Stress is pretty much a buzz word these days. If anyone talks about reducing their stress levels we look at them and wonder whether they’ve got their retirement plan sorted already.
Of course, stress is a natural part of modern life.
Month: July 2016
Speaking to customers: how to sell yourself at parties
What’s the strangest place you’ve ever given out a business card? I’ve handed cards out at two children’s birthday parties in the last few months. Don’t worry, we were invited! It just so happened that the conversation got around to work.
Keeping fit: how you can learn to love exercise and help your business thrive
I love running. I’m still amazed to hear myself saying that. I tended more towards the couch potato when I was younger. It’s probably because I was the clumsiest child in history. My first primary school teacher told my Mum that I was the only person she knew who could fall over the floor.
So far I’ve managed to avoid major injury whilst running so I keep going. I’m not all that quick but I feel better afterwards. If there’s anything worrying me I generally find it seems insignificant when I’m out of breath labouring up a hill.
It can still be a struggle fitting it all in. One of the reasons I persevere is that I am my business. It’s important to me to try and stay healthy as there’s no-one else to pick up the slack if I’m out of action. If you’re one of those people who say that runners are a drain on the NHS because they injure themselves, stop reading now. We’re not going to get on.
Your style: how do you communicate and why does it matter?
How do you communicate? Are you blunt and to the point or do you prefer to use inference to get your message across? Do you worry that you’ll hurt people’s feelings if you speak your mind? Everyone is different. If we weren’t we’d all have to do the same job and that would never work.
The way you communicate grows out the type of person you are. You might be a ‘big picture’ thinker who makes decisions based on your overall impression of a situation. You’re likely to lose patience with someone who thrives on data and wants to talk you through all of the details.
Why your style matters
Whatever the size or structure of your business, you’re likely to meet people who communicate differently from you. Managing those relationships well is key to ensuring your business succeeds.
Food: how eating more healthily could boost your business
Every business woman I know (and a lot of the men too) have struggled with their eating habits at some point. Of course, that isn’t restricted to business owners. It’s just as easy for someone with a full time job to eat junk too.
We’ve all heard the lectures about healthy eating but really, who has the time? We’re busy and the advice about what we should be eating seems to change every week.
The thing is, your business could be depending on you to stay healthy.
Newsletters: helping you to keep the conversation going
Everyone I talk to about marketing these days tells me how important it is to have an e-mail list. They’re right, of course. Unless you get marked as spam, e-mail marketing is the most reliable way of keeping in contact with prospective customers. The Facebook algorithm that decides how many people get to see your posts seems to get more confusing by the day. I’ve lost count of the number of posts I’ve seen from businesses wondering if there’s anyone still there.
I started sending newsletters out a few months ago but my list building efforts have been a bit haphazard so far. I’ve decided it’s time to get organised.
Family time: do you have working parent guilt?
I admit it. I’m short changing my kids. I promised myself that self-employment would mean spending more time with them as I could work flexibly. Whilst it’s true that I can be there for the school run and sports day I’ve lost count of the number of times I sit next to my eldest son while he watches TV and I respond to emails or check my latest social media statistics.
Well, they say that the first stage of recovery is admitting you have a problem so at least I’ve got that bit out of the way.
Building your business: are you living the dream yet?
Do you have a vision for your future? If you do, are you working towards it or is it something that you hope might eventually happen without you putting in too much effort?
I was recently involved in a 14 day business building challenge where the participants were encouraged to think about their goals and where they eventually wanted to be. The responses were amazing. Some people simply wanted to keep their business going and be able to afford a reasonable standard of living with a few treats thrown in. Others had much grander plans.
Me? I love writing. I’ve always thought of myself as being pretty introverted but I still enjoy asking nosy questions. When I was advising clients on the law I used to be able to poke around factories asking about working methods and how they handled employee communications. You wouldn’t believe how many personal injury claims can hinge on whether someone understood an instruction properly and if anyone checked.