Business

Twitter is more than just idol chatter, it’s an important tool for research, learning, sharing, and, yes, even finding social media jobs. Those of us who spend a fair bit of time on the social networks know that they present some amazing opportunities. Using Twitter to find social media jobs doesn’t have as much to do with searching for listings as it does with engaging with others and acting the professional.  Here are my favorite tips for using Twitter to find work:

1. Everyone is a potential client or employer

Everyone on Twitter has the potential to either hire you or know someone who is hiring. That means the people who you’re discussing the weather or parenting tips with might one day need your services. And you know what else? When it comes time to hiring someone, many people would much rather say, “Hey so & so  who I talk to on Twitter every day really knows his stuff, wonder if he’d be up for the challenge?” than have to deal with resumes and Craigslist listings.

2. Think about who is following you and what you’re saying

So if everyone is a potential client or employer, that means they’re probably paying attention to what you’re saying.

• If you talk about your work or projects but spend the whole day on the social networks, they may think there’s a lot of goofing off happening.
• If all your Tweets are assaults on companies, brands or individuals, they may wonder when you’re going to publicly turn on them.
• If you swear or you’re racy with your Tweets they may wonder if you’re the right person to represent their business or brand.

If you’re using Twitter as a job search tool, or in hopes of landing a new client, what you say can (and will, in some cases) be used against you. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t enjoy yourself, just be mindful of what you put out there – and how others might view you.

3. Use Seesmic or Tweetdeck to follow job-related search terms

Take advantage of the search function on your favorite Twitter apps.  Keep search windows open so you can view Tweets from job boards, search terms such as “social media jobs” or “community manager jobs.”

4. Use Twitter Job Search

Twitter Job Search is a search engine aggregating all the job listings around Twitter. Use it for your favorite search terms. It’s quick to load and will bring up some awesome results. However, some of the results aren’t really having to do with the search term, but that happens with just about all job search engines.

5. Follow the people who share job opportunities

There are so many people and profiles who share links to gigs. Learn who they are and follow them. Here’ s a list to start you off:

• @jobangles
• @jobstwit
• @problogger
• @socialmediajob
• @twitjobsmedia
• @imediajobs
• iCareerPortal
• @jaridsmediajobs
• @top_seo_jobs
• @jobsdirectusa
• @twitjobsusa

Do you have any great Twitter accounts to follow for job search? Please share in the comments!

6. Follow the brands and businesses that interest you

If you’re hoping to be hired by a particular brand or business, follow them. Learn about them. Engage with them. A few years ago, when I was in the running for a community manager job, I cinched the gig by following the CEO of the company. Not only did we interact but he was impressed by how I interacted with the online community and the job was mine. This isn’t to say you’re guaranteed a job simply because you follow the right people, but it doesn’t hurt to learn about a brand and the way they do business by reading their tweets and watching them engage with others online.

7. Don’t spam people with your job requests

Spending all your Twitter time asking others for work is annoying, spammy and reeks of desperation. If you learn of an available job, it’s OK to ask for details. Find out where to send your resume and cover letter. Don’t Tweet out about how you’ve been unemployed for 8 months and you’d like someone, anyone, to give you a job. Besides, desperation means you’ll get lowballed.

8. Take care with your Twitter page & bio

If the people who hire are online, they’re checking you out as well. Don’t forget to update your Twitter page and bio in a professional manner. Make sure your contact details are current and you list your areas of expertise. Have a friend look it over to make sure it’s clean, error free and professional.

9. Don’t be a pain in the butt

Don’t follow people on Twitter specifically to ask them the status of your application or resume as it gets kind of annoying. It takes time to choose a worthy candidate and if your details weren’t rejected right away it means you didn’t suck right out the gate. Give the hiring agent time to go over all the applications and make an informed decision. It’s fine to be enthusiastic about wanting a job, it’s a while other story to pester someone on Twitter to make a decision.

10. If necessary, create two Twitter accounts

If you like to be negative, racy, ranty or unprofessional, create a second Twitter account for only friends who are interested in that side of you. Having a second, professional Twitter account will help a potential employer to see your responsible side. My preference is to manage one Twitter account only. However, it depends on your purpose. For a job seeker, two will allow you to cultivate your different personalities, and also, your friends who aren’t interested in your job search don’t have to deal with job-related Tweets. Keep in mind that there is always a chance your potential employer will see those Tweets while searching for you online. If you’re going to truly X-rated, you might want to go the protected Tweets route.

Do you use Twitter as a job search tool?  What are some of your tips?

Related Posts:

• 6 Tips for Building an Offline Network
• Does Social Media Matter to Civilians?
• Shaming Unfollowers: Should We Really Take it So Personally?
• 5 Reasons Why Foursquare Isn’t Dumb
• Do You Follow Friday?

Tagged as: find jobs on twitter, job search, jobs careers, media jobs, social media jobs, Twitter

{ View Comments }

With the exception of restaurant work, every single job I held throughout the past twenty plus years could have been done on a telecommute basis. Of course there are bits and pieces throughout those years that would have required me to come in once in a while like filing (way back in the day) and in house meetings, but, for the most part, I could have done my work at home with the help of some Wi-Fi and a few networking tools.

Though I freelanced for most of the past eight years that I’ve been working out of my home, I’ve also held a full time job and currently hold a full time contract, all while working out of my home office. In fact, my current job is based in California and I talk with people all over the country.Would it be convenient for me to pop into the main office to take care of business rather than wait for a good time to schedule a conference, call? Absolutely. Is it necessary for me to be close by to do my job well? No.

So here’s what I can tell you about telecommuting:

• I’m more productive when I work at home. I’m more focused on my tasks and not distracted by the goings on of my co-workers. I’m not subjected to the latest gossip, nor do I have to deal with the co-worker who is always talking loudly into the phone or someone else’s bad hygiene.
• I work better alone. I don’t have anything to hide, but I’m never comfortable with someone standing behind me breathing down my neck. You can’t really tell a superior to step out of your personal space, though. Can you? At home it’s all my personal space.
• I save money. I save money on gas, food, clothes and supplies. Most of my business expenses are either reimbursable or tax deductible.
• Businesses save money. If every worker in an office environment telecommuted, businesses would be able to cut down on large expenses such as rent and insurance. Even with a home base and a few employees telecommuting there would still be a savings of a variety of overhead expenses.
• It doesn’t take much effort or expense: In most cases telecommuting only requires a computer and a wifi connection. Some businesses might require a bit more heavy equipment, but, really, it doesn’t take much more than that.
• It’s good for the environment. Less pollution from cars. Less bottled water. Fewer fast food containers.
• Technical glitches are isolated. If there’s a power outage, fire, server glitch or other issue at the main office, telecommuters aren’t affected. They can continue to work
• Fewer sick/vacation days: Though we do like to take time off for ourselves, we don’t take as many sick days because we generally work through our colds. We might take to our beds in extreme cases, but sniffles and a bit of nausea don’t generally keep us from our jobs. Also, we don’t have to take full days off to attend recitals, doctor appointments or class events. We might need to take an extended lunch hour, but since most of these things are close to our homes, the time away from our work is minimal.

There are some downsides to working at home as well:

• Distractions. While I’m less distracted at home, my house has better distractions. The TV, the fridge, music, the web, outside, the pool, etc. The secret to not giving in to distractions (for me) is in scheduling time for everything, but that doesn’t mean these things don’t call to me during inopportune moments.
• Kids. Sometimes my son likes to throw a tantrum when I’m on a conference call. An office with a door is a good remedy for this, but kids have needs during working hours. I mostly work while school is in session but summer can be a challenge. Day camps and after care programs are a big help and many of these are tax deductible.
• Loneliness – There are times when I wish I wasn’t home alone, but that’s rare. I talk to so many people for my job during the day, online and by phone, that I don’t feel as if I’m alone. Plus, I go for a walk with neighborhood friends every morning and meet friends for lunch every now and then.
• Blurry Lines - When you work at home the lines tend to blur. You don’t pack up at 5:00 and leave for the day. You’re always at your job and work always calls.

This is what I miss about working outside of my home:

….I got nothing.

Why some businesses won’t consider a telecommute option:

Truthfully, many business owners don’t trust their workers to stay focused at home. They feel that when everyone is sitting at their desks in the cube farm they’re more productive. I think it works on a case by case basis. There are always goof offs. Generally, the person who goofs off at the office will goof off more at home. Focused productive workers will do well regardless of whether or not they’re working at the office, home or coffee shop.

Also, many business owners like having people close by for meetings or to answer questions. While this is convenient, it’s also something that can be done from a remote location. Thanks to Skype, email and the cell phone we can still reach the people we need to reach at the time we need to reach them.

There’s also meetings. While many of us can agree they’re huge time sucks, meetings are necessary for communication and so everyone is on the same page. This is easily solved by allowing people who work at home to come in for meetings, or to have conference calls or telemeetings.

Really, most arguments against telecommuting have a reasonable counterpoint.

Can everyone telecommute?

There will always be jobs that aren’t open to teleworkers, for example the gas station and the grocery store. However, most desk jobs can be done at home.  While more businesses are allowing a telecommute option, for most it’s a privilege offered to proven employees. However, most writers, bloggers and social media people don’t need to go into an office every day to get the job done.

If whole businesses can outsource to other countries, certainly they can allow their people to work at home.

Edited to Add: Since writing this post, my comedian friends on Twitter (I’m talking to you Chris Garrett and Laura Spencer) are expressing their pleasure at the fact that the Starbucks coffee guy and family doctor don’t work out of their homes. Well, yeah. Not every job should have a telecommute option. However, many business-y, office-y, jobs can and should, but don’t. Very funny, guys.

What do you do? Can it be done at home? What is your best argument for or against telecommuting?

Related Posts:

• Want to Telecommute? Read This First!

Tagged as: telecommute, telecommuting, work at home, work from home

{ View Comments }

So I have form letters on my mind today. I have to notify over 300 people of the same thing and it’s very difficult to personalize 300 letters. Or, rather, it’s not difficult to personalize 300 letters, I just don’t have that kind of time.  I feel kind of hypocritical. Especially because when one of my blogging friends launches a new product or wants me to sell something for them, they send me an email. My line of thinking often goes like this, “Dude. You want me to help launch your new ebook/course/paying thing and you can’t even take the time to jot out a personal note?”

But now, I’m sending out massive amounts of email and I’m not so sure that I hate form letters anymore. In fact, I’m finding them terribly convenient. Still, I’ve been called out a few times recently over the use of a form letter, especially when it comes to people I know pretty well. So if it’s all right with you, I want to offer a few ideas for making form letters personal, especially when you know you’re going to be sending a bunch out to people you know.

• Use names – No excuses. Sending an email that just says “hi!” or worse yet, has no name at all just plain sucks. Form letters are impersonal enough. There’s no need to make it worse by saying, “you’re not even worth the effort it takes to type in a name.”
• Use reference points – My form letters had to do with speaker proposals for BlogWorld. I made sure each speaker’s proposal name was referenced in my note. Most of the letter may be of the formed variety, but at least I made sure the recipient knew the note was intended for him and him only.
• Jot a note for people you know – The first time I sent a form letter to a friend I regretted it. I didn’t put in anything that would indicate I even knew her. As soon as I hit “send” I knew it was the wrong thing to do. From that point on, I made sure to add a couple of lines to the people with whom I was friendly. I didn’t have time to write up a whole new letter, but I did my best to make everyone feel special.

No one wants to receive a form letter. We want news and information tailored especially for us. We want to think the party on the other end knows our name and why we contacted them in the first place. Sometimes, though, there’s no way around it. Sometimes we just have to go with the email blast. I find that by using names, especially first names, and that by being personal with familiar names makes receiving a form letter a little less painful.

Do you send out form letters? How do you make them seem less…well…formy?

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

{ View Comments }

There are some days when I feel incredibly unproductive. It’s not even procrastination as much as it’s a very full email box, a child who needs to be driven around all day, or having stuff to do at home. After eight years of working at home, I like to think I have a pretty good rhythm going, but still, there are some days when I can’t get it together simply because my mind is on other things – or because work is the last thing I want to do that day. Add to it summertime and an active eight year old, and it can be a challenge to complete a day’s work.  Here are my favorite tips for not only getting the job done, but doing it well.

1. Office Space

My time is kind of split. During the summer I tend to work from the back deck or kitchen table so I can keep an eye on my son and his friends in the pool. As you can imagine, it can be hard to remain focused amid so many distractions. I find I truly work my best when I’m alone in the tiny office my husband created from a bedroom that’s too small to serve for anything else. As it’s a place only dedicated to work, I’m able to keep the proper mindset. There’s no fridge, no TV and no game console. I have a door I can close to block out sounds of my family going about their day if needed and even lock the door so I’m uninterrupted during phone meetings. (Note: When your eight year old is grounded and looking to push your buttons, this may backfire as he bangs on the door yelling “Emergency!! Emergency!!!”) Really, my most important productivity tip is to have a quiet place to work away from distractions.

If you work in an office with other people, this isn’t as easy because a cube farm isn’t necessarily conducive to a distraction-free work place.  If your place of employment allows you to use noise reduction headsets, it’s probably the best thing you can do to work quietly. Other distractions are much harder to avoid, though.  It’s easy to get up and join a coffee or watercooler chat, but try to schedule your breaks for the same time every day so you’re not tempted to get up every ten minutes to see what’s going on.

2. Schedule Times for Everything

Stay focused by scheduling time for everything. A time for blog posts, a time for email, a time for phone calls, a time for meetings, a time for lunch…you get the picture. Making sure everything is scheduled in your day keeps you from breaking your focus because you want to be sure to fit everything in. It also keeps you from procrastinating. If you know lunch is coming up in an  hour, you’re less likely to get up for a snack. If you know 3:00 is phone call returning time, you’re less likely to break your focus to return a call. If you have email scheduled for first thing in the morning and last thing in the afternoon, you can forget about it for a while as you work on other things. When everything is scheduled, you can focus on one thing at a time.

Another tip: Schedule your least favorite items for first thing in the day. Once you get over that hump everything else is gravy. Use your favorite tasks as a reward for when the unattractive stuff is complete.

3. Make Sure Everyone is Aware of Your Business Hours

If you work at home (like me) lines are crossed. Your neighbors may think it’s a good time to have coffee or your mother may decide that “since you’re home” you can take a long, newsy phone call. You may also find that clients or information seekers are calling at 8:00 a.m. or 9:00 p.m, simply because they know you’re home.  If this is the case, it’s time to set up some (elastic) boundaries. When folks know that you keep certain business hours and they learn that you won’t answer the phone or doorbell at these times, they’re more likely to respect your time in the future and will contact you after working hours. When clients or your employer know that you won’t take business calls or deal with business matters unless it’s within a certain timeframe, they’ll also stop contacting you during “non-business” times. You may notice that the people who are most taken advantage of are the ones who don’t stop and set the ground rules. These are also the same people who have a hard time completing their tasks because they’re taking on so many projects for so many people. Stay focused by being in charge of your schedule.

4. Find Your Quiet Times

Business hours don’t have to be 9 to 5. When I first began working out of my home I worked from 4:00 a.m. until 7:30 a.m. because that’s when my home was quiet and I was most productive. Now I work during school hours or times when my family is busy doing other things. Everyone has a time when they find they’re in the zone, find yours and work during those hours. If you work a traditional 9 to 5 job, there are also the best times to work. In the morning when people are coming into the office and catching up on news and gossip isn’t the ideal time to tackle a project requiring lots of quiet time. Instead use this time to read email, make notes, and return phone calls. Also save these less focused tasks for around 2:30 or 3:00 when most people find they’re distracted and need of caffeine and conversation. Use the quietest times to get your in depth work done, and least focused times for the projects requiring less concentration.

5. Don’t Neglect Your Family

If you’re consumed by work, you’ll resent it and your family will resent it. Family always comes and most clients and employers recognize this. It’s understandable to work occasional late nights to handle deadlines and projects, it’s quite another thing to never be available for your loved ones. When this happens you’ll be unfocused. If arguments and fights ensue because of constant work, you won’t be productive at all as the negativity becomes more distracting.

6. Take Time for You

All work and no play can make for some cranky and tired times. Don’t forget to take date nights or time out with the girls, guys and family. Recreation clears the head and puts you in a better frame of mind to tackle work. Moreover, getting out and seeing new things allows those creative juices to flow. Plus, you don’t feel so guilty about sitting down and working for large blocks of time when you achieve of sense of balance between work, play, recreation and family.

7. Keep Fit

Trust me on this one, staying fit is the best thing for keeping productive. If you stay in shape and stay healthy, you spend less time working out (though you shouldn’t neglect it all together) to get into better shape. Also, healthy foods are powerful for the body, mind and spirit. When you schedule in time to work out ever day and it becomes a routine, you’re not distracted by the “when should I work out, I’m too busy to exercise” dilemma. Stay fit and stay healthy for a healtheir mind. If you are out of shape (like me) you’ll find that going for a walk, run or doing another form of exercise in the morning will help to generate new ideas and clear your head of distractions. Once you’re back at work you’ll find yourself in a positive frame of mind.

You’ll find that productivity doesn’t necessarily have to do with sitting down and working. It also has to do with having a quiet place to work, and the proper mindset. Once you can achieve the right sense of balance between work and everything else, you rid yourself of the unpleasant distractions. Schedule your time accordingly and don’t forget to take time for you. You’ll find you change for the better.

What are some of your tips for staying productive?

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

{ View Comments }

Foursquare doesn’t get as much respect as many of the other online communities. I’ll even wager it’s one of the most misunderstood tools in the social networking/social media space. It may look as if it isn’t handy and may appear to not allow for much privacy, but like all tools and apps it’s dependent upon how you use it.

It may seem as if foursquare doesn’t stimulate conversation in the way that Twitter or Facebook does, but it allows us to share travel tips and recommendations with friends, even if there’s not much in the way of back and forth banter. It may even seem as if we’re inviting a whole lot of trouble by alerting people to our locations every time we step out of our homes, but responsible users know to only include trusted friends in their networks and to keep personal details personal.

With all that said, I thought it might be interesting to explore the ways businesses can use foursquare to reward customers for their loyalty and encourage new business.

Foursquare Mayorships, Points & Perks

It sounds kind of silly to  think of someone as the “Mayor of Stop’ N’ Shop,” doesn’t it? But what if there were perks beyond that of a virtual badge? What if there were discounts and freebies coming with a Mayorship? What if users earn points for every check in, points to be used for prizes, discounts, and special passes? All of a sudden foursquare isn’t so silly anymore…and it’s happening. Businesses are now looking into ways to provide goodies for loyal users. In fact, Starbucks is already offering discounts based to their Mayors.

Fourquare opens up a whole new world of marketing and promotional opportunities. It’s one thing to put an ad in the paper and have a sale. Certainly loyal customers will come out for sales event. However, customers who are rewarded with points or perks every time they check in to a location will have more reasons to drop by for a visit. Mayorships and checkins don’t have to Facebook clutter, they can be put to something useful. Plus, it will help to encourage new business.

Putting Your Business on the Map

When customers and patrons add your business to foursquare it’s a whole new way to reach customers. Consider some of the ways to use foursquare to bring in business:

• Local businesses can band together and use foursquare to host virtual scavenger hunts.
• Reward out of town travelers who restaurants or hotels using foursquare.
• New members of the community can use foursquare where to find products and services.
• Business can offer discounts and perks to loyal customers who check in to foursquare.
• Business can learn more about the businesses around them for cross promotion using foursquare.
• Reward users by showing their check ins on a prominently displayed computer screen somewhere in your shop or restaurant…or display a feed specifically for check ins to your business.
• Reward users by having a special event exclusively by foursquare users. Non users will want to get in on the next one and will be sure to visit more often.
• Have a contest among your customers to reward power users at the end of each month or year.

When it comes to foursquare for business, the possibilities are endless.  It doesn’t have to be a silly game, leading to Mayorships and bragging rights. Use it to rally your community and cross promote local businesses, organize a charity event and reward customer loyalty.

Being the Mayor of the local supermarket doesn’t have to be useless or laughable. If handled properly it can be a coveted title.

How will your business use foursquare?

For more details about how foursquare can benefit businesses please read:

• 5 Reasons Why Foursquare Isn’t Dumb – Kommein
• Foursquare + Your Business – Foursquare
• 5 Ways to Use Foursquare for Business – Kyle Lacy
• Why Foursquare Drives Business: What You Need to Know - Social Media Explorer
• Who Says Foursquare Has No Business Potential? 901am

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

{ View Comments }

Community was one of the few topics that wasn’t mentioned much at Cross Media TO. It seemed to me that the state of community within business was that of the consumer. While there were some mentions made of how a community interacts with media, the overall idea never seemed to be about cultivating community.

While hearing one presentation in particular about the future of media, entitled Transmedia, I started to get really worried. The presenter, Dr. Siobhan O’Flynn, discussed how fan remixes might become the future of interactions between brands and their followers. She talked about how in 2009, Thomas May pointed to a new orientation called “fandependent”.

From one perspective, this could sound great to those that are fans of music bands, television shows, and movies, but what I saw in the presentation was more about how brands like Tide and Ford could take advantage of this process.

The idea is that brands get to test the response and use content created by fans to continue to promote and grow their brand. I had what I consider an important question to ask, and never got the chance to do so. My unanswered question was, shouldn’t companies be worried that content creators in their community might get tired of big brand run campaigns due to the potential commercialism of them?

To me, it seemed like the end goal was really to take advantage of the community, and their creativity, while providing very little in return.

Community isn’t currency. It isn’t something you should be converting into dollars and cents. The fact that it exists should alone be of value, and trying to convert community into money, in my mind, only serves to reduce the community. There is almost an inherit exchange rate, and if you don’t cultivate community, communicate with your membership and give them a reason to interact, then you are abusing the relationship and the expectations.

These issues weren’t dealt with during Dr. O’Flynn’s presentation, and as such, I’m not sure where she stands on community, but the presentation I saw didn’t seem to address it in a comforting way. I love the idea that brands can be a major contributor in getting independent movies and media out into the world, but there is a thin line between helping and hurting, and I just don’t know if there are any sort of rules or best practices that keep the underlying community and creative people safe from exploitation.

What do you think? Are you a form of currency? Would you potentially compromise your creativity in order to make more money? Or on the flip side, have you been helped by the resources given to you by a company or brand so that you could be creative?

Have your say in the comments below.

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

Tagged as: conference, cross media, media, toronto

{ View Comments }

The contents of my spam filter disappoint.  As someone who recommends everyone learn as much as possible about their customers and clients in order to do business, I’m tempted to contact some of these spammers and give them a lesson in basic marketing.

I do not, nor have I ever, nor will I ever,

• Need help growing male body parts
• Need to enhance my sex life
• Want to have an affair with a zebra dressed in a cheer leader outfit

I mean, come on. If you knew anything about me you’d know that I’m happily married, heterosexual, female and planning to stay that way, and am in no way turned on by zebras, no matter what they’re wearing. There may be a market for these, but this is not the place. If you, the spammer, took the time to read this or any of the other blogs you’re spamming you’d know I’m not your girl, and you wouldn’t have to send underpaid third world writers from blog to blog writing crap. You could save your ten cents a post and use it to buy a clue.

Spam disguised in commenters’ clothing

Do you think we’re not smart enough to know that “Cheap DVD” is not a real name and that posting, “Wow. I never thought of it that way. I’m going to have to visit more often” on every single blog post is an approvable comment?

One post? You may have a chance. Twenty posts saying the same thing? Not so much.

I’ll admit, I may have let a “Free Credit” go through when I wasn’t paying attention because, darnit, Free was so sincere with his praise regarding my blogging prowess. After some time I caught on, though.  I get that people come from all walks of life, and my favorite names aren’t your favorite names, but “Work from Home Typing Jobs?” Even the happiest teleworker wouldn’t damn her child to twelve years of schoolyard hell with that name. I have to say, though, it’s hard to let some of these remarks go.  They’re so good for my ego when they tell me, “You write the goodest blog. I wish I had your blog skills.”

Long winded spam

Also? Spammers? Brevity. Learn it. Use it. Embrace it. Love it. It’s one thing to let a brief, complimentary blog post go through because we bloggers want to believe the love coming our way is real, but what’s with the long lists of links?  That isn’t going to fly in comment world, whether you’re a spammer or the most famous blogger in the world. My comments section isn’t a blogroll, keep your link lists to yourself.

Put a little thought into your spam

What disappoints me most about spam is the lack of care and attention put into the comment. If I’m writing a post about building blog traffic, comments like this are just a little off topic:

Houses are quite expensive and not everybody can buy it. Nevertheless, mortgage loans was created to aid different people in such kind of cases.

And if I’m writing about the best places to find social media jobs, this is just a tad unrelated:

The credit loans are essential for people, which are willing to organize their company. By the way, that’s easy to receive a college loan.

In all fairness at least those are complete sentences. However, do the spammers think I’m such a comment-whore I’d let this one go through?

Buy vicodin online without….

Vicodin online. Vicodin withdrawl. Vicodin. Liquid vicodin. How l ong does vicodin stay in your system. Purchase vicodin online….

Come on, spammers. Put a little thought into it. Get creative. You’re wasting both our time with this silliness. If you’re spamming my blog in hopes of getting a comment through, make it look like something Askimet won’t catch and that a real human being will respond to. Use real names and become part of the discussion. Don’t tell us about your mortages or Viagra because that has nothing to do with the effing conversation.

A bit of advice, from me to you...

If you’re wondering why no one is actually clicking your spammy links, it’s likely we hit “trash” and they never get to see the light of day. If you wonder why they’re trashed, it’s because they’re idiotic. They make no sense and when they do they have some stupid “Buy Cheap Garage” name attached. We don’t care about your spam because you don’t take the time to care about us. Learn the market, learn how to talk to people, and just maybe we won’t even know you’re spamming us.

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

{ View Comments }

The telecommute lifestyle is one I wouldn’t trade for anything. After eight years of telecommuting and ten years of freelancing, I’ve learned to implement a few hacks to increase my productivity, but also to keep me in my right mind. Working at home appears to be a luxurious and glamorous lifestyle at first glance, but the truth is, it was a rude awakening. It’s not easy to work amid so many distractions or to keep to a schedule and balance family, business and life.

Here are my favorite telecommuting hacks to keep sane and productive.

1. Take Care of Yourself First

Take care of yourself first? It sounds selfish, doesn’t it? The truth is, it’s smart to keep your health and well being in mind. If not, you’ll end up with very unhealthy habits and you won’t do anyone any good. When I began working from home I used work and family as an excuse not to work out. After a couple of years, my bad fitness habits caught up with me and I’m now working harder at getting back into shape. Maintain your health now because if you keep making excuses you’ll find you’ll have to put in a lot more time and effort at getting back to a healthy weight and re-learning those eating habits. I know that finding time to work out is difficult. However, you can find time if you’re really serious. In the summer, I walk in the morning before my family wakes. During the school year I work out during school hours. Yeah, sometimes I have to skip some leisure time to catch up, but being healthy for myself – and my family – is well worth the inconvenience.

Maintaining a healthy weight also means to keep the noshing at a minimum or seriously consider what you’re eating. I used to eat a lot of junk while I worked because that’s what’s in the house. Finally I stopped buying it and stocked up on fruits and healthy snacks instead. You know what? They taste better.

Finally, taking care of yourself isn’t all about fitness. It’s also about making life about other things besides work and family. Enjoy your time on Earth. Go out with friends. Read a book. Keep a balance of serious and fun and you’ll find it makes all the difference in the world.

2. Schedule Everything

Most telecommuters dig the flexibility of the work at home lifestyle. Those of us who freelance or have flex time agreements with our employers get to do our own thing as long as we get the job done – and do it well. The problem is, we can also become victims of our flexibility. We want to go to the supermarket during the week when it’s less crowded. We want to have lunch with our friends. We want to clean up around the house. We want to drive our kids to their tennis matches. We want to read, go to a movie or just watch bad TV. So when does work come in?

I’ve learned that by scheduling every single task and detail I get more done, especially when tackling multiple projects for a variety of clients. Perhaps I’ll schedule Client A’s task from 8 AM to 10 AM. From 10 until noon, I’ll handle client B. From noon to one is lunch with the girls and then it starts all over again.  I even schedule email time and  leisure time. When school is out during the summer, it’s not as easy to keep to a schedule, but it’s doable because kids’ activities are scheduled too. Scheduling enables me to keep all my tasks under control so that when I do want to take a day for the beach or relax by the pool for a couple of hours, I won’t fall too far behind.

Flexibility is grand, but if we make flexibility more important than our workload, problems happen. Being flexible doesn’t mean we do our work piece mail. It means we get the job done, but can set our own hours and work at our own pace.

3. Set Boundaries

My pet peeve about working from home is clients and others who call at all hours of the day and night because they know we’re at home. Some of them feel they have carte blanche to call at 7:00 AM or 9:00 PM because of our flexibility. Also, sometimes clients or employers feel we can work on weekends and holidays for the same reasons. This only happens if you let it. Setting boundaries for work and for play is ultra important for telecommuters as it’s the difference between being productive and allowing people to walk all over us.I do not allow clients to call after a certain hour, and I set a specific time for returning calls. I also make it clear to my friends and family the times I consider my “business” hours. I have family time and business time and rarely the twain shall meet.

Setting boundaries is more than just scheduling calls. It’s knowing when to say no or charge more money. It’s telling a client that you won’t be treated poorly (if that’s happening) or that a certain project goes against your beliefs. I’ve found that by setting boundaries and saying “no” as needed, my clients tend to respect me more.

As we’ll discuss more in the next tip, I also set personal boundaries with friends and family so they know my working hours and respect my time. Establishing business hours tells people, “OK, this is when I work so please don’t call with neighborhood gossip, we can do that during lunch or after work.” Again, we can be flexible, but when we’re too flexible people just don’t respect our time.

4. Find Your Quiet Time

Figure out the best time to work undisturbed. When I first began freelancing it was from 4:00 AM until about 7:30 when folks were still sleeping. Now my working time is during school hours plus a few hours after. I’m not freelancing as a writer anymore, but it’s still important for me to find the quiet blocks of time to work.

• When my clients know my business hours, they are likely to only contact me during that time.
• When my friends know my business hours they are less likely to call me or show up with a coffeecake at that time.
• When my family knows my business hours, they are more likely to respect that time and keep interruptions at a minimum.
• When I know my business hours I’m more likely to direct all my focus on business at that time.

Again, this doesn’t mean we’re not flexible, but respecting our time and having others respect our time is crucial for our success.

5. Tackle Your Least Favorite Tasks First

Procrastination usually happens because we’re putting off tasks we don’t want to do. Procrastinating on one project can set off a disastrous chain of events. By choosing the most unattractive task on our list and doing it first, right away, we’re creating smooth sailing for the rest of the day. Saving the best for last is sort of a reward, or light at the end of the tunnel. It gives us something to look forward to and we’re not as likely to put off the inevitable. By telling ourselves, “this will be over soon and then I can get on to the good stuff,” we’re motivating ourselves to complete the task while in a timely manner…and keeping procrastination at bay.

What are your favorite hacks for telecommuting? Share (or commiserate)  in the comments.

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

{ View Comments }

I have to admit, the sale of my blog went very well and despite the emotional aspect, was pretty smooth sailing. Aside from my house, this was probably the biggest transaction that ever passed through my hands, justifying the five years of work put into building and growing a blog and community. Selling my blog was also a learning experience. I’m not quite sure what I expected when I announced I was selling, but I didn’t think it would happen so quick.

I thought I might share some of the lessons I learned in case you’re thinking of selling your blog too!

5 Lessons Learned from Selling My Blog

1. It’s Hard to Give Up a Blog

Selling a blog is like selling the family home or watching the kids go off to college. I didn’t think I would have such an emotional attachment but I do. Will I be able to watch someone else run the joint? Will I be able to butt out if I don’t like a decision that’s made? Can I bear to see someone else raise my child?

I thought long and hard before making this decision. To be honest, it took me about a year mostly because I didn’t want to hand over the keys to my kingdom to someone who might run it into the ground. The attachment is both financial and emotional. Not an easy thing to give up.

2. Not Everyone Shares My Vision

I was fortunate in that the people who bought my blog network shared a similar vision. This wasn’t the case with every potential buyer. One person wanted to turn it into a job board, one person wanted it to be a web content site and one person is someone who has publicly trashed me and my blogs several times in the past. I had to decide whether or not I could sell my blog to someone who didn’t share my vision – which I could not.  I always expected the new buyer would change things up a bit and certainly do something about the cluttered design, but I didn’t expect so many suitors to want a complete change of direction. That isn’t to say I expected every buyer to be me, just surprised at how many were the anti-me.

3. Not Everyone Sees the Potential

When I put out the word that I was thinking of selling, I received over a dozen inquiries and six serious offers. Many who inquired didn’t see beyond the monthly advertising revenue, which was enough for me to make ends meet, plus pay those who blogged for me. It didn’t matter that it’s the top online community for freelance writers or that it commands the top search terms in many categories. It didn’t matter that there were over 2,000 pages of content, several thousands visitors each day and a wonderful, helpful community. For some, it was only about how much the blog network was earning now – and not what it can do in the future.

4. Amenities Sweeten a Sale

I learned that beyond a fairly decent income and rankings, there were other perks to sweeten the sale. My blog network’s Facebook fan page boasts over 3,000 members. Plus, we have a Droid App, a 1,000+ subscriber newsletter, a pay to post job board and several awards and accolades including honors from the top print magazine in the niche.

5. Everyone Will Lowball

I was warned about this, so I knew what to expect. The first offer from any potential buyer is bound to be a lowball offer. Though they hope I’ll accept the lowball offer, they also leave negotiation room. I did received advice from someone who flips web properties on a regular basis, and it was spot on. When I received an offer I felt too low, I counter offered and the party on the other end of the negotiation table didn’t balk.

I also learned a few other things from this sale. For example, the domain transer didn’t go over as smoothly as I would have hoped, and I’m seeing my name next to the word “sellout” on some freelance writing forums. Also, I learned some things are more important than accepting the highest offer .

It’s so far been an interesting and enlightening experience.  I own several web properties than I’m building and growing and I’m sure those will be sold sometime in the future (though I’ll be holding on to this one for a long time.) It’s good to know what I’m getting into and what to expect.

Do you have any questions about selling a blog? If so, ask! Have you ever sold a blog? Feel free to share your experiences as well.

3CK7WE3EQC9G

Related Posts:

• How to Sell a Blog Part 2: Prepping for Sale & Determining a Price
• Does Social Media Matter to Civilians?
• CardioTrainer for Droid: Geeky Fitness
• 10 Tips for Using Your Competition to Become a Better Blogger
• BlogHer: From the Eyes of a Reluctant Newbie: Part 1 -Exhibits

Tagged as: blog sale, blogging, blogs, how to sell a blog, sell blogs

{ View Comments }