Displaying All Posts from March, 2015

8 Tips for Effective Meetings

effective meetings

Most people I know hate having meetings.

Correction: They hate having unproductive meetings which have a single outcome of wasting everyone’s time.

However, done correctly, an effective meeting can get a lot done in a short space of time.

A meeting should have an agenda and a plan at the end of it, but what if you are not in control?

How do you make your attendance at meetings more effective? Click Here to Read Article …

5 Steps to Creating More Time

find time

Good Morning! You plop down at your desk and boot up your computer. Congratulations, you have 100 new emails.

Your boss stops by, “Hey! Can you meet with a new vendor at 2:30? Thanks.”

Ring, Ring. “Hello. Development is questioning the need for 3 new interfaces. Can you meet with us in 15 minutes? See you soon.” Click! Aaaaahhhh!

On days like these, you silently wish Doc Brown would appear with a brand new Delorean Time Machine, don’t you? Everyone could use more time.

But, let’s face it; Marty McFly spent most of his time fixing family crises. He had no time to finish his TPS reports or build out his amazing presentation to help reduce “Scope Creep.”

So, how do you get more time to increase your productivity without worrying about the space-time continuum? Here you go: Click Here to Read Article …

5 Timesaving Tips for Better Social Media Marketing

social media tips 1

You know how it is.

One minute you’re on your well-deserved lunch break, your finger poised to point your mouse into the internet abyss.

The next minute, it’s an hour later, and you’re happily on your third cat-in-a-costume-riding-a-roomba video.

Where on earth did the afternoon go?!

Welcome to the world of social media — a vast and seemingly endless space into which your free time can merrily get sucked, while you wave goodbye to your productivity.

Whether you love it (gleefully snapping every tasty morsel that passes your lips) or loathe it (and are sick of the sight of selfies), one thing’s for sure: You can’t ignore it. Click Here to Read Article …

How to Be a Happier Freelancer

cowork

You get up to receive your fax.

The bespectacled personal assistant at the next table is muttering into her laptop.

Two writers are talking about the crazy demands of their clients.

You feel a part of something, happy to be around people going through the same thing you are.

This is the essence coworking spaces, office areas owned by a company or organization and used by freelancers as their office space.

They make use of resources such as photocopiers, fax machines, even coffee makers. Coworking is becoming more accepted, popular, and available.

One does have to pay periodical fees to use coworking facilities. So what justifies the price? Here are some good reasons to consider taking your home business into coworking spaces. Click Here to Read Article …

5 Money-Saving Tips for Freelance Travelers

travel expenses

The biggest pro of being your own boss is just that — not being a cog in the machine.

Just about the only time this is a con is when travel comes up.

That machine often pays your travel expenses when you’re on a short overnight trip.

You’re going to have to go it on your own as a freelancer, but there are ways to save money and make it as painless as possible.

After all, when you decided to strike out on your own, one of the things you signed on for was the satisfaction of finding creative ways to make things work for you. Here are some very creative ways to work the hotel system and keep the Benjamins in your pocket. Click Here to Read Article …

How to Rock Your Next Review

job review

I have worked at a number of different companies, both large and small. Today I run my own business.

The company I founded came into existence based on frustrations I experienced working in a corporate environment.

Between bureaucracy and my own lack of relevant training, I became disappointed and disenchanted with the employee review process.

Whether you’re new to the working world, or someone who’s been around the block a time or two, I bet we have something in common.

We’re not sure how to appropriately prepare for employee reviews, and further, we’re not certain we have the Jedi mind skills to chart the course of our professional destiny. Click Here to Read Article …

3 Ways Freelancers Get Paid

get paid

The best part of the life of a freelancer is pulling in the digital Benjamins.

Clicking that button and bringing in funds makes it all worthwhile.

If there’s anything about your current payment processor that bugs you — and it may be that your business is expanding beyond this processor’s capacity — here are a few payment processing tools you may consider.

These vary from simple to complex, starting with those that are good for freelancers with simple, streamlined businesses and progressing to those for entrepreneurs with a line of goods for sale online. Click Here to Read Article …