Linked In Profile: Are You Missing This Opportunity?
Linked In is a social networking site, focused on making professional contacts instead of personal ones. While it is a great resource for anyone job hunting, small business owners can use it to show expertise and experience to potential clients.
Do you have a profile on Linked In? If you do, are you taking full advantage of it?
Linked In is a way to put your work experience online. The rule for keeping paper resumes short still holds, but with Linked In you have all the room you need to list a detailed work history, and include special assignments, side projects, and volunteer work that might not make it onto the paper resume. Summarize your experience and list your specialties in those sections to let viewers get a quick overview of your background and knowledge.
Don’t think anyone reads it? Think again. I recently did work for a client where I researched people with a certain job skill. How can I determine if you have and use this skill if you don’t list what your job actually entails? Job titles are helpful, but can vary between businesses, so a list of your job duties, qualifications earned, and areas you’ve gained expertise in are very important.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity. Someone searching for certain words or phrases won’t find you if you don’t have them listed in your profile.
As 2009 draws to a close, end the year by looking at all your social media profiles and updating those that need it. Complete your Linked In profile; update your Twitter bio; make sure you’re not tagged on unwanted photos on Facebook. You only get one chance to make a first impression – make sure it is a good one.
And while you are working on your Linked In profile, why not connect with me there? My profile is http://www.linkedin.com/in/gladysbstrickland, and yes, it is being updated over the next week!
BarCamp Memphis
More fun this Saturday in Memphis!! That’s right, Bar Camp Memphis happens this Saturday, November 14th.
The Unconference takes place at the Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering and features expert sessions in the morning, a wonderful lunch, and an afternoon of sessions and Core Convos that are selected by the participants.
After attending SocialCamp in September, I am looking forward to connecting with some great people, and filling my head with more ideas than I can possible handle.
If you are in Memphis, you should be there.
Registration for BarCamp Memphis is easy and online. Come help make Bar Camp Memphis something special!
Going To Camp
Social Camp Memphis
Where will you be on September 19th? I’ll be at Social Camp Memphis and you should be too!
Why should you be there? Because it will be fun, because it will be informative, and because you will get to hang out with some really cool people! Trust me on this – if I choose to spend an entire day inside, it must be worth while.
Here’s the details:
Saturday, September 19, 2009
8:00 – 5:00
Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering
1254 Jefferson Avenue
Memphis, TN 38104
For more information, go to Social Camp Memphis. To register click here. And follow on Twitter @socialcampmem.
Hope to see you there!
Blog Tour – So You Want To Be A Work-At-Home Mom
Today I am pleased to be a part of the blog tour for So You Want To Be A Work-At-Home Mom by Jill Hart and Diana Ennen! As a mom who works from home a lot of the time, this book sounds like something I definitely need to check out. Keep reading for an overview of the book, information about the authors, and a Q and A section with them.
Interested in purchasing the book? Just follow the links in the article!
Home-based businesses are estimated to be a $427 billion-a-year industry. In recent studies it was found that as many as 105 million people in North America alone were working at home. Considering this information, it is obvious that home-based businesses can be successful and authors Jill Hart and Diana Ennen will help you succeed with your own.
So You Want to Be a Work-at-Home Mom details all the basics of starting a business in a spiritual, motivational, and comprehensive manner. From deciding what type of business to start to keeping your family and faith first, this helpful tool details every aspect of establishing a business. With proven success tips utilized by the authors and others who own work-at-home businesses, this inspiration approach will provide you with the resources you need to start your own home-based business.
So You Want to Be a Work-at-Home Mom includes:
* Detailed information on types of businesses to start
* Ideas and assistance for setting up, operating, and marketing your business
* Definitions and descriptions of work-at-home terminology and processes
* Help for developing your Website
* Explanations of the business nuts and bolts, including bookkeeping, taxes, and more
About the Authors
JILL HART is the founder of Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com. Jill is a co-author of So You Want To Be a Work-at-Home Mom. Jill has published many articles and is a contributing author in Laundry Tales, The Business Mom Guide Book, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, and Faith Deployed. She holds a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies. Learn more about working from home at http://www.cwahm.com/work-at-home/ .
DIANA ENNEN has been a leader and mentor in the work-at-home industry since starting her business, Virtual Word Publishing, in 1985. She is the author of many books, including Virtual Assistant the Series; Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA and Words from Home: Start, Run, and Profit from a Home-Based Word Processing Business. She resides in Margate, Florida, with her husband and their three children.
Below is an interview with the authors of So You Want To Be a Work-at-Home Mom – Jill & Diana.
If have questions they are happy to answer your questions anytime. Leave a comment below or email Jill@cwahm.com or Diana@virtualwordpublishing.com
How long have you been working at home?
Jill Hart – I’ve been working at home since 2000. I had to go back to work full-time for a brief period in 2003 when my husband got out of the Air Force. At that point I got even more serious about making my business work and I’ve been home full-time since then.
Diana Ennen – I’ve been working at home since 1985, when my son was born. He’s now graduated college and already working towards his own career. I absolutely love it. I can’t imagine doing anything else.
What types of businesses do you operate?
Jill Hart – I run Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com, a website full of free resources, job listings and information about home businesses. I also write articles and books (yes, more books to come!) and am a blogger for sites like Time/Warner’s Christian Momlogic.com and a member of the Guideposts blogger team
Diana Ennen– I’m the President of Virtual Word Publishing. I’m a virtual assistant and specialize in marketing & publicity. I’ve also written numerous books on how to start a VA business and offer PR and VA Coaching.
Tell us about your book? How do you think it can benefit those who want to start a business?
Jill Hart – The book has been such a “God thing.” He orchestrated the entire sequence of events – from putting Diana and I together as co-authors to bringing us to the right publisher. The book is a hands-on practical guide for anyone who wants to build a business from home. We cover topics ranging from how to select the right type of business for you, to how to get started, to how to market and grow your business.
Diana Ennen – I think one of the best features of our book is that it’s not only informative, but motivational as well. You’ll feel like friends are helping you on your journey to success. Also, we discuss numerous types of businesses to start and provide proven methods to achieve success. We also often hear how starting a business can be so overwhelming. That’s why we pay special attention to all the how tos. We feel very confident our book will help, not only those starting a business, but those already in business wanting to expand it.
What types of businesses are featured in your book?
Jill Hart – We have such a great range of contributors – everything from direct sales companies like Southern Living at Home and Avon to unique product-driven businesses like BSM Media and GrillCharms. These woman are amazing and give readers a great insight into how they’ve grown their businesses in very different ways.
Diana Ennen – We cover everything from direct sales companies to specialized areas such as medical transcription and virtual assisting. Also, Jill shares detailed information on starting a community based membership site. We think you’ll get a lot of helpful tips too from such work-at-home powerhouses as Maria Bailey and Lesley Spencer Pyle.
Do you have any tips for success for Christian entrepreneurs that you’d like to share?
Jill Hart – I think my favorite tip – shared with me by one of our contributors, Tammy Degenhart, almost ten years ago is that working together benefits everyone. She told me, “Jill, what you give to others God brings back tenfold” and I’ve seen that hold true time and time again. It may not be in financial gains and it may not look like what we expected but God is so faithful in that when we work together there is no competition – it’s a win-win situation.
Diana Ennen – Do what you believe in and use your own skills and prior experience to find the business that’s just right for you. Research/Research/Research. The more you research, the better your business. Continue to market and be out there. So many once they find a few clients stop marketing. You need to get out there continually. You then become the go to person when someone needs services or products that you offer.
What are some of the challenges that you see with those starting or operating a business?
Jill Hart – In my experience, I’ve talked with many women who get frustrated because success doesn’t come easily or quickly. Working from home may sound easy, but in reality it can actually be just as hard as working outside the home. There are many unique challenges, especially when working at home while raising children. If women don’t prepare themselves, they can become discouraged and disheartened.
Diana Ennen– One of the major challenges I see is losing belief in yourself that you can do it. That’s why I think a faith-based book will be so beneficial. Even when times get tough, you can rely on your faith to forge ahead.
With the economy, do you believe it’s still a good time to start a business? Why?
Jill Hart – I think it’s a better time than ever. The internet is so much more widely used than it was even nine years ago when I began my website. If people do their research and find a company that fits them as well as their budget this can be a great time to break into the work-at-home field.
Diana Ennen – Absolutely. In fact, I think there’s never been a better time. You might have to work a little harder, but it absolutely can be done. Plus, there are so many businesses who need us more than ever because of the economy. For example, with virtual assistants because businesses are downsizing they are seeking the help of a VA to help on an as needed basis.
Your book is written from a Christian perspective? Tell us a little about that and how you feel that makes it so unique?
Jill Hart – My faith is central to who I am and therefore central to my business. I began Christian Work at Home Moms because I wanted women to have a safe place where they could discuss not only business things, but also talk about an area that doesn’t get talked about a lot in business circles – how our faith affects our businesses. The book is written in a way that doesn’t hit anyone over the head with our faith, but it’s true to who we are and talks about things from the vantage point that we see life – through the lens of our faith.
Diana Ennen – There are so many books out there today on starting a business. However, few have the Christian mom in mind. We provide a lot of scriptures and examples of how you can use your faith to help you. Our hope is that not only will your business thrive, but it might just give a little boost to your faith as well.
Learn more about the book at Beacon Hill Press or SoYouWantToBeAWAHM.com.
Subscribing To Blogs
Last week Denise Wakeman posted a poll on the Build A Better Blog blog asking whether readers prefered to subscribe to blogs by RSS, email, or another means.
All the blogs I subscribe to come by RSS to my Google Reader. I have three email addresses going onto my inbox, and I don’t need any more mail in there to go through. The new posts sit in my Reader until I have a chance to look at them. This is what works for me, and that is fine.
What isn’t fine is that I failed to realize that not everyone would use this method. As Denise pointed out in her post, most people don’t know what RSS is, and get their updates by email. She had been told, however, that more people were using RSS, and so conducted to poll to see what her results would be.
She’s followed up with another post, and the results are this: 52% use email, 44% use RSS, and 4% use other.
While the results may be closer than some people thought, what it told me was that I could be missing out on a lot of people wanting to sign up for my blog. (OK, humor me and let me believe that a lot of people want to sign up for updates!) I had only offered the RSS option.
That is now corrected. I took a few minutes to learn how to add the email option, and if you look in the column on the right, it is there along with the RSS option.
Feel free to take advantage of this and sign up for either option!
Anyone else find this interesting? Have you offered both options on your blog? If so, what were your results?
Not sure how to add one or both options to your blog? I’ll have a WordPress tutorial posted later this week – and if you subscribe to this blog you won’t miss it!
Focusing on Time
If you check this blog with any regularity, you noticed that I never got a post up last week.
Bad, very bad.
One of my goals is to make regular posts, and I am pleased that I have been getting up 1-2 each week. I even drafted a post to go up early last week, but I never got back to it.
Now, I can blame my schedule, but I knew what was coming, so it wasn’t any surprise; I just never planned for it. Instead of editing the post last weekend, I did client work, got my son ready to go back to school, and took it easy. Taking a break was a very good thing, but I believe I could have done that AND gotten the blog post done, if I had managed my time better.
Time management is one of my issues, or perhaps it is the lack of time management. It is an area I need to focus on to grow my business, and as of last Thursday, I need to focus harder than ever.
Thursday morning I received word that funding for my position was a bit iffy for 2010. This did not surprise me, but having it told to me made it very real. I’ve been looking at taking GS Business Resources full-time, and this might be just the opportunity. I spent the next several hours rolling that around in my head, thinking how I’d spend the next 4 1/2 months growing my business, saving money, etc.
Then, mid-afternoon I got another phone call. The funding that was expected for the rest of this year had been sent in 2008 – and spent then. So, the money isn’t coming, and the organization doesn’t have any extra to cover it.
Wow.
While this is certainly scary, it may actually be the kick that I need to go after my dreams. And in order to do that, I HAVE to get myself organized and manage my time much better.So where do I begin? First, I went to Christine Kane’s Uplevel Your Business blog and watched the video and downloaded the daily schedule worksheet. Just watching the video gave me enthusiasm to start planning each and every day. I’ve started using the worksheet for each day this week, and while I like the structure it gives me, I know I’m going to have to tweak it some.
There is a part of me that resists being told to do something at a certain time; I want to have flexibility in my schedule. But I know that I need more structure as well. The more I hear about time management, the more I believe that giving myself an outline to my day is actually going to free up my creativity. I know when something is going to be worked on, so I don’t have to think or worry about it. And since I am setting my daily schedule, I can adjust it as needed (as I’ve already done several times on my first day – my printer stopped talking to my desktop computer this afternoon, so I’ve spent 3 hours trying to make them work together. Will need to schedule time tomorrow to go buy another printer.)
Next, I am going to order Time Management In An Instant by Karen Leland and Keith Bailey. I was part of the blog tour for the book’s launch, and in reading through various articles and blog posts Karen has written on time management, I know she understands the issues I face, and has practical solutions to meet them.
With each day, I believe I’m going to get a better sense of how to plan my day – what time of day I do some things better than others, where I tend to get off track, and where I need to allow more time. Look for an update in the next week or two to see what is working for me.
I am curious to know what tips and tricks you use to manage your time. Everyone thinks and works differently, but you never know when a method you developed can benefit someone else. Please post a comment and share your secrets!
Multi-Tasking
Who out there multi-tasks? I confess that I do – or at least I try to. Even in light of information (such as this article I read today) that show multi-tasking to be inefficient, I still believe I can do multiple things at once.
In looking over a typical day, however, I have discovered that there are ways I can get two things done at once without actually doing them both. While these won’t work for everyone’s situation, see if they may at least inspire you to accomplish more.
1) Wash laundry/dishes while working. Yes, I know this works only if you work from home (and works better if you have a washer and dryer in your home so you aren’t schlepping your work along with dirty clothes), but if you do, this is a great way to get multiple things done at once. Put the laundry on or start the dishwasher, then go to work. If you are really organized, pick items on your to-do list that you should be able to finish about the time the wash is.
2) Cook dinner in a slow cooker. This works whether you work at home or not. Put dinner in the slow cooker first thing in the morning, then forget about it until time to eat. I love not having to stop work to prepare dinner (since late afternoon seems to be a very productive time for me), and my home smells great all day. Need recipes? I’ve tried several from A Year of Slow Cooking, and haven’t been disappointed yet.
3) On the phone and on hold? How much time do we spend doing this? What can you do with this time? How about clean out your inbox? Don’t try to tackle any email that you have to think about and answer, but see how many can be deleted or archived. Go through and find the 2 or 3 most urgent to work on after you get off the phone. Likewise, take a paper folder or two and clean them out. Anything you instantly know can be thrown out, do it! If you’re not sure, save it for another time when you can give it your full attention.
4) If you’re trying to sort out some complex answer and the ideas just aren’t coming, take a break from work and go outside and do some physical activity. Doesn’t have to be strenuous and it doesn’t have to be for a long period of time, but I find that going for a walk or a swim while taking my mind completely off the problem will at the least put me in a better frame of mind when I go back to it. And sometimes, solutions appear I hadn’t even thought of.
Those are some ways I’ve found to be a more efficient multi-tasker, but I’d love to have more ideas. How do you get two things done without having to work on both of them at once?
Edited 8-13-2009 – I found this article, and found it had some great tips in it. I really like the way it looks at multi-tasking certain tasks and mono-tasking others.
Google Docs – Templates
Google Docs can be an excellent way to store documents and share them with someone else. As a virtual assistant, I can save a document there and give my client access to view and edit. While we can certainly email documents back and forth, I think this is an excellent way to reduce clutter in my inbox, and to make sure we are both working with the most recent version of the document.
Google Docs also provides templates that are available for anyone to download and use. Most of them have been created by Google, but they recently added a new feature – you can submit your own template for other people to use.
What a great resources this can be. More templates will be available for use, and if you don’t see a template you need, you can create one and submit it to the gallery. Chances are good that if you need it, someone else will as well.
The submission process is simple. Save the document in your Google docs, then go to the link at the top of the page on the right hand side where it says New! Submit a Template. Follow the steps listed, and your document will be added to the Template Gallery. Please be sure and take a minute to read over the terms and policies (listed on the right side of the submission page). Understand that you are giving people permission to use the document that you created. Also understand that if you change your template in your docs, it changes it in the template gallery, so watch out for any personal information you might add. So if you want to use a template, save it under another name and make the edits you want. Anyone who wants to use it has to download it, so your original won’t be affected.
So far I’ve submitted one template, for a Fax Cover Sheet (and no one has rated it yet. If you use it and find it helpful, please rate it. If you don’t like it, please email me and let me know what you don’t like so I can made adjustments). I’m busy working on some more, but I’m wondering – what templates would you be interesting in having available to you? What template(s) have you looked for and not been able to find? Let me know and I’ll try to create something and make it available to you and anyone else who could use it.
What A Difference A Day Makes
I’m sitting on my patio to write this. The sun is shining, and white puffy clouds drift across the blue sky. In the background, I can hear a news helicopter repeatedly circling. They are no doubt getting footage of the damage from a tornado that touched down one-half mile from where I live late yesterday afternoon. Click here for the story in the local paper. My apartment is fine and I never lost electricity, so I am feeling very grateful today; however, one of my clients lives in the neighborhood that was hit. I haven’t heard from him today, which is not unusual, and I hope that all is well.
When the storms began moving through Memphis yesterday, I wasn’t at home. My son is at his dad’s in another city, so my first concern was for my cat. I finally realized that as long as the roof and windows remained intact, he’d probably be curled up asleep and never know anything was going on. Or, he’d wake up and find a dark corner to hide in (and where he’d probably be safe). Once I realized this, I felt better.
Then I also realized that my laptop was with me. All of my business information is on it, so knowing it was with me, and the storms were not headed in my direction, made me relax even more. Even if my apartment was hit, I could keep on working as long as I could find electricity and an internet connection.
The more I think about it, however, the more I realize that I must get a better system in place for backing up my computer. I currently back up my work documents on a flash drive every few days, and my entire hard drive to an external drive once a month. But I still feel like I need to have them backed up somewhere online, so I have access from any computer, not just my laptop.
My plan is to begin looking at various options over the next few days, and begin trying them out. Of course, my primary concern is security, but close behind that is cost. I already save some of my documents in Google docs, and that may be where I start, at least with documents that don’t need to be secured. I’d love to hear everyone’s opinions as to online resources for saving documents, photos, music, programs, etc. What have you used, and what was the good and the bad about it? Please leave a comment, and I’ll include it in a follow-up post.
For now, I’m going to enjoy the sun and calm weather. I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe weekend!
Time Management In An Instant Book Review
Time – is there ever enough of it? No matter how well I think I’ve planned my day, obstacles come up, plans have to be changed, and I have to adapt. If you work from home, you have to be even more aware of how your time is spent. A quick trip to put the laundry in the washer can become a time drain if you then proceed to unload the dishwasher, make the bed, and pick up the bathroom.
But there is help! Time Management In An Instant: 60 Ways To Make The Most Of Your Day offers expert advice and tips to help you manage your time and get more out of your days. Written by Karen Leland and Keith Bailey, the book offers (as the subtitle says!) 60 ways to help you get manage your time.
So, do they know what they are talking about? Yes, they do! Below is a video of an interview Karen did on telecommuting. For the last 6 years, I’ve telecommuted for my full-time job at least three days each week. The tips and advice Karen offers are spot on! Take a look:
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The ideas for telecommuters also apply to those who run a business from home. You have to be professional, you have to manage your time to get your work done, and sometimes, you have to prove to your client that you really do work even if you are at home.
Want some more suggestions: Karen has also written an article on The Art of Telecommuting, which offers some additional ideas for those looking for a way to work from home, and for those already there. Read through it and see what tips would help you work form home.
Special Offer: Buy a copy of Time Management In An Instant the week of July 20th and receive a free license to view the Essential Email online course. To buy the book and claim your bonus, or just to buy the book go to: http://www.quality-service.com/timemanagementinaninstant
About the authors: Karen Leland and Keith Bailey are the bestselling authors of six books including Time Management In An Instant: 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day. They are the co-founders of Sterling Consulting Group, which helps organizations and individuals learn how to fight distraction and find their focus in a wired world. For more information please contact: kleland@scgtraining.com.
To read more reviews of the book, visit here.
For those of you who telecommute/work from home, what tips and suggestions can you offer? What has worked for you…and what hasn’t? Please leave a comment to let us know.
