It’s funny but she was just visiting family. Evidently she planned to come back to Boston. Still, I suppose there were security concerns. Other potential Venezuelan telecommuters had temporarily bought out all the South American stock of Boston Red Sox ball caps and English as a Second Language instructors struggled to help potential applicants learn how to pronounce the name “Yastrzemski”.
Boston Official Allowed Worker To Telecommute - From Venezuela!
A spokeswoman for the mayor told the Boston Herald Wednesday that DPW chief Dennis Royer was suspended without pay for three weeks.
Royer reportedly allowed Fariba Agheli, a computer network manager, to work from her family’s home in Venezuela for 15 weeks since last October.
Menino spokeswoman Dot Joyce told the newspaper that Royer’s decision showed “poor judgment” and was not consistent with the city’s policies.
Joyce says Agheli was not punished because she asked for and was granted permission to work from South America while visiting family.
It’s funny, if a husband, for example, works at the office all week and the wife works at home, then when the husband just wants to hang around the house over the weekend, the wife wants to escape I’ve noticed. She’s tired of being locked in!
So getting out is the new “big thing” for working at home!
From Web Worker Daily
Back when broadband Internet access was made available to homes in the late 1990’s, teleworking took off. In businesses, employees were allowed to work from home part time (in some cases, full time) and many home based businesses took off, allowing small time entrepreneurs to have a low-cost launching point for their great idea.
Then, reality set in. Working from your home can be isolating and can result in feeling cut off from the working world. Co-working is a new trend, as recently reported by CNN and others, which involves teleworkers gathering within the same physical space in order to have some social time while working on their tasks. There are businesses such as CubeSpace and Citizen Space that make co-working easy by offering space for co-workers to gather, however what is a web worker to do if they don’t have this type of option close by?
For some solutions to this quandry, visit here
Saw this at Problogger if you are interested in this…
Orble.com is looking for bloggers to join our Business blogging community:
business.orble.com
Your writing will gain exposure to a significant audience as Orble is one of the largest blogging communities with over 100,000 readers every day.
Orble’s Business blogging community is growing quickly and already attracts over 5,000 readers per month.
See business.orble.com to view recent articles posted by Orble Business writers.
Writers should be able to put together interesting and engaging content, enjoy sharing their opinions, and want to be part of a growing community.
No knowledge of HTML is required, you just have to be entertaining and informative.
Work from anywhere with an internet connection.
Rate of pay is 50% of the advertising revenue generated by your blog.
A growing number of writers are attracting jobs from the mainstream media after writing for Orble and it looks great on your resume. It’s interesting work and can be a lot of fun as well.
For more information please visit
www.orble.com/about/
If you don’t want to subscribe to a monthly “Executive Book Summary Service”, you can search for summaries of key titles.
Here’s a search tool that will allow you to do just that.
I like the summaries, but I want key ones.
If that’s you, this search tool may help you find the exact executive book summary you are looking for…
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Get the Business Book Summary
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Search Soundview Executive Book Summaries’ Library
of Nearly 350 of Today’s Top
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CHOOSE 1 of 3 ways to
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(Please be patient. Your search may take up to one minute.)
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This is from the Federal Trade Commission via BankRate.com it’s what financial institutions should look for to prevent your identity being stolen. It will be useful to consumers in the event you do not have a service that provides you with Identity Theft Prevention Solutions
Six agencies were involved in drafting the red flag rules: the Treasury Department’s Office of Thrift Supervision, Office of Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Federal Trade Commission, National Credit Union Administration and the Federal Reserve System. They came up with the following guidelines as examples of red flags. These were gleaned from the Identity Theft Red Flags and Address Discrepancies under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003.
26 red flags:
- A fraud alert included with a consumer report.
- Notice of a credit freeze in response to a request for a consumer report.
- A consumer reporting agency providing a notice of address discrepancy.
- Unusual credit activity, such as an increased number of accounts or inquiries.
- Documents provided for identification appearing altered or forged.
- Photograph on ID inconsistent with appearance of customer.
- Information on ID inconsistent with information provided by person opening account.
- Information on ID, such as signature, inconsistent with information on file at financial institution.
- Application appearing forged or altered or destroyed and reassembled.
- Information on ID not matching any address in the consumer report, Social Security number has not been issued or appears on the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File, a file of information associated with Social Security numbers of those who are deceased.
- Lack of correlation between Social Security number range and date of birth.
- Personal identifying information associated with known fraud activity.
- Suspicious addresses supplied, such as a mail drop or prison, or phone numbers associated with pagers or answering service.
- Social Security number provided matching that submitted by another person opening an account or other customers.
- An address or phone number matching that supplied by a large number of applicants.
- The person opening the account unable to supply identifying information in response to notification that the application is incomplete.
- Personal information inconsistent with information already on file at financial institution or creditor.
- Person opening account or customer unable to correctly answer challenge questions.
- Shortly after change of address, creditor receiving request for additional users of account.
- Most of available credit used for cash advances, jewelry or electronics, plus customer fails to make first payment.
- Drastic change in payment patterns, use of available credit or spending patterns.
- An account that has been inactive for a lengthy time suddenly exhibiting unusual activity.
- Mail sent to customer repeatedly returned as undeliverable despite ongoing transactions on active account.
- Financial institution or creditor notified that customer is not receiving paper account statements.
- Financial institution or creditor notified of unauthorized charges or transactions on customer’s account.
- Financial institution or creditor notified that it has opened a fraudulent account for a person engaged in identity theft.
No, not the Mel Gibson movie this time. This is an article about women who are entrepreneurs by a business start up consulting firm. It’s a bit of a sales pitch towards the end but had some good information on “Mompreneur” trends.
Here’s a quote they relay from the Small Business Administration that gives you the gist of the larger article which has some other good quotes:
“According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, women make up over 32 percent of the country’s 12.2 million business owners. They are climbing the entrepreneurial ladder without a glass ceiling to shatter,” said Kittredge. “Whether it is a full-time, home-based business or self-employment opportunity limited to weekend hours, or a 9-to-5 schedule, women are choosing their lifestyles and business ownership oftentimes complements their wants and needs.”
Ephren Taylor Entrepreneurial Academy at Cheyney University now accepting applications for summer 2008
Applications are now being accepted for the Ephren Taylor Entrepreneurial Academy’s (ETEA) second annual Entrepreneurship Learning Camp. The leadership and business training program is in collaboration with Cheyney University, the nation’s oldest Historically Black College or University (HBCU) located in Pennsylvania, and will be held on Cheyney’s campus from July 13-18. Students entering grades 10 thru 12 are eligible to attend. Housing, meals and program materials are free to students selected to attend; enrollment is limited to 25 students. The application deadline to register for the camp is June 6.
The Learning Camp provides an interactive curriculum about entrepreneurship during an intense six-day training period that educates students on the process of starting and operating a business. Students will learn about the impact small businesses have on the global economy, and how entrepreneurship is a viable and rewarding career choice. Facilitators will include Cheyney University faculty, popular media personalities, and successful business owners. Ultimately, students will leave the camp with the tools necessary to launch their journey toward entrepreneurship.
“The Entrepreneurship Learning Camp is a great opportunity for young people to acquire the necessary skills to become successful business owners and community leaders,” Taylor said. “I look forward to being a part of developing their visions and dreams, and teaching them not only about entrepreneurship, but also the significance of working to serve their community and uplift others.”
Taylor, 25, is a self-made millionaire and the youngest African American CEO of any publicly traded company. Author of the newly released book, Creating Success from the Inside Out (www.CreatetheSuccess.com), Taylor and his company are engaged in leveraging investments, holdings and other assets, building value for investors and shareholders, and creating positive change and self-sufficiency for communities.
For more information about the Entrepreneurship Learning Academy, or to download an application, visit www.cheyney.edu/documents/pdf/entcampapp.pdf
Be sure to visit Becky McCray’s Small Biz Survival site. This article was originally published there. With all these online tools to drive you nuts, how do you know which ones to use?
Here’s Becky’s answer:
With 89,567* online tools for connecting, sharing, networking, etc., how do you ever prioritize and keep online socializing from taking over your work?
[*I made up that number, of course]
Our Friend Glenda Watson Hyatt set me to work on this topic, and explained what she meant via email:
My quandry is: I have all these tools - twitter, facebook, MyBlogLog, YouTube, flickr, ziki, Linkedln, stumble, digg and, of course, my two blogs - some of which I use way more than others. I would like to know how to integrate them effectively so that I am using them efficiently and maximizing benefits. How do I analyze which ones I should keep? Drop? Add?? How much time should I spend on each? Doing what? I mean could spend all day every
day using them, but that doesn’t get my actual work done. Where do I draw
the line? And then how do other marketing strategies [ezines, article directories ] fit in?
Believe it or not, I have a plan. It’s our Simplified Marketing Plan. Here’s the outline:
- Name and describe each market
- Tell what methods you will use to reach them
- Establish the cost in time and in money
- Mesh this with your business plan
1. Know your markets.
If you haven’t defined each of your markets, jump on that now. For a relatively simple consulting business, you might have several target customers. You might target small businesses for consulting, individuals for coaching, and larger corporations as sponsors for your blog or info products. Make sense?
For example, if Glenda offered disability issues awareness training and consulting, she might target medium size companies, their HR managers, and HR related organizations. (I’m making up this example about Glenda’s business, so don’t jump to any conclusions.) She’ll need to find out where those people spend time online, and what services they need, want, and purchase.
You need to know about all those different customers so that you can develop the right compelling offer for each of them, in the next step.
2. Decide on methods.
Once you know your targets, you can develop a compelling offer to hook them. For example, when Susan Reynolds taught children’s art classes, she developed an idea for a short drawing lesson for moms and kids together. It was a free sample, addressed the proper target (moms), and left a lasting impression. That’s a compelling offer!
To get that offer in front of the right people, you need to use the right online tools. In step one, you should have learned where your targets are online. Then you use these online tools to share that offer when appropriate, and to position yourself as an expert.
Start with a list of the online presence tools you use right now. Ask customers which ones they have heard of, and which they use. Then expand out to some potential customers. Ask them the same things. Then visit other tools and see who is present. You goal is to come up with a list of online tools that have the potential to let you connect with customers, then build them into the plan.
Glenda might find that her targeted folks use the Society for Human Resources Management website, read a few specific blogs, participate on a few online forums, that most of them are on Facebook, and that a pocket of them are on Twitter. Given this short list, she can set goals and measures for herself on these specific tools. Yes, she can still play with other tools, use other networks for personal enjoyment, or just learn new things, but it doesn’t count as part of working the plan.
I’m not suggesting you change how you act online; there is no need to be all sales and advertising all the time. Keep using these tools as a part of the community, not as an advertiser. Do let folks know what you offer; talk some about business, just so they’ll know you are in business! In fact, I just solicited WP design quotes from Twitter, and I contacted one person directly because they announced they were in the business. It does pay to talk about yourself, in moderation.
3. Establish the cost in time.
Now we’re getting somewhere! Of course, there isn’t just one answer to this, so we’ll have to make some guidelines and share some suggestions.
Your plan focuses on being sure to use the methods that reach potential customers, and to place your compelling offer in front of them.
If Glenda’s targeted customers are using Twitter, terrific! She’s already there, so she can add that to her marketing plan. Maybe she doesn’t currently visit the forums she discovered by talking to customers, so she’ll pick the most promising one and add it to her plan. Glenda has her own blog to include in the plan, along with the selected blogs frequented by her targets. Other tools not in her plan are considered outside of work, or personal time activities.
How much time? Well, put more time in on those tools that produce the best results. If you get most of your blog traffic increases from Twittering, you’ll want to develop the habit of carefully promoting posts on Twitter. For less productive tools, give your self less time with them. No need to go hang out at MyBlogLog, if you can learn to update it in just a few minutes.
4. Mesh it with your plan.
I recommend you integrate these tools into your daily plan. You do have some kind of daily plan, don’t you? No? Well, I would recommend you Focus on Your Income Producing Activities, including your online marketing tools. If you don’t do anything else, do this!
You
How do you manage your online time? How do you allocate your efforts among the myriad of tools available? I’d love to hear your experiences.
This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you’d like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!
Get the whole series by subscribing to Small Biz Survival. New here? Take the Guided Tour.
Need business leads? Need to forge strategic alliances? Need to be part of a group that takes you seriously as a home based work at home business person? But you want to work with other small businesses and franchise owners who haven’t gotten too big not to fit into a small business group? Do you live near Milan, MI?
This might be your group right here.
Business Relations Builders evolved from the Coalition for Home-Based Businesses, previously operating under the umbrella of the Milan Area Chamber of Commerce. The new group will serve Washtenaw and Monroe counties and beyond, organizers say.
“We wanted to expand from Milan to include more than just the home-based or network marketing businesses,” said Christine Mann, a Milan resident, owner of Proforma First Place Marketing and president of the Milan Area Chamber of Commerce. “We want to bring in small-business owners, too, like sole proprietors or franchise owners. We share many of the same challenges and can learn from one another.”
Mann was also a director in the Milan Home-Based Business Coalition. She has joined forces with two other small-business owners, Maudie Abraham of Moments Like This and Amy Dapprich, who is opening an Aflac Insurance agency in downtown Milan.
Abraham’s business handles estate liquidation and brokers antiques. She enjoys working out of her home in Ypsilanti Township for the convenience and because it’s good business.
“I like the low overhead,” she said.
“This group will be very helpful for small-business owners who would like some support outside their office and who would like to get more involved in their community,” said Abraham, who has worked with Mann in building the group. “We are going to get our hands dirty. After all, since we are looking for our communities to help support our local businesses, we want to give back.”
The group will meet the first and third Monday of each month for a brown bag lunch and short program. This may mean brainstorming, idea sharing or advice from an outside speaker who can address specific needs of home-based and small businesses.
This isn’t a review…it’s a press release. But because I try to pass along different and interesting work at home franchise opportunities, I’m printing this press release. I cannot vouch for this opportunity, so if you’re interested, please conduct your own due diligence.
May 28, 2008 (FPRC) — NiteLites Outdoor Lighting, the architectural and landscape lighting professionals, has appointed Mitch Balazs to the position of warehouse manager in the NiteLites corporate office located at 6107 Market Avenue in Franklin, Ohio. In his new position, Mr. Balazs will also be responsible for quality control for NiteLites products. Mr. Balazs has worked a variety of warehouse positions in his career, including shipping/receiving, parts and service, and warehouse management.
Mr. Balazs joined NiteLites because he was looking for a growing and respected company with a bright future. He was also looking for a position that allowed him to assume a large amount of responsibility for the assigned duties. He feels his experience and talents will allow him to have an impact on NiteLites and that he will be able to provide a number of benefits to NiteLites, and to the NiteLites franchisees.
When he is not managing the NiteLites warehouse, Mr. Balazs enjoys outdoor activities such as fishing, camping, and sailing his 1968 redbird sailboat. He is also a trained motorcycle mechanic and enjoys racing in amateur AMA events. In addition, he plays guitar and harmonica in a blues jam band, loves the Ohio State Buckeyes, and is a diehard Jimmy Buffett fan.
NiteLites has been in business since 1998, and its sole business is providing professionally designed, installed, and serviced outdoor lighting systems for residential and commercial properties. This lighting company only installs high quality, energy efficient, low voltage fixtures and transformers which are manufactured to their exact specifications. The company’s lighting fixtures are both attractive and rugged as they are cast of brass and copper with acid-etched finishes that will not crack or peel. This national outdoor lighting franchise also provides an industry leading warranty on its outdoor lighting systems for both commercial and residential lighting applications.
For more information on NiteLites Architectural and Landscape Lighting, call 1-866-NITELITES (1-866-648-3548), or visit www.nitelites.com. NiteLites outdoor lighting franchise opportunities are available in many major cities including Las Vegas, Dallas, Fort Worth, Phoenix, San Antonio, Memphis, Boston, New Orleans, Miami, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Seattle, Hartford, Tucson, Denver, Lexington, and San Jose. Entrepreneurs looking for an opportunity that will provide independence and freedom, and an opportunity to gain more control over their lives should look closely at a NiteLites home based franchise. NiteLites is a leader in the booming outdoor lighting industry with a proven business plan and an affordable entry price. For more information, contact Mr. Carl Frederick, Vice President of Franchise Development at 1-877-821-4148, or visit www.nitelites.com/outdoor_lighting_franchise.
