Liz Strauss.com

I’ve been talking to colleagues and my readers about the problems of invidividuals who have left organizational employment to work on their own. Many are finding that they are unprepared for the change in environment, the call for new skill sets, and the need to manage their own time within a framework that dictates that if they don’t work, they don’t make an income.

Some have not done the research, either by nature of how they came to be in their new situation — through layoffs or loss of employment — or because they didn’t consider the wealth of services that their previous company provided for them. Many don’t know where to start. Some are completely overwhelmed. Others get distracted easily and find the week has ended before their work has begun.

Do you know someone who needs help

meeting deadlines?

managing priorities?

setting and meeting goal?

setting up a business?

determining personal strengths and weaknesses?

making sure that legalities and taxes are covered?

finding and reaching an appropriate market?

knowing where to start?

establishing a brand?

writing a business plan?

assessing needs?

making action plans?

I’m looking for 2-3 new clients to beta test the service that I’m about to launch — the Perfect Virtual Manager (PVM). If you or someone you know could benefit from an experienced business manager/partner, contact me to for a conversation. I’ll be offering this beta service at a special pre-launch half-price structure.

Behind every Successful small business is an Outstanding Manager.

Liz Strauss.

773-619 0371
lizsun2 at gmail [dot] com
Skype lizstrauss

Blogging attracts intelligent people — people who like to read and write, people who like to explore new ideas. One thing many intelligent people have in common is that we often have had an easy time of learning things as we grew up and so we’re not used to, or comfortable with, having others watch us learn.

Yet the best advice I can give a new blogger is to learn from someone who knows.

Almost every really successful new blogger learns how from someone who has blogged before — maybe we do it by watching from the sidelines, being the proverbial “lurker,” reading blogs without commenting. That is one way, but not the best.

The advantage of learning outright from a successful blogger — by meeting one and asking questions — is that it raises the speed at which you’ll connect with your audience, get ranked on search engines, and establish a positive blogging relationship with readers, making them part of your organization’s team. It’s worth investing a few hours to make your blog the human face that you want your customers to get to know. It’s an investment well made to spend some time with a professional blogger before you start a company blog.

As an enterprise with a marketing plan, you’re actually at an advantage. You can strategize where your blog fits in your company’s overall picture. Guy Kawasaki, the wunderkind of Apple, is now the wunderkind of blogging. He knew exactly what to do going in, before he started his blog, Signum sine tinnitu by Guy Kawasaki. His blog is in the top 40 of the more than 40 million blogs indexed by Technorati, the blog index and search engine.

How did he do that? He made it an integral part of his marketing plan. Thousands of press releases went out before his first blog post went up. Now his blog supports his company, his speaking engagements, and his brand. It also lets people feel that they know Guy Kawasaki as a person, almost as a personal friend.

That’s a powerful transformation. How could it happen without a blog?

Liz Strauss

Want an hour of Liz’s personal consulting time? See the About Liz page.

Multitasking is on its way out for me. I’ve suspected for sometime it was a major source of what made me tired and cranky. I wasn’t getting more done. I was just doing more at the same time. The proof is in. Doing many things at once is not efficient. It’s ruining us.

Well, at least it was ruining me.

I had started to take seriously the idea that I was developing an attention deficit of some sort.

Continuous Partial Attention. That’s what it’s called, Continuous Partial Attention — CPA. Keeping our eyes and ears alert to everything. Always scanning the information in the foreground, the midground, and the background, in case something we need to know might pop onto our radar screens — we have more than one screen to check, you know.

It works when what we’re doing is routine. It’s disastrous, if what we’re doing requires reflection, concentration, or humanity.

“Excuse me, son, what did you say about bleeding?”

Along with the scanning comes the anxiety that we might miss something. We must stay connected . . . we can’t miss anything. Linda Stone spoke of this in a recent interview with Stephen Levy at Newsweek.

. . . there’s a problem in the workplace when the interruptions intrude on tasks that require real concentration or quiet reflection. And there’s an even bigger problem when our bubble of connectedness stretches to ensnare us no matter where we are. A live BlackBerry or even a switched-on mobile phone is an admission that your commitment to your current activity is as fickle as Renée Zellweger’s wedding vows. Your world turns into a never-ending cocktail party where you’re always looking over your virtual shoulder for a better conversation partner. The anxiety is contagious . . .

I’ve taken to doing one thing at a time these days, and I find I’m getting more things done and done with fewer errors.

I’m breathing slower and liking myself better.

I had only been thinking that multitasking might be the problem until I read Marianne Richmond’s blog article, Giving and Getting Attention. It was so in line with what I was thinking; I had to act on it.

A blog and a blog writer moved me to a more quality life. How could that happen?

Liz Strauss