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Side Hustle Nation – Take the Leap!

In our program the Business Success Network, we love working with Side Hustlers – people who are working their dream gig on the side while holding down a full-time gig that they greatly dislike. (Trying to avoid words like Hate – they just don’t serve me)

If you are SERIOUS about making your Side Hustle the Full Time Hustle – then here are the steps we take our clients through.  I need to them to know the following:

  1. Be crystal clear on your WHY. What is your purpose – personally, and does it align with your business model.  If the side hustle is just a way to make a buck and you aren’t passionate about it – your business will never be truly successful. You will get burned and give up when the going gets tough – and it will, get tough that is.
  2. Ensure you have a viable business. Just because it’s a great idea, does not mean it’s a viable business model.  Perhaps your market is too small or too saturated, you can’t differentiate yourself enough from the competition or you have a time sensitive thing whose time is almost up.  You need to crunch the numbers and do some market research.
  3. That you need to be a risk taker. I don’t know one business owner who is risk adverse.
  4. That you need to have a success mindset. You must focus on the long haul and not get hung up on the bumps in the road.  You have to BELIEVE you will be successful.
  5. You have capital enough to survive without a paycheck for a while – because most of your $$ has to go back into the company – typically.
  6. You need to deeply understand your customer and their journey – how they will get to you, what you will do once they find you and how you will nurture them. What will their customer experience be like?
  7. Chief Cook & Bottle washer – If you don’t have the capital to pay for help, do you have the talent, will and drive to do it all?
  8. Are you open to coaching and learning? If you have a know it all attitude – you are setting yourself up for failure. Trust me – I’ve been there and it wasn’t pretty.
  9. Are you willing to fail – but more importantly, do you have the mindset that failure is simply an opportunity to learn and grow.
  10. That you need to spend just as much time working on your business in the beginning as in it.
  11. You need to be able to sell or have a process that sells your product for you – i.e. online platforms etc.
  12. Progress NOT Perfection. You need the minimum viable product to launch – it doesn’t need to be perfect, you can always adjust, fix and change as you go. Besides you need feedback from real life buyers!

 Side Hustlers, you can make the transition, and the time is really up to you. If you are focused on the end game, that transition will be far less painful than if you look at ALL you need to do and it will go a lot quicker.

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The fear of trying

You’ve probably heard a quote like “if you’re going to fail, then fail fast.” I used to be afraid of failing, let’s be real, no one wants to fail. But working at Red Barn has taught me that, hey, sometimes you fail, and that’s OK if you fix it and learn from it. It’s a tough transition, especially if you work in Corporate America where when something goes wrong, it turns into the blame game. It’s a nauseating feeling always trying to cover your ass in case that finger turned to you. It became more than a fear of failing and more of a fear of even trying something new. But now, I’ve learned to embrace learning and trying new things because the fear of failure isn’t so stifling.

Before I started at Red Barn I had NO marketing experience. Sure, I used Facebook and LinkedIn, but that was about it. I’d never written a blog, sent out an e-newsletter, or used any design software. But I had to learn these things, and being remote, Cindy couldn’t hold my hand and walk me through things. I relied heavily on 2 very good friends – YouTube and Google. Trust me, if these 2 don’t know how to do something, then it’s not meant to be done.

I learned how to make updates to a website, edit art files in Adobe Creative Suite, create e-newsletter templates, create and implement Drip email workflows, the list goes on and on. Have I messed stuff up – ABSOLUTELY! Go ahead – ask Cindy – she’ll tell you. Most of the time I was able to fix any issues before they went live or to a client. That’s why we proof each other’s work – those extra set of eyes are key.

Here’s a secret that I learned from my mistakes and it wasn’t to stop trying! First – take accountability for your actions. Pointing the finger to someone else doesn’t fix the issue. Own it, fix it, learn from it, and move on. Secondly – follow up! This can save you a ton of headaches. Here’s a great example – We have a client that we schedule blogs for that post on a specific day and time. I send the link ahead of time to the client to share on social media and via an email to their clients. Well, I went in to check to make sure the first blog posted as scheduled and to my surprise – for some technical reason, it didn’t post! Had I not followed up, the client would have posted a dead link on their social media and in their email. I was able to fix the issue before it created a problem. It was no one’s fault, but you can bet I would have felt horrible if the client felt any negative effects from the error.

Trying new things is what makes my job exciting and fun. If I was afraid every time I had to try out a new software or implement a new marketing idea, I wouldn’t get very much done. Trying and failing is just part of the learning process. Sometimes you try things and get a win right off the bat – I LOVE when that happens. But most times you must try things a few different times before you get it right. It’s a process as Cindy likes to say. I play around with something, test it, make it live, test it again, make more tweaks, test it again, and so on and so on until it’s perfect. Another Cindyism – progress not perfection. Trust me, you learn a lot about yourself when you self-teach, and I get really excited when I teach my self new things and can put them into action.

So, my PSA for the day – Don’t be afraid to try things. Pull the trigger so that if you do fail, you fail fast and have time to fix it and learn from the mistakes.

If you have any great failure turned success stories, I’d love to hear them!

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Efficiency – is it a curse or a blessing?

It’s often a running joke at Red Barn that I get shit done – and fast. I really can’t help but be efficient. I’m not quite sure if it was something I learned as a child or something I was just born doing, but as far back as I can remember, I’ve always been motivated to just get things done. Lately, it’s made me wonder if there is such a thing as being too fast, too efficient…

I can remember being back in the 6th grade and every morning we’d have an assignment that we’d have to start working on while everyone got settled, attendance was taken, volunteers would collect homework or items for the office, etc. I would rush to put my coat and backpack away, get out the book I need for the assignment, and work as fast as possible to get the assignment done, correctly of course, so that I wouldn’t have to work on it later or as homework. Having watched this pattern for weeks, my teacher actually said something to me about being too concerned with getting my work done. (Shocking, right! Well, I did go to Catholic school, so things were much smaller and a lot different than public school) So, the next day I volunteered to collect everyone’s homework instead of getting a jump on the morning assignment. Do you want to know what I learned – Nothing!

Other than my teacher, no one cared that I was the one collecting assignments instead of doing my work. No one cared when I got the assignment done as long as it was done by the due date. And the funny thing was, no one else took advantage of the extra time they had when they didn’t volunteer. Ok, I lied, I did learn something, but I didn’t realize it until many, many years later. I’m just wired different than most people. And for the most part, it’s OK!

I have come to terms with the fact that I just work at a faster pace than more people. I just can’t procrastinate – it’s not in my DNA. If I have a to-do list, I can’t relax until I’ve check off all the tasks. I love that sense of satisfaction that my work is done. If I can get it done today – I will. It’s just how I operate. BUT, I can’t help but wonder if my efficiency, and let’s be honest, lack of patience is getting on other people’s nerves or creating frustration for myself?

I sometimes find myself getting frustrated when it takes people more than 5 minutes to respond to an email or that it takes them 2 hours to complete a task that I know should only take an hour. I know, I know – who would want to work with me?!

It’s something I’m working on – being mindful of my time, other people’s time, and working on letting go some. I’ve started saying NO to things that I don’t want to do, more in my personal life vs. work. But at the end of the day, I can’t help but be me. In my defense, I do warn people that I’m crazy! But I also think my dedication to my to-do list, checking email, and be overall responsive is what makes me so good at my job.

So, the morale of my story is this – be who you are! My efficiency has made me who I am today, and you don’t get to be the Ops Beast by sitting on your haunches – pun intended! My apologies to anyone that I’ve annoyed or had to poke to move faster. It was nothing personal!

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Never have I EVER…. Automation!

It seems like lately technology has gone into hyper drive when it comes to marketing and sales – even life itself. 

Chatbots, Artificial intelligence, Alexa, Drones…and even in the world of marketing: Automation. 

I’m old school and tend to not be an early adopter of automation.  I had a paper calendar up until 3 years ago when I finally started using my iPhone calendar.  (I know – right?)  I still read the Sunday paper – as a paper and not on my phone, I still get magazines…the list goes on. 

One thing I have adopted though is automation for our marketing and sales processes. Why?   

Self-serving mostly.  I guess the same reason I still read real magazines – I like to. 

I’ve never liked cold calling – EVER.  I would find any way around it. 

Email Marketing – WIN 

LinkedIn – WIN 

Networking – WIN 

Lately – I’m all about Facebook ads, webinars, lead magnets, landing pages, funnels, CRM tagging, automated workflows – can you say flow charts on steroids? 

The point is – it makes my life easier and I close more deals.  More importantly I get to be super and I mean SUPER targeted where my message goes and who sees it.  I’m not wasting time on someone who doesn’t fit my target client profile. 

Automation using tools such as Active Campaign or Infusionsoft. Creating courses in Thinkific and using tools such as Zoom, Click Funnel, and Zapier.  (ps – not getting paid for those plugs).  It’s all about tapping into the genius of automation – stuff other people have already thought out and I don’t have to! 

Do I still do email marketing – of course!  But I’m far smarter about it now. 

LinkedIn – you bet!  But it’s not just my resume. 

Networking – Oh yea. But I’m more about the mastermind groups than the big ole networking by tossing a fishing net.  

Times are changing.  Embrace the technology that WORKS for YOU! If you still like to curl up in your jammies and read the REAL Sunday Times vs. reading on your iPad – then do it.  No harm, no foul.   

What’s your favorite automation tool or technology hack? 

Cindy 

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Mindfulness and success – the connection

Winning vs. Losing 

Succeeding vs. Failing 

Happy vs. Sad 

It all comes down to what you really want.  #truth. 

There are times in life that we all struggle, be it personally or professionally. Sometimes, they happen at the same time and life feels like it’s consuming you and not in a good way.   

Some people stay in a state of \”Losing, Failing and/or Sadness” while others seem to live in a world of “Winning, Succeeding and Happiness.”   

First let’s address that perception.  No one wins all the time, succeeds all the time, nor is happy all the time. The difference is they have the ability to bounce back and focus on the bigger picture.  Live in the moment, yes, but staying there is dangerous when you are in a funk.  Unfortunately, many deal with depression and other mental illnesses that don’t allow them to get unstuck and life is a constant battle of how to move forward. Thankfully, for the majority of us, we can easily move from one mindset to another but we have to make the choice to do so. 

The key is focusing on what you want, versus what you don’t want.  Seeing losing and failing as an opportunity to learn from mistakes, adjust, iterate, and move on.  Seeing sadness as a temporary grieving process for something that well…just sucks, but finding the silver lining and realizing tomorrow is another day. 

If we always focus on the things we don’t have – we will never get the things we want.  

When it comes to business, this also holds true.  Even the great business leaders of our day will tell you it’s not all lollipops and unicorn dust – some days are tough. Tough decisions have to be made, cash flow issues, employee drama… the list goes on…and on. 

As an entrepreneur, you need to think long term and recognize the bumps in the road are just that – bumps. 

Be Mindful.  Focus on what you want vs. what you don’t. 

If your mind is consumed with cash flow issues and you just sit in front of your computer looking at the $.03 in your checking account for hours, days, months vs. taking action to amend the situation, you will in fact still have $.03 in your checking account a month from now.   

Better to: 

Be real.  Be honest about the situation.  How did you get there? What caused it and more importantly how can you reverse it and not repeat. 

Take ownership.  As a business owner the buck stops with you.  If things aren’t going correctly, take charge.  Bring in some experts. Ask for help.  Don’t stay frozen in time. 

Eye on the Big Picture.  Know that tomorrow really is another day.  That it’s not a sign of weakness nor failure to ask for help and that no one is successful without setbacks.  No one. EVER. 

Be Mindful.  Be aware of how you feel.  Be aware of your actions.  Be aware of your behaviors…your repeated behaviors. 

If your messy desk causes you to spend 2 hours a day searching for things and you are whining about not enough time in the day.  Well…clean your desk.  

Mindfulness.  Action.  Results. 

Success.  Winning.  Happiness.  #lifegoals with some bumps in the road. Bring them on! 

CD 

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10 reasons businesses fail

I’ve owned a few businesses in my day. Some have failed, some have been (and are) successful.

The failing part sucks – no doubt about it. You never enter a business thinking it’s going to not be there in a year or two – kind of like a marriage.  But it happens.

Here’s what I’ve learned from my own failed ventures and from the myriad of business owners I’ve worked with over the years.

  1. Business Partners. When they work it’s beautiful. When they don’t, it can be an ugly divorce in the making.  Just like a marriage, you need a partner who has the same core values, the same vision, yet you need to complement each other.  There must be trust, transparency, and all partners need to be on the same page when it comes to running the business.  Have a partnership agreement that details who is doing what and how everyone is getting compensated.  Trust me on this one.  Many businesses fail because the partnerships fail.
  2. Capital. You need money to survive.  Cash is still King.  If you are thinking of going out on your own, you need to have cash in the bank for at least a year and/or some VC money to infuse into the business.  Without capital, it’s hard to grow.
  3. 3 P’s. Policies, Process & Procedures.  You can’t wing it.  Have a process. Adjust as needed.
  4. Cabinet. Lawyer, Accountant, Tax Advisor & Insurance Broker.  Don’t ever skimp on these – Ever.  Don’t think DIY is a smart idea – it never is.
  5. Clear WHY. You have to be crystal clear on your vision – your WHY. What are you bringing to the market? Why should someone buy from you?  What is your unique value prop?
  6. It has to be a viable business. Not all great ideas are viable businesses. Do the market research and test.
  7. The need for perfection. Go to market. It will never be perfect.  Do 1-6 – that’s just smart business, but go to market even if things aren’t perfect.  Your website doesn’t have to be the grand vision you have – it can be 1 page.  You don’t need a staff of 100 – start with 1, etc.
  8. Hire the RIGHT people. They need to fit into your culture and see your vision. Resumes and skills are second to their core values.
  9. You need to change with the market.  Innovate or die.
  10. Ethical. Now you’ll say there are a ton of unethical business owners who are making millions.  True, but they won’t survive the long haul.  Besides, do you really want to be that person?  Do the right thing.  Karma is real.

My first business failed miserably and cost me dearly.  The reason was #1, #4, and #10 (on my partners’ end).  It was a mess.   If you are thinking about heading out on your own. Call me first – I can save you a ton of headaches!

Cheers to us Entrepreneurs!

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The Evolution of Marketing

Marketing has undergone some drastic changes in the past 10 years. Well heck, even in the past year, or 6 months! I’m sure you know firsthand that people are being overloaded with data everywhere they turn – on their phones, computers or tablets, watching TV, and even just driving down the road. It’s everywhere!

So how did this evolution come about and how is it affecting YOU and your business? Let’s look at cell phones as an example of evolution. More specifically, the smart phone.

Think back to about 15 years, the smart phone was just starting to evolve, and Nokia phones ruled the landscape.  You know, the phones that only made calls, had texting capabilities, and offered the solitary game of “Snake”. EVERYONE had one, and the only way to really customize it was to buy a different faceplate for it. Bluetooth – what’s that?!

10 years ago, the flip phone was all the rage and phones started offering alternative capabilities other than making a call. New apps were offered with the ability to access the internet as well as take and store photos. OMG – the selfie revolution is upon us! But seriously, your phone started becoming a tool that could make your life easier. And accessories, they started flooding the market!

Now think back to just 5 years ago, all 10 of the top phones where flat touch screen models noticeably larger than today’s phones but we have a trend going. The possibilities became endless – new apps were being created daily, your phone became your life line to the world, and something you couldn’t leave home without – and social media was literally at your fingertips – pics or it didn’t happen!

Over the past 15 years the cell phone industry has evolved rapidly and it’s still evolving. Cell phones changed shape, sizes, colors, and function. Could you survive without your cell phone today – of course you can, but most people wouldn’t want to.

So, what does this have to do with Marketing? EVERYTHING! Why wouldn’t your marketing have to evolve just like the cell phone did and is still doing? Traditional marketing used to include newspaper ads, AM/FM radio, billboards, mailers, etc.  – which are all still relevant today. BUT – and that’s a big BUT, only if you are hitting your target clients. The biggest draw to digital marketing (to me anyway) is the trackability and the demographic specification.

With conventional radio, you never truly know how many people are hearing your ad or if they are your actual target clients. Online or streaming radio (think Pandora or Spotify) can actually track how many people are tuned in at the time that your ad streams and you can set your target demographics. Ads on social media can provide analytics as to how many people saw your ad, clicked on your ad, and reacted to your ad. The possibilities are endless and always changing!

Now folks, this is my kind of advertising! Gone are the days where you need to throw spaghetti and the wall and hope something sticks. One of our favorite tools here at the Red Barn is email marketing! It’s incredibly affordable, easily automated, and you can receive analytics of how many people opened your email, who clicked the link, who read the blog and the list goes on.

Times change, make sure your marketing efforts are keeping up! Have questions on what marketing initiatives will work best for your company? Or maybe you just need some training on what’s new and how to incorporate it into your business? Call me!

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Holiday Vacation Requests – How to Handle PTO When Everyone Wants the Same Days Off

The holiday season is upon us, and in addition to all the food, celebrations, and holiday cheer comes the influx of vacation or PTO requests. Some people love working around the holidays – it’s quieter, less employees are in the building to distract them, and it’s a great time to catch up on some lingering projects. But let’s be honest, most of us LOVE taking a few extra days off around Thanksgiving and the week off in between Christmas and New Year’s. But as a manager, it can be difficult to juggle all those PTO requests and determine who should get the time off. After all, you do have a business to run!

I’ve worked for several companies who have tried different approaches to this conundrum and here’s some Pros and Cons for each.

Work from Home. This one is my favorite, but it doesn’t work for everyone. Pretty much everybody has a laptop, iPad or smartphone that enables them to work remotely. If your staff doesn’t have to be on site, letting them work at home during the holidays can be a productive way to get things done. Working at home is a viable option only if the business lends itself to it and there’s a way to ensure the employees are actually working.

Seniority Rules! For employees who are at the top of the totem pole this scenario seems like a great idea. After all, they’ve put in the years and years of hard work – shouldn’t they get an additional perk? In theory it sounds like it’s a fair solution – but if you have several employees who have been with you for a while and they always want the same holidays off as the rest of the department, it may cause frustration and friction.

First Come, First Served. Rewarding those who plan ahead can make creating your holiday schedule much easier. Determine the number of employees you can afford to do without, and once you have that number of employees put in requests – all other requests will be turned down. This puts the burden on the employee to submit PTO in a timely fashion. However, you should set a timeline for how early employees can put in a vacation request – you don’t want Susan requesting the last week of December off for the next 3 years now.

Do a Lottery. Doing a lottery system for the most coveted days off when all your employees want to take PTO time may be the fairest option. Have all your employees put their name on a slip of paper, toss them into a bag, and pick as many names as employees you can afford to be without.

Split the Days Up. There are a few ways to do this one. If your employees don’t care about having the whole day off – split the shifts into mornings and afternoon and everyone works a half day. If your employees prefer full days off – split up the week instead. Give Joe Monday and Tuesday off and give Jane Thursday and Friday off. Everybody wins!

Give a Holiday Differential. If it’s in your budget, offer a small hourly pay differential to those who choose to work the day before Thanksgiving or the days surrounding Christmas and New Year’s. It may solve your scheduling problem for you.

Create Black Out Days. This one is at the bottom for a reason – it’s probably the least favorable option and won’t win you any brownie points with your employees, but it is needed in some industries: retail, hospitality, and even healthcare. If an employee wants off during a blackout period he or she would need to ask well in advance, with a good reason, and it would be at the manager’s discretion. It’s a good idea to inform employees from the beginning of the blackout policy so they aren’t blindsided come holiday time.

Handling PTO request any other time of year is typically a breeze, but navigating the request during the peak of the holiday season should be handled with care. Not only can it upset employees, but it could also disrupt your company culture and your brand.

Becoming a better vacation manager is far more important than the challenges of enduring a temporary gap in staffing. Not only are employees entitled to the time off, but research shows that taking it is critical for both their engagement and to avoid long-term burnout. You can read my blog on that here: CLICK ME!

How does your company handle holiday PTO requests? I’d love to hear about it!

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Prospecting with Email Marketing

Email is 40 times more effective at getting new customers than Facebook and Twitter combined. — McKinsey. We do a ton of email marketing for clients and Red Barn – some of it is thought leadership focused like my Thursday morning Tribe Mail. (sign up here), but much of it is done primarily for prospecting.

So how do we get consistent above average open rates and click through rates AND conversion with our email marketing?Consistency, Great Content, and yep – a lot of trial and error with subject lines.

Consistency. They don’t call them “Drip Email Campaigns” because you just do it once. Effective email campaigns do just that – drip like a leaky faucet until someone takes notice and takes action. AHA moment – you immediately thought annoying leaky faucet. But think deeper – most sales people give up after 1 or 2 connections yet people don’t take action until after 10-12 touch points.

For thought leadership emails, I’m a fan of weekly. Same time, same place. No visuals – just great content that spurs thinking. It’s all about building your personal brand and connecting it with your company brand. Having people see you in a different light – you know, showing off your secret sauce.

For Drip Campaigns, you need multiple touches weekly and they run over several MONTHS. Visuals happen when they take action – so going to a landing page or your website, otherwise I keep them text only. WHY? One word: mobile.

ContentOnce someone clicks on your email – you need to give your prospect something valuable to read!  Remember people buy from people they KNOW, LIKE and TRUST – in that order.  So, if you are prospecting to a cold list – don’t go in for the kill immediately.  Let them get to know you and like you first – this can happen all in one email or it can get built up over time.  Why should someone take the time to know you or even like you?

I’m a fan of giving something to get something.  Offer a free download, give them some “tool” for free or some free insight into what you offer.  Again – you need to build up to the Trust phase before they will buy.  Toss in some testimonials, send them back to read a blog you’ve written.  Give them something valuable.

Subject lines. Depending on what stats you look at – up to 50% of people will decide to open or not open an email based on the subject line. More daunting, subject lines can also toss you in a SPAM folder depending on what you write and to whom you are sending it to! In the end – it takes some A/B testing depending on your Target Client Profile. Here are some quick stats from our friends at Hubspot:

  • Emails that contain the word \”you\” in the subject line are opened 5% less often than those without.
  • Emails that contain the word \”tomorrow\” in the subject line are opened 10% more often than those without.
  • Emails with subject lines containing 30 or fewer characters have the best open rates.
  • Emails with personalized subject lines are more than 20% more likely to get opened.
  • Emails with the word “Meeting” in the subject line were opened 7% less than those without.
  • Emails with the word “Newsletter” in the subject line had a 18.7% lower open rate than those with out
  • Use the word “Alert” – and see 61.8% higher open rate
  • The top 5 subject lines in recent studies all included “Re:”

Of course, these are some general observations – you need to try and see what works for you!

Email marketing works.

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Working from the Road – Remotely!

I’m penning this article while sitting riding in my RV through the hills of West Virginia enroute to Kentucky. I’ve created a work scenario for myself that allows for this type of flexibility. “Back in the day”, very few people could work remotely unless they were writers and had typewriters, a travel luxury. Today, more and more companies/organizations are allowing their team to work from virtually anywhere. Now, as Jenn at Red Barn would say, it’s not all roses and unicorns this remote world I live in – but, it’s pretty darn close. Why I LOVE IT

  • I work on my time. In the end, as long as all the work gets done and clients are happy, does it really matter when the work gets completed or where? Absolutely not. In fact, I am far more creative when I’m not sitting in my office surrounded by stuff. Put me in my RV (I wrote 4 magazine articles this morning before 10 am), or outside in the woods and I’m creative as all get out!
  • Change of pace. Going back to the creative piece, sometimes different scenery can inspire or the lack of the stifling office piles of papers (well in my office anyway) gives you some freedom to think better. For me, getting away always improves my work output.
  • My team is huge, costs are low. I can have employees all over the world and I don’t have some massive brick and mortar to pay for. I can also give my clients a more competitive rate and pay my employees more and even offer them more perks.
  • My employees are happy. Happy employees mean happy customers means happy business owner. If one of my team members wants to take their laptop and go sit at a park for the day, they go. The only “No” is if there are scheduled staff meetings or meetings with clients. Although we’ve been known to have more than one meeting outside or even via Skype.

The Challenges

  • Sometimes you miss people. Now today, I’m in the RV with Dave – so I have people! But there are days when I don’t have any client appointments and I’m just tired of no human interaction. Same with my staff – good news is we are all conscious of that challenge and work with it. We may all get together at my house or all grab lunch – just for some humanizing!
  • Staying Organized. Big challenge for me, not my forte but I force myself. Between project management tools, lists, and cloud based everything, I seem to keep it together. You must embrace technology if you want it to work though.
  • Not everyone is a good remote worker. I learned this the hard way when hiring my team. I’ve learned that some people just love a cubicle (Gasp – not for me at all!).
  • Discipline. You should be disciplined working remotely – especially for me in the RV! I set work time and stick to it. But once my work is done – I’m done, I don’t sit in front of my laptop from 9-5 because I’m supposed to.
  • Getting away from work. When you don’t go to an office, your office follows you around. My discipline challenge is not working all the time vs. not working enough! At home, I leave my office and don’t go back in. The RV is a bit more challenging! I put away my laptop and papers into my bag and that’s me closing the door for the day.
  • Security. Making sure our data is secure in multiple locations has its challenges, but we just have processes to ensure we are internally compliant! So far (fingers crossed) we’ve done very well!

Business owners who allow their team to try working remotely might be pleasantly surprised of the outcomes! Happier employees, better productivity and increased revenues!

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