Tips Archives - Page 2 of 6

Tips to Design a Polo Shirt for Work Wear

Polo shirts have become a top choice for companies to create a comfortable uniform for employees that promotes a professional image. But there are some things that you need to know when you design a polo shirt to achieve the best end result.

The first thing is the colour. Now while this may sound obvious and you’re already thinking that’s easy my company colours, you may want to think again. Remember you are going to want to showcase your company logo somewhere on the shirt, which means that you need to focus on the colour combination very carefully. If your company colours is dark blue and your logo is dark blue, it’s obvious that this is not going to work, you need a contrasting colour that will make your logo stand out and be noticed as your team move around throughout the day.

In addition to this, it is also advisable to steer clear of light colours, such as whites and very light or pastel blues, pinks and yellows. There is nothing worse than a team member arriving at work with a giant stain on their uniform, it doesn’t look professional. If you have ladies working for you, white may be a bit too see-through for them to work in and shows everything underneath, also not quite the image that you want to portray. The best advice is stick to darker colours and those that won’t show up every strain so that your team can showcase your company in the best possible light.

It is important that your company name stands out. When it comes to designing a polo shirt for work wear, you want to look at your logo colouration and then work with that to ensure it stands out to make a statement. Remember that these shirts can also be a fabulous marketing tool and they can ensure that your company name is seen throughout the day when an employee takes their lunch break or when they are on the bus on the way to and from work. They increase brand visibility on a daily basis, which can help in increasing interest and boosting your brand moving forward.

Your logo placement is another big decision that you will want to focus on when you design a polo shirt. Your logo should be placed in a prominent position so that it can be seen. Work with your sportswear manufacturer to ensure your logo doesn’t appear too big or too small. Remember your sportswear manufacturer is making your polo shirt from scratch based on your unique colour choices and style. Whether you have chosen a blue shirt with light blue collar or a one colour shirt, the choice is down to you. They will be focusing on the quality of the fabric and the finishes to provide you with the product you ordered and to exceed your expectations when your teams go out into the field.

You want to ensure when you design your polo shirt that it will portray the professional image that you want to portray. Think about what your team is going to look like when they are working whether in-store or off-site. What about what clothing of their own they will wear, such as trousers or skirts and how will the shirt work with that? These are all important factors to consider before making your final decision.

The last few things you want to focus on is comfort and durability. Your sportswear manufacturer will be able to advise what fabric they will use, so that you can ensure your team will be comfortable throughout the day and able to wash the shirts regularly without fading or wearing.

Best Web Hosting Tips for Blogging

Let’s explore becoming a blogger and the proper use of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn advertising on your blog and website. Facebook and Twitter have very specific instructions for using their logos, but it seems that on the Internet, very few people are following those guidelines. If you have any questions, you should ask your attorney. Having said that, there are common practices that webmasters and bloggers are using to promote their brand on these social media sites.

It is not legal to take someone else’s brand and alter it. But the Twitter and Facebook logo are everywhere and that is what has made these social media sites so famous. Facebook and Twitter both have trademarks on their logo and their iconography. For example, Twitter’s trademark is the little blue bird. They have their name and logo trademarked, therefore, you can not alter them.

Their guidelines are important so pay attention to those guidelines in relation to their name and logo allowed use. Legally you can not take their brand or trademark and alter them. Both Facebook and Twitter do allow, however, certain kinds of things. Facebook allows webmasters to use the “F” in a square and use it on your branding and include text, for example, “Fan us on Facebook”. They do not allow you, however, to use the F in a different color or FB in a different color. These are their general guidelines. Twitter, on the other hand, does not want you to put a T in side of a blue square. So what you as a webmaster need to ask yourself is whether or not you want to comply with their general guidelines. If you have any questions, it is best to ask an attorney or read their guidelines on the Facebook or Twitter website.

It is not recommended, for example, to use a little F or a little T on any of your online branding at all. A little T that says “Follow us on Twitter” or a little F that says “Fan us on Facebook” could actually cause your website to lose valuable traffic because all this does is encourage visitors to leave your website. It sends people away from your website to the social media giants. Instead, what is recommended is to employ the widgets that are available for webmasters to put on their site so that visitors can like you on Facebook or follow you on Twitter without leaving your website. The old way of doing things is sending someone away from your website. The new way is to keep your hard-earned visitors at your website. By using these widgets, visitors can become a fan or a follower without ever leaving your website. Keep visitors on your website while at the same time encouraging them to be fans or followers. It’s a win-win strategy.

Your Blog and Your Web Hosting Account

Content marketing is a well-known successful way to market a business online without spending a great deal of money on advertising. Blogs are a main way to attract leads and educate prospects. With some companies, all their leads come from their blog and they do not need to do any advertising whatsoever. Instead of spending a great deal of money on advertising, these companies post 500 word articles to their blogs on a daily or weekly basis. Many business owners have been able to leave their 9-5 jobs because of blogging. These companies use blog posts as their number one strategy for advertising. Build a strong following by blogging. It is a great way to start without advertising and spending a great deal of money on a start-up. Blogging is a cost efficient way to build a company online. With your own web hosting account, you will have blogging software that makes it easy to get started blogging and posting your content on your own website or blog.

Traits of Successful Bloggers

What are the traits that someone should have to become a successful blogger? Start with the notion that there are five roles that people play. Every person has at least one of these traits or roles.

Five Traits of Successful Bloggers

Are you a dreamer? You are a visionary and you want to tell people about it.
Are you a good storyteller?
Are you a teacher?
Are you a persuader? Every person has an opinion.
Are you a curator? A collector of ideas is a helpful trait for blogging.

The idea is to take that one trait that you have, recognize it, and build on it. Some people have more than one of the above traits, which is also good. An example is to take your trait and incorporate real-life events into a blog post. Successful bloggers have one trait and everybody does have one of these traits. If you have more than one or even all of these traits, it is even better. Some people have a natural tendency to blog. Ask your friends or family members to tell you which of these traits you have in your DNA. You will get some interesting feedback.

Do You Need to Be a Good Writer to Be a Good Blogger?

When people think of writing, they think of Pulitzer Prize winning books. That is not the case with blogging. With blogging, you need to be a great conversational writer. Do you have an easy, natural way to get your point across? If, for example, you can sit down with a person and have a drink with them and enjoy a good conversation with that person, you can be a blogger. As a blogger, you wouldn’t talk to that person like you are in a board room, but rather you would talk to that person like they were your friend. You need to be able to communicate in a way that builds rapport and relationships.

How Is a Blog Writer Different Than an Article Writer?

A blog writer is looking to start a relationship that is very personal. Your own opinion is infused in that writing. Even the structure of blog writing is different than articles. Your blog articles need to be intimate and give the reader a feel for who you are. It is very personal. Be a conversationalist. Have a dialogue that is easy for people to follow. Speak in every day terms and your blog writing will resonate with people. If you have trouble starting a blog article, you can always talk it out and record it, then transcribe it back into text format.

Technology That Can Help You Write

There are a lot of great technology options that can help you to write. Text-to-speech tools like “Dragon Naturally Speaking” let you talk and have it transcribed. If you have an iPhone, Siri will do it. Use your voice to write the article and save time. This technique is also helpful if you have trouble writing because it makes the task more of a conversation, rather than writing. This is exactly what blogging involves.

It is not just about text. Video blogging is another way to advertise using blogging. Writing is only one way to express yourself on a blog.

How Do You Decide if You Have What It Takes to Be a Blogger?

Do you have an obsession with a topic? This goes beyond with a passion for a topic because if you are talking or writing about your topic every day, you must be borderline obsessed with the topic, otherwise you might not be able to sustain yourself on your topic. You don’t want blogging to be a chore so choose a topic that you are obsessed with.

Are there others like you? If you start a blog about a certain topic, you need to have an audience that is interested in your topic.

Assess whether you have a marathon or sprinter mind-set. Successful bloggers have one of these two mind-sets. In some cases, a successful blogger can take years. Define your craft, take time, put yourself in a zone of kicking out content, refining it, and realistically looking at what your vision is for your blog in two years. Expect nothing to happen for two years because blogging definitely takes time to become successful. In the beginning, don’t expect any re-tweets or comments for a while. For the first three years, you can literally have only one or two hundred visitors visiting your blog. When you finally figure out essentially the kinds of blogging strategies that “work” in your industry, that’s when you will see results. Eventually, it is very possible to have several hundred thousands of visitors to your blog which can lead to a completely sustainable business of your own as a result of blogging. It doesn’t have to take you that long to be successful. In the early days of blogging, no one really knew what they were doing. The good news is that now there are many strategies outlined on the Internet that can give you a head start. No point re-inventing the wheel.

Tips on How to Create Content

Stick with it. Know that you are fighting the good fight. Train your brain to notice potential topics by writing down every idea that pops into your head. It doesn’t matter if you are writing these ideas on post-it notes, index cards, or on your iPad. Just let your brain learn that every good idea is going to be noticed and used in some way.

Turn content creation into a habit. Set aside some time for at least a couple of weeks when you tell yourself that it is your “time” to create content. Make a daily appointment with yourself. If you are a night person, set aside a couple of hours, for example, between 10:00 and midnight. Turn content creation into a habit. Content creation during your most productive time of day will help you to kick out some great material because it will become a habit.

Done is better than perfect. Some great bloggers are such perfectionists and are constantly refining and refurbishing their content, but because they are never done with it, the content stays in their draft folder forever. You don’t want your content to stay unfinished. Just get your content out there. Get leverage with yourself by telling people how much content you plan on releasing. This will give you added motivation to deliver on what you have promised by increasing the frequency of your blog posts. You will feel like you need to follow through. Get content out on a regular basis, but be careful with the word “regular”. Be reasonable. Find your tempo and stick with it.

How Do You Find Ideas for Topics to Write About?

If you are super passionate about a certain topic, your friends and colleagues will ask you questions about it. Take notes of those questions because each one can be a blog post. Every time someone asks you a question, pay attention to it. Look at the news section at local book stores or other stores, such as Walmart, and take note of the headlines. What are the headlines and how are the other writers leading up to those headlines in their articles? Crack open the magazines to see how others are addressing news or general topics. It adds fuel to the fire and gives you quick ideas.

Multi-purpose your content. If, for example, you give a presentation somewhere you can take that presentation and multi-purpose it into two or three blog posts, possibly even more. Metaphors are important. If you like to do something, you can use metaphors and write about them in many different ways. You can talk about a topic many different ways.

How Do You Draw People to Your Blog?

To get more readers, you need to be relevant. The daily news is your friend. Look at what is being talked about and find a way to connect it to your topic. This draws people into your blog. Tap into the trends of the moment. Hang out at the watering hole, like forums or other blogs and find out what the audience is being fed. Find out where the audience is hanging out and join in. Be helpful to that community and a fixture in that space. See what people want and jump in. Find out what people want, then write about it. People will see your advise and eventually, people will notice you and come to your blog.

Content hubs are websites that collect a certain type of content and use that to attract an audience. For example, SlideShare is a content hub that collects presentations. They have a really large audience of people looking for presentations. Re-purpose your content and put them on those content hubs and your audience will grow exponentially. You will bring in readers from many different sources.

When you write special reports and package them up in PDF format, take them and turn them into online special reports. Every page can be a blog post. Because the pages are interlinked, Google will see it as relevant and not only index it, but list it higher in searches. That type of content can become very successful. Drip the content out over time and Google will take notice of your interlinked content. If the content is focused on one theme, it will do really well.

Email and Blogging

The connection between email and blogging is very important. Email is critical to a blogger. If you have an email list, you can get people back to your blog on a regular basis. When people join your opt-in email list, you should email those people to let them know whenever you have a new blog post. When things are on your mind, email the people on your list. It builds a relationship. Building a maintaining an email address list is absolutely necessary to build your success over time. If you have a blog, get an email opt-in form on your blog immediately. Most of the people that come to your blog are new after a new blog article is posted because RSS (really simple syndication) has a pull and draws people in. So, the advantage of capturing those visitors’ email addresses is that you can re-seize those peoples’ attention and mobilize them. Write a special report and a good piece of content and people will join your email list. By capturing names and email addresses, you can build a loyal following. When you have something to sell, your email list makes all the difference in the world. Some bloggers say that their email list is what feeds their family. Create a product and offer it to your subscribers.

Your voice is unique. Everything that you have to say is important. There are a lot of bloggers out there, but you owe it to yourself to try. With all the blogging tips and strategies online, you can get up the learning curve very quickly and become a successful blogger.

Web Hosting and Blogging

Which software should you use for blogging?

WordPress is currently the most popular blogging platform. In many cases, you can get it for free with your web hosting account. And it is easy to install. For example, some web hosting providers offer WordPress installed with just a few clicks of your mouse inside your web hosting control panel. Don’t be intimidated by the technology. WordPress is easy to use and easy to learn. There are no barriers that are holding you back. So, start blogging and start today building your email list to build a loyal following. And when you ask yourself why you are working so hard to crank out content. Well, it’s because you are a blogger.

Building An Environment Of Ethical Behavior Ten Tips From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Business ethics has become and has remained a popular news topic in today’s world thanks to Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Adelphia, et al. We have read and heard about the “waiving of the ethics code or standard” and where compromises were made to ethical standards for business advantages. And now we hear about zero tolerance for unethical behavior. It now seems as though the pendulum is swinging strongly in the direction of zero tolerance for unethical behavior based upon the reactions to ethics misconduct cases across the corporate landscape.

Good business leaders have ethics, character and integrity. To lead and operate an ethical organization, you have to create an environment for your people that allows them to operate in an ethical manner. Here are ten (10) tips from your strategic thinking business coach on how to build an environment of ethical behavior.

Tip #1: Create and adopt a formal written Company Code of Ethics for your business and distribute a copy to all employees.

Tip #2: Create and implement a formal system for reviewing, updating and enforcing the Company Code of Ethics.

Tip #3: Communicate the Company Code of Ethics and provide orientation and training for all employees.

Tip #4: Commit to ongoing training and reinforcement of ethical behavior and require employees to take refresher ethics course.

Tip #5: Lead by example and “walk the talk” of following the adopted Company Code of Ethics.

Tip #6: Reward ethical conduct.

Tip #7: Deal with unethical behavior swiftly, firmly and justly when it occurs. Everyone must be treated in the same fair and impartial manner.

Tip #8: Encourage all employees to take responsibility for their behavior and maintain a strong personal code of ethics.

Tip #9: Appoint an ombudsman or other confidential channel for employees to voice their concerns or report unethical behavior in a confidential manner and without fear of retribution. Appoint a formal committee to consider ethical issues in accordance with the Company Code of Ethics.

Tip #10: Promote zero tolerance for unethical behavior.

Top 10 Secret Tips for Online Business Success

Online businesses don’t succeed by accident or without effort. Out of the thousands of would-be entrepreneurs who start an online business every year, only a small percentage will succeed. A recent survey estimates that a stunning 90% of new internet business fail within the first year.

You can avoid being part of that unsettling statistic. I have put together the top 10 secret tips for online business success. These may not be what you’re expecting to hear, but if more entrepreneurs heeded them there will be a lot more success stories.

1. Have a Plan

Everything begins with a plan. In principle, online business is no different from a real world brick and mortar business. People who fail in online business are very often those who think making money online “sounds like a good idea” instead of seeing it as a real business. They jump in without any idea of what they want to do or how to run their business.

Planning should involve:

– what type of business you’re going to start online

– what it will cost

– how you will market it

– what tools and skills you need to start

– how you will finance your online business efforts

– how much time you have to spend on it

– how and where you will network and make business connections

Without taking stock of factors like these before you even begin, you’ll be lucky to achieve any kind of success.

2. Add Action

Taking action is what separates most online business successes from the failures.

That “Earn a Million Online” seminar you went to, presented by the top online business minds? It’s worth nothing if you don’t act on what you learn.

That ebook full of secret online business strategies? They are of no worth until you actually use them.

That brilliant product idea swimming around in your head? Stop dreaming about it and create it.

While there are other factors as well, you must realize that you can’t win the game if you’re not in the game. Never let the fear of failure stop you. If you never try, you’ve already failed.

3. Learn to Test and Track

Yes, it can be a pain to test and track your results… until you finally do it and realize how much money you’ve been leaving on the table.

Imagine writing a sales letter for your $30 product and it converts 2% of all visitors into sales. A hundred sales per month is $3,000 in your pocket.

Now, imagine if, by simply changing the headline on that sales letter it converts 3% of visitors into sales? You would have been losing $1,500 per month.

Testing and tracking are crucial in tweaking your marketing campaigns for maximum profit, especially when you are paying for traffic.

4. Forget About Perfection

Repeat after me: it doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to work.

Many people spend months tweaking their websites on their computers without putting them online. They spend months trying to perfect a product instead of publishing and marketing it.

Don’t get bogged down in trying to have everything just right before launching.

An ugly website that’s actually live on the internet can make money and can be tweaked to perform better. A beautiful one sitting unpublished on your hard drive will not only make no money, but won’t even provide you with any real-world data for improving it.

Create it, then get it out there. Warts and all.

5. Maintain Your Focus

Focus on doing one thing at a time, and doing it well. Getting your business off the ground is the hardest part. Focusing on too many tasks, too many avenues of income and pursuing too many different opportunities will dilute your efforts and lead to confusion and overwhelm.

Many new online entrepreneurs suffer from this because there are so many income opportunities available. They start one thing, then abandon it for the next shiny opportunity that comes along. Pretty soon they’re stuck between 7 or 8 unfinished projects with no income and a lot of disillusionment.

Realize that you cannot chase them all. Decide on the business you’re going to start with, and focus your efforts on that.

6. Build Multiple Traffic Streams

There are a myriad of ways to generate traffic online. The more of them you can use, the bigger your potential income and the safer your online livelihood will be.

For example, if you decided to do affiliate marketing and your only source of traffic is Google, you are on shaky ground. If Google decides to penalize your sites for whatever reason, or an algorithm change sinks your rankings, most of your income can disappear overnight.

Make sure that, over time, you set up different income streams that draw their traffic from different sources. The “all eggs in one basket” approach is a dangerous one in the volatile online marketing arena.

7. Build & Maintain a Mailing List

This is still one of the most important secrets to online business success. A well-maintained mailing list can make you money every time you broadcast a message. It is a robust and trend-proof way to secure an online income.

Build your list and treasure it. Provide value to your subscribers and build a strong relationship with them.

8. Provide Value

Truly valuable websites, products and services take on a life of their own. They get more social sharing, more word-of-mouth exposure and affiliates are more likely to promote them.

It is possible to make money online by selling low quality products or building low quality websites. The problem is you’re going to have to do all the work and start from scratch every time your spammy content gets trashed by the search engines, or when the bad reputation of your product starts killing its sales.

9. Kick the Destructive Myths

Have you ever heard any of these phrases:

– Make money while you sleep

– Be your own boss and work when you want to

– Make $X00,000 dollars working just 2 hours a day

These are they typical myths and hype that marketers use to sell the online business dream. Is it any wonder then that so many start-ups fail?

Acquire a business mindset: one that expects hard work, failures, long hours and a stiff learning curve before it expects rewards. Just that simple shift will already put you way ahead of most new online business owners.

10. Learn to Outsource

This is a hard one for the control freaks out there. If you want something done right, do it yourself. Right?

That philosophy may be true in some cases, but in online business it will hold you back. Time really is money, and you need to use what precious time you have to focus on your strengths.

You will definitely have a few bad experiences with outsourcing. However, once you’ve separated the good from the bad, you’ll have gathered a handful of reliable people helping you build your business just the way you would have done it yourself, and perhaps even better.

Good luck with your online business. Ignore the hype, do your planning, work hard and never give in to the fear of failure.

Women’s Business Fashion Tips – Enter The Corporate World With Confidence

The world is changing and women are moving ahead with confidence. We all know that the corporate world nowadays is filled with a lot of women candidates. In this article we are going to lend you some key tips regarding the business casual fashion tips for women. If you are a working woman then this article is tailor made for you. All you need to do is to go through this article and understand the below mentioned points carefully.

It is pretty essential to note that girls have better options available to them when it comes to dressing in a nice way. However, there are certain factors that determine your office look. You need to consider them carefully. I must tell you that fashion choices available for women are simply outstanding. If you are a girl then you can certainly adjust your clothing to all types of environments, Ranging from short dresses, skirts and slacks to official suits, girls can wear just about anything.

One of the key things to remember is that you should feel comfortable in whatever you are wearing. A day in the office wearing uncomfortable clothing can become unbearable. There are also certain fashion errors that most of the women experience during their working days. You need to avoid these fashion mistakes at all costs. To prevent these mistakes, you must check out the current prevailing trends in woman’s fashion magazines. Accessories can really add the attractiveness of your attire. You must team up your official suit with apt amount of accessories.

The clothes that you wear should complement the workplace environment in the best possible way. Now, let us discuss a few key points that you must consider in this regard.

• You need to choose the fabrics with absolute care. Wool, silk and cotton are some of the most popular ones. They are really popular in most of the companies worldwide.
• The next thing that you need to do is to choose the right color for yourself. Black and navy blue are the two colors that are really best suited for working women.
• Your clothes should be absolutely clean and wrinkle free. Otherwise it could leave a bad impression on your bosses.
• Purchase a good quality blouse that goes well with your attire.
• Choosing the right footwear is also very important. It allows you to stay comfortable all the time. Your shoes should be properly polished and in good condition.
• Leather shoes are best suited for workplaces. You need to consider buying them from the market.
• Scarves and bracelets can really make your life easy when it comes to wearing fashion accessories.

These are some of the key points that you need to consider in business fashion. Make sure you read all of these tips carefully. If you are really planning to work on your looks and appearance then you need to make sure that you purchase the right wardrobe. Otherwise you might really end up on the losing side. I hope this article offers you some help with your business wardrobe. Enjoy a lot!

Tips to Apply for Your Dream Job

When applying for job opportunities online, there are certain things that you will need to consider. Here is a list of top things to look at before hitting the ‘apply’ button.

Search for jobs based on type of job or job category. Apply to categories that are of interest to you and that you are well qualified for. For example if you have experience in retail sales or counter sales, apply for jobs in the sales category.
Look at the work timings Some jobs have normal 9-5 but some may have evening shifts which may not be suitable for all candidates. If you have a family, night/evening shifts may prove to be difficult for your family so keep that in mind. Part time jobs should also be considered if you are looking at making extra cash.
Find a job close to home. If you live far away from the desired job consider how long it would take you to get to work because this may affect your work performance and transport costs.
It is also important to look at the years of experience required. Some employers are looking for freshers while other will need experienced candidates. Always be on the lookout for employers who want your level of experience, trust me they are there.
Look for your desired salary. If the salary offered is less than what you want, do not apply for the job. Employers find it annoying when they interview candidates who ask for a higher salary than what was quoted in the job description. The ideal salary is one that allows you to pay for all your expenses and leaves you with some savings. However, do not reject jobs because of the salary, sometimes the experience is worth it!
Another mistake is applying for a job that you are not academically qualified for. When an employer asks for 10th standard and you have a university degree, you are definitely overqualified for the job.
While applying for a job keep in mind your career goals. Some jobs will give you an opportunity to grow from a fresher position to an assistant manager position in a few years while come might keep you in the same level.
There are significant differences when it comes to the size of the company. Working for a big company means that you might have access to better facilities and a better salary. However some small companies are also known to have good salaries and are more flexible.
Some companies normally employ fresher because they place emphasis on the job training. If you are a fresher this would be the ideal company as not only do get a salary but you also get quality training that makes other companies attracted to you.
There are companies that give employees additional perks such as free lunch, transport & other benefits. Such benefits make the work environment better as well as helping you save money.

Ultimately, your passion determines whether you will get the job or not. If you are simply applying for a job because you are jobless, the employer will see your desperation. But if you are passionate and well qualified for the job an employer is likely to hire you. Finally have clear mindset that you will stay on the job and avoid job hopping after every three months.

Quick Copy! Tips for Freelance Writers to Increase Income & Output (Part II of II)

The following is a continuation of the six tips I outline for increasing freelancing writing income and output in yesterday’s post. Without further ado:

4. Series: As in, split longer articles into Part I, Part II, etc. I like writing series for two reasons: i) I get more legs out of one subject; ii) I sell more, which can lead to more work from a publication.

After all, if a publisher likes your work enough to buy a series from you, they’ll probably be open to working with you on a more regular basis. This works well for publishers in some instances because, like a cliffhanger on a TV series, it keeps their readers coming back.

5. Write What You Don’t Know (In Bits): Eventually, you are going to run short on topics you know about – especially if you are in the habit of producing a certain volume of work.

Writing about what you don’t know broadens your body of work and your knowledge base. Researching a piece will usually lead to ideas for more articles.

NOTE: Writing about what you don’t know is going to take more time than writing about what you know. So, you will be producing less. To counteract this, write about what you don’t know in pieces. Eg, research it over a few days so as not to take away from your output too severely.

6. Write Tech: This type of writing usually pays more. The reason I single out this genre, rather than say, medicine, is that most use technology. We just don’t think about it because it is so commonplace.

You’d be amazed at how many people don’t know simple things you may take for granted. Eg, adding a signature to your email, saving pictures from a digital camera onto a computer, downloading songs into an iPod, etc.

I was listening to Z100, a popular radio station in Atlanta, a few weeks ago and I heard the host of the show, Bert, say that he had no clue how to download songs from the Internet. You’d think that if anyone would know this, it would be someone like him.

I got an iPod for Christmas, and I’m clueless as to how to download songs into (onto?) it? See, I don’t even know which phrase fits. Until my 13-year-old nephew gets time in his busy schedule for his Auntie, that’s just going to have to wait.

My point, you just never know who needs the information you take for granted. So, don’t take the tech knowledge you do have for granted. Make it pay – and do the rest of us a favor. “Loading Your iPod” – article anyone?

How to Reduce Wastage of Office Stationery and Supplies – Some Useful Tips and Tricks!

“A penny saved is a penny earned.” – Benjamin Franklin (One of the Founding Fathers of the United States)

One of the primary concerns of most businesses and organisations is being cost effective and ensuring that the company funds are put to good use. The right way to achieve this is not by reducing procurement but by reducing wastage and misuse of office supplies and stationery, which can actually punch a big hole into the company funds and increase overhead costs in the long run.

The two main areas of office supplies that are generally more prone to get wasted are Stationery and Paper Products. However, the good news is that all one needs is just a little bit of caution and care to curb this wastage. That’s why; starting today, let’s make conservation a habit not just for environmental causes but even in the office as well.

Keep a Check on Office Stationery to Reduce Wastage!

Without anyone to manage and keep an eye on office stationery, their consumption can often go out of hand. Appointing an in-charge for managing office supplies and stationery is a good idea to ensure that they are not being misused.

a) This way it will also help you understand which office supplies are most in-demand and which lie at the bottom as redundant resources, to help you order appropriately the next time.

b) Instead of simply handing over office stationery every time an employee asks for it, keep a track in an office stationery register. With this step, once the numbers are in front of them, employees will automatically get conscious of borrowing office stationery like pens or notepads too often and will try to use them judiciously.

c) As a more frantic measure, you can also assign specific office stationery and their respective quantities for each employee per month based on his or her role. So if everyone knows that they can get only three pens or one marker in a month, they will take care to not lose it.

Reuse and Recycle Paper and Paper Products!

Another highly misused and wasted office supplies are paper. According to the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance, the average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year. Surely, most of us can make do with a little less! While paper is recyclable, don’t you think it’s a better idea to cut down on its wastage at the primary level as even for recycling, the paper needs to be collected, transported and processed, which, in-turn is an additional expense.

a) The first thing to do here is to educate and create awareness amongst employees. You can start a ‘Save Paper – Save Trees’ campaign at your work place, rewarding employees who strictly follow this practice.

b) Use one-sided paper that’s no longer needed to make notes and rough drafts instead of using fresh paper, post-its and notepads every time.

c) You can also use paper once shredded as packaging supplies to protect fragile items while shipping.

d) Save printer paper by encouraging employees to print on both sides whenever possible.

e) Likewise, you can re-use envelopes, packaging supplies and cardboard boxes that your company has received.

Even small measures taken at the right time can lead to big changes. We hope following these simple yet effective tips will help reduce wastage of office supplies in the long run at your workplace!

3 Tips to Find the Best BPO Service Provider for Your Business

Most businesses, whether domestic or international have started using the outsourcing leverage extensively. It is natural and obvious as well. With businesses expanding like never before and technology and methods of communication being constantly innovated, the need for external teams to handle your non- core processes is increasing.

Further BPO service providers have also evolved into KPOs which means that if you source out your operations, you actually can use multiple skills and focus on your core business. The real question however is to know about how to select the right service provider suited to your business needs. Let us look at 3 ways in which an ideal BPO solutions provider can be differentiated from the others.

Business Continuity Plan

Find out if your potential partner has a strong and robust business continuity plan in place. Evaluate their plans on the basis of your needs. Are you in a business which serves customers globally? Are you running an e- portal? Or is it the inbound sales you’re outsourcing? If you’re a big food brand that needs to outsource its inbound sales, then you need someone who’s capable of hiring extra support staff on bench.

If you’re a business into energy and utilities or have an actively running e – portal, then you might want the online customer support BCP to be more robust than the telephonic. However, if you’re a bank or the credit card division of a bank, you might in fact want someone who operates from multiple physical and / or geographical locations.

Cost Arbitrage

Reduced overhead cost is one of the major factors that need to be kept in mind in order to find the right service providing match. So, before you finalize on your potential Business Process Outsourcing solutions provider, make sure that you compare costs.

Also you will need to ensure if the cost arbitrage still covers all the business needs you have. What this means is that you do not wish to suffer on the quality or the levels and standards of service provided to you, just because you’ve found a relatively low – cost solution provider.

Homework

Before you finalize the name, another thing you need to keep in mind is whether or not your prospect for sourced out solutions has done sufficient homework. Do they understand your industry well? Do they understand your brand? Do they believe in similar business values as you do?

These questions certainly are tough to judge, but they are as important as any other question. In most cases, it is very difficult to ascertain past references, given the fact that most companies prefer keeping their external teams undeclared. There are NDAs and other relevant information involved.

Mompreneur Success – 5 Self Care Tips to Maintain Work-Life Balance

The first time I saw Anita Renfroe’s “Momsense” video, I laughed. The second time, I cried.

Giving birth is challenging, but being a mom, is and art and a science. It requires incredible grace under pressure, skill, and an ability to let much of the stress of life roll right off your back, because we’re “on duty” 24 hours a day.

Kid wakes up screaming in the middle of the night? Mom’s up and at ’em.

Kid gets sick at school? Mom to the rescue.

Flat tire in the middle of nowhere? Mom’s calling “Triple A”, or she’s changing it herself.

Now, I’m not saying that Dads aren’t responsible folk. They are. But when Mom and Dad are BOTH sick, who’s taking care of the kids?

Yep, that’d be Mom.

And who’s running the business, wearing the pearls, moppin’ the floor, fixin the dinner, doing the laundry, and tendin’ to the home front?

Good ol’ mom.

Okay, I admit, hubby does the laundry in my house, but you get the idea I’m driving at here. I’m not taking anything away from Dad. Dad works hard, but as Anita Renfroe so meticulously puts it in her video, we do (and say) a ton of stuff for our family. Some good, some less than wonderful, but we’re active in the lives of our loved ones. We’re looking out for them, we’re taking care of them.

Who’s taking care of us?

When we’re minding the store, the kids, the husband, the home, what are we doing to take care of us?

Self-care is a growing concern among working moms. One look at the Wikipedia entry for work-life balance leads me to believe that self-care is even MORE important for Mom entrepreneurs. With many of us building our empires with children at home, we’re dodging the “guilt” bullet by keeping our kids out of day care, but we’re even more frazzled trying to “do it all”. It’s no wonder Renfroe picked the William Tell overture to speedily share all the “isms” that we Mom’s dish out on a daily basis. We’re wound so tight that we probably really DO talk that fast!

Here are a few tips to incorporate into your day to give you mini doses of self-care:

Breathe. Waiting in a long line? Take a few deep, calming breaths. Use that time to de-compress. While others around you are growing more impatient, see this time as an opportunity to practice gratitude, patience, and bring a little solitude to your day. When I find myself stuck at a train crossing, I take it as a sign that I need to slow down and re-focus. So I do. Breathing deeply, relaxing my shoulders, and maybe even closing my eyes for a minute. Sometimes my kids will play along – then everyone is a it more relaxed!
Clarify. Get clear on what’s really important. This can be on a daily or weekly basis. Take some time to examine your priorities, and focus on what is most important. Realize that if you’re like me, you’ll always find SOMETHING that needs to be done – and that most days not everything on that list will get accomplished. Instead, focus on what I call the Big Rocks – the must do’s – that will move your life and business forward for the day.
Make self-care a priority. Schedule it like any other business appointment. Don’t tell people you’re scheduling self-care (you might feel guilty). Tell people you have a conflicting appointment that you can’t possibly reschedule. The first few times, you may feel a twinge of guilt. Once you get used to “putting on your own oxygen mask first”, you’ll quickly discover just how important taking time to care for your own needs really is.
Mitigate guilt with unselfish rewards. For those Moms that really struggle with doing anything for themselves (including needed doctor visits – you know who you are), commit to an unselfish reward for taking care of yourself. You could opt to take the kids out for ice cream after your visit to the Chiropractor, or give your girlfriend a special thank-you gift for watching the kids while you took some time out from the day. The act of doing for someone else usually helps dissipate any feelings of guilt associated with taking care of yourself, because you’ll actually be doing something nice for someone else as well!
Look for ‘joy joggers’. It could be a favorite song on your mp3 player, or a poem you loved as a young girl. Maybe it’s a picture or memory that brings some joy to your day. Strategically locate these “joy joggers” around your space. Like a memory jogger, these little reminders give you a small moment of joy each time you encounter them. Sprinkle them generously around your home, car and workspace, so that no space is considered the doldrums. Even if it means carrying it in a pocket or purse and taking it out periodically to enjoy. Joy joggers a forms of micro self-care.

It’s long overdue that we moms start mothering ourselves once in a while. Whether it’s a joy jogger, a time out, or a doctor’s appointment, make sure you’re taking time to tend to your own needs as well as all the other needs of your loved ones. The life you save may be your own!