Successful Blog

Self Improvement for Dummies

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Are you in self improvement hyperdrive at the end of 2017?

Have you bought a new planner, gone over your successes and failures from this year, anxious to do better in 2018?

Once the champagne from New Year’s Eve is digested, you’ll be an energetic, resolution-achieving machine.

Or not.

Or maybe just through Februaryish.

I have a radical suggestion.

Let’s take a break from self improvement, just for a little while.

First of all, you’re beautiful just the way you are. Second, constant focus on self improvement is actually constant focus on yourself. It might be nice to turn that gaze outward once in a while. Third, how much disposable income have you spent on books, courses, athletic gear, bullet journals, etc.?

I’m not suggesting that we’re all perfect. I’m just saying let’s take a brief breather from calling ourselves names (fat, lazy, dummy) and just enjoy life. Every time you buy one of those books “for Dummies,” you’re shredding a tiny piece of your soul.

It’s good to aspire to be better, but when it manifests as constant self criticism, it’s not healthy.

My idea is that we all take the first quarter of 2018 and be a source of joy to others. That’s it. The more joy you spread, the more you’ve achieved.

If I catch you surfing Amazon right now, looking for a book about “how to spread joy,” you’re in big trouble.

Just live. No diet, no crazy exercise regime, no elaborate resolutions.

You can still set up goals for your business and plan your fiscal year. That’s outward-focused activity that’s fruitful. What I’m calling “time” on is the idea that you can’t eat a piece of chocolate cake without feeling guilty. Go ahead and make a chocolate cake for someone else as a surprise, and have a slice with them.

Make your children happy by playing tag with them instead of hopping on the treadmill.

That’s your task. Spread joy for Q1. I’ll bet we all love it so much that we forget to make resolutions for Q2.

What do you think, are you on board?

 

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

The long and short of successful blogging

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Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write the world’s shortest novel. He did it in six searing words: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

I share this factoid as an illustration that the length of your blog post doesn’t really matter. The only thing that matters is that you effectively get your point across. After all, Hemingway is also famous for the extreme length of his sentences!

Successful Long-Form Blogging

If you’re approaching a difficult topic, you may need thousands of words.

Take, for example, the amazing deep-dive posts of Tim Urban at Wait But Why. He has half a million subscribers, and his posts often run into the tens of thousands of words. He also doesn’t follow the oft-prescribed “write consistently” advice. His posts are published when they’re ready, and when he has something to say. (Warning, some of his content is NSFW.)

Another great example of long-form, successful blogging is Avinash Kaushik’s Occam’s Razor. When you read his detailed posts on analytics and digital marketing, you’re essentially getting a free college level course in the subject. I often read his posts with notepad on hand, so I can go back and use the suggestions.

On the corporate blogging side, you have the professional team at Buffer’s blog, who have been publishing fantastic long-form content for several years. I often envision them as a team of thousands, researching, editing, and uploading blog posts like a highly efficient Borg. (Just kidding, I’ve met some of their team and they’re actually human and very nice.)

Do long form blog posts work? Yes, if you’re delivering exceptional value with high quality content, according to TheNextWeb.

Successful Short-Form Blogging

Let’s talk about some of the short post publishers.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t first mention Seth Godin, the godfather of the pithy post. He’s also a rule-breaker because he doesn’t even really promote his posts…his Twitter account is set up to Tweet out the link when it’s published, but he’s not active on Twitter at all. However, if you subscribe to the email notifications for his content, you can easily reach him by replying to the email. For real, I’ve done it, and he’s responded.

Another very popular use of short-form is listicles and ranking posts. This fascinating interview on the Kellogg Insight podcast describes how lists and short bursts of information help us remember better, and help us cope with the massive amounts of data coming at us every day. We might mock the Buzzfeed-style, “10 ways to groom your dog with a toothbrush” article, but we’re still clicking on those headlines.

One of the most recommended Medium blog posts of 2017 is a five-minute read. Why is it so short, but so effective? It packs a powerful emotional punch, peppered with supporting stats. It’s intensely shareable.

Looking at those three short-form examples, if you want your brief posts to perform well, follow your own muse, say something useful, and make a strong emotional impact.

Finally, remember that you don’t have to stick to one side or the other. Plenty of successful bloggers alternate long-form and short-form articles.

What is your blogging style? Have you mixed it up lately?

 

 

Featured Image by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash

Are You Hiring the Right People for the Job?

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Making sure you have the right people in place in your office may not seem as easy as you think.

First, you never know when hiring someone if their personality is going to be a good mix for your workplace.

Sure, someone may have a stellar resume and come across great during the interview. That said what happens when they end up working with dozens or more of your staff on a daily basis? Can you guarantee that harmony is going to follow suit?
In hiring and retaining your workers, you want to do all you can to make things fit the first time around.

So, are you hiring the right people for the job?

Put Different Resources to Work

So that you have improved odds of getting the right people more times than not, remember a few pointers:

  • Resources – Having good human resources consulting can help you hire the right folks. For example, are you following all the necessary human resources procedures? It only takes one slip-up to put your company in jeopardy of a lawsuit. By working with an H.R. expert or experts, you lessen the chances of making gaffes that can prove costly.
  • Interviews – Some companies use phone interviews before an actual face-to-face interview. Does that sound like your company? Those phones interviews can help weed out some candidates that are likely not a good fit for your office. With face-to-face interviews, not only listen to what candidates say, but watch them. Do they seem comfortable talking to you or your staff? Is their personality one that would at least now appear to be a good fit for your workplace? Are they anxious to be a team player and contribute from day one if hired? Watching and listening are two of the most important aspects of any interview.
  • Goals – What goals do you have in mind when it comes to hiring more employees? Some companies hire due to the fact they have a manpower shortage. Others will hire to fill an important chair at the company. Know ahead of time why you need to add one or more individuals to your payroll. Doing so will give you more clarity and improved chances of avoiding a revolving door.

Knowing When It is Time to Pull the Plug on a Worker

Knowing when and then having to fire someone is something most company heads do not enjoy. That said it is all but unavoidable in running a company.

To make the matter clearer on you and your team, look for these signs to know when it is time to pull the plug on a worker:

  • Employee is not doing the job expected of them
  • Employee is late for work on regular basis or abuses breaks
  • Employee does not get along with others in the office
  • Employee speaks badly about the company and even its customers

Although training new folks is costly and time-consuming, you do not want to keep someone around who is a bad fit.

In taking time to see if you are hiring the right people for the job, make sure your human resource person or team is quite involved.

Photo credit: Pixabay

About the Author: Dave Thomas writes about business topics on the web.

 

 

 

Should You Grow Your Solo Business? 5 Things to Consider

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By Kayla Matthews 

When looking ahead to 2018, solo entrepreneurs may wonder if they should take the next steps to grow their business. Alternatively, they can stay where they are for now.

Several aspects should dictate the final decision, including these five important considerations.

1. More Fiscal Responsibility

As business continues to grow, there are more financial figures and data to analyze. Whereas a small business’ finances can undergo analysis mostly in-house, businesses that start to eclipse sales in the $5 million range find that keeping track of finances gets more difficult, requiring the use of an accountant —or several.

Well beyond tax time, growing businesses may need to hire accountants and financial professionals to ensure that growth and maximized profits are continuing. Solo entrepreneurs likely lack the financial experience at a certain point to confidently manage finances and resources for a larger business.

2. Good Hiring Is Vital

As a small business grows, gauging the performance of individual employees becomes a more difficult task. The number of employees will grow alongside the growing responsibilities of a budding business, making the hiring process more important than ever. As a business leader making the transition to a larger business, the increasing responsibility on your plate makes monitoring the effectiveness of every employee unrealistic.

As a result, it’s more important than ever to hire quality employees who work together and keep each other in check. Further, if you hire trustworthy managers who can monitor employee performance, you can have a solid structure in place without sacrificing too much of your own time. The people you hire defines the culture of a company. As a company grows and more employees become involved, hiring the right people is vital to success.

3. Customer Service Concerns

A growing business also means more customers. An increase in customers can translate to an increase in profits, but also an increase in demand for customer service. An increase in sales ramps up all aspects of production, which for a newly growing business can translate to certain products and services being subpar for consumers. Customer service is important for addressing customer dissatisfaction, with poor customer service resulting in a lack of growth.

A growing business will find that an uptick in resources and budget for customer service is necessary to curtail the imminent growing pains they will experience.

4. Moving Your Office

Moving locations is common for a new business, with one in five small businesses reporting they plan on moving to a new office space in 2017. Especially when moving from a home office to a commercial building, there are costs involving general liability insurance and commercial property insurance that the budget should regard.

Also, moving to a new location that’s far away from the current location can result in some employees departing or requesting additional compensation. Moving is a part of a growing business, though you should prepare for its fiscal and employee-based impact.

5. Use Data, Market Analysis and Economic Analysis

Growing businesses tend to overvalue their sales when evaluating whether to take the next step in growth. Although great sales numbers are certainly a positive, you should evaluate your industry and niche as a whole before deciding to take the next step.

Specifically, it’s important to evaluate market studies, economic analysis and other factors beyond your control that can dictate whether or not growth at present makes sense. Growing a business is one thing, though growing a business alongside a growing industry is another.

It may very well be time to grow your solo business, taking the next step by expanding your staff and resources.

It’s also possible that substantial growth would be better planned in another year or two.

You should consider the five aspects above when deciding whether to take the next step.

Have you grown your business? What else would you consider important?

 

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

Photo by Daniel Hjalmarsson on Unsplash

3 Keys to Marketing Your Brand Without Mistakes

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No matter what your brand may be, it is crucial that you do your best in marketing it to the public.

It is important to remember that your competition is more than likely doing all it can to get the upper leg on you. As a result, you may very well have to pull out all the stops to get ahead and ultimately stay in top.

That said are you driving ahead with all the right keys in making sure your marketing game is second-to-none?

Be Driven to Promote Your Products

In doing your best to promote your products, what marketing methods are you using? More importantly, are you using any and all of them without major mistakes in the process?

Among the keys to marketing your brand without mistakes:

  1. Staying on message – To start, what message do you want to get across to consumers? As an example, if you are a vehicle manufacturer or you sell cars and trucks, how much of an emphasis do you place on vehicle safety? Without safe vehicles to fill the roads, most consumers would have to rely on public transportation and other means to get around in their daily lives. Your message to consumers in marketing your vehicles should be that safety never takes a back seat. If promoting backup camera systems in the vehicles you make or sell, show consumers how this technology can lessen the chances for accidents and even save lives. The backup camera will alert drivers when someone or something is moving behind their vehicle as they get set to go in reverse. With the message of safety in your marketing, you will get the attention of countless consumers.
  2. Listening to consumers – One of the biggest marketing mistakes a company can make is not hearing what consumers are saying. Whether it is a current or potential customer, keep your ears open. Many consumers get frustrated with companies when it comes to customer service. If the former feel as if the latter is not properly listening, there’s a good chance they will go elsewhere. That means spending their dollars with someone else. So that you lessen the odds of losing potential business, be a good listener. Whether it is a problem with a product or a consumer is not pleased with the service you provided them, be attentive.
  3. Socializing the experience – Last but not least, it is imperative that you have your eyes and ears tuned in with social media. Given there are millions of consumers on social networking sites at any given time, you certainly do not want to miss out on the possibilities of connecting with them. This means you need to have active participation on venues like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more. Along with promoting your products and services on these sites, run links to relevant information about your industry. The more informative you are to the public, the better the odds more consumers will come your way. Also, be sure to interact when needed with consumers. One of the great things with social media is that you and your team can talk to consumers 24/7/365.

In doing your best to steer clear of marketing mistakes, make sure you are driven to connect with consumers on a regular basis.

Photo credit: Pixabay

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business and marketing topics on the web.

 

 

A Little Thanksgiving Music

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Happy Thanksgiving to all of our US community members!

We’re so grateful for everyone who reads, comments, shares, and participates in the Successful Blog. Here’s a little music to set the mood…

 

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!