Unemployment Rose in 43 States in December

The government has reported that unemployment rose in forty-three states last month.


Sophia Koropeckyj, managing director at Moody's Economy.com., stated that Texas and Georgia lost more jobs in December than they had gained the previous month

What can you do if you’re on the receiving end of a pink slip? With fewer jobs being created, what can you realistically do to recover from losing your job?

Having been a hiring and firing manager, I can tell you that it’s always best to notify employees of a reduction in force in advance if at all possible. The surprise of coming to work and being told on the spot that your position has been eliminated is devastating.

Regardless of how you find out, here are three things you can do to increase your chances of recovering and landing on your feet:

• Don't treat your advance notice of layoff as down time - Stay productive. Take an adult education class, update your resume or find a find a support group to join (Meetup.com is an excellent free resource).

• Start Networking Immediately - Get out and start meeting people. Learn how to network effectively to get the best results. Meet as many people as you can and leverage word of mouth referrals.

• Create Plan B - Start brainstorming on ways to supplement your income. Monetize your hobbies. Many successful business people are created during tough economic times.

Being proactive is the key to turning around any unpromising life-experience. This is extremely important when you’re faced with a job loss. If you create a clearly defined action plan, execute that plan, and remain positive, you’ll withstand the hardships brought about in today’s uncertain economy.

 
 
Photo credit: thegr8gavo

Media Exposure for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses

Free publicity is one of the best ways for entrepreneurs to market their businesses. However, most solo business owners don’t take advantage of it. They aren’t aware of the many no-cost resources available and they miss out on being exposed to hundreds, even thousands of potential new customers.

You don’t have to hire a PR firm, media coach, or pay for leads that may not generate results. You can do it all by yourself and allocate that money to better use.

I was recently contacted by ForbesWoman to contribute expert advice on crafting a concise elevator pitch. I was thrilled! Being quoted by such a respected and trusted business media outlet speaks volumes for my credibility.

The ForbesWoman experience was also a confidence booster. This was the first time a major outlet had reached out to me instead of me being chosen by sending pitches and media releases. Words can’t even describe how I felt when I read, “[ForbesWoman.com]…was hoping you might want to weigh in with advice. Having checked out your website, I think you'd make a great addition!”

It doesn’t matter if it’s print, online, tv, or radio – any medium that puts you in the spotlight will drive traffic to your website and raise your expert status while affording you the opportunity to give valuable advice that will benefit the audience.

Are you interested in getting media exposure for your business? Leave me a comment below and I’ll answer your questions and offer suggestions to help get you noticed.

The Unemployed Entrepreneur™ Framework

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve found myself sharing my daily framework with people who need some help managing their day as a work-from-home entrepreneur.

My Facebook friend, Tera McHugh, posted an update about something similar and I chimed in saying that I’d switched from a daily to-do list to a weekly one. This one change has done wonders for me, in that I’m getting so much more done. Tera stated she wanted to hear any suggestions I have so here goes…

Disclaimer

1. What works for me may not work for the person next door. Having said that, take these suggestions (and any others that you get) and modify them to best suit you. That’s the only way you’ll be satisfied with the outcome.

2. Leave room for adjustments. Don’t hold yourself accountable to the point where you feel less than pleased with yourself for not getting as much done as you set out to do. The key is to remain flexible while still being focused.

3. Do what feels natural to you and do it consistently. Don’t abandon your framework before you’ve given it a chance to actually work. Simply put – it’s going to take you more than 3 days to develop a pattern so don’t quit after 2 days saying that it didn’t work.

Here’s my real-life framework. I really don’t have to refer to it because I’ve used it for over a year now. I’ll be making revisions to it soon, like the tasks I complete between 9pm – 10:30 p.m. This time will be dedicated solely to completing special projects, program development, and implementation of new launches, etc. On days when I'm out of the office, it means I'll have to work on the weekend or a little past my normal weekday "business" hours.

9am - 2pm = WORK! (write articles, blog, marketing, networking, teleseminars, coaching, etc.)

2pm - 4pm = Transition (this is when I'm preparing for kids to come home, picking up kids, scheduling appointments for family, etc.)

4pm - 8pm = Family

8:30pm       = Son's Bedtime

8:30pm - 9 = Me & Daughter time

9pm - 10:30 = Check emails, update calendar, tweet, Facebook

10:30 - 11 = Read (Sometimes I use this time for brainstorming or prep for the next day)

Friday = 12p to 1:30p meeting with my Action & Accountability group. No other work-related appointments on this day.

I don’t put a lot of emphasis on timeblocking every task. This just doesn’t work for me. Again, since I’ve used this schedule for so long, I know what needs to be done at what time and I prioritize the tasks on my weekly list accordingly. For example, I’m not going to start an in-depth project at 1pm that’ll take longer than an hour to complete because I’ll have to “clock out” at 2pm. Instead, I’ll work on it first thing in the morning – as long as it’s a real priority. I focus on doing the things I need to do for the week and manage my time around those tasks.

Did this help at all? Leave your comments and questions below and I’ll be sure to clarify and elaborate for you.

 
 
Photo credit: Zach Klein

Today's Video: Pretty vs. Prepared

This is Part 1 of the Pretty vs. Prepared series. Take a look at the video and let me know if you're up for the challenge.

Where do you stand on being pretty vs. prepared? Do you think it can be detrimental to your business if you focus on one more than the other?

Walgreens Offers More Than Prescriptions and Chia Pets

I’ve been called everything from frugal to down right cheap. Oh well! That only motivates me to continue to save and find deals. And when I do, I’m blogging and sharing them with you.

I must admit that sometimes I’m a bit skeptical when it comes to taking advantage of certain bargains. However, the one thing that can always sway me is if someone I know and trust has used the product or service.

A family member told me about the printer ink cartridge refills available at Walgreens. She’d gotten hers refilled there and was totally pleased.

I woke up on Monday ready to work and couldn’t print a single page. I got online to see if the Walgreens closest to me offered the service (not all stores do according to their website). Sure enough they did and I didn’t waste any time getting over there.

They charge $12.99 per cartridge for color and black refills. If I’d bought them from Dell, the color cartridge would’ve been $26.99 and the black $29.99. That’s definitely not in my spending plan.

The technician did a test on each cartridge to make sure they would “take” the refills. My black cartridge failed (you’re not supposed to have more than 5 line breaks on the test strip of paper…mine looked like a row of mismatched legos!). My color cartridge test didn’t look too good either. She advised that she was going to proceed with refilling them, but there was a possibility they may not work. She told me to ensure you get the best results, bring the cartridges in immediately when you get the low ink warning. Mine were dry as a bone since I’d ignored all previous warnings.

When she paged me to come to the photo department (I was off browsing…they had these orange “last chance” stickers all over the cosmetics section with ridiculous markdowns!) she gave me great news. She told me she wasn’t going to charge me for the black refill since it probably wasn’t going to work. I got both cartridges for $12.99 plus tax. That’s a savings of more than $40! And on top of that, I got two coupons for 50% off my next refills.

Summary: The Walgreens printer cartridge refills are an exceptional value. I saved over 75% and didn’t sacrifice convenience. Both cartridges are like new. I have the same print quality. I’ll never pay full retail for refills again.

Do you know of any awesome specials? Share them here in the comments below.

Photo credit: hargo