HireMeAspen Unplugged.

21 months ago, I started running, not walking, down the entrepreneurial path. A hilly path filled with ups and downs, brainstorms and lulls, grand successes and admitted failures, but it’s been an incredible journey nonetheless.

Before I set out, I did set some life goals. Mostly those goals were stepping stones to a broader vision I have for my life: freedom.

Financial freedom, of course. But also freedom to come and go as I please. Freedom to start and end my day when I please. Freedom to live and breathe wherever I please. Freedom to just do as I please.

Isn’t freedom what everyone truly desires?

With my vision in place, I set out to create an internet startup called Sharing Profiles so that I can “afford” a life where I come and go, start and end, live and breathe…and just do as I please.

What I didn’t realize at the outset was that this road to freedom also would lead to hot pants. Not because I wear hot pants or think I’m hot pants.

I’ve got hot pants because I’ve got a hot laptop.

It’s been running way too long for too many consecutive days. Every day for the past 21 months (except for a few days in May when I found myself signal-less in Mississippi), I’ve not only powered on, but I’ve stayed on for hours and hours and hours.

This last month, I think it’s started to catch up with me. I’ve been finding it difficult to write. I love to write, so it’s not for lack of passion. What I realize was that the the well of life was empty. It’s hard to tell a story when you don’t have any stories to recall. It was becoming difficult to focus, concentrate, make decisions, and get things done.

I was being so indecisive. There were too many options b/c I was on information overload.

I’ve been extremely busy working and achieving which is fine because I see this stage of my life as laying the foundation to my freedom house. But working and achieving and going, going, going leaves little time, if any, for simple living.

So, this weekend I decided to simply live. And I knew the only way to really do that was to totally unplug. No logging in. No facebook. No twitter. No blogs. (I did check my iphone a few times).

It was hard at first, but I survived.

I also got many more things off that long to-do list of mine. I put away my deck furniture. I cleaned out my closets. I organized my drawers, changed my sheets, grocery shopped, walked around a few lakes, called Comcast, cleaned out the garage and the shed, donated to Goodwill, paid bills, read a book, got my nails done, windexed my windows, went thru ALL my magazines, threw away all the stale ones, and cooked from scratch. I still haven’t vacuumed.

I also watched a fascinating PBS special called “Art & Copy: the social and cultural influence of advertising” and another fascinating show on penguins. Did you know that the momma penguin lays her egg, rolls it over to the daddy penguin to keep warm while she goes away for 4 months to find food, comes back with regurgitated food for the baby penguin, and resumes the parenting from the dad? And if she doesn't make it back in time, the daddy and baby die of starvation.  You really can learn something new every day.

I truly had forgotten how great it feels to take a weekend off and simply live.

I plugged back in to write this post. And it feels right to have done so now that I’ve renewed my spirit, reconnected with nature, and enjoyed my home. I’ve also made a new promise: to unplug more often because I know it makes things better.

Unplug yourself. You, and your pants, will be glad you did.

Customer Training?

I went to Kinkos today. Oops, I mean “FedEx Kinkos.” I had to fax something, and I can never figure out my fax machine at home. So, off to FedEx I went.

I approached the counter and cleared my throat. The young (as in mid-20s) clerk magically appeared, so I presented my one page fax enthusiastically, thinking he’d be all excited to see it wasn’t a huge print job that involved collating.

Instead, I heard: “Oh no. What you need is right behind you.”

Hmm….Really? I whipped around looking to find that hot young stud with my winning lottery ticket. Instead, I stared down a fax machine on the other side of the store. It didn’t look happy to see me.

Could someone please tell me when and why every single thing is self service nowadays? Where oh where have all the friendly greeters gone? I just wanted to run in and out of there, get my fax faxed, and get on with my day.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not lazy, and sometimes I actually prefer self service.  But what I prefer even more is having a choice.

So, I huff and puff my way over to the angry machine, knowing that this was going to turn into an ordeal. And I also noticed that Joe Kinko was following sheepishly behind, as I'm sure he could tell I was less than thrilled.

First, he said I needed to insert my card. I thought he meant my FedEx Kinkos Business Account card which he encouraged me to sign up for during my last not-so-short visit to FEK. After digging through every nook and cranny of my wallet, I finally find it. Swipe it.  And naturally, it's no go.

Oh, he meant my credit card.  I guess customer service reps don't even have to ring you up anymore.

So I find that, swipe that, and then dial the fax number. This is the point when he chimes in that I’m one of the few customers who knows to dial a one.  Hmmmmm, I think to myself, I guess those customers must need some customer service.

We wait for a good three minutes while he goes on to explain that this fax machine is a weird one, it doesn’t make any noise whatsoever and that silence confuses all of his customers.  Hmmmmm, I think to myself again.  He then reads a message on the machine that my fax apparently didn’t go through.

Surprise. Surprise.

“It’s probably just busy, try again.”  I oblige and listen to him go on about how faxing to law firms usually doesn’t work on the weekends b/c they turn their machines off.  One, I’m not faxing to a lawyer. Two, can we listen to the mute fax machine please?

My patience is really starting to wane now that I'm going on about 12 minutes in the FEK store. Under my breath, I blurt, “For crying out loud, why does something so easy have to be so hard? I just wanted you to fax my fax.”

“It’s called customer training,” he says. 

Are you kidding me? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? 

“I don’t need customer training. You need customer service.” 

I’ve always hated fax machines. And I still do.

Especially ones that require "customer training" to function properly.

RERO or REDRUM?

Now that I'm familiar with the lingo, I'm all for RERO.
RERO stands for "Release Early; Release Often." But this whole RERO idea is starting to make me crazy with anticipation. Mad with anxiety. Wild with desire...for perfection. RERO is starting to remind me of REDRUM because it's beginning to feel a bit like MURDER.

When playing this internet game, you can't afford to wait for perfection to occur. Instead, you crank out lots of ideas, implement a few, hope for the best, then start all over again.

It's exhilerating. It's exhausting.

It's amazing how fast this game is. I can't catch my breath for even a second before POOF...it's time to change direction again. You know the things you need to stay on top of, but there's never enough hours in the day. For example, you know you need to monitor the competition, but who has time? You're tired, so you settle for just trying to stay in the game. Forget about getting ahead of the pack!

At some level, you sense the competition is just as exhausted, overwhelmed and blurry-eyed as you. You sense that those "Jacks-of-all-trades" are saying REDRUM too.

This panic-driven, always looking over your shoulder, lifestyle is unsustainable.

I feel comforted when reminded of the story of the tortoise and the hare. Can the tortoise win at this game....really? I don't think so. But I do think there's a happy medium, a mixed breed of sorts.

A "Hare-y Turtle," if you will.

I'm envisioning a rabbit with a tortoise shell on it's back, hopping awkwardly along, side-stepping dangerous land mines to avoid blow ups, and periodically leaping towards the elusive finish line. You not only need speed in this internet competition. You need protection from all those dangerous, flying ideas that take you off track and jeopardize the race.

Actually, can it really be a race if the finish line doesn't exist? I'm not sure. But I do know that whether I win or lose, I tried.

I entered the race. So in all reality, I win.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

THE GOOD: Making Decisions.

As a small business owner, you have to make decisions every step of the way. There's no time for being wishy-washy. I have to admit, I'm pretty good at making a final decision swiftly and moving forward with confidence. I believe that any decision, good or bad, is better than no decision, at least most of the time.

Since my HireMeAspen website launched a little over a month ago, I am amazed at all the questions that needed answers. I'm amazed at all the decisions I've made.

What color should the logo be? Where should the first website be launched? What image do I want to portray? What partners should I have? How should I market the site? Where should I do my banking? When should I launch? Where should I advertise? Who should be on my team? How do I get friends involved? When should I try a new approach? What is my growth strategy? Where should I place the photo credit? How do I cross-promote? How long should I focus on the first launch before moving on to the next? Which credit card merchant should I use? What is my pricing model? Should I buy giveaways? Which email marketing program should I use? How will this widget function? What do I wear to my TV interview? What are the use cases? How transparent should I be to the media?

It's nice to be the boss and not having to answer to anyone (except your customers). But, with that luxury comes jeopardy.

THE BAD: Google Analytics

My first (admitted and blogged about) mistake has to do with priorities. For one, we should have started using Basecamp Project Management Software earlier, but better late than never, I suppose. This software is great for managing a website development project. You enter tasks, you assign them, you check them off. It's really fantastic.

The problem has to do with not only prioritizing all those items, but me being the designated prioritizer.

In the beginning, I felt so bad about adding items because it seems like for every one item we checked off, 4-5 more tasks were added. This is certainly not the way to build rapport with your already hard-working, over-extended developer. So, I'd send an email instead. Or call. Or subtly plant the idea to incite excitement where he'd want to add it himself and jump right on it.

I'd do anything but enter a task. Because that means it's another "to do" that needs prioritizing by me. How do you choose the top priority when everything has a critical consequence?

And that's where my bad decision making skills reared its ugly head.

All along, I knew how important Google Analytics was. But it consistently stayed around task #14 even as items were removed and added.

My entire business is made up of websites, and websites need user stats. But I didn't realize how critical those stats were until today. Heed my warning: don't make this same mistake. Move analytics to the top of the list (like I just did today)...above all those other critical items.

A month into my site launch, I need those stats. Should I print more flyers? Should I renew my ad spend? What traffic numbers can I pitch to potential business partners. How many users are local? How many come from Facebook? Do they depart during registration? I have no clue, because I have no stats.

THE UGLY: Lesson Learned The Hard Way.

So, I must start building those stats now. It's not a pretty picture, but it is what it is. Google Analytics will be installed this weekend. And my stats will start rolling in.

The ugly truth is that I still look at the task list, and it still overwhelms me. I'm afraid there are many more mistakes on the way caused by poor prioritization.

Regardless, it's all still worth it. I love the luxury of calling the shots, even when those calls are wrong.

I love it all: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

My Bio via Lady GaGa

I'm 46. Actually, let me clarify. I just turned 46 last month, so I'm "newly" 46. No need to age myself since the mirror has that job cornered.

I guess this is the year when all that career experience and those work connections start to come together in a meaningful way. I may be late to the game. Or I may be early. Who knows? What I do know is that people keep asking me for my bio.

My publicist was the first to request my bio. Hmmmmmm......I think I'll google the word "bio." Low and behold, I find myself reading Lady Gaga's bio.

Interesting. She's only 24. I guess I'm late to the game. And she has "trade marks" such as her hair bow, futuristic outfits, and fans called "monsters."

Let's see. My trademarks would be my ponytail (who has time for a haircut?), my jeans (corporate exec turned resort local), and an old friend called "Monster Child" (sworn to secrecy on that one).   My trademarks aren't very GaGa-esque.

She also learned how to play the piano at age 4. I learned how to play with crayons at age 4, does that count?

Something tells me I need to keep searching. I did glean a few interesting tidbits from GaGa about having a few interesting tidbits.

I was invited to be on Erik Skarvan's "The Local's Show" (Grassroots TV) next Tuesday to promote my business. He wants a bio.  And recently I was invited to serve on the University of Denver’s Arts, Humanities and Social Studies Alumni Advisory Task Force. They requested a bio today.

So for all you would be entrepreneurs, task forcers and/or tv guests, I hope this helps get you started.  I created a short and a long bio.  Here's the short bio plus the "interesting tidbits" from my long bio.

My (almost 100 words) Bio:

Constance E. Hammond, 46, is the founder and CEO of Sharing Profiles, an internet startup where users post profiles to meet specific needs. This business consists of resort-based websites, such as the recently launched HireMeAspen.com. Other websites planned include MentorMeAlumni.com and HireMeAlumni.com.

A self-proclaimed “Idea Woman,” Connie loves all things creative: brainstorming (with friends or clients), writing (an avid blogger and journalist), and art (graduating in 2002 from NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies - Fine and Decorative Arts Program as well as studying art in NYC, Chicago, Minneapolis and Aspen).

Prior to Sharing Profiles, Connie was Director of Media Sales at Dow Jones where she received the 2007 Pinnacle Award for Sales Excellence.

Interesting Tidbits:

- Her first dog, Sandy, “talked.” Her last dog, a black lab named Scarlett, now lives with her ex. Her next dog is coming soon!

- Her favorite travel destination is the Villa Mangiacane Resort outside of Florence, Italy in Tuscany.

- She followed the Tour de France, by car, for her 40th birthday.

- She eloped for only $299 in 1994 in Gatlinburg, TN. Her amicable divorce cost the same amount 9 years later.

- She recently bought a guitar and is looking forward to finding her rhythm.

- Her favorite museum is a tie between the Musee D’Orsay in Paris or The Met in NYC.

- She is a big fan of integrity.

- Her nieces and nephews and all her friends’ kids call her Aunt CoCo.

- The person who most influenced her life is her dad, who has an amazingly positive spirit in spite of his paralysis when he was 20.

- She lives by the motto (at least most of the time): “Let Go and Let God.”

- Her best feature, in her opinion, is her square-mouthed smile because it means she’s laughing.

- Her personal motto? “I may not be the ideal woman, but I am an “idea woman.”

- In spite of outward appearances, she meditates.

- Her incredible friendships and family are what she cherishes most in life.