How to Take Advantage of National Small Business Week & Tips for Time Management

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Most entrepreneurs know what to do, they just need more time to do it! Here's an article I found that can help everyone struggling with "too much to do" syndrome.

Top 7 Time Management Tips

Manage your time and use it wisely, it is a journey and not something that can be easily mastered overnight. Implementing a plan will help, but it is not going to be a definite cure. Time management requires a significant amount of self-discipline.

Here are some tips to assist you with time management.

1. Set Goals

Set both short-term and long-term goals for your work per day, work per week, and work per year. It may seem to take the time to make a difference by written list of your goals, which will allow you to refer back to the list when you need some guidance. Keep in mind that it is good to adjust the goals as your business needs or your role changes. use them as tools to guide you.

2. Mini-Rewards

All work and no play is a difficult concept to sustain for very long. Build rewards into your schedule. If there is a task you really dislike, follow it with a task that you greatly enjoy. Build "mini-rewards" into your schedule to increase your productivity.

3. Keep Lists

Keep a running "To Do" list. The To Do list should contain both daily tasks as well as longer-term tasks. Having a To do list will help keep your attention on the projects that require attention, and prevent some items from slipping through the cracks and being forgotten.

4. Be Realistic

Keep your expectations realistic. No one can do everything, Keep that it mind, try to set realistic expectations of what you can hope to accomplish.

5. Prioritize

Prioritize the list of things to do. Some items might require immediate attention, while others may be necessary but not that urgent. After prioritizing, try not to become a "firefighter" and only react to the urgent items. Be sure to still give proper attention to non-urgent items as well, as they are important too.

6. Use Time Wisely

If there are blocks of time that you spend waiting or commuting, figure out ways to use that time being productive! Listening to podcasts, reading, writing, proof-reading, reviewing your schedule, planning for your next activity, etc, are all things that can usually be done remotely to fill in some of the unavoidable "dead" time in your schedule. Try to find interesting and unusual productive things to do during those periods of downtime.

7. Set limits

Set reasonable time limits for tasks. When working on those tasks, monitor the time that each task is taking.

Habilis (http://www.ihabilis.com/) provide Lifestyle Management and Virtual Assistants to help you stay shipshape at all times. Making appointments, booking flights, even sending out flowers - we do all this and more. Or, you could use us for your work side of things (think presentations, competitor analysis, web research).

Source: http://Top7Business.com/?expert=Janice_Taylor

Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

By Sherese Duncan, www.shereseduncan.biz

How are you doing with your transmogrification? Are you moving forward at a rewarding rate? Or have things slowed down recently? Is your life visibly changing the way you want it to? Or are you still stuck with the same problems?

I woke up this morning thinking about the economy and two people I’m training -- two well established business owners. It's been a little over six months since they started their respective programs -- and although they are very happy with their results and progress, they are now stuck.

Don’t worry, they won’t know who they are but a lot of business owners can relate to what’s going on with them. First, let me say it's very frustrating for me, because I can see the benefits: a much larger income, money in the bank, a much more satisfying business, and the possibility of having everything they’ve always wanted -- and earning a great living from it.

When I say frustrating, it’s not a negative, it’s more of “I wish they could see what I see,” feeling. Because though I can see the finish line, they are standing still. They have each put in many of hours of work, and if you know me you know I put you to work, and they have followed my advice about organizing an income-focused strategy. They were doing sooo well even in a tough economy.

So why have they stopped? Why are they stuck?

There could be many reasons. But here’s the reason we discovered and it was a major breakthrough for moving beyond the barriers:

They have done everything they could do comfortably and have arrived at a place where they've never been before…

It was time for them to move into the “Discomfort Zone…”

Any new step forward now is a step out of their comfort zone which is very scary and uncomfortable. Believe me, I know.

My clients had a very hard time getting out of their comfort zone; I recommended starting with baby steps. I told them, “don’t tackle anything that will completely turn your world upside down, instead maybe try turning left to go to the store vs. turning right. You never know what you might find.”

If you can identify with my clients, you can now say you’re not alone; a lot of people have this stumbling block. You have to realize when you get in your little place where you are comfortable but unhappy. Inside you know that it’s not going to grow your business or expand your growth as a person, so you have to want to succeed, you have to be open to new things and you have to take the initiative and get transmogrified!

As of today, both clients are transmogrifying step by step and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Now is NOT the time to be comfortable – you might miss some great opportunities to move beyond any barriers you’re facing today.

You have to let go of that comfort zone which is really a fear zone.

Get the heck out of your comfort zone!

Hear the interview with Louis Green here:

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About the Author:

Small Business Strategist Sherese Duncan has been working with small business owners for over 12 years. In 2001, she launched Effició, Inc., a business education and consulting firm, to help business owners build, grow, sustain, and maintain profitable business enterprises. However, do not confuse her with (just) being a business coach; instead, Duncan is a “trusted, confident strategic partner,” who helps her clients “create the wealth and a complete, whole and balanced life that they want through entrepreneurship.” Duncan and her company are all about execution and results. Duncan received her bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University and her MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. She is involved in a variety of industry-related organizations, and recently celebrated the one year anniversary of her premier online school, The School of Business for Entrepreneurs. Most importantly, Duncan is known for her fun, motivating, highly interactive style that focuses on real-world solutions you can put to use immediately.

Simply put, her business approach works.

Learn with Sherese:

• Get your FREE Transmogrification Newsletter (free ebook included)
• Get your FREE SBE eLearning 7-Day Briefcase (free products included
• Take strategic business courses in the School of Business for Entrepreneurs

© SD Global

Make YOUR Business a Super Success: Commit to Resolve Throughout the Year

Statistics show that 7 out of 10 businesses chronically under perform and are not fulfilling the owner’s strategic plan or vision.

According to the US Small Business Administration, 50% of businesses actually fail within the first 12-18 months.

So, what ARE YOU GOING TO DO DIFFERENT?

Commit to Resolve Throughout the Year


Make your resolutions today and throughout the year to become a better you. January 1st is when most people sit down and assess their goals and recommit to the goals that they didn’t accomplished from the past year. It is great to have goals and to recommit, but why wait? We should recommit to the goals in our lives on a more periodic basis rather than once a year.

Think about it. We set goals we want to reach then after about three weeks of committing to them we stop following through with the commitment. Why is that?

Look at it this way... you charge your cell phone everyday in order to maximize performance and battery life the next day, right? Why not take the same approach to living a better life? Recharge your battery often so that you are producing at the point of maximum performance.

When setting resolutions for life or business set realistic goals, don’t set goals that are truly unattainable. When setting goals you need to become self aware so that you are creating goals that are within your reach. So I challenge you to resolve to make a change today – right now – to resolve throughout the year in order to achieve your maximum performance.

Are you with me?

About the Author: DeLores Pressley, Motivational Speaker and Personal Power Expert, is one of the most respected and sought-after experts on success, motivation, confidence and personal power.

She is an international keynote speaker, author, life coach and the Founder of the Born Successful Institute and DeLores Pressley Worldwide. Her story has been touted in Glamour, Washington Post, Black Enterprise, First for Women, Essence, New York Daily News, Ebony and Marie Claire. She is a frequent media guest and has been interviewed on every major network: (ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX) including America ’s top rated shows; OPRAH and Entertainment Tonight.

DeLores’ client list range from Fortune 500 companies to government agencies, including Procter and Gamble, Roche Pharmaceutical, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Caribbean Association of Administrative Professionals (CAAP) and the FirstEnergy Corporation. She has authored Clean Out the Closet of Your Life, Believe in the Power of You and It Ain’t Over. She has received many awards and recognitions for her work.

Hear her on the Diverse Business show

Location Based Marketing Survey & Interview with S

Tech Talk...with Wayne Sutton on the Diverse Business Show



via SoicalWayne.com and The Location Based Marketing Association

Originally posted on SocialWayne.com Read more: http://socialwayne.com/2011/01/03/infographic-location-deals-check-ins-demographics/#ixzz1A1FSBCpd
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Share Alike

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Small business: The do's and don'ts of blogging

It's not about if you have a blog and you're a business owner, but how is the blog being used. Here is a good article from a few years back that can help you with the basics. If you need more support, attend this online event: http://bit.ly/pambloggingsummit

Photo credit: Newsday, 2007 / Ken Spencer | Blogging for a business is good, but obviously as this photo illustration show, there is a time and a place and they do not include the time behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Jamie Herzlich

Herzlich writes the Small Business column in Newsday.

With the explosive growth in social media, it's no wonder that more companies are turning to sites like Twitter and LinkedIn to help promote their brands.

A recent survey of 172 marketeers found that 66 percent of respondents were utilizing social media in 2009, up from 20 percent in 2007, according to the New York-based Association of National Advertisers, which conducted the survey with BtoB Magazine and marketing communications firm 'mktg'.

Since this influences the market, it's important for companies to understand how to effectively use social media platforms and avoid some of the more common mistakes in order to maximize online branding efforts, experts say.

"It isn't enough just to have an account," explains Denise Wakeman of DeniseWakeman.com, a Los Angeles-based online marketing and blogging consultancy. "The key is participation."

If you're not interacting and communicating with your audience, then you're wasting your time, she notes.

With that said, here are a few social media marketing mistakes to avoid if you want to make the greatest impact:

1. Inconsistency. If you commit to a social network, then stay visible to your audience by regularly tweeting, updating your Facebook page, etc., says Debbie Weil, a Washington, D.C.-based corporate social media consultant and author of "The Corporate Blogging Book'' (Portfolio; $23.95). If you're not consistently providing useful and/or relevant information to your audience, they'll lose interest, she says.

2. Being too elusive. Make sure when people go to your social networking page they see more than just a company logo. Attach a name and a face to your profile or description, Weil says. "Be a person," she says, noting that even cable giant Comcast ties a face to its Twitter site, @comcastcares, by posting a photo and contact information for its twitterer-customer service manager, Frank Eliason.

3. Being too self-promotional. Too often, companies use social networking sites to just tout themselves, says Hilary Topper, author of "Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Social Media, But Were Afraid to Ask" (iUniverse; $27.95) and president of HJMT Communications, a public relations and social media firm in Westbury. It's OK to promote your company, but it shouldn't be the main focus, Topper says. "If I tweet five times a day, one in five might be promotional," she says.

4. Making it all about business. You're trying to use social media to create conversations and relationships, so don't be afraid to get a bit personal, Topper says. "There's a balance," she notes, adding that there's nothing wrong with showing your human side with some personal posts.

5. Failing to engage. Spark conversations by posting relevant links, articles, commenting on other people's sites, etc., recommends Arthur Germain of Communication Strategy Group, an East Northport-based brand marketing agency.

"Listen to your prospects and customers and have a conversation," he says. Posting photos can be a great way to engage your audience, too.

The Inn at Fox Hollow understands this and has a photo gallery on its Facebook page, as well as links back to photos on its main Web site through specials it posts on Twitter.

The Woodbury hotel launched a new Web site last year and also has a blog, general manager Franklin Manchester says.

6. Collecting followers and "friends". Some businesses base their success on the number of friends or followers they have in their social networks, Germain says. It's less about numbers than about trying to build a relevant community and having good conversations with people, he says.

7. Having no blog. A blog can be a great place to direct social media traffic since it's more conversational than a corporate site. "Your blog is your home base," Wakeman says.

source: Newsday, September 7, 2009 12:45 PM By JAMIE HERZLICH jherzlich@aol.com