It’s become one of my new years resolutions – reduce interruptions.  As if there weren’t enough interruptions in a day; then came blog subscription notifications, Twitter, Facebook, an open plan office… etc, etc.  If we’re not talking to someone, we’re consuming media of some sort – all the time!  Don’t get me wrong, I love it – the digital age is incredible, but sometimes it drive me nuts. It scatters my thoughts.

I love interacting – it’s how I learn, grow (& sell!).  I just can’t help but notice how much more effective & productive I am when I’m not interacting!  It needs to be very, very carefully managed.  In fact, I think the ability to manage interruptions can seriously affect a career or a business.

If I’m in a “interrupted state” it’s really hard to focus on writing an important email, or proposal – things end up being done superficially, and without enough consideration.  This also extends to human interaction.  If you’re sitting with someone, having a conversation, or a quiet moment, and their phone is buzzing and burping constantly, distracting them from you – your interaction with them is also compromised.   How often do you get a message when spending time with your kids, and you whip out the phone to take a look?  People need to be present. Put down the iPhone and Blackberry and enjoy the personal company of the human(s) you’re sitting with right now (after you read this   ).

There are a bunch of other things to consider about having quiet time.  I’m compelled whenever I read something about these topics.  Here are some interesting thoughts to consider from others:

“If anything, it is having more choices that is driving more and more consumption. It’s our ability to fill those smaller time slots (like any idle moment of waiting in your life) with some form of media/entertainment (be it a quick glance of a Twitter feed or checking the sport scores on your mobile device)”.  From http://www.twistimage.com/blog/archives/you-do-this-more-than-sleeping-and-working/ – Mitch Joel.

This is a brilliant article – “A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that the net, with its constant distractions and interruptions, is turning us into scattered and superficial thinkers”.  From http://m.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/how-the-internet-makes-us-stupid-20100909-15383.html – Nicholas Carr.

Here are some things I like to do to help:

Turn off notifications

When I get a new tweet, instant message, email or blog post to read, I don’t really need to know about it immediately.  Turn off the notification settings on these apps, and watch your focus increase.  The world isn’t going to end if you don’t respond immediately.  People will come tap you on the shoulder if they need to.

Don’t answer/respond to your phone

I’ve removed my office phone from the Sales ring group.  I can still answer the phone if I hear it ringing, and feel like answering it, but my desk phone doesn’t ring all the time now.  When I get home from work, my mobile phone gets shelved at least for the “rush hour” – I have quality time to spend with the family.  If too busy at work, I turn it onto silent.

Don’t check your emails

If you really think about it, how many emails do you get that require an immediate response – anything that can’t wait a few hours?  And if something was urgent, wouldn’t they just call you?  Probably.  Give it a try – don’t click on the mail link for a few hours, you won’t explode.  I like to deal with emails first thing in the morning, in the middle of the day, mid afternoon, then end of day. 3-4 times per day is often enough.

Work remotely (not from home)

I often stop at a cafe I pass on the way to work – it’s usually quiet, they have big tables, good coffee, and free wifi. I can work there for as long as I want, without interruption.  I don’t work from home for various reasons.  I have 3 energetic kids, a talkative wife (bless her), and am easily distracted by the never ending list of stuff to do around the house.

Disconnect from the internet

The web is the cause of most of the interruptions in our lives – turn the wifi off on the laptop now and again – works for me.

Get up early

This is likely the most effective of all the techniques I use.  Not only are early mornings naturally void of most distractions, but I also find myself most aware, clear-minded and thoughtful at this time of the day.  I honestly think of my best ideas first thing in the morning – however rare they may be!

Lists

Oh man, I LOVE “Things” on my Mac.  There are heaps of ways to keep a list – write it down, use notepad, outlook tasks, to-do pads – whatever.  Just write stuff down.  If you think of something to do when you’re in the middle of something else, add it to the list.  Don’t distract yourself and go “do it quickly” – add it to your list quickly, clear your mind of it, then continue to complete the task at hand, and come back to the list later.

Don’t be shy to say you’re too busy

I used to be worried about what people would think if I said “sorry I’m a bit busy, can you come back later”. Or “just let me finish what I’m doing, and I’ll pop over”.  Guess what? They don’t mind!

Prioritise

Don’t take it form me.  Covey and Blanchard had theories on how to prioritise tasks – I have the Covey quadrant pasted on the wall in front of my desk.  Quadrant 1 are highest priority, then 2, and so on…

Here is a run down: http://tinobox.com/wordpress/productivity/todo-sorting-by-coveys-and-blanchardquadrant/

Carve out interruption time

While at work, I find that the interruptions can build up quickly.  I often ignore them for a while, especially if in the middle of something that I want to finish.  When I’m done, I might spend 10 minutes reading emails, responding to Tweets, etc.  I do this every few hours.

In summary…

Sometimes I think of it as a mini-holiday.  When you go away on leave, everything continues one way or another, without you.  There is heaps to do when you get back, but everything is generally OK.  You come back refreshed, energised, and ready to be productive again.  Removing yourself from interruptions is similar, on a smaller scale.  Remove yourself, come back with a fresh mind, a clear list of things to do, and get cracking again.

Of course, these are just ideas, and in reality, we must be approachable, flexible and effective communicators.  I find that if I remind myself of these guidelines every now and again, and carve out the important quiet time, I’m more effective, less agitated, actually sell more business, and offer better leadership than when constantly distracted.  Interruptions are very, very expensive for our businesses, careers, and more importantly, our personal lives.

First thing to mention, is that it’s not often I see a business succeed with little or no money invested to get things started.  However it usually takes someone at least one try to learn this truth – and hopefully this Blog post will help save some time and pain in that learning process.

I always recommend engaging a professional agency (like us) to help execute a web project, as it’s often an important part of getting a new business up and running successfully.  This article is aimed at those that don’t want to spend that sort of money, and instead are looking for a cheap & nasty solution to help get them started.  Salsa doesn’t provide these services, but here is what we’ve learnt over the years.

Sorry I know it sounds cynical.

Once you’ve taken care of the paperwork (register a business name – https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/cav/br-home, and register your domain name – Google “cheap domain names”), you need to get a website built.

If you have $1,000 – $2,000 to spend on a website.

The cheapest way to get this done is to use a pre-existing Content Management System (CMS) such as WordPress, or Joomla, or Magento or OSCommerce for an eCommerce website.  You should then look to download free, or buy a template for the site, instead of paying for a custom design.

Some places to get templates from:

WordPress – http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/

Joomla – http://www.joomlashack.com/

Magento – http://www.silverthemes.com/

www.templatemonster.com is also a source of hundreds of themes, but the quality is inconsistent.

Once this is done, you need to then get someone to build it for you.  www.nachomedia.com.au can help put together a template website at low cost.  Or if you know a freelance developer, have them do it for you – should be around $1,000 for a WordPress/Joomla site, and $2,000 for an Magento/OSCommerce site.

They can probably help you with hosting also.

Credibility is important – so perhaps set up a 1300 number if you can – and have it direct to your mobile phone or land line – makes you look more professional, and doesn’t cost much.

If you have nothing to spend on a website!

Try setting up a Facebook page.  It costs nothing. See this post on how to do that: http://lazarus.salsainternet.com.au/2010/06/howwhy-to-create-a-facebook-page/

Take a look at Twitter also, if you have the time.

You can also redirect your domain name to your facebook page if you want to advertise the domain name, instead of the facebook page in your marketing collateral.

Get people to find you.

Once you’ve setup some sort of online presence as above, people need to find it.  To be honest, this is often the hardest part.

First, you should run a Google Adwords campaign (ads on the right side of a Google search results screen), as this is relatively low cost, and works instantly – you can setup a campaign, and get it running in a couple of hours – gets traffic to your site immediately.  You can check keywords, etc  at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

You can also read about how to setup a campaign here: http://www.salsainternet.com.au/adwords-explained.html

Once you’ve proven the model works online, you can start to work on getting the site to rank well in the free/organic listings in Google (left side of Google search results screen).  There are 3 things that make this work – Structure, Content & Links. More info on how this works here: http://www.salsainternet.com.au/search-engine-optimisation.html

You also want to put your web address on your business card, flyers, email signature, etc to help get the word out.

As mentioned, this approach in my opinion is speculative at best, but costs very little, so maybe it’s worth a shot for those that haven’t tried before.

Good luck!

I had a discussion about this with a client last week – he’s a marketing manager for a large IT services mob in Melbourne.

We spoke about whether the basics of marketing have really changed.  BRW said in an article recently “the underlying theme for good marketing is knowledge: know your business, know your products and services, know your customers and know what your objectives are.” Amen.

Here is the definition of marketing from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing:

“Marketing is the process by which companies create customer interest in products or services. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business development. It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves.”

It also goes on to explain the trends in marketing over recent history – and suggests the marketing orientation from “1970 to present day” is still the same!

If I was to read this 6 months ago, I’d have thought it was ridiculous – with the introduction of the Internet (on a side note – ever wondered what we did with our time before the internet? Anyway…), surely marketing fundamentals are now completely different compared to 40 years ago?  I’m certainly no marketing expert (far from it), but have learnt something about it over the years of helping run & grow Salsa – I sometimes wondered whether the fundamentals of marketing have changed at all?  I recently decided they haven’t. Even though the tools are different, all marketers are still trying to achieve the same result.

Here’s why:

If you’re a marketing manager, for example, don’t you need to still adhere to the same rules? Here are some simplistic examples of how the principles haven’t really changed.

Communicate clearly – the same goal applies today as it has in recent history.  If you can’t clearly communicate what you do, you’ll quickly turn prospects away to someone who can.  We used to use radio, tv & newspapers.  We now also use websites.

Build relationships - a marketers goal is often to get a sales person in front of a prospect to start to build rapport.  The call to action of most marketing media (whether it’s radio, tv, websites, or whatever) is to have someone call, or visit a showroom, or a website (which often then sends them to a phone call!!).  Get in front of someone, build a relationship, sell them something – still the same.

Create value for customers – facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Websites, whatever – the most successful are designed to actually serve a purpose.  Educate the prospect, allow them to gain value from reading what you have to say.

The list goes on – the fundamentals of marketing haven’t changed.  There are a load more tools to use to drive traffic to your marketing material (Google Adwords is a revolutionary tool for generating traffic), but the basics haven’t changed.  Marketers don’t need to intimately understand how Google Analytics works – they need to pay an Adwords professional to run a campaign for them that gets them loads of relevant traffic.

The marketer then needs to worry about what happens when the client finds their website, and makes the phone call – how well is the prospect communicated to, how good is the person on the phone at building instant rapport, and what value can they add right away?

So don’t obsess on learning every detail on how online marketing works.  I say leave that to “online marketers” and worry about the marketing basics of your own business – for a maximising outcome.

A couple of years ago, users didn’t want to be “engaged” online – they wanted to go to a website, do something (enquire, sign up), fix something (solve a problem) or buy something (shop!).   We’ve seen an incredible shift in the way people achieve this over the past couple of years with people now spending so much more time online.  Users now want more from their website browsing experience.  The introduction of social media (I still don’t like that term, anyway…) tools means that people have now become used to using the internet as more than just a tool, but as a part of their life. And so, they naturally expect a website to be more than just a tool – it needs to make them feel at home, make them feel like they’re part of something – not just enquiring, problem solving or shopping.

How many times have you checked your web enabled phone today?  How many times a day did you check it 2 years ago? We spend a LOT of time online now.

Your clients and potential customers now want to know who you are, what you look like, what your office looks like, what you did at your last team event, what was the name of your first pet!!  They want to build a relationship with you, and feel that you’re actually interested in telling them about yourself.  It needs to be genuine of course, as any relationship needs to be, so you do need to be careful, because this new world of online transparency means that if you’re not honest, it will easily show.  Marketing hasn’t really changed, it’s still about being able to genuinely connect with the people who care the most; however the tools we used to make us look like someone we weren’t (websites are so good at making small businesses look like big companies) are not enough – there are just so many ways to find out more about a person or company now, that you can’t hide behind a website – so you might as well come out and tell the world about who you really are. If you don’t, someone else probably will.

An interesting side note: the staff page on the Salsa website is one of the most popular (top 2%)

Take the following examples (thanks to Avinash Kaushik from a “6 Pixels of Separation” Podcast I recently listened to).  2 competing companies in Canada, both selling laundry products.

www.vim.ca - not all that engaging, imo

The first example is quite a simple site – shows some products (ok, good start), has a voucher to save $1 (wow!), then the standard marketing spiel (“makes tough cleaning easy”). They have content on the site about how to use their products, cleaning tips,  and home decorating ideas. Yawn. www.vim.ca

seventhgeneration.com - incredibly engaging

This example is not only a much more beautiful site (an enormous part of the ability to engage in my opinion), but also absolutely tells the website visitor all about who and what they’re dealing with.  They become part of something much bigger. “Protecting Planet Home”.   One of the major menu items is “Learn”.  In here you can educate yourself on the bigger ‘green’ issues they’re passionate about, read an active Blog, visit the Forum, watch video’s.  You can also see where people have “Asked Scienceman” a question, and can read his response.  They of course also connect via Facebook, and Twitter – you can actually see in their Twitter account that they’re interacting with their customers, answering questions and solving problems! Oh, they also have some product information on the site of course. www.seventhgeneration.com

I can’t wait to re-design our website.  Keep your eye out for it.

This blog post doesn’t answer the famous question “Should my business be on Facebook”.  In my opinion, there is little disadvantage in having a Facebook page for your business, as long as you give it a little love; but that’s a whole other Blog post!

What this does help you with, is how to go about creating a Facebook page.  It’s actually pretty easy.

First, you need to have your own, personal Facebook account.  Don’t worry, if you’re not a people person, just because you have a Facebook account, doesn’t mean all your high school buddies are going to hunt you down – you can hide your identity if you want to, and even detach your profile from your business page if you need to.

Then, visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php, and follow the instructions.   This page will also contain information on Community Pages, and Groups.  I’ll write separate posts on these topics, but for most businesses, an Official Page is what you want to create.  Take the journey through answering all of the questions, and at the end of it, you have yourself a page.

Create an "Official Page" in Facebook for your business

The first thing you’ll want to do, is update the Info tab – include some detail about your business, so people know a little about the business.

Maybe also load some photo’s of your business – the staff, any products, something that helps your customers and potential customers see who you really are.  After all, people are on your Facebook page because they want to learn more about your business – don’t be shy, tell them.

Then get yourself some fans.  Facebook recently has replace the “Fan” concept with the ability to “Like” a page.  You need to click the “Suggest to Friends” link in the top left, which will allow you to send an annoying note to all of your Facebook friends to all Like your page.

In order to make your Facebook page work for you, you then need to:

- Update it every now and then with useful content.  Don’t post rubbish to your page – you’ll get a low Post Quality.  Facebook is beginning to create some smarts about how effective the page is, similar to what Google Analytics does for websites, but obviously at a more rudimentary level (so far…).  For more on this, see http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/05/facebook-post-quality/

- The sort of things you should post include: new product release, new Blog posts, new staff you may have hired, photo’s about any staff event you may have had, or a successful product install or launch

- Remember to be genuine.  Social Media is a way to create transparency for your business – if you’re not genuine, it will show

- Promote it from your main website, link it into your email footer, and include it on your business cards – if you can link someone to your Facebook page, you can communicate with them incredibly easily, whenever you want to

Checkout our page at www.facebook.com/salsainternet