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August 10, 2017 0 Comments

4 Ways to Be a Successful Leader

Leadership is a hot topic these days, and if you’re a boss or manager, it’s very important to be the best leader possible. There’s something to be said for effective leadership – it produced happier, healthier employees, keeps retention rates high, and encourages your employers to work more effectively.

Although there are so many ways in which one can be a great leader, we’ve compiled some of our best, most effective ways to do so. Read along for our tips and advice to be a successful leader!

Listen

So many of us listen with the intent to respond, instead of listening for the sake of listening. Whether receiving a complaint, listening to a client issue, or simply discussing something mundane, it’s important to be a good listener as a leader.

When your employers feel heard, they’re more likely to keep you in the loop and trust you. According to a study by IBM, “83% of employees experienced a more positive work environment when they felt there was trust in their managers/organization.” It’s clear that trust is important, and listening is one way to gain and maintain trust within your organization.

Give Feedback

Whether positive or negative, feedback is highly important! If employees have no idea if they’re working effectively or not, they can’t improve very easily. You can give negative feedback in a positive, constructive way that shows your employees where they can improve. It’s never helpful to put employees down or compare employees to each other.

On the other side, employees need encouragement when they’re producing positive work and ideas. If no feedback is ever given in this space, they start to feel underappreciated. Take note of the work quality of your employees – the good and the bad. Speak up and help your employees improve or feel encouraged.

Lead by Example

Supervisors who are never around, behave inappropriately, or ask employees to do things they will not do are not successful leaders. It’s highly important that you lead by example in attitude, work effectiveness, and leadership ability.

If you hope to encourage a workplace that works in harmony and produces great work, it has to start with you. Your employees will feel far more inspired to bring their best to work when they see their leader as a beacon of example. When you also do what you’re asking them to do, you’re also seen as more fair, trustworthy, and hardworking.

Communicate

There’s nothing worse than a boss who doesn’t communicate! The work environment truly starts to suffer, morale is lowered, and business organization starts to drop. As a leader, you’re in charge and responsible, and this begins with communication.

Keep your employees in the loop when you won’t be available, communicate all kinds of feedback, and encourage effective meetings and conversations. When issues pop up with clients or products, take the time to communicate about them as soon as possible. Keeping tabs on all items and having those conversations will keep your business moving much more smoothly.

Being a successful leader takes a lot of vigilance and effort. It’s a fulfilling job that has the opportunity to bring out the best in your employees and business. Take the time to build up your skillset as a leader, and you’ll find that you have engaged employees who truly want to do great work for your company!

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August 10, 2017 0 Comments

3 Ways to Handle a Negative Business Review

It’s something that every business owner dreads in today’s digital world – the negative review. Between SiteJabber, Facebook, Google, and similar sites, reviews are everywhere – and they’re very important. We do our best work to avoid the negative ones, but sometimes customers aren’t satisfied, whether rightfully so or not. Although negative reviews can and do often happen, the way we respond makes all the difference.

Since we can’t stop negative reviews from happening, read along for some best tips to handle them effectively.

Always Respond

It can be tough to want to respond to harsh words about your business, but it’s very necessary. Responding to the negative review shows that you care about your customer’s experience and your reputation. Future clients and customers put a lot of stock in online reviews these days, so it’s important to have a response.

It’s always better to have negative reviews with responses versus unhappy customers that appear to have been ignored.

Although responding to negative reviews is crucial, it’s also nice to respond to the positive ones! Give your raving fans some attention too, and show them that you appreciate that they took the time to give you a glowing review.

Stay Calm

When you see a negative review, you probably feel angry, hurt, or disappointed – or all three! It would be easy to respond with emotion and anger in the moment, but that won’t fix the problem or make you feel any better.

Once you spot the review, take a minute to calm down. Take a deep breath, step away if you need to, and come back when you feel that you’re able to respond calmly and rationally with facts and apologies if appropriate. Focus on the points that the unhappy customer made, instead of seeing it as a personal attack on you and your business. Express understanding and acknowledge the complaint, while taking the next steps to listen and fix it.

Correct the Issue

If your customer’s unhappiness is fixable, do your best to fix it. Sometimes, they just want to be heard and your response can do that.

Can you offer a coupon, something free or perhaps a consultation to address their concerns and try to win them back over? Offering something small can make a world of difference, especially if the offering is based on their specific concern.

In the case of most negative reviews, the customer just wants their frustrations to be heard. If you can offer something of value, do so! Remove emotion from your responses and address each review with concern, understanding, and professionalism.

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August 10, 2017 0 Comments

5 Ways to Fit Exercise Into Your Day

Fitting exercise into our already-busy lives can be quite the challenge! We want to stay fit and healthy, but work, family and friend obligations keep us pretty busy. There are only so many hours in the day, but taking the time for exercise is very important for a long, healthy life.

Read along for some best tips on fitting exercise into your busy day.

Use the morning

It’s not for everyone, but working out in the morning can be a great use of your time. Your family is likely still asleep, and you’ll be able to give dedicated time to your workout. Whether you workout or join a gym, working out in the morning is a great option. This is an especially effective option if you’re a morning person. If not, it may take a few early mornings to get into the groove – but don’t give up!

Lay out your exercise clothes the night before, lay out your water bottle, snacks, headphones, and anything else that you need to grab and go. Not having to think in the mornings makes it much easier, and seeing your items will make it more likely that you go and do your workout. The more that you complete your morning workouts, the more your body will get used to them. Don’t be surprised if you’re a little tired and slow moving at first! It just takes some time for your body to adapt to moving first thing in the morning.

Use your lunch break

You can use your lunch break (or any break during the day) to complete your workout. Go out for a walk, meet up with a friend, or hit up a group fitness class that takes place during the day. Breaking up your day with exercise can really boost your energy, mood, and fitness levels. A lot of us feel more awake midday, so it can be the perfect time to fit in some fitness.

Make it social

Exercise doesn’t need to be painful or isolating! It can be really fun to involve your family and friends and make it a social event. Exercise also doesn’t need to take place at a gym or involve a workout video. You can get in a few miles, squats, or dumbbell exercises during your kids’ games or activities!

When you’re waiting around at practices, instead of playing on your phone, do a quick workout. It will make the time pass without taking away from family and friend time outside of the practice. Fitting fitness into your life is a great way to make it a habit that sticks!

Multitask

Multitasking can be very helpful when it comes to your new exercise routine. If you find yourself ready to watch TV at the end of the day, you can combine both activities. Watch your favorite show on the treadmill, or do strength training exercises in your living room while your movie is playing. You can also listen to music during your workout. This can also be a great distraction that gets you into the workout zone, and you won’t feel that you’re missing out on anything. You get the best of both worlds – fitness and your other favorite activities.

Keep it realistic

Realize that fitness might not play a huge role in your life right now. It can be hard to workout with small children or a lot going on in your life. You might not have time for an hour, but can you spare 20 minutes? Most people have 20-30 minutes in their day to get healthy. Make it happen and stay in the groove. Once you feel better and see results, you’ll more than likely want to keep at it. Results and positive feelings are great motivators to keep going!

Utilize the tips below to keep at your exercise regimen long enough to feel great, and you’ll be well on your way to establishing a very healthy habit.

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August 10, 2017 0 Comments

4 Tips for More Effective Meetings

Whether you work from home or in a traditional office, meetings are typically a part of your working life. They often get a bad rap as being ineffective, too long, and pointless, but they don’t have to be!

As a manager or supervisor of employees, you can change the outcome and effectiveness of meetings. Read along for some best tips and advice to hold meetings that are worth the time of your employees.

Determine if it’s needed

The first step to ensuring an effective meeting is to see if you even need one! Ask yourself:

 

  • Can my questions be answered easily in an email or over the phone?

  • Is this more of a question for one person versus a whole team?

  • Are the topics needing discussed going to be of benefit for the whole team?

 

You can potentially address questions or small issues via phone, email, or with one person much more effectively, versus involving your whole team’s time. This isn’t always the case, but it’s important to only hold meetings that serve a purpose.

Create a schedule

Once you’ve established that your meeting is necessary, it’s important to create (and keep to) a proposed schedule. While things can veer off course slightly, schedules will keep you on task and on time. Start with the topics to be discussed, then allocate a realistic amount of time for each topic. Be sure to leave time for further discussion and questions at the end of the meeting.

Take notes and distribute

Delegate someone on your team to take good notes, and be sure that they’re written in a way that all can understand them. Once the meeting is done, make sure that this person sends the notes to all meeting attendees. You can also start a team Google Document that keeps the notes in an easily accessible format in one place.

Keep it short

No one likes a long meeting! We’re all busy and other tasks need to get done, but sometimes a meeting is just necessary. Whether it’s to recap client notes and activity, to address a specific question or issue, or just a time to get the team together, meetings are still important. When you put more attention into determining if your meeting is necessary, putting organization and scheduling at the forefront, and making the most of the meeting time, your employees will appreciate your efforts to conserve their time.

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August 7, 2017 0 Comments

5 Tips for Back to School Season Success

It’s almost that time again – time to go back to school! It’s hard to believe that school will be starting any day now, but as summer winds down, it’s important to gradually get back into the groove.

We all miss summer and its flexibility, but the school year also brings a lot of fun and more structure.  It can be a great time to reexamine priorities, take a solid look at schedules, and truly get prepared for the year ahead.  With a little bit of prep, you’ll be ready for back to school success!

Establish routines

Routines aren’t established overnight, so ease into a new one gradually.  Starting a few weeks before school starts, begin having your kids go to bed a bit earlier.  Start with 10 minutes, then 30, then 60, and so on, until they’re close to the time they will go to bed during the school year.

This is a much better approach than fighting on the first night back! It establishes expectations, gets kids sleeping more normally for the school year, and allows them to get on a schedule that works for them.  It’s also important to try to have them wake up a bit earlier too, so they can practice being active in the mornings.

Revamp your schedule

This is a great time of year to look at your home based career schedule and see where you can improve, change, or be flexible.  You might realize that you’re off balance in terms of work.  Maybe there’s too much going on, maybe there’s not enough.  If it’s the latter, take a moment to browse some new job positions.

You can also take some time to look at the schedule of your whole family for those first few weeks.  Will your kids be starting a sport?  Some type of rehearsal?  Adjust the family’s schedules around those first few weeks and months to make going back a lot easier.

Purchase your items

It’s a lot easier to get your back to school supplies now! Avoid the mad rush and create your list.  Browse the list from your children’s teachers, or simply find some basic back to school shopping lists online.  It’s better to go in prepared so you don’t forget anything.  Go on an off peak time and have your kids select their items.  It’s more fun to get them involved, and they can choose items that match their personality.

Also, make back to school shopping fun.  You don’t have to spend a lot of money, but you can make a fun day out of it so your kids are encouraged to start the new year on a positive note.

Set some goals

Setting goals this time of year is important for you and your family members.  While this doesn’t need to be done until closer to back to school time, it gets everyone into the habit of thinking ahead and working towards something.

Set some short-term goals that can be accomplished within the first few weeks of going back, such as sticking to bedtimes, agreeing to a proper place in the house to study, getting all the lunches packed, creating a work schedule that will work for the school year, and applying to a certain amount of jobs in a week. You can also set longer term goals with your kids, such as making the spring musical, playing a sport, or saving a specific amount of money for a purchase.

The goals don’t necessarily need to do with school, but are more for getting everyone thinking and being more productive during the school year.

Enjoy the rest

Above all else, it’s so important to enjoy the rest of the summer.  While you slowly implement tasks and items that will make the school year much smoother, don’t forget to enjoy the rest of this time of year.  You can even create a summer “bucket list” of items that you still have time to do.

Take another small trip or enjoy a staycation and technology-free weekend.  Take an afternoon to do something fun in your local area.  Book reservations at a fun restaurant for your kids.  Soak in this time and create memories! Schedule more playdates, more pool days, and fun times with your family.

You can certainly prepare for back to school while still enjoy the rest of what summer has to offer.  Then, when the school year starts, you’ll be all set for success!

 

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July 24, 2017 0 Comments

5 Top Tips for Work From Home Success

Working from home is often the goal of many moms.  It affords flexibility, more time with family, and a comfortable work environment.  While it’s a goal that can lead to a big increase in the quality of your life, it also comes with challenges.

Between distractions and the lack of traditional work environment, it can take a while to find your footing in the home based working world.  Read along for some best practices for a smooth work from home life.

Separate your spaces

While it might be comfortable to work on the couch for a while, it can lead to posture issues and a lack of focus.  It’s better to establish an office or a separate space in your home specifically reserved for work.  If you don’t have the extra space to make a bedroom into an office, you can set up a space at the dinner table, or place a small desk in another room.

It’s best to eliminate as many distractions as possible, while keeping the environment as “businesslike” as possible while being from home.

Get out of the house

Some people find home based work too isolating and mundane.  If you start to feel this wya, it’s best to get out of the house as much as possible.  You can even work from a coffee shop, park or office space daily.  Even if you obtain a “work from home” job position, you might still look into something more social like a coworking space.

Coworking spaces combine people from a variety of industries and businesses into one location.  This provides the social, office environment while allowing you to keep a flexible schedule and unique working arrangement.

Treat it like work

Working from home is still work! It can be easy to see it as a way to work less and spend time all day with family or friends, but unfortunately, work still needs to get done.  Use the first few weeks to find a good balancing act between the two, and then be sure that you’re working when you should be.

Of course, the benefit of home based work is flexibility, so there will be times when you can use evening or early morning hours to work.  Going outside of the schedule is more than permitted, but a routine work schedule (most days) makes for more effective, productive work.

Unplug

While you should treat your home based career like work, it’s also important to unplug! As home based workers, it can be tough to turn it off.  Your computer is essentially your workspace, but it needs to be turned off once in awhile.

This is why it can be helpful to establish specific work times, so it’s not too tempting to work well into the evening.  Use your off time for friends, family, and personal time, and work on a schedule that works best for you.  Avoid the trap of working around the clock – it can cause unnecessary burnout, stress, and fatigue.

Set your boundaries

Boundaries are important when you work from home.  Since you typically become the point of contact, person who’s there for appointments in the home, caregiver, and so on, it’s important to maximize your schedule and set boundaries so you can still get work done.

Working from home requires some forethought and effort between you, your employer, and your family, but it can be done.  It’s a wonderful working arrangement that affords more flexibility and less missed good times, but ensure that you’re being smart about it and setting boundaries that keep you healthy, happy and productive.

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May 30, 2017 0 Comments

5 Ways to Get Your Employer to Let You Work From Home

While there are plenty of work from home jobs out there, sometimes it takes a less traditional route to get there.  If you’re currently in an office setting, but would like to make the case for working from home with your employer, read along.

We’ve compiled some best tips to work with your boss on a home based arrangement.  While it’s becoming more and more common, there are still traditional bosses who see the office as the only way.  Fortunately, we know that working from home offers flexibility, increased productivity, and other benefits that may sway their decision.

Present the benefits

This is the time to make your case! It’s proven that working from home increases productivity by a large margin.  According to remote.co, “two-thirds of managers say employees who work remotely increase their overall productivity.”

According to Forbes.com, productivity increases can be attributed to more well-timed distractions, the environment of working at home, and optimized communication, to name a few.  One might initially think that productivity would decrease, but it’s exactly the opposite.  Additionally, sick days are reduced – yours and your kids’.  You might still be able to work from home while ill, and also care for a sick kid without taking hours away from the office.  There are a host of work from home benefits that directly benefit your employer!

Give a demonstration

If you can get your boss partially on board, now is the time for a demonstration. Ask if you can set up a trial for 2-3 days per week for a couple weeks.  This is the time to be productive, show that you’re still available for communication, and generally show why you should be allowed to work from home.

Show the costs

Since saving money is a large benefit with remote workers, you can also give statistics on monetary savings from an employer’s perspective.  From commuting, to office space, to computers and office supplies, a lot of money can be saved by remote workers.

Additionally, there are fewer travel costs, far less sick days, and higher retention rates, due to higher job satisfaction reported in remote workers, according to Entrepreneur.com.

Show your productivity

Show what you can do! While it’s important not to go all out and exaggerate the amount of work you can get done from home, really focus your efforts during your trial period.

It’s important to show that while you’re not in a traditional office setting, you can still get your work done – and then some!

Negotiate

If your work from home experiment goes well, do your best to negotiate something that makes everyone feel comfortable.  Since your boss may be more traditional, a full-time home based arrangement may not be best in this case.  Working from home doesn’t need to be all the time, but perhaps begin with 1-2 days at home per week.

If this arrangement continues to go well, and your employer is seeing your productivity and the benefits, you may be able to arrange it into a full-time position.

If your goal is working from home, it’s worth the effort to have an honest discussion with your employer.  It might not fly for everyone, but it’s worth the conversation.  Working from home saves money, boosts productivity, and allows for better work-life balance and happiness!

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May 22, 2017 0 Comments

4 Ways to Prepare for Summer Break

As the school year winds down, we’re all starting to prepare for one of the best times of the year – summer break!

While this is a great opportunity to spend more time with family, it also takes a bit more juggling.  As work from home moms, we have the flexibility to adjust our schedules and truly make the most of this time of year.

Childcare

Since the kids are home now, it’s important that you have readily available childcare.  Look into options now – whether it’s family, friends, or outside help.  Make sure you discuss scheduling and see where you might need some time for yourself.  Depending on the ages and schedules of your kids, you might need more or less help, but it’s always a positive to have people you can call on.

It can also be helpful to look into activities and set up carpool to help during these times as well.  Look into fun things for your kids and see if some of the other parents can alternate driving obligations.  This gives you more time to get things done and manage your workload!

If you need to take a conference call during the day, or you need a few days to get a big project done, you’ll be glad you’ve pre-established some options for your kids.

Review your workload

Some businesses are less busy in the summer, and you may be prioritizing differently and rearranging your workload.

This is a great time of year to review everything on your plate for the next few months.  Does it look the same as always, or are there gaps?  Do you want to fill this time or allow for more space with family?  Sometimes taking on more hours is a good thing if work is sparse, and this is common in the summer months.

This analytical process will help you to better manage your work schedule in the summer, as well as the schedule of your family.

Summer schedule

Once you’ve taken a look at your summer work obligations, delegate some time off in the afternoons for your kids.  This doesn’t necessarily have to be the afternoon, but any time that works best in your schedules.

It’s a unique time of year when your school-aged kids are home, so it’s nice to take advantage of this when you get the chance.  It’s also a great time to rearrange your schedule a bit, so that you have that free time each day, or a few days per week.

Plan some fun

Summer is full of fun! Spend an afternoon by the pool, go for hikes, and generally enjoy the summer months.  It’s also perfect to plan a vacation or staycation, and enjoy more time with friends and family.

You don’t have to leave your area to have fun either! Schedule work meetings outdoors, or in coffee shops with outdoor seating to enjoy the weather.

Summer is a fleeting time of year and one that brings a lot more fun – and juggling.  Review your schedule, make time for family where you have it, and enjoy their time off!

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May 15, 2017 0 Comments

4 Types of Content to Post on Social Media

We all know how important it is to have an online presence – especially on social media.  It’s a place where we can share information, tell others about our businesses, and hopefully make some sales.

Unfortunately, a lot of business owners utilize their pages incorrectly, and don’t post content that intrigues the reader to build a relationship.  Today, we’re sharing tips to build your page, keep consistently posting content, and eventually – make that sale!

Value

When readers come to your page, they’re likely somewhat interested in you and/or your product or service.  They want to know that you’re an expert, and that you know what you’re talking about.  Make this easy for them!

Use your page to post thought-provoking, valuable content that answers their most burning questions.  You can post your own blogs, syndicate articles and blogs from outside sources, and do tips, advice, and Q&A posts that will share your knowledge with your readers.  While it may seem counterintuitive to give away your knowledge for free, it gives your readers some trust in you, making it easier to hire you someday.

About You

Whether it’s a behind the scenes post, news about your business, or information on your latest hire, readers like to get an inside glimpse into your business.  Social media can be fairly casual, so it’s the perfect place to go live with tips, share something personal (but relevant), and communicate with customers.

Share some personal things about yourself and your business – it doesn’t always have to be so formal!

Inspirational

We’ve all seen the inspirational quotes and graphics going around social media.  They might seem simplistic, but they’re easily shareable and provide your readers with a “feel good” message.  As we mentioned before, not all content has to be so heavy and information-filled.  It’s fun to mix in positive messages, tips on a graphic, or other fun content that will be easily shared.

When your graphics are shared, it’s more likely that more people will like your page, growing your following.  Be sure to include your website and business name on each graphic, and work to create your own content versus taking from others.  It’s fine to share directly from another page (with proper attribution, of course!), but creating your own graphics is much more powerful.

Sales

Last but not least, we come to sales.  This is because very little about your social media profiles should include sales information!  Once you’ve given lots of good content, it’s fine to ask for the sale.  You can run an interesting promo, offer a discount code to social media followers only, or something else that involves a direct ask to your products or services.

Again, this should be a small, small part of your strategy! Don’t drive away sales by constantly asking for them.  It’s important to strike a balance between value, solid information, fun information about your company, and finally – the sale.

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May 8, 2017 0 Comments

5 Tips for Hiring for the First Time

Hiring can often come with a lot of pressure – managing the job posting, interviewing, and hiring the right person can be a daunting experience.

Although many managers and employers are pros at this, what if you’re hiring for the first time?  Read along for some best practices in hiring as a novice.  With the right preparation and mindset, you can be sure that you’re on your way to hiring successful candidates. If you prefer to have someone do this for you, check out HireMyMom’s Concierge Service.

Create the right post

Creating the right job posting is key in attracting the right candidates and fully understanding what you’re seeking.  It’s important to be thorough when creating the position, including necessary skill set, education, experience level, pay, and more.  If you forget key components or realize too late that you are seeking a certain type of person, you may have to go through several rounds of the hiring process.

Save yourself some time, effort, and expense by nailing the job description from the beginning.  This also includes using the right posting sites that avoid spam.  More reputable sites help to weed out spam hirees, as well as have your post seen by serious applicants.

Be prepared

When it comes time for the interviews, be sure that you’re prepared.  This will also reduce time spent on interviews that weren’t properly organized and stalled the hiring process.  Begin by asking the right questions, which would feature a good mix of past experience, knowledge of the job position and company, and personality fit questions.

Be prepared for conversations and negotiations around pay as well, and know which response is appropriate for your company.

Make sure you’re thorough

By being prepared and organized, you’ll be well on your way to being thorough in the hiring process.  It might be helpful to start by coming up with your own screening process, and create a checklist around this.

To begin, ensure that each applicant has contributed every material that was asked for.  If they have, look at every aspect of their cover letter and resume for keywords and matching qualities and experience that fit the job position.  You might have a kind of criteria that must be met, which allows you to adhere to your posting and make smart hiring decisions.

Be a great listener

It takes more than a checklist to make smart hiring decisions – you also have to be sure that you’re hearing everything accurately.  Listen to what each applicant says – or doesn’t say.

Do they know about your company and enough about the position?  Are they a great person but not a fit?  Listen closely to ensure that you’re truly hearing what the prospect is saying correctly.  It can be easy to jive with a personality, when the skills or lacking.  On the other side, someone might be great on paper but not a personality fit to your brand.  Listen closely to what is being said!

Set expectations

Unmet expectations can be the cause of many problems, especially in hiring.  It’s best to let your potential hire what’s going on from the very beginning.  Is there a trial period for this position?  How are tasks evaluated?  Does this position require tracking time? Do you report daily?

Make sure job and communication expectations are set up early to avoid any issues. Also, be sure to let your new hire in on time frames and deadlines for starting up, since that’s typically the most frantic part of any new job.

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