My Choice of Work Spot for Today

Tired of working from home, I decided to get out. On the last day that seems to be the one, we are being told that our lockdown measures will become tighter.

What better place to work from than a garden centre? For me, there is nothing more soothing and inspiring than having green all around me. They make great coffee…!

This is something that I am now including on my calendar. With all my exhaustive organization skills: under the category Places I Can Work From Today I will build a good range of options. And constantly looking for more.

More and more businesses are now offering this facility. It seems to be one of the safest home-alternatives under the current climate. It’s a trade. Inspiration for support. This Work-Out has given us a joyful reason to commute :)

Cafes and restaurants all have to find more useful approaches to businesses. Welcoming remote work is definitely one that’s already going viral:

Tired of working from home? Looking for some fresh air? A space to work that inspires?

You can find your spot as safe as home at [business name].

The kettle’s always ON here and you only need to wear the mask till you hit your spot.

Reserve Yours Now! or Spot On!

I can even see myself having a specific table once a week, to work from. A spot by the window that oversees the whole garden centre outdoors. Or on a farm (provided I can have a landscape view!).

There’s something quirky and wonderful about surrounding yourself of dozens of strangers. Sitting by yourself. Watching all their social contacts exchanges and observing real-life people’s behaviour.

Someone with a good sized-property could invest in “sowing” a few working pods over. Around a lake or with a field view. How wonderful would that be?

Pods equipped with all required commodities (electricity, heating, water, wifi, fridge, kettle). All you needed to do was to bring your working tools (and coffee!).

Even when the pandemic is over, that idea will still stick. It allows people to work from a more creative environment. Their jobs don’t have to be necessarily creative. Any job is more pleasant if your working setting is appealing.

Garden centres are great places to visit and meet friends. Their food is always delicious. And you certainly leave feeling more refreshed. And guess what? I wasn’t the only one!

I Confess

I have the Impostor Syndrome

Like many starting off, I have the impostor syndrome. I often bring myself down, especially when I read articles and posts by other writers. I can’t help but thinking I will never get to their level.

I commit to endless administrative tasks of planning and scheduling, organizing, preparing to the continuous procrastination of writing as well as many writers out there.

I add books to my Amazon wishlist, I even start reading them, but then it always seems like I always being interrupted by a house chore or by the children. They are like continuous reminders of my inability to stick to the plan and just fulfil.

But then I read other writers and so-called “entrepreneurs” that seem to have the Dunning-Kruger Syndrome, the displaced excessive self-esteem and over-confidence to deliver, and you don’t see anybody talking about that now, do you?

But you see people promising the world-class business that you are looking for even guaranteeing you will be earning a 6-figure income in a matter of weeks, as long as you follow their awesome “schedule” or join in into their Premium Training to become the Freelancing Super-hero that every Freelancer dreams of.

I and you know that nothing is achieved without putting real effort into it. And I want to believe that hard work pays off more than just paying a random stranger to give you a miracle recipe for success or, better yet, to do the work for you.

I’m determined to shift my mind frame from its procrastinating-mode to the accomplishing-mode for 2021. Nuff messing about!

And I Vow

To commit to learning from real-life writers and absorbing all their teachings to achieve my goal.

To network, to read and write (about no matter what), and to ultimately stick to my 2021 planner.

The Web Way Or The Highway

This Christmas is the least jolly we have ever had.

Many popular businesses collapsed. Christmas will hardly be the same without them. And some of them were traditional symbols that everybody recognised. Particularly in fashion.

The truth is society’s frame of mind has changed and with it our dressing needs. Convenience is now taking the place of the politically correct.

Businesses that were not ready for such radical change are struggling to remain open. It’s the web way or the highway now.

Those that are lucky to work remotely have no longer a care in the world most of the days. The more comfortable the better, making use of a more posh attire when going to briefings, meetings and other more special gatherings.

Some have folded, gone into administration, collapsed. Others are struggling to stay afloat, letting people go. Sometimes it could survive with a slight change in the marketing strategy. Think novelty, think good old days but adapt it to today’s quick and constantly moving world.

This is why if you are going through this transition you need to ensure you do it well. Market research. Business is not only about bringing new customers in. It is also about looking after the existing ones.

Many times it can be more cost-effective to preserve the portfolio you already have. Get to know them. SPEAK to them. It doesn’t matter how you communicate, make sure you are out there, visible AND available. It’s about staying connected. At the head of businesses are people.

Bear in mind many online businesses aren’t reliable. They fail in quality, they fail in deadlines, in expected delivery. In most cases they make unrealistic promises. Stick to the plan and keep the communication channels open.

Businesses that were not ready for such radical change are struggling to remain open. It’s the niche way or the web way now. Businesses have to find new ways to keep the customers, to attract them.

Ask yourself: What don’t other businesses offer? What processes can you simplify for your user? How quick is your turn around?

Then all you need is to craft those compelling, product-gripping words to pass your message clearly, without compromising your brand.

How would you like your customers to see you?

Is Tech Killing Our Memory?

Not that far back

In a not so distant past, our desk would be populated by notebooks, pens, a calendar, a diary, a calculator, a hole-puncher, a stapler, perhaps a ruler. Now, apart from the PC and the mobile phone, we’ll be lucky to find a pen on our desk.

Most of this has been incorporated into our personal tech devices. We are no longer required to remember birth dates, meetings, appointments or telephone numbers. Nor we need to know our way home.

Here we are, face to face with technology, on a daily basis. It’s a sad state of affairs.

I see myself as tech-curious with old habits, as there are some I have not managed to part with. Although I know it’s more environmentally friendly not to, I still print what I class as important stuff. The stuff I know I will need to produce or refer to regularly.

I still use the stapler and the hole-puncher. I still use a family calendar hanging on the wall. My reading is still more enjoyable (now more than ever) in printed books. Heck, until 2 years ago I was still making my shopping lists in a loose piece of paper that I’d then put in the wallet inside my handbag.

But I have admittedly resigned to technology in all things that require short to medium-term memory, i.e. phone numbers, birthdays (if all fails there’s Facebook), calculator (hate maths!), appointments and meetings.

However I still remember silly things like my first ever landline number, my first licence plate and I remember the birthdays of the people that are closer to me. I remember my phone number (tho I never call myself) and I don’t remember anyone else’s… Oh, and I can still get around (LOCALLY) without GPS assistance.

Surrendered to Tech

I totally recognise technology is handy, if not vital, in some instances. It that allows us to keep in touch, to stay safe, to alert, to inform, as well as to entertain. We certainly would not be as aware as we are today if it weren’t for the miraculous evolution in technology. And it’s like a backup memory.

“Alexa, remind me to go to the Doctors at 2.30pm!”

“Alexa, how much is 256.846 minus 34.945?”

Technology has taken over our ability to memorize things and like any old computer, our brain is constantly defragmenting the information in our brain, screening, selecting, removing files, all for the sake of pragmatics and to make us available for more worthwhile productive tasks. But what is that dependency doing to our brain?

I strongly believe that, now that technology is taking over so many tasks in our lives, all our brains have left to do is to focus on the emotional side: forcing us to absorb useless and brain damaging information, which make us develop anxieties, lead us to depression, dementia and other psychological conditions and disorders science studies about.

Soon enough we won’t have to think at all.

More interesting reads on this topic just below:

Memory loss isn’t just an old person’s problem

Is Technology Destroying Our Memory?

8 Ways Tech Has Completely Rewired Our Brains

Back to Basics

Why Should a Customer Choose You?

When coming to satisfying customers is not easy. No two customers are the same. There are a few reasons that influence Customers in their buying choices. Not all obvious. But I listed the ones I believe to be the matrix ones.

Price?

There is a misconception that customers will look for the cheapest. 7/10 this is not the case. A price does not make the product. You may find that people actually are aware that cheap is bad quality, end of the line, discontinued or faulty product.

Quality?

This is another misconception. Customers don’t always look for the better quality product, as they will look at the product/service as a value. Is the product fit for purpose?

Customers don’t see the most expensive product as the representation of quality. And they also don’t see the cheapest as the worst. It is all about the end-use of the buy. What’s in for the customer? Is the product price worth the intended purpose? It may be worth considering if the product use is going to be short term (disposable).

Are they looking for medium-term durability, hence better quality? Or are they looking for long-term quality, comfort or impact? Not only on physical goods but also the echo the investment in the product or service will have in the future.

Reliability?

Customers consider timescales for delivery, to have access to the product. They will consider how friendly it may be to use, how quick and easy is it to reach out for help. Satisfied customers will come back to you only for information or to reorder.

But they will mark you and your business if promises aren’t kept. They want to trust that you offer a product or service with peace of mind. Serve them quick, well and with the least hassle.

Standards of Service?

The first time you serve a customer you set a standard. Once you serve a customer that customer expects the same level of service every. Single. Time.

It is crucial for your business to keep those standards. You should tailor the service in certain aspects but keeping the service standards.

Presentation?

The customer looks at the product image. This depends on whether it is a physical good or a virtual one. Image is important to both. The product’s image needs to be the reflection of qualities it’s marketed for. Decorative, useful, inspiring, sophisticated…

The way you present your product is very important. From time to time, it’s necessary to go back to the drawing board. Analyse your customers (or your audience) and consider brushing up your approach. Update your business, try different things. We may be creatures of habits but we also love novelty. A challenge, provided the service standards remain consistent, is refreshing. Do you see what I did there?

If your business has a Customer Service Team, make sure they show a good attitude. Politeness, good communication skills and product knowledge are key. It is sooo important that the staff has the right training! If the staff believes in the product, they will sell it.

Above all, they need to manage the customers’ expectations. Good customer service offers product support, not charity.

Ethics?

More and more people value business ethics. This can cover a wide range: moral, ecological, vegan… All these have become major concerns in the past few years.

What is your company doing to reduce the carbon footprint? How do you discard your waste? How do you manufacture your products? How do you test them?

At the end of the day…

… What drives a customer to buy a product/service is a combination of all of these.

The worst thing you can do is to underestimate your customer. Never assume. Always trust your customer knows what he is looking for.

Transparency is a crucial element in customer care and this should be reinforced through training and through effective team work. The seamless the customer care provided the more likely the customer will return AND refer friends and family to us.

The 6 Main Types of Customer

In my Customer Service experience, I learned a lot about the importance of the Customer Service a business provides and how comprehensive that concept can be. Customers can actually choose a more expensive product because they have been well catered for, which can be reflected in a variety of elements: personal communication, transparency, reliability, practicality, logistics, common sense. But trust me: this would be content for a whole other blog.

In one of my training courses, I also consolidated the always interesting knowledge (as it taps our most basic instincts and psych) that there are generally six types of customers.

Bargain customers – who buy mainly when there are discounts or a reduction in price
Impulse customers – which are exactly as it says on the tin (hard to convince)
Need-based customers – which, again, will only buy as and when they need a product
Wandering customers – probably the least profitable type of customers, the ones that don’t know what to buy
Internal customers – company staff and partner businesses

A successful business should be prepared for five types of customers. Although two of them don’t need much advertising work done, they still have considerable buying potential.

Walk with me.

Bargain Customers

These are customers without specific needs. These customers are looking for the rewarding feeling of a good buy. The good-buy may not necessarily be of especially good quality but it fulfils the purpose, regardless of what that purpose is.

Impulse Customers

Although I am really tempted to say “women”, this is not always the case. The old gender gap in this type of customers is currently quite balanced out. Men enjoy shopping today more than ever before (some probably more than women!). And we know men impulses have evolved… Impulse customers will make a purchase on a spur of the moment, without any initial intention.

Need-based Customers

Premeditated customers. These the customers that make shopping and wishlists lists. But don’t take them for fools, they will still look for their products in comparison websites for the best deal. The need is real and the purchase will happen, as soon as they find the best suitable deal.

Wandering Customers

I see these as the extreme opposites of the impulse customers (I could also say “men” but I will refrain). The window-shoppers. The people that have no intention of buying when they leave the house.

Internal Customers

The customers that are not seen as customers but as colleagues or business partners, but develop into spot customers when they find a good deal, business perks that tend to come up every so often.

What have we learned?

All business interaction IS customer service
Always have a bargain deal up your sleeve, just in case
Offer tailored-package option deals, you will widen the customer range
Create the need, gain a customer.

5 Challenges & Perks of Working From Home

Working from Home, since Covid-19 hit us, has probably been one of the biggest challenges we have all faced. The pandemic guidelines have unlocked a whole new level of working. The good thing is this change was only being postponed. We all knew it was going to happen sooner or later, it was just a matter of time. And the time is here now.

Challenges

Under the Same Roof as Your Partner

For me, this is actually not a problem with my current partner, but I know how that would be a struggle with my old partner and I understand how that could be an issue for many. Ideally, we want to spend the day time away so we that we have something to talk about when we have our evening meal. And there is no risk of us getting crossed phone call conversations.

Saying NO to Snacks and Keeping Track of Your Weight

We are at home. It’s cosy. Working on a computer all day long… Nobody’s watching so no judging… It makes it so easy to let myself go and ignore the water bottle next to me.

Back to the School Runs

The thing that most annoys me – I have to say – is being in the middle of a reasoning process and getting the School Run alarm on my phone to pop up. “Not now! Why?!”

Staying Away from House Chores

Another very annoying thing (but I believe this is part of my OCD) is to have a break from work to grab a cuppa coffee and coming across something out of place, like a few cups and bowls left from breakfast to wash up. I just cannot ignore and resist it. I will wash them.

Getting Out of the Pyjama

Not one of the hardest things to do for me, as I have now got into the habit but I know many good people that still struggle. I suppose it’s just natural to think that it’s a pointless exercise. But it’s actually not. For me, it has become a motivating ritual. I don’t put on office hours formal attire anymore however I found alternative casual, pyjama-comfortable clothes that I now enjoy seeing myself in, without the guilt.

Perks

You Don’t Have to See Your Co-Workers

No more sarcastic comments. No more emails behind our back. No more forced smiles.

You Manage Your Own Time

When we need a break we take it, when we need to go we go. No more excuses to leave earlier or to your delays stuck in traffic (but also to not work!).

You Get to Spend More Time With The Kids

If we are home, we can now pick them up from school (it is annoying if they interrupt me but I still enjoy doing it) and we are no longer late for dinner. Our time now is more effective and of better quality.

You Can Go On a Walk/Run

I know I don’t have to BUT I can. The opportunity is there. At least the walk is good. If you have pets, both of you will love this!

You Can Juggle And Get Other Tasks Done (NOT housework!)

Reading those books I have been meaning to read for over 5 years, upskill with a training course of your interest, setting up a side gig (like I’m doing). Not housework. That will just drag you down with a chain of unfulfilling tasks that we end up doing later anyway (I know that so well!). Just think: How did these tasks get done before the lockdown?

Non-Mum Time

In this pandemic, many people are looking for ways to get some form of income. For women, more than men, as always has been, will struggle to find a suitable job. Male parents don’t usually have to worry about their children education. They will leave the bulk of it to their female partners. Let’s face it: if they are not working the children’s education will be crippled and if they are working, they will rather pay and leave the education role to someone else – normally a woman.

So, there is a crucial point in all women’s lives (when we become mothers) where we face the ultimate dilemma: “Should I become a full-time mum?” In the old days, that was a given. We were expected to stay home and care for the nest. Some more emancipated found ways to meet their lady friends in very feminine get-togethers selling as Customer Reps for Tupperware.

Stay-At-Home Mums

Planned or not, when a woman becomes a mother, her freedom is indefinitely lost. The first two years of that woman’s life are then taken hostages by that, or those, little creatures that have just been created. Motherhood is the true end of the single life as we know it. No more good night sleeps, and no more relaxed nights out with friends either. No woman who is a mother goes out at night with friends without that constant worry, fuelling all her night dance with Jagger Bomb shots.That is over for quite a while. There’s a common Man pre-conception that stay-at-home mums don’t have much to do once the children reach their school-age. Well, let me tell you, that is definitely NOT TRUE.

Although many women choose to stay at home, many are forced to, either because they cannot afford to or because they don’t find it a very fulfilling “career”. Fair play to all. As a mum, I have been, when required, an on-and-off stay-at-home mum myself, and I know for a fact, because of our innate female nature (and maybe because I am a bit of an OCD-type of person), housework never ends. Every day we have things to do and time never seems to be enough to do it all. It is an endless list of repetitive tasks of keeping the house a liveable place and, equally important, a family welcoming nest. The one place where the rest of the family, who spend the day out working and studying, looks forward to returning to.

What most people don’t realize is that women have other interests and they have their own objectives too. They want to be independent and they’re always trying to find creative ways to keep busy with things that give them pleasure or fulfillment outside their motherly expected duties.

Because house chores are unpaid and very little recognized by society as a productive role, they are not as satisfying as you could think, despite the fact that we are nurturing and educating our future (hopefully) productive classes. Covid-19 has also pushed many women towards unemployment, leaving them to yet again, find creative ways to bring some money in, so they can still keep a decent way of life, without becoming fully dependent of their partners.

Mumpreneurs – The New Generation of Business Women

Unless you work from home for an Employer, childminding is probably the first option that comes to mind, as it allows you to work from home and get a reasonable steady income, but it can be time-consuming and it may require a considerable investment. Looking after other people’s children requires a little more official certification than just the fact that you look after your own children.

Some women may think a stay-at-home mother will diminish or even damage their professional image. They fear their business ethics will be regarded as partial or worse, that they may not be taken seriously because they choose to work around their life rather than fitting their life around their career. However, this seems to be far from the truth. As with all fashion, the Tupperware concept seems to have returned, but stronger. The party plan excuse for Direct Marketing has become a trend that seems to be here to stay. As a result of the latest events, in the past year or two, many women have chosen to take a step up to a whole refreshed level of business. Cosmetics, candles, fragrances and warmers, lingerie, home-made soaps and treats, there is a wide variety of choices. And if you can think of something else that can make other peoples’ lives more pleasant or easier, don’t hold back. This is our time.

Inspiring stories

#BREAKFREE From Mum Guilt With These Tips From The UK’s Leading Mumpreneurs

4 inspiring ‘mumpreneurs’ on how they got started – and managed to keep going

5 Brilliant Mumpreneurs: The Women Who Balance Motherhood With Entrepreneurship

‘Mumpreneurs’ are using the internet to set up their own businesses from home

‘Mumpreneurs’: an encouraging identity or belittling to businesswomen?

No More Moaning

A few years down the line, this website marks the beginning of a new era. Those of you who know me will remember my old moaningfreelancer email address AND and my intentions of setting up a business under the same name for the sake of coherence. I had even started setting it up under the same .com domain.

Until my daughter started college. She completely changed my perspective. And as I didn’t want this kind of ambiguity in my life, I changed it all to a “Witty” business.