(This post originally appeared in November 2013, I have updated it to remove any apps or tools that have changed their focus or are no longer around)

Writing Is a Creative Craft That Involves a Lot of Background Work and Discipline.

These are some of the tools I have found helpful in managing larger writing projects, doing research and simply items I use in my day to day.

Some of you may have heard of some of these, but I will bet there is at least one little gem in here for everyone. Here are 7 tools to up your game when juggling all the tasks involved with producing content.

Note: Some of these are iPhone based, if you have equivalents or other faves of your own on other operating systems like android, etc, please let me know! I’d love to hear your favorites in the comments.

Tools For Collecting Information, and Taking Notes

1. 

   Example of using the choices when right clicking on a selection in your web browser for Evernote

   Evernote – Evernote is simply a wonderful multi-tasking, ultra powerful notebook that allows you to sync from your phone to your computer or multiple computers. I strongly recommend that you watch the video on their site to get a true sense of its capability. My favorite parts are the ease of use, the fact that I can clip things straight from my browser into it, that I can organize and categorize with tags, that I can add audio or photos into my notes. It’s also really smart because if you cut from a website and paste into Evernote, it makes reference to the source URL ( how many times are you cutting and pasting, then forget which open tab you were taking from) – no need to have to keep cutting and pasting clips then urls, it will take care of that for you. You can also share notes and items with others, keep them private or make them public. Overall my most used and referenced tool.

2. Redbooth: Redbooth is great for collaborating with others on projects. If you are working with a team or trying to build a major project, or even write a book, you can use Redbooth to collaborate or keep your various tasks organized.
3. Listly – Listly has some really interesting uses. You can use it to collect lists of articles on certain subjects, document your own articles, collect items and get the community to vote terms up or down the list. Check them out!
4. Storify – The beauty of Storify is that is has multiple uses, from collecting information from a variety of social sites (by searching keywords, users, or topics) for your own personal use, to actually creating a story around it. Many of the online news sites use Storify, whats interesting to note is that few of them take full advantage of the capability of the tool, they just snip the information and oddly enough it’s considered good enough to post on major news sites. Here’s what I do with a Storify, as an example. Once created, Storify can be left on Storify as a stand-alone item, or it can be embedded in your own blog like I did on this post about engaging community with Storify.
5. HT Recorder – This is one of my favorites, you can use it to record voice memos, meetings, conferences, presentations and just about anything else audio. It has incredible clarity and produces high-quality audio. Don’t spend all your time taking notes in an interview, class or conference, hit record and revisit it later.  If you do a presentation you can also use this to record it so you can review how you did later – a great way to learn and improve. It’s my most valued tool!

Tool For Organizing Thoughts and Brainstorming on Projects

Mindnode – This is one of the coolest tools for getting your thoughts together or hashing out a concept. It was one of the most useful tools when I outlined a guide on Social Media Policy and has been useful in many projects. I have also used it to track progress on projects. When you have 20 or 30 things on the go at a given time, having a tool like this is incredible. A must have to get your brain on paper!

2 Tools for Checking Your Grammar and Writing Style

For checking your grammar and style: Grammarly  One of the things I love about it is that it also keeps track of your writing and sends you email updates on how you are doing, what your most common mistakes are, and how many words you are writing from week to week. Note that if you use it with your web browser, it can create conflict while writing blog posts and linking items to text, so turn it off until you are finished writing, and only turn it back on once you’re ready to edit the “grammar” of your post.

Bonus Tip:

It is often difficult to remember how to title things, this is one of my favorite tools that will help you “Convert to Title Case”

Those are some of my favorite tools for writing, I have a whole list of other tools for photography and other tasks and I will share them in a post coming soon!

Do you use apps or certain platforms to increase your productivity, do you already use some of these?

What Makes You Ultra-Efficient?

I would love to know!

The post 7 Tools for Writers to Stay Organized, Efficient and Successful In the Online Space appeared first on Perspectives.

Sitting back and waiting for results on your website is a big mistake, one many people get trapped in. As soon as you have content on a blog or website, the first thing you’ll probably do is sit back and wait for the results. Using Google Analytics is usually what people rely on, but there is another service you should be using: Search Console.

You may read about how it takes at least several months, maybe years before the results of your labor or social network activity will show a significant impact, and so you don’t worry too much when you don’t see an immediate result. Although this is partially true, there are many things within your control which need to be addressed and be seen fairly quickly. Google Search Console, combined with Analytics can really help

An Easy Tool Most People Overlook or Assume Is Active

I recently spoke to someone who was having a problem understanding why their web performance was suffering. Their sites weren’t coming up on search properly, cached versions of their old site were showing up everywhere, traffic had not improved and based on what they thought had been significant work, they couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I suggested they check out their Google Search Console (formerly known as “Webmaster tools”) and verify the site indexing date and make sure their site was submitting updates. They thought they had done this, so I took a look.

What I discovered was, they didn’t even have their site on Google Search Console (Webmaster tools), they were in their analytics.

Tip 1: The Search Console is Not Google Analytics

Analytics can provide extraordinary information about your site performance, search results etc. I won’t go into the numerous benefits in this post, needless to say, it’s essential for anyone who is operating online to be using their analytics. This post is about Webmaster Tools, which is still a Google service, but is accessed in a different section and is a tool of its own. If you want Google’s insight on it, you can check out their article here.

When you log into Google WebMaster Tools, even if your site isn’t attached to it, you will still see your account. Don’t be fooled thinking that because you logged in, the site is registered and your tools are working!

What Does the Search Console Do?

The Search Console will help you optimize your content and site for search. It gives you insight into what is happening with your individual pages and alerts you if Google comes up with errors when indexing your site. This is valuable information if you are wondering why you are not ranking properly or if you are having problems on your web site.

You can also use the search console to remove content from indexing, or submit content for indexing, as your need requires.

What Kinds Of Information Does Google Search Console Provide You With?

• crawling errors
• manual penalties
• 404 pages
• malware detected
• HTML improvements
• search traffic, and more

How To Use The Search Console

Step 1:  

This takes about 30 seconds for Google, and between 2 minutes and half an hour for you (depending on if you have ever checked the code on your themes before, or if you need to get someone else to do it for you.) If you have a site manager, ask them to add you to the people who have access to WebMaster Tools, this is an important place that you can gain insight from and require no expertise to use. Do not just leave it to the person you hired!

Enable The Search Console Data in Google Analytics

When you associate a Google Analytics web property with a Search Console, you will be able to see data in your Google Analytics reports, and enable Search Console to link directly to associated reports in Google Analytics. You can sign up here with your Google log in to activate and link your Console account.

~read how to do this here.

Now that you have this setup, you can start investigating what is really going on with your site. You will be able to check where your content is linked from (for example guest blogs, citations), see where a search is coming up with errors, fix broken links and gain insight into your popular posts and keyword searches.

You will also be able to see what kinds of errors your site is having, and can run various tests to ensure that things are functioning properly.

Not having errors on your site is an important part of ranking on Google and having strong SEO.

Have you been using the Search Console features to learn from, monitor and improve your performance?

What cool things did you notice or learn?

I would love to hear your experiences, join the conversation in the comments below!

Want to know more about what I learned? You can check out this article , where I talk about the difference between “linked content” and “click-through” – there is a difference – in some cases a major one!

Want more SEO tips?

Check out Search Engine Watch’s article on the Search Console.
You may also enjoy: 7 Hot SEO Tips and Tricks for Blogs

The post Google Search Console Tips (formerly Webmaster Tools) to Fix Your Site And Improve Your SEO appeared first on Perspectives.

Although one might think the day is simply about highlighting one’s fur babies, what we have seen as the day unfolds is a beautiful example of how to use social media in a genuine way.

If you have been wondering What Periscope is All About, this is your chance to check it out!

If you can’t watch live, you can watch the video replays for #LoveYourPetDay here, on Katch.

Anyone can participate by using the hashtag in the title of a scope.

Creating Enjoyable Broadcasts

In an environment that is often filled with too much marketing and content clutter, Periscope offers the opportunity for real people to pick up a smart phone or tablet and broadcast easily, or watch a piece of someones elses world.

Although there is a fair share of marketing and regular social fare, events like #LoveYourPetDay, organized by @Summit_Live, give broadcasters an opportunity to scope about something simple and true: the pets they love. So far it’s been amazing!

The day has just begun, and in a short time we have heard grooming tips, seen puppies feeding, learned about food and nutrition, heard about pet accidents and positive stories of recovery, and even met a pet psychic! None of it prepared or expected. This is just what has come from the open conversations that happen when people get together and share a moment, and open lives to each other.

.@xoxoLizza on #Periscope: #PeriPets – here’s Vincent!!! Sending #pawpower https://t.co/imvve7C4wr pic.twitter.com/BBGmRjYhIT

— Mila Araujo (@Milaspage) February 20, 2016

Brands and many marketers can take a lesson from @Summit_Live and the broadcasters on a day like today, to see how truly unscripted content, without ulterior motive, opens communication in a way that the public relates to.

As you watch these broadcasts, consider how as a Brand you could genuinely be involved in projects like this. Genuine marketing happens through genuine people.

How to Create Genuine Content – Take a Lesson From Periscope

The answer is easy:

• Share something that provides value to your audience.
• Listen to what people need or want – and give it to them
• Be open and unafraid to take risks.
• Share something you love or are passionate about

#LoveYourPetDay on Periscope seems to be providing all this.

I invite you all to take a moment and check out some of the broadcasts. You can watch them live on Twitter via the embedded custom search I created for you below using the hashtags, follow @Summit_Live and of course, tune in because I’ll be scoping with #PlateauJack and EllaBella soon!

Don’t forget to follow me on Periscope too. See you soon!

Have an amazing Love Your Pet Day Everyone!

Tweets about #loveyourpetday #periscope

The post Periscope #LoveYourPetDay Event Highlights The How-to of Genuine Social Communication #Peripets appeared first on Perspectives.

——-

Periscope introduces Personal URL’s for YOU!

How to share your Periscope information just got easier!
You can now share your Periscope address easily by using the format: http://periscope.tv/yourusername <<< this is HUGE, by far my favorite new enhancement. Not only does it help you share your information better across all your networks, but it also helps your fans find you, even when you have no recent broadcasts. I love this! It is not related to the update itself, but rather represents a deeper attention to personal branding on the part of the Periscope Team. Very smart “update”.

Landscape mode!

Until last week, one was only able to share video in portrait mode, forcing broadcasters to either maintain the portrait mode to allow easy reading of comments, or switch back and forth between portrait and landscape mode to capture the full beauty of a region, or scene. With the new enhancement viewers experience could improve as the entire conversation and image are synchronized to take place in one setting.

No More Sideways Conversation

The constant switching between Landscape and Portrait not only caused awkward experiences for conversation, but made it difficult for broadcasters wantigg to repurpose the content to use the saved videos for later video replay on other pkatforms like youtube – since the text would show up sideways to the landscape mode. It was messy. The sideways text issue is now no longer a problem, but the way the landscape image appears in portrait mode is still awkward. Broadcasters should consider this if repurposig the video for other content is of interest (which it should be!).

Photo Credit: @Periscope

It should be interesting to see how the transition between landscape and portrait will play out now that the landscape mode converts into the portrait frame, and how users will adapt.

Evident Glitches of the New Periscope Update

The shared link is still showing a sideways thumbnail…

LIVE on #Periscope: Periscope Update – First Landscape broadcast #BoopScope https://t.co/ihPM5M7J3X

— Bec Boop (@BoopFashionista) September 10, 2015

A bit of a user adaptation issue also seems to exist:

If the viewer tries to switch between portrait and landscape, and the scoper is only in one mode, the text does not always move fluidly. I am sure we will see this corrected with time.  In the meantime if you are a scoper – let your viewers know how to best view your scope. A lot of people don’t seem to know what is happening; a few people don’t have the updates yet. This transitional time is important to make sure people are at ease, so try and keep this in mind as you guide your ‘cast’. In the image below the photo on the left is in Landscape – the text didnt switch, and the photo on the right is scoped in Landscape, but viewer watching in Portrait…the image is a tiny landscape version.

@Periscopeco glitches: user & scoper need to be using the same direction for a good experience…Switching is rough pic.twitter.com/1AyvBzrfxg

— Mila Araujo (@Milaspage) September 10, 2015

Sharing Made Easier – 2 new Periscope features!

The new update for iOS also includes two new ‘sharing features’

• • when someone you follow shares a video with you, you will know who shared it in your stream. This will be very helpful to help you cut down on spam shares (people who flood your stream sharing everything under the sun), but also to identify the people who are truly sharing content you love.

You can now share Periscope to Facebook!

This new feature will surely allow the periscope community to grow and was a very smart move on the part of the Periscope team. Despite this, however, the majority of shares I am seeing still relate to Twitter or inviting followers, the Facebook shares don’t seem to have taken off as much as expected. So the question is:

Should you share your Periscope to Facebook?

Periscope Share TIP:

Facebook posts are editable, so don’t leave your viewers and friends stranded – change your link, or edit your post after 24hrs – OR use the concept strategically to advise friends, LIMITED TIME ONLY

Finally, Periscope also places new focus on access for visually impaired scopers which will hopefully make their experience better. Kudos to Periscope for their focus on accessibility.

These enhancements will certainly increase Periscope’s reach and user base, with over 10 million users at last report in August, Periscope is charming the world, building communities, and in many of their users words, changing lives for the better.

Still at a loss as to what the Periscope Buzz is about?

What is Periscope? Why use it?

You can read my introductory article on Periscope here and learn more about what 10 Million people are already enjoying from around the world, join me on Periscope Live @Milaspage  and we can share the world together!

The post Tips,Glitches, Improvements on the Periscope Update: Focus on Sharing and Visual Enhancements appeared first on Perspectives.

Periscope offers the world moments from the lives of people everywhere. Although fame on this platform is spreading quickly in regard to its ability to show anyone cities and travel destinations around the world, which I covered in my initial post here.

There is something else very special happening: genuine moments celebrating life itself, one person’s experience at a time.

How can marketers and brands best use Periscope?

• Work within the community
• Learn about the values of the people involved
• Help influencers do their thing while providing value for the brand.
• Consider partnerships to support the excellent broadcasting already happening.
• Open your mind.

…and think about where YOU fit into this incredible platform.

As marketers, and in particular marketers looking to capitalize on Periscope for the brands they represent, it is worthwhile to step out of the day to day thinking and consider how one can add value to people by working with individuals in their already existing communities. Understanding the depth of what is happening in the emerging Periscope community and looking to add value. The rules have not changed, but the community of any platform deserves appropriate strategy and care.

The opportunity in Periscope is in helping people, and showing the world what you can do to make lives better.

This can involve sharing support for causes, showing how your product will help make people’s lives easier or sharing part of your daily business activities so people get to know your business.

Early last year, when Periscope was still relatively new, I caught this broadcast. A lot has changed since then, Periscope now allows people to save broadcasts, sharing is much easier and very strong communities have formed around those who broadcast on a regular and consistent basis. Although this broadcast is too old to be archived on Periscope itself, I was luckily able to capture it for you here. It is a good example of the genuine moments and random events you may encounter on any given day by watching Periscope. Denise a.k.a @lifeisurs2enjoy shares a glimpse of how she was touched by a girl, Ashley @BeautEfulMess who is full of life and laughter, despite the fact that she has been diagnosed with brain cancer. Watch and enjoy and consider the depth of value Periscope can offer – beyond the buzz.

Meet Denise @Lifeisurs2enjoy and Ashley

[su_note note_color=”#f4f6ff”]In part 1 of this video, Denise shares the story of an incredible thing that happened to her, but also shows her sharing some touching things about her own life as well, including an amazing trip she has planned to go to Cambodia and teach girls hairdressing to help keep them out of the sex trade. In part 2 (7:20) we see the earlier scope of the event she talks about in part 1, and get to meet Ashley, the girl who has brain cancer. Part 3 (10:45) wraps it up.[/su_note]

The post Periscope has depth beyond the buzz | How Can Brands Use Periscope for Marketing? appeared first on Perspectives.

Who needs travel, you can live the worlds experiences right from your back yard. It’s one reason smart brands like Tag Heuer invited Periscopers like @Euromaestro to their exclusive tennis event – and something we are sure to see more of (video in the tabs below), but it’s also why normal everyday people are loving Periscope, in particular for sharing life’s beauty and travel.

Don’t know anyone on the other side of the world? That’s okay, use Periscope’s Global View in Map mode (not list) and scroll the map of the world to find who is live now!

 It couldn’t be easier to connect and start watching.

To scope or not to scope. I never can predict when they will come and feed. You can’t control hummingbirds. pic.twitter.com/KvUAinVx2m

— revbeej (@revbeej) May 20, 2015

So how do you get involved?   Here’s a starter. When you first get on Periscope, the interface is fairly straightforward. If you’ve never seen it, watch some of the videos in the tabs below to get a quick sense of what we are talking about. I’ve marked up the video featured below of @EuroMaestro’ broadcast to show you a little bit of what the app does. Keep in mind the video is the “web view”. Web View means that people can watch you live, even though they don’t have the app.

You’ve downloaded the app, then what?

Once you’ve downloaded the app, because of it’s integration with Twitter, it’s easy to find people you are already interested in to follow, and it also helps people you have already connected with find you as well. The features are super simple, so within about 2 or 3 minutes of downloading the app, you’re ready to broadcast. Here are a few simple tips that are not evident, that can help you going into your “show”. [su_highlight background=”#fff8a3″]Remember that if you are broadcasting or watching when you’re not on wifi, you may have charges on your mobile bill. Adjust your plan if necessary – Periscope is addicting![/su_highlight]

The basics once you are in:

Watch others broadcasts before jumping in yourself, these tips help just get your senses around the app as you jump in or continue to watch & participate:

1.Once in a broadcast, swipe to the Right and you can see the title of the broadcast you are watching, the broadcaster, people watching live, and most importantly – the ability to share the broadcast. Hit share and you can share to your Periscope followers, Twitter, Facebook friends or copy the link . If you invite Periscope Followers, then you can also choose between inviting all your followers OR just a few.

The people in the broadcast will see you’ve invited others to join in.

Use the comment feature to talk to your friends about what you’re seeing when they join, think of them as your guests at the party.

2. Tapping the screen gives hearts – read more below to understand why you want to do this! Don’t be afraid to participate in giving a rainbow of hearts by tapping multiple times, it’s not only pretty but shows the broadcaster that you’re enjoying their show.

@Revbeej is another great person to follow, here he is showing some love for the people he enjoys by writing a list on his broadcast

3. If the view is not vertical, it’s okay! Just turn your phone, unlike other apps it will not mess the whole thing up – people seem to love the landscape view, don’t be afraid to give it a try.

If Facebook and Twitter and Instagram are all about putting your best/prettiest/wittiest but perhaps false face forward, the roughshod, ephemeral nature of this next generation of social networking promises to do something different: capture life, in all its messiness, as it unfolds in real time. – Kevin Sintumuang, Wall Street Journal

5 Top Periscope Broadcasting Tips

1. Choosing a Title for Your Periscope Broadcast

Choose a title for the broadcast that lets people know what they are stepping into. Some people have said Periscope is like a teleportation device, you can be anywhere in the world, sharing the simplest moments with someone – like walking a dog, to viewing exclusive events.

Make it clear so that people who tune in want to be there and stick around to enjoy those moments with you. Tell people a couple of times during the broadcast where you are and what you are doing. Even if you put it in the title, people seem to join in and forget. Don’t leave them confused.

2. How to Get the Conversation Going on Periscope : What to Do

Broadcasting on Periscope is like you are hosting a party and all these wonderful people are your guests. Ask people where they are from to start conversation. If conversation is slow or nothing is happening when you first start broadcasting, talk as if there are people there and explain where you are, what you are sharing, what you usually share, or anything else that you think may be informative when people join in, OR watch the replay. You have two audiences, the people who are actively engaged watching and talking, and then a whole segment of people who may be watching but you may not even realize it. Either through replay, or watching live on the web, or Twitter.

Periscope has the most global interaction I’ve seen in any of the social media tools – mainly because it’s so concentrated into such a short time. You’ll be amazed where your viewers are coming from!

3. Using Periscope to Discuss Topics or Present Ideas, Your Website or Blog Posts

If you are going to discuss something specific, like a blog post, your web page or any other item people might want to reference, consider having it pre-tweeted, insert the link into the title using a url sortener, so when you share the link is there, or have a white board or even a notepad available to write out what you’ve mentioned for people to take note.

Great broadcast watch it on #periscope by @euromaestro Maria Sharapova Kei Nishikori #tennis https://t.co/kQVIO9TnfU pic.twitter.com/C1CzqFGc9m — Mila Araujo (@Milaspage) May 18, 2015

Conversation moves FAST on Periscope and you never know where it will go.

Be prepared if your objective is sharing information further than general discussion.

4. How to Get Followers on Periscope

First off, let me say, I really despise the term followers for Periscope. Periscope is a community and essentially you should consider “followers” friends. This being said, here’s what I have seen work for growing your friends and connections on Periscope.

Some of the best Periscopers with the most followers started early on regularly asking people to follow them. It seems a bit strange but you have to remember that people are just like you, and they may be enjoying your broadcast so much, they might forget to hit “follow”. There is nothing wrong with telling people a little about who you are a few times during a broadcast, or as you see participation levels increase or change, and just remind them that if they are having a nice time or enjoying the content, they should follow you. You can follow this up by telling people what they can expect in future broadcasts, or what you have done in the past so they get to know you.

If you don’t know your viewers consider clicking on their names during or after your broadcast and learning about them, and if they are interesting or you enjoyed their presence, follow them. Chances are if they enjoyed your broadcast, they probably have similar interests and you might enjoy theirs, as well as the people they already have connected with. You can also check their friends to see if maybe there are more people you would like to connect with. Communities form fast on Periscope. Be a part of a community and you will find friends (aka “followers”)

If you want to find people with similar interests as you, there’s a good change that you will be at an advantage by also checking out other Periscope broadcasts, following people you think are producing good content, participating in their chats. As they get to know you, they may follow you too.

5. Avoid These Periscope Mistakes People Make:

• Moving the camera too fast. A lot of times people who broadcast on periscope are a little nervous and they forget the fact that they are also filming something. Don’t zoom around or make fast motions, or walk too quickly. Pay attention to your image, walk a little more slowly, move the camera smoothly. You are essentially making a live movie. If what you are seeing in your screen is not smooth and fluid like something you would like to watch at home, then slow down!
• Don’t get discouraged if no one is talking or if only a few people join. If your topic is interesting then give it some time. Imagine you are talking to your replay viewers and tell them all the things you are looking at until people show up. This is probably the hardest thing to do, but remember that when you broadcast live, you do have to give people a chance to find your broadcast and join in. You have nothing to lose. If what you wanted to share was interesting to you, proceed like your friends are there, and eventually they will join in or catch you on the replay.
• Asking people for follows in other peoples broadcasts. Don’t do this, it’s just totally rude.  If you’re in someone else’s broadcast you are a guest in their home, be polite, interact like a normal person, you’ll get a lot ore enjoyment out of it.
• If someone is harassing you in a broadcast, just block them and move on. There is no need to be negative comments take over your frame of mind, or shift the focus of what you were sharing. Focus on your positive guests and get rid of your unpleasant guests. This is part of your responsibility as a broadcaster. You will build a positive and kind community this way.

What’s with the hearts on Periscope?

Hearts are a way of showing applause or agreement or support or gratitude.

How do you give hearts on Periscope? Tap the screen to show some love!

Thank people for sharing and for giving you hearts. It’s that simple.

Now for some questions, You’re Broadcasting – now what?

Here are some questions I’ve come across various times that I think will help the beginner broadcaster, and please do join in on the comments of this post to share your ideas and questions too!

Should you Tweet out the link to your broadcast?

You might think that this is a given, you want to publicize your broadcast and get more viewers, so why not? Right?

I think you may want to consider a few things first like:

• Is your Periscope broadcasting in line with your twitter following?
• Why do people follow you?

Once you think about this, ask yourself if you are adding value to your Twitter followers by broadcasting every one of your Periscopes. Perhaps you want to be selective, or come up with an appropriate strategy for your own audience around this.

If you will use Periscope to make your way into new communities, then also remember you will need to find a way to connect with those new communities not already familiar with you. Consider Hashtagging your Periscope when you tweet it out with Hashtags related to the areas you want to be seen in. Good examples are #travel #nature or #art for example.

If I don’t tweet out my link, no one will watch.  FALSE

One of the coolest things about Periscope is that when you are broadcasting live, your followers are notified, but in addition to that you also end up on a broadcast list. You will still attract a good number of participants just by creating an interesting title or adding your location so you show up on the map of live broadcasts and recent broadcasts.

You will need props and tools. TRUE but not necessary

You will be meeting many new people from around the world. This may be the first time they meet you, and if you want to keep them coming back, consider finding ways to help them remember you. Brian Fanzo, of iSocialFanz.com, wears a signature hat, keeps props or screens in back of him with his contact information. It makes it hard to forget him, or wonder who he is or how to learn more.

I’ve seen people use mugs with their website on it, put images in back of them within the screen shot as well. Give it some thought. It all depends on what you want to accomplish and how mobile you are!

Creating Clear Broadcasts on Periscope and Beautiful Video Stream

Trying to capture something can be difficult when you are moving around a lot. Consider a selfie stick if you want to bring yourself into the picture at more then at arms length, or for extended shots. You should also consider a stand of some sort, if you are not going to be moving around, it will allow you to create a clear image that doesn’t shake.

Olloclip and other cameras that connect to phones are increasing in popularity as people discover the value of higher picture quality than just a basic phone camera. Lenses can really enhance the experience for your viewers.

In my first list, I suggested having a white board, this is a great way to jot things down fast and get a visual to your viewers if they need it. You can also use a pad. Sometimes good old fashioned tools are just as useful!

3 Video Examples from Periscope

The best way to experience Periscope is by going to Periscope.tv and watching some broadcasts. You can watch some of my more recent broadcasts here.

Below are some of the first broadcasts recorded back in the early days of Periscope. I’ve kept them linked here because sometimes it is kind of fun to watch examples of where things began.  Learn by exploring an exclusive Tennis event in Paris in Tab 1, A Protest in Montreal in Tab 2 and a Marketing discussion in Tab 3

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”Paris”] I’ve captured a couple of Periscopes to give some of you an idea of whats going on in Periscope and how the viewing and participation is when using different viewing tools. The first one is by @Euromaestro << follow him. It’s an amazing event he live broadcast – a total Periscope exclusive organized by Tag Heuer – Web view! Notice the hearts on the right, and the comments in the left.

There is a slight delay for web viewers & web viewers can not participate directly, they have to resort to tweeting or other means, but none of it shows up within the web view of course. Still a really cool event to watch – EuroMaestro was also featured in this Wall Street Journal article here, check it out:

[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Montreal”]

The next one is an example of a Persicope re-broadcast from my camera download. You notice the Comments and Hearts are not visible, so sharing the content later from the download creates need for consideration in how to use the content because it kind of makes a person seem like they are talking to themselves – right?

[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Marketing w/@iSocialFanz”]
Finally one from a live broadcast master – he uses Periscope for Social Business and Marketing, @iSocialFanz, Brian Fanzo. This was from a debate recently – not only is Brian Periscoping, he is Google+ and Meerkating – and you can see the brilliant use of multi tools, screens, multi-tasking – amazing what a well thought out set up can do!

In a related video, here is their G+ version[/cbtab][/cbtabs]

Have something you want to share about your live broadcast experience or a cool broadcaster we should get to know? You can add your comments to this blog below!

You can follow me on Periscope @Milaspage  – stop by and say hi, you just might catch me live – I’d love to know where in the world you’ve been traveling to and what you’ve been seeing!

The post Updated: In Depth Overview of Using #Periscope + Tips to Broadcasting & Building Community | VIDEO | appeared first on Perspectives.

The collection of articles as part of this campaign may be found via the hashtag #notalone. I invite you to share your story under the same hashtag, and share our posts so that we may raise awareness. Together we can change things.

There is a system, there is stigma, there is judgement – but there is also responsibility.

What is this word “Depression”

One of the outstanding issues in understanding depression and its impact is predominantly in how society uses the term. Depression holds a stigma and a false binary: the term can be used lightly to describe one’s feelings about a situation or to classify as a mental illness. With this dichotomy in the term’s usage, people take the word lightly and moreover exclude the harsh realities of what depression entails. “What’s wrong?” “I’m depressed”

Depression may stem from several factors. It can can be:

• circumstantial;
• chronic;
• induced by the use of substances (prescribed, un-prescribed or illegal);
• based on a chemical imbalance in the brain;
• some forms of depression have even been found to be hereditary- in those cases there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it – you can only figure out ways to live around it.

Don’t Assume You Understand – there is nothing more alienating than hearing someone say they understand, when they don’t. The person themselves hardly understands – it’s just a frustrating and horrible place to be. Most individuals are not equipped to assess these situations, much less resolve the problem for someone who feels this.  

You have to get to the root of the problem.

Because we do not know the root of the depression, we can not expect to be able to “fix it” – some depression is “fixable” and some is not…

Depression is unpredictable and complex. In some cases people encounter extreme lows and highs (due to mental health issues such as personality disorders, or hormonal imbalances or possibly other medical conditions), in other cases the depression is so deep that the highs don’t come, and the person may simply feel a constant state of despair or listlessness. Every single case is different, and if I can accomplish nothing else with this post, what I would like to do is convince you that you are not alone, that there are many, many people who either suffer from some form of depression due to any of the above reasons, or deal with it in their lives and that it is only through reaching out and working to identify the issues that friends and family members can understand, make a difference and come to peace with parts of it.

Consider also the stigma surrounding depression and mental illness. Often people hide these things from the people who care about them, they are afraid to be judged. As people in society we don’t walk around telling people everything that is wrong in our families or with ourselves, yet sadly when terrible things happen, we realize how many people really cared. Maybe this is what has to change. The stigma around depression has to stop – because it is wrong, because it in itself hurts us as a society. The only way to accomplish anything is to get support and start talking. How will we do this? I think the first step is to realize no two cases are alike.

When depression wins : Suicide.

Just as people do with depression, people lump suicide into one big category. “They killed themselves” – However it is important to realize that suicides happen in many different ways.

Can you prevent suicide?

In order to know the answer to that, you would first have to understand what led to the suicide. Depression is not a sufficient answer. Suicides happen in many different ways; Sometimes they happen as the result of a long drawn out depression – a simple exhaustion from living. They may happen as a result of drastic and impulsive actions – very unpredictable, and perhaps in itself unstoppable – unless you would have identified the medical issues before hand or the predisposition to the drastic and erratic behaviors… Sometimes they are calls for help – and I think this is the one most people hang onto…the one that leads most left behind by suicide to think: ” I should have been there…I should have known…I should have listened…how could I let this happen?” What I find tragic is that often people hear about a case like this and think, why didn’t they do something… I think we need to understand the different reasons suicides happen, and realize it take larger awareness and access to proper care – the individuals in a person’s life cannot always be responsible. They need help too. Sometimes the work that would be needed once someone has reached this point is not just people saying they care, the issues are much greater.

Not every suicide is proceeded by the call for help.

The only way to prevent suicide is getting help, and hoping that the case can turn around. Some people have one attempt – some people have several – some people – perhaps try for an “attempt” and without even realizing it, end up succeeding in ending their life – when they may have only intended to get help. We may never know or understand. I am not depressive, for years I heard about suicides and couldn’t understand how these things could happen. Then, in the past several years I have experienced several very different cases, and this is what really made me realize, sometimes there is nothing that could have been done. Sometimes the situation progressed so far, it was too late. Sometimes, no one even knew…things just end up where they were. All we can do is try and move forward and make sense of it and try to open the dialogue to help others who may be heading down the same path – never give up.

We need to change something. Why do people only care when they lose someone to suicide? – words from the person who lost their uncle in the story below.

What should we do as a community, and in our lives?

What can you do?

• Make it okay for people to talk about these struggles.
• Do not be judgmental
• Do not expect that you can save the day and suddenly solve everyone’s problems.
• Make this a community issue, not an individual issue.
• Help the person find help – sometimes this might mean actually lobbying in your community to get funding for help and non-profits who will be there.

[su_box title=”4 Stories of Suicide – There is no one fix. This is an individual disease”] .

“We must be good to each other, love each other, listen to each other…take care of each other…” – Tom Mortier, in reflecting upon the loss of his mother.

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”A Mother”] This forms part of a project I have worked on, probably a most horrifying type of suicide because it is doctor enabled…and how I became familiar with this type of case “being tired of life”. I am sharing here because it speaks to the problem, and really proves for me that this issue is so widespread that a government, a society has taken a stance in helping suicide… I do not agree with this stance, but this story is extremely touching, and perhaps it supports this idea of being “tired of life” as a true problem, one deeper than we realize, and one that we can address… In Belgium, depression is recognized as a medical condition (as it should be) BUT unfortunately those with depression can actually choose to be euthanized. One very sad case is the one shared by Tom Mortier in the video below. He spoke up about depression and in particular euthanasia being used as a treatment for depression in Belgium when he received a shocking phone call that his mother had died. His words and the pain and anger you see in this video speak for themselves. This is why I share this here. His mother was tired of living, so she decided to end her life. This is a controversial story, however it is more and more common in the “forward thinking” places in the world… There doctors can do it, here, people take it upon themselves. How does a person get to that point, how do you stop them? Tom shares a very beautiful concept that has always touched me,

“We must be good to each other, love each other, listen to each other…take care of each other…”

Perhaps this is a case where there were signs, I don’t know. All I know is that this is a case with great regret. One where the right help never found it’s way to her, and it is incredibly sad. [/cbtab][cbtab title=”A friend”]After battling with mild yet chronic depression, this person was prescribed a drug to help. They didn’t like the way they felt when they took it, and so after a while, they decided to get off the drug, as directed by a doctor very gradually. However the drug itself had the potential to create suicidal thoughts in people who would not normally be suicidal. One day in the middle of an argument the person suddenly got up and ran out the doorway and jumped out over the balcony. The balcony was 8 floors high. Somehow, by some miracle they managed to hold on a couple of floors down. They survived. Following this, they were hospitalized for a day or two, and eventually through many tough years it was shown that it may have been the effects of the drug that caused the suicidal tendency. Nonetheless, it was impulsive, it was not planned, and it never happened again after that because this act forced them to start to talk to others about what happened, the person is well now and quite happy. Yet, that was almost a suicide.[/cbtab] [cbtab title=”An Uncle”] This was another situation which touched very close to home. I can not tell you the level of devastation that comes when you did try everything, when you did try and get help, when you did everything you could. This was not my uncle, but an uncle to someone dear to me, and I can tell you this person spent days. months, years trying to help, being there, listening, nursing the person back to health after failed attempts, and being there every moment…However, there were drugs involved, there were issues, a long history of pain and at the end of the day, repeated suicide attempts that only escalated each time. I can not say the attempts were “cries for help”, at least not the type of cries a normal individual or family member could have dealt with. There was no lack of love or attention. Looking back, it would seem it was psychosis and fierce determination to leave this world. The people around him did everything they could, and in this case perhaps it needed more intervention from professionals, I do not know. [/cbtab] [cbtab title=”An unhappy man”]This final case was more of the stereotypical situation that people think about when they feel there is more they could have done, because in fact it was the failed attempt, and a short stay in the hospital, that alerted the people around this young man to get help. There were no drugs involved, this was just a case where the person had fallen off the path- if you will. They felt isolated, couldn’t seem to feel happy anymore. They chose to end their life, but were saved, and with counseling and time, the person returned to a normal state of life. It’s been many years since that attempt, they formed stronger friendships because of it – built a good love, eventually got married and had children. Things are good. This was an positive outcome where community came together and helped this person get back on track. A good story.[/cbtab][/cbtabs][/su_box]

What can you do if you’re feeling down, disconnected or just having a hard time?

Speak to a professional. Reach out to a community group where you may even meet others who are facing similar circumstances. If you can, ask a friend to help. This professional can be a social worker, a help line, a college counselor, a community organization. If you don’t know what organizations are available try and contact United Way, and ask them if they have any organizations in your area to help. They have an extensive directory of services they support that are local. Family doctors are trained to listen and provide resources, they may be able to help you find help as well. You are not alone. By going to a professional, they will point you in the right direction. I am not a doctor, I am not a psychologist, I am human just like you. Whether it is you who feels this way, or whether it is someone you love, the number one thing to do seek help to try and find out what is wrong. Depression can be a symptom of other things. Tell them how you feel or what you are going through, and if you don’t like what they tell you, or you don’t agree with them, see another doctor. Get a second opinion. They will help you get the help you need either for yourself or the person you are concerned about. You have rights and options just like anyone else. Raise awareness by supporting organizations that do grassroots work in your community to help people when they are in need. In honor of Lucas Fiorella, we are supporting Kids Help Phone, if you’d like to get involved OR make a donation, you can do so here.

Suicide as a result of violence, bullying and other situations facing our youth.

I would also like to draw attention to a wonderful organization called Leave Out The Violence. (LOVE) They provide support and programs in Canada and the US. Check out their work and support them, you have no idea how they touch our world in helping so many people who are victims of violence and preventing the cycle from continuing. Scroll through this Storify to see some of the other posts in this series, some of them beautifully written first hand accounts, and help us start the change.

The post #NotAlone on Suicide and Depression: What can we do? appeared first on Perspectives.

12 Most Convincing Arguments for an Unlimited Vacation Policy

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For the majority of leaders the suggestion of offering employees unlimited vacation is laughable. They would likely prefer to hear about flying pigs.

However, before you dismiss an idea like this one which has been working successfully in several companies and industries already, you need to ask yourself some questions: Is your company performing as you would like it to? Does your staff perform like you would expect them to? Does your company have an advantage in recruiting that is setting you apart from the rest? Business has changed with the times, are you are changing with them — or simply trying to get the best of all worlds, without changing anything at all?

The success of any company lies in its people. An unlimited vacation policy allows for more appealing lifestyles for your employees and also enables several formidable business advantages as well.

For the open-minded and forward thinking, here are the 12 Most Convincing Arguments in Favor of an Unlimited Vacation Policy at your company.

1. Cultivate an environment of people who feel good

Well rested, fulfilled people perform better. Being overworked and feeling like you need time off but can’t take it creates a very unhealthy situation. People start to feel mental exhaustion or duress. The body starts to get tired and people become more prone to catching colds or becoming sick. When people feel the freedom to take time when they need it, the entire energy surrounding time off changes. You will see people enjoying coming to work because if they didn’t want to be there, they would not be. When people feel good, the others around them feel good and the positive energy is contagious. Cultivate this feel good environment and the results will show in your numbers.

2. “Radical Trust”.

A term taken from Brett Hurt, CEO of Baazarvoice as interviewed in “In some business models, unlimited vacation is a thing of the future” where he shared his experience. In his words:

“When you treat people like adults, when you treat them with radical trust, they in turn do the same for you.”

The most essential component in any relationship is trust. This applies not only to personal relationships but business relationships as well. So much time is spent monitoring others to ensure that no one is “taking advantage of a situation” – or addressing office politics that stem from lack of trust. Take a leap in the direction of “Radical Trust”. When the trust levels increase, time and money is saved simply by eliminating all the energy and effort that goes into this “trust no one” mentality. Place your trust in your good employees and the work levels and contributions they make to the company will increase.

3. Eliminate slackers

One of the biggest arguments against giving employees unlimited vacation is really based in fear: “If everyone can take unlimited vacation, it will be abused, no one will come to work, business will suffer”. This is only true if the people you employ have little to no respect for the work they do and view it only as a 9-5 means of picking up a pay check. This is not the type of employee that outstanding, successful companies are made of. People who feel accountable for and proud of their work are really the people you want on board. This is an opportunity to truly review who is bringing value to the table, and who is just along for the ride.

4. Increase communication

In order for a policy like this to work there has to be strong communication among team members and throughout management. Performance expectations have to be defined clearly and people need to collaborate to ensure success. Feedback becomes essential to staying on track. With feedback and communication comes efficient identification of issues, resolutions and development of trust.

5. Reward efficiency not “clocked time”

It is very easy for a person to fill their time and make their day “full”. There is a difference between filling your day with tasks and productively moving through your day to get results. As people start to take control of their time, it is naturally advantageous to be as efficient and as effective as possible during working hours so that time away can truly be enjoyed. By instituting an unlimited policy, you are letting people know you value their work and you give them a chance to reward themselves when the work is done with some well deserved time off. What they are contributing becomes the priority focus.

6. Absenteeism will decline

When people feel over-stressed or over worked it often stems as a result of not taking down time. The general feeling that they can not take vacation time can drive people to another means which they rationalize as more acceptable for example — sick days. It is much easier and more efficient to manage planned time away than to deal with unexpected absences.

7. Natural selection of top performers

Going back to point number three, any of the employees in your company who are not self motivated and driven to succeed will likely be the first to irresponsibly manage their time and take advantage of the unlimited time off. When you examine this, you will find these same employees will likely be those who have the lowest results in comparison to their peers. Their mentality and resulting behavior will not work with the unlimited vacation policy, they will be eliminated and you can replace them with people who will fit your forward thinking culture.

8. Presence

Performance often drops when people are unable to balance the various aspects of their lives. Just because an employee is at their desk or in the office does not mean that they are present in their work. Being “absent” of mind is far more costly to businesses than physical absence itself. Efficiency drops dramatically and this can bring down the morale of the entire staff. Allowing flexibility in time off will ensure that people feel they can take care of things that would otherwise be perceived as “personal” as part of your work culture. This gives people the opportunity to balance their lives. Balanced people can focus on the tasks at hand and be present. Wouldn’t you rather have a team of focused individuals, than people wishing they were somewhere else?

9. Competitive advantage

Top talent is always in demand. Finding people to fill valuable roles is often difficult. How does unlimited vacation sound as a perk to attract talent? In the same way you might have laughed at the suggestion, your employees or potential hires are sure to perk up at the idea of this incentive. Give yourself this advantage, it sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

10. Improve your hiring practices

When you cultivate a dynamic and challenging environment in your company, you must raise the bar on your hiring practices and ensure that the people you are bringing into the company truly fit the mold. University degrees and records of employment are not enough to meet the criteria. Hiring will have to focus more on the individuals personal style, motivational factors and abilities. By being more selective your success in hiring will improve and this will reduce turn over costs and increase profitability.

11. Work hard — play hard

People love to feel accomplished, to come into an environment where things are always buzzing and moving forward. Environments that encourage people to work hard and play hard are hard to come by. Unlimited vacation policies ensure that when people are at work they want to be there. People can celebrate success because it means something, being part of a winning team means always delivering your best and working with others to see achievements. Its a different energy than someone punching in the clock, counting the hours or days until they can escape with a vacation. Which energy would you rather cultivate?

12. Corporate unity

When everyone is united with common goals the strength of a team is amplified. Knowing where you stand thanks to increased communication and having a truly ingrained commitment to results creates a synergy that unifies everyone. Knowing that being at work means being present brings everyone together. Everyone is working toward the same goals, everyone feels good.

These are 12 points to improve your business while creating reward for your employees. Do you think you are ready to take that on?

Does this list point towards other areas you need to work on in your environment before you even consider something like this? What do you think, is your company ready or structured to handle unlimited vacations? Very few are, yet the ones who do have outstanding success. What’s your take on it?

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The post 12 Most Arguments In Favor of an Unlimited Vacation Policy appeared first on Perspectives.

In case you aren’t familiar with the term “no follow” it is the code that tells search engines not to follow a link. It is usually used to avoid link backs to affiliate sites or advertisements or paid sponsorships.

Guest Posting for Improving SEO

If the site you contribute to has “nofollow” on all their pages, the links they provide to you will be useless in regard to “page rank” and SEO.

How does Google handle nofollowed links?

“In general, we don’t follow them. This means that Google does not transfer PageRank or anchor text across these links. Essentially, using nofollow causes us to drop the target links from our overall graph of the web” -Google

What I find most interesting, despite the intention of the “no follow” approach, is that multi-author based sites tend to make all their links “no follow”. They don’t distinguish between valid strong links and the “selly” stuff.  Even the links that are relevant and enrich the content of the article.

Links That Shouldn’t Be Marked “No Follow”

For example, if author’s anchor text within their post submissions to items that have equally strong and relevant content, these links do not need to be marked as “no follow” – yet they are.

5 Things to Consider Before Guest Posting

Guest posting has a lot of advantages, but before you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you may want to consider a few important points.

1. Any energy and effort you put into guest posting takes away from what you could be doing on your own owned properties. Always decide if the value you get out of working as a writer for another site or blog makes sense for you.

2. Take the time to analyze the source of the traffic to your blog and see where the traffic is coming from. If you have several guest posts and over time you see little activity to your site in comparison with traffic coming from other guest writing opportunities, it is time to cut your losses and move on.

3. Guest posting will introduce your writing to new readers. However you may want to analyze if these readers are your target audience. Are you providing the audience value? Remember that you want to be relevant.

4. Ask yourself if you want to become involved in the new community. If you see that the community values or direction is not in line with your own objectives, you may be wasting your time and possibly hurting your own reputation.

5. Is it about driving more traffic to your blog? Are you writing simply to get backlinks, and boost your ratings? Or to attract new people into your community? If you want to attract people back to your blog via SEO – No Follow renders this objective completely obsolete.

• If it was a main driver of why you were investing time into guest posts, then you are out of luck – your work did not help your rankings if it appeared on a site with no follow links.
• To drive more traffic to your blog – via click through. Even though the link you are getting will not be counted as support in SEO or page rank, it will still potentially drive some people through to your blog.

Are Guest Bloggers and Writers Getting Ripped Off?

Overall, the fact that so many people in the blogging field encourage guest posting and promote it as a way to (directly) help SEO and Page Rank really bothers me. The widespread use of generalized “no follow” linking everywhere changed this “advantage”. I first noticed it when I was doing some analysis on stats last year. I then investigated further, visiting numerous sites where guest blogging has been encouraged as a way to help SEO. I found a similar thing occurring.

In fact, it appeared that most mainstream sites have everything marked as “no follow”.  At the time I was preparing a talk at McGill University, about Writing and Producing in the Online Space. (You can check out that SlideShare and tips & tools from that presentation here).

I reached out to SEO specialist and Marketing Expert (yes, I used the word expert) Ammon Johns for his thoughts on the matter. I really appreciated his honest insight and straightforward answers to my questions. Here’s what he had to say:

1. Sometimes a link is far more valuable for the traffic, and for getting the site seen, than for ‘link juice’ in a search algorithm. No follow doesn’t mean no value.

“No Follow Doesn’t Mean No Value”

2. Some sites don’t want (or have resource) to police all links posted in guest posts so simply resort to a ‘fail safe’ measure of no follow. This also spares them argument about singling out articles with links that merit no follow, and that time saving alone may justify the links all being no followed. Essentially, if they are unable or unwilling to apply actual editorial policy then the safest correct thing is to use no follow.

3. Many sites do NOT make it clear that they no follow all links, while misleading writers into thinking that they’ll get valuable followed links. That is poor practice bordering on misrepresentation and fraud.

4. Authorship notation may only rob the writer further of any benefit to making the post. After all, now you’ve additionally helped that site be noted for your authorship, and still gotten no link-juice. If you’d put the exact same article on your own site, the authorship would be helping you, not the site that wouldn’t even give you a clean editorial link.

To learn more from Ammon, you can check out his video series for some great dialogue and deep insight into Digital Marketing Strategy today. Here’s what he had to say about it:

“Ammonize is a series in which I’ll be sharing my unique approach to marketing. Each week I’ll be sharing my insights, processes, approaches and perspectives, from almost 20 years of experience as a leading Internet Marketing Consultant. The aim is helping you to ‘Ammonize’ your own projects and business ventures by understanding exactly how I approach various marketing objectives and situations.

What is really special about the shows is that every other week, the show will be an hour of actual consulting, live on air.”

Is It Time to Re-Evaluate Your Blogging Strategy?

What has your experience been?

I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have finally been able to get to the bottom of this Guest Posting issue with the help of his insight. Thank you Ammon!

To keep up with additional insights like this, don’t forget to sign up for my email updates – I promise, there will be no spam!

The post Should You Guest Post For SEO? 5 Things to Consider and Important “No Follow” Guidelines appeared first on Perspectives.

Dealing With Conflict In the Office or At Work

A major part of thinking about success is understanding how to deal with conflict in the workplace. If you surround yourself with conflict, regardless of who is right or wrong, you will have difficulty succeeding. Regardless of what level you are at in your career, you may face challenging situations and conflicts, here are some tips to help keep you focused and deal with conflict so that it doesn’t impact your work.

4 Tips To Be More Successful When Dealing With Challenge and Handling Conflict in Your Career

 1. Before You React, Think.

It sounds simple, but you would be surprised by how many people undermine themselves by reacting too emotionally to things.

You have to remember that once you are focused on a goal, you will inevitably come to many barriers. Some of these barriers will be frustrating, some of these barriers may present as people, standing in your way.

The more frustrating the barrier you reach, the more of a chance you stand to get distracted from your goal. Especially if that barrier is a person who in turn is being emotional.

Take a Step Back From Conflict.

Remember that you know the direction you are heading in and part of getting to where you need to be is actually in dealing with these barriers.

• Remove the personal aspect from the challenge and think about it calmly.
• Seek answers in the details.
• Investigate and you will likely find a way to proceed with success through the challenge.

We all have different thresholds of how many barriers or challenges we can face in a day, or an hour.

When you feel you are hitting your threshold, it is okay to put everything on hold and return to issues when you are in a place that you can evaluate calmly, listen and then act.

Remember, reacting before you think can often undermine authority, undermine your goals and vision, and ultimately crush your plans. If you want to be successful, always keep a level head and you will have the respect of the people around you and maintain professional behavior.

2. Be Proactive In Your Planning

Try and take a long-term approach to anything you do. In that long-term approach, factor in the challenges you foresee but also factor in a number of unexpected situations or delays.

People often get stressed out and face challenges when things don’t go their way. You have to maintain the ability to relax, take some time away and handle your challenges. Factor in time to allow you to not only reach your goals but have extra time to reflect and work at a reasonable pace.

Understand that you can not control everything and that the way to push through and meet your objectives is to be at peace with this idea.

Expect the unexpected and hold steady to your goal.

If your goal is something solid, you will be able to succeed through anything. If you made a goal that is unrealistic, or you go into something not being fully aware that you will see challenges, then the hits you will take along the way may stop you.

Do not be discouraged, do not be swayed – nothing of value comes easily.

Be willing to pay the costs, and you will push through to the finish line.

3. Do Not Allow Yourself To Be Distracted

Regardless of whether your goals are personal or for business, there are always distractions. New projects, new ideas, or direct conflict will lead your thoughts in a different direction.

It is extremely important to be focused on the big picture, and in any situation that takes you off the path, you must decide how this affects or fits in with what you are working towards.

• Does it provide an opportunity to enhance or better what you are working on?
• Is it complementary to your goals to integrate new things into your plans?

If so, work them in!

If the answer is no,  you need to make decisions as to where to spend your time and energy. Some things are urgent, but some things can wait. Ask yourself, how do these things all fit together?

4. Avoid Unnecessary Conflict

If you are lucky enough to work in a positive work environment with a strong team culture, then you probably won’t hit too much unnecessary conflict with your team members.

However, it may happen that you come across people who seem to live, even thrive on conflict. Everything is a calamity to them. Don’t get trapped in this mindset.

When unsure of how much energy to spend on any given conflict in your environment, ask yourself, “Is this any of my business?”

Conflict is often created by those who are stepping into areas, or get distracted by things that are “none of their business”.

Often those with only very small pieces of the puzzle will try and make an issue of things, however, they do not hold the required knowledge to intervene usefully.

Understanding the Big Picture In Order to Understand Conflict

Look at these as opportunities to understand the big picture better, or ask for additional information, so you can better serve the greater goal. Sometimes a simple clarification can not only shed light on new issues that may need to be addressed but can also work to bring people together in supporting a goal.

A calm discussion often resolves issues before they turn into conflict, people need to feel their contributions are an important part of a plan in order to get cooperation, and success.

If the conflict is irrelevant to your vision or tasks, then remove yourself from the situation. Focus on your business. Conserve your energy for the real work at hand.

Everything Is About Energy.

We all have limited energy. Some of us are able to work around the clock fuelled by inspiration or passion, some of us aren’t – but we all have our limits. Our energy is precious and if we truly want to be successful, then the best advice is to watch our energy and truly place it where it will provide the greatest results.

It is okay to walk away from things that clearly have no true long-term value. Assign appropriate amounts of energy to tasks and understand that you have a lot of work to do.

Always keep moving forward and you will see your goals realized. It is about mindset, effort, and self-control. Your first step to being successful is adapting a successful mindset.

If you do this, then that vision you have will be a reality, and you will stack one success after another – much faster than you can imagine.

Are you ready to really focus that energy where it belongs?

What are your tips and tricks for thinking successfully as a professional?

The post 4 Business Tips for Success In Dealing With Challenge In Your Workplace or Career appeared first on Perspectives.