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A few weeks ago I thought about what might be fun to do with the family. The usual suspects were there; Zoo, beach, playground etc. but then I thought of a Scavenger Hunt.
I've participated in my fair share of Hunts; a couple through a radio station and some with work, but none of those were what I would call family-friendly. So then I thought, "why don't I just create one?" so I have. This Waitangi Weekend, I'm inviting anyone and everyone who wants to participate in some family-friendly fun to get involved... When: Monday, 8 February from 2pm Where: Village Green, Browns Bay What: A list of "Bring Me" and "Show Me" clues, you have 2.5hrs to do it Who: Anyone, teams must have at least two people but a maximum of five There's a prize for the team who ticks off the most items in the quickest time. If you're interested, flick me an email. Until next time... Fx I have vivid memories of my mother telling me, "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." It's still a good thing to remember, and one I am trying to teach The Miss and The Little Mister. But the opposite is also true; if someone deserves a compliment, don't hold back!
I don't really do "resolutions" but I have made an active decision to be more vocally positive with people, and not just my family and friends, random strangers in the street or at the shops. Over the past month, I have approached a number of people and given them a compliment... "that's a beautiful dress" or "your haircut is very cool" or I have gone to someone's supervisor and told them the service I've just received was seriously awesome. Don't get me wrong, I don't just wake up in the morning and say to myself, "I'm going to compliment someone today" (I am random, but I'm not that weird), I have to really mean it before I say it out loud. And you know what? When someone is hit by my positivity bullet, it has a visible effect. They stand up a bit straighter, smiles a bit brighter and appears to be genuinely moved. Perhaps I've even made their day. The world needs more joy. Until next time... Fx First off, Happy New Year!
I hope the rain and wind hasn't got you down, just remember the saying "after a hurricane, comes a rainbow"... or is that Katy Perry lyrics?! I'm sorry to say that my first post for 2016 is a bit of a rant. In the past few weeks I have visited too many websites that are ugly, hard to navigate, don't provide the right information or all of the above. It doesn't make sense to me that this far into the online game, so many places haven't put their best digital foot forward. Especially when it can be such an easy fix! I don't think websites need to have all the bells and whistles, but they should enable people to find what they need with ease and give them a positive first experience with your business. Every time I visit an unfortunate site, I feel like sending them an email saying, "hey, you can do better than that... let me help you" but I'm not sure how they would feel about that. Insulted? Or interested? Maybe I'll give it a go. I'll keep you posted. Until next time... Fx I've been a bit quiet on here lately, living life and doing actual work (yay me!) but with tomorrow bringing with it a new year, I thought it was time for some reflection.
2015 was a big year for me; The Miss turned 5, The Little Mister turned 3, we sold our house, I FINALLY went to Niue, and I quit a job that paid fairly but was deeply unsatisfying (not in that order). In doing so I ceased to be an employee for the first time in forever; which was both liberating but scary. I found myself talking to people who had backed themselves and their talents by creating a business, and I wanted to help them succeed. Anyone who believes in themselves enough to take the risk of starting a business gets my respect and admiration. It takes a certain amount of moxie to say, "Yep, I'm good at this so I'm going to offer it to the world" and then actually doing it. It takes moxie and smarts to be successful at it. To anyone out there doing things on their terms, in their own way, gets a high five from me. So here I am, attempting to follow in those people's footsteps and offering the world (or at least this part of it) my skills and know-how to try and help take their business to the next level. I'm pretty darn good at going loud about how awesome other people are, but a bit more subdued doing it for myself... 2016 is the Year of the Monkey. It's also the year that I will get my little business All Sorted and try to make a real go of it. Thank you anyone and everyone who has supported me thus far, keep watching this space. Happy New Year! Stay safe, happy and well. Fx There's a certain satisfaction you feel when publishing a website that you've been working on and improving over a period of time. I love it when the work I've done for the site, whether it be design, copy writing or just improving the flow, pleases the business owners so much that they say the magic words, "Okay, we're good to go live now!"
I'm not going to lie and say the re-design I've done for Mutts n Moggies was easy peasy; their old site had quite a few quirks and the CMS they inherited proved surprisingly tricky to navigate, but that just makes the end result just a little bit more rewarding. I hope Carley and Quintin are as happy as they've told me they are, and I hope the new look site helps take their business to the next level (it's already come up leaps and bounds in organic Google search results; yay me!). The job isn't complete yet, I still need to show them how the new site works and the best way to update their info, but that's just the finishing touches. I believe you should celebrate the wins, no matter the size. So this post is me, celebrating and sharing my little win. Until next time... Fx This past week has been all about writing resumes and cover letters for some very fine folk just north of Auckland. I've always been the "go to" person among family and friends to help update and make a CV fancy, but doing it for randoms was a surprise. Not that that's a bad thing.
For anyone about to sit down to try and write about themselves in an attempt to take the next step in their career, or even get back into the workforce after studying/travelling/parenthood (or all of the above), if I could offer you just one piece of advice it's this; express yourself! I've been on the recruiting side and when you're trawling through hundreds of job applications, the ones that stand out (in a good way) are those that tell you a bit more about the applicant instead of the bare minimum. Its nice to know who you are, not just what you do. It's good to include personal information, like hobbies or what you like to do for fun. The CV and cover letter needs to accurately reflect who you are as a person, because you are more than just facts on a page. One of the most risky things I've done when applying for a job was having 'Pick Me' as my subject line. But guess what? They did! Maybe it stood out in the hundred emails of 'Application for ...' or perhaps they knew I was quirky enough (and honest enough) to deserve an interview. Until next time... Fx If you've managed to turn something you're good at (and enjoy) into a business, that's awesome! Well done you.
If your business is growing and is successful, then not only do you deserve a high five, you also need to start thinking about taking some key steps towards becoming more efficient and effective. Delegating doesn't mean handing over the reins and losing your grip over the business, its more about freeing you up to do the things you are best at. Why not consider delegating some of these key areas:
If you're looking for someone to help with #'s 5, 8 and 9... you're in the right place! Until next time... Fx Over the past few years, I've worked with various CMS (Content Management System) programmes to maintain various websites. Most of the time I find them to be intuitive and easy-to-navigate, which means I can get away with not reading the heavy duty user manual (hence this post title).
I enjoy learning how each website is built and discovering the best way to use the system to make it work for the business it represents. It's pretty great when even the smallest of tweaks make a big difference, like changing the colour of the background (helpful hint: "white space is your friend"). I do find it pretty frustrating when I come across a pricey CMS that is so weirdly laid out that even trying to find where to edit the home page is like trying to figure out why its still so cold this late in the year (c'mon lady sunshine, we miss you!). For many small business owners, tricky website management programmes make simple website maintenance a task that goes into the "too hard basket". It should be reasonably quick and painless but for many, it's not. If you are about to embark on the adventure of building your own website, please do some research into the usability of the CMS... you don't want to get stuck with something that doesn't do your business any favours. Until next time... Fx Ever found yourself making a point of 'liking' a companies Facebook page only to never see anything from them in your newsfeed?
There is a way to ensure you are up-to-date with everyone your favourite company, celebrity, sports team is up to... all you need to do is go to the 'Liked' button and then select the 'See First' option. Until next time... Fx Some companies really know how to create a big buzz about themselves which turns into big bucks... here are some tips on how you can try to replicate the results:
Until next time... Fx |
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