HeatherStone commented on the following stories on BizSugar
The Imagination: How Important Is It? How Do You Make It a Force for Good?
"Great question! I could give you a straight business-y answer, but I'm just going to speak from the heart: When you are a creative, imaginative person and are unable, for whatever reason, to use that imagination/creativity, depression and other mad influences will always creep in. People are always at their best when they are free to pursue their interests, not subordinate them to those of others. By this, I don't mean that, say, having a client who wants things a certain way is subordinating one's interests to another. I mean that working as a gas station attendant when you want to be a rock star, or even working as a respected IT professional when all you want is to be an artist, these scenarios are what pervert one's imagination and breeds blame, insecurity, depression, etc. No one can be happy if they're not doing what they love."Parking Panda: Do You Ever Have Trouble Parking?
"Excellent post! What a creative idea, and desperately needed in my neck of the woods, near Bethlehem, Pa, where the city gouges both your eyes out and requires your first born for the privilege of parking in its exorbitantly priced metered parking. When people are ticked off, there's an opportunity there! An inspiring story for entrepreneurs everywhere (and especially in Bethlehem, Pa.)!"How to Give a Great Presentation
"One of the methods my team building classes at college taught for giving great presentations is first, tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them how you're going to tell it to them, and finally, tell them how you told it to them, them being the audience. Sounds simple, yet a lot of people are so intimidated by the process. Thank you for the great post!"21st Century BA as Creative Leader: What’s All the Fuss About?
"What a comprehensive and fantastic article! One of the biggest problems in business is the necessary evil of management. Managers, by nature, hamper creativity in the interest of efficiency and expediency; they are often not just the gatekeepers but the road blocks that creative minded employees must break through to get to the real leadership of the company and be heard. Either that, or they must waste time "winning over" these types, which saps creative energy. Yet this doesn't have to be! Why can't managers simply take a page from the leader and temper, mold, shape, the ideas of creative employees rather than seek to break their spirits? Obviously there's a lot to say on the subject--there's a lot to digest, but a great post. Keep up the good work!"Trends in Mobile Shopping Habits
"I find it intriguing that people seem to use their cell phones for price comparison rather than actual buying. I do the same, and weigh my purchasing options according to price and what I call "instant gratification factor", which means that if the price differential between the item that's at the store and the best online price isn't great, then I'm going to seek that "here and now" purchase at the store. It's worth it to me to pay just a few bucks more for that factor. For a lot of products, people just want to know they aren't getting totally shafted on price; if the difference is not great, they'll go for that instant grat. It's true that this is good news for small retail business, because they can always provide that factor. I love your post, keep up the great work!"How to Build a Press Kit for Your Small Business
"This is a really good idea, especially an online version of a company press kit. I'm sure, with the variety of Web tools out there, that there are lots of options for distinguishing a business and appealing to that niche. Thank you for the interesting post!"Learning to Say No as a Freelancer
"Saying "yes" to client requests and to other things for that matter, like added life responsibilities, helping out people and causes, social groups, etc. can become compulsive. You want to be responsible, sock that money away for lean times, etc. You wind up instead over extending yourself and doing a crap job at the entire shebang. I've been there, done that. In fact, one of the worst things is when you don't say "no" to a job you hate that holds you back from what you really want to do, like starting your own business. You might feel you're shirking your responsibility to bring home the bacon. It's a vicious cycle. I am definitely learning to say "no" when overall work or that of my clients could suffer, but it's still difficult!"Preventing Job Burnout - What is Causing Your Frustration?
"Interesting article! I can really relate to burn-out feelings about work--my husband is currently facing those. Some of the advice is great, but about office politics: telecommuting will not always provide a safe zone or buffer against office politics. In fact, political people, especially managers, can better cut you out of the loop when seeking to undermine you when you telecommute. Game players are always determined to play their games. Anyway, thanks for the post!"Subscribe
How to create your social media To-Do list and why?
"Yes, we all need to follow that to-do list! Especially difficult when bootstrapping your business to allocate the time needed, but it's never too late to start doing more to build that following. Thanks for the great post!"