Building upon Daisy’s existing brand, I created a fresh new look, using WordPress, so she could easily update it herself. The end result is here:

Her original blog used a fairly basic Blogger template, which was not unattractive, but lacked pizzazz, as you can see here:

What also concerned me was the presence of the Blogger Toolbar, which allows readers to easily click through to other random blogs. Of course, most bloggers like to link to other blogs, but we should be able to choose the recipients of our link love!

Although we could have imported Daisy’s blog into her new website, she preferred to keep it separate, but wanted to capitalize on the functionality and flexibility of WordPress. Here is the end product:

I don’t like to brag, but I think I’ve done a very nice job on both sites! Please check them out, and if you know someone who is in the market for a new job or career, have them give Daisy a call. She has earned several certifications, has recently been named Outstanding Canadian Career Leader by CPC for the second time, and is the author of No Canadian Experience, Eh?

Take a good look at your own website. Is the information current? Does it reflect the professional image you wish to convey? If it’s time for a makeover, contact me for a no cost, no obligation consultation.

How about just not using the phone while you’re driving? To me, that’s just common sense and it amazes me that such legislation is even necessary.

However, I know that many people consider their calls to be the most important thing in the world, even more important than their own safety and that of others. I used to ride with a woman who thought nothing of talking on her cell phone while merging lanes in heavy traffic. Scary stuff! I also met a salesperson who admitted to regularly talking to customers on her cell phone while looking up prices on her laptop, all while driving. According to her, that was the only way she could do her job. Yikes!

I’m not going to lie and say I’ve never used my cell phone while driving, but I like to think I’m sensible about it. I don’t think I’ve ever initiated or answered a call when driving on a busy road. Most calls can wait to be placed or returned when I arrive at my destination; if not (for example, I get lost on the way there), it’s worth taking a couple of minutes to pull off the road to place my call in safely. I can’t even imagine trying to text message while driving!

If your situation is different and you must handle your calls while driving, please invest in a hands-free kit, whether it’s the law where you live or not. The movie Seven Pounds may be fiction, but the dangers of multitasking while behind the wheel of a car are far too real.

Photo Credit: Alanna Stewart

Barry Zweibel replied, “Sure you can, Janet. You can ‘verbify’ almost anything!!! (Google it, FedEx it, verbify it, ‘Barclay’ it … hmmm I wonder what that last one would mean?!)”

As a lover of words, I was intrigued, and decided I would explore that topic in a future post, but somehow it slipped off my radar until now. Today I’m going to contemplate what it might mean if someone were to say, “he Barclayed it.”

One of the things I take pride in is my ability to locate information. Of course, I have Google to thank, but knowing exactly what words to enter in the search box, and when and where to use apostrophes, has often helped me to find answers to obscure questions and solutions to seemingly impossible situations in minutes, if not seconds. So perhaps to “Barclay it” might refer to quickly and easily tracking down facts and figures, or being resourceful.

Many people have mentioned that I have a very calming presence, so maybe one might say “she Barclayed it” about a woman who stopped someone else from crying or having a panic attack.

On the other hand, maybe “to Barclay it” wouldn’t be a good thing at all. Maybe it means to take a silly idea and run with it until you have a blog post!

I’m curious – what popped into your mind when you read the title of today’s post?

If you also have a home based business, you know what I’m talking about. If not, you don’t know what you’re missing!

I’m sure that there are many people who are quite content to be employed by someone else, and that’s great. But if you often drag yourself to work, or find yourself counting the number of years left until you retire, you owe it to yourself to consider other options! If you’re not sure what’s involved in starting a home business, or whether self-employment is right for you, the following books will answer many of your questions.

No Limits – How I Escaped the Clutches of Corporate America to Live the Self-Employed Life of My Dreams by Sara Morgan is an excellent starting point. The author successfully left the corporate world to start her own consulting business so she could have time to spend writing non-fiction books and raising her children while still earning an income, and she wrote this book to help others do the same. She clearly outlines the benefits of self-employment and, since a picture is worth a thousand words, she includes photographs of her very inviting working environment. She also describes the type of person you need to be in order to be successful in your own small business. Morgan’s book also includes tips for deciding what type of business you should start and where to go from there, as well as important issues such as accounting, taxes, and insurance. With fewer than 150 pages, it’s an easy read which can help you determine whether you’re well-suited to self-employment and to overcome any apprehension you may have about leaving your day job.

The Complete Guide to Working for Yourself: Everything the Self-Employed Need to Know About Taxes, Recordkeeping & Other Laws by Beth Williams is, as the title indicates, a complete guide for anyone who is self-employed or is considering self-employment. Despite the title, the book is not restricted to financial and legal issues, but also addresses topics such as marketing, setting prices, and a self-assessment. Although based on US laws around taxation and business structure, there is enough general information provided to make this a useful resource for entrepreneurs in any country. The Companion CD-ROM contains all the forms in the book as well as a sample business plan you can adapt for your own use.

In addition, there are many books and e-books that cover the above topics but are geared toward a specific type of home business, whether you’re interested in becoming a professional organizer, an image consultant, a virtual assistant, an interior decorator, a dog walker, or just about anything you can imagine.

I know that home based businesses aren’t for everyone, but if office politics, wage freezes, glass ceilings and other obstacles are preventing you from living the life you want, shouldn’t you at least explore the possibility?

I’d never thought of myself in that way, but I was happy to oblige by answering a few questions, and I’m really glad I did! On days when I’m feeling overworked and underpaid, reading over my interview will definitely help motivate me to continue moving forward, and I hope it will do the same for you!

Read it here: Dream Chaser: Janet Barclay, Entrepreneur.

I set up a special folder in Outlook where I’ve stored all the weekly emails to date; however, I haven’t made time to read even one. Oh sure, I’ve taken a quick peek at some of them, but I haven’t taken the time to even learn how to take a vacation, never mind to actually take one. I have no one to blame but myself, as I did not take advantage of Elaine Shannon’s invitation to visit her in New Brunswick this summer. The window of opportunity for a summer holiday has closed for this year, but I’m determined that over the next few months I will read Alex’ emails, work through any exercises, and make some plans for summer 2010.

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to a well-deserved break this coming weekend, when my sister and I will be cottaging with two other women at Sharbot Lake, Ontario. Although it’s only for a couple of days and it’s supposed to be cool and rainy, it will be the farthest I’ve been from home in two years, and the longest time I’ve been away from my computer, and I’m really looking forward to getting away.

Scott will have his hands full looking after the business, the household, and the cat while I’m away, but he will not be monitoring my email, so please be patient if you’re waiting to hear from me over the next week or so.

This post has been all about me, so how about you? Have you taken a vacation this year? Tell us about it!

It started with my presentation Monday night at the POC Toronto Chapter meeting on Maximizing Your Internet Marketing. That was an amazing experience which combined the thrill of speaking about a topic that excites me; reconnecting with Karen Shinn, with whom I had my first meal at my first Conference back in 2002, and Lisa Rosen, one of my early website clients, among others; meeting some of the organizers I network with online face to face for the first time; and, of course, making some new contacts. Being in Toronto also gave me an opportunity to enjoy a meal with my dad and his friend, and to drive in areas of the city I’d heard of all my life but never seen. (I didn’t learn to drive until I’d moved out of town, so most of my travelling was done by subway.)

Thursday night was the Golden Horseshoe Virtual Assistants Group Special Evening Event, and the days leading up to it were filled with last minute registrations and cancellations, keeping track of the various door prizes that had been offered and received, and other related activities. It was definitely worth all the effort when I saw and heard that room full of VAs and guests thoroughly enjoying themselves. The staff and the food at Paradiso were outstanding, and our speaker, Canada’s Diamond Coach Adele Alfano, was as sparkling as ever.

In the meantime, we were also facing the deadline for exhibitors registering for Face to Face in order to be included in the event guide, and with Scott and I both working on the project this year, it seemed the phone would never stop ringing! Our hard work has paid off once again, as nearly every available spot has been booked, and we discovered that Face to Face has been nominated as Best Employment Service in the Hamilton Spectator’s Readers Choice Awards. Voting takes place on their site until midnight on September 25, if you would like to support us.

If that wasn’t enough, I also learned that I’ve been nominated for best organizing website and blog for the LA Organizing Awards! I don’t know too much about that yet, but will share more information when I do.

While all this exciting stuff was going on, it seems that when the kids went back to school, all the small business owners went back to work! All of a sudden clients I hadn’t heard from during most of the  summer were ready to have me get started on new projects, and I’ve been contacted by at least four potential new clients. Two were people I’ve worked with, and one was a referral from someone I know quite well, confirming the value of traditional networking. The fourth was a bit more of a surprise. When I answered the phone, the voice on the other end said, “You retweeted something I said this week, so I went to your profile and saw that you are a virtual assistant, and I’d like to try your services.” Just like that. So social networking works too!

If you’re already running WordPress 2.7 or higher, it’s really not difficult at all to upgrade. Just a few steps:

Step 1: Run a full back-up

If you don’t have a back-up system in place, there’s no time like the present to implement one! I recommend using two plug-ins: WordPress Database Backup to back up your database, and Wordpress Backup for your themes, plug-ins, and uploaded images. Once you’ve installed the plug-ins and downloaded your back-ups, you can set them up to automatically run back-ups at regular intervals, and either save them to your server or send them to you via email.

Step 2: Deactivate all plug-ins

Step 3: Update WordPress

Simply click on “Please update now” which appears at the top of your screen.

Step 4: Reactivate all plug-ins

It really only takes a few minutes, so don’t put it off. I really mean that. Much to my dismay, after successfully upgrading four sites, when I got to the last one, the screen went blank when I started running the back-up.

This bore no resemblance to the problem currently being reported by thousands of users, so I didn’t think I’d been hacked. Since I’d completely lost access to my dashboard, I logged into my hosting site and downloaded a copy of the database, and when I looked at the file, I could see tons of stuff in there that clearly did not belong. Fortunately, that particular site had very little content and I’d found the theme very cumbersome to work with, so I decided to start with a fresh install and recreate the site. If this had happened with a larger site such as this blog, it would have been a far more serious problem, and I would probably still be off crying in a corner somewhere.

I learned a very important lesson, and believe me, I won’t make that mistake again!

Upgrading from a version of WordPress older than 2.7 is trickier, as it must be done manually, but it’s not too bad if you closely follow these step-by-step instructions.

Upgrading to WordPress 2.84 will make your site more secure, but you might also want to install the WP Security Scan plug-in to check for any outstanding vulnerabilities.

I owe a big thanks to Neil Matthews, AKA WP Dude, for teaching me about all of the above plug-ins (although I foolishly neglected to install them until now). If you need any technical help with your WordPress site, I highly recommend his services. He offers one-on-one coaching to individuals wanting to learn more about WordPress, as well as technical services for those who just want something done.

Whether you do it yourself or get someone else to do it for you, make sure your sites are as secure as possible.

Contest

Recommend a Planner and Win a Free E-Book

It’s time to choose my 2010 planner, and I need some help! In fact, I am offering a free copy of my e-book, Organizing Your Life, Your Way, which sells for $24.95, to the person who suggests the planner that best meets my needs. To find out what those needs are, please click on the link above.

Events

Golden Horseshoe Virtual Assistants Group Special Evening Event

This exciting event is taking place in Oakville, Ontario on Thursday, September 17th. This is the one time each year where we invite all members of the business community to come out and network with us, and we’re sure you won’t want to miss it! We have some wonderful things in store, including a sensational speaker, Canada’s Diamond Coach Adele Alfano, a marvellous meal, and lots of dazzling door prizes! For more information about this event, including registration instructions, please click on the link above.

Professional Organizers in Canada Toronto Chapter meeting

I am really excited to announce that I’ve been invited to be the guest speaker at the POC Toronto Chapter meeting on Monday, September 14th, where I’ll be sharing some of my best Internet marketing tips. For more information about this event, please click on the link above.

Of course, I’ve blogged about lots of other topics of interest to professional organizers and other small business owners, so take a look around, and make sure you don’t miss out on any future posts by subscribing to my other blogs.

Although procrastination manifests itself differently for each of us, I believe we all procrastinate at times, especially when a task or activity that takes us outside our comfort zone is involved. For example, as an introvert, I tend to put off making phone calls or going places unless I really need to. People-oriented extraverts with lots of energy may avoid work that requires them to sit alone and focus on details for a prolonged period of time.

That’s all understandable, and in most cases, we do get around to doing those things that are really important. (In some cases, we find someone else to do them for us, and that’s okay too! Since we’re all different, the world is full of people who enjoy doing the things that we don’t.)

What’s really sad is when people put off doing things that they really want to do. This can happen for many different reasons. Maybe we’re afraid that we won’t succeed. Or maybe we’re afraid that we will succeed, and that it will change us, or change our lives. And since now we’re talking about personal dreams and aspirations, it’s less likely that there will be external pressures on us to move forward, unlike day-to-day things like booking a medical appointment, or filling out a tax return.

My friend Alex Fayle knows all about that type of procrastination. He has even developed all kinds of resources for individuals who are ready to kick what he calls “someday syndrome” and start living the life they really want. In addition to his Someday Syndrome blog, he offers a newsletter, several free e-courses, someday-busting coaching, and an e-book, Someday My Ship Will Come In: A Practical Guide to Discovering Your Dreams. If you’re not familiar with Alex and his work, I strongly encourage you to check out his site today – you wouldn’t dream of putting it off, would you?