I have been thinking about offering some sort of summer promotion for my writing services. I’d like to get some new clients. I want to spread the word about the blogging and social promotion services that I offer. And I really just want to be trying out some new personal marketing techniques.

Summer promotions seems like a great way to do this. There is a bit of downtime in the summer so I can focus on creating a cool promotion. The people I’d be interested in reaching are people who are probably spending hot summer afternoons checking out blogs and social networks anyway. And since it’s seasonal, I can try it out without committing to it for a long period of time.

I’m not sure what type of summer promotion I want to offer. I’m kicking around different ideas. I’d love to hear some thoughts from you about good summer promotion ideas for bloggers. Leave it in the comments or drop me an email!

Tags: blogging, business, freelance, kathryn vercillo, marketing, self-employed, summer promotion, work

I don’t have a logo for my business. I have a few different images that I use on my websites but that’s not the same as having a logo which truly brands you. I’m thinking about starting to use a logo for my work but I haven’t decided on this for sure yet.

In thinking about it, I’ve started doing some research into logos. Most recently, I found out that there are three types of logos. There are font-based logos which is basically just your name in a cool font. There are illustrative logos which depict what you do for your business. And then there are art logos.

I suppose that if I end up getting a logo then it’s going to have some sort of artwork on it. My name alone just doesn’t make for a good logo. I frequently use the image of a girl at her computer when I’m creating templates and stuff for my blogs. Perhaps this is something that could be worked into a cool logo?

I actually did have logos for two of my previous businesses. The logo for Moka House was a font logo. This was ineffective because the name didn’t say a lot about what we did (which was provide writing services). The logo for Create Me Free was the font-and-art – it was the name of the organization along with a rose drawn by one of the inmates. I think that one was more effective.

What type of logo do you have? Is it effective?

Tags: business, kathryn vercillo, logo, marketing, types of logos

More and more people are starting to use online press releases to spread the word about their products and services. These press releases are very similar to print press releases. However there are some key differences between the two.

Here’s a look at some of the differences between social media press releases and print press releases:

• Social media press releases may be easy to release to a larger group of people due to cost efficiency as well as to the global reach of the web.
• Social media press releases can be optimized for search engines to get random attention that you don’t get from print press releases.
• Social media press releases can link to other articles and sites around the web.

The one drawback of social media press releases is that some people find print releases to be more credible in terms of professionalism. People trying to reach a professional audience may do both types of press releases to get the benefits of each.

Tags: business, kathryn vercillo, marketing, online press release, press release, social media

There are a lot of technological devices out there which have the potential to make us more effective in our productivity (such as unified communications tools). Unfortunately, a lot of these devices can be a double-edged sword; they offer a lot of ways to decrease our productivity too.

A really simple example is the use of instant messaging programs. They can increase productivity by making communication with team members more immediate and more efficient. However, if you have IM programs running all day then you may get distracted from your focus and actually lose productivity.

This was highlighted by a couple of the Twitter responses that I got yesterday when I requested for people to send me their top productivity tips. A couple immediate responses were:

• @BerksBess “turn off Twitter (and the Internet as a whole)”.
• @cdolwagen ”set aside specific time slots for email, web browsing and Twitter. Use a timer so you don’t overrun ”

In other words, you really need to maintain some level of self control when you are making use of technology and Web 2.0 tools. The level of productivity that is possible with them is truly within the power of the person using them.

Smart people are going to maximize their use of these tools without overusing them. The other tips that I received via Twitter from those types of smart people were:

• @kashicat ”For creative people with ADD, doing work in small chunks (i.e. light at end of several tunnels) can help get it done.
• @Ivenetian When you feel yourself drifting…say to yourself “back to work”!

So, back to work it is!

Tags: business, efficiency, kathryn vercillo, productivity, self-control, Technology, twitter, work

I was one of the early members of MySpace. My account lay dormant for years since nobody I knew was active on the site. Then, all of a sudden, everyone that I knew was signing up for a MySpace account. For about a year, I communicated actively there. I even had multiple accounts – for work and for personal use. Then a couple of years ago Facebook seemed to take the place of MySpace and my activity on MySpace slowly dwindled down to almost nothing.

I’ve kept my account active just in case MySpace suddenly becomes big again but these days I mostly use Facebook and Twitter for social networking. Thinking about this got me wondering whether any businesses are using MySpace for marketing anymore? I did some research into this question and found that there are a few types of businesses that are still active on the site.

Music businesses are the main business that still seems to do okay here as compared to Facebook or Twitter. Other entertainment businesses, like comedians, are active on the site to some degree as well. And then there are the businesses that market specifically to the tween/teen demographic that is still regularly using MySpace to communicate. Other than that, most businesses seem to be focusing their social networking promotion elsewhere.

Does this mean that businesses who choose to reactive their attention on MySpace could potentially corner the market on users still regularly active on the site?

Tags: business, kathryn vercillo, marketing, myspace, promotion, Social Networking

One of the reasons that I work for myself is that I really hate having a boss. I hate having someone telling me what to do and looking over my shoulder to make sure that I’m doing it correctly. For this reason, I am naturally turned off by the idea of employee monitoring in the office place. I tend to feel that if I’m getting done what I’m supposed to be getting done then my boss shouldn’t be worried about what I’m doing with the rest of my time.

However, I’ve been reading a lot lately about how to run a productive office. Because of this, I’ve been reading a lot about employee monitoring. And I’m actually starting to believe that employee monitoring has the potential to be a good thing in some businesses. It’s not only good for the bottom line of the business but it can actually improve employee morale when it’s used correctly.

Basically, employee monitoring can be used to generate more employee teamwork and to get feedback from employees about the state of productivity in the office. The one thing I do miss about working in a big business is that sense of feeling like you’re part of something bigger. Working with a team can make it more fun to get your work done and it’s often the case that you end up contributing to something that’s more than the sum of its parts. When employee monitoring is used to foster that, it can actually be a really good thing for everyone involved.

Tags: business, employee monitoring, kathryn vercillo, management, office, productivity

Networking is one of the most important things that you can do to grow your business and improve yourself professionally. Although today’s networking takes place primarily online, there are a lot of places where you can go to meet business contacts in person.

Examples of places where you might make new business contacts include:

• Conferences. Business associates have been connecting with each other at industry conferences and conventions for a long time and it’s still one of the best places to meet people.
• Ongoing education classes. Stay on top of your industry while meeting other people who are also on top of the game.
• Meetups, Tweetups, etc. There are a lot of online platforms where you can connect with people and then meet in real life at organized networking events.
• Singles professionals nights. If you want to mix business with pleasure than singles mixers are a good palce to start.

Those are just the basics. You can meet people in airplanes, office supply stores and random events as well.

Where do you go to meet new people in your field?

Tags: associates, business, contacts, Friends, kathryn vercillo, meet people, networking

Most people do the work that they do in order to earn an income. And the majority of people wish that they earned more than they do for the work that they are doing. However, there are things that matter more to employees than earning money does.

Some of the top things that employees care about more than the amount of money that they’re making are:

• Job security. People want to know that they’re going to continue to have the job in the future. This is especially true during the recession when people are really worried about potential layoffs.
• Job mobility. People like the idea that they have some freedom. They want to be able to change positions within the company or to relocate to do the same job from a new place.
• Respect in the office. There are many aspects to this. Employees want praise. They want to be trusted. They want their voices to count in the development of the company.
• Benefits. Employees may do a job that doesn’t pay well if it gives them other perks and benefits.

Wages do matter. People need to make enough to maintain their lifestyles. But money isn’t the most important thing that a job can offer to employees which is something important to keep in mind if you are an employer!

Tags: business, employees, employment, income, money, pay, wages, work

Google Voice is a service that launched in March to a select group of people that were already using the GrandCentral service that serves as the core of the product. It’s a phone call system that allows you to use one phone number to be reached at multiple phones. It comes along with a system of archiving voice messages in text form that makes it possible to easily maintain and organize archives of all of your calls.

This service (and those like it that are starting to crop up from other providers) offers a number of benefits to businesses. Benefits of Google Voice for businesses include:

• You only need to use and publicize one phone number. That number can then reach different phones so you get your calls even when you’re out of the office.
• Voice mail messages are transcribed to text which means that you can easily search for information taken down in calls through an email-style search of your messages online.
• This archived system may be useful in cases of legal disputes. The information that was exchanged is right there in plain view so there are not a lot of hearsay problems involved.

Google Voice is a step forward in the trend towards Unified Communications which are simplfiying life for businesses of all sizes.

Tags: business, communications, google voice, kathryn vercillo

One of the most important things that an employer needs to know to be a great leader is exactly what it is that he or she wants from the employees working for the business. By getting clear about expectations, the employer can lay out what the employees must do which makes it a heck of a lot easier for employees to meet the needs of the business.

One simple example might be the employer who wants to deter employees from personal Internet use at the office. This is a totally valid request since that time is time that the employee gets paid to waste. However, different employers may want different things from this. Some of those different desires may be:

• The employer doesn’t want employees using the Internet at all for anything that is not strictly work related.
• The employer doesn’t mind if employees spend some time reading blogs and news that might be at least somewhat relevant to work but doesn’t want other websites surfed.
• The employer doesn’t want employees spending too much time on social networking sites during work hours but doesn’t mind chat systems being used. Or vice versa.
• The employer wants to make sure that projects are completed each day before employees spend time online.

These are all very different things. Employers must know what their specific desires are so that they can communicate those desires clearly to their employees. Then employees can see what they have to do to make the boss happy. And if employees can meet those needs then an employer who knows what he really wants will know that it’s time to let the employee go.

Tags: business, employers, kathryn vercillo, management, work