Category: Business

  • 7 Tips for a More Effective Work Day

    7 Tips for a More Effective Work Day

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    Yesterday I talked about how automated tools like RescueTime and Todoist can be manipulated to create a false sense of ‘productivity security’. My goal is not to be productive in the conventional way. You see, many people equate productivity with simply doing lots of stuff. The term I prefer is ‘effective’ which you’ll notice is…

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  • Busy Doesn’t Equal Productive

    Busy Doesn’t Equal Productive

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    Have you heard of RescueTime? If you install this app on your computer it will log every place you spend your time during the day and then give you a report on your productivity. I used it a good bit when I first began working for myself, to help me curb my Twitter habit. RescueTime…

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  • Looking Forward to 2015 – My Plan

    Looking Forward to 2015 – My Plan

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    I’ve already looked back at my 2014 and today we are going to look forward at my business goals for 2015. The first question is, why should I even set goals for 2015 anyway? Especially given the results of my 2014 goals where I only accomplished a few? I believe it’s important to set goals…

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  • Is the Freelance Roller Coaster Making You Sick?

    Is the Freelance Roller Coaster Making You Sick?

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    When I started my freelance business it was all daisies and roses. In those early days, each client who called me and said they had work and wanted me to hold a spot would, of course, come through. I’m sure you can see where this is going… The truth is, most of those leads didn’t…

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  • How do you speak about your clients?

    How do you speak about your clients?

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    I recently listened to a great podcast episode by Michael Hyatt on the subject of how you speak about your spouse. To summarize, the way you speak about your spouse in public shows a lot about your character. If you speak poorly about your spouse, you most likely have, or will have, a poor relationship. The…

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  • Is Success Only in Your Head?

    Is Success Only in Your Head?

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    You’ve got ideas, right? You’ve got big plans for that big thing you’d like to create or launch, and you’ve already stopped lying to yourself about your time. So what’s holding you back now? What’s the reason you haven’t yet followed through on that big idea? Maybe this new idea requires capital and you don’t have the…

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  • Completed Tasks Aren’t a Measure of Success

    Completed Tasks Aren’t a Measure of Success

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    Back when I wrote about my initial prospect email I shared with you that one of the questions I required the prospect to answer went something like this. How are we going to measure the success of the project? You might think that is an obvious question to ask but most of the people I talk to…

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  • How do I ask for a raise?

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    I’ve talked before about how you sell value to your client as you price a project, but what about asking for a raise? Basically approach it the same way, show your value to your employer. Are you able to bring more money in to the company because of new training you’ve done? Do you have…

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  • Tools Alone Don’t Guarantee Business Success

    Tools Alone Don’t Guarantee Business Success

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    Yesterday I wrote about taking a measured approach to making any changes in your tool set or software. One reason I encouraged you not to add or switch tools very often is that the process distracts you from established processes that are already making you money. Don’t be chasing shiny objects thinking they’re guaranteed to…

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  • Getting Clients is Not a Zero Sum Game

    Getting Clients is Not a Zero Sum Game

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    In early December 2014 I was at the local WordPress end-of-year event, which basically consists of a group of WordPress professionals gathering at a place to have a drink and talk to one another. Since I live way out of Vancouver, this event is an opportunity for me to talk to all the great Vancouver WordPress people…

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