With the number of high school drop-outs continuing to climb and Internet entrepreneurs making money hand over fist without receiving any kind of special training the issue of a college education has become a difficult one for many. Do you really need a college degree to succeed? Or are you perfectly capable of getting ahead in life without spending another four to eight years going back to school when you didn't enjoy it the first time around?
The answer is simple. If obtaining a college degree is an option for you, take it. There are many reasons for this, most of which have absolutely nothing to do with getting rich quick! When you step out into the professional environment to find a job you're going to be going head to head with other job seekers that have years of experience under their belt in their prospective field. Your college degree may be the only thing you've got going for you when you're going head to head with a 20 veteran who learned at the school of hard knocks-many employers like the thought of bringing in a recent graduate who is familiar with new technologies that they can mold to their company image.
Even if you decide to walk the road of the entrepreneur there's a lot to be said for going to school and picking up a business degree. First and foremost, you'll learn valuable marketing and accounting skills that will help your business succeed. A business degree also earns you greater respect when you're appealing to potential clients or suppliers, inspiring their confidence in the fact that you do, in fact, know what you're doing!
Do you need a college degree to succeed? No, probably not. Can it help you? Absolutely.
Find more tools for success at www.1uptoyou.com.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Targeting A Minority Market
With the days of mass media far behind us and the minority population in the United States growing daily marketers are scrambling to focus their company's marketing powers to take advantage of new minority buying power. Minorities are no longer viewed as insignificant in the American marketing pool; over 1 in 8 of all Americans are of Hispanic origin (surpassing even the African-American consumer market), and 5% of Americans claim Asian ethnicity.
With ethnic pride and a return to our multi-cultural roots booming, it's time for marketers to sit up and take notice. Failing to target these minority groups will result in a huge loss to companies that do.
The question is, how do you target minority markets without stepping on any toes? First and foremost, avoid ethnic stereotypes while still considering cultural mores. Much like today's woman, who has no desire to find herself shown in the kitchen when she actually spends most of her day in the courtroom, minority groups have no desire to be displayed filling blue collar jobs or working against the grain of American cultural society.
Breaking free of the stereotypes will allow you and your marketing team to recognize these target markets for what they are-a group of newly empowered buyers.
Focus your marketing efforts on ethnic publications; for example, don't forget to advertise in Spanish language publications in areas with a high Hispanic population. These publications are often very affordable, since few of them have gone national, allowing you to maximize the frequency of your advertising.
Devise a culturally relevant campaign. Every culture has its own mores and values, and it's easy to offend. Take Mattel; when they started marketing Barbie in the Middle East she was banned because she didn't conform to society's views of how a woman should cover herself in public. Keep your marketing team ethnically diverse and open minded to make it easy for you to move past the stereotypes that have held minority marketing back in the past and find success in this rapidly growing consumer group.
Find more tools for your business at http://www.1uptoyou.com.
With ethnic pride and a return to our multi-cultural roots booming, it's time for marketers to sit up and take notice. Failing to target these minority groups will result in a huge loss to companies that do.
The question is, how do you target minority markets without stepping on any toes? First and foremost, avoid ethnic stereotypes while still considering cultural mores. Much like today's woman, who has no desire to find herself shown in the kitchen when she actually spends most of her day in the courtroom, minority groups have no desire to be displayed filling blue collar jobs or working against the grain of American cultural society.
Breaking free of the stereotypes will allow you and your marketing team to recognize these target markets for what they are-a group of newly empowered buyers.
Focus your marketing efforts on ethnic publications; for example, don't forget to advertise in Spanish language publications in areas with a high Hispanic population. These publications are often very affordable, since few of them have gone national, allowing you to maximize the frequency of your advertising.
Devise a culturally relevant campaign. Every culture has its own mores and values, and it's easy to offend. Take Mattel; when they started marketing Barbie in the Middle East she was banned because she didn't conform to society's views of how a woman should cover herself in public. Keep your marketing team ethnically diverse and open minded to make it easy for you to move past the stereotypes that have held minority marketing back in the past and find success in this rapidly growing consumer group.
Find more tools for your business at http://www.1uptoyou.com.
Staying On Top of the Swine Flu
No, it doesn't have anything to do with business or marketing, but since surviving the Swine Flu seems to be on the tip of everyone's tongue these days I thought it might be a good idea to offer readers a little bit of additional information.
First and foremost, the Swine Flu is a version of an influenza virus that primarily inhabits pigs and, while it has been known to jump to humans in the past, has never before developed the kind of sweeping airborne contact spread it has now. Because Swine Flu spreads from person to person via direct contact, here's what the CDC and other leading professionals have to say about keeping yourself healthy and protecting yourself from the Swine Flu:
1) Keep your immune system healthy. In many cases of Swine Flu the virus is little more than a cold, bringing a fever and the sniffles and running its course in a day or so. A majority of the cases where serious illness has been seen has been among immune-compromised patients, including children and the elderly. Get plenty of exercise and sleep, watch your diet and don't forget your vitamin C!
2) Wash your hands-a lot. After you use the bathroom, after touching a public shopping cart, after blowing your nose, after shaking hands…anytime you might have come in contact with Swine Flu germs, wash up!
3) If you think you're sick, stay home. Not only will this stop the Swine Flu from spreading through your workplace, allowing your body to rest rather than forcing it to keep going will go a long way toward helping you recover quickly. Once you've been symptom free for 24 hours you're probably good to go.
**Note: You CANNOT get Swine Flu from eating pork or from drinking water, unless you put your mouth on a drinking faucet recently infected by someone with Swine Flu, so you can make those pork chops tonight worry free.**
First and foremost, the Swine Flu is a version of an influenza virus that primarily inhabits pigs and, while it has been known to jump to humans in the past, has never before developed the kind of sweeping airborne contact spread it has now. Because Swine Flu spreads from person to person via direct contact, here's what the CDC and other leading professionals have to say about keeping yourself healthy and protecting yourself from the Swine Flu:
1) Keep your immune system healthy. In many cases of Swine Flu the virus is little more than a cold, bringing a fever and the sniffles and running its course in a day or so. A majority of the cases where serious illness has been seen has been among immune-compromised patients, including children and the elderly. Get plenty of exercise and sleep, watch your diet and don't forget your vitamin C!
2) Wash your hands-a lot. After you use the bathroom, after touching a public shopping cart, after blowing your nose, after shaking hands…anytime you might have come in contact with Swine Flu germs, wash up!
3) If you think you're sick, stay home. Not only will this stop the Swine Flu from spreading through your workplace, allowing your body to rest rather than forcing it to keep going will go a long way toward helping you recover quickly. Once you've been symptom free for 24 hours you're probably good to go.
**Note: You CANNOT get Swine Flu from eating pork or from drinking water, unless you put your mouth on a drinking faucet recently infected by someone with Swine Flu, so you can make those pork chops tonight worry free.**
Creating Your Home Office
There's little in life more satisfying than being able to tell people, "I work from home"-until the realities of the situation catch up with you. When you're constantly chasing documents out from under couches, rescuing briefs from sticky fingers and ruing the fact that you can't buy five minutes to string a thought together without someone asking you a question, you might be missing the office more than you thought! That's why you need to set up an effective and efficient home office.
The first thing to do is decide where your office is going to be. A room with a door would be ideal; however, if you don't have a guest bedroom to spare any corner of the house where you can set up a bookshelf and a desk will do! Choose a corner of the house where you will be able to work undisturbed (if you have small children the middle of the living room probably isn't going to be it), preferably away from distractions like the television or the front door.
You're going to want shelving units for books and resources, some sort of filing cabinet to keep your papers organized, space for your computer, printer, fax machine and phone line (if necessary) and a comfortable chair.One of the biggest benefits of not being in the office is that your home office can be as comfortable or as uncomfortable as you want it to be! While a desk chair would be ideal there are plenty of people who have opted to place a recliner or loveseat in their office space in front of their desk instead. It's all about what works for you.
Working from home can be an incredibly satisfying experience, but without the proper space and resources you're going to find yourself more frustrated than you ever were cooped up in the office.
Find more resources for your business at http://www.1uptoyou.com/.
The first thing to do is decide where your office is going to be. A room with a door would be ideal; however, if you don't have a guest bedroom to spare any corner of the house where you can set up a bookshelf and a desk will do! Choose a corner of the house where you will be able to work undisturbed (if you have small children the middle of the living room probably isn't going to be it), preferably away from distractions like the television or the front door.
You're going to want shelving units for books and resources, some sort of filing cabinet to keep your papers organized, space for your computer, printer, fax machine and phone line (if necessary) and a comfortable chair.One of the biggest benefits of not being in the office is that your home office can be as comfortable or as uncomfortable as you want it to be! While a desk chair would be ideal there are plenty of people who have opted to place a recliner or loveseat in their office space in front of their desk instead. It's all about what works for you.
Working from home can be an incredibly satisfying experience, but without the proper space and resources you're going to find yourself more frustrated than you ever were cooped up in the office.
Find more resources for your business at http://www.1uptoyou.com/.
Develop Your Key Leadership Skills
As we wrap up the end of an eclectic week of blogging I'd like to take a second to invite all my readers to chime in on what leadership qualities they value in their boss. What makes a good manager? What drives a company forward rather than sending it sprawling into the dirt? Most importantly, how can you develop your leadership qualities?
Contrary to popular belief, leadership skills can in fact be learned. Some people seem to have been born with the ability to inspire others to follow them, while others struggle to get their waitress's attention in a crowded restaurant. There are hundreds of factors that blend to make an effective and charismatic leader, but these are factors that you, no matter who you are or what you do for a living, can master.
First and foremost, listen-and let go of your ego! An effective leader is one who knows how to work as a team, which means the first step in developing your leadership skills should be to learn how to let go of your need to micromanage and accept that you're (probably) surrounded by people who know how to do their job. Let them do it.
Learn to encourage rather than browbeat. Occasionally a stiff disciplinary hand will be needed, but you'll find you get a great deal more with honey than with vinegar when you're working with employees and fellow team members. More importantly, learn how to set the example. Your employees will usually be willing to put as much of themselves into their jobs as you do, but you'll probably find you'll have trouble getting them to do any more!
There are thousands of leadership conferences around the world every year. Take advantage of them, and use their resources to help you develop your own leadership skills. Remember, in the fight against nature vs. nurture in the leadership environment nurture wins every time!
Find more tools for success at www.1uptoyou.com!
5 Tips to Balance Your Work and Home Life
There's nothing more rewarding than owning or running your own business, or knowing that you've played a key role in the success of someone else's. The only problem is, success comes at a price-and all too often the cost is your personal life! So what do you do when the separation between your work life and your home life becomes virtually non-existent? Here are some great tips on how to separate your work life and your home life to give you the best of both.
1) Decide when closing time's going to be-and stick with it. If your work day never ends your family and/or "me" time is never going to begin. Wrap it up at 5 or 6, and don't do anything else unless it absolutely, positively WILL NOT wait until tomorrow.
2) Take advantage of some flexible scheduling options! One of the privileges of not being paid by the hour is that you often have a lot of flexibility in your schedule (as long as you're getting done what you need to get done). That means that weeks you find yourself with no choice but to crank in some late hours you can duck out of the office for an hour or two to have lunch with the family, making sure everyone knows you haven't forgotten about them.
3) Join a gym! It's hard to find time to exercise when you're putting in 40+ hours per week, but the longer you spend sitting in front of a desk the worse you're going to feel. By joining a gym your investment in your gym membership will force you to find time to balance your work and home life.
4) Commit to spending time with family and friends. If you commit to joining your friends for dinner every Wednesday, or taking part in a book club every other Sunday, you'll be obligated to walk out of the office and into life outside of work.
5) Build a support network. When you're buried under a pile of paperwork so high you can't see to dig your way out it's easy to get bogged down with stress. Having a supportive network of friends to help you handle your housework, run errands, take care of the kids or just lend an ear to remind you there's life away from the office will go a long way toward helping you find that ideal balance between your work and home life and remind you why you love doing what you do.
1) Decide when closing time's going to be-and stick with it. If your work day never ends your family and/or "me" time is never going to begin. Wrap it up at 5 or 6, and don't do anything else unless it absolutely, positively WILL NOT wait until tomorrow.
2) Take advantage of some flexible scheduling options! One of the privileges of not being paid by the hour is that you often have a lot of flexibility in your schedule (as long as you're getting done what you need to get done). That means that weeks you find yourself with no choice but to crank in some late hours you can duck out of the office for an hour or two to have lunch with the family, making sure everyone knows you haven't forgotten about them.
3) Join a gym! It's hard to find time to exercise when you're putting in 40+ hours per week, but the longer you spend sitting in front of a desk the worse you're going to feel. By joining a gym your investment in your gym membership will force you to find time to balance your work and home life.
4) Commit to spending time with family and friends. If you commit to joining your friends for dinner every Wednesday, or taking part in a book club every other Sunday, you'll be obligated to walk out of the office and into life outside of work.
5) Build a support network. When you're buried under a pile of paperwork so high you can't see to dig your way out it's easy to get bogged down with stress. Having a supportive network of friends to help you handle your housework, run errands, take care of the kids or just lend an ear to remind you there's life away from the office will go a long way toward helping you find that ideal balance between your work and home life and remind you why you love doing what you do.
Friday, May 8, 2009
How to Fire an Employee
I just realized that this week's blog posts have focused pretty heavily on maintaining your employees in your business, and in a nod to that theme and to Office Space I thought I'd wrap up the week with some tips on firing your employees. (After all, who could forget the "Mikes" stating that the best time to fire an employee was at the end of the day on Friday? Fewer scenes that way…)
When you work with someone you develop a relationship with them, good or bad, and that relationship is going to impact your ability to let them go. Everyone has that one employee that they just can't wait to say good-bye to, either because they weren't doing their job or they just didn't mesh personally with the rest of your office. When you've got a good employee, however, that you've got to let go for one reason or another it can be a little harder. Here's what the experts have to say about how to fire an employee:
1) Don't let the news get around. The only people who need to know an employee is going to be fired (besides yourself) is anyone else that will be present at the termination meeting.
2) Earlier in the week is better than Friday if you have an option on the timing of their termination.
3) Pull them aside to have the meeting, and get straight to the point. Tell them why you're letting them go, and be honest about it. If they have made a mistake that's forced their termination, tell them. If you're simply forced to let them go due to budget cuts, be honest about that too.
4) If you're offering them a severance package, go over the details at that time.
5) Offer to let them clean out their desk now or have you mail their possessions. If security is an issue, have a member of your security staff watch them as they pack their belongings and exit the building. Employees who have been fired for performance reasons may prefer not to have to explain to their co-workers and therefore opt to have you mail their belongings; employees who are being let go for other reasons may want the chance to say good-bye.
6) Be sympathetic, but don't waiver. The minute you start debating your decision you've already lost.
Don't forget to give out letters of recommendation if warranted, and answer their questions honestly. Remember, this is going to be difficult for both of you; however, handling it calmly and coolly will pave the way for a smoother termination and improved relations if either of your circumstances change farther down the road and you find yourselves working together again.
Find more tools for your business at www.1uptoyou.com.
When you work with someone you develop a relationship with them, good or bad, and that relationship is going to impact your ability to let them go. Everyone has that one employee that they just can't wait to say good-bye to, either because they weren't doing their job or they just didn't mesh personally with the rest of your office. When you've got a good employee, however, that you've got to let go for one reason or another it can be a little harder. Here's what the experts have to say about how to fire an employee:
1) Don't let the news get around. The only people who need to know an employee is going to be fired (besides yourself) is anyone else that will be present at the termination meeting.
2) Earlier in the week is better than Friday if you have an option on the timing of their termination.
3) Pull them aside to have the meeting, and get straight to the point. Tell them why you're letting them go, and be honest about it. If they have made a mistake that's forced their termination, tell them. If you're simply forced to let them go due to budget cuts, be honest about that too.
4) If you're offering them a severance package, go over the details at that time.
5) Offer to let them clean out their desk now or have you mail their possessions. If security is an issue, have a member of your security staff watch them as they pack their belongings and exit the building. Employees who have been fired for performance reasons may prefer not to have to explain to their co-workers and therefore opt to have you mail their belongings; employees who are being let go for other reasons may want the chance to say good-bye.
6) Be sympathetic, but don't waiver. The minute you start debating your decision you've already lost.
Don't forget to give out letters of recommendation if warranted, and answer their questions honestly. Remember, this is going to be difficult for both of you; however, handling it calmly and coolly will pave the way for a smoother termination and improved relations if either of your circumstances change farther down the road and you find yourselves working together again.
Find more tools for your business at www.1uptoyou.com.
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