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LET'S TALK
BUSINESS
10 Filler Activities for the
Summer Business Slowdown
Summer is a time for the outdoors,
for that well-deserved vacation, and with everyone out and about,
it??™s also a time that you may notice a slowdown in demand for your
products and services. So what can you do during this summer
slowdown? Well, it??™s a great time to do the work that otherwise
never gets done during the busy business year.
Here are 10 filler activities you can do while waiting for business
to pick up:
(1) Write a bunch of ads, 3-liners, 4-liners, all the different
formats you'll need to submit to ezines. Have a bunch to choose
from, and have them ready to go so anytime you need an ad to submit,
you've got a selection to pick from.
(2) If you've been publishing an ezine for some length of time now,
consider giving it a breath of fresh air. Refresh old columns,
inject some new content, give your formatting a new look, play
around with fonts and colors, and see if you can't come up with a
friendlier, more readable, more exciting ezine.
(3) Take a long hard look at your website. If you??™ve had the same
design for ages, maybe it??™s time to consider a facelift. While some
may argue that it??™s unwise to change a look-and-feel that your
customers have come to identify with your business, I tend to think
that an all-too-familiar website can get old and boring. Not much of
an incentive to returning visitors.
I??™m not saying to change your design every six months, but I think a
year or two would be a nice length of time to be thinking about
rejuvenating your website and making it more exciting for your
visitors to come back. Keep logos and navigation intact so visitors
won??™t have to waste time learning where everything is again.
(4) Take some time out to ???meet??™ other netpreneurs and do some
networking, both offline and online. You can either join a
discussion forum or group, or set up your own (but only if you think
you will have the time to manage it when summer??™s over and the real
work begins). Networking is a great way to find out what??™s new, what
others are doing, and what you can offer.
(5) Clean up your hard disk. You??™ll be surprised at what sort of
junk lives in your hard disk. If you??™re like me, you??™ve probably
collected tons of just-in-case stuff that are just laying there
waiting for the twelfth of never. Use this downtime to trash useless
files, and get the useable ones organized into folders. Give these
folders meaningful names so you can easily locate stuff when you
need them.
(6) In a dilemma as to what files to delete permanently, and what to
keep just-in-case? Back up the just-in-case files to a CD, label it
and stash it away. Then delete those files off your hard disk. Now
you have an archive of just-in-case files in offline storage, not
taking up valuable disk space. This takes some sorting out but it??™s
well worth the effort.
(7) Okay, let??™s be honest, when was the last time you defragmented
your hard disk? Can??™t remember? And you??™re wondering why your PC is
dragging its feet when you??™re in hurry? Well, guess what, it??™s time
to do a defrag. The last defrag I did took hours, and that??™s because
I hadn??™t done one in ages. If this sounds like you, I suggest you
start one up just before you head out to that pool party, and by the
time you get back, you should have a nice neat disk all ready to
sprint into action.
(8) One major word of caution: Before you start any kind of
spring-cleaning on your PC, do a backup! The reason why I??™m
emphasizing this is that I??™ve been caught without a backup before
and it ???sure ain??™t where you wanna be at???. At any rate, backups
should be a regular thing you do, not just a summertime activity.
But hey, if you??™ve got some time on your hands this summer, by all
means, do a full backup of your hard disk.
(9) Get your mailbox organized. With the amount of email we get
these days, your mailbox can get pretty messy over a period of time.
So while your business day??™s not as hectic as usual during summer,
create new folders, label them meaningfully, and organize your mail
where they belong. If you run several businesses, or are a member of
co-ops or affiliate programs, this is a definite must-do! Once
you??™ve got your folders in place, it??™s easy to drag and drop your
email to the appropriate folder as they come in.
(10) Okay, now that you??™re done with the online housekeeping, how
about some offline tidying-up around your work area or home office?
Get your paperwork organized into folders. Labeling them in big
letters; or better yet, color-coding them makes them easier to find.
Keep current folders within reach. Everything else gets stashed away
into boxes out of sight until you need them.
Whatever you??™re doing this summer, have fun.
?© 2004 Kit Lum
Kit Lum publishes Go Get Global Ezine
which features advertising services, and business and cultural
resources to help small and home-based businesses grow globally. Get
more FREE tips like these at
http://www.Go-GetGlobal.com
SUMMER SAFETY
Hot Summer Safety Tips
1. Kill unwelcome guests: bacteria. More people become ill from
food-borne bacteria during the summer season than at any other time
of the year. One way of getting sick is through cross contamination
- or the accidental spread of germs from food to food or from
surfaces to food. Your hands can also spread bacteria to less
obvious places, like the refrigerator, door handles, sink faucets
and more. Help protect your family from food-borne illness by using
an EPA-registered product such as LYSOL?® Antibacterial Kitchen
Cleaner to kill bacteria like E.Coli and Salmonella that cause
food-borne illness.
2. Protect children from excessive exposure to the sun, and
especially between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. when the
sun's rays are strongest. Use sunscreen or sun block with an SPF of
15 or higher. When applying sunscreen or sunblock, pay special
attention to exposed parts such as the face, neck, shoulders, back
and tops of feet.
3. Wash hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and warm water.
Whether at work, camp, or on the go it's important to wash your
hands regularly and thoroughly.
4. The road to safe traveling requires simple precautions. When it's
family vacation time, pack the car with a first-aid kit,
non-perishable snacks and water. And for those long road trips, keep
a disinfectant product like LYSOL?® Sanitizing Wipes on hand. They're
a convenient way to wipe away germs that lurk on frequently touched
surfaces. They're also handy for food spills and in rest-stop
bathrooms.
Courtesy: News Canada
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Summer Recipe: Broccoli Salad
2 bunches of fresh broccoli, more or less depending on how many
you are feeding
16 oz. bag of mozzarella cheese, shredded
16 oz. bag of cheddar cheese, shredded
1 lb. cooked crumbled bacon (if I am in a hurry I use the Real
Bacon Pieces by Hormel, these are just as good and easier)
Large bottle of Ranch dressing
Just cut up your broccoli to the fineness that you like ( I do
mine mega fine for those who really don't like broccoli, they
don't know that they are getting as much ) Add both cheeses and
bacon. Mix well. Slowly mix in ranch dressing until it is well
covered. And eat.
This is best when eaten fresh, dressing tends to make it soggy.
But if you need to fix before hand just wait to add the dressing
until right before you eat it.
Posted by Chasity (Username: loulou) on
DCW Forums
TIPS FOR CAMOUFLAGING SKIN IMPERFECTIONS
Continued from last week...
Women with significant skin imperfections: port wine stains,
scars, pigmentation irregularities, and rough skin frequently ask
the experts at NeoStrata, makers of the CoverBlend line of
corrective cosmetics, how to best camouflage those imperfections
to achieve more natural-looking skin.
The CoverBlend team prepared the following tips for specific
camouflaging challenges to help women achieve the most natural
looking effect possible and gain confidence and self-esteem in the
process:
3. Dark marks (e.g., port wine stains) on light complexions
Tip: With a cosmetic sponge, apply a thin layer of makeup
over the entire face (or area) as a sponge lays down the makeup
lighter than the finger. Then with the finger, in a dab and pat
motion, apply makeup sparingly over the darkened area to cover.
Use a brush for the hard-to-reach areas like crevices and around
the eye to apply makeup. Dab and pat the area with the finger or
sponge to blend (never rub or try to smooth with your fingertip as
it will pull off makeup in the process). If desired (or as
directed) set with powder. NOTE: the face will appear more natural
with makeup covering the whole face, not just the mark.
To be continued next week. Stay tuned for more tips to
camouflage imperfections...
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