Lynnelle Wilson's BOLDVision Blog

To Blog or Not?

I read a recent post on Rick Liebling's blog, Eyecube and it hit home. When I started this blog a year ago I wasn't quite sure why. I'm not a journalist; I'm not a professional author and, while I can be witty and charming at times, I'm certainly not exceptionally droll.

What would I write about every week - every day? ...and why would anyone else want to read it?? How do "these people" (active bloggers) think of such interesting ideas to write about...so frequently? As Rick states so well,

"...you can be too careful as well. Don’t be paralyzed by the thought: “What if I post something that people don’t agree with?” Sure, you don’t want to write something really stupid, but let’s assume you weren’t going to do that anyway. Blogging is a very organic exercise. You may contradict yourself over time. I believe it’s more important to get your thoughts out there, even if they aren’t perfect, than to wait until they are. Because if you do that, you’ll never write anything.

Yep, that was me. I never / rarely wrote anything because I thought I had to make this blog some kind of perfect, Harvard Business Review type of small business resource. Thank goodness that's not what a blog is. (Thank goodness for me and you.)  So, Rick, here's my blog and here's to your article and here's to the occasional (hopefully only occasionally) bad idea. Blog posts are like taste; bad blog posts are better than no blog posts at all. 

Getting It Right

The Portland Press-Herald recently profiled a man named Eric Eklund who runs a business called Fat Bass. How he runs his business is a model for anyone starting out or seasoned professionals. Here's the skinny on Fat Bass.

"In 1997, Eric Eklund placed second in a national fishing tournament sponsored by Bassin' magazine. It would lead Eklund toward running his own fishing guide business."

Lots of people think they may want to start a business. Lots of us who are already in business want to make it better and generate more revenue or perhaps start something new. Too many of us dive right in without enough thought - or any strategic thought at all. Eklund was different. He had a strategic thought process about what he was going to do and THEN he took action. Here's what we can learn from him.

• Get the credentials that will help. Eklund went to guide school and became a certified Maine guide before he started his business. Get credentials you're required to have and make the investment to get credentials that will help you with your marketing.
• Be sure your business matches your style (and visa versa) Eklund decided he wanted to be a little laid back with his clients. He wants his business to be environmentally friendly so all his clients have to throw back all the fish they catch.
• Choose a business name that communicates the business brand. Eklund thought that Fat Bass sounded good. It has humor, is casual and fun. I chose Bold Vision because I wanted to build my business around the needs of professionals who were tired of business as usual, and to do that I know success was going to be about having a bold vision and then being bold enough to make it happen.
• Specialize. Eklund fishes for bass, nothing else. You gain instant expertise in a prospect's eyes if you specialize. If the right client and right situation came along would he venture away from bass? Perhaps, but he's not focusing any effort or resources on anything but bass fishing. I specialize in working with service professionals, those of us who's expertise is our product . What's your specialty?
• Customize. Eklund tailors each excursion to the needs and desires of his client. For us service professionals, every client is a market of one.

Eric Eklund may not be your typical service professional but I do know the way he's running his business is a good model for us. Think big, be BOLD and succeed.

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BOLD Women, mark your calendar for April 29th. The 2nd BOLD Women Entrepreneur event is happening. For more information call Lynnelle at 207-221-3492.