LinkedIn is the online tool of choice for sizing you up against the competition. Does your LinkedIn Profile reflect the way you want others to perceive you?
You may be truly great at what you do … but if your LinkedIn Profile looks mediocre, then those who view it are likely to associate you with mediocrity. That’s why an unpolished LinkedIn Profile may actually be doing you more harm than good.
While most professionals have first-rate skills and talents in their respective fields, they may not have the level of creative writing experience to develop a truly impressive LinkedIn Profile.
A compelling profile communicates a strong personal identity, piques interest and conveys unique value. Experts agree that a high-impact LinkedIn Profile is both a critical tool and a necessary investment for 21st century business professionals.
The Most Important Things to Know About a LinkedIn Profile:
1. The LinkedIn Profile is the first place that decision-makers visit when scouting for talent or checking a reference.
2. The Summary section alone draws immediate interest if it’s powerfully worded and clearly captures your professional image.
3. The LinkedIn Profile offers a variety of additional components that can accentuate your best qualities … including presentations, blog links, portfolio displays, reading lists, and polls … all of which can add visual interest to an otherwise dull and generic-looking page.
It’s time to begin thinking of your LinkedIn Profile as the packaging of your professional image and something that attracts people to you. And as any good retailer will tell you, it’s packaging that grabs the attention of any consumer.
Is your LinkedIn Profile packaged for success? If you’re unsure or if you believe your profile just doesn’t measure up to expectations, please read the note below.
As the ETP Network’s Editor-in-Chief and co-author of Rod’s book “Win The Race for 21st Century Jobs,” I’ve been engaged by several network professionals to bring their LinkedIn Profiles to life. With the addition of some talented staff members, I am now offering professional writing and branding services to the network.
If you are not currently leveraging the full power of your LinkedIn Profile, I encourage you to contact me at (973) 331-0948 or e-mail me at chip@meridiasystems.com to schedule an analysis.
Best regards,
Chip Hartman
MeridiaSystems.com, LLC
Integrated Writing & Visual Services
973.331.0948 (Tel)
862.207.9504 (Cell)
973.331.0937 (Fax)
http://www.meridiasystems.com
http://www.wintherace21.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/chiphartman
chip@meridiasystems.com
POWERFUL - POLISHED - PROFESSIONAL
Smart Leaders Encourage Intrapreneurship in a Culture of Innovation
Many companies hire talented people to “think like entrepreneurs,” but few offer workplace cultures that provide creative thinkers the reins to generate innovative ideas.
Leaders at those companies focus disproportionately higher on financial performance and outdated, inflexible processes than on innovation. They lose sight that hiring, nurturing, and rewarding intrapreneurial talent is the cornerstone for success, and I dare say, survival in today’s unsteady business climate.
In a series of 2010 global surveys among 263 top entrepreneurs and industry leaders, Ernst & Young found that 82 percent of the respondents “agreed strongly that the ability to innovate was critical to the growth of their organizations.” For many of these leaders, the study shows, supporting internal innovation is what drives their company’s competitive edge and ability to sustain growth.
Why don’t business leaders get it?
Still, few leaders understand the value of intrapreneurs. Companies that slip into stagnation and remain bogged down with inflexibility lose market share because of a lack of innovation. As a result, they often find their board of directors seeking CEO replacements and top intrapreneurs jumping ship for more progressive employers.
Read: Five Reasons Why CEOs Don’t Get Innovation, by intrapreneur consultant Stefan Lindegaard.
John Heaney, a Cleveland-based brand strategist and self-proclaimed innovation agent, reports that less than 9% of companies polled in a National Science Foundation survey engaged in product or process innovation from 2006 – 2009. To create cultures of innovation Heaney suggests that leaders need to:
* Inspire employees “to perform heroic feats” with a clear corporate vision,
* Challenge innovators “to create new solutions to problems that other companies are unwilling or unable to address,” and,
* Encourage employees “to test new ideas despite the certainty that . . . projects will inevitably lead to some failures.”
Give intrapreneurs structure to explore
Leaders who encourage intrapreneurial mindsets must build a workplace environment where it’s safe to share ideas, test them, and perhaps let them fail. While no less passionate and creative than entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs perform best when they have a structured framework in which to explore ideas. This requires setting up clear guidelines defined by the company’s mission. Some senior managers draft playbooks or other kinds of published instructions that give direction for employees to develop, test, and implement new products.
3M Company is well renowned for its “bootlegging” policy that allows employees 15 percent of their time at work to develop pet projects. In the mid-1970s, 3M researchers, Spenser Silver and Art Fry, stumbled onto the idea of applying Silver’s semi-sticky adhesive to a piece of paper to serve as a bookmark. Since then, Post-It notes have stuck to countless surfaces in innumerable applications.
At Google, former CEO Eric Schmidt initiated the 70/20/10 time and resources model for managing innovation. Employees spend 70 percent of their time and resources on their core business, 20 percent on related ideas, and 10 percent on unrelated new businesses. This model has served Google for ten years and will continue to do so, as cited in this Strategic Business Shifts (BizShifts) blog.
Follow through on innovation policies and promises
It’s one thing to give lip service about encouraging innovative thinking in your company. It’s quite another to follow through on your promises to intrapreneurs. They need to feel confident that you’ll reward them for their ideas, and that you won’t punish them for failures.
In PricewaterhouseCoopers’ PwC Innovation blog, Chief Innovation Officer Sheldon Laube spells out the many ways companies can recognize and reward employees for implemented ideas. Laube suggests that leaders evaluate cash rewards for effectiveness and fairness. He also mentions alternative types of recognition, including certificates, medals, and personalized communication from senior leaders.
Culture of innovation encapsulated
A producer of corporate television, I’m big on news-style interviews with sharp executives. In this ten-minute YouTube video, Paul Michelman, executive editor at Harvard Business Publishing, interviews David Kester, chief executive at Design Council in the U.K. I encourage you to watch it. Kester shares his views on shaping a culture of innovation, touching on why:
* Leaders create an atmosphere of openness and allow creativity to flourish.
* Leaders manage innovation through “habits,” or disciplined processes throughout HR, finance, and governance for understanding problems and how to solve them.
* Leaders must constantly communicate how the market changes, which requires employees’ innovation in mounting responses to it.
* Everyone needs to understand the consumer’s viewpoint when coming up with solutions to needs and problems.
More to come . . .
Watch for upcoming articles that focus on specific examples of intapreneurship in practice. If you wish to share an example of intrapreneurship that positively affected the bottom line or bettered customers’ experiences, please send it along.
Karen A. Meek is a senior communications strategist in Seattle, Washington.
Women Can Achieve Anything! Discover 7 Steps to Success.
By: Caroline Irene Jalango
1. You must reach the point of no return.
You must be so sick and tired of a mediocre life that your only option is to create a better life today! Like an act of desperation, your desire to move toward your goal must be so compelling and urgent; you can't help but take action. You must want to achieve your goal so badly that you are willing to invest your time, energy and resources into ensuring that you do.
2. Determine in your heart that you want to achieve your goal.
There must be no shadow of doubt about how important your goal is to you and how committed and determined you are to achieve it. This initial desire and commitment is what gives you the ammunition to get your goal off the ground. How determined and committed are you to your success?
3. Take an inventory of the things you can and want to do.
It's important to understand what your natural strengths, gifts and skills are so that you can hone and apply them to make your life a success. What are your talents? What makes you unique? What is your passion? Where would you like to work and with whom? What contribution do you want to make? Identify what you can do and want to do and get ready to set your ball rolling.
4. Say goodbye to naysayer's and dream killers.
It's amazing how even one negative comment can crush your spirit and kill your dream! Don't share your precious dreams and goals with negative people who don't believe in you. Remove yourself from among them because they will discourage and keep you from living the life that you were meant to live.
5. Say hello to uplifting people and dream builders.
Look for and associate with positive people who will build you up, bring out the best in you, support and help you nurture and turn your dreams into reality. Invest in a coach, mentor, professional association or service for resources, accountability, challenge, support, motivation and guidance.
6. Build your knowledge base.
Spend time, acquiring and increasing your knowledge in the area you want to pursue. Read everything you need to know about what you want to do. Find out how other people are achieving similar goals and how to distinguish yourself from them. Be really good at what you want to do. This will increase your confidence and boost your self esteem greatly.
7. Take action.
The only way to prove that you achieved your goal is by the actual tangible result. The evidence speaks for itself! It testifies that you achieved your goal. To start achieving your goal, take action today. What are you going to do today to launch that business, apply for that job, write that book, attend those classes, graduate from college, lose that weight or give that speech? Take action and make your dreams come true.
Caroline coaches women, provides strategies and solutions, motivates and helps women who desperately want to strike the match that sets them ablaze to live happier, meaningful, positive, productive, improved and purpose driven lives. Sign up and receive your FREE bi-weekly self coaching question or tip, designed to inspire and challenge you to become unstoppable and achieve your goals by visiting http://www.motivationzone.com
Caroline Irene Jalango
Life Strategies and Solutions for unstoppable Women!
www.motivationzone.com
www.coachcaroline.com
"Know first who you are...then adorn yourself accordingly"
~Epictetus~
1. You must reach the point of no return.
You must be so sick and tired of a mediocre life that your only option is to create a better life today! Like an act of desperation, your desire to move toward your goal must be so compelling and urgent; you can't help but take action. You must want to achieve your goal so badly that you are willing to invest your time, energy and resources into ensuring that you do.
2. Determine in your heart that you want to achieve your goal.
There must be no shadow of doubt about how important your goal is to you and how committed and determined you are to achieve it. This initial desire and commitment is what gives you the ammunition to get your goal off the ground. How determined and committed are you to your success?
3. Take an inventory of the things you can and want to do.
It's important to understand what your natural strengths, gifts and skills are so that you can hone and apply them to make your life a success. What are your talents? What makes you unique? What is your passion? Where would you like to work and with whom? What contribution do you want to make? Identify what you can do and want to do and get ready to set your ball rolling.
4. Say goodbye to naysayer's and dream killers.
It's amazing how even one negative comment can crush your spirit and kill your dream! Don't share your precious dreams and goals with negative people who don't believe in you. Remove yourself from among them because they will discourage and keep you from living the life that you were meant to live.
5. Say hello to uplifting people and dream builders.
Look for and associate with positive people who will build you up, bring out the best in you, support and help you nurture and turn your dreams into reality. Invest in a coach, mentor, professional association or service for resources, accountability, challenge, support, motivation and guidance.
6. Build your knowledge base.
Spend time, acquiring and increasing your knowledge in the area you want to pursue. Read everything you need to know about what you want to do. Find out how other people are achieving similar goals and how to distinguish yourself from them. Be really good at what you want to do. This will increase your confidence and boost your self esteem greatly.
7. Take action.
The only way to prove that you achieved your goal is by the actual tangible result. The evidence speaks for itself! It testifies that you achieved your goal. To start achieving your goal, take action today. What are you going to do today to launch that business, apply for that job, write that book, attend those classes, graduate from college, lose that weight or give that speech? Take action and make your dreams come true.
Caroline coaches women, provides strategies and solutions, motivates and helps women who desperately want to strike the match that sets them ablaze to live happier, meaningful, positive, productive, improved and purpose driven lives. Sign up and receive your FREE bi-weekly self coaching question or tip, designed to inspire and challenge you to become unstoppable and achieve your goals by visiting http://www.motivationzone.com
Caroline Irene Jalango
Life Strategies and Solutions for unstoppable Women!
www.motivationzone.com
www.coachcaroline.com
"Know first who you are...then adorn yourself accordingly"
~Epictetus~
Getting Back on the Career Track
A Guide for Stay at Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work
by Carol Fishman Cohen and Vivian Steir Rabin
Back on the Career Track Would you like to return to the work world but are concerned about how to find an opportunity that will allow you to fulfill your family or other non-work obligations, nervous about how to "market yourself" to potential employers, or unsure about what type of work you want to do? We know how you feel. We took time out to be home with our children, and then relaunched our careers years later. Based upon our experience, and that of the 100+ women we interviewed for our forthcoming book, as well as the career counselors, recruiters and employers whose advice we sought, we've developed a detailed process to help you negotiate this major transition. Here it is in a nutshell:
1. Relaunch or Not: You Decide. If financial reasons require you to return to work, go to step 2. If not, determine whether you are ready to go back to paid work or whether deepening your volunteer involvement or engaging in a non-work passion might satisfy your restlessness. If you're not sure whether or not you want to return to paid work, visit www.backonthecareertrack.com and take our Relaunch Readiness Quiz.
2. Learn Confidence. If a lack of confidence is one of the obstacles holding you back, don't worry. You can regain it. Remember, whether you are a nurse, speech therapist, computer programmer, scientific researcher, or salesperson, your former colleagues' and classmates' image of you is frozen in time. They think of you as a consummate professional, and as you start to renew your professional persona and reconnect to the professional world, your confidence will grow. Following Steps 3 and 4 will also help increase your confidence as you update your professional knowledge and become more articulate in expressing what you want to do and why.
3. Assess Your Career Options. Don't think that returning to the conventional full time workforce is the only way to resume your career. The moms we interviewed did everything from starting a home based afterschool enrichment program (former teacher) to running career services for a law school on a flexible schedule (former public defender) to job sharing a hospice administrator position (former social worker) to creating a marketing campaign for a new mutual fund from home (former mid level marketing executive). Break down your old job(s) or volunteer experiences into their component parts and focus on what you did best and what you liked best. Then try to think of new opportunities that build on those skills and interests.
4. Update your Professional and Job Search Skills. A sure way to increase your confidence and bolster your employability is to update yourself. Read relevant journals, take continuing education classes and attend industry events. In terms of job search skills, develop an elevator story (a two minute talk answering the "what do you want to do" question) that summarizes your expertise and the kind of opportunity you seek in a few key sentences.
5. Network and Market Yourself. Order yourself a business card with your name and contact information. That way you don't have to scribble on a piece of scrap paper if you meet someone who wants to keep in touch with you. Then, start talking to people, beginning with those you know well. Branch out to those to whom they refer you, and discuss your professional interests and the kinds of opportunities you'd like to explore. These informal conversations essentially function as interview rehearsals, as you gradually hone your message. Prior to formal interviews, make sure you prepare extensively by studying the employer's website and practicing answers to the most common interview questions. When asked about your resume gap, answer matter-of-factly that you took some time out to raise your children/take care of an elderly parent, etc., but that you're now eager to get back to work.
6. Channel Family Support. Get your spouse, if you have one, on board with your plans as soon as possible. If you encounter resistance, make it clear how important this is to you and point out that with extra income you might be able to outsource some of the tasks that neither of you wants to perform, such as cleaning and shopping. The older your children are, the sooner you should tell them as well. If you need to change your childcare arrangements, try to implement the changes before you start your new job, so you can work out any problems. Streamline your household routines to maximize time to devote to either work or family. Develop a support network of family and/or neighbors to help you out in a jam.
7. Handle the Job or Find Another One. You found the right opportunity and you've relaunched. Initially, keep your employer's expectations low. Better to underpromise and overdeliver, rather than the other way around. Ask for early and frequent reviews -- ideally, every six months, because neither you nor your employer will be able to predict the rate of your career trajectory. Help your colleagues whenever possible, so they'll reciprocate when you need them. And, remember, this is just your first foray back to the professional marketplace. If it doesn't work out, you can always make a change.
Authors:
Carol Fishman Cohen, a former investment banker, is now a consultant to women, organizations, and employers on the issue of career reentry. She lives in Newton, MA, with her husband and four children.
Vivian Steir Rabin, a former finance and human resources professional, now runs her own executive search business. She lives in Clifton, NJ, with her husband and five children.
They are the authors of Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay at Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work (Warner Business Books; June 2007; $24.99US/$31.99CAN; 978-0446578202).
For more information, please visit www.backonthecareertrack.com.
Top 12 Workplace Pet Peeves
Little did I know what a chord I would strike with Top 10 Etiquette Blunders. But a chord it did strike. And since then I have heard from a lot of people about what’s bugging them at work. And it‘s not just etiquette my friends.
So here we go again. After hearing your cries and looking at some related surveys, I offer you your Top 12 Work/Office Pet Peeves.
1. Gossip: Randstad, a leading staffing firm and workforce solutions provider, recently commissioned a survey that asked more than 1,000 employed U.S. adults what their work pet peeves were.
Gossip was ranked near the top, being mentioned by more than a third of the respondents. A different survey ranked gossip at No. 1, with more than 60% of the respondents saying it is their top work pet peeve. Of course it’s not hard to understand why. Gossip is corrosive. Gossip splinters and divides. It hurts the one being gossiped about and diminishes the gossiper. And it is also often wrong.
2. Poor time management: This actually ranked #1 in the Randstad survey (43%) and that makes sense. At a time when employees are being asked to do more, with less, anyone who wastes time is a drag on the business—personally, professionally, time-wise, and colloquially.
3. Not understanding what a closed door means: I heard about this from many people. Suzy B’s email was illustrative:
“The next time you write about office etiquette and manners (or the lack thereof) would you include the following: If my office door is closed, don't tap once and then open the door and come right on in. Instead, the polite thing to do is knock, wait for me to respond and then, if I say please come in, come in. Otherwise to barge in when the door is closed is disrespectful and rude whether you have tapped lightly or not.”
4. Pranks are not that funny: With all due respect to Jim Halpert and Dwight Shrute, not a few people mentioned that pranks are not all that loved.
5. Loud talkers and speakerphone abusers: I was surprised at this one, but it is clearly an issue that many people do not liking having to deal with. The problem takes different forms: People who speak too loudly generally, those who talk to loudly on work phone calls (or worse, private calls), people who try and speak over their headphones, and most annoying apparently, people who use the speakerphone when a regular call would do just fine.
6. Boss boorishness: No one likes being reprimanded at work, but it’s all the worse when your boss does it in front of others. Equally irritating is the condescending boss, closely followed by the micro-manager. Who woulda thunk that setting a good example would be so difficult?
7. The coffee jerk: It seems that there are a lot of people out there who love to take the last cuppa Joe, but apparently hate making a new pot. That the empty pot sits on the hot burner all day, creating a ghastly smell does not faze them either. The other culprit here is the employee who makes some brewing mistake while making a pot, only to leave the ensuing mess for someone else to clean up.
8. The copier jerk: You know this type, right? This is the person who uses the last of the paper in the tray but fails to add more before they leave. Or it’s the person who jams up the machine and casually walks away without fixing it, leaving the problem for you—when you are on deadline of course.
9. Email hell: People really do not like it, and notice it, when someone hits “reply all” only so as to let everyone know that they are on it! Worse: they aren’t really on it and their reply adds nothing of value.
10. The eavesdropper: What with so many people working in open spaces and small cubicles these days, it is all the more important to give them their privacy when it is obviously needed. Eavesdropping is never OK.
11. The sick leaver: This is a big issue for the bosses out there (and not a few co-workers too.) Abusing sick leave makes things harder all the way around for everyone.
12. TMI: Your casual co-workers are not really interested in your personal grooming habits, polyp problems, or your latest health crisis. There is a fine line between casually sharing some chit chat and confiding intimate details. Unless you are close friends with the person, avoid sharing too much information.
Other issues that almost made the list: People who use too much jargon, bosses who give assignments on Friday afternoon and expect it done on Monday, and inappropriate
The Strauss Group, Steve Strauss
The Conversation
Nine Things Successful People Do Differently
Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren't sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. The intuitive answer — that you are born predisposed to certain talents and lacking in others — is really just one small piece of the puzzle. In fact, decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do.
1. Get specific. When you set yourself a goal, try to be as specific as possible. "Lose 5 pounds" is a better goal than "lose some weight," because it gives you a clear idea of what success looks like. Knowing exactly what you want to achieve keeps you motivated until you get there. Also, think about the specific actions that need to be taken to reach your goal. Just promising you'll "eat less" or "sleep more" is too vague — be clear and precise. "I'll be in bed by 10pm on weeknights" leaves no room for doubt about what you need to do, and whether or not you've actually done it.
2. Seize the moment to act on your goals. Given how busy most of us are, and how many goals we are juggling at once, it's not surprising that we routinely miss opportunities to act on a goal because we simply fail to notice them. Did you really have no time to work out today? No chance at any point to return that phone call? Achieving your goal means grabbing hold of these opportunities before they slip through your fingers.
To seize the moment, decide when and where you will take each action you want to take, in advance. Again, be as specific as possible (e.g., "If it's Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, I'll work out for 30 minutes before work.") Studies show that this kind of planning will help your brain to detect and seize the opportunity when it arises, increasing your chances of success by roughly 300%.
3. Know exactly how far you have left to go. Achieving any goal also requires honest and regular monitoring of your progress — if not by others, then by you yourself. If you don't know how well you are doing, you can't adjust your behavior or your strategies accordingly. Check your progress frequently — weekly, or even daily, depending on the goal.
4. Be a realistic optimist. When you are setting a goal, by all means engage in lots of positive thinking about how likely you are to achieve it. Believing in your ability to succeed is enormously helpful for creating and sustaining your motivation. But whatever you do, don't underestimate how difficult it will be to reach your goal. Most goals worth achieving require time, planning, effort, and persistence. Studies show that thinking things will come to you easily and effortlessly leaves you ill-prepared for the journey ahead, and significantly increases the odds of failure.
5. Focus on getting better, rather than being good. Believing you have the ability to reach your goals is important, but so is believing you can get the ability. Many of us believe that our intelligence, our personality, and our physical aptitudes are fixed — that no matter what we do, we won't improve. As a result, we focus on goals that are all about proving ourselves, rather than developing and acquiring new skills.
Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong — abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. Embracing the fact that you can change will allow you to make better choices, and reach your fullest potential. People whose goals are about getting better, rather than being good, take difficulty in stride, and appreciate the journey as much as the destination.
6. Have grit. Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty. Studies show that gritty people obtain more education in their lifetime, and earn higher college GPAs. Grit predicts which cadets will stick out their first grueling year at West Point. In fact, grit even predicts which round contestants will make it to at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The good news is, if you aren't particularly gritty now, there is something you can do about it. People who lack grit more often than not believe that they just don't have the innate abilities successful people have. If that describes your own thinking .... well, there's no way to put this nicely: you are wrong. As I mentioned earlier, effort, planning, persistence, and good strategies are what it really takes to succeed. Embracing this knowledge will not only help you see yourself and your goals more accurately, but also do wonders for your grit.
7. Build your willpower muscle. Your self-control "muscle" is just like the other muscles in your body — when it doesn't get much exercise, it becomes weaker over time. But when you give it regular workouts by putting it to good use, it will grow stronger and stronger, and better able to help you successfully reach your goals.
To build willpower, take on a challenge that requires you to do something you'd honestly rather not do. Give up high-fat snacks, do 100 sit-ups a day, stand up straight when you catch yourself slouching, try to learn a new skill. When you find yourself wanting to give in, give up, or just not bother — don't. Start with just one activity, and make a plan for how you will deal with troubles when they occur ("If I have a craving for a snack, I will eat one piece of fresh or three pieces of dried fruit.") It will be hard in the beginning, but it will get easier, and that's the whole point. As your strength grows, you can take on more challenges and step-up your self-control workout.
8. Don't tempt fate. No matter how strong your willpower muscle becomes, it's important to always respect the fact that it is limited, and if you overtax it you will temporarily run out of steam. Don't try to take on two challenging tasks at once, if you can help it (like quitting smoking and dieting at the same time). And don't put yourself in harm's way — many people are overly-confident in their ability to resist temptation, and as a result they put themselves in situations where temptations abound. Successful people know not to make reaching a goal harder than it already is.
9. Focus on what you will do, not what you won't do. Do you want to successfully lose weight, quit smoking, or put a lid on your bad temper? Then plan how you will replace bad habits with good ones, rather than focusing only on the bad habits themselves. Research on thought suppression (e.g., "Don't think about white bears!") has shown that trying to avoid a thought makes it even more active in your mind. The same holds true when it comes to behavior — by trying not to engage in a bad habit, our habits get strengthened rather than broken.
If you want change your ways, ask yourself, What will I do instead? For example, if you are trying to gain control of your temper and stop flying off the handle, you might make a plan like "If I am starting to feel angry, then I will take three deep breaths to calm down." By using deep breathing as a replacement for giving in to your anger, your bad habit will get worn away over time until it disappears completely.
It is my hope that, after reading about the nine things successful people do differently, you have gained some insight into all the things you have been doing right all along. Even more important, I hope are able to identify the mistakes that have derailed you, and use that knowledge to your advantage from now on. Remember, you don't need to become a different person to become a more successful one. It's never what you are, but what you do.
Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D. is a motivational psychologist, and author of the new book Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals (Hudson Street Press, 2011). She is also an expert blogger on motivation and leadership for Fast Company and Psychology Today. Her personal blog, The Science of Success, can be found at www.heidigranthalvorson.com
Sam Anson
Business Development Executive
TechnoSphere, Inc.
155 North Washington Avenue
Bergenfield, NJ 07621
201.384.7400 main office
609.882.2998 direct
fax: 201.385.8243
cell: 609.658.1421
email: sam.anson@technosphere.com
web: www.technosphere.com
Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren't sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. The intuitive answer — that you are born predisposed to certain talents and lacking in others — is really just one small piece of the puzzle. In fact, decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals
1. Get specific
2. Seize the moment to act on your goals. Given how busy most of us are, and how many goals we are juggling at once, it's not surprising that we routinely miss opportunities to act on a goal because we simply fail to notice them. Did you really have no time to work out today? No chance at any point to return that phone call? Achieving your goal means grabbing hold of these opportunities before they slip through your fingers.
To seize the moment, decide when and where you will take each action you want to take
3. Know exactly how far you have left to go. Achieving any goal also requires honest and regular monitoring of your progress — if not by others, then by you yourself. If you don't know how well you are doing, you can't adjust your behavior or your strategies accordingly. Check your progress frequently — weekly, or even daily, depending on the goal.
4. Be a realistic optimist. When you are setting a goal, by all means engage in lots of positive thinking about how likely you are to achieve it. Believing in your ability to succeed is enormously helpful for creating and sustaining your motivation. But whatever you do, don't underestimate how difficult it will be to reach your goal. Most goals worth achieving require time, planning, effort, and persistence. Studies show that thinking things will come to you easily and effortlessly leaves you ill-prepared for the journey ahead, and significantly increases the odds of failure.
5. Focus on getting better, rather than being good. Believing you have the ability to reach your goals is important, but so is believing you can get the ability. Many of us believe that our intelligence, our personality, and our physical aptitudes are fixed — that no matter what we do, we won't improve. As a result, we focus on goals that are all about proving ourselves, rather than developing and acquiring new skills.
Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong — abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. Embracing the fact that you can change will allow you to make better choices, and reach your fullest potential. People whose goals are about getting better, rather than being good, take difficulty in stride, and appreciate the journey as much as the destination.
6. Have grit. Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty. Studies show that gritty people obtain more education in their lifetime, and earn higher college GPAs. Grit predicts which cadets will stick out their first grueling year at West Point. In fact, grit even predicts which round contestants will make it to at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The good news is, if you aren't particularly gritty now, there is something you can do about it. People who lack grit more often than not believe that they just don't have the innate abilities successful people have. If that describes your own thinking .... well, there's no way to put this nicely: you are wrong. As I mentioned earlier, effort, planning, persistence, and good strategies are what it really takes to succeed. Embracing this knowledge will not only help you see yourself and your goals more accurately, but also do wonders for your grit.
7. Build your willpower muscle. Your self-control "muscle" is just like the other muscles in your body — when it doesn't get much exercise, it becomes weaker over time. But when you give it regular workouts by putting it to good use, it will grow stronger and stronger, and better able to help you successfully reach your goals.
To build willpower, take on a challenge that requires you to do something you'd honestly rather not do. Give up high-fat snacks, do 100 sit-ups a day, stand up straight when you catch yourself slouching, try to learn a new skill. When you find yourself wanting to give in, give up, or just not bother — don't. Start with just one activity, and make a plan for how you will deal with troubles when they occur ("If I have a craving for a snack, I will eat one piece of fresh or three pieces of dried fruit.") It will be hard in the beginning, but it will get easier, and that's the whole point. As your strength grows, you can take on more challenges and step-up your self-control workout.
8. Don't tempt fate. No matter how strong your willpower muscle becomes, it's important to always respect the fact that it is limited, and if you overtax it you will temporarily run out of steam. Don't try to take on two challenging tasks at once, if you can help it (like quitting smoking and dieting at the same time). And don't put yourself in harm's way — many people are overly-confident in their ability to resist temptation, and as a result they put themselves in situations where temptations abound. Successful people know not to make reaching a goal harder than it already is.
9. Focus on what you will do, not what you won't do
If you want change your ways, ask yourself, What will I do instead? For example, if you are trying to gain control of your temper and stop flying off the handle, you might make a plan like "If I am starting to feel angry, then I will take three deep breaths to calm down." By using deep breathing as a replacement for giving in to your anger, your bad habit will get worn away over time until it disappears completely.
It is my hope that, after reading about the nine things successful people do differently, you have gained some insight into all the things you have been doing right all along. Even more important, I hope are able to identify the mistakes that have derailed you, and use that knowledge to your advantage from now on. Remember, you don't need to become a different person to become a more successful one. It's never what you are, but what you do.
Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D. is a motivational psychologist, and author of the new book Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals
Sam Anson
Business Development Executive
TechnoSphere, Inc.
155 North Washington Avenue
Bergenfield, NJ 07621
201.384.7400 main office
609.882.2998 direct
fax: 201.385.8243
cell: 609.658.1421
email: sam.anson@technosphere.com
web: www.technosphere.com
How to Win a Argument
How Win Friends & Influence People
From Dale Carnegie's
"Nine times of out of ten, an argument ends with each of the contestants more firmly convinced than ever that s/he is absolutely right. You can't win an argument. You can't because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it. Why? Well, suppose you triumph over the other person and shoot their argument full of holes and prove that s/he is non compos mentis. Then what? You will feel fine. But what about the other person? You have made that person feel inferior. You have hurt their pride. S/he will resent your triumph. And--
A person convinced against their will
Is of the same opinion still"
From How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
I have learned that any person who is perceived as the best in their field, deftly combines core skills with well honed interpersonal skills. It takes a finite amount of time to achieve an education in developing a core skill foundation in a chosen career (i.e. 2-4 years of college or a business school). It takes a lifetime to develop good interpersonal shills. Why? Each interaction with a person is unique and different. I have recently been rereading How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I often refer to this book as my human relations reference bible. Below is an excerpt from one of my favorite chapters; You Can't Win an Argument.
* Welcome disagreement
* Disregard your first instinctive impression
* Control your temper
* Listen first
* Look for areas of agreement
* Be honest
* Promise to think over your opponent's ideas and study them
* Thank your opponents sincerely for their interest
* Postpone action to give both sides time to think through the problem
The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
About the Author
With corporate travels from the mail room to the board room, Carl E. Reid knows what it takes to be successful. He has over 40 years of business experience, including 27 years as a technology expert, 16 years as a business career coach and 18 years as a successful entrepreneur. Carl has been a professional blogger and social media strategist since 2004. In addition to being a sought after speaker, he has coached and inspired hundreds of people to land jobs and start successful businesses.
Connect with Carl on LinkedIn - Facebook - Twitter
Email: CReid3005[AT]gmail.com
Web: http://www.CarlEReid.com
Tel: 201-222-5390
Best Home Based Business For Career Women
Career women have what other women do not have: a deep knowledge of their profession. This they can convert into information by publishing it on the web, then convert that content into targeted traffic and income.
The following information will assist career women to start a "customized" internet based home business. The best of the best home based business.
(1) Start From Your Career/Work Experience: Don't look outside, look inward. Your career information is your product. Your work experience has already equipped your to be a net consultant. All you need is the know-how and the right tools. You don't even need much money to start.
(2) Brainstorm Your Career-related Profitable Topics: Search for keywords and key phrases, which are often searched upon but are rarely targeted by websites. Your career itself may not be a profitable topic.
For example: If you are a teacher, surfers may not search for teachers or teaching, but they may look for related topics like career counseling, best school program for kids, improving child learning ability, building right attitude to learning, etc These are information that a teacher can easily provide. Once you locate a profitable topic make it your site theme or concept.
(3) Build A Website For Your Profitable Topic/Site Theme: For you to have a successful internet based home business you need a professional-looking website.
You don't need to have a prior knowledge of this (no html, or programming knowledge), with a multi-purpose business building tools like SiteBuildIt you can do site building, site hosting, site marketing, etc at one-single-minimum price.
(4) Get Free Targeted traffic With Good Content: When you follow the steps above, and with the right tool. You don't need to do any advertisement, people will look for you because you are providing the information they want.
The secrets?, don't write sales letters, provide good, quality, hard-to-ignore info on your well-known subject.
Develop trust and confidence by writing with your visitors best interest in mind. Identify their problems and identify why your solutions is the right solution.
You will build the best of home based businesses by this act of "preselling." You can get the book "Make Your Content To Presell" by Ken Envoy to help you in this area.
Most surfers look for information from search engines, so write to make your contents search engines friendly so that it is included in the top 10-20 results. the right business-building tool can do this for you.
(5) Turn Your Traffic Into Revenue: Smoothly introduce your site visitors to your revenue offers, these are products, services that help your site visitors to get the solutions that they seek, and to also generate multiple streams of income for you. They must include:
(a) Google Adsense:Visitors click on your Google Ads, generating money for you.
(b) Affiliate Programs of merchants who sell related goods or services to your theme.
(c) Referrer/finder Arrangements: Special offers for offline business.
(d) Other models for your long term goals(ex., e-goods, etc).
With these steps and the right tools you concentrate on doing what you love, generate multiple streams of income and build the best of home based businesses.
by: TopeNelson Ola
About The Author
TopeNelson Ola is a Business Building and Marketing Expert. His website located at http://www.myss.net/multipleprofit.html reveals the easiest way to net business building, and the perfect business building tool. You can also download free ebooks on Netwriting, Trafficking, etc.
The following information will assist career women to start a "customized" internet based home business. The best of the best home based business.
(1) Start From Your Career/Work Experience: Don't look outside, look inward. Your career information is your product. Your work experience has already equipped your to be a net consultant. All you need is the know-how and the right tools. You don't even need much money to start.
(2) Brainstorm Your Career-related Profitable Topics: Search for keywords and key phrases, which are often searched upon but are rarely targeted by websites. Your career itself may not be a profitable topic.
For example: If you are a teacher, surfers may not search for teachers or teaching, but they may look for related topics like career counseling, best school program for kids, improving child learning ability, building right attitude to learning, etc These are information that a teacher can easily provide. Once you locate a profitable topic make it your site theme or concept.
(3) Build A Website For Your Profitable Topic/Site Theme: For you to have a successful internet based home business you need a professional-looking website.
You don't need to have a prior knowledge of this (no html, or programming knowledge), with a multi-purpose business building tools like SiteBuildIt you can do site building, site hosting, site marketing, etc at one-single-minimum price.
(4) Get Free Targeted traffic With Good Content: When you follow the steps above, and with the right tool. You don't need to do any advertisement, people will look for you because you are providing the information they want.
The secrets?, don't write sales letters, provide good, quality, hard-to-ignore info on your well-known subject.
Develop trust and confidence by writing with your visitors best interest in mind. Identify their problems and identify why your solutions is the right solution.
You will build the best of home based businesses by this act of "preselling." You can get the book "Make Your Content To Presell" by Ken Envoy to help you in this area.
Most surfers look for information from search engines, so write to make your contents search engines friendly so that it is included in the top 10-20 results. the right business-building tool can do this for you.
(5) Turn Your Traffic Into Revenue: Smoothly introduce your site visitors to your revenue offers, these are products, services that help your site visitors to get the solutions that they seek, and to also generate multiple streams of income for you. They must include:
(a) Google Adsense:Visitors click on your Google Ads, generating money for you.
(b) Affiliate Programs of merchants who sell related goods or services to your theme.
(c) Referrer/finder Arrangements: Special offers for offline business.
(d) Other models for your long term goals(ex., e-goods, etc).
With these steps and the right tools you concentrate on doing what you love, generate multiple streams of income and build the best of home based businesses.
by: TopeNelson Ola
About The Author
TopeNelson Ola is a Business Building and Marketing Expert. His website located at http://www.myss.net/multipleprofit.html reveals the easiest way to net business building, and the perfect business building tool. You can also download free ebooks on Netwriting, Trafficking, etc.
Do's and Don'ts of Securing a Domain Name
Consider these six tips from small-business owners and experts before deciding on a website name.
By Jane Porter
Navigating the world of domain names can be a daunting task if you're not up to speed on how to get one. With countless caveats and hosting companies out there, it's easy to be overwhelmed or worse, make a mistake that could ultimately cripple your business.
Consider these do's and don'ts from small-business owners and experts to help secure your company's domain name.
Do: Include a location or keywords in your domain name, if you can.
If your business focuses on a geographic region, try to put the location into the name of your domain, says Jean Bedord, a Silicon Valley-based search consultant and author of the book I've Got a Domain Name--Now What??? When Mikalai Krivenko needed a domain for his painting business in Hoboken, N.J., in 2009, his son Yuriy, a Jersey City, N.J.-based search-optimization specialist, suggested he put "Hoboken" in the name. For $11, Krivenko bought hobokenpainter.com, which shows up at the top of keyword searches that include "Hoboken" and "painter." Whether it's location, or what your company does, Krivenko advises: "Put the most important keyword for your industry in the domain name."
Do: Register yourself as the owner of the domain name.
Some business owners make the mistake of not checking to ensure whoever registers their domain name does so under the business owner's name. It's very important to be sure you are the domain owner and administrative contact, says Bedord. "It's just like a piece of property. If you don't own the property, you can't sell an existing business," she says.
It's an obvious, yet common, mistake made by business owners. Three years after Graham Hunt, 44, started his real estate firm Valencia Property in Spain in 2000, the two-person web design team he hired to build his site split and he had to choose between them. Hunt soon discovered the partner he didn't choose had registered himself as the owner and administrative contact for the domain name, so Hunt didn't own his own website. It took three years and he ended up paying the disgruntled partner nearly $6,000 in sales commission fees to get back ownership of the domain, which originally cost just $15.
Do: Remember to renew your domain name registration.
When Nick Hoffmann, 32, missed the renewal of his networking company's domain name inetguru.com in 2000, it was a crippling business blow. The name got bought by someone else and without email access through the site, Hoffmann lost contact with clients. Eventually, he folded the company. Now working as chief operating officer for an aftermarket marketplace for domains, Hoffmann suggests buying a registration for five or 10 years upfront, or setting up an annual auto-renew payment. Just make sure the credit card on file doesn't expire, another common mistake that might lead to losing a domain name. "The whole aftermarket industry is based on names that drop off," he says. "It happens every day."
Don't: Use dashes, abbreviations or numbers in your domain name.
Instead, come up with a catchy name that's easy to remember and captures your business. Fan Bi, co-founder of Blank Label, a Boston-based online custom dress shirt company learned that lesson when settling on a domain in 2008. At the time, blanklabel.com was out of his price range at $15,000. Bi chose blank-label.com for a much cheaper $250. But as the business grew, he realized the hyphenated name was far from the best choice. "You get much more word-of-mouth if it's a name you can easily say without having to spell out," Bi says. Last year, after months of negotiation with the domain owner, he was able to purchase blanklabel.com for $6,000. Just three months after the change, website traffic shot up 25%.
Don't: Waste money on extensions other than .com.
When you register your domain name, you'll be bombarded with offers to purchase other versions like .net and .co. For most small businesses, that's not needed. Investing in other extensions becomes important when patenting something or protecting a trademark, says Bedord. If you think a competitor might want the .net version of your domain name, for example, consider taking it first. "The reality is you have to pay for every one of those," Bedord says. "The value is really in the .com."
Don't: Buy a domain without checking into its past.
Even available domains can be exposed to legal trouble if the name is too similar to another company's trademark. Nearly a year after launching New York-based LEEDTeacher in 2009, Zachary Rose learned the domain LEEDTeacher.com infringed on the registered trademark of a massive nonprofit. Rose, now 29, received a cease-and-desist letter demanding he change the name of his green jobs training firm, and shut down the website. He ultimately paid $2,000 in lawyer fees, renamed the company Green Education Services and switched the domain to GreenEDU.com.
* Related: Protecting Your Business with a Trademark
Aside from consulting a lawyer, check www.whois.net, which lists registered domain names, for other possible legal landmines, suggests Rose. The site also includes expired domains up for grabs, and you can learn what problems a name comes with. For example, if a previous domain owner violated a Google term and was banned from Google searches, you'll want to know before investing in the name, Rose says.
By Jane Porter
Navigating the world of domain names can be a daunting task if you're not up to speed on how to get one. With countless caveats and hosting companies out there, it's easy to be overwhelmed or worse, make a mistake that could ultimately cripple your business.
Consider these do's and don'ts from small-business owners and experts to help secure your company's domain name.
Do: Include a location or keywords in your domain name, if you can.
If your business focuses on a geographic region, try to put the location into the name of your domain, says Jean Bedord, a Silicon Valley-based search consultant and author of the book I've Got a Domain Name--Now What??? When Mikalai Krivenko needed a domain for his painting business in Hoboken, N.J., in 2009, his son Yuriy, a Jersey City, N.J.-based search-optimization specialist, suggested he put "Hoboken" in the name. For $11, Krivenko bought hobokenpainter.com, which shows up at the top of keyword searches that include "Hoboken" and "painter." Whether it's location, or what your company does, Krivenko advises: "Put the most important keyword for your industry in the domain name."
Do: Register yourself as the owner of the domain name.
Some business owners make the mistake of not checking to ensure whoever registers their domain name does so under the business owner's name. It's very important to be sure you are the domain owner and administrative contact, says Bedord. "It's just like a piece of property. If you don't own the property, you can't sell an existing business," she says.
It's an obvious, yet common, mistake made by business owners. Three years after Graham Hunt, 44, started his real estate firm Valencia Property in Spain in 2000, the two-person web design team he hired to build his site split and he had to choose between them. Hunt soon discovered the partner he didn't choose had registered himself as the owner and administrative contact for the domain name, so Hunt didn't own his own website. It took three years and he ended up paying the disgruntled partner nearly $6,000 in sales commission fees to get back ownership of the domain, which originally cost just $15.
Do: Remember to renew your domain name registration.
When Nick Hoffmann, 32, missed the renewal of his networking company's domain name inetguru.com in 2000, it was a crippling business blow. The name got bought by someone else and without email access through the site, Hoffmann lost contact with clients. Eventually, he folded the company. Now working as chief operating officer for an aftermarket marketplace for domains, Hoffmann suggests buying a registration for five or 10 years upfront, or setting up an annual auto-renew payment. Just make sure the credit card on file doesn't expire, another common mistake that might lead to losing a domain name. "The whole aftermarket industry is based on names that drop off," he says. "It happens every day."
Don't: Use dashes, abbreviations or numbers in your domain name.
Instead, come up with a catchy name that's easy to remember and captures your business. Fan Bi, co-founder of Blank Label, a Boston-based online custom dress shirt company learned that lesson when settling on a domain in 2008. At the time, blanklabel.com was out of his price range at $15,000. Bi chose blank-label.com for a much cheaper $250. But as the business grew, he realized the hyphenated name was far from the best choice. "You get much more word-of-mouth if it's a name you can easily say without having to spell out," Bi says. Last year, after months of negotiation with the domain owner, he was able to purchase blanklabel.com for $6,000. Just three months after the change, website traffic shot up 25%.
Don't: Waste money on extensions other than .com.
When you register your domain name, you'll be bombarded with offers to purchase other versions like .net and .co. For most small businesses, that's not needed. Investing in other extensions becomes important when patenting something or protecting a trademark, says Bedord. If you think a competitor might want the .net version of your domain name, for example, consider taking it first. "The reality is you have to pay for every one of those," Bedord says. "The value is really in the .com."
Don't: Buy a domain without checking into its past.
Even available domains can be exposed to legal trouble if the name is too similar to another company's trademark. Nearly a year after launching New York-based LEEDTeacher in 2009, Zachary Rose learned the domain LEEDTeacher.com infringed on the registered trademark of a massive nonprofit. Rose, now 29, received a cease-and-desist letter demanding he change the name of his green jobs training firm, and shut down the website. He ultimately paid $2,000 in lawyer fees, renamed the company Green Education Services and switched the domain to GreenEDU.com.
* Related: Protecting Your Business with a Trademark
Aside from consulting a lawyer, check www.whois.net, which lists registered domain names, for other possible legal landmines, suggests Rose. The site also includes expired domains up for grabs, and you can learn what problems a name comes with. For example, if a previous domain owner violated a Google term and was banned from Google searches, you'll want to know before investing in the name, Rose says.
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