Category: Business Processes

We all use e-mail every day. And while social media gets most of the buzz, it’s really e-mail (social media’s less sexy roommate) that gets the work done, day in and day out. All of which means that if you own and operate a small business, you need to be sure that you’re taking full advantage… Continue reading Is Your E-mail Address Hurting Your Business?

When you work for someone else, your employer provides you with a computer, a phone, an email address and business cards. The company has a logo, a website and procedures established for how to get the work done. But … when you work for yourself, you start with none of that. It’s up to you… Continue reading 5 Ways to Make Your Business Look More Professional

When meeting new clients, there’s one question I hear over and over: “How can I take my business to the next level?” Some even ask if there is a specific checklist or template they can use to make this happen. Unfortunately, there is no universal set of tactics that are suited for every business. Right away, every… Continue reading Want a Better Business? Start With What’s Broken

I was speaking with one of my friends the other day. Among other things, we talked about how we work our own businesses, have families and still manage to keep our sanity. We also talked about how we manage our client interactions so that it all works. Here are a few tricks to share: 1.… Continue reading You and Your Work Schedule…Who is Controlling Who?

One of the things I love about my clients is that they are all entrepreneurs. They’re excited about their work and they’re passionate about their ideas. They love their businesses (sometimes) as if it were one of their children. And they spend a lot of time working. That’s the good news. The bad news is that… Continue reading Are You Wasting More Time Than Necessary?

I was talking with my friend last week about work. While we were on the phone, she began struggling to find a document that was sent to her a couple of months ago. She looked in her email, she searched her hard drive, she even looked through a pile of papers she had stacked on… Continue reading Save Time With These Three Filing Tips

As someone who enjoys feeling at capacity most of the time, I wasn’t sure what to do with myself when things slowed down a bit earlier this year. I could have cleaned out every closet in the house, a task which is actually productive and rewarding. Instead, I decided to dig into learning about and… Continue reading Filling the Gaps When Things Get Slow.

Nearly every day, clients and prospective clients come to me with a big idea or project they want to tackle. Some are brimming with excitement, others with concern. Either way, some jump right in while others just seem to stall. Procrastination is something we’ve all been guilty of now and then. My particular forms of… Continue reading Stop Procrastination! (NOW! Not tomorrow.)

As a small business owner or solo professional, you’ve got many processes and procedures in place, not to mention lots of outwardly facing marketing things, like your LinkedIn profile and your website. Over time, it’s easy to look at them, without really seeing them. That can be a problem, particularly as your business evolves. With that in mind,… Continue reading Be Your Own Detective!

Keeping appointments and deadlines in a calendar is essential. Without one, unless you’ve got a fabulous memory, things can go badly very quickly! Unfortunately, many people still struggle with electronic calendar set up, something I see with clients every day. This is how it usually happens:They have a job before they start their business, and they… Continue reading Untangling Your Messy Calendar