Perk up Your Business Attire for Free

July 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Day 153 - VDES70031 fashion accessory 

Image by uLight.Me via Flickr

 

In the need for some new office apparel? Accessories getting tired? Short on funds? If the answer is yes to these questions, an accessory party is the ticket. 

 

It’s been proven that when people feel like they look good they have more confidence and actually get further in their lives. They’re more productive and even friendlier, studies have shown, but not everyone can afford new clothing or accessories all the time. 

 

An accessory party is fun and can be done in someone’s home, an office nobody’s using at lunch time, or in a quiet lounge somewhere. Everyone walks away with something new (to them) and nobody has to spend a dime. 

 

As fun as a Game, but Everyone Wins 

This kind of party requires all attendees to bring the accessories they don’t wear anymore and set them out so everyone can look at them. Bring:
  • Jewelry
  • Brooches
  • Belts
  • Shoes, boots
  • Scarves
  • Bags
  • Purses
  • Hair doodads
  • Hats
  • Coats
  • Gloves
  • Any accessory not being used any longer.
Choose a place where there’s plenty of room for people to put out their stuff and have a table where guests can serve themselves beverages and snacks and place it away from the activity. 

 

When everyone is set up, ring a bell or just say go, and everyone goes around to everyone else’s items and chooses the ones they like. They then make a deal of trade with their own items and both people get new stuff. Even men can be invited if there’s other men for them to trade with. 

 

Recycling accessories gets them reused and waste is reduced. Do your part.

 

 

Filed Under: Business Expenses, General Tagged With: , ,

Defining "Business Casual"

June 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Example of a common dress code for males in mo... 

Image via Wikipedia

The preferred dress codes of many businesses in America have seen a sharp decline in formality over the last few decades. In some cases, ”casual Friday” has taken over much of the work week and one can even find office workers in certain departments in jeans and t-shirts most of the time. When meeting clients and interacting with higher-ups isn’t part of the job description, keeping the business look in your employees’ closets can be difficult. What does the term ”business casual” mean to modern workers?

For women, business casual is a style of dress that is more conservative than ordinary casual wear. Coverage is a key component of business casual dress in that hemlines should never be shorter than the knee and necklines shouldn’t expose cleavage. Stockings may or may not be a part of your workplace’s identity and it is usually best to err on the side of ”too formal” if you’re unsure. While beige, black and navy are always go-to essentials for pants, skirts and jackets, you can also toss on a bit of color in a scarf, belt or other accessory without losing your corporate look.

For men, ”business casual” often means you can forgo the suit and tie in favor of a jacket or shirt and tie. Khakis, loafers and polos can also be part of a man’s work wardrobe. Knit pullovers, sweaters and turtlenecks all look great under a wool jacket during the cooler months and keep a man looking pulled-together. Whenever in doubt, check out what your boss is wearing, and remember to dress for the position you want, not the one you have.

 

 

Filed Under: Office Etiquette, Shopping Tagged With: , ,

Dressing Your Best

May 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A Karo Batak woman in traditional clothes

Image via Wikipedia

 

Far too often, women just aren’t treated as seriously in the working world as they should be. While a woman’s attire never needs to be as buttoned up and formal as a man’s should be, she can do wonders for herself through keeping it reasonable. Far too many women go to the office dressed about the way they would if they were going out clubbing. For a woman, showing off her body is considered normal.

However, you don’t necessarily need to leave your Apple Bottom Clothes at home. When it comes to formality in the workplace, the rules of common sense naturally apply. In some cases, wearing clothing that’s a little bit more casual is great for keeping things easy in the workplace. Who can concentrate when you’re too buttoned up? You can look great, and still express your personal style. The key is moderation. A lot of times, the same cut can end up looking completely different simply through employing a different color or a different pattern on it.

If you keep an eye on balancing your best look with one that keeps enough skin covered so that your coworkers and clients can focus on their work, you’ll do fine. The most important points to remember are to look your best, and to present a voice and knowledge base of confidence. You can dress however you want, within reason. If the way you walk and the way you present your ideas says that you’re a woman and not just a little girl, the wise men are going to hear you roar. Keep this in mind when you’re choosing your daily outfit.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: , ,

Dressing for Success

May 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

Dressing for success is an important as being at work on time. It projects a successful, caring attitude to dress well at the office. If the position entails meeting with the public or clients on a regular basis there is only one chance to make a first impression.

While most places of business have gone “business casual” and no longer require a full suit or dress every day, there are still some guidelines one should follow. Wrinkles can ruin even the most professional outfit. If you are not skilled in ironing, learn or take clothes to the dry cleaners to be professionally pressed.

 

Many dry cleaners place cleaned clothes inside... 

Image via Wikipedia

Women no longer have to wear a dress or skirt every day but slacks should be worn, not jeans. If dresses or skirts are worn, the length should not be above the knee. No wild patterns or flashy designs. Any skirt or dress above ankle length should be worn with plain nylons. No one likes to smell heavy perfume all day so save it for a night on the town.

 

Men should also wear slacks. Men’s shoes should be free of scuffs and shined. A suit jacket is not usually required but dress shirt and tie are standard. Clothes should be well pressed and the tie should blend with the shirt. If wearing a belt it should always match the shoes.

The dress code you followed to secure the job should be the dress code you follow daily at the office. Dressing for success can help maintain a job and achieve promotions. Follow these simple tips and you will be headed for success at the office.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Client Relationships, Office Etiquette Tagged With: , ,

Choosing a Career in Business Finance

April 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Regardless of the slow recovery of the economy, many students are still choosing a degree in the finance field. These careers tend to be for those who enjoy working with money, love numbers, and who enjoy a high volume of customer service work. Finance has a number of subfields, including money management, investment and retail banking, insurance, corporate financial management, and even real estate.

In a field that is going through constant change, you may find yourself needing additional education even after earning your bachelor’s degree. Graduate school is always an option, as are many of the conferences and seminars that are held on a regular basis. If you find something of interest, but find that you’re a bit short on money for registration or travel, consider taking out a payday loan. These loans allow you to borrow money until your next payday.

Finance careers can be very lucrative, depending on the sector you choose to go into. Every sector offers something a little different, giving you a wide variety of areas to choose from when it comes to picking where you will start your career. Rest assured, though, that all finance jobs, regardless of location or sector, will deal with money and numbers.

While finance careers can be very high paying (it can take up to 10 years to get to that point), remember that along with the money comes a high amount of stress. Nearly all finance jobs can guarantee long hours, tight deadlines, travel, and meeting with clients on a regular basis. Keep these things in mind when choosing which sector you want to work in.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: , ,

Uncertainty And Variation In Income Is An Inescapable Truth Of Doing Business

March 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Are you interested in a steady income with minimum fuss and a fixed schedule? If yes, then you should be working as a salaried employee for another organization. If you are going to do business, be prepared for uncertainty and income variations. Why?

Business is all about entrepreneurial skill. It is not just sufficient to have certain skills. You should also know how to market it. It is not enough to know which client to contact. You should also know how to propose an offer in such a manner that the client has an option but to say yes.

Doing a job is easy. People who worked before you would leave tips that will help you proceed. You have your superiors to help you out. You have your colleagues who will help you on the job. A businessman always has to work alone. He or she cannot contact anybody else because that would be tantamount to admitting a business partner. Seeking online assistance may or may not work because nobody is going to expose his or her business secrets for nothing.

This is why business can be so tough. When you put in hard work and when you do something that nobody else is prepared to do, it is obvious that you can command the price that you want. While others will be working for a fix salary for the rest of their lives, you can proceed to increase your quotation every single time you get additional business.

Business is all about riding the good times and staying prepared to overcome the bad times no matter how tough they are. If you are not prepared for this, you have absolutely no business doing business.

Filed Under: Business, General Tagged With: , ,

Learn To Identify Risks As Early As Possible To Be Successful In Your Business

March 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Don’t you hate it when your business strategy is rendered obsolete because of any improvement in technology? You may have earned a lot of money by acting as a middleman for foreign clients of different businesses. However, with the advent of internet, e-mails and social networking, your business may have been rendered obsolete.

This is the biggest fear that people have as far as their business is concerned. What if their services are no longer required? What if they are replaced by a machine? This is not a comforting thought. So, how should you proceed? Well, change is inevitable in each and every business. Try to run away from it and you will end up compromising on your income.

Rather than hoping that you do not face any problems, you should focus on identifying the risks as early as possible. Do you know that many companies lack infrastructure to carry out business meetings in a safe and secure manner? If your webcam images are hacked, you would be talking directly to your competitor instead of your potential customer.

In such a scenario, setting up adequate infrastructure to help businesses talk with their online foreign clients can be a very lucrative affair. You can identify such opportunities only if you identify the risks to your existing business model as early as possible. This is why you should never stop doing research about your business.

Never presume that you have reached the pinnacle of your efforts and that you need not bother about learning any longer. That is the first thing that invariably causes down fall of a strong and well managed business.

Filed Under: Business, General Tagged With: , ,

Learning Business – Academic Knowledge Or Practical Training? Which Is Advisable?

March 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There was a time when individuals were encouraged to get out of school and join their area of choice as apprentices to become entrepreneurs. Practical training and on the job education was considered the best way to train a business person.

Today, people spend many years acquiring different degrees in business administration before they even think of starting a business. Which option is the right way out? Should you focus on theoretical and academic knowledge or should you proceed to learn your business by simply doing it?

Well, the world of business is far too complicated to simply hope that you can learn on the job. Even if you do, you will later realize that you spent far too much time reinventing the wheel. What could have been learnt in a classroom in a single day would have probably been learnt over many weeks by committing numerous mistakes. Secondly, businesses will not give you the opportunity to rectify your mistakes very often.

Today, you are not competing with just your fellow citizens in your community. Rather, you are competing with individual at an international level. A businessman sitting halfway across the world is plotting to bring your business down and steal your customers.

Do you think you have the opportunity of learning by making mistakes? However, you should not focus too much on academic knowledge either. Many businesses have failed because they ignored the fundamental rule-the customer is King and the only way to become successful is to please the customer.

Academic knowledge can push you away from your customers and you may end up catering to an imaginary perfect individual when no such persons exist.

Filed Under: Business, Business Expenses Tagged With: , ,

Look To Extract Best From Rebellious Employees To Help Your Business Improve

March 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Dealing with an employee who gets numerous orders but spends a lot of money as business expenses in the process can be a difficult task. How far should you focus on discipline and financial propriety? Your employee may not be stealing money. Rather, he may just be extravagant.

Or, he may simply be spending more to get the business. There have been numerous instances in the past where people have simply ignored strictures receive from head officers about excessive expenditure. Such persons reasoned that their job was to get more clients for the company and spending money was inevitable to earn more. Smart organizations have recognized this and have encouraged such persons to work harder.

A person who does not mind or bending rules a bit as long as it helps get the job done is very essential for your organization. Of course, you cannot survive if all persons work like this. However, there will be certain persons who will always rebel against the rules. Rather than behaving like a teacher and focusing on the theoretical rules, you should focus on your final goal.

A general should not be bothered whether the soldier drinks or eats as long as he wins the war. This is the same approach that you should take. Of course, you should make sure that basic rules are complied with. An individual who is prepared to offer bribes when you do not tolerate such activities in your organization is certainly a problem. It is one thing to think out of the box and get business. It is another thing to violate ethics to get more business.

Filed Under: Business Expenses Tagged With:

Give More Responsibilities To Employees – The Only Way To Improve Business Growth

February 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

You might be an organization with just three or four employees today but may dream of becoming big very quickly. What do you need to do to become big? You have to think big and plan ahead. You may be moderating all business meetings and may be the only person speaking on behalf of your organization in business meetings today.

However, do you think this pattern is going to work out when you are trying to hit a turnover of a million dollars a year in just one or two years? The risks of delegating powers to your employees are always going to be high. Let us face it. Nobody is going to be as interested in your business as you are. However, if you are going to treat your business as nothing more than yours to run, that is how it is going to stay.

It is only when you share and make the other person feel as if he or she has a stake in the organization will you grow. Of course, handing the opportunity to conduct the business meeting in the hands of a dunderhead is obviously not going to work out. You will have to choose your employees carefully.

You will have to be pragmatic and ruthless when assessing the skills and abilities of your employees. Be prepared for mistakes but make it clear that you will not tolerate casual errors. If your employee’s mistake causes you to lose a million dollars, it makes sense to fire that individual only if he or she cannot or will not improve.

On the other hand, if it is a genuine mistake, you will do well to ignore the loss and try to recover the same by improving your employee’s confidence. All this may sound easy to say and read on paper. A smart entrepreneur replicates this in real life and becomes a success.

Filed Under: Business Expenses, General Tagged With: , ,
« Older Posts