Welcome to BoDo’s first Podcast Humpday.

Midweek, on Wednesdays (hence the hump in Humpday), I’ll review podcasts on the business of design, running a business, pretty much anything to do with BoDo’s subject matter. Later on there will be a mix - BoDo podcasts, as well as those we feel are a ‘must hear’.

If you are a podcaster, contact me as I’d love to hear from you.

Now on to our first Podcast Humpday …

James, the internal entrepreneur, goes external.

You won’t find distractions on Sean Tierney’s (Grid7 Venturecast) interview with James Archer. What you will find is roughly 45 minutes of pure business talk. A near-on 45 minutes of James. Delivered, as promised.

The subject of this podcast is entrepreneur and owner of Forty Media, a web design, web development, award winning branding agency in Arizona, USA. Confident of their services, Forty Media invites visitors to shop around at their competition. Rare. I’m impressed.

An incomplete synopsis of the podcast (only enough to tantalize) is how James slide into web design via technical writing. How he moved into project management, where he learned how to work with clients, proposals, designers, etc. It goes on to tell how James reached a point where his fear of going out on his own and failing, was less than his fear of never doing it.

The conversation flows well, with tips business of design start-ups should pay special attention to - the kind of information seasoned business owners know well.

Listening to the podcast, I thought about the domain name been-there-done-that.com (btw - it’s taken) as that’s exactly what we’ll be doing here on BoDo. Bringing in advice from those like James, who have been there, done that.

Advice from James:

The creative side and working with clients are just a portion of your business … there is a lot of stuff you don’t want to learn, but you’ve just gotta learn … you have to do it because it’s what keeps your business operational.

The key to surviving in a small business is willing to take those hits, learn from them, and move on.

Lessons learned:

The value of a good contract and writing good proposals (as you never know where things are going to go).

A contract doesn’t do you a whole lot of good without guiding the client in what’s going to happen. Write contracts to allow flexibility, yet with clear guidelines.

What qualifies as an entrepreneur:

… the willingness to learn and change quickly … the ability to come in, see a situation, decide you want to do and conquer it … decide what you want to get done and just get it done … even if it’s not pleasant, do it anyway.

Elevator pitch:

40 media is a solid Branding and Creative firm. We understand how to get inside your customer’s head without being detached from the technical side.

An interesting and well-done podcast, it continues on with communication tools, modern compared to pre-google systems, project management applications, zoho creator, notepad, productivity, GTD, 37signals, Fruitcast, podcasts, 9rules, Arizona, the start up mentality, doing something different, bad clients, bad contractors, Refresh Phoenix and making a difference.

James Archer’s parting comment:

Get good at what you want to do and do it. No looking back.

Until the next
Podcast Humpday,
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