January is Get Organized Month

I hope you enjoy these New Year tips ...

January is the perfect time to put your New Year’s resolutions into action. I’m sending a brief guide over the next three weeks to help you get started.

Whether you have a studio apartment or a house, the goal is to eliminate clutter and maximize space. A place for everything and everything in it’s place. It’s tempting to purchase organizing items but until you have sorted, purged and measured, you won’t know precisely what’s needed – and these can become part of the clutter. Daily maintenance for 15 minutes or a half hour will prevent having to spend days or weeks to catch up.

Here are a few ideas to help you create a fresh start for the new year with healthy, calming spaces. Of course, not all ideas apply to everyone.


ENTRYWAY

• In the entry area, place a table or chest with a basket on top to store mail until you process it.

• This “landing strip” should hold a bowl or tray to drop keys in as you enter.

• Use this area to place items you plan to take with you when leaving.

• A decorative container can hold umbrellas.


HOME OFFICE / OFFICE

• Your desk is a work zone. Place items on it which are in regular use, not your entire stash of supplies or other household items.

• Set up and maintain equipment so it functions properly.

• An armoire or shelving system with boxes is a neat way to keep paper, materials and supplies contained.

• A file system is essential for home and business. It should enable you to locate an important document in less than two minutes. Weekly filing eliminates stress.

• Gain control of your financial life. Eliminate late fees by logging bill payment reminders onto your calendar. Your file system helps you store documents and prepare taxes in a timely manner.

• Organize your computer with a set of folders to keep digital files and email easy to file and retrieve.

• Your day planner is an essential time management tool. Whether you prefer digital or paper, use one calendar to keep your daily focus on what matters.

• Place a shredder near the desk and use it to shred financial solicitations and sensitive documents with account numbers.

Next week, we’ll look at organizing the kitchen and living room. If you need help in any of these areas, please call on me. Organized space works!

Stuff

It's a new day and much needed. "Give Your Stuff Away day" has been announced for September 25th. Anyone have a truck to loan me? I've got stuff – and I bet you do too.

See the Huffington Post article and website:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/24/give-your-stuff-away-day-_n_736983.html

http://giveyourstuffaway.com/

Great idea – but not sure how it works. If I brought all my excess stuff to the curb, my building managers would have me arrested.

This is an issue to ponder. Let's take action. I declare every day a "get rid of your excess stuff day."

To motivate you here's a great essay on "Stuff" written by Paul Graham. Highly recommended for paper packrats, clutterbugs, collectors, and all of us shopaholics who suffer from this disease of abundance.

http://www.paulgraham.com/stuff.html

Seriously, hoarders – if you need supportive, hands on help with your clutter in the NYC area, email me quick.

Happy clutterbusting!

Eliminate Busyaholism

Do you spend your days putting out fires, searching for missing reports, and micromanaging minor tasks? At times we must respond to a fire in our midst: the computer has crashed, or a key employee is out—however, being reactive all the time eats away at our time and creates additional stress. It also doesn’t allow business owners to work on important, but maybe not urgent, tasks that will help grow the business....

Check out the rest of this article at NY Enterprise report

http://www.nyreport.com/articles/74031/eliminate_busyaholism?page=0,0

Why Tweet?

In business circles I often hear complaints about Social Media. "It takes too much energy. It's a waste of time." They often ask, "Have you gotten any jobs through Twitter or LinkedIn?"

Can I point to specific projects my clients have received as a result of Social Networking? Yes, I can.

But like any other form of marketing, it's often impossible to say which spark ignites the fire. "You've heard the expression: "Half my advertising works, I just don't know which half."

The more marketing activity you participate in, the more awareness you create. The more raving fans you inspire, the more product you sell, and the more consulting assignments you receive. It's about being visible. It's that simple.

If a tweet inspires someone to follow a link to an article you've authored or to check out your website, that's a competitive advantage.

They're now on your turf. They've become a willing participant and you're no longer talking into a void. You've engaged them in a dialogue, motivated them to take action. That's a buying signal.

Now that they have bought you, how can you motivate them to take the next step?

And if you are to meet a prospect and take the time to review their personal LinkedIn profile – you've taken an interest in them as a person. Doesn't that give you an advantage in selling to them?

If you pose a question which engenders discussion, you receive valuable information and perhaps leads directly from your customers. Before Social Media you had no way to obtain this insight without expensive market research campaigns.

Like any other form of networking, business follows when you follow through. Getting people to know, like and trust you. Educating them in your area of expertise.

Be creative, individual and strategic in using Social Media. Create a Social Media plan. The money will follow.

Links Made Easy

Have you ever received an email with a l-o-n-g link to an article or webinar? You click on the link and all you get is “failed to open page.” So you cut and paste the l-o-n-g link into your browser.

Still can’t get there. Frustration sets in.

Now think what happens when you are sending this long link and your target audience is frustrated and angry. Not your intended result, you say.

There’s a website that solves this problem instantly, elegantly, and seamlessly. Best of all, it’s free.  

Tinyurl.com takes a long url and makes it tiny, and gets you to exactly the right page. Don’t know exactly how they redirect you but I love it. Kudos to that! Try it and you’ll be hooked.

Use it for tweets, emails, your blog. How did I ever live without this tool? 

Anna Speaks on Social Networking to Grow Your Business June 16th

Social media has been described as the Holy Grail or a wasteful time suck. Wasn't that how the web was described a few short years ago? It is neither.

Social media is now playing a huge part in business and it's influence is growing daily. Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging and email marketing can connect you to your markets in a more relevant way. Come and find out the truth about social media and how to use it to great advantage.

Join me at The C-Suite Forum, a Peer Group of C-Level Executives, Entrepreneurs and Self Employed Professionals. Networking follows the presentation. Guests are welcome. Check the web site to call in advance.

The C-Suite Forum

www.csuiteforum.com

June 16th 7:45 am -10 am

The Association of the City Bar

42 West 44th St (5th/6th Avenue)

The Cromwell Room

Netiquette

Here's an update of an article (Part 1) which I published in my ezine, MarketSavvy in 2005. It's still relevant today. 

"You've Got Mail" a 1988 comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan parodied email as a fun ride to romance. Fast forward to 2009. Even if we don't carry a "crackberry," we are addicted to email before, during and after the workday. Not so much fun.

Just two minutes each for 100 emails steals over three hours of your day. It's compelling, adrenaline rushing – yet it can be a productivity drain, rather than a gain.

Email is fast but that doesn't give us a license to send a careless message over the wire. Would you send a coffee-stained message through the mail? Email is permanent so edit ruthlessly; never write anything you wouldn't want made public. 

Email is an important communication tool but many business owners are still unaware of basic courtesy in email. 

Your brand persona is reflected in your email messages so here are some cardinal rules:

• Never send an email with a blank subject line. Use a concise description.

• Avoid using terminology like ... please respond, help, important. These don't describe the subject and can appear as spam.

• Consider the subject a descriptive headline which allows the recipient to file and retrieve it later. 

• Keep the context. Cryptic answers are meaningless without prior threads. Explain references to people and items which may not be clear. Include prior messages (at the bottom of your communication).

• Proofread and spell check. Review before you click. 

• Never type in all caps. This is screaming. It is also more difficult to read.  

• A mix of fancy fonts looks amateurish. Use font and color sparingly, judiciously and appropriately. There are almost no instances when script is appropriate in email. 

• When necessary to send a group mailing from your own email address, protect the privacy of people who don't know each other by using the "don't show addresses" button on groups or BCC (blind carbon copy).

• Use "reply to all" and "cc" only when it is useful to everyone.

• Never send chain letters, jokes or warnings. Most warnings are bogus and others may not share your sense of humor. In fact, they may be offended. FYI, you can verify warnings at Snopes.com.