You can’t simply will your business into existence. Darren Rowse, editor in chief of ProBlogger.net, recently talked about how he took his blog from a simple hobby to a full-time job. So whats the key to a successful business? Stop day dreaming and get to work.

I’m guilty of sitting back and ‘thinking’ and planning about what I would like my blog to become, but there comes a point when you are doing more thinking than actually doing. The turning point for Darren came when his wife came him the ultimatum.

“You’ve got six months to make it blogging full time.” After that it was get a real job time for Darren, something many of us are desperately avoiding.

I’d been talking a lot…. dreaming a lot…. creating a lot of pretty graphs…. and not really DOING a lot.

I didn’t really see it (I was too close and too caught up in my dreams) but my wife knew it and so she set me an ultimatum – a deadline that changed my thinking and more importantly led to me changing the way I went about my blogging.

I knew that if I were to succeed in going full time in the next six months that that had to change. I needed to start looking at my blogging as a business now – even though it was only earning a day or two a week’s income.

11 Things Darren did from that day forward:

* Started putting more time aside for blogging

* Became more focused upon my core tasks of creating content

* Wasted less time on distractions

* Became more strategic in my thinking and set goals to work towards

* Began to look for new income streams - beyond AdSense

* Looking for advertisers – finding businesses in my niche and pitching my blog to them

* Seek out guest writing opportunities on other blogs and even in main stream media

* Setting deadlines, posting a certain number of posts a day and set a calendar

* Networking more with other bloggers

* Invested more time and money into learningof different aspects of blogging

* Looked for a business coachwho could teach me how to be more business minded

That day began the process for me of looking at what I do as a business.

While not a lot changed on my blogs that day – the impact over the last 4-5 years has been significant. I’ve not looked back and many of the things I changed back then have become patterns and a natural part of my blogging work flow.

Many times we can get caught up in the dream. Take some time to reflect on how productive you actually are vs. how productive you could be. When you don’t have a boss it can be easy to take it easy on yourself, but its important to remember that the key to success requires DO’ing and not just THINK’ing.

When there’s work to be done but you can’t find the motivation to do it. When you’d rather read anything other than the one thing you’re supposed to be reading. When you’d rather write about anything other than the one thing you’re supposed to be writing.

Then don’t worry about it. Just get up and do something else. Not doing the thing your supposed to be doing seems like a counterproductive way get motivated, but changing your surroundings can help readjust your mind. After doing the same thing for an extended period of time your brain will just give up on you. When I hit a wall or find that I can’t possibly do anything more I like to get up and walk around, usually I find something else to do for 15-20 minutes just to get my mind fresh.

8 Things to Help You Get Back On Track

1. Clean up your desk

After I’ve been at the computer for a certain number of hours / days it starts to look like I’m living there. Food, drinks, stacks of papers books, and lots of random things that I’ve picked up over the course of the day. When all the clutter starts to invade my workspace I find it hard to focus on the task at hand. Throughout the day I take breaks from real work to clean up around me. It gives me time to think about something else and feels a lot better when I decide to get back to it. Empty desk, Empty mind.

2. Get food

Cooking or getting a quick snack is a great way to get your mind off of what you are doing. Not to mention proper diet and nutrition is the key to proper brain function. Many times we snack rather than take the time to cook. This can be troublesome, and eventually you will run out of gas. You may save time by eating snacks or junk food, but when you’re moving in slow motion you won’t be helping anybody.

3. Change the music

How many times have you listened to that same song. When I get myself in a slump I like to completely change the music. I look for something I’ve never heard before. Websites like pandora.com are great because you don’t have to rely on your hard-drive for music. Exposing yourself to new things is a good way to keep yourself interested in what you are doing.

4. Watch TV

This works for me because I no longer have cable. Since I don’t spend lots of time watching TV from day to day, it can be a positive way to take my mind off of working for 20 minutes to an hour. After many hours of reading on a computer monitor its nice to give your eyes a rest. Sometimes a good old fashion TV set (46″ Samsung LCD ) can do the trick. Too much time at a montior can lead to eye strain and headaches.

5. Play a Game

After a long session of programming or writing or even homework I like to get on the Xbox for an hour or so. Although sometimes you just can’t beat a round of Desktop Tower Defense

6. Go Outside

This is something we sometimes forget to do in the technology age. Whether its going out for a run, or just walking aimlessly, just being outside for a while can be a great way to recharge your batteries. Exercise can increase your blood flow and circulation. Sometimes that’s all you need when you brain turns off.

7. Change your Desktop Theme / Backgrounds

When you can’t get a real change of scenery the next best thing is changing the one that’s right in front of you. I try to keep lots of scenic pictures around in my office. Not pictures of people that I know but mostly landscapes or scenic pictures. Sometimes feeling like I’m free to walk down to the beach is enough for the time being.

8. Water the plants

I like to keep lots of green plants around wherever I am. There are lots of reasons to do this. One is they provide lots of fresh oxygen and help to filter the air inside. Also they look nice and add more energy to the room. The other benefit is the more plants I have around the more time I can spend getting up to take care of them. It can be kind of a chore, but it’s also a way to have built in breaks throughout the day.

Conclusion

When you start to run out of gas, it’s important to shift gears. Change the scenery, think about something else for a while and give your brain a chance to rest, you will thank yourself in the end.

The only problem is, I’ve been sitting here for close to an hour and haven’t written a single word. I keep getting up to fill up my drink, get a bite to eat, and check my phone for messages. It’s a classic case of writers block. My usual course of action is to cruise through my favorite blogs to see what everyone else is talking about, hoping for some inspiration. The only problem is it’s all been said before. Repeating the words of people who are more well known than you isn’t going to do anything to boost your authority on the web, so what can be done to beat those mental roadblocks?

When you’ve run out of ideas there are a few places that can help you find new relevant topics to write about.

Trending Websites

1. Technorati – Technorati is the true state of the Blogosphere. With the newest and most popular blog posts by authority and by attention you can quickly pick up on news before the rest of the web find it.

2. Google Trends Top 100 – Google Trends is a service provided by Google that ranks keywords based on their popularity at that moment. Many times you can find breaking news on Google Trends because of the massive amounts of people looking for certain keywords. Also if you are interested in getting more search engine traffic it can help you find topics and keywords before they make the front page of the news.

3. Twitter Trends – If you’ve ever used Twitter before then you should know what the trending topics are. I can’t tell how how many times I’ve heard about something from twitter first.

4. Alexa the Web Info Company – Alexa is a great place to do some research. There is a search option, a place for the hottest topics and pages, and “movers & shakers” where you can see the most upcoming websites. Alexa is a great place to find out where people are going online since it’s updated every 5 minutes.

Next time you are siting at your desk while staring at your screen then take some time to check out these sites for inspiration. There are always people out there looking for “something” the trick is to get them to look in your direction for it.

With rising unemployment rates the job market is becoming more and more competitive. Recently at Divine Caroline, there was an article giving 5 important ways to update your resume.

“The workplace is not what it was five years ago. Neither is the job hunt. The most successful candidates are those who are ready and willing to adapt to a changing landscape. But it doesn’t matter how ready you are for the modern workplace if your resume ’s straight out of 1994.”

You’re Resume may be out of date if….

1. You’ve forced it to fit onto one page.

You’ve reduced your font size to eight, eliminated margins altogether and left out key information about yourself, all to conform to that age-old “one page résumé” rule. Big mistake. After all, would a recent college grad really need the same amount of resume real estate as someone who’s been in the workforce for twenty years? Of course not.

Don’t get me wrong: Your resume should be concise. Recruiters are busy people—they don’t have time or the patience for long-winded career chronologies. But if your experience warrants two pages, by all means, don’t limit yourself to one.

2. You list an objective.

Of course you’re looking to gain more experience in the field/sector/type of company to which you’re applying. Your interest in the job implies that. Do you really need to say it at the very top of your resume? At this point in the selection process, hiring managers are far more interested in what you can do for them than what they can do for you.

If you want to explain why you’re applying for the job, say so in your cover letter. Resume space is far too valuable to waste on information that is both redundant and inconsequential.

3. You wrote “References available upon request”.

Once again, a waste of valuable space. Do you really need to say so? The hiring manager can only assume that if they ask you for references, you’ll provide them. What, are you going to say “no?”

Instead, prepare a list of references with contact details and your relationship to each. Hold onto it until you’re further along in the selection process—you don’t want to annoy your referees with repeated contact by employers who are less than serious about you. Most respectable employers wouldn’t bother to contact a reference until they are fully ready to make you an offer.

4. You attach it to your email as a Word document.

While you’re unlikely to be penalized for emailing a Word document, there’s a lot to be said for converting it to a PDF before sending.

A PDF document just looks neater. And even if you’ve gone crazy with the formatting, it will show up correctly on the hiring manager’s computer no matter what their settings, Word version, or font inventory. Besides, do you really want those squiggly red lines showing up under your former company’s name?

Stick to PDF. It’s the only surefire way to display your resume exactly as you intended it.

5. You list every job you’ve ever had in chrono order.

In the olden days, the person with the most experience got the job. Nowadays, the person who’s most talented, has the most relevant skill set, and has proven to be most valuable to his or her former employers gets the job.

If you want to be that person, make sure your resume says so. Don’t list jobs that are irrelevant to the one you’re applying for just to fill up space. Instead, expand on the jobs that are relevant. Focus on measurable achievements in each role as opposed to a play-by-play of your daily responsibilities.

By Tania Khadder

What to do when air spray cans won’t get the job done

0. REMOVE BATTERIES (unplug keyboard).

1.Remove all buttons.

2.Put all buttons in cup of hot soapy water.

3.Turn over keyboard and remove all screws.

4.Open case and carefully remove circuit board from plastic casing.

5.Take dirty keyboard to sink/dishwasher rinse, scrub, repeat as necessary.

6.Allow to air-dry. Or use hairdryer for more inpatient users.

7.Reassemble keyboard and replace clean and dry keys to keyboard.

8. Replace batteries.

9. No more drinks next to keyboard.

*re-arranging keyboard keys may confuse and deter unwanted users.

Now that you have deep cleaned your keyboard you should notice that the buttons move more freely and feel smoother. This makes for a much more pleasant typing experience. Also cleaning your keyboard and mouse regularly will reduce sickness such as cold and flu. Next time don’t wait until someone spills coke all over your board to clean it.