Categories
Work

Make People Remember You

It is important to make a good impression. But what is more important is how to make it last.

A lasting impression is something that is useful in the business world. Making a good impression help people remember you. But it would take more work to make it last.

Meeting with business clients, making people remember is something that can be practiced and perfected.

Here are some tips that may be able to help you make people remember you in an important face to face meetings.

Authenticity

Be yourself and authentic. Be someone who isn’t trying to be anything other than what they are. Being authentic means that not only do you not present a false image to others, but you are comfortable and happy with yourself as you are.

That Art of Distinction

In business meetings, you can try wearing a nice colored shirt or stylish bright dress or a nice necklace like Kendra Scott brand.

Just try to find some way to be unique in the way you dress and yet be able to blend in easily with the crowd.

Be There

Make sure you are there, physically, but also mentally.

Be fully aware of the people that you are trying to interact with. When someone speaks or addressing you, make sure that you listen intently.

Maintain eye contact and respond promptly to questions. This will help make you stand out and be remembered by those present.

Participate

In order for people to remember you at meetings, you can try and participate during the discussions. But don’t try to force it in the sense that you try saying something just for attention.

Participate in a way that would provide something to think about.

Being able to contribute to an idea that would add value to the discussion would be a great way of making people remember you.

Ask better questions

Ask better questions. “‘How’ and ‘why’ questions get people to talk longer and you should get a deeper conversation, Keep the conversation going by listening well and responding thoughtfully.

Share

Get personal. Share an obstacle you’ve overcome. Share a highlight from your weekend or a funny story. This is a great opportunity to share something about yourself that makes you unique and gives the other person something to think about.

Make yourself remembered by people may not be easy but it is something you can work on. There are many other ways that can be done in order to make that lasting impression.

Categories
Entrepreneurship Personal

How to Decide What to Blog About

Blogging has become a popular means of expression for many people. A lot of people go online to connect with others through blogging.

Choose a Topic

What makes blogging so appealing to people is that information usually comes from personal opinions. People usually blog about their views and how they feel.

When starting out on a blog, many people may have a lot of doubts about whether they can do such activity for so long. They might think that they will easily run out of ideas to write about. The important thing to consider before putting up a blog is to know and to choose what to write about.

When deciding on a blog topic, think about the type of person you want to be writing to and what type of blog do you want to be known for?

Don’t choose a topic that you think will attract a lot of readers. You’re the person who will have to do the writing for the blog, and it really helps if you are excited about your subject. Focus on something you are truly interested in.

Don’t choose a topic that you feel personally uncomfortable talking about with others. Find a topic that allows you to speak freely.

Here are some areas to consider that might as well provide lots of ideas for beginner bloggers to write about online.

Life Experience

One of the most interesting parts of blogging is being able to share our own experiences online. Life alone may offer many ideas for the beginner blogger to write about.

Simply choosing to write about your life offer that unique touch that many readers would surely find interesting. Remember, people love to be inspired.

  • Do you have a great story?
  • Do you live an interesting life?
  • Do friends and family come to you for advice about a particular topic?

Knowledge and Expertise

Aside from one’s life experiences, a person’s knowledge and expertise may easily become a comfort zone in which a blogger can have many ideas to write about.

Your accumulated expertise would give you quite a lot of ideas and topics to tackle for years and years.

  • What do you know that you could teach your readers?
  • What topics do you know more than most about?

What significant accomplishments have you had?

  • Lost weight
  • Run a marathon

Hobbies

There’s nothing better to write about than something that you enjoy doing. Blogging about a hobby or something that you truly enjoy doing would be something that would always keep your interest high.

  • What are your hobbies?
  • How do you spend your free time?
  • What do you enjoy reading and learning about?

You would have a lot to share with others about topics that you enjoy doing and the ideas might be endless.


Make sure your topic is  sustainable

Make sure to choose a niche with topics that are sustainable. Can you write content on a regular basis about the topic?

  • Will it be possible to keep new content flowing on this topic?

Once you find the right niche for your blog, start writing great content


Potential Monetization

Many people start blogging as a hobby without looking at monetizing their blogs.  It’s good to know if your blog can produce income eventually.  Whatever niche you choose, make sure that there are monetization opportunities.

Categories
Family Personal

Cool Kids Birthday Party Themes

There are hundreds of birthday party themes available for your kid’s memorable day. Aside from the usual cowboy, princess, dinosaur, pirate, and luau themes, some parents want to pull off something unique for their child’s birthday party.

Here are some of the unusual yet enjoyable themes that your kids and their guests would enjoy.

Backyard stargazing sleepover

A perfect learning activity for summer without even leaving your home! Invite guests to come over dinner time, bringing along their own blankets and insect repellents.

Set up tents, separated between boys and girls. After dinner, and a few rounds of space-related games, gather around as you spot planets constellations using a constellation map (available at hobby shops) and a telescope.

Family Olympics

An active party that includes parents and children. Come up with exciting games that would pit families against one another. Activities range from the physical three-legged races to more creative cake decorating contests.

You could even create your own medal standings and have the winning family sing their " family cheer" during the medal ceremonies.

Sports

Sports make an easy and customizable party theme! Whatever your sport of choice, make sure you get a game going!

Incorporate your child’s favorite sport to his or her party, from the invitations, the decorations, the games, and even the cake!

Scientist

Kids love experiments! Hand out lab coats and safety goggles and put together experiments like volcanoes,  color cabbage,  bottle rockets made by dropping Mentos into a liter of cola or sundial.

Popstar party

Is your child a great singer (or simply a pop star wannabe)? Come up with a party inspired by karaoke, High School Musical, or your child’s favorite pop stars.

VIP badges, kid sunglasses and costume concert, camera flashing, and microphone singing karaoke.

Favorite cartoon party

Cartoon or animated movie characters are often the first choices for a kid’s birthday party theme. If your child has a favorite cartoon character, try incorporating it with his or her party. You could even have the guests dress up as their favorite cartoon characters.

Kids can create a comic strip about a fun topic.  You can find a great YouTube video that shows how to draw a cartoon.

Board Game

Perfect for the birthday boy or girl who doesn’t like loud parties. Set up individual game stations for guests!  Send a game piece to each invitee and ask them to bring the piece as admittance to your game-themed party.

You may want to schedule your party between meal times and simply serve some light snacks and refreshments.

Arts and crafts party

Have your kiddie guests create their own birthday cards for your birthday celebrant. You could also come up with other easy-to-do crafts that kids would enjoy such as cake decorating, coloring books, or cooking, and baking with an adult.

Volunteer

Teaching your kids to give back is important. Instead of the focus being on the birthday focus on a party theme around volunteering.

Make sure you have a discussion with the kids before you get started about why you’ve chosen to host a party with a purpose, and who will benefit from their generosity.

Categories
Personal Work

Coaching In The Workplace

Coaching is the principle by which people learn what makes their organizations tick, what it stands for, and how they can contribute to it over time. Remember behavioral strengths and motivational forces vary from employee to employee. You have to become a leader.

As a leader, you are a coach who is willing to empower and coach employees and promote accountability. It is top management’s responsibility to be a coaching role model for the other leaders to follow.

Coaching involves asking questions. The intention is to help them learn a problem-solving process.

Leadership is one of the most important qualities of a successful coach.

Effective coaches ask open-ended questions such as:

  • What are the biggest challenges you currently face?
  • What alternative solutions have you identified?
  • What are your goals? Specific action plans for working toward each one?
  • What went well this week?

Start with active listening: when your employee brings a problem, reflect back on what they’re staying (“What I hear you saying is… “).   Sometimes, simply hearing a problem helps the person to find the answer.

Discuss potential solutions to the problem. Ask the employee for ideas on how to solve the problem, or prevent it from happening again.

The characteristics of a good coach are:

  • confident in the abilities of individuals
  • enthusiastic
  • supportive
  • goal-oriented
  • knowledgeable
  • good communicator
  • patient
  • responsive
  • excellent listener

Coaching employees emphasizes individual and team achievement to a common organizational goal. Leading and coaching employees facilitates effective communication from all levels and provides better feedback and dialogue.

Employees can learn in a positive way how they can make efforts to support the organization.

The coach has to:

  • set clear expectations
  • set performance standards
  • measure performance
  • correct deviations from performance standards
  • make it clear that you are on the same side as the employee
  • provide guidance while preserving the employee’s self-esteem

Remember, effective coaching can have a positive impact on everyone in your organization. Engage employees for the long haul by coaching them into leaders, not followers.

Categories
Personal Work

Persuasion: The Art of Selling

Becoming a master of persuasion is a skill that can be very valuable in every aspect of daily life. It can most effectively be used at work where it can help you get things done faster and do things that you want done.

Most successful managers usually enjoy success by developing their persuasive skill. First, it is important  to understand the element of persuasion and how it works.

Knowing and understanding the art of persuasion can help you in being able to get what you want. Knowing how to persuade others is a skill that can be learned in time.

Persuasion after all is a process of guiding people towards the adoption of a certain idea, action or attitude through rational or symbolic means. It is one strategy used to solve problems where appeal is being used rather than force.

With persuasion, there are always two choices being considered;

  • A person can choose to persuade others to achieve something
  • or, that person can be persuaded by others.

Almost every situation in life involves the process of persuasion in one way or another. To master the art of persuasion, you should know if you are the one doing the persuasion in these situations of the one being persuaded.

The key to mastering the art of persuasion involves the right motivation. Every action that a person does is being motivated by something. In order to persuade people effectively, it is important to know what motivates people and then work on that motivation to persuade them.

In general, there are two kinds of major motivations that most people look into:

  • There is the desire for gain
  • There is the fear of loss

The desire for gain motivates people to have more of what they value in life. People may desire to gain money, health, success, respect, love, happiness etc. Knowing what a person’s desire, help you to motivate them.

People are also motivated by the fear of loss. This can sometimes even be stronger than the desire for gain. People may fear the loss of health, financial loss  or loss of achievement. This is the reason why most people fear change. People can feel threatened by fear of potential loss.

The art of persuasion is about bringing a change in behavior and moving people to action. By communicating actions clearly, you will help reduce their fear.

 

Categories
Personal Work

Balancing Work and Family

Work and family are the two most important things in our daily lives. However, the pull of these two often tears us in different directions. Finding a balance between the two is important for all parents.

Managing the professional and personal side is a source of stress for most of us.

In balancing work and family we often run into conflicting responsibilities. We juggle the roles of both parent and professional.

When the demands of the job come into direct conflict with our family life, or when the conditions of work affect us in other areas then both our work and family life suffer.

Finding the right way to balance work and family.

Balance is not constant, and you have to constantly strive for it. If you find a balance you’ll see that life flows more smoothly. Even if one part of your life breaks down you’ll have the resources to cope with it. You’ll find that you have enough time for work and family.

There isn’t only one way to find balance in your life.

Clarify your values

A value is defined as a principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desired. Knowing what is important to you is one key to keeping afloat in the myriad responsibilities of work and family.

People don’t think about their values until they come into new roles.

Some of our values may be in conflict with others. You may value spending quality time with your children but also find it important to keep a strict work schedule.

When your children take your attention away from your work this can lead to a very stressful situation. If you can see the values you prioritize the most then you can ease some of that stress. Live your core values.

Set your goals

If you had planned to be the CEO by the time you are thirty then it might be time to set your goals differently. To ease the strain between your roles you might want to let go of some of your goals.

Manage your time wisely

Proper time management is the key to being sane if you have a career and a family. Even if you manage to get a few hours of free time, do you spend them worrying about the things you need to do? If you use time efficiently then you can do the things you want to do. This means you have to move towards your goals.

Let go

Being in control of your life doesn’t mean that you have to do everything yourself. Think about delegating work or giving chores to each family member.  If you understand your emotional ties to some jobs then you can effectively delegate some tasks.

Be creative

There are ways of making it work. Be open to any possibility. Use your best creative thinking to solve your tasks.

Make a move

If you are still finding it hard to find a balance between work and home it might be time for you to consider other career options. You will need to communicate clearly with your boss about the need for time off. You can cut down on your hours or ask to work from home.

Obviously balancing work and family life is different for everyone.

The important thing is knowing your own breaking point. How much are you willing to sacrifice in order to reach the top of the corporate ladder?

In many ways, you are alone on top of the high wire with your family on one side and your career on the other, you can only hope not to fall off.

Categories
Travel

Best Places to Surf In The US

For those who are taking up surfing, it is important to know the best places to engage in the sport. Surfers should know where to find the best locations where they can ride the wave and enjoy a memorable surfing experience.

In the US, there are many various locations that avid surfers may feel quite at home. Here are some of them:

Malibu Beach, California

Malibu beach provides surfers with a chance to enjoy long and high-quality waves during the summer. The beach is ideal for both short and longboard surfing. Along with a great and lively crowd who join in with the fun during the summer, Malibu truly is quite an attraction for surfers looking for a great surf spot as well as some fun in the sun.

Cocoa Beach and Sebastian Inlet, Florida

The Cocoa beach offers an ideal spot for those who prefer longboard surfing. The location is known for its mellower waves that make it an ideal spot even for beginner surfers to improve their skills in riding waves. The beach also has a smaller crowd that allows surfers some room to enjoy surfing at peace. Coca Beach is also home to the world’s most famous surf shop, Ron Jons.

For those who are looking for the best surf breaks, there is Sebastian Inlet, located just south of Cocoa Beach. Sebastian Inlet provides the most consistent surf in the state and draws the largest surfing crowd waiting to try out riding its impressive breaks.

Waikiki, Hawaii

This place is always a part of every surfer list of top places to go and ride the wave. Aside from the allure of the place from the historical standpoint -it has a deep surfing history attached to it- its clear waters, coupled with endless sunshine as well as enormous 20-foot waves make it quite a surfing mecca. It has been like that since surfing was popularized during the 1900s. Waikiki has been and still is one of the top surfing destinations around.

Oahu, Hawaii

Oahu has provided many avid surfers with challenges and that is still the appeal that makes surfers come back again and again. In places such as Sunset Beach and North shore, expert surfers have the chance to try out some of the most spectacular waves to ride on. A surfing location usually reserved for experts because of its challenging waves, surfers can experience riding a tubing wave that is formed as powerful swells from deep water break over the shallows. Surfers are able to ride inside the waves as it forms a tube, known also as the famous Banzai Pipeline.

Categories
Personal

Using Cellphone at Work

Who doesn’t love the convenience of a cell phone? Anybody can reach you at any time, no matter where you are. But, a cellphone might distract you from doing your job.

Managing cell phone use at work is often a problem of productivity. If your best employees are checking their cell phone a few times per day but are still producing great results, it’s not a problem. However, when employees are on their phones all the time and there are not performing, it starts to become a problem.

Unless there are safety concerns, banning cell phones from the workplace can be perceived invasive and lead to problems. Young employees like to be connected, so having rigid cell phone use rules can cause frustration.

You have to accept cell phones as a part of work-life and establish policies for their use. You want to set boundaries for your employees.

Usually, employers issue a policy that says personal phone use needs to be limited to before and after the workday or at lunchtime and breaks except for emergencies or an occasional call. Along with the policy should be possible disciplinary actions for defaulters. Make sure employees understand clearly that a few minutes spent on a cell phone is acceptable but, hours at a time is not.

It’s important to require all employees to review and sign the policy, indicating that they understand the policy terms and the consequences of violations. If you don’t, how can you expect your employees to follow policy?

As an employer or leader, the best thing you can do to promote proper cell phone workplace etiquette is to show an example to your colleagues and employees. If you’re constantly checking your phone, replying to texts, your employees are likely to do the same. Always be the right example for your employees.

Remember, while many employers are looking for ways to get their employees off their personal cell phones at work, some are getting the opposite problem: how to get them off their cell phones doing chores and tasks while at home!