My quarterly office checkup.

It all started with spilled coffee.

A couple weeks ago, I ran into some issues with my computer. I’ve got a Dell PC that’s about 4 years old, and one morning what chatting on Skype with a client, I spilled my coffee all over my beautiful ergonomic split-key keyboard (and my desk). I quickly typed the situation out to him, but as I was finishing it up, my keyboard stopped working.

Next thing you know, I was getting “low memory” errors on the screen. Now I know that the two things had little to do with each other, but it forced me to restart the computer. When I did, the keyboard didn’t work at all. Fortunately I had a few others in reserve, but they’re not the ergonomic ones, and it’s been torture on my wrists to get used to using a traditional keyboard since.

After the restart, I couldn’t get things working properly, so I called up my computer guy and bribed him with an extra large Dunkin’ Donuts coffee to let me bring the machine in immediately. It worked.

So I get there, we backup everything I can think of, and wipe the machine clean. Great. I now had dozens of programs to reinstall, password lists that I had to write down beforehand, and a hope that I didn’t forget anything. I also added another memory card, and things have been beautiful since. I’m still getting that software up and running, though.

So this brings me to a new plan.

Every three months, I’ve decided that I need to do a major cleanup of my machine. Delete images that I’m not using anymore or have been stored on a website somewhere, make backups of files and folders to CDs, backup photos I’ve taken that I want to keep in their original forms, and so on. Computers get a little touchy when you overload them – this wasn’t my first time finding this out – and they need to be maintained and kept “clean”.

On top of that, when I came back from Blog World Expo, I walked into my office and wanted to literally turn around and walk out. I’m really organized with client info, but not with everything else. Mail winds up in piles, CDs in stacks, notes and papers floating around, even one too many coffee mugs (ack!) sitting on the desk.

I remember when I used to actually go to work in an office, and coworkers would remark at how clean my desk was. I would take 10 minutes at the end of the day to organize the stuff I’d need for the next day in a pile, and everything else went in a drawer. I’d leave with a neat, short little pile of folders and a notebook sitting on the desk and that was that. It made life SO beautiful! Since working at home, I got out of that habit, and I’m going to make a concerted effort to get back to it.

It’s amazing how we can often let things in life “pile up” and get out of control. I’m really into reading about simplicity in life, organization, that kind of thing – I just have a hard time implementing it. Leo Babuta’s Zen Habits | Simple Productivity blog is really great motivation for me.

Do you have a plan to keep things neat and organized at your desk? Have you tried, but failed? Share your stories of “paperwork attacks” or computer crashes!

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7 Steps to take when gearing up for a conference

I really tried to get way too much accomplished prior to attending the Blog World Expo 2008 conference in Las Vegas last week. I was in the process of upgrading the business, changing the name, offering more to potential clients, and get the new company website up. It was a LOT to take on in a very short period of time.

Looking back, I keep wondering if I should have kept the old business site up to date, handed out the old cards, and gone on from there. I met so many people that I directed to this site prior to it’s completion that I wonder if they’re out there thinking, “What the hell is this chick about?”

No matter what your industry, it’s quite likely that you won’t be the only person you know at a conference. At BWE there were probably close to two dozen associates, clients, and “coworkers” of mine I was going to meet up with there, and then of course they were going to introduce me to others I’ve yet to meet. That’s when the business cards came out. I twitched with every one because this site wasn’t finished, and I tried to explain that while this is a new brand for me, I’m not new to the industry at all. (I’ve got over 7 active years in the field and like most, over 12 years of “hobby” in it.)

So here’s a guideline of what I did in preparation of the trip, but learn from me, and start on this list as soon as you know you’re attending (rather than a week before the event)!

• Make a list of tasks and prioritize them. Despite feeling like I was taking on too much in my situation, making the list really helped a lot. I crossed things off when I completed them and left still feeling somewhat accomplished. It was a really good feeling to leave with 90% of my list completed.
• Refill your business card holder. Okay, so you’re going to be bringing a lot more cards with you than your holder can carry, but make sure you have a good solid stack of them to take along. I had mine tucked into every pocket, my bag, and even some in my badge holder. I didn’t have time to order mine ahead, but I made a batch of about 150 of them to take with me. The rest are on order from VistaPrint right now. (You can get some really great deals there, including free cards if you’re a new customer!)
• Make sure your website or blog is up to date. This one might take a little more finesse if you’ve got a static website that hasn’t been updated or re-designed in a while. I’ve had clients come to me for a “freshening up” with a fairly tight deadline, so it can be done. If you’re blogging, get some stuff up about the upcoming event, and if you haven’t blogged for a while, get a good backlog of posts up there. (This is one of the items on my list that didn’t quite make it, and I regret it.)
• Do some research on the city you’re going to. Obviously in Vegas there was TONS to do during off-conference hours. I’d never been before, so everything I did was exciting, and was often planned by others in my social circle. But even if it’s a city you’ve been to before, there may be some new stuff or other events going on since you were there last, so check it out and see if you can make some tentative plans. I wound up going to see a show and watching the fountains at the Bellagio over drinks with a client one night… way cool!
• Queue up your inner salesperson. No, I don’t mean you should have some rehearsed, repetitive “line”, but make sure you put your best foot forward and wear a smile, know what you’re looking to explain about your business to new contacts, and make the most of that 15 seconds you’re going to have to introduce yourself.
• Pack your bags and leave lots of room. Checking up on the city will help you decide the type of clothing to pack, but keep your load light. You’re going to come home with “stuff” and you’ll need the room in your bags. Be it conference materials, schwag (coffee mugs, stickers, binders, etc. all labeled with exhibitor logos), or gifts for the kids, you’re going to bring stuff home with you, guaranteed.
• Be early for your flight, take off, and have fun! All pretty self-explanatory, but it boils down to triple checking your travel arrangements, making sure you have all your financial stuff organized and in order, your documents and receipts for things like airfare and hotel rooms, and so on. Nothing can ruin the fun of an opportunity like this more than losing your identification or spilling coffee on your boarding pass!

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Back from BWE ’08 and I’m psyched!

Okay, so besides the fact that I got to hang with Darren and Shai (and that’s such a rarity since they’re so far away), I also got to finally meet some of the b5media people I talk with every day but never met before. (I’m so glad I saved up my “party mode” for Sunday night – was SO worth it!)

I also met a ton of fantastic people there. I’m going to say this, and I assure you it won’t be the last time I say it: Make plans NOW if you have to, to get to BWE ’09 if you’ve got even a spark of interest in blogging. I don’t care if you’re business blogging, personal blogging, or corporate blogging – if you want to blog or get some feedback on your current one – make sure you head out for the next one.

One really cool part is that I got to hang with one of my clients (and a dear friend) Annie Teich. We roomed together and Sunday night went to see Cirque at the Bellagio. The “O” show. Omigod, it was amazing.

I’ll be posting pics over at my flickr account soon, and will write another post here once it’s done. I’m still in the process of getting over the lack of sleep for the past few nights and filtering through everything I brought home, business cards, etc. (Some of you have already emailed me, and for that I thank you! If we met, and you don’t hear from me, please drop me a line so we can keep in touch!)

Back soon with updates!

Hello Blog World Attendees!

Okay, so as I’m sure you heard me say a thousand times when we met, I’m sorry there’s not more up here right now for you to see!

My intentions were to get this up and running for a “launch” of sorts this past weekend, and it didn’t work out that way, due to computer issues and all sorts of other things, so for that, I apologize and simply implore you to subscribe to the feed so you can be the first group to watch this company grow from the beginning.

I’ve got a lot of things set up behind the scenes that I just haven’t had time to get here on the site, but just in case you’re thinking, “Well who is this chick?” I wanted to point you to my first startup, Anubis Marketing. That company’s been around for almost three years, and has had me working with fantastic people like Darren Rowse from ProBlogger fame. (You might recognize me if you’re a fan over there… I do a lot of comment moderation and other admin-y, virtual assistant type stuff for him.)

In any event, I do promise that Ginkgo Consulting will be here for the long haul. We’re in the process of migrating things over from Anubis to here, as this company is sort of an “evolvement” of Anubis Marketing. As with anything you do in business, you have to be willing to grow – and I’m so glad we are!

Thanks again for stopping by to check out the site – I look forward to staying in touch with you all! Check out the contact page for some of my social networking accounts so we can connect there, if you like!

~ Lara Kulpa