Ways to Overcome Hard Times as a Leader

Being a leader can be difficult, especially if you lead a large group of people, such as a business, organization, church, etc. When groups become difficult to lead, leaders need hope. How can you have hope, when people are generally misbehaving or being insolent?

 What are some of ways to overcome troubling times as a leader?

1. Have a purpose about yourself. What is the purpose of the leadership? Stick to the purpose, and you can overcome.

Outstanding Leaders Have a Certain Capacity, Here's Some Characteristics:

Leading and managing are two different things...yes. Leading is quite a challenge, however. Versus managing, leading has more to do with how the team functions from the inside out. Managing however, has to do with how the team functions overall. See the difference? Let me explain...

You see leaders are all about leading people to a certain point. It requires progress from start to finish. Management is more like managing progress. When you're a leader, you're required to get people to a certain point. Management, there are no specific requirements.

What is Coca-Cola, Avon, Walmart, and Disney Doing Right in Social Media?

A recent chart, which was released by Statista and promoted by Mashable shows that Coca-Cola is the top most-talked about brand on Facebook followed by Avon, Walmart, and Disney. But, seriously, what are they doing right? That's what we need to explore. So, I will highlight a few ideas that they do, which can hopefully help you in your strategy.

But, first...here's the chart:


You will find more statistics at Statista

Organizing a Business Plan: What You Need

As I've recently taken a look at business plans, I found that some people are misinformed about them. So, let me go over a few helpful tips, in hopes that you become better educated on what is needed.

Every business should have an agenda, plan, purpose, mission, etc.

1. Overview: This section is going to be the same as the last ("summary") section. You need at least to explain the market opportunity, the company's leadership role, and (the most specific) cash amount required to breakeven at X.
   

Guest Post: Why Hire a Social Media Intern? Find out now...

This guest post below, by Courtney Gordner, is a followup of a previous post by Jay Pfoutz entitled, "How to Know if Social Media is the Best Marketing Avenue".

Social media is an important part of any successful marketing campaign currently. Gone are the days where you can just ignore such avenues and go about your business. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of time invested to gain any kind of leeway with social networks. 

Not only do you need to post on a regular basis, you also have to spend time interacting with your followers and generating an active online presence for your brand or business.

The most effective way to maintain a social media presence is to assign employees specifically to the task. Sure, many folks probably know the marketing game already and how to handle social media, but do they know how to generate revenue from their efforts? Trust me when I say, you do not want to assign your nephew to the task just because he is great with Facebook. 

Instead, you want a professional, efficient, and qualified individual. There is a lot more to social media marketing than meets the eye.

Naturally, that means bringing in an outsider to take on the duties. For a small business, this can be quite difficult, because social media professionals do not exactly come cheap. So, what is the best alternative?

Interns, of course!

I am sure the first question that came to mind is, why hire someone new to the business without much experience. What can they do for my brand and business? Fortunately, there are many redeeming qualities that interns bring to the table, and that is exactly what we are here to talk about!

Interns Offer More Bang for Your Buck

Fresh into the field, interns are willing to accept more reasonable pay terms because they have less experience. Obviously, that is because they want to earn experience to add to their resume. Do not let that scare you, especially since they are likely from a generation that lives and breathes social media.

Because interns are looking to boost their resume, they are also willing to work that much harder. That translates to greater productivity levels during their work sessions.

There is a negative to this however, one that you need to do your best to avoid. Because interns are willing to do more for less, that also means it’s easy to take advantage. It is okay to demand a little more from your employees, especially interns that have quite a bit to prove. That being said, you do not want to abuse them because that will lead to a disgruntled employee. Now, in the company backend that may not be such a blaring issue, but you certainly do not want a disgruntled social media manager tending to your public accounts. I hope that I do not have to explain any further, why that could be detrimental for your business.

That does not mean you should avoid interns, on the contrary. Just be wary when you are assigning them duties and responsibilities that you do not overstep your boundaries and ask too much of them.

If You Cannot Pay, Experience Alone Will Be Enough for Most

It is difficult to get a job right out of college, but I am sure you already know that. The most obvious reason is that newcomers have little to no experience, despite their qualifications.

That means college students and interns are willing to do almost anything to earn experience. This includes working for a company that only offers experience in return for their labor. If you cannot afford to pay interns, it is more than acceptable to hire them so that they may earn experience.

That being said, keep in mind that you cannot ask a non-paid employee to take on as many responsibilities as one that is on the payroll. Just as I mentioned above, that is especially crucial when dealing with employees that will be in the public eye. Remember that they will have direct access to your social media accounts, and that includes the ability to post information visible to the public.

Don’t Just Stop at One

If you decide to hire an intern, do whatever you can to make room for more. Not only will this offer a more comfortable environment for your younger employees, this will also offer more talent to work with. 

You can even join a partnership with a University or College to setup a Work-Study Co-op program. This enables students to take on both academic and professional responsibilities without getting too overwhelmed. It also means more exposure to a greater number of interns for your business. WebpageFX is an internet marketing company that hires numerous interns every year. This type of program can be used to screen for future employees, and even hire one of the interns full-time - once they complete their schooling.

Interns May Start Out Small, but They Often Rise to the Occasion

It can be a frightening idea to hire a potential employee that does not have much experience, but that is the beauty of taking on an intern. They can grow with your company or business, both in knowledge and skill.

It is one thing to hire a bunch of employees and leave them to their vices. It is another to hire a small group of individuals, and groom them to their full potential. In many cases, an intern will work just as hard and perform just as well as a regular employee. Combine all of that with the fact that most interns are ambitious, and you have an unstoppable force behind you.

They are Not Set in Their Ways

This point may seem a bit silly, but in the moment, it will mean everything. Interns have not been around the business for so many years that they are set in their ways. This is vital not only to the future of your business, but also to the future of their position. You see, social media and the internet in general are always changing and always evolving. What works one day, may not work very well the next. Social media professionals need to be able to adapt, and they need to do so quickly and efficiently.

In addition, they also need to be willing to try out new strategies and tactics without going over the top. Interns certainly have the ambition to accomplish such things. Better yet, they are new to the experience and that means they are more willing to change up their game and try out new strategies.

Invest in Their Confidence

Like I already pointed out, do not just hire interns or employees and leave them to their vices. Do whatever you can to ensure they will succeed. That includes offering them the necessary tools and resources to accomplish their goals.

A great way to go about this is to ask them directly what they need. Adopt an open door policy that is friendly to your interns and new hires. Allow them to approach you with any needs and concerns they may have.

To meet with any kind of success, it requires an investment. Think of your interns as an investment, one that also needs a bit of support behind it. Do not set your interns up to fail, instead show them how confident you are that they will get the job done.

If you take a chance with interns, and back them with your faith and confidence, then you will be rewarded in no time.

Courtney Gordner is a blogger with a passion for all things internet, social media, and SEO! Read more on her own blog, www.talkviral.com

How to Know if Social Media is the Best Marketing Avenue

Social media, statistically, is one of the best marketing avenues for businesses and organizations alike. Sometimes, however, it's not the best. How do you know whether it is for your business or organization?

Realize first that marketing involves targeting content or products toward people. Not everyone is on social media, and some are oblivious to being on social media very long each day. Most people still have other lives to attend to than just social media. Many work full time, many don't pay much attention to the online world. So, therefore, social media should not be your only aim, and if you don't find success in that avenue, don't fuss. You're not the only one in trouble.

How to Lead Change in your Organization

 Leadership becomes a challenge when you've got to change things in your organization. So, how is this done? I've got a few principles that can help free your mind on the issue.

1. Let people trust in your leadership first.

Nothing is worse than new leaders stepping foot in an organization without having a pre-established trust. Be sure to gain trust before you go trying to make a whole lot of changes. Otherwise, you'll get burned.

Social Networking Changes that Adults Do to Avoid Career Spies

If you haven't already known, job recruiters and HR professionals typically conduct their own "personal" check on job seekers. These job seekers consider this activity as spying, but with how difficult some people have in finding jobs, this scares them into modifying their social networking profiles by deleting posts and changing profile information to protect their ability to get a job.

Many people post about how they party, enjoy their life, or how they hate their life. Many people post racy, sexual, or crude remarks. From curse words to other banters, these things could cause HR professionals and recruiters to look away to other candidates. It's a pretty typical thing that people who engage in partying or have generally aggressive behavior are more reckless, which is a turn-off for many companies.

Responsibilities to Learn for Life (25 Step Comprehensive Guide)

The following is a 25-step comprehensive guide to taking responsibilities in your life and the importance of responsibility. This can help your job, your family life, and much more!

1. Realize you need to take initiative. If you truly want to be treated as adults are treated, then it’s important to take the initiative. Sometimes that means doing things that others in your household don’t expect, for example, doing the dishes, sweeping the floor(s), getting a gift for someone, etc. There is a wide range of things that people can take initiative to do. It all starts with you. If you keep doing things only if you’re told or asked to do, then you’re not taking the initiative. It’s when you do things without being told or asked to do. If you’re used to being in a household where everything is taken care of, then you need to change some things inside of you to start doing things in the household.