Count On It!

Written by Gary Lockwood


"What we see depends mainly on what we look for." -- John Lubbock

One of my clients (let's call him Mike) was telling me how important it is to him that he sell long-term maintenance contracts, not just ad hoc projects.

Makes sense. The long-term contracts provide some stability and predictable cash flow. They assist in getting closer to his clients. They also help him to borrow funds more easily.

So far, so good.

When I asked him how many of these long-term maintenance contracts he has already, he couldn't tell me. He didn't know! He said he's been too busy to trackrepparttar number of such agreements.

Wait a minute! If this type of agreement is so important to Mike's growth strategy, how can he not knowrepparttar 106597 status?

The fact is that most owners and CEOs know what's important to their enterprise, but can't (or don't) measure those things.

You've heardrepparttar 106598 old maxim: "You can't manage what you don't measure." You have also likely readrepparttar 106599 story ofrepparttar 106600 "Hawthorne Effect".

Inrepparttar 106601 late 1950s,repparttar 106602 GE plant in Hawthorne, California brought in some consultants to measurerepparttar 106603 effect of brighter lighting onrepparttar 106604 productivity of their factory workers. The consultants first took productivity measurements to establish a baseline. Then they intensifiedrepparttar 106605 brightness ofrepparttar 106606 lighting and measured again.

Productivity increased.

They increasedrepparttar 106607 brightness even more and productivity went up again. After raisingrepparttar 106608 brightness two more times, they saw two more increases in productivity. On a hunch, they loweredrepparttar 106609 lighting and measured one more time. Productivity went up!

They figured out thatrepparttar 106610 productivity gains were not related torepparttar 106611 brightness ofrepparttar 106612 lights, but torepparttar 106613 act of measuring. They were paying a lot of attention torepparttar 106614 effectiveness of their workers. And guess what? The workers responded by working more effectively.

What do you pay a lot of attention to? What are you constantly measuring, asking your employees about, talking about and looking at?

When your team knows what's truly important to you, they'll likely pay more attention to those things, too.

Working With Freelance Writers

Written by Linda Alexander


Many companies are turning to freelance writers to get their projects completed. After all, there are plenty of advantages to dealing with freelancers: no salaries, vacation time, sick days, health insurance or benefits. Also, using an outside writer will ensure a fresh perspective. Here are some tips for working with freelance writers to build relationships and ensure a successful project. Negotiating Fees When determining freelance fees, remember that you get what you pay for. Busy, reputable writers must earn enough money for their time in order to maintain a profitable business. If you only offer less, you may have to settle for beginners who will likely require more editing and fact-checking on your part. Until writers gets used to your style, you may have to put in more time with them. One way to estimate writer's fees is to determine what annual salary this writer might if she or he were on staff at your company ($35,000 for example). Dividerepparttar annual salary by 2,000 to obtain a "net" hourly wage ($17.50). Doublerepparttar 106596 hourly wage to coverrepparttar 106597 writer's overhead ($35). This isrepparttar 106598 gross hourly rate. Then, increaserepparttar 106599 gross rate by 25% to cover overhead time ($43.75.) Thus, it is not unreasonable for a freelancer to charge a project fee based on $40-50 per hour. Finally, multiplyrepparttar 106600 billing rate by anticipated production hours to arrive at fair price forrepparttar 106601 assignment. Always discuss payment terms before starting a project. Some writers will expect payment on acceptance ofrepparttar 106602 project. For major projects, they may require one-third to one-half upon acceptingrepparttar 106603 project withrepparttar 106604 balance paid upon completion. Others are willing to use a standard "net 30" payment like other businesses. You andrepparttar 106605 writer should negotiate fees, dates of payment, and rights purchased. When negotiating payment, considerrepparttar 106606 value ofrepparttar 106607 material to your publication, andrepparttar 106608 value torepparttar 106609 author in appearing in your publication. It is also a good idea to estimate the

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