Startups and Motivation: Staying the Course
Recently, a friend of mine, Dr. Beth Halbert, mentioned something that stuck with me. She said that she used to create long lists of to-do items every day. Her lists were three pages long, and she could never finish all the action items. Every night, she felt like a failure. Then, she changed something. She created shorter lists, with only 2-3 things that she can finish. Now she feels successful every single day. I’ve been thinking about this simple concept and how it could be applied to staying motivated while working in startups. By the way, if you’re in a startup, you might also be interested in my article on Ten Things Ways the San Francisco Giants Can Improve Your Game.
Have Reasonable Goals
Granted, some people enjoy the feeling of pressure (including the knot they get in their stomach) every day. Some people love “stretch goals,” even if those goals are completely unattainable. But many of us would rather have a reasonable goal so that we can knock it out of the ballpark every single time. A list with only 2-3 items that are achievable can help your morale more than that list with a million action items on it.
Reward Yourselves
Although I’m a great believer in the Law of Attraction, it’s not always easy to stay the course and be positive. But a reward is something that you and your team will look forward to, and look back upon with great pleasure. The reward might be a party for the team, some wine for everyone, or something more business-related such as phone chargers. One of my own favorite rewards was a pair of expensive shoes. Right now I’ve set a target whose reward will be a grafted apple tree with seven varieties of apples.
Pay People Enough
Do I need to say anything about this? If people don’t have a certain minimum salary, they’ll want to go elsewhere (here are some power tips to beef up your LinkedIn profile if you’re looking for a J.O.B., by the way). Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, that amount is certainly higher than in other parts of the country.
Give Autonomy and Get Outta the Way
People need to be self-directed, to feel that their actions matter, and to feel engaged at work. This sense of autonomy can be overlooked in startups (and larger companies too). One of my favorite videos is this one on motivation, by RSA Animate. You’d be surprised at what actually motivates people (watch the video). The assumption that people want to do cool things is one that forward-thinking startups embrace.
What Makes You Feel Motivated?
What makes you want to jump out of bed and go to work? Or if you don’t want to go to work, why not? Please tell me; I’m very interested in hearing from you.
Pinterest: Top Ten Tasks (and Power Tips)
Top Ten Pinterest Tasks
You may have seen my previous post on Top Ten Twitter Terms. Here are the first tasks you should tackle on Pinterest. If you’re more advanced, skip to the “Power Tips.”
Set Up Your Profile
Fill out your profile. Go to “Settings” on the top right, scroll to Profile, upload your picture or avatar and fill out the “About You.” Connect your Facebook, Twitter, etc. You can invite friends at the top left of your home page. If you plan to sell on Pinterest, you’ll need to set up a business account.
Power Tip: Use Location for a short descriptive sentence, if you prefer. Make sure to click “save settings.”
Create Boards
Boards are how you organize pins on Pinterest. Choose an easy name for your boards—nothing fancy. For instance, Blogs, not Words Words Words, will be found easier. Create a category and description for each board. And, since Pinterest is a visual medium, make sure your board covers are pretty!
Power Tip: Create at least 5 boards of 5 pins each before you start following anyone. People want to know what your pins are like, and what your interests are before they’ll follow you.
Add Pins
A pin contains an image and description. Upload an image from your computer using the red plus icon at the top right of your Pinterest account, or use the Pinterest browser button, available from Pinterest.
Power Tip: Fill out each pin’s description completely. If you’re repinning, change the description to make it yours. Think about how people would search for that pin. For instance, if you’re pinning a watercolor painting, you could use the words, water color, painting, and art. You might also add the dominant colors and the topic, since people sometimes search that way.
Find Others to Follow
Pinterest is visual, so make your boards pretty!
Click on the icon–which turns red when you hover over it–in the top left corner and you’ll see all kinds of categories. Explore your interests and find boards and pinners to follow.
Power Tip: You can follow a single board or an account. If you don’t like one or two boards, follow all, then unfollow the boards you don’t enjoy.
Repin
When you find a pin, either through search, or through discovery in your own stream, you can repin it. When you repin it, change the comment.
Power Tip: Click all the way through a pin to discover where the pin leads. If a pin leads nowhere or to spam, don’t repin. You can report spam and Pinterest is pretty good at removing it.
Like
A “like” is not as strong as a repin. You might “like” a pin rather than comment, if it’s outside your niche.
Comment
People rarely comment on Pinterest. It’s a very powerful way to be noticed by influencers.
Power Tip: If you want to be noticed, comment. You can ask questions or tag others in a comment, too.
Give Credit
Pinterest usually gives credit to the destination of the original pin. Authors and artists also appreciate getting credit.
Power Tip: If you don’t know whose image you’re repinning, you could ask your followers right in the comment of the pin, such as “Does anyone know whose image this is or have any more information?”
Know Your Audience
As with all other social media platforms, know what people are looking for. For instance, if you’re a spa owner you might also pin tips on relaxation, how to get good sleep, smoothie recipes, etc.
Power Tip:After awhile, you’ll get a feel for what your audience likes by what gets repinned. Repin more of the popular content.
Clean Up Boards
Occasionally, you can delete pins that don’t get much traffic.
Power Tip: At first, none of your pins may get much traffic. If you believe something will get traffic (but wasn’t seen the first time you pinned it), you can repin it to the top of the same board, and delete the one further down.
Did I Forget Anything?
Please let me know in the comments! Thanks!