How Waking Up Can Change Your Life | Care 2

January 6, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Perhaps the most common complaint is the number of hours in a day. We use it as an excuse for why we don’t exercise enough (there’s just never enough time) and it’s also a go-to excuse for why we can’t seem to get ahead in life or in work.

Become a Morning Person and Change Your Life

However, it really is just an excuse. And it’s one that many successful people have completely overcome. They are the ones who do find time to hit the gym, who feel healthy and refreshed, and who get their work done. The secret to their success?

New Fitness Tracker from Withings Doesn’t Scream ‘Tech Geek’ | Live Science

January 5, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

A new fitness tracker from Withings may appeal to those with an eye for fashion who don’t want to break the bank.

The new tracker, called Activité Pop, has a sophisticated clock-face design, but costs only $150 — much less than the company’s previous fashion-forward tracker, Activité, which costs $450.

Like the Activité, the Activité Pop has two hand dials: one that shows the time of day and a smaller dial that shows users’ progress toward their activity goals (such as how close they are to achieving 10,000 steps), according to Withings.

How to Become More of a Morning Person (Infographic) | Entrepreneur

December 22, 2014December 22, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

We’ve all heard it. “The early bird gets the worm.” But what if you despise mornings? Like, really hate them?

There’s hope for you yet. While you may never love the sound of your alarm blaring at 5 a.m., there are several things you can do to become tolerant of mornings:

Get moving. Strap on those sneakers or roll out that yoga mat to get your body temperature. Not only will this help you stay awake later in the day, it will make it easier to fall asleep at night.

Avoid artificial light. Which is all the more reason to get outside during work hours.

Save the bedroom for snoozing. Stop working in your bedroom and your brain will be conditioned to recognize your bed as stimulus for sleep.

Everything You Need To Know About LinkedIn Endorsements | Forbes

December 22, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Since LinkedIn introduced its endorsements feature more than two years ago, we’ve all received endorsements for skills we didn’t know we had from people we didn’t know we knew.

Though I think I could do a good job of writing about food, I’ve never done it, so I was mystified when five people endorsed me for “Food Writing.” Another mystery endorsement came from someone who checked off “Celebrity,” whatever that means.

Should I just let those endorsements stand, assuming any positive mark on my profile will help me? Or is there some way I can edit endorsements to make them reflect better what I do? What should I do when I get an endorsement out of the blue from someone whose name doesn’t ring a bell? Should I be in touch with and endorse the people who endorse me?

Are You More Productive At The Office When Your Team Includes Both Genders? | Forbes

December 18, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In one of my first jobs out of college I worked in a small San Francisco public relations firm, Horne, McClatchy & Associates, whose eight employees were all women. Now defunct, the firm raised money and staged special events for non-profit groups like UNICEF and the Exploratorium science museum. I liked my executive assistant job and I especially liked my boss, a kind, creative woman who was also a published poet.

But the longer I worked there, the more I realized I didn’t like that there were no men in the office. I feel like a bad feminist saying this, and it’s hard to put my finger on exactly what it was about the atmosphere that grated on me. A former colleague recalls a kind of “mean girls” targeting of one of the managers, who wasn’t as efficient and well-turned-out as the other three, and there was a competitive atmosphere that I found unpleasant, which seemed tied to the fact that we were all female. Hastings law professor Joan Williams, author of What Works for Women at Work, has called the competition between women at work the “tug of war.”

5 Sales Mistakes to Avoid | Business News Daily

December 18, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Every small business owner knows the challenges and importance of closing a sale.

Despite those challenges, there are a number of steps business owners can take to improve their chances of closing a sale, said Brandon Stuerke, president of Advisors Edge Marketing. To help, Stuerke offers solutions to five common sales-lead mistakes.

For Entrepreneurs, Is Impatience a Blessing or a Curse? | All Business

December 18, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

I have never been a patient person; it’s the way I’m wired. Once I have an idea of where I want to go, I want to get there as soon as possible … even if it means getting out of bed at 3:00 a.m. I don’t see the point in waiting.

I know this internal sense of urgency can annoy others and my haste has stung me a few times in life. But I firmly believe an entrepreneur needs some level of impatience in order to succeed. Over the course of my career, impatience has been my friend – but like anything, moderation (or management) is the key.

Many smart people never succeed as an entrepreneur. We often chalk this up to risk aversion, fear of failure, or just plain old bad luck. However, I think the worst thing you can do as an entrepreneur is wait for things to come to you.

Tap the Power of Thank You | Getentrepreneurial.com

December 12, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

There may be only one day a year devoted to giving thanks, but expressing thanks year round and doing it well is one of the most profitable business strategies you can have.

Numerous studies reveal that when you thank your customers, they spend more money and tell their friends about the exceptional service and products you deliver, increasing your profits. Volumes chronicle how employee productivity zooms when appreciation is expressed, raising your margins. Vendors go the extra mile to extend credit and deliver “just in time” when they hear gratitude regularly, and keep your cash flowing. Giving thanks works in business.

But you’re already doing more with less and the last thing you want is another item on your to-do list. What are the most effective and efficient ways to express gratitude to these important players in your positive business success?

Start today implementing these 4 tips to develop the profitable habit of saying “Thank you” to your customers, employees, and vendors year-round:

Mobile App Usage Increases In 2014, As Mobile Web Surfing Declines | TechCrunch

December 11, 2014 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

New data from app analytics provider Flurry released today states that native app usage on smartphones is continuing to grow at the expense of the mobile web. The company claims that users are now spending 2 hours and 42 minutes per day on mobile devices as of March 2014, up from 2 hours, 38 minutes as of a year ago. Meanwhile, mobile app usage accounts for 2 hours and 19 minutes of that time spent, while mobile web usage has dropped from 20% of the U.S. consumer’s time in 2013 to just 14% – or 22 minutes per day – as of last month. Says Flurry CEO Simon Khalaf, the changes indicate that the mobile browser has become just “a single application swimming in a sea of apps.”