Women who work from home have a different set of challenges than those who spend the hours of 9-5 (and then some) at the company office. Obviously, these women, too, have their own set of challenges, particularly if they have young children or are required to travel often for their jobs. Point being, it's often very hard for women to stay focused on the job under optimum … [Read more...]
Get Your (Business) Priorities Straight
Repeat after me: No. No. No. No. And no. Now, think about what your workweek would look like—and where your company might be today—if you'd used the word "no" a little more often. (Awkward silence.) I'm right there with you: The Ultimate Yes Woman. "Yes," because I have varied interests and a ridiculous amount of curiosity, and because I inherently like to be … [Read more...]
Tips for Managing Your Intern
On paper, hiring an intern always seems like a grand idea. First you do a victory dance over passing off the mundane but necessary to-dos, such as updating databases and optimizing documents for digital sharing. The next round of "jumping for joy" occurs after your brilliant suggestion to cull a list of blog topics, unsubscribe from irrelevant eNewsletters, get better … [Read more...]
13 Lists to Make Your (Work) Day Better
In the market for some new office art? Here's a tip: Skip the ethereal paintings and photographs and surround yourself with a creative display of insight and advice, culled from your favorite sources. If you don't mind dedicating a few pages of printer paper to your design, you can quickly create eye-catching "snippets for success" to motivate yourself and others during the … [Read more...]
Read to Succeed: A-List Business Books
With one eye on deadlines and bottom-lines, and the other on client and customer relations, it's easy to lost sight of professional goals. And, to maintain a palpable level of on-the-job inspiration. Some days you feel at the top of your game, full of energy and vision. Others, it's high anxiety, frustration, failure or an overall sense of defeat. You start sweating about … [Read more...]
International Women’s Day Redux
International Women's Day is over for another year, but there are plenty of reasons to keep the conversation going. For starters, only 4% of America’s major corporations currently have female CEOs. That's a pretty big reality check, and one that got me wondering who those 4% were. It didn't take me long to find this Forbes.com list of The 10 Best companies For Women in 2013, … [Read more...]
Make Tomorrow a Better (Work) Day
Surfing the web gets a bad rap, but when you stumble upon articles and posts that have workplace relevance (and that are so smart, you wish you'd penned them), there's real satisfaction. Such was the case yesterday, when a little aimless clicking led me to 14 Things You Should Do at the End of Every Work Day, an engaging summation of how ending your workday on a positive note, … [Read more...]
Social Media Made Worthwhile
Here's a scenario you can relate to: Just before settling in to edit this post the other night, I skimmed eight different articles on social media (how-to, why-to, when-to, where-to, who-to...), clicked "Read Later" five times, "Pin It" once; posted on Facebook and Twitter, updated my Paper.li, shared a link on Google +, tweaked one of my online profiles and commented on one … [Read more...]
Build your Brand by Building Relationships
What better day to mull the topic of relationships than today? After all, the masses (and, you and me) have been at it all week, conjuring up the perfect plan to show their significant other that he/she is special, and taking extra care not to overlook any hidden expectations. I'm trusting you've got that one in the bag, but what about your business relationships? Have you … [Read more...]
20 Steps to Effective Media Relations
The first step to effective media relations is shaking off the notion that editors and reporters are the enemy. Sure they may not be the best at returning phone calls and emails, and occasionally turn their nose up at your pitch, but get them alone in a dark alley, and they'll admit to needing you just as much as you need them. Even when you're doing the chasing, they're … [Read more...]