Category: career


Vacation isn't just a treat — it's good for you

Vacation isn't just a treat — it's good for you

If your workplace doesn’t have a culture of truly letting people leave their cares behind when they take vacation — or if it’s frowned upon to even take vacation — maybe you can tell your boss that you need some task-negative time in order to tap into your best problem-solving insights?

Don't wait 'til retirement to be happy

Don't wait 'til retirement to be happy

It breaks my heart every time I hear someone just biding time until retirement — not only because it’s a waste of the here and now, but also because stories of people who die just as retirement arrives seem a bit too common. What if you suffer for decades in a job you hate, waiting for deferred happiness, but never…

Are you feeling uninspired going to work today? How can you change that?

Are you feeling uninspired going to work today? How can you change that?

It’s nice to have a steady job that pays the bills, but many of us aspire to more. We want to do work that’s engaging, that feels worthwhile and rewarding. A recent Fast Company article included expert advice for a 28-year-old feeling bored by work. Leadership Coach Lolly Daskal and Psychologist Art Markman contributed to “ASK THE EXPERTS: HOW DO I STOP FEELING…

What it takes to make the workplace better

What it takes to make the workplace better

It’s not just what you do, but where you do it — and the people with whom you do it — that determines how you feel about your work. A recent column in the New York Times with the provocative headline Why You Hate Work  is not surprisingly the Times’ most emailed article. In it, Tony Schwartz and Christine Porath of consulting firm The…

Do you value creativity? Or do you prefer the safety of the familiar?

Do you value creativity? Or do you prefer the safety of the familiar?

Which sounds more like your reality? That’s the way we’ve always done it Let’s think outside the box A recent Slate article headlined, “Inside the Box: People don’t actually like creativity,” rang true for me. One of the mantras I heard in business school, and again in management workshops, is that most people don’t like change. And creativity and change go…

Marketing Monday: ColleenNewvine.com is coming soon

Marketing Monday: ColleenNewvine.com is coming soon

It’s not ready for prime time — but we’re all friends here, so this is a sneak peek at my new consulting website: As I’ve worked with my website guru to develop this new way to present my consulting services, here are a few thoughts about the process: Most of the consulting work I’ve gotten so far has been from…

Marketing Monday: What do Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday mean to you?

Marketing Monday: What do Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday mean to you?

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday … remember when it used to be just plain ol’ Thanksgiving? It seems there’s been more buzz this year around Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, making this a long weekend devoted to conversations of shopping and discounts. Should your business participate? Obviously too late to join in for this year,…

Chris Sacca's advice to be your unapologetic weird selves

Chris Sacca's advice to be your unapologetic weird selves

I don’t remember much about the commencement address at my college graduation. We were all crowded into a loud fieldhouse, which as I recall had lousy acoustics, and mainly we were waiting for those few seconds when we’d get to walk across the stage to prove we were graduates. I hope the graduates who heard Chris Sacca‘s  commencement speech were able to…

Marketing Monday: Goals > Action > Communication

Marketing Monday: Goals > Action > Communication

Not long ago I had a hands-on social media training session with some of my favorite clients. We covered how to send an @reply and a direct message on Twitter, how to link to other businesses and people in a Facebook status update and how to use HootSuite and Facebook to schedule posts in advance. We even got them started…

Marketing Monday: Nuts and bolts tips for networking

Marketing Monday: Nuts and bolts tips for networking

Last week I wrote about some of my strategies for making the most of conferences. But once you’re done thinking big thoughts like “Which conferences are the best fit for me?” and “What message do I want to convey?” there’s practical matter of executing well. A few pointers I’ve picked up over the years: 1. Keep your business cards in…

Marketing Monday: Making the most of conferences and trade shows

Marketing Monday: Making the most of conferences and trade shows

I’ve just come back from a conference where I had more good conversations than I could count, got good ideas and business leads, and came away reinvigorated. That wasn’t an accident. I’ve been to enough conferences that I’ve developed some strategies about how to make them work for me: 1. Choose conferences carefully — I’m not a highly sought after…

Marketing Monday: I need a new website, too

Marketing Monday: I need a new website, too

I have a confession. In this marketing series, I write about integrated marketing and aligning all your marketing channels — your website, blog, social media, email newsletter and brochures, for example — to help tell your story. I believe in the importance of using all available methods to talk with your current and potential clients, and the data show consumers…

Marketing Monday: Too much of a good thing

Marketing Monday: Too much of a good thing

A friend recently asked a good question: Is there such a thing as too much marketing? You probably know if you’re doing too little. You haven’t updated your website in years, you never carry business cards, you don’t have an email marketing list. But too much? Isn’t that a matter of taste? I’m loathe to order anything from Victoria’s Secret,…

Five tips on how to change the world, as seen by Public Words

Five tips on how to change the world, as seen by Public Words

Wanting to change the world is a lofty goal, but according to a recent post by Public Words, it comes down to some basic principles. In an article headlined, “How to Change the World – 5 Lessons from People Who Have,” the communications strategists boil it down to five characteristics. My very streamlined summary: 1.  Take the plunge.  No one…