As the holidays approach, you will probably be doing some more traveling. And it can be a true joy or a terrible nightmare to travel with your children. By planning ahead, you can spend quality time with your children while visiting different places.
I’ve traveled with my son many times and have some great tips to share. First of all, make sure you bring enough to do for the journey. You can never bring too much to entertain/distract your kids.
What we do throughout the year is buy small prizes like you get with fast-food meals whenever we see them at garage sales, or at after-holiday sales. These are kept in a big bag in the closet and any time my son does something prize-worthy (for instance, all tests with no more than 2 mistakes) he’s allowed to choose a prize.
When we travel, he’s allowed one prize per hour of travel. So for instance, because we live in Germany, which is about 9 hours from our hometown of Detroit, he’s allowed to choose 9 prizes. Then during the flight, he’s allowed to open 1 prize per hour.
Another tip is to buy puzzle and sticker books from the dollar store. They can be lots of fun and very inexpensive. Also be sure you have a pen handy, and if possible a small bag filled with colored pencils or crayons. Drawing is always a fun, quiet activity.
Do everything you can to prepare your child for the trip before you go. If you’re going to visit family, look at pictures and go over everyone’s name. If you’re going to a new city, check out books from the library that show what you’ll see once you get there.
If you’re taking a trip to an amusement park, check youtube.com to see if you can find videos of any of the rides your children can see before you go. And you may want to consider buying a couple disposable cameras for your children to use during the trip.
Also, let your children make a few decisions about the trip so they feel they have some control over things and their opinions are valued. It can be something as simple as “which jacket should we take, the blue one or the red one?” Or something like, “should we visit the zoo or the museum?”
By planning activities for your children to do before traveling, your entire family can have a fun and relaxing trip that you’ll remember for a lifetime!
Stay tuned for more tips and helpful hints for being a mother and an entrepreneur and a self-published author. And if you have any questions, feel free to contact me at any time via www.jexbo.com.
How to Create a Good Book Title
For those of you who have finished your book and are ready to self-publish, congratulations! But for many of you, you’re still in the process of developing a title. What makes a good book title?
Well, from my personal experience, it helps to visit a local bookstore and see what stands out on the shelves. It is also a good idea to check Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, The New York Times bestseller list and other online sources related to your book’s topic. I also go through a checklist to develop just the right idea.
For example, once you have a few ideas written down, here are a few questions to ask yourself about each of the titles on your list:
· Is it interesting or useful?
· Is it unique?
· Is it specific?
· Does it cater to the needs of my target market?
· What will readers think of when they read it?
· Does someone already have a copyright on this title?
· Does it sound too much like another title?
· Does it capture the essence of the book or is it misleading?
· Is it timeless?
If you still have trouble coming up with your book title, you may just need to take a break. Spend time outdoors, visit friends, see a movie, participate in your favorite hobby, take a nap, etc.
This way, you can rest your mind and be open to inspiration from outside sources. And who knows? When you least expect it, the right title for your book may just pop into your head.
If you need help with your self-publishing efforts, feel free to write to me below. I’d love to help!
Well, from my personal experience, it helps to visit a local bookstore and see what stands out on the shelves. It is also a good idea to check Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, The New York Times bestseller list and other online sources related to your book’s topic. I also go through a checklist to develop just the right idea.
For example, once you have a few ideas written down, here are a few questions to ask yourself about each of the titles on your list:
· Is it interesting or useful?
· Is it unique?
· Is it specific?
· Does it cater to the needs of my target market?
· What will readers think of when they read it?
· Does someone already have a copyright on this title?
· Does it sound too much like another title?
· Does it capture the essence of the book or is it misleading?
· Is it timeless?
If you still have trouble coming up with your book title, you may just need to take a break. Spend time outdoors, visit friends, see a movie, participate in your favorite hobby, take a nap, etc.
This way, you can rest your mind and be open to inspiration from outside sources. And who knows? When you least expect it, the right title for your book may just pop into your head.
If you need help with your self-publishing efforts, feel free to write to me below. I’d love to help!
How to Teach Your Kids About Your Business
As an entrepreneur, you can give your children an excellent, hands-on education on ethics, managing finances, customer relations, and other work areas that will help them with every-day situations and career choices in the future.
But how do you teach your children about what you do and how you pay for the items and activities in their lives?
One idea is to make them your “assistant for the day.”
To start, tell your children that you are going to have a special work day just for them. And if they do a good job at their new position, they will receive a special prize. And the prize doesn’t need to be expensive. You can arrange to have a special day together, get an ice cream cone, visit a friend, etc.
Then, when you have your “work day” together, show your child what you do and the outcomes of your work (paying electric and water bills, buying clothes, going to soccer camp or on vacation, purchasing gifts and tickets, etc.)
Helpful Task Tips
To help explain things, it may help to provide tasks for your child specific to each portion of your day. For example, you may want to have them:
· Pretend to sell an item to a customer;
· Take a phone message;
· Add or subtract sales;
· Organize files;
· Visit a client with you;
· Shop for supplies;
· Talk to co-workers;
· Enter data onto a spreadsheet;
· Clean up the office;
· Balance a checkbook, etc.
Obviously, you will want to plan activities in advance pertinent to your child’s age, abilities, likes and dislikes, etc. But by taking the time to show your children what you do to help pay for the things in their lives, they will have a much better understanding of why and how you spend your day when they are at school.
For more information on this topic, check out:
http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstreet/2008/03/21/teaching-your-kids-about-business-while-theyre-young/
http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/118570
http://lifehacker.com/337121/teach-your-child-about-business
Do you need help selling your self-published book? Feel free to contact me below with your questions, comments and suggestions. I’d love to hear from you!
But how do you teach your children about what you do and how you pay for the items and activities in their lives?
One idea is to make them your “assistant for the day.”
To start, tell your children that you are going to have a special work day just for them. And if they do a good job at their new position, they will receive a special prize. And the prize doesn’t need to be expensive. You can arrange to have a special day together, get an ice cream cone, visit a friend, etc.
Then, when you have your “work day” together, show your child what you do and the outcomes of your work (paying electric and water bills, buying clothes, going to soccer camp or on vacation, purchasing gifts and tickets, etc.)
Helpful Task Tips
To help explain things, it may help to provide tasks for your child specific to each portion of your day. For example, you may want to have them:
· Pretend to sell an item to a customer;
· Take a phone message;
· Add or subtract sales;
· Organize files;
· Visit a client with you;
· Shop for supplies;
· Talk to co-workers;
· Enter data onto a spreadsheet;
· Clean up the office;
· Balance a checkbook, etc.
Obviously, you will want to plan activities in advance pertinent to your child’s age, abilities, likes and dislikes, etc. But by taking the time to show your children what you do to help pay for the things in their lives, they will have a much better understanding of why and how you spend your day when they are at school.
For more information on this topic, check out:
http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstreet/2008/03/21/teaching-your-kids-about-business-while-theyre-young/
http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/118570
http://lifehacker.com/337121/teach-your-child-about-business
Do you need help selling your self-published book? Feel free to contact me below with your questions, comments and suggestions. I’d love to hear from you!
How to Work with Technicians Successfully
Ugh! I’ve had so many issues dealing with my website and technicians lately! I’ve had to handle problems with a well-known web company and numerous issues with Internet consultants and freelancers. And this doesn’t include all of the technical issues that go with each update to the site.
Well, since I’ve been through all of this, I have a few tips to share with you. If you want your website creation to go smoothly, here are a few things to keep in mind when hiring and working with your team of professionals:
Research.
When you find experts to help you create and host your website, do the appropriate research first. Conduct online searches, contact references, check ratings at The Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org), and look for industry-related associations for assistance. Even if a company is well-known, it may not be the right choice for your specific situation and goals.
Now, it takes a lot of time and effort to find the right people, but it is well worth the effort. Otherwise, you may waste thousands of dollars and hours on projects that never get finished.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate!
Before you even start working on a project, talk about pricing, deadlines, specific project details and any other important areas relevant to the success of your site. You want to share expectations and develop an action plan to avoid surprises. It’s also a good idea to know exactly how to get out of a contract and the time and fees involved in doing so.
Monitor.
As you work with your team of experts, check in with them on a regular basis. Look at how things are going compared to your action plan. Monitor progress, any potential issues and your budget.
See if any changes need to be made and make them. You’ll reduce stress levels if you know what is going on at all times. But try not to micro-manage. This will just slow down the process and irritate your team members.
I’ve been through a lot of challenges creating jexbo™, and I hope these tips help your Web projects go smoothly. I’ve worked with some great people and others with a poor work ethic.
The whole process can be a great success or a huge nightmare depending on your team… so please take the time to find the right people and services to help you.
Well, since I’ve been through all of this, I have a few tips to share with you. If you want your website creation to go smoothly, here are a few things to keep in mind when hiring and working with your team of professionals:
Research.
When you find experts to help you create and host your website, do the appropriate research first. Conduct online searches, contact references, check ratings at The Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org), and look for industry-related associations for assistance. Even if a company is well-known, it may not be the right choice for your specific situation and goals.
Now, it takes a lot of time and effort to find the right people, but it is well worth the effort. Otherwise, you may waste thousands of dollars and hours on projects that never get finished.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate!
Before you even start working on a project, talk about pricing, deadlines, specific project details and any other important areas relevant to the success of your site. You want to share expectations and develop an action plan to avoid surprises. It’s also a good idea to know exactly how to get out of a contract and the time and fees involved in doing so.
Monitor.
As you work with your team of experts, check in with them on a regular basis. Look at how things are going compared to your action plan. Monitor progress, any potential issues and your budget.
See if any changes need to be made and make them. You’ll reduce stress levels if you know what is going on at all times. But try not to micro-manage. This will just slow down the process and irritate your team members.
I’ve been through a lot of challenges creating jexbo™, and I hope these tips help your Web projects go smoothly. I’ve worked with some great people and others with a poor work ethic.
The whole process can be a great success or a huge nightmare depending on your team… so please take the time to find the right people and services to help you.
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