Hey, guys! Welcome to Shama.TV. In today’s episode we are going to do our famous book review and giveaway. Today’s book is Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pam Slim. Pam is a good friend of mine. I have known her for awhile and I can honestly tell you she is the number one authority right now on how to go from the cubicle to your own business. And in this book, she has really pulled out all the stops, I traded emails with her when she was writing it and I know how much she has put into it. I loved reading it. It is excellent. If anyone out there is thinking about leaving their job or going to start a business, but I read it from an entrepreneur’s perspective and I still got a lot of information about it in terms of just planning and there is lots of cool little stories and interviews she has done with other entrepreneurs about their take on life. So even though I work for myself and I am an entrepreneur I still got a lot out of the book and I think you would to. Definitely a very cute writing style, if you have ever read her blog www.escapefromcubiclenation.com you know Pam is a very warm writer. Feels like you have known her forever and the book is no different. I highly recommend it, Escape from Cubicle Nation, and we are going to do a contest, of course and giveaway. I am going to have Pam sign and giveaway her book to one lucky winner. The contest is going to be this: Leave your comments and tell us, Shama.TV, how you left your job? What made you finally make the switch from working for someone and shifting to entrepreneur? We’ll pick the best story and give them this book.
4 Responses to “Book Giveaway and Review: Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pam Slim”
Technically, I still work for the MAN, but I do NOT work in a cubicle. Point of fact, I do half my work in more creative-friendly environments, such as Crooked Tree Coffee, Murray St. Coffee, The Pearl Cup, & La Madeline’s.
However, when I’m not working for Doug Sewell I’m church & mission planting (primarily in Uptown & Downtown Dallas). Planting a ministry is very similar to starting a business – a vision must be cast, a mission must be established, people must be enlisted and equipped, taxes must be paid (ugh), and, like most start-ups, money is usually tight.
I remember restarting a campus ministry three years ago that was grossly underfunded. What we did have was passionate people who would do what it took to see all elements succeed. One of my favorite memories is trying to host an event that ran multiple videos but not being able to access the multimedia station to show the video. We ended up transferring it to an IPOD and recruiting somebody to stand on a table with their arm outstretched to the ceiling-mounted projector, and hotwiring the ipod directly into the projector. Now THAT’S dedication!
You can launch a ministry for a handful of reasons. Some church planters are like disgruntled starbucks employees quitting to open their own coffee shop. I like to think I plant churches and ministries because I observe needs that cannot be met by a large religious institution, and require a smaller and more organic unit of people to do so.
I still need to make that shift! The thing is its hard to make a shift like that unless you are forced too (layoff, firing) or have to (spouse moving). I know I like working for myself but man do you have to watch the pennies and I don’t feel like I generate anywhere near that ramen noodle level of business to be able to think of quiting my full time job (and i love my full time job). I have definitly set myself a goal of moving to that in the next few years.
Very great points on sharing updates that actually give value to the reader. Perhaps it’s something I should focus on, but for my type of business, I just want to be myself. I’m not adding thousands of people to my Twitter list for marketing. That’s something I’d do towards a niche market. In fact, I’d just automate the entire process. I’m focusing on quality rather than quantity.
With my “quality” folks, I’ll simply talk about what I want to talk about. They know what I’m all about (search engine optimization and marketing) so they don’t need to hear from me babbling about my business. Although, from time to time, I do mention things that I talk about in my blog or forum. They’re related to SEO/SEM, but not entirely always about me. Just sometimes .
After I became a stay-at-home mom I moved into entrepreneurship first as an author, then as a copywriter. I loved working from home. My copywriting “boss” was located in Colorado and I only communicated with the company by email or an occasional phone call.
After that job wound down, I was recruited by my local school district to return to teaching. They were anxious to fill a position working with SLD (severely learning disabled) students, and being a single mom, I wanted benefits and more security. I assumed once I settled into the teaching position, I could write at night.
Shortly after the school year began, I found out why the district had to recruit someone for that position–it was the most stressful job I’d ever had. The school administration was totally disorganized, the staff was not helpful and a couple were downright nasty (Due to a support staff member’s rudeness, one mom refused to let that person work with her daughter),I had a lawyer mom who had an ongoing lawsuit with the district and I had to push for months to get textbooks for my kids (The former teacher routinely plugged them into computers.) The upside was, I lost 12 pounds due to stress, and I learned that creativity and caring are no longer valued in special education, only constant testing is what counts.
Don’t mean to sound negative, but it was a heck of a year! Now I’m on my own and lovin’ it.
Shama Kabani (formerly Shama Hyder) has been dubbed "an online marketing shaman" and "a millennial master of the universe" by Fast Company. She is the President of The Marketing Zen Group, a full service web marketing firm. When not working directly with clients, Shama travels the world speaking on social media marketing.
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June 13th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Technically, I still work for the MAN, but I do NOT work in a cubicle. Point of fact, I do half my work in more creative-friendly environments, such as Crooked Tree Coffee, Murray St. Coffee, The Pearl Cup, & La Madeline’s.
However, when I’m not working for Doug Sewell I’m church & mission planting (primarily in Uptown & Downtown Dallas). Planting a ministry is very similar to starting a business – a vision must be cast, a mission must be established, people must be enlisted and equipped, taxes must be paid (ugh), and, like most start-ups, money is usually tight.
I remember restarting a campus ministry three years ago that was grossly underfunded. What we did have was passionate people who would do what it took to see all elements succeed. One of my favorite memories is trying to host an event that ran multiple videos but not being able to access the multimedia station to show the video. We ended up transferring it to an IPOD and recruiting somebody to stand on a table with their arm outstretched to the ceiling-mounted projector, and hotwiring the ipod directly into the projector. Now THAT’S dedication!
You can launch a ministry for a handful of reasons. Some church planters are like disgruntled starbucks employees quitting to open their own coffee shop. I like to think I plant churches and ministries because I observe needs that cannot be met by a large religious institution, and require a smaller and more organic unit of people to do so.
June 15th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Something I need to read!
I still need to make that shift! The thing is its hard to make a shift like that unless you are forced too (layoff, firing) or have to (spouse moving). I know I like working for myself but man do you have to watch the pennies and I don’t feel like I generate anywhere near that ramen noodle level of business to be able to think of quiting my full time job (and i love my full time job). I have definitly set myself a goal of moving to that in the next few years.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Hey Shama,
Very great points on sharing updates that actually give value to the reader. Perhaps it’s something I should focus on, but for my type of business, I just want to be myself. I’m not adding thousands of people to my Twitter list for marketing. That’s something I’d do towards a niche market. In fact, I’d just automate the entire process. I’m focusing on quality rather than quantity.
With my “quality” folks, I’ll simply talk about what I want to talk about. They know what I’m all about (search engine optimization and marketing) so they don’t need to hear from me babbling about my business. Although, from time to time, I do mention things that I talk about in my blog or forum. They’re related to SEO/SEM, but not entirely always about me. Just sometimes
.
June 18th, 2009 at 10:40 am
After I became a stay-at-home mom I moved into entrepreneurship first as an author, then as a copywriter. I loved working from home. My copywriting “boss” was located in Colorado and I only communicated with the company by email or an occasional phone call.
After that job wound down, I was recruited by my local school district to return to teaching. They were anxious to fill a position working with SLD (severely learning disabled) students, and being a single mom, I wanted benefits and more security. I assumed once I settled into the teaching position, I could write at night.
Shortly after the school year began, I found out why the district had to recruit someone for that position–it was the most stressful job I’d ever had. The school administration was totally disorganized, the staff was not helpful and a couple were downright nasty (Due to a support staff member’s rudeness, one mom refused to let that person work with her daughter),I had a lawyer mom who had an ongoing lawsuit with the district and I had to push for months to get textbooks for my kids (The former teacher routinely plugged them into computers.) The upside was, I lost 12 pounds due to stress, and I learned that creativity and caring are no longer valued in special education, only constant testing is what counts.
Don’t mean to sound negative, but it was a heck of a year! Now I’m on my own and lovin’ it.