Jeff Widman (.com)

(I’d really appreciate it if you would become a fan of facebook.com/mint! See below for details…)

Solving problems is often easier than we expect.  Facing a gnarly problem? Start with this list…

When I worked at TechCrunch, I was told, “Fill out these profiles on CrunchBase.”  It turned out the fastest/cheapest way to get that done was hire a team of people overseas. For the cost of one-and-a-half interns, my team and I accomplished the work of two interns–plus I had enough time to write part-time. I loved it, TechCrunch loved it, and the overseas team loved it.

You can’t do everything.

Sorry.
Learn to say “I can’t do that–but who else might be interested?”

Partnerships are not a zero-sum game.

Working with others can leave you both better off.
(And builds relationships–always a positive thing.)

People respond to incentives.

Curious how to get others to do something?
(Like buy your product, work for you for free, or leave a review on Yelp?)

Creativity thrives under constraints.

Without rules, you can’t play the game.
If you aren’t given enough rules, add a few more and see what happens…
(Eg, can’t afford an MBA? Get one online at Online MBA.)

Constrain the goal not the process.

When you add rules, add rules about the score, the resources, or the motivation, but never the process.
(Particularly important to remember if you’re a manager.)

——————————–

Lastly, I just got hired part-time by Mint.com to run their  Facebook marketing channel.

You can find my continually updated list of marketing resources here:

delicious.com/jeffwidman/facebook

(My other part-time job is being a full-time student. I’m looking forward to graduating in June–yay!–that will be the end of a long journey…)

 

Like this? Try these:

Speaking at TEDx Zagreb in a few hours…
Virtual Assistant Needed: How to Hire And Work With a Virtual Assistant

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.