I’ve worked from home most of my adult life. For the past 17 years, my work at home has revolved around the computer and in these recent years, the internet. There was a few short years in the early 90’s when broadband wasn’t available out here in the “country” near Myrtle Beach, and I worked from an office in town, but as soon as Time Warner laid their cable on my country road, I closed up shop downtown and was comfortably back at home, where I belong!
For me, the most wonderful part of working at home is that my husband has also worked from home, and we’ve learned together how to coexist and thrive under one roof. But, that’s a different story. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to say goodbye each morning and go separate ways.
I’m always a little taken aback when people say things like, “Oh, I could never work at home!” When I probe for the thinking behind that statement, I find that usually people think they couldn’t manage their time successfully without some sort of outside influence. I don’t say it, but I would like to ask why they would perform more responsibly for other people than they would for themselves.
Why would I cheat myself by foolishly spending time watching TV or chatting with friends when my own income and sense of accomplishment rests on managing my time properly and getting things done? Almost 25 years ago, when I was a pioneer in the homeschool movement, (some of us were actually arrested!), I used to tell my children that cheating of any sort would be silly because it would be themselves they were cheating. I would say, “If you don’t learn such and such, you’ll be the one uneducated – I already have my education!” Same thing goes for working at home – if I don’t do what it takes, there’s no hiding from it – my income would dry up.
I’ve learned over the years that working at home successfully is a dance – sometimes a tango and sometimes a waltz. But for me, it’s the only lifestyle I would ever choose. I’m incredibly blessed to have the support of my husband and children, the very ones who cheer me on the most. I also have the love and support of wonderful friends, who by now know better than to think that my day is free because I’m at home.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it takes to successfully work at home. It doesn’t happen by accident, and I believe I can speak with authority on the subject. So, I will do that in my next few blog posts. I will talk about everything from mindset to office setup and the tools you need. We’ll cover time management, software, hardware, and even cooking and eating healthy. Stay tuned…
In the meantime, I’d like to hear from you.
Do you work from home?
If so, how long have you done it?
What are your frustrations?
As I become more and more involved in the different social media, I am able to observe the different ways people act online. Personalities definitely shine, even in 140 characters. This can be a really good thing – an art form, really. But it can also be boorish, annoying and a waste of my time and yours.
Here are my top 3 Things That Drive Me Crazy Online
Profile pictures that don’t match who you are. I do not care about your favorite cartoon, your dog, your cat or your bird. I’m happy you have a family and I hope you’re enjoying them immensely, but I don’t want to see cute baby pictures – and that includes childhood pictures of YOU! One notable exception: Post those pics on Facebook, but not as your profile picture. Put them into an album, and then one night when I just want to cruise around on the net and get to know someone a little better, I may pop in an take a look at your DisneyWorld vacation. But that’s only after I’ve gotten to know you a little.
Assuming I want to play dumb, mind-numbing, time-wasting games on Facebook. I don’t. Find your Farkles somewhere else. And if you’re so intrigued with farming, move to Kansas. I also don’t want to receive flowers, hugs, puppies and kittens, and I am not interested in the twisted theology that departed loved ones have come back in the form of angels and need disbursing on Facebook. (Angels are real, but people don’t become angels – sorry).
Don’t send me an auto-generated message on Twitter and ask me to go to your site and check out your stuff. How about a nice hello first? Can you imagine going to a party, walking up to someone and saying, “I’m Jeanne. I’m drinking a margarita and I want you to go to my website and see what you might like to buy.” People would be wasting no time getting away from me. Yet, that’s what I see people doing everyday on Twitter. It annoys the %#$#$ out of me and it’s all I can do to not hit the Unfollow button.
What really attracts me is when it looks like someone has offered something of value, or at least information that is interesting. Many times, I’ll click on a link and read an article, and then it may lead to my wondering who was behind all this great information, and I’ll click on their website and possibly bookmark that site. That happened twice this morning.
The internet is a fascinating place to work and play. Be thoughtful and use some common sense. You’ll be oh, so much more popular.
What about you? What drives you crazy? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
The world of small business is changing, sometimes faster than what we can keep up with. Many factors contribute to these changes – increased competition, the social media revolution, the recession – and as a result, we’ve all been forced to rethink our marketing and advertising strategies and tactics.
Since the economy tanked a couple years ago, many small businesses are finding it more difficult to compete. The biggest question we ask ourselves (I’m a small business owner, too!) is, “How do I make my business recession-proof?” Really, the only way to do that is to give marketing a front seat ride. It’s simply not optional anymore.
I can think of another dozen things that I consider important. For instance, customer service, a solid accounting process, employee training. But none are more important than a good, smart marketing plan, especially during a recession. Knowing how to market and then actually doing what you know (or what you learn) will make the difference in whether you stay in business or close your doors.
I heard that during the Great Depression, several companies actually became super stars and some are still in business today. They learned how to take a bad situation and turn it around for their advantage. During hard times, we learn the importance of making the most of every marketing dollar. We study, and train ourselves to see things differently and we watch every dime that gets spent—and we consider it an investment, not just an expenditure.
I am a small business coach, and therefore, I look for ways to help my clients thrive, not just survive. The first thing we need to realize is that people really have tightened the belt and aren’t spending money like they used to. Therefore, we have to be wise in searching out the prospective buyers, and we must learn to use new and innovative ways to find our audience and get them to listen, and ultimately, to buy from us.
Marketing used to be like a game of golf. We just walked out to the tee box, lined up the shot, took dead aim, and swung the club. We hoped the ball came close to the cup and if it didn’t, we just hit it a few more times, and then we scored.
But today, marketing is more like a game of tennis. We hit the ball and our opponent (our customer) might hit the ball straight back to us, or they may just hit it somewhere else entirely. Literally, the ball is in their court. Our goal is to get them to hit it back to us. So we’re not just pushing a message out there (the golf example) in hopes of scoring, but we’re engaging in a back and forth game in hopes of winning by confidence, skill and persistence (the tennis example).
I am going to write a series of articles that address this subject of smart marketing for the small business owner. This is the first of the series. I hope you’ll come back and join me for all of them. It’s really a wonderful time to be in business, if we’re careful to make marketing a priority.
One way of enhancing your marketing is to begin to market with email. Here’s a link to a fantastic course I’ve prepared for business owners who want to start with email marketing and don’t know how. http://YourEmailMarketingSuccess.com Be sure to check it out – it could be your best move yet!
If you are a small business owner or a sales professional, or perhaps, what I call a “solopreneur,” and you’ve survived the past couple years in the worst economic downturn in recent history, then you are looking for ways to take it to the next level – to not only survive, but to thrive! I believe online training or what we call eLearning can be an extremely valuable tool if used properly.
Several questions beg an answer for a success-minded business owner.
1. Marketing Budget
The marketing landscape has morphed – almost while we weren’t looking – traditional methods just aren’t working anymore, even if we had the cash to throw in that direction. So, how do determine what to do…how do we prepare ourselves? Simply put – how do we spend our marketing energy and money?
2. The Social Media buzz
Another burning question at the top of the list for every small business owner is whether to jump on board the Social Media train. Is it just hype, the latest buzz words? Is it a waste of time…or just for youth, or mainly for grandparents wanting to see all the pictures of their kids and grandkids? Is it really beneficial for businesses? These are all questions that deserve an honest answer.
3. Getting Accounting Processes Under Control
Let’s move on for a moment to some in-house nitty-gritty issues that you know need attention in order to thrive this year. Maybe your accounting is a mess, and by June, you know you’re going to need serious help sorting it all out. Are you doing business straight out of your checkbook? You know you need a simple, easy-to-implement accounting software and you need it quick!
4. Sharpening Your Office Software Skills
Next, you KNOW that you should be making some spreadsheets to track important information. Perhaps you’ve been making hand-written lists and adding things up with an adding machine. You KNOW that Microsoft Excel is a dynamite tool, but how are you going to find time to take a class or work through a massive tutorial by yourself, with no one in sight to answer your questions.
5. Using Email Effectively
OK…you’ve been using email for awhile, and maybe even have an employee or two who uses it on a regular basis to communicate with customers and vendors. But, do you have that nagging thought that perhaps your company’s email communication needs an overhaul…that perhaps you’re sending the wrong message with simple errors which could be easily corrected. How do people get those nice electronic “signatures” at the bottom of their emails…how can I improve my image?
Solutionsh
Now, these are just a few of the problems that a small business owner can encounter when considering how to grow his business and THRIVE in 2011. There are several ways to look at solving these problems.
On-site classes – either at the local college or seminars held by professional companies specializing in the specific area of expertise you desire and need
Private tutors – even hiring a college student who is proficient with some of the software you would like to learn
Your CPA – for help with setting up an efficient accounting system.
Online training – also called eLearning
For me, option #4 – online training – is the TICKET to growing your business in 2011. And here’s why:
No travel time or travel expenses
Flexible schedule – you work at your pace on your schedule
Low, low cost
When searching for online training, look for a company that offers training from a variety of experts, not just one or two people are doing all the training. Look for a company who will respond to you personally when you send an email or make a phone call. And finally, look for a company with cutting-edge, relevant material spanning a wide range of small business needs.
I’m a partner in such a company – Business Training Team. I’m proud of the training videos we have in our membership site. They’re in-depth and come with workbooks. I wish all this had been available to me years ago when I started my first business. I invite you to take a look: http://BusinessTrainingTeam.com
WoW! I got a lot of tweets and responses to my post on dealing with Information Overload. I promised you I would compile a list of the responses, so here they are:
1. Taking a day off – unplugging from all things digital
2. Concentrating on focused action, not just a “scatter-shot” approach.
3. Getting out to have lunch with friends once in awhile. It’s too easy to become a hermit, along with the computer.
4. Attending networking events.
5. Making an action notebook. Recording what actions have been taken, not just actions we need or want to do.
These are great pointers, and I thank you all for responding.
If you haven’t done so already, sign up (look in the top right) for my gift to you – “Taming the Top 10 Grammar Monsters.”
I am an offline business owner and an internet marketer. I’ve owned my “brick & mortar” business for about 17 years, and it runs along pretty smoothly without a lot of research and discovery. I’m grateful for that. Now, the online business is different – it has required that I study, take online courses, attend conferences, learn, stop to put it to use, then study and learn more, and the cycle is endless for the foreseeable future. No one loves learning and new information more than I do. I was one of those crazy kids who loved school. There was something simply exhilarating about new information. But sometimes, I feel the weight of information overload, or as some call it, “information overwhelm.” I want to tell you about the ways I have found to deal with this very real problem.
Too much information too fast can really put a damper on your productivity and even your creativity. We have to give ourselves some breathing room, some space to just think about things. I know if you’re in the online marketing business, you know what I mean. I would think about all those eBooks or eCourses I purchased that were just sitting there on my hard drive. In the meantime, new offers arrive daily, sometimes hourly in my email InBox. The information superhighway can be a place fraught with danger if we don’t slow down and enjoy the journey.
Don’t sign up for more than one new class at a time, even though it’s being offered by someone you know, like and trust. You can’t divide your thinking and your time up but so much or you’ll suffer from overload and none of the information will sink in. So at all costs, resist the urge. If it’s that great of an offer or a class, it will be available later.
When taking a class, either live or online, find at least 3 “Ah-Ha” things that you can take action on right away. Then do it! Take that action – put the learning to good use right away, before you forget or find an excuse to procrastinate. Put these action steps on your calendar. If they’re good enough for you to pay to learn, then they’re good enough to actually schedule the correlating action. Keep a notebook for these actions that you have taken. Call it your “Action Notebook.”
Work on one project at a time, or if you are researching a topic, set aside either a special day or even a whole week to explore just that alone. For instance, if you are learning new WordPress or blogging skills, concentrate on only that. A focused approach is much more effective than what I call a “scatter-shot” approach.
Take a day off! That’s right – you heard me. Shut yourself off from technology for a whole day at a time. Get away from your computer, your email and your cell phone. Go outside, take walks, sit in a different room than where you work. Get caught up on some fun reading. Have lunch or dinner with friends. You absolutely need this in order to function at your top performance.
Leave a comment and tell me how YOU handle the overload. I’ll compile the results and post.
Our daily lives are made up of automatic tasks and routine. That really sounds boring, doesn’t it? But when I think about it, here’s what I become aware of – I get up in the morning, go to the bathroom, go to the kitchen, put the coffee on and feed the dog and let him out while the coffee’s brewing. Then, the dog comes back in and he goes back to bed for awhile while I enjoy my coffee while checking email. Then, while it’s still quiet, I do a little reading, usually a devotional or my Bible. Then, I review my list of things for the day and get things ready to fire away at my list. That’s my morning routine – almost every day unless I’m not at home. Do I have to think about these things? No. I just do them.
How about driving your car? Are you really thinking about the moves you’re making? It’s scary, but the answer is no.
Establishing habits and routines are important in order for us to quickly get things done without too much time thinking about it. For a professional marketer, writing is one of those things that we simply MUST do. No question about it; you can’t market, especially online without writing being an integral part of your daily routine. Notice I said daily, not weekly or frequently – DAILY!
Every day I must write articles, blog posts, emails, work on short reports, write eCourses, scripts for Ads On Hold for my telecommunications business, and write outlines and prepare slides for my webinars. If I had not made writing a part of my daily life, I couldn’t do my job for myself or for my clients.
So you want to be more successful as a marketer, or as a writer, or as any kind of professional? Start writing every day. And you may ask yourself where to start. For me, I purchased my name – jeannekolenda.com from GoDaddy, figured out how to host it and build a blog, and I began to blog everyday. I then began to tweet out those blog posts on Twitter, and my traffic began to grow. Then I began writing articles for ezinearticles.com and as my traffic grew to my blog, I started to write eCourses and produce training webinars.
The next thing I did was to participate in a 30-day blogging challenge. There were about 100 people who signed up to write a blog post every day for 30 days. About half of us finished it. Then, just 8 weeks later, another online guru hosted another 30-day challenge. I signed up again. This time, more than 250 people signed up and I think 84 finished it. During these blog challenges, I also met many new friends online and I wrote comments on their blogs. So I felt like a writing and reading machine. I then completed an eZineArticles challenge to write 100 articles in 100 days. Someone asked me what I would win. I honestly didn’t even know what the prize was…I just knew I had to do it for the feather in my cap as a writer. (It was a clock that didn’t work, a mousepad, a coffee mug [my favorite] and a leather coaster.)
What I’ve found is that I do my best writing late at night when nothing can interrupt me. I find that when I sit down at my computer, I instantly relax and find that my fingers literally fly across the keyboard and this makes me very happy.
I believe the first step really is to get your blog going. Even if you know nothing, my business partner and I have put together a course that will walk you through every step of it. Check it out here: http://SmallBusinessBlogHelp.com Get started today to be the writer you need to be for professional success! Let me hear from you. I’ll be glad to help in any way I can.
And PLEASE, do yourself a favor and sign up at the top right in order to receive a great free video called “Taming the Top 10 Grammar Monsters.” I’ll connect with you and send you valuable information on writing, and growing your business.
Leave a comment and tell me what your writing habits are.
I’m a writer. I’ve been a writer for most of my life. I remember the days when “writing” meant grabbing my favorite pen and a yellow legal pad and heading to my favorite chair to scribble notes, strike them out, start over, and finally taking the terribly messy pages to a typewriter for the final output. My, how things have changed! I can’t even remember what it’s like to not think in front of a screen and a keyboard.
However, years ago, when I first ventured into the Microsoft Office software products, and I began to learn some basics, I found that I was learning just enough to get my words on the page and then I was off to something else. By the time these powerful word processor software packages were commonplace, I was well past college age, and if I was going to learn the finer points, I had to teach myself. As the years passed, I found myself always bumping my head against something or other when using Microsoft Word and it usually had to do with formatting, indentions, setting margins, spacing, etc.
I finally went to the local bookstore, purchased a big tutorial on Microsoft Office products (with colored pictures!) and set aside time every day to work my way through some of the basics. I was constantly amazed at how simple something was that I had struggled with.
What I felt I was missing was the personal touch. If I had just had someone to show me how to do it! I could have saved hours and hours of time. I believe people today are still struggling with the same issues – in fact, I believe that much of our business writing is terribly inefficient because of a lack of expertise in using Microsoft Word or similar software, such as Open Office.
Here is a list of common features people struggle with in Microsoft Word:
1. Spacing manually to indent a list
2. Backspacing one character at a time
3. Trying to insert numbers in front of a list AFTER typing the list
4. Changing your margins without tabbing or spacing
5. Quickly and easily changing the font size, color and style
6. How to number items or use bullet points automatically
7. How to make sub-headings with clean indentions
8. How to insert frequently used words or phrases
9. Finding and replacing strings of text, phrases or individual words
10. Creating simple tables and inserting graphs and charts
11. How to use spell-check, grammar-check or check for style
12. How to easily undo and redo a series of changes or edits
I am now a partner in an online training business and I am thrilled to make this learning curve much less steep for you than what I experienced. If you think you could stand to gain efficiency with your writing by getting to know your software a little better, please click on this link and pay us a visit: http://MakeMicrosoftOfficeWork.com
Bubbles is an African Elephant and she lives in my neighborhood. When I mentioned Bubbles on a group call the other day, one guy said, “Where do you live — Uganda?” The answer is no, I don’t live in Uganda, but in Myrtle Beach, near the Intracoastal Waterway. There’s a wild game preserve just through the woods, and an elephant named Bubbles lives there. It’s not uncommon to see Bubbles strolling down the road either on her way to take a nice dip in the Waterway or going home after her afternoon swim. Her guide or trainer is usually not far away, but she’s not tethered in any way.
Sometimes the kids go to the water’s edge and throw peanuts at her and she’s playful and happy to entertain. I’ve been here long enough to just take Bubbles for granted. But the other day I was thinking about Bubbles and the life she’s living. She was born to be wild and free – just like the elephants I saw in an IMAX film several years ago, lumbering through the African savannah. Now, don’t get me wrong — Bubbles is well taken care of and she has a nice new pool in which to swim (on days she doesn’t want to walk to the Waterway). In fact, I found this video on YouTube of Bubbles in her new pool. No one is afraid of her, although most of us respect her enough to give her plenty of space. The video shows children diving from her back.
So, you have to wonder – what’s my point in telling you about Bubbles? It’s this: Bubbles is living in circumstances that are not natural…not what God designed for her; she didn’t choose it. How many of you are also living in situations that are not what would be considered “your highest and best?” Now, I’m not talking about the consequences of our own dumb choices. I’m talking about things that have been truly out of our power to change. I think Bubbles is a class act. She’s friendly, gracious, and very tolerant.
It may be too personal of a question, but I’d really like to know how some of you have overcome circumstances beyond your control. Almost everyone who visits my blog is a real champion, and I know you’ve got a lot to offer the rest of us.
If you feel like leaving a comment, I will welcome it.
P.S. I actually had some video footage of some of us playing with Bubbles on Halloween, but when I tried to convert the video to a format that would load into my blog, it became a nightmare, so I’m glad I found the YouTube video so you can see what a sweetie Bubbles really is.
Oh, yeah…don’t forget to fill in the optin box up on the top right and get my free video on taming the grammar monsters. It’s worth the price of admission! LOL
Everyone knows that doing business these days requires some degree of writing skill. You either have to know how to put your thoughts into words yourself, or you have to hire it done or rely on a spouse or friend. Most everyone I know does his own writing.
Just think – there’s web content, blog content, newsletters, business letters, emails…and the list goes on. I’ve been working online for the past year and I’ve seen a lot of writing, AND I’ve read a lot of what other people have written. Especially blog posts, auto-responder messages and sales page copy.
What I have found amazing is the lack of attention to the details of educated writing. I find that many folks must have zoned out of English class early on, and never got reconnected. Some people don’t even bother to use a capital letter at the beginning of a Subject Line or a sentence. They don’t know the difference in “it’s” and “its.” They don’t know the difference in the meaning of fewer or less (Hint: If you can count it, use the word fewer, if you can’t count it, say less. Think: Fewer people, Less sugar.)
I still believe good writing matters. And just like anything else, if you take it one little bite at a time, your writing can improve. To that end, I did a webinar entitled, “Taming the Top 10 Grammar Monsters.” I received a lot of positive response to this training and it’s still one of the most downloaded training videos on our Business Training Team website.
As a lot of us are participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge, I’d like to offer this training to you at no cost. It’s my New Year’s gift to you, my fellow blogger.
Please share with me your thoughts on good writing and how you rate yourself. Also, let me know how the video has helped you. Did you learn anything new, or was it old hat for you?
I look forward to visiting many of your blogs, and I hope you come back here often. I wish you much success in your businesses this year!
When you sign up for the video, you’ll receive an email asking you to confirm your request. You should receive the link to the video in just a few minutes.
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