Darius at Freshbooks talks about the tension between having fun and being on point with the brand message, and that being the place where brands can do some really cool things. He also talks about the Freshbooks motto - treat customers like good friends. … Read More...
Chris Brogan talks about projects that have failed and identifies the learning points. Another key point to note for entrepreneurs is to try your idea, ask a ton of questions and then execute. Don't start things in a vacuum. AJ and Chris also talk about risk when starting your new project and … Read More...
We stopped of in Massachusetts to speak with Chris Brogan. In part 1 of our interview, AJ went back five years to look at December 12th posts (the day we interviewed him) and talked with Chris about these. Chris talks about the importance of growing and building your community. AJ also asks Chris … Read More...
As our road trip nears an end, AJ takes a minute to discuss the options in online meetings and why we choose to use GoTo Meeting. Full Disclosure – GoToMeeting.com is one of the awesome sponsors of our Rise of the Cubicle Farmer tour, and we have been using them since the day we opened our … Read More...
Some thoughts from me about invoicing and why I like Freshbook. A newer feature that I really love is the ability to setup automatic invoice reminders for clients when the invoice has become 15 days past due, 30 days past due and 45 days past due. You can customize the message that is sent to the client and its gives them a link to the invoice.
You can watch the video on youtube below.
On this road trip we have been meeting with our distributed team for usual business purposes. Typically, we launch a GoTo Meeting from our browser and talk over voip. Since we are on the road, we have had meetings in some really unusual places: Starbucks, Sears auto center and even in the car. One thing we have really enjoyed is the GoTo Meeting feature where you can create a call in number. This way no matter if we are in front of our computer or not we can call in with our cell phone and be with the rest of our team on the call.
Full Disclosure - GoToMeeting.com is one of the awesome sponsors of our Rise of the Cubicle Farmer tour, and we have been using them since the day we opened our company. If you run a small business, you should really consider using them.Today we have a guest post from Angel Kwiatkowski who is the Madame of the Cohere Coworking Community in Fort Collins, Colorado. She spends her days helping people start their own coworking communities and referring meaningful work to her members. She stopped by to share her thoughts on the coworking environment.
A coworking space is a physical location that fosters the following: the productive gathering of motivated people with the intent to create shared value for the benefit of their community.
The greatest benefit of coworking is feeling that you have finally found a tribe. It sounds a little hokey but I hear it time and time again from independents coming off the coffee shop circuit. Nearly everyone who has found their way into the Cohere community feels suddenly grounded and energized at once by finding a group of people who CARE about them and their work. Finding and being a part of a tight knit community of people like you makes the freelance way of life so much more bearable. You’ll have a built in group of supportive (real life) people to catch you if you stumble, point out the cliff you’re about to fall off of, or give you a high five when you succeed. You just can’t get that same caliber of community online or with a bunch of strangers at a coffee shop.
I could bore you with a list of questions about what tangible amenities to ask about but the reality is, it’s more important to test out potential coworking communities for at least a week or more before joining. You’ll inevitably identify with some communities more than others. Don’t get hung up on WHAT the space has. Look more closely at WHO is there and WHY. You’ll be able to discover fairly quickly if it’s a community that resonates with you and your values.
If you are in the Fort Collins area make sure you stop by and say hi to Angel and the gang at Cohere.
In Atlanta we had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Van Osch of thinktank:men, former VP at an Ad Agency turned entrepreneur with a little acting in between. Michael was let go in 2001 and he identifies that moment as the time he finally sat down and took a serious look at what was ‘right’ for him. With his Movember moustache in tact he talks about life after being let go from his job.
He asked himself two questions …
Michael says it took a long time to figure out those two questions, but one thing in the back of his mind was a quiet thought “I want to be an actor”. So with no formal training he tried out for a show and landed a role in the one man show, Defending the Caveman. Which lead to some great learnings and another pivot a few years later where he launched thinktank:men.
You can watch part 1 of our interview with Michael on Youtube.
