I swear it must have grown that much in a week!
Sometimes it’s handy to make a pdf document. I love pdf, it’s easy to send, easy to link to, easy to use. The best thing is that you can layout your document exactly the way you like it and nobody can change it, which is not the case with a word document.
Often we create documents in word, but when we share them and want them to be printable documents or forms, it’s easier to change your word document to a pdf file.
Many of our clients do not have software to convert documents with, so I went online to see how difficult it would be to do for free. It’s not hard at all. If you have a lot of documents to do, buy software, but if you just need to convert now and then, the free online version works fine. There are lots of places to go, I only tried one.
Click on the image below to view my short video:
People talk about it, but no one could really tell me what it does, or what it’s good for. Then I found this video — it was an aha-moment for me, because I have this problem all the time. If you work with clients and deal with long email conversations, you’ll recognize this too. Is Google Wave going to help keeping email conversations from becoming huge misunderstandings? Take a look.
Here is a short video that introduced Google Voice. I recently got my invitation, and I’m getting ready to set it up.
I think this is going to be very useful to us small business owners. Can you imagine to be able to sort your calls this way – and to customize voice greetings.
I woke up early this morning, I have a lot to do and was a bit stressed. I started to go through my emails and check my google reader while the coffee was brewing. I subscribe to the famous copywriter John Carlton’s newsletter, and today he sent a link to an interesting story about twitter.
Small business owner often ask us about Twitter. “What do you do with it?”, they ask or they tell us they’re already “on Twitter”. Unfortunately, most of them don’t use it as a communication tool, instead they broadcast their sales message over and over and over again – until nobody listens.
This article is an interesting read and includes a few examples on how small business owners can use Twitter in real life.
Here’s the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/business/smallbusiness/23twitter.html?_r=1
1. The Best know what they truly want. At some point in their lives, the best have a “Eureka!” moment when their vision becomes clear. Suddenly they realize what they really, truly want to achieve. They find their passion. When that happens they are ready to strive for greatness. They are ready to pay the price.
2. The Best want it more. We all want to be great. But only the best of the best are willing to do what it takes to be great. The best don’t just think about their desire for greatness; they act on it. They have a high capacity for work. They do the things that others won’t do, and they spend more time doing it. When everyone else is sleeping, the best are practicing and thinking and improving.
3. The Best are always striving to get better. They are always looking for ways to learn, apply, improve, and grow. They stay humble and hungry. They are lifelong learners. They never think they have “arrived”—because they know that once they think that, they’ll start sliding back to the place from which they came.
4. The Best do ordinary things better than everyone else. For all their greatness, the best aren’t that much better than the others. They are simply a little better at a lot of things. Everyone thinks that success is complicated, but it’s really simple. In fact, the best don’t do anything different. They just do the ordinary things better.
5. The Best zoom focus. Success is all about the fundamentals, and the fundamentals are little and ordinary and often boring. It’s not just about practice, but focused practice. It’s not just about taking action, but taking zoom-focused action. It’s about practicing and perfecting the fundamentals.
6. The Best are mentally stronger. Today’s world is no longer a sprint or a marathon. It’s a series of sprints combined with a boxing match. You’re not just running; you are getting hit along the way. The best are able to respond to and overcome all of this with mental and emotional toughness. They are able to tune out the distractions and stay calm, focused, and energized when it counts.
7. The Best overcome their fear. Everyone has fears. The best of the best all have fear, but they overcome it. To beat your enemy, you must know your enemy. Average people shy away from their fears. They either ignore them or hide from them. However, the best seek them out and face them with the intent of conquering them.
8. The Best seize the moment. When the best are in the middle of their performance, they are not thinking “What if I win?” or “What if I lose?” They are not thinking “What if I make a mistake or miss the shot?” They are not interested in what the moment produces but are concerned only with what they produce in the moment. When all eyes are watching, they rise to the occasion. As a result, the best define the moment rather than letting the moment define them.
9. The Best tap into a power greater than themselves. The best are conductors, not resistors. They don’t generate their own power, but act as conduits for the greatest power source in the world. It’s not always politically correct, but you can’t talk about greatness without talking about God. It would be like talking about breathing without mentioning the importance of air.
10. The Best leave a legacy. The best live and work with a bigger purpose. They leave a legacy by making their lives about more than them. This larger purpose is what inspires them to be the best and strive for greatness over the long term. It helps them move from success to significance.
11. The Best make everyone around them better. They do this through their own pursuit of excellence and in the excellence they inspire in others. One person in pursuit of excellence raises the standards of everyone around them. And they do this in both their work and life. …The point is to strive to be your best and inspire others to be their best, because it’s in the striving where you find greatness, not in the outcome.
Excerpted from Training Camp: What the Best Do Better Than Everyone Else by Jon Gordon
Training Camp: What the Best Do Better Than Everyone Else
Small business owners and entrepreneurs wear many different hats. Often you are the sales manager, the marketing department, the CEO and the bookkeeper rolled up in one busy bee.
How do you stay on task? One of our biggest challenges in this day and age is to stay focused. There are so many distractions, especially when you work for yourself on the computer. The email notifications pop up, friends send instant messages, the phone rings, the kids come home from school or the cat is hungry.
Many successful Internet entrepreneurs say we need to start limiting the distractions and focus on finishing a particular task, instead of trying to multi-task. For the longest time we were told multitasking is key — but not any more. And research supports it.
Tim Ferris, who wrote The 4-hour Work Week, says that our urge to constantly check email is an addiction. He also says that multitasking lowers your IQ more than smoking marijuana it’s actually been proven in a scientific study! Pretty scary!
The 4-Hour work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
I knew I needed to change from a buzzing bee to a focused, sharp internet entrepreneur. During my work day I never ever reached the end of my to-do list. Every day I was left with a sense of failure, because I didn’t get enough accomplished. When I spoke to other entrepreneurs, this seems to be a very common problem.
Out with the old “ in with the new. It’s time for change.
At the end of every year, many entrepreneurs feel the need create a new plan for the New Year. Many people like to make New Year’s resolutions, there’s even a whole website devoted to it. It seems like many of us try to make the same change year after year.
According to www.resolutionsnewyear.com the most popular New Year’s Resolutions are:
1. Spend more time with family and friends
2. Become fit
3. Cut down the extra fat
4. Quit Smoking
5. Quit Alcohol
6. Get out of debt
7. Learn something new
8. Become more organized
9. Help others
10. Enjoy life more
I think the name comes from the movie industry, but I’m not sure. It is said that you should be able to finish your pitch to someone before the elevator reaches its destination. It’s a good idea to have a pitch ready, because you never know who you’re going to meet and when it’s necessary for you to talk about your business.
Often one of the most difficult tasks small business owners face is to explain what they do in an interesting way. I don’t mean to say “I am a veterinarian”, that is not hard to do, but for marketing it is not enough. It’s not a statement people will necessarily remember, or something that will make them ask questions.
When someone asks you “what do you do?”, do they really want to know your profession or are they trying to start a conversation with you? Many times it’s just an invitation to a conversation. When you are a business owner you need to take every opportunity to spread the word about your business to others. The best marketing is often word of mouth, but for that to work, you need to be interesting.
Have you heard about Twitter? It’s a nice little application that let’s you stay in touch – and if you run a blog it’s a great tool for posting. To learn more, take a look at this video:
