July 2011 Blog Posts (17)

 

I grew up in the fifties with practical parents- a Mother, God love her, who washed aluminium foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a name for it. A Father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new…

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If you are looking for way to cut your labor costs, is outsourcing a good solution or a red flag to current employees and clients?  When you outsource, you get the services you need, while someone - maybe the workers themselves - absorb the cost of overhead, benefits, and taxes. For supplementary services you might not need onsite on a regular basis, such as technology services, marketing, or office cleaning, this can make perfect sense. Where it gets tricky is…

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Thursday, July 28, 2011

The Online Free Dictionary defines "boom" as meaning "to grow, develop; progress rapidly; to flourish" a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/boom">http://www.thefreedictionary.com/boom>.  So, since we are called "Boomers", we should be growing, developing, progressing rapidly, and flourishing. :)  Do these words describe you?  If not, let me give you a little encouragement. 

 

No matter the situation in which you find yourself, you…

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I just love to head into a room full of people I have never met before! I know that not everybody feels the same way about that kind of situation. It is a skill and one that every entrepreneur must master – the skill of networking!

It really is all about mindset – the way you think about the situation – that makes a huge difference. The good news is that it can be learned because it is a skill and it takes a plan.

Here are some of my favorite success tips when it comes to…

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Some people look at their lives and say, "I don't ever want to retire." If you are in good health, enjoy most aspects of your job, and want the income, why should you? The question becomes "Will you remain in the same job or change jobs?"

Work gives structure to life, and can give purpose to it as well. You may like the routine of work, what you do, and who you work with. If you have been at the same place for years, you may be in a salary…

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As we have noted in a couple of our recent blogs, when companies cut staff and tighten their belts, they hope to maintain or even increase productivity. Employee and corporate morale may be down when coworkers are dismissed, workload increases, pay is cut or frozen, and it becomes an issue to requisition a pencil, much less supplies to keep inventory up. Keeping up productivity after cuts, much less increasing it, is challenging, yet the goals are not mutually…

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I hear from so many women entrepreneurs who are frustrated and dissatisfied with where their lives (and their business) are going. From past experience, I know that this stems from the fact they are not clear on their life purpose.

 

I am currently studying from the book, “The Purpose Driven Life – What on Earth Am I here for?” – by Rick Warren.It’s a simple study in that it is a paperback book, with only 319 pages, great discussion questions,…

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Even if your business is a goldmine, tough times and rising prices may present you with the challenge of maintaining client service with fewer resources.  You examine your highest costs of doing business, and you find that labor 

and health care costs stand out as the biggest variable costs. At the same time, you see rising technology and supply costs. If you want to remain competitive, continually raising prices is not an…

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• I'm a Senior Citizen (which means I'm passed 50 - meaning.... I 'Passed' 50 at about 95 mph) There's some things you need to know.... Soon as I remember 'em I'll tell you what they are.
  
  
  
  
• I'm the Life of the Party.... even when it lasts 'till 7pm.
  
  
  
  
• However, I'm Usually interested in goin' home long before I get to where I'm goin'.
  
  
  
  
• I'm Smilin' all the time, cause I…

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2. There is no such thing as childproofing your house.
   
   
   
   
3. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.…

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For some people, working is mainly a way to finance the travel they love. No continent, no state, no city, no attraction is off limits for the serious traveler who may lament that they need more time for each trip. When retirement comes along, the question of "will I travel" seems like a moot point, but it's not always that simple.

In retirement, you may have the time, but the money can be an issue. Costly trips that take big chunks of…

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Never Give Up!

 

Resiliency is a fine asset for the Entrepreneurs.  Regardless of the industry, there will be barriers that you will need to hurdle.  Being a business owner can be hard, but look at the alternatives.  You could:

 ■endure a cantankerous boss

 ■deal with office politics

 ■face age discrimination

 ■work with negative people day in… Continue

Several studies have identified a trend which indicates up to 70% of Boomers will continue to work past the typical retirement age.  There are a number of reasons which contribute to this phenomenon - loss of financial assets, the desire to stay mentally active, social/professional network, etc.  In spite of these trends, 10,000 - 12,000 Boomers retire every day.



In an effort to stem this loss of work place experience/institutional knowledge, employers are implementing flexible work… Continue

No matter how fine the writing is on your blog or website, if it is not optimized to improve your search engine ranking, it will not do you much good. What is the point of your blog or website anyway? You want your company to come up when people search for the type of service you offer. You want to pull people to your website. Once they are there, you want them to stay because your content is so…

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If you were playing Retirement Family Feud, the top 5 answers on the board to the question "What will you do with your time after you retire" might be these:

• Play golf
• Travel
• Visit the kids/grandkids

Since we are…

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In real estate, the mantra is “location, location, location,” but that is true for many local businesses.  How can you use the internet to pull in more business to your service area?  If you have an ice cream store in Saskatoon, what good does it do you if internet searchers in Akron, OH are drooling over your sundaes?  Even if your business…

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Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. and Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D.



Anthony Weiner is no longer front-page news now that he has resigned in disgrace from public office. So what's a parent or grandparent to make of Weinergate, that perfect storm mix of politics, power, sexting and lying? The media frenzy over the ex-Congressman's behavior provides a clear teachable moment for teens. Given the dramatic effects of the inappropriate messages and photos he sent and the devastating results of his… Continue