Greg On Small Business

Hello

I am not sure when it happened. But it did.After nine years of writing daily online, I lost the drive, interest, and desire to blog. It could have something to do with the deliberate shift I made to embrace my BHAG to “Impact a Million Entrepreneurs” and disconnected from blogging.Disconnect to ReconnectMichael reminded me that every so often writers need to “kill their darlings” [precious ideas or characters]. The same is true in business and blogging. I have learned that when it comes to business we just have to let go and for me that required a temporary disconnect. The longer we work a blog, idea, or a business the more we lose our objectivity.Lost ObjectivityIn business losing objectivity is the kiss of death, not mention risky, and expensive - because when I work a business or idea to long - I am simply pissing away my time, effort, and energy. Which all are more valuable than money. The only exception is when I gain experience - which will help me in the future or at least I hope so.I wonder why that is?Could it be that when I “learn something” it makes me feel better and assuages my guilt and frustration? I think so. Pretty damn dysfunctional isn’t it?Now what? For me, I got a blog coach, his name is Michael Martine, from remarkablogger.com and the greatest benefit so far has been getting out of my head and finding the heart of what I want to blog about. My passion is back and I will be announcing more about it real soon. 

I am hacked off. Stupido entrepreneurs! Idiots!

Stupid, Arrogant, & Out-of-Touch Web Application Developers

Seems everyone thinks because of web 2.0 and their ability to be able to build a web application that they can demand $12, $29 + per month for a simple web application. Gimme a frickin’ break.

They get you to sign up and request a beta invite. They send you a quasi invite/survey and they also ask you to indicate which type of plan you would be interested in. Get this, I had yet to try the application, only saw two ‘partial’ screen shots which tell you next to nothing about the application and how it works. What are they thinking! Oops, silly me, they weren’t.

It was a GTD project management web application that will remain nameless, they hacked me off so much I am tempted to reveal their identity and then really embarrass them.

I cannot believe the arrogance of some web 2.o entrepreneur! Surely this is a sign of the web 2.0 bubble.

What is your favorite web 2.o stupidity story?

I had the pleasure of summarizing the posts at Joyful Jubilant Learning, Make a Difference forum this month. I found 20 authors, 31 posts and 191 learnings or distinctions. The learnings, distinctions, and observations one could make from these 20 people is almost overwhelming.

Since I created this mind map ,two new posts have been added. You can read my entry at Rapid Fire Learning, and read more about it on the learning forum. It is worth a visit and just pick one or two that resonate with you and read them - you will be glad you did.

I was watching the Cranky Geeks show # 82, where Josh Wolf was interviewed. He is the blogger that spent 226 days in jail due to his refusal to turn over a video tape of a protest he filmed in which a policeman got hurt. Part of the discussion came around to the question, “Are bloggers journalists?”

This show makes interesting viewing for anyone serious about business and blogging. It got me thinking.

If bloggers are journalists, should business bloggers apply similar standards, code of conduct, and ethics as journalists?

Journalists follow a code of conduct and often their employers get them to sign an agreement that spells out their rules and conduct as well. Since most business blogs are operated by micro and small businesses observing a specific set of ethics and standards may not have been fully thought out in advance. Therefore, I thought this would make an interesting discussion.

Journalists Code of Conduct

I decided to research what a journalists code of conduct was purported to be, I found the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) website, where they state a journalists Code of Ethics as being:

• Seek Truth and Report It
• Minimize Harm
• Act Independently
• Be Accountable

Feel free to check out the details of each bullet point yourself.

I decided to pull out a few of the points from the SPJ Code of Ethics that I think all of the credible business bloggers I know already observe:

• Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.
• Identify sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources’ reliability.
• Never plagiarize.
• Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.
• Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.
• Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance.
• Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.
• Disclose unavoidable conflicts.
• Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.
• Abide by the same high standards to which they hold others.

Like I said, most of the seasoned business bloggers I know practice most if not all of the standards listed from the SPJ web site. I know from experience that many bloggers, business gurus, and even the WSJ have their facts wrong relating to the facts on the rate of business failures. Whenever I get the opportunity I let bloggers, journalists, and entrepreneurs know what the real facts are on business survival and failure.

Questions for Discussion

Lets discuss the following questions and see what we can learn from one another. Consider these questions:

• Do you have a code of conduct?
• Is there a place for gossip on a business blog?
• Do you disclose conflicts of interest routinely?
• How do you practice objectivity and transparency in your business and on your blog?
• What standards do you follow with reference to fact checking?
• When quoting others do you identify them and link back to them? Do you check their facts and assumptions?

Choose a question and share your thoughts, business practice, and/or personal standards you observe.

I have discovered a plethora (at least more than expected) of online, mind mapping tools.

Standard Features

Each offer a free version that you can try out. Mindomo free version is ad supported. They all allow some form of export functionality to import and export from Freemind and Mind Manager as well as RTF (Word Compatible) documents, PDF, and Mind Meister offers a PNG image export functionality.

Here is a brief introduction/review to the three I have tried and my personal favorite.

Mindomo

Requires Flash Player 9. This was the first online mind mapping tool I tried. It imports and exports from Freemind and Mind Manager really well plus it allows you to form a relationship between two items on the map. It is the most expensive of the three at $65 for a year. Performance seemed a bit sluggish and if I was using it a lot, would become frustrating. In fact, I began to fall back on Mind Manager for building the map then importing it into MIndomo when I wanted to “share” it.

Mind Meister

This one does not appear to be flash based. It works really well and imports and exports from Mind Manager and Freemind nicely. They offer a free widget which allows you to record a quick thought that gets added to your default mind map. I really like this feature and found it quite handy. You can invite people to edit a mind map and collaborate on it live and initiate a chat using Skype, which is a nice feature. Subscription is $49.90/year which I paid.

Comapping

This one surprised me. I found this one after the CEO contacted me by commenting on a post I wrote about Mind Map Collaboration Tips. Before jumping into even trying this one, I spent some time reading their FAQ and was impressed with the amount of research and study they did on how people used mind maps.

They stated they observed people were more confused when a map spread from the center or from right to left.

“Topic organized from left to right gives a much faster overview of the semantic structure - probably because you can physically see the topic in less eye spans.”

Curious, I decided to give it a try and can say that I am left-to-right convert.

When I first started using Comapping, my initial reaction was “this is the way a desktop application should work” when I realized this was a web based application - I was impressed. It is also the most affordable at $11.99 for a six month subscription and they also offer a free 3o day trial.

Left-to-Right

IMO, left-to-right oriented mind maps seem more natural and less intimidating. I have also had the same reaction from my clients who prefer the left-to-right orientation. These maps lend themselves to simplifying complex maps easier than center oriented maps.

When I combine the value of using their left-to-right maps, the elegant interface, and speedy performance Comapping is the clear winner. I wish I could easily export a PNG image but Omar (the CEO) tells me that export to image feature is coming. For now, I just do a screen capture when I need an image. One other weakness is that when embedding a live mind map in a web page Comapping does not allow me to move and adjust the mind map manually.

I can say that I will definitely be purchasing a six month subscription for Comapping, wish I had found them much earlier as it would have saved me spending money on the Mind Meister subscription. I am just glad to have found it as using a left-to-right orientation was not something I would have tried had they not shared the results of their research.

From a business perspective, I also like how this company is organized. They started in the summer of 2006 as a joint venture between Area9 and Lanit-Tercom. Their board members are quality people with strong backgrounds in mind mapping and computer science. The management team is equally impressive.

If you need to share mind maps, collaborate with others, and want an elegant application, Comapping is the clear leader. They have my business and I will recommending their service to my clients. An enthusiastic two thumbs up!

Thanks for reaching out Omar.

One of the ways I use Mind Maps is to mao ideas I have for an article, project, or idea. Then I will export it into n RTF outline which gives me the structure I need to get started writing. For example, I wrote Entrepreneurs Make a Difference: Celebrate and Thank Them which was based on the following Mind Map.

While the end result ended up slightly different the mind map helped me organize and evolve my thoughts.

I created this web site so I could share my thoughts, opinions, and comments about small business issues faced by entrepreneurs and business owners from around the world.

I will also be trying out some new things, like mind maps for documenting, communicating and visualizing information.