Differentiating oneself in the workforce today may hold the key for many employees who are keenly interested and highly motivated to survive downsizing. While it may take extra effort, the payoff can be exponentially greater both short and long range; for the employee and the company. With discipline, determination, and drive, employees can make their mark strategically, … [Read more...]
Maximize Productivity Using Social Media
In this day and age, there are so many different social media sites to choose from that it can become a full time job to update and monitor each profile. To eliminate that stress, follow these 13 steps to become more productive: 1. Select the top five social networks you are interested in joining. Check out Ning.com as it offers thousands of social networks for just about any … [Read more...]
The Small Business Underdog: How to go head to head with the big dogs of business.
The big corporations of the world seem to have endless resources to force smaller companies into submission. They have in-house marketing teams and hire advertising agencies to create marketing collateral, websites, messaging, advertising, direct mail, and email campaigns. They test and retest, conduct quantitative analysis to measure market share, develop new creative … [Read more...]
3 Rules for Business
There's a popular saying that goes, "Rules are meant to be broken!" After all, isn't that how one breaks out of the proverbial "box?" How could you possibly think outside the box if you're constantly following all the rules that demand you stay in the box? In the art classes I've taught, many times students would ask me about the "rules." The "you should always" things. … [Read more...]
Consistency is one part of a healthy business
What stands as the infrastructure of your business? If you are a solo-preneur, a home-based business owner or even just a small business with a partner, then the infrastructure isn't an organizational structure, rather it's how you do your business. Something holds your business together and keeps it going. I posit that one of the underlying structures for tiny businesses is … [Read more...]
Being in Business is Risky Business
Having a business of your own is a bit like being a creative writer. A creative writer loves to ask and answer the question: what would happen if....? What would happen if: the title character were a woman instead of a man the title character were 75 years old and slightly deaf the title character had a side-kick who was independently wealthy all the action took … [Read more...]
Are You in Career Quicksand?
Does this describe you? Desperately trying to keep your job or business from swallowing you up? Totally focused on completing all your daily tasks but never getting through your to do list? Working nights and weekends to catch up? Stressed? Exhausted? Do you find the more you struggle to keep on top of things, the more you sink into the abyss? I call this career … [Read more...]
Top 10 US Cities to Capture Small Business Recovery Act Dollars
Uncle Sam wants small business entrepreneurs to lead the nation to economic recovery--and has billions of dollars to make it happen. Small business owners are in line to receive low-interest loans and government contracts through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). To secure your little corner of the recovery, you'll need to be at the right place with the right … [Read more...]
I’ll See That and Raise You
Post by Frances Cole Jones, contributing Women On Business writer Every New Year’s Eve I make a practice of choosing a slogan that embodies my attitude for the year ahead. A few years ago that slogan was, “Don’t Ask Permission.” The thought behind it was that we shouldn’t wait for people to tell us we’re good enough, creative enough, educated enough, smart enough. We need to … [Read more...]
Think long-term solidity rather than short-term success
There is no denying that this past year of 2009 has been tough economically for nearly everyone. In the U.S., 35 states were reported to have an unemployment rate of over 5% as reported for October on CNNMoney. That is a lot of people without jobs and income. My home state of California currently has an unemployment rate of 12.3% according to today's CNNMoney report - even … [Read more...]