Category Archives: Independent Work

The Google Buzz opportunity for small businesses

Google Buzz early review and opportunities

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The Essential Home Office Environment

The ability to customize and configure your space is a very fulfilling benefit of a home office. It takes time, patience, and a willingness to explore your own levels of enjoyment and productivity as you make changes to your environment. But because the home office environment is a catalyst to your productivity, the investment is well worth the return.

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Social Media ROI for Entrepreneurs

Some time ago I posted an argument against seeking an ROI for Social Media tools.  My point was that social media tools are a communication medium that are rapidly becoming ubiquitous: the need to justify the expense of implementation will be replaced by cost/return comparisons between competing technologies.
But here is an even more salient point [...]

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Authenticity = Social Capital

There’s no doubt that relationships are the cornerstone of a healthy business (especially for the independent worker). I believe that the strongest relationships are built upon the three-legged stool of trust, respect, and authenticity.
Authenticity is the alignment of actions with values.
Authenticity and transparency often go hand-in-hand, but not necessarily. Bernie Madoff was [...]

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8 Best Free Tracking and Trending Sites

Are you building your online presence with social media?  Blogging, Twittering, posting links and creating a social stream of content takes time.  But if you aren’t tracking your numbers, how will you know if your time is well-spent? And where do you look for good ideas for new content?
It’s important to start with the measurements [...]

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8 Must Know Twitter Basics

A good friend of mine just asked that I post up a quick list of basic Twitter etiquette (Twettiquette, in the vernacular).  We’ve all run across that person who seems to be a little slow to pick up on some of the more subtle aspects of the Twitterverse (many of us were that person…).  [...]

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8 + 2 Productivity Boosters Every Knowledge Worker Needs

I’m a big fan of gadgets and technology.  I subscribe to Engadget, Gizmodo and GearLive, and could be considered an early adopter of mobile technology (remember the HP Jornada?).  But as cool as some things are, like you I’m simply too busy to integrate tools and tech that don’t generate immediate time savings.  So here [...]

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It Pays to Pay – The Headway Theme for Wordpress

I’m a big believer in the power of a blog as a centralized platform for online community building, branding and messaging.  You can link and drive traffic to your blog from all of your various social networking sites, newsletters, and print campaigns.  Your blog provides interactivity that isn’t possible on any other platform.  The trouble [...]

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The Sales Funnel

Small businesses don’t typically have the luxury of tossing cash at the problem, especially when the problem is lack of cash.

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These are not the clients you’re looking for…

Have you ever gotten to the end of your rope dealing with a particular customer?  This is the person that signs the agreement, then wants to change the terms.  She purchases your product, then asks why it doesn’t come with this feature or that feature.  He asks about every microscopic detail of your service package,  [...]

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