Tag Archives: information

When You Move, Make Sure Kids Know Where They Live

I was standing in line with a group of people the other day and for some reason, we started chatting about moving and relocating. One of the women shared that the last time they moved, she totally forgot about teaching her children about their new address and phone number until she realized that they were giving out their old one to new acquaintances. After spending so much time teaching them their former address and phone number, she totally overlooked making sure they knew the new one! Moving is stressful and there are so many practical details that sometimes the most … Continue reading →

The Internet as a Single Parent Resource

By now, many of us have been trained to go to the internet for all sorts of things—to find out the hours of the library, to research a physical symptom, and to get the updated menu for our favorite restaurant. Many of us also order stamps over the internet, book our own flights, and use the computer to accomplish all sorts of tasks. As a single parent, however, there may be some specific things you can use the internet for that will make your life easier or more efficient. The internet can save you time and it can also help … Continue reading →

Establishing a Chain of Information

Communication can be one of the ongoing challenges of the single parent. We have to get information to our children, their schools, family members, and often, we have to share and communicate information with the ex or the other parent. Exactly HOW we share that information can be one of the ways we get some order and structure into our single parent families. An effective and healthy “chain of information” can be beneficial. By this, I mean that we set an expectation and a priority of how we will communicate what and to whom and stick to it. For example, … Continue reading →

Scrapbooking Week in Review for May 26 – June 1, 2008

Summer has finally arrived. The humidity level in the Midwest has made it difficult to enjoy being outdoors during the main daylight hours, so I have tried to play catch up on some scrapbooking. We have also had plenty of events lately that have called for some handmade cards so I have been busy churning those out as well. I will be sharing the How To directions for those in the upcoming week. In the meantime, catch up on some reading in case you missed these in the Scrapbooking Blog this week. How Do I Find Time To Scrapbook? School’s … Continue reading →

When Someone Requests More Information

While it would be fantastic if it only took one contact with a prospect to make a sale or get a new client, the reality is that it often takes cultivation—it takes several chats, contacts, or attempts at outreach before the average prospective individual will come on board as a client or customer, and several more “touches” in order to keep them. One of the very common early responses from a prospect is that they will request “more information.” You might be wondering whether or not they are trying to just blow you off and how you can turn a … Continue reading →

What Did We Do Before “Googling”?

When I was growing up, I used to hate it when my mother would answer my curious questions with her pat: “Go look it up”–meaning that I should look up the answer in one of the 3 dozen volumes of the hard-bound encyclopedias we had in the living room book case. I always swore that I was not going to say that when I had children. Instead, I catch myself saying: “I don’t know the answer to that, why don’t you Google it?” Really, it’s the same general answer and I wonder if my kids can even imagine a world … Continue reading →

Tips for Sharing Information

Making sure that everyone gets where they are supposed to be and that all the details are taken care of is challenging for a single parent family. Coming up with communication systems to make it easy for family members to share information can make single parent family life a lot more efficient and smooth… It might seem obvious–but bulletin boards and notepads are still a fine way to communicate in a busy household. Setting up a whiteboard (dry erase) or chalkboard where family members can leave notes for one another (and to themselves) is another tried and true way to … Continue reading →

Don’t Assume They Already Know

Assumptions can get us into trouble—whether it is in our personal lives or our professional ones. When it comes to our home businesses, we might assume that our customers or clients already know things about our products or services, or specific industry trends or other details affecting our work. It is better to err on the side of caution and assume that they do NOT know, instead of marching on as if there are “givens” that everyone is aware of. I have seen this issue pop up again and again in work situations. We have a tendency to assume that … Continue reading →

Keep in Mind, You’re the Expert (And They Are Not)

Recently, I was at a conference where the speakers were definitely experts and leaders in their fields. However, I noticed that while some of them were fine teachers—some of the others who knew so much about their topics had a really hard time teaching and making things understandable for the attendees. I realized that this often affects us in our businesses—the more we know, the more of an expert we are, the harder it can be to share our information with people who don’t know anything about it at all. I think when we really know a subject well—when we’ve … Continue reading →

Using Research to Improve Your Business

Do you ever find yourself pondering over articles in the newspaper that cite new studies and research that has been done on various “problems”? I find that as I read about study after study, I often wonder how it applies to me and how I can apply it to my life. With all the research and studies going on all the time, there are certainly studies and information that apply to you and your home business and there is a way you can tap into all that knowledge to improve your business. Understanding economics, human behavior, psychology, sociology and other … Continue reading →