EndaCast Episode 22 w/ Jenn Krenn
Get Your Cubicle “Pimped”
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Contest Factory for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Pimp My Cube is still looking for the worst and sloppiest cubicle they can find. They are hoping for video submissions that display clutter and chaos in your office setting. The cubicle that needs the most help will win a cubicle remodeling and the following prizes:
- New high-end computer system
- New desk
- New chair
- New decorations
- New entertainment package.
- New stereo system.
- New expresso machine.
- And more…
On top of the above, Contest Factory will come into your office and “Pimp” Your Cube. To enter the Pimp My Cube Contest, all you have to do is submit your video at the Pimp My Cube site after you register for an account. Once your video is approved, encourage your friends and families to vote for your video by promoting via social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
The contest started back on December 5 and will proceed until January 31. Therefore, you only have a few more days to enter and submit.
The second place winner will receive a $200 gift card. The grand prize winner will get their cubicle pimped out by Contest Factory, as aforementioned above.
If you would like to see a great example of a video submission, I have embedded one below. As you will see, not only is his cubicle in dire need of a makeover, but he edited the video to make it flow quickly, keeps it interesting throughout, and even injects some humor into it.
Good luck!
Getting What You Want
I overheard someone say the following in a work setting the other day:
“Anything that is good and worthwhile takes a lot of time.”
It sounds like an obvious no-brainer, but it’s important to digest its complete meaning.
In today’s fast-food world, we want convenience so we have drive-thru.
In the technology world, we want instant information, so we search on Google.
All of this has truly corrupted our perception of true value and the time it takes to create it.
Fast food is terrible for you. Better, much healthier food must be measured and prepared.
Instant access to information isn’t natural. What ever happened to learning something new over time?
When you know what you want, assess the quality in which you want it in and proceed with the utmost patience and dedication.
In the case of my wife and our new home, she wanted double vanities for bathrooms, and of course, her persistence allowed her to get her way in the end. However, you better believe she had to be patient throughout the process.
SOPA and PIPA
I won’t be posting today. Here’s why: Stop SOPA.
Drug Programs
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
As a working man with a busy schedule, I’ll be the first person to acknowledge that convenience plays a major role in my decision making. Everything from where I shop to where I eat depends on the important variables that save me time, money, and resources.
That is why when I heard about the issue surrounding Walgreens and Express Scripts, I deemed it necessary to write about it so that everyone knows what my favorite local pharmacy that offers 24 hour service and convenient locations throughout the nation is doing to combat negativity and fight for their customers’ best interest.
One of the many things that Walgreens is doing to improve the current network provider situation is the launch of the new Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens. This is a type of membership, that for $10 a year, an entire family gets discounts on prescriptions and any other pharmaceutical service that Walgreens has to offer, including flu shots and supplies. Individuals can sign up to this program for only $5 a year.
So if you are an Express Scripts customer that has unfortunately lost the perk of using Walgreens as your prescription solution, you should strongly consider signing up to this program. More information can be found on the official Walgreens website,. You can also gather information by following Walgreens on Twitter and/or liking Walgreens on Facebook.
Curl Up
There is a new form of entertainment and media consumption.
- Television taught us to “lean back.”
- Computers have encouraged us to “lean forward.”
- Tablets and mobile devices are enabling us to “curl up.”
Ask yourself what the most comfortable of these methods is. Add the fact that handheld devices are incorporating the best of all forms of prior media platforms and you have yourself the future of consumer consumption.
Now go out and get yourself a Kindle Fire and start adapting to the way the world is changing for the better.
Terms of 2012
A new year is usually the best time to carry out an overhaul and/or an assessment on everything you have going on in business.
In the midst of designing my goals and projections for the year, I brainstormed some of the key variables to this year’s success and decided to create a post about how these words can forecast marketing and the economy this year.
- Productize: To me, everything can be automated – or at least simplified to a form that calls for less time and effort. In a business, this is called maximizing profit by optimizing one’s time. This also allows a business to generate revenue without manual labor being necessary in real-time. Most certainly, almost anything can become a product, and if you are able to automatically sell your value even after hours, you have created an advantageous situation for yourself.
- Gamify: It’s hard enough to keep a new user/customer’s attention for a few minutes, let alone get them to commit to coming back again and again to use your product and/or application. Outside of the product itself, can more value be created for the buyer? The more fun and interactive you make an experience, the more it will be both utilized and shared throughout social graphs.
- Incentivize: The hundreds of thousands of businesses that have hustled to adopt a Facebook page are starting to realize that, with the exception of a like or two every other day, they are essentially on their own deserted island. No one is listening to what they have to say. It’s not that no one cares (well, sort of), but rather that people are inherently greedy. You won’t be able to create any social media waves without some sort of value in tact. The more you can incent a follower to engage with you, the more your efforts will pay off in the end.
Guest Post: Let Payroll Software Get You Organized
How payroll software can help you take control of your finances
There are lots of different things that make running a business a challenge. All too often, people who run these businesses have an excellent sense of how to market their product. They are excellent with sales and they have a good vision. So what brings down these business owners? Typically it is the fact that they just cannot manage the important financial details. They let money head out the door and they don’t keep up with where it is going. When this happens, they start giving away money on interest and don’t have the right cash flow to keep up with inventory. The answer for these business owners is the right small business software or payroll software.
The winning margins in small business
The statistics say that the majority of small businesses fail. This is a daunting statistic, but not businesses are created equally. If you have some savvy and a good plan, then you can beat the odds. The key is to understand just how small the margins are. The difference between a successful business and a business failure often comes down to where a few dollars are going on each transaction. As a business owner, you have to have your eye on the numbers. Getting good payroll software is key if you are going to keep up.
Mistakes made by people
Even if you take the utmost care in hiring and you spend a lot of time getting the right people in your business, no one is perfect. These people can often struggle to keep things in order and mistakes will happen. Coming to terms with this is very important, as least in the early going. Once you recognize that people are going to make mistakes, then you can see the need for software. The good thing about small business software is that it is immune to fatigue and other things that ultimately plague human workers. The key is to use this software to help your skilled staff. It is yet another line of defence for business owners who want to succeed.
Controlling costs to maximize profit
Every dollar that goes out the door is another dollar that you could be pumping back into your business. This is why you have to have a system that keeps up with every aspect of financial management. Payroll software allows you to see, in an organized fashion, the money that is being spent on various aspects of the business’s administration. How much are you paying to employees each month? Can you become more efficient in your staff? Where is the rest of your business’s money going on a month to month basis? These little questions are significant and they can mean the difference in a successfully run company and one that fails.
Ultimately your business’s fate is in the hands of a number of factors. Luck plays a big part, but you can become more “lucky” by taking the necessary precautions. Using a good small business software system will give you a leg up on the competition. It will make your employees more successful, give you more operating cash to pump into inventory, and provide you with peace of mind. Today’s software programs are so easy to use that you absolutely have to give them a look if you want to have long-term business success.
Goals In 2012
I’m pretty big on goal-setting. With every year comes the daunting task of creating revenue projections, profit estimations, and milestones to meet. While it’s super important to document all of this for your business, it’s just as important to set personal goals as well. As each month passes, make sure you revisit some of these goals to ensure that you are on the right path and focusing on what’s important to you.
For obvious reasons, I can’t publicize the majority of my year-end documents that I conjure up (both personally and professionally). Therefore, I have decided to mention some of the more general goals that I have made so that you can better understand how the goalsetting process works for me.
Personal Goals:
- Eat healthier: I used to be a lot better at this, but as my life became busier, I threw some of my good eating habits out the window.
- Work out / run / lift weights consistently: Now this is something that has changed drastically. I’m not as much of a health nut anymore, even though I do make sure I do some sort of physical activity at least 3 times a week. This year, it was mainly tennis and softball with an occasional jog around the block. In 2012, I am going to invest in a home gym and start lifting weights again and stick to a regimen that I can pull off everyday with my busy schedule.
- Learn to cook better: I’m already on my way in this category. I have learned to enjoy cooking while following a menu regimen called e-mealz. They aren’t the hardest recipes to execute, but I hope to continue learning in the kitchen so that I can eat both healthier and more deliciously.
- Keep the pool clean and healthy at all times: This is definitely more internal to my house and family, but my place has a very nice backyard with an outdoor pool. I have been taking a lot of pride in testing the water and making sure the pool stays clean. I have to make sure I don’t lose the desire to do so with time.
- Write more often: This doesn’t mean to blog more. It’s actually a throwback to my school days when I would write song lyrics, poems, and stories on my free time. Nowadays, this might be journalistic observations or even a rough draft of a potential business book, but either way, I’d like to put pen to paper more often to relax during my down times.
Business Goals:
- Write more often: Blogging is more of a business tactic to me. This one means to blog more often and definitely start penning a book on my free time.
- Outsource more: I already outsource a lot of my personal tasks to a Virtual Assistant. I’d like to heighten their workload as I am becoming increasingly busier. If I can afford to do so, why should I spend time doing things I don’t like to do?
- Start advertising: I have been very fortunate to have built many businesses on organic marketing tactics alone. In 2012, my growth tactics include all sorts of advertising to find out what will work. It will be a test, but I’m confident in my plans.
- Do more email marketing: I have so many websites, yet I don’t fully take advantage of the traffic and the lists that are slowly being built. I’d like to spend more time providing value to the subscriber of those sites by doing even more listbuilding and email marketing.
- Launch a quality new website application every month: I believe this was a goal on last year’s list. I wasn’t successful accomplishing this in 2011, but I was close. I probably created a dozen new sites in 2011, but there was no strategic launch schedule intact. That will become more organized in 2012.
- Improve customer service / client relations processes and experience: I already believe that all of my companies offer great customer service, but I admit that everything can be improved upon internally. I am figuring out ways to launch new workflows in 2012 that will enhance all of my Client and Customer relationships and make them even happier working with us.
What are your goals in 2012? How are you planning on reaching them?
Please leave your comments below.
My Favorite Albums of 2011
In case you don’t follow my Music’s Master blog, here is a review of my top 25 favorite music albums of the year.
To better keep up with my musical ramblings, subscribe to my Music’s Master blog.
25. Childish Gambino – Camp
24. Lady Gaga – Born This Way
23. Mayer Hawthorne – How Do You Do
22. Young the Giant – Young the Giant
21. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient
20. Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr – It’s a Corporate World
19. Smith Westerns – Dye it Blonde
18. Ximena Sarinana – Ximena Sarinana
17. The Belle Brigade – The Belle Brigade
16. Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean
15. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
14. City and Colour – Little Hell
13. A Skylit Drive – Identity on Fire
12. Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
11. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
10. James Blake – James Blake
9. Sleeping With Sirens – Let’s Cheers To This
8. The Naked and Famous – Passive Me Aggressive You
7. The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow
6. Adele – 21
5. Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto
4. Oh Land – Oh Land
3. MUTEMATH – Odd Soul
2. Andrew Belle – Ladder
1. Allen Stone – Allen Stone
