Successful Blog

Are You Determined?

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A Determined Mouse

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Nan’s Grandparents lived just south of Atlanta in a town of 200 where everything and everyone was an antique. They had no television. When folks might crawl into the TV for entertainment, Gram and Gramps would sit on the back porch pitting cherries, snapping beans, or peeling potatoes for a meal. When the chores were done, they would talk to each other or read.

When Nan and i went to visit Gram and Gramps she told us about when the refrigerator broke. Nan’s Gram said she put some things out on the back porch to “keep.” She figured they might as well be in reach of where she need them, while they waited for the the “Fix-it” man to come the next day. The back porch was enclosed and shaded from the heat.

Gram said the next morning she made coffee and went out to the porch to enjoy her garden and some time to think. That’s when she noticed that “a visitor” had come in the night to find something to eat.

“Must have been a field mouse,” she said as she described a flattened bag of chocolate chips meant for some cookies shed planned to make. “That mouse had a goal and worried that bag to death until he got the very last chocolate chip. He was a determined critter. He didn’t let some bag win.” That’s what Gram said.

Are You Determined?

Whenever I feel anxious or notice my motivation slip, I think of that mouse. I put my goal where I can see it. I become determined — like that critter. I let my goal determine where I’m going, what it takes to be satisfied, where I’ll be ending up. Then, I get determined about my success — I “worry,” plow, and navigate over, under, and through whatever irritations life throws between me that vision I value.

Are you determined?
Determined, resolute, decided, resolved — the end is undisputed.
Being determined is the difference between sticking out and leaving things unfinished.
Being determined changes roadblocks and obstacles in to problems to solved.
With determination, we change habits, attitudes, and even what we think.
Imagine where you might get if you’re determined.

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

Beach Notes: Beach Whispers

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by Guest Writers Suzie Cheel and Des Walsh

I love it when I find a feather on the beach. It reminds me that there are angels around and something special is coming. it always takes me back to listening to Paulo Coelho, author of The Achemist, saying that when he finds a feather, it is a signal for him to start a new book.

What does a feather signify for you? – Suzie Cheel

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

Thanks to Week 349 SOBs

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Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

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cooking with love
Think First, Future Thinking Business

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

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Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

5 Ways Outsourcing Can Help Grow Small Business in Hard Times

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George Martin

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Images of America at work have changed dramatically since the recession started. Things are still not in a perfect shape. The unstable state compels the American workforce is transform constantly. However, something that really has helped small businesses to survive in the recent outburst of recession was outsourcing.

5 Ways Outsourcing Can Help Small Business in Hard Times

In the tight economy, it’s essential for companies from all verticals such as entertainment, media, energy, healthcare, utilities etc to consider outsourcing paid work. Outsourcing — hiring an outside company complete work that otherwise would been handled by employees — is not a new concept. Small companies have outsourced tasks related to accounting, payroll processing, distribution, and more.

The flat economy compelled many companies to suffer huge layoffs. Still they needed professionals to handle certain tasks for them. Many small businesses opted for outsourcing to survive. They outsource non-critical jobs and enjoyed several benefits. For instance:

  1. Outsourcing provides a better control over capital costs. Through outsourcing, small businesses managed to convert their fixed costs into variable costs, and avoid large expenditures in the preliminary stages of the business. Small business who outsourced became more attractive to investors because they were able to utilize more capital for revenue-producing activities.
  2. Outsourcing also helps small businesses increase efficiency. Due to outsourcing, small business can lower development, research, distribution and marketing costs. Outsourcing companies enjoy an economy of scale and cost structure that give their company an important competitive advantage.
  3. One obvious advantage of outsourcing is the clear reduction in labor costs. For small businesses, it’s extremely difficult and expensive to hire and train staff for peripheral and short-term projects. It also can be difficult to hire temporary employees who live up to their expectations. Outsourcing, an the obvious solution, has helped companies use their trained employees on the tasks that serve the business growth most. .
  4. Outsourcing companies can accomplish more in less time. In recession, small businesses need to attract investors and new clients, but at the same time, they have to cut corners to survive. Outsourcing has answered the dilemma and helped many small businesses start new projects more quickly and more efficiently. Small businesses with strong outsource partners accomplish projects in days that might have taken weeks or months, because those partners came with trained people with substantial support.
  5. Last, outsourcing allows small companies to stay focused on their core competencies and key customers. Small businesses that sent peripheral business activities to qualified outsourcing firms are able to concentrate their best effort on activities that serve current clients well and attract more.

Most economists are of the view that though the recovery has started, the recession will accelerate the long-term trends of automation as well as the movement of workers toward different jobs in the service sector. That means that people will still be moving jobs.

Have you tried qualified outsource to help your business better serve your clients and customers?
Have you started an outsourcing service yourself?
The small business with outsource firm partnership can help us grow small business in these hard times.

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Author’s Bio:
George is a keen writer and blogger. He takes interest in matters related to economic and finance and has his say in the niche. He has also written and crafted many posts for Isarates.org.uk and many likely blogs. Apart from this he has also gained reputation as an expert financial consultant over fifteen long years.

Thank you, George. Every freelancer and web design firm knows and shows the value of outsourcing what we’re not good at.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Stop Giving Them Fish, Start Teaching Them How To Fish

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Rosemary O’Neill

Amazing advice, freely given, is a powerful thing. It activates the “reciprocity rule,” it cements a relationship, and establishes trust. Even better than amazing advice? Lessons in how to do it yourself.

The Copy Machine Conundrum

Fresh out of college, I was last in the pecking order. Therefore, I was usually tasked with using the copy machine, and unjamming it when someone else tried to use it.

Copy machines aren’t particularly complex, but there were legions of my colleagues who actively avoided learning how to use them. Why? Because they didn’t want to be stuck doing the copying.

Those people? They’re the same ones right now who say “I have no idea what the Tweeter is for, and I don’t want to know.”

Make Your Communications Action-Oriented

Whether you’re providing customer support, answering a sales inquiry, or providing consulting services, start to think as a teacher, not just a broadcaster. The essence of great communication is providing a practical application for your message.

What’s the practical application of this blog post?

  • Rather than just jumping in and fixing a customer’s issue, show them how you did it so that they can fix it themselves next time.
  • Don’t advise a prospect to “do their homework” on your product or service, illustrate how it works by offering customer examples and references.
  • Don’t make your social media clients think you’re doing “voodoo,” teach them how to use the tools that are supporting their strategy.

If you give fishing lessons, you become someone who empowers the people around you. Much more valuable than someone who just delivers fish.

Are there aspects of your job that you can start teaching?

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Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

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Thank you, Rosemary!

You’re irresistible!

ME “Liz” Strauss

Do You Like the People You Work With?

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For most full-time employees, they spend 40 hours or more a week with their co-workers.

Given there are 168 hours in a week, that means that employees in that scenario are with those they work with approximately one-fourth of the week. When you sit back and think about it for a moment that is a fair amount of time.

In the event you find yourself in that situation, what do you think of your co-workers? Do you enjoy your time with them? Do you tolerate time spent together? Do you wish they would give their two weeks’ notice tomorrow?

Having worked in a handful of jobs over a 23-year career to date, I can honestly say that I could count on two hands the people I really did not enjoy working with.

The reasoning in most of those cases was that I felt they did not like me and had a beef with me for one reason or another. One or two even went as far as to try and make life difficult for me inside the office. As it turns out, one of them got fired for their efforts, something that I did not exactly lose much sleep over.

Meantime, there have been many co-workers that I had absolutely nothing in common with, the same folks that I would never have anything to do with outside of the workplace. That isn’t because I did not like them, simply it has been that we had no similar interests and it would be rather moot to hang out.

So that brings me to the original question…. Do you like the people you work with?

If your answer is no, don’t feel like you are to blame or that your employer doesn’t think highly of you.

Does Your Employer Sidestep Results for Company Culture?

I have always been a big proponent of results in the workplace. You can be the least friendly individual in the office, but if your results speak for themselves and you are surpassing what was expected of you in terms of goals, you are okay in my book. Having said that, that does not mean you should walk around the office with looks that could kill.

I once worked with an individual that would come in and spend half of her day on the phone with her pre-teen daughter. Making matters worse, the woman sat right next to me.

Although I did not stay with the company for years, I was there long enough to acquire a sizable headache a couple times a week from listening to her tell her daughter to clean up her room, walk the dog, and do her homework and more. While being subjected to the trivial banter while trying to focus and get my writing done, I would at times want to grab the phone out of her hand and….

I also have had the non-pleasure of working with someone that treated everyone around her like they were in junior high and she was the teacher.

Treat Your Elders with Respect

One of the quickest ways as a departmental manager to turn people under you off is to be condescending towards them. Whether you have 20 years in the workplace or are the newest intern at work, people need to be treated with respect, not talked down to. At the end of the day, a manager needs to bring people together for the common goal of the company being successful, not dividing the office into individuals that are not excited about team success.

Lastly, I always have a little disdain for the young worker that comes into a company and thinks they know everything. Trust me; I was that same individual some 25 years ago that did not look up to or at times respect authority. Over time, I saw how immature I must have looked to those more experienced employees. Many young people that come to a company bring fresh ideas, enthusiasm, and a feeling like nothing can’t be achieved. While those are all great traits to have, nothing replaces experience.

Given my present age and my financial needs, I see myself working at least another 20 years, maybe longer.

In those years to come, I would like to think that I will enjoy working with my still unknown co-workers.

Heck, it can’t be that hard to like those you work with, yes?

Whether you have been in the workforce for decades or just a handful of years, have you enjoyed the folks you’ve worked with?

Photo credit: glassdoor.com

Dave Thomas, who discusses subjects such as HR outsourcing companies and payroll services, writes extensively for San Diego-based Business.com.