Today is BLACK FRIDAY – Are You Shopping Today? Holiday Sales Weak According to Mastercard – 2 Minute Video
November 28 2008 | Marketing | No Comments »
Archive for November, 2008
Who Said That?
Here’s the lineup of noteworthy blogs for this week:
- The Buzz Bin- This blog has a nice layout and offers up some great info related to marketing, public relations as well as musings about social media. The team behind this genius are the folks over at Livingston Communications which includes: Geoff Livingston, CEO, Andrea Weckerle, VP and Qui Diaz, Director of Strategy.
- Authenticities-Authenticities has several contributing authors who help to make it a great read. This is the official blog of Edelman Digital, and it discusses issues related to communications programs, authentic communications, cultural trends and emerging technologies.
- Micro Persuasion- written by Steve Rubel, this blog discusses the relationship between emerging technologies and marketing communications.
- The Social Media Marketing Blog-Written by Scott Monty, this blog deals with issues related to social media, marketing, public relations and its impact on individuals and society.
- From the Desert to the Sea…-Written by John Stodder, who has over twenty years of experience in journalism, politics and public relations, this blog deals mainly with politics and social media.
For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!
November 27 2008 | Who Said That? | No Comments »
Will Write For Food: Are You Being Paid What You’re Worth?
Being salaried can sometimes be a drag. Despite the fact that employees are paid X amount of dollars per year for a certain amount of work time (typically a 40 hour workweek), salaried employees often find themselves at the mercy of their employers who often try to get the most ‘bang for the buck’. This usually results in what should be a 40-hour workweek turning into a 40+ hour workweek without the extra pay.
During these hard economic times, people are desperately trying to hold onto their jobs as others around them get laid off left and right and companies go out of business all together. Employers know this, and some take advantage of this fact by piling more work on their employees simply because they can. The notion of being salaried doesn’t make sense a lot of the time; if you’re only being paid to work X amount of hours, then it seems as though you shouldn’t have to work extra hours without compensation. Granted, sometimes there will be deadlines that have to be met and other things that are beyond our control; but poor management coupled with frugal employers who are looking to save a few bucks is beginning to make a lot of employees wonder how much longer they can tolerate being devalued. As a result, many employees are hanging onto what little job security they have as they look elsewhere for jobs- all the while pondering how much they are truly worth.
Salaries for Writers
You don’t have to wait around for the economic crisis to let up to find out what others around you are getting paid. Even if you are going to be stuck at your current job for a while, it is always good to know what the average salary is for what you do. Possessing this information will let you know whether or not you are being grossly underpaid (or overpaid) for what you are doing, and it will lend you some bargaining power when it comes time to negotiate your salary.
U.S. Department of Labor Salary Results
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average annual earnings for salaried writers and authors in 2006 were $48,640 with the middle 50 percent earning anywhere from $34,850 to $67,820.
Information from the same survey indicated that the median annual earnings for editors were $46,990 with the middle 50 percent earning between $35,250 and $64,140.
The average annual earnings for salaried technical writers were $58,050 with the middle 50 percent earning anywhere from $45,130 to $73,750.
Other Salary Information
There are several sites out there to help you figure out what your salary should be as well as what the average salary for what you do is among others. Simply Hired has a search feature which allows you to type in the title of your job field as well as your location so that you can compare salaries. For example, the average salary for freelance writers in Raleigh, NC is $49k compared to the national average of around $48k. In the meantime, the average salary for a web copywriter in Raleigh, NC is $50k. For a list of other average salaries for web-related writers, Simply Hired provided the following list:
Average Salaries of Web-related writers [source]
- copywriter: $54,000
- writer: $45,000
- part time: $24,000
- sr. copywriter: $63,000
- interactive copywriter: $47,000
- web content writer: $43,000
- proposal writer: $62,000
- t-tcg copywriter: $51,000
- senior copywriter: $67,000
- associate creative director: $78,000
- marketing copywriter: $64,000
- senior copywriter: $68,000
Other Helpful Links:
- U.S. Department of Labor- provides up to date info on salaries.
- Dr. Salary- provides detailed information on various salaries.
- Idealist.org- provides a great list of salary surveys, salary stats and salary resources.
- College Grad.com- breaks down various writing careers as well as gives info on salaries.
- PayScale – great resource that provides statistical info on salaries based on a number of factors.
- Simply Hired- allows you to search for salary info based on where you live.
- WritersUA- Training and Salary Info for writers and other professionals.
For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!
November 26 2008 | General Business Issues and Marketing and Resources and Work Related | 1 Comment »
The Toughest Boss I Ever Knew
*Note: This is a guest post written by one of our readers, Jim Estill. For more information on how to submit a guest post, please send an email to Janelle [at] unlimitedwebsolutions [dot] com or see our guidelines for guest posting.
by Jim Estill, CEO
SYNNEX Canada Limited
The toughest boss I ever had often made me get up at 5:30 in the morning to start work and often had me work until midnight or beyond. He made me work seven days a week. He forced me to work on the top priority jobs – to really focus on what needed to be done. He never thanked me for the work I did; never praised me for the sales I made or the successes I had.
I had friends who had the easiest boss in the world. Their boss lets them sleep in until noon; go to work in their pajamas; take the afternoon off; and be on vacation most of the time. Their boss lets them goof off. Do the unimportant while leaving the more important jobs undone.
Because of this tough boss, I succeeded and thrived. They did not.
The toughest boss I ever had was myself. I really have not worked for anyone; I have always worked for myself (or at least that is the way I felt). I started my business from the trunk of my car in 1979 and grew it to $350 million in sales prior to selling it to SYNNEX and I am now CEO of $2 billion SYNNEX Canada and so technically I suppose I do have a boss but don’t really consider that I do. And when I ran my company (EMJ), we were public so I had a board of directors and shareholders.
If you work for yourself, consider what kind of boss will help you succeed.
I am not actually proposing only the “toughest boss”. There likely needs to be a bit of “easy” boss mixed in. For each entrepreneur, they need to figure out the right balance for them.
One thing that is necessary in business is to run it like it is a marathon which means setting a pace that you can maintain forever. So you need enough “easy” boss to allow you to maintain the pace.
Tough boss can also learn to celebrate success a bit more.
Choose the balance that is right for you.
About Jim Estill: Jim started a computer distribution company, EMJ Data from the trunk of his car in 1979. With a great team, he built the company up to $350,000,000 in sales and sold it to SYNNEX in September of 2004. Now, he is the CEO of SYNNEX Canada, selling approximately $2 billion in computer products.
For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!
November 24 2008 | Guest Posts | 1 Comment »
Who needs banks? MSNBC.com Video – Worth the 5 Minutes for Small Business Owner’s – Check it out:
November 21 2008 | Marketing | No Comments »
Who Said That?
Here’s the roundup of awesome blogs worth checking out this week!
- Pro PR: Written by Joseph Thornley, this blog aims to help companies build relationships with customers via social media and public relations as well as creative design.
- Global Neighbourhoods: Written by Shel Israel, co-author of Naked Conversations, this blog specifically tackles issues surrounding and involving social media. Shel also covers other categories such as politics, global issues, tech business and weblogs.
- Snarkmarket: is a really neat blog written by Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson. The blog dishes out links and news on various things that are happening today. It’s a really fun read!
- Business Blog Consulting: This site runs off of the various writing contributions of others (listed along the left-hand side bar) and is totally devoted to explaining as well as demonstrating how effective weblogs can be for communiating with customers and marketing to new prospects. The blog offers some really invaluable info.
- Alltop: (as the name suggests) Is a fantastic site that simply lists all of the top social media news. You’ll be able to find a TON of social media-related blogs and sites here as well as a brief list (which can be expanded) of the latest blogs for each. This is definitely a site to bookmark!
For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!
November 20 2008 | Marketing | 1 Comment »
Micro-Management: A lot Bigger Than You Think
Webster’s Dictionary defines micromanage as:
to manage with great or excessive control, or attention to details.
And while many of us try not to do it, we are often affected by it-whether we do it to other employees or are victims to it ourselves. Micromanaging wasn’t always a four-letter word. In fact, it can be a good thing. After all, when you’re just starting out, managing every detail of your business can help it to grow. The problem begins to arise when entrepreneurs (or business owners who are passionate about their companies doing well) find it difficult to let their employees do their job.
The Opposite Effect
When employees feel like they are trusted and their abilities respected, this can lead to record performances numbers for any company. However, gung-ho business owners who mean well will often “hover over employees shoulders” with numerous phone calls, meetings, critiques of their work, etc. All of this over-involvement from an employer not only wastes his/her time; it hurts the employee’s productivity, kills morale and can rapidly drag a business down. On the contrary, it is when an employee feels like they are making an independent contribution to the company with little interference that they often work harder and more efficiently. All of this being said, here are some tips to avoid micro-managing others:
- Be Accountable: If you’re an employer and you want to avoid micromanaging others, make sure you make it clear that your employees will be held accountable for their work and actions.
- Be There: Just because you want to avoid micromanaging doesn’t mean that you have to step away from everything completely. Make sure that you are available to any of your employees in case they have questions. Allow yourself to be approachable, this way your employees aren’t afraid to come to you.
- Be the Best: Hiring employees who will be efficient is key. It is often difficult and takes some time to sift out who is the right fit for your company, but this is something that will help you in the long run.
- Be the Change: Focus on the future. Where do you see your company going in the next year? five years? ten years? Use this to help direct your employees to your vision of how things should be.
- Be Resourceful: Unless you provide the necessary tools that your employees need, you’ll be setting yourself up for failure. Figure out exactly what it is that you want your employees to accomplish and then determine what you’ll need. This will save you so much time and stress in the long run.
For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!
November 19 2008 | Marketing | 4 Comments »
5 Tips for Maximizing Productivity at Work
When you’re working in an actual office environment, it is sometimes easier to stay focused and on task. However, if you’re one of the many Americans out there who have lucked out with the opportunity to work from home, if you’re not careful- this “luxury” can come back to bite you.
When you’re at home, you’re in a comfortable environment. You don’t have your boss hanging over your shoulders or stopping by to check up. In most cases, you are your own boss. Therefore, it should be no surprise to find that numerous people have problems with productivity. When you are being productive, you are using your time efficiently. Here are five tips for maximizing your productivity, regardless of where you get your work done:
- E-mail: How much time would you say you spend checking your email each day? If the majority of your work is done on a computer, there’s a good chance that checking your email has become just as routine as brushing your teeth twice a day. If you’ve got multiple email accounts, there are all sorts of neat tricks out there to help you condense this so that you receive all of your emails in one location. Additionally, it may help you to create folders within your email so that you can stay more organized. For example, I have a couple of folders that are specifically work-related, this way it separates the business stuff from the emails I receive from my grandmother, etc.
- Get Sleep: Ah, sleep. This is one of the most underrated things nowadays, but it is VITAL for being able to be more productive and actually do a good job at whatever it is you do. Rather than stay up all night or work odd hours, if you’re working from home, it is sometimes best to come up with some sort of a schedule for yourself. If you’re a writer, this can sometimes be difficult because most of us have great ideas spring up out of nowhere at odd times of the day and night. However, getting yourself on a schedule will be extremely beneficial to your body and will help you get the rest that you think you don’t need so that you’ll be able to function more effectively.
- Focus: When you’re on the computer, there are all sorts of distractions. For me, these distractions come in the form of e-mail(s), Facebook and Twitter. You know what makes you waste the most time when you’re online, therefore, figure out ways to avoid it! I can clearly remember spending almost an entire day “stumbling” on StumbleUpon versus getting some other work done that really needed to be finished. Being able to focus means being able to exercise some self control. This is definitely something to work on!
- Short Cuts: There are TONS of shortcuts to help make your online time more effective. Even the little keyboard tricks such as using “ctrl +v” to paste info can be a real time saver. The more shortcuts you can find, the faster you’ll be.
- Make a List: A lot of people will poo-poo lists, but they are PHENOMENAL. Let’s face it; we’re only human. Granted, there are some people who can remember everything, but for the vast majority of us, we still need other methods. A great idea is to make a list of everything you need to do the following day. Then, all you have to do is go down the list and mentally check each one off as it gets done. Remember to put the more difficult tasks at the top of the list!
For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!
[photo credit: topgold on Flickr]
November 17 2008 | Marketing | 3 Comments »
Who Said That?
Here’s the weekly roundup of neat blogs to check out:
- Todd And Marketing & Media: a clever blog thought up and written by Todd Andrlik. Todd’s blog deals specifically with marketing and media.
- Media Orchard: You guessed it; this site deals with everything and anything related to media. From media news, celebrities, journalism and politics, this blog covers it all!
- PRos in Training: Written by Kelli Matthews, PRos in Training covers various tools and resources related to public relations.
- Marketing Begins at Home: Written by David Parmet, this blog deals with all aspects of marketing and public relations.
- Allied: This blog is written by Jeneane Sessum, a public relations and marketing communications consultant and writer. Her blog, Allied, is extremely well written and deals with various areas of marketing and PR.
For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!
November 13 2008 | Who Said That? | No Comments »
