HomeOfficeVoice

Envy Can Ruin a Promising Brand

I run an online Mastermind group, where 4 of us meet on a weekly basis. It’s a great way I figured to hone my skills in my upcoming mentoring venture … geez, I keep on plugging that again … what’s that: HomeOfficeMentor.com… ;-)

I brought up a topic last night that was out from left field.

I asked my fellow Masterminders about envy. Do they envy other people (their competitors) with the success they’re having and you are trying to attain.

Further to that, I asked how do you deal with it.

Envy of a successful competitor is a natural human emotion. And I believe there are two ways that you can go about dealing with it. One is in a positive way and the other in a negative, destroying type of way.

The Positives of Envy

Seeing someone in your niche doing well is a Godsend. It validates all your research and planning that you’re on the right track.

If you’re of a positive mindset, then it shouldn’t be too hard to turn that envy into Competitor Intelligence. What better way is there than to sit back and really delve into the reasons for their success. What are they doing that you aren’t? And I don’t mean just go out and copying them.

Watch for the clues. The interaction they have with their readers, clients, buyers … whatever. Experience it for yourself and jot down notes on what caught your attention. It could be just the little things that could make a huge difference.

The Negatives of Envy

Well what’s to say. Jealously, Bitterness, Negativity, Resentment. It wastes your time. It drains your of your energy. You lose focus.

If you head down that road then eventually you’ll end up failing your own brand, because you will do it no justice by being envious of your competitor’s success.

A Personal Example

I’ll give you an example. A personal example. I’ve always wanted to run an “internet Magazine” for the home business. It’s been one of those things that’s been floating in my head for years.

Then comes along eMoms at Home, - eh, a nice little blog. Then months later it’s gone through the roof and is now an … “internet magazine”.

To be honest, my first thought was one of envy. Why her? Why not me? Why did I have to live in Australia when all the action was in the U.S? And so on.

But guess what? That lasted barely minutes. Because it dawned on me that if this “internet magazine” was a success then my ideas where right all along. And seeing someone else doing it and succeeding at it gave me great pleasure - and it continues to give me great pleasure to this day.

Even though I’m not looking in that area today, I still marvel at the success, and in fact, I follow many so-called “internet magazines” to see and learn how they go about their thing.

Basically, you can see envy as coming to a fork in the road. The path you choose to go down will say a lot about you and your ultimate success or failure online.

My suggestion: Take envy and use it as a positive spur to take your own business to the next level.

Posted in Home Business | 1 Comment »

Weekend Edition #1

Well, what a week it has been …

I’m going through my own personal winter and am eagerly looking forward to Spring (not literally) where, as we all know, everything springs back to life … a new beginning.

This is Important to me …

Firstly, a call out and a big thank you to @Wendy, @GrantGriffiths, @Stuart, @copyblogger, @Marti_L, @duncanriley, Jay Fleischman and Chuck Newton - if I’ve missed anybody, then my sincerest apologies.

Who says the internet is impersonal and all that rubbish … when in need, you get to meet some new friends and you strengthen the bonds with the one’s you already have. Thanks Guys!!!

And to all those who sent those charming nasty emails well … go to a dictionary and look up the word “Karma” - nothing more needs to be said.

What happened at HomeOfficeVoice This Week…

Well not much, to be honest. :-)

I did that personal post and wrote The Skype Revolution Has Been a Boon for the Bootstrapping Home Business.

I have so many posts, ideas and semi written stuff ready to get a move along - and I’ll be rolling them out over the next few weeks as I settle into my new abode (err, my old man’s spare bedroom).

Something to Read Over the Weekend

I’ll leave you with a few links to some great articles I found during the week that might interest you.

Its been said before, but Brian Clark’s The Secret of Life is, in my mind, the “Post of the Year”. Game, set and match … it’s over. How does that guy do it!!!

Social Networks are still a mystery to many - even for me at times. But what about if you’re a home-based business owner (time poor as hell) and trying to figure it all out?

A good place to start is the following article over at AllBusiness.com - Using Social Networks to Build a Home-Based Business. There’s so much more to talk about on this topic so you can bet your life I’ll get a decent resources page up and running that’s focused totally on home business using social networks.

Mike Stelzner is the white paper guru. Pure and simple, he has taken the mantle and made himself the expert. And he is taking it to another level - best to leave it to his post and watch that video (another guy taking video to another level) - Have you seen this yet??

That’s all folks - I want to put this past week well and truly behind me and move on - damn, there’s no “real” footy here in Melbourne this weekend - We.Need.Our.Footy.Fix!!!! :-)

Have a great weekend,

Cheers,
Martin Neumann
HomeOfficeVoice

Quote for the Weekend

I haven’t done this in years, but what the hey … a good quote can sometimes inspire you to greater heights, get you out of a slump or just put a smile on your face.

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An Update and a Quick Roundup

Hey all,

Just a quick roundup post of what’s going on here at HomeOfficeVoice and some little insights and thoughts on what’s been capturing my attention.

Redesign

I’m having a full on redesign of HomeOfficeVoice. This is being done behind the scenes. In days past, I would do such a thing on another “dead” blog to get everything right and then migrate it over to the blog that was being redesigned - which usually meant lots of little bugs and bad links that needed to be cleaned up.

Well not anymore!

I recently came across a beauty of a plugin called Theme Test Drive which allows me to tweak a new blog design (on the same blog) while you guys still see the current design - ie: no messed up messes :-) and css butchering. Very Cool.

The Interview Series

Wendy Piersall - of sparkplugging, formerly eMoms at Home, has done an outstanding job (imo) of answering a bunch of questions that go straight to the heart of what she’s been up to these last few weeks and months - both professionally and emotionally. This is going to be a must read - but then again, I’m biased. ;-)

A Mini Rant

Of course, no week can go by without a little bit of a rant. Well it can, but not this week. ScribeFire. An excellent Firefox addon that is near perfect as a blog editor. I love it and have used it on and off since it came out when it was created by the original guys over at Performancing.

My rant, and it’s not just against ScribeFire, is this one: If It Ain’t Broke, Then Don’t Fix It. That post will come to you on Thursday.

9Rules

Someone alerted me to the new 9rules… not interested. They’ve been off my radar for so long that I even thought they had folded up or something. For me it’s about the blogs not the “me too” walled-in community and ego-driven individuals behind it. But for the uninitiated, I have had my run-ins with them folks over at 9Rules over the years - but those days are long gone. Next…

LinkedIn

I’ve had a love/hate/puzzlement affair with LinkedIn for so long now that I get a headache just thinking about it. The foundations are solid. It’s clear-cut what it’s all about. But, and there’s always been a but… It never seems to live up to its expectations - well, for me anyhow.

Even so, it came as somewhat of a surprise and shock reading Scott Allen’s post about the future of LinkedIn Intelligence (especially point #3). Scott has been THE evangelist for LinkedIn for so long now that everytime I think of LinkedIn I automatically think of Scott Allen as a leading (independent) authority figure.

I’m really looking into whether LinkedIn is an ideal place for us lifestyle entrepreneurs to network. My research continues and yes, Scott’s announcement does have an impact. Obviously, I’ll be trying to get Scott over here for an interview. Scott! Hello! :-)

That Twitter Post

It’s been three weeks in the making, but I have completed a thorough post on Twitter. It’s obviously geared to an audience of lifestyle entrepreneurs and basically asks, and sometimes answers, the question of whether it’s a “must have” tool, a waste of time or just one more thing in the web 2.0 bag of cool apps.

Have a good week, enjoy your business but more importantly enjoy life.

Cheers,
Martin

PS. Happy Birthday to my little girl - already 7! Your Daddy’s proud of you.

Posted in Home Business | 2 Comments »

The Interview Series … Coming Soon

One of my major pet loves is interviewing people … especially those I respect. I like to get into the nitty-gritty of an issue or issues and delve deep into the minds of successful people.

I come from a freelance journalism background and I have interviewed hundreds of individuals from all walks of life involved in small business. It’s become second nature to me and nothing pleases me more when I can establish a rapport with a subject where juicy tidbits of useful business insights comes to light.

I learn as much from interviewing people as reading any “how to” books out there … and I’m hoping you’ll learn a thing or three as well.

So … I plan to continue this right here at HomeOfficeVoice with an “Interview Series”.

Basically, I plan on interviewing selected individuals that affect the home business entrepreneur. I’ll start it off with a monthly interview and see where we head from there - my ideal would be a fortnightly interview.

And I stake my credibility on the fact that these ‘interviews’ will be no fluff pieces or pr devices.

So stay tuned because Interview Number One is coming in a few short days. I’m going to interview … :-)

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The Lifestyle Entrepreneur at Home Office Warrior (Part 2)

A quick note to let everyone know that part two of my guest post over at Home Office Warrior has been published.

What is a Lifestyle Entrepreneur (Part 2) follows on from part one.

My thanks to Grant over at Home Office Warrior for the opportunity to reach a wider audience.

Posted in Home Business | 1 Comment »