Effective Business Writing and Communications

Archive for March, 2010

1. Don’t try to find the “big idea”. A small idea can actually become a big reward.

2. Risk! The most dangerous decision that you are taking may be most useful for you.

3. There is no crystal ball. Do not be afraid to make big jumps. It will give you the opportunity to learn about yourself as an entrepreneur.

4. Once you have decided, move forward without doubt and don’t look back.

5. Stop worrying! You cannot take a confident risk if you are constantly worried about the result or the future.

6. Do not be afraid to make mistakes, be afraid to repeat them.

7. Ask yourself what’s the worst that could happen to you.

8. Calculate what you really risk.

9. Be optimistic! The world is how we draw it for ourselves – neither more nor less.

10. Recognize that the training for the entrepreneur never ends. Constantly try to learn something new for you.

Here is a familiar situation: a colleague whom you just met invites you to become friends on Facebook. But you don’t want an almost stranger to have access to your personal photos and your low online ratings.

Can you ignore this invitation?

“Let’s be friends” is what children in kindergarten say. Social networks have brought us back to childhood.

Some people accept friend requests only from those people that are friends in real life. However, for most the social networking “friends” is a way to get to know each other better. Why ask about hobbies or family status, if they can just read everything on your page.

However, a colleague is not just a person whom you have accidentally met at a party.

Joan Morris DiMikko, the IBM researcher in the field of social networks, said that some people do not want to share their personal information with colleagues.

She advises that Facebook create a list of “colleagues” and put some access restrictions to personal information.

A workplace etiquette expert, Barbara Patcher offers an alternative to invite a colleague to join LinkedIn, a social network for professional relationships and explain that you have reserved Facebook for family and close friends.

Whatever you choose, Patcher advised in any case not to offend colleagues. And not just because politeness is a part of etiquette.  He might become your boss next year.