Written by Fred Taffer

As a promotional marketer, I’m often asked by nonprofits what they can do to increase their visibility and attract more donors. There are many ways to answer those questions, but it’s important to first consider current trends and issues as we take on 2022.

It’s no surprise that since 2020, the way we do pretty much everything has shifted. We have streamlined our lives to accommodate the need for things to be quicker and easier. This applies not only to our personal lives but to our businesses as well. Nonprofits must also streamline things to survive and thrive in this new era.

Written by Rob DePalo Jr.

Running a successful business is complex per se. Adding the element of “family” to a business often creates more complexities, especially as the business grows. Lifelong family bonds and expectations can run headlong into business realities and needs. Today, we’ll share some ideas about how to keep the family business running and the business family happy.

First, a definition

Written by Robert DePalo Jr. JD, CExP,
Director of Business Planning,
National Financial Network

Successful business owners may face a conundrum as they pursue success. “Though my competitors do something similar, they don’t do it the way I do it. So, how do I know the right way to achieve success, especially if I don’t do things their way?”

It’s a bit of a paradox: how can you build and enhance your company’s unique qualities while adhering to commonly followed best practices? The key is having a planning process. Here are some of the things you should consider to position your unique business to achieve generally agreed-upon standards of success.

Written by Susan Fitzell

Going beyond the LMS with remote learning to boost retention and business growth

The pandemic has revealed a silver lining for employees: reduced commuting time. Rather than spending two to four hours per day commuting to and from an office, employees are signing on and off each day with zero commute time. They’ve gained so many more hours in their day that many workers are reluctant to return to the old office-based work structure.

Written By Machen MacDonald

To continue to grow your business you know you need to be reaching out to prospects as well as connecting with existing clients. It needs to be on a regular and frequent basis. You know many of your competitors have figured it out and are doing it. In order to stay relevant and top of mind with your prospects and clients, they need to be seeing or hearing from you on a very regular basis, both online and offline. The challenge is you have way more to do than you have time to do it all, so how do you manage your communications calendar effectively in a way that will generate business for you?

The simple answer is: 12-week it, theme it, and be done with it.

Written by Dr. Dorothy A. Martin-Neville

Here we are, in the midst of winter, snow, and COVID. Just another day of living in New England…

My virtual assistant reminds me to do the newsletter, several potential new clients need a half-hour introduction session, I need to do my workout routine, and the emails keep piling up.  Just another day in the life of a very blessed woman.

Written by Michael Goldberg

A holiday party! I’ll be at one tonight myself.

No two ways about it. Holiday parties are great! Whether it’s your company party, a client’s gathering, association festivities, or a celebration with family and friends, it’s a chance to have fun and get into the spirit of things.

Submitted by John Hoyos

Written by ​Chip Turner @ MacguyverTech

During the holiday season, one of the things my family does is give out lotto scratch-off tickets in cards. It’s a nice touch, an easy gift, and nobody goes broke buying them. Inevitably, someone wins $20-$100 on a ticket, and everyone’s happy.

Written by: Dorothy A. Martin-Neville, PhD

My guess is that this last week you received an endless number of notices in your emails, FB, and so on, about giving thanks. Most of you simply deleted or bypassed because there was so much else to do. Taking time to read them can be too distracting from your packed schedule. I understand completely. 

The objective, really, is simply to encourage you to take the time, to sit, walk, or even lay in bed, while you slowly go over the life you have created, the blessings and miracles that have shown up so unexpectedly, and the people who have been sent into your life just as you needed them.

Written By: Machen MacDonald

When it comes to creating the life you love and the vocation of your desires, it takes careful and mindful planning. This can be done at any stage you may find yourself. Once you design a plan you have to execute your plan, but the very thing you are looking to create or improve somehow becomes the obstacle to it. Therefore, you need to plan and execute as you have never done before.

You have something great within you. You are here to integrate your learnings and experience into greatness and share that greatness with the world. Regardless of your current success, you are absolutely capable of more. The sustaining of the quest need not be exhausting nor daunting. In fact, the bigger and clearer the vision, the greater the fuel it will yield to propel you beyond the gravity of where you are today.

Written by Catherine Chadwick

How many people are in the world today? I imagine that there are as many perspectives on any given subject—or object—as there are the minds that are perceiving them.

Perception is defined by the Definitions of Oxford Languages as:

Written by Joe Curcillo

You might think, “I don’t care what people think about me.” Actually, you do. And you should. Not to seek their approval, that’s a waste of time. You don’t need others to like you to influence them, but you do need to know what they think of you, so you can deal with it.

If are going to influence people and lead them, how they see you has a major effect on how they respond to you. You may be very focused and driven to accomplish your goals, but if the people you need on your side see your drive and focus as coming from a malignant self-interest, they may interpret your desires as a threat to their well-being and work against you. If they see you as aloof or clueless, they may interpret that as a lack of direction and use it to manipulate you or just leave and find a different opportunity. In either case, people will be reluctant to follow your lead. 

by Susan Fitzell

And Avoid Stigma, Labels, and Discrimination

Fostering diversity and promoting inclusion is an essential component of organizational culture. Most of us are familiar with diversity in gender, race, and physical disabilities. When I mention neurodiversity to people, most often the response is a puzzled look and a question.

Written by Dr. Dorothy A. Martin-Neville

Have you ever noticed that whenever you feel the least bit insecure, someone shows up to convince you that you shouldn’t even think about taking that risk or doing that “out of the box” thing? Or, how do you become the leader of your own life when it feels as if so many others have opinions that challenge you every step of the way?

Taking risks, reaching further than ever before, or having the audacity to create a new path, whether for you or your company, can be frightening, exhilarating, and life-giving. It’s a calling.

Written by Dr. Dorothy A. Martin-Neville

Today is trash day. On the way to put out the barrels, I was caught by the vision of falling leaves. Only then did I notice all those that had already landed on the grass and the driveway. I can no longer pretend that it is simply “a cool day”. Fall has arrived and summer has left.

Yet again, I am struck by the realization that life passes by quicker and quicker each year. It’s all perspective, I know, yet it seems so real.

Written by Catherine Chadwick

Have you ever wished that you had changed your mind about something? Boy, I have.

Sometimes decisions are not made from our voice of intuition, but a voice of obligation or reactivity, or even poor programming.

Written by Dorothy A. Martin-Neville, PhD

A blessed and happy holiday to you. For some, it is simply a long weekend while for others it is a remembrance and celebration of the contributions of the working folks in both the development and achievements of the United States. It is a reminder that America is a country that has been built on the backs of millions of poor and hardworking people.

For all of us together, it also means that another summer is starting to wind down. School, in a variety of forms, has either begun or is about to begin. Not without the drama of masks or no masks for those going back into the classroom. Know your values and know that whatever they are, there is always a consequence. Own your values and the price of having them. How free you are to have a choice, even if one is a choice you don’t like….

Written by Joe Curcillo

Millions of people have made the decision to be entrepreneurs and independent business operators, and millions more will follow. 

One thing that many of them have in common is preparing for the unknown. What nobody tells someone who decides to become self-employed is that there are numerous things that will get in the way of your plan and that there will be some people who second-guess what they are doing or simply walk away. The good news is that the fear of the unknown doesn’t have to rule your life. 

Written by Machen MacDonald

Successful people know the secret of slowing down to speed up. It's about simplification and elimination. Finding ways to lighten the load, staying focused on the destination, and doing what must get done to complete the journey.

In auto racing, pit stops are a necessity to complete the race. Replenishing fuel, changing tires as they wear down and become unsafe, cleaning windshields, and making minor adjustments or repairs are all part of the successful pit stop. Even though when a car pulls into the pits, the pack of cars it was once ahead of passes on by, the car is doing the best thing for its chance to win. The other cars will need to pit as well, at some point, providing our car the chance to leap ahead. If the other cars don’t pit they run the risk of running out of fuel or worse…crashing and not finishing the race because of a worn tire that blows out or mechanical failure.

Written by Garrett Grega - Transforming Business Cultures and Leaders from the Inside Out

Have you ever hired the wrong person? If you could identify the characteristics for success in a position in advance, would you make the commitment? What if you had access to an assessment process that can compare “success” characteristics across multiple candidates, would this make it easier to hire?

Many companies approach their hiring process the same way. They cast a job description out and receive resumes from recruiters, employment sites, or their own career sites. As the hiring manager, you then need to filter through the list of resumes to find the perfect candidates for the role. Even after interviewing, you still may not know if the candidate will be a long-term fit for the organization.