I realized while I was filling out my invoice for last month that I’ve been working freelance for Wasabi Ventures for nearly a year now.  It’s been an education experience to say the least, and I thought I’d jot down a few things that I’ve learned from my boss during that time.  Not all of them will work for everybody (see numbers four and five), but hopefully you’ll find a few of them helpful.  Oh, and they’re in no particular order, for the record.

1.) Never be late to anything.  This usually means showing up early by as much as 15 minutes, as travel times can be unpredictable.  But lateness can ruin a first impression, or erode a long-standing one.

2.) Keep up with your email and your personal network.  It reflects very poorly on you when you can’t be bothered to answer a simple email — so no matter how many emails you get and how many people you have to connect with, do your best.

3.) Take short breaks/vacations.  Regularly scheduled time off is all well and good, but try to stay on top of emails and small projects in your spare time during these anyway, and don’t plan very many long trips that will keep you out of the loop for too long.

4.) Don’t sleep too much.  It seems like no matter what time I send my boss an email, day or night, I get a quick response.  This includes 4 am on a Sunday.

5.) Don’t go to bed when you travel.  I’ll admit I’m not sure exactly how he does this, but my understanding is you schedule as many meetings as possible during the day and keep up with the rest of your work at night.

6.) Enjoy life while you work.  Even though my boss seems like a workaholic robot sent back in time from the future to work way too hard, I frequently hear about short trips he’s taken with his family or quality time he’s spent at home.  Find some balance.  I guess the way he does this is by working hard at odd hours.  Scheduling is key.

7.) Make mistakes.  This is how you learn.  I can’t tell you how many times he has said this to me.  It’s both empowering and nerve-wracking, but it helps.

8.) Do stuff right away.  If you have a moment and identify something that needs to be done, do it right then and there or send a quick message to the appropriate agent.  This avoids too many things falling through the cracks.

9.) Stay up on the news.  Read quick articles and send them around to your coworkers to keep people in the loop and promote conversation.

10.) Know when to be formal and when to be informal.  Adopt the appropriate style for dealing with each scenario and individual to get the type of outcome you desire.  Different people like to deal with things differently.  If you go the distance for someone that will put them at ease.

11.) Go in a lot of directions at once.  Not every project will pan out, so don’t put all your eggs in one basket.  Test the waters, do your research, and don’t be afraid to try new things (see number seven).

So there you have it.  Eleven quick (and random) rules that you may or may not be able to easily integrate into your own work life.  I’m sure there are plenty more, but those are the ones that stuck out to me as I was mulling over my past year’s employment.  Best of luck folding them into your daily routine.

I ran across the 100 Thing Challenge not too long ago and since then the idea has intrigued me.  My father had a colleague that strived to never own more stuff than he could fit into the back of his Honda CRX, which I guess is a personal variant on the idea of whittling your possessions down to a nice, round 100.  But are such goals merely artificial ways to achieve happiness through less attachment to physical things?  What about just a general goal of decluttering your life?

Regular Wasabi Ventures blog contributor Barbara Hemphill has written a couple good posts for us about the importance of simplifying ones workplace.  It’s amazing how good organization and self-management can help you get richer.  But where do you go from there?  What’s the point of being rich, besides providing for your loved ones and buying more toys?  Why did we get into this game?

J.D. Roth, the patient-yet-effective blogger behind Get Rich Slowly, asks these exact questions in an excellent article about the third stage of personal finance.  His answer, in a nutshell?  We all seek to get rich so that we can have the kind of life we want — not so we can have the kind of stuff we want.  Stuff may factor into that (I certainly wouldn’t mind having a garage full of well-polished cars and fancy motorcycles) but we need to remember that stuff can become a source of stress just as easily as a source of satisfaction.

The entrepreneurial game — and it is a game — has the potential to be far more satisfying than working your standard nine-to-five.  We get to be our own bosses; call the shots in our work lives as well as our personal lives.  That’s a big deal.  But it comes at the price of constant competition and frequent stress.  We need to know that we’re working towards something that really matters to us or else we’ll find ourselves wondering what the point of it all was when our own, personal sun begins to set.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet recently announced that 38 other wealthy individuals (of which 30 are billionaires) have signed the Giving Pledge to give away half their fortunes.  Most of us will never be billionaires, but that doesn’t mean our gifts would be insignificant.  A lot of good can be done in this world with far less than a billion dollars.

My personal interest in the power of a few committed individuals started when I read Mountains Beyond Mountains, a book that chronicles the efforts of Dr. Paul Farmer and his quest to bring modern medical care to the impoverished nation of Haiti.  His incredible work (which has since spread to other poor countries such as Russia, Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi, and Peru), was funded largely by one man — a wealthy business owner looking to do something worthwhile with his fortune.

If that isn’t a reason to play the entrepreneurial game then I don’t know what is.  Follow your bliss, start your own business, create some jobs, live like you want to along the way, and then find something truly meaningful to do with the proceeds when you’re finished.  Something great from something small.  Inspiring.

Have you ever found a lead on a scrap of paper after the prospect purchased from your competition?   Are you spending time recreating proposals because you can’t find a similar one you wrote a few months ago?  Do you run out of the door for an appointment at the last minute because you couldn’t find the brochures you really wanted to take?  Are you feeling overwhelmed?  If so, here are six simple steps to help you increase sales and decrease stress:

Make a date with yourself for getting your act together: Plan a minimum of three hours when there will be no interruptions.  Decide on a reward for yourself when you’re finished. Do anything you can to reduce your stress during the process – put on music, grab your favorite beverage, and get plenty of trash bags and recycling bins.

Take everything off your desk except what you must have or do: (A photograph or memento that reminds you of the reason you work is definitely OK!) Practice The Art of Wastebasketry. Research shows that 80 percent of what you keep you never use! Tossing or keeping is not a moral issue, but it is a practical one.  So how do you decide what to keep? Ask, “What’s the worst thing that could happen if I didn’t have this piece of paper?” If you can live with the results of your answer, toss it or recycle it.

Get the right tools for your business: Half of any job is using the right tool!  Put three trays on your desk: (1) In (2) Out (3) File. “In” is for new mail – papers you have not yet looked at.  “Out” is for items that need to go elsewhere, such as the post office, or to another room. “File” is for papers you need to file outside the reach of where you sit. Eliminate paper whenever you can!

Implement The File-Act-Toss System: Clutter is postponed decisions.  The good news? There are only three decisions you can make about what to do with any piece of paper or electronic file.  (1) File it in a Reference File in case you need it in the future. (2) Act on it immediately or choose a date when you will. (3) Toss, recycle, or delete it.

Create an Action Filing System: If you say, “I have to do that,” follow up with “When?”  If there isn’t an actual date, creating an artificial one will eliminate items falling through the cracks.  When you continually postpone doing something, ask yourself, “What’s the worst possible thing that would happen if I didn’t do this?” or “Is there an easier way to do this?” or “Could someone else help me with this?” Create a system for retrieving the information you need when you are ready to take action.  (There are many possibilities. If you’re not sure how to do it, an hour phone consultation with an expert could change your world forever!)

Create a Reference Filing System: If your existing filing system (paper or electronic) isn’t working, start over!  In this day and age, fewer and fewer people are keeping paper reference files – it’s costly and not very productive. But don’t feel overwhelmed at the thought of having to scan all those old papers. Instead, create an electronic filing structure for the new information, and add the old only as you need it.  (If you have both physical and electronic resources, and you want a way to collaborate, check out iPEP (www.iPEPonline.com)

Will this system turn you into a perennially “clean desk” person? Unlikely! Messy desks are the natural outcome of a hectic pace. A place for everything and everything in its place? Forget that, but it is half right. A place for everything means than when you want to clean up your office to meet a client, or just because you’re just sick of the mess yourself, recovering is no big deal. Some quick decision-making will clean off your desk in a matter of minutes and bring back a sense of control.

After about eight or nine months spent working from home and about the same amount of time “playing house” I have come to the conclusion that the two are very much related.  Working from home is like raising a toddler.  In a word: challenging.

I know there are about bajillion articles out there about how to work from home, just as there are about a hojillion (which is larger than a bajillion) articles out there about raising a toddler, which I can identify closest to herding cats.  What sets this article apart from all of them is that I will talk about both.  At the same time.

Little kids thrive on routine.  Rather, if you don’t want to get run ragged by the seemingly endless energy of a child then you need to establish a routine.  Same goes for working from home.

When you work from home a strange phenomenon emerges.  Your friends think you sit around all day in your underwear surfing the internet; your co-workers think you’re available, ready, and willing to work all the time.  You get calls to hang out and run errands with your buddies (who can’t imagine that you might be busy) at noon on a Wednesday just like you get emails asking you to send over some file “ASAP” from your co-workers (who can’t imagine that you have a life) at 10 PM on Friday.

Balancing both is a tricky thing — it’s all too easy to get sucked into either world.  It’s tempting to postpone work for another time when you get an offer to do something fun during “work hours” just as it’s tempting to answer “just this one email” when you’re supposed to be spending time with the people that matter to you.

Just like the toddler, whose uninhibited world is awash with endless possibilities, you need some framework and structure to your day or else you might find yourself running around naked playing with toy swords when you should be eating your vegetables (or whatever the “mature” equivalent is to this).

Working from home offers remarkable flexibility, coupled with the fact that you never have to deal with rush hour traffic, which is nice.  It can be both a trying and rewarding experience, much like parenthood.  Yet while many of us will spend hours reading up on how to be better parents, we spend remarkably little time improving our own work habits.

Luckily for us, we have (hopefully) been prepared to overcome the obstacles of self-motivation and personal effectiveness by our parents, our schools, and our previous jobs.  We know when we work best, how we work best, and what “our best” is.  Being free from the cubicle empowers us to structure our workday around these three things.  But, as anyone who has seen Spiderman knows, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

I have found that if I want to take advantage of all the freedom that working from home has to offer, I have to limit myself in certain ways to ensure regular productivity.  I’ve already shared my system for doing this, as well as a decent starting point for the whole process.  But I’ll add to this a short list of some helpful hints and tips I’ve picked up along the way.

• Set yourself a daily schedule and keep to it.  Since no one will be watching how well you abide by it, you’ll have to find a system for staying honest.  I covered this in depth before.
• Find ways to want to get up and start your day so you can get to work earlier.  I find it helps me if I work out after I get up, but this can be anything for you, such as eating a hearty breakfast.  Remember that an added bonus to starting early is finishing early too.
• When you’re supposed to be working, say “no” to non-work requests that can easily be rescheduled later.  Flexibility is key here, because some things can’t be moved, and it’s very important to keep your work and your personal life balanced.  But remember that when you’re supposed to be working, you’re supposed to be working.
• Have an office and a work computer.  Do as much to rid these of non-work distractions as possible.  This will help you stay focused, as you will get used to working (not playing) when you sit down at your desk and turn on your computer.  Keep the online shopping and the funny pictures of cats for the family desktop.
• When you “leave work” — leave work!  If you don’t let yourself work constantly then you will force yourself to be productive in the times you are supposed to be working.  Again, a little flexibility goes a long way here, as sometimes an hour of downtime during a weekend can be a valuable opportunity to focus for the coming work-week.
• Use whatever productivity and motivational device you employed in school to keep yourself on track.  For me, this is making lists and checking things off.  For many, this may be waiting until the last minute to work “under pressure.”  If so, then set aggressive deadlines for yourself that you must meet to avoid procrastinating.
• Decide in advance on acceptable “break” activities, so that when you need to take one you don’t get sucked into something totally unproductive and time-consuming.  For example, I have several sites bookmarked that I like to read during lunch breaks that feature articles on a wide variety of topics in which I am interested, from business life to motorcycles.
• Don’t drink alcohol.  There’s a reason that you aren’t supposed to show up hammered to work.  In fact, it may be worthwhile to make a list of other things that shouldn’t be done at work that can be equally as distracting as booze, depending on the individual.
• “Show up to work” presentable.  I’m not saying you have to wear a coat and tie, but you should at least be ready to leave the house at a moment’s notice if required to do so, even if you will never be required to do so.  I find this helps me feel a little more like I’m “at work” even though I’m just in my office across the hall from my bedroom.
• Take note of what you’re doing and how it’s working.  Then always try to improve.  It’s always possible!

I hope this advice can help even some of the seasoned veterans.  You may ask why I’ve been so focused on productivity when writing for an entrepreneurial blog.  It’s because entrepreneurs often find themselves in working conditions outside of the norm.  Sometimes it takes a very concerted effort to keep our inner toddler in check and not run wild when there are companies to start and people to lift out of unemployment.

Have you ever missed an opportunity because you didn’t ask a question? Have you ever wondered why someone didn’t buy from you? Have you ever ignored someone at an event because you didn’t know what to say to them?

For the first nine years of my education, I attended a one-room school in Nebraska with one teacher and nine grades. Unfortunately, I was the victim of what has become known as “bullying,” and my school days were miserable and lonely. To become “invisible” and refrain from appearing stupid, I made the decision it was best not to ask questions. That decision impacted my business and personal life negatively in numerous ways in the upcoming years.

In her wonderful book, Soul Proprietor: 101 Lessons from a Lifestyle Entrepreneur, Jane Pollack shared that she too felt stupid growing up. The result was that she was reluctant to share the knowledge she had because she was afraid she would be diminished. My reaction was just the opposite — I gave away everything because I wanted to be accepted and didn’t have the courage to ask for what I wanted! Neither decision is healthy or productive!

As a result of some very intensive work with a personal coach, I have learned the power of asking questions. As a result, I have enjoyed amazing results. Here are some examples:

1) I am able to get a handle on my business finances for the first time in 30 years because I’m not afraid to ask bankers, suppliers, and clients when I need clarification.
2) I’m able to discuss finances with prospects so that I can understand whether they are truly a prospect for the services we offer.
3) I have fewer disagreements with my family and friends when I ask them questions about the things they say or do.
4) I develop more meaningful relationships in network settings because I can ask questions about what people say that I don’t understand.
5) I get better service because I’m willing to ask for it!

Could you improve your business — or your life — by asking more questions? Here are some possibilities:

• What do you mean by that?
• Can you tell me more?
• How did you come to that conclusion?
• How would that affect the situation?
• Would you be willing to consider…?
• Does that make senses to you?
• Can you explain ______ to me?
• Would you be willing to give me a testimonial?
• Can you tell me how to…?
• Would you mind if I took a picture?
• What would happen if you…?

Finally, I’ve learned that not only is it helpful to ask questions of other people, I can — and should — ask them of myself. For example, “What could happen if I…?” or “What would happen if I didn’t…?”

Happy asking!

I wrote last time about The Art of Self-Motivation. At the time, I hadn’t quite figured out what actually worked best for me. Now, after a solid month of trial and error (and a lot of time spent — a good deal of it wasted — before that), I have developed a system that seems to be working quite well.

The first step was to take some time to think carefully about my goals. I wrote out everything that I wanted to make happen in my life, both short and long term. These goals could be anything, big or small. I devoted about a full workday to thinking and writing about this. To make sure I would stay focused on these goals, I also wrote down what I was allowed to do and when I was allowed to do it.

Then I sorted them into four categories: short term personal goals (eating better and working out 2-3 times per week), short term business goals (becoming more efficient at accomplishing my daily workload and setting up a savings account), long term personal goals (managing my relationships), and long term business goals (starting my own business).

Once I had written all these down in a notebook and sorted them into their respective categories I typed them up and posted them on my desk above my monitor so that I would have to see them every day when I sit at my desk. I also wrote out a basic schedule to follow, since I found that having set times to work and play actually led to increased productivity and more consistent performance.

This worked for a little while, but since I work from home and only see my bosses on a very inconsistent basis, I decided I needed a system of accountability. So I developed a way to make myself accountable to the one person I dealt with each day no matter what: myself.

At the end of my workday I grade myself. I give myself a standard letter grade for both my business and my personal progress towards my goals based off my performance, and I write brief notes about why I earned these grades as well. This way I have a sort of “goal journal” that tracks my progress each day to look back on and learn from.

Each day I start out with a “B” and every good thing I do bumps me up 1/3rd of a letter grade, just as each negative bumps me down. So on a day that I do two good things (say, write a good blog post and edit a draft of a newspaper article) and one bad thing (sleep through my alarm in the morning) I earn a B+ for my business grade. If I ate well and exercised, then I get an A- for my personal grade.

I then write out a to-do list for the next day so that I’m not starting from scratch every morning and nothing slips through the cracks. Checking things off this list directly determines what grade I will give myself the next day, so I keep this realistic yet challenging. The whole process takes me about five extra minutes at the end of each workday.

So far, so good. I find that this system keeps me more on track than scrambling around each morning to figure out what needs to be done and then working until I think I am finished. And best of all? I find that I can work shorter hours while still getting more done when I keep my focus on working on certain projects at certain times, while still allowing for some amount of flexibility in both my work and personal life.

I’m sure that this system will continue to evolve over time, just as I’m sure it’s not a cookie-cutter solution for everyone, but for now I find that it is a very effective mechanism to keep me doing what I need to do to get me where I want to go.

If you’re reading this hoping to discover the secret to self-motivation, then I have to say that I’m sorry to disappoint you.  If there is a secret to self-motivation, it’s that there is no secret to self-motivation.  It’s sort of like one of Socrates’ teachings, or maybe the first two rules of Fight Club.  Truly, self-motivation is an art.

I was first introduced to the art of self-motivation by a man named Steve Pavlina, who nowadays seems to be one step away from becoming a sort of spiritual healer.  But back when I stumbled across his articles he was far more concerned with effective time management than with self-actualization.

I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with this.  In my own opinion, the main reason to effectively manage your time or your money is to be able to lead the type of life that you want and to be happy.  In other words, to self-actualize — to create in yourself the type of person you most want to be.

As I’ve found, one of the best ways to be happy is to escape from having to worry about continuously treading water at work or with your finances.  You don’t have to be idle or rich to be happy — indeed both of these come with their own special set of problems.  But you’ll want to be doing something you enjoy doing, and you don’t want to be nervous all the time about how you’re going to pay your bills.

The solution I see many people adopt to accomplish both of these goals is to take steps to limit their choices.  They settle into a career they don’t hate and make enough money to buy the stuff they want.  But if you’ve been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, or even if you’re taking time to read an entrepreneurial blog, this is probably not going to cut it for you.

The fact is, there will always be things we want to be able to do, and we’ll always be able to spend as much money as we make.  No longer being obligated to “tread water” simply isn’t going to be enough for everyone.  That’s where the art of self-motivation comes in.

Self-motivation isn’t just something entrepreneurs or people who work from home need to learn, although it is a special challenge that requires careful decision making beyond what is often demanded by a nine-to-five.

Pavlina has a great article entitled “Do it Now” that talks about setting goals for yourself and making your own rules to allow yourself to achieve them.  I was in high school when I first read this article, and it opened my mind to the incredible potential we all have within us to do what we most want to do.  When I was reminded of it a few days ago I immediately wondered whether or not I was still paying attention to anything I had learned from it.

The short answer is: not really.  While I can certainly pat myself on the back for being aware of many of the ideas Pavlina talks about, there is a vast difference between having potential and using it.  Entrepreneurs are especially sensitive to this, as any one worth his scratch will tell you that ideas are a dime a dozen and reality is everything.

Picture a bonsai tree.  This tiny marvel started out the same way any normal, full-sized tree started.  Sure, someone had a goal for it — to make it small — but simply having the goal does nothing.  Bonsai trees require regular attention and continuous adaptation to grow properly.  Too much trimming and it will be crippled; too little and it won’t be what it was intended to be.

In the same way as this fragile plant, your life and your business need attention (and adaptation) to thrive.  The beauty of living organisms it that they find a way to survive in just about any condition.  Your body will tell you to take better care of it if the need arises, so it’s unlikely that you’ll suddenly find yourself starving in a gutter.  But what about your business?

These days, everyone has been told over and over again to write down their future goals and work to make them a present reality.  But when was the last time you actually did that?  And when was the last time you looked them over to see how you were doing, or if any changes needed to be made?  If your answer wasn’t within the past week, it’s probably been too long.

Life is dynamic and complex.  So must be your focus.  Finding the discipline to keep working towards your goals can be difficult, but it is perhaps the most worthwhile task you can set for yourself.

Surveys repeatedly name “too much e-mail” and “too little time” as two of the biggest stumbling blocks to accomplishing your work and enjoying your life. The two go hand-in-hand, for sure, but the question is whether you are the victim or the culprit!  In my experience, the answer is usually “Both!”  One of my favorite definitions of “organization” is “controlling the things you can control, so you can cope with the things you can’t.”  While you do have limited control over the e-mail you receive, you have total control over how you mange it.  Consider these possibilities:

When Sending E-Mail:

1. Use the e-mail subject line to clearly describe the purpose of your e-mail. For example, “Proposed Itinerary for Chicago 12/15/10 – CONFIRM by 6/18/10.”
2. Include only one subject per email message. This eliminates the possibility of the receiver reacting to the first issue, and missing the second, and it makes filing and retrieval much simpler.
3. If your e-mail requires action quickly, put URGENT or DECISION in the subject line, or use the “urgent” notation provided by your e-mail program.  (Caution:  Don’t overuse, or you will be like boy in the old fable who cried “wolf” too many times!)
4. When replying to e-mail, attach enough of the old message for the recipient to remember the content of the original e-mail, but delete unnecessary information or duplication.
5. If you are composing a lengthy or complicated e-mail, create the e-mail in your word processing program and then copy to your e-mail.  If you have an e-mail glitch during the sending process, you can easily retrieve your message!
6. Avoid sending e-mail attachments whenever possible. Receivers are becoming more reluctant to open attachments due to the increasing prevalence of viruses that can come through attachments. (One precaution is to send an e-mail alerting the receiver that you are sending a file in a subsequent e-mail.)
7. Avoid communicating other people’s e-mail addresses without their permission, e.g.:

• When sending an e-mail to multiple addresses, put your e-mail in the “To” line and the recipients in the “BCC” line.
• When forwarding an e-mail, delete the addresses automatically included in the body of the forwarded e-mail.

Organizing Your E-Mail:

1. “Clutter is Postponed Decisions®” applies to your electronic In Box as well as your physical desktop. When you open your e-mail In Box, apply The File-Act-Toss System® to each e-mail.
2. Apply the 2-minute rule whenever possible. If you can take the necessary action in 2 minutes, do it immediately.  It will take longer to file and retrieve again than to “just do it!”

10.  When you first open an e-mail, apply The Art of Wastebasketry® question “What is the worst possible thing that could happen if I toss this?” If you can live with your answer, delete and work happily ever after!

11.  If the e-mail requires no action, but you want to keep it, file it in electronic folders for future reference.  Possibilities include:

• Name of person
• Name of project
• Topic – e.g., “Statistics” “Humor”

12.  If you receive an e-mail with a subject line that doesn’t reflect the actual content, most e-mail programs will allow you to rename it so it will be easier to find later.

13.  Don’t be hesitant to print out e-mails and file in paper files for future reference if that works for you.

14.  Store in folders for future action, such as:

1. Print out (Helpful when you don’t have access to printer)
2. Name of person (Note you can have a Reference File and an Action File for the same person. Reference is for items completed; Action for items yet to be completed.)

15.  In Microsoft Outlook, you can turn e-mails into tasks. Left click on an e-mail and drag it to a task folder and drop it, a task window will pop open with the e-mail appended to it.  Write in the task; assign a priority, and a due date.  Click Save.  Now you can delete the original e-mail.

16.  Change the subject line to reflect action required. For example, change “re:re:re: Annual Meeting” to “Call travel agent re: Chicago trip.”

17.  Make a habit of regularly purging (or at least archiving) your e-mail. (It’s one of the ways I make use of time on airplanes when I’m too tired to think creatively!)

Maximizing Your E-Mail Program:

18.  Invest time to understand how your e-mail program works using the “Help” menu with your e-mail program or from self-help books.

19.  One of the best investments I ever made was hiring a consultant to work with me a few hours to learn how to use the “Rules” feature in my e-mail program to send messages directly into folders.

Think Outside your In Box

20.  Your “In Box” is not a filing cabinet, a to-do list, a calendar, an address book, or a bookmark list – or a depository for postponed decisions. In other words, your goal is to “Keep your In Box empty!”  Consider using a Web 2.0 program such as iPEP (www.iPEPonline.com) to manage your work.  You can send email directly to the program and it’s instantly keyword searchable!

Happy e-mailing!

Angela Watson, Founder, Your Personal Poster

I founded Your Personal Posters, based in Long Beach, California. A graphic designer by trade, I created a line of posters that honor all the special people in your life by placing them on a poster surrounded by other famous people.

I made the first one for my friend, Lori Barnes.  Three years ago, Lori had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Lori lived several hundred miles away, and although I wanted to help my friend, I was frustrated by the distance that separated us.

Stuck in a cubicle in corporate hell, I sat down at my computer one afternoon, and started researching other famous breast cancer survivors and with some divine inspiration, created the very first SurvivorPoster™.  I wanted to give Lori some sense that a great many others had survived breast cancer and chemotherapy and that she would, too.

Well, that one poster turned into several others, made for friends and family. The feedback I received was just astonishing, my families and friends loved the aspect that it was so personal and unique. I decided a year later to set up SurvivorPosters™ and escaped cubicle hell forever. Of course, being laid off three times in eight years may have colored that decision somewhat as well.

I have been hard at work over the past three years and have introduced several new poster lines, including MomPosters™, DadPosters™, YouGoGirlPosters™, PridePosters™, ProfessionalPosters™, MilitaryPosters™, PoliticalPosters™, AlumniPosters™ and GoNativePosters™. They are now all housed under YourPersonalPoster™.

YourPersonalPoster.com™ gives you the freedom to express your thoughts within our unique and colorful posters. You choose the style, the size, and your own words to create a quality, lasting personalized gift of love that will capture a sentiment forever.

And if you’re wondering about Lori, she made it through chemo and radiation, and is doing just fine now.  In fact, to celebrate both her health and YourPersonalPosters.com, I recently gave her a black pearl necklace to commemorate her being “the grain of sand in my oyster,” that is, the inspiration for turning my dream into reality.

Angela Shipp, Founder, Bluehealer Diary

Angela Shipp here, author of the new bluehealer diary, a personal day planner and health journal. I wanted to touch base with you about my book, which I believe could be an excellent story about the inspiration for ideas for your blog.

Publishing has always inspired me. I was ecstatic when a poem I wrote was published in my school’s literary arts book. I wrote short stories I was sure would become novels. I designed family newspapers from craft paper and colored pencils.

So, it was no surprise when I began a career in corporate communications after college. I was 22 and was newly diagnosed with a chronic illness. I had a drive to help others who were in my situation but lacked the tools to make anything happen.

I became active in the community and mentoring, taking on a closet-full of hats. I was passionate about helping others and began saying “yes” to every opportunity to get involved. I was recognized for my accomplishments with awards, but I was overextended. Although I kept a calendar to prioritize my professional duties, my social calendar was even stressing me out and making my condition relapse!

Ten years had passed since my diagnosis, and I still aspired to help those struggling with the same illness. And now I had the skills to make it happen. Throughout countless tests, medications and treatments I had developed a calendar to track symptoms, medication and more. Because my health journaling helped my specialist guide my care, it led me to publish my calendar and share the method with others facing chronic illness. My dream is to help others realize that despite living with a chronic illness they can conquer any challenge and live life to the fullest.

Kelly Harmsen, Bjort & Company, Inc., Maker Of “The Eye Patch Kids” DVD

I have a very unique company that I started after my son was diagnosed with a vision problem called Amblyopia (Lazy Eye) and had to wear an eye patch to prevent blindness.  He was diagnosed at 2 years old, and it was impossible to get him to understand why he had to wear this eye patch. Then I came up with the idea to make a children’s DVD with puppets singing and dancing while wearing eye patches so my son would want to copy what they are doing.  It worked so well for him that I made this DVD available to the millions of other kids dealing with this issue.  Amblyopia is the most treatable form of blindness in the world, and all it takes is an eye patch, but it’s getting the child to wear it that is hard.  The DVD has been reviewed by CNN News, The American Academy of Ophthalmology’s magazine EyeNet, Insight Magazine, by the Royal National Institute for the Blind in the UK, The Optometrists Network, Tampa Bay News, Prevent Blinenss America and many others.

The need for ideas also inspired us to reach out to our realm of entrepreneurs and ask them about their ideas and where they came from.  So, this week we are going to highlight the feedback that we received and the stories that go with them.

This first installment covers people that found a spark of enlightenment from every day actions:

Budd Shamroth, Drain Mate and Before & after Remodeling Consulting

I have been in the remodeling industry for 20 years. I own a design build company called  Before & After Remodeling Consultant Inc. I love what I do; I make people’s dreams  reality. When I design people’s kitchens the largest request I get is to create more space in the kitchen.

One night I was doing my own dishes, and I couldn’t stand the plastic dish rack. Everyone I know who has one can’t stand them. They are ugly and take up usable counter space.  I put down a dish towel after I was done doing the dishes, and I had more water on my countertops and floor than a swimming pool.

I took a step back from the kitchen sink and said, “There has to be a better way.” I sat down and started to draw. The next thing I knew I had created three products instead of just one. Drain Mate was born, I pitched to my clients and everyone loved the idea.

The only thing I need now is exposure. This may seem like it was easy, but this has been one of the most difficult projects I ever encountered.  MY PASSION keeps me going. I know for a fact I have a multi-million dollar product.

Tangela Walker-Craft, Simply Necessary, Inc. and the GoPillow!

My daughter was born with a headful of black silky hair.  Each time I would breastfeed her, the back of her neck along the hairline would perspire, and my arm would be damp.  I decided that I needed an arm cover of some kind – not just for breastfeeding, but for cradling my baby.  I told my husband about an idea that I had.  He and I began playing around with various versions of an arm pillow.  My husband drew a rough sketch of a pillow and my aunt was able to sew a rough prototype for me.

I was watching a child product segment on a talk show when they plugged a website and explained that the company bought ideas from parent inventors.  I emailed the site and asked for submission requirements and sent in my idea.  The owner contacted me that same week.  She loved the idea.  After finding out that I was a stay-at-home mother trying to replace my previous teaching salary she asked me if I could come up with my own “start-up funds”.  She then told me how to get the product made and market it myself.

The original intent of the pillow was for cradling babies for breast or bottle feedings.  We knew it would be an excellent travel pillow.  The idea for adding the privacy blanket came later.  It was added after I was caught in a crowded area during a rainstorm at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.  My husband had to hide me with his shirt so that I could nurse my daughter.  We realized that a privacy blanket or cover would separate our pillow from any other nursing pillow on the market.  The built-in blanket turned the pillow into a multi-purpose wonder!  The GoPillow! solved several problems that mothers often run into when away from home with a baby or toddler.  The pillows are professionally manufactured and packaged.

Leslie Haywood, Founder and President, Charmed Life Products LLC

I invented Grill Charms™.  The concept is similar to wine charms, but for your food. Grill Charms™ are the size of a dime with a decorative head and a stem that is textured so as not to fall out of the food while grilling. They are made of food grade solid stainless steel, and sit flush on the food so they do not interfere with the grill when being moved or flipped.  Food is Grill Charmed prior to cooking so when it comes off the grill perfectly charred and plated for guests, everyone knows which one is theirs. They simply look for their unique individual Grill Charm™. No more cutting into 5 steaks to try to find the rare one. No more having all mild barbecue chicken because only a few people like it spicy. Have a food allergy or health concern? “Grill Charm-it” to avoid problems.

The whole crazy process started one sultry April night in 2006, my husband was grilling some fantastic boneless chicken breasts for my friends and I.  The flavor of the evening was Jerk, which we all love.  Some people happen to like their chicken “jerkier” than others.  IE, more rub equals more spice and heat.  Some of us like ours on the milder side.  Once all the chicken came off the grill, arranged on a serving plate, brought upstairs and served to our guests, my husband couldn’t tell which chicken was spicy.  Wouldn’t you know it… me being a “mild” person; I bit right into the hottest one of all!  He said “I wish there was a way to tell which chicken is which” and immediately I knew we had something.  This was the light bulb moment.  In my mind I started the company that night, but according to that State of SC, I didn’t start my company until November 2006.

I really had no idea where to start or how I was going to do it, but that night I started scribbling drawings of a prototype on a note pad and thought to myself “this could be as big as the wine charm.”  Everyone I know has wine charms.  You can’t get away from them!  Funny enough my initial goal and Vision Statement still to this day, is “To see Grill Charms™ become as popular and as common in the American home as the “wine charm”.