The Isolated Entrepreneur

Rosh Hashanah starts at sunset tonight.

AMA’s August 2007 newsletter contains a great article entitled “The Lost Art of Asking for Help.”

The article highlights M. Nora Kalver’s new book, Mayday! Asking for Help in Times of Need (Berrett-Koehler, 2007) and reviews:

• why people delay requesting help
• common cultural myths why we don’t ask for help
• The Mayday! process for asking for help.

There is a new recall out for Fisher Price products purchased in the US since May 1, 2007 because of lead paint.

The products

Just like the dinosaurs are no longer considered slow moving and cold blooded, the Seven Wonders of the World no longer include the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty.

Using an online poll with over 100 million votes, the new Seven Wonders of the World, as announced in Lisbon on July 7th, are:

• The Great Wall of China
• Rome’s Colosseum
• India’s Taj Mahal
• Peru’s Machu Picchu
• Brazil’s Statue of Christ the Redeemer
• Mexico’s Chichen Itza Pyramid
• Jordan’s Petra

The vote for the New 7 Wonders of Nature is still on until August 8th.

Source: New 7 Wonders (click here for the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World)

Thirty years ago, today, the first practical computer went on sale, the Apple II. This successful computer stayed on the market until October 1993. How’s that for product longevity?

In 1977, the standard Apple II came with 4 kilobytes of memory (could be expanded up to 48K). The computer introduced a graphic display, the BASIC language and expandable memory.

A 4 kilobyte memory chip cost about $500 back then.

Sources:

• “From a Little Apple a Mighty Industry Grows,” Wired, June 5, 2007.
• “Chapter 3: Apple II” from Apple II History.

You probably already know this, but there are some steps you need to take in order to make sure your mass email or newsletter is mistake free. I know I have hit send several times and realize later that I have made an error.

1. If you handle multiple mailing lists, make sure you are sending to the right list.
2. Make sure the from address works. Email services such as Constant Contact, EZine Director and AWeber do this for you.
   
3. Make the subject line accurate, short and compelling. The subject line should allow a reader to easily recognize what the message contains.
4. Publish your newsletter online and provide a link for reading it in the browser. This is not necessary, but it directs traffic to your site and some readers prefer to read the newsletters in browsers.
5. Check all images. Make sure they are displayed and there is alternative text so something shows up when images are blocked.
6. Check all links.
7. Check the newsletter date. This is especially important if you copy your previous newsletter and make updates to the content.
8. Include a working unsubscribe link. This is done automatically with email services.
9. Include a physical address (required by SPAM laws). This is done automatically with email services.
10. View the email through different accounts (AOL, Hotmail, etc.) and email clients (webmail, Eudora, Outlook). If you have access, check your email on both Windows PC and Mac.

Sources:

“8 Steps Email Quality Control,” Above the Fold Email Marketing.
“Don’t Hit Send Yet!” AWeber Blog Posting, Justin Premick, May 22, 2007.

I don’t know about you, but it is very hard to find a great sun hat for my toddler and pre-schooler.  The hats in the local stores are very pretty, but they are missing some important features that make a great sun hat:

• Ventilation holes.  Many of the hats go so far as to have a liner in a different color, but no air holes to help keep my kids cool.
• A wide brim.  The two areas most exposed to the sunlight are my kid’s necks and ears.

My kids, especially my son, is very sun sensitive.  He is a red head =-).  Both my kids sneeze (light sensitivity) and get heat exhaustion if they are not wearing a hat in the sun.

Although it costs more, I finally found some hats with ventilation at Solartex.com.  Solartex has SPF ratings for their hats as well.

I chose the cream colored afternoon sun hat so my daughter can use it when he outgrows it.  Also, the light color will reflect the sun more effectively.

How to get your kids to wear hats

People ask me how I am able to get my kids to wear their hats.  It takes persistence.  I tell them we will have to go inside if they take them off and follow through with the threat.

We have a big tree in the backyard and I put up a tent every once in a while.  I let them know that they can take the hats off if they are in the shade.  This gives them a measure of control.  =-)

Water Bottle Fun 

Another thing I do is have a water bottle for each of my kids available.  They love to drink from these and I don’t have to worry about dehydration.

If the weather is hot enough, I allow them to fill and refill them at the outside water spout.  =-)

Have you noticed how many articles have been written about Walmart loosing it’s competitive edge because it got away from such things as good customer service and making each consumer feel important? Walmart is also having supplier problems - many suppliers are tired of being bullied.

There are many books and articles out there about how acting like a small business is a key to growing your business.

Your focus should be on:

• Being the best, not the biggest.
• Loving your business.
• Communicating your passion, inspires passion in others.

Read “The Bigness of Smallness: How Businesses Can Get Bigger By Acting Small” by John Moore, May 1, 2007. MarketingProfs.com .

Are you planning on attending a conference?

It is important to look at the conference brochures or websites as soon as it becomes available.

Most conferences have an early registration deadline which can save you money.  But, more importantly, is to arrange your hotel accommodations as soon as possible.  The block of rooms reserved for the conference attendees at a special rate are usually sold out long before the early registration deadline.

I highly recommend making room reservations as soon as possible to lock in at these rates - even if the final list of participants for the conference is not final.  It is very easy to change the names of the people staying in the rooms or cancel a room at a later date.

Usually conference registrations are non-refundable, so it is best to wait until you have a final list of participants.  If you are bringing several people to a conference put on by an affiliate or vendor and one of the people you registered cannot make it, get in contact with your account representative.  They may be able to reimburse you the money even if the policy is not to give refunds.

If the conference is held in a popular travel destination such as Walt Disney or cities such as Savannah or New York, remember to book your travel early as it fills up quickly during peak seasons.

Are you using Google for all your Internet research? It is not the most effective way to find information on the web - especially if you are looking for something very specialized.

Here is a fabulous Squidoo lens called “Confessions of an Internet Researcher” which will help you learn more about Internet research.