Free Promo, Free Books, and Free Insight

Shane and Peter are having a cool interview contest going on. They’ve posted a list of questions for entrepreneurs to answer. The ten most interesting answers get free promo, and the best of the best get free books.

I’m all over it. Here’s my shot at the spotlight.

The Interview

What’s your personal mission statement?

Alright, this is where my mind goes blank – it always does when I’m asked really tough questions that require supremely amazing answers.

I’m big on thinking and saying, “I can do that.”

I suck at answers that really mean something like, “Here is a brilliant sentence that will have you thinking I’m a complete and total genius. You will be awed by my vision and foresight. You will go home reeling.”

What’s the biggest mess you’ve dealt with this year?

Very early this year, we were stuck between a rock and a hard place. I had an unhappy client, and it’s our mission to have happy clients (of course.)

I also had a very unhappy team of writers struggling to please the client. They faced weekly guideline changes, style sheet modifications and shifting goalposts as well as multiple requests for revisions with vague feedback.

At first, the client raved about our brilliance, quality and content for two months straight. Then he seemed to arbitrarily pick a name of a writer. That writer slowly began to receive continual negative feedback and revision requests – always vague. The client insisted on continuing to work with that writer despite the revision requests.

Harry and I were scratching our heads; we couldn’t see what the client was complaining about. When we asked for clarifications on what needed revising, we were snapped at. “It’s plain to see!” Uh, no, dude, it isn’t.

It got bad, very bad. The writer’s confidence wore down to nothing. He was exhausted and tired of the job. He threatened to quit (I don’t blame him). He’d tied himself up in knots trying to please the client. Eventually, he started getting sick over everything going on and stopped working on that project.

But things didn’t stop there. The client chose another writer’s name from the hat, and the process started over.

The maneuvers were very subtle and used a lot of gaslighting (you’d think I’d notice that; I studied Psychology.) By the time Harry and I figured out what was happening (we were still focused on, “How do we please this guy?”), the team was in disastrous shape.

Everyone’s confidence was shot, no one felt they were producing good work and even on new projects for new clients, the writers second-guessed their abilities. They were scared to write.

It took over four months of reassurance and answering the writers’ questions: “Is this okay? Can you check, please? I’m really not sure if it’s okay anymore; I feel like my work is awful…”

I’m ashamed it took me so long to see what was going on. Someone was wielding a lot of power and getting off on it. The client didn’t care about us; he loved watching us jump through hoops. It was terrible and I regret not having caught on sooner.

We ended the relationship abruptly. We’ve learned from it and made a lot of changes to how we work and what we’ll tolerate from a client and what we won’t. Our team matters more to us than money.

What current entrepreneurial efforts consume your time?

Managing my time takes up all my time. I often get a squeezed, panicky feeling in my stomach when I see 3pm approaching. I’ve been working since 5am, had a one hour break, and still feel like I’ll never make it.

Wait, scratch that. Managing and scheduling the team’s projects. If anyone knows web-based project management like the back of their hand, email me. I seriously need to find the ideal solution to keeping track of scheduling.

Why do you do what you do? What inspires you? When do you get most excited?

Hm. There are three questions here.

I do what I do because I need to support my family and earn a living. Simple. I’m lucky enough to have talent and skills to achieve those goals.

Inspiration… uh, well, that just comes like a lightbulb being flicked on. Nothing in particular pushes me to inspiration – it just sort of… happens.

I get the most excited when I have a cool idea (or at least an idea that I think is cool). Potential and possibilities are an adventure to me. I explore, I research and I throw myself into achieving the most that I can.

Wait, that answers question two: Potential and opportunity inspire me. Maybe that even answers number one as well.

(Waggles finger at Shane) Tricky, tricky…

Boxers or Briefs? or as Naomi says, Bikini or Thong, duh?!?

Boxer-briefs, my friend. I wear the best of both worlds.

I’ll take thongs, too, but not on me.

What do you do when you’re not [designing | programming | managing | writing | toiling for the wo/man]?

Cook, clean, do laundry, vacuum, shovel snow, feed the cats…

Oh, wait, you mean in my SPARE time? I go skating once or twice a week at the local arena for some exercise and a break. I also play acoustic guitar – or try to. My fingertips are soft because I don’t have as much time to play as I’d like to.

What one thing made the biggest difference when getting started?

That someone believed in me enough to give me my first break.

What’s your exit strategy?

Harry.

What is the last thing that made you belly laugh?

I smile and grin a lot. I rarely laugh out loud. I think the last time I laughed was when my teenage daughter walked into a wall (a little dreamy, were we?) . I couldn’t help it.

She wasn’t injured.

Have you ever been in business before?

If I think back as far as I can, there have been definite signs of businessman in my childhood. I built up a fresh egg delivery run – we had chickens and I had a bike with a rack. After eggs came homemade bread. Yes, I also had a lemonade stand.

At what point do you consider yourself successful?

At the point you achieve your goal, no matter how small or large, even if the goal is just a milestone of a bigger goal. Want to be a great guitar player? Then you need to strum a clear-sounding barre chord. Success occurs the day that sweet sound rings out true – not the day you rock like Eric Clapton.

What was your first experience with a computer?

My first computer experience was in high school computer science class, grade seven, about 14 years ago. I coded a small program in DOS that landed a spaceship on an X.

Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates in a jello wrestling match, where’s your money?

I hate to ask this question because I feel I might end up looking like a fool, but who is Steve Jobs?

Where do you do your best thinking?

I think best in the car while driving, in a quiet room while pacing, on a near-empty ice rink while skating. Thinking involves movement but absolutely no distractions.

Now that I look back at what I just wrote, I realize that all three activities involve some form of white noise. That’s interesting.

What does your average daily work / life balance look like? How much time do you work, play and sleep?

I knew there was a trick question somewhere… this involves math. Crap.

Sleep, 8 hours. Work, 8 to 10 hours. Playtime (which usually involves sitting at the computer doing absent, non-priority work), 2 hours. Family, 4 hours.

That does not look good. I blame Shane for asking this question and revealing my unbalances and faults.

If I could introduce you to anyone, who would it be?

Peter or Naomi. Or Brian Clark, if you rub shoulders with him. I don’t go for that big, “I want to meet the Dali Lama,” or “I’d love to interview some obscure, dead genius and ask him the meaning of life.” I just want to meet real people, y’know? Shake hands, have a beer. Watch a band or something at the local bar.

What stops you from giving up when you are frustrated?

Because, by god, I WILL find the answer or die trying. I suppose that equals drive and determination, doesn’t it?

If Chuck Norris and Steven Hawking had a baby (hey it’s my damn interview), would you vote for her for president?

No. I don’t vote for presidents; I vote for Prime Ministers.

Now, for my original question to other entrepreneurs:

What was the one mistake you made in your business that led to the biggest lesson and improvements?

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