I’ve been working at Fahlgren Mortine for a month now. Here are 10 simple things I’ve learned so far:

1. Double check everything. And then check it again. Then, just to be sure, check one more time.
2. Turn in work “client ready.” Make sure everything is in the right font, color and size. Check on text wrap and images.
3. Someone is watching you…so be enthusiastic in everything you do and be memorable.
4. Network.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
6. Take extra opportunities (like going to that optional meeting that starts at 5:30 p.m.)
7. Pay attention to company culture and politics.
8. Jump at any opportunity to get experience.
9. Don’t be afraid to come in early or stay late when needed.
10. Realize you’ll probably make a few mistakes. Own up to them, learn your lesson and don’t obsess about it too much.

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

Thanks to friend and fellow mom blogger Heather Allard at The Mogul Mom for this information.

Eileen Fisher, who started her company with $350 and a vision, is offering a Business Grant Program for Women Entrepreneurs. Five women-owned companies will be awarded with grants of $10,000 each. At least one of these grants will go to a start-up organization (or an organization that’s less than three years old), and the rest will go to organizations that need funds to grow. Only wholly woman-owned businesses are eligible for this grant.

The application deadline is June 1, 2009.

For complete information and to apply, read Heather’s post about the grant. You can also learn more about this grant and many others for mom entrepreneurs in the Resource section of The Mom Entrepreneur website.

Sometimes ideas come gently, and sometimes they smack you on the side of the head like a tidal wave.

I have been working on an idea recently that is so big and beautiful that it has shaken me up considerably. Usually when this happens, I move as quickly as I can to get the idea implemented. I am always about action, action action. The thrill and adrenaline of action towards a big idea is heady and intense. Sometimes though, it feels as if I’m rushing, always racing towards the next idea as soon as the last one loses its luster.

With this new idea, I’m nurturing it slowly. Letting it percolate and build. Allowing it to gradually develop in my head before committing to any action on its behalf. It’s truly the strangest, most beautiful experience I’ve ever had with an idea!

How do you handle ideas? Do you race to implement them before you can see any obstacles and get disappointed? Do you consider the obstacles and drop the idea out of fear? Do you slowly consider each obstacle and weigh it against the potential opportunity, gradually making steps forwards and backwards until you feel confident that you are ready to run?

Proofreading is essential in business. Your image and success depends on it. Remember, proofing materials don’t only include brochures and the like. You need to proof your web site, blog and social networking sites. Online profiles are often overlooked. Don’t let that happen to you. The first five tips are located in an earlier post.

Here are the final five proofreading tips:

6. Come to the table fresh. Do not start proofing your copy at midnight. Keep distractions to a minimum. Turn the TV, music, or cell phone off. Proofreading does require focus and concentration. Make sure your lighting is adequate. Dim and flickering lighting should be avoided.

7. Check formatting. Format errors are those little mistakes you find that involve fonts, spaces, extra tabs, page numbering, headers and footers, inactive links and the like. These errors can creep up on you.

8. Double check facts. Check important information within your copy. Make sure your information is the most current and accurate.

9. Read backwards. Reading backwards can help you focus on the words and not get distracted by meaning. Start from the last sentence and read until you reach your first sentence.
10. Tackle tables separately. Check your index or table of contents one by one to avoid missing typos in these vital areas.

These tips should help any business owner with their proofreading skills. It pays to use your time and energy wisely when proofing business material. If you don’t, you could be confronted with an embarrassing situation or a waste of money. Proofreading effectively can save your business image.

Have you ever embarrassed your business image with a proofreading error?

Colleen Degnan Johnson
CMJ Office
Fantasy Face Painting

What do you think of when I mention “investment newsletter”?

Many will answer referencing the numerous emails (spam?) they receive on a daily basis with information “that’s guaranteed to triple your money!” While that’s a preposterous boast, I think the most important thing to do when starting a financial newsletter business is picking the theme of the newsletter.

Picking a niche topic versus building a general investment newsletter

The key in the investment newsletter business is positioning (see this for an explanation about your Unique Selling Proposition), just like in many other consumer-focused businesses. Success in branding, marketing and distributing your newsletter will be built upon your investment newsletter’s theme. e-books, like newsletters, follow similar rules.

So, is it better to go niche with your newsletter (and publish the clean technology newsletter) or stay broad with a loosely-defined universe (like Joe’s Top Stock Picks)?

I think there is a fine balance between being to tightly-defined (Chuck’s Tech Stocks that Begin with the Letter ‘A’) and standing out from the rest of the pack.

See what else is out there

Go to Forbes Newsletter site.  Forbes runs a whole business where they distribute and market other people’s newsletters.  Check out some of the leading titles.  You’ve got

• personality newsletters — newsletters that are sold leveraging the reputation of an individual (e.g. Gary Shilling’s Insight, Gilder Telecosm Forum)
• sector-focused newsletters — investment newsletters focused on different industries (e.g. Forbes Wireless Stock Watch)
• product newsletters — newsletters focused on investing in specific products (Forbes ETF Investor)
• geography-limited newsletters — investment newsletters focused on opportunities in certain countries (Canada Report)

The majority of the investment newsletters tend to fall in the broad category.  This is probably because the audience served by a broad newsletter is larger than any of the other options.  If you choose to go this route, you fall into the space with the greatest noise.

Buck the trend

The reason so many newsletters have to resort to such slimy marketing tactics is because they lack differentiation because they are so broad.  If you want to stay above the fray, get better defined, without becoming so niche that you become irrelevant.

Have the foresight to scout future trends.  Analyze new investment products as they gain traction.  Scout new geographies where visibility is poor (China hasn’t been taken seriously enough).  Have the insight to pick an investment newsletter focused on the next hot sector in technology.  There will always be buyers (albeit, fewer) for more niche newsletters.

But here’s the thing: they’ll pay more for your expertise.  So instead of finding yourself in the $39-$149/year club, you’ll push the upper range.

I pride myself on being direct and being experienced enough as a freelancer to know
better. So why do I find it so difficult to bring up the dreaded topic of money and billing rates especially when I’ve already submitted a proposal to a client and go the extra step of doing initial exploratory work free-of-charge?

Me talk money one day

This particular instance which I’ve described above recently happened to me.

I felt even more worthless when I got off the phone with said client and realized I was so busy trying to sell myself that I’d forgotten to bring up my rates. In all honestly, my proposal outlined my hourly billing rates and he had skimmed it and given his initial “ok” but we’d never had a conversation specifically related to how much he was planning on paying me.

Ambiguity doesn’t sit well with me and in business, it’s the kiss of death. I realize that if I can’t have such a conversation with my potential client it might not bode well for our relationship longevity, but I opt not to think so deeply on this one. I don’t think it’s such a simple cause-and-effect.

I choose to think that much like I don’t like having to tell my boss I’m taking a vacation and might conveniently forget to mention it a few times before I eventually bring it up, this is another example of a conversation I’d rather not have because it makes me

uncomfortable and ok, if you want to get deep here, I fear (more than the rejection) that ugly word: Conflict.

I’m not throwing in the towel on this project or this client. Yesterday I had to send him a document I created and I used that as an opportunity to remind him of my rates. Sure, it’s a bit of a pansy move and it does little to further the line of DIRECT communication, but work with me here. It’s a start.

Worker Biatch is a wannabe Gen Xer (or “Millenial” as those labelists like to emphatically reduce her existence to) that has spent too much time in a cubicle. It’s a good thing she doesn’t go by labels or should might more accurately describe herself as a cusp middle child, stuck somewhere between the Xs and the Ys. Whatever the case may be, she’s accumulated some serious material over her years. She’s convinced this material hasn’t been too kind to her fragile psyche, but has made her a much wiser person overall and most likely funnier as a result.

Sunday morning before reading the comics I thought “I am going to look for organizing tips that I can pass on to my friends”. And guess what?…I found organizing tips! I must say I was rather pleased.

The comic Rose is Rose (no credit as to who draws it) was my inspiration for my organizing tips. There was a drawing of cute Mimi picking up leaves running here and there with an armful of leaves in each frame. In the last frame her dad said to her mom, “The raking would go a lot faster if Mimi wasn’t color-coordinating the leaf piles”! I will admit even as a professional organizer that was over the top for me. But….

Color coordinating can make organizing clutter in our homes easier and faster and help to keep them organized. This is especially helpful for people with ADD.

•Use colored file folders. They are easier to distinguish in a file cabinet, or when they are left out. They key our minds as to what are in them. Freedom Filer filing system is the color coded system I use. My mind immediately keys in to what is in the files by color. (Resource, permanent, active, taxes, remove/replace). This has saved me a ton of time. And it is a no brainer when it comes to filing.
•Color coding towels for different bathrooms helps immediately to know what room they go to by color.
•Sheets color coded by size immediately identifies what bed they go to.

Look around your home and see how many things you color code and please share with us your organizing tips on how this helps you with organizing clutter and how to be more efficient and organized.

Marilyn Bohn is an energetic, lively, compassionate, hard working and creative organizer. She was born to organize! Before becoming a professional organizer she worked professionally in diverse environments. She is involved in her community, providing her clients with a broad base of experience and knowledge.  She is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO).