Career Coach Office Featured on Naperville News Channel 17 (Business Connection Show)

In a recent interview, Stan Washington (Founder and President of Career Coach Office) revealed the latest version of the software is now open to small businesses of all types. He also mentioned workshops and consulting for small businesses especially start-ups.

Twitter - @CCoachOffice
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/CareerCoachOffice
Website - http://www.careercoachoffice.com

Honestly we can't find you on the web!

By: Stan Washington
Date: October 22, 2013

I recently added about 50 contacts and in my usual way, I visit their website and social media presence.  Out of the 50, a dismal 8 people had Facebook pages, 17 had Twitter accounts, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube were nonexistent. I went to a popular search engine, typed in a person's business name and their site did not show up.

Here is what you should do right now:

1. Google Your business name - If you don't show up then your "Web Presence" is too low!

2. Have your friends search for your business name in Facebook. It took me several tries, but I finally found some of you! You will always find you because your page is connected to you.

3. Put your big girl and boy pants on and grow your network!  Get on social media and increase your web presence!

If Social Media isn't in your plans, you may want to rethink your strategy. Your clients will be looking for you in some interesting places. Check out this Forbes article:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2013/09/24/the-top-7-social-media-marketing-trends-that-will-dominate-2014/2/

Get your FREE "Web Presence" page when you sign up at http://www.careercoachoffice.com

Tech Biz of Coaching: De-cluttering my home office made me productive

Tech Biz of Coaching: De-cluttering my home office made me productive: by: Stan Washington Date: October 14, 2013 Working from a home office has its rewards but can be distracting at times. The ava...

De-cluttering my home office made me productive

by: Stan Washington

Date: October 14, 2013

Working from a home office has its rewards but can be distracting at times. The availability of "home" stuff like television, neighbors and errands used to find their way on my daily to do list and distract me from executing my daily business plan, but not anymore.  The main distraction seems to be organization. 

I don't know what has happened over the past year but I seem to be getting more paper than ever before!  Here are a few tips:

Clean my house in the morning - The first thing I do is clean my kitchen. I wipe down every surface and put away everything in its place. I do this before I grab my morning coffee!

Online Banking - I have switched over to on-line banking and I receive my monthly statements on-line. I can download my statement and e-mail the information to my accountant. I pay for business related items online and I don't remember the last time I wrote a check.

Handle a piece of paper twice - I was actually taught that I was only supposed to handle a piece of paper once, but who am I fooling?  I still get mail, paper invoices, articles, doctors' instructions, periodicals and statements from companies who haven't moved their processes on-line.  I look at the information to make sure nothing is pressing.  I then file the documents in their proper place on Friday. 

Create a directory structure that makes sense - I know this is tiny but many don't do it.  I have folders for everything on e-mail and I have the same folder structure on my computer.  I also back up my information in the cloud or on an external hard-drive. (I just bought a 1 TB drive for $60 and backed up all my files.

Company Name

           Accounting

           Marketing

           Projects / Workshops

           Client Documents

Delete or trash old files - Ask yourself... "Do I really need the file from 1997?" If you haven't looked at it this year, then the idea or thought is probably old. (I'm giving you a lot of leeway here)!  I finally got rid of an award certificate from one of my first companies in the 80's. I chose one or two memory items and chunked the rest.

Time box decluttering efforts - I only give my decluttering efforts 2 hours. I usually wind up making phone calls and doing other administrative tasks during this time but I can definitely benefit from scheduling this effort.  I can think better when I'm not cluttered!

Visit http://www.careercoachoffice.com and organize yourself today!

Your clients can sense your loneliness from your website!

By: Stan Washington
Date: October 11, 2013

I make it a point to visit as many websites as possible on a daily basis.  In fact this year I believe I have seen over 3000+ sites and I have observed a very "lonely" group of people!  How can I tell they are lonely? Just by what they say and their lack of "web presence."


Twitter - I visited someones twitter page and they had ONE lonesome tweet from last year which showed a lack of commitment to this social tool. People are interested in your current information.

Benefit - Quick concise messages with reference links help people find information quickly increasing your presence.


Pintrest - On the other hand I saw some interesting business ideas on Pinterest. Some have taken pictures with their smiling clients holding their product. I don't know why, but I felt this business owner wasn't lonely rather quite engaged with their client.

Benefit - Cool points with your clients if you can swing it. Oh and don't forget brand recognition.




Facebook - Where are you?  I went to some websites and couldn't get to several Facebook business pages. When I arrived on some of the pages I saw pictures of great grandkids and the dog eating chicken soup. Please keep your business page professional!

Benefit - Maximum reach! With over a billion people using Facebook, this cannot be ignored as a tool that will assist in your growth.





Google+ - Someone said to me , "I'm already on enough social tools." My response... "They already have too much business and it must be time to hire and expand, otherwise get on as many social tools as possible."

Benefit - The more mentions your company has within Google's suite of applications, the higher you appear
on their search engine results.


LinkedIn - The grandad of all things social has truly added some nice business apps that enable small business owners to tell people about their company every time they post or connect with someone.

Benefit - Viewed as the most professional way to connect with clients and potential clients.




YouTube - Here is another avenue where people are missing. I noticed a lack of video presence from many small businesses.  Just point a camera in front of yourself and say hello.

Benefit - We are in a very visual time. The more you can present yourself and your products in a visual way the more it will be received.



Career Coach Office - I noticed people were not using a database to keep track of clients and potential clients.  How in the world can the small business owner keep track of all those facts?

Benefit - CRM and Client Management on steroids! Invoicing and E-mail marketing are included and there is a free "Web Presence" page that increases the visibility for those who have a website and provides an inexpensive immediate solution for those who do not.





All of these applications are now expected by your clients.  Start using them today to maximize your web presence!

Is Technology Too Confusing to Use?

By: Stan Washington
Date: October 10, 2013

After meeting with a number of small business owners, it became very apparent they were not using technology to it's fullest. No offense to the dinosaur tools of paper phone-books and newspapers but I can't remember the last time I used either for my business needs.

Technology is supposed to make our lives so much easier, but is it making it more complicated?


I did an informal poll at a conference of small business owners and found some surprising results around technology.  This is my world and according to my narrow thinking, everyone was using it to its fullest! Well my technology utopia was shattered when I talked with people.

Business Website - I was thoroughly surprised to find a whopping 38% of the people we polled still have not invested in a website of some kind.  There are so many tools to build sites yourself, but then again we believe in technology!

Facebook Page - I was not as surprised to find 45% of those polled still did not use a Facebook page. Content tends to be the issue. Many small business owners don't like creating their own content to post.

Twitter Account - The low number of 43% of our poll takers using a Twitter Account was not a surprise.  Since they are afraid of generating content for Facebook, then they feel the same way about Twitter.

LinkedIn Page - Some of our poll takers did not even know this was an option for them.  They confused having a business page with being part of a discussion group.

E-Mail Marketing - This was another surprise to me.  Those who did not have a website used E-mail marketing to spread the word about their business.  I still wondered what they are using as a landing page to discuss their products and services.

We have seen as much as a 40% increase in business awareness of those who use e-mail marketing campaigns over those who use referral only.

Online Invoicing - Word documents converted to PDF was the prevalent method of doing invoices.  Many were still concerned about the cost of using credit/debit cards. What is the cost of not accepting this form of payment? According to CreditCards.com:

Credit card users surveyed in 2012 who used their cards to buy:

Clothing: 67 percent
Gas: 64 percent
Food: 64 percent
Travel: 62 percent

Credit and debit cards are here to stay.  Cost avoidance may mean business avoidance.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) - E-mail phone-books and lists were still the tool of choice.  Some said they tried CRM but felt it didn't do much for them. Our experience is different.

Jobs and business deals have a common number... 80% are found through relationships. Managing relationships through a contact management system keeps information organized and available.

Please visit us at http://www.careercoachoffice.com today to make sense out of technology.

Be-Attitudes of Small Business

Be-Attitudes of Small Business
by Stan Washington - October 08, 2013

1. Be Creative - Many who know me understand I love creativity.  Business owners face incredible problems and issues that need resolutions. Think! Be creative instead of boxing yourself into the "it can't be done" abyss.
2. Be Persistent - I have seen too many people give up at the first glitch. Learn! Grow up and stop whining when something goes wrong and develop a plan.
3. Be Engaged - Have a hands on approach to your business and your clients. Relate! Building relationships is key to any successful business.
4. Be Above - Petty thinkers usually get into petty fights. Lead! Treat your customers, employees and those who aren't supporting you with respect and be above their pettiness to win business.
5. Be Faithful - Fearful thinkers lose their faith in what they are doing and think of new ideas too before the others have fully run their course. Resist! It's tempting to abandon ideas that aren't working so well. Analyze the issue and develop a mitigation plan to address the issue

Please visit us at http://www.careercoachoffice.com to "BE" the business you desire!