How to Run a Successful Online Meeting: 6 Effective Strategies

With the current COVID-19 epidemic still ongoing, many businesses have gone remote. More employees than ever before work entirely from home, and that’s bound to be the case for some time yet. In times like these knowing how to run a successful online meeting is essential. Team communication is more important than ever to keep everyone on track. Video conference software allows you to meet up with your team and employees over the Internet and talk to them live. But if you’re the one in charge of hosting a virtual conference, and this is your first time dealing with it, you might not have the first clue where to begin. That’s where this post comes in....
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Psychologists Say There Are Only 5 Kinds of People in the World. Which One Are You?

Your personality influences everything from the friends you choose to the candidates you vote for in a political election. Yet many people never really spend much time thinking about their personality traits. Understanding your personality can give you insight into your strengths and weaknesses. It can also help you gain insight into how others see you. Most modern-day psychologists agree there are five major personality types. Referred to as the "five factor model," everyone possesses some degree of each. ...
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8 Reasons Why Exceptional Employees Quit Their Jobs

To have exceptional success in business, you need to have exceptional employees. However, hiring them is only half the battle. Unfortunately, it's easy for A-players to find another opportunity, and they'll be the most motivated to find the best job possible. It's no wonder that more than one in five employees were searching for greener pastures in 2017. The good news? Most of the slip-ups made by bosses that motivate rock stars to leave are completely avoidable. ...
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The Best Way to Beat a Bad Mood, According to Psychology: The 3 M’s

Happiness makes your brain work better, Harvard researcher Shawn Achor once told Inc.com. All of us, especially hard-pressed business owners, could definitely use our brains to be at our sharpest in the midst of the current crisis. But let's be honest, now isn't the easiest time to stay positive. For some folks with mental health issues, the challenges go way beyond cabin fever and everyday anxiety. But for those of us lucky enough to be dealing with garden-variety grumpiness, science has good news. Simple interventions that are doable for nearly everyone can have a profound effect on your mood. Psychology writer Nick Wignall brilliantly summed them up on Medium as the three M's. ...
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6 Things Left Unsaid in an Interview That Could Indicate a Bad Hire

There are plenty of articles about how to spot a good hire based on what a candidate says in their interview. But what about what they don't say? I find that it's just as informative (maybe more) to listen to what's left unsaid. Here are six unspoken things that raise red flags about a candidate. 1. Anything about the company. I'm guessing you want your employees to do what's best for the company over themselves personally. With that in mind, it sounds alarm bells in my head if the candidate's questions or examples are all focused around themselves vs. the company. This speaks volumes about how they will approach problems and prioritize. ...
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What a Chess Grandmaster Can Teach You About Emotional Intelligence

Garry Kasparov is regarded by many as the best chess player of all time. At the age of 22, Kasparov earned the title of youngest world chess champion. He went on to break multiple records and dominated the world of competitive chess for 20 years, before retiring in 2005. Kasparov's an amazing chess strategist, but he's also a brilliant thinker whose insights can be applied to the world of business, and really any type of decision making. This fact became strikingly clear to me as I recently took an online course from Kasparov, hosted by Masterclass. ...
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2 Psychological Tricks That Will Help You Stop Feeling Sorry for Yourself

Whether an economic downturn has taken a toll on your bank account, or you're dealing with a chronic health issue that interferes with your everyday life, hardship is inevitable. But the way you deal life's inevitable challenges is up to you. You can either make the best of a tough a situation or you can dig in your heels and indulge in some serious self-pity. Choosing to feel sorry for yourself, however, has some serious consequences. It will drain you of the mental strength you need to be your best. And it could keep you stuck in an unhealthy cycle of misery. ...
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8 Social Media Hacks for Small Businesses

Social. Media. These two words have made you either jump for joy or curl up in a fetal position in your pajamas at the overwhelming nature of these platforms. Either of these reactions are probably the reason you’re here: either you love everything about social media or the mere thought sends you into a panic-induced sweat. Like it or not, it’s here to stay, and in these social distancing times, social media is more important than before to the success of your business. Taking on the responsibility of managing your social media accounts can be both an exciting venture and a terrifying process, especially if you’re working from home like many throughout the world. Have no fear, I’m here to tell you that you’ve got this and to give you a few pro-tips....
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Here’s What Stops Most People From Reaching Their Full Potential–and How You Can Avoid Getting Stuck

When you picture achieving success, you probably imagine a graph rising steadily to the right, with the top point of the line being somewhere around fulfillment, lots of cash and real authority in your field. Reality check--the graph often rises to a given point, then cuts sharply to the horizontal and stays there. It's a situation known for decades as the Peter Principle. The concept, made famous based on research from Lawrence J. Peter published in 1969, says that people rise to the level of their incompetence. You'll keep getting promoted until you simply don't have the skills or knowhow to get any further. And at that point, your career takes a seat and stagnates. ...
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Train Your Brain to Remember Anything You Learn With This Simple, 20-Minute Habit

Recently, a colleague and I were lamenting the process of growing older and the inevitable increasing difficulty of remembering things we want to remember. That becomes particularly annoying when you attend a conference or a learning seminar and find yourself forgetting the entire session just days later. But then my colleague told me about the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve, a 100-year-old formula developed by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus, who pioneered the experimental study of memory. The psychologist's work has resurfaced recently and has been making its way around college campuses as a tool to help students remember lecture material. For example, the University of Waterloo explains the curve and how to use it on the Campus Wellness website. I teach at Indiana University and a student mentioned it to me in class as a study aid he uses. Intrigued, I tried it out too--more on that in a moment. ...
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3 Factors Driving Real Estate Investment in 2020

Real estate investment has been one of the most attractive ways of putting money to work for a very long time. There is a reason why it always features prominently in the portfolios of billionaires and other sophisticated investors. It offers relative stability and attractive returns. That said, 2020 is not like any other year in recent history. The global health crisis has upended traditional investment and business sectors, and the real estate sector is not an exception....
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This 5-Second Morning Ritual Sets Satya Nadella Up for All-Day Success

Lots of CEOs love to humble brag about their extreme morning routines. Tim Cook is up at the ungodly hour of 3:45, Richard Branson is kite surfing before most of us open our eyes, and Tony Robbins subjects himself to a daily ice water plunge. But there are exceptions. Jeff Bezos is a famous morning putterer, for instance, refusing to set important meetings before 10 a.m. And apparently Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is another iconic name that prefers a gentler start to the day. In the course recent interview with Time (hat tip to Business Insider), the Microsoft CEO revealed his ultra quick, ultra impactful morning ritual. ...
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This App Lets You Build a Fully Functioning Website in Seconds

Any entrepreneur worth their salt knows you need a website to make your brand stand out and help your business scale. Websites help generate new business, simplify your operations, and give you greater standing in your community and with your customers. However, not everyone has the technical expertise to build a website from scratch, nor the capital to enlist a web designer when you're just starting out. There are better solutions out there. Take, for instance, Sourcery Website Builder. Sourcery is a simplified website builder that helps you create complete websites from scratch that are fully customized for your business. All you have to do is type your company name, connect your social profiles, and Sorcery will craft your website and keep it updated, optimized, and relevant automatically. It takes literally seconds to set up your website, which is why Sourcery was named a #5 Product of the Day on Product Hunt....
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An Entrepreneur’s Checklist for Starting a Business at Home

Once you have an idea and a passion, starting a business can feel like a whirlwind. While it might feel like you have to dive in head-first right away, taking a step back to plan and organize can set you up for long term growth. Before you begin your business journey, here are a few tasks and helpful reminders to check off your list. Create a business plan. You may think business plans are only for large organizations, but every startup needs to have one. The Small Business Administration has a guide to help you write one yourself. Business plans are meant to serve you, the entrepreneur, so there is no wrong way to write yours....
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Big Ass Fans Founder Carey Smith on How to Build a Business in a Recession

It's the entrepreneurial way to remain optimistic and find unique opportunities. That's according to Big Ass Fans founder Carey Smith, who spoke at Inc.'s Real Talk: Business Reboot streaming event on how to get your business through a downturn and remain positive in difficult times. "Don't be a victim," he advises. Smith founded his company (which sells large fans) in 1999, and landed it on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies 11 times, from 2007 to 2017. Smith grew Big Ass Fans into a multimillion-dollar enterprise through the heart of the 2008 downturn and ultimately sold it in 2017 for $500 million. Here's his advice for how to push your business through an economic crisis....
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