Archive for July, 2012
Volunteer to Increase Business
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Image from Atlanta Workforce Development Agency
Volunteering is a great way to give back to the community. You may not realize it, but it is also an effective way to grow your business. There are many ways to increase your business through volunteering; the following are some tips on how to go about it.
When people think of volunteering, they tend to think of volunteering in person, picking up trash on the side of the road or serving food in a soup kitchen. There are many other forms of volunteering that can actually show off your business skills. If you are trying to break into a field that you don’t have a lot of experience in, volunteering can help you gain experience.
Many types of organizations depend on volunteers to help them with every day office functions, and many more require volunteer help for special events. Perhaps you can volunteer your marketing services for a local non-profit group’s charity auction. If you are an event planner, you can volunteer to plan the charity auction. And if you are a web designer, offer to design the website.
Volunteer work can be done via cyberspace, as well. You can organize a virtual expo, for instance. You can also do lots of sales and marketing work online. Don’t forget about writing articles for an organization or handling some other type of administrative work.
One of the best things about volunteer work is that it gets you in front of a lot of people who may not have met you otherwise. A fellow volunteer may be in need of the type of services you offer; once they meet you and see what kind of work you can do, they may decide to hire you. In fact, the organization that you are volunteering for may ask you to take on some paid work for them.
Many charity events and volunteer organization receive a lot of publicity. If you are volunteering some of your services, your name may be mentioned in the press. If someone looking for the type of services you offer reads about you in the paper or hears your name mentioned on the radio, that exposure may spur them into checking out your website.
Don’t be afraid to ask the organization you are helping for referrals of people who may be willing to hire you. The person you report to at the charity may have several friends in other companies that routinely need your services. You can also ask your fellow volunteers and other people you meet while volunteering.
You may also start to receive phone calls from people, letting you know that you were recommended to them. The organization you volunteered for may pass your name onto many other people.
Stop Procrastinating
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For many people, procrastination can be a big problem. When you procrastinate, you are postponing or delaying tasks that need to be worked on. This can cause stress, anxiety, and even financial loss. Procrastination tends to be a habit. If you normally get your work done on time, but have had occasional circumstances where you missed a deadline, you probably have nothing to worry about. However, if you find yourself intentionally delaying your tasks, you may be a procrastinator. Here are some tips on how to stop procrastinating, and how to start getting things done.
You may be suffering from a lack of focus. When you have a lot of ideas swarming around in your head, it can be hard to concentrate on one of them long enough to get it started and completed. Take some time and focus on your business; visualize where you want your business to go. If you find yourself working on something that isn’t going to actually grow your business, stop working on it and move on to a task that will.
Some people tend to procrastinate over things they do not enjoy doing. Perhaps you hate keeping track of receipts and balancing your books. Instead of putting this task off to the end of the day, schedule it for the first activity of the day. Give yourself a reward when you complete the task. You also have the option of outsourcing the tasks that you do not want to do yourself.
If you tend to put open-ended tasks on your to-do list that never get accomplished, you may want to start setting goals for yourself. If you simply tell yourself, “I need to write and distribute five articles,” you may never get around to doing it. However, if you tell yourself, “I need to write and distribute five articles by the 25th” you will have a due date, which can help motivate you.
If you find yourself delaying the start of a complex project, it may just be too big for you to grasp all at once. Break the project down into smaller pieces. Instead of focusing on a huge project, you are only focusing on specific, manageable tasks.
Perfectionists tend to delay things because they want everything to be perfect. Realize that there is no such thing as perfect; it is okay to have high standards and want to complete things to the best of your ability. However, if you find yourself putting undue stress on yourself, ease up and let “good” be good enough.
Some people actually have a fear of success, or failure, and that is why they delay starting and completing tasks. If you think you may suffer from this, you may want to consult a professional who can work with you and help you overcome your fears. In the meantime, visualize how you will feel when you complete the task.
Old habits can be hard to change, but with a little time and effort, you can learn new habits that will help you start and finish your projects on time.
Move into action and out of procrastination this summer using the tips and tricks from the worlds top life and business coaches. You can get unlimited access to the .mp3 recordings, pdf transcripts and Easy Biz Notes from the Easy Biz Telesummit held this week. Stop procrastinating and start doing. Get more information here.
