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The Practical Professional

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Insurance Marketer and Advisor

I worked in corporate America for 20 years before I transferred my skills to become a work at home mom. Writing content is something that I love and am good at, so I decided to help other moms who want to create streams of passive income. I share different passive income ideas and show them how to achieve it through my blog posts, guides and tutorials.

5 Sleep Tips to Be a Better Blogger

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I celebrated a wonderful birthday last week. Yep, I’m the big 4-7!! That’s 47 years that the good Lord has allowed me to be on His earth and reap His wonderful blessings. Thank you Jesus!

The reason why I mention my age and going off on that tangent this morning is because of something that I saw on the news this morning. It was during the early morning news show and there was a segment about health and aging. They were talking about how people (in general) all want to turn back the hands of time to look and feel younger. That’s everybody , right?

Well, I’m no exception. I tuned in to that segment and tuned everything else around me out. I was waiting for them to tell us the latest pill or potion that we needed to buy. I had (almost) gotten out my credit card and was ready to make a transaction!

But, the “aha” moment was less than  a pill or potion. It was something very basic. Very, very basic.

Sleep.

That’s it. That’s what they recommended. I was almost about to get offended that the news had wasted :45 seconds of my time just to tell me something that I already knew, but I didn’t. I listened anyway. Besides, they had already taken :60 whole seconds of my life, what’s another :30 seconds going to do?

So, they said sleep is one of the most beneficial things you can do to reverse aging, help your skin look smoother and firmer and even feel better. Sleep. Just sleep. As a full-time writer and blogger and a full-time mom and wife, sleep is one of those commodities that I rarely get to enjoy.

I couldn’t and can’t argue with the idea of sleep because I honestly don’t get enough. I’m always working, carting kids off to a practice, cooking something or cleaning up after I’ve cooked something. And if you’re reading this, you’re probably one who doesn’t get enough sleep either. I don’t even have to quote statistics, because I know this to be a (personal) fact. These days, the average person gets less than 5-6 hours of sleep on a regular basis. And that’s just not good for you, me or anyone else.

I can’t tell when was the last time that I got 8 hours of solid sleep for more than a month. It’s probably been pre-kids, no doubt. But, I’m on a mission to change that. I want to do it for more reasons than superficial (helping me to look younger), but I want to feel better. I want to think clearer. I want to be more productive. I want to grow my writing/blogging career, and I think more sleep would help me to do it. Yes, I need more sleep in my life.

I’m always brimming with writing and marketing ideas. Always. I even sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with ideas. I guess you could say it’s a mixed bag of blessings. While I’m never at a loss for creative ideas, I just don’t have enough hours in the day (or a work-week) to get these ideas into action. That sometimes leaves me frustrated, of course, but I’m also the type that will stay relentlessly with an idea until I’ve seen it form. You know what that means, right? Yep. Little to no sleep.

As creative types, bloggers and writers have to take care of their main staple: their minds. Our brain is a muscle, and with the type of work we all do, that muscle gets a good workout several times a day. It’s a good thing to be creative and a great thing to be busy. But, I am determined to stop this lack of sleep lifestyle because it really does hinder the creative process. If you’re with me on this and you want to 1.) get more sleep, 2.) stay productive and 3.) be even more creative then let’s all resolve to do the following:

  1. Keep a Journal: This will help us to keep our ideas written down and in front of us so that we’ll always have something fresh to spark ideas. But more importantly, it will keep our minds from becoming too cluttered and hindering sleep, especially when we need to wind down at night.
  2. Say No: Yes, you’ve got to say no to requests that take you off task, but also that hinder your own progress. Say no to those activities that do not readily line up with your writing and blogging goals.
  3. Breaks: Take frequent writing breaks during your work hour. I know that may be a challenge for us to do, but I promise you that it will be worth it. And when you take those breaks, don’t do a load of laundry or vacuum. Take a true break and stretch your legs, go outside and take in some fresh air, play with the dog, etc.
  4. Nap: A 10-minute power nap can do wonders for your mind! Even if you don’t fall asleep during that time, just rest your brain for those 10 minutes. You’ll definitely see a difference when you return back to work.
  5. Let it Go: That means at night, when the sink is full of dishes, the den is a wreck and lunches aren’t made; let it be until the next morning. Go to be and work on those 8 hours of sleep. Don’t worry about the housework. Guess what? I promise it’ll be there in the morning, ready for you to conquer when you’re fresher.

I’m doing a few of these things now, but I’m planning on putting all 5 of them into action before the end of the month. I hope you’ll join in with me on this. Let’s vow to get more sleep and grow our writing businesses, ok? Ready, set, go!

 

Making Technology Double-Duty at Tasks

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Today was a great day for me as I learned a bit more on how to use my camera to enhance my blogs and my business writing. Instead of working harder, I am learning to work smarter and make my computers and accessories work for me instead of against me. And by that I mean setting up my systems so that everything is working cohesively and seamlessly.

That means, when I take my photos to upload to my blogs, I can use my computer’s software to make the photos go straight to my blog posts. I usually take my laptop computer with me everywhere I go, so doing that is more of a convenience for me than it is anything else. I have found that home-based workers who have their laptops with them all of the time are far more productive than at other times. And yes, that works for me too.

I am a very, very busy mom, writer and household manager (like that word?) so having things work as a unit is very important to me. I also like to have as many gadgets as possible that can make my life easier as well, so as long as I can be productive, I am a happy camper.

 

Halt the Pity Party

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Here I was this morning feeling “woe-is-me” for myself because of my weight (number). But then I read a blog post by one of my healthy journey friends that put things right back into perspective for me. My friend is struggling severely with his weight and has been for just about all of his life. He lost his dad to complications with bariatric surgery and he struggles with those same demons (among others) of dying an early death due to his size.

I read his post this morning and afterwards, I immediately said a prayer for his strength and a prayer for me to stop mumbling and complaining. Sometimes we just don’t realize how things are until we see/hear the struggles of others.

So if you’re sometimes like I was today and find yourself feeling sorry for yourself, take a moment and just think about where you are and where you could be. I don’t point this out to embarrass my friend or anything like that, but I point it out to help us, ALL of us, put things into perspective and stop complaining so much. We all have our health, no matter what the situation may be. We all have loved ones around us. We have our homes, jobs and a fair amount of blessings that we can certainly be thankful for every day. So today, I choose to be thankful for what I DO have, rather than be sad for the things that I’m missing.

What about you?

How to Turn Customers Into Bloggers

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What better way is there to market your product or services than to have someone do it for you? I’m specifically talking about letting customers market for you. They do this through word-of-mouth referrals and some even write on their own blogs. Then, there are customers who are avid Facebook and Twitter users who love to share their experiences with their “Friend” community. That’s electric marketing!

Ways to Reward Customers

To get customers to blog and talk about your business, you can hire them as blog writers or reward them with other incentives. Both ways work very well, but the best and most genuine marketing comes from customers who have no vested interest in your company. In other words, they will speak the truth, paid or not, free products or not. It’s actually the best way to see how your company measures up to others in the industry. You may be even to glean ideas on what you can do to improve the company’s image and performance. Yes, customer’s tend to be honest like that.

My Experience as a Paid (?) Blogger

A short while ago, I was an incentive-paid blogger for a local business in my community. It was a place that I frequented and felt that it had so much potential to serve the community in more than one aspect. I approached the owner and we worked out an agreement for me to blog about them on Facebook in return for a free service. Now before I was the blogger for them, I could be completely objective and was full of (un)-solicited advice all day long! However, once I became a part of the staff (in a round-about way), I felt the need to sing their praises in all things, good or bad. It wasn’t what I felt in my heart, but I felt I had to do this because I represented the company in a way. It wasn’t the best situation to work in and we both mutually agreed to end the business relationship. I went back to being a customer and they went back to being a business.

One reason why my situation didn’t work was because the focus was removed on improving the company’s service quality and was placed more on making the company “look good.” Yes, this is important, but it’s way more important to actually have something good to offer than empty words. Also, as a blogger, I wasn’t able to be objective any longer since I was “paid.” Bloggers are always under pressure to deliver and satisfy their clients, no matter what.

Speaking the Truth

Therefore, the ideal marketing situation for customers to blog about your company is to allow them to be themselves and speak their reviews, whichever way they go. Of course you can and should offer incentives, free products or even compensation where you can, but don’t focus on that so much. Be honest with the customers and tell them you want them to write or review your company and give their honest opinions on Facebook, Twitter or the social networking platform of their choice. Track their comments and follow up with comments of your own about their experiences. This makes you look good and makes your company seem genuine.  People always want to do business with companies who don’t mind taking a little constructive criticism and who make efforts to improve their business standards. It all turns out to be a win-win situation.

What do Customers Really Want?

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When you are operating a small business, it may seem hard to get customers, or, to even keep the existing ones remotely satisfied. It’s often a challenge not just for the large corporations but for the small ones as well. How do you really acquire and maintain good customers. What do customers really want?

I was plagued with this just on last week. I was trying to make a purchase through an online vendor that I have been doing business with now for over 9 years. I placed an order for the product and waited, and waited, and….waited. Nothing happened and I couldn’t get anyone in the Customer Service Department to help me or to even figure out where my order was. It seemed every time I talked with someone,I had to tell my story all over again from the beginning. It was starting to become annoying after about day #2. Wasn’t anyone taking notes and logging my complaints?

This little ordeal with my vendor taught me a little something about my own business. Customers really want what? They want service. Plain and simple. If you provide your customers with actual customer service from knowledgeable service reps, they will feel that their account is in solid and knowledgeable hands and they will actually prefer to do business with you.

The best way to run a customer away is to not know nor care about their account. Do everything you can to provide exceptional customer service and they will keep coming back for more of your products or services.

So what finally happened with my vendor and my product? Well, I did receive it about 8 days later. But i was so disgusted that I had already gone out and purchased another product, so I returned it. If customer service had been a little more “servic-ey”, I may have been compelled to do business with them.

Always provide excellent and genuine customer service.