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CoWorking is Cutting Edge ( and Cool! A Primer. ) by @SBSLEducSoltns

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Coworking is a remarkable concept that will enable many additional citizens to pursue their callings in entrepreneurship without the pratfalls of the prior 2 eras, the blue & white collar industrial ages.

 

No longer will the price tag, complexity, or fear of having to sign a multi-year lease, or rent to (eventually) own agreement be a stumbling block to the dream to be in control of your income stream(s); you’re now sharing costs & concurrently joining an entrepreneurial tribe.

 

What is coworking?!

 

This is a superb definition

 

Think it over: We’ve really only had this option for little more than a decade. Running parallel to the astonishing rise of social media & the proliferation of smart devices, co-working grew from humble beginnings.

 

At this point, choosing to become a member of an existing co working space, whether it’s new, or well established, tags you as a late ‘early adopter’ or at the onset of the ‘early majority’ class(es) of business owner/professional.

 

Intrigued to know more?  Please click here.

 

Options for your business’ physical presence

 

All things being equal, there are 4 choices:

 

  • Work from home.  The flexibility of merging personal & professional lives under 1 roof always has appeal. Yet, if you’re a mom-preneur, have other neighborly commitments, or are easily distracted by the mass media, you might want to ask the hard question: will you be productive, or will you be ‘’busy’ ?

 

  • The ‘coffee shop’ = office.  Whether its an independent cafe, Starbucks, or Panera Bread, maybe you arrive early in the AM, order coffee & bagel, set up your notebook/tablet in the far corner near an outlet, & start working; that remains viable for some amongst us.

  • Conventional ‘bricks & mortar’.  Some business models & professions simply must have their own physical space:  Medical office/clinic? Restaurant/bar? Retail, esp. a clothing store?

 

  • And, then, there’s coworking. This article breaks down common options that most any space in your metro area will, or already is, offering.

 

Click to Tweet

 

“We break down walls so that we can breakthrough in our businesses!”

 

— Cynthia Chiam

 

Plusses of Coworking

 

Choose from the 4 above; none are ‘wrong’ – each option will appeal to someone & that someone might be you. However, let’s focus on the benefits of coworking.

 

You quite likely will …

  • Save a significant amount
  • Opt into various perks ( who doesn’t love ‘complimentary’ coffee?!? )
  • Find flexibility ( month to month arrangements are commonplace )
  • Learn how easy it can be to ‘barter’ services &/or products with your community/tribe

 

What if …

 

… co working hasn’t yet come to my area?

Take heart: many visionaries haven’t yet pushed outside the top 25 metros.

As always, there’s a trail of ‘breadcrumbs’ that the profit motive will enable, bringing facilities to your city.

 

One pioneer shares his vision – click here to read a short Q&A w/ him.

 

How Does Co Working fit into the Gig Economy?

 

Jim Collins, in his terrific book, ‘Great by Choice’, taught us to be able to zoom in & zoom out.

 

Let’s zoom out …

 

… & answer this Q.

 

  • 1st, co working is similarly flexible.  Do your research & check as many options as exist in your area; most spaces heartily welcome entrepreneurs who don’t want to sign multi-year deals.
  • 2nd, the Gig economy spotlights project ( ‘gig’ ) based ‘work’; so does a co-working space. You can run this type of business easily & find much joy in the process
  • Next, this economy encourages interdependence, as does the coworking option. Your ‘benefits’ ( insurance, investment vehicle/s ) could very well come in a barter agreement with a sales pro who offers them to solopreneurs & sits right next to you in the space.
  • Last, your ability to be cash flow positive is accelerated; you can keep your prices aligned with your ideal avatars & earn more without having to pay steep lease or rent payments.

Suggested Profiles

 

Using hashtag #coworking as a starting point, I suggest 3 Twitter handles worth a follow:

 

Deskmag

 

kowrkdotcom

 

New Worker Magazine

 

If you happen to be in, or looking to move to, central OH …

… the options are a plenty! Here’s a quick primer on some tip top choices:

 

CoHatch

 

Brickhouse Blue

 

Haven Collective

 

&  Serendipity Labs

 

Fantastic ‘All in 1’ Resources

 

As with any topic, the internet is a treasure trove of goodness, when used for altruistic means.

 

Co-working is no exception to this mantra. Here are a handful:

 

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-rise-co-working-spaces/

* the BEST. The infographic on the above from December 2018 is amazing!

 

Top 60 CoWorking Blogs, Websites, & …

 

From coworking spaces to who is …

 

In the Gig Economy, Coworking spaces …

 

In short …

 

  • What exactly is coworking? Let’s explore.
  • 4 options you have for locating your business.
  • The positives of choosing coworking
  • Coworking’s a big trend, yet it’s not everywhere yet. It will be, though. Stay tuned!
  • Coworking & the Gig Economy are ‘fellow travelers’ = deeply interrelated.
  • The Twitterverse, unsurprisingly, has valuable handles worth following

 

Thank YOU for reading!

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HAPPY NEW YEAR 2018 Financial Checklist by @AZanswers

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by Ann Zuraw | Featured Contributor 

HSA—Check if you are eligible for a Health Savings account.  An HSA is a medical savings retirement account and can be started with pretax money and withdrawn to pay medical expenses without taxes.

Asset Allocation—Review your overall investment portfolio.  What percentage do you have in stocks, bonds, or cash and how did it change over the year?  Do you need to rebalance?

Protect yourself with an emergency fund to plan for the unexpected – An expensive car repair, having to replace your air conditioner, or a leaky faucet is stressful enough.

  • Not having to worry about the expense b/c you have an emergency fund can really lower stress and allow you not to put off repairs which can cause even more damage

Prioritize your personal need for spending vs. saving– Start tracking your expenses and group them into two categories: fixed and discretionary. Everyone’s income and expenses are different – there are no two budgets the same.  You have to find what works for you and what your comfort level is – decide a minimum amount to keep in checking/minimum for savings/ and look to invest the rest.

Your risk tolerance—learn what it is and understand what it means for your investments.

  • Everyone has a different tolerance for risk – figure out your own.
  • Know your limits – how much are you willing to lose before pulling back on your investment.
  • Find a strategy and stick with it over the time horizon
  • Diversify, diversify, diversify!

Never Give Up and keep trying even if you fail at times.  Success is not going to happen if you do not try.

Estimate your realistic profit and cash flow for the upcoming year. Do this both for your business and for your personal life.

What concrete steps are you taking to achieve all your financial goals?  Are your goals Identified, Implemented or Ignored?

Your investment style—What is your personal style and preference?  Regarding both managing your business and how your retirement account is invested?  Where are you investing your assets and what are the gaps?

Estate Planning – The new tax code means significant changes for estate planning for passing on assets to the next generation. Talk to your financial or trusted advisors today about what it means for you.

Attitude—there are no “stupid” questions.  Have a positive attitude about your ability to handle money and ask for help when you need it.  You deserve it.

Realistic goals—Don’t overwhelm yourself and get frustrated by trying to solve everything at once. You need to take baby steps, establish your targets with a clear head, and can get started on this today.

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YouTube Entrepreneurs. Make Millions Without Leaving Your House [Infographic]

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Zoe Sugg and Michelle Phan

Over the past few years social media stars have made a fortune online, using YouTube to create their own brand. Take a look at how they’ve made their careers and the money that they’re making. From top YouTubers to the celebs you’d forgotten started their careers online, here we take a look at the secrets to online fame and fortune.

”Youtube
Youtube Entrepreuners? by Moneypod.

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Top Ten Plugins Every Site Needs by @SixDegreesDM

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Top Ten Plugins

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Angela MooreAh the Bio section. Let’s change this up and start with a quote. “Don’t adjust your dreams to accommodate your reality, adjust your reality to accommodate your dreams.” Yep I wrote that. I’m Angela Moore, Founder and President of Six Degrees Digital Media. We launched the company in May of 2010 and have the good fortune to still be helping others. We love creating awesome video over at Six Degrees as well as e-Courses and websites. If you need help telling your story, we’re here for you.

Also, I’m a mom of two awesome kids, which I believe is my real legacy. And if you’re still reading this, I’ll throw in that I’m a huge fan of Disney (movies and the park), as well as superheroes. I’d love to save the world but right now I’ll settle for saving the Internet one byte at a time.

Connect with me anywhere you like.

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Top 5 Social Media Management Tools [Infographic]

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Are you looking for the best social media management tool?

Do you want to increase your productivity and efficiency when managing your business’ social media?

How do you choose the best tool for your situation from the thousands of tools that exist?

I’m excited to say I’ve partnered once again with G2Crowd to provide a really helpful infographic on the top 5 Rated Social Media Management Tools.

The results come from detailed customer reviews from business software review platform, G2Crowd. The infographic covers a variety of information including user satisfaction, product direction, how easy it is to learn to use the platform, level of support, usability and more.

Click HERE or on the infographic below for a discussion on the findings as well as an introduction to the tools and alternative tools.

The Best 5 Rated Social Media Management Tools Infographic brought to you by Seriously Social and G2 Crowd

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About Ian Anderson Gray

Ian is a speaker, coach, social media consultant, web developer & Partner of Select Performers. In real life he is a husband, dad and geek and is rather partial to tea, coffee & Indian cooking. Find out more

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8 Ways to Conquer Self-Doubt [Infographic]

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8 Ways To Conquer Self Doubt

Everyone struggles with feelings of insecurity and self-doubt from time to time, even those who might otherwise project the most assured and confident persona. A little self-doubt is not only normal, it’s sometimes desirable. According to the psychotherapist Adam Phillips, self-doubt and anxiety serves an important function: “If worrying can persecute us, it can also work for us, as self-preparation. No stage fright, no performance.”

In many ways self-criticism is essential for our sense of self. In his essay ‘Against Self-Criticism’ (2015), he suggests that “[n]othing makes us more critical – more suspicious or appalled or even mildly amused – than the suggestion that we should drop all this relentless criticism, that we should be less impressed by it and start really loving ourselves.” And yet, continuing to believe negative statements such as “I’m just not good enough” only turns our self-doubts into self-fulfilling prophecies; we trap ourselves in a repetitive cycle of desire and frustration, and this paralysis ends up weathering our self-esteem down until it’s all but vanished.

While it is impossible to banish self-doubt entirely, it is possible to get it under control. Using self-knowledge and understanding, you can turn self-doubt into motivation to succeed. All that’s required is to take a few steps towards positive change:

  1. Raise your self-awareness

If you can recognise the situations that trigger self-doubt, you can actively do something about them. Ask yourself what you can do to become better and, as almost anything can be learnt, seek training or support to help you succeed.

  1. Practice self-compassion

We all struggle to temper our self-criticism with self-compassion, but being kind to yourself can help you develop emotional resilience. Recognise when you are being self-critical, replace the negativity with positivity, and remember that imperfection is a part of the shared human experience.

  1. Stop seeking validation

Seeking advice from others can be helpful. However, if you have developed the habit of continuously needing others’ opinions before making a decision, you are weakening your faith in yourself. Begin to trust what feels right for you.

For more advice on to diminish self-doubt and remove its hold over life, then make sure to read the rest of the infographic below. Overcoming self-doubt requires taking affirmative action while being attentive to the inner critic. Choosing to take action in spite of pervasive doubt is the first step towards success.

8 Ways to Conquer Self-Doubt – An infographic by the team at Vegas Extreme Skydiving

Embed 8 Ways to Conquer Self-Doubt on Your Site: Copy and Paste the Code Below

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Valentine’s Day: A Marketing Opportunity for Your Product? [Infographic]

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Valentine's Day: A Marketing Opportunity for Your Product?

by Katie Shabi

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. While the lovey-dovey holiday is fun to celebrate, the rewards of remembering the holiday in your business endeavors can also be sweet. Americans spend an estimated $1 billion every year on Valentine’s candy, making the holiday a great opportunity for seasonal marketing. Should you invest in seasonal packaging for your product this Valentine’s Day?

Is it wise for your company to invest in Valentine’s themed packaging in 2016? To help you figure it out, Grimes Packaging has created an infographic using research from Mintel, the National Confectioners Association, and the National Brewer’s Association. The infographic includes information about some of the most memorable seasonal packaging campaigns—in good ways and bad—from some of the biggest consumer companies. See the infographic below for more information.

seasonal-packaging-infographic

Discounted Product: Great for Moms, Bad for Business

According to the infographic, successful seasonal packaging is all about economy – something female entrepreneurs can appreciate. Maximizing your product’s shelf life is important to the bottom line of your seasonal packaging campaign. As shown above, Hershey’s took some serious profit losses in 2011 when they rolled out too much Halloween-themed candy and were forced to sharply discount all the leftovers starting November 1. Great for thrifty moms on a budget, not so great for one of the biggest candy companies in the world. The next year Hershey’s avoided (or at least put it off until after Thanksgiving) the candy discounting by ditching the ghosts and goblins and sticking to more general autumn colored packaging with fall leaves and uncarved pumpkins. What’s the takeaway? Seasonal packaging works, holiday packaging doesn’t—that is, if you want to avoid being left with a bunch of unusable leftover stock.

Holiday Packaging for Valentine’s Day?

Using this logic, investing in Valentine’s Day packaging is a risky maneuver, especially for a small business. As we’ve discussed, it’s not that hard to design seasonal packaging that is still generic enough to take your product through the fall season, from Halloween to Thanksgiving. Valentine’s Day, however, with its pink colors and hearts, is a tougher holiday to stretch into an entire season. That’s not to say it can’t be done, though. Hershey’s has offered Valentine’s themed candy for years. While they might be forced to discount leftover product come February 15, they offer the special holiday packaging because they know customers prefer it. As the infographic points out, 65% of consumers feel candy should have holiday packaging.

Seasonal Packaging: The Bottom Line

When it comes down to it, some consumer products will just be more conducive for Valentine’s Day product packaging than others. Entrepreneurs and business owners selling products geared at women will probably have the best chances at hitting the bulls eye with Cupid’s arrow. Sales for chocolate, flowers, jewelry and perfume rise around the holiday, so don’t count holiday packaging out if you think your product could benefit from the extra boost of special packaging. At the end of the day, seasonal marketing is all about persuading new customers to buy from you because of your products clever and appropriate packaging. Weigh the costs, but take advantage of any opportunities to bring in new sales for your company.

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Katie ShabiKatie Shabi is a marketing specialist currently employed by 3PL The Grimes Companies in Jacksonville, FL. With nearly 5 years of marketing experience, Katie enjoys analyzing data to help companies grow using affordable and effective techniques.

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Christmas Infographic: The Most Fabulously Festive Cities in the World from @TinyPrints

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From Tiny Prints

Streets lined with dazzlingly decorated evergreens, elaborate light displays on every corner and holiday cheer all around. Does this sound like the North Pole to you? Well guess what—it’s not! These places actually exist. We scoured the globe and found the most fabulously festive cities in the world and we’re bringing them to you in this fun little infographic.

Will your Christmas cards or holiday cards feature photos in any of these festive cities? Tell us in the comments below!

Tiny Prints Infographic: The Most Fabulously Festive Cities in the World

 

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Privacy at Work: Know Your Rights (You Probably Don’t Have Any) [Infographic]

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When it comes to employee rights, we’ve come a long way over the past century or so. In many countries, employers can no longer demand you work overtime without pay, force you to work in unsafe conditions, or pay you less than the minimum wage.

But while indentured servitude may be a thing of the past, that doesn’t mean we have complete freedom today – employers have a lot of rights on their side, too. For instance, there’s no legal requirement in most of the United States for employers to offer their employees any kind of break during their shift. And while many laws prohibit hiring discrimination based on race or religion, discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity is completely legal in many jurisdictions.

Thankfully, many laws do prohibit employers from asking about your relationships, or other personal matters, in their interview questions, however. In the United States, interviewers can’t legally ask about your national origin, your age, your marital or pregnancy status, any disabilities, your arrest record, or your race or gender. In the United Kingdom, they can’t ask you questions about your place of birth or ethnicity, your age, your marital status or children, disabilities, or lifestyle choices such as use of alcohol or smoking habits.

But while employers can’t legally ask you about the topics listed above, they won’t stop you from volunteering the information.

And you may be volunteering a lot more than you realize.

According to a survey by the American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute, two-thirds of all employers monitor Internet connections. Since the computers you use at work are your employer’s property, they can legally monitor everything you do with it, down to each individual keystroke.

But you’re not just being watched while you’re at work: Anything you publicly post on social media might be tracked and viewed by your employer, too.

Want to keep your personal information private? It starts by knowing your rights – or, more accurately, your employer’s rights. Here’s how they’re using them to spy on you.

Privacy at Work: Know Your Rights - An Infographic from PrivacyPolicies.com Blog

Embedded from PrivacyPolicies.com Blog

Sources

 

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Five Elements to A Killer Invoice by @WhaleyBookkeep

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Getting paid is a pretty important part of owning your a business, so you want to make sure that it is as easy as possible for your clients to pay your invoice.
 Five Elements To

If you are service based, or invoice for products, then these tips will get your invoices into tip top shape!

1.  Branding – Make sure your client knows exactly who this bill is from, and how to contact you if they have questions. This includes the basics of name, location, and contact info. But this also includes Logo and color coding to match your overall brand. The look and feel of your invoices does not have to be boring!

2.  Clear Definition of Charges – Make sure that your list of charges are clear so your client knows what they are paying for. This means itemizing stuff, if there are multiple elements to your charges. If you use more flat rate billing make sure you have good descriptions for what the product or service is so clients are not having to ask questions about their invoice and delaying payment while you go back and forth.

3. Terms/ Due Date – You want an invoice that clearly states when you expect payment. You’ll often hear terms like Net 10 or 30 thrown around describing terms, and those can be listed or you can simply put the date payment is due. Part of a good working relationship with anyone includes clear expectations and timeliness of payment should be a big part of that. There are accounting systems now that can send automatic reminders if payment is late. Use these tools to your advantage so payments aren’t delayed.

4. Payment Button – Make it easy to get paid! If you use a system like Wave, Freshbooks, or PayPal they are able to integrate credit card payments right onto the invoice. Features like this allow you to get paid much faster than waiting for a check in the mail.  If you aren’t using this type of system yet, then at minimum list out how clients can pay (Credit card, check, bank transfer, etc.) and if they need to go to some other place to do it, then make that as easy as possible.

5. Send It – This may sound silly, but you won’t get paid if your invoice isn’t sent. Most invoicing softwares let you send invoices via email so they get to your customer fast. However not all situations are right for emailing invoices.  Make sure you know how your client processes and pays their bills. Some services like FreshBooks will even send invoices via snail mail for you for a small fee.

Still not sure if your invoice is up to par?

Here is a sample from my own invoicing software, Wave Accounting:

WaveInvoice
When I send an invoice through my software this is what my clients see when they click the link.
I have my logo at the top left, a clear due date, A description to my item, and integrated payment. And of course if a client is looking at this, that means I hit sent.

What are you using to send invoices? Comment Below or Tweet Me!

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Melissa WhaelyHello there, I’m Melissa Whaley, owner of Whaley Bookkeeping.  I specialize in virtual bookkeeping and tax preparation for entrepreneurs. It excites me to help people understand and take control of their finances, especially in their businesses. I believe that anyone is capable of success if their passions are accompanied with the right tools. I love working with new business owners to help them set-up systems that will take the stress out their finances.

I am a licensed tax preparer in the state of California and have been helping small business owners since 2009. I am a Wave Accounting Pro, Quickbooks Online ProAdvisor, and Freshbooks Bookkeeper.

You will often find me drinking a cup of coffee while hanging out in  Facebook Groups, or on my YouTube channel making videos to help Etsy sellers with their bookkeeping. In my personal life I am married to a wonderful husband, have a 6 year old daughter and a 1 year old son.

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