You’ve been rewarded throughout your entire life for showing up and playing or working hard. You got yourself involved during your school years and managed to get through it all with decent grades and only $50,000 in debt. You’re a new grad – eager and passionate and deserving of a well-paying, intellectually-stimulating job, right?

Welcome to the real world. It doesn’t take long to realize that you’re competing with more than just classmates born within the same calendar year. You won’t be rewarded for just showing up anymore and you’ll need to prove that you deserve that dream job – but how?

Build and use your network

The easiest way to find a great job is through your existing connections and network. Get the word out on what you are interested in and what your skill sets are. Blasting a hundred resumes to various employers may yield something but the odds of that job being something you are passionate about is slim to none.

A great way to build relationships in an industry is by offering free work.

Embrace the idea of Free Work

Many people can justify spending thousands and thousands of dollars on a degree but couldn’t fathom the idea of working for free for a few months to gain much needed experience and relationships.

Charlie Hoehn describes free work in his e-book as being different than an internship. In an internship, the employer usually feels they are doing the intern a favour and the intern is usually force fed mundane work and rarely given any real responsibility.

Free work is done strategically. You are able to research an industry and employer that you are genuinely interested in and propose a project that you will be passionate about.

Charlie mentioned the importance of removing all risk from the employer – not just financial. He recommends doing this by arranging a remote working environment. Not only are you working for free, but since you are not working at the office they will not have to worry about any overhead or training that would be involved.

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There are jobs out there. If you are struggling to find a job you are passionate about start asking why. Reevaluate how you are approaching your search and spend your downtime more productively than watching reruns of Golden Girls all day.

It can be hard to separate work from life at times – especially when you work from home. It can be a blessing or a curse depending on how disciplined and motivated you are.

That said, I have spent the last four months trying to master working from home and getting the most out of my days. I thought I would share some somewhat common sense tips to being productive while working from home.

Define a work space

Defining a work space is a must to maximize productivity while working from home. Have an area that is exclusive for work. Perhaps it’s a desk you setup in the den or spare bedroom. Whatever and wherever it is make sure it’s for work only. Don’t eat at this desk, don’t watch movies or play games in this area – it is your work area.

It won’t be long before you train yourself that when you enter this area or sit at this desk you are there for one thing – productive work. It is also great for those you live with so they know when you are working vs. merely using your computer or reading for pleasure.

Don’t forget your morning routine

Just because you work from home doesn’t mean you have to roll out of bed and jump on the computer or phone. It may be tempting to get the work “out of the way” but before you know it the afternoon will have creeped up and you will not have showered or brushed your teeth.

So get yourself into a routine in the morning – you’ll be surprised how much more productive you are if you’ve cleaned up, ate some breakfast, and put on a pot of coffee.

Breaks and Exercise

Take breaks and get your exercise. Simple as that. Make sure you aren’t spending your entire day in your house – it is extremely unhealthy.

Run to the gym for an hour or go walk to grab a cup of coffee. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you do it every day – your productivity will soar because of it.

Stay focused and prepare – the night before

I’ve preached about the importance of preparing for your day the night before in other posts. It’s easy to get distracted when you work from home so it’s even more important to identify the major tasks of the day that you need to get done.

Every night, identify three important tasks that you need to get done the next day. Do this on a piece of paper or in your note book and circle the one tasks that is the most important. The tasks that if you got nothing done except this one thing, you would still feel good about your day.

This will keep you focused on what needs to be done first.

Know what schedule works for you

One of the major benefits of working from home is the fact that you can – depending on your job – set your own schedule. Society has us preset to a 9-5 work schedule which isn’t necessarily ideal for everyone. Although some work may need to be completed in this timeframe in order to connect with others on this schedule, a lot of work can be completed at your convenience.

Personally, I am somewhat of a late riser – normally 9 or 10 AM – and I usually take another hour for my routine before getting down to work unless something very time-sensitive comes up. I avoid the mid-afternoon wall – a time during which I am very unproductive – by getting out for a walk to grab a cup of coffee, heading to the gym, or even scheduling a meeting so I can get out of the house and away from the computer. Most of my creative work, brainstorming, and writing gets done between 9PM and 2AM.

If you are just starting to work from home, you will quickly begin to learn what schedule works for you in order to get the most out of your work day.

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I wanted to stay focused on working from home vs working location-independently. That said, leveraging free wifi and great coffee is another excellent way to stay productive during the day while switching up your environment. There are many great resources to live a location independent lifestyle.

There is a lot of hype surrounding social media as a great way to brand a business, person, idea, or whatever. I completely agree that it is an extremely low cost method that one can leverage to get a brand out there on a shoe-string budget. I definitely push the idea to new businesses and very much enjoy social media in general.

But when it comes down to marketing your business, product, or idea online, make sure you stick to the fundamentals. That is, Building your assets.

What do I mean?

Think of the difference between an opt-in mailing list of 2000 people, all who have agreed whole-heartedly to receive news and specials on your products and services, vs 2000 people following you on twitter, or the 2000 friends you may have on facebook. The latter is something you do not own, and do not ultimately control. What would happen to your business or brand if your social media accounts were shutdown?

Your opt-in list is an asset, your social media account is not.

What can you do?

Store data – it’s so important. Other than a trusted brand, in my opinion, data is the most valuable asset a marketer can have. Build your customer relationship management database and make sure you track and use your website visitor behaviour. These are two great starting points for any business on a shoe-string budget.

Social media is great to leverage in order to drive traffic to your site or perk interest in your service or products, but unless you do something with those visitors and potential customers you are merely wasting your time.

If you haven’t already donated to the cause Please Donate Now!

I must say that my Mo is coming in better than I thought it would. After watching the movie Pelham 123, I figured I’d go for a John Travolta look to spice things up a bit.

Here are a couple pictures of my Horseshoe Moustache for your enjoyment:

Please take the time to donate a few dollars to the cause: Click here to donate

Still not sure why you should donate?

Here are a few reasons:

1. Prostate Cancer affects everyone and it sucks.

2. I shaved my head and chose a horseshoe moustache so that I could be awesome like John Travolta.

3. A Horseshoe moustache is harder to grow than you think.

4. Women hold their children tightly when I walk by them – it’s not a good feeling, but it’s worth it to raise the money.

5. When most people see me, they think I should be registered with the local authorities – same issue as above.

6. My Mo prickles my lips when I smile.

Convinced now? Donate here.

What is Movember, you might ask?

Movember is a combination of Moustache and November and is a month long event during which participants grow moustaches and raise money for a variety of men’s health issues.

In Canada, we are raising money for Prostate Cancer Canada to help them work tirelessly with professionals and organizations to advance the prostate cancer cause.

I am a part of the exciting and enthusiastic team The Movemberites lead by networker-extraordinaire Matt Whitman.

How can you help?

If you are interested in helping out with this great cause but are not sure where to start don’t worry, there are a number of ways that you can help the team out.

1. Join our team and grow a Mo!

We are looking for mo’ awesome people to join our team. It doesn’t matter if you are male or female we encourage you to help out. Guys, feel free to sport a great looking Mo for the entire month and help us raise some money. Ladies, we know deep inside you enjoy a wonderful looking Mo and want to help out.

Click here to join our team, or follow the link: http://ca.movember.com/register/35865

2. Make a Donation.

My donation page is up and running and every little bit helps. I will be writing a big thank you at the end of the month to everyone that helps out.

Click here to donate.

3. Spread the word of The Movemberites.

Don’t have time to help out yourself but know someone who can? Send or email them the following link: http://ca.movember.com/register/35865 to have them join the Movemberites.

Updates

I will be updating my site with pictures and a big thank you to everyone who helps out and comes out to the gala event in Halifax on November 26th. Get more details about the event by joining the cause.

I recently wrote on some reasons you should juggle and thought I would upload a quick video of 3-ball juggling.

Enjoy.

Happy Friday.

I learned the basics of 3-ball juggling when I was about 13. I’m pretty sure my grandmother signed out an old VHS on learning how to juggle from the local library in hopes to keep my brothers and I occupied. Well it worked. I’m fairly certain any one of us could pick up and juggle 3-balls in a pinch.

I always had an interest in juggling growing up but never really had the time to spend on it with school sports, activities, and what not. I always made sure I didn’t lose the basics though. Since the end of summer however, I have spent a good amount of time mastering 3-ball juggling. Perfecting the basics, learning new tricks, and pleasantly enjoying it. The more I do it the more I realize what a great activity it really is.

So if you’re looking for a new skill to learn, I encourage you to consider juggling. In my opinion, here are the six big reasons why you should try it.

1. Juggling Keeps You Fit

Anyone who argues with this statement has never really juggled. Juggling is an aerobic exercise. One that is not expensive to do, doesn’t require a lot of equipment, and is very portable.

Don’t have time to run to the gym on your lunch break? No problem, pack your bean bags in your backpack, purse, briefcase, or whatever and take 20-30 minutes at lunch in a corner somewhere. You don’t need a lot of room either.

Plus: the better you get at it, the more of an exercise it will become.

2. Juggling Makes You Smarter

No joke. Juggling has been shown to increase the grey matter in the brain (See journal article here). So not only are you getting a great core exercise, you are also exercising your mind.

I feel smarter already.

3. Juggling Relieves Stress

It is extremely hard to think of anything else but juggling when you are juggling. It is an excellent way to clear your head of everything that is going on and get absorbed in the activity. It is an excellent positive outlet to expend negative energy and frustration.

You can’t help but smile when you are juggling.

4. Juggling Improves Concentration, Coordination and Range of Motion

You can’t just toss 3 balls in the air and hope for the best. It takes a lot of focus, concentration and problem solving. Recovering your rhythm after a mid-air collision or a dropped ball takes a lot of concentration. This focus you gain from juggling will be noticed in other areas of your life and work.

Coordination is very important for overall health. It helps avoid trips and falls, helps with core exercises and avoiding awkward situations. If you are a good athlete you will likely be able to pick up juggling quicker than non-athletes, and the main reason for this is coordination. However, even if you are the most awkward and uncoordinated person in the world, you will still be able to learn to juggle, and it will be an excellent way to improve your coordination.

When you begin to learn how to juggle, you will need to reach, crouch, bend and grab in ways you didn’t think were possible. Like any new activity, you will be sore at first since it is using body mechanics that you do not normally use. You will experience an increase in range of motion in your arms and shoulders.

5. Juggling is a Great Replacement Activity

Juggling can be used as a great replacement activity for breaking bad habits, overcoming cravings, and much more. Are you one of the many people who eats when they are bored? Try juggling instead. The same goes for overcoming cravings to smoke if you are trying to quit.

As a warning, unfortunately, juggling is also an excellent way to procrastinate from studying and working. Consider yourself warned.

6. Juggling is Cool

Juggling is fun and entertaining.

It is an excellent ice breaker and conversation starter and lets face it we all love watching someone juggle.

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Have any experience with juggling? I would love to hear.

Good luck!

There are many search engine optimization companies out there and each bring their own unique skill set to the table. Unfortunately, some tend to promise results that they can not guarantee. Understand that you should not be working with a company that promises or guarantees a number one spot in Google or withholds what they are doing in their SEO initiatives to promote your website. You are spending good money and you should be kept in the loop every step of the way. Obviously there are some companies that deliver better results than others. However, this is usually due to experience, research and experimentation, common sense, and hard work. Not secrets.

I have given an overview of where you can start on your own in order to get more desirable Google search rankings.

Content

As far as your website goes, content is king. Great content will drive traffic to your site, brand you as an expert and leader, and build a community of customers, potential customers, and fans. There is nothing better for search engines than great unique content. But how do you get it?

Articles and blog posts are an excellent way to generate new content for a website. It is also very important to describe and write about your products and services. Tell your audience about them and why they are so great. Convince them with content. Be creative.

Inbound Links

This is increasingly becoming the most important aspect of having excellent rankings in Google and other search engines. Inbound links are an excellent way to give your website and content more credibility, and Google recognizes that. Where these links are coming from also plays a major role. The more authority the linking site has in your industry the more weight these links will carry.

Inbound links usually go hand in hand with great content, since why would someone want to link to poor content or product listings? Do you have a client base that are willing to write a review of your product or service as a thank you for your awesomeness? Maybe someone is willing to let you write a guest post or article, or interview you or your company. These are a couple great ways to get some quality inbound links.

Some links are great for search engine rankings, and some are great for driving traffic. It is the ones that do both that you really want.

Site Structure

Site structure includes things such as your directory, files, and permalink structure, as well as your internal linking and overall usability of your website. Make sure your website is not confusing for search engines or people.

Titles

Using proper page titles and header titles go a long way in increasing your search results. If you do not currently use header tags (such as h1, h2, etc.) you may want to consider implementing them in place of your current titles.

The Right Keywords

Getting good results in the wrong keywords is useless. There is no point spending time optimizing for keywords that have nothing to do with your business. There are some research tools such as Google Keyword Tool and Wordtracker that will help you decide what keywords you should be focusing on for your business.

Common Sense and Hard Work

Common sense plays a large role in obtaining a number one spot on Google. Do not spam your website, do not stuff content with unnecessary keywords, and do not buy your links. Things like this will all come back to haunt you later. Search engine optimization takes a lot of hard work. Things will not always work out the way we wanted them to. You need to be able to understand why, isolate what is working and what is not, and fix the ones that are not.

So again, there is no secret as to how to be number one on Google, but hopefully these things can get you started in the right direction.

We have all seen them kicking around the internet and I bet you may even be able to think of one off the top of your head. A website you have visited that left you frustrated and confused.

One of the main reasons this happens is due to the inability to maintain the website. A website is not a fad. It is extremely important and a fundamental online marketing tool. You own it and have complete control over it.

If you do not have the time to maintain your website it could be doing more harm than good for you.

Confuses Potential and Current Customers

It is no doubt that you are being searched for on the internet. Hopefully by now you have come to realize and understand this. The question is what information are your current and potential customers finding?

If your core website has outdated contact information or incorrect services and product descriptions then it will not only confuse the visitors but it will frustrate them as well if they try to use it to contact you.

Damages your Brand

As a business your brand is extremely important. It is your means to stand out. A website that is not maintained may be inconsistent with your current branding strategy – outdated logos, slogans, colors, marketing material, etc. It is important to align your website with the rest of your marketing initiatives.

Even if you are not using your website to its full potential as a marketing tool and are merely using it as an expensive business card it is still extremely important that the information be correct and up to date.

Personal and Business

This does not only apply to business websites. An outdated personal website has the same effect on you personally as an outdated business website has on a business. Employers, Headhunters, and even University admissions officers are using search engines and other online methods to research potential candidates. Are they finding your grade 8 website? Perhaps it is time to update.

Bottom line: make sure someone is responsible for maintaining your website or it may never get done.

Part 1: A look at shared web hosting
Part 2: A look at virtual private hosting
Part 3: A look at dedicated hosting
Part 4: What to look for when choosing a web hosting company and package.

A Look At Shared Web Hosting

Shared web hosting is what most companies offer with their basic web hosting packages, and it is what the majority of websites are hosted on. What it means is that your website will share a server and a hosting environment with potentially many other websites.

The main benefit of shared hosting is its price. It is almost always cheaper than a virtual or dedicated solution. The reason for this is because the cost of the single server can be spread over many paying customers.

There are however several downsides to hosting on a shared environment. Firstly, the inability to tailor and configure it to your own needs can be frustrating. If you run a customized content management system, develop your own web-applications, or require a framework or programs installed that are not already installed on the shared server, chances are you won’t be able to get them – easily at least.

Some smaller shared hosting companies may be willing to tailor and personalize the environment to your needs the best they can (given security restraints of course) but for the most part, the big names will not allow it.

Another major downside of shared hosting is the fact that it is shared. I know our parents always taught us that sharing is good, but when it comes to our websites that is not necessarily the case.

There may be another website hosted on the same server as yours that was built by a 12-year-old wannabe developer who enjoys using many infinite loops in his code. The inefficiencies in their code will affect the performance of your website. Not fair. If the server is placed under a high load due another client – although that client is usually in violation of the terms of service and is removed from the server – there’s no real compensation that is going to happen for you.

The other end of that extreme is if you are hosted on the same server as a very popular website that happens to land on the front page of a popular community-based website such as digg.com. This will send a sudden increase in traffic and will cripple many shared servers. This is often referred to as the Slashdot effect.

Also understand that in most cases, if these things do happen to the server – usually it is not only your website that will be affected, but also your email.

I realize I have painted a pretty ugly picture of shared hosting here. Remember that these are the extremes. Most of the time a shared environment will be able to survive regular day-to-day hosting. However, you do need to keep in mind that it is in fact shared, and there are risks that are associated with that, even at the best of times.

What should you look for in a shared hosting plan?

Each shared hosting plan will include the following:

• Bandwidth – the amount of transfer that is allowed to and from your website
• Disk Space – the amount of physical space on the hard drive your website is allowed to use
• Sub-domains – unlimited sub-domains are typically included in shared hosting packages
• Multi-Domain Hosting – the ability to host more than one domain with your plan
• Dedicated IP Address – will you receive your own IP address with the hosting (usually at an extra cost)
• Operating System – an option of a Linux or Windows-based hosting server

Something to watch out for is the overselling of shared hosting. The offering of unlimited bandwidth and disk space is a very controversial topic amongst hosting companies. Mainly, because it is impossible to follow through on in most cases – and usually it is just covered up in the company’s terms of service stating that they “won’t limit your transfer or space unless you go over X amount.” You don’t want to have your website suspended because it is a high traffic site or because you require a lot of disk space after you’ve already signed up for the account.

So how do you know that shared hosting is the right solution?

If your website and email is not business-critical, you are not paying for traffic through affiliate networks, banners, or pay per click campaigns, and you do not rely on search engine rankings for a major source of your traffic, then shared web hosting would be an ideal fit.

In most cases even if your website and email are business critical, a shared web hosting package will still work for you. However, if you are investing money in driving visitors to your website through SEO initiatives or PPC campaigns, you may want to look into hosting your website on a dedicated or virtual hosting environment.

Check back for the next parts of this series.