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The Facts on the Benefits of Starting Your Own Business

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Ideas and Infographics
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Starting your own business can be difficult, but it can also be highly rewarding. For many people, it’s a dream that is never realised, but for a lucky few, it’s a reality.

If you’ve considered going it alone and pursuing your dreams then take a look at this infographic from the team at www.xlntelecom.co.uk which is full of useful information about how to approach starting your own business.

Click here to see the image full size.

A Mini Guide to Starting your own business

The freedom of being your own boss can be one of the best things about being self-employed. For many, the thought of managing your own workload without being under the watchful eye of an employer is very appealing.

Your own business can also give you the opportunity to purse something that you’re really passionate about. It’s often said that if you can find something which you enjoy doing, you never have to work a day in your life. Turning a hobby or an interest into a profitable business can give you immense satisfaction.

Running a business can also be very profitable. When working in traditional employment, your remuneration will be set by the company, and whilst promotions are possible, the money that you take home will generally stay the same. When you’re in control of your own empire, no matter how small it may be, the sky really is the limit. If you run your business well, the rewards can be huge.

Finally, the prospect of cutting out the commute is very attractive for many people. Many businesses start trading from a spare bedroom, so it will take you two minutes from getting out of bed to starting work. If you’ve spent years getting up early to take a crowded train to your office, you’ll know just how tiring and time consuming this can be. Your own business can take away this previously essential part of your working day.

Author’s Bio:
Nadine Bourne is Marketing Executive at XLN Business Services. Nadine has written guest posts for business sites such as Crimson, British SME, Growingbusiness.com. She has also written for publications including Vogue.com, Good Housekeeping and Cult Beauty.

Teens, the Financial Crisis, and Lack of Summer Jobs

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Ideas and Infographics

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Mihaela “Mig” Lica

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Signs Of Our Times & Not So Good Trends

You are all feeling it, aren’t you? The weight of the financial crisis, creeping in past even the most positive attitudes, this has become as prevalent (almost) as the morning alarm clock. Politicians talk of recovery, so do bankers and Wall Street titans, every news day some new hope of a full recovery hits our sensibilities. And then the next morning arrives.

Indicators abound to tell us the ups and downs of our current existence. But the real telling details arrive in the form of news friends and relatives are having a tough time. Out of work, homes foreclosed, blah, blah, blah, are you immune yet? The infographic below focuses on some more news from the negative side. For those who have teens headed into the workplace this Summer, be grateful, many don’t get the chance. Check out this economic indicator.

Cruel Summer - Where the Jobs are this Summer Infographic
Via: Bolt Insurance

This Summer will be “cruel” indeed for a lot of young and older Americans. Just because things seem to be holding together, this does not mean we should lose sight of our problems, the problems of our neighbors. Infographics, as you can see, are a great way to solidify and remember information. You already knew the neighbor’s teenager was having a tough time finding work, now you know he or she is not alone. And even if you want only good news in your day, it’s a good idea to act on this bit of bad, just as a start. Please share your good and bad news Summer stories with us.

Author’s Bio:

Author’s Bio:

Mihaela “Mig” Lica founded Pamil Visions in 2005 where she uses her hard won journalistic, SEO and public relations skills toward helping small companies navigate the digital realm with influence and success.

You can find Mig on Twitter as @PamilVisions

Improving Productivity – Meeting Madness

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Adria Saracino

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Meetings are often cited as being unproductive – either because they run on too long, are unfocussed, fail to result in actions – or indeed just because you find yourself attending so many of them you haven’t got time to get any actual work done.

Fortunately help is at hand – Simply Business has pulled together this productivity infographic detailing solutions to common productivity problems with meetings:


Click image to open interactive version.

Want to keep your meetings short, on-track and productive? Check out our tips below:

Do you feel like meetings are a waste of your time?

Marissa Mayer from Google holds an average of 70 meetings a week – so you can be sure she knows how to run meetings effectively – check out her tips:

  1. Set an agenda ahead of time which outlines what needs to be discussed and accomplished within the meeting.
  2. Ensure someone is taking minutes and capturing actions.
  3. Micro-meetings. Mayer slices longer meetings into 5-10 minute segments to discuss specific projects. This keeps even longer meetings tightly focussed and on-time.
  4. Don’t politic, use data. This is particularly pertinent when looking at design. Mayer doesn’t believe in making decisions based on ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ – instead data/metrics should be used to make decisions rather than personal taste or gut feel.

Do all meeting attendees come away with defined actions?

If not, they probably didn’t need to attend! That point aside, the prompt circulation of meeting minutes is critical. Apps like Minutes.io allow you to quickly take and circulate meeting minutes plus it works online and offline.

Everett Sizemore from SeOverflow likes to do a quick round up at the end of a meeting:

“A meeting strategy I often use is to sum up deliverables at the end. I don’t speak out everyone else’s list, but I always reiterate what it is that I am taking away as a responsibility. I have found that other people in the meeting generally follow-suit and before long it becomes the norm. Something is wrong if you regularly have meetings from which nobody leaves with a clearly defined to-do list.”

Are your meetings too long?

Try counting down the remaining time with a stopwatch – that’s what they do at Google. Or if you need to send a more powerful message check out C.O.M.A.. This app calculates how much your meeting is costing your company – ouch! Alternatively you might try initiating stand up meetings instead. Yep, that’s right, no more sitting comfortably around a table. With everyone standing the length of meetings drops drastically as no one wants to stand around for long.

Do you waste time traveling to meetings?

Sure meeting face-to-face is great and you’d never want to do away with meeting in person entirely, but do you really need to spend quite so much time on the road? Think about how much more you could get done if you weren’t spending time traveling to and from meetings.

Make use of tools like Google Hangouts or Skype video chat to get that face-to-face meeting vibe without the traveling.

Got some tips of your own to keep meetings productive? I’d love to hear about them via the comments!

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Author’s Bio:Adria Saracino is a marketer and blogger. When not consulting on business strategy, you can find her juggling fitness, graphic design, and writing about style on her personal fashion blog, The Emerald Closet. Follow her on twitter @adriasaracino to stay in touch.

Thank you for adding to the conversation!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Look at the Lack of Ladies Leading

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IDEAS AND INFOGRAPHICS

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In 2012, women continue to leave their mark in business in industries around the world. Rather than having the conversation of having women in the workplace, the conversation has evolved into having women lead teams, companies, and ultimately
drive results across the boards.

As shown in the infographic below, women are emerging around the world, but there is still much work to be done in ensuring that women are being granted the same opportunities to succeed as men. For example, women-founded startups are
receiving less venture capital funding despite the fact that those that are, are driving stronger results on average than their male counterparts.

Women at Work Infographic Via MBA@UNC
Via MBA@UNC MBA Online & Women 2.0

On company boards around the world, and in the technology industry, there is a severe lack of leading ladies. The reasons for this current state vary, but the reasons on why women should be put in opportunities to lead and innovate are undeniable. This infographic is meant to celebrate the progress that has been made, but also sheds light on current trends that must be changed.

Change can come from a lot of different places, such as role models like Sara Blakely and Arianna Huffington or in the classroom where the importance of early education cannot be underestimated. Regardless of the source, there is a need for
empowerment. As Arianna Huffington pointed out …

“Women still have an uneasy relationship with power and the traits necessary to be a leader. There is this internalized fear that if we are really powerful, we are going to be considered ruthless or pushy or strident–all those epithets that strike right at our femininity. We are still working at trying to overcome the fear that power and womanliness are mutually exclusive.”

Where would you start to change that?

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Author’s Bio:
Harrison Kratz is the Community Manager for MBA@UNC, the online mba program at the University of North Carolina. He and his team have been working with Women 2.0 on displaying the progress of Women in the Workplace and the Technology Industry.

Thank you, Harrison!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

What Could Changes to EU Internet Mean to Your Business?

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Ideas and Infographics

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Changes in European Internet Access

The EU is in a digital race to decrease its dependence on financial services and improve its Internet access. What exactly is on this agenda?

Europe plans on making high-speed broadband connection available to all EU households by 2012 (a lofty goal given the time frame) and a 50% subscription rate of more than 100 Mbps by 2020. Because of the recession, EU countries are fighting to be the first to reach these goals in hopes of opening up opportunities for businesses.

So what does this mean to you? An increase in global Internet usage could mean more international business opportunities for you. To put this into perspective, let’s look at a graphic that visualizes this race.


Click image to open full-size version (via Interxion).

According to the infographic, the UK is leading the pack in the number of consumers purchasing goods online. Moreover, it’s B2B purchasers aren’t that much further behind. Yet despite so many people purchasing goods online (79%), only 15% of businesses are selling goods online.

That means there is a huge demand not being met. So while businesses in Europe are slowly trying to lessen this gap, there is prime opportunity for your business to steal some of the international market share. Especially if you are already in the e-commerce business, there might be an opportunity to gain international exposure easily.

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Author’s Bio:
Adria Saracino is a marketer and blogger. When not developing content strategies, you can find her writing about style on her personal fashion blog, The Emerald Closet.

Thank you, Adria!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Ideas & Infographics: So You Thought Your Mobile Habits Were Harmless?

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by Mihaela Lica

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Getting Smart about Smart Devices

These days, if you are not heavily heeled with smart devices and wired into the social web, your business is probably suffering. This is no big secret. However, the habits and devices you use may have adverse affects on you that are seldom publicized. Does your neck ache? Ever get blurry vision? Read on.

Have you ever thought about just how your body is positioned while using your iPad or other smart device. Probably not, that is unless your eyeballs get so red from bad positioning your friends think you have a hangover. The infographic below reflects on how smartphone or device use can mimic the improper wearing of eyeglasses.

[Click the image to see the isolated infograph and again to see it full size.]

[Created by Mezzmer Eyeglasses]

The advances in mobile technologies and the ever increasing adaptation of them by us poses not only huge benefits, but sometimes very bad consequences. Smart devices, like any tool designed to accelerate or enhance our abilities, should be used properly.

If you are a habitual smartphone or pad user, maybe you should consider refining your habits? Or, maybe a pain in the neck is your cup of tea?

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Author’s Bio:

Mihaela “Mig” Lica founded Pamil Visions in 2005 where she uses her hard won journalistic, SEO and public relations skills toward helping small companies navigate the digital realm with influence and success.

You can find Mig on Twitter as @PamilVisions

Thanks, Mig! Thank you also to Mezzmer.com!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!