1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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!
4. 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.
5. 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!

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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!

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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!
4. 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.
5. 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]

1. Todd And Marketing & Media: a clever blog thought up and written by Todd Andrlik. Todd’s blog deals specifically with marketing and media.
2. 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!
3. PRos in Training: Written by Kelli Matthews, PRos in Training covers various tools and resources related to public relations.
4. Marketing Begins at Home: Written by David Parmet, this blog deals with all aspects of marketing and public relations.
5. 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!

1. Get On the Internet! The Internet is, by far, one of the most affordable and effective ways for getting information out to consumers and others in your niche.  As the saying goes, “Anyone can create a website,” and it’s true.  There are plenty of Internet marketing companies out there to help you with this!
2. Blog it Up! One way in which businesses succeed is by having a blog.  In this regard, blogs function as a vehicle for driving traffic directly to your site or business.  Not only that, they also help you send and receive feedback directly to your consumers.
3. Socialize! When someone leaves a comment on your blog, send them a quick email or leave a comment on their blog.  Joining social networking sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon and Technorati will help you meet other like-minded people and will increase the exposure to your site.  Also consider joining forums for discussion purposes as well as looking into article submissions and link exchanges.  These are all great things!
4. Easy on the Sales Pitch! Nobody likes a salesman.  When you’re running a business, you have to realize that it’s not all about you and your bottom line; it’s about them-the consumers.  Tailor your thinking to this, and if someone shows interest, take it easy versus going for the kill.  This will yield you much better results in the long run.
5. Go Viral! Sites like YouTube and Hulu are wildly popular.  In the case of YouTube, anyone can upload videos.  If your business is the type that might benefit from something like this, give it a try.  People may get a better grasp of what you’re about if they can visualize it.

For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!

1. Do I have something to say?
2. Who is my audience?
3. What kind of reaction (if any) am I trying to elicit from readers?
4. Have I spell checked everything?
5. What about running it by someone else to proofread it?
6. Is my blog post too long?
7. Is it too short?
8. When I re-read it, does it make sense?
9. What’s the point of the blog? Will readers get it?
10. Are there any facts to back up what I’ve said?
11. Have I cited all references correctly?
12. How often am I going to post blogs to my site?
13. Am I posting blogs too frequently?
14. What are some good ways to get reader feedback?
15. Is there information within my blog post for readers to respond and/or get in touch with me?
16. How can I get the word out about my blog post?
17. Where else can I publish my blog post? Do I belong to other social networking sites?
18. What will my intended audience take away from this blog post? What will they learn?
19. Can I split the blog into different parts, like a ‘Part 1′ and ‘Part 2′?
20. What time of day will I publish my blog post?

For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!

Did you know that all RSS feed reader numbers are NOT accurate?  I have visited blogs that are trying to sell advertisements on the premise of their RSS readership being over 5,000 or even over 20,000.  However, after reviewing the site code, they were doing one of two things both of which were not ethical.  1) The RSS Feed number was an image.  In other words, it was STATIC and most likely copied from some other blog that truly had that many RSS readers.  2) The RSS Feed number was actually being pulled in from some other blog.  In this case, the feed was not static and changed as the number of readers increased on the blog that really had 5K, 10K or more readers.

Both of the BOGUS ways above used to deceive people into advertising on a blog or for that matter just trying to get them as a reader because “Hey, if the blog has 20K readers, it must be good” are tactics that we don’t use and will never use here on Create Business Growth.  Our readership really is just under 500 as stated above in our header.  However, we want your help:

To our current RSS Readers:
First of all, we thank you so much for being a loyal CBG reader.  Secondly, we’d like to ask you for help:  We want to BREAK the 500 RSS Reader mark.   We’ve been in the 400’s far too long.  If each of you reading this will just refer 1 friend or 1 enemy for that matter, we can BREAK 500 wide open before the weekend is over.

To those reading this who are not subscribed to our RSS Feed:
If you are reading this and are not one of our current RSS Readers, please see this RSS Tutorial on our blog.  It’s so easy to start getting our RSS Feed.  If you don’t have an RSS Reader, I personally use News Gators FEED DEMON which is a desktop reader.  Once you download Feed Demon, you can use our XML Code to subscribe to our feed.  Finally, once you get signed up, please tell someone about CreateBusinessGrowth.com and encourage them to sign up as well.

1. Jim Estill-the CEO of SYNNEX Canada, Jim is also a regular guest blogger for CBG. His blog gives valuable business advice and insights.
2. Client Service Insights-Written by Leo Bottary, this site deals mainly with client service and politics.
3. Debbie Weil-Debbie’s blog deals with issues as it pertains to social media, blogging and business.
4. Every Dot Connects-is a consortium composed of individual practitioners of public relations and social media with a focus on conversational marketing. The team consists of: Connie Reece, Kelley Burrus, Mike Chapman, Jennifer Navarrete, Laurie Reece, Sheila Scarborough and Brenda Thompson.
5. A Shel of My Former Self-Written by Shel Holts, an accredited business communicator, his blog deals with communication, business and technology.

For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!

Ever since my business colleague, Martin Brossman, told me about Second Life, I have been trying to figure it out. According to the site:

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world created by its Residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by millions of Residents from around the globe.

Upon first glance, it appears to look a lot like that other game-thingy…um…what was it called? The Sims, I think. It’s sorta’ neat, but I have to admit that I’m still a little confused as to the point. Perhaps someone else out there who has actually used it could offer up some better insight?

The idea behind Second Life is neat. People from all around the world can join it and actually create businesses and other neat things- it’s pretty much like going to work and leading an ordinary life except you’re doing it in a virtual world.

The marketplace section of the site is another neat feature where you can actually make real money because Second Life has a fully-integrated economy “architected to reward risk, innovation and craftsmanship”.

Second Life seems to be a great place for those who wish to drum up business for their business. Those who succeed do so by being original, creative and who demonstrate their entrepreneurial abilities. If any of you have ever joined this fascinating site and would care to enlighten the rest of us, we’d love to hear from you! In the meantime, check out Second Life and let me know what you think of it. They also have a blog.

For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!