How to Earn Appreciation in the Workplace

One of the main complaints from employees is that they don’t feel appreciated by their boss or team members. After all, you may work overtime to meet crazy deadlines, work weekends to complete new projects ahead of schedule or even run errands for your boss that aren’t part of your job description. Don’t you deserve a little appreciation? Here are a few tips on how to earn appreciation in the workplace.

Treat Others the Way You Want to Be Treated

Before you start expecting people to appreciate your hard work, maybe you should consider how appreciative you are of your coworkers. Do you thank them for the hard work they did to help you meet a deadline? Do you take their work on a project for granted? If so, why would they be appreciative of your work? Remember the golden rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Notice How Other Employees Are Treated

Are you the only one who feels unappreciated? There’s a good chance that your employer may not show appreciation to any of the employees. Before you start complaining, think about whether or not Jim was congratulated and thanked for his involvement in last month’s record breaking sales or if Jill got recognition for earning 100 new clients. It may not just be you.

Ask for Feedback

Sometimes employers need a bit of prodding to remember that they need to provide feedback to their employees. You could meet with your employer to talk about your recent success and ask for feedback. If he compliments you on a job well done that’s great. If he simply talks about the success and forgets you were part of it, you may need to work harder to get noticed or give him a little help spotting your successes.

Help Others Take Notice

A subtle remark about a recent success may also be enough to get the appreciation you deserve. You could say something like, “Wow, I’m a bit worn out from last month’s project, but it was well worth it.” Chances are you’ll get the compliments and appreciation you’re looking for.

Be Thankful of Compliments

Stop blowing off compliments. When you act ungrateful for people’s appreciation, why would they continue to show it? When someone tells you, you did a great job, say, “Thank you so much for noticing. It feels great to know my job makes a difference.”

In today’s overcrowded offices and businesses, it’s hard to employers to give employees the appreciation they deserve. However, that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve it or that your employer doesn’t appreciate you.

About the Author: Coleman Tappeiner is a human resource consultant who enjoys working with employees to have the best workplace experience possible. When he’s not working he can often be found sipping the oolong tea blends he finds at www.goldenmoontea.com and surfing his favorite food and cooking websites.

What to Consider Before Becoming a Freelancer

For the employee stuck in the 9-5 workday, the allure of working from home without the watchful eyes of a manager can be especially compelling.  Many decide to follow the call and become a freelancer in order to become their own boss. However, not everyone can handle the freedom and responsibility that comes with the freelancing life. In order to determine whether becoming a freelancer is right for you, consider the following questions:

Can You Offer a Service?

Before rushing wildly into starting a business, you’ll need to undergo a level of planning and preparation. First, think exactly about the type of services you want to offer. Freelancing covers a wide spectrum of fields, including proofreading, writing, and graphic design. There are an endless number of services freelancers can offer, each with its own details concerning clients, job market, and business regulations. In addition, the prospective freelancer should carefully determine whether the

Do you have a Family Life?

Many freelancers run their business from the comfort of their own home. However, there are a number of distractions that may prevent the freelancer from fully concentrating on his or her work. Children, household chores, phone calls, family life – all these distractions can prevent freelancers from maintaining a strict schedule. Working at a coffee shop or a dedicated office is a viable option, but if you are determined to work from home, make sure that you can handle deadlines and workflow without distractions.

Do you have the Right Temperament?

As mentioned before, the freelancing life is not for everyone. Freelancing is not an easy means to quick cash – it requires dedication and independence that is uncharacteristic of a conventional job. Freelancers need to stay motivated and diligent, especially during the tough initial years, in order to see their business through.  If you’re the type of person that requires structure, stability, and security, then you may want to stay away from freelancing.

Can you build a Network?

Oftentimes, many of the freelancer’s clients come from referrals or trusted colleagues who give their recommendations. In order to increase the likelihood of success, build a network of contacts and connections that can provide referrals for your service. However, the need for a network extends beyond customers and clients – others can help you with various aspects of your business, ranging from marketing, budgeting, or simple organization. By building a network, freelancers can extend their potential sources of resources, knowledge and information.

What about Finances?

Depending on the type of service, freelancers will need to possess financing and budget skills in order to achieve success. Some tips to remind freelancers include officially registering the business and making sure that the taxes are always up-to-date. In addition, creating a marketing or business plan can help freelancers determine exactly the type of budget and costs that will go into starting a business. Remember – a freelancing business is just like any other business, and needs to be taken seriously.

Starting a freelancing business is a daunting task, a decision that is not to be made lightly. However, it is a choice that can lead to potentially high rewards, satisfaction and self-employment. By considering the questions above, the prospective candidate can determine whether the life of a freelancer is right for them.

Rachel Hyun Kim is a writer for Resource Nation, an online resource that gives advice such as B2B lead generation for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Rachel has written on a variety of topics, ranging from credit card processing to medical billing software.

Have You Been Networking Face to Face Lately?

If the answer is no, it’s time to put on your best suit and attitude, and venture out to make some friends. You may be connecting with people through email or over phone, but it’s never the same thing as saying a ‘Hi’ with a great smile in person. Even today, in this time of digitally connected and savvy people, business owners are more comfortable engaging with their contacts in person than online. If you have been postponing offline networking for some time now, it’s time to get out and say a ‘Hello’! And the good news is, there are quite a few ways to do it…

face to face networking
Face to face networking in trade shows

What offline networking options do you have?

1. Let’s start with the traditional and ever-popular industry trade shows. They last a number of days, don’t cost much to participate in, and are filled with potential clients and business partners. However, in today’s times, when we are all short of time and want to make the most of it, here’s an important tip – attend only those trade show sessions that provide real value information and spend rest of the time networking with people from your industry.

2. Next, how about meeting up with local professionals from your industry over lunch or coffee? You don’t have to try too hard – you can visit sites like Meetup.com to connect with businesses, investors and business owners with common interests. You may just hit upon your next big business move or marketing plan over insightful conversations! And of course, as a bonus, you will be giving your business the visibility it so deserves.

3. You can even set the stage for networking right at your home. Chat up relatives and friends who can open up different opportunities. Once you have zeroed in on a few target contacts, ask your family/friend to introduce you to them and put in a good word for you.

4. Why limit networking to only business hours? Be social and nice all the time. Try talking to people waiting in line with you at the grocery checkout or bank – you may find a great friend or if you are lucky, even an important business contact. Start off with small talk first instead of swooping right into business chatter.

Note to self: Be pleasant company. You can make a first good impression on potential customers at a party, conference, meeting and indeed your local supermarket. Read on to find out how….

Dos and don’ts of offline networking

All of us, at one time or another, have met a rather annoying guest at a party who just wouldn’t stop talking about only his/her interests. Obviously, these are not the shoes you want to be in when you are trying to strike a good chord. Golden rule: don’t be a brand, be a person. There is no doubting the importance of brand recognition, but it’s not all what networking is about. It is more about connecting on a personal level and gradually building trust. When you strike a chord with people, they will definitely seek information about your business. So, remember to:

  • Talk about common interests
  • Share news of interest with the person
  • Be cheerful and straightforward

Besides one-on-one conversations, there are several other ways to be visible without trying too hard. For instance, you can make a point at a meeting or ask a question at a conference. Whatever you do and however you connect with people, always remember to recognize the other person and yes, have a little fun!

About the Author: Penny is a senior ebook writer and resume writer with content writing service firm Godot Media. She has interests ranging from social media, copywriting to following web technologies and trends.

Five Apps Every Small Business Owner Should Have

Gone are the days when you had to be at the office to do work. The advent of the home computer tore that whole notion to smithereens. While some would lament that they feel their office following them around wherever they bring their cell phone, many are singing the praises of mobile technology. If you’re a small business owner, you should take advantage or a few of the best apps out there. Next time you’re in line at the car wash, you can run your payroll or edit that business proposal or even check on an invoice.

GoogleDocs

The mobile version of Google’s awesome document editing application is pretty much just as cool as the original. Using the app you can view and edit documents and spreadsheets on the go and because GoogleDocs stores everything in the Cloud, you can easily share your revisions among multiple users and across multiple devices. The iOS version costs $4.99 while the Android version is free.

MiniBooks FreshBooks

MiniBooks puts all of your customer’s billing information in the palm of your hand. Need to check on an old invoice? Done. Need to pull up a client’s full contact info? Done. The app also lets you run timers for jobs that pay by the hour so you can keep an accurate count easily. Once you’ve created an estimate with the app, you can transform it into a printable invoice quickly and easily.

Evernote

Evernote is a great app for the forgetful among us. If you’ve ever needed to make a note on the fly, you can do it through Evernote and thanks to Cloud storage, that note or reminder will show up on all your devices. This is great for everything from shopping lists to keeping notes on meetings and conferences.

Square

Square is probably the best app for credit card holders. If you’re a small business owner who wants to begin accepting credit cards but you don’t want to go through the headache of setting up an account with the credit card company, you can simply sign up for a Square account. The company does not charge a flat rate for transactions (most companies charge $0.10-$0.15 across the board). They only take 2.75 percent of each transaction. Just plug the Square credit card scanner into your smartphone’s headphone jack and begin expanding your business today.

Carolyn is a guest blogger who writes about small businesses and small business solutions like BigCommerce to help optimize performance.

Critical Success Factors and Key Performance Indicators

Critical Success Factors ( CSFs )as the name suggest are those factors in which you must excel in order to outperform your rivals your competitors. But this is not as easy as one may think about it at first. It is a detailed process expanding over several stages, which we will be discussing in detail below. Continue reading Critical Success Factors and Key Performance Indicators