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How prepared are you? Whatever it is we do in our lives we have to be prepared. You would think this is a very basic statement and that well, sure we all know that, don’t we? When we were the “swooshing tree” in our first school play we had to practice standing still and “swooshing” at the right time, we had to learn away in a manger for our first advent play. I think you know where I am going with this. Our mothers helped us learn our lines, make our costumes,…

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The small business owner (or free-lancer) is often the sole person responsible for time management, tasks, projects, deadlines, paperwork and what seems like five million other responsibilities that can have a tendency to pull you in every direction.  Sometimes the struggles can seem overwhelming and usually the end result is stress. Learning how to deal with stress is as important to your long-term business success as making a profit, however finding that work/life balance can be a…

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In order to be Amazing in our business maybe we should concentrate on being the best we can be, providing outstanding service to our customers rather than being obsessed about what our competitors are doing. I had a meeting with a Recruitment agency today and was amazed at how much time they were focusing on hiding their activities from their competition and how little they were showcasing their expertise and achievements. For example they did not want to have “Testimonials” from clients on…

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Recently, a well-known motivational speaker was asked in The Irish Examiner newspaper what his pet hate was. His answer was. ‘People who say they can’t. There’s no such thing as can’t.’ I’m sure many people admired his upbeat attitude. I felt alienated by it. As a writer, I know that human beings are far too rich and complex to be labelled in terms of can and can’t. If managers are to have any hope of motivating their team, they need to figure out where people are coming from.…

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As I referred to on a previous post (LinkedIn? Locked Out More Like) many people join LinkedIn because they have heard it is an important place to be. But with no real knowledge about how LinkedIn really works a large number of users fail to reap the real benefit of LinkedIn. As  a business professional LinkedIn is a great personal branding tool, a fantastic way to network, nurture existing business relationships and even source and develop new business opportunities. So it may be worth…

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So, how to make a business amazing?  I can spout off the A-Z of Business Studies I learnt many years ago but honestly it was over 20 years ago and I can’t remember it all now. I have been involved with the successful 020 London for the last six years and recently I have worked hard to help set up Whatswhat.ie and put that on the right path for future success. So from that basis I will just make a few suggestions that I think will help a business have a standing to hopefully become…

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Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation, Generation Next or Net Generation. Characteristics of this generation vary by region, depending on social and economic conditions. However, it is generally marked by an increased use and familiarity with communications, media, and digital technologies. Is your business engaging online with Gen Y? Do you have a presence to attract students, graduates-the possible future hire of your company? It’s September. Universities and schools are…

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Time to talk about project management and your business. Don’t  Yawn! This is more than relevant (hopefully!) and will help make your business great. So grab a coffee and let’s proceed. Outside of the traditional retail outlet or manufacturing business, most of us are engaged in the provision of client services whether as an individual or part of a bigger business. Accountants, engineers, designers, florists, landscapers, software engineers, architects, web designers, marketers.. the one…

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This autumn marks the end of the king of reality TV – “Big Brother”. What will the reality TV junkies do with all this new found spare time? No more late nights watching housemates sleep in their beds. No more squirming at the embarrassing scramble for 30 seconds of fame. My advice to those needing a new fix – set up your own Big Brother experience. The cameras that monitored the Big Brother house may get turned off, but the cameras that monitor your online personal brand can get…

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Are you a people pleaser?  Do you go out of your way to be nice to everybody in the hope that they will like you?  Does it work for you?  Or are you so busy pleasing everybody that you’ve no time to notice whether they do or not?  Do you run your business the same way?  Are you always doing your utmost to please your customers, all  the time, regardless of the cost to you?  Have you weighed that up in your balance sheet? I ask because sometimes it’s better to not please a…

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