Last week I had the pleasure of attending the first ever BirdBrain10 unconference in Tel Aviv. Mel Rosenberg, a microbologist by trade, put together a day of interesting people to talk about creativity and invention. There were a lot of inspirational people there, but the person that  I found most inspirational of all was Jeff Pulver. I have been following him on Twitter (@JeffPulver) and often found his tweets inspirational, but I didn’t realize that he actually lives his life the way that he tweets. I find that so cool.

Here are some of my favorite take aways from Jeff’s talk:

• You can’t outsource fun – There are so many things that can be outsourced so that we can truly live our lives. Fun is not one of them. Why would it be? Don’t take fun for granted and make sure that you know why you’re doing what you’re doing. Fun is a very important part of life.
• You can’t compete with fun - And why would you try? If there is something that is fun to do or something that is mind numbingly boring, fun will always win.
• People are more creative when they are having fun – When you’re having fun, you let your guard down and open yourself up for new ideas. Being creative is a natural by-product.
• Getting fired can save your life – Jeff was fired from a job in the World Trade Center shortly before the 9-11 disaster. It literally saved his life. Although that is true, I also believe that working at an unsatisfying job is also the recipe for a quick demise. If not physically, than emotionally. We spend most of our waking hours at work. Shouldn’t it be fun and inspiring?
• Experiment with niceness – Jeff practices anonymous acts of kinds all the time. I really believe that doing nice things and not expecting anything in return makes people happy. And when I say people, I’m talking about the giver, not the receiver (although, I’m sure it’s nice to be the receiver as well!) By doing these kind acts, we are able to self actualize ourselves as good and nice people. Trust me, it works.
• Don’t be discouraged by the person next to you if they don’t get it – There are so many people out there that have a lot of great ideas, but are discouraged by people around them who just don’t get it. I know that when I started The Pet Wiki, I really believed in creating a great place for pet lovers to share information, but most of my friends thought that I was daft. I didn’t listen to them, and I’m in the process of creating something great, and having a lot of fun in the process.
• Hire people who don’t have experience; they don’t know what can’t be done – I really like this one. It’s very true. In the past when I hired, I was fortunate to work with a wonderful group of junior programmers who were inventive and enthusiastic. They did not have the trauma of past mistakes and they were able to let their imaginations fly to what could be. Allowing them to follow these ideas freed them to do great things.
• Great thoughts often come in the shower – Did you ever have an a-ha moment when you were in the shower? You’re not alone. Showering relaxes us and lets our minds wander freely. It strips away the distractions of life and lets our creative natures come to life. When Jeff told this in a speech to people at Texas Instruments, one of the executives, seeing the truth in what he said, asked Jeff how long should his people shower. Gotta love it.

I started thinking about writing this post when I was in the shower. Think about how much better it would have been if I were able to write it in there. It was much more interesting – I came up with some very clever stuff. Maybe one day they will make a computer that is waterproof for people like us. I think that I finally figured out a potential use for iPad 2.o.

Creating the perfect team

I am at a very curious part of building my business. I started The Pet Wiki for fun. It was just me and my mom plugging away, creating great content and making a fun site to be on. Things grew nicely, and I left my job to do this full time a few months ago. Well things are still growing nicely, and I’ve started my search for the people who will help me turn my site from good to great.

I am a pretty social person. Although it’s been fun working on something I love and something that I believe in, I really like working with people. Being able to share ideas and bounce suggestions off other people really helps build a better product. I have been fortunate enough to build a great team in the Content Department at Answers.com. Now it’s time to replicate that greatness in The Pet Wiki.

What am I looking for? Most people start by searching for specific abilities that people possess. They look for people that look good on paper. They want prospective employees to have this degree or have that many years of experience or program in a certain language. Although all those things are good, paper credentials can only take you so far.

I’m not your traditional manager. In the past, my favorite question that I asked potential employees was “What is your favorite thing to do?” Some would start by saying that they liked working on interfaces or like writing editorial articles. That’s not the kind of stuff that I was really looking for.

I want to know a person’s passions. Whether it’s rock climbing or writing the perfect function, if your eyes don’t light up when you’re talking to me, you’ve got a lot to do to win me over. Once I know that you are passionate about something, I will find the best way to work with those passions. There are so many people that I’ve met that have forgotten what their passions are.

There are a lot of 9-to-5ers out there that are just looking for a paycheck. I understand that, and I respect what they do. It’s a lot harder for them. I was talking recently to a programmer friend of mine that said that he would get out of high tech if he could. He has no passion for his job and has no idea what he really wants out of work (other than the money). I find that sad.

We live in an amazing time. Most of us no longer have to do grueling  work that we try to forget at the end of the day. We are engaged, or at least have the opportunity to be engaged, in what we do.

So far, I’ve started working with a friend who is very engaged in social media and content. I know that I talk a lot about them and that I have very strong opinions about how they should be used, but working with her has been a real eye-opener. We have been able to collaborate on some great ideas that we should be able to push out, together, in the upcoming weeks.

I have also starting looking for a part-time programmer. I have a couple of leads that look promising. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that I can find the right person to fit in my fledgling team.

It’s been a great adventure so far, but now the true adventure begins.

My daughter Shira and her Chanukiah displayed outside the Old City of Jerusalem

There’s something that I’ve been meaning to talk about for a while, but was afraid to discourage potential entrepreneurs from digging their heels in and getting into this new exciting world of  going it on your own. There is no vacation. When you are a salaried employee of someone else they pay you to take time off. That’s kind of cool.

I thought that I should mention that, because I got practically nothing done last week and if I were working for someone else, at least I’d have the excuse that I was on vacation. No such luck.

Why was last week such a distraction? Well the kids were home on Chanukah vacation and we went out to see family and had them over as well. (The Chanukiah in the picture was something that my daughter and her class worked on and was displayed in the Mamila Mall, just outside the Old City of Jerusalem. Of course I’m very proud of her, and I obviously had to take time off to go see it.) My husband took a couple of days off and got paid for it. While he relaxed, I just felt guilty about all the things that I have to get done but that I’m not doing. That’s a real bummer.

I think that one of the big problems with working from home is that people don’t actually believe that you are working. The image of people who work from home is that they bask in the sun and eat bon-bons all day. Only when the whim hits them do they actually decide to do work. In case anyone is curious, this is NOT TRUE.

I believe in what I do and I’m having fun doing it, but there is so much to do and there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done. My husband says that I need to have more realistic expectations. What does he know? When he wants, all he needs to do is take a personal day. And get this, when he gets sick, he gets to take a sick day.

I was a mom before I was an entrepreneur, so I know the drill. The same way that there is no vacation from your kids (at least not until they leave the house) there’s no way to take a break from what you are doing for your endeavor. I guess it’s just like bringing up a baby. So perhaps motherhood is a perfect stepping stone for any one who wants to start something all their own.

Looking for a new strategy

When I started The Pet Wiki, a little over a year ago, it was nothing more than a hobby. I didn’t really set any specific goals. I was just out there to have fun. I took the two things that I loved, creating content and animals, and put them together. All was good.

Things are still good, but now it’s time to get serious. When I left my job to become an entrepreneur, I had some vague ideas on how to make the venture work and how to make it profitable. Now it’s time to put them on paper.

The web is a funny thing. The entry bar for anyone who wants to create a website is very low. It’s a bit higher if you want to create a MediaWiki site, and it’s even higher if you want to customize that wiki site. That said, I don’t have the need for outside funding. I am writing this business plan in order to be able to set goals for myself and for my business. I now have enough data collected that I can try to make more accurate projections.

These are the things that I’m looking for:

• Number of visitors
• Number of contributors
• Number of page views per visit
• Number of pages indexed by Google
• Number of links to The Pet Wiki Pages
• Projected revenue

These are all things that are measurable. These are all things that allow me to set goals. These are all things that are really dull. They may be a lot less fun than actually programming or tinkering with the site in other ways, but they are all necessary.

A personal business plan is not something that needs to be 10 pages long. A couple of pages will do. It’s also not something that is set in stone. Modifications can be made as needed. I think of it as a start of a living document. It’s like mapping out your path on a trip. I know where I’m going.

Now that I have my milestones, it’s time to hit them.

Founder of The Pet Wiki!

When I started this whole endevor and became an entrepreur a few months ago, I got off to a great start. People thought that I was so cool, going from a secure job to something unknown. My good friends still do (Thanks guys!)

I’m at PubCon in Las Vegas this week - it’s one of the premiere SEO conferences. I’m here to learn how to make The Pet Wiki more search friendly. Makes sense, right? Things on the interent change all the time, and it’s important that I stay up on the trends. So far, so good. I was at the training day yesterday, and have already picked up some good pointers.

It’s been a learning experience in another way too. This is the first conference that I’ve been to since the big switch. I used to be Director of Content at Answers.com. When I would mention that in previous conferences, I would automatically get respect. Now, when I say that I work for The Pet Wiki, it’s almost like I’m getting a pat on the head from people and a “That’s nice dear, pass the gravy.”

I still have the 10 years of experience in my field. I have taken that knowledge and I’m doing something that I find way more fun than anything that I’ve ever done before.

Pam Slim warned me about all this. Well she didn’t actually say it to me, she kind of broadcasted it to the world in her book, Escape From Cubicle Nation. It was much easier to think that I was uber-important when I worked for a big name company, but the problem was that I was not happy with what I was doing.

That’s all changed. I love what I do. Every success that I have is mine. I have moved outside of the buracracy and I can actually do the work that I am really good at. (In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I have a huge ego, which I believe is very, very important! :)

So I’ll take whatever people have to offer. I’m here at PubCon to learn to make my site better. If I can do some networking, great. If not, that’s also OK. I’m going to enjoy every minute. After all it is Vegas baby!

just beginning, baby!

This is a post that I’ve been thinking about writing for a while now. When I told my husband that I wanted to write a post on dyslexia, we had a joke-a-thon of all the clever lines that I should include. Things like: “Why do you suppose syldexicbogger.com is taken but dyslexicblogger.com is still available?”  It’s OK, I can say that because I am dyslexic.

I was very lucky. My mom realized that I was different early in grade school, and instead of calling me lazy, she found tutors to teach me tricks that helped me get by.

As an entrepreneur, I seem to be in good company. According to studies, one in five of us is dyslexic. As I start off my new venture, it’s nice to think that a lot of others with dyslexia have been there before. Some of the people that I look up to are Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson, Amstrad’s Sir Alan Sugar, Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers and Kinko’s Paul Orfalea.

About a year ago or so, I found a copy of the book “Copy This!” sitting around the house. I picked it up and looked at the back cover. When I realized that it was a book about Paul Orfalea’s life story, and how he was able to make it with his dyslexia, I needed to read more. Reading on showed me that it wasn’t in spite of being dyslexic, it was the dyslexia that gave him the tools to be successful.

Here are some traits that dyslexics have that allow them to succeed in business:

• Dyslexics have better than average communication skills. This allows us to get people to rally behind our ideas.
• Dyslexics adjust quickly to change and are very good adapters. This is a coping mechanism that we’ve developed to hide our learning challenges.
• Dyslexics think differently. It’s much easier for us to see the whole picture and know what outcome we are expecting at the end of the day.
• Dyslexics aren’t afraid to ask for help. Everyone has limitations. We’ve known ours for a very long time. We find people that complement us to do great things.

If you find some typos in my blog, please forgive them. I really do read things over more than once before I post, but I just don’t see the mistakes. One of the reasons that I love doing the wiki thing is that it gives an opportunity for people to fix each others’ mistakes.

I’ll be on vacation for the next couple of weeks. It’s a bit of a head clearing time between my old job and when the entrepreneurship really begins. Everything is in place and I’ll be ready to go as soon as I get back. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

I’m doing it! After working at the same company for nearly 10 years, I’ve decided to give it a go on my own. I’ve been planning this for some time now. When I started The Pet Wiki nearly a year ago, I knew that there was a serious chance that this might happen, and to my delightful surprise, it has.

I’ve got a ways to go yet, but along the way, these are some of the lessons that I’ve learned:

• Make friends. I have an incredible support system. Without them, I would be constantly doubting my decision and second guessing myself. I still have my pangs of doubts and fears, but when I do, I just go to my sounding boards and they remind me why what I’m doing is so important. These are the people who want you to succeed. Find yours.
• Know yourself. Know what your strengths and weaknesses are, and play to your strengths. If you don’t know something, it’s OK to ask for help. There are tons of people out there who know more than you and don’t mind sharing their knowledge. Find forums in your field and become active. Use Twitter. One day you will have an opportunity to give back, and when you can, don’t hesitate.
• Find your niche. There is no one who is exactly like you. Figure out what you do that adds value or makes you stand out above the rest. If you want to be another cog in the wheel, it would be easier just to get a job for someone else.
• Be prepared. I know that I will be taking a financial hit to follow my dreams. That’s OK. I prepared for it by putting away a little nest egg. I see this short term hit as an investment in my future.
  
• Do what you love. If you want to succeed, find what inspires you and just do it. Life is too short to be wishing away the days until your next vacation. Like my grandma always said, if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.

This is just the start of my journey, but just knowing that I’m doing it has made me a much calmer and happier person. I’m still a workaholic. I’m basically on the computer from the time I get up until I go to sleep, but I’m having fun, getting the most out of myself, living my dreams, and creating something great. That’s what it’s all about.