macnessa.com

Working Abroad and Sales Leads

MacNessa — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:16:27 +0000

Gosh the temptation to pack up and work abroad is uber tempting right now.

Being Location Independent would be awesome. Just like moving house locally, all I need is space for my office, and decent broadband internet coverage. Although I suppose it would be good to have regular retained clients in the new area, in order to broaden the client base.

Years ago, when I worked in the travel industry, we had a sales manager, who I once asked where he got all of his increasing sales leads from, said that he thought of each of his clients as pebbles being dropped in a pond.

The resulting ripple was created primarily by getting to know the people who worked in the immediate vicinity of the existing client, and then consolidated by the existing client interacting with the people in their immediate vicinity and passing on good word of mouth reviews about our company and services.

It was an invaluable lesson to me then, and it has stayed with me ever since. 1 happy client = at least 10 possible new referrals.

Ripples in a pond.

My life right now is testament to the fact that that fact is SO true.

Right, maybe a little daydreaming is in order, as I’m off to check out some pa job listings. Having visited there years ago, there are many parts of PA that I could easily spend some time in for an extended period.

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Yet Another Reason Why Freelancing Rocks

MacNessa — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:05:51 +0000

We will soon be moving house.

When we signed the lease the other night, I was reminded just how easy it is for me, as a freelancer to pick up and move house. My only job-related requirements include:

Space to have my office (basically space for my desk, and a closet where I can put my shelves and filing)
Broadband internet coverage

That’s IT.

No stress about having to drive to work on routes already crowded with other commuters. No stress about driving distances.

However, the downside of course of being the kippy that works from home, is that the majority of the household packing and sorting will be left to me, because “after all I am home all day” as if that automatically means that I have time to sit around and blog paint my toenails.

But no, plenty to do, purge, clean, de-clutter, pack, sort through all those old textbooks and decide which ones to keep for posterity and reference. I suppose it’s a good thing that I get to do this, because I am pretty ruthless with getting rid of unwanted stuff, and if it were up to the other parental unit, we’d *still* be hanging onto stuff that I purged the last time we moved and that he hasn’t noticed yet…

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Making things happen for yourself

MacNessa — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:25:55 +0000

I find it difficult with to deal with a certain type of person.

The kind who complain that nothing good ever happens to them, but all they do, is complain that nothing good ever happens to them, and then they wonder whose fault that is.

You can either suck on the lemon that life hands you and be sour about it, or you can make freakin’ lemonade people.

Yes sometimes it’s hard, yes sometimes you want to give up, yes sometimes it feels unfair, but come the heck on people!

Use your talents and find something to do! Stop moaning about it! Be positive. Draw positive people around you! Stop being so USELESS.

If you don’t know, figure it out!

If you need help, ASK, but don’t take advantage of somebody’s generous nature.

Make a plan!

Get it done!

Take responsibility for your life!

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3 Hours Sleep

MacNessa — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:49:09 +0000

6 new clients, 8 major new projects taken on and I am operating on 3 hours of sleep right now.

Somebody hand me the caffeine please!

It really feels like I need a week in my study without interruptions so that I can just jump right in with the proper planning required for handling this kind of work load.

Tempting too, to day dream of getting a motorhome and criss-crossing the USA, as some kind of digital nomad, earning and travelling at the same time.

There are a group of bloggers out there, their name escapes me know, I think it’s termed as “Location Independent”, but it’s really interesting to read about how provided you are in a place with fast and cheap broadband, you could work from virtually anywhere. Nice idea. Not sure about the details though.

Image Courtesy of Renee V on Flickr under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence

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Cars

MacNessa — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:36:54 +0000

Image Courtesy of peasap at flickr, under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence

I freely admit that I’m not really a girly girl.

I’d probably keel over if I ever wore pink…purple maybe, but pink? No.

But on the flipside I’m not really tom boy either, at least not so much that I understand cars. Computers yes. Cars no.

Even the financing of cars I have to continuously look to my husband for advice for this sort of thing, earning me many a stern look from the woman who raised me, for daring to depend on a man for such a thing.

I wonder if this driver below had an extended service plan?? Or at least decent car insurance!

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Word a Day

MacNessa — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:11:46 +0000

Has anyone out there ever heard of tazorac?
It might sound like an Eastern European city, but apparently it is a new ‘miracle cure’ for acne which is making a few waves. I have heard many conflicting reports on what works for acne and what doesn’t, but then I suppose it also depends on what kind of acne you have.

The subject interests me purely because I developed spontaneous acne on the back of my neck and shoulders with both my pregnancies, obviously owing to the influx of hormones, and it cleared up by itself rather quickly after each subsequent birth, but it really bothered me when I had it, because it just felt like there was nothing I could do about it.

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Diets vs Fads

MacNessa — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:07:40 +0000

There are some dieting techniques that never seem to go out of style.

While diets like Atkins, South Beach, Low Fat, No Fat, You are What you Eat and other catchy names might come and go, there is one buzz word that seems to always crop up and that is the word, “detox”. Now some of us have tried the dreaded detox by cutting out caffeine (sob!) and other things developing headaches and withdrawal and other ghastly symptoms in the process.

I have heard that there is a way to give yourself a herbal colon cleanse by actually ingesting a product, and well it sounds less far-fetched than some products I’ve seen which includes sticking pads to your feet, and then voila! Amazing the next morning you pull them off and they’re all discoloured and whammo! You’re detoxed! But as with any diet related product that affects metabolism and nutrition, I’ll believe it when I’ve tried it for myself.

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Affiliate Marketing vs Niche Marketing

MacNessa — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:02:46 +0000

Affiliate marketing and niche marketing are the same, and yet different, depending on your approach.

If you are selling your own product, that tends to be niche marketing, if you are selling another persons product in exchange for a commission, then that is affiliate marketing. At the moment both of these areas are hotly contested, with people jockeying for position to find the next great untapped niche.

I reckon the money will always be good with pharmaceuticals, because if you have a blog with a colonix review on it, you will probably draw a lot of traffic, so best you throw in some contextual advertising, as well as affiliate links…

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Oh Dear

MacNessa — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:54:49 +0000

So I just finished my last line of decent facial products and I’m on the look out for the best wrinkle serum known to man that is able to erase the last 5 years of my life. I am just 34, so not old by any means (if you’re reading this and you’re 17 just move along and keep your opinion to yourself. Holy smokes.

I just realised that 17 year olds are exactly half my age….and poof…yes, there appears another wrinkle. As I was saying, it’s not so much the aging that has caused the wrinkles but the lack of sleep, and poor diet that comes with having kids.

So yeah, I’m taking suggestions!

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Spontaneous Purchase or Constant Reviewer?

MacNessa — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:28:44 +0000

Are you someone who likes to buy things spontaneously? Or do you rigorously do online research, chat to friends and so forth before making a purchasing decision?

I tend to do a combination of both. When it comes to technology, I tend to be ahead of my friends and family though, in adopting technology early on, so I rely on online forums and reviews to make decisions.

How ever when it comes to things like food, new stores or diet products, I’m generally turning to friends and family for advice. Everyone has at least read up on some diet pill reviews in a magazine or online before me. So then I tend to go with their advice, and then check stuff out for myself.

I have yet to find that weight loss miracle though, but, when I do, you can be sure that I’ll tell you all about it here.

That is the only downside to being a freelancer…easy access to the fridge, and the distraction of the constant peeeeyoooo peeeeyoooo peeeeyooo of your four year old son who is off sick from school, and playing star wars on the computer next to you.

Photo By Leo-seta on Flickr under a Creative Commons Licence

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