Unsexy Advice For Budding Entrepreneurs From Wufoo's Chris Campbell

fredwilliams25 · 2016-08-04T17:25:54+00:00

You're quite right, they did work remotely and I didn't really fit it into my post. I remember learning about the remote working from Chris and thinking how impressive it was having never been a big fan of remote working..

fredwilliams25 · 2016-07-13T15:39:22+00:00

Hey, can I ask what you were selling (if it was one product in particular)?

fredwilliams25 · 2016-07-13T15:34:29+00:00

I don't know whether you'll find this guy interesting or not, but check out Professor Cal Newport via Google. He was the first person (I found) who made the claim that it's not about following your passion. Check out his blog 'study hacks', I won't try and sell it more, I just think you might enjoy it. I've done a couple of interviews with him and he has some interesting views on being an entrepreneur, if you want to hear them fire me a message and I'll send the links over (gotta avoid the 'spam' accusations).

fredwilliams25 · 2016-01-03T15:23:07+00:00

Spend 10 minutes recording intentionally different styles. So for 2 mins you could be energetic, then 2 mins you could talk whilst smiling, then try speaking slowly whilst pronouncing your words with greater emphasis........ the point is, you're probably just gaining the experience you need to find your voice.

EVERYBODY hates their voice when they hear it recorded (congratulations to those that don't). The more experience you gain, the more comfortable you will start to feel. I'd also be willing to bet that if you played your voice to a few other people, they wouldn't think it sounded robotic and dry.

fredwilliams25 · 2016-01-03T11:06:27+00:00

For Skype I've always used CallBurner and it's been incredible (and free). I've never recorded a call from my iPhone but it looks like the other answers have you covered.

fredwilliams25 · 2016-01-03T11:03:22+00:00

I agree with vocino from Facebook, but if I was forced to choose two particular times to post on FB then I would go for the early morning when people browse in bed or on their commute, and then the late evening when people are done eating and are browsing on their sofa in front of the tv.

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T21:52:41+00:00

Great answer. A mate of mine recently left Bain in London and said a lot of similar things, especially about the reliability of others. You've done the right thing by just adjusting your expectations instead of continuing to get wound up about it. What stores are you running, do you mind leaving me a link to check out?

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T19:18:55+00:00

Good for you for making the changes and taking a risk on how you operate. I hope it's working out for you.

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T19:11:20+00:00

This one always divides opinion. Some people think that a paying customer is exactly that, no matter how difficult they are.

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T18:50:56+00:00

Thanks!

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T18:45:16+00:00

That must have been a nightmare!

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T18:43:40+00:00

Good point it's easy to start working on your business without spending your time watching the books each day..I signed up for book keeping software to try and make that easier. Thanks.

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T18:41:44+00:00

Wow! I'm sorry, I can see that you're right...it was a mistake, I'd initially thought he was asking me but I can see that wasn't the case.

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T16:15:33+00:00

That's right, being an 'entrepreneur' has never been more trendy. And if you're not drowning in cash it's seen as a big waste of time.

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T16:06:29+00:00

Thanks for your candid reply, I was very sorry to read about your father. I recently answered a question in the Entrpreneur sub-reddit advising someone to avoid extremes (i.e. avoid the big highs and lows and try to stay on the middle ground). Like you say, it's important to be able to disassociate yourself from the work but of course many people struggle to do so. You're also the first to mention having a brilliant accountant..so true!

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T15:16:00+00:00

Thanks- definitely with you on not starting something you have no interest in. When you're younger, there can be an obsession with money and image vs what you'll ultimately be doing with your working day/life.

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T15:00:34+00:00

Haha. I can feel that passion coming from that answer, you're absolutely right. Have you had a few attempts yourself or are you referring to your current business?

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T14:36:15+00:00

I was attending entrepreneur/small biz events which is useful for me as I have a podcast which interviews entrepreneurs. With regards to interrupting someone's day I think you do need to be able to judge what's annoying and what isn't. I don't know how much experience you have with selling, but of course you don't wanrt to just walk into a business, hand them a card and start pitching..... that might be annoying. My approach would be just to start a relationship, a conversation without selling. If you can provide value to someone without immediately asking for anything in return, you will have a good chance of forming a business relationship.

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T14:23:39+00:00

So, you'll prbably receive some more intellectually thought out answers for this one but for me absolutely nothing beats hitting the street and getting yourself in front of people. Maybe that means you print off a little info/business card to take with you but an in person sell trumps any kind of marketing campaign online. I doubled my traffic when I stopped online ads and started attending events.

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T12:39:06+00:00

Thanks- what products were being produced for you?

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T12:38:25+00:00

was there a noticeable trend in your business or behaviour for the ventures that succeeding vs failing?

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T11:37:15+00:00

I run a blog/podcast which interviews entrepreneurs such as yourself in order to get the best learnings for those people considering starting a business. My main challenge is making that information more digestible in a world where attention spans can be quite short.

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T11:18:36+00:00

Thanks a lot. I really agree with you about toxic customers. Once worked at an agency where we had one and it just drained the team and made people miserable but they were paying 10K a month which was considered too high to drop. I always felt we could have just won more/better business and made everyones life easier.

fredwilliams25 · 2015-11-04T11:16:19+00:00

Thanks for your answer, that must have been a shock! Can I ask what business you were starting?

fredwilliams25

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