I referenced Yuwanda Black’s article in a past blog entry in which she shares her experience as a freelance writer, so I was honored when I saw an e-mail from her in my inbox. Sometimes when I link to others, they drop me a note thanking me — so I wasn’t completely surprised. However, she … Read more
While freelancing offers flexibility in terms of time and location, procrastinators and people who can’t motivate themselves will find it a struggle. Unlike a corporate job, “when you’re not working, you don’t earn money.” In the corporate world on a regular salary, you get paid during slow times even if it means you might spend … Read more
Death By PowerPoint begins with absorbing insight into the life of the drones and queen bees. The queen bee sits all day while her slaves service her and feed her royal jelly that no one else can have. Who knew the world of bees could be fascinating and resemble the corporate world? The book takes … Read more
Lifehack had me thinking about handling criticism. As a one-person business with no manager to meet with me to discuss performance goals and progress, I must rely on my clients for feedback. They’re essentially my managers. On occasion, I e-mail a client requesting feedback. I explain that I want to serve him or her better … Read more
Yuwanda Black wrote a two-part article sharing her 19 years of experience as a freelance writer. She shares wonderful insight that I’ve discovered in the past few years. Here is her list with my comments on some items: Staying abreast of technology is crucial: Lucky this isn’t an issue with me. Writing is a skill: … Read more
Mission statements are a waste of time. I’ve been handed statements on credit card style cards, but they never stuck with me. The words were just jibber jabber. I covered this in a detailed post on visions, missions, positioning… And dug up this article on elevator pitches I wrote that appeared in a defunct newsletter. … Read more
I haven’t been too lucky in terms of health lately. I got the flu shortly before a major family event. Then something hit me over the past weekend, but the symptoms were all over the place. I listen to the body and rest, but it doesn’t keep the guilt away when you’re a one-person business. … Read more
Joel on Software has an excellent article that gives seven steps to remarkable customer service. Joel shares the things he learned about customer service that gets people to “remark” or talk about it. He makes a very important comment about doing two things when fixing any problem. One, fix the problem. Two, resolve the problem … Read more
Bruce Mau lists a process-related item in his “Incomplete Manifesto for Growth.” Item No. 3 says, “Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want … Read more
Most of you probably went to a restaurant where the food and service was excellent. But then you go to another location of the same restaurant and it was a disaster. Franchising is complicated as some require their chains to do everything the same while others have more leeway by owner. A pizza buffet chain … Read more