In a recent Telegraph Finance article, Daniel H. Pink raises the taboo question of, “Is it okay for a businessperson to question their ability to achieve a particular goal?” Thankfully, he does so using the adorable Bob the Builder as a model entrepreneur for the humble and self-reflective businessperson. In my experience as a life coach and home-based business mentor, I find that it is a fine line to walk between encouraging freelancers, entrepreneurs, and home-based businesspeople to think positively/dream big and helping burgeoning entrepreneurs set achievable goals in the midst of starting their own businesses. This same conundrum is present in various leadership arenas as well: I want to encourage my team without allowing them to set unrealistic expectations. My advice to those with similar dilemmas: your choice of words and tone to colleagues and team members should encourage positivity and self-reflexivity. Instead of asking whether or not something can be done, ask questions that encourage a scaffolded approach to a project or goal. Questions like, “How can you achieve ‘X’” or “Is there a way to reach ‘X’ in the timeframe we are allowing ourselves?” are better alternatives than, “So do you really think you can do ‘X’?” [...]
Sounds ironic, huh? For me, the benefits of outsourcing menial tasks to other professionals are clear – outsourcing saves me time and allows me to work on more substantive projects. Outsourcing also utilizes someone else’s expertise, offering me professional-looking outputs. But of course, if outsourcing is not done correctly, it can lead to mayhem. The person to whom I’ve outsourced my work can go missing-in-action. The company to whom I’ve outsourced my presentation hasn’t gotten the final product to me by the deadline. That is why I, and many other entrepreneurs, have chosen to enlist the help of an outsourcing broker. Outsourcing brokers (the art of outsourcing brokerage is often referred to as Outsourcing Relationship Management or ORM. They serve as middlemen/women between you and the service provider. They can set entrepreneurs up with the right contractors to help ensure a good fit and to help manage the working relationship. They also help with any problems that might pop up. Outsourcing brokers can offer a great deal of comfort to the businesses that use their services. One outsourcing broker that believes small business can, and should, utilize outsourcing services is Janeeva™. Janeeva™ charges an up-front consulting fee, and gives their [...]
I outsource a ton of things. As an entrepreneur it makes sense. As a strategist, my clients constantly ask if they can outsource their social media engagements (Here are some thoughts on ghost writing and blogging). Here are my thoughts. What are yours? I would love to hear from you. Feel free to post below, Tweet me, or Facebook me.
Are you an entrepreneur or a small business who has a website in which you are trying to sell someting? Have you ever wondered if your copy is making the grade? A successful marketer – in every setting from a small home-based business to a large corporation – relies heavily on the pulling-power of copy. Writing result-oriented copy can be a challenge, as it must appeal to, entice, and convince your consumers to take action and buy now! However, consumers will only engage if you are speaking their language. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you will talk about customers, identify their wants and needs, and be able to describe how your product or service is going to solve a problem that customers have. The WeWe Monitor will help you do just that. This free analysis copy will look at your copy and let you know if you are engaging your consumer or if you are rambling on about yourself again. It tells you how many words are consumer oriented and will tell you how many times you talk about yourself. To check it out, click HERE. I know that I was surprised by the results that I [...]
Whether you work from home or a 9 to 5 workweek, I’m sure you have a ton of projects, am I right? There is something exhilarating about starting a fresh project, especially in a leadership role. Well-managed projects make me feel productive and constantly on the move; but when there are several projects going on at once, I tend to lose my marbles, and long for an outside source to keep me in check and on the right path. Project management is a full-time job for some people, and with good reason. It involves planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. Project managers can help manage the scope, quality, time-allotted, and budget for a project. This is a great service for home based business entrepreneurs. Some project management tools and services I like to employ are: Yugma, a desktop sharing and collaboration service that allows you to share your computer screen in real-time. Yugma allows you to host a virtual meeting between multiple project contributors, allowing different players to serve as presenters by way of their home computers. Yugma’s services allow project collaborators to communicate efficiently and effectively with remote [...]
Imagination is the key ingredient to innovation. Without it, creativity and possibility would not exist. A conversation with one of my coaching clients inspired this video. Take a look!
By Ja-Naé Duane
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Posted in Adventure, Entrepreneurship, Happiness, Innovation, Marketing, Strategy, Uncategorized
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Also tagged brain and creativity, creative, Creativity, Home base businesses, home-based business, How much do I need to retire, imagination, Moms work from home, Money needed to retire, Online income, Online money, Online work, outsource, Retirement, work from home, working from home
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Are you an entrepreneur or small business owner looking to outsource your accounting. Here is a segment from my book, “How to Start Your Business with $100” due out this May: Did you know that 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers? For this very reason, it will benefit your business to know WHAT your customer needs, and WHY they buy your products/services. Chances are, your loyal customers return over and over again because they trust YOUR skills in what you do best. OUTSOURCING menial tasks can offer you more time to do just that. When you can focus on what you love to do, you can enlist others to do your paper-pushing (or, as I like to call it, your “dirty work”). Outsource your accounting (bookkeeping, payroll, financial analysis, tax-related issues) I am no math whiz, so learning and maintaining detailed financial records often results in wasted time and added stress. I once tried setting up my accounting in Excel; while I love this program, it resulted in a lot of wasted time – time I could have spent making a new business contact or taking a trip! This is why I utilize online resources to [...]
February 24, 2010 – 6:26 am
I am constantly asked what my recommendations are for social media metrics. I put together this map of some of my favorite metrics. Feel free to download and use for your convenience. Also, if you would like to republish this map, please link back to Ja-Nae.net. Here is a list of those metrics and what they mean: Email Deliverability Rate- Are you even making it into the inbox? Open Rate- How many people are opening your email? List Growth- Are you retaining and growing your list? Content- Which content is being clicked on? Conversion Rate- How many generate leads or sales? Forwarding- How many people are forwarding your email message to a friend? Trends:- Why do people actually open your emails? Which topics are they trending on? Website/Blog Subscribers- How many RSS subscribers do you have? Feed Readers- How many feed readers pick up your blog? RSS Revenue- How much are you earning through your RSS feed? Site Revenue- How much are you earning through your website? Social Bookmarks – How many social bookmarks do you have? Which content is bookmarked the most? Inbound Links – How many other websites are linking back to your site? Content – Which blog [...]
By Ja-Naé Duane
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Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Uncategorized
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Also tagged business, entrepreneurs, freelancing, how to start your busines, small business, social media, social media basics, social media tools, starting a business, women and entrepreneurs
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