Browser Shots is a great website to visit when you want to see how your website is viewed on different browsers.
Simply go to the site… type in your URL… select the browsers you’d like to get an overview of… click on ’submit’ and wait for a minute or two. You’ll get an overview of how your webpage is seen by user’s of the various different browsers.
Here’s to your success in business…
Donna-Marie
This is a question raised by Elena at her EP Designs blog - some people have a blogroll list so long a kangaroo couldn’t jump over it… do they actually keep up with those blogging friends? Do they regularly read their posts and comment on them?
Well, I must admit that I’m one of those people. I don’t have all my favourite blogs listed on my blog because there’s just too many of them. And yes, I do like to keep up with them all (although I must admit, never as often as I’d like).
Late last year I found myself really struggling to keep up with them all, clicking from one blog to another. Then I spent an hour or so and subscribed to all my favourite blogs. If you haven’t already done this, I highly recommend you do. You can use a simple program like Bloglines or Feedburner. Add all your favourites and then just log in there each day or each week. You can see all the new posts since your last visit and read them in one place. If you want to comment on anything, you can easily do that too.
Here’s to your success in business…
Donna-Marie
When it comes to getting motivated, particularly when you have a business to run, some people recommend starting your day by doing a few quick and easy jobs from your ‘to do’ list. This helps to get you started and hopefully the momentum will keep you motivated to continue working through your list.
Meanwhile others, such as Dale Carnegie, suggest that you “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.”
So who’s right?
The easy answer is… whichever works for you!
Personally, I find a mixture of the two methods helps me. I usually begin the day by getting stuck into a few quick, simple tasks, then hit the biggest, most challenging job for the day. The quick tasks get me into the flow of the day, then by getting the most difficult task on my list for that day completed it’s such a huge relief, leaving me feeling like I’ve really achieved something. Then it’s easy for me to keep going through the rest of the list.
What works best for you? I’d love to hear your ideas, or any other methods and suggestions you can offer.
Here’s to your business success…
Reading Jenni’s blog at Papercraft Designs I came across this great quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson - US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882):
“That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved.”
I really love that quote. It is perfectly in line with one of my theories in life, that if you want to be the best at something - or at least up there with the best - you should practise it or learn about it daily.
One of my mentors many years ago told me that if I wanted to be good at something I should learn or practise it for at least 15 minutes every day. Even just 15 minutes a day, over time, will greatly build your knowledge or abilities.
In my last post I mentioned that “small deeds done are better than big deeds planned.” Sometimes we think of big deeds, or goals, but just can’t find the time to take action - often because it’s going to take a lot of time. However, if you commit to focusing just 15 minutes each day on your ‘big hairy audacious goal’, you’ll be amazed at how soon that time, and those small achievements, will add up.
Now there’s no excuses!
Here’s to your business success…
I was just reading this Fresh Fruit post on My New Shiny Shoes that talks about giving fruit as a gift (actually, it was the gorgeous pic of a tray of mangoes that caught my attention!)
The post got me thinking about what other gifts you can send to people, particularly gifts to customers, suppliers or business associates, and even more specifically, gifts that you are not able to deliver in person, such as when the recipient is interstate.
I often think of sending gifts to associates, sometimes just for the sake of it or because I know they’re going through a difficult situation, but it’s usually the thought of packaging and sending the gift that puts me off the idea. So, I’ve decided to make a list of my favourite ideas so next time I want to send such a gift, I don’t have to stop and think about it too much.
I love the idea of the fruit gift, and then there’s the delicious gifts offered by Rainbow Designs. Getting away from food, the Beauty Banquet has some tasty looking soaps that would make a lovely gift package and Kylie from Tilda Virtual Services suggests giving clients/associates a subscription to a relevant magazine, like The Business Mums Magazine.
The thing I love most about these choices is that in all cases, they handle the postage and delivery of the gift! If you’re buying for someone in another country, a quick search online will usually come up with a number of suggestions - a great way to save time as well as shipping costs.
Do you have any other ideas for corporate gifts suggestions? If so, please share them… I’ll add them to my list 
Here’s to your business success…
Here’s a great site that’s worth visiting - and subscribing too… Plugger - for Australian Business News.
Plugger is an Australian business news website aggregating news and providing a news search engine. You can search for news on your business or industry, and if you register, you can also receive one daily email of news up-dates about your customers, competitors and other related issues from a wide variety of sources.
Plus, you can publish your own news and media releases simply by emailing Plugger (your news must be within the body of the email or a page on a website, not an attachment) or you can log-in and post your news. Logging-in lets you track the popularity of your post.
Best of all, it’s free to join Plugger. It’s a great way to post and track your news or to monitor customers and industries.
Here’s to your business success…
It’s almost Christmas and as a special thank you for everyone who reads and posts comments on my blog I’d like to give you a gift.
For the last couple of months I have worked alongside 15 talented business owners to write an eBook full of handy tips, ideas and guidance for successfully running a business. Each business owner has contributed their own article about what they wish they had known before they started their business. Hopefully these articles will give you some ideas and help prevent you from making those same mistakes.
We’re giving this to you for free… nada… zip… zilch. Plus, you’re welcome to give it away to anyone else you think would benefit from reading it. The only stipulation is that you cannot alter it in any way and you cannot sell it.
For tips on time management, marketing ideas, balancing work/family, business ethics, niche marketing and lots more download your gift - What I Wish I Knew Before I Started My Business.
Happy reading!
Here’s to your business success…
Here’s another video by Juliet Funt who presents great information with a humorous twist. This is her impression of a typical day… one I can certainly relate to!
I came across this quote today:
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot,”
Michael Althsuler.
I like the sound of that!
A few days ago I posted a blog about transcription - what it is, who uses it and in what circumstances.
An important thing to keep in mind is that the cost of having your recording typed up into document format varies greatly but as a general rule, the better the quality of your recording, the more affordable having it typed will be.
There are so many things you can do to improve the sound quality of your recording, things such as:
As a final note, I always suggest that people find a transcriptionist before they begin recording. Any professional service will be happy to go over these types of suggestions to ensure that you get the best possible quality recording, which will in turn make their job quicker and easier, thus costing you less $$!
School holidays have just begun here in Queensland. I posted this on my personal blog early this year and it got some great feedback, so I thought I would share it with readers of the Small Business Diva too.
My baby is now in his teens and at high school (boy, I feel old saying that) so it’s really no more difficult to work when he’s home all day. In fact, I enjoy being able to sleep in a bit!!! In my case, the occasional, “Muuuuum… I’m hungry,” is dealt with by a simple reply of, “There’s the kitchen,” while pointing in the general direction of said kitchen. If he’s getting something yummy I’ll often follow up with, “I’ll have one too while you’re there,” or “Put the kettle on for me would you Darl?”
Okay, so I have it pretty easy, but it wasn’t always this way. He was little once - many, many sleeps ago - and I often have young nieces visiting for the holidays or, at one stage, young foster children here. School holidays always remind me of how difficult it can be juggling the ever-professional-business-Mum with Mum-of-kids-on-school-holidays.
I found the most important way to survive these times was to BE ORGANISED. To start with, mark the school holidays in your diary in advance and try not to schedule too many appointments during this time.
There are lots of ways you can involve your littlies in your business - help packing orders, sticking labels or stamps on envelopes, simple sorting. I also made a habit of keeping a miniature desk and chair near my desk, along with a toy phone and some simple stationery items (espcially a stapler and a hole punch - they love those!) That way the kids can be creative while playing ‘pretend’ workers too. I also kept my old computer at a desk in my office and my son would sometimes sit up there ‘doing his work’ with me. Of course, his work involved software such as MS Paint, PrintMaster Gold (card making - lots of graphics in that one) or a couple of Sesame Street games.
If you need to run errands, time these around your child’s needs so they are not tired and grumpy.
Where possible, try to arrange ‘kid-sharing’ with a friend or relative. On one day, you can look after their kids and just spend the day with them. The next day, the other person has the kids and you devote time to your work. Alternating outing days with home days can help reduce boredom too.
Try to avoid getting caught up with work for too long at a time. Kids may get resentful and play up just to get your attention. Where possible, alternate time with your kids and time in the office.
The most important thing is not to be too hard on yourself and your expectations. Remember WHY you’re working from home in the first place. In many cases it’s because you want to spend more time with your family (working in your slippers in just a bonus 
).
What are your tips for balancing work/family during school holidays? I’d love to hear them.
I was speaking with an associate of mine earlier today about transcription and who uses a transcription service. She was surprised at the number of ways this service could benefit others so I thought I would share some of these with you.
For those who don’t know much about transcription, that’s when you speak and record (dictate) your words for a transcriptionist to type and format for you. This service has been provided for many, many years with cassettes, then mini and micro cassettes. While these tape options are still available, digital recording is now the way to go. The quality of the recording is usually much clearer plus you don’t need to worry about the tape getting damaged or chewed up. Better still, the digital voice files (mp3, wav, etc) can simply be emailed to your transcriptionist or uploaded to a secure server for your transciptionist to retrieve which saves both time and money compared to having tapes couriered.
Once the audio file has been typed and formatted - usually as a Word document - it is simply emailed back to you. Easy!
This associate that I mentioned earlier thought that transcription services were only used by lawyers or high-profile business-people dictating their letters.
Not so! Here is a very brief list of some of the uses of transcription services:
There are so many ways… this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Another of the benefits of using a transcription service is the time saving. For example, if you have hours of audio to be typed and you need the completed document urgently, it may be physically impossible for you to type it all yourself. However, many professional transcriptionists are part of a larger team and the workload can easily be shared. With numerous people working on your files it will be much easier to meet your deadline. And don’t worry about the confidentiality side of things. Most professional transcriptionists will happily sign a confidentiality agreement and strictly adhere to these policies. Their business reputation is their livlihood.
There are various points to consider when sourcing a good transcriptionist plus many things you can do while recording to help reduce the cost of this service. I’ll post about these over the coming week along with what sort of equipment you need to get started.
Stay tuned…
“You don’t have to be great to start. But you do have to start… to be great. When you believe in yourself and tell yourself, ‘I can do it,’ your confidence, motivation, determination and energy will all join together and propel you towards your goal.”
~ Zig Ziglar
I love that quote and live it almost every day. There are times when I have a task to do and I just can’t quite get the motivation to do it. You know what it’s like… you know you must write a letter to so-and-so but you don’t know where to begin. So you keep finding other things to do. You might even spend a whole day getting plenty of work done… but that letter is still waiting for you.
When I get like this, I just make myself do it. Do anything to get started. If it’s writing something, I just sit down and start writing - even if it’s just gobbledegook. I always find that within minutes, the words are flowing and the first draft is soon written.
If it’s some new project you want to tackle, begin by researching or talking to others who may be able to help. Find out what you need to do and if necessary, break it down into baby steps. (Remember the saying, How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.)
Just as Zig Ziglar claims, once you begin the task - no matter how small that beginning act it - you will soon gain the motivation, energy and desire to keep going because you’re so caught up in the moment. If you don’t do this already, just try it. You’ll be amazed at how much you will achieve.
I remember when I worked for an employee in the late ’80s/early ’90s and the newest craze was “multi-tasking”. Everyone was doing it. No longer was a person responsible for a particular job; instead, each employee was being trained in all jobs classified at the same level. You would do 3 months in one job then everyone rotated and would spend the next 3 months in another job. This was so we could learn the benefits and joys of “multi-tasking”. I hated it.
We would also pride ourselves on being able to work on several projects at one time.
Gone are those days. Well, in my office at least. Sure, I can still cook dinner while ironing clothes and replying to emails or returning phone calls… even with a toddler on my hip. But generally speaking, I’ve learnt the importance of focusing on one task/project at a time. By focusing 100% on the article I’m writing (or whatever task it is), that is the only thing that gets my attention. No checking emails whenever I hear the ‘ping’ of a new message arriving; no getting sidetracked on the net while researching; just 100% focus on the job at hand.
Similarly, when I am taking time off for family/personal reasons, I’m 100% focused on relaxing or playing games or whatever, not going off to my computer every couple of hours.
This isn’t always possible to do - sometimes you need to stop what you’re doing to deal with an urgent matter - but this focused attention is what really works for me.
If you are a multi-tasker, try to change that, even just for a trial period. You may be surprised by how well the “focused-tasking” works.
Whenever I’m out and about networking or speaking at workshops and the likes I usually mention the term ‘VA’ at least once and ALWAYS have people asking what a VA is.
A VA is a Virtual Assistant… and assistant who is not physically with you. I believe the term is more well known in the US but in Australia and many other countries, it’s a growing industry and many people aren’t yet aware of the term, the occupation nor how a VA can assist them.
Virtual Assistanting is becoming more and more popular as people grow aware of their existence… and thus more people are wanting to get into the profession too!
VAs usually specialise in particular areas and can help you with a huge range of tasks such as typing, transcription, bookkeeping, document preparation and presentation, writing, website design and/or maintenance, diary management, graphic design, customer management, email/telephone answering, database management, appointment setting and general office administration, along with many other duties. Phew! That’s just the beginning!
These tasks can usually be performed remotely so your VA doesn’t have to be in the same town as you… or even the same country! Many people take advantage of the time difference between countries too. For example, a client in New York will email me notes at the end of her work day - which is the start of mine here in Australia. While she sleeps, I format and edit her notes and email them back to her. She arrives at work the next day and her job is complete - waiting in her inbox.
Utilising a VA can be perfect for solo-business operators, those who travel a lot and people who work from home. You don’t need to provide office space and equipment and are only paying for the time you use.
A great site to look at for more information is A Clayton’s Secretary. You will find lots of useful information on how a VA can benefit you or your organisation along with help starting your own VA business.
I am often asked to recommend a good free/cheap program for tracking time spent on client work and projects.
I like TimeStamp, as do many other professionals I know. It’s quick to download and easy to use. Best of all, you can keep it running in the background and it doesn’t interfere with other programs you’re running.
At the time of posting this, TimeStamp is still free to download although a donation towards the site owner’s generosity is appreciated.
Here are 8 time savers that have helped in my quest to balance work & family life:
1. Plan to have ‘in days’ and ‘out days’. On your ‘in days’, stay in your workplace all day. Have a list of prioritized tasks and do them - one after another. You will achieve so much that you’ll fell better about spending quality time with your family or doing something for yourself in the evenings. Similarly, on your ‘out days’, list all the errands to be done and just do them.
2. Plan your meals ahead and go grocery shopping only once each week. Prepare a few meals to freeze for quick meals later.
3. Make sandwiches in advance and freeze them, too. Each morning just grab a sandwich out of the freezer and pop it into the lunch box. You can freeze a lot of cakes, muffins, lamingtons and other treats too. They will have defrosted by lunch time.
4. School bags and clothes can be prepared the night before. If you find yourself really pushed for time of a morning, put all bowls, breakfast cereals, cups and vitamins on the table or bench too.
5. Use your diary appropirately, attending to matters when thye need it (the longer you leave it, the harder it will become).
6. Keep your home and work space tidy. You can easily waste hours looking for misplaced items.
7. Consider oursourcing chores such as ironing, lawn mowing or bookkeeping. How much do you earn per hour? How much is three hours of cleaning really costing you?
8. When friends drop in unannounced - ask them to make you a cuppa and then do some filing or hang out the washing while the two of you chat. I guarantee, if they don’t take the hint and leave, at least you’ll be catching up on some chores!
Effective time management is crucial in successfully balancing work and family time. To find extra time in your day, first keep a journal of how you spend you time over a two or three day period. Include everything, even time on the telephone, watching television and reading. Next, use these notes to identify your greatest time wasters. Then determine where you can eliminate or limit them.
The trick to finding extra time each day is to work smart, not hard. Be organized and have everything well planned and you will find that you have more time to spare.
