"I've Got a Golden Ticket!"

ShoeBoxed and Pre Planning on an index card – no joke. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Shoeboxed is the Netflix for receipts and business cards. I do my hustle thing, getting sh*t done, place the receipts and business cards in a big shiny blue Postage Prepaid  envelope and wahla a few days later I get the most amazing organization of accounting and contacts I have EVER seen. I know too.  I meet A LOT of people.  I used to have my assistant scan everything using Neat Receipts. Even bought their super Desktop machine. But still with all the scanning errors it was costing me to have someone go through every contact and piece of paper for accuracy. Then through the golden gates of resources I met the owner of ShoeBoxed at SXSW. It took me close to a year to actually start using the system. My ego was probably stuck on the $500 bucks I spent on Neat Receipts when I could have been spending only 10 bucks a month with ShoeBoxed and no assistant cost!!! I am telling you. If you run a  business, meet people and don’t use Shoe Boxed you are just simply crazy. You want to be wasting time.

And those simple plain boring INDEX cards are a goldmine of productivity. Don’t believe me? Just look at the famous GTD (Getting Things Done) blog . Yea I was going crazy keeping 10 to do lists on dry erase boards in my office, house, sticky notes, JOTT express, RTM (Remember the Milk) until a friend who seemsto get EVERYTHING done said I just write it all on an index card the night before for that day and order them in sequence of priority after I’m done writing each task.  “Come on… that’s it?” I said.  He informed me that keeping multiple to do lists devalues each one and by having to open a to do list in a computer makes it not so accessible. So with an index card in his pocket at all times he just crosses off each task as they are completed.  Then at the end of the day he transfers anything not done to the new index card for the following day and rips up the one for that day.  And let me tell you ITS BEEN WORKING!!!  I complete just about everything.  Only difference. I think I’ll start burning each card when I’m done.  Lots more fun

My new friend @Ribeezie direct messaged  me, (also known as “DM”), on Twitter this morning and told me to “Now bring back some of that good stuff and share ” about Zappos Insights inaugural conference.  Zappos, a billion dollar online commerce destination, is known for their leadership in customer service.  Insights was created as an educational forum to guide entrepreneurs to successfully attain milestones. It was a privilege to be a part of their LIVE event, a revolution in leadership and corporate happiness. One of the speakers at the event, social media maven Brian Solis,  said it perfectly, “In the end we’re measured by our actions, not our words.”

Three huge takes aways from the event that will transform the productivity and efficiency in our organizations.

1. Share….Stop self promoting and start listening. Share information that you know delivers value because you have been listening. Whether it be employees, personal relationships, twitter followers or facebook friends. The way to effectively intrigue people to  take action is fueled by being inspired.
2. Discover your foundation before you start building.… The most crucial component in determining success in a company and in your personal development is first discovering what matters to you most.; Your core values.  It starts with you, outside of your professional life. The business owner behind closed doors.  When you look in the mirror what do you see? Integrity, Transparency, Adventure… Deceit…? In order to grow we must be honest with ourselves.  It is so clear to me now that if I had taken the time to discover, write down, and share my core values with my team  it would have reduced management, increased productivity and complimented my company vision. But instead I found ego was something in my company that created road blocks for our success. What’s interesting is ego is so far from my personal values. If I had taken the time to write down what’s important to me, I would have quickly discovered my team mate  strayed from our core values and that situation could have been remedied with eloquence and efficiency.

Zappos Core Values: Direct Link

1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble

3. Half of the world is searching for the other half of the world, but don’t know how to find them.  Brian Solis emphasizes that before even planning an online marketing strategy establish your identity. Most brands don’t even strategize, they just jump on a band wagon. But lets say you are developing a strategy, before that DISCOVER your identity that you plan to communicate in this strategy. I LOVE that Brian reinforced this. I hadn’t even thought of charting out my brand identity before planning. I figured my identity is obvious. Surf brand means you’re a surfer right? No, not necessarily. You must establish your brand to stand for something. A Cause. Something bigger and selflLESS than selling a pair of board shorts.

Establish your brand identity

Ahhh the beauty of delegation

I discovered the value of delegating somewhere between reading Four Quandrants by Robert Kiyosaki and The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss.  Kiyosaki explained the differences between someone self employed and a business owner (see image below). That if a good business owner leaves their company the productivity maintains. A key owner injects advancement in the organization, not maintenance.  Then in Ferriss’s book he shares that when he stopped being so hands on and started trusting a team by delegating, his company actually increased revenue and he had more time to do other things.  If each owner of McDonalds had to be in daily attendance Mickey Dees wouldn’t be known for the effective automated hamburger franchise it is today.  That being said, each day I think of ways to delegate. This isn’t to be lazy. Not at all. Delegating enables me to scale my businesses more efficiently.  I try to find a common theme in my various ventures that will allow the same team to mimic their core competencies in each project so that I don’t need to find a new team each time I start something new.  Needless to say, its very exciting and allows a lot more time for me to focus on my own core competencies. After all, there is only so much you can do if you try to do everything yourself.

These last few weeks have been really tough for me.  I miss being in a relationship, spending time with girlfriends, traveling. I’ve given up just about every ounce of personal life I’ve had over the last decade for the freedom of being an entrepreneur.

Truly there is nothing more rewarding than knowing I have the power to turn a dream, a speckle of a thought, into an oasis. There is so much magic in seeing my dreams come to fruition. And the fact that my teammates get to see their dreams come true in tandem with mine.

With that being said it leaves me little time to, well, be me. The me that’s hidden behind my company. Light hearted. Adventurous. Romantic. Vulnerable. Scared.

In being a part of the LA tech community I have not only found new friends who (like my childhood friends) accept the sacrifices I make, but these new friendships can empathize as well. They are risk takers and business owners themselves.  They know what it is like to have your employees be dependent on you, to have  everything on the line from leveraging real estate and lines of credit, to spending all your savings,  to have pressures from venture capitalists and the complexities of legal contracts. They know what it is to hire and fire. To strategize knowing failure is no option.  They know what it is to lose friendships and have family question your life. They know what it is to feel alone just the same as they know the joy it is to have your company featured in a periodical or TV show. They know what it is to close a major deal. They know what it is to be Magic.

I have the blessing of having all these wonderful people in my “neighborhood” to see at any time… I just want to say thank you.

For a little LA Tech smiles and gossip check out Lalawag and for some of the most down to earth and informative business upstart videos go to Mixergy.

LA Tech community at SXSW in Austin, Texas

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdlasica

I am absolutely exhilarated to to be visiting the Zappos headquarters tomorrow in Vegas. My company team has been vigorously studying the phenomenal Zappos culture which we do our best to emulate each day. I have personally been a fan of Zappos since about 2002 after discovering the site was the fastest loading site on the web. Being the geek that I am I was fascinated and had to know how they did it. I think their upload time was under 3 seconds and with a homepage full of graphics. Completely impressive.

Zappos.com is all about their WOW effect “delivering ‘WOW’ through service”. From their lightening speed delivery times, Monopoly Game, Culture Book, sending flowers to a grieving customer, 100% satisfaction guarantee free return policy, upload times, in house Life Coach – Dr Vik! and now Zappos Insights helping businesses achieve “The Road to a Billion and Beyond.”… Zappos WOWs me.

A little something from their Monopoly “Wow” cards:

“Take a leap of faith on a new venture, pay each player $50″

“Take a step outside of your comfort zone, collect $150″

“Reap the reward of taking a risk, collect $50″

"The Road to a Billion and Beyond"

Future Billionaire Girl in the making!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo_sBQGiRLc]

Last night I realized that in loving my team as much as I love my company I don’t love myself enough. What does that mean. If they get upset I say how can I fix it and immediately blame myself for allowing any moment of discomfort to take place. If there is a decision to be made I am perpetually afraid I am not going to make the best one because haven’t I made so many mistakes in the past. But of course I have! Because I am a true entrepreneur, a risk taker. If I weren’t I wouldn’t be in business and definitely not for 10 years strong. So last night as I started to doze off I had a moment of clarity. That a firm decision is better than no decision at all even if it ends up being a mistake. People respect confidence and authority. And there is no way that I single handedly can or even need to prevent every issue before it arises. I am not perfect, nor is my staff. But it is about understanding one another. Providing them a leader to follow. And doing the best we can. A teammate isn’t about being their equal. It is about being what the team needs. A male friend of mine said he was autocratic with his staff because he didn’t have time to be friendly. His approach is command and control from above, no power in the masses. Maybe that polar opposite style isn’t the way for me. Each business owner is entitled to their own methodologies. But without a doubt my staff needs to start seeing the leader and the executive in me rather than the girl next door. Because truth be it if people walk all over me its because they think they can, no matter it be consciously or unconsciously. Both equate to the same results.  I’m ready to start the day a new woman a new company.

My best friend recommended this book: “How We Lead Matters” by Marilyn Carlson Nelson.

To Lead is to Inspire

Gary Vaynerchuk @ Big Omaha 2009 from Big Omaha on Vimeo.

This May 2009 will be just about the coolest conference yet – Big Omaha. The best of the best in social media, online content and business tech will be in attendance. Gary Vaynerchuk who I can’t stop writing about has mastered the momentum of online content. Adriana Gascoigne banded together Girls in Tech throughout the US and overseas being featured in periodicals like Fast Company for her leadership and social media expertise at powerhouse Hi5. Business modeling extraordinaire Jason Fried from 37 Signals. If you have yet to read how 37 Signals maintains laser focus on business development go there now to enhance your skills. Threadless founder Jeffrey Kalmikoff made selling retail online viral and community based. Matt Mullenweg who is behind the development of WordPress – just about the most unbelievable blogging platform ever. And no established business and technology event would be complete without the talented Shira Lazar hosting the extravaganza. This star studded cast are all flying to Omaha this May and so should we. I know I am. If you missed South by Southwest don’t make the same mistake twice.This May 2009 will be just about the coolest conference yet – Big Omaha. The best of the best in social media, online content and business tech will be in attendance. Gary Vaynerchuk who I can’t stop writing about has mastered the momentum of online content. Adriana Gascoigne banded together Girls in Tech throughout the US and overseas being featured in periodicals like Fast Company for her leadership and social media expertise at powerhouse Hi5. Business modeling extraordinaire Jason Fried from 37 Signals. If you have yet to read how 37 Signals maintains laser focus on business development go there now to enhance your skills. Threadless founder Jeffrey Kalmikoff made selling retail online viral and community based. Matt Mullenweg who is behind the development of WordPress – just about the most unbelievable blogging platform ever. And no established business and technology event would be complete without the talented Shira Lazar hosting the extravaganza. This star studded cast are all flying to Omaha this May and so should we. I know I am. If you missed South by Southwest don’t make the same mistake twice.

Don't risk feeling left out again like you did not attending SXSW in Austin last week