HeatherStone commented on the following stories on BizSugar
Neat Scanner Helps Organize Your Business Documents (Video Review)
"Ramon, What a nifty little device! I guess my only question would be, how does it measure up to other models? The idea of digitizing dead tree content appeals to a lot of us, I think, and this looks a lot simpler than using a traditional flatbed scanner, but are there other models like this just as good out there on the market? "Hire to Grow Your Business: Attracting the Right People
"Hi Mark, Great post here. I think this is an interesting way to look at hiring. Adding people to your business will add to your costs so there should also be improvement to your bottom line. One good approach would be to look at the projected increase in profitability to be sure new hires will bring the desired added value. "How To Balance Work & Life: Creating A Stress-Free Schedule
"Hi Andrea, What was that last selection on the video...downright insane? That's about where I'm at 20% of the time, but considering I've got a lot more going on than what your plan accounted for, that may not be too bad. So on my good 80%, when I have the most productive days, I find that it's only a couple of factors that make the difference. First, there's sleep. If I get 6 hours with at least 4 in a row, I'm golden. But because I work, go to school, have a business (pseudo), am a mom, and have other complications, I am pretty much going 20 hours a day. For me, there's no real stop, it's just that if I'm to be productive it's all about sleep, diet, and exercise. If I become tied to my computer and a chair potato, if I eat the wrong thing, I just lose energy. I still work, but am just not as productive. One great thing I did is join a gym nearby. Also, I drink a lot of anti-oxidant rich drinks and a good amount of black coffee. I stay away from sugar. If I do all that, I get about 2x the amount of work done in a given day. If not, I'm plodding through. Another thing that helps is not having worries or financial troubles. I've been through bumps in the road where those issues sapped my creativity and drive. Its like Maslow's hierarchy...got to meet the basics first. What I'd like to know is, how do people just do a hard stop at 6:30pm? If I did that, I'd disappoint a whole bunch of people. It just seems that it's easier to say it should be this way or that without knowing the crazy particulars of everyone's lives. I don't think there's a one size fits all for this. But anyway, great post, and thanks for contributing to BizSugar :)"The Key To Social Media Success That Most People Lack
"Interesting post. It looks like patience, persistence, and perseverance are what's needed, but one thing, especially regarding blogging, troubles me: there is no distinction between blogging for one reason vs. another. What I mean is, it's easy to write something every day for business purposes and for a client. There's a methodology, a set of specs, whatever. At that point it's word-smithing. What's difficult is fitting in personal blogging that expresses something real about oneself. For me, this takes longer but I feel its necessary to build one's personal brand, outside of the business itself. If you have to do both, there's a risk of becoming a hack, isn't there?...and then not having the time or inclination to work on your creative stuff. What do you think? Can a workman attitude really produce great blog posts? Because forcing oneself to write every day, not for clients, but for oneself, regardless of inspiration, seems a bit mechanical, and I'm not sure I'd like what the existentialist result would be."Why a Garage is the Perfect Place to Start Your Small Business
"Great post! There's not a thing wrong with starting out from humble household beginnings. I always love to hear these success stories from small starts that blow up into big moneymakers. It gives me hope when I'm sitting in my living room, stewing over blog posts and tech specs, tinkering with tinkerables and planning my next moves. But a lot of "business people" (underlined, figuratively in Caps, and bold) laugh or worse just don't take it seriously that you can bootstrap you business in this way. They're all about the VC funding and big offices. VC money is great, but I'd rather put it into product development than into office space. Thanks for sharing your inspiring post with the BizSugar community!"7 Deadly Sins Of Highly Inefficient Project Managers
"Hi Ivan and author Sean, This is a fabulous post! Frankly, I don't know why there aren't more submissions (on BizSugar) on project management, because it's such an important part of a lot of tech businesses and startups. I've been on both ends of the project, as manager and managed, so to speak, and by far the worst of those "sins" you listed is number 1, when the PM thinks that just because it's all properly planned out and allocated in MS Project that it's now written in stone, or it's the way it must flow to be successful. It's like they forgot about weather changes and agility and want to just force the project team into a plan, regardless of the changing environment. But really, all those you listed are pretty damaging to a project, and I'll be sure to keep this list in mind of things NOT to do when managing my next project. Thanks for sharing this with the BizSugar community!"How to give Constructive criticism
"Great and thoughtful post, but I've got a couple of problems with some of your advice. I think it's really terribly difficult to gauge how criticism, good, bad, is meant by an employer. For instance, if you're in the newspaper business and you've got a lot of edits in your story, well that editing is part of the process...IOW, just because you're edited doesn't imply you're incompetent. But in one case, of a writer friend that I know, the fact that she was repeatedly edited meant disciplinary action and eventual termination. When her editor criticized her writing, there was no hint of that to come, just criticism. So the thing is, there's no predictable, perfect way to react to criticism. She took it analytically, and it got her fired. She might have been better off reacting more aggressively, to "show she cared". This is just an example of how common sense reactions don't always work, and how there are holes in this kind of advice, no matter how good it seems."How to give Constructive criticism
"Well, I think it depends on the context. In US newspaper writing, editing is part of the process..it's going to happen whether you're a great writer or a lousy one. So this woman's experience was deeply shaped by that context. When she changed jobs, suddenly those edits meant a whole lot more--they became warning signs she failed to heed. Yes, she failed to read these cues and their implied criticism. But I think she could have made a course correction had the criticism just been direct, not implied. The final criticism for poor N. was that she didn't care about her job because she didn't fight over the edits with the editor, didn't show emotion, remained calm, didn't get angry. What I learned from your article and comment is this: As an employer, I need to be aware that when I give criticism it may be perceived in the context of my employee's total work experience...and I have to be cognizant of that experience..and be direct, not hedge about with implications. This may not be what you wanted us to learn, but it's still pretty good, so thanks!"Marketing Tips That Helped P90X Workout Hit $500 Million in Sales
"David, This interview makes me want to go workout. :) No seriously, I think the idea of evolving a marketing and branding strategy comes through loud and clear here and the biggest message seems to be that you need to have a message that makes you stand apart. Thanks for the interview and congrats for hitting front page on the BizSugar community!"Subscribe
Interview with Anita Campbell, Founder and CEO of Small Business Trends
"Hi Unmana, Thanks so much for doing this interview. I think Anita's insights will be a great help to other fledgling online entrepreneurs. It's awesome to have this post shared on BizSugar so our members can all benefit too!"