I put a lot of brain power into creativity. I live, breathe, eat and sleep creative ideas. So much of my heart and soul is poured into developing intelligent, snappy, fresh and creative ideas that it truly enrages me when I see someone ripping off someone else’s creative idea and passing it off as their own.

Plagiarism is low, people. I know for a fact that nobody would stand up and argue that fact and I bet I’d have a hard time finding someone who would admit to being a plagiarizer. That’s because they would not be popular.

Dictionary.com defines plagiarism as:

“the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work.”

You caught that, right? Plagiarism does not just apply to content, but taking someone else’s idea and passing it off as yours also counts. And do you know what plagiarism is?

Blatant theft.

When someone takes someone else’s idea and claims to have been the one who thought it up, well…that person doesn’t realize how small this world really is. That person is also not flattering the original concept creator. I can assure you that the person who had the idea in the first place is pissed off.

People. Stop taking other people’s ideas. It isn’t cool and you will be caught and your reputation will be in the toilet. Trust me. Karma is real and what goes around comes around.

If you can’t come up with a creative idea, nobody is going to fault you for that. Seek help. Call me! I help entrepreneurs with their creative brainstorming and I have enough creativity for both of us and some to spare.

It’s way more satisfying to come up with something on your own than it is to steal someone else’s intellectual property. Plus it’s way more legal.

If you contract me as your creative consultant and you pay me to come up with your ideas, I won’t tell anyone. We can pretend those ideas are yours. Part of your payment goes towards keeping my mouth shut.

So there you have it. You know how I (and anyone else who invests time and energy into creative thought) feel about plagiarism. People who do it suck. Don’t go there. Any money you invest in hiring someone to help with your creative needs will cost less than the damage done to your reputation in the long run when you’re caught.

2 Comments »

A food and beverage server (is that the politically correct term?) has a tough job. I worked as a waitress for years when I was going to school, and I loved it, but it was hard work.  I learned a lot from my career as a waitress that I think has contributed to my operating a service-based (virtual assistance) business. I thought it would make for an interesting blog post.

So here it goes…

The Top 10 Reasons a Waiter/Waitress Will Make a Good Business Owner

10.    Every good server knows they have to know the menu inside and out. You don’t want to work with a business owner who doesn’t know their service/product list like the back of their hand!

9.    A server learns how to sell the daily special and get their customers to order dessert – but a good server knows how to do this subtly. A business owner who has been a server knows how to sell their services/product without shoving the cheesecake of the day down your throat, so to speak.

8.   A good server knows they should treat all customers as if they were VIPs. All customers are VIPs in the restaurant that is your business. It doesn’t matter if you own a Fortune 500 company, or operate a start up from your basement. A business owner that was a server will (hopefully) treat you with the same respect.

7.    Servers who know how to get the best tips know they have to treat children well, either by giving them coloring sheets or bringing out their meals right away. (This also lets the parents enjoy their food while it’s hot.) A business owner that goes out of their way to send gifts to your children at Christmas time may have been a waiter or waitress in a past life.

6.    A server knows how to work as part of a team. The dishwasher, the busser, the cook, the bartender and the servers would never get anywhere if they didn’t work as a team. A waiter/waitress who goes on to start a business will be a valuable asset to any team – including yours.

5.    Servers know how to effectively communicate. In a noisy kitchen, you have to get your point across very clearly, and you have to make sure to get orders right. If the kitchen tells you it will be an extra 30 minutes before one of your tables gets their main courses, you learn to tell your customers right away so they at least know what to expect. Servers that end up in business for themselves know how to communicate and will make sure everyone’s kept in the loop to ensure happy clients!

4.    A business owner that was a server knows that honesty is the best policy and it doesn’t pay to lie or make excuses. If you forgot to ring in someone’s order and everyone else at their table is already eating, it’s kind of obvious anyway. A business owner with integrity won’t make excuses for mistakes.

3.    A good waitress or waiter quickly learns how to anticipate the needs of their customers. If you’re bringing out a steak and fries, you make sure you have the ketchup and steak sauce. If you notice one of your customers is getting low on their drink, you offer a refill. A business owner who has waited tables will learn to anticipate the needs of their clients. For a virtual assistant, this might mean learning a clients’ habits in order to prepare in advance for things so their clients don’t have to ask. People like this; patrons of a restaurant like when they don’t have to ask the waitress for something, and clients of a service provider like when they feel taken care of in this manner.

2.    When a business owner who was a server has an disappointed customer, they do what they can to make it right. Whether a customer ordered their steak rare but got it well done, or the appetizers were cold, or if there’s a bone in their soup – a good server asks no questions and simply gets them something else or brings it back to the kitchen to be fixed. As a virtual assistant who used to be a waitress, if a client is disappointed in their completed project it goes back to the kitchen until the end result is exactly what the client wanted. Sometimes there are mis-communications, it happens. But my mission is to “wow” my clients each and every time. It’s my mission. (I learned that as a server at a Delta Hotel, and I’ve never forgotten it!)

1.    A server knows they must never, ever let a customer leave unhappy if it’s within their power. S/he will do what it takes to make sure they come back. This might mean comping a dessert or giving away a gift certificate for their next visit. A business owner who has waited tables knows this. It’s second nature. We wouldn’t dream of letting a client walk away unhappy. It will not happen.

Is there anything I missed?!

1 Comment »

Do you hate writing?

Every business requires writing. We all need marketing materials, newsletter content, press releases, articles, blog posts, website content and correspondence written. Do you put things off because you don’t feel you can express yourself well enough through prose?

I decided to run a little contest.

If you have started to write something, have a piece you keep revising cause you can’t get it right, or have some notes sitting there waiting patiently for you to turn them into something, I would like to help.

I will take your rough notes or your ‘unpolished’ piece (up to 500 words) and put our words in your voice. This ‘prize’ is valued at approximately $100.

All I ask in return is your permission for me to use the ‘before’ and ‘after’ pieces in some future marketing materials. It can be kept anonymous or I’ll link to your website.

So, the contest is on. Send your piece in the body of an email to blog@mannmadetime.com with the subject line: ‘Mop My Copy’. Please indicate in your message whether you will allow me to use the finished piece and the original in my portfolio.

I’ll take submissions until July 18th. The ‘winner’ will receive his or her polished piece before July 31st.

May the sloppiest copy win

No Comments yet »

Most entrepreneurs are concerned about what we’ll do if all of our clients disappear one day and we’re left with no income. That’s a very real fear, and of course we should have a contingency plan in place (consistent lead generation, adequate savings, etc.) for such an occasion.

However, how many of us small business owners really prepare for success?

Does your business plan allow for the “best case scenario”? What happens if your company explodes with more clients than you can handle? Do you have some great colleagues to refer people to? Have you formed an alliance with anyone? How will you keep up with your email if you are maxed out doing client work? How do you keep writing proposals if you’re so buried under administrative tasks you can’t see over the pile? Do you have additional staff? Contractors available to pitch in?

You see, in business it’s usually a good thing to get more business. (‘Duh’) We all want growth, otherwise we’d be very foolish to be pouring our souls into our ventures.

That being said, while we all want to be successful are we all ready for it? We all say we want to have “X#” of clients or be bringing in “X$” as our goal, but are you prepared to handle that if you get there sooner than expected?

The problem is when you get swamped with work, it’s usually too late to get yourself out from that place. It’s hard enough to keep your head above water without scrambling to formulate a plan.

Mann Made Time has recently exploded. I have been blessed with several referrals over the past couple of weeks that has brought my business to a new level. I’m very glad that I have a project manager and an online collaboration tool, otherwise this would not be pretty. As it is, we’re experiencing some minor growing pains, but if it weren’t for the system I’ve been building with my PM over the past half year or so, well…I would just rather not go there

So…instead of focusing your back up plan only on what happens if all your clients disappear, look at it from the other side.

Are you ready for an onslaught of business?

No Comments yet »

Are you aware of how beneficial press releases are to your marketing efforts?

Anytime something newsworthy happens in your business, you should write a press release about it. Whether it’s a new service offering, a new office location, a promotion, an award, anything people didn’t know about yesterday could make for a good press release. You can go ahead and submit your release to local media outlets, but more importantly, spread it on the Internet.

Whenever you write a press release, it should be submitted online. Why? Well, each time you have a press release that links back to your site, that helps your SEO. Not every press release that gets submitted online will be picked up by anyone, in fact, it’s kind of rare. The biggest benefit is the boost to your SEO.

When writing a press release, there are a few things to keep in mind. First of all, you need a great headline. I often spend more time coming up with a headline than I do writing the content of a piece. If the headline stinks, it doesn’t matter what’s in the rest of the press release, it won’t get read.

It’s important to include a link to your site near the top of the press release, and that’s also where the main newsiness (nice word, eh?) of the piece should be, in case it gets chopped up. You should have a quote in there somewhere, so if it does get picked up by someone, they don’t necessarily have to call you for a comment. At the end of the press release, it’s good to have some ‘About’ information about your company or yourself, but it’s not totally necessary.

After reading ‘Publicity Hound’, Joan Stewart’s newsletter yesterday, I discovered a mega cool tool for press release analysis: Press Release Grader. You can copy and paste your PR in there and it will tell you how well you’ve scored for marketing purposes. The last one I wrote got a 90% which is cool. It also gives feedback on how to improve it. What a great tool!

If you suck at writing aren’t great at writing,  outsource the task. I write a lot of press releases, and can pump them out pretty efficiently. Another option is to give it your best shot, then send it to an editor to polish it up. I heart Angela Smith of Accu-Asisst for this task.

So, what’s happened in your business lately that merits a press release? It’s GREAT free marketing for the bootstrapping entrepreneur.

No Comments yet »