Double down on podcasting, OEE and trade shows
New Year for me started in the second quarter, and have a double down focus on podcasting and listening to people.
Most people like to look at this in January but this seems a rush and waste of a good holiday, so I tie mine to our business year.
Do you too think back over last months in order to look forward and set new targets.
I do this too, so when looking at the next year of show booking I took some time to go chat with the great guests and friends who were on the show before. What are they looking to do next?
Before I share my own for my agency Holdingbay quick summary of their goals.
Some of the guests, peak achievement and targets for 2019
"Was not a great year... nothing gave an immediate response. However, I did manage to find some work and 2018 has just turned out to be great. There's a story here so are you sitting comfortably?"
Malcolm, LabVIEW ep11
"My CHIRP Radio show is still going strong. I'm really focusing on documenting all of my processes** for data reporting and analysis."
Kyle, Analytics ep4
"We are incredibly busy getting ready for the expedition to Malawi"
Katy, Engineering ep13, ep22
"My mountain peak achievement was speaking in front of my largest audience yet"
Sam, VR ep8
Summary of my own goals for my agency Holdingbay
For the last eight months I have adopted a process flow tracking system of simple metrics called OEE. Working on improving our team output and focus on flow of results for our clients. (I uploaded a short series of videos on it if you are interested)
Next in support of tracking flow I'm working on documenting more company processes and checklists. We want to up consistency and reduce variance and errors in our own work. So making guides should result in raising quality and allowing everyone on a project to complete the steps to the same standard.
The third goal is to make time to get to more trade shows, supporting our clients and talking to new people. Keeping up on the market changes and ideas of our clients not just our own practices, I see as worthwhile or you become blinkered.
Back to the Cliff Notes guests
Kyle, Web Analytics Consultant
It's good to hear from you. My CHIRP Radio show is still going strong. The station added a Low Power FM signal about a year ago so we now have an over the air presence too. You can see my playlists here and listen to a 2-week rolling archive on demand here.
This year I'm really focusing on documenting all of my processes for data reporting and analysis. I find that having checklists for things I do repeatedly makes me more efficient and helps reduce the possibilities of oversights or mistakes.
Last year I began making screen-grab videos to show people how to use Google Analytics to find marketing insights. I'm going to continue making more of those. I really want to simplify Google Analytics for marketers who want to use the tool but are frustrated with its complexity.
I'm happy to join you on the podcast again this year if you think it would be helpful for your audience.
Malcolm Myers, LabVIEW testing consultant
2017 was not a great year, we just got by really and I tried a few things mostly as a result of reading Kai Davis / Philip Morgan, etc, etc.
Nothing gave an immediate response and I was quite despondent with it all. However, I did manage to find some work and 2018 has just turned out to be great. If every year is like 2018 I'll be a very happy bunny! Some work came through agencies, but most came through my link on the National Instruments website
However, I have had one success based on my own outreach. There's a story here so are you sitting comfortably?
As part of my outreach I gave a presentation on testing to a director's group at a tech incubator hub. Three people showed up, but one of them said that he might need some LabVIEW work done in the future. Separately I managed, through my own outreach, to get a sales meeting with another company at the same site. I got to talk to a guy called there, but no work was forthcoming.
Fast forward one year and first guy calls me asking me if I'm available for work. Apparently he'd been chatting to second guy in the coffee area and had mentioned they needed some LabVIEW work done. Reminded him of me and so he got in touch and it's led to a decent amount of work so far. So whilst I am a long way from being an outreach guru I have, via a somewhat circuitous route, had some success.
What does that mean for 2019? I'm really not sure. I'm still winging it to be honest, but so far it's working.
Katy Toms Civil Engineer, and for May in Malawi a builder of school classroom with group of women
Happy New Year – apologies for the delay in getting back to you, it has been a very very busy start to the year.
We are incredibly busy getting ready for the expedition, the team is fundraising like mad and working on the classroom design as I type! I've spoken to the team and have a couple of volunteers to speak to you for a podcast, obviously I am happy to contribute to it as well. -NOTE. they have now been-
Katy on Civil Engineering podcast 13
Women's engineering expedition on podcast 22
Sam Watts, MakeReal, business of VR/AR
Happy new year to you!
My mountain peak achievement was speaking in front of my largest audience yet at IT.Weekend in Ukraine with a fancy rotating stage with lights, music and smoke!
Am excited for standalone VR and working with our enterprise clients and partners to scale up immersive learning more effectively
Sam on VR in business podcast 8
Do you have part of your business with space for growth?