Business

After discussing the frustration of returning to an office job after years of freelancing, it was hinted that perhaps freelancers are more productive and disciplined. I’ve been thinking about that ever since and I believe it to be true. For every office job I held, much of the staff wasted two to four hours each [...]

{ 11 comments }

Over the past decade I’ve seen many of my fellow freelancers come and go. For some, freelancing was a temporary means to an income while raising kids, finding permanent employment, or recuperating from an illness. Others, like me, did their best to make a full time go of it. Many of us are successful, however, [...]

{ 25 comments }

My first “real job” was in 1985. I was 20 years old and working as the receptionist for a New York City publishing house. My desk was in the front of the suite of offices just before the elevators. To the right of my desk was an IBM Selectric typewriter but my desk itself was [...]

{ 0 comments }

The end of the year is kind of an interesting time. People are taking stock.They’re thinking about how to close the year on an upnote, while starting the new year with a clean slate. This can be true for sales, advertising, bloggers who want to bring in readers and television networks wishing to bring in [...]

{ 1 comment }

I make no secret of my daily battle with email. Every morning when I wake up I stare at the pile of requests and comments in my personal inbox, then I stare at the pile of requests in my work inbox. And then I bang my head on the desk for a while. Here’s the [...]

{ 0 comments }

Part of being successful in any endeavor is to respond positively to negativity. That may sound as if it doesn’t make sense, but it works. Consider the honey/flies thing. People respond better to positivity, even during situations that aren’t, well, so positive. The online world brings its share of nastiness and negativity and how we [...]

{ 11 comments }

If you live in Chicago, you probably know Ramon De Leon. He’s the hugely successful owner of a half dozen Dominos Pizza franchises, in what is considered by many to be the pizza capital of the world. So how does a pizza chain compete with some of the best deep dish pizzas in the world? [...]

{ 8 comments }

I’m not a fan of rivalries. My preference is to work with people instead of letting jealousy and envy create bad feelings. I choose to think of others as colleagues and collaborators over competition. Still it happens. Most of us have rivals, whether they’re real life or someone we only encounter online. Sometimes it seems [...]

{ 1 comment }

Social media and, especially, blogging is so relaxed. We speak our minds, we air our views and we type like we talk. It’s all part of the charm, isn’t it? But then, when it’s time to act professional, sometimes we miss the mark. Now, I’m no prude, but when did things like excessive swearing or [...]

{ 11 comments }