Do you deliver presentations for your business? When you are preparing those presentations, do you recreate a PowerPoint every time? The other day I realized that I have been using a time-saving trick for years and have never shared it here. This technique has allowed me to prepare for an event very easily. Since a 1/3 of my business is speaking (keynotes, workshops, etc.) it is important that I … [Read more...]
Musings from 40,000 Feet – Secrets to a Smooth Flowing Business from a Flight Attendant
Yesterday was a day of travel for me. Up at the crack of dawn, a few car rides and two plane rides and I was at my destination. My first flight was on a very small plane. My dad would call it a "puddle jumper." As I was waiting for the plane to take off, I had the opportunity to observe our solo flight attendant getting ready for the flight as well as her operation procedures during the flight. … [Read more...]
What is Your 1400 Plan? Don’t Have My Tragedy!
I've mentioned before that prior to founding Calahan Solutions, Inc., I worked for a large consulting firm in the Chicago area. As I look back at those days, of course, I miss the people I worked with, but in my business I miss 1400. Do you have a 1400? I really wanted one these past few weeks. Back then, any technical problem that I had -- phone, computer, palm pilot (remember, there weren't … [Read more...]
How to Organize Business Cards & Networking Conversations – Interview @ContactKeeper
When you attend trade shows or networking meetings, do you later experience the business card pile up? Do you have great conversations and then get back to your office and either forget action steps or details from the conversation? Do you prefer to keep your contacts in a more traditional / less electronic format? Do you need an easy way to delegate the input of contact and conversation … [Read more...]
Grow Your Business With These Eight Processes
No matter if you are a one-person show or you have a business that has many employees unless you have business processes in place, you may find the business growing "out of control." The activity of organizing and writing down key activities and when they need to get done is critical to your ability to grow your business and thrill your customers. I have found that many business owners do one of … [Read more...]
16 Business Owners Share What They Would Do Differently
Business owners hear it all of the time: document your processes and procedures. Yet, time and again, it does not happen. It might start out innocently enough. The business is small - maybe one person - and the need to outline procedures is put low on the priority list. Then things get busier. Maybe the business grows and more people are added. Suddenly, the need for processes and procedures … [Read more...]
6 Tools to Help You Manage Large Projects with Local & Virtual Teams
The other day a colleague asked my expert panel about our suggestions for tools. The situation: "Rob" is a project manager that is responsible for a number of projects across the world and he needs to keep track of all of them. His team is global, so physical solutions (like whiteboards and sticky notes on a big wall) will not work for him. Of course, my awesome colleagues came through with … [Read more...]
6 Areas of Your Business Life That You MUST Have Flow to Make More Money (Be Like Bamboo)
How often do you wake up in the morning and say "ugh, I don't really want to go in today"? It happens to the best of us, however; some people have it happen less often. Why is that? I venture to say it is because they are like BAMBOO. Bamboo? Yes. While it is really from the grass family, bamboo has some amazing strategic growth processes--heck some can even grow up to 100 feet tall! So … [Read more...]
Put a Smile on Your Client’s Face… How a GREAT Tool Can Benefit You and/or Your Business
Recently, I have had a lot of colleagues and readers ask me how I stay in touch with people that are important to me and I realized that I had not talked about this tool in a while. When I first learned about this tool, I thought it had to be too good to be true. Boy was I wrong! The company continues to impress me with their ability to upgrade and keep costs low and value high. Keep reading to … [Read more...]
Computer Crashed! 400 Gigs Gone! Don’t Let this Happen to You!
Like many small companies, Calahan Solutions is not on a big corporate server environment. The company is ran on PC desktops and laptops (OK MAC Lovers, I know you are going to have comments for me, but at this point we don't have MACs). The hard drives of those computers are the life-blood of the company. Then it happened... the unthinkable! I went to my desktop computer about a week ago and … [Read more...]