Author: Scott Asai

Helping people develop their leadership skills to advance in their career

Is Your Job Damaging Your Health?

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Your job may not seem particularly dangerous, but it could still be harming your physical health. Here are some of the hidden ways in which everyday jobs can take a toll on our health and what you can do to reduce the risks.

Work-related stress

Stress is often said to be the biggest killer. It damages our immune system, increases our blood pressure and can affect the ability to get to sleep. In the long run, it can lead to heart disease and strokes. It’s also been heavily linked with cancer. On top of this, stress is a leading cause of depression and anxiety.

Most people experience periods of stress within their jobs but if you’re constantly stressed it could be worth looking into ways of relieving stress. Exercise, meditation and listening to music are just a few proven stress-busters. Alternatively, it could be time for a holiday from work – or even a new job if you don’t feel this will help.

Sitting down all day

Many of today’s jobs involve sitting down all day, whether it’s sitting behind a desk or sitting behind a steering wheel. Sitting down all day can lead to weight gain through inactivity, which itself can lead to all kinds of health problems. Poor posture while sitting down can also lead to back problems.

Taking regular breaks from work to get up and be active can help combat weight gain, while ensuring that your chair/seat is properly adjusted so that you’re not leaning forward could prevent you getting a bad back. There may be treatment options that you can explore if you’ve already got a bad back from sitting down all day such as looking into a worker’s compensation back surgeon. As for combating weight gain, it could be a case of exercising more out of work hours and improving your diet (no more snacking at the desk).

Repetitive strain

Repetitive movements such as typing on a keyboard, scanning items on a conveyor belt or using certain power tools can eventually lead to permanent aching and numbness. This is known as a repetitive strain injury.  

Taking regular breaks from these activities can prevent an RSI occurring. If this isn’t possible, there could be ways of improving posture or ergonomics to reduce the risk of injury such as making sure your computer keyboard is level with your elbows when you type.

Loud noise exposure

Some work environments such as construction sites and music venues can be very noisy. Prolonged exposure to loud noise can result in hearing loss, which can often be irreversible.

Your employer may be legally entitled to provide ear protection in such environments. Always make sure that you’re wearing this ear protection as this could reduce the risk of hearing damage. If you’ve noticed that your hearing is already damaged, you may want to look into hearing aids.

Using dirty equipment

Equipment that isn’t cleaned regularly can become a breeding ground for germs and viruses. This could include POS displays and computer keyboards. Exposure to this dirty equipment could increase the risk of catching colds and flus.

Employees may sometimes be given the duty of cleaning this equipment, so make sure that you are regularly cleaning it.

How To Prepare Your Business For A Power Outage

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With so much of our world now reliant on electricity, a power outage can wreak havoc on our daily lives. In business, a power outage can mean a loss of earnings and leave you open to a surge of angry customers, so what can you do to limit the damage? 

Have a plan 

Preparing for a power outage begins long before the warning that one may occur and the key to managing one successfully is having a plan.

Audit your needs
Before you can create an effective plan you will want to audit your needs. What equipment do you own that relies on power? Can this equipment run off a backup generator? Do you offer any services which will be impacted by a power outage? Answer these questions to determine the impact that a power outage could have on your operations. 

Prepare back-ups
Having audited your business needs you can now begin to identify the areas in which you need to ensure that you have back up. This could include the need for a backup genset generator, a set of backup flashlights in areas without natural lighting, or even backup battery systems for things such as fire alarms and security systems. 

Educate your staff

Power outages can cause a feeling of panic and chaos, to help your staff remain calm you will want to show them that you have a plan in place and demonstrate the safety measures that you have taken. Teach your staff what they should do in the event of an outage, be that calling an emergency number or evacuating the building and practice how they should respond in the same way that you would a fire drill.

During the outage

The cause and duration of a power outage will influence how you should act if one occurs. Firstly, try to determine whether the outage is isolated to your building and then notify your electricity provider so that they can log the issue. Your electricity provider may be able to offer you some idea as to the cause of the outage and how long it will take to fix which may help you decide whether to send staff home or to wait for it to be turned back on. 

Turn off equipment
Turn off computers etc at the wall when the power goes out, this will stop them all re-booting at the same time when the power comes back on. You can then control the restart of your equipment to stop any overloading. 

Communicate to clients via other means
Although a power outage may have taken out your office computers you may still have access to your mobile phones. Try to keep your clients and suppliers in the loop by updating them on your status through social media and via email this will help limit expectations. 

After the outage 

Reboot slowly 

After a power outage, you may have certain equipment or programs which take a while to reboot. Conduct the reboot process carefully to avoid overloading any equipment. 

Replenish supplies

To ensure that you have everything you need for future outages remember to replenish supplies such as batteries and diesel for your generators etc immediately.

How to Cold Email for a Job

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With today’s technology, finding a job should be easier than ever, right? In theory, maybe—but in reality, unfortunately, not so much. Sure, job posting sites make it super convenient to browse openings at companies and narrow down search results according to personal preference (industry, location, seniority level, salary, etc.), but that doesn’t mean that job offers are quite as abundant. In fact, with so many applications pouring in on a daily basis, companies usually don’t even have time to respond to all of their applicants, let alone set up interviews and meet them in-person.

And yet, technology can still be your friend during the job-hunting process—that is, if you know how to use it. If it feels like you’ve been looking for a job forever, it probably seems as though you’ve considered every option out there that could possibly better your chances, from submitting your resume to an online review site to maybe even lowering your standards. Are you looking for a new way to approach the job hunt? Cold emailing just might the tool you didn’t know you needed.

What Is a Cold Email?

You’ve probably heard of cold calling, and sending a cold email utilizes the same concept: A cold email is an email that you send to someone whom you don’t know personally. Not to be confused with spam, a cold email is an outreach method employed by professionals to achieve all sorts of goals—expanding a client-base, finding new collaborators or investors, and plain, old networking are all popular uses of the cold email. Another use, of course, is to find a job.

Finding Jobs Through Cold Emails

Unless you find a job posting that specifically says to email someone with your resume and cover letter, you shouldn’t outright ask for a job in your initial cold email. Why? Because you don’t want to put that much pressure on your recipient at such an early stage—it will make them less likely to respond.

For this reason, it’s important to dial back your request to something that’s more immediately achievable, like asking if they’d be able to meet for coffee or have time for a quick phone call to talk about their company or personal professional experience.

This part is a lot easier if you can establish some sort of mutual connection with the person that you can mention in the email. For example, maybe they’re a graduate of your alma mater or you got their name from a professor, family member, or colleague. (Hint: LinkedIn is a great way to obtain this info.)

Can’t find any personal connection? Make your own! Tell them where you found their name, why you want to talk to them (that’s not getting hired), and how you can relate to their professional achievements.

So, get drafting, and jumpstart your job search with a bold strategy that’s been proven to work. Good luck—and don’t be afraid to follow up!

 

Elder Care: 3 Smart Options For Your Career

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One of the most challenging and rewarding careers, caring for the elderly, may be just the right option for you. Of course, to know this, you need to find out everything you can about this type of career before you make your choice. Happily, that is something that the post below can help you to do. Read on to find out more. 

Range of options 

There is no one single career or job that covers all the care for the elderly. In fact, there is a range of roles that are involved in this process. These can be loosely divided into three areas, hospital care (including nursing homes), home care, and community care.

Hospital Care 

Of course, that means you need to decide which would be the most rewarding for you. Therefore, it is useful to know that those involved in hospital care, including doctors, nurses, and medical assistants, often specializing in the field of geriatric care. 

Obviously, for each career level, a different range of qualifications will be necessary, with a consultant doctor being at the very top of the field. Something that will include achieving a medical degree, as well as going through all the stages of a traineeship. 

For nurses, a degree and further regular learning are required to maintain a license. While there may be some assistant posts in a hospital setting that need just a certification course. 

Home care 

Home care for the elderly is the second option to consider here. In fact, some people find this much more rewarding because they are helping to keep the people they care for in their chosen environment. 

Of course, that doesn’t mean that qualifications and certifications are involved when it comes to elder home care. In fact, in some states, those working in the sector will need to get their RCFE certification regularly renewed. This being a process that entails at least 40 hours of online or IRL classes. 

Happily, it’s not too tricky to find RCFE classes now. Especially as they run online options, meaning you can fit in around your work and other responsibilities. Something that will enable anyone working in this sector to renew their certification for their license runs out, and they are no longer able to work. 

Community care 

Finally, don’t forget that there is often community care offered to the elderly, as well. In fact, people in this field can range from volunteers to carers, to group leaders, and even medical and mental health professionals. Although to achieve a successful career in any of these roles, you will need the correct experience and qualifications. 

Of course, the value of community care for the elderly is enormous for many reasons. The first being that it provides access to help that many older people would not be able to get or afford on their own. 

Additionally, community care in the form of day centers and groups can really help to improve the lives of those it serves. In particular, being a brilliant antidote to the social isolation of the elderly and the accompanying medical and mental health issues this can cause. Something that makes it a sound choice indeed for anyone looking for a career in this field. 

 

But That’s My Idea!

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There is no business without a solid idea that sells. The art of finding a profitable and engaging idea is a long and difficult journey for professionals. Contrary to popular culture, nobody wakes up with a fully formed idea. Most people never experience a “Eureka” moment. Ideas take a long time to develop. It’s ultimately what makes them so valuable for the business. They are the result of hard work. And therefore, the last thing you want to happen is for your idea to be used by someone else. Aside from the anger you might experience when you realize, you also need to be pragmatic about your design. Does it make sense to claim it as yours?

Protect your ideas 

Your business idea falls under the realm of IP consulting. Indeed, IP, or intellectual property, rights are vital as they set your business apart, whether they relate to trademarks, patent protection, or even design and copyright. There’s nothing fun in researching and developing a profitable idea just to see it stolen from you. But, more to the point, your IP rights allow you to share your idea with others, earning royalties by licensing it and allowing resellers to import your products. In other words, intellectual property acts as a safeguard against the commercial and creative use of your business asset. The world of IP is a minefield for the beginner, but there are resources like Patent Hacks that can provide a stepping stone into this world with numerous articles and approaches to ensure that your idea is protected. Protecting your ideas is a priority.

But don’t be afraid to share them with those who can help you 

Admittedly, while you don’t want to be careless about your commercial designs, you also need to be open to sharing your thoughts and plans with others. Indeed, your IP rights can serve as security for commercial loans, for instance. You can also pitch your idea to investors at the start of your business existence. For startups and SMEs, a confident pitch could be the guarantee of financial backing for growth. However, it relies on your readiness to expose your idea. You can’t afford to waste investors’ time by demanding they sign an NDA at the beginning of the pitch at this stage. 

Believe it or not, people notice when you’ve stolen an idea

Just as your idea is precious, other people’s ideas are too. As a result, your audience expects you to stay true to your creative direction. While you may be tempted to turn into practice ideas you’ve spotted in your competitors’ activities or at a trade show, you need to be careful about repurposing an existing concept. Indeed, your customers expect brand consistency from your business. If the “borrowed” idea doesn’t fit your mission and values, you’re likely to lose your audience. 

 

There is no I in team

Lastly, you shouldn’t be too attached to your personal ideas. Indeed, when working in a team, you need to be ready to share and transform ideas to develop a profitable concept. Reluctance to engage in creative exchange for the sake of protecting your ideas may be damaging to business growth. A good team can work together and collaborate in the creative process as smoothly and freely as possible. 

In conclusion, ideas are volatile assets that need to be calibrated to your business needs. First of all, you can’t afford not to protect their rights. However, it shouldn’t stop you from sharing your ideas in an appropriate environment. And finally, ideas need to be relevant to your business; don’t be tempted to take a shortcut by using someone else’s creativity!

Ideas Small Business Can Use To Up Their Black Friday Sales

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If you’re a small business looking to amp up black Friday sales, one of the best things you can do is begin your preparations now. Below, you’ll find a few ideas that will help you. Just don’t leave it too late! 

Begin A Countdown

Start a countdown so that your audience knows exactly how long it is before the sales begin. This will build momentum and help them to get as excited as you are about it. 

Start Your Sales Early

Why not start your sales a day or two early? This will make people take notice and you’ll likely make more money this way. 

Host An Event

If you have a physical store, why not host an event? Create a buzz around the event with your marketing and make everybody want to show up. Freebies always go down well! 

Create A Gift Guide 

A gift guide will make people start thinking about Christmas. By creating a gift guide using your own products, you’ll encourage people to prepare for the festive period. 

Make Sure You’re Mobile Ready 

Being mobile ready is imperative – get this in place well before the sales begin. As you’ll see on the Infographic below, many of the sales made during these sales are on mobile. If your business isn’t mobile ready, then you’re definitely missing out. Carefully go through the infographic and you’ll likely find other things you need to have in place to make the most of the sales.

 


credit to Skup

Five Ways To Improve Supplier Relationships

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It doesn’t matter who you are talking to, good relationships in business are key to success. You can have as many clients and supplier relationships as anyone else, but if you’re not managing these relationships correctly, you’re more likely to find that problems arise later on. 

Having strong relationships with your suppliers doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a lot of work and time together to build something worth having, and any company stands to benefit from these secure relationships. It pays off to put in the time and effort to build meaningful and worthy relationships with your suppliers, and it’s important to stick with it every step of the way.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at five ways you can improve those supplier relationships.

Excellent Communication

Establishing the relationship between two companies isn’t always easy but with the right communication, you can make it work. You may think this is easy, but it’s difficult to master when you are new to business. There are ways to communicate effectively and respectfully, whether you are going to your supplier for cardboard boxes or butterfly valves. Understanding how to work with them is vital to your success, and you can open up the relationship to be more beneficial to you both when you communicate well.

Set Efficient Goals

You want something from your supplier, and they want something from you. The key is knowing what each other want and sticking to it. Having mutual respect comes from knowing what to expect from one another, so lay down those goals early on and you won’t be disappointed.

Be Financially Punctual

It doesn’t help your business if your clients are late paying you for your service, so as you can imagine, it doesn’t help your supplier if you are late paying yours. If you absolutely must be late with your payments, then you absolutely must tell your supplier that the payment is coming late. It’s respectful to let them know. It’s even better to not be late in the first place!

Be Positive

You are human, and your supplier is human, too. Instead of placing blame, always give each other room for mistakes. They happen and the best thing to do is to move past them with positivity and not blame. If something is your fault, own it and move on – and they’ll do the same.

Always Review

There is always room for a cheaper option, a better option or just plain new pastures when it comes to supplier relationships. One of the most effective ways to avoid being complacent is to ensure that you are keeping up with reviewing your relationships. Review these against your budget and your expectations, and let yourself explore what else is out there. It doesn’t mean you have to leave a trusted supplier, it just means that you’re open to the things that will benefit you and your business.

Relationships are important for success: don’t take them for granted.

 

How to Get Your Company’s Message Across

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You’ll have put a lot of thought into the development of your business. You’ll have ideas, things you want to achieve, knowledge about how you can help to improve the lives of your customers, and so on. In many ways, that’s the fun part. The difficult bit is putting them into practice, and getting other people to listen to your message. In a crowded marketplace where people are bombarded with advertisements every day, this can be a challenge. Below, we take a look at a few ways you can achieve this goal.

What is Your Message? 

First thing’s first: you need to define what your message actually is. It’s all good and well having a vague feeling about what your company stands for, but let’s not forget: your customers don’t have access to your mind. You’ll need to transform that message into words that make sense to someone who has never heard about your business before. What is obvious to you won’t be obvious to anyone else. Put your message into the simplest form possible. How would you explain it to a five year old can be a good starting point. 

Clear Branding

Of course, when it comes to receiving a message, words will only take you so far. In any case, most people’s first interaction with a new company lasts only a second or two. So you don’t have much time to work with. One way to ensure your message has an impact is to focus on your branding. These are the symbols, colors, and slogans that differentiate your company from other companies. It works on a repetitive nature — your branding will mean little during the first time a person sees it, but will grow increasingly impactful the more they see it. If you don’t know how to brand your business, look at working with an outside expert. 

Accessible Content

If you want new customers to listen to your message, then you should put it into a format that they like. Text on a webpage is fine, but it’s not how everyone prefers to consume their information. So one of the best ways to deliver your message is to investigate how people are receiving information. For example, video is huge at the moment, and thus it’s worthwhile working with a video production agency to create this type of content for you. Ebooks, short blog posts, and infographics are also excellent ways of transmitting your message, too. These mediums will help bring in a whole new audience for your business, too.

Another important but often forgotten aspect of content accessible is the creation of a content service platform (CSP). Essentially, as John Yokley PTFS founder explains, a CSP is an agile, cloud-based method of content management that enables your business to access, collaborate on, and share content. More often than not, different teams end up creating duplicate content pieces because there’s no common platform that makes existing content accessible to all. This can ensure your audience can consume the latest, most accurate content at all times.

In-Depth Website

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a digital or real-life company: a huge chunk of consumers visit the website of a company they’re considering giving their business to. So make sure that what they’ll find there is useful. You only have limited amounts of space on, say, a Facebook advertisement. But on your website, space is unlimited — it’s here where you can go into depth, and really outline everything that a customer would want to know about your company.

The Aspects Of Your Company That Determine Modern-Day Success

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It’s hard to compete with other businesses in the modern economy. The marketplace is so crowded because entrepreneurs have more opportunities than ever before to build their own companies from scratch and enter the industry. How does a business stand out in such a busy marketplace? Consumers have more options than ever before, but that means they don’t have the time to assess every single option which is available to them. So, you have to make sure that your brand is more noticeable than the others. It’s all about maintaining relevance in a fast-paced world. These are the aspects of your company that determine modern-day success.

Branding.

You need to build your brand if you want your company to be successful in the modern age. Branding is essential to making your business stand out in a crowded industry. Otherwise, consumers would struggle to differentiate between different companies. After all, you and your rivals probably sell very similar products or services. So, you need to create an identity for your company that is unique. Your business needs to turn heads, and a powerful brand statement can help with that. Perhaps you could run your company in an environmentally friendly way, for example. This would show your target market that you care about the planet, and that would help you to connect with people. There has to be a relatable side to your brand.

Digital strategies.

In the digital era of today, your business needs some effective digital strategies. For starters, you should focus on your online marketing campaign. You need to create professional and engaging content so your company’s website shows up on search engines at the top of result pages. As was explained in the introduction, consumers have so many options in the modern world that they don’t have the time to weigh up all of their options. They’re going to opt for one of the businesses they find first, so you need to learn about SEO to ensure that your site shows up on the first page of search results related to your industry. Additionally, you could consider creating a mobile application to make your business more digitally accessible. You might want to get help from experts who offer app design services. They could help you to develop a well-designed application that gains new customers for your company and makes your business much more successful.

Reputation.

Obviously, a company’s reputation has always been important in the world of business. Yet, as mentioned earlier in the article, the expectations of modern brands have changed. People expect more of modern businesses. High-quality goods are essential, of course, but your competitors offer the same thing. And if you have competitors with better reputations than you, then consumers will feel that it’s safer for them to choose one of those businesses. Your company needs a good reputation if it is going to stand out.

You should rely on your existing client base to help you achieve this. Consumers listen to a company’s happy customers more than they listen to the company itself. You’re more likely to listen to a customer who says “this business is the best” than a business saying “we’re the best”, after all. So, you need to focus on your current customers. They can make your company look more appealing to the market. You could encourage them to spread the word by giving them rewards for doing so. Maybe you could enter people in a prize draw if they share a particular post of yours on social media. They’ll have the opportunity to win something, and you’ll receive help with your marketing.

Getting Your Solopreneur Work-Life Balance Just Right

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So many of us dream of working alone. We’ve worked for the man, we’ve faced massive commutes and long hours. We’ve had jobs that leave little time for a social life, that mean that we have to work weekends and holidays, and our relationships and health have suffered for work. We imagine that working for ourselves will be completely different. 

We think that we’ll work when we want to, when it suits our lifestyles. And that we’ll always take time off work when something important, or fun comes up, that we want to do instead. We know that we’ll work shorter hours, take more time for ourselves, and get a lot more rest. That our stress levels will be low, our relationships will flourish, we’ll be healthy and happy, and that our previously elusive work-life balance will be perfect. 

This is rarely the case. Most solopreneurs find that they become workaholics. They can’t stop. They never take full-days off, they always put work first, telling themselves that it’s ok because they love what they do, and they can’t go ten minutes without checking work emails or updating social media plages. Many solopreneurs are terribly stressed out, and their work has spilled into their lives, leaving no balance at all. Here are some tips to help you to claw that balance back.

Stop Being Solo

Sometimes, the only way to get back a little time for ourselves is to accept that we can’t do it all alone and ask for help. This applies to most areas of life, not just businesses. But, that doesn’t mean that you have to hire staff to work side by side with you, which isn’t always possible if you work from home. You could outsource your IT Solutions, or hire a freelance VA to help with admin and social media. You can still feel like you work solo, without having to do all of the work. 

Make the Most of Flexibility

One of the reasons that you went solo was probably a search for more flexibility. You have it now if you want it. There’s no one making you work, but you. Remind yourself of this when you need to. 

Write Down Your Priorities

What are your priorities? Why did you start working alone? What did you most want from the arrangement? Did you want to spend more time with your family? Or spend time with friends? Would you like to exercise more? Or spend more time outside? It’s all too easy to forget our priorities in life when we’re so busy, so write yours down and leave them somewhere that you can see. 

Write Things Down

Writing things down has another benefit. Writing to-do lists can help you to manage your time more effectively, making it easier to stick to a schedule, clock off when your list is completed (don’t keep adding to it!), and take entire days off. 

Make Plans for Life

Sometimes we need firm plans in place to give ourselves permission to take time off work. Make plans with friends, and make bookings so that you are less likely to cancel.