It’s Free But It May Cost You Time And Resources
August 31, 2009
When I open my mails box, it is not uncommon to find a heap of promotional mails from various retail shops giving out free services or products. Same thing with my email in box! I have more mails then I have time to sieve through. There are just as many free gifts and bonuses given out by internet marketers all made accessible through the click of the mouse.
These internet or online marketers are making their services and products accessible to me without any effort on my part to earn or pay for them. These services and products are given to me free as a bonus, something on top of the product that I am paying for. Yet for those free bonuses to have any effect on me or my business, I need to first avail myself to the bonuses. What does that mean?
Avail Yourself To The Gift: If you let the free bonuses lie unclaimed, un-utilized, they are not going to benefit you in the least no matter how great or powerful they are. To claim the benefits of those free bonuses and for them to have effect on you and your business, you need to reach out and take action; whether it is to watch a video or to listen to an audio or to download a free digital book (and read it) or to join a membership for a month to try it out. It’s free alright, and to truly accept and receive it and let it take effect in your life, you need to use it and that takes commitement, time and resources.
If you are not careful you will start collecting a knowledge base (stacks of CDs, books, reports, videos) without having the time and discipline to appropriate that knowledge into your life. These gifts will have no impact or effect in your business or your life if you do not digest, internalize and use them.
The killer formula or application is only good if you apply them. The tips and the techniques will only work if you practice and continue to exercise your mental, physical and spiritual muscles. So before you scorn at the next product or service on line and say “I know that”, ask yourself if you have done anything with the knowledge or product that you have. Knowing will not help. Doing it correctly and continuously may lead to the result your want. Talk is Cheap, less talk and more action would be a good motto to have.
Pick What You Need For This Moment. The other thing in relation to the many bonuses is that today we are spoiled for choices. There is so much good products with bonuses on the internet in the information age that we are often overwhelmed with the many options. What is touted to be the best tool may not be what you need now – well you may not be ready for it. And when you do get the killer tool or application you would need to know how to appropriate them to get the results you want.
You need to pick the right tool and the right strategy for the right moment, for your business and your personal development. These tools are all said to be good and you want to have them all. That would not help as your would be drowned under the sea of choices. Getting a trusted advisor or partner will help you narrow down your options. Find someone who can guide and advise you, that will save you lots of time and mistakes. Otherwise you may be letting go of the perfect opportunities as you drift through life trying to filter out the noise from the music, buried in activities and busy-ness yet not producing the results you want.
For a complimentary 30-minute strategy session with Louisa, just sign up here. You can then decide what you need right now and how to appropriate your bonuses
Of Computer Problems And Technical Support
August 30, 2009
When your computer starts acting up due to hardware issues or malware / virus and you have to relinquish your computer to the technical support guy for trouble shooting and computer recovery for a few days, you may feel lost and insecure and quite frankly fidgety and stressed.
You find yourself in a situation where you have no control over your work which has become very dependent on your computer. Your computer being dysfunctional causes uncertainty as you are not sure if and when it will be ready for use again. You are also not usre if the problems can be fixed, and whether you can have it back in time for the work on hand.
Your best bet for situations like this is preparation and taking proactive measures before it happens. Before anything like this happens, you want to have contingency planning in place. In case you cannot have your computer for a few days (which happens) you want to be able to continue work on any computer anywhere – so long as it has internet connection. Take is from me, I learn it the hard way.
For best practice, do the following on a regular basis to save yourself lots of unnecessary duress and angst:
Get a good virus and malware application to protect your computer. Always use licenced applications, free applicationz not only do not come with support they may open your machine to viruses and malware.
Back up all data files regularly. Keep copies of your backup by date so you can esily restore. Take this chance to clean up files that you no longer need; they not only takes up space but it becomes harder for you to search through the files when you need to look for documents.
Have a working folder. This is the folder you will copy over onto a portable pen drive so you can carry on working on any computer. This should not contain too many files. It will have sub folders of the following:
Working projects (only) with files and documents you are currently working on in the various projects. Tag your files and folders for easy reference. Do not file by date but file by projects or keywords under appropriate folders.
File with of all log in id and passwords. You can make use of password managers or manually use a file to track this. Keep this updated as you change your passwords periodically. This is one file do not want to leave in your computer before you hand it over to the technical guy to work on your machine! Delete and empty trash before you surrender your machine.
File with favourite URLs of websites you regularly use. Bookmarks and favourites are machine dependent so you need to have your URLs handy and updated. Alternatively you can also keep a regular back up copy of your favourites. Include homepage urls for your browsers.
List of all the programs you have with the current versions. This helps when you need to update your applications when you get your computer back. You will need time to reinstall programs and applications, so you can use them on your machine.
These are the basics must dos. So the next time your technical person needs to take your laptop away for trouble shooting or reformatting, all you need is to copy your working folder over to a portable device (hard disk or pen drive) and you can continue your work using any computer that has a connection to the internet.
And when you get your machine back again, just restore the back up data/folders and reinstall your programs. All your favorites and bookmarks can be easily restored. For more productivity and stress relief tips, get a special free report here.
.
Leave a comment, share your thoughts
A Break Before You Break
August 29, 2009
When was the last time you took a break from work? Nearly half of small business owners (46%) say they are hesitant to take a break from business in the summer because they fear missing an important client or business opportunity. For the solo entrepreneur they feel tied to their work, a day away from business is a day with opportunity cost tied to it.
The long term effect of not getting away from your work can affect your wellness and health not to mention your mental alertness. You have a need for rest and relaxation to recharge away from the place of work. Ignore the need to renew and refresh and you will pay the price with clouded thinking, weakened mental and physical health. Your body as well we your mind needs a rest when it has been consistently taxed and stretched over a period of time.
Here are some things to take into consideration when you plan for your breaks:
Take frequent shorter breaks -much like taking smaller meals throughout the day, more frequent shorter breaks give you is the change to detach, zoom out and get some perspective as you refresh yourself constantly. A few short breaks may do wonders to your mental sharpness.
Build in different kinds of breaks – rest and relaxation is as important as continual self development workshops and quiet reflections. If you cannot afford a trip around the world then some short trips or retreats may just do the trick. An outing to the nature or some adventures will keep that fighter in you conquering new heights in areas of your life other than your business. These affirmations strengthen your beliefs in yourself and reduced unnecessary anxiety and stress on your ability and capacity to succeed.
Remember to feed your mind with fresh input. Reading and master minding helps you to keep abreast of trends and new discoveries. It also generates ideas for you when you are not soaked in operations. Remember the circle of influence, choose to be in the right company.
Enjoy time with friends and family – it is easy to get wrapped up in your identity as a business owner and lose sight of the important people in your life. If you have no time to spend with your loved ones then we need to look at your work life balance.
Welcome weekends as special days: It’s tempting to work over the weekend when you run your own business. Try having a no email day, and really set aside time on weekends to do something quite different from what you do on the weekdays. I like to set aside half a day on the weekend to read and catch up on mails that have been sent to my “to check out” folders as well as to write my articles in one sitting when the juice is flowing. I then schedule them to be published to the different directories over the week.
Lifestyle maintenance days: I take time off to do my grocery shopping so I top up on fresh fruits and vegetables. And I like doing my own house cleaning on weekends. Many have advise that I outsource this. This is one area I like doing, it’s therapy for me as I clean out, un clutter and tidy the place. I feel good when I see the environment tidy and clean. It also offers me a form of exercising and stretching for me. Nothing beats sipping a nice cup of refreshing green tea after a nice shower, admiring the clean and tidy place I call home.
Make use of technology: If you do any kind of on line business, you would need regular broadcast or communication with your clients and prospects. You can plan and set up automated and scheduled messages to be sent to while you are away. Nobody will notice that you are having fun in the sun. Even your blog posts and advertisements can be written ahead of time in one sitting and scheduled to be published when you are taking a rest. Auto responders and voice machines can be set up to take care of incoming mails and phone calls. There is no need to forward every mail (voice or written). Make yourself dispensable to your business.
Let it go: Set rules and times for contacting you and provide emergency phone numbers in case something urgent happens. Communicate circumstances that warrant contacting you. While you are away on vacation, check your e-mail at specific times and never more than twice a day. Inform clients and prospect that you will be gone and provide information on when they can expect to hear back from you. If you have a replacement while you are away, make sure you give that contact out.
For more practical tips on stress relief tips, watch out for the special 24-hour sale on Aug 30th 12pm US ET time. Sign up to be kept on our priority list.
Connect With Me
Favourite Links
-
eZine Article Author
