What’s That Little Square Bar Code Thingy?
You see them everywhere—those little squares that look like a bar code. You find them on business cards, flyers, advertisements, mail (even your junk mail). What exactly are they, and what purpose do they serve?
It is called a QR (or Quick Response) code. According to Wikipedia, it was originally created by a Toyota subsidiary to track vehicles during the manufacturing process. It has more recently become a marketing tool for businesses of all types.
How does it work? It works with your smart phone. All you have to do is download a QR code reader and use it to scan any QR code. There are numerous websites that will generate your QR code for free. You can use it to send people to a website, generate a text or SMS, or call a phone number.
Use your imagination to come up with some ways to use QR codes in your business!
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Why Brand Your Business?
What is branding, and why is it important to the success of your business. This video offers a brief explanation:
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Don’t Let Your Business Manage You
Do you manage your business, or does it manage you? If your answer is that your business manages you, there are things you can do to turn that around!
Time management is crucial for effective business management. Especially if you (like me) work from a home office. It’s so easy to work from the time you get up in the morning until you’re too tired to go any further at night. Set a realistic work/break schedule for yourself, and stick to it.
Set goals that are slightly challenging, but yet attainable. Don’t reach for the the impossible, or you’ve just set yourself up for failure. Try offering yourself an incentive–when you reach your goal, there will be some kind of reward waiting for you at the end.
Make a plan. There are numerous project management tools available online. If you’d rather keep it offline, you can use a spreadsheet, text editor, to-do list on paper–whatever works for you. If it’s laid out nice & neat, then you have a road map for your workday, rather than just going where the wind blows.
Enjoy what you do. If you don’t, then change it! It’s as simple as that. I speak from experience when I say that, even though you may feel like you’re stuck where you’re at, you’re not. We all have choices; we just need to exercise our right to choose.
Ask for help when you need it. Nobody is super human, although we all try to be at times. If you are to a point in your business where you simply can’t handle it by yourself anymore, hire help. I don’t know who first said “You have to spend money to make money.” but it’s true. If you are paying someone to take some of the workload off you, it frees you up to do what you do best in your business, which increases your potential to make more money.
I work as an Online Business Manager. As such, I take the administrative tasks off the hands of my clients. I’d be happy to have a short brainstorming session with you about some of the ways you can streamline your business. Feel free to contact me at charly@obmelite.com.
Are you addicted to technology?
If you’re addicted to technology, what do you do when you don’t have access to it? Listen to this short audio post to find out how I dealt with it: (about 1 1/2 min.)
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Computer Problems? Start With a Clean Slate
If your computer just runs sluggish and slow, no matter what you do, it might time to reformat your hard drive and start with a clean slate. It’s not as hard as you might think. This short video offers some helpful tips:
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Technology-Friend or Frustration?
Here’s a question for you: Is technology your best friend, or your biggest frustration? If you’re like me, your answer on any given day could be either, neither, or both.
I have to say that, although I’ve had some challenges the past few days, I am thankful for the technology that exists in our world today. I still think of it as a miracle the way the internet has opened up the whole world to us–the fact that I am able to sit in my home office and provide my services to people all over the world! I have clients in Singapore, Canada, UK, and of course the US. A few years ago, I never would have thought it possible that I would be where I am today.
So, technical challenges aside, this post is more of a reminder to myself to be thankful for what I’ve got.
Given that, I am going to reformat my hard drive this weekend. It’s a good idea to do that occasionally just to completely purge it of unnecessary files and baggage that you’ve collected and no longer need. It’s a bit of a chore to get it all set back up and reinstall all of your programs, but soooo worth it!
Stay tuned…
Time-Saving Tip
How can you utilize your available resources to your best advantage? This video might give you an idea:
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Did You Grow Your Business This Week?
What’s one thing you did this week to grow your business? I am trying to do at least one thing each week that will have a positive impact on my business. It might be anything from:
- Going to a networking event
- Calling on a potential client
- Computer maintenance for more efficient productivity
- Learn a new program
- Implement a new program or product
- Offer a coupon or sale
Well, the list can go on. I’m sure you can think of some things to add to it that are more specific to your business.
I connected with a new business partner, who I know will send me referral business. And I got a BUNCH of junk off my computer, which is now running much faster and smoother; thus allowing me to be more productive!
What did you do this week?
Using Project Management to Stay on Top of Thngs
I like to share processes or programs that help me to be successful in my business. Here’s a big one–project management applications. It’s not only helpful, it’s necessary to ensure thoroughness of a project.
Even projects that seem very simple can involve multiple steps and/or people.If you have a method of laying out a timeline which includes each of the steps involved, and who will be responsible for completing each step, then you’ve got a blueprint to refer to along the way. It helps to ensure you don’t miss anything that would cause to you have to backtrack, a possibly miss a deadline.
There are numerous tools available to help you with this.
Here are a few examples:
- Use whatever spreadsheet software you already have on your computer
- Use a Gantt chart. If you Google Gantt chart, you will find some free online applications.
- There are many online project management applications that are very good. Some are more expensive than others, and some have different functionality. You’ll want to do a little research to determine which one might best fit your needs and budget. Most offer a free trial–so you can really dive in and see how you like it. And some of them offer a somewhat limited free account. Here are just a few:
- http://basecamphq.com/
- http://www.aceproject.com/
- http://www.project.net/
- http://www.taskmerlin.com/
- http://www.centraldesktop.com/
- http://www.myintervals.com/time-tracking/
I’ve tried most of the programs in this list. For my own business, I’ve settled on the last one, at least for now.
Have fun with them, and good luck choosing the right one for your business!
My Most Important Client is Me
Who is your most important client? There’s no question that your paying clients are important—after all without them you wouldn’t be in business! But I’ve come to the conclusion that my most important client should be myself.
Why? I have always had the habit of putting myself last in everything, both in my business and my personal life. I’m gradually changing that, but old habits do die hard. Mostly, I’ve come the realization that: If I’m not taking care of my own business, how can my clients expect me to take care of theirs?
My general rule has been to take care of my client’s needs first, and squeeze my own in as I can. No longer! I’m already in the process of making some very positive and exciting changes in my business, and to my website.
Stay tuned for further announcements…
