Time Management Advice For Small Business Owners

One of the most difficult aspects of project management is keeping on top of time management. A lot of small business managers make the mistake of overestimating when it comes to timelines and deadlines, which gets things off to a bad start, to begin with, as it sets up the project team for failure.

But, once you get the deadline right that is only the start of the process. You need to implement effective time management to make sure that everything runs smoothly. With that being said, read on for some top tips to follow.  

Avoid micromanaging – Have faith that you have chosen the best team for the job, and let them get on with what they are good at. You can waste a considerable amount of time by getting into the finer details when it really is not necessary.

Make sure your meetings are productive – You need to extract true value from every meeting by identifying opportunities, issues, and risks, and getting the team to brainstorm ideas and solutions. It is also important to set a time for the meeting, say an hour, and stick to it, and make sure you have an agreed agenda beforehand.  

Choose the right tools - Another important part of the project management process is ensuring you have the right software in place - software that is going to enable you to run your projects more efficiently and make more intelligent decisions. BPM cloud is a great example of the sort of solution that could help you to get more done in a shorter space of time.

Have an effective plan in place – You may be wondering what having an effective plan has to do with time management, but it is actually the most important point. A good plan will have regular milestones in place, giving all team members something to focus on. This means that everything is crystal clear, and you are thus going to spend much less team dealing with problems that occur because of a lack of clarity.

Make a to-do list and stick to it – More often than not, we waste time doing things that really are not of immediate importance. Email fixation is a modern-day issue, and it is a prime example of this. We constantly check our emails, replying to them as soon as we receive them, which can distract you from carrying out important tasks. This is why it is a good idea to create a daily to-do list. You can work through this list, which will ensure you remain focused on your goals for the day. This will drive further activity, as you tick things off the list.

Don’t do the work – A lot of small business managers fall into the trap of trying to do everything themselves. However, your full-time job is to manage the project, and you should have assigned team members to carry out all of the other roles. Of course, when a deadline is looming, it can be tempting to take over. But, you should avoid this at all costs. Focus on managing your team so they can get the job done.

Follow the tips above and you will achieve time management success!

Watch Out Writers, Fall Headache Triggers Are Coming

A change in seasons introduces many new environmental factors that can trigger additional migraine and headache, such as cooler weather, changes in barometric pressure and humidity levels, wind and allergens. Just what us writers need, right? Dr. Vincent Martin, director of the Headache and Facial Pain Center at the University of Cincinnati Gardner Neuroscience Institute and president of the National Headache Foundation, has the details on why your head may be hurting this month.

Changes in Weather

Weather changes are a common migraine and headache trigger, and the cooling temperatures in the fall are a primary trigger. While it is not clearly understood why this happens, there are a number of studies being conducted to understand this correlation. It has even been suggested that factors such as changing barometric pressure, humidity and temperature can be triggers. Since these factors tend to occur at the same time, it is difficult to pinpoint which is the culprit.

Allergens

Perhaps the most common headache and migraine trigger are allergens, and fall is full of ragweed and mold. Allergies will increase the amount of histamine our bodies produce when allergens are high, which can trigger migraine by inflaming sinuses. Individuals with migraine and headache should take a number of precautions during the fall to lessen the impact of allergies. A few ways are to use a HEPA air filter, mattress and pillow encasings and doctor prescribed allergy medications to reduce aggravation of the sinuses.

Daylight Cycle

The fall is also met with less daylight, and this commonly shifts sleep schedules. Maintaining a consistent sleeping pattern is essential for migraine and headache sufferers, as their chance of an oncoming attack significantly rises when the pattern is disrupted. Additionally, as days grow shorter, it tends to have a neurological effect on people, potentially triggering a migraine.

About National Headache Foundation The National Headache Foundation has furthered awareness of headache and migraine as legitimate neurobiological diseases for the past 48 years. They collect the most comprehensive information on headache and migraine and connect with patients, who have just begun to seek treatment or those who are looking for more options. Visit www.headaches.org for more information.

Top three Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities Your Business Faces Right Now

The business world has become more competitive than ever. Not only is there increased pressure on companies to be profitable, but also to keep information safe. For many companies, cybersecurity is an area that’s easy to cut back on, but that can prove to be an expensive mistake. According to the PwC Global Economic Crime Report, cybercrime is now the second most reported economic crime, affecting 31 percent of organizations.

The percentage is high, and if cybersecurity doesn’t become a priority in business, it will certainly get higher. As the leader and owner of a company, do you know which cybersecurity vulnerabilities your organization may have right now? Let’s take a look:

1. Lack of Policies that Prevent Most Common Threats

The first and most apparent vulnerability in any system relates to security fundamentals. Today, every company needs a cybersecurity policy to set security standards. Specific, well-established practices such as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) have proven risky and need to be strictly governed. According to the 2018 Verizon Mobile Security Index, 74 percent of businesses say that their mobile security risks have gone up in the past year. Therefore, if you haven’t set strict security standards for your employees to follow, it’s time to start.

2. Reactive Mindset

Due to resource constraints, many organizations will do only the bare minimum when it comes to cybersecurity. However, in this day and age, covering the basics is not enough. Waiting for an attack to happen and then reacting is a sure-fire way for you to be much worse off when everything is over than if you had taken proper steps to protect your assets.

While having a reaction plan in place is generally considered good practice, that can’t be the extent of your cybersecurity solutions. Considering how fast cybersecurity threats are evolving, investing in proactive security solutions is quickly becoming a must for businesses.

3. The Human Factor

According to Experian’s 2018 Managing Insider Risk Through Training and Culture Report, 66 percent of surveyed professionals felt that employees posed the greatest vulnerability when it came to cyberthreats.

This isn’t unexpected, considering that the human factor is usually the weakest link in any security system. While training can help to eliminate the most common causes of human error in cybersecurity, described as “general carelessness,” it isn’t enough.

When you take into consideration the fact that a majority of organizations face phishing email attacks frequently, the scope of the problem falls into perspective. Even when employees are rigorously trained, mistakes happen. All it takes is one careless reaction to a suspicious email.

This is why we must work on solutions that prevent phishing cyberattacks before they even reach your employees’ inboxes. Area 1 Security’s Anti-Phishing solution offers precisely that, by spotting phishing attacks days in advance.

Businesses today might be even more vulnerable than they seem to their owners. It’s crucial for every C-level executive to know precisely what type of damage a data breach can inflict, and which proactive solutions can prevent it from happening. When it comes to phishing attacks, you’ll be far safer with Area 1 Horizon, the anti-phishing technology that neutralizes today’s most dangerous cybersecurity threats.

Guest article by Kim Del Fierro, VP of Marketing for Area 1 Security

7 Mistakes Small Businesses Can’t Afford To Make

Like it or not, it’s just a fact that most new small businesses don’t make it to their five year anniversary. While there’s no guaranteed pathway to success, sometimes these businesses don’t help themselves. They make small mistakes which, all tallied up, can cause a significant dip in potential earnings. We outline some of the errors below that small businesses can’t afford to make.

Ignoring the Competition

You’re not out there in the world of business, doing your own thing, devoid of the influence of other people and businesses. Everything is interconnected. Unless you have a unique business - which is unlikely - then you’re going to have competitors. As such, you need to ensure that you’re keeping an eye on what they’re doing: they could be taking great leaps forward, ever improving things, while you’re happy to plod along. We’re not suggesting you copy what they’re doing, but you do need to be aware of how they’re running things.

Web Design

Sometimes, you arrive at a webpage and just know that they’re the real deal. It gives off an impression of trust straight away. Of course, this seldom just happens: it all comes down to the web design process. If you hire the best people to develop your online presence, then you’ll end up with a look that reflects the modern age. If your site design is treated as an afterthought, then you can’t have too many complaints if people aren’t sticking around too long to see what you have to offer.

Focusing Too Much on Social Media

You won’t hear from us that your social media channels aren’t important: they absolutely are. However, they’re not more important than your website. The success of your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts should be the end result; they should function as vehicles to transport people to your website. That’s where all the business will take place. Make your website your prime online responsibility, and your social media channels second. It’s a funnel to get people to your site, fundamentally.

Not Making the Most Of Leads

Did you know that you’ll never know anything about the majority of visitors to your website? A small minority will submit a form or ask for further information, but the bulk will click X without giving anything away, even if they were interested in what you had to offer. This is where a tool like Visual Visitor can help. It’ll help reveal who is visiting your site, how many times they’ve visited, and what they’re looking at. From there, you’ll have a bona fide lead: you’ll have the details who is on the hook. All you’ll have to do is follow up their interest and close the sale.

Ignoring Customer Feedback

You may have a one-track mind when it comes to how you want your business to function, but it’s always worth remembering that your company isn’t a vehicle for all your thoughts and ideas: it’s bigger than that. If you’re open and willing to listen, then you’ll find that many of your customers just tell you the next move you should make! It can be tricky to get feedback, but it’s possible. Once you have it, it’s imperative that you act on it! There’s little use in getting a customer’s opinion if you’re only going to disregard it.

Cybersecurity Issues

Cybercrime is on the rise and, unfortunately, criminals are mostly targeting small business; the bigger ones have a robust defense, while small companies tend to be vulnerable. While it’s not the most exciting thing in the world, it’s important that you take steps to ensure that your online security is watertight. There have been companies who have lost a lot of money all because they didn’t take the online threat seriously enough. Don’t be one of them!

No Path Towards Success

And finally, remember that the future is coming whether you like it or not! While it’s important that you focus on the here and now, you should also keep half an eye on the future. A company that doesn’t plan for where it’ll be five years down the line might find that the moment arrives and they’re left behind. Always plot your future, it’ll be your path to success!

Put Selfcare First to Make Your Business Better

The App to Harmonize Your Hectic Lifestyle is Now Available on Google Play Recently, I was sent information about a new app, and I think it is a really good one for writers. As part of our jobs, we're constantly using devices, making calls, answering emails, filling in spreadsheets... Sometimes, though, we need to chill before we suffer from burnout. The #SelfCare app was designed to help people destress and center themselves by using calming music and animations.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I downloaded the app. I just knew I liked the sound of "selfcare." As soon as you open the app, it starts playing what I like to call "meditation music." It then guides you through some exercises and minigames to calm and relax you.

It sounds a little woo-woo, but I actually really like it. In just seconds the app makes you feel cozy and happy. Okay, that's sounds weird, but give it a shot. You might like it. (No, I don't get paid for saying that. I really like it!)

Tru Luv app selfcare

Here's more about the TRU LUV #SelfCare app.

What is The TRU LUV #SelfCare App?

Just six weeks after its immensely successful launch for iPhone that placed it in the Top 50 free games in the App Store, today #SelfCare hits the Google Play store for Android devices.  Developed by the team at TRU LUV, #SelfCare’s playful innovations to digitally engage and personally disconnect are changing the game of mindfulness.

With our lifestyle technologies overwhelming our reality, more of us are choosing to find a rare moment to shut off with a yoga or meditation class.  #SelfCare flips the script, empowering your phone to become your tool and guide to finding quick calm any time.  As you stay in your virtual bed all day surrounded by your favorite gentle things, you select calming tasks that generate simple satisfaction and uncomplicated harmony.  Unlike traditional games that get increasingly more stressful as you progress, the #SelfCare interactions begin disorderly and awkward and become more orderly and satisfying with the simple goal of feeling better.

“We have a love-hate relationship with our phones, and often feel stressed and manipulated by them,” inform #SelfCare co-creators Eve Thomas and Brie Code.  “We want to create experiences that doesn’t waste our time and that truly leave us feeling relaxed and invigorated and more ready for life.”

Further enhancing your #SelfCare experience is the ability personalize your virtual sanctuary with unique additions contributed by guest artists working in themes of self-care, updating your space to reflect the evolution of your goals and outlook.  The more time you spend on yourself, the more self-care techniques are unlocked for a deeper and more impactful practice.  This Android release of #SelfCare coincides with the introduction of a new in-app minigame in which you tend to your bedside plant and receive its guidance.

To develop #SelfCare upon an evidence-based foundation, the team collaborated with research advisor Dr. Isabela Granic — creator of the renowned anxiety-reducing children’s game MindLight, Professor and Chair of Developmental Psychopathology at Radboud University in the Netherlands, and Director at Games for Emotional and Mental Health Lab.

Download #SelfCare on Google Play or the App Store.  For more information visit TRULUV.ai.

Never Give Up! Or Maybe Your Should

A few years ago, there was a lot of buzz about Copyblogger quitting Facebook. The general consensus about the situation is that Copyblogger gave up way too easily. (If you want to read some commentary, take a look at "What Copyblogger Could have Done with Its Facebook Page" by Jon Loomer.

The comment section is...well, go look for yourself.) I understand wanting to move on. I recently sold a website I created for a nice tidy profit. I loved the site, but wanted to concentrate on other aspects of my business. I imagine that's how Copyblogger felt about Facebook. It was obvious they had a lot of followers, but they just weren't getting the love that made spending time on their Facebook page worth it to them.

I get that.

You Can't Ride Two Horses with One Ass

pick a social media platform

Have you ever heard that expression? It basically means that you have limited resources, so you need to make a choice. No matter what many social media marketers tell you, you can't be everything to all social media sites. If you tried to keep a community going on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram then that would probably become your full-time job. It's better to choose which social media platforms work best for your brand and roll with it.

For example, like Copyblogger, I have found that people pay way more attention to my posts on Twitter and Pinterest. I like to concentrate my efforts there. I still use the other platforms, but I know where my audience is.

Choosing a Horse...Er, Social Media Platform

You also need to pay attention to where your traffic is coming from. I don't like to focus on likes or +1s. I pay attention to whether or not a person clicked on the link and made it to my site or article. If that happens, then the media platform you've chosen is a success, because that's the goal. Isn't it?

I'm not saying comments and a strong fan base isn't important, because it is. It's just that too many people feel like they are failures if they don't get tons of comments or likes. If you want conversions, then the goal is to get the readers to your site. If you are doing that then you're ahead of a lot of your competitors.

So quit a few social media sites. Or don't. Do what works for you and don't listen to those who say you need to be everywhere at once. Shortsighted or not, I commend Copyblogger for not trying to straddle two horses and making a choice.

Global CMO Says Nike Featuring Colin Kaepernick Will Prove Genius

Colin Kaepernick, the former N.F.L. quarterback who inspired a player protest movement but who has been out of a job for more than a year, has signed a new, multiyear deal with Nike that makes him a face of the 30th anniversary of the sports apparel company’s “Just Do It” campaign, reports the New York Times (story here).

In a not-so-unexpected backlash, #NikeBoycott is already trending on Twitter and customers have started burning their sneakers (CNBC story here).

“But it’ll be worth it,” says Fortune 500 Chief Marketing Officer, Peter Horst, MBA, a Harvard & Dartmouth grad who led the marketing teams at Hershey, Capital One, General Mills, and is ranked on Forbes’ Top 50 Global CMO list.

“There’s an increasing need for brands to be relevant by taking a strong point of view in politics and in a market where competition is fierce and rivals are gathering strength, this campaign has made Nike more relevant than ever,” explains Peter, who is the author of the new book Marketing in the #FakeNews Era: New rules for a new reality of tribalism, activism and loss of trust (June 2018).

•    Will The Backlash Be Worth It? “Leadership undoubtedly anticipated the predictable backlash that we’re already seeing: #BoycottNike, shoe burning, irate posts, drop in share price, but the fact that they made this decision anyway shows a powerful commitment to the long-term health of the brand.”

•    Can Nike Win Over More Passionate Followers? “There’s no doubt that they will alienate some customers but I have no doubt that they’ll come out of this short-term pain a much more vibrant brand with an even more passionate customer base.”

•    Will This Also Boost Colin’s Brand Too? “In many ways, this is the story of two brands. Both Kaepernick and Nike took a strong and controversial point of view. After suffering a great deal of pain, we’re now seeing a kind of resurgence of strength behind the Kaepernick brand—in many ways illustrated by Nike’s campaign featuring him.”

•    Should Other Companies Take Political Stances? “The highly charged, polarized environment keeps raising the ante on brands and the need to put their values on display. In order to build powerful, authentic relationships with customers, brands will need to find their voice and decide where they’re willing to take risks and take a stand. The alternative is to become bland, irrelevant and uncompetitive.”

The Saga of Bogus SEO and Optimization Tactics

Okay, I want to shout it from the rooftops: Most of your SEO and optimization tactics are hugely, utterly wrong! I have talked with many website owners over the years, and it seems like they all have been drinking the same content Kool-Aid. You can't blame them for believing horrible optimization tactics. They were just hungry for some search engine love.

It's time to end the madness, though.

Cutts Says Cut it Out with the Article Directories

First, don't use article directories to build links. Oh, I've known so many people that have wandered into this trap...and then Google gave them the website smack down. Finally, Matt Cutts of Google confirmed what I had always suspected. Article directories are slimy, spammy places. Don't believe me? Take a look at this video:

Keywords Aren't as Important as You Think

Keywords were once the best way to draw search engine attention. That was a long time ago. It's time to get up to speed, people. Search engines are smart enough that they can figure out what your content is about without a liberal smattering of keywords. Just add great content to your site and people will come. Trust me. Here is a more in-depth article I wrote on the subject: You're Thinking Too Much About Keywords.

Guest Blogging Equals Trash...Most of the Time

If you are using guest blogs specifically for links, then put a fork in it, 'cause it's done! For the past year or two, all anyone could talk about is how valuable it is to guest blog. Cutts has revealed, though, if you're doing it for the links, then it's just spam search engines will penalize you for.

On the other hand, if you use guest blogs to add valuable, entertaining content to your site, then by all means, go ahead. Adding good content to your site is always a good idea.

End the Crapfest

A few weeks ago, I ran across a website owner that employed a "content editor" to look over all of the content he put on his site. This is a great practice! Search engines are cracking down on sites that consistently put up content with spelling and grammar errors. The only problem was his "content editor" was adding more problems to the site then she was fixing.

Moral of the story?

Yes, please, please, please check all of your content. Make that blog or article or webpage shine! If you want to hire an editor to do it for you, more power to you! Just make sure the "editor" is actually good at his job by checking references and testimonies. You'll find references and testimonies on my website and on my LinkedIn, for example. Have you been doing any of these optimization tactics? Well, throw all those suckers out the window. Next time, close your eyes and hum when someone tries to tell you a new SEO tactic. All you ever really need to draw people to your site is entertaining, well-written content.

Need some help? Feel free to contact me.

A Brief History of ASR: Automatic Speech Recognition

As a writer, you probably use automatic speech recognition when you're dictating ideas on your phone or using Google's dictating app. Here's how the technology came about.This moment has been a long time coming. The technology behind speech recognition has been in development for over half a century, going through several periods of intense promise — and disappointment. So what changed to make ASR viable in commercial applications? And what exactly could these systems accomplish, long before any of us had heard of Siri?

The story of speech recognition is as much about the application of different approaches as the development of raw technology, though the two are inextricably linked. Over a period of decades, researchers would conceive of myriad ways to dissect language: by sounds, by structure — and with statistics.

Early Days

Human interest in recognizing and synthesizing speech dates back hundreds of years (at least!) — but it wasn’t until the mid-20th century that our forebears built something recognizable as ASR.

asr

1961 — IBM Shoebox

Among the earliest projects was a “digit recognizer” called Audrey, created by researchers at Bell Laboratories in 1952. Audrey could recognize spoken numerical digits by looking for audio fingerprints called formants — the distilled essences of sounds.

In the 1960s, IBM developed Shoebox — a system that could recognize digits and arithmetic commands like “plus” and “total”. Better yet, Shoebox could pass the math problem to an adding machine, which would calculate and print the answer.

Meanwhile researchers in Japan built hardware that could recognize the constituent parts of speech like vowels; other systems could evaluate the structure of speech to figure out where a word might end. And a team at University College in England could recognize 4 vowels and 9 consonants by analyzing phonemes, the discrete sounds of a language.

But while the field was taking incremental steps forward, it wasn’t necessarily clear where the path was heading. And then: disaster.

automatic speech recognition

October 1969 —The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

A Piercing Freeze

The turning point came in the form of a letter written by John R. Pierce in 1969.

Pierce had long since established himself as an engineer of international renown; among other achievements he coined the word transistor (now ubiquitous in engineering) and helped launch Echo I, the first-ever communications satellite. By 1969 he was an executive at Bell Labs, which had invested extensively in the development of speech recognition.

In an open letter³ published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Pierce laid out his concerns.Citing a “lush” funding environment in the aftermath of World War II and Sputnik, and the lack of accountability thereof, Pierce admonished the field for its lack of scientific rigor, asserting that there was too much wild experimentation going on:

“We all believe that a science of speech is possible, despite the scarcity in the field of people who behave like scientists and of results that look like science.” — J.R. Pierce, 1969

Pierce put his employer’s money where his mouth was: he defunded Bell’s ASR programs, which wouldn’t be reinstated until after he resigned in 1971.

Progress Continues

Thankfully there was more optimism elsewhere. In the early 1970s, the U.S. Department of Defense’s ARPA (the agency now known as DARPA) funded a five-year program called Speech Understanding Research. This led to the creation of several new ASR systems, the most successful of which was Carnegie Mellon University’s Harpy, which could recognize just over 1000 words by 1976.

Meanwhile efforts from IBM and AT&T’s Bell Laboratories pushed the technology toward possible commercial applications. IBM prioritized speech transcription in the context of office correspondence, and Bell was concerned with ‘command and control’ scenarios: the precursors to the voice dialing and automated phone trees we know today.

Despite this progress, by the end of the 1970s ASR was still a long ways from being viable for anything but highly-specific use-cases.

Markov model

The ‘80s: Markovs and More

A key turning point came with the popularization of Hidden Markov Models(HMMs) in the mid-1980s. This approach represented a significant shift “from simple pattern recognition methods, based on templates and a spectral distance measure, to a statistical method for speech processing”—which translated to a leap forward in accuracy.

A large part of the improvement in speech recognition systems since the late 1960s is due to the power of this statistical approach, coupled with the advances in computer technology necessary to implement HMMs.

HMMs took the industry by storm — but they were no overnight success. Jim Baker first applied them to speech recognition in the early 1970s at CMU, and the models themselves had been described by Leonard E. Baum in the ‘60s. It wasn’t until 1980, when Jack Ferguson gave a set of illuminating lectures at the Institute for Defense Analyses, that the technique began to disseminate more widely.

The success of HMMs validated the work of Frederick Jelinek at IBM’s Watson Research Center, who since the early 1970s had advocated for the use of statistical models to interpret speech, rather than trying to get computers to mimic the way humans digest language: through meaning, syntax, and grammar (a common approach at the time). As Jelinek later put it: “Airplanes don’t flap their wings.”

These data-driven approaches also facilitated progress that had as much to do with industry collaboration and accountability as individual eureka moments. With the increasing popularity of statistical models, the ASR field began coalescing around a suite of tests that would provide a standardized benchmark to compare to. This was further encouraged by the release of shared data sets: large corpuses of data that researchers could use to train and test their models on.

In other words: finally, there was an (imperfect) way to measure and compare success.

Consumer Availability — The ‘90s

For better and worse, the 90s introduced consumers to automatic speech recognition in a form we’d recognize today. Dragon Dictate launched in 1990 for a staggering $9,000, touting a dictionary of 80,000 words and features like natural language processing (see the Infoworld article above).

These tools were time-consuming (the article claims otherwise, but Dragon became known for prompting users to ‘train’ the dictation software to their own voice). And it required that users speak in a stilted manner: Dragon could initially recognize only 30–40 words a minute; people typically talk around four times faster than that.

But it worked well enough for Dragon to grow into a business with hundreds of employees, and customers spanning healthcare, law, and more. By 1997 the company introduced Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which could capture words at a more fluid pace — and, at $150, a much lower price-tag.

Even so, there may have been as many grumbles as squeals of delight: to the degree that there is consumer skepticism around ASR today, some of the credit should go to the over-enthusiastic marketing of these early products. But without the efforts of industry pioneers James and Janet Baker (who founded Dragon Systems in 1982), the productization of ASR may have taken much longer.

wither speech recognition

Whither Speech Recognition— The Sequel

25 years after J.R. Pierce’s paper was published, the IEEE published a follow-up titled Whither Speech Recognition: the Next 25 Years⁵, authored by two senior employees of Bell Laboratories (the same institution where Pierce worked).

The latter article surveys the state of the industry circa 1993, when the paper was published — and serves as a sort of rebuttal to the pessimism of the original. Among its takeaways:

• The key issue with Pierce’s letter was his assumption that in order for speech recognition to become useful, computers would need to comprehend what words mean. Given the technology of the time, this was completely infeasible.

• In a sense, Pierce was right: by 1993 computers had meager understanding of language—and in 2018, they’re still notoriously bad at discerning meaning.

• Pierce’s mistake lay in his failure to anticipate the myriad ways speech recognition can be useful, even when the computer doesn’t know what the words actually mean.

The Whither sequel ends with a prognosis, forecasting where ASR would head in the years after 1993. The section is couched in cheeky hedges (“We confidently predict that at least one of these eight predictions will turn out to have been incorrect”) — but it’s intriguing all the same. Among their eight predictions:

• “By the year 2000, more people will get remote information via voice dialogues than by typing commands on computer keyboards to access remote databases.”

• “People will learn to modify their speech habits to use speech recognition devices, just as they have changed their speaking behavior to leave messages on answering machines. Even though they will learn how to use this technology, people will always complain about speech recognizers.”

The Dark Horse

In a forthcoming installment in this series, we’ll be exploring more recent developments and the current state of automatic speech recognition. Spoiler alert: neural networks have played a starring role.

But neural networks are actually as old as most of the approaches described here — they were introduced in the 1950s! It wasn’t until the computational power of the modern era (along with much larger data sets) that they changed the landscape.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Stay tuned for our next post on Automatic Speech Recognition by following Descript on Medium, Twitter, or Facebook.

speech recognition timeline

This article is originally published at Descript.

Open Sesame! Baiting The Hook For Emails

An email blast has become one of the leading marketing methods for businesses and entrepreneurs. Why? It’s because an email isn’t as formal or intrusive as a cold call. When it lands in an inbox, there is no reason to open it other than to see what’s inside.

This is good and bad. Produce a quality structure with valuable content and a blast can revolutionize your advertising effort. On the other hand, make it boring and uneventful and no one will open it up and click-through. Emails aren’t effective if no one reads them, which is why you need to bait the hook. Here are four ways to open sesame if you've decided to start a newsletter or you like to send clients email updates or offers.

Catchy Tagline

Newspapers used to work in the same way when they were the powerful force in media. A bold, catchy headline dominated the front page and was the first thing anyone saw. Emails don’t have the same space, but they can still use this method to their advantage. After all, a small notification appears on mobile devices and concentrates a person’s vision. The trick is to use contrast. Take the headline and make it big and bold and then leave the rest of the text normal to grab their attention. Don’t use clickbait as it will turn your subscribers off.

Money Saver

Email marketers that are super effective are the ones who save their customers money. Think about how many Groupon promotions you get on a daily basis. Do they drive you around the bend? Usually, the answer is no because they have added value. You know the contents may be able to cut a restaurant bill in half, which is very appealing. Use this concept to your advantage by making sure there are promotions and discounts within your content. There is nothing shoppers like to see more than a bargain.

Correct Content

A platform for creating emails is essential to save money and time. However, the folks at https://www.palomasoftware.com/postman/email-newsletter-software says there is a problem. The issue is with entrepreneurs who sacrifice their content for an automated system. Sometimes, the text won’t fit right so changes have to be made, which people do willingly. Don’t make the same error. When the content doesn’t make sense, the whole email is a bust. It’s a far better option to find a provider that can work with you rather than against you. Https://www.tonyherman.com/how-to-figure-out-where-email-is-hosted/ has advice if you need guidance.

Entertainment

A weak email can hide its flaws with the right multimedia. After all, some people just want to be entertained and watch a video. With this in mind, don’t be afraid to include anything which is engaging. For example, you can use gifs to underline the point in the same way www.huffingtonpost.com does. Some emails are creative to the point where they spell out the message in emojis. The process of having to follow the clues is exciting to their audience. Of course, there needs to be some substance. Plus, everything should work in conjunction with the brand.

How do you get subscribers to open your email?

Buff Your Brain: Innercise Your Three Core Neuro-Muscles

Before anything else, writers need strong brains. Like any other muscle, it can be trained and beefed up. To transform outmoded behaviors that aren’t serving your current health and wellness goals, brain researcher and New York Times best-selling author John Assaraf says you’ve got to “Innercise” your brain just like you exercise your body.  

“Lift your hand up and look at your palm,” John says. “This simple act of lifting your hand is actually incredibly complex. It involves hormones and cells and nerves and electrochemical signals. Blood flow and oxygenation. Tendons and ligaments, muscles and bones. And it’s almost entirely subconscious. Yet you can do it with ease. What’s more, each time you do it, you flex your bicep muscle. Do it enough times, or add weights to give resistance, and your bicep will strengthen. You don’t need to fully understand how this all works. When it comes to exercise, really you just need to show up and do it. Then commit to repeatedly showing up and doing it to make your muscular and cardiovascular systems stronger. Innercising is much the same: You work out different ‘neuro-systems’ — different neural ‘muscles’ and ‘circuits’ — and over time they become stronger.”

John says there are three “neuro-muscles” that are most critical to your success…

Your Three Core Neuro-Muscles

1. Awareness: Awareness in Innercising most often refers to self-awareness — your ability to monitor your own mental, emotional, and physical state. Awareness is critical because it allows you to observe your habitual patterns and make changes.

2. Intention: How do you want to think, feel, and act? When you begin to realize your thoughts, feelings and actions can be choices you make, you can then begin to choose more of what you want, as well as deciding what you don’t want!

3. Action: This is all about executing new ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Taking healthy, consistent, constructive action is one of the best ways to build your brain fitness. When you take the right actions in the right order at the right time, you increase your chances for success. But whether you succeed or fail, the action will strengthen your brain by learning. Strengthening is not a matter of chance but rather one of certainty when you take action.

“Together, these three neuro-muscles form a powerful combination,” John asserts. “They’re a winning combination for achieving your goals.”

About: John Assaraf is a serial entrepreneur, brain researcher, and CEO of NeuroGym. In the last 25 years, John has grown 5 multi-million dollar companies in real estate, internet software, brain research, and life and business coaching and consulting. He is the author of two New York Times best-selling books: “Having It All” and “The Answer.” His brand-new book is called “Innercise: The New Science to Unlock Your Brain’s Hidden Power” (Waterside Press, 2018).

John has made frequent appearances on Larry King Live and has been featured in eight films, including the blockbuster smash hit “The Secret” and “Quest for Success” with Richard Branson and the Dalai Lama. He is one of the leading behavioral and mindset experts in the world, with a unique ability to help people release the mental and emotional obstacles that prevent them from achieving their very best in life and business. John is a vegan who creates and eats his own hot sauces, meditates daily, and exercises six days a week. He loves skiing, traveling, taking cooking classes, listening to the Bee Gees and Enigma, and being a dad, husband, and mentor.

15 Tutorials for Creating Amazing Content for Websites

how to write better content

Do you know how to write content for websites? Here is a  list of my top 10 articles on creating website content that rocks.

1. 22 Ways to Create Fresh Content for Your Site

2. How Do You Create High-Quality Content?

3. Take My 30 Day Content Challenge

4. You’re Thinking Too Much About Keywords

5. The Saga of Bogus SEO and Optimization Tactics

6. How to Edit Your Site Copy: Commas, Quotation Marks and Semicolons

7. Fluffy Content is Bad Customer Service

8. Are You a Sex and the City Writer or a Dragnet Blogger?

9. 20 Free Ways to Get Photos and Multimedia Content for Blog Posts and Articles

10. Don’t Create Generic Content

Here are some bonus videos to help you out with your content quest, as well:

A Few Things Every New Freelance Writer NEEDS to Know

If you want to make a living as a freelance writer, there are some things you need to consider before you start. Fail to follow a few things that are considered the norm in the industry, and you may be doomed to failure before you have written your first piece.

Good Access To Resources

There is more to producing a piece of work than the actual writing. In any one day you could be tackling 3 or 4 different subjects. To write effectively about them, you need to understand them. You need access to good resources for research purposes. You may think you know a subject inside out, but things develop and change all the time, and you should never write a piece assuming you know it all.

Part of this is ensuring you have a good Internet connection, or you will not be able to find the information you need. Next, look for information from trusted sites. Government and university websites are ideal. Zoos, museums, trusted news sites and Consumer Reports are good sources, too. Be sure that the site is unbiased and doesn't have an affiliation with a product for the best information.

Good images are also important. Here are 20 Free Ways to Get Photos and Multimedia Content for Blog Posts and Articles.

Insurance

This might not seem relevant, but what if you have a break-in and your computer is stolen? You should have home based business insurance, as no device means no money is earned. This relatively inexpensive insurance that will pay for you to get up and running again much quicker.

Edit, Edit and Edit Again

Editing the piece you have written is crucial. Walk away from it for a bit and come back with fresh eyes. There are also programs available that will check your work for obvious errors, but they won't turn it into a good piece of copy, that is up to you.

editing

Don’t Miss Deadlines

Never miss a deadline, as these are vital for some of the people you will be working for. Clients don't ask to have your piece by a certain day and time for no reason, there are often other things that need to be done after you have finished. They may have to add links, images or videos and these can all take time to source.

Accept Feedback With A Smile

You could send the same piece of work, as a freelance writer, to two different people and one love it and the other hate it. This could be for several reasons. Each piece has to be suitable for the place it will be published, whether that is online or in print. You may get negative feedback if an article is the wrong tone or aimed at the wrong audience. All these things should have been part of the brief you were originally given, and if you don't follow that you should expect negative feedback.

Don’t take it personally though. Look at is as part of your learning curve to becoming a freelance writer, and remember what has been said. It could be useful in other pieces you do.

Freelance writing needs a strong work ethic as you could find you have very little one day and need to work 20 hours the next. It is the nature of the beast, but one that can easily earn your living if you are prepared to work at it.

Here are some more tips:

• Fluffy Content is Bad Customer Service

• How Do You Create High-Quality Content?

• Edit Your Writing: How to Use Commas, Quotation Marks and Semicolons

Music and Writing? Music Has the Power to Change the Mind

Hey writers, do you listen to music while you write? If not, maybe you should. Studies have shown music’s almost magical impact on healing and music is being used in a variety of new ways, such as teaching stroke patients how to walk and helping premature babies gain weight.

music is life

“Music treats the soul, and If you treat your soul the body will ultimately positively react,” says D. Kenny Davin Fine MD, a gastroenterologist who is also creator of Oro-Intestinal Fitness Products.  “Music is under appreciated as a healing source that can be just as powerful a prescription as drugs.”

Fine, a musician himself  who recently recorded  a “Rockspirational” double music album, has used his scientific and medical expertise to pioneer new paradigms to diagnose  and treat a variety of illnesses and conditions. But he says music can be therapeutic as well.

“Music can be an integral part of creating a unique prescription of health, happiness and hope,” says Fine, who has also created the FinerHealth, FinerLife Travelling Musical Medicine Show which he will soon take on the road to live events.

Fine offers these recommendations for people who are having medical issues and want to incorporate music as a healing therapy:

• Sing to yourself even if it is just in the car or the shower. Research has shown that music not only engages the auditory system but many other parts of your brain as well, including areas responsible for movement, language, attention, memory, and emotion. The impact can be felt regardless of if a person is listening to music, playing an instrument or singing.

• Take off the headphones. Headphones cranked up too loud cause hearing loss. Listen more to soothing music that relaxes you at lower volumes. If you can’t give up the headphones, a good rule of thumb is to not turn the volume up so loud that you can’t hear other sounds around you.

• Learn to play an instrument. This not only enhances your appreciation, but will encourage you to listen to more. Learning to play a musical instrument also is one of the best exercises for your brain.

“Music is an important part of our lives, but for people who have health issues, it could play an even more important role if they only utilized it,” Fine says.  “I believe we are only beginning to scratch the surface when it comes to the healing power of music.  I think in the coming years we will have more hard evidence of its potential. I even predict that in the future people will choose their health practitioner not only for their specialty, and personality but in what area of creativity they dwell.”

About  Kenny Davin Fine MD

 Kenny Davin Fine MD, creator of Oro-Intestinal Fitness Products (www.finerhealth.com), is a gastroenterologist who has held staff positions at both Baylor University Medical Center and the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical School. His medical research has appeared in prestigious medical journals including The New England Journal of Medicine, Gastroenterology, The Journal of Clinical Investigation, and The American Journal of Gastroenterology.  He has been professionally involved in patient care, medical research, teaching, directing clinical laboratories, nutritional pioneering and original health product and unique organic health food product development for almost 30 years.  Fine is also a highly regarded singer-songwriter, guitar and harmonica player, and recording artist with 11 album releases to date.  He has worked in the recording studio with Grammy and Oscar-winning producers, including Michael Lloyd, Niko Bolas, and John Hampton.  He proclaims he is the world’s only Physician-Musician on a Mission!

Profitable Tips For The New Freelancer

It can often pay to consider how to profit when first taking on a freelancing role. Freelancing is often stereotyped as a career path for lazy students who cannot spend an hour of the day outside of their pajamas, perhaps eating cereal as they work on their editing commission.

While there are likely people out there like this right now that fit that stereotype to the T, this is not the vast majority of working freelancer portfolios.Most freelancers have to double down on self-promotion, self-confidence and the willingness to sustain and impress repeat clients. This does not mean that the income stream is ever guaranteed. If you find yourself in this position and wish for a little extra cash flow in your favor, you may consider taking on these attitudes and habits for doing so:

Starting In Your Free Time

Starting in your free time is perhaps one of the wisest steps you can take as you build your reputation. It might be that you already have a skillset that you can apply, but before you gain clients and complete a few jobs, you will have little to offer and little clients interested in you. This means that taking the time before you quit your day job to refer to your side hustle in the evenings can help you keep your standard of living while also working hard to build your clients.

This arrangement won’t last years. Just a temporary period of this can help you prove yourself without financial worry, even if you might be a little pressed for time. If you have the funding or the will then, by all means, it could be worth making this your full-time gig immediately, but don’t jump into that with haste unless you are sure in more ways than one.

[bctt tweet="Profitable Tips For The New Freelancer #freelancing #business" username="alinabradford"]

A Home Side Income

It can be that as you establish your main freelancing desires, you decide to nurture a home side income. You may decide to tutor beginners in your freelancing skill, allowing you a secondary form of income instead of just trying to secure standard jobs through reputation alone. You may also decide to make the use of sitting at home all day working on your craft, by focusing on Algo trading as a hobby, an automated investment portfolio management system that can help you manage your bonds and stocks with a degree of finesse, and educate you on how these systems work. It’s not hard to see why diversifying your skillset through methods like this can make you a more rounded person, even if you were initially only targeted to complete your one artistic endeavor. It’s good to have side hustles.

Quality vs Quantity Of Clients

While you may want to establish many clients in the early days to build your reputation (this is a good option,) sometimes it might pay to ensure you only take on good jobs that you can really utilize your flair in to help build your unique offering, and develop your testimonials to an impressive degree with larger names. If you ever have the choice between one excellent and well-known client and two lesser known ones, decide if quantity or quality is more important to you. There is no right answer, but carefully thinking how they might benefit your operation could help you in the long run.

With these simple tips for the new freelancer, you will surely start with the best attitude to hand.

Success With Money | 5 Bad Money Habits That You Can Easily Change

Freelance writers, are these simple money mistakes keeping you from achieving financial success and true wealth?Let’s take a look at five of the most common money mistakes. Are you guilty of these bad habits? Is there room for improvement? Change might not be as hard as you think. Financial success begins with taking small steps. Doing one right thing with your money today can make a world of difference to the security of your tomorrow.



5 Bad Money Habits To Change Today

Guest article by Beau Henderson

Bad Habit #1: Waiting to save until you are making more money.

Saving money isn’t a function of your paycheck, it’s a lifetime habit. You don’t wait to save until you feel rich; you do it to get rich. Waiting only cheats you out of the money you could be earning due to the magic of compound interest.

Change your mindset to paying yourself first. Start now with whatever amount you can afford, and treat it like you would any other important bill that needs to be paid. If you have a 9-to-5, take advantage of any free money offered through your employer and contribute to your 401(k) or IRA. Have an amount deducted from every paycheck and put it on auto-pilot for success. If you never see the money, you’ll soon learn how to live without it.

success with savings

Bad Habit #2 Putting emergency expenses on the credit card.

This habit is a trap that leads to a vicious cycle of mounting debt. The only people who benefit are the credit card companies who receive billions each year in interest payments.

The solution starts with the establishment of a simple emergency fund. Open a savings account you can easily access – one different from your retirement or long-term savings goals – and start putting away money every month. To fund your emergency account, make only the minimum payments due on your credit cards. Put the rest into your emergency savings account. Continue until you have accumulated one month’s worth of living expenses in your emergency fund, and then tackle that debt.

Bad Habit #3 Saving for your kid’s college expenses before saving for retirement.

Whenever the subject of retirement comes up, I hear the question, “But what about saving for my child’s college education?” This concern leads to confusion and feelings of overwhelm. A lot of people end up so paralyzed, they don’t save anything at all.

The solution starts with the realization that while you can finance a college education, you can’t finance your retirement.We all want to give our kids the best start we possibly can, but the situation is a lot like flying in an airplane during an emergency. You have to put on your own oxygen mask before helping your children. Take care of your retirement first. That will put you in a stronger position to help others.

Bad Habit #4 Keeping the majority of your retirement savings in the bank.

This is a bad habit created by fear. While the FDIC does insure the base amount of your savings, it doesn’t protect against inflation and the rising cost of health care. The average cost of a one-bedroom stay in an assisted living facility unit rose 4.26 percent from 2008 to 2013, while the rate of inflation rose just 1.64 percent over the same time period.* If you are relying on the banks to keep your money safe, then chances are you’re going backward when it comes to your retirement savings.

Cure yourself of this fear by getting some education about investment alternatives. Insurance companies have developed newer products designed to give retirees with both safety and a rate of return that can keep up with the rising cost of health care.

successful freelance writer

Bad Habit #5 Spending 100 percent of every paycheck.

It has become the norm in our culture to finance a lifestyle we can’t really afford. The banks tell us we qualify for loans and we accept their numbers. This puts us in a position of needing every penny of every paycheck just to pay the bills and keep the lights on.

Adopt a new habit of living below your means. Even though the bank says you qualify, go by your numbers instead. Even though you can afford a new car, buy a used one and put the remaining funds in an emergency savings account instead. It doesn’t matter whether you earn $20,000 a year or $200,000, you will become wealthy if you keep to this simple rule: live on less than you make.

*Reference:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/powell/2014/03/16/powell-long-term-care-insurance-retirement/6428373/

About Beau Henderson

Beau Henderson is the Bestselling Author of several books including The RichLife: Ten Investments for True Wealth, The Roadmap to a RichLife, The 5 Thieves That Will Steal Your RichLife, The RichLife Stewardship Principle and Masterful Communication For Success With Business and Life with Dr. Bill Lampton. He holds a degree in Psychology from the University of Georgia as well as the designations of Retirement Income Certified Planner, National Social Security Advisor, Certified Long-Term Care, Master Certified Success Coach and Certified Master Behavioral Analyst, in addition to his role as CEO of The RichLife Advisors. As a media contributor, Beau’s message of the RichLife has been featured in media outlets including Fox, The Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, CNBC, and MarketWatch.

Website: http://www.richlifeadvisors.com/ and http://beauhenderson.com/

How Writers can Start Investigating

When you first get started, navigating the world of investment can be a very scary thing. A lot of people are put off at this stage, worried that the field is too complex for them, with most of the online guides they can find being confusing and often unhelpful.

This is a shame, as it doesn't have to be this way. There are loads of investment options on the market which come with an easy way out, taking away all of the risk if you simply follow the right rules. To help you out with this, this post will be exploring some of the most popular investments with this sort of trait.

Property

For a lot of people, property is a go-to when it comes to investment, and this makes sense. When you buy a home, you aren’t putting money into something you will never see. Instead, you will have a tangible object to show for your spending, and it will keep a lot of its value going long into the future. To get out of an investment like this, you’ll need to make a sale. This shouldn’t be too hard if you have the help of a professional.

Spread Betting

When it comes to things like stocks, Forex, and other resource-based investments, you have an excellent option to help you to get out of your spending; spread betting. Giving you the ability to make money in any circumstance, regardless of when you sell, this is just one of many great examples of a secure investment. Of course, if you want this to work, you’ll have to do some research for yourself.

Peer Funding

Over the last few years, banks have become increasingly strict when it comes to giving out loans. Opening the doors for investors, this has sparked a huge trend online, with loads of companies starting with the help of their future customers. Providing loans like this is easy to get out of thanks to the sheer number of investors. Your share will only be small, and this means that you can leave without impacting the overall pot.

Funds

Finally, as the last option on this list, funds have long been a go-to for clever investors. With your bank being able to handle most of this work, this option will give you loads of freedom. Best of all, though, is that you don’t have to wait to have access to the cash, as you can withdraw it at any time. Of course, you have to be careful with this, as some funds will want to you stick around before they give you any of your interest.

Hopefully, this post will inspire you to start working harder on the investment options you choose. Having a way to get out of something like this is very important, especially when you first get started. Some investments are much stricter than this, though, making some research essential if you want to succeed. A lot of people ignore this when they first get started.

Is Your Business Ready for Hurricane Season?

Hurricane season arrived on June 1, but the busiest period is fast approaching - typically mid-August to mid-September generates the most hurricanes in the United States.  Home homeowners are already pricing generators, restocking hurricane supplies and getting ready for Mother Nature’s annual visits. But what about businesses?  What should they do to prepare for hurricane season – or for any disaster that could strike and potentially upend the business?

Peter J. Strauss, a captive insurance manager and author of the book The Business Owner’s Definitive Guide to Captive Insurance Companies (www.peterjstrauss.com), says the time is now for businesses to prepare.

“A remarkable number of business owners will spend a lot of time preparing their homes, but very little time preparing their businesses,” Strauss says.  “Once a storm is on the radar, there is barely time to prepare your home –  let alone your business.”

Experts from Colorado State University — regarded as the nation’s top seasonal hurricane forecasters — recently predicted 2018 will have seven hurricanes among 14 named tropical storms. Both numbers are above the average of six and 12, respectively.

Strauss says some preparations a business needs to take include:

• Survey its staff members to determine what their needs will be during a storm and what they will need in order to return to work once the storm passes. The staff is the company’s biggest resource, so this should be a priority.

• Start stockpiling water now if you have some extra space in your business. In an emergency, the first thing most retail stores run out of is bottled water. Also stockpile canned goods and extra food items that can remain fresh for your employees.

• Take stock of all your software, hardware and data and arrange for duplication and off-site storage if necessary.

• Purchase a generator and make other precautions for the inevitable disruption of power that will happen during the storm. Come up with an alternate plan of how you will be able to continue to service customers if there is a prolonged outage of power or if there is structural damage to your place of business.

• Call your insurance agent and review your policy to make sure you have all the coverage you need. Also, videotape and photograph everything in your business and store for insurance purposes.

Strauss stressed that procrastination is not your friend when it comes to hurricanes. “Once a storm is approaching, everything moves twice as fast as you think it will. Generators, water and plywood will go fast,” he says. “Gas lines will get longer sooner. You can save yourself a lot of headache and worry by being prepared.”

About Peter J. Strauss

Peter J. Strauss (www.peterjstrauss.com) is an attorney, captive insurance manager and author of several books, including most recently The Business Owner’s Definitive Guide to Captive Insurance Companies. He is the founder and managing member of The Strauss Law Firm, LLC, on Hilton Head Island, S.C, and also the founder and CEO of Hamilton Captive Management, LLC. A graduate of the New England School of Law, he holds an LL.M. in estate planning from the University of Miami and speaks regularly at public seminars.

Mistakes to Avoid when Planning Your Career Move

If you want to try yourself at a new career or start your own business, it is easy to believe that - if you buy some books and enroll in a training  - you are guaranteed success. Instead of jumping in head first, you should think the new business or career through to make sure that you are able to tackle the challenges ahead. Below you’ll find a few mistakes to avoid when planning a career move.

No Market Research

No matter if you would like to become a professional medical freelance writer or get started with flipping properties, you need to get to know the market you are entering. A good way of assessing your chances for success is completing a SWOT analysis. Once you have a clear business plan, you can identify the strengths and weaknesses of your model, the opportunities, and the threats. Further, you will have to assess the competition in the marketplace.  

Lack of Investment

While people will tell you that you can make money without investing, this is hardly ever the case. Even if you are looking for remote jobs for graduates, you will need to upgrade your laptop and software, invest in research training, and get a home office built. If you want to enter a manufacturing market, however, you will need to buy equipment and get professional certifications and insurance.

Not Paying Attention to the Latest Technologies

Many people think traditionally when entering a competitive market, and they fail to differentiate themselves. No matter if you want to make money through oil production or consulting, you need to be aware of the trends. For example, check out greasebook.com to find out more about the latest developments in the oil and gas industry. Do your research and order white papers, read research studies and patent documents to be in the picture.  

Not Being Realistic

You must create measurable and clear goals for your business. It is highly unlikely that you will break even in just a few months’ time. If you are starting a freelance business, you will need to take lower payments in the beginning, until you have a solid reputation and great feedback score. 

Neglecting Marketing

Whether you seek a paid position with a company or want to work for yourself. It is important that you learn how to market yourself as a professional. Learn basic CV writing skills, find out more about what customers and companies are looking for, and invest time and money in marketing. Use social media, start networking, and find out as much as you can about your potential employers, customers, and business partners.

If you would like to change your career, more often than not you will need to change your mindset, too. Don’t set unrealistic expectations, but invest in your training and research, as well as marketing your skills and services. Find out as much as you can about the latest trends, and learn how to differentiate yourself in the competitive market.

Hey Carries! Enter to Win 2 Tickets for the Sex and the City Tour

I've been in business for 20 years! Guess who else is having her 20th anniversary? The world's most famous fictional writer, Carrie Bradshaw! For this occasion, I'm giving away two tickets to the Sex and the City Hotspots Tour.

Here's more information on the tour:

"On this guided Sex and the City tour, follow in the footsteps of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda – you’ll drink where they drank, shop where they shopped, and gossip where they gossiped. This Sex and the City tour includes more than 40 locations from the show! Whether you’re a Sex and the City fan eager to learn more about your favorite show or a tourist looking for an entertaining way to see Manhattan’s best neighborhoods, the Sex and the City Hotspots tour is a must-do!"

Tour "Haute" Spots

• Visit the site of Carrie and Big’s wedding rehearsal dinner

• Walk past Carrie’s famous brownstone stoop

• Hop into the Pleasure Chest where Charlotte buys her “Rabbit”

• Scout the bar owned by Steve and Aidan

• Reminisce Miranda’s embarrassing underwear moment in the Village

• Venture into the trendy neighborhood, MePa, where the girls frequent

• Pass the café where Samantha invites the girls to Abu Dhabi

• Get some retail therapy like Carrie & Co. at Greenwich Village boutiques

• Indulge in cupcakes like when Carrie confides in Miranda about Aidan

• The upscale restaurant where Samantha Jones met her senior citizen millionaire

• The storied jeweler where Charlotte York picked her engagement ring

• The New York Public Library, site of the would-be wedding of Carrie and Big

• The chi-chi department store where the ladies discussed Alexander Petrovsky

• The quaint church where Samantha wooed “the Friar”

• ABC Carpet & Home, where Charlotte and Bunny McDougal fought over a bed

• Carrie’s brownstone apartment stoop

• The expensive men’s clothing store where Miranda took Steve shopping for a new suit

• The shop where Charlotte bought her “Rabbit”

• Aidan’s Furniture Company

• The Bakery where Carrie and Miranda ate cupcakes

• Charlotte’s gym

• Boutiques along Bleecker Street – these could include Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Toosh, James Perse, Brunello Cucinelli, Fresh, Lulu Guinness, Creed, Mulberry, Olive and Bette, and more!

• And more!

The winner will be drawn on August 1st, 2018 and will be notified by email. One entry per person.