I thought to do something a little different on today’s Friday Roundup. Instead of interesting and resourceful blog posts and articles we usually find around the web, I’ll be posting a few little tech trick how-tos and resources that you may or may not know.

Item One: Disabling Skype auto formatting

Okay, I’ll have to admit, this post really was born out of the above. I was formatting some of Kaffeeklatsch’s email reminders for our upcoming call and finally had enough of the way Skype would automatically insert code around phone numbers I’d type in. If you know even remotely what I’m talking about, you know how this can quickly turn into a formatting nightmare.

So to disable the auto formatting, go into your web browser of choice (Don’t disable it from Skype itself. You’re not going to find it. ), go to Tools –> Add Ons –> Select Skype add on and disable it.

Every browser is different, but this short but sweet article shows you how to turn off Skype’s auto formatting for Firefox and Internet Explorer. If you use any other browser, just find where your add ons are stored and look for Skype and turn it off.

Item Two: Customizing LinkedIn links

If you’re on LinkedIn (or thinking about it in the future) there’s a section in your profile where you can list websites (kind of like a limited version of a blog roll for yourself). You get up to three links, and when you fill it out, there’s a little drop down menu that lets you select what kind of link it is. i.e “My blog” “My website” “My RSS”. In other words: very boring unhelpful labels.

Many people select this instead of customizing because it’s an option in the drop down menu, and usually when you’re given categories, you connect the link to the right category for organization. It’s human nature. But you can skip all of this (because we all want to stand out) and select “Other” from the drop down menu.

This won’t label your link “other.” It’ll actually give you an extra box where you can write your own title for your link. Like for example “My Kickass Website” or “Where I Blog About Socks.”

Item Three: Stat Tracking on Steroids

So this isn’t a tutorial, but if you are the type of person who obsessively looks at website stats (well, you don’t have to be) you should try GetClicky.com. Their free trial version only allows you to track one website (I tried tracking our FB fanpage and it wouldn’t let me ) but if you are just watching your business website, this is all you need. It gives you everything, including referral sites, an easier way to view different countries that might be stumbling onto your website, and what are the most viewed pages of the day.

The only thing about this site is that it’s on a day to day basis. Meaning that it only lists the day’s stats in comparison of yesterday’s stats, and doesn’t keep the long term graphs and data for more than 24 hours unless you are paying for premium service (I think). But I like it to get a quick glance of daily activity and where it’s coming from. It’s also fun if you’re just the very curious type.

And that’s it for today’s roundup! If you like what we did here, I’m thinking of opening up the comment section for questions/requests for tutorials and I’ll answer them next Friday. Have a great weekend!

I realized during the last KaffeeKlatsch call we did that there was a rather odd trend when it came to social media preferences (well, not really odd, but interesting).

While it’s fairly common to find Twitter users who are totally confused about Facebook and Facebook users who just don’t get what all the buzz about Twitter is, the one thing that they seem to agree upon is that they both don’t like LinkedIn.

Well, don’t like might be too strong of an assumption. It’s more of a “don’t get.”

And when you don’t get something, it can slowly breed dislike and mistrust. And soon enough, one of the big three of social media (with over 75 million members) is viewed as a frightening, intimidating creature that makes Facebook and Twitter fraternizing much less blasphemous.

Well, I’m writing this post today to address why LinkedIn seems so alien compared to other social media networks (and how it really isn’t all that scary to use, just different).

LinkedIn is a professional networking site. The reason why it feels scary to some (especially if you the arts and crafts type) is that the site is very much business mentality oriented. And at first glance, that can be a major turn off. It can feel cold sometimes. Where are all the pictures of your friends having that beer? Or a place to tweet about how you stopped by the Petrified Wood Gas Station?

LinkedIn is certainly not the lax environment of FB or the chatty upbeat chirps of Twitter. But it doesn’t mean that it’s not useful to business owners and entrepreneurs that don’t quite like the business suit feel of LinkedIn.

The driving force behind LinkedIn, like any other good social media site, is really all about reaching out and connecting with other people. Particularly for the purpose of building an asset list of contacts (craftsmen, professionals, and experts outside of your own field).

For example, you might not want to add your financial planner as one of your FB friends, but connecting with her on LinkedIn is perfectly acceptable. If someone needed a financial planner, you could forward her information easily by linking her public profile with a private note of recommendation.

Maybe you’re looking for someone to supply materials for your arts and crafts business, but don’t know where to start. But maybe you happen to see that a friend of yours, through her LinkedIn profile, is connected to the owner of a fabric shop downtown. You leave your friend a message or maybe contact the shop owner yourself, but you never would have known that resource was available if you weren’t able to see all the people that your friend was connected to in the first place.

And you don’t always have to be business-y on LinkedIn. The majority of profiles are, but as a creative small business owner, you can be completely your unique wacky self, and most likely, you’ll stand out more than the rest of the people in your field. Just because you’re filling out the equivalent of a resume on LinkedIn doesn’t mean you have to make it sound dry and boring. If you come off as approachable in a social networking site that generally gives off the impression that it’s all work and no play, others will gravitate towards you and want to connect with you.

LinkedIn has a lot of potential as a resource for small businesses, and I’ve only touched the very tip of a rather large iceberg. I can’t even begin to cover all that can be done and all that I’m learning from using LinkedIn. But I did want to say that it’s not scary. Maybe foreign, especially to our readers who are used to the laid back, more social aspect of social networking sites. But it’s definitely not scary. Just different.

If you have an account, I ask you to dust it off today and try to either complete your profile (because people don’t) or make it more entertaining. Like you would do your own website copy, because let’s face it, you are writing marketing material when you’re filling out your LinkedIn profile. Make it stand out. If you’ve never signed up for LinkedIn, I suggest you give it a try. Have an open mind to it.

And when you’re done, at the very least when someone Googles your name, a LinkedIn profile will show up for you (most likely faster than your site optimization). And then people can go “Hey! It’s the weird tech chick that’s on Cottage Copy! Ooh, lets pry more into her life.”

One of the strangest and most unexpected aspects of running Cottage Copy has been the rise in popularity of Didy as a mascot. People mention him in emails, he gets frequent Twitter shoutouts, and occasionally gets little packages of presents from the internet.

He got a package Saturday from the lovely Claire Staffa of Sammy’s Gourmet. So FTC disclosure and all, these were from Claire, and they were free. What is also true is that even if I’d bought this stuff, I’d probably be writing about it anyway because Claire is doing some stuff that is A) incredibly cool B) probably not possible without the internet and C) is in a hard business and sticking to some business parameters that are really admirable.

There are tons of organic dog treat bakeries that run brick and mortar stores and exist online, but Claire is doing something particularly interesting. She sources treats and other dog items that are organic, made from human grade ingredients, and all local. This means that in terms of cash flow, she’s using the internet at large to help fund her local economy. That’s a huge commitment, and probably makes her life a lot harder in terms of sourcing products that already have to meet some pretty high standards. I’m impressed.

Despite all that though, I was sort of worried about this package. I’m always looking for new treats for Didy, and so I immediately said yes when Claire asked if I wanted to try some of her new products. What I didn’t think through was the fact that I’m always searching for new treats for Didy because he won’t eat anything that doesn’t have the nutritional content of a twinkie. As someone who eats very healthy food, I find this kind of appalling and gross, and I’ve been struggling to find something that satisfies his wish for junk food and doesn’t make me feel like a horrible dog parent. I was seriously concerned that Claire would go to all of the trouble of sending the samples, and that he wouldn’t eat any of them. And then, being me, I would feel like an idiot.

Claire sent along four types of treats, all of which can be found at her website if you want more information. There was a chicken treat, a pumpkin treat, a bacon snap biscuit, and a peanut butter and carrot biscuit. What first struck me was that all of the ingredients were stuff that I would happily eat. Hell, if you relabeled them and cut them into fancy shapes, I’d eat them. This both reassured me and worried me more; my normal method of buying treats for Didy is picking whatever looks the most disgusting to me personally, so it was hard to envision our tastes matching up.

So being the child of two research scientists (No, I can’t explain it either), I decided to do this taste testing in as scientific a way as possible. I put all four on a plate, and let Didy pick the order he ate them in. Since I am a total dork, I actually did this four times to see if the order remained the same or if he was just lazy and picking the one closest to him. In my defense, I live in Indiana and was Saturday, so there are only so many ways to amuse yourself.

The reasonably scientific results? Didy loved the chicken jerky (which was more like a chicken chip), and went for it first every time. The bacon snap was a bit of a harder sell, but the bacon part finally seemed to win out over the rolled oats part, and he liked them each time a little more. Unfortunately at that point we hit the usual dividing line: vegetables were just not happening, not even in peanut butter biscuit form.

I ended up feeding the vegetable based ones to the backup ghost-tester dog, who couldn’t get enough of them. The treats were clearly great; I just happen to have the dog who requires his low fat dog food to be topped with bacon.

We’re going to do a bit of a tech post today, since I’ve slowly realized that not a lot of readers may know this.

When you choose to blog, for one reason or another, it may make sense to set up your blog on a hosted site like WordPress.com, or Blogger.com, Typepad.com, ect. Maybe you’re thinking of getting your feet wet with blogging and don’t want to commit to a self-hosted blog just yet. Or maybe website hosting isn’t something you want to get later, when your website is already built up. Sometimes it can even be a straight money issue and we all know we can’t beat free (especially if you’re on a shoe string budget).

There are a lot of reasons to go with the free blogs. And there are many reasons against it. But out of all of them, this is the one I want everyone to know, especially if you are building a business for the long haul:

When you blog at a hosted site, you are building authority and traffic for a domain name that is NOT YOUR OWN. (And yes, that deserved all caps.)

Do you know what that means? It means that every post that you write for your business is boosting up your chosen blog platform and not your business. If you have a grasp at SEO basics and are using them on your posts, you are giving your host an extra leg up, not you.

And we all know WordPress.com doesn’t need a boost in that regard.

So when you finally do choose to move to a self-hosted domain and migrate your blog to your own website, you’re still starting from scratch in Google’s eyes, even if you’ve blogged for years by then. Because none of those links you generated were directed to your own domain. And you can’t just call the search engines up later and say “Hey, that was me at this domain with this business all that time. Can you please move everything I’ve earned over for me?” It doesn’t really work that way.

I know here at Cottage Copy, we stress that you should write for people first, Google and SEO second. But this is one of the few times I’ll say don’t waste your good link karma. If you haven’t blogged yet, but are planning to, start it right and do it self-hosted. If you’re currently at a hosted blog, move it over as soon as possible. And get someone who knows how to move it and still have your permalink structure in tact. So that if someone who read your hosted blog has a link back to one of your posts, the next time they click it, they’ll be directed to the post’s new home on your own website instead of a 404 error page (because that wouldn’t look good).

Also, it’s good to have all of your assets (especially something like a blog) on your own domain. As Laura Roeder had put it, what if, God forbid, WordPress.com faded out of existence? Where would your blog go then?

I had a similar issue, not with blogs, but with communities when Ning.com suddenly announced that it wasn’t going to do free anymore because it wasn’t profitable. And the writing group that I was a part of had to go move all of our stuff somewhere else. It was a pain, let me tell you. And Ning hadn’t even warned any of us that they were going to do that.

So not that WordPress.com is going to suddenly disappear anytime soon. But it’s better to have your blog on your own site, so that if somehow, your favorite blogging platform suddenly becomes a dinosaur, you still have your blog on your website, unaffected, and you won’t have a small business freakout. FYI

If you have any questions about this or might be having a small business freakout right now about it (I’m so sorry!!), just leave a comment and I’ll answer anything you want today.

The Kaffeeklatsch program is now one month old, and it’s the first big launch of anything that I’ve ever done. There was such a fantastic response to it, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of the launch process (Well, except the paperwork part that required lots of beer, but we’ll get to that later). I thought I’d pass on some of the unexpected things that I learned over the past month or so to you guys in a friendly and honest way so that you could at least avoid making the same mistakes that I did. So, without further ado:

1. Say Thank You.
I’m constantly amazed at the generosity of the small business community, but I’ve never felt happier about it than this month. As soon as I launched, I was getting emails from people I’d never spoken to offering to help, to do infoproducts, and to help me promote it. It wasn’t because these people knew me personally either: they just thought that the program addressed a need and was genuinely a cool thing. Despite the fact that I’ve spent lots of time running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I’ve also spent a huge chunk of it saying thank you over and over to the people who helped out.

2. Check Your Systems.
This launch really scared me because I’m a technophobe, and it required integrating a forum, e-junkie, and the website here. We triple checked that all before launch, and it went smoothly. What we didn’t think about was having a way to auto-record how many months people had bought in for. It ended up being done by hand, and it turned out that all of the systems we had integrated to allow people to buy didn’t work together to make the follow up process automatic. When you launch, you’ve got to think beyond the system that allows people to buy; you’ve got to come up with a system to organize things when they do.

3. Be Specific.
I launched with a very specific idea of the program offerings: the forum, the two group calls, and one infoproduct. I was operating on the assumption that everyone defined an infoproduct the same way (specifically, that it could be a written product or a recorded one). It turned out that there are several different definitions out there, and that some people thought that it would specifically be a written product. As the first month’s infoproduct was an interview, this caused some confusion.

4. Know What Your Expectations Are.
This program has been a long time in the making, and I always knew that I wasn’t going to get rich off it. I’m pretty zen about that. It’s also the most fun thing I’ve ever done here, so I feel pretty great about things all around. I also didn’t expect huge subscription numbers the first month. I’m not an internet superstar, and a lot of these things grow gradually through word of mouth and reviews from people inside the program. The fact that I exceeded my expected subscribers was huge, and certainly good enough for me. I was glad that I did the math (and the research) beforehand, so I knew what was reasonable as well as what was possible.

If you want to get in on it, there is still space, so come join us. We’ve got a full re-subscribe rate so far, and we’re quickly forming a fun and supportive community. I’m toying with the idea of doing a Twitter chat that would be open to anyone as a program teaser bi-monthly as well, so let me know if that idea sounds like a good one.

Have you guys launched anything? Do you have any tips to add that I’ve missed? Leave them in the comments!

I’m pretty sure everyone out there has heard this piece of advice before. Especially when it comes to running your own business. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If you’re not bold, there’s a good chance that you’re missing a very good opportunity somewhere.

If you’ve noticed, I haven’t been blogging as much (which makes me feels like I haven’t been around even though I’m not far from the internet). Those few moments before bed where it’s peaceful and quiet that I used to use for blogging just simply don’t exist right now. It’s really hard to find peace when you’re in a lifestyle transition limbo. So if I’m crazy sporadic on blogging, I extremely apologize.

In all honesty, I haven’t been around my computer as much. Sure I’m plugged in to the internet through my Blackberry and compulsively check my email like the next person, but my fingers have seen less and less full keyboard action lately.

Instead I’ve been running around Washington doing something that I have been avoiding since I arrived in Olympia: meeting people at networking events. Real life I-don’t-know-your-twitter-handle-or-if-we’re-even-friends-on-FB business owners.

And let me tell you. While the above sounds rather strange and silly (I mean, you don’t really need to scan someone’s social media presence as a precursor to talking to someone), it’s actually scary. Not having a twitter feed to scan, a name to Google, or a blog to read to get more information? If your main business and primary form of interaction is through the web, it’s oddly scary.

Not only do you know nothing about these people you’re talking to, they know absolutely nothing about you. They don’t read your blog. They don’t know your tweets. This is their first point of contact with you and you can’t use the nice, cushy safety net of content and personality and taste that you’ve built up through your blog over the years.

Your blog and your social media is a nice, tight summary of everything you are and everything you want to grow into and be. And if people like you, people contact you. If they don’t, they ignore you. It’s very simple, and the internet is great for shy business owners. Your business brand on the internet is your security blanket.

And when you step into a networking event where you’re the new kid on the block, you’ve just lost access to all of that.

Holly talked about on the Complete Flake how she was afraid of going to a conference where everyone could finally see the copywriter behind the screen. And that freaked her out. I have the opposite issue. All that nice protective armor of authority and comfort that Cottage Copy brings is just gone at the snap of my fingers the instant I step away from the screen and onto the floor. I get a lot of blank stares when I say what I do and why it’s valuable. And that feeling brings into a very clear light that the world is even much bigger than the internet.

The venue I feel the most comfortable communicating through has always been through a keyboard and a screen that no one can see me sweat behind. And I bet I’m not the only one who finds this true about that computer monitor shield. Not having it is very, very nerve wracking.

It’s very much like stepping out on a stage naked. You feel like you’re not prepared. This is something new. Why should I do something new when it makes me this uncomfortable? Didn’t I work and slave building up a system on the internet so I wouldn’t have to feel like this anymore?

Part of this is still very very true for me. I love the internet and how it can bring you to your Right People a hell of a lot faster. Also, I’m an introvert. I can’t stay chatting in person (or even online) for very long without feeling burnt out after a few days. So the internet, and that shield is very important to my personal maintenance. It helps me stay healthy and sane.

But at the same time… staying on the internet all the time is staying within my comfort zone. Not venturing out and seeing what else is out there is not good for my growth. As much as I can’t stay exposed to the outside world for prolonged periods or I wear out, I also can’t take in all of my lessons from a computer screen.

Every time I don’t step out that door and try, I am missing a chance to help someone with their business. I am missing a chance to show people what is so great about the internet. And I am the one who has to take the initiative, I can’t wait for my Right Person to come. Because some of my Right People? Are not people who know they need me and Holly yet. Are not people who know where to find us. Because the internet is still a vast and scary place, and sometimes it’s so vast and so confusing, that the act of looking for your Right Thing when you don’t even know what your Right Thing is? Might as well not even try.

A lot of us might be afraid to step offline for their business, but there are people who are afraid to step online, where all cues of acceptance and friendship are showed through emoticons, social media following and friending, and written words.

As for me, I still get really nervous explaining what I do, and I turn into hermit mode after a few days of doing this. But every time I give someone our web address in real life, I’m bringing someone new to the blog who might not have ever found it unless I was there with a smile and a card to make it less scary. Just like there are networking groups out there that treat you like you’re their family.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the process and craft of writing recently, mostly because I’ve started drafting lots of non-work writing and I’ve been reading tons of memoirs in my free time. It turns out that other people have been thinking about this too, because when I put out the call on Twitter for blog post subjects yesterday, the first suggestion I got was for a post about how to keep your writing simple and sweet.

1. Cut out the Middleman.
We all write with authority figures in our heads. For some of this, this is our mother. For others, our boss. Frequently when I’m doing client work, the voice of the client takes on this role. Even if you’re writing in a journal, you’re still writing for some weird authoritative version of you that is way more judgmental than you actually are in real life.

To write well (especially if you want to keep it simple), you need to gather all these scary authority figures up and get them out of your head somehow. If you’re Havi, you do this by talking to them and recording silly little conversations. Some people gather them up and then kick them out entirely. Some people just put enough mental duct tape over their mouths to get through the task at hand without stressing out too much (this is my method of choice). Figure out a method that works for you, and practice it.

So why does writing with an authority figure in our head mess us up? Well, we talk to authority figures differently than we do to friends. We use bigger words. We start composing endless compound sentences. We start worrying about being professional.

Most of the time when you’re writing, the urge to be professional will screw you up faster than just about anything else out there. And it’s hard to get rid of that urge with some mental authority figure standing over you all the time.

Get rid of your mental authority figure, and kick the professional image. Once you do that, you’re ready to start writing.

2. Banish Your Adjective Demons.
When we write, we have a tendency to add adjectives to things to give them extra meaning, instead of actually trying to think through what we want to say at a deeper level. It’s really easy, even for professional writers, to end up with a string of meaningless adjectives that are really just idea placeholders. If you find yourself describing the something in overly flowerly terms, you’ve got two problems. One, you don’t need all the words you’re using. Two, you’re probably coming up with weird adjectives because you either don’t know how you got to that sentence or why it’s there, or you don’t know where you’re going and you’re buying time for your brain to catch up.

If you find yourself falling into this trap, sit back and try and really think about what you’re writing. Is there something that you’re trying to say that is getting lost when it comes out on paper? Put simply, try and get back to the ‘why’ of the writing, not just the process of writing.

3. Think About Who You’re Writing For.
If you’re writing marketing copy, this is your ideal customer. If you’re reading this blog, I suspect that your ideal customer is not someone who will spend their whole day picking through your writing and thinking about how it could be better. I personally find this concept to be very reassuring when I get stressed out about writing, because it’s easy to feel like writing something good involves measuring up to this impossibly high standard of writing set by Shakespeare.

Honestly, if you’re writing marketing stuff, or even just website content, no one expects you to reinvent the wheel. People want to know what is in it for them, what you’re like, and how much it costs. Occasionally, they want to be reassured that buying from you is a decent decision so they can justify it to their spouse/parent/friends if it ever comes while money is tight.

If you’re stuck on how to do this and sound natural, try this exercise. Drag your best friend/significant other/dog outside somewhere, and record yourself talking about your thing that you’d like to write about. Let them ask you questions (unless it’s the dog, then you’re on your own), and just talk until you’ve said everything you have to say. When you come back to your computer, you’ve then got a draft that sounds natural, stress free, and can be used to work on your final version.

4. Keep the Concepts Simple.
The more technical your subject is, the more this applies. This rule applies to everything to from art to air compressors.

Most of the time, the people buying your thing won’t be experts in it. After all, part of what people pay for is your unique expertise. This is great news for you, but can translate badly when you have to write about it. It’s easy to assume that people want you to demonstrate your expertise, but you can’t do that if you alienate them completely. Highly technical copy will send people running the other direction.

If you’re struggling with this, try and break it down to the simplest possible benefits that your product or service has. Will it make people happier? More productive? More comfortable? These are things that absolutely anyone can relate to, whether they understand the tech behind it or not.

Now, notice that when I say keep things simple, I’m not telling you to write for a five year old or that everyone on the internet is an idiot. Most people shopping on the internet are highly educated consumers, and expect to be treated that way. However, even a highly educated consumer might not understand the technicalities behind what you do; in most types of businesses, they don’t have to. Try and break things down to the point where you can explain why this matters to them, and you’ll have your sale.

5. Find a Different Angle.
Sometimes you start writing about your business, and you realize that your features and benefits are really the same as everyone else in your area. We work with a lot of coaches and consultants who run into this issue. Artists also run into this issue, surprisingly.

If you do run into this issue, it doesn’t mean that you’re an uncreative person with no business value. It just means that you’re in a big industry, and that there will naturally be some overlap. When you’re in this situation, it’s tempting to try and make your marketing writing epic and complex to disguise the fact that you’re really in the same situation as everyone else.

Instead of making it more complicated, try and break it down to the most simple terms, and then find a different angle to approach it from. For instance, a few weeks ago I had a client who had a set of features and benefits that were much like everyone else in her industry (and it was a big industry). Instead of making up something fancy, I worked a low-key but fairly natural sailing metaphor into the copy, which suggested that she could be a lifesaver for her clients in a natural way, and made the copy stand out.

If you’re struggling with writing in general, simple and sweet is generally the way to go. Cut out the grandiose ideas, the big words, and try and get to the heart of what you’re trying to say.

We’re skipping the usual round-up post this week to make some space for a pet project of mine (quite literally, in this case).

The Background:
A year ago, before Didy was the internet celebrity spaniel that he has now become, he was one of the huge number of dogs that were stuck in the back of a shelter because they were considered ‘unadoptable’. There were several factors that led to this conclusion in Didy’s case.

-He is a springer spaniel, and springers have a mixed reputation as pets.
-He was two years old, well beyond the ‘adoptable’ dog age.
-He was fearful, distrustful, and wasn’t a huge fan of people.

When I got him he wasn’t a huge fan of me. He wasn’t a huge fan of anything, honestly. And even now that he’s come out of his shell, he still has some moments of total panic and anxiety that can be hard to deal with.

So Why Am I Posting About This?
I was browsing the internet the other day, and looking through the English Springer Spaniel Rescue site, which is an amazing organization that coordinates foster homes for abandoned springers nationwide. I came across this dog. His name is Tanner, and he’s on paper virtually the same dog that Didy was a year ago.

This dog has been on my mind ever since. I thought about spreading the word about him, but I wasn’t sure how to do it. However, after talking to some very smart people and doing a lot of thinking, I’ve come to the conclusion that rescue springer ownership is kind of like marketing.

It all comes down to Right People (or in this case, Right Owners).

I got lucky that I stumbled across Didy, because I truly can’t imagine my life without him. I feel sure that if he could talk, he would say the same about me. This dog is in a foster home in Iowa though, and will have an even harder time finding the right owner. So since it’s Friday, I thought I’d try and help the process along a little and talk some about springer ownership in hopes that the perfect person for Tanner will read it.

Life With A Springer Spaniel, Uncensored:
Springers have a mixed reputation as pets for several reasons. They’re ridiculously smart, stupidly stubborn, opinionated, and require constant contact and interaction with their chosen person. Training a springer isn’t so much about enforcing a certain set of rules as exploring boundaries and finding somewhere to meet in the middle. If you try and enforce a behavior through harsh training methods, you may find that you wish that you hadn’t.

Early on I decided to crack down on the issue of Didy barking. I researched several traditional training methods, and it all worked until one day he started making these horribly loud howling noises that make him sound like Chewbacca from Star Wars. He doesn’t bark (because he knows he’s not supposed to) but he’s also learned how to get around it in a way where I can’t technically enforce any noise restrictions. Now every time he does this I’m not sure whether to be completely annoyed or impressed by his intelligence.

When people say that springers thrive on constant contact, they aren’t joking. Many days, Didy will even lie on the bathmat while I shower to make sure he’s in the same room as me. He’s fine when I go out now, but when I first got him he had very bad separation anxiety and would shake when I left the house. He worked through it, but he still gets a bit edgy when I’m not in the immediate area.

However, if you’re someone who doesn’t mind putting some time and work into raising a true companion animal, springers are the best dogs out there. They’re even better for people who like to walk or run outside, because of their amazing athleticism and huge amounts of energy. I once called Didy back to me at my parent’s house while he was off exploring, and he jumped up over a five foot embankment to get to me with very little effort. He’s happiest with me when he’s running or walking several miles on the trail through town on a daily basis. If I don’t want to run, he does, and he’ll literally nag me out the door to get some exercise.

Finally, despite all of the stories about how springers don’t train well, or don’t follow commands well, I’ve had the opposite experience with Didy. He’s consistently learned complex commands, sometimes without me technically teaching them to him. His response rate to my commands is 100%, even when he’s scared or stressed out. If you respect their boundaries, rescue springers are so happy to have found a home that they will do almost anything that you ask them to without complaining. Even better, they’ll love you just for wanting to teach them new things, and they’ll appreciate that you think they’re intelligent enough to learn.

With the right kind of owner, a springer spaniel can be the best dog that you’ll ever own. Especially an ‘unadoptable’ one. If you don’t believe me, just check out the picture.

Have a great weekend everyone, and we’ll be back on Monday with more posts about marketing and even possibly a new infoproduct!

Holly here. I love this post because while Matt is talking about software, this principle pretty much applies to anything business related. Systems, products, websites, whatever: if it just doesn’t work, tell people how to improve it and don’t use it. Don’t blame yourself for things not being user friendly.

I love what I do.

Essentially, I’ve made it my job to help people find online software, tools
and sites that help them get something done. From running your business to
buying stuff to just finding something fun to waste your time, tracking down
the best online resources is what I live for.

Over the years that I’ve been doing this, I’ve had the chance to get lots of
feedback regarding my recommendations and have come to dread the ones that
start like this, “It’s not your fault…”.

• It’s not my fault that they went to the site I suggested and couldn’t figure out what it actually would do for them.
• It’s not my fault that they were eager to use the tool, but the registration process was so convoluted that they just gave up.
• It’s not my fault that they go into the site, register, pay their fee and then cannot figure out how to make it work the way they wanted.

• It’s not my fault that they gave up on the tool after using it for a couple of months because, even after they mastered it, their employees and clients had trouble.

And they’re right; none of those things was my fault.

But it was not their fault either.

Software and tools, whether online or off, should be easy to use. Technology
should “Just Work” so people can use it and then get on with their lives.
People should not have to devote hours to reading a “Missing Manual” or a
day or more to attending classes.

But often, technology is not easy to use and sadly, what really gets me the
most, is that the user often blames him-or-herself. Do any of the statements
below sound familiar?

- I’m not “technical”
- Machines hate me
- I’m to old to learn all this stuff
- I’m dumb/stupid/ignorant

Well, let’s stop that right here: it’s not your fault!

There are many reasons (not excuses, reasons) why software is often hard to
use, and listing them goes beyond the scope of this one post. However, there
is one thing you can do to influence the vendors who create the online
software, tools and sites: Do not use software that is hard to use!

My more politically aware neighbor Don calls this, “Voting with your feet”
meaning that if you want something, vote for the person who will bring
provide that something. In the case of software, if you want software that
“just works”, “vote” by buying software that’s usable (there ARE good
options out there!). Spread the word and let people know why you made the
choice you did.

More vendors will get the point eventually. If they don’t, they will go out
of business and that will be your fault. Good for you!

Matt Mansfield blogs at www.leverage-the-web.com. He helps businesses by
matching their needs with online software, tools and sites that help them
save time and money, start new projects and grow their existing business.

The Branding Panic Point:

When you’re starting a new business (or revamping an old one) branding is one of those huge looming questions. Most people approach branding the same way they approach goal setting. The process usually goes something like:

1) Pick a new superhero business identity for yourself.

2) Break the pieces of that business image of you down until you have elements that you can brand with.

3) Panic because you cannot possibly live up to this new you that you have created on paper and now the whole world is watching while you flail around trying to change yourself.

Guys, this is why branding scares us. It isn’t the marketing, it’s not the graphic design or the writing: it’s the fact that usually branding forces us to become someone we’re not.

And everyone wants to live up to that cool new image of themselves. It’s human nature.

My Experiment in Accidental Branding (or, How I Got My Tattoo):

So, in a time long ago and far away (like November 2009) I decided to start this business. Now, I’m someone who has a lot of ideas all the time and I run a mile a minute. I get teased about it frequently by my friends and family. So, I decided that since a business was a huge commitment and I really wanted to build something that would keep me interested and debt free for the next ten years, I had to commit upfront.

I got my second tattoo. It’s of Ganesha, who is the Hindu god of not just writing, but is also the giver and remover of obstacles (I am told he’s seriously popular with stockbrokers in India, ironically). Now, once I got started, I didn’t even think about branding with this. But I did need a Twitter picture, and I hate pictures of myself, so I threw up my tattoo as a placeholder.

A couple weeks later I had actual blog readers, and I noticed a pattern. Everyone mentioned my tattoo, or wanted to know what it was. I had somehow branded my business with this tattoo without even meaning to.

As nicely as that accidentally worked out, branding with Didy was perhaps the smartest thing I have ever unintentionally done for my business.

Now, anyone who knows me know that the dog and I are pretty much attached at the hip. He comes to the park with me, and anytime I can I take him in the car. When I’m home, he’s either sleeping in the same room as me or following me from room to room as I do chores. He’s even been known to help me carry loads of laundry to the washer and dryer. When I started writing the blog, it seemed natural to make him a focus because he was always around.

Almost a year later, I think in some internet circles, Didy is more well known than I am. He gets organic treat gifts from clients and internet friends, and I think he’s got about four collar and leash sets. Two weeks ago on Twitter, a golf course in Perth said hi to him out of the blue.

My accidental branding was far more successful than any crazy badass image I could have come up with myself. And the fact that it’s actually reflective of who I am makes it a lot easier to live up to on a daily basis.

Why You Don’t Need to Be A Brand Superhero:

Next time you sit down to brainstorm that list for your new brand identity, try making a list of all the little things about you that are cool and different. Now, these don’t have to be life changing and deep things, because it’s very hard to see those when we’re that close to it. Successful branding relies on the little things, even if they don’t prove how you’re reinventing the world through your website.

This is also one of the reasons that your branding may change once a year or so. It’s not so much that things get stale, but because you change along with your business. The person that your branding reflected a year ago may not be who you are now, and there’s no shame in changing that around to make it more honest and accurate.

Remember, branding is about being remembered for who you are in a positive way. It doesn’t have to involve lying, or making up an image that doesn’t fit because you’re scared that you aren’t impressive enough.

You are absolutely impressive enough for your Right People.