What will make you stand apart from your competition?

Promoting your business does not have to be costly, there are several affordable ways to do this.

Attach a business card or flyer to every piece of paper that you send out, even bill payments. When you send out emails have a business card style signature. Email interesting articles relating to your business to all your contacts and ask them to share with their contacts, do the same for them. It shows you took an interest.

Do you or your children belong to any sports, music, and dance groups? This is a perfect time to present your business while waiting for the children’s lessons to be over. Use the buddy system where you partner with someone else in a home business and when they send out their flyers/brochures, have them include yours and you do the same for them. This will give you more visibility.

If you use the internet, there are many free advertising sites where you can promote your business and post information and specials daily if you wish.

Do small inexpensive giveaways as a way of keeping your name in front of your potential client.

Have you ever thought of doing a presentation at a community centre or another inexpensive location and inviting everyone you know to attend? You could do a joint presentation with another person in the same or complementary business as you and promote the details well in advance and send out reminders, right up to the day of the event.

Posting your business on your vehicle can drive more business your way.

Join networking groups, often people in networking groups help and refer each other and many have a policy where only one person from each profession or business can join. Many of them are free or very inexpensive to join or attend.

Sometimes, we get stressed when everything happens all at once. When this happens, a person should take a deep breath and try to find something to do for a few minutes to get their mind off of the problem. A person could take a walk, listen to some music, read the newspaper or do an activity that will give them a fresh perspective on things.

When facing a current or upcoming task at your job that overwhelms you with a lot of anxiety, divide the task into a series of smaller steps and then complete each of the smaller tasks one at a time. Completing these smaller tasks will make the stress more manageable and increases your chances of success.

Challenge your negative thinking with positive statements and realistic thinking. When encountering thoughts that make you fearful or depressed, challenge those thoughts by asking yourself questions that will maintain objectivity and common sense. For example, you are afraid that if you do not get that job promotion then you will be stuck at your job forever. This depresses you, however your thinking in this situation is unrealistic. The fact of the matter is that there all are kinds of jobs available and just because you don’t get this job promotion doesn’t mean that you will never get one.

Remember that no one can predict the future with one hundred percent certainty. Even if the thing that you feared does happen there are circumstances and factors that you can’t predict which can be used to your advantage. For instance, you are at your place of work and you miss the deadline for a project you have been working on for the last few months. Everything you feared is coming true. Suddenly, your boss comes to your office and tells you that the deadline is extended and that he forgot to tell you the day before. This unknown factor changes everything.

In dealing with your anxieties at your  job, learn to take it one day at a time. While the consequences of a particular fear may seem real, there are usually other factors that cannot be anticipated and can affect the results of any situation. Get all of the facts of the situation and use them to your advantage.  The more control you have over your stresses and anxieties, the better off you will be in the long run.

Take advantage of the help that is available around you. If possible, talk to a professional who can help you manage your fears and anxieties. They will be able to provide you with additional advice and insights on how to deal with your current problem.  By talking to a professional, a person will be helping themselves in the long run because they will become better able to deal with their problems in the future. Managing your fears and anxieties takes practice.  The more you practice, the better you will become.

Biography:

Stan Popovich is the author of “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non Resistant Methods” – an easy to read book that presents a general overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties. For additional information go to: http://www.managingfear.com.

First, get all of the facts and necessary information to make the right decision. Find out the necessary facts of the situation and study all relevant information. This is important because you do not want to miss critical information that could make a difference in your decision.

Think about what you want and consider the possible outcomes of your decision. Each decision will lead to new opportunities. Consider the possible opportunities and go from there. Spend some time just thinking about what is it that you want.

Get advice from your friends. It is important to consider other viewpoints other than your own. Ask your friends and relatives on what they think that you should do. These people know you and they can give you additional insights that you may be overlooking.

Take a deep breath to help relax in making your decisions. If you still feel stressed, then get some fresh air or do something fun to help relax. You will feel better and gain a fresh perspective on your current situation. This will make it easier to make the right decision.

Remember that you make decisions all the time. It would not be the end of the world if you made the wrong decision. You can always re-evaluate your situation and do something different. Do not put a lot of pressure on just one decision. You will have other opportunities to correct the situation.

Remember that making a business decision is not a life or death situation. If you make the wrong decision then the next step is to learn from your mistakes and go from there. Learn what you did right and learn what you did wrong. The key is not get so worked up that you do not know what to do. Be patient and eventually you will be able to make the right business decision. Do not let your fears get the best of you.

The decision making process does not have to be stressful. Consider all of the facts and your interest when making a decision. This should help reduce your anxieties in making those important choices.

BIOGRAPHY:

Stan Popovich is the author of “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non Resistant Methods” – an easy to read book that presents a general overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties. For additional information go to: http://www.managingfear.com/

A: There are many different ways to educate children at home (as opposed to sending them to school) which will also give you the time to work on building your business.

First of all, plan lessons ahead of time. Once the lessons are planned the children can follow them on their own if you are busy, or with another adult to supervise (like grandma or an older sibling).

Secondly, take advantage of other home-school families. There are wonderful opportunities to join in with other homeschooling families for drop ins, classes and field trips. Take turns chaperoning events so that you have some time without teaching and so do they!

Lastly, take advantage of community organizations that will supplement your children’s education as well as offer them a chance to learn from others. Nature camps, community centre classes, music lessons, sports teams and youth organizations like Scouting and Guiding.

Just because you are homeschooling your children does not mean that you alone must do the teaching!

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St. Jacobs: On March 8th, 2012 from 5:30pm – 9:00pm at Quarry Integrated Communications Headquarters in St. Jacobs, the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre celebrated International Women’s Day 2012 with an evening of “Connecting Women, Inspiring Futures.” Sponsored by the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre, Ontario MEDI and local partnership with Quarry Integrated Communications, UW REAP Felt Lab and Mad Hatter and featuring keynote speaker Helen Papagiannis.

Helen is a PhD candidate in the field of Communications and Culture at York University, specializing in Augmented Reality, technology in practice. The event started with appetizers and refreshments, a tour of Felt Lab, our keynote speaker – Helen Papagiannis and closed with socializing, idea sharing and discussions.

Augmented Reality (AR) is phenomenal and it’s no longer coming; it’s here. Helen Papagiannis, renounced AR expert demonstrates this emerging technology having the ability change the way we see and interact with the real world. AR was once considered the realm of computer science, in recent years it has begun to expand into visual and interactive arts, cinema, and entertainment; we’ve also seen an explosion in marketing and advertising. This opens doors to women in technology seeking careers and
business opportunities.

Chris Farrell, Manager of Waterloo Region Small Business Centre says “The answer resides in getting this technology into the hands of creative individuals who collaborate, play and make ideas a reality. This evening has provided a tremendous opportunity for women in technology, artists and techies who are seeking careers and business opportunities.”

This event features opportunities for small business owners to learn how to engage their consumers with their brand using online tools and effective writing techniques.

The day will begin with a one hour workshop “Engagement Marketing” where participants will learn a marketing strategy that engages the consumer to develop a relationship with your brand. The second hour will be “Writing Great Content: E-Newsletters”, focusing on how to write content that will increase readership and create demand. Enjoy a light dinner and networking before celebrating the Entrepreneur Awards. Finish the evening with a “fire-side” chat featuring three start-up companies who will share their tips and experience, moderated by Daiene Vernile.

Learn from experienced entrepreneurs; Natalie MacNeil, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, She Takes on the World Inc. is an Emmy award-winning media producer and leader in the entrepreneur world, Michael Litt, Founder of Vidyard, a small KW start-up company that has quickly grown and attracted investors such as YouTube and Michelle Romanow Founder of buytopia.ca, an online company that provides users with limited offers at exclusive prices.

Interested in registering go to www.waterlooregionsmallbusiness.com or call 519-741-2604.

The Waterloo Region Small Business Centre encourages and contributes to the enterprising spirit and economic development of the Waterloo Region by assisting entrepreneurs with the development of their new or existing businesses.

At this time, only your partner has disability insurance through his/her employer. You are covered for drugs, extended health coverage, and possibly dental coverage as long as your partner has the company benefit plan.

As long as you are healthy and able to work, you can generate your own income. However, if you could not work, you could not be able to generate any income.

Unfortunately, none of us have a crystal ball to know our future if we will be stricken with an accident or an illness. For that reason, without any disability insurance, you are only playing ‘Russian Roulette.’ All on-going monthly expenses need to be paid whether you are working or not – taxes, mortgage/rent, heat, hydro, car expenses, etc.

How long could you survive with no income coming in? Most people would state that they could probably only last about 3-6 months.  Depending on Canada Pension or family/friends is not very realistic because their help may not really be there for you.
Disability insurance is your ‘income’ protection plan. It will give you an income to help you pay for on-going monthly expenses when your income is not there.  Your chances of being injured or sick before age 65 is about 1:8 vs. death being  1:104. It is the insurance that puts the ‘I’ in income and the ‘I’ in insuring yourself so that you will not experience a ‘certain’ financial disaster should you ever be unable to work.

You are a ‘money-making machine’ that can create money for you. If you were broken, disability insurance will create the money to help you to continue creating that income for your life.  For the cost of less than a coffee or tea/day, it can give you a ‘working career’ protection.

A few points to consider:

• Only partner has disability insurance
• When you can work, you generate own income
• Very high risk that you could become injured or ill before age 65
• All on-going monthly expenses need to be paid whether you are working or not
• Disability insurance creates an income when you can not work
• Not realistic to depend on Canada Pension, family or friends
• You will experience financial devastation if you are disabled and can not bring in an income
• Daily cost is less than a cup of coffee/tea per day

This is not necessarily so for women who emigrate here from other countries. Why? Because there are no universal standards for education, experience and skill levels. 

Women (and men) who move to Canada with doctorates, PhDs and other degrees are not allowed to practise in Canada unless they receive upgrading and retest, re-intern, or re-apprentice for their careers. Canada is known as the country of opportunity – and I agree we are. We live in a country that provides us with the opportunity to succeed in the career of our choosing. How do we assist those from abroad who choose to come to our country to reach the same goals? By providing them the opportunity to prove themselves as we Canadians ask of our employers! 

Employers are not aware of the funding and grants often made available to hire newcomers to Canada. The Immigrant Women’s Centre of Hamilton outlines a list of reasons to hire immigrants:

• Immigrants are essential for economic growth
• They are often more educated and better skilled
• Immigrants connect employers with diverse markets
• Productivity and retention is improved
• Immigrants can boost your image

In addition to the above benefits, many grants and subsidies are available that you as an employer can access to grow your business when you hire newcomers to Canada. Visit the Immigrant Women’s Centre of Hamilton’s website to source the right funding for you.

http://www.stjosephwomen.on.ca/index.php?page=employeestaffingsupport

http://www.canadabusiness.ca/eng/guide/1137/

http://www.careerlink.ca/

The above links will provide you with grants and wage subsidies information.  For further assistance and understanding, contact the coordinator for each of the government programs as outlined on the website links above.  Employment Ontario is an invaluable resource – their recruitment services are free of charge and they will assist you with the paperwork, the hiring, the screening of your applicants and more.  Our local expert – Charmaine Mitchell and her staff at CareerLink – Community Employment Centre (link above) would be more than happy to assist you.