Finding a problem and solving it shouldn’t be hard, right?

I know the finding a problem part will be a little too easy for most of us, but your true test will come in finding a solution that helps make that problem smaller.

Types of Problems

What we’re looking for is anything that affects the bottom line. Things like:

• Paying too much for something
• Paying for something at all (can you get for free?)
• Spending too much time on a task
• Using something solely because you paid for it
• Having an inefficient process

The list could go on and on, but what you’re trying to solve for is something that takes up too much time or requires more money than it has to. If you can save money or time, you’re going to be a hero.

Power of Checklists

I used Google’s 20% rule to make my job easier by tackling a problem that nobody really cared about except for me and some of my coworkers. It was annoying that our two software systems weren’t totally in sync and we had to manually make a bunch of changes, but what else were you going to do?

Spend some time trying to figure out and spin your wheels when the damn things are sitting there waiting to get done?

That was the risk I took: I spent time doing something that wasn’t my job—working on an alternate solution to an unspoken problem—to try to make my own job easier.

I wound up creating a checklist that turned a three hour task into a 10 minute task.

Excel is Your Friend

I’ve long touted the power of Excel as a way to become more efficient, so I would recommend you learn some of the cool things Excel can do.

Disobeying your boss is rarely recommended, but that’s what I did when I was tasked with a tedious, boring project: pasting a bunch of emails into Excel.

I found a workaround that included Outlook, Access, and Excel that took a 4 hour process and squeezed it down to about 6 minutes. I wrote up a manual on how everyone could do it and told my boss the good news.

Hero? Me.

Check out Chandoo.org for help on mastering Excel. And make sure you keep up with the different software that’s available out there in case you ever need to lean on a program to hack your way through a problem.

Work Gloves

I’m reading a great book right now called Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, and one of the stories is about Jon Stegner. He discovered that his company was buying 424 different kinds of work gloves at varying prices (from $5-$17, even though they were essentially the same glove).

He was able to make the change and the company saved hundreds of thousands of dollars over time thanks to this tiny fix.

You can read more about Jon Stegner here.

Share, Obviously

If you are able to solve a problem, small as it might be, you have to tell people about it. Start with a coworker to make sure your solution is as great as you think it is. Double check it again.

When you’re ready, share it with your boss and recommend the best places it should be adopted. Again, if you can put numbers on it, that’s even better.

People respond better to “This will save us three hours every week and $15,000″ instead of “We’ll save time!”

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The day-to-day stuff tends to bog us down at work, especially when things get crazy busy. When we’re trying to dig out of our inbox as fast as we can, we tend to lose track of the big picture.

We forget about our long-term plans, how and why we feel, and which direction we want our career to go.

The big picture is important.

So I recommend you put this task on your calendar once a quarter (or once a month if you can): write up a quick status report about where you’re at with your job, how you feel, and what you want from the future.

I’ll be honest: I try to do these every couple of months and sometimes it just has to get pushed back. But lately I realized it doesn’t have to be very long to be effective.

Even five minutes of typing up how you feel can make a world of difference. The goal is to take a snapshot of how you’re feeling and what you’d like to do in the future and keep it for future reference.

I like to fill in the blanks to these kinds of thoughts:

• Today I feel like___ , mainly because of ___
• Right now I’m working on___
• The most stressful part of my job right now is___
• My favorite part is___
•  I can see myself working here for___ more years and then I’d like to___
• I’m learning this skill right now___, but eventually I’d like to learn how to ___ so I can ___

That’s just to get you started: I usually just free write whenever I’m feeling like I have a lot on my mind and then email it to myself wherever I am.

How it Helps

It’s the same basic concept of keeping a journal, but just focusing on work-specific feelings, plans, and thoughts. When I read some of my old journal entries, I’m often surprised at the things I was feeling and the things going through my head.

With work, it’s crucial to make sure you don’t forget these thoughts.

It’ll make it easier for you to learn from your mistakes and get better and more efficient at work. When you move to a new job or are even thinking about moving on, reading these status reports can help give you guidance about what you really want to do and which direction you should go in.

It’s almost like having a counselor helping you out, giving you some reasonable advice and insight on your situation. Only instead of a counselor trying to give insight into your situation, you have a first-person account from someone who was there the whole time.

Image by ErinKphoto

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Technology is crazy: things are changing so quickly that it’s tough to keep up. It seems like new social media platforms and photo-sharing tools are coming all the time.

It’s very easy to throw your arms up and say “There’s no way I can keep up.” But giving up is the wrong strategy: if you don’t play the game then you could get left in the dust.

Not to worry: there are tools (more tools!) out there that can do a lot of the work for you. Not only that, they can also help keep you up to speed regardless of how little time you devote to it.

The Basics

If you haven’t set up a Google Alert for your name and your company and your boss, then do that now. Seriously, where have you been all these years? Go to google.com/alerts and set something up like this:

You’ll get an email every time a new search result is found for your name (make sure it’s in quotes…). This way you’ll be aware of any mentions of your name…it’s like having a private detective out there hustling while you sleep in.

Thanks Google!

The Next Level

Google Alerts is cool, but there’s something much cooler out there that can help you do some cool things to optimize your work flows and stand out at work.

It’s called If This Then That (IFTTT). Here’s what it does: you can mix and match any web application you can think of to alert you when something happens.

And If This Then That might become your best friend: it’s a free tool that let’s you put together “recipes” to accomplish “tasks.” It’s cool to put together your own tasks from scratch.

For example, I have one set up to shoot me an email anytime my company is mentioned in a tweet. Just to keep tabs on what’s going on.

But the coolest part is that you can browser other popular recipes and see how others are using the site. That’s how I discovered the recipe that sends me an email whenever Amazon adds a new album to their Top Free MP3 Albums. You can check out the Amazon recipe.

You can have the weather texted to you every morning or you can archive any images you take to Evernote. The possibilities are endless.

Automation is Your Friend

From paying your bills to keeping track of the latest news on any given topic, automation is your friend. The automation behind services like IFTTT and Google Alerts are about doing two things:

1. Saving time so you can focus on other things
2. Getting more done (in the past I’ve called it Going Beyond)

First off, look at the tasks you do every day (or every week) and see if you can automate them.

Then just play around with the channels and all the recipes that IFTTT has available and see if you can apply them to your work. The goal is to create tasks that are helpful and create value for you, your boss, or your company.

Because there are so many channels and so many possibilities, it’s up to you how crazy you go with this. From stock monitoring to checking on whether anyone mentioned you on twitter, how many hours of time could you save if you let your IFTTT personal assistant do the work so you can focus on getting things done?

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What a perfect segue:  after talking about pumping up our networks, here comes a tip that is going to help you get an edge once you have a job interview lined up.

Think about your last job interview and how nervous you were: maybe you really wanted the job so you were very careful about what you said and how you said it so you would come off as the perfect candidate.

Well guess what? The person on the other side of the table is just as nervous.

It’s their responsibility to fill the position and they have to get a good read on all the candidates so they make the right decision. Because trust me—if they hire someone who turns out to be “the wrong person,” they’ll be the ones interviewing for another job.

So the person making the hire wants as many positive indicators as possible before making an offer that this person is the right candidate.

And there’s no better feeling that when someone who already works in the company vouches for candidate.

The Power Being Recommended

If you ever have to hire someone, you’ll know why this is such a big deal. It’s why people ask for references and try to talk to as many people as possible before making a decision on a new hire: there’s so much uncertainty about people until you actually get them in the door and they start working.

So if you have someone that’s already an “insider” and knows the vibe that can vouch for a new person, then that goes a long way.

Why do you think so many people wind up hiring people they worked with in the past at other jobs? They know what to expect—they’re a known commodity that takes some of the mystery out of filling a new position.

How to Find an Insider

Once you’ve pumped up your network, it’s not that hard. All it takes is spending some time sending out some emails and getting creative:

1. Go to LinkedIn and search for people at the company you’re interviewing for
2. If you have any that are first-degree connections, you’re in luck! Send them a message and ask if they can help out
3. If not, move on to the 2nd degree connections and see if anyone is in the department you’re going for
4. Make sure you check out the “Your College Alumni” tab of a company search: if you can talk to someone that went to your school that makes the introduction less awkward
5. Send some messages/emails and follow up in a few days (depending on the interview date)

What to Say

It’s not that hard. It’s some variation of:

Hi XXX, It’s Carlos from Boston College. I just wanted to reach out because I have an interview at Apple next week and wanted to chat with someone beforehand so I could get a better idea of the hiring process, the general vibe of the Marketing department, and maybe some insight on Bill S., the person I’ll be interviewing with. Could you email me back at [email address] or call me at [phone number] to chat for a little bit? Thanks!

If you aren’t first-degree connections then you reach out to the person that stands between you and the person you want to talk to:

Hey XXX, it’s Carlos from that writing seminar we took with Professor Smith a couple of years ago. How are things going? I just wanted to reach out because I have an interview next week at Apple and I wanted to be as prepared as possible. I see you’re LinkedIn friends with [connection]. He works in the department I’m interviewing for and I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind introducing us? My interview is next week and I’d like to connect by Thursday. Can you help me out? Thanks!

It’s not rocket science: most people are more than willing to help providing you haven’t burned any bridges or are a total nutcase.

Finding these connections is easy with big companies, but you’ll be surprised how easy it is to find a connection of a connection that has a connection at almost any place out there.

What to Ask

Once you get the introduction, what should you ask?

• Be smart: you want to get information but you also want to make a good impression
• Don’t ask anything that Google can tell you: it reeks up unpreparedness
• Ask about the culture, the hours, advancement, the bosses: the things you care about or are curious about
• Be honest: if you’re a good candidate it will come through
• Have a 30 second pitch where you summarize your skills, what you’re looking for, and ask if that person thinks it’s a good fit (better to find out now)
• Ask them if it’s OK for you to mention that you talked

That last bullet is crucial.

Whether they do it or you do it: you need to make sure this new connection is known to whoever is making the decision. So when you come in you aren’t “The dude from Boston College” or “The kid with the awesome resume.”

You want to be “The guy that Chad knows.”

Because this will create safety and familiarity. The more of a known commodity you are, the better. Your odds of being hired at the gig you want just got better.

My Own Experience

I was able to find a person at a small company that was one connection away and this method worked great for me. I got a job before the interview so I didn’t need to put it into play, but I was surprised at how helpful people that I hadn’t talked to in so long were when I asked for help.

All you have to do is be polite, do some work up front, and ask for help. Most people have no problem helping someone out that’s a friend of a friend.

And if you’re out of work, mention that as well, because that’ll make some people try even harder for you.

Image by Tony Fischer Photography

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Networking: when you hear the word you immediately picture some lame event in a high-school gym with nervous people in suits pressing other annoyed people for a job.

With all the social-networking tools out there, you can do all this from home!

Seriously, your network is one of your most important parts of your career. Consider that:

• You take it to every job you go.
• It can get you a new job even if you’re not 100% qualified.
• It can bring in new business.
• You can meet some interesting people.
• It’s fun to see how high you can go.

Networking events are one thing, but networking in general is pretty easy these days as long as you follow some general guidelines.

Add Everyone

You can sift through them later (if you really feel you need to), but for now just sit down and add every single person you can possible think of. Coworkers, former coworkers, friends, people you were introduced to that one time at the bar, etc.

If you remember a name, add that person. Don’t be shy. Don’t wonder if it’s “weird” that you’re adding them to your network.

Just do it.

It’s not just about having this person in your network, it’s about getting access to all the people in that person’s network.

For example, thanks to @chrisguillebeau, I’m connected to the most powerful man on the planet via LinkedIn:

So if I ever get in trouble I know he’s got my back.

You should do the same: once you have a healthy amount of people added you can start poking around to see who is a few degrees away from you—you’ll be surprised at who you find.

The Sites

Use them all: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. If you work in a field where images and design are a key component, then you might consider using Pinterest.

But for now you should be safe with the big three: most people are on at least one of those three networks.

Facebook is good if you’re trying to get to know someone better on a personal basis (which can help), but you might have to actually know them so it’s not as awkward.

Twitter is great if you want to “listen in” on the things a person is interested in or thinking about at any given time. And the fact that they don’t have to accept your request is a big part of it.

LinkedIn is where you should focus your efforts: it’s focused on work so if someone you just met at a client meeting adds you, it’s not weird at all because it’s business.

Use Them

Don’t just add people to Twitter and never go on there: use it. Otherwise you’re wasting your time. You don’t have to tweet or retweet or any of that stuff, but at least listen to what the people you’re following are saying, the issues they’re discussing, etc.

LinkedIn is my favorite one of these tools: you can search for just about anything on the site. So if you’re looking for a job in publishing but are eager to move to Arizona, you can run a search and see who pops up.

I just made that filter up and guess what? I have three people in my secondary network that are in publishing in the Tucson are.

That was easy.

Always Find an Insider

If you’re searching for a new job, you need to use any and all of these sites to get as much background as possible before you land an interview. When I was looking for a new job I managed to get invited to interview with a company I had never heard of.

But searching through LinkedIn I found that a girl I had gone to grad school with years ago knew someone there. And she actually worked in the department I was interested in. So I sent her a note and she reached out, introduced us, and got me an “in.”

If you can talk to someone on the inside before an interview you can find out more about the company, their problems, what they’re like, etc. And when the time comes to hire, the boss on that side will ask “How did we hear about this person?”

Regardless of how it’s explained, the fact that you came in via a semi-referral bodes well.

Network Away

My advice to you? Don’t wait until you’re looking for a job. Don’t wait until you need something. Start adding everyone you know right now.

And if you find yourself on the other end (someone asking you for help), do as much as you can for them. Karma is a beautiful thing.

Image by Patrick Hoesly

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If you want to be as good as you can at anything, you’re going to have to ask for help from other people. That’s why professional athletes have coaches that help guide them along as they perfect their craft.

You and I are no different.

We aren’t Rambo—out there trying to beat the world on our own. We should aim to be more like the Power Rangers or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: a group of unique individuals with specific skills that, when joined together, form an unstoppable team.

As lame as it sounds to hear someone say “be more like the Power Rangers,” hear me out.

In the real world, Rambo dies a quick death because he’s trying to do everything by himself. So let’s not fool ourselves into thinking we can beat the world all by ourselves, especially when we’re young and just getting started in our careers.

And anyway, right now we’re living in the golden era of communication and connectivity—so you need to take advantage of it.

The Power of Community

When I started doing Product Management work a few years ago, I had no idea what I was doing. I was a writer with no skills or training in PM-ing (or so I thought). But I was lucky enough to sit next to someone that was very good at it.

He guided me along my way, showed me when to fight for something and when to let things go. Without him, I’m not where I am today.

But I got lucky: I was sharing an office with this guy. What would’ve happened to me without him?

I probably would’ve failed at the new gig because I honestly did not know what I was doing.

But there is help out there, tons of it, and you should tap into it regardless of how confident you are at your job.

Talking to others and listening to their experiences will make you better at your job.

Read that line again…got it? Good. Now let’s take a look at how you can connect with other people.

Where to Go

The Internet is this vast, enormous place, so where should you start? It might take you some time, but you have to find a few sites where “your people” are hanging out and talking about things.

They could be anywhere:

• Reddit
• Blogs
• Forums (my favorite medium)
• Twitter
• Facebook

The medium matters less than the simple act of finding them and then joining in the conversation. I would start by searching for “best _______ forum” and “top ____ blogs.” From there you’ll figure out a way to track the people that matter in your field in whatever medium you prefer.

Personally, I like blogs and forums the best for this kind of thing.

Making Contact

My advice is to follow these steps before you start sending private messages and asking for help on any forum or blog (though these steps are mostly for forums—my preferred method of reaching out to others):

1. Register: Most forums make you register to post. Do this now so people can you you’ve been around for a while, even if you’re not going to post just yet. Don’t forget to add your site to your signature!
2. Lurk: Get to know the rules, the major players, and the topics to stay away from.
3.  Post: Now that you know your way around, you’re ready to start sharing your opinions. Start by replying to others’ and sharing your opinion on existing threads.
4. All in: Now you’re ready to start your own threads and become a fully integrated member of the site.

Forums are powerful and can teach you new skills, so don’t take them lightly. This is the next best thing to sharing an office with someone that has 15 years experience in a field you’re relatively new to.

Visiting a forum and participating in the conversations that are happening will do two crucial things for you:

1. Give you a place to continuously learn and keep your skills fresh.
2. Give you a place to vent and ask questions when you hit a wall.

Image by kevin dooley

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Posts will include:

• How to work more efficiently
• Tools and software to help you along your way
• Automating tasks so you have more time
• Networking 3.0: how to do it right
• How to make sure you’re not underpaid

There’s a log of good stuff here, so if you want to make sure you don’t miss any of them sign up for the Ninja Newsletter and I’ll send you a weekly recap of all the tips:

To kick things off, we’re going to start with a basic tip that everyone should do on a continuous basis to make sure you’re aware of how your job is evolving in the marketplace.

—

Find Yourself

You have a job…congratulations! Now you need to make sure you stay up to date on the kinds of skills other people in your field and in your role are developing. If you let yourself become stale, it’s the beginning of the end for you.

And I don’t just mean it for the job you have, but your career in general.

You know that guy who walks into the office and is all excited to announce that he finally saw Lost and wow, you guys should really check out that show because it’s really quite good?

Don’t be that guy.

The tip: Make sure you know what’s happening in your field and in your particular job. It’s not hard, you just have to schedule it.

Timing: This shouldn’t take more than an hour of your time…unless you discover that you’re woefully behind.

Follow the Coders’ Lead

Developers (some call them programmers) do this all the time because technology moves so quickly. I don’t envy them—it seems like a new language comes out every few months that’s all the rage and employers (who don’t know squat about most of this stuff) will always ask about it.

So do you know Ruby on Rails? We love Ruby on Rails! You should know Ruby on Rails…

It’s annoying, but you know what? Every good developer I’ve ever worked with stays on top of these new languages that are always sprouting up…and it’s not easy.

What You Can Do

This tip is called “Find Yourself,” and that’s exactly what you should do: just pretend you’re looking for a job in your role and see what comes up. Browse through Craigslist or an industry-specific job board to see what kinds of qualifications and skills are required.

Take note of:

• The “must have” skills that candidates absolutely need to have…do you have them?
• Are you really good at the “must have” skills?
• What about the “would be nice” skills?
• What type of software is mentioned?
• Do you know what all the acronyms stand for?

If you notice that certain skills or software packages are popping up a lot and you don’t know much about them: learn them! There is so much training and documentation online that it is not hard to keep up with this stuff.

Reviewing around 10 job openings that match your role should give you a good idea of the kinds of things employers are looking for in someone like you. Being proactive and keeping up with the hiring trends is something your employer should appreciate.

But even if they don’t, you’ll be better off because if you ever decide to move on (or are forced to), you’ll know exactly what’s out there and you should be in a better place to find a new gig.

Added Bonus

Doing this kind of audit once a quarter or every couple of months should also give you a good sense of what the market is for your position.

If you see a lot of openings, congratulations! You’re in high demand.

Can’t find any postings for your role? Maybe there’s a reason for it.

Again…you should know these things. No one should know your job better than yourself.

Image by Fenanov

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I’m a big fan of Chris Guillebeau’s work.

Chris is the guy behind The Art of Non-Conformity, a fantastic site that publishes great content about travel, life, and doing things that are both remarkable and unconventional. If you haven’t visited his site before, I really recommend you take a look: he has a lot to offer.

He’s also the guy behind The Empire Building Kit, a program I bought a couple years ago that taught people like myself how to build their own empire.

But enough about Chris! Today I want to spend some time talking about his latest project: The $100 Startup.

A Startup of One

When we think of startups, we usually picture some high-tech company with a new app or website that’s all the rage. We associate words like IPO and VC and angel investors.

This is something totally different. This book is about starting a business with almost no overhead at all and doing something you’re passionate about.

I know that sounds like something you’ve read about a million times, but Chris tells his story differently. He focuses on real people who’ve done it, how they’ve overcome obstacles, and what they learned from it.

The early parts of the book are very inspirational and motivating, which is good because it gets you in the right frame of mind.

Value and Freedom

For the skeptics, the two concepts that Chris sees as the basic building blocks of any “one-person” startup are value and freedom.

In order to provide something valuable that people are willing to pay for, you need to create something valuable. There aren’t any ninja marketing techniques here to get people to buy your thing if that thing isn’t helping them in some way.

It’s tough to fully comprehend the idea of creating a business built on helping other people, but that’s what Chris is suggesting.

And I’m totally down with this. That’s why I started over and that’s why I enjoyed the book so much.

Freedom is why so many of the case studies in the book got started. They wanted to spend their time working on what they wanted to work on.

This is the most alluring part of the book: the idea of being able to create a business where you’re the boss and dictate your own hours.

Actionable

While the book offers a good measure of encouragement and inspiration, this is not a feel-good book. It also contains actionable advice and worksheets to make sure you get off your ass and start creating.

The amount of case studies he has in the book are so varied that you shouldn’t have trouble finding examples of how you can create your own business and how to grow it.

And if you need more help, Chris has tons more resources on 100startup.com.

Don’t Forget: It’s a Business

There’s a chapter at the end of the book called Show Me the Money. I’m glad it’s in there because I can see how some people might read the book and start feeling all positive-energy-ish and happy and mushy and the possibility of starting their own business.

Of being empowered and being their own boss. Of helping other people around them and doing good things.

But if you’re going to call yourself a business you need to remember: it’s about making more money than you spend.

It’s about the money.

Helping people and making money isn’t mutually self exclusive.

Win a Copy!

Leave a comment with an idea for your own microbusiness and you could win a new copy of The $100 Startup.

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When I was young I though my future depends on three things:

• SAT scores
• GPA

Once I graduated, I realized none of that really matters. 

It’s kind of sad that I spent as much time as I did worrying about SAT scores and GPA scores. I wish I would’ve spent my time learning how to program or building my first website. Or even learning to play the guitar.

Grades were crucial to get into a “good” school, but once you’re in there all this stuff is pretty irrelevant.

So What Does Matter?

Experience, plain and simple.

Skills.

What do you bring to the table as an intern or as an employee? What can you do for the company? What value to you bring?

What’s your potential?

As someone who has hired interns and scanned resumes, I’ll tell you this much: GPA didn’t matter one bit. What mattered was the personality and the skills we would get if we picked one person over another.

It’s the reason you see kids getting drafted my Major League Baseball teams even when their numbers aren’t very good: the teams see the skill and the potential and they pay up for it, regardless of what the numbers say.

What Now?

If you’re young and in college (or about to go to college), what do you do with this advice? Should you stop studying and get Cs from now on because grades don’t matter?

I would advice against that. Grades matter in the sense that they show how well you can play within a system.

If you can navigate the collegiate education system successfully, then that means something. It says you’re aware of what’s going on around you and you’re capable of figuring out the rules and succeeding.

This counts for something.

But my advice is to start making things you’re proud of.

Whether it’s a blog or art or a novel or a new way to use Excel—just start making things you think are cool. Things you would be proud to share with your friends.

You’ll develop some skills. You’ll have things to put in your portfolio. You’ll become more valuable.

You’ll be 10 times more interesting and twice as valuable then the other guy who comes in with his chin high because he has a perfect GPA and knows how to take a test.

Image by Mark Gstohl

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The book is about creating a micro-business that focuses on helping other people by offering them something of value.

Sounds like my starting over post, doesn’t it?

Anyway, I’ll be writing up a more in-depth review but I wanted to share this with you since it’s a pretty big day for Chris and he’s a really good dude.

In case the name sounds familiar, he writes over at The Art of Non-Conformity and I’ve written about his Empire Building Kit here before.

Congratulations to Chris! It’s a great book and I highly recommend it.

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