ‘young persons thing’.  Yet here was Adam Hills, an almost-40-yr-old sitting on stage with his blackberry taking photos, posting them and tweeting during his show.  Technology is available and accessible to anyone who wants it, and to anyone who chooses to get on board.

In business circles the traditional marketing channels are slowly being overtaken by our social media and technology advances in marketing automation such as Infusionsoft.  Those people who haven’t yet caught on are either looking in or choosing to let it go by.  I believe, to their detriment.

Regardless of what worked yesterday, we do know that things are always changing.  Traditional marketing of the past won’t bring the same results today or tomorrow, and with social media taking charge of the way we communicate – it’s something that simply can’t be ignored.

So with the memory of last night’s performance and Adam’s versatility with his tweeting and posting, I’m off to go tweeting myself.

Have a great week!

Aveline