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Exposing your hidden talents
The other day I stumbled across a short paragraph that someone had written about me when nominating me for an award.
The nomination was a fantastic surprise but I nearly fell over when I read what the person wrote. It turns out my nominator thought I had an amazing ability to do ‘something’….a ‘something’ that I didn’t even realise I did!
I felt quite chuffed with my new found ability so I slipped on the coat of self-confidence that comes free with someone telling you that you are good at something and off I went to try out my newly discovered skills.
And it turns out that I actually do have them.
Maybe my new found prowess is just the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy, maybe I have unearthed latent skills or maybe I was doing this stuff anyway. But who cares, I have a new string to my bow and I’m delighted.
So here is my nibble: when your customers are giving you feedback listen out for surprises – stuff that customers think you are doing well that you don’t even realise you do. Then do this stuff more, make it your calling card and you never know - it could be the very thing that boosts your business.
In the meantime I should probably check that the nominator hadn’t confused me with someone else………
The nomination was a fantastic surprise but I nearly fell over when I read what the person wrote. It turns out my nominator thought I had an amazing ability to do ‘something’….a ‘something’ that I didn’t even realise I did!
I felt quite chuffed with my new found ability so I slipped on the coat of self-confidence that comes free with someone telling you that you are good at something and off I went to try out my newly discovered skills.
And it turns out that I actually do have them.
Maybe my new found prowess is just the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy, maybe I have unearthed latent skills or maybe I was doing this stuff anyway. But who cares, I have a new string to my bow and I’m delighted.
So here is my nibble: when your customers are giving you feedback listen out for surprises – stuff that customers think you are doing well that you don’t even realise you do. Then do this stuff more, make it your calling card and you never know - it could be the very thing that boosts your business.
In the meantime I should probably check that the nominator hadn’t confused me with someone else………
Paper planes
I have been making lots and lots of paper planes.
My middle son got a paper plane kit for his birthday. Well it’s probably a complete exaggeration to call it a kit – it’s actually just 40 pieces of same-sized coloured paper and a how-to-make-paper-planes booklet.
But it is brilliant.
You see, somehow I had managed to get to this point in my life without mastering the how-to turn-paper-rectangle-into-flying-object skill. And this is despite six years of trying. Seriously my boys had even taken to asking God for a mother who could make a paper plane that did anything other than plummet like a stone.
God is off the hook now. One birthday present, a few simple instructions and a diagram later and I am mistress of the skies. My planes fly fast, travel long distance, sky dive and (applause please) loop the loop.
My nibble is this: there are things which you feel you should just have been born knowing how to do. But if you didn’t inherit the know-how gene don’t waste time – just get help.
And I have another nibble too: isn’t the paper plane kit a great example of a simple idea elegantly executed?
The only issue I have now is that my son wants his present back…
My middle son got a paper plane kit for his birthday. Well it’s probably a complete exaggeration to call it a kit – it’s actually just 40 pieces of same-sized coloured paper and a how-to-make-paper-planes booklet.
But it is brilliant.
You see, somehow I had managed to get to this point in my life without mastering the how-to turn-paper-rectangle-into-flying-object skill. And this is despite six years of trying. Seriously my boys had even taken to asking God for a mother who could make a paper plane that did anything other than plummet like a stone.
God is off the hook now. One birthday present, a few simple instructions and a diagram later and I am mistress of the skies. My planes fly fast, travel long distance, sky dive and (applause please) loop the loop.
My nibble is this: there are things which you feel you should just have been born knowing how to do. But if you didn’t inherit the know-how gene don’t waste time – just get help.
And I have another nibble too: isn’t the paper plane kit a great example of a simple idea elegantly executed?
The only issue I have now is that my son wants his present back…
Breakfast, lunch and dinner at Tiffany's
There was a time when a Tiffany Celebration ring would have been more than enough.
Nestled in an eggshell-blue box tied up with a white bow, a platinum band sprinkled with diamonds was the once-in-a lifetime gift to celebrate a most important moment.
And then Tiffany came along and told us we had got it all wrong.
We weren’t celebrating enough.
There are lots of times to celebrate; they said “Maybe there's a baby. Maybe it's your anniversary. Maybe just because. Capture your life's important moments. For all time”
“Good point” we thought, “we can’t let life’s important moments pass by unrecognized” but what should we do, we couldn’t mark them with a Tiffany Celebration Ring because we already had one.
“Build a stack” they suggested.
“A stack?” We replied
“Yes, a stack of rings” they cried “Each of life’s important moments turned into stunning brilliance”.
And so ring by diamond ring, Tiffany achieved stunning brilliance themselves. For they found a way to sell the same thing to the same people time after time after time.
My nibble is this: Getting a new customer is costly. Developing new product lines is costly. So how can you take a diamond out of Tiffany’s book and work on increasing your sales of current product lines to existing customers?
Oh and if my husband is reading this it’s Mothers Day on Sunday. I think that counts as one of life’s important moments…
work at home
Nestled in an eggshell-blue box tied up with a white bow, a platinum band sprinkled with diamonds was the once-in-a lifetime gift to celebrate a most important moment.
And then Tiffany came along and told us we had got it all wrong.
We weren’t celebrating enough.
There are lots of times to celebrate; they said “Maybe there's a baby. Maybe it's your anniversary. Maybe just because. Capture your life's important moments. For all time”
“Good point” we thought, “we can’t let life’s important moments pass by unrecognized” but what should we do, we couldn’t mark them with a Tiffany Celebration Ring because we already had one.
“Build a stack” they suggested.
“A stack?” We replied
“Yes, a stack of rings” they cried “Each of life’s important moments turned into stunning brilliance”.
And so ring by diamond ring, Tiffany achieved stunning brilliance themselves. For they found a way to sell the same thing to the same people time after time after time.
My nibble is this: Getting a new customer is costly. Developing new product lines is costly. So how can you take a diamond out of Tiffany’s book and work on increasing your sales of current product lines to existing customers?
Oh and if my husband is reading this it’s Mothers Day on Sunday. I think that counts as one of life’s important moments…
work at home When is BIG too big?
I have been reading Cathie Black’s book “Basic Black”. Cathie is the president of Hearst Magazines and the book is really just a collection of career lessons. I don’t agree with all of it – in fact I felt quite irritated when she wrote about dressing for work and stated “when in doubt wear black” – but some of the stuff is great, especially the stories.
One of the most illuminating tales is Cathie’s take on the rise and fall of Talk Magazine.
If you aren’t familiar with Talk; it was a magazine launched by Hearst in 1999 amidst a buzz of enormous expectation and dribbled to a close just over two years later.
Cathie mentions a number of reasons that Talk failed but one in particular stands out:
The first edition of the magazine carried an interview with Hillary Clinton in which she spoke for the first time about her husband’s infidelities.
This spectacular interview set the expectations of its readers at an impossibly high level which it just couldn’t meet, let alone exceed, issue after issue. The magazine’s fans felt let down, subscriber numbers fell, the advertising dried up and the magazine closed.
Seth Godin http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/05/four-words.html says in has blog today “Make BIG promises; overdeliver”. Talk magazine’s mistake was making the BIG promise so big that it couldn’t over deliver.
So my nibble is this: If you are starting a business make sure you don’t make your BIG promise too big. Better to overdeliver on a smaller promise.
There’s nothing worse than setting off with a big bang and running out of ammunition. Well, maybe there is. Wearing a colour other than black.
work at home
One of the most illuminating tales is Cathie’s take on the rise and fall of Talk Magazine.
If you aren’t familiar with Talk; it was a magazine launched by Hearst in 1999 amidst a buzz of enormous expectation and dribbled to a close just over two years later.
Cathie mentions a number of reasons that Talk failed but one in particular stands out:
The first edition of the magazine carried an interview with Hillary Clinton in which she spoke for the first time about her husband’s infidelities.
This spectacular interview set the expectations of its readers at an impossibly high level which it just couldn’t meet, let alone exceed, issue after issue. The magazine’s fans felt let down, subscriber numbers fell, the advertising dried up and the magazine closed.
Seth Godin http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/05/four-words.html says in has blog today “Make BIG promises; overdeliver”. Talk magazine’s mistake was making the BIG promise so big that it couldn’t over deliver.
So my nibble is this: If you are starting a business make sure you don’t make your BIG promise too big. Better to overdeliver on a smaller promise.
There’s nothing worse than setting off with a big bang and running out of ammunition. Well, maybe there is. Wearing a colour other than black.
work at home What Kitchen Table Tycoons can learn from Chanel
The Chanel label is nearly 100 years old. The man at the helm is the 70 –something Karl Lagerfeld and he has been there for some 25 years. Put like that it’s hard to imagine cashed-up gen-Y-ers loving the label. Yet they do. Passionately.
The reason that he can design stuff so appealing to his young worshippers is in his choice of muses - Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse ,Irina Lazareanu, Cat Power and muse-to-be Frances Bean.
His muses are cashed-up fashion-leading gen-Y-ers, and his market is cashed-up fashion-leading gen-Y-ers.
So while the label may be old, and the leader long in the tooth, the source of his inspiration is still young and fresh.
My nibble is this: all businesses need a muse.
Your business needs a source of inspiration as much as an artist does. And like an artist your business needs a real person as its muse. So real that you know where she lives and what she buys, know what she listens to and eats, know where she works and what she wears, and know who she dates and who she hates. You will have a picture of her on your office wall and her number on speed dial.
Just check in with her first. You don’t want to be accused of being a stalker.
work at home
The reason that he can design stuff so appealing to his young worshippers is in his choice of muses - Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse ,Irina Lazareanu, Cat Power and muse-to-be Frances Bean.
His muses are cashed-up fashion-leading gen-Y-ers, and his market is cashed-up fashion-leading gen-Y-ers.
So while the label may be old, and the leader long in the tooth, the source of his inspiration is still young and fresh.
My nibble is this: all businesses need a muse.
Your business needs a source of inspiration as much as an artist does. And like an artist your business needs a real person as its muse. So real that you know where she lives and what she buys, know what she listens to and eats, know where she works and what she wears, and know who she dates and who she hates. You will have a picture of her on your office wall and her number on speed dial.
Just check in with her first. You don’t want to be accused of being a stalker.
work at home 
Profile
- Do You Have a Home Based Business?
- Yes
- Company or Business Name:
- The Business Bakery
- Business Overview:
- Education, mentoring and inspiration for women running small businesses
- Products / Services Offered:
- Education, mentoring and inspiration for women running small businesses
- Mission:
- to help Kitchen Table Tycoons run fabulous businesses
- Website Address:
- http://thebusinessbakery.com.au
- Website 2:
- http://kitchentabletycoon.blogspot.com
I am writing a book. Well I’m editing it actually because it’s all written - I am just going through the making-it-better bit.
The book is called The Art of Baking a Business: Recipes for the Kitchen Table Tycoon - and that’s exactly what it is - a collection of recipes and fun stuff for baking a business.
As well as the “how to” recipes the book has lots of tasty tales - stories about successful former Kitchen Table Tycoons.
I am also profiling a selection of Kitchen Table Tycoons who right this minute are starting or running their small business. But rather than just feature women that I know I thought I would run a sort of competition to get the best stories from around the world.
And so I am inviting you or your friends to be part of the book.
All you have to do is email me: Julia@thebusinessbakery.com.au and let me know 3 things:
• What your business does (just in your own down-to-earth words – no pompous crap)
• What you find exciting about starting and running your own business
• What has gone wrong - this can be funny or serious or something that was serious that now has a funny side
Just send through your quick thoughts - I won’t be publishing your stuff without speaking to you first so there is plenty of opportunity to worry about the niceties of wording it later!
So why would you want to do this? Well I am hoping that by being involved in this book your business will get some fabulous free publicity - and if you are like most of the Kitchen Table Tycoons I know, it will surely come in handy.
You can find more info on my blog: http://kitchentabletycoon.blogspot.com Delete Comment
The book is called The Art of Baking a Business: Recipes for the Kitchen Table Tycoon - and that’s exactly what it is - a collection of recipes and fun stuff for baking a business.
As well as the “how to” recipes the book has lots of tasty tales - stories about successful former Kitchen Table Tycoons.
I am also profiling a selection of Kitchen Table Tycoons who right this minute are starting or running their small business. But rather than just feature women that I know I thought I would run a sort of competition to get the best stories from around the world.
And so I am inviting you or your friends to be part of the book.
All you have to do is email me: Julia@thebusinessbakery.com.au and let me know 3 things:
• What your business does (just in your own down-to-earth words – no pompous crap)
• What you find exciting about starting and running your own business
• What has gone wrong - this can be funny or serious or something that was serious that now has a funny side
Just send through your quick thoughts - I won’t be publishing your stuff without speaking to you first so there is plenty of opportunity to worry about the niceties of wording it later!
So why would you want to do this? Well I am hoping that by being involved in this book your business will get some fabulous free publicity - and if you are like most of the Kitchen Table Tycoons I know, it will surely come in handy.
You can find more info on my blog: http://kitchentabletycoon.blogspot.com Delete Comment
Julia Bickerstaff's Blog
Breakfast, lunch and dinner at Tiffany's
There was a time when a Tiffany Celebration ring would have been more than enough.
Nestled in an eggshell-blue box tied up with a white bow, a platinum band sprinkled with diamonds was the once-in-a lifetime gift to celebrate a most important moment.
And then Tiffany came along and told us we had got it all wrong.
We weren’t celebrating enough.
There are lots of times to celebrate; they said “Maybe there's a baby. Maybe it's your anniversary. Maybe just because. Capture your life's important… Continue
Posted on May 8th, 2008 at 12:24am —
No Comments (Add)
Channelling Chanel
The Chanel label is nearly 100 years old. The man at the helm is the 70 –something Karl Lagerfeld and he has been there for some 25 years. Put like that it’s hard to imagine cashed-up gen-Y-ers loving the label. Yet they do. Passionately.
The reason that he can design stuff so appealing to his young worshippers is in his choice of muses - Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse ,Irina Lazareanu, Cat Power and muse-to-be Frances Bean.
His muses are cashed-up fashion-leading gen-Y-ers, and his market is ca… Continue
Posted on May 1st, 2008 at 7:39am —
No Comments (Add)
Can't afford employees? How about getting your customers to do the work for you?
Threadless.com will sell over 1 million must-have too-cool t-shirts this year earning them something in the order of US$20 million in revenue.
Guess how many staff they have?
35
Yep, that’s right. Just 35.
As a very rough rule of thumb a business is doing pretty well if it employs just 5 people for every US$1million in revenue earned. Or, put another way, it’s a good business if every employee adds US$200,000 to the top line.
Threadless.com employs just 1.75 people for every US$1million in… Continue
Posted on April 30th, 2008 at 6:39am —
No Comments (Add)
Are you too busy to exercise?
What’s the first thing that you are too busy to do? For me it’s exercise. Or should I say for me it was exercise.
After discovering “Brain Rules:12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home and school” by John Medina (www.brainrules.net) I am now going to have to find something else to be too busy to do.
Why?
Because according to John exercise is the closest thing we have to a magic bullet for our brains and:
• we learn 20% faster immediately after exercise
• exercise improves our… Continue
Posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 7:43am —
No Comments (Add)
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HI
It’s almost too good to be true.
I am so excited that I have to tell everyone. The company that I got started with is the greatest thing that I have ever seen. It’s a lot of fun.,., not a lot of work. I recommend taking right out of the shoot Taking A Dream Trip so you can meet some of the fellow associates and get the focus and momentum. They are great!!! If you spend 8 hours a week (if you follow our system) you can easily make a living. When you decide I will personally mentor you and help in any way you need. This has been fun for me. The upper management is the best I have ever seen and I have been around some powerful people. When you get some spare time. Check it out and tell me what you think. But whatever you do treat it like a business but have fun doing it.
http://www.acuarios.worldventures.biz/ click on 1
Thanks and have a great day Love to tell you more..
Bud Karas 702 435 3000
702 767 9011 or the bud@acuariosadv.com
Or espaniol Maria maya 702 630 6781 or
maria@acuariosadv.com
You can use anything you want! I'm formulating a story to send to you, because the more I think about it, the more I love your concept, and I think maybe I have something to offer. Besides, we Canadians always feel like family to the Australians!
Keep in touch, and tell me how things are going.
Brian
I actually 'googled' Kochie and found his BB site and the Sunday programming. Wow... his site is loaded with info.
I'll definitely pop an email to you!
I agree with you that Brian has hit on a very important point, the family being around the table.
Linda
I love your comment - can I use it?! And email me your story!
Julia
Would love to chat - would you like to email me julia@thebusinessbakery.com.au
Kochies Business Builders is on Sunday mornings after weekend sunrise - but it moves around abit! the website is www.kochiesbusinessbuilders.com.au
would love to hear your stories!
Julia
I just love your book concept.
When is Kochie's Business Builders on TV?
Maybe we can have a chat some time as I may have some tibits for your book, some fundamental to the kitchen table and one particular one that was a bit off-beat from a mentor many years ago but proved vital to us staying in business.
Still reading through your blog!
Linda
The concept of your book is fabulous... I hadn't thought of the idea that we're baking a business, but we sure do spend a lot of our time around the kitchen table, making our products, counting our products, deciding which bills we need to pay next! But the truth is, even if we didn't make money with our business, which we do, we have the great benefit of all being together around our kitchen table every night, and far too many families don't. I wish you much success, and I'd love to be on the list to have a copy when it's ready... you can put us in it, too, if you want... ha ha. Brian and Marla
Welcome to the site. Your book sounds great and I hope that you'll find some great stories from our members. I friend of mine Mike Litman wrote a very interesting book some years back titled "Conversations with Millionaires" here is a link to it on Amazon's site... it may be a good resource to put on your shelf.
Dan
It looks like a fun project. You should see what Barbara Steinhauser can do for you. See her on the members page or perhaps this link will work.
http://www.homebasedbusiness.com/xn/detail/u_8049gbvz8lsj
Dreamweaver
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