Categories
Business

Five Tips for Successful Delegation

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Many years ago, as a first-time manager, I was green with much to learn. Management looked easy from the outside. I assured myself that, when given the opportunity to lead, I’d never make the same blunders I witnessed. Yes, I would direct my future staff with enlightenment, never forgetting the […]

Categories
Writing and Publishing

14 Posts on Better Blogging (Plus 9 More)

For the last 14 weeks, I’ve been running a series on blogging. I’ve enjoyed interacting with everyone who’s commented: it’s been fun. I hope you’ve picked up some good ideas to make your blog better. I know I’ve reminded myself of a few things I need to work on. In case you missed a few […]

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Be Alert to What Others Say About Us Online

One day I blogged about a book I really enjoyed. To my complete shock, the author commented on my post. She thanked me profusely for my kind words, added to the discussion, and then mentioned her upcoming book. I was smitten. More recently, on my main blog, Spiritually Speaking, I posted a review of a […]

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Don’t Go Forward Until You Backup

I’m a fanatic about backing up my writing. I never want to lose my work, and my backup compulsions prove that. I feel the same way about backing up my blogs and posts. First, it would be overwhelming to recreate an entire blog if something happened to it. Second, every post I write is with […]

Categories
Telephone Answering Service

Two Ways to Grow Your TAS

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD There are just two ways to grow your telephone answering service. One is through sales and marketing; the other is via acquisitions. Any other strategy is merely a subset of one of these two methods (usually a variation on marketing). I enjoyed doing acquisitions. And I was quite good at […]

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Writing and Publishing

If We Don’t Promote Our Blog, it Doesn’t Matter

When I started blogging in 2008 my readers came from two sources: friends who knew about my blog (that is, I told them about it) and people who discovered it online. I had more readers who I didn’t know than people I did. The power of blogging became apparent when, after two weeks of blogging, […]

Categories
Writing and Publishing

The Author Brand

As an Author, You are Your Brand Many authors are uncomfortable with the idea of branding themselves. I know I was. But the reality is that as authors, we are our brand. Yes, there are some exceptions, but they are rare. And before you decide to become one of those exceptions, ask yourself this one […]

Categories
Healthcare Call Centers

Game On!

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. My first full-time job was repairing copy machines. The base pay wasn’t good, but they had an incentive program. If I met their expectations, I could double my compensation. Yet despite working hard, winning customer praise, and receiving high marks on my review, I earned little of my potential bonus. […]

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Blogs and Links: The Art of Helping Readers and Improving SEO

Great writing is essential to successful blogging. Using links when we blog helps us better serve our readers and aids in search engine optimization (SEO), which lets more readers find our work. This blogging tip has three considerations: Link to past relevant posts: Within a post, link key words or key phrases back to other […]

Categories
Business

The Internet: Once a Curious Novelty Becomes an Essential Business Tool

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I first heard about the Internet over thirty years ago from one of my college friends. He landed a job with a computer mainframe manufacturer and was assigned to work at a university. He regaled me with tales of instantaneously sending text messages across the country at no cost. “That […]