Persistence over the long haul is key
via The Most Effective Strategies for Success – Heidi Grant Halvorson – Harvard Business Review.
Entrepreneurship
America: A Nation of Permanent Freelancers and Temps
We are quickly becoming a nation of permanent freelancers and temps. In 2006, the last time the federal government counted, the number of independent and contingent workers—contractors, temps, and the self-employed—stood at 42.6 million, or about 30 percent of the workforce. How many are there today? We have no idea since 2006 was the last year that the government bothered to count this huge and growing sector of the American workforce.
Traditionally, being self-employed used to come with a social stigma; you were self-employed if you couldn’t get a “real job.” Work was inconsistent and so was the pay. Today, the opportunities for contingent, project-based work are exploding, as is the development of tools that allow people to work independently across industries like software, design, marketing, legal services, architecture, healthcare, and engineering.
via America: A Nation of Permanent Freelancers and Temps – Jeremy Neuner – The Atlantic Cities.
Change This – Lay Off Your Buildings, Not Your People!
Change This – Lay Off Your Buildings, Not Your People!.
It amazes and disappoints me that we treat humans more poorly than we do our buildings.
We treat them as more fungible. Our building leases are for set periods of time, and we can’t
get out of them, so we lay off our people and keep the buildings. There’s always a mismatch
in that businesses are continuously looking for talented people, but in tough times they have too
many people in aggregate, and in boom times they lose a lot of business opportunity because
they don’t have the bodies on hand to capture it. There’s a better way to address this challenge:
being less reliant on physical buildings, which will enable a more elastic workforce.
How Self Storage Facilities Are Wooing Business Customers & Why You Should Pay Attention – The Frugal Entrepreneur
Many assume that the only business use a self-storage facility can offer is storage. But today many of these facilities are now offering a complete range of services such as mail-boxes, office facilities, showers, meeting rooms, and even pick up and delivery that can help numerous businesses on a daily basis. Some self storage companies block off a certain set of the storage units specifically for business use.
Showers?
Employee Outsources His Own Job To China : NPR
5 Reasons To Pick Up The Curator Habit
One way to lighten your content writing load is by becoming a trusted curator. Instead of putting the burden on yourself to write the content, you can take advantage of the content others are creating (and you’re already reading) in your industry by sharing links, pointing your readers to third-party resources, and highlighting the smart things that others are saying.
via 5 Reasons To Pick Up The Curator Habit | Small Business Trends.
I’ve been doing this for years. Now there is a name for what I’ve been doing – content curator. Kind of sexy, is it not?
Life Underwriting Expert Witness (for now)
It’s up to you to carve out your place, to know when to change course, and to keep yourself engaged and productive during a work life that may span some 50 years. To do those things well, you’ll need to cultivate a deep understanding of yourself—not only what your strengths and weaknesses are but also how you learn, how you work with others, what your values are, and where you can make the greatest contribution. Because only when you operate from strengths can you achieve true excellence. And we will have to stay mentally alert and engaged during a 50-year working life, which means knowing how and when to change the work we do.
Peter Drucker
If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be doing expert witness work 10 years in the future I would not have believed you. Read Drucker’s quote above and read it again. Let these words sink in, especially the wisdom about knowing how and when to change the work you do. I’ve changed the work I do multiple times in my life. I’ll probably change again at some point in the future. Don’t fool yourself. Change of this nature is not easy but it will become increasingly necessary for your career.
The Battered Incomes of the Self Employed | Small Business Trends
The 2010 Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances – a triennial survey of a random sample of American households conducted for the Fed by a University of Chicago-based survey research group – shows the large drop in self-employment income that occurred during the recent economic downturn.
via The Battered Incomes of the Self Employed | Small Business Trends.
No place to hide in this Great Recession.
37signals Earns Millions Each Year. Its CEO’s Model? His Cleaning Lady – Fast Company
She’s on her own, she cleans people’s homes, she’s incredibly nice. She brings flowers every time she cleans, and she’s just respectful and nice and awesome. Why can’t more people be like that? She’s been doing it some twenty-odd years, and that’s just an incredible success story. To me that’s far more interesting than a tech company that’s hiring a bunch of people, just got their fourth round of financing for 12 million dollars, and they’re still losing money. That’s what everyone talks about as being exciting, but I think that’s an absolutely disgusting scenario when it comes to business.
via 37signals Earns Millions Each Year. Its CEO’s Model? His Cleaning Lady | Fast Company.
I loved this interview. You will too.
Why Niche Creation is Where It’s At – The Hart Technique
When you embody a niche in the market, you have fewer competitors. Therefore you also have more opportunities. Opportunities have a way of snowballing. Work begets work. The more you work, the more you work.
via Why Niche Creation is Where It’s At | The Hart Technique.
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