It’s with a mixture of excitement, nervousness and a dash of whattheheckareyoudoingandthinking-ness, I’m happy to announce that beginning September 6th, I’ll be taking Lemon Productions full time.

Phew. Said it. Now I have to do it.

Where I’ve Been

First off, this means that I’ll no longer be working at YasTech Developments. I’ve been working with Michael for almost exactly 2 years and it’s been a great pleasure to work alongside him on all the different projects that came across our desks. I learned a lot about running a small business, having employees and communicating with clients from Michael and I owe him a great deal of thanks for that.

I’ve heard others say that once you’ve run your own business you’re ruined for working for others. And while there’s obviously exceptions to that rule, I can say that the little taste I had of working for myself just before starting at YasTech left me wanting to do it again. I knew it was going to be a matter of when, not if, that I would need to return to Lemon Productions full-time. And while it’s hard to leave the security, familiarity and comfort of a job you’ve been in for the unknowns of your own business - it really feels like this is the right time to take the leap.

Who’s Going With Me?

I keep saying “I”, when really it’s “we”.

My wife, Susan, and I have spent many days and nights thinking, discussing, praying, arguing and discussing some more all the scenarios and options ahead. There is absolutely no way I will succeed with Lemon Productions without her support and I am very thankful to have such a loving, adventurous wife that is willing to travel this road with me.

There’s also friends and family that have supported me and listening to me ramble on, giving feedback and nodding in agreement when I go on about how I’d like to do things. They don’t all know it yet, but they’re being pulled along with me on this journey because without their support, we won’t make it either.

What Will It Look Like?

The core of Lemon Productions can be summed up with the tagline on the website:

Solving Your Online Problems

What Does That Mean?

I love to help people get stuff done online. Helping a small business setup their website, social media efforts on Twitter and Facebook, email marketing campaigns. I like to see people’s eye’s light up when they realize the potential of what their website can do for them.  Setting up an e-commerce section on someone’s website so they can sell the work of art they’ve created is an awesome experience.

Another aspect is media creation. I enjoy making small, short videos that help explain your business, app, website or solve a problem you’re having with your employees. Video is a great way to show and tell what you’re trying to get across to someone.

In short, I want to take the difficulty out of using the internet for your business or creative endeavour.

What That Doesn’t Mean?

I feel it’s impor­tant to not only define what you do, it’s also impor­tant to know what you don’t do. There’s only so many hours in a day/​week/​month and I want to make sure I make the best use of that time for me per­son­ally, as well as for my clients. Often when a per­son hears that you “build web­sites”, they just assume that since you work on a com­puter you must also love to sup­port them.

Lemon Pro­duc­tions is not an IT sup­port com­pany. There’s plenty of com­pa­nies who will come out and trou­bleshoot your Win­dows Vista net­work con­nec­tion issues or fig­ure out why your email pass­word isn’t work­ing. I can help you find a good one to work with.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy help­ing peo­ple solve their prob­lems — it’s just that I enjoy help­ing peo­ple solve their online prob­lems more.  A focused busi­ness knows who it’s poten­tial clients are just as much as it knows who they aren’t.

All that being said, if you’re not sure if I can help you or not, don’t be afraid to ask. If it’s not some­thing I can help you with, I’ll be happy to work with you to find some­one that can.

What About That Other Podcasting Thing?

One aspect of Lemon Productions that I hope to be able to continue to grow is the creative projects that I build out myself or with others. One of those projects is SSKTN, a podcast network that I have been slowly building. Talking with people about technology, marketing and business is a great way for me to learn about my industry and I enjoy providing a resource for others to learn from through new media efforts such as podcasting.

Through sponsorship and advertising opportunities, I hope to be able to partially support Lemon Productions with podcasting on SSKTN, but more on that at a later date.

How to Help

Thanks for reading this far. I really, really appreciate it.

If you’d like to help, you can recommend my services when you hear someone asking questions such as:

• Who should I get to build a website for my business?
• I wish I knew how to use Twitter. I feel like there’s an opportunity there but have no clue how to start.
• I’ve got a passion for building widgets and think I could sell them online - but where do you begin?
• I really, really need to buy someone a grande peppermint mocha but have no idea who I should buy it for?

Thanks again for reading. Feel free to subscribe to my Lemon Productions blog for marketing and business articles, follow on Twitter for quick thoughts and tips/tricks, or like on Facebook because it’s what everyone does.