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If you’re anything like me, staying focused when you work from home can become increasingly more difficult as the beautiful spring and summer weather approaches. The standard distractions of balancing family life and your business are increased by your personal desire to be out and about enjoying that sparkling sunshine instead of the office where you have been hibernating all winter.

One of the greatest benefits of being an entrepreneur is suppose to be that control over your own schedule so that you can work when you want and where you want. So, why can’t that be reality when spring fever hits? In no way am I suggesting that you should neglect your business responsibilities or allow yourself to become backlogged with work. What I am suggesting is that you implement some fair weather tactics so that you can enjoy the outside world without that feeling of guilt that you should be back in the office!

Here are 3 tips for managing spring fever in your business:

1.  Implement fair weather working hours.  Starting your business routine earlier in the day will buy you plenty of daylight time.  Flexible work schedules provide a great opportunity to steal some daytime hours in the sun and also to test the waters for a more permanent flexible scheduling arrangement.  Don’t forget to let your clients know if the change in schedule will impact their ability to contact you.

2.  Outsource. Consider outsourcing some of the more mundane or routine tasks that keep you tied to your desk.  You should probably be doing this anyway but have been putting it off, so use the next few months to give the idea a test ride.  Virtual Assistants are one of the most important tools in my toolbox.

3.  Networking.  Use this as an opportunity to dust off your networking skills.  Networking events don’t have to be daunting suit & tie events.  Networking is done anytime like minds get together and work on enhancing their business or personal relationships.  Can’t you do that with a picnic at the park or a volleyball game at the beach?

As you can see, you don’t have to punish yourself or feel guilty about being out and about during the spring and summer.  A well orchestrated plan can allow you to enjoy both worlds!

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Business relationships much like personal relationships, require a give & take mentality from both parties. When one side of the relationship becomes a “taker” it pulls the life right out of the relationship.

Have you noticed a decline in the responsiveness of your email list or your followers in social media? Perhaps you may be asking for them to do more for you than you are are doing in return. People on your list or following you, didn’t do so because they wanted to see how many lists they could be on or because they had some free time on their hands, they did so because in some way you were providing value to their life or their business. What “new” value are you providing to them now? Is it less or more than when they signed up? Have you gotten lazy along the way taking their allegiance for granted?

Here are 3 places where you may be dropping the ball without even realizing it:

1. Are you asking for their support in spreading the word but not reciprocating? You should be spreading their valuable content at least twice as much as you spread your own.

2. Are you talking on your blog about yourself and the great things you have done or are doing instead of what they are doing? Regardless of the topic of your blog, I am sure that you can find some way of tying its purpose to promoting the successes of those around you.

3. Are you referring business to others as much as they are referring potential customers or clients to you? Even if you could do a referred project yourself, you could gain twice as much by referring that project or help request to another expert in that field. I am willing to bet that your plate is full already so I doubt you would go broke by passing on an opportunity or two along to someone else.

Business relationships just like personal ones can be mended.  Take sometime to evaluate the type of relationships you are building!

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Metro North Failed On Turnaround Times, Do You?

March 1, 2010

Metro NorthLast week during the latest snow storm in the tri-state area, passengers on a Metro North train were trapped for 11 hours when a fallen tree punctured a brake line only 3.5 miles from the next train station…Now I don’t know about you, but 11 hours to rescue stranded passengers seems more [...]

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Tips For Maximizing Your RSS Feeds

February 22, 2010

RSS FeedsThink of your RSS feed as advanced version of an autoresponder. When someone subscribes to your RSS feed, they have already quantified the value of your upcoming information. Don’t let them down by suddenly becoming strictly a salesperson instead of providing value to their information stream. Here are some ways to use [...]

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Best-Selling Author Bob Burg Reveals Why Go-Givers Sell More

February 19, 2010

Bradley Will, Founder & Chief Creator of Unstrapp’d recently did an interview with bestselling author, Bob Burg.  If you have never read Bob’s books (like the Go-Giver or Endless Referrals) you are really missing out on something that could impact your personal and professional growth in directions you can’t even imagine!
Watch the interview…and then get [...]

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Do You Have Window Shoppers or Buyers?

February 18, 2010

Are you in the business of selling products or services?  That’s just about all of us isn’t it?  Why do some companies’ products and services sell but others only have a high traffic pattern of “window shoppers”?
One of the main differences is how clear the benefits of those products and services are made.  Don’t just [...]

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4 Tips For Creating A Virtual WOW Factor

February 17, 2010

Doing well and making sales is not good enough to become a dynamic, over the top success in business. As a company and business owner, you should want to go above and beyond the call of duty and really wow people with your company’s mission statement, marketing techniques, products, and most importantly, customer service.
If you [...]

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Do Backlinks Hurt Or Help Your SEO Rankings?

February 13, 2010

There has been a lot of talk this week about “backlinks” and I think there needs to be some clarification on what they are and what they can do for your SEO.
Definition:  Backlinks are incoming links to your site or blog from other websites, forums, etc.
Importance of Backlinks:  Backlinks are one of the most important [...]

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Valentine’s Day For Small Business Owners

February 10, 2010

Valentine’s Day gives you a fun opportunity to show your clients how much you appreciate them and value their business. Read on to see how easy it can be!

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Are You Hiding Behind A Computer Screen?

February 9, 2010

Yesterday was an amazing day of off-line, face-to-face networking.  I wanted to take a moment today to summarize why you can’t just build your business behind a computer screen….
With the limitless possibilities of marketing your business online, it’s very easy to find yourself tied to your computer with virtually no outside physical contact.  Though you [...]

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