Christine Buske.com

I spent half a day working on the wordpress template for this website, and realized a bit too late that this was not a good idea. What I should have done is hire someone who actually knows more about CSS and webdesign than I do. There is one service I would recommend if you are looking to make money from home, and if you are looking for someone to work for you: Elance.

Professionals offering services in web design, writing, programming and consulting can be found on Elance.

Don’t make the same mistake I just made, just hire someone to do the things you are not great at! It frees up more time for you to do the things you do well.

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Technorati Tags: make money

I am writing this post in utter professional frustration: clients and fellow professionals alike, always (and I mean always) make sure you have various alternate contact methods available for each other!

I am currently in a situation where a project was done on time, submitted and an invoice forwarded the next day. This is an old client whom I really enjoy working with, so when I did not hear from him I was not at all alarmed. A few days later, I received an email from a client-in-panic: “where is the project…”.

To cut a long story short: his email account, for whatever reason, cannot receive my messages. I don’t have his phone or fax number (why after all? we have the internet!). I spend a significant amount of time on the project, and now am spending more time on just trying to get in touch with him and actually get the files to his desk. Naturally, I am also concerned about the real big consequence for me; my paycheck.

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I was supposed to be in a meeting today, but when I arrived there were two different groups already present. Both had scheduled the same meeting room for the same time. How this could happen? No idea…

This was not really a big deal, but both groups lost twenty minutes and the company looked unprofessional. Granted I am not a client, it still does not look good to appear disorganized. In this case some scheduling software would have come in handy.

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If you are still “looking for The-One” (business,… not partner in the romantic sense), consider what you are really passionate about.

I am reading a book about putting your passion into print… but this can easily be translated to business: just like you should write what you love, you should sell what you love as well. I sell a variety of things, articles, reviews, marketing materials but mostly I sell experiences. When people read, they either become more informed, motivated to take a particular action or purchase a product. If a writer does his/her job successfully, they are not selling the actual “thing”, they are selling the experience.

Tonight, make a list of the things you love. What are your hobbies? If you are trained to be an accountant, but you are passionate about wine then I can predict in what type of business you will be more successful. Email me if you don’t get it…

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Technorati Tags: business, marketing materials

Because I am involved with developing some marketing campaigns before the business around it really comes off the ground, I am also asked questions entirely unrelated to my field. Sometimes I can answer them from pure experience, and sometimes I cannot. One example of this is “to incorporate, or not to incorporate“:

(Prospective) Business owners tend to get confused on whether they should be incorporated, form an LLC or another legal entity. What are the differences, benefits and drawbacks of each of these options? The sad thing is, I can’t even tell you the distinct differences or benefits of these entity options, as they vary greatly from state to state and country to country. For example, in Arizona a LLC is governed under slightly different rules than in Canada.

So what should you do? Incorporate yourself/your business, or form a Limited Liability Company (LLC)? The best way to find out what suits you and your business best is to get the proper information from a lawyer.

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What sets apart a person who comes up with great ideas, seemingly effortlessly, from a person who breaks his head and just cannot seem to be struck by any ideas? Who knows how many factors are involved, creativity for one, but there is a factor you can control.

Instead of sitting down and trying to ‘force’ good ideas to flow out of you, rather concentrate on grabbing onto great business ideas when they do strike. Ever thought of something only to forget it before you could write it down? It’s perhaps a more common problem for writers than in general business, as our ideas usually do not just revolve around concepts but are rather more specific formulations. Nevertheless, a successful business person always carries around a small notebook and pen.

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As Anthony Davis says in his “E-tip No. 67 Why do everything yourself?” , really…. Why do you do everything yourself? In many small businesses there is simply a cash flow problem, but even in large corporations there are trends where some members of a team pick up all the responsibility for a job and are the first to be home with serious burn-out.

Remember when you were in college and you were assigned to do a project with five other students? Didn’t only two or maybe even three of you do all the work while the rest sat back and enjoyed the good grade you received? All too often it is the same in business, but not always are unproductive employees called on it. After all, we think we can do it faster/better/different anyways, so why bother asking someone repeatedly to do something? You should ask because you want to stay sane, and if you are running around doing other people’s job you cannot do it faster/better/different.

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