In a post recently where I talked about my “projects” that I have underway, I mentioned that I was looking at Internet Marketing as a potential money spinner for Ditching the Office. It’s a whole world unto itself really, however it is just the basics of marketing tailored for the web. It’s working the system so that you can get in front of people who you know are looking to buy something. I found a great (read free) set of tutorials called the Thirty Day Challenge. This runs you through all the basics of identifying a market on the Internet, testing it and getting a product to it. All from the comfort of your home office. Check out the Thirty Day Challenge Blog as well for some further info. I’ve found it great to learn the principles of online marketing. It’s definitely a great launchpad.

Now, you may ask what’s in it for them if it’s free? Maybe I should leave spotting the cross selling up to you.

It’s taken forever to get this post together. I’ve been busy, but I don’t think that that’s the entire reason it’s taken me so long. I’ve just struggled with getting my thoughts in order. I think getting a business partner is, for me at least, one of the most important things that can kick start your business adventures or give it a good kick in the you know where. I guess that means that you should choose carefully.

To be blunt, I’m interested in shoring up my weaknesses and sharing the load. I have plenty of flaws, just like the next person and any typical human being. As most of the readers in the early days of Ditch the Office already know me, there’s probably a few nodding heads at the moment. Anyway, let’s get into it.

Why get a partner?
These are probably pretty obvious.  Remember though, no stupid questions.  I think that getting a business partner is a good idea for the following reasons:

• Greater than the sum – corny and clichéd, I know, but it’s actually true when you can find someone to work with where you can come to a better result than either of your could come to individually. Two heads are better than one.
• Spread the workload – enough said really. Two pairs of hands are better than one. This is especially important if you’re working your day job at the same time.
• Spread the skills – Fill the gaps. I know I’m not an expert at everything. I want someone else who can balance my skills and weaknesses.
• Generate ideas – This is really important for me. I find that the ideas flow when you have someone to discuss them with.
• Motivation – You know how you’ll go running if someone is waiting for you? Same deal applies here.
• It’s fun to share – Yep, warm and fuzzy. Sharing the experience with someone else is more rewarding.

I wrote this piece and then decided to see if there were some other opinions out there.  I particularly liked the reasons for getting a business partner here.

How to get a partner?
There’s no rocket science here.  Get out there!

• Networks – Yep, speak to people about your interest. This is the way that I’ve found a few people that are interested in some self employed adventures. You’ll find them in the weirdest place – maybe even at home! Now, I’m not the world’s most effective socialite but I understand the power of networks. I’m working on getting better at networking as relationships make the world go round, not money. That just comes after (maybe).
• Entrepreneur groups – Find yourself an entrepreneur group or network. I’ve put some links at the bottom that may be of assistance.
• Perseverance – I kept looking until I found one. Pretty straightforward really. I think I’m probably annoying a lot of my friends as I’m always on the lookout for opportunities now. I’m the same with being open to trying to get stuff done with other people.

What does it mean to have one?
I’m in the throes of pursuing a few opportunities at the moment, each with a business partner or two, and I’m not going to pretend that I’ve run into all the situations. I see it this way – you’ve got to have trust and respect in any healthy relationship and this is no different. All the relationship counseling you’ve ever heard on TV with those neurotic America sitcoms applies here too.

Some other things to consider about having a partner:

• Making sure you’re both in it for the same reason or, at a minimum, for the same outcome.
• Plan for when you’re not going to be partners. I think there is something called a buy-sell agreement that is basically your exit strategy from any business endeavor with a business partner.

This is probably the area that I’m least aware of at this stage. I’m sure that I have plenty to learn. At this stage I’m only aware of some of the horror stories like bullying, unable to get your, fraud etc etc. I think that the benefits I’ve listed above are more than enough to warrant getting into it up to your neck with someone else.

And what about me?
And* good on you for asking.  I’m taking the easy way out on this one and I’ll justify it with a “everyone’s different and your personal circumstances will guide your own decisions and choices”. Soft huh? If you’ve got any form of self-awareness then you should probably be able to tell if you’ll play nice with someone else. If you’re greedy, for example, you may elect to save others from the wrath of your green streak.
Resources (I spent 23 seconds on Google)

• http://www.tie.org/
• http://www.tenonline.org/
• http://entrepreneur.meetup.com/cities/au/sydney/

*On a side note, being the English language giant that I am, I do know from my grade 8 English education that you can’t start a sentence with “And”. I find that it’s interesting to write that way sometimes and recently I heard a great piece on the use of language by Stephen Fry (British comedian and of Fry and Lawry fame – Lawry went on to be House, you know the annoying Doctor with a chip so big on his shoulder it makes him limp?). And as they say “But I digress!”. I’m sure you’re not allowed to start a sentence with “But” either.

My business partner and I recently set up a company through a service he ran into through his accountant. Typically you’ve had to register a company by buying one “off the shelf” from your accountant or doing it yourself. Both are not exactly cheap, especially when you’re trying to do it on the cheap.

Sorry, it’s Australian only but it’s a pretty easy and cheap deal. Check out http://www.trustdeed.com.au/. It’s an online registration system that emails you the company documents after you’ve finished filling in the details.  All for $70.  No, I’m not getting a commission. This site doesn’t have enough viewers, yet…

I’m sure there’s other bits to it. I’m sure there’s more to it so let me know what if I’m missing anything or I’ll let you know when I find out the hard way.

I’m currently hard at work spending my free time trying to turn an idea for an online classifieds business that I had about 18 months ago into reality. There’s so many things to do. Even if it is a relatively straightforward idea, there’s a load of stuff to get done to get anything worth putting in front of customers or community.  All that “stuff to get done” means that I’m learning a huge amount.  Hey, I need to get content for Ditch the Office from somewhere don’t I?

One of the more fun and entertaining things we’ve done is to name the business (or product in this case).  Maybe the name is important and maybe it’s not, but it definitely not straight forward these days.  No more AAA Repairs, Geoff’s Meat’s or Linda’s Bookkeeping. Particularly with web businesses, this is (or was depending on who you talk to) the era of missing vowels.  My business partner and I came up with the name furcle.  Well, what did you expect for an online business?  I’ll post some more info on what furcle is in the not to distant future when we’ve got some more information.

I’ve recorded the recipe that my business partner and I used to get a name. Some of the tools that I’ve mentioned are Australian specific so you may need to try to find something similar in your own countries. So, without further adieu, the Business Name Recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 sheet of brand identity
• 2 heaped tablespoons of humour
• A bunch of verbs, nouns, sayings and euphemisms
• 1 Internet domain name search tool
• 1 local trademarks search tool
• 1 business name search tool
• 1 random word generator tool (optional)
• 1 workshop bowl
• A dash of creativity
• 1 teaspoon of inspiration

Method

1. Preheat your brain
2. Line a buttered baking tray with a layer of your brand identity.  This ethereal step is necessary to provide you with some guidance to the nature of the name that will reach to your customers.  What does your brand mean?
3. Break up the bunch of verbs, nouns, sayings and euphemisms into a workshop bowl, add the humour, creativity and inspiration and work them thoroughly together.  Make sure you try combinations of the bunch (like taking pieces of words an piecing them together or if you’re struggling to get some words, try some of the random word tools listed below).
4. Keep mixing and watch for a particular verb, noun, saying or ehpamism that keeps rising to the top.  Skim it and place it aside.
5. Take the skimmed item and run it through the Internet domain name search tool.  You’re looking for a match against the ubiquitous “.com” domain or your country specific domains (e.g. “.au” for australia “.co.uk” for the UK etc).  If your name passes this step then continue to the next.  If it does not then return to step 4.
6. Take the same name and check it against your local/national/international business name registries to make sure you’re going to be able to use it. If your name passes this step then continue to the next.  If it does not then return to step 4.
7. Take the same name and check it against your local/national/international trademarks registries to make sure you’re going to be able to use it.  If your name passes this step then continue to the next.  If it does not then return to step 4.
8. Once the name is passed through these tools, place it on the sheet of brand identity on the baking tray
9. Repeat steps 4 to 7 until you’re happy you have enough options to fill the sheet of brand identity.
10. Wrap the words in the sheet of brand identity and bake in your brain for a few days.  If you’re into slow cooking, them you can leave it there for up to a couple of weeks.
11. As the sheet of brand identity shrinks to fit the names, you’ll find that it fit’s better on some or others.  Take the one that is the best fit and serve!  If you have a couple, then stick it back in the brain for a few days until there’s only one left.  If that doesn’t work then just pick one.

Reference

Here’s some reference materials to help you to get the best out of the recipe:

• Popular Internet domain domain name search tools eNom, Godaddy, MelbourneIT (for .au domains)
• Australian business name registry run by ASIC.  You can also try the ABNLookup for Australian Business Number checkes
• IPAustralia – Trademark registrations database
• Here’s a random word generators on the web, and here, and here, and here.
• Google is your friend if you need to find any of the above in your local area.

Happy naming!  I hope your recipe turns out.  We’re hoping furcle does and initial taste testing with a few people says that it’s promising.

By the way.  If this is a little obtuse or confusing, them please free to contact me via the comments and maybe I can give you some further help.

From time to time I’ll try to post stuff where I’ve found that there is a lot of valuable information that I’ve picked up.  It wont always be strictly on topic but will definitely be related.  Please let me know your thoughts.

I’ve been trying to get this journal or blog up and running smoothly so I can begin getting information out there of my experiences.  I don’t want to turn this into a technology blog, but it struck me that there is so much effort in getting something like this working that I thought it would be valuable to share all the steps I’ve taken in case you want to get anything running yourselves.

To be perfectly honest, this journal is a sort or experiment on my part as well as a personal venture.  I wanted to get my experiences “on record”, as it were, while also experimenting with the tools and techniques I’ve seen to create a successful weblog.   It’s not so much learning to blog, it’s learning to blog all over again.  There are so many aspects to get functioning since the days of putting your thoughts on a basic webpage.

I got the blog online sometime over Christmas but it’s taken me some time to get all the things in line so that it functions properly.  The most costly thing is the time it takes to get everything working properly.  So, here’s what I went through.

1. Finding a concept

As you’ll see over the course of the blog.  I don’t really have a lack of ideas.  I have a lack of execution.  Starting Ditch the Office was really quite simple for me as I know that I want to start my own business and it’s very difficult to get access to real-world experiences.  I want to be able to share and have experiences shared with me through the fantastic medium that is the Internet.  It’s sometimes hard to get access to those experiences, either because you can’t find someone you can learn from or you have to filter through so much junk on the web.

Anyway, find something you’re interested in.  I think it will make a big difference and especially with point 2.

2. Learning to write

The jury will remain out on this one for some time, however I do know that there are some people that write in a very engaging fashion.  Take SarahKate over at Abercrombie & Feast.  Writing style is really a personal preference a lot of the time but I think that she writes really well.  I’m hoping that my style will form and improve over time.

3. Finding a name

I plan to write a full post on this point as to naming your real-life business.  For the purposes of this post though, I think naming your blog can be pretty straightforward.  I just picked it to relate specifically to what I wanted to write about.  I think there are probably a few tips that are related.  Try to make it unique.  It should be memorable on a personal level for your readers but I also think that it helps on a technology front like search engines (I could be wrong here).  It definitely helps in getting a domain name (in this case www.ditchtheoffice.com).

4. Finding a somewhere to host your blog

This is really the software that you want to use.  You can either get a web host and pay to have your own web host.  There are a number of benefits to this:

• If you’ve got the skills or the desire, you’ll be able to customise your blog to your heart’s content.

Here’s a quick list of free blogging services – I haven’t really used these but they’re very popular:

• WordPress.com – WordPress also offer their software for free if you have your own web hosting provider (I use the WordPress software)
  
• Livejournal
• Blogger

Here’s a quick list of web hosting providers that I’ve researched or used in the past.  They require you to pay for their services:

• Hostway (I’ve used this in the past – very professional but a bit more expensive)
• Dreamhost (I currently use these guys and they’re great and cheap)

5. Get your blog out there

Now, this a post in itself but there are a few key things to think of.  I’ve included what I currently use to achieve these things but please note that I’m still experimenting:

• Make sure you give your users a way to get regular updates.  I’ve done this through RSS feeds and email updates when I post new information.  To get RSS feeds, I’ve used Feedburner so I can track subscriptions and the like.
• I’ve also included a component to post an update to Twitter when new stuff is posted to the blog .  I use a wordpress plugin called Bird Feeder to accomplish this.  As a side note, I’m going to add the Twitter name to the blog sidebar, but in the interim you can follow ditchtheoffice on Twitter.
• Make sure your blog is search engine friendly (commonly referred to as Search Engine Optimisation).  I use a couple of plugins for this.  Google XML Sitemap plugin for WordPress to send updates of the website to a range of search engines when updates are made.  I also use HeadSpace2 to make sure WordPress is friendly to search engines when they stumble across this blog.
• Make sure people can bookmark and share your posts easily.  I’ve used the AddThis WordPress plugin to put the link at the bottom of posts that lets you share the post with a whole range of services like delicious or digg.

Well, I think that’s enough for now.  I hope that it’s not too technical.  As I said, I don’t want this to turn into a technology run down.  I didn’t really know a lot about blogging before I set this one up so I just spent the time to look for what was necessary to get it going.  I hope you can get something from what I’ve learnt.  Please leave me some comments with your feedback and any questions you might have.  When I get around to it, I’ll see if advertising is something worth putting down here as well.

Happy blogging!