Leif's Biztalk posts

Shiny new Spark Site

Hi guys, I've finally created a new Spark Northwest site that I think looks prettier and hopefully gets folks on the info-track they are looking for with more ease. The core design, which I think actually look great, is thanks to Kelli Lewis (who is a Biznik, but hasn't had a chance to put her profile up yet.) However, I'm still tweaking the content and have probably messed up plenty of her original work.

Anyway, I would love any feedback (here or personal email) you have to give.

Thanks! -Leif

Multiple Profiles for Multiple Businesses?

Hi Dan & Folks, I'm curious what you think about this: I've got two very different kinds of work...one is high touch (breakthrough workshops with people) and one is high tech (social media consulting and development).

Though in my mind they are related (in a similar way as Biznik has a tech side and a people side), I think others could get confused.

Should I create two profiles, or try and talk about both within one?

A little riddle for you...

(I searched "Multiple Profiles" in biztalk and couldn't find a previous post on this, but sorry if it has been covered already).

I dare you 2.1

Okay, a handful of you asked for this...

What are 1-3 SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely) goals for you to achieve by the end of this year?

...so go for it, if you dare (:

Seattle Soul Tech -Restoring balance to our tech-intense lives

Hi Bizniks, I've got some great news for folks who wanted to come to the last Humanity 2.0 event, but found that a full day at Orcas was too far away and too long. Introducing...

Soul Tech: Restoring balance to our tech-intense lives

A Spark Northwest and 820Vision Experience

When: November 17th, 1:00p - 5:30p

Here's the link to the leiflet pdf, and to more information at our site.

You know how when going on a vacation it takes a few days to relax and get in the vacation mind? It is like that with our tech-intensive world. Technology can be fun and effective and it can be addictive, stressful and soul-deadening.

During a recent Spark Northwest Humanity 2.0 workshop on balancing technology and need for human fulfillment, participants identified several major challenges, including:

• How do we deepen awareness of when we are too consumed by technology?
• When we become aware, how do we consciously choose new behavior that deepens our happiness and connection with others?
• As we work to establish a balance between technical and soulful aspects of living, how do we stick with it?

The Soul Tech workshop will address these challenges. Using a fun and inspiring group process, you will develop a clear understanding of where you are at and where you want to go with technoloy, from a soulful living perspective, and you will layout a concrete plan for getting there.

We’ll use a mix of facilitation, games and activities that are at once fun, insightful and respectful. You will end up with specific ways to bring balance and happiness to what can be a fast-paced technologically absorbing world.

Location Seattle

Time and Date 1 noon to 5:30p on Saturday, November 17th, 2007. Call to reserve a seat.

How do I register?

Registration is limited, so call soon. The workshop costs $65 and includes snacks and beverages. To register, or for more information, call 1-877-I-AM-GAME, or visit us at www.SparkNW.com. We look forward to meeting you and giving you one of the most memorable days of your year!

I dare you 2

One year from today I will have...

I dare you to state one semi-outrageous business related goal that you think there's at least somewhat of a chance of becoming a reality by this time next year. I think it would be fun to see what people say, and for us to come back to this thread one year from now (I'll put a reminder in iCal.)

...Take a risk, challenge yourself, dream it!

Cool new way for Bizniks to help each other stay focused/accountable

So guys, a while back I started a thread about how to help us indie folks working by ourselves to stay focused and accountable to our work. There were quite a few who shared they also needed help with this. A few of us talked off-line about the pros/cons of various methods and concluded:

• Creating some-kind of on-line forum or chat group would probably just increase the distraction problem.
• Email list might work, but what most of us want is actual contact of some form with a real person who is listening and cares to some degree.
• Everyone is going to have different needs.
• One possibility would be a biznik event in which people met and chose a 'focus friend' (or whatever name). But then their is the awkwardness of choosing and not being chosen, etc. It's hard to see how that would work (but still open to it).

Conclusion: I've created an online survey where you share the basic details of your type of business, your needs, preferred method of contact (we suggest phone with occasional face-to-face and email), and the frequency you'd like to check-in. Once you fill it out, you'll get the link to see other's requests and then you can contact someone (by email) who seems like a match. They can then check your details as well to see if it looks like it will work for them. They may already be taken, but then again they may be open to multiple partners.

Hope this helps and works, I'm sure it can/will evolve. It'd be great if it somehow could be a feature of one's biznik profile even...wink wink (send an email to Dan/Lara if you'd like that.)

Here is the survey -go for it! http://www.zoomerang.com/recipient/survey-intro.zgi?p=WEB226YSLSNVN4

Linking to each other's sites....

Just had a thought... As many of you know, one of the best ways to to get SEO (google kudos) is to have as many other sites linking to you as possible.

What do you think abou the idea of having a 'partner' or 'network' page or something that somewhat parallels your biznik network, or at least businesses that you agree with and would want to support, on each other's sites?

How would it work? Simple. You would create a new page or section on your site/blog (something like 'my network' or 'services I'd recommend') and then make agreements with other bizniks to mutually promote.

Get it? Got it? Good. Let me know what you think. -Leif

Free Phone, Fax, Voicemail number and more

Ive' put waaaay too much timing into this stuff, so the payback is for you guys not to have to:

First of all, if you don't know about GrandCentral (recently acquired by Google) then you must. Go there and you'll get a free phone number that you can have for life; have any or all your other numbers (cell, home, work) ring depending on who calls when, etc. Change greetings, etc. PERFECT for us indie business types. Oh, you can even put a button on your website that will call both the clicker on their phone and you.

Secondly, while this solved many of needs. I don't have a fax number. However, if you go to this site and successfully avoid all their attempts to get you to sign up for a paid account, you can get a free phone number that will receive (and send with this free software) faxes as well as give you an extra free voicemail account if you so choose (I have my secret plan for this extra voicemail, nya hahahaha!)

Extra geeky, you can have Grand Central forward to your Gizmo Project VOIP number and/or (if you have skypein) to skype.

The possibilities are friggin endless....

So, the only thing I am paying for is an 800 number. When that one is called, it knows to dial my GrandCentral number. GC then knows if its a biz or unknown call and forwards it to my cell and skype/gizmo lines (why? because the call is then pretty much free if I'm on the computer), or if its friends/family then it goes to my cell and home line.

Cool or confusing, I hope you enjoy the fruits of my lay-bore.

Warmly, Leif

Mosaic CoffeeHouse Rocks for Events! (and more)

I was meaning to plug these guys immediately after the last podcasting event, but it slipped my mind.

If you don't know about this place, you've GOT to check it out. I think everyone in the podcasting event group would agree, it was a wonderful venue. Why?

*Huge beautiful central 'cafe-feel' space (could fit 50-100 when its available on the weekend) and great "Den" available pretty much around the clock.

*All kinds of cozy chairs, office chairs, couches, desks, and more.

*Free Wifi

*EVERYTHING is by DONATION -food, drinks, and space. Yup. I know it sounds crazy, but its true. And though it is the basement floor of a church, there is no 'church agenda' --these guys are for real out to serve their community with an alternative, surprising, and apparently effective, business model of 'donation'.

*Really nice, friendly staff who will hep you with whatever you need.

You can see some pictures by checking out their site at: http://www.mosaiccoffeehouse.org/information.html, though personally I think their site and pictures don't do the place justice. There is a picture from the Den from my past podcasting event page, but its the main room you've gotta see.

How to get there?

If you know Dick's on 45th you can find it in a snap. Its basically in the basement of the church behind Dick's, so go to the street on the other side and look for signs. My bet is they will continue to grow fast, so catch it while it still has a much more peaceful, open feel...(though I think the essence will remain the same for as long as they can sustain it. Did that make sens?)

Short Term Solution for Searching the Forums

I'm double posting because my hunch is that 90% of us don't check the website / bugs topic and I think a number of you might like to use this.

Hi folks, I've just created a short term fix for searching the forums by creating a customized Google site...try it and bookmark it here if you, like me, have been wishing you could search forums to a)find old threads b)see what you've said c)find out if a topic has been covered already.

Cheers, Leif

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=004520538158583710991:tkcmzsshlss

Short Term Solution for Searching the Forums

Hi folks, I've just created a short term fix for searching the forums by creating a customized Google site...try it and bookmark it here if you, like me, have been wishing you could search forums to a)find old threads b)see what you've said c)find out if a topic has been covered already.

Cheers, Leif

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=004520538158583710991:tkcmzsshlss

10-25% off next week's island retreat, humanity 2.0 workshop

See this post for more info (and/or go to SparkNW.com) about the workshop.

In the spirit of sustainability, we are offering 10% to those who are carpooling to the workshop.

In addition, we have decided to offer an extra 15% off to biznik members --just mention that you saw this promotion and that you are a biznik member when calling to register.

Call 1-877-I-AM-GAME

Hope to see you there! -Leif

Tonight's Biznik event on Komo Radio

I was called by Komo 1000 radio yesterday about doing an interview about podcasting and tonight's biznik podcasting event. You can listen to it here: http://www.komoradio.com/news/radio or directly here:
On the downside, they narrowed a 15 minute interview down to about 3-4 short quotes, and I don't think they kept any of my specific plugs to biznik (though I did heavily promote it). Thankfully though, they did put a 'hotlink' back to biznk here: http://www.komoradio.com/hotlinks The other funny thing is it sounds like they took samples from one of my podcasts at a really slow rate, so it sounds funny. Oh well (: -Leif

BTW, the plan tonight is to create an actual show from the event, so if successful --we will post the show on biznik. -Leif

Podcasting event...cost problem?

Hi guys, Would love to have more folks in the podcasting event, which was originally requested by YOU (: We're going to have a great time whether its 5 or 15 of us, but if cost is the main factor keeping you --please shoot me an email and I'm sure we can make it work.

Cheers, Leif

Some cool free productivity tools/services to distract you with and help you focus

Just thought I'd share some great tools that I'm actually using and finding helpful, in case some of you don't know about them. I'm going to be lazy and not post links, so just copy and paste and google to find them.

1) Toodledo --IMHO, hands down the coolest and the best todo list manager out there -you can do anything with this free puppy you might dream a task list could do. Make it as simple or complex as you want. And you don't have to worry about being stuck because it can import/export/sync/share any info you add to it.

2)As mentioned elsehwere, Jott.com (and in tandem with above, very cool). Call in your ideas, have them translated to text, and added to your todo list. Geeky productivity.

3)Get distracted when writing? WriteRoom for mac is awesome, blanking out the whole screen and giving you a nice clean space to write.

4)Time-Out is great for giving your eyes, hands, brian and spirit regular breaks and micro breaks.

5)Want help with discipline on time you use your Mac? Try an app like Macminder, or firefox plugins like PageAddict or LeechBlock (set certain time limits on groups of apps or web pages; "ie 1 hour biznik between 9-5 max!) (:

6)I'm sure most of you already know about Skype and are using it, but perhaps you don't know about Gizmo Project --which has built in call recording. Pretty slick UI and app over all.

7)Qumana offline blog editor. I don't like editing my blogs through a webpage, this is the best free option to have all your blogs in one place and create new or update entries. Although ScribeFire is an awesome firefox plug in that does the same thing and more.

Well, that should be a good start. Have fun. -Leif

(I do review and talk about a lot of these at my GeekingOutLoud.com blog BTW, you could always subscribe there)

Oh yeah, and those of you who haven't seen how you can make use of Bizniks RSS feeds using apps services like pageflakes or Netvibes, check out the cool free social-networking creation site Ning.com (another great free services) and the demo site I made called "Biznik Focus Friends at keepmefocused.ning.com. And NO jokes allowed about the time I'm spending on all this, not being so focused on my own business right now! (:

Best night for you to have some serious fun learning the secret of "Yes And!"?

"Yes, And!...How to listen for, accept and build upon the opportunities that come to us daily."
Okay, so I'm about to post a new event for one of the workshops that about 10 out of 14 of you rated a highly as to your interest in coming.

But I want to pick a specific date (a tue or thur according to you) that works best for folks. If some of you could please comment on which of these dates work best, that'd be great.

• Tue Aug 21st,
• Thur Aug 30,
• Tue Sep 4th,
• Thur Sep 6th,
• Tue Sep 11th
• Thur Sep 13th

Thanks! -Leif

Humanity 2.0 -where the tech are we going and do we want to go there?

Hi guys, I imagine that many of you, like me, don't check the promotions page and, since this isn't really a promotion, it seemed okay to x-post a little.

Spark NW is holding an open workshop on Orcas Island, on Sept 9th. 3 ways you could help me out: 1) Come! Its going to be fun, a great way to meet some bright people, and this is an important topic relevant to all of us.

2)Tell any friends you have who are interested in questions related to technology and culture to come, or at least give them this link:

http://sparknw.com/content/view/84/83/

3)For the super-duper nice ones out there with some free time, please print the following PDF poster and put a few up in your neighborhood. http://www.sparknw.com/resources/h20flyer.pdf

Thank you soooo much, and I hope some of you can make it. Please also feel free to post any questions or ideas about the workshop here as well.

Warmly, Leif

Crazy Idea? Biznik Daily-Focus Partners...

I was just thinking how one of the main problems of working mostly by myself is the lack of coworker support, synergy, accountability, etc. Its an issue I've heard echoed from a number of other bizniks and, obviously, its one of the main reasons for this site's existence.

One of *my* main struggles with working alone, I will openly confess, is that I'm too easily distracted, and soon get off focus. Doing too much, I do too little. Can you empathize?

Wouldn't it be great to have somebody (or a small group?) to check in with at the start, end and maybe middle of each day to see how things are going? How might it work?

Start: You'd set a specific time to check in (email, IM, phone, skype, etc) with your prepared day's plan (requires you to create that plan in the first place!)

End: How'd it go? (Middle? Check in, process, support, etc)

I think you get the point. My hunch is that there are quite a few people who could benefit from this, but that admitting one's need for help with focusing isn't super easy.

So how to provide an initial level of anonymity? Not sure. Anyway, before trying to flesh it out too much I'd love to hear if anyone else thinks that a 'daily-focus partner' would be helpful. Perhaps it could eventually even be a 'feature' built into biznik?

Cheers, Leif

Twitter / Pownce Names?

Sorry if this has been brought up before (search forums!?), but if you have a twitter or pownce name, reply here so we can get some hyper-blogging / group-consciousness going on between bizniks.

To add me:

• My Twitter name is leifhansen
• My Pownce name is SparkGuy (though I haven't really used it much yet...still waiting to see how things pan out.)

Anyone up for a spontaneous Venue Tour?

So much great feedback from folks in my "location location location" post that I realized --I can't decide this until I see the places. I have a hunch others might feel the same.

Anyone up for a 3 hour tour? Giligan? The Professor?

My proposal is taking a morning or afternoon, say 9-12 or 1-4 and visiting as many places as possible. If you are up for it, email me using leif@sparknw.com (or post here) and I'll make a list to coordinate times. I can be as spontaneous as doing it tomorrow afternoon, to sometime next week.

Cheers, Leif

PS I just realized it would make the most sense if your needs were sim to mine. To reiterate: 1)Looking for somewhere that takes ideally 10-25 (though bigger possible) people, and some room to move around. 2)Where events can be for pay 3)Pretty/Healthy setting (ie not a dark, dank basement) 4)Central to Greater Seattle area.