Email is a fantastic tool for small business – it has many benefits over other traditional communication channels. However, it has its issues, too, and can stress us out big time! We are now exposed to more information in one day than someone in the middle ages was exposed to in their whole lifetime. And a lot of that is email!

I teach this method in my workshops and with my 1:1 clients in their offices and they love it. Once you get the hang of it you won’t turn back!

Are you feeling digitally cluttered? Are you feeling overwhelmed by the information overload and the stress of keeping all those different types of technology. Most everyone you speak to admits that their computer files are in a mess and typically it’s the last thing we get to because no-one can see it. But if you’re finding you’re spending hours trying to find that document you know you had or promising to print a special photo that seems lost in the mess, here’s some tips to get you on the path to digital organisation.

Legendary martial artist, Bruce Lee, once said, “Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.” However, since we are experiential creatures, sometimes knowing what to do comes out of knowing what not to do. In the world of entrepreneurship and small-business start-ups, there are many tips on how to be successful but not too many on how not to be. Setting up your own online business is no different than the real world.

Outsourcing is not a sign of weakness as some busy business owners may think. In fact, outsourcing is an intelligent move because it gives you back the time and energy you need to focus on your business.

So before you sit down to tackle the marketing, accounts, or business administration, evaluate how much your time is worth.

Most of us negotiate on a daily basis without knowing it. Any time we enter into a discussion where we try to find common ground and agree an outcome with the other party, we are negotiating.

If we think that we have to bargain for something more than we are being offered, whether it is something that you want to achieve in your career, when you are buying something or just dealing with other people as you go about your daily business, we negotiate to get to a favourable outcome.

A few years ago I argued that, there’s never a ‘right’ time to start your own business. It’s a dream that will always be ‘one day’ until something makes it become ‘today’. So what pushes people over the edge?

In that article I explained how the birth of my first daughter gave me the shove I needed. “After three months of leaving for work before my newborn daughter woke up and getting back after her bedtime, I had one of those 100 watt light bulb moments where you understand that there just has to be a better way. I gave four weeks’ notice and that was that.”

To every business owner, time is a valuable resource. With so many concerns needing urgent attention, it is easy to lose track of time in a frenzy of activity and then to find out that nothing major has been really accomplished at the end of the day. Every minute counts in business. How do you manage time so that every minute of the workday is productive?

These time-saving tips can give you extra hours in the workday:

Professional salespeople love negotiation, but many are more comfortable doing their job rather than negotiating about it. Here are nine tips for improving your negotiation skills.
As a proposal strategist and writer, my job is to get my clients shortlisted with the opportunity to negotiate for an important project or contract. During many hours spent burning the midnight oil together, clients become friends, and I usually end up caring about the outcome almost as much as they do.
By keeping tabs on the progress of some very long post-pitch negotiations and seeing …

Is your networking philosophy based on give-and-take? Do you aim to hand out as many of your business cards as you possibly can and barely acknowledge those you receive in return? Do you wonder why even though you attend lots of networking functions, you never really seem to make inroads with anyone?

Here’s a tip that will either be an epiphany for you, or your eyes will glaze over and you’ll click the heck out of here: give-and-give.

Butterflies, pounding heart, sweaty palms, shaky knees. Sound familiar? These are symptoms of stage fright, and you can overcome them.
If you know your speaking topic yet the thought of having to present terrifies you, this article is for you.
Firstly, recognise that you may feel your nervousness prior to giving a presentation, but most people in the audience would be totally unaware of it.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that it’s common for the thought of presenting to be worse than actually getting up todo it.
Delivering effective presentations is an important business skill, …