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Productivity on the Go

When you are on the road and working on the go, it is extremely hard to stay productive and ahead of the game. The goal is to work in order to save time and energy. Most mobile applications on the market today attempt to keep your information organized and in a place that is most convenient like your smart phone or tablet device.

 

The problem with all these different programs is that none of them do it all! People find themselves fumbling through different apps on their device. They are trying to get anything done instead of staying focused. It is best to have a solid focus and keep everything in one app on your phone.

 

This isn’t a problem anymore. Event Lightning has the solution for you! It is an easy-to-use smart phone and tablet application that keeps all your data in one single place, and can be accessed on the go. With Event Lighting, you can keep track of important dates, contracts, invoices, and much more. Give Event Lightning a try today!

Password Security- #1 Complexity for the day to day

When people talk about password security, they cringe their teeth. They know that they should beef up their passwords because their password for Facebook is the same for their bank account. Most people use the same passwords for all of their accounts because its easier to remember. The same password can be horrible in the long run because a hacker trying to breach your accounts can get into all of your personal data.

Instead of keeping the same passwords for everything or using a birthday or mixture of kids’ initials, it is recommended to use complex passwords. Complex passwords are harder to crack and take supercomputers years to crack, so a simple hacker will not able to break through it.

When creating a complex password, use capital and lower case letters, mixed in with other keyboard symbols. These types of passwords have not logical wording in them so they are harder to guess. Keeping your password to more than twelve characters will also keep hackers away from your accounts.

Delegation of Work is Exciting!

Isn’t it always fun and exciting to make your load lighter? Small businesses should plan on business increasing in the next few years when the economy is improving. Planning for the future should include a vision for task delegation. Dividing up tasks means giving responsibility to the best person for the job. How to delegate is a challenge, but very critical for the business growth. Creating tasks for others can be fun and provide relief when you take too much on. When your small business grows and expands, delegation is the key to effective business operations.

Knowing who to give what task is a fine art. Assessing one’s skills for certain tasks will take strong evaluation skills. And what your staff’s interests in specific task will definitely be a strong suit. A staff’s strong interest and enjoyment in a task will bring best success. Also, allow space for a staff’s creative skills to blossom.

Division of labor means three things. You will be doing more management and less bean-counting. Productivity will increase on all sides. Making all your staff, vendors, and contractors more productive will bring everyone an increased revenues. They will appreciate it.

Entrepreneurs have a bad habit to trying to do it all themselves. Delegation (and change) can be difficult for some people. Progress means delegation and effective management of staff, contractors, and vendors.

I am looking forward to delegating tasks and work activities of my small business. Event Lightning incorporates the goals of highest productivity and effective provision of service into all its transactions. Growth is good, but delegation is better!

 

Why Entrepreneurs and Event Planners Strive for Excellence

Entrepreneurs and small business owners are a breed unto themselves. Our unique calling is to provide service at its highest quality. Responding to one’s own talents and abilities means an expression of ambition and drive. This is what sets us apart.

We have an inner calling that drives us to do things “to the limit”. Many of us “live and breathe” our unique branding. I know someone who has tattooed her business logo. Doing things to the limit means that we excel in our specialties, and are widely known for it. We have sense of pride in our products and on successful turn-arounds to customers. We know when our service is not up to our own par. Our internal compass raises a flag when standards are not where they should be.

Event planners have a unique challenge to provide the biggest splash to guests as well as to the hosts. Recently, I have seen some amazing events taking place, even under tight budgets. Stress arises when great ideas cannot be put into place and when staff, outside vendors and customers do not in communicate properly to pull off the best quality event. Event Lightning finally makes communication available for ultimate results between all parties. Technology must be on our side in order to close the gap on communication breakdown. Instant and pointed communication makes the path clear to provide the best quality of service. Clearing out the clutter can unleash the event coordinator’s highest level of quality to our clientele.

 

MegaUpload is GONE!

Have you ever used MegaUpload? I have used it multiple times a month to share non-media files with friends and co-workers. Since SOPA and PIPA attacked the Internet world at the end of 2011, users of the Internet have been in a panic when it comes to sharing and copying content to people they know.

Megaupload, a Hong Kong based site, was taken down by the FBI for storing and sharing copyright-protected content and allowing other people to access them for free.

The movie and music industries have taken a huge hit the past few years because of sites like MegaUpload and Limewire. This first shutdown will be one of many closures in the future if bills like SOPA and PIPA get passed.

 

You are not Steve Jobs; anger doesn’t make employees work better or smarter…

Does your boss yell, scream, or act like Steve Jobs? Does he expect you to be the best while he hovers over you? Are you this kind of boss? Do you treat your employees as if they were your children? If you do, it’s time for you to make a change for the better.

Don’t take out home problems on your employees: Typically, the biggest problem with angry bosses is that they are having home problems. If there is aggression at the owner’s household, then there will be tension and anger in the place of business. As a small business owner myself, I know sometimes I can take out my anger on my employees and my clientele. If I’m upset or depressed,  the people around me often feel the wrath of my attitude. This however is not a way to handle your stress, by taking it out on those who work around you. When you go into the workplace, relax, breath, and let all your stress out, before you say something you might regret.

Trust Your Employees to do Their Work:The next problem most bosses experience is lack of trust in the employees. Bosses begin to micromanage and control small tasks that do not belong to him or her. The boss should focus on making the business run, not micromanaging. The boss or the owner of the company hired you to do a job because they trust you. This does not mean that they should look over every tiny detail of what you do.

If you stay calm and collected, so will your employees: As a business owner, if you stay calm, so will your employees. They will work harder and smarter to do the tasks that you hired them to do. Stress and micromanaging will only anger employees, and make them grow anger back at you. So next time you feel angry, take a step back and remember to breathe and stay calm.

 

Why Should You Blog

Most people like the idea of blogging, which is writing about something you like in order for the world to see. However, a lot of people do not understand how important blogging can be for a business website. Rule number One for a small business: have a website. Rule number Two: write and maintain a blog on your website. These two rules will help your website stay relevant on the internet and in the eyes of the “all powerful Google”!

Creative Ideas: The first reason to keep a blog is because it makes a great way of showing your creative ideas for your potential clients to read. They get a personal glimpse at the type of business they will be working with, and that will go a long way. Most businesses do not rely on the types of relationships they have with their clients.  Avoid making that mistake, for every client matters.

More Pages on Your Website: The next reason to have a blog is that your website will have more and more pages that are newly added on a daily or weekly basis. When you add new pages and thus traffic is being directed to them, Google will more likely push you to the top of search results because you are more relevant than your competitors.

Keep your business blog up to date, and full of creative ideas so that more readers will be attracted to your site. In the end, it will help your business be better than your competitors

 

Which Music Company Should You Use?

As the music industry slowly bows its head to the Internet, more music stores have arisen than ever before. For the first time, iTunes is no longer the best way to listen to your music. Free music sites like Spotify will give you free music as long as you are on a computer. Google music will match all your music and let you play it on your Droid smartphone wherever you want. They all have their advantages and disadvantages, and we will go through them to help you find your best option.

iTunes: iTunes is one of the oldest music library and store out on the market today. iTunes syncs your music library with all your “I” devices. And now with iCloud, all your devices stay synced through the cloud without ever having to connect your iPod or iPad to your computer. iTunes is a pay-per-song program that allows you to own your music that you buy and store it on your computer hard drive.

Spotify: Spotify is a new music program that comes from Sweden, hosting a giant music library which you can listen to for FREE! That’s right – all the music you can listen to for free, as long as you are logged into your computer. The music can be downloaded to your computer or played on your smart device if you pay for the premium account. I highly recommend this service if you want to listen to music for free.

Google Music: Google Music is a different kind of animal: Google gives you 30 gigabytes (a ton of space!) of free storage to upload your music tracks, and it will stream them across your computers, and Android devices. This is a great service if you listen to music on your Droid smart phone or in the car. Google music also lets you buy individual tracks to play anywhere. The program is web-based and the library is in its infancy, but it is a great add-on to have if you have an Android Smart Phone.

At the end of the day, choosing the right music service depends on the type of device you own. If you have a iPhone, I suggest using a mixture of Spotify and iTunes. But if you have a Droid phone, then Google Music is the way to go. I hope this helps you get the music you love into the device you use.

 

What Tablet is Right For You: iPad, Galaxy, or Nook?

This holiday season everyone wants a new tablet. They are great to walk around the house with, to answer email, and to talk to friends and family via the front facing camera. But with all the tablets out there in the market, which one is the right for you? Apple and Android have come out with decent tablets that are great for any household. The three we will talk about are the iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tablet, and the Nook Tablet.

iPad: The iPad is the first device we will talk about because in my opinion it is one of the best devices on the market. The iPad, which currently runs Apples iOS 5.2 software, works with iCloud and can be used without owning a computer. The iPad has thousands of apps in their App store, books from iBooks, as well as newspapers and magazines with the Newstand. If you want an amazing $400-600 tablet, the iPad is for you.

Samsung Galaxy Tablet: The SGT is one of the best tablets to date that runs Android OS. When this new tablet hit the market, it gave Apple a run for its money. The Galaxy tablet has an Nvidia processor and 1GB of RAM that makes this tablet a power horse for the web. It plays a large number of video and audio formats as well as basic email and web functions. The SGT cost roughly $500 and will be a great stocking stuffer.

Nook Tablet: The Nook Tablet just came out a few weeks ago, and is more than just an e-reader. This full-functioning tablet that lets you browse the web, check your email, read a book, and play Angry Birds. The Nook Tablet is not a power horse but it will do the basic things that kids need also.

What Should You Store in the Cloud?

Cloud storage has been a hot commodity in the recent years. Everyone now is trying to save and protect sensitive information from crashing hard drives. Cloud storage systems like Box.net, Pogoplug, and DropBox all offer different size storage systems for daily users to keep their documents and pictures safe in the cloud.

The “cloud” has been a new term that many people use for a storage system that is away from their computer, and that can be accessed anywhere by signing into a user account. The user can then upload, edit, and move files around once they are in the cloud and not have to worry about software updates, prying eyes, or hard drive damage that could rid the computer of their important data.

If you do not already use one of these services already, I highly recommend signing up for a free account on Box.net or Dropbox and test out their interface. I store important work files that I need to share with certain people on Box.net, as well as personal data that I do not want shared. Try it today and keep your data safe.