One of my favourite bosses worked by the motto “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth measuring”. When I whined that something just couldn’t be measured, he would say, “There’s always something to measure.” And he was always right. It’s an important concept for small business … Keep reading…

When you’re inserting content into your newsletter, website or blog, you’re often copying it from other documents.  I suggest you always compose in Word (or similar) to take advantage of its spelling and grammar-checking functionality. Your formatting in Word may not be the same as your … Keep reading…

As I step into my 7th year in business, it strikes me that I’m facing a whole new set of challenges this year. That means new experiences and probably some goof-ups to learn from. For my first few years in business, my focus was on … Keep reading…

To all of you readers who have established email contact lists… are you capitalizing on opportunities that are staring you in the face? Today I received a timely and relevant email from Fairway Insurance Services – a warning about preparedness for Hurricane Irene.  It included an … Keep reading…

This site was recommended by my friend Anita Hovey at Twirp Communications. Be prepared to spend a little time browsing! Very useful for determining colour schemes and for seamless backgrounds. (And they actually spell ‘colour’ right for us Canadians 😉 http://www.colourlovers.com/   Click to Tweet this Article

Social media trumps all! Email is still king! There are strong opinions being expressed – pro email or pro social media – all over the web, and in person. The internet is littered with statistics that can be bent one way or the other. Like most decisions in … Keep reading…

www.colorschemedesigner.com I use this tool all the time when developing colour schemes for clients’ newsletters. You can play around to find a scheme you like. Or you can enter an HTML# and it’ll give you the matches.   Click to Tweet this Article

Prezi is a very different presentation software… I love it! http://www.prezi.com/Check out this one I made to illustrate the newsletter set-up process: http://prezi.com/b0u1bxp8iywu/newsletter-campaign-creation-process/ Click to Tweet this Article

A website devoted to answering people’s questions on a variety of subjects. The twist with Quora is that it allows you to interact with others on the site and develop relationships while also giving a sense of fun. Two reasons to use it: to build … Keep reading…

Set up your LinkedIn preferences so that you are receiving an update email at least once a week. Use the email as a reminder and, when you receive it, scroll to the bottom and click on ‘view all network updates’. Take a few minutes to … Keep reading…

Take the lead and hold your own networking event. Sound counterintuitive? Perhaps, but you will be in control – which leads to confidence. Starting your own event will greatly expand your reputation, relationships and marketing reach. It could be a one-time event, such as a … Keep reading…

Take a few minutes to refresh your knowledge about the most popular keywords in your industry and area of specialty. You can use this handy Google Insights for Search tool to find out what the world is searching for. Or you can narrow it down … Keep reading…

Make sure your website and other online places are showing current copyright dates. Old dates can have people questioning if you’re still around and how current your information is. If you have print or electronic material with copyright dates, also remember to update those! Click … Keep reading…

I make a lot less money now than I did ten years ago. Back then I was single, living in Toronto and climbing the corporate ladder. The lifestyle I enjoy now is much slower paced and I certainly wouldn’t have considered it successful or goal-worthy … Keep reading…

One of my personal success factors is being able to afford to have someone come in and clean for me every two weeks. It started 15 years ago when I was single and living in Toronto. I was flying all over North America and my … Keep reading…

“Why do I care if I get along with my co-workers or not?”This bold statement came from a young woman participating in a workshop I was delivering at a Halifax cosmetology school a couple of years ago. It was more of a statement than a … Keep reading…

I am fortunate to be good friends with The Phone Lady. There are many important things that I have learned from her – the most difficult has been to stop using the word ‘just’. That insidious little word just wants to sneak in everywhere. The … Keep reading…

Put your most recent blog posts on your Linked In profile using either of these applications: They will display the title and first paragraph of your most recent blog post on your Linked In profile.  Find these apps:  from the Linked In main menu choose … Keep reading…

Stay front of mind by updating your status on Linked In frequently.  Updates are the first thing that pops up on the Linked In home page for all of your contacts.  If your contacts are also clients and prospects, it’s an easy way to remind … Keep reading…

Some of you may be blogging to drive readers to a target post of the day but for those of you blogging to have your readers browse your blog much like a magazine, you will want to make sure you are making full use of tags or … Keep reading…

One way to drive traffic to your blog is to use current popular news stories as a jump off point to hook your audience. Readers often search current news stories and, if your post headline contains one of them, the same thought process will have … Keep reading…