Archive for Personal Development
Your Smile can Make a Difference
Posted by: | CommentsI watched this video today and it is right in line with my belief that no matter what you are going through today your smile can make a difference. Let’s stay focused on improving the lives of others and give a big smile. Enjoy the video.
Tips On Clearing The Clutter So You Can Succeed
Posted by: | CommentsIf you own a home business, it would require you to keep your work area arranged, organized and clutter-free. It is important for you to be clearing the clutter so you can succeed. A disorganized workplace will cause unnecessary tension and nervousness. You may also lose your client’s project. You can organize your workplace easily and in no time at all.
Basics
Ensure that you have ample space for yourself, your projects and other equipments. You also need the correct type of work surfaces. You need to have better access to what you need for the completion of your work.
File Management
File Management can be bit difficult at home, but still you can use color-coding as a means of file management. You should also label your files properly and keep them in the correct folders.
Storage of Office Supplies
This helps you in easily finding your supplies when you need them and it also helps to keep your office clutter – free. Disorganized office supplies indicate loss of money and time.
Moving things around
You should seriously consider moving things around, if presently you have to keep moving across the room to fetch the things needed for your work. Your desk should be arranged in such a way that you can have easy access to all the basic supplies, like pencils, computer accessories, staples, envelopes and note paper.
What Organization requires?
In business, first impressions matter a lot. A client will be annoyed if he is welcomed into a cluttered office.
1.) You need a proper desk, which is able to meet your daily needs. If your work requires you to frequently refer to books, then you need a desk with a hutch to put your books into. If you use a computer, you need an L-shaped desk. You can keep the computer on one section and still manage to have enough workspace for yourself.
2.) You need to practice good time management. You can attain financial freedom with completing your work on time. You don’t have to rush things, as this will result in cluttering your work place and reduce the quality of your work.
3.) It is essential for you to decide which document you will need and which document you will not. For being organized, you must discard the documents you will not need; else it will lead to unnecessary clutter in future.
Tools for Starting a Business from Home on a Limited Budget
Posted by: | CommentsWith the state of the economy the way it is today I am seeing an increase in the level of interest a person has in starting their own business. When I ask the new entreprenuer a few basic questions regarding the tools they are using to build their new business I am shocked at how many people have that deer-in-the-headlight look.
So many people are jumping to the conclusion that starting a business from home is tied to a big expense and that the tools they need to use are not affordable to operate efficiently. Therefore, many business owners are not empowered to build strategically with the use of the internet. Because I am a big believer in maximizing online tools I came up with a list that will help take your business to the next level.
Here is a list of necessary tools that are free to use.
Webcast: Mikogo is free screensharing software that you can use for webinars, product demonstrations, online meetings, etc.
Video Production: Animoto is a great way to turn your photos into video. As we all know video’s drive traffic to your website. Therefore, a simple way to create a video is to upload pictures of you or your business into Animoto, select sound clips to match the video and publish to YouTube or other video sites.
Conference Calling: Free Conference Call.com is a teleconference line available 24/7. Do you need to have a quick meeting with your team members or sales staff? Easily done with this service.
Calendar: Google Calendar is an efficient way to keep track of your events. I use this service to color code the conference calls, events, and even set up Text Messaging reminders so I don’t miss a beat. A great feature in Google Calendar allows you to invite others to share the calendar so it works great for planning events.
Business Forms: Google Docs has a host of forms and templates that can assist you with your business. Find a template, complete the form and then print it to a PDF file direct from the desk top. Many of the templates will even feed into specific software programs you might use. It is a great way to invoice your clients.
Advertising: Craigslist is a favorite for free advertising. If you own a service business or want to sell a product this service is for you. Not only is it good for advertising it is also great for prospecting. Check out the “wanted” section as you might be able to fill a need of what people are looking for. Be sure to read the compliance section of Craigslist because they don’t hesistate to shut your account down if your ad is flagged too many times.
Home Business Coaching – Excellent Example of 9 Hour Work Week Schedule For New Home Based Business
As a home based business coach, I’m often presented with the same three challenges for online home based business owners. I felt it important enough to write about this in hopes it makes a difference to others.
Here are the three common challenges:
1) Staying focused on the task at hand. Too many distractions; specifically email.
2) Fitting time into their already busy day to work on their business
3) Feeling overwhelmed – too many things to do which leads to doing nothing.
By reading this article, you will have real bite-sized steps that you can take to organize yourself so you can easily and systematically keep moving forward in your business without the feeling of overwhelm, stress and frustration and the feelings and emotions that go along with those. As you become a home business mentor, you can recommend this same schedule for your new business partners.
I’ve put together a sample schedule based on a 9 hour part-time work week that I use in my home business coaching program. As you become better skilled in drafting your content and posting it online, you will be able to do this same work in about 7-8 hours a week.
Keep in mind, if your budget permits, you can outsource pretty much all of this. However, having mentioned outsourcing, I always recommend you do your own videos. You can outsource the editing and posting of your videos, but let people hear and see you on a regular basis. It’s your face, your voice, and your authentic self that your prospects will be building a relationship with.
Also keep in mind as you read this article, these are money generating activities. Your daily personal development, shuffling papers, organizing your desk, learning skill sets, participating in seminars, webinars, etc., is NOT included in this schedule. Those kinds of activities do not replace your job income, nor, your goals.
I’m also taking into consideration that you are utilizing your lunch break to write your articles. If you do not have the ability to write your articles during your lunch breaks at work, you will have to add that in your schedule perhaps bringing your weekly part time hours to 10-13 hours a week following the full time job/career you already do.
Or, here again, based on your budget, you may want to provide your keywords to an article writer and let him/her do it. They can also rewrite the spins on your articles.
Childcare is a Balancing Act When Working From Home
Posted by: | CommentsThe Internet revolution and the opportunities of many a prosperous home business for women entrepreneurs have dispelled the guiltiness that weighed down office going moms. Today more and more married women with children are opting for money making home businesses like in home online business for moms so that they can have financial security and enjoy professional success while taking care of the children. That childcare is a balancing act when working from home is what many of these women entrepreneurs will need to realize in order to attain financial freedom.
Balancing Your Act
Balancing your act is imperative and you simply cannot ignore your business responsibilities to attend to your children’s needs or else you will lose your executive level income opportunity. Your money making home business needs a fair share of your time and attention to give you the monetary benefits and mental satisfaction. So, strike the perfect balance by apportioning adequate time when you can give undivided attention and look after your business needs.
Planning Childcare
You will have to do some realistic childcare planning in order to run your prosperous home business for women entrepreneurs smoothly, otherwise you will not be able to join other successful women entrepreneurs:
• Prepare a work-plan for yourself according to your kids’ schedules. Wrap up your work when the children are attending school or when they are sleeping.
• Enroll your kids in a day camp or in any recreational activity that interests them. This way they will be pleasantly engaged and you too can have some free time.
• Ask your husband to lend a helping hand. You can work when your husband baby-sits or helps the children with their homework; this will also strengthen the bond between the children and their father.
• If you have an extended family, you can leave your child to their care in your work-hours.
• Another good option will be sharing/swapping childcare duties and working hours with a friend or neighbor who too is a work-from-homer with kids. She can take care of the kids when you are working and vice versa.
5 Ways to Rethink the Season of Giving – Dr. Mercola
Posted by: | CommentsThe Thanksgiving-to-Christmas season really brings out the best in people, but it can also lead you astray.
By all means, give this holiday season. Volunteer, drop toys in the Toys for Tots bins, throw change or a few bills in the Salvation Army Santa’s kettle. But keep these points in mind, too:
1. People need your help year-round
The toy drives your local organizations carry out are pretty successful. In December. When May comes around, though, shelters have little on hand to give out.
Sick kids in hospitals, children in battered women’s shelters who have fled their homes in the middle of the night, and others might like a toy or two, but nobody’s donating in the middle of the year – and most non-profits can’t afford to store their December bounty year-round.
The same goes for other forms of volunteering – there are homeless, disabled, ill, poor, and otherwise hurting people who need help year-round.
2. The recipients of charity are people with feelings, value, and dignity
Some Helpful Public Speaking Tips
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Public Speaking
If the idea of getting up in front of a large crowd makes you feel ill, then
you may need to use public speaking tips as a way to calm your nerves and
learn how to overcome stress. These simple, but effective, suggestions will
help make giving speeches an easier thing. While we certainly cannot claim
that they will cure your nervousness (this is not magic, after all), we can
guarantee that using these public speaking tips will make the burden less of
one. While you may still hate having to give a speech, you will better know
how to handle yourself during one. And that can make all the difference.
Some helpful public speaking tips:
One: know your material. The worst thing you can do is show up unprepared.
Of all public speaking tips, this is the one you have to remember. Even if
you are not naturally gifted with speech-making and even if you cannot
manage more than a mono toned voice, you can still convey a message if you
know your material. It does not matter how charming you are or how witty you
can be; you need to know the information. Come prepared.
Two: know your audience. What sort of occasion is this? A wedding
reception? A business presentation? Understand who you are speaking with so
you can form something appropriate. You can turn any fact into something
suitable, if you just take the time to think about what the audience will
best respond to.
Three: practice. This should be among the most obvious of public
speaking tips. Just showing up to improvise is not a smart choice. Some
people can manage to do this; they thrive on spontaneity and pressure. Most,
however, do not. You should practice, reciting your speech and knowing
everything about it. It should be a second nature to you, not something you
wing at the last second.
Four: remember to move. Standing behind a lectern, clutching at its sides,
does not inspire confidence. Feel free to move about the area, use hand
gestures and connect with your audience through body language. It can
instantly send a message of conviction and confidence, even if you are a
complete mess inwardly. This will also keep you from unconsciously shuffling
papers or tapping your feet, nervous habits that will distract the audience.
Five: fake it. For the last of our public speaking tips, we encourage you
to fake ease. Even if you hate speeches, even if you are nothing more than
stress and panic, fake confidence. Smile, nod, make eye contact: do
everything you have to for a positive message. While this is not always
easy, it is necessary. You do not have to charm your audience, but you do
have to make them listen. Confidence will do that. Of course, it helps if
you believe in what you are saying but, even then, you may need to pretend.
Do everything you can to look casual. If this means you have to study body
language and mimic it, do so. If you have to practice for hours at a time to
learn every word so you won’t have to worry about forgetting your place, do
so. When it doubt, smile and fake how nervous you are.
Will Smith Interview with Tavis Smiley
Posted by: | CommentsAs many people muddle through the days trying to figure out who we are, where we need to go, what we want to do it is humbling to see how celebrities can be so encouraging and inspiring to the average person. Watch and listen to this video where Will Smith talks with Tavis Smiley about decisions. Then go and watch the movie Pursuit of Happyness. Enjoy
Midwest Super Conference
Posted by: | CommentsLooking forward to connecting with champions at the Midwest Super Conference
Most Important Words
Posted by: | CommentsI picked up the mail today and was excited to find the Maximum Impact Club CD of the month. I knew right away that I couldn’t wait to listen and learn. Here is an exerpt from the CD:
