Escape from Cubicle Nation

Have a cool setup in your home-based biz? Share it with BusinessWeek!

BusinessWeek Online was kind enough to ask me to share the following project with my blog readers, knowing that many of you work from home offices.

They want to create a photo essay of readers' standout home-based offices.

What exactly qualifies as "standout?":

" We are looking for unique spaces from which you run your home-based business today. Do you work from a tent on the beach, a tree house, or the back of a truck?

One of my favorite examples is of Kathy Sierra's office in an Airstream trailer. 

So if you work in a yurt (someday I will!) or even a very cool retrofitted basement, let BusinessWeek Online know!

Details for how to contribute your photos are found here.

Make sure to follow these specific guidelines:

Send us a brief description of your workspace along with one digital image no more than 1MB in size to onphoto@businessweek.com by May 30. Be sure to write "Home-based Businesses Special Report photo essay participant" in the subject line of your e-mail. Tell us what you do and what distinguishes your space from a conventional office. Remember: Entrants must be running their own home-based business on a full-time basis, and have been at it for a minimum of one year. We will feature a selection of outstanding work spaces in an upcoming

I have said it many times but will say it again -- the chance to get your business in front of mainstream media readers is one of the best marketing strategies there is!  Don't let the opportunity pass you by if you meet the criteria.   

Have a great weekend everyone!

New to business or in business and struggling?

I just got wind of an interesting opportunity for the right business owner who is struggling a bit and could use some "public" (aka live media) coaching.

Do you fit this profile:

• Interesting person with a good story to tell
• Interesting business that many people could understand and relate to
• Significant challenges in your business that you could use some help with
• You could be starting up, or in biz for a while and need some tune ups

If this sounds like you or someone you know, please send me an email with "struggling biz" as the email subject header to pcs (at) ganas (dot) com.   Let me know the following:

• Your name
• Your contact info (phone/email)
• Your biz location
• Brief description of biz
• Brief description of struggles

Time is of the essence - send me the message by end of day tomorrow, Wednesday, February 27.

Let's see what we can cook up - who knows, some interesting publicity could come out of it!

Press request: Women over 40 who made career change without safety net

I just got an inquiry from a journalist looking for the following:

"Women who have made a successful career change "without a net" (meaning no huge financial savings or rich partner in the wings). The women need to be over 40 now (and either over 40 or near that when they made their career change). While it's not essential I would love to include one woman who is single, if possible, since career change without a partner raises many different issues. I'd also like to find someone who used a severance package to fund a career change. And it would be great to find someone who left one career for an actual "job" rather than an entrepreneurial venture.

Most important is to find a person with a great story to tell who is good at finding the tips and insights that will help others learn from her experience."

Does this sound like you or someone you know?  If so, shoot me an email outlining a few basic bullets:

• Name of person
• Age
• A couple of sentences about the nature of the change, ie "professor to investment banker" or "administrative assistant to doctor"
• Contact info (email, phone)

Send your messages to me at pcs (at) ganas (dot) com with the following subject heading:  No safety net.

I want to emphasize that the journalist is NOT looking for someone who made the change from corporate to entrepreneur.  That base is covered.

I'll collect the emails and send them on. It could be a great opportunity to share a good story.

Thanks and have a great weekend!

Looking for rigid Phoenix, AZ work environments willing to get more flexible on national tv!

Tory Johnson, CEO of  Women for Hire and Good Morning America Workplace Correspondent just sent over a special request for Phoenix-based businesses:

"Right now we're looking for women in the Phoenix area to participate in a special GMA segment focused on workplace flexibility.  Specifically, we're looking for women who work fulltime and are in great need of some form of flexibility, but don't have such benefits and perks with their current employer. Instead of driving yourself crazy or looking for a new position, we want to help you by approaching the top decision makers at your company with a challenge to step up to the plate and offer some form of flexibility to employees. The company would have the opportunity to receive exposure on national television if it's willing to accept our challenge of adapting its policies to the new realities of the American workforce.  We're NOT looking to sabotage a company; quite the contrary.  We're looking to partner with that company to help develop programs and benefits that work for the company and its employees while staying true to the core business needs as well as the realities of today's workforce. 

In addition, we're looking for companies of all sizes -- at least 25 employees -- that have challenges with recruitment or retention which may be due to their rigid work schedules.  We'd like to partner with such employers on simple ways to improve their retention by implementing basic flexible work options.  In both cases, we'd work with the employer and employees in advance -- starting ASAP -- to get to know the needs and culture, and we'd work together to prepare a solution that would be broadcast live from Phoenix at the end of the month. If this is you or someone you know -- exclusively in the Phoenix area -- please contact us immediately at media@womenforhire.com. Please put Phoenix in the subject line."

I firmly believe what I said in point 8 of my Open Letter to CXO's rant awhile back:

Focus on the work people do, not how or when they do it.  Some positions require people to be at their desk at an appointed hour to answer customer calls or to participate in live meetings.  But others can do their work from home, early in the morning, late in the evening or dialing in from the local Starbucks.  The turnover magnet you have for losing great employees is not the competitor down the street, it is the idea of freedom and flexibility for the self-employed.  Your employees have different biorhythms and working styles and activities going on in their lives.  If you provide flexible work options and don't make people sit unnecessarily at their desk, you will keep some great employees who would otherwise leave.  A manager who is afraid to offer telecommuting to her employees because she thinks they will slack off is just showing her own weakness. Great managers build accountability into flexible work plans and manage performance aggressively.

So if you are not quite ready to leave your job behind, or find you might not be cut out for entrepreneurship and would rather make your current situation more bearable, I encourage you to get this ball rolling and twist the arm of a senior manager at your Phoenix-based company to jump at this story.  Have fun with it!  Our love for reality TV could extend to your workplace, and who knows what could happen as a result.  If you end up making people mad and getting fired, you will have a great story for the launch of your new business.

 

Specific request to Phoenix home-based entrepreneurs who sometimes work out of coffeeshops

I just got a ping from someone doing a story on Phoenix and home-based entrepreneurs who spend at least a couple of hours a week working out of a coffee shop to "minimize home distractions."  I do occasionally, especially when I have to write something uninterrupted.

The only stipulation is that you go somewhere besides Starbucks ... which may be a limiting factor for some.

If you meet this criteria, and would be willing to share your story (for a bit of media exposure, perhaps? ), please send me a quick email to pcs (at) ganas (dot) com with the following info:

1. Your name
2. Your business
3. Your phone # where you can be reached in the next day or two
4. Your email

There is a quick deadline, so if you can get back to me by noon (Phoenix time) tomorrow (Thursday, June 21) that would be great.

Thanks!

Opportunity to tell your great story of transformation from drone to happy camper

Every once in awhile, I get a call from press folks with interest in doing a story featuring members of my blog community.  I always love it, as it is an opportunity to highlight some of the great work that YOU are doing!  I have to maintain confidentiality out of respect for the source, but I will say that one such request last year generated a front-page story on the business section of a MAJOR national newspaper for one of my enterprising blog readers.  So here is the latest opportunity - let me know if it sounds like your story is a good fit!  As they say, all press is good press!

Summary of project:
The project is still in evolution, but it will basically be some web-based video stories of people who have planned for major life transitions and are either in or about to begin a new "dream" venture like opening up a cool business, retiring and doing something totally different than they did as an employee, or deciding to completely redesign their life, aka sell their high-rise condo in New York and go live in a yurt in Mongolia.

Desired characteristics for storytellers:

• Aged 40-65
• Dynamic storytellers that convey authenticity and enthusiasm on camera
• Diverse, with the sum total representing different types of "dream ventures," as well as different genders and backgrounds
• Cool stories to tell, that will inspire others to plan for and take risks to create a better life

If this sounds like you, please send an email to pcs (at) ganas (dot) com with the following info.  I beg you to follow the specific format I outline, because that makes it really easy to cut and paste as a summary for the press contact.  Call me lazy if you wish.

Title of email:  (Your name) Dream venture story candidate
Info within body of email:

• Your name
• Age
• Summary of your "dream venture" transition.  What were you doing before?  What did you decide to do?  How did you plan for it?  Where are you in the process of your new venture now?  (this should not be more than a couple of paragraphs ... just hit the highlights)
• Contact info:  Name, phone number, email address, website to new venture of applicable
• Picture of you, preferably doing something with your new venture!

I promise to pass on all the submissions, unedited, to the contact.  If they are interested, they will get back to you.

Good luck, and please give it a try if you meet the criteria!  Something like this could be major exposure.

Update:  Forgot to say the deadline is end of day, Friday, May 11

Calling all 20s-early 30s women who made the leap from corporate to entrepreneur

It has been a busy media week ... I just got a ping from someone looking to talk to a few young women in their 20s-early 30s who successfully made the leap from corporate employee to entrepreneur.

Are you such a woman, or does your wife/daughter/former colleague/neighbor or niece fit this criteria?

• You were indeed a corporate cog
• Your biz is full-time and up and running (doesn't matter what it is - the more variety the better)
• You fit the age guidelines of 20s-to early 30s
• You can respond by tomorrow, Thursday Sept. 7 at 12pm PST

Please email me back at pcs(at)ganas(dot)com with a few brief sentences about your story and complete contact info.

I am forwarding this along with no promises for fame and fortune, but the hope that one of you gets lucky and gets a bit of press about your business.  I feel good if I can grease the wheels and make a few connections. 

Speaking of "I am woman, hear me roar," I am interviewing Gloria Steinem tomorrow for a post about the upcoming launch of Greenstone Media, which I will be attending in New York next Tuesday.  I can't wait to hear her take on starting a new business in an arena (radio) that some say is being eclipsed by new media.  Stay tuned.