October 2011 Blog Posts (18)

When you hire staff, you hope they will be part of your business family for a long time to come. Unfortunately, business arrangements don't always work out as planned or things change. To assure smooth transitions, you need to develop procedures to handle hiring, firing, and layoffs and even consider if you need a non-compete clause.

Hiring is increasingly subject to government regulations to make sure that all qualified people have equal access. As a business owner,…

Ever since the Bucket List movie with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman came out a few years ago, people have been formulating their goals for the next 20-30 years of their life in those terms. What do I want do in my life before I kick the bucket?

Making a list is a planned to approach to life. If you put something on the list, you are more apt to it because the list implies accountability. There are many internet sites where you can list your goals for others to see, which widens…

Have you ever been lost? Do you sometimes feel, in your business, that you don’t know where you’re going – or, perhaps, you’ve had to change tracks?

Whether in life, or in business, this is called taking a detour – and detours can be delightful. There are some simple ways to manage a detour – that will lead you to success and, in the long run, get you to a better place. Seriously!

Things to…

I remember as a young boy that I lived in a protective bubble like many of you did. My parents took care of me and my seven brothers and sisters. We didn’t have much money to go around but I don’t remember ever going hungry. My world as a boy consisted of a neighborhood that I rarely ventured out of except to walk to downtown Omaha with a few buddies to see a movie.

There were two shocking developments that occurred in my youth that I remember to this day. The father of one of my…

Unleashing a team to solve a problem can be a very effective way to approach and solve problems - or it can be a disaster. If you have ever been on a team when some team members relied on the group to get the job done, you may question the value of teams. If you think back on groups you participated in during college or in previous job situations, some were time wasters, while others produced results. What characteristics and qualities distinguish a high performance team from an…

When you retire, you may get a good bye lunch and handsome parting gift, but never a crystal ball, which is what you need to answer the questions you ask when you go into retirement. Can you afford it? What if your savings aren't enough? What are your options? In the current economy, more people are fearing the answers to the big question "Will I run out of money in retirement?"

In an ideal world, people start saving early in their…

While working on developing products and services for the coming year, it occurred to me that I needed to ask a number of questions of the women I serve or hope to serve before I can create a workshop, retreat, e-book, or any other product that is spot on. So I began to do just that, and have…

In the 1986 movie Working Girl, Tess, played by Melanie Griffith, was a stockbroker's secretary with eyes on the corner office. She had an intuitive approach to stock trading, but was not regarded as promotion material because she graduated from night schooland came from working-class roots.While working in the secretarial pool, she positioned herself for career growth. She devised creative investment strategies based on what she read and dressed…

As a Boomer reaching retirement age, you may look back at your time backpacking in Europe right after college with fondness. Now that you have some time on your hands, you may want to enjoy carefree travel again. With time and money at your disposal, you can travel the US or travel the globe at any age, but health, terrorists, and the economy can potentially make your post-retirement trip a bit different than the one you took at 22. Traveling can be fun, but when you travel…

October 5, 2011 - With the passing of Steve Jobs the world lost a visionary, brilliant scientist, and innovator, who some say is equal to Albert Einstein. At 56 he could have had several more decades of life ahead of him, but his life was cut short by Western/Allopathic cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation.

Western/Allopathic Medicine protocol approaches cancer as if it were an invading enemy to be fought against, vanquished and…

No man is an island, no man stands alone.

Whether you know that line from the poem by John Donne or from a song you learned in high school glee club, you need to take it to heart if you're in business. Even if you think you are a self-made success who created your company from scratch, learning to build and maintain strong relationships with key players in the organization are key if you want to prosper.

Modern business is complex today, where solopreneurs…

Recent economic news has made retirees think more carefully about spending large sums of money they might need later. Tightening the belt at any age is no fun, retirees who hoped to travel once they had more time see their dreams dying along with the economy. For the retiree who is adventurous and willing to do the legwork to plan it out, housesitting can be the way to travel and see the world or even another part to the county - on a retirement income.

When…

Want to make to the advertising message for your business go viral, in an online world, yet wonder how? Seth Godin said it best: the best apps have viral built right into them. Translation: if people like what you are selling, they will spread the word. If they see value in it, they will buy and recommend your product or service. You want to promote the book that jumps off the shelf, the…

Most people spend part of their work day wishing they were somewhere else or had some more control over their time. The reality is, work gives structure and purpose most people miss in retirement if they leave the job. Of course, your family, your friends, your church, your hobbies, your aspirations add to the quality of your life, but work plays a role - or at least finances it. What is your purpose in life after you retire? Does your sense of purpose end right after your final…

In the old days of marketing, say 20 years ago, you developed a nice brochure and took out print ads, and hoped that someone would buy your product. Fast forward to 2011, and marketers are using video and social networks to spread the news as print media is dying. The goals of marketing have not changed, but the internet has made it a whole lot easier to spread the word about what you are selling. As a small business, you'd better go viral with your marketing if you…

Two weeks ago, I returned from the Peace Corps 50th Anniversary celebrations in Washington, DC and not surprisingly, baby boomers were the best represented group. Catching up with people who I had not seen or communicated with for 37 years was a wonderful experience. The highlights of my DC visit were a Library of Congress luncheon, held to honor Peace Corps writers. Having my novel - A TIME TO... - as part of the Library's new Peace Corps Collection was very special.

Meeting…

When I first began feeling the rumblings that I wanted to change careers and follow my bliss, I continually chided myself for entertaining such “pie-in-the-sky” thoughts at my age. I was 41.

When I wasn’t sticking pins in my own balloon, I was freaking out about what exactly I’d actually…

I work at Peoplescare In-Home Care and I may say.. "this is where i park my career".

Peoplescare, by the word itself says it all...  care for people... is one thing that I always do not only for my family, my relatives and friends but to people who are loved by their families and they can't care for them because of the many reasons.... they are our…