MP3 - iTunes On today's show John Brandon, a Computerworld blogger, recommended five Web 2.0 services. They are: Zendesk Yoowalk Scour Tokbox Lefora... Less

We visited with Ron Holohan today on The Bigg Success Show . Ron is a Certified Project Management Professional and is currently the Director of Program Management at Shure in Chicago. Ron also hosts a weekly project management internet radio show called The pm411.org Project Management Podcast, which has consistently been one of the top four project management shows on iTunes. . . We all know that project management can be a stickler. So we asked Ron to share two tips with us to create more effective project status reports. . The first tip is to focus only on the exceptions. What I mean by that is that you don’t want to throw everything in the kitchen sink into your status reports. No one wants to read all that. They want to be able to look at your status report and pull out just the information they need. So focus on the exceptions – those issues that have changed since your previous report. Your audience only gets the information they need so your status report is short and concise. . I think that’s a bigg one. It seems that you often see status reports that look like a “mind dump.” You see all the activity that’s happened since the last report. You get bored with it so you’re not able to help them. might call it stubborn. . That’s right. If someone wants to go back, they can always look at one of your previous reports for more information. . Cut the fat … get to the meat. What’s another tip? . . Another tip is to make your report as easy as possible to read. This is the same kind of ideas as Tip #1. You want to allow your audience to easily scan for details that interest them the most. One way to do that is by using something called “Stoplight Reporting” – you communicate progress by using different colors. A bullet point in green may mean this item is going according to plan. Yellow means that particular item needs to be watched. Red means action is required because that item is starting to go off track. You can actually use blue as well to indicate that particular item has been resolved or completed. . Can you put a “Don’t Walk” in there? . . That would be nice! Use short bullet points. You don’t want to write a paragraph; this isn’t going to win you a Pulitzer Prize. You’re just trying to convey simple facts to your audience. Also, use tables where you can. They’re great for listing things like milestones, budget information, or product material cost. . What’s interesting about this to me is that some people are good with words or numbers, but other people are very visual. So you’re giving your report in a way that allows your audience to consume it the way they prefer. . I prefer stick figures! . . It’s a great system that you’ve outlined with the different colors. You instantly can see what’s going on. Now I assume what you talk about are the “yellows” and the “reds”. . That’s right. So if I was reading the report, my eyes would naturally look for those yellow and red bullets that need my attention the most. . Ron’s freebie! Ron has a free status report template available for you, complete with a Stoplight along with other great templates. Thanks Ron for sharing your fantastic tips with us! Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes.  Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.   ShareThis Less

DadLabs Ep. 365 -- Considering a "staycation" this year? Don't let gas prices put a crimp in your family travel creativity. Go retro! Consider an overnight road trip to some of the kitchy, goofy, even downright weird destinations like the Snake Farm, within a one tank range of your house. Brought to you by Graco's Ready for the Road Ahead campaign. Visit http://www.dadlabs.com for more! Distributed by Tubemogul. Less

As I was “launching” a new video using the TubeMogul service today, I noticed that Vimeo was now one of the available services that TubeMogul can access. It is always great to see more services on TubeMogul as it helps me, and all of you, distribute your work to more sites, with less work. I also noticed the AOL Video uploads now appear to be working. In the past, these uploads would fail every time I tried. More good news. Here is my short, screencast demo of TubeMogul a Tech: Vimeo uploads now supported by TubeMogul Less

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed Eric is a regular visitor in our live community, who goes by than handle of iBowler or Bowler4Ever. He is an avid bowler, and sent in his tips to help all of you bowl higher scores! While I read Eric’s bowling tips, I had a video done by XXOwnsXY from our chat room. She was playing around with OECake in that video, and it’s way cool. Know your shoe size! You need special shoes to bowl in, as street shoes can damage the approach. If you don’t know, check inside your shoe for a tag or the bottom part of the shoe. After you get your lane, look for the bowling ball that weighs the perfect amount for you and make sure it fits your hand! Whatever your body weight is, take 10% from it. That would be the weight of your ball. BUT, if it’s too heavy, keep going a pound lighter until it feels somewhat decent for you. Don’t EVER get the tightest fit for you. If you’ve checked out YouTube, people have launched balls into the ceiling…and clocks! Also, never get balls with the fingerholes too big…you don’t want to get a broken foot! Make sure it’s snug, but still loose enough for you fingers! NO FOOD OR DRINKS IN THE BOWLING AREA! There’s a reason why those signs are all over the place. What happens if you spill soda all over the approach? You stick! sugary carbonated water turns into a sticky syrup that is a PAIN to clean off the approach and the shoes!…And if you fall and hurt yourself…it’s nobody’s fault but your own. Don’t even bring water down there (precautionary measures). You see that black line where the gutters start? Don’t you DARE go past it! That line is called the foul line and what it does is a) Lets you know that you went too far down and b) saves you from injury. Why? Because after that line there is a ton of oil that goes the rest of the way down the lane a certain distance. That oil is clear and very slippery and you WILL get hurt! Bowler’s Courtesy. Now I know you’re new to the game and all that, but league bowlers (such as myself) HATE it when people just rush up right beside or even in front of them and bowl. It’s very agitating and dangerous! Bowling balls weigh up to 16 pounds and if yo get smacked by one of those suckers, you’re going to get some broken bones! If you’re bowling on the first or last lane of the bowling center, do NOT go down that aisle and knock down the pins that way. Why? It’s dangerous and you can get kicked and banned from the center. It’s happened! So don’t do it! If you’re a bowler, what’s your highest score ever? What silly mistakes or “oopsies” have you made while bowling? [rssbullet:http://shop.tagjag.com/products/bowling] Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video: <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/80WLns8m2Fk"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/80WLns8m2Fk" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://chris.pirillo.com/">Chris</a> | <a href="http://live.pirillo.com/">Live Tech Support</a> | <a href="http://media.pirillo.com/">Video Help</a> | <a href="http://feeds.pirillo.com/ChrisPirilloShow">Add to iTunes</a> Tips for Internet Newbies (and General Reminders) Buy a Digital Camera How to Sell on Ebay How to Keep Your PC Clean and Fast (Speed up Tips) Buy a Computer Geek Fashion Google Tips How to Learn Computers YouTube Meetup: North Dakota and Seattle After Christmas Tips Less

A few weeks ago I started sending out daily career tips via Twitter. Yesterday, I started a new experiment. I have started to place the tips on Seesmic, as well. To get your daily dose of career wisdom, visit: Career Tips on Seesmic Career Tips on Twitter Career Tips on FriendFeed iPod Ready Video a Daily Career Tips - Now with video Less

A few weeks ago I started sending out daily career tips via Twitter. Yesterday, I started a new experiment. I have started to place the tips on Seesmic, as well. To get your daily dose of career wisdom, visit: Career Tips on Seesmic Career Tips on Twitter Career Tips on FriendFeed iPod Ready Video a Daily Career Tips - Now with video Less

Download audio file (technoratitaggeneratorpodcast.mp3) In this episode I not only give great and useful tips for using Technorati.com, I also give you exclusive access to my new Free Technorati Tag Generator addon for Firefox! As promised in my podcast here is the direct link to download the free addon at: http://www.yourseomentor.com/technoratitaggenerator In the podcast listen to how you [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Technorati Tag Generator Podcast", url: "http://www.yourseomentor.com/seo-tools/technorati-tag-generator-podcast" }); Less

Author: RealWorldGreen Added: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:35:14 -0800Duration: 229 The digital revolution was supposed to help the workplace go green, but despite having powerful, digital devices to help us with all sorts of communications and other daily tasks, we still use tons of office paper each year. How can you really make a ... Less

http://live.pirillo.com - We all have networks of some kind. No matter whether you have two computers or 2000 on your network, you'll need tools to manage it. This is why I love talking to Josh Stephens from SolarWinds. Today, we talked specifically about troubleshooting user performance on a network. Less

It’s summer time and we all like to stay cool and yet save money. Listen to my friend Jeremy and me discuss six money-saving tips for keeping your home and yourself cool in the hot weather. Leave the refrigerator open Turn on the oven and leave it open Place ice cubes around the house—I rewrote my note on this one! You have to listen to understand why Upgrade CRTs and old TVs to flat-panels Install mist-makers or leave the showers running on cold water instead Buy a pool Special thanks to those who hung out in the Ustream chatroom as we tried to broadcast live: D.G. Hollums from The Guys Podcast, Generally Speaking About the Church, and on Twitter My new friend from Podcamp Ohio, Doctor Anonymous, also on Twitter And some others who gave up when we were having problems, or who stayed and may not want to be named You can follow me on Twitter, theRamenNoodle; and follow Jeremy, Phlegon. This episode of Random Noodle Update was sponsored by D.Joseph Design. Less

Today on The Bigg Success Show, we welcomed Phil Rosenberg. Phil is the founder of reCareered, a career coaching service that helps job searchers get past the biggest challenge in today’s competitive jobs market – to get noticed.   Phil, what does reCareered mean?     It means someone who is seeking a job change, or trying to revitalize their career, or someone who is between jobs and wants help with how the job markets have changed in the last eight years or so.   How has the job market changed?     Eight years ago, the majority of resumes were delivered on paper. Around 2000, it changed to where most resumes were delivered digitally.   And how does that change the resume itself?     It changes it completely. The paper-based resume had to be static. The only way to customize it was by a cover letter. A digital resume can be searched. It also increased the number of resumes that went into most companies, by as many as ten-fold.   We always hear about search engine optimization and how you want to rank at the tops of the pages for Google. But apparently you can do the same for your resume … it can be optimized?   You bet, and it’s especially critical in today’s world. Most major employers get thousands of resumes for each job, but they only staff to look at twenty to thirty. That’s two to three percent. So your goal, in submitting your resume today, is getting to the top two or three percent. Through resume search optimization, you can manage that process rather than have it be random. My strategy with my clients is to make a resume a single-use document – to have it infinitely customizable so that you’re gaming the search engine and forcing it higher up the search page.   How do we make a good impression right upfront?     There’s been research from the University of Toledo and Stanford University that states that interview decisions are made within the first two to thirty seconds. That blew me away. The rest of the interview is just somebody justifying their initial decision. So it’s a “gut feel” decision that may occur even before you shake hands. It’s all about preparation. Learn about your client – how they communicate (verbally and non-verbally), how they dress, how they look. If you want a job, go to a place that’s close to their office and sit there during lunch. Talk to people from that company who are getting lunch there. On a Friday night, go to Happy Hour at a bar close to their office and talk to people from that company. When you talk to them, watch their body movements. What’s the tone they use? What’s the speed they use to talk? You can also do that with their written communication – their web site, annual reports, press releases. The key to all this is communicating to your audience that it seems like you already work there.   It reminds me of the book, Guerilla Selling. It’s all about learning about your customer, in that case, but in the case the employer you’re going after – getting as much information as you can, wherever you can. It’s amazing how much information you can gather.   Sure. That’s also an effective way to use LinkedIn, Facebook or your own personal network. Chances are you have contacts within that company. A lot of people only use those contacts to see what jobs are available and to ask them to pass their resume along. They leave out some of the greatest uses of a network – talking to people within an organization to find out what an organization is like and what the communication style is like. Listening for how they’re answering questions rather than just what they’re saying.   This is fantastic advice because you do want to fit in. It’s all about mimicking. When you’re at an interview, should you sit up straight and lean forward or should you try to have your body language be similar to the body language of the interviewer? From what I’ve read, you should try to mimic that person.   That’s exactly what you’re doing – it’s called mirroring. You’re trying to show that you fit in. You speak the same language. You’re really trying to act like you already work at the company. It takes a ton of preparation. A lot of people aren’t willing to put that preparation in, but the people who do get a huge, almost an unfair, advantage. Phil's links You can get free daily job tips from Phil at his blog or visit his main site, reCareered, the place for resume search optimization and job search 2.0.  Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes.  Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. ShareThis Less

Golf Life Television features Rick Sessinghaus, a Golf Tips Magazine Instruction contributor to learn more about the flop shot. Rick Sessinghaus compares Tiger Woods flop shot to Fred Couples flop shot. Find more great instruction online at www.golflifetv.com Less

Golf Life Television features Jeff Yurkiewicz, the Head Golf Instructor at the Kostis McCord learning center at Greyhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona to learn more about the pitch shot on to the green. Jeff Yurkiewicz describes that there are three ways to pitch the ball the low pitch shot, the basic pitch shot, and the high pitch shot. Jeff Yurkiewicz shows how to approach each one. Find more great instruction online at www.golflifetv.com Less

In this episode of Indy Mogul’s “4 Minute Film School”, Emmy Award Winning Video Editor, Bill Cammack, teaches Steve some handy dandy tips for using Final Cut Pro. Written & Edited by Steve Nelson & Bill Cammack Park scenes filmed by Ramon DeSouza Less

In this Marketing Over Coffee learn : About hot topics from the latest show, presentation tips and texting. All this and more… Show length 21:45 Brought to you by Blue Sky Factory 00:36 MarketingProfs Business-to-Business Marketing Forum 2008 Wrap Up 03:17 FlipCam vs. Xacti 03:45 Laura Patterson of VisionEdge - Marketing Metrics - Outcomes vs Activities 04:45 User Interface and SEO are required before you get to Social Media and Viral Marketing 06:38 Denny Head discussed building a Lead Generating Machine that closes the loop, Penn mentions APIs to Manticore 08:12 David Meerman Scott talks Viral and has a new book, and demonstrates what a seamless presentation looks like 09:55 Presentation tips from Mitch Joel, Penn and Wall, no Slide Presentation Notes Please, and don’t forget your fonts 17:00 TextMarks for when you run out of business cards - go green! Chris at Podcasters Across Borders and then Podcamp Boston 3 John is not travelling Our theme song is called Mellow G by Fonkmasters from the Podsafe Music Network Direct Link to File ShareThis Less

In a new study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a group of researchers surveyed 58 random people in a shopping mall. These researchers asked the participants to recall the decisions they had made that day. Then the researchers asked the participants to solve some simple math problems. They found that the more decisions a participants had made, the less likely they were to solve the problems.   There appears to be a price to making decisions – we become less productive as we make more decisions. And boy, do we have to make a lot of decisions today! A six item grocery list Picture yourself in a grocery store holding a list with six items – orange juice, bagels, Philadelphia cream cheese, Crest toothpaste, Coke, and lettuce. In 1970, with that list you would have had a choice of 50 items. By 1998, you would need to filter through 250 different products just to get all the items on your list. This comes from the spectacular book, Simplicity Marketing: End Brand Complexity, Clutter, and Confusion by Steven M. Cristol and Peter Sealey. Think about it – that was 1998. Do you think it’s any better now? 3 bigg action items to simplify decision making #1 – Make a list that’s specific. So specific in fact, that you could send someone else and get exactly what you want. Studies show that people who shop with a list don’t buy as many impulse items so they tend to spend less money. More importantly, it saves you time and mental fatigue as the studies showed. #2 – Set a time limit when you’re making a major decision. Before you begin doing research for a bigg decision, set a time limit. Once you’re satisfied with your findings or once you reach your time limit, make a decision. As an example, we recently set up the web site for Bigg Studio, a sister company to Bigg Success, for audio production services. We needed to decide on the design for the site. There were an endless number of possibilities. We chose one that fit our criteria and moved on. Here’s another tip that we love – get out your magic 8 ball. Ask it if you made the right decision. Look at its answer and see how you feel about it. This taps into your intuition about the decision which makes getting to the decision you’re most comfortable easier. If you like this idea, here are a couple of links you might find helpful: Get Out Your Magic 8 Ball to Make Your Next Important Decision This is one of our articles that explains why this works in more detail. Online Magic 8 Ball Here’s the real thing right on your computer screen! #3 – Become a partner in stress relief for the important people in your life. Get to know the preferences of the people who depend on you, like your customers, your co-workers, your boss, and your significant other. Weed through all the options and present them with just a few. The authors of Simplicity Marketing make the point that “the next generation of positioning successes will belong to those brands that relieve customer stress.” So there’s a significant opportunity in the future for people and companies who are able to simplify things. This applies not just to your company brand, but also to your personal brand. This is one of the things we try to do here at Bigg Success. We try hard to sort through all the information out there and deliver to you those few things we’ve found to be the most important. Related posts Get The Monkey Off Your Back Solve All Of Your Problems With This Ancient Chinese Secret The Action Faction ... They Get Traction!   (Image by burnin dog) ShareThis Less

Bigg Challenge Leah just graduated from college. She has applied for several credit cards and been turned down because she doesn’t have any credit history. She says she’s never borrowed before or even had a credit card. Her bigg challenge: How can she establish credit? Bigg Advice Great question, Leah! Here are 3 tips to get started: #1 – Get a bank loan. This will cost you a little but it will be worth it so you’ll have access to money when you need it. Here’s a way to definitely get a loan: Deposit $1,000 into an account (e.g. a Certificate of Deposit, commonly known as a CD) for a fixed period of time (e,g. 3 months). Ask that same bank for a $1,000 loan to be paid back at the end of the three months. They may require you to pay the interest monthly, or they may not. Your loan is 100% secured by the CD, so the only risk the bank has is that you won’t pay the interest. You’ll earn interest on the CD, but not as much as you’ll pay on the loan, so you’ll be out-of-pocket a little bit of money. But you’re establishing credit. At the end of the three months, pay back the $1,000. Now, up the ante. Do the same thing all over again with say $2,000. Then again … each time increasing the amount. Over the course of the year, you may do this four times. Keep the amount relatively small because you don’t want to needlessly pay interest. You’re establishing that you can pay back a loan of $1,000, $2,000 or whatever the highest amount is that you borrow. Just make sure you make every payment on time. #2 – Have a savings account, not just a checking account. You’ll look more favorable to certain companies if you also have a savings account. Don’t think you have to stuff it full of money. It just seems to make a difference that you actually have one. #3 – Keep a landline phone number. Some companies seem to feel that this demonstrates stability. They reward you for it by extending credit. So at least while you’re trying to establish credit, maintain a landline phone number. Thanks, Leah for sending us your bigg challenge. Do you have a bigg challenge? Tell us so we can help. Type it in the box and hit submit to send it to us.   cforms contact form by delicious:days Our bigg quote today comes from Benjamin Franklin: “Remember that credit is money.” So establish your credit and score! Next time, we’ll discuss why work life balance doesn’t work. Until then, here’s to your bigg success! Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes.  Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Related posts  Don't Fear the Banker!  (Image by woodsy) ShareThis Less

Download audio file (scrapbooktalkradioepisode5.mp3) One of the most important projects you should do as you start scrapbooking is to get organized! In this episode we just scratch the surface of Scrapbook Organization. Now, to organize the many supplies that you will use to create your pages. These supplies will be those freebies that you download off the internet, or the kits that you purchase from the many websites that offer great tools. You can look on the web for ideas to scrapbook organize your supplies, but I will tell you how I have become an effective scrapbook organizer. Trust us, getting all of this organized will save you tons of time. Time you will need to scrapbook! You are on your way to becoming a great scrapbook organizer - keep going! Here is a great article about getting your scrapbook area and storage organized: www.simplify101.com/scrapbook-storage.php '); //-- ShareThis Less

We’re already in the middle of National Grilling Month, but it’s never too late to think about BBQ. Tune in for some advice on a safe and successful grilling season from our griller extraordinaire, Theo Weening. Share This Less