Moe Tamani's Internet Marketing and SEO Blog, Articles and Search Engine Optimization Tips » Management

15 Ways to Stay Focused With Effective Time Management

admin — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:27:54 +0000

15 Ways to Stay Focused With Effective Time Management

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

Let’s face it, there’s a lot going on out there. Our economy is on the fritz and every news story tells us that one more multimillion dollar company needs a government bailout. Foreclosures are happening right and left. We have troops in harm’s way, and Christmas is only a few short weeks away. And that’s just the big picture! We haven’t even mentioned your business and all the things that you need to keep up with on a daily basis. Here are 15 ways to keep yourself focused amid all the distraction. See what works for you!

1. Plan for Each Day. Take a few minutes every evening and plan the following day. Outline 3-5 things that you want to accomplish and stick to it.

2. Plan for Each Week. Take a few minutes on Sunday night (or the night before the first day of your workweek) and outline 3-5 things you want to accomplish during the week. Update this list every 3 days or so.

3. Get Plenty of Rest. Yes, it sounds like something your grandmother would tell you, but it makes a huge difference. You need to rest both your body and your mind in order to prepare for all the challenges you will face.

4. Get Out of the Office. At some point you, too, will be subject to the law of diminishing returns. Staying at the office until all hours becomes less productive instead of more productive, so just go home. Go home at a reasonable hour and spend time doing things you enjoy. When you clear your mind, you’ll find that the solutions to the problems you’ve been worrying about all day just come naturally.

5. Eat Right. Yep, there’s your grandmother again, but she was right. You can think better when your tummy is full, and you sleep better after you’ve had a big lunch and small dinner.

6. Move Around. You don’t have to spend every non-working moment in the gym, but take 30-45 minutes every day, or every other day, to get some exercise. Your mind functions better when your body is stimulated. You may feel like this is unproductive time, but you owe it to your health and to a healthy state of mind to get adequate exercise.

7. Stop Reading Email. OK, don’t stop altogether. But only read once per day. It can turn in to a huge time suck and people will call if they really need you. And when you do read your emails, wait to respond. Not every email needs an immediate response. Skip the ones that don’t. The same goes for Twitter.

8. Turn off the Phone. Don’t keep the cell phone off for the entire day, but turn it off for at least a few hours each day.

9. Work in Blocks. Don’t work on any project for more than 30 minutes. That’s about how long it takes for your brain to turn to mush and require alternative stimulation.

10. Take Breaks. Allow for regular breaks during the day. This gives your mind a chance to wind down and allows your subconscious to step in and examine the problems you’re trying to solve. And your subconscious is much better at that stuff anyway.

11. Make a Routine. This frees your mind to focus on more important things.

12. Do Not Disturb. Set aside a chunk of time each day in which you ask family and staff not to bother you. This is also beneficial for staff as they learn to solve problems without constantly asking for your help. This makes them more valuable, and that’s a good thing.

13. Ask For Help. Join an online community of peers that can give you advice and be a sounding board for you.

14. Invest in Speed. Faster computers make the work happen faster, and that leaves more time for you.

15. Blow Off a Whole Weekend. Don’t read any blogs. Don’t read any email. Don’t answer your phone. Just be. You’ll be surprised at how clear your mind becomes.

7 Steps to a Great Hire for Small Businesses

admin — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:26:36 +0000

7 Steps to a Great Hire for Small Businesses

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

If you’re a small business owner, then you know the importance of hiring great employees with the least amount of expense. Not only do you want to hire qualified employees who will work for a wage that you can afford, but you don’t want to break the bank in the process of recruiting. Here are 7 steps to hiring the right person for the job.

1. Clear Job Description. The first thing you need to do is to create a clear and concise job description with as much detail as necessary. This is only way to make your expectations clear and to measure an employee’s job performance. Don’t do anything else until you have a job description in hand.

2. Clear Qualifications. Be as detailed as you need to be in order to be clear about the qualifications that you require. This is the place to go into detail about the work environment, as well as the skills required to do the job well. This puts everyone on the same page as far as expectations.

3. Transparency. If you hide information from potential employees, it’s only going to result in heartache. Be clear about everything you expect and put it down on paper. Inform everyone, current employees as well as those in your candidate pool, about how the process is going. You’ll build the trust with current employees and future employees, resulting in higher loyalty and job satisfaction.

4. Look Internally. Now that you’re clear about your expectations, the next step is to begin recruiting. The logical place to begin is with current employees. If you’re not in the position to hire current employees for an open position, go to them for hiring suggestions. What kind of team member are they looking for? What’s missing within the structure that will help them do their jobs better? Do they know people who can get the job done?

5. Ask Questions. Once you have possible candidates, vet them within your existing community of employees. The information you glean in this step is invaluable and can help you avoid awkward situations.

6. Put One Person in Charge. Appoint one person within your company to be the contact person with potential candidates. This streamlines the process, helps avoid communication issues, and protects a candidate’s confidentiality. This person should manage all interactions between potential candidates and your company.

7. Expand your search. If you’ve heeded the above steps and still haven’t found the perfect candidate, then it’s time to expand your search. One option is to take out an ad. If you choose to do this, be prepared to be bombarded with emails, phone calls, and resumes from an overwhelming amount of unqualified people. If you still want to go this route, just make sure you don’t print the name of your company. Competitors don’t need to know what you’re up to.

Another option is to utilize the services of a recruiter. Recruiters can bring amazing candidates to you, candidates that they’ve already screened, thereby saving on the amount of time you waste talking to halfway-interested, unqualified people. But the truth is that it’s hard to find a top-notch recruiter. There are too many opportunities for conflicts of interest and shirking of standards and loyalty.

If you choose to use a recruiter, find out how big their pool of candidates is. They’re not allowed to recruit from companies with whom they already have a relationship, so you run the risk of using a recruiter with a small candidate pool. Get testimonials, at least five, from satisfied customers. Never pay a recruiter’s expenses unless you’re recruiting for a top-level executive position. Finally, put down deadlines and timelines in writing and be clear about what penalties they will incur if they miss those deadlines.

In all you do, remember that, as a small business owner, you should always try to get the most for the least.

Hire Your Friends: 6 Reasons to Give it a Shot

admin — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:58:11 +0000

Hire Your Friends: 6 Reasons to Give it a Shot

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

So you’re starting your own business. You’re looking for space to rent for your office, and might need some clerical assistance at some point. So why not find a friend with whom to share office space and hire your sister for your part-time work? Sound too close for comfort? Here are 6 reasons to consider hiring friends and family to work for you.

1. They’re Trustworthy. When you hire friends and/or family, you can rest assured that they’re doing what you’ve asked them to do. They value the relationship too much to let you down, so they’re going to give the job everything they’ve got. Compare that to the trustworthiness of an employee you’ve only just met. You’ll rest easier when you know who you’ve got working for you. Don’t abuse the relationship, however. Treat them with the same professionalism and respect you would treat any other employee, and don’t take advantage of them.

2. They Care About Whether or Not You Succeed. Your friends and family want to see you succeed, so they’re going to do whatever they can to make that happen, even if it includes working extra hours and going above and beyond.

3. There are No Surprises. You know your friends and family well enough to anticipate what you might expect from a working relationship. When you hire someone you don’t know, you may be surprised later on by their work habits, annoying personality traits, or inappropriate behavior. Not so with friends and family. You can use what you’ve gleaned from your relationship to extrapolate what kind of employees they might be. You can make an educated decision before hiring about whether or not you could have a successful working relationship with a friend or family member.

4. They’ll Be Truthful. You’ve probably worked with people who will tell the boss exactly what he wants to hear to avoid making waves or calling attention to themselves. Friends and family, on the other hand, will tell you what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear.

5. You Know Their Motives. If you’ve been through the process of hiring someone before, you know that there are plenty of people out there who apply for a job simply to have a job. When you hire friends and family, you know whether they want to work for you simply for a paycheck or because they’re truly invested in what you’re doing. If they aren’t genuinely interested in what you’re doing and in being part of growing your business, don’t hire them!

6. They’re Loyal. If you hire a friend or family member because she’s truly interested in your company, because she cares about whether or not you succeed, and because she’s someone you can trust, then you can rest assured that she will also be loyal to you and your business. She’ll focus her time and energy on making your business successful, and she won’t bail out as soon as a better offer comes along.

Let it also be said that if you choose to hire friends and family, you need to be very clear about your boundaries. If you consistently ask them to give and do more and more simply because you know that they will do almost anything to help you succeed, then you’re taking advantage of their loyalty to you. And if you ever feel like the business relationship that you’ve forged with a friend or family member is putting a strain on your personal relationship, open the lines of communication to talk about what’s going on. The last thing you want to do is to ruin a personal relationship because of a business relationship. But if the chemistry is right and you trust your instincts, hiring a friend or family member may be the smartest business move you ever make!