Advicetap Blog

Last week we were having a little chat and coffee with Janice Tomich of Calculated Presentations about business, life, Vancouver, and more.

As we came to the end of our meeting we asked Janice if we could pull out our Kodak I8 HD camera and ask her a few questions…check it out!

This week we had the pleasure of sitting down with Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite and Director at Invoke Media. We talked all about productivity, success, failure and why it’s good to walk on your hands…

Hootsuite has over 400,000 users and manages more than 1 million social media accounts. While many of us are enjoying the application without spending a penny, the company will soon start charging for premium accounts…which will likely appeal to the many large brands that use the service, including TED, Facebook, Dell, AOL and many others.

Ryan is a true entrepreneur as you’ll hear about in this interview. Check it out!

Timeline of the Interview for Your Viewing Pleasure
00:22 Who is Ryan Holmes
01:08 Making the Work-Life Balance Work
02:22 How Do You Get Your Day Started?
03:35 History of Being An Entrepreneur
05:35 Why Fun and Not Corporate for the Hootsuite Brand
06:32 Your Secret to Success
07:53 Dealing with Failure
08:57 CEO of Hootsuite Walking on His Hands?

The other day as I was enjoying a strong coffee and a sun drenched morning and I started to think on the importance of undivided attention and showing interest during meetings.

You see I’ve noticed something recently – Many people don’t show enough focus or interest in the meeting and/or the person they’re meeting with.

As a business person, consultant, teacher, and DJ I get the chance to meet and communicate with lots of people! I usually enjoy meeting up with new people but over time I’ve found that many times people are only interested in what they are doing and what they have to say.

So today I decided to write a small list of some common communication pitfalls I’ve noticed in the last few months during meetings I’ve had:

• Checking text messages or answering phone calls
  This makes sense if you’re waiting on your wife to go into labour, or a million dollar deal to come through but in general checking mails and answering phone calls during meetings is just straight up rude! (….More)

Welcome to another Episode of Advicetap TV!

Not too long ago we sat down with the founder of EAT Communications, Cinci Csere. Cinci is a Marketing and PR consultant with years of experience working with companies and organizations to help them successfully create, promote and run events as well as build brands.

In the video below, you’ll learn more about Cinci and her firm, how she’s filled up her schedule with clients, her biggest challenge as a consultant and more.

To connect with Cinci, visit her website at www.eatcomm.ca or connect with her right here in Advicetap – Visit Cinci’s Profile Page

Just a quick update on a big feature we launched this week here at Advicetap:
Gig Email Notifications

We came up with this solution after getting feedback from all of you and also realizing that members had no way of knowing when new gigs were posted (only when they logged in).

So how does this new feature work?
It’s actually pretty straight forward. Every time a new gig is posted into Advicetap our filters will match up the gig category and geographic location with relevant Advicetap members and then send them an email about the Gig.

What if I don’t want to get emails?
No problem at all. If you don’t want to get gig email notifications you can go to your “Account Settings” and turn gig notifications off.

Last week we linked up with Christina Peressini, a Vancouver brand identity designer and small business owner. We talked crowdsourcing, design in a digital era, and much more…Check it out!

Hi there Christina, thanks for stopping by the Advicetap towers! Can you start off by introducing your businesses to the readers?

Thanks for having me Sam.

As a freelance graphic designer and strategist, I have been “giving visual form to important ideas” since 2001. I’ve been working in a range of media (print, web, packaging, signage) for clients primarily in Vancouver but as far away as New York. I invite your Advicetap network to check out my work at www.Disegnostudio.com

Ok let’s talk a bit about how you do the marketing of Disegnostudio. You have a large list of clients and projects and have built up an extensive portfolio of branding work. Any tips on promotion and marketing you can share with us?

My clients have almost all come to me by word of mouth.

The tips I would share with you are communicate, communicate, communicate and when you do, be yourself and be sincere. Tell those who are interested, what you do, how you do it, and why you do it.

In the beginning I put the word on the street that I was transitioning into a new career as a graphic designer. It was encouraging to see how many people responded by sending work my way or by passing my name to others. I still do this when I’m looking to generate new work and it inevitably yields results. I also keep in regular touch with my clients by way of email, phone calls, my quarterly newsletter, holiday cards, and the like, especially those clients I might not have worked with for a while.

When I left my job with the federal government and ventured into graphic design, a good bit of that early freelance work was done for the very group of people I’d just been employed with, and almost ten years later I am still doing work for the civil service on a regular basis. So another piece of advice I would give is to go above and beyond to nurture relationships with those you respect and who respect you.

I have also found clients in the most unlikely places: dog park, house party, community centre, temp admin assignment, and pottery class to name a few, so never underestimate the impact you might have on people in any circumstance. The biggest client I’ve had to date is someone I met at a social event where I didn’t have a single business card on me – a classic blunder. But we ended up working together for four and a half years. Good things can happen when you least expect it. I tend to strike up conversations with strangers quite easily. This sort of friendliness can be both a blessing and a curse.

When we were chatting earlier you mentioned one big challenge you’re facing as a specialized print designer is the whole shift in the print design market to digital/online design. Can you reflect a bit on this shift and how as a print designer you’re dealing with this?

Print is not dead as people may have you believe, but over the past few years there has been a marked decline in the amount of print work I am being asked to design. This trend is also reflected in the closure of many reputable print shops in the city. It pains me a little to see this shift away from print because I know first hand how a really effective print piece will beg to be interacted with, can pack a hefty wallop and can deliver a strong message effectively. I just wish people would be more discerning about what they print and how much they print. There is no doubt that less printed material means less waste, and I’m certainly a supporter of less waste, but sometimes circumstances require you to create something tactile and sumptuous that will allow you to hold someone’s attention longer than an email or a webpage can.

Despite all the wonderful qualities of paper though, there’s no denying that new technologies are making the online experience more and more memorable and are catering to a growing population that is demanding pixels over paper. The print designer has to stay current by taking on a variety of work, both print and web-based. Over the years I’ve been happy to count among my professional network, a series of web developers and programmers who have worked collaboratively to help me deliver digital projects to my clients’ specifications. My recent schooling in web-based technologies is helping me stay current, and I will continue in this direction for the forseesable future. Having said that, if I ever have an opportunity to learn how to operate a letterpress (think Gutenberg), I’ll gladly jump at that chance too. I rarely limit the options. I’ve always got my hands in a bunch of creative pies.

Very interesting stuff…Let’s stay on this digital shift in the design industry for a minute here. There are now many online services around where businesses can post their design projects and then get back a bunch of design options from “designers” from all over the world for a low price. What do you think about these kinds of services and have they affected your business at all in terms of clients expecting lower prices or comparing these online services to what you offer? (….More)

I’m sure lots of you have already heard that over the past weekend (Sat, May 29th) Freelance Camp hit Canada for the first time right here in Vancouver!

It was amazing to see a turnout of over 150 freelancers, consultants, small business owners, and entrepreneurs from the Vancouver area and beyond come out to represent.

The format of the day was open and any participant that wanted to present a talk just pitched their idea to the crowd and if it got some votes the talk was slotted in to the day’s schedule.

There were all sorts of cool talks given including things like “No more bad days” by Ben Kadel from Emotus Operandi, “Dream projects: Common Threads To Get More” by Ted Morgan from Cabin Works Media, and I even gave a talk called “Biz Card Science”. You can check out notes and more details on the Wiki Minna Van set up that covers the overall event and presentations in much more detail: http://freelancecamp.pbworks.com

All in all it was a great day for the Vancouver freelance and consulting scene (I must say I’m happy to be part of it through Advicetap). As I jumped the bus back home and reflected on the day I couldn’t help but feel how positive and supportive the group was and I think all attendees left feeling motivated and juiced to keep pushing hard on their freelance and business paths.

Thanks again to the Network Hub for putting it on and for photos of the day shot out to the talented Jeremy Lim.

Today we caught up with the entrepreneur, blogger, and savvy business consultant Elie Kochman. Elie shares some interesting views on building a consulting business, power networking, and getting things done. Check it out!

What’s up Elie, welcome to the Advicetap Blog. First off introduce yourself and your company Optimal Upgrade Consulting.

Optimal Upgrade Consulting is about helping small businesses become larger by helping them with the technology aspects of growth. Along the way, information about the types of problems experienced by larger businesses is passed along, so that our clients not only get the solutions they need, but also understand why and how those solutions work.

The consulting balances the need to educate with the need for a real solution. What we offer our clients is that not only will they get the technical solution chosen, but we’ll also help them understand why it was chosen, its uses, its limitations. This helps them going forward because they know what they can and can’t do with the programs or systems we’ve set up for them, and we’ve ensured that it will last them well be being extendable as their business grows.

When did you decide to take the leap from working in a corporate environment to starting and running your own consulting business? What have some of the challenges been for running your biz and how have you been dealing with these challenges?

Well, truth be told, I’m only making my final break from the corporate world now, though I’ve been consulting on the side for the past two years. It’s been a long and slow transition.

The biggest challenge I’ve been facing is possibly the reason it’s taken so long to go fully solo. I haven’t figured out a way to really solve this problem, so I’ve found a couple ways to bypass it. The problem is that my ideal clients are usually completely unaware of the types of issues I solve, mostly because they don’t apply to them – yet. What I try to do is make sure that they never face those problems, or, if they do, that they’ll be properly prepared. But the problem remains of convincing clients that they need my services.

The two ways I bypass this issue are to use referrals from other businesses that offer complementary services, and to offer some complementary services myself. That’s why you’ll see information on my site about website development and custom software development – because these are the types of things that my clients typically also need. By getting them to talk to me about that need, I can often help them with some of the more fundamental issues they’re trying to solve.

On your blog you mention that you’ve come to the realization that “many small business owners do not have the knowledge they need to smoothly expand their businesses”. What do you mean by this and through your services how do you go about helping these businesses out?

It’s really just a question of exposure, and a need or want to know. The average small business owner will know how to run a business of their size, but without a background in larger businesses, they have no way of knowing the kinds of problems that face bigger companies. They also don’t know if some of these problems have already been solved – so they often think that they’re the first ones with this particular problem. Without a background in IT or spending huge amounts of time reading updates on the latest trends, they’ll also be unaware of what new programs or websites are out there that can help them grow to the next level. (….More)

Today we caught up with Vancouver Entrepreneur and Marketing Consultant Minna Van…She’s helped organize an event called “Freelance Camp” that’s coming to Vancouver and we wanted to get the lowdown on what it’s all about – check it out!

Hey there Minna welcome to the Advicetap blog! First off for any of our community members or blog readers who aren’t yet familiar with you and what you do please hook us up with that info.

I wear a few hats but the one I am very happy to elaborate on is my Vancouver Entrepreneur Meetup host hat. Third Thursdays of every month, I host a wine and cheese with a speaker relevant to entrepreneurship at The Network Hub. It is a wonderful opportunity to get new entrepreneurs mingling with established entrepreneurs from all different industries. It is the meeting of minds with a no-pressure, fun twist.

I know we could chat to you for hours about all your interesting ventures but let’s focus on the upcoming Freelance Camp here in Vancouver. Can you tell us what exactly Freelance Camp is, how it got started, and the whole concept behind it?

Freelance Camp was started in San Francisco by Shane Pearlman. The idea of it is, “In business for yourself, not by yourself” and that is a wonderful concept to work with. Many freelancers toil away in isolation and there hasn’t been one event that is specific to freelancers. The great about this is it is presented by freelancers and for freelancers, no theories but rather from experience. It is about the sharing of best practices, resources but more importantly to pull together the pockets of freelancers from different industries who are already out there networking into one big community event.

Nice! So this is the first Canadian Freelance camp to be held…Let me ask you in your opinion what makes Vancity a good place to hold this event and can you reflect a bit on the freelance scene out here?

As a host for Vancouver Entrepreneur Meetup, I get a lot of suggestions from entrepreneurs/freelancers/small business owners and for the last two years, there was an overwhelming request for sharing and hearing of experiences from their peer groups. I think people are tired of hearing about theories and they want to hear from the people who have gone through the same thing as they have. Theories are great to explain in hindsight but practical experience is tangible, applicable and relevant to real life.

Minna you work with all sorts of freelancers, consultants, small business owners, and the like…from what you see what is one of the biggest business challenges these professionals face and do you have any advice for how they might deal with that challenge or overcome it?

In my point of view as a marketing freelancer, I find myself sometimes overwhelmed with the changes in contracts, strategies, etc and it becomes all so frustrating trying to keep up. Great thing about hosting Vancouver Entrepreneur Meetup is that every month I have the opportunity to vent, ask and share my frustration with 80-160 other people who have gone through what I went through at some point. So what has worked for me is just going out there and connecting with other people.

So Freelance Camp is this month on Saturday the 29th of May? Where is it? How much is it? And where can we sign up?

Yes May 29th is the magical date freelancers in Vancouver need to note down. It is happening at The Network Hub – the location is close to skytrain, West Coast express, sea bus and major bus route so you have no excuses as to why you cannot come. It is $10 dollars but 100% of it will go to charity.

You can sign-up online at: http://freelancecamp.thenetworkhub.ca

Last but not least can you tell us one or two cafe’s or cool spots with wireless for a freelancer to do their work out of? Any good secret spots?

Well other than my absolute favourite place for coworking; The Network Hub, I’m also slightly biased as a co-founder of the space! My cool spot for working is Waves because they not only provided wireless, the people who come to Waves are super cool and they are open to talking to you (yes I like talking to strangers). Once in a while, I like going to Central Library to relive my many years of studying exams on the 4th floor.

Today we caught up with communications consultant and Advicetap member Janice Tomich based here in Vancouver, BC. Janice is doing some innovative stuff with her company, branding, and services that she’s offering. We met her to get the skinny for all of you…

Hi Janice thanks for stopping by…first off introduce yourself to the readers. What kind of work do you currently do and how did you get into it?

I am a downtown dweller who thrives on the buzz of Vancouver’s constant action. My husband and I moved from the outskirts of Metro Vancouver once our son grew up and we haven’t looked back.

Living downtown is really convenient and enables me to meet clients easily. Many of my clients are situated downtown and they like to meet in their office space.

My type of work is a bit unusual. My business, Calculated Presentations, helps people develop their public speaking voice. In a nutshell I am a presentation trainer and coach.

The love I have for language and words began at my childhood kitchen table. My father, the orator, would deconstruct political speeches.

I am drawn to the intricacies of motivational speeches and that magical pivotal moment when a speaker holds their audience in the palm of their hand. To understand what that “something” is I returned to academia three years ago.

First at BCIT in the Marketing Communications program, then completing a Bachelor of Professional Communications at Royal Roads University.

When I enrolled at RRU, I had a solid idea of my plans post-graduation. A friend and mentor advised that there was a need of presentation skill offerings for IPOs and Engineering and Scientific presentations and I agreed that he was on to something.

Tell us a bit about your company, what kind of services you offer your clients, and how you’re standing out in a crowded marketplace?

The three primary services I provide are public speaking training, content collaboration, and slidedeck creation. I have an arsenal of techniques that speakers use to engage their audience.

The visual perception of a speaker by an audience can make or break a presentation, which makes voice, gesturing, and stance important. As does clear and concrete content targeted to “what’s in it for the audience.” Along with the trend for visually rich slidedecks, these three key components create presentations that end with audiences applauding and wanting to learn more.

My service is niche in its nature so I believe I stand out already. Instead of standing out, the hurdle for me is to educate the client of how valuable my service is.

The evidence is easily demonstrated – have you noticed the people sleeping and fidgeting (aka Blackberries and iPhones) at presentations?

We all know the importance of presentations for sales and relationship building but often we resort to default PowerPoint and old style lecturing.

Here at Advicetap we love branding. So I need to ask you why you chose to go with Janice Tomich as the main focus of your visual and brand identity (logo, URL, website, etc)? Has this worked well for you? Any positives or negatives you can share on how personal branding has worked for you.

The decision to use my name as my brand was not an easy one. I went back and forth a few times. My decision is a bit waffley as I am the identity (URL, my image on the website) but the company name is Calculated Presentations.

I understand that the trend is individuals being the identity of a brand. The philosophy of Tony Hsieh from Zappo’s Shoes helped me make my decision. He is the face of Zappo’s and leads it but he is not the company.

What I have noticed recently that is that people recognize me, and what I do, but do not know my company name. This is a dilemma for entrepreneurs.

Speaking of branding and visual identity your website is really pro looking. You mentioned to me the whole thing is powered by WordPress even though it’s much more then a blog? How does that work for you and do you recommend this set up? Where did you get it done? (….More)

Today’s guest post was written by Jeff Waldman, founder of Fusion Point in Toronto. In today’s post Jeff shares some insight on relationships and networking. Jeff has built up a huge network of meaningful connections not just “followers” so his words are worth listening too!

The world in which we live is shrinking exponentially before our eyes, and it appears that everyone knows everyone in all corners of the globe. This phenomenon is creating new kinds of relationships, but to be quite honest with you relationships are relationships because they’re with people, and the fundamentals of developing, growing and sustaining great relationships have remain unchanged. Why? People are feeling beings and the intangible things that influence how people feel don’t really change.

The methods and tools that we use in our interactions with people change daily, particularly with the explosion of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Sprouter, Flickr, YouTube and a gazillion others. This explosion is not only happening in the Gen Y and X demographic groups, but also with Baby Boomers and to some extent the Traditionalists. Believe me, it’s critically important to stay on top of the latest and most effective tools available so that you optimize your efforts, but in my humble opinion what’s more important is being technically sound on the finer elements of relationships.

It’s pretty simple actually — the strengths of your relationships with people are based on authenticity, consistency and reciprocity. Mind blowing? Not really! Difficult to do? Absolutely! Are people good at doing this? Not really! Does it matter where your relationships exist (e.g. through social media with someone in Dubai or in-person with a neighbour)? Absolutely not!

Authenticity — be you! It’s so much easier and less exhausting when you just be yourself. When you meet someone for the very first time, subconsciously they are forming judgment about you. Be authentic right of the bat so the sub-conscious judging that goes on is based on truth and reality. There is nothing worse than meeting someone and being someone you’re not, and then over time your true colours start to naturally filter through. This is extremely detrimental to the relationship and the overall perception of “you” in the eyes of the person you have the relationship with. (….More)

Today’s guest post was written by Aarni Heiskanen of AE Partners in Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland. Aarni is a seasoned management consultant and today he shares with you a tip that if you take action on can become very profitable to your business.

You have the SWOT analysis, the Boston matrix and many more tools freely available at your disposal. Why would you want to develop consulting tools of your own?

The reason why my colleagues and I have developed new consulting tools has been straightforward. We have discovered – or gradually developed – a new consulting approach for client projects. The cause has most often been a client’s need or problem that has made us adopt a novel approach. Once the project has been completed we have analysed the developed tool to see if it could be applicable elsewhere.

A tool, in our case, is a process or way of structuring, analysing, and presenting information. It does not have to be “new to the world” but “new to the client or industry”.

How it all Started
Back in the 1990s I was involved in a project, which assessed the business value of IT in the construction industry. During the project we needed a simple method for measuring the maturity level of IT implementation and its business benefits. We created a framework called an IT Value Barometer. It was basically a set of 12 self-assessment sheets and three graphical representations of the data gained. (….More)

Today’s guest post was written by Susan Varty of Wordtree Consulting. Susan has been in the game for years and specializes in web copywriting, user guides, social media strategies, training manuals and last-minute proposal preparation.

When designing my company logo back in 2006, I wasn’t sure what direction to go so, naturally, I used “Consulting”.

Why? I didn’t want to narrow my focus or shut out potential clients at that time. I just wanted to help people with their written communication.

Eventually, I started learning about having a specialty and a niche market to streamline my client base and reach my business goals. I thought about re-branding again. No, it was still relevant. I kept it.

Then the headlines started appearing in the papers:

“Thousands wasted on consultants”

and other stories about “their ludicrous expenses”. Consulting was beginning to be a dirty word.

Three years in, I keep thinking about changing my company name now and then. However, I’ve realized that it suits what I do just perfectly. When I expand my business next year, I hope to keep the brand. However, I recognize that it needs a review now and then to make sure my brand is a true reflection of what I do.

Some confusion still exists with the dirty word. Now and then, if I don’t get my elevator pitch just right, I get that question “What do you do again?” But then I have an excuse to listen again and really discover what they might need.

Lately, there are several ways that I’ve noticed that consultants position themselves to avoid being “dirty” and get themselves hired.

1. Avoid “sticker shock” by describing the value you bring to the table up front and spelling out exactly how you are paid (maybe not how much at first).

2. Show off your “street cred”. What did you do for a business to help them get things done? Name brands and numbers are classic ways to improve credibility. Also, consider changing your job title so that it is appropriate for your audience. For example, at a design conference I’m a copywriter, but at an IT event I’m a Technical Writer. These titles have made me very approachable. Sometimes people get scared off at the thought of talking to the CEO – especially project leads who might give you the most work. This may not be the approach for you, but I still consider myself a Communications Consultant in both roles.

3. Exude confidence to reach decision-makers. They need you – it’s obvious. Focus on the bottom-line and the experiences you have in your portfolio that they can’t get anywhere else.

4. Offer a contract that starts with a very small step. This small engagement will usually lead to larger projects. It’s strange – the small step approach has been very effective with large corporate clients. A friend reminded me that they operate in small “budget-focused” groups and have a reputation at stake. Smaller companies are more flexible and willing to do more risk-taking.

5. Force your customers to think like their clients, not just their world of day-to-day tasks.

6. Create a detailed project plan - check off what has been completed and they will get a sense that the project is moving forward – not just fees going up and up. I like to hope that “consultant” will not continue to be a dirty word.

Sometimes an outside opinion and a kick in the right direction can make a lot of shiny, new coin.

Today’s guest post is written by Advicetap member, consulting expert, and author Rebel Brown (www.rebelbrown.com). Rebel is a veteran consultant and in this post she speaks on using “Objectivity” as a business tool.

Consultants bring an objective viewpoint to our clients. Take for example when working with a marketing team to position a company. I don’t believe I do, say or create anything of value that my client didn’t already know. After all, they’re the ones who gave me all the fodder for the story I create.

The difference is my objectivity. They live and breathe their business and strategy. They know it inside and out. So much so that that they can’t see the changes around them. My clients are heads down in their details, running a business. We all get dragged down into the way we’ve always thought about it. It’s human nature. Being objective, I am able to spin their story in a new way.

Objectivity is a beautiful thing for consultants. We can leverage it as one of our key value propositions. We can all tell a story about how one of our clients benefited from our objectivity.

Here’s an example of my own experience.

I met a new client a few months back. The guy is sharp, and the opportunity he unearthed is strong. All the pre-requisites for success are there: current customers are clamoring for the solution (it saves them major money), there’s an un-served and significant market demand, minimal investment is required and there’s a significant upside.

He hired me to help him communicate his strategy to the board and fellow executives. The first morning we met, it didn’t take long before we were both drawing pictures on the white board, talking at the same time. We were both passionate about the opportunity. By the end of the session, we had the fundamentals of the story down pat. Yes, it was and is compelling.

So why was I able to capture that story so quickly when he’d struggled for weeks, even months? I’d like to say it’s because of my brilliance, but that’s not true. My experience did help – all that practice does payoff after all!

I brought one really helpful thing to the table: Objectivity.

This quote by Stephen Chow says it well.

‘A creation needs not only subjectivity, but also objectivity.’

As many of you know we’ve recently rolled out gigs into the Advicetap community, think of Advicetap as a “Gig Board” if you will…

So how does it work? When Advicetap members apply to different gigs, the companies offering the gigs are sent a message as well as a link to view the profile of the member that applied.

Based on the kind of information companies want to see we’ve updated Advicetap member profiles – see image and then explanations below:

Average Hourly Rate:
You can select your average hourly rate so potential clients can get an idea of what you charge.

Contact Information:
This is the basic email, phone, and mobile numbers so they can contact you to give you the gigs! *Remember contact information is not shown to other members but only to companies that you apply for gigs at.

Social Media, Blog, Resume
In this area you can input links to your popular social media profiles like Twitter and Linkedin. You can also include a link to your blog, and upload a WORD or PDF resume.

So there you have it. New and updated profiles that will land you more gigs What are you waiting for? Spend 2 minutes now and update your profile today!