Keeping Up On YOUR Business Education

Nothing can help you and your business more than keeping educated about your product, service, programs you use, etc.

Freelance writer? Take a refresher course on grammar and writing style; as you know, even grammar changes from time to time and you should be current and updated to the social standards (think additional and new meanings to these words, for instance: sick, read, shade, and that "can't" is now acceptable).

Are you in the health and fitness field? Take an updated course on nutrition-what we thought we knew about fat and fake sugar, for instance, is nowhere near what we know now, or try out a few of the latest exercise classes.

Maybe you are a home daycare provider, you can easily brush up on child nutrition, new activities introduced by other providers and parents, you could learn about safety in your home, and always, always, brush up on your first aid skills (even THOSE change throughout time).

Businesswise, regardless of your area of expertise, take a local college course in marketing, find a MeetUp of like minds, join Toastmasters, talk to a tax consultant yearly.

There is so much you can do to stay current and on task. Take five minutes out of your time today and list those things that interest you and will move your business ahead.

This was written the first month I moved to Hawaii. It's actually decent advice, but it turned out I rarely get two hours alone, not all my kids are in school any longer, and I'm constantly following everyone else's schedule. If there's a way, I urge you to put yourself and your writing first. For me, it's just not going to happen.

At last I may actually get my writing taken seriously, not because my family
gets it after years and years, but because they are all adults or close to it,
they all go to school in some form or another, and my husband only comes home for lunch. Yes, I may get two hours to work each day uninterrupted.

Had to get that out. It's sarcastic, to be sure. I've only been talking about
this since the day I started taking my writing seriously in January of 1997.

We had a pretty spot picked out and organized for an office when I realized our
room is a great size, no one will walk through it, I can close the door AND lock
it, and I can easily not notice it at bedtime. And for those of you who believe
you shouldn't work where you sleep, fret not, I haven't slept well in years,
after taking everything out for years. It's time to work my heart out.

I have learned to make things easy on myself a bit. I didn't cut down, cut out, or throw things away, I simply simplified. 24 folders - 2 for each month, one is
immediate action because it's due that particular month, and the other is
anything received, like rejection slips, bills, and yes, check stubs! That's it.
Why make it harder? When I'm rich and famous, I still won't change it because
that doesn't happen often for writers, but if it did, I'd HIRE OUT!

Lastly, I ditched the desk and got a big round table. All my work and my laptop
can be there when I'm working and can slide into a small clear plastic tub when
I'm not working. Nothing complicated. I still use the desktop, but that's
downstairs in the office that will never work as an office because it's too
convenient. For. Everyone. To. Stop. Me. From. Writing.

And thanks for sharing my slice of Heaven.

Goodnight!

ChaCha Tip

Are you a ChaCha guide?  (Do you wanna be?  Go to ChaCha and let them know Teraisa@gmail.com referred you so we can be on the same team!).  There are two ways to get started as a ChaCha guide, provided you're in and signed as a freelance - you either put one toe in at a time or you jump in, just like a pool. I'm typically the person who jumps, but in this instance, I'm barely at my calves, right now.

It's important to me to be a good ChaCha Guide, not just someone who works a job and that's that.  I want my answers to matter, because they matter to me.  I like to do things right; I like to be accurate.

My ChaCha tip for the day:  After you log in, check out at least one tip sheet (re-read if you've read  them all) and go to the forum for a post or two.  ChaCha can't exist if it doesn't work, which is why the particular rules are in place and need to be followed. You don't always have to learn by trial and error - that's what the tip sheets are for! 

As you read more and more tip sheets and answer/research more and more questions, you'll feel more comfortable and perhaps, along with me, we can get go above the knees and beyond. For now, though, I'm taking it slow and watching my quality.