The Educated Emotion

This story of Sky Blue Pink was told by Mashable's Brian Anthony Hernandez I like to think of cyberspace as a clear blue sky - with the capability to be warm or cold. It only takes a few moments reading comments after a popular news article, to see how cold cyberspace can be. But to be fair, many have also been recipients of kind and meaningful gestures in cyberspace as well. One of the most recent warm moments in cyberspace was when more than 3500 people from over 100 countries participated in an online campaign , #skybluepink. The campaign was launched by Brandon Curtis with the simple goal of adorning the walls of his dying father. His father was able to enjoy the beautiful pink and blue skies before he passed away. As a small business owner, you may not have the next viral video on your hands. However, you can set the temperature for your social media with your online campaigns. If you frequently have Negative Nelly's taking over your comments, it might be time to ...

It's too scripted to be a movie: a comfy cozy Sweetest Day weekend where your loved ones whisk you away from the to-do list your crazy/creative, entrepreneur-self never seems to complete.  Drizzly Seattle-Movie-like rain softens your hair, skin, and heart until the sexy mysterious moon writers kill readers with every day comes into view. You lay down Sunday feeling comforted and, although you know your weekend of folly might bite you in the butt - you rest peacefully knowing that you will be ready for whatever.  Giving a total 100% all week is the plan. (insert scary music) Then, Monday arrives! You oversleep (because you slept in the last two days), your morning mile walk feels like a triathlon (because you skipped a couple few workouts to make time for chocolate) and the cute rain is now annoying with hard, cold smacks across the face, appointments are late (because they are in the same boat), breakfast prep takes longer than usual (because you went to sleep with dishes...

This month, my business turned one year old.  When I look back at my original business plan, I am awed at the goals I had. Several months in, I found myself frustrated working 10 to 12 hours, 7 days a week with little to no profits. I went to a business advisor and she said "why don't you employ the same philosophy you have for small business in your own operations." That piece of advice was a huge turning point for me. I scaled back my operations and am slowly re-integrating one thing at a time. By scaling back on my own goals and operations, I am able to spend more time with each client, learning throughout the process with smaller, smarter goals. Today, Deb Nystrom and I are hosting a free free webinar on Google + from 1 to 2 p.m. as part of the Social Media Week festivities. Please join us by signing up with the eventbrite link by 12:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time or via email at Leslie [at] LesGo4It.com. Event registration for Scale Back to Scale Up Your Sma...

By Filipinayzd (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Hiring a third party for services for a small to mid-size business can be tricky and time-consuming. Payroll services are a good example of this. Even with an office manager or human resources point of contact on staff, there are a lot of intricacies surrounding with holdings, filings, and government regulations like the Defense of Marriage Act, Immigration and Health Care Reform that should probably be left to the professionals. The first step in hiring third party services is knowing what you will remain responsible for in the eyes of the law when you outsource. Next, it is time to shop around. Here are a couple things to consider when shopping around: What Do the Basic Fees Cover...Exactly? Many providers offer a "free" trial for a few months. Unfortunately, these often end up costing a lot ...

For the past few weeks, the topic is sharks and quite possibly the most popular "B-Movie" buzz on social media to date is Sharknado. The SyFy channel movie, which aired for the first time in July, has been a social media mega-success, making it more successful online than the ratings. Sharknado Proves People Want to Be a Part of the Conversation Studies have shown repeatedly that people like to be a part of a community. However, Sharknado proves it. People don't have even have to watch the movie to know what it's about. A tornado casts mean and hungry sharks out into the land. A trailer shot shows a hero defending himself against an air-borne shark with a chain-saw. It's so predictable that you almost know what the movie will look like ahead of time. What content marketers didn't see coming was the social tornado that Sharknado would create online. On Facebook, 85% of the modest 13,000 fans were "talking about" Sharknado on July 24. Toda...

For small business owners and technology users, integrating new technology can seem daunting. Some people resist the idea of learning something new, and it's not uncommon to hear employees say, "We already have a system that works." Of course you already have a system — it's a question of whether that system works well, or whether it can be improved. Employee Buy-In Even more than fear of new technology, the biggest challenge for many large corporations is employee attitudes about change. Fourty-four percent of CEOs cite employee resistance to change as their top obstacle in adapting new technology . Drop the Decision to Adopt New Technology on Employees in an Email. Many large corporations deliver major changes to employees with an email to their supervisors, followed by a condensed version to their subordinates. This does nothing to address employees' feelings of being undervalued or their anxiety about performing well with the new technology. ...

All Blog Activity will continue the second week in July, as we are preparing for a new chapter for The Educated Emotion Blog. Until then, please keep up with small business articles and social media ! Diego Delso [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commonscaption