Leadership on Speed

tech tuesday

Unbelievable!  Not more than three months ago I said to my husband...

"I wish there was an app that would allow me to print from my crackberry."

And voila! The crackberry gods have spoken.  If you ever wished you had that kind of flexibility from your phone check out this Blackberry app from Cortado that allows you to wirelessly print e-mails, appointments, contacts, tasks and memos from your phone.  No file atttachments yet, but it has to be coming.

You also get to test it out for free.  If you like it, you'll end up paying $39.95.(via BusinessHacks)

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

have more fun with voicemail

 

I must admit that I'm a techno geek.  I LOVE technology and I'm especially fascinated by anything that will help me organize, manage or otherwise help me create greater efficiencies in my work day.  The amount of "stuff" out there just amazes me.

I recently came across something called YouMail.  It's a visual voicemail app (apparently similar to something available on the iPhone) that allows you to do a whole host of voice mail related fun stuff, like:

• Record different voicemail greetings for different callers.  You can have different greetings for your mom, dad, spouse, siblings, work colleagues, best friend, etc.  Theoretically, you can have a different message for every person that phones you! How cool is that?
• You can "see" voicemail on your computer!  It provides an online listing of all your calls and provides more information on those "hang-ups" that you can't get through regular voicemail.  The online feature also allows you to listen to voicemail in the order you choose.  If your boss calls and it's call number 5, you can check that call first and get back to the others when it suits your schedule.
• You can actually block and "reject" callers
• It's free and you can be up and running in less than 5 minutes

It seems to have a whole list of neat features but here's one that isn't so neat - especially if you are a Sprint user like me.  In order to use YouMail, you have to forward your calls to the YouMail system.  Since Sprint charges $0.20/minute for call-forwarding (where many companies forward for free) you'll incur extra charges on an otherwise free service. 

Otherwise, it looks pretty cool.  Click here to check it out.

If you're already using YouMail, I would love to hear your thoughts.  Do you think it's worthwhile?

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

Don't spend a fortune on business cards!

You decide that it's time to start your own business...be the captain of your own ship...put your fate in your own hands.  You decide on your product.  You spend countless hours deciding on the most brilliant and appropriate name for your company.  You invest days and weeks developing your business plan.  You get your investment capital and finally, it's time to purchase your basic marketing materials.

There is nothing more exciting than seeing your business cards for the first time!  Wow! you've done it!  Your cards announce to the world that you are a business owner....

and you want your cards to look great, right?

You might think that you need to spend $500-$1000 on a graphic designer and $500 on good print quality but here's a tip for you - you don't have to spend that much on a great quality business card.

One of my absolute favorite sites for good quality, inexpensive business cards is Vista Print.  They offer hundreds of free templates for cards (the catch: there will be Vista Print marketing on the backside or you can have it omitted for a small fee) or you can upload your graphics and have them print several hundred cards for about $100. 

They do volume printing so they pass that savings on to you and they hope that you'll choose to purchase stationary and other marketing items through them as well.

So, given that there will be lots of opportunities to spend money on your start-up, why not save yourself a few bucks on business cards? 

You were born to be great.

YES, you can!

Make booking your services easier!

Pretty soon coaching clients will have the ability to book consults with me online...

Most of us have experience with on-line scheduling services especially in the lab arena, right?  You go to a website, enter some basic information and then view a calendar of available appointments.  It's a great time saving tool for both the client and the office.

Now the same type of service is available to you (and me)......affordably.

There are a couple that I recommend:

Genbook has a free service but if you want credit card capture, calendar synchronization or want to create a customer database, you'll have to pay $39.95/month.  For the extra fee, your customers can also book appointments up to a year in advance instead of the 6 weeks lead time with the free product.

The other is Appointment Plus.  There's no free product so you'll pay $39/month after a brief 15 day trial but it has some really robust features that Genbook lacks depending on what type of business you have and a pretty impressive client list.

Another nice thing about these on-line scheduling systems is that you can use them internally or externally.  Meaning that if you want to give the public the opportunity to book their own appointments, you can but if you have an assistant and need a centralized, on-line calendar, this fits the bill as well.  A potential/current client can phone your assistant, they can set-up the appointment and you can go on-line and check the calendar so you're always in sync!

As usual, I'd love to get your feedback if you give one of them a try!

You were born to be great!

YES, you can!

personal coach - to hire or not to hire...

All the great players have great coaches! Andy Stanley, in the Next Generation Leader wrote, "It is impossible to maximize your potential in any area without coaching. You may be good. You may be even better than everyone else, but without outside input you will never be as good as you could be. Self-evaluation is helpful, but evaluation from someone else is essential." 

As a coach, I do a lot of networking in the business community and I get questions almost everyday regarding the nature of coaching and what distinguishes it from consulting. It is an important distinction in the business arena because it speaks to whether one is simply looking for answers or is open to discovering them.  All coaches are definitely not created equal and while many coaches are consultants, few consultants are coaches.  Here's the 50,000 foot view that distinguishes coaching, consulting and counseling:

• Consulting - Consultants are paid expressly for their expertise on a given matter.  They generally enter into an organization, evaluate processes and report back on the weaknesses, challenges or areas of opportunities.  They may or may not also be paid to resolve the issues.
• Counseling - Counseling assumes some type of psychopathology linked to dysfunctional behavior. From the standpoint of counseling, the client starts at a negative in terms of functioning and it is the role of counseling to bring them up to "even".
• Coaching  - Coaching assumes that individuals are whole, emotionally healthy and resourceful (both externally and internally).  Coaching utilizes various nonscientific approaches to have individuals tap into their resources to achieve goals and in the process clients often confront internal dialog that has impeded their progress. During this process, clients not only achieve/exceed their goals, they often arrive at them much faster than they would without coaching.  Coaching is not about clients being incapable.  In fact individuals who come to coaching are most often self-starting overachievers who simply want some subtle adjustments to support their continued success.

None of these disciplines are better or worse than another.  They all serve their purpose in the right circumstances. If you are considering coaching, most coaches offer a free, no obligation consult or discovery session that will give you the opportunity to experience coaching first hand.  In an upcoming post, I'll offer some tips on questions to ask when making your decision.  Good luck!

YES you can!

jibberjobber for job seekers

I recently came across a great new tool for job seekers called JibberJobber.   The tool was developed by a gentleman who unceremoniously lost his job and although well-qualified to "get a job" was struggling to find employment even while engaging in his search ten hours a day.  JibberJobber is a database management/networking tool on steroids.  Not only does it support keeping the job seeker organized, it also supports connecting you with your target companies, recruiters,  and other job seekers who might actually network you through to that position you've had your eye on...  Did I mention that it can also warehouse your job search related documents such as your resume and provide tools to help you hone your elevator pitch and works in concert with your other resources such as Linked In, Career Builder and Monster?  Now, having said all that, the tool is only as good as ones commitment to utilizing it but I am getting great feedback from my clients. CLICK HERE to check out JibberJobber (I've also listed it in "Links I Like").  After doing so, I would love to get your feedback as well.  Good job hunting!