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Focus, focus

by Dennis Howlett on February 22, 2008

This is really a follow on from an earlier post. A few folk have asked me if things are changing here as I’ve been a bit erratic in my postings.

Since Christmas, things have exploded at Casa AccMan. Apart from what I’m doing here, I have a regular gig at IT Pro on CSR/GRC plus another at ZDNet US where I talk about enterprisey stuff. I’m on the editorial team for SAP’s CSR community. That work is pro bono for now.

In the next couple of weeks, all things being equal, a site I’ve been helping to seed will ‘come out.’ I am really excited about that as it will represent the culmination of nearly a year’s work. It will blow many people away, it will shock others and, if it works as the team hopes, will send all sorts of ripples throughout the profession. I’m itching to talk about it. Around the same time I’ll also be involved in the launch of yet another blog on innovation but with a different focus to this one. Let’s not forget FreeAgent which is chugging along nicely. And…last week I took a 50% stake in another startup though that will be a slow burn project. It’s conceptual right now but will probably show up in about three months. Oh yes, almost forgot – I’m rebuilding a couple of blog sites for a pal. There’s thousands of posts to pick up.

In and among all this, I’m getting a steady stream of calls from folk wanting to figure out how to make this whole on-demand thing work for professionals or wanting to talk about their plans. Next week I’ll be meeting Xero, more on that in my next post. CODA has some cool stuff in the works. MYOB is building its outsourcing unit in the Philippines. e-conomic has made a bit of a splash and Pearl has some really interesting ideas in the works. More! recently produced some webinar podcasts with Verasage. The other week, AccountingWeb talked about a ‘crowded’ on-demand market. That’s a bit of a stretch but it does give a flavour of what’s happening and vindicates what I said in response to the naysayers who don’t think on-demand will take off any time soon.

The combination of all these things means that it’s been difficult to keep AccMan on anything like an even keel, even with limited sleep options! A conversation I had with Richard Murphy yesterday made me realize I need to re-focus. However long ago it was (I’ve forgotten), I cajoled Richard into making the move into blogging. He’s got a laser focus on tax justice. It’s a worthy topic even if it does leave some people puzzled. Today, he’s maxxed out with assignments and research related to that area, alongside rubbing shoulders with politicians and TV folk. I’m delighted for him.

This is what he said:

When I got into blogging I had no idea what it would do for me but this thing has got real power. We’re running major research on Tax Justice Network using a wiki. I never could envisage ever trying to do anything as geeky as this but I did, it works and we love it.

Richard is the epitome of what the forward thinking professional should be doing: communicating, sticking fast to what he believes, focusing relentlessly on his specialty, grabbing the best technology for the job and then monetizing it based on his earned reputation. What does this mean for me?

As I came away from the phone conversation I realized that today I have almost nothing of value to add to tax conversations. Richard is leading that discussion and therefore there’s no point in me surfacing stories. I may as well pass on what I find, in case he has missed something – which I doubt! Francine McKenna is doing a sterling job at Re: The Auditors so I don’t really have to go hunting for stuff with which to beat up the Big Four, though I still like to put my oar in from time to time. So that’s another area I can leave to someone far better qualified. What does that leave?

It allows me to do the thing at which I’m best – concentrate on technical innovation for professionals lightly mixed with stuff on ethics plus the occasional bit of humour. If it loses me some readers, fine but I’d rather that those readers who do stay should feel they’re getting focused value. It also means I can get back into conversations elsewhere. Something I’ve missed.

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  • Hi Dennis,
    and @Richard, too,

    Yes, it's been a lot of fun for me to find other like minded people writing about similar topics and to dialogue with them (you , Richard, Prem, and some sexy shark attorneys...) on and off line. I agree, it's easy to get caught up in the momentum and lose focus. I recently passed the 100,000 page view and 400 post mark, after really only being in business since the beginnig of 2007. It's been an amazing ride for me. I have come to the conclusion that all my other activities are there so I can blog/write, not the other way around. That may be different that how others use their sites, but for me the revelation has set me free and made me immensely happy.

    Thanks for helping me see the light and for the all support and encouragement along the way.
  • Dennis

    You meet the best people here, don't you?

    And you're right re the brand thing - it is really important

    I too did not get that in the past

    Richard
  • @Richard: familiar all right, painfully so.
    @David: I'm just starting to accept that marketing matters - surprising though that may sound - and that a personal brand does have value. It's an accountant's DNA thing.
    @Mark: I like to say - pick what you want and leave the rest. With the amount of reading out there and good ol' RSS to help, there's plenty of 'help.'
  • I was beginning to wonder about how you were managing to do everything Dennis.

    Focus is important (with Richard's valuable, and oft forgotten, caveat). Although I have dozens of blogs on my RSS feed reader, yours and Richard's have long been the ones that i check first. I guess that may change now. Time will tell.

    I'm waiting for the announcement, to which you allude, with baited breath!
  • It's also interesting Dennis how your use of the phrase 'voices' is similar in some ways to Hugh's 'everyone is a global micro-brand' thing. And I absoultely agree with Richard's wife on the definition of an expert. i will be using that one in meetings in the future . . .
  • Dennis

    It's good to talk :-)

    And seriously - I agree with you - focus is good with one massive caveat. Never lose site of the wood for the trees.

    Keep up your ethical stuff at least - it puts everything else in context

    And as David says - this is a problem of success. You've deserved that. You don't think you're an expert - but you are.

    Richard

    PS My wife defines an expert as someone who has made most of the mistakes in their field, has lived through them and can now tell the tale for the benefit of others. Sound familiar?
  • It's not just that David - when I kicked off, I knew there were certain areas that needed addressing but there were not the 'voices' to do them real justice. Now they're here, then it's right for me to step back. I could have taken the publisher's route and turned AccMan into a site that pulled in those people. I don't think that would have worked as well. It would have been a net-net dilution which doesn't suit the medium or the people who read our stuff.

    I'm a great believer that when your work is done then move on. That's how it seems to me right now and I'm comfortable with the decision.
  • Very interesting point on focus Denis. I guess these course re-directions are necessary periodic things, but probably brought on by success. The tyranny of choice is not a problem suffered by those not read or regarded.
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