Personal branding. It’s a great concept with a silly name.
Poor Heather!
They tell us we’re livin’ in a brave new world of transparency -but still… do you really want a prospective client or employer to know all your secrets -and be on a first-name basis with the skeletons in your closet?
Think about what you post about yourself before you post it. Once you hit that “enter” or “upload” key, it just isn’t for your close Facebook or MySpace buddies -it now belongs to the world.
Is Time your friend? Or your foe?
I’ve got three piano-playing gigs in the next three days and a bunch of other stuff to do during the interludes between those the pack-travel-unpack-perform-repack-travel cycles.
Luckily, I am pretty good about managing my time; it’s one of my better habits, built upon a lifetime of making mistakes and eventually getting the message from the chaos that resulted.
At any rate, if you, too, fall a bit short in this department, here are five easy steps you can take towards becoming a little more productive.
1. Schedule errands for the beginning or end of the day.
2. When fielding requests for information and other such things, ask for a day to respond (and then respond within that period of time)
3. Hire someone to do the chores you’re not fond of – and no, this does not include making sales calls! In most small businesses, prospects want to talk to the boss.
4. Pencil in “thinking time” every day. A few minutes to take a deep breath, organize yourself, jot down some notes on where you are, what you need to do, and what you want to do.
5. Reward yourself. Did you finish a project ahead of schedule? Bring in a new client? Make someone’s day? Go ahead … reward yourself.
In referring to the coverage of Michael Jackson’s death, record executive, songwriter and producer L.A. Reid stated, “Turn down the chatter. Turn up the music.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself. It’s just too damn easy nowadays to get caught up in the chatter of e-mail, blogs, cable TV., cell phones, and constant information overload (contradictory info at that), we forget to simply relax, kick back, pop the top on a cold bottle of the current favorite, and enjoy our immediate surroundings.
So this weekend, regardless of your thoughts about Michael Jackson, take a moment or two to follow L.A. Reid’s advice, eh? “Turn down the chatter. Turn up the music.”
:::
Stephen G. Fortnam 1957 - 2009
Tonight, I’m also honoring the memory of my friend Steve Fortnam, who passed away at his Spring Lake home on Wednesday. Steve was an adroit programmer, a warm-hearted gentleman, a devoted father and a pretty fair golfer. (That means he could whomp me easily.) He also showed me a curious rift in the Time-Space Continuum while driving through Muskegon, Michigan one afternoon…but that secret, alas, went with him. Damn it.
Adios, mi amigo. I’ll miss you.
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