Stevedev Inc. » Business

Top 5 Reasons To Make Lists For Your Blog

Steve Thompson — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:40:28 +0000

Lists are easy.
You don’t need to research your topic. Just pull list items out of the air.
It’s almost like writing a real blog post but with hardly any effort.
You can link to other people’s work instead of your own.
They drive traffic to your site.

Working Vacation

Steve Thompson — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:27:49 +0000

Heading out on Monday for what was supposed to be a good week and a half off from work. Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of working for yourself is that sometimes its really hard to get away from work. You try to tell everybody you are going to be away and work a bit harder before and after to try and make up for it, but sometimes you can’t avoid having to do some work. For example, I started a project two weeks ago that I thought would be finished by now, but it turns out it is going to take another week and the deadline is next week, while I’m gone. Good times! Ah well… at least I’ll get some time off.

Complaining Online

Steve Thompson — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:12:20 +0000

I’ve done this and I’ve seen it a lot online: complaining about a client, your job, or other circumstances involving people around you. It’s so easy to get on Twitter or Facebook and just type something quick. What about the consequences though?

You are posting in a public forum and if you work online like I do, is your work life really separated from your personal life? I suggest that online, there is no separation. In the same place that your friends can find out info or read your updates, so can your clients and your boss. Bitching about your clients to a friend in a public forum is a great way to burn bridges and cause issues at work.

This is a bit of a privacy thing too, not just a reputation management exercise. I’m not suggesting that you be fake online and present a polished image, but rather do you really need to share all aspects of your life with all people? Maybe it is a good idea to keep some things to yourself.

This is just something I’m thinking through so I welcome comments and discussion.

Quick Thoughts on Working from Home

Steve Thompson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:37:19 +0000

It has been almost a week now since I moved my office home and I’ve been slammed with work so I thought it might be good to write a few things that I’ve noticed this far.

I work just as efficiently in my home office as I did in my old office. I was discussing this with my wife and I think this is partially because I worked so independently while I was in the shared office, and partly because she is home about to give birth in a few weeks — I’m motivated to keep working and bringing in a decent income when she is around.
I work non-standard hours. I used to work from 8-5 at the office, but at home I get up and start working at 6am, work until 8:30, have breakfast and a shower, work until lunch, take a break for an hour, work until 4pm. Its a bit more of a split up day, but I like the flexibility. I’ve also been putting in time in the evenings, but only because I have a big deadline this week.
I eat better. My office was in a location that had a lot of options for lunch. When I’m working from home I can spend a bit of extra time to make a healthy meal instead of eating out or eating a bag lunch. Even though I used to bring my lunch 3 out of 5 days a week, the lunches I make at home are still better and fresher.

Moving to a Home Office

Steve Thompson — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:56:33 +0000

Next Wednesday, my long time business partner, Wes Straub, and I are moving out of the office we have had on 17th Ave in Calgary, AB. We’ve been at that location for almost four years and during that time we’ve done some great work but have also made some business mistakes. We’ve tried going beyond our usual service offerings to try and start web hosting, we had a partnership that didn’t work out, and built relationships with people that were frustrating in the end. We didn’t go into business because it was easy, but because we like the challenge. After four years of having an office we’ve realized: we don’t need an office.

Here’s what it comes down to: we pay $2500 or so a month for a space to work. We meet with clients at the coffee shop or at their offices. We aren’t going to hire anybody else — we’ve found its much better to work with people on a contract basis. So… $2500 a month for a space to sit down in front of a computer and work. I can do that at home for no money. So next Wednesday we move out of the office and move into our home offices. We’ve made an arrangement with a company that provides virtual office services – phone answering, mail and fax services, and has a boardroom we can use when we need it. We didn’t even have those services at our one room office on 17th ave.

I’m going to write a few more posts about how I’m surviving working in my home office, and how it works with a newborn, if all goes well in a month or so. Good bye, office!