The Author, Melinda Emerson

Before I even read Melinda Emerson’s book, Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months, I knew it would be a rich, well-developed, useful book. How did I know? I’ve attended some of Melinda Emerson’s #smallbizchat sessions, and I’ve interacted with Melinda (@smallbizlady) on Twitter. Melinda is knowledgeable, personable and a great networker. Every week she finds a new, talented and informative guest host for #smallbizchat. I found her book easy to read (I read it all in a few hours), and her writing style and examples made the book a pleasure. I apologize if it’s taken me over a month to find time to write the review!

The Book

Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months:
a Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works provides a helpful framework for anyone who is wondering: should I start a business? Melinda organizes the book in a step-by-step manner, ideal for those who like to plan methodically; if you are more of a “pull out some good ideas” kind of person, you can do that as well without adhering to the monthly planner. The book covers financial concerns, refining your business ideas, marketing (online and off), developing your niche and building your online presence.

As someone who started a business ten years ago, it would have been useful to have had this book in the early stages. On the other hand, it might have scared me as well. If you don’t follow the steps in the book initially and instead experience business failure, perhaps you can learn from that experience even more than from a book (then you can go and read Melinda’s book so you get it right the next time). Also, after one or two failures, you are more likely to read her business advice carefully.

The book is not really geared toward freelancers – in some ways, freelancers are in between the “employee” and the “boss.” Another area I would have liked more distinction would be between develop a services oriented business to a products oriented business. Even as a freelancer, however, one can gleam ideas about marketing and finance by reading Melinda’s book. As Melinda emphasize niche marketing, here are opportunities for three related books:

1. Become Your Own Boss as a Freelancer
2. Become Your Own Boss in a Service-Oriented Industry
3. Become Your Own Boss by Developing a New Product

So now that I’ve finally written this review, excuse me while I make a list of Melinda’s suggestions to try out on my own business and actually carry out some of them as well.

Your turn, readers: Have you read any good business books? Why were they helpful? Have you attended any Twitter chats – have any been useful to your business development?

Linda Dessau, another #sbbuzz participant, provides writing prompts and marketing ideas, with posts to spark your creativity and make your great ideas come alive. One recent post that you might find useful – Defining a Perfect Article Opener.

Becky McCray and others write about small business and rural issues. Becky works with small businesses to maintain their web presence, and she helps city governments with project management and grant writing. On this post she was interviewed by Business Owners Toolkit.

Here’s a link to many more small business blogs.

If you have a favorite small business blog, feel free to leave the link in the comments. Perhaps I will feature the blog in a future post.

That is a whole list of Twitter chats in a speadsheet format, compiled by Robert Swanwick (@SpkrInteractive). You really can interact with a lot of different folks these groups, on topics ranging from design to poetry to small business to catering.

So, you ask, what is a Twitter chat?
A Twitter chat is a way people with a common interest connect on Twitter. The chats are organized at a specific time and with a specific hashtag, such as #carchat for the car community. People in the community log into a Twitter site such as http://www.tweetchat.com/ or they can use a tool such as Tweetdeck and just add the hashtag to their tweets. If you have had trouble connecting with others via general Twitter, a tweet chat can be a welcome way to connect just with those in your interest area. If you really get ambitious, you can start your own group.

I am going to highlight three Twitter chats:

#sbbuzz – I wrote a post on the Small Business Buzz Twitter chat when I first attended a chat. A great community of smart small business people.

#DCTH – I have not been able to participate in Design Community Twitter Hours, but Mike Conaty of Brunswick Media Services (whom I have met in person) is a regular there, proving that there are real people on these Twitter chats!

#kidlitchat – I don’t know anything about this chat group, but I love the description: “Conversation about children’s literature from board books through YA. Writers, illustrators, editors, agents, librarians, readers and all others welcome.”

Tweet This!

Have you participated in a Twitter chat? Did you find it useful? Do any of these appeal to you, and you might consider visiting the chat group?

Swan has an article about Twitter chat tools (and general comments about chats).