Archive for March, 2010
Why Take the Risk of Being Successful in Unhappiness?
Every now and again, I like to bring you short interviews to give you a new perspective on work happiness. During my study of work happiness I have found that there are many paths to the same goal. Some people believe that loving what you do is a must, while other people believe that relationships are vital to enjoying the work that we do. Interviews are a great way to get out of your own perspective and see what other people are doing to develop their strengths and live their passions.
If you have never visited I Can Has CheezBurger you are missing out. It is simply one of the funniest websites around. People add comments to pictures of cats doing something weird. I borrowed one from the site. It’s in the upper left hand corner of this post. It’s a wonderful break from a tedious task. Ben Huh is the brilliant mind behind this website. I was lucky to have met him at SXSW this past month and he agreed to do an interview.
Read the rest of this entry »
13 Comments »
The Myth of Discovering Your One True Calling
Lately I’ve been noticing a trend in the online career sphere – Finding your true calling.
Most career writers, coaches and counselors want you to believe that you are meant to do one thing and when we get to do this one thing we will work happily ever after.
What a crock!
You can probably list at least 10 things you good at. You may enjoy writing, sex, sewing, fishing, editing, teaching, building, chewing gum, analyzing, drinking beer, and many other things. So you may think that you need to do one of these things or all of these things to be happy.
If only I could ___________. (Fill in the blank of what you wish you could really do for a living.)
Isn’t that what we tell ourselves?
We think, “If only I could do this one thing,” or to take a step further back, “If only I knew the one thing that would make me feel excited to go to work every day.”
My heart feels for you. I used to believe the same thing.
Read the rest of this entry »
27 Comments »
7 Tips to Survive and Thrive When Working from a Home Office
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Evita of Evolving Beings. In our first part of this series we considered the benefits of allowing employees to work from home and in the second part we talked about how to optimize a tele-commuting situation. Today we follow up with 7 Tips to Survive and Thrive When Working from a Home Office.
Working from a home office, especially for yourself can either be looked upon as a big blessing or big curse. Which it will be completely depends on how successfully you set up your home environment, as well as yourself in it.
(Karl’s note: Below is 5 minute video of Evita giving a detailed tour of her home office and how the layout affects her work.)
Read the rest of this entry »
19 Comments »
10 Ways to Simplify Your Work Day
A simplified work day is much more effective. It’s the law of productivity – the more focused you are, the more you will accomplish important projects.
The hard part is simplifying your life so you do get those important projects completed.
“‘Think simple,’ as my old master used to say – meaning reduce the whole of its parts into the simplest terms, getting back to first principles.”
- Frank Lloyd Wright
Let’s look at 10 techniques I use to simplify my work day:
Read the rest of this entry »
16 Difficult Office Situations and How to Deal With Them
Editor’s note: Although some of these ideas may seem obvious, you are bound to find a helpful tip. This is a guest post from Katheryn Rivas
In order to maintain a high level of productivity, a positive work environment is absolutely essential. Although many aspects of the workplace are completely under your control, there will be occasions when you are essentially helpless, and the only control you have is how you REACT to a specific situation.
It is these occasions that typify what has been called “drama,” and by that, I mean the bad kind of drama. While other types of drama–for example, the high school variety — can be fun in a guilty pleasure kind of way, nobody likes drama at work. It only causes problems and can eventually lead to you or someone else getting terminated. The following are 16 potential drama-causing work situations, and what you can do to effectively extinguish them.
Read the rest of this entry »
8 Comments »
5 Important Rules to Follow When Tele-commuting
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Evita of Evolving Beings
In our first part of this series, we considered “Why Companies Should Allow Their Employees to Work from Home”. Today we follow up with 5 important rules to follow when working from home.
Having experience in working from home for a company (through my husband), and working from home for myself, I would like to explore the topic of working from home from both angles.
Let’s look at how to make the most of your work happiness when you telecommute for a company:
Read the rest of this entry »
14 Comments »
Laugh Until It Hurts – Cartoon
I’m a big believer in creativity at work. We need to expand outside our comfort zones to reach the good stuff. That’s why I draw. It forces me to find new angles on my career. How do you find new angles?
I was at SXSW interactive (blogger heaven) the past few days and my head, heart, and feet are about to explode. So many thought leaders pushing me outside my comfort zone that I am more focused than ever.
I hung out with some big time bloggers. I’m not going to drop any names because that’s not what this post is about.
Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments »
Develop a Blog Business Funnel
Many freelancers use social media to funnel customers into their business, but for some reason their Facebook fan page, blog and Twitter account aren’t attracting the right people.
I’m still learning how to reach my “right” customers through this blog.
Text, video, and audio can all be used to attract your right people, but how do you get the right people to continue down the funnel until they buy?
Good question.
That’s why I’m recommending a new ebook from Skellie called Blog Business Funnel – click here to view more details. As you know I don’t recommend a lot of products on my site, so when I do you should really listen.
If you want to start a freelancing business online, I would recommend you buy this book.
Here is what’s inside the book:
The Basics
The book will give you the basics of creating a blog by connecting with your passions. If you aren’t passionate about the topic, there is no way you will be inspired to create a profitable business. This is common sense, but a lot of people need to hear it.
Attracting Your Customers
Skellie goes on to talk about bringing the right people to your site. This is crucial because it’s the people who love you that sustain you during tough times. It’s the 80/20 rule. 80% of your business will come from only 20% of your customers.
Turning Readers/viewers into clients
That’s why I got this book. I wanted to discover some tricks of the trade of funneling people into my business. This chapter was worth the money for me. If you own a blog or want to start a freelance business, this book will pay you back in a matter of weeks or months (depending on how far along your business already is).
Launching Your Services
This section was right on the money, explaining how to create tension. Too many freelancers throw themselves out there without creating tension. People need tension to buy.
Advanced Business Techniques
These concepts weren’t developed with a lot of detail. It looked like she did the research, but really didn’t believe in them. She talked about how to advertise, but I wasn’t feeling her passion. No worries though, because the two sections before this one were priceless.
Verdict
This ebook does some things very well and some other things not so well. The concepts of finding the right people and funneling them into the buying phase were amazing. The other stuff felt like they were there to round out the book.
I have to give this book an enthusiastic applause for its thoroughness and flow. I read this book in two days. Too much screen time dries out my eyes or I would have read it in one day.
Should you buy this book?
The people who shouldn’t buy this book are career oriented people who like their job and service oriented business owners who work in their community (electricians, lawn care professionals, etc). The reasons they can’t use this book are obvious.
The people who should buy this book are freelancers and small business owners who have an online business. These are the people who can learn techniques that will help them turn their window shoppers into buyers.
You have an opportunity to learn techniques that will pay you back after only one extra billable hour. If you are good at what you do, this will be easy.
The book is well put together and very much worth your time. Buy it now – click here to view more details. You won’t regret it.
* The links in the post are affiliate links, which means I will be able to make a little money off the sale if you buy it.
* Are you on Twitter? Then join over 3,000 people who get my stress relief tips, happiness ideas, and thought provoking quotes. @workhappynow
If you enjoyed this post then you will probably like this one too:
- How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed
- 10 Part eCourse to a Happier and More Successful You
Why Companies Should Allow Their Employees to Work from Home
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Evita of Evolving Beings
It seems that as technology expands forward, it is allowing more and more people the freedom to not be tied to a desk at their office any longer.
More and more people are either being approached by their company with an option to work remotely, such as from home, or are themselves suggesting the option to their company.
Read the rest of this entry »
18 Comments »
How do You Know if You’ve Contacted Adultitis?
Every now and again, I like to bring you short interviews to give you a new perspective on work happiness. During my study of work happiness I have found that there are many paths to the same goal. Some people believe that loving what you do is a must, while other people believe that relationships are vital to enjoying the work that we do. Interviews are a great way to get out of your own perspective and see what other people are doing to be happy at work.
There are so many amazing people in the blogging world, but one of my more recent finds is Jason of Escape Adulthood. He and Kim (his wife) have created a business out of bringing the fun back into life.
The first impression of Jason was a video that I watched of a water balloon fight between Jason and Kim. They were sitting in chairs and throwing water balloons over their garage to see who had the better aim. It was right then that I was hooked. Having fun in life is a big part of being happy, so I’m glad to bring you an interview with Jason.
Read the rest of this entry »
30 Comments »