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Your #Career : Five Annual-Review Mistakes You’re Probably Making…Performance Reviews Shouldn’t Be One Awkward Conversation every December. Here are the Common Missteps to Avoid.

December 18, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Companies like Accenture, Microsoft, and General Electric are ditching annual performance reviews for more frequent feedback sessions, but for many others the practice is a way to end the year with a keen plan for the future.

The key to doing it successfully is not confusing performance evaluation with performance management, says Christine M. Riordan, president of Adelphi University and leadership development expert.

“Typically, organizations ask that performance be formally evaluated once a year,” she says. “A performance evaluation form commonly assesses the accomplishments, strengths, weaknesses, and development needs of an employee.”

The key to doing it successfully is not confusing performance evaluation with performance management.

Performance management, on the other hand, is a continuous process of assessing and developing the performance of an individual to align with the strategic goals of an organization, Riordan continues. “It is a constant process of discussion on progress towards goals and how the employee is performing,” she says.

A year-end review, then, should be different than periodic check-ins. Sit down with your employees, and make the most of the meeting by avoiding these five common mistakes:

MISTAKE #1: EVALUATING TRAITS INSTEAD OF BEHAVIORS AND RESULTS

One of the most common mistakes is evaluating personal traits, such as leadership, motivation, conscientiousness, and attitude, according to the American Management Association (AMA).

The problem with traits is that they are internal and subjective— almost impossible to evaluate on a fair basis, according to the AMA.

Instead, year-end reviews should focus on behaviors and results. Behaviors are actions that you can observe directly, such as completing tasks. Results are also observable, such as achieving a sales quota or increasing revenue by a certain percentage.

MISTAKE #2: BEING TOO LENIENT WITH YOUR FEEDBACK

Performance evaluation can be uncomfortable for most people -– both for those giving it and those receiving it, says Riordan. “Because of the discomfort, when there is a performance problem, managers will often avoid difficult conversations or be too vague in the evaluation,” she says. “Because managers often don’t want people to feel bad, they may rate everyone the same or just use the more favorable ratings on the scale.”

“Because managers often don’t want people to feel bad, they may rate everyone the same or just use the more favorable ratings on the scale.”

Giving everyone the same score or only favorable scores can become a norm and create problems for the organization in terms of differentiating among employees for raises or dealing with performance problems particularly when an employee has been rated average or higher, says Riordan. Avoid this mistake by being firm on your ratings, understanding that the foundation of your company depends on it.

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MISTAKE #3: WAITING UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR TO GIVE ANY FEEDBACK

The secret to effective year-end reviews is laying the groundwork throughout the year, says Elissa Tucker, principal human capital management research lead at American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC), a nonprofit human resources research organization.

This includes clearly defining performance goals, measures, and rating criteria; scheduling frequent check-in meetings to update performance goals, discuss progress, and address challenges; collecting feedback and performance examples on an ongoing basis; and having informal conversations with employees daily or as often as possible to recognize small accomplishments and open the door for low-stakes questions and coaching.

APQC’s 2016 People Challenges at Work Poll found that the top-two challenges people have with their managers are:

Does not share enough information
Does not provide enough direction

“These findings show that managers would benefit from making communication a New Year’s resolution,” says Tucker. “The end-of-year performance review is the perfect time for managers to get a jump start. Then, they can follow through by having regular – weekly, monthly, or quarterly – meetings with each employee.”

The annual review should not be a shock, adds Bonnie Hagemann, CEO of Executive Development Associates, a talent management and research firm. “It should be a documentation of an ongoing conversation that has been happening between the manager and the employee all year. If the time ever comes that a manager needs to fire an employee, the employee should not be surprised because he or she had many opportunities and support to get the situation turned around.”

MISTAKE #4: ACTING LIKE A JUDGE INSTEAD OF A COACH

When providing feedback, it is helpful for a manager to think and act like a coach, says MaryAnne Hyland, professor of human resource management at the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business in Long Island, N.Y.
“The ultimate goal of the performance review is to improve employee performance, and managers are more likely to get the results they are hoping for by focusing on how to improve, rather than being punitive,” she says. “While many employees do not like constructive feedback, giving specific recommendations on how they could improve their performance is likely to be better received than more general comments about needing to improve.”

“Managers are more likely to get the results they are hoping for by focusing on how to improve, rather than being punitive.”

Focus on the behavior, not the person, adds Hyland adds. “For example, it is better to say, ‘The accuracy of the line items on your budget proposals needs improvement,’ rather than, ‘You are bad at budget proposals,’” she says.

If employee have performed poorly, good managers investigate. People don’t perform poorly without a reason, according to the AMA. There are always causes, and it’s a manager’s job to make finding those reasons part of the review process.

MISTAKE #5: NOT BEING ABLE TO EXPLAIN YOUR RATING PROCESS

The performance review process should be transparent and well documented. A study done at the London School of Economics and Political Science published in the Spring 2016 issue of Academy of Management Discoveriesfound a good degree of consistency in the weight individual judges assigned to different factors from one appraisal to another. When asked to rank factors by importance, however, answers often varied, with most mangers having difficulty explaining their approach to others.

“Although participants adopted a consistent judgment policy across different performance-appraisal situations, they showed little insight into their own judgment policy,” write study coauthors Hayley German of the London School of Economics and Political Science, Marion Fortin of the University of Toulouse and Daniel Read of Warwick Business School.

“The fact that experienced administrators differ sharply in how they evaluate the fairness of the same appraisal suggests why this can be a potential minefield for employers. On the basis of our findings, it comes as no great surprise that annual performance appraisals have been losing favor.”

FastCompany.com | STEPHANIE VOZZA | 12.16.16 5:54 AM

Your #Career : 5 Components of an Attention-Grabbing Resume…You Only Get a Few Seconds for your Resume to Make the Cut, but That’s All you Need When you Know What Hiring Managers are Looking For.

December 15, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

A resume is one of the most important documents you attach your name to. The content on these few pages can drastically change your life, presenting you with new opportunities or taking you down a new career path altogether.

With 2017 right around the corner, many “career change” New Year’s resolutions will be made. If you are seeking new opportunities or testing the job market, make sure your resume isn’t missing any of these components.

1. Flowing story.

Your resume tells your story, so make sure it is easily understood and has a great flow to it. Hiring managers have hundreds and sometimes several thousand resumes to scan, so if they are confused at any point while reading yours, it will quickly end up in the trash.

Your story should be very clear. The person reading your resume should be able to quickly understand who you are, what you currently do, what you have done in the past, when and where you have done it and how good you were at doing it.

If you need guidance, consider using a free resume builder to help tell your story using a pre-made template.

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2. Strong top-third.

The top third of your resume needs to quickly grab the attention of its reader enough that you get placed in the “review for consideration” pile. It’s important that you sell yourself strongly in the beginning, as nobody is going to read every word of your resume on the first round.

The average resume receives only six seconds of review time, so take that into consideration when you are putting it together. Determine how much of your resume can be read in six seconds, and make sure you are building a strong argument for yourself in that small window of time.

3. Formatted for easy reading and skimming.

Your resume will receive more attention if it’s broken down into bite size bullets and sections, rather than long drawn-out paragraphs of information. If you have a lot to say, that’s fine, just break it up into an easy to digest format.

Nobody wants to sit there and read massive blocks of text. Highlight your key points through creative formatting that allows a reader to skim through it and still retain the important parts. Nobody has time to read a resume top to bottom — use formatting to your advantage — selling yourself without writing a novel.

4. Use descriptive keywords especially in the beginning.

Regardless if an actual human or software is reading your resume, the right keywords will make yours stand out. Many human resource departments use an applicant tracking system, or ATS, which allows them to filter applications based on keywords, skills, former employers, length of experience and education. Using descriptive keywords in the beginning of your resume will help you get the attention of this software, or catch the eye of a human, if the company has someone manually scanning applicants.

5. Be specific when describing your success.

Saying you were “good” at something isn’t enough — you need to be specific. Why were you good at something? What did you specifically accomplish? Include measurable success to back up your claim of being good.

What is going to draw more attention?

Increased sales and production while managing a large sales team.
Increased sales by 218 percent while managing a team of 32 in-house sales representatives.

“Providing specific examples to what you have accomplished makes your resume much stronger and adds the supporting evidence that employers want to see,” advises Hannon Legal Group founder, James Hannon. Don’t be afraid to include impressive accomplishments — these are your selling points, so don’t think of this as boasting and bragging.

Entrepreneur.com | December 15, 2016 | Jonathan Long

#Leadership : The Better Way To Break Bad News…The Bad News is That you’re Probably Breaking Bad News the Wrong Way. The Good News: These Four Steps can Fix That.

December 14, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Here’s some bad news: You’re probably delivering bad news the wrong way. Every company, team, and manager hits setbacks, and it’s always somebody’s job to break the unpleasant news to others. But the way to talk about even the toughest turns for the worse isn’t simply to put a falsely positive spin on what went wrong and what it means.

Sharing upbeat stories is easy, after all. We like giving and receiving praise. So it makes sense why some leaders tend to downplay the consequences of bad news or withhold it altogether until it’s too late. Instead, there are ways to have difficult conversations with your team that leave them with an accurate grip on the facts while still motivating everyone to take the initiative and bounce back. Here are a few tips.

1. LIMIT YOUR NEGATIVE LANGUAGE

When you’re discussing setbacks with your team, be careful not to use negative expressions—like “can’t” or “won’t”—that sound too categorical. For instance, instead of announcing, “I can’t get the budget for this project,” try, “Our current funding levels mean that we’ll all have to be more resourceful, starting with the project we’re working on right now.” Both convey the predicament accurately, but one frames it like a dead end, while the other points the way forward.

This goes for news concerning individuals, too. Rather than saying, “I won’t be promoting you into this new position,” you can simply say, “I’ve thought about it, and keeping you in your present role makes more sense to me right now.” Between the lines, it’s the difference between, “Sorry, deal with it!” and “This is where things stand for the moment, but they can change.”

Another word to watch for is “no”—as in “no way,” “no problem,” “no good,” “that’s a ‘no’,” or “I have no idea.” Instead, use “yes” and other positives like, “yes, there’s a way to do it” and “I do have an idea about how to work through this.” Instead of talking about “problems,” talk about “challenges”; instead of “obstacles,” “opportunities.”

Again, this doesn’t mean cloaking bad news in euphemisms—it means focusing on their consequences and your collective response to them.

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2. MAKE SURE IT ISN’T PERSONAL

Always avoid personal barbs. Most managers know it’s totally unprofessional to tell a direct report, “That was stupid of you,” but many express their displeasure with phrases like, “you disappointed me” or “you let me down.” Fair enough—you’re only being honest.

But don’t forget that these expressions can still hurt people and make it harder for them to do better. They subtly brand people as untrustworthy and tear down the very self-confidence they’ll need in order to do better next time. Personal insults, however watered down, are counterproductive. You’ll more often than not end up with angry team members who function well below their potential.

Don’t throw darts at other people who aren’t in the room, either. It may be tempting to find a target to criticize when things go wrong (and sometimes it really is your client’s fault), but if you offload the blame to others, you immediately undercut your own team’s ability to take ownership and fix the problem. Saying that a customer who didn’t accept your team’s proposal is a “jerk” or “power hungry” sets a bad example in organizations where cooperation is paramount.

3. SPEND MORE TIME ON THE HIGH GROUND

Think of every conversation as covering a certain amount of “terrain.” It’s okay to spend some time wandering around on the low ground, but you’ll want to scramble up to the heights eventually—and loiter there longer. During tough times, the negative tends to dominate, getting bigger and bigger as it all rolls downhill.

That’s all the more reason why leaders need to keep the negatives to a minimum and keep the conversation firmly rooted to the higher ground. Naturally, you want to be open and transparent if there’s been a problem. State the situation as clearly as you can (without being accusatory), but once you’ve identified the issue, focus on the solutions, teamwork, collaboration, and what the future can look like if you pull together.

When crafting your message, start with the negative and end with the positive.

Here’s a good rule of thumb: Keep the negatives to a quarter or, at most, a third of the conversation. And don’t let others draw you back into the weeds. Your team members may need to express their frustration and pessimism at first, but it’s your job as their boss to help everyone pull themselves up by their bootstraps. By the end of the conversation, all parties should be looking ahead.

4. END ON AN UPSIDE

When crafting your message, start with the negative and end with the positive. You might say, “Last year was tough —with our sales numbers were below what we’d expected—but I’m confident we can make up that loss and reach our goals for this year.” Similarly, if you’re heading into a client pitch, you’d be foolish to say to your boss, “That’s one tough customer. He’s never open to any of our new products.” It’s better to say, “This will be pretty challenging, but I’ll give it my all.”

Never forget to make this transition. If you’re announcing layoffs, don’t hit your listeners with, “This is a really hard day for all of us—for you, for me, and for our company.” Indeed it is! But statements like that may only make a bad situation worse; after all, is it really equally bad for the people who are keeping their jobs as it is for those who are losing them?

Instead, realistically present the situation, and then move toward a solution, ending on a positive. For example, “I have some sobering news to share that will affect all of you. But I want to share it with you myself so we can work through it together as a team.” The difference here isn’t dramatic—bad news is bad news—but it helps to lay the groundwork of encouragement and openness to talk honestly about what’s happening and why.

That’s something the best leaders always do—in good times and bad.

FastCompany.com | JUDITH HUMPHREY | 12.14.16 5:00 AM

#Leadership : 7 Beneficial Tips for Managing Your Virtual Work Team…Add These Tips to your Work Routine and your Team Will Run Like a Well-Oiled Engine.

December 14, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

When I began doing most of my work online as the head of a virtual team, I realized that the first problem I needed to resolve was a personal one — and kind of an embarrassing one: I would lounge around on the sofa with my laptop perched on my knees, as I drifted between work and sleep. And I always shuddered at the thought that my virtual team was doing the same.

Having a virtual office isn’t different from having a physical one, or at least it shouldn’t be, if you want any semblance of success. So, it should make no difference that you’re online.

But there are differences. Consider the issue of security: You don’t leave your office unlocked, and in the same way, you don’t leave your virtual office unguarded. My first piece of advice, then, is that if you are going to make or receive online payments, you’ll want to invest in a virtual private network (VPN); if you can’t afford the big boys, choose a cheap VPN service and stay protected. This is vital.

Next, if you’re working at home, create a special space where you can focus on work. Better yet, set up a workspace away from home. Once you, as the manager, have created some order at your end, you’ll have the moral high ground to demand the same from your virtual staff.

A virtual staff is understandably more difficult to handle for obvious reasons: no direct supervision, no structured workplace, different geographical locations which may cut across nations and time zones. Given those constraints, the following tips will help you manage your virtual work team better in spite of the constraints.

1. Be specific and detailed in your demands.

I kept getting such a variety of quality in delivered jobs that I would often fight off a migraine just trying to harmonize them. Using emails to correct errors didn’t seem to work, because often a different kind of error would then crop up.

I soon realized that the problem started with me, so I took time to put together a detailed guideline covering all aspects of the business, from minor to major. I accompanied this with a proper sample of what I expected.

This move dramatically improved the quality of the work that the staff did in a short time. If you expect a clear outcome, then give a clear example. The aim is to set professional standards, because setting professional standards contributes to being efficient and puts people into the right mindset. The devil is always in the details.

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2. Specialize your team.

Talk about trying hard to fit round pegs into square holes! In fact, that is exactly what many virtual team managers try to do, and it is usually nearly impossible to make things work this way.

The virtual nature of your staff leaves little room for close supervision and teaching your team how to do particular kinds of jobs.

After working a while with my team members, I began recognizing their individual weaknesses and strengths and the kinds of jobs that each of them did with ease. According to those observations, I switched up positions and started delivering specialized jobs. This yielded a noticeable rise in the quality of the work done and reduced my stress considerably.

The advantages of such specialization are numerous, Team members enjoy their work, and I have less need to stock Aspirin.

3. Create a virtual meeting place.

Emails are a good way of communicating and receiving instructions and job orders, but are a poor means for proper discussions. To get around this, I created a group on WhatsApp, where I added all my team members. Other options are available, and the choice will vary from manager to manager, since online platforms, social media and instant messaging apps abound.

Investing in video conferencing may be another very reasonable option if your budget can manage it. The idea is to remove the impersonal feeling that email gives, and instead bring some personality to your communications.

For me, creating a virtual meeting place was a life saver, as it seemed to revitalize my virtual workspace. There is a strange power in seeing someone’s face for the first time; happily, the internet now allows for that too.

4. Utilize the overlap in working hours.

It is often a struggle when your virtual team works in different time zones; it’s difficult to make demands that are binding on all team members. It is also difficult to fix meetings or get urgent communications responded to quickly.

I had to study the time zones for all staff and determine the time of my day that overlapped with their work hours. We mutually agreed to always be online at a certain period of the day because it was generally convenient. You should do the same and utilize those few hours, fix regular meetings and send urgent correspondence across.

5. Set up reward systems to motivate your team.

I began paying slightly higher when I made a greater demand, like a demand that required a job to be done in much shorter time. I would also give extra stipends and encouragements to team members who showed consistent quality work. Trust me, people don’t want to sit before their computer for hours on end, but they will if you give them a reason to.

Setting up a kind of meritocracy is a good idea. It worked for me.

6. Give more jobs to the best of your team.

The good thing about virtual teams is that oftentimes only you are aware of how much work you give each team member and how much each is paid, so there is little room for the rancor and jealousy that may brew in a regular office workspace.

There is no need to be masochistic, so reduce your headache quotient by giving a greater volume of jobs to the people who show consistent quality.

7. Establish some order in your personal work systems,

Working with documents on your computer can get messy; you need to create proper systems and arrange jobs for different clients and team members in different and properly named folders. You also need to avoid the mess that emails can bring. So, explore the various ways you can manage your emails for greater productivity. Tools like Hiver can help you keep a sane email box.

Also, set up reminders for jobs so you can send reminders and alerts to your team and avoid failing a client or forgetting the time demands on your team members. This saved me a lot of stress and made the job much easier. It’s like having a efficient file cabinet.

Add these tips to your work routine and your team will run like a well-oiled engine.

Entrepreneur.com | December 14, 2016 | Chidike Samuelson

#Leadership : Time Management Experts Share Their Secrets For Staying Productive During The Holidays…An Overloaded Calendar can Make December Feel Like the Least Productive Time of Year. But with Some Small Shifts, it Doesn’t Have to Be.

December 14, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

It may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it’s also the busiest. Chances are your social obligations are picking up as well as your off-hours tasks. How do you get everything done without sacrificing productivity at work?

It might not feel like it, but it’s possible to meet goals, beat deadlines, and keep your clients happy during the holiday season, says productivity consultant Peggy Duncan. It just takes time and task management. Here are six ideas for being productive at work during the holiday season:

1. INFUSE HOLIDAY SPIRIT INTO YOUR WORK

Set a few goals that you want to achieve by the end of the year, then break them down into 25 specific tasks, suggests Lisa Zaslow, founder of Gotham Organizers, a New York-based professional organizing consultant. “Use an advent calendar to reward yourself when you hit your milestones,” she says.

Also, take a tip from Santa and make lists, checking them twice, Zaslow says. For example, plan your holiday preparations so you can be fully present and productive while you’re working. “If you’re constantly Googling for gift ideas while trying to finish your year-end report, you won’t be effective at either task,” she says.

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2. SET INTENTIONS

Decide ahead of time the experience you wish to have during the holiday season, says Peter Bregman, author of Four Seconds: All the Time You Need to Replace Counter-Productive Habits with Ones That Really Work.

Create the physical environment that makes it more likely that you will follow through on your intention.

“Do you want undistracted time with the family? Do you want to spend just 30 minutes a day checking email and disconnect the rest of the time?” he asks.

Decide the outcome you want and set an intention. Then create the physical environment that makes it more likely that you will follow through on your intention.

“If you want undistracted time with the family, leave your computer and phone [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][behind]. Or if that’s impossible, disconnect your phone from email,” says Bregman.

3. DECIDE WHAT YOU DON’T WANT TO DO

Just say no to the things that you don’t want to do, says Carson Tate, author of Work Simply: Embracing the Power of Your Personal Productivity Style. For example, no holiday parties the week before Christmas, no end-of-the-year business newsletter, no office secret Santa.

“Who says you have to do everything?” she asks. “You do not. Release any guilt about saying no. Every time you say yes to something, you are saying no to something else.”

Instead, say yes to the things that bring you joy and no to the things that suck the life right out of you and turn you into Scrooge, says Tate.

4. MAINTAIN YOUR PACE

Don’t get swept up into a manic pace just because it’s the holidays, says Andrew Mellen, author of Unstuff Your Life. “I remain focused enough to keep my own pace, regardless of what is happening around me,” he says. “That allows me to get work done and still enjoy my downtime, rather than racing around day and night.”

5. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DOWNTIME

With more people out on vacation and fewer meetings and calls happening, use the opportunity to catch up on those tasks you never have time to do, such as filing, decluttering your desk, and planning for the new year to come, says Lorie Marrero, author of The Clutter Diet.

“Get even more purposeful by aligning with management to do an entire office clean-out day, with everyone joining in,” she suggests. “Wear jeans, order pizza for everyone, get extra shredding and recycling bins delivered, and make it happen.”

Or use the slow time to learn something new that could streamline your work going forward, adds Duncan. “This could include learning more about the software you use every day,” she says. “That’ll help you spend less time working, but get more done in the New Year.”

6. USE HOLIDAY PARTIES AS INCENTIVES

Instead of extra activities like holiday parties being a hindrance to productivity, they can be a productivity booster if you use them as incentives, says Elizabeth Grace Saunders, time coach and author of The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment.

“Give yourself certain task goals, like, ‘As soon as I finish this presentation, I can head out to the holiday mixer,’” she says. “The excitement about getting to the event as soon as possible can help you have extra focus and boost your speed at getting things done.”

FastCompany.com | STEPHANIE VOZZA | 12.13.16 5:17 AM

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Your #Career : 17 Ways you Should Invest your Time in your 20s for Long-Term Success…Your 20s are a Particularly Crucial Time in Life. Many Call these the “Formative” Years, and the Habits You Form Now can Carry you Through the Rest of your Life. So What’s the Best Way to Spend this Time?

December 10, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Don’t waste time, because that’s “the stuff life is made of.” It was good advice when Benjamin Franklin said it, and it’s good advice now, no matter your age.

But your 20s are a particularly crucial time in life. Many call these the “formative” years, and the habits you form now can carry you through the rest of your life. So what’s the best way to spend this time?

We sifted through a number of Quora threads and TED talks to find out.

View As: One Page Slides

Work on important life skills

There are a number of life skills people need to master, and your 20s is the time to start practicing. Without the pressure of parents or school to motivate you, you’ll need to exercise discipline and motivate yourself to learn the essentials.

These skills can range from patience and dealing with rejection to living within your means and good table manners.

Take preventative measures to stay healthy

Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Francesco Wang refers to this as “life-extending” time.

“Investing time in caring for your health … will certainly yield you more time, literally — in days, months, if not years tacked on to your life,” he writes. “Yet we often take our health for granted until we experience a wake-up call.”

Instead, he suggests proactively investing your time in your health by eating well, exercising regularly, getting plenty of sleep, regularly seeing your doctors, and taking care of your emotional, mental, and spiritual health.

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Ask yourself daily questions

Benjamin Franklin began and ended each day with a question: “What good shall I do this day?” in the morning, and “What good have I done this day?” in the evening.

In fact, many great thinkers embraced the idea of constantly questioning things.

As Albert Einstein reportedly said, “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”

Of course, getting into the habit of self-reflection is easier said than done, as we often prefer to avoid asking ourselves the tough questions. As philosopher and psychologist John Dewey explained in his 1910 book, “How We Think,” reflective thinking involves overcoming our predisposition to accept things at face value and the willingness to endure mental unrest.

But enduring this discomfort is well worth the effort, as it can result in the confidence boost necessary to perform better in our work and daily lives.

Questions to ask yourself could include Steve Jobs’ “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” or Quora user Michael Hopkins‘ “How are you doing?” and Quora user Soham Banerjee’s “Why so serious?”

Fail

“Fail,” advises Arpit Sethi. “Out of our teens, this is the best thing that can contribute in the making of an adult. The more we fail, the more we learn.”

You’ll never have more energy or ability to think than when you’re in your 20s, says Shulamit Widawsky, and you’ll never be more vulnerable. This is the time to push your limits and recover from the failures that are inevitable when you take risks.

“Knowing what you can do and what you can recover from will make the whole rest of your life more successful,” she says.

Take up a mentally stimulating hobby

Tim Vizer/AP

As the stresses of daily life become more burdensome in your 20s, it’s important not to forget about taking care of your mental health.

Mehta suggests starting a mentally stimulating hobby like playing chess, role-playing games, or solving puzzles to keep your mind sharp. Hobbies can also be a good creative outlet or an exercise in relaxation.

Spend time by yourself

Garv Suri recommends spending half an hour every day alone to get to know yourself better.

Tonya Turpin says that actively becoming aware of what’s going on inside your head is the only way to truly understand yourself.

Get involved in meaningful causes

“You will never have this much energy, health this great, or this much disposable time again in your life,” writes Heidi McDonald. “Make the most of it. This is your best chance to make a difference in the world.”

Volunteering can also do wonders for your professional life, too. Donating your time can teach you a new skill, help add something special to your résumé, and you allow you to meet new connections with similar interests as you.

Build in cushion time to get where you’re going

Getty

Wang cites the “Good Samaritan” study from Princeton University in 1973, which found that whether a person was in a hurry had a huge effect on if they’d stop to help an injured person. Only 10% of those in a hurry stopped to help an injured person, 45% of those in somewhat of a hurry stopped, and 63% of those not rushed at all stopped.

“This means that being in a rush may be preventing you from being the kind of person you want to be — the kind to stop and help someone in need,” Wang says. “Building in lots of cushion time in your schedule and preventing ‘constant hurriedness syndrome’ is a great investment in yourself and in the quality of life of those around you.”

Start saving for the future

The beauty of saving for your retirement in your 20s lies in compound interest, Allison says.Even if you open a retirement account today and put in $5 a month, “the effects of compound interest on that extra decade or two can literally mean the difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars more that you will have for your retirement.”

Similarly, Tanmoy Roy suggests having fun but living frugally and allocating some money to pay off your debt on a monthly basis. You may not be saving for a home just yet, but down the road your student loans could prevent home ownership.

Be better informed

To find a meaningful cause, McDonald suggests keeping up with the latest current events by following the news.

“Chances are, you’ll find your passion, whether that’s a cause you’re interested in or a niche you believe you can fill,” she says.

Sanjay Kadel advises being wary about where you get your information. “Don’t believe in whatever is there on the internet,” he writes. “Do some research and then conclude whether it should be registered or eradicated.”

Read

Flickr / wonderferret

“There is nothing that will help you more than reading,” says Deepak Mehta.

He suggests a wide variety of books, from young-adult fiction and law to Dickens and Tzu, to learn more about contrasting viewpoints. “Do not be afraid of coming across a convincing viewpoint that is totally antithetical to yours,” he says.

Reading is also a great way to exercise your mind, says Jereme Allison, because it activates almost all areas of it. “The mind is a muscle. If you don’t use it, you lose it,” he says.

Review your week

“One great habit is a weekly review to look back at the past week and lay out the one coming up,” says Curt Beavers.

He advises pondering:

1. What went well last week? (Celebrate and continue these.)

2. What didn’t go well? (Stop, overcome, or remove these from your plate.)

3. Based on the answers above, what changes do I need to make to make this week better?

Travel

It doesn’t matter how much you travel in your 20s, says Shrey Garg, but rather how you travel.

“Don’t be a tourist, but a traveler. This will help increase your vision and make you realize how big and small the world is at the same time,” he says.

The key, according to Allison, is experiencing new things: “Get to know that there is a bigger world out there. Learn about other cultures. Try new foods. You will be surprised at what you discover.”

Mario Hari suggests traveling with complete strangers. “Experience the motley mindset of people. And if you study their emotions carefully, you will get an intuition about what every soul is searching for,” he writes.

Keep learning

The fact that it has been a few years since you’ve set foot in a classroom doesn’t mean you should stop learning.

And don’t limit yourself to subjects that would have an obvious impact on your career. After dropping out of college, Steve Jobs still audited the occasional class, and one course he took on calligraphy was a huge influence on him and inspired “the wonderful typography” personal computers have today.

Start a side hustle

You’ll likely never have more free time than when you’re in your 20s, and using it to start a side hustle could give you the greatest return on investment.

“A side hustle is a business you run in your free time that allows you the flexibility to pursue what you’re most interested in. It’s a chance to delve into food, travel, fashion, or whatever you’re passionate about whilst keeping your day job,” writes Susie Moore, a writer and confidence coach.

She says the great thing about having a side job, apart from the extra income, is that it allows you to use talents that may remain dormant in your 9-to-5 job and make a meaningful impact by doing work that you love on your terms.

Whatever you do, mix it up.

“People aspire to live a memorable life, and there’s this tragic reality that most of us don’t,” Dustin Garis said last year during his TEDx talk.

For two years Garis traveled around the world, and on his journey he says he learned that “life is not the number of days you live; it’s the number of days you remember.”

The key to living a memorable life, he says, is pursuing one through breaking out of routine, incorporating change every day, and the “epic and everyday acts to save the day from being lost.”

Businessinsider.com | December 4, 2016 | Rachel Gillett

Your #Career : How to Build a Positive Relationship With Your Boss and Colleagues…Mutual Respect Makes the Office Much More Pleasant.

December 9, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

In the past, an employee’s relationship with their direct supervisor was found to be one of the most influential factors on whether or not the employee enjoyed their job. Over time, this dynamic has somewhat changed.

In recent years, relationships with colleagues have become increasingly influential in the perception of job satisfaction. Part of this has to do with younger generational workers highly valuing collegial relationships — as demonstrated by their desire to work together on tasks more than Gen X or Boomers do.

Another aspect is that, in many settings, there is a greater amount of cross-departmental collaboration that creates more than one reporting relationship. For example, a team member in customer service may work with marketing to give input on how to market to existing clients, and the marketing supervisor oversees the project.

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Another factor that may reduce the importance of the relationship with one’s direct supervisor or boss is the myriad of ways an employee is assessed in today’s workplaces — including 360 degree feedbacks and other objective measures of work. A few thoughts about how to build a positive reporting relationship, even in shifting times:

Be appreciative. Bosses and supervisors don’t hear thanks very often. They hear a lot of complaining and problems they are expected to solve. Occasionally thanking someone — and being specific as to why you are thanking them — can go a long way to start to build a positive relationship.
Be respectful. One of the most common complaints I hear from supervisors, especially in cross-generational relationships, is that they feel disrespected. Most of us aren’t sure what makes us feel respected, but we clearly know when we feel it. Having a general conversation with your boss about actions that lead them to feel respected or disrespected would be wise.
If you are going to raise a concern, make sure it is specific, not vague and general, and that it is a behavior or issue your boss can address. Don’t whine about management or a colleague in another department, where your supervisor has no influence.
Do your job well, and be willing to go above and beyond. Remember, you are there to accomplish tasks and do them well. When you do quality work and, at least occasionally, do more than is required, you make your boss look good to his or her colleagues and supervisor.

The goal of building a positive relationship with your boss isn’t try to suck up to them and win undue favoritism. The purpose is to develop a healthy, positive relationship of mutual respect, which will lead to better communication, the ability to work through disagreements and can build a partnership where you can support one another through difficult times.

Entrepreneur.com | December 9, 2016 | Paul White

Your #Career : 37 Free Online Marketing and Social Media Classes to Elevate Your Skills…Where Can you Go For the Best, Most Useful Marketing Information? Check Out these Free Resources.

December 9, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

When I first started out with digital marketing, I was blown away by the sheer amount of online marketing resources and social media classes.

I read hundreds of articles and enrolled in as many marketing courses that I could possibly get my hands on. Even today, millions of resources continue to be published online every month.

Where can you go for the best, most useful marketing information? I’ve had the chance to test out and research a huge amount of resources, and I’m excited to share with you 37 free marketing and social media classes that you can enroll in to upgrade your skills across the board.

The list here includes free online courses in a number of social media-related topics and disciplines. If you’d like to dig into one area in particular, here’s a quick table of contents so you can jump to the section that’s most important to you:

Free online courses to learn and improve your social media marketing skills

1. What is Social?

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: Northwestern University

Topics include:

Social trends
Defining target audiences
Data analysis

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

“What is Social?” is a massive open online course (MOOC) for business owners, executives and marketing professionals who want to significantly improve their abilities to grow their social media strategyusing effective, proven methodologies. In short, it’s a really awesome, action-based intro to social media.

The exciting part with this hands-on class is that you not only get to hear about ways to grow your professional persona using social media, but you will actually do it! “What is Social?” is the first in a six-course specialization offered by Northwestern University (a top university in the United States). Once you finish this first course, you can continue on with the next steps of the track: Social Media Marketing: How to Profit in a Digital World. (The first course is free; the full track costs $426.)

2. Diploma in Social Media Marketing

Offered by: Alison

Created by: Advance Learning Academy

Topics include:

Twitter
Facebook pages
Blogging and podcasting
Social media images
Email list growth
Affiliate marketing

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Alison is a similar to Coursera as a site that offers a huge range of classes and certifications, including several in the marketing space. Their free social media class covers the use of email marketing, affiliate marketing, using social media tools such as Twitter, blogging and podcasting, and how to use Facebook to create a business page and get it noticed by current and potential customers. So you’re likely to get a social media foundation plus a handful of other digital marketing skills to boot.

3. Social Media Monitoring

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: Eric Schwartzman

Topics include:

Keyword filtering
Google related searches
Using Google Alerts and its benefits
Identifying influencers and content curation possibilities
Monitoring strategies for Facebook, Twitter and more

Skill level: All Levels

About this course:

This free social media class on how to monitor what your audience and customers are saying online is for marketers looking to keep a finger on the pulse of their community. Whether you’re just starting out in social media or are a seasoned veteran, this course has actionable social monitoring takeaways for people of all skills levels.

The course provides detailed examples of monitoring in action, allows you to get an overview of the different social media monitoring toolsavailable for use, and strategies for how you can use what you’ve learned and apply it to your own social media program.

4. The Business of Social

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: Northwestern University

Topics include:

Discovering where social media “fits in”
How to tie social media to real business results
Managing and measuring a successful social media program

Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate

About this course:

“The Business of Social” is for businesses owners, marketers and social media managers looking for ways to tie social media directly into real business growth objectives. In other words, those looking to drive real, measurable value from a social media strategy and program.

Instead of focusing on how marketers can create great content for social media, this class more focuses on how exactly to measure your social investments in terms of time, cost and opportunities.

5. Social Media Ethics

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: Eric Schwartzman

Topics include:

How to use good judgement when using social media for work
What constitutes ethical behavior on social media
Demonstrating consideration for others on social media

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Have you ever wondered what it means to use social media effectively and ethically? This free course on “Social Media Ethics” provides the framework for social networking and engaging in ethical conversations online for all professionals and employees. Touching on local, state and federal laws, it takes the guessing game out of what is and is not legal on social media for employees of businesses.

6. Advanced Social Media Marketing for Picking up Clients

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: Brian Yang

Topics include:

Common social media myths and mistakes
The art of using Facebook Groups
Attracting YouTube subscribers and creating engaging videos
Creating quality (not spammy) content for social media

Skill level: Intermediate

About this course:

The tagline for this social media class is “picking up clients with social media in 48 hours or less.” Which points to the fact that this instructor dives into intermediate social media strategies. Moving beyond more beginner tactics like setting up social media accounts and basic posting strategies, this class assumes that you already know those things and provides details on how to best use the channels that you’re already familiar with.

All you need for this course is an active Facebook, YouTube and Reddit account and you’ll be on your way to learning the secrets behind picking up clients on social media.

7. Facebook Blueprint

Offered by: Facebook

Created by: Blueprint eLearning

Topics include:

Facebook terminology and know-how
Best practices for Facebook and Instagram posting
Optimizing Facebook and Instagram advertising
Creating a quality Facebook page and experience

Skill level: Beginner – Advanced

About this course:

Perfect for small businesses, marketers, agencies and advertisers, Facebook Blueprint is your one stop shop for everything there is to know about running successful advertising campaigns using your Facebook Business Page. This huge resource of free, self-paced social media classes will cover best-practices and top strategies used by the world’s largest brands.

With Facebook becoming very much a “pay-to-play” platform, this is the perfect opportunity for businesses and marketers to fully grasp everything there is to know about ensuring that your advertising dollar stretches as far as possible.

8. Social Media Quickstarter

Offered by: Constant Contact

Created by: Constant Contact

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Instagram
Snapchat
And more!

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

All social media managers and marketers start somewhere. This free social media class from Constant Contact is a great resource for those who are looking to dive into the world of social media without all of the complications. It offers a step-by-step guide to building a presence on almost every social media platform you can think of.

For those unsure if social media is right for you or for your business, this class is a great way to dip your toes in and start small with social media marketing. Who knows, you may find that social media is just right for you!

Free online courses to boost your digital marketing know-how

9. Email Marketing for E-Commerce

Offered by: Skillshare

Created by: Mailchimp

Email marketing automation
Email marketing optimization
Email marketing personalization

Skill level: Intermediate to Advanced

About this course:

Marketers and social media professionals with a basic understanding of how email marketing works will love this free online course from Mailchimp. Perfect for those of you on the go, it’s a 25-minute, highly tactical class on developing the basic email marketing principles that you may already be familiar with.

By the end of this email course, you’ll have a great understanding of how to create engaging email marketing campaigns and how to optimize your strategy in order to increase business revenue.

10. Marketing in a Digital World

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: University of Illinois

How tools such as smartphones and 3D devices are changing the marketing sphere
How power is shifting from companies and brands to consumers
Offering product ideas that stick in a digital world

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

“Marketing in a Digital World” is one of the most popular free marketing courses on Coursera — with more then 100,000 students enrolled to this date. Taught by a professor at the University of Illinois, this class focuses on the transformation of marketing strategies an tactics into a digital-first world. Specifically, how technology is putting the power of marketing into the hands of the consumer.

This course is perfect for marketers looking to understand where the marketing field is today and how you can leverage new-age strategies to attract customers. And for those who are keen to continue their learning, this course is part of a larger Digital Marketing Specializationfor the University of Illinois.

11. QuickSprout University

Offered by: QuickSprout

Created by: Neil Patel

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Link building
Content marketing
Social media
Paid advertising
And more!

Skill level: Beginner – Advanced

About this course:

This awesome (or should we say huge?) set of classes from the one and only Neil Patel is a great place for marketers looking to learn about a huge variety of online and digital marketing tactics. Class topics range from beginner SEO and content creation strategies to advanced social media, email marketing and paid advertising.

What makes this course is that Neil Patel presents the information in very easy-to-learn and snackable ways. The lessons are presented in video format and range anywhere from 3:00-12:00 minutes. Each video also comes with a full transcript allowing more visual learners to follow along.

12. Inbound Marketing Certification

Offered by: HubSpot

Created by: HubSpot

Inbound marketing
Email marketing
Inbound sales techniques
Content marketing
Growth-driven design

Skill level: Beginner – Advanced

About this course:

HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing Certification is full of super actionable, hands-on learning material that allows marketers to take their general inbound marketing know-how to the next level. The certification consists of 12 different classes and more than 4.5 hours of learning material in both video and text format.

You’ll learn all about SEO, blogging, landing pages, lead nurturing, conversion analysis and reporting come together to form a modern-day inbound marketing strategy. This free online marketing course is presented in different modules, where after successful completion of all the lessons and tests, you’ll be HubSpot certified!

13. Viral Marketing and How to Create Contagious Content

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: University of Pennsylvania

What makes ideas sticky
How social influence shapes behavior
The power of word of mouth

Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate

About this course:

Taught by University of Pennsylvania Professor and best-selling author, Jonah Berger, this free online marketing course helps to answer the mystery of why some ideas and products become popular and why others do not. It’s perfect for social media managers and marketers looking to put a “science” behind their content marketing method.

You’ll start with an understanding of why things catch on in the first place and how you can use those lessons to create viral content online. Then, you’ll move on to spreading your new and creative ideas through social media and other digital marketing channels.

14. Pay Per Click (PPC) University

Offered by: WordStream

Created by: WordStream

All about PPC (What it is, basic terminology, structuring)
Keyword research
Landing page optimization
A/B testing
PPC for lead generation and B2B

Skill level: Beginner – Advanced

About this course:

PPC University is a fully free online learning resource created by WordStream, to help build your PPC and digital marketing skills. The format is presented in three streams of learning plans which offer lessons for beginning to advanced users, with additional modules for social advertising.

You can also access a number of webinars and white papers to enhance your digital marketing expertise, and best of all, everything’s mobile-friendly so you can learn on the go, whenever you have time!

15. Diploma in E-Business

Offered by: Alison

Created by: Google

Introduction to Google Webmaster
Using Google AdWords
Understanding and using Google Analytics Data
Conversion reports and collecting actionable insights

Skill level: Intermediate

About this course:

This “Diploma in E-Business” course is a comprehensive resource for marketers, business owners and advertisers who would like to get the most out of their digital marketing efforts. You’ll learn things like the fundamentals of promoting your business online, using various Google-powered tools and how to track and make sense of the vast amounts of data available to you.

Whether you have a deep knowledge of how to market your business online or are just getting started, this course is an awesome way to strengthen your digital marketing skills.

16. Google Digital Marketing Course

Offered by: WordStream

Created by: WordStream

All about PPC (What it is, basic terminology, structuring)
Keyword research
Landing page optimization
A/B testing
PPC for lead generation and B2B

Skill level: Beginner – Advanced

About this course:

Learning the ins-and-outs of all of the marketing tools that Google offers is quite the task. But marketers and business owners have seen the direct benefits of mastering the various Google advertising platforms in terms of business ROI. This course offers a direct line to always-updated resources for everything Google.

This course is also a part of a Online Marketing Challenge from Google. Students that plan to take the Online Marketing Challenge are encouraged to complete the Digital Marketing Course first. Marketers looking to learn everything there is to know about Google (and advertising), this is a great place to start!

17. Buffer’s Week of Webinars on Digital Marketing

Offered by: Buffer

Created by: Buffer

Topics include:

Content curation and sharing on social media
Getting your content seen on Facebook
Instagram Marketing to boost your business
Branding and PR outreach
Getting started with social media data

Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate

About this course:

While not a social media “class” in a traditional sense, Buffer’s Week-of-Webinars covers everything from content curation to social media analytics to getting your content seen in the Facebook News Feed.

The great thing about this series of online marketing webinars is that no registration is required to sign up and you can view all five of the videos at your own convenience. And we’d love to hear what you think of these webinars in the comments below!

Free online courses to level up with marketing analytics and data

18. Introduction to Analytics and the Language of SAS

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: Jigsaw Academy

Topics include:

What “analytics” means
What the field of analytics is and why it’s booming
Popular analytics tools and applications
Introduction to the language of SAS

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

This “Introduction to Analytics” course is a great starting point for marketers looking to understand what the field of analytics is all about and how to apply it to a variety of businesses and situations. If you’re looking to go beyond the very popular marketing spreadsheets, this course is perfect for you.

This class is broken up into 12 videos of varying length — anywhere from 5-30 minutes and will take you about 2 hours to complete from start to finish.

19. Google Analytics Academy

Offered by: Google

Created by: Google

Topics include:

Digital analytics fundamentals
Google Analytics platform principles
Ecommerce analytics
Mobile app analytics
Google Tag Manager

Skill level: Intermediate – Advanced

About this course:

Google Analytics Academy is an incredible online resource for marketers looking to up their game in everything Google-related. With the importance of tracking and incorporating data into your marketing strategy, there has never been a better time to learn all you can about one of the most data-rich resources in the world.

Some of the most popular modules from the Google Analytics Academy include Digital Analytics Fundamentals and Google Analytics Platform Principles. Both of those courses will give you a solid foundation of how to implement data into your strategy and how you can use the platform to best inform your decisions moving forward.

20. An Introduction to Consumer Neuroscience and Neuromarketing

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: Copenhagen Business School

Topics include:

What Neuromarketing is all about
Attention and consciousness
Sensory neuromarketing
Emotions, feelings, wanting and liking

Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate

About this course:

I put this fantastic course on Neuromarketing under the Analytics and Data section because it really gets into the nuts and bolts of why people make the decisions that they do online and in real life. Understanding that can help marketers and business make decisions based on data and research.

You’ll be taken on a journey through the basic brain mechanisms in consumer choice, and how to stay updated on these topics. The course will give an overview of the current and future uses of neuroscience in business and how you can apply it to your own social media and marketing strategy.

21. Data Analytics with Excel PivotTables

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: UpSkill Ladder

Topics include:

Intro to business analytics
Understanding Excel and PivotTables
Getting started with PivotTables
Terms such as Grouping and Custom Calculations

Skill level: Advanced

About this course:

I have the tendency to cringe when I hear the words “Excel PivotTables.” But I also understand how important the use of PivotTables can be in diving into your analytics and making informed decisions about marketing.

This course will teach you how to do Data analytics with Excel PivotTables effectively and efficiently. At the end of the lessons, you will understand the concept, various scenarios and types of Business analytics. Along with that you will learn, how to use one of the strongest features of Microsoft Excel, which is the PivotTables.

22. Digital Analytics for Marketing Professionals

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: University of Illinois

Topics include:

Data collection, analysis and visualization
How data fits into a company’s marketing strategy
Making informed marketing decisions based on data

Skill level: Advanced

About this course:

Taught by Kevin Hartman, Head of Industry at Google, this free marketing course on “Digital Analytics” focuses on the specific data collection, analysis and visualization techniques used by the world’s top brands. Unlike some of the other analytics classes offered online, this one focuses specifically on marketing.

This course will set you up with a full understanding of how to properly approach data analytics in marketing and how to make informed decisions based on your finding. In short, you’ll be a data wizard!

23. Marketing Measurement Strategy

Offered by: edX

Created by: University of California at Berkeley

Topics include:

How to identify marketing trends
How to predict future market conditions
An understanding of metrics used to measure marketing success

Skill level: Intermediate

About this course:

In this marketing class, you’ll learn the best approaches and practices for marketing measurement, including how to use metrics to measure success. The professor, Stephan Sorger, presents hands-on examples of how to identify market trends, how to predict future conditions and how to put those into action.

24. Social Media Analytics

Offered by: Quintly

Created by: Quintly

Topics include:

Introduction to social media analytics
The social media landscape
Differentiation between social networks for data collection
Finding KPIs that fit your goals

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

As social media continues to drive traffic and revenue for businesses, the need for marketers to fully understand the “why” behind social success (or downturns) will increase.

This free social media class from Quintly covers the basic principles of social media analytics both for beginners and for marketers who want to refresh their knowledge. It aims to help anybody involved in social media analytics, no matter whether you are working for a brand, an agency or in the media.

Free online courses to get up to speed on content, blogging and SEO

25. SEO Training

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: Eric Schwartzman

Topics include:

Integrating SEO in offline and online marketing activities
The vocabulary of search engine optimization
Most effective SEO strategies
White hat vs. black hat SEO

Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate

About this course:

This SEO Training class is perfect for social media managers, executives and entry-level employees. This SEO course will help you increase the search rank of your corporate website, your blog or LinkedIn profile.

Learn how to figure out which terms your customers actually search and how to create online content that is most likely to rank high in Google search engine page results. For most organizations, search engine optimization presents a greater conversion opportunity that social media outreach.

26. Writing for the Web

Offered by: Open2Study

Created by: Frankie Madden

Topics include:

How to structure a web page
Considerations for search engines and accessibility
Making your content scannable
Using keywords, headings, lists and links

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Knowing how to write well is an important skill for just about anything, but knowing how to write for the web is a whole different ball game. It takes clear and concise copy to gain the attention of your readers in just a few seconds.

This course will help just about anyone — from journalists to technical writers to developers to aspiring bloggers — create content that really engages and converts online. It also will teach you the skills needed to accommodate the requirements of online readers through web design, writing style, structure and SEO.

27. Writing for Brands: Freelancing in the Age of Content Marketing

Offered by: Skillshare

Created by: Contently

Topics include:

What content marketing entails
The basics of writing for, and working with brands
Marketing yourself as a writer
How to craft the perfect pitch to a brand

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Have you ever wondered how all of those great bloggers get writing gigs for brands online? This course provides the framework for starting a successful freelance career if that’s something you’d be interested in. Taught by Brian Maehl of Contently, “Writing for Brands” is an actionable, 30-minute writing course that breaks down the process into simple steps.

Whether writing turns into a full-time career for you or just a fun project to tackle on the side, the folks at Contently are happy to help prepare you to pitch your content ideas to brands both big and small.

28. SEO Training Course

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: Moz

Topics include:

Building a monthly SEO plan
5 ways to use social media profiles for SEO
Link building with Twitter
Mapping keywords to content

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Optimizing a web site for search engines requires looking at a ton of unique elements both on and off your website. This course on SEO from the folks at Moz will help you to start making sense of it all. Most importantly, it will help you form consistent SEO habits that you can implement long after this course is over.

If you’re interested in getting started with optimizing your website for search engines and how social media has the power to fit within that strategy, this is a great place to start for beginners.

29. Content Marketing for B2B Enterprises

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: William Flanagan

Topics include:

End-to-end B2B marketing tactics and strategies
Content creation that converts
Identifying industry influencers
Building a data system to foster improvement

Skill level: Intermediate – Advanced

About this course:

B2B companies, products and services often require a slightly different approach to content marketing. Customer sales cycles are more drawn out and require various, targeted content types to help assist decision-makers to the next stage.

The entire set of classes in this content marketing course lasts roughy 35 minutes. You’ll learn how to get inside the mind of your market and build content that interests them in a short period of time. Allowing you to get back to running your business!

30. High-Impact Business Writing

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: University of California at Irvine

Topics include:

Introduction and basics to business writing
Various business document types
Informal and social media communication

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Writing great copy that is meant to drive people to take a specific business action is a unique and valuable skill to have for marketers and business owners alike. This “High-Impact Business Writing” course is aimed at helping you get your thoughts on paper in a clear and concise manner.

Structured as a 4-week class, you’ll start with the basics of businesses writing, including why it’s important, and move to more advanced topics such as preparing business documents and translating ideas to more informal channels such as social media. In short, helping to to become a business copy whiz!

31. Internet Marketing for Smart People

Offered by: Copyblogger

Created by: Copyblogger

Topics include:

Introduction and basics to business writing
Various business document types
Informal and social media communication

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

With the tagline, “you don’t have to be a genius to master internet marketing,” this 20-part email course from the folks at Copyblogger offers a great starting place for those new to the marketing field. What’s unique about this course is that it digs deeply into the areas of direct response copywriting and relationship building.

It’s set up in “4 Pillars” takes you through various topics such as customer relationships, writing, content marketing and delivering something that’s worth selling.

Free online courses to learn marketing design and imagery

32. Graphic Design Basics: Core Principles for Graphic Design

Offered by: Skillshare

Created by: Smithsonian Design Museum

Topics include:

Identifying and defining basic design principles
Effectively critiquing your own work for balance
Applying what you’ve learned to your own projects

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Have you ever wanted to get started with design so that you can create your own images for social media and marketing? This “Graphic Design Basics” from will set you up with a solid foundation to branch out as a beginner designer.

In this 35-minute class designers Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips walk students through what it takes to create great designs. Including, the 5 important and fundamental aspects of design and how you can apply those to every one of your projects moving forward.

33. How to Create Better Graphic Design

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: Inoshiro Design

Topics include:

Identifying and defining basic design principles
Effectively critiquing your own work for balance
Applying what you’ve learned to your own projects

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Did you know that in 2016, visual content is more than 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content? Today, it’s becoming important, even crucial for marketers to have at least some basic knowledge of key design terms.

This course does a deep dive into the five steps for better visual communication. These components include creating ideas and applying them to your design, communicating ideas effectively within the design and having a consistent design look and feel.

34. The Landing Page Conversion Course

Offered by: Unbounce

Created by: Unbounce

Topics include:

Landing page 101
5 core landing page elements
The psychology of conversion

Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate

About this course:

Curious about the power of landing pages in marketing campaigns? Unbounce has the art of a perfect landing page down to a science. And in this comprehensive online marketing class, they share all of that knowledge with you, no questions asked.

The Landing Page Conversion Course takes you from “Landing Page 101” right on down to “Copywriting” and even “Testing and Optimization.” If you’ve ever been curious about the power of landing pages and how they can help you grow your business, this course is the perfect one for you.

35. Visual and Graphic Design

Offered by: ALISON

Created by: XSIQ

Topics include:

Using various design elements
Drawing and production systems in design
The production process for designers

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Great design starts with the fundamentals. The free course from ALISON examines various design elements including line, shape, form and texture and design principles, covering composition, balance, contrast and hierarchy. If you’re interested in exploring graphic design, industrial design or the design process in general, this free graphic design class is perfect for you.

36. Graphic Design 101

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: Design and Art Direction Mason Gentry

Topics include:

Concept-driven design and implementation
Why some design mediums need to communicate more quickly than others
Thinking behind great graphic design
A birds eye view of the entire field of graphic deisgn

Skill level: Intermediate

About this class:

Are you interested in deepening your knowledge of graphic design or how graphic design can be applied in the real world? The class “Graphic Design 101” is specifically for developers who may know a little about graphic design, but would like to learn more.

Many students who take this class have the ability to recognize a good design when they see one, but may not know why it’s a good design. This free online design class looks to help answer the “why.”

37. DIY Viral Video: A Class on Making iPhone How-To Videos

Offered by: Skillshare

Created by: Nicole Farb

Topics include:

Setting up for a great video
Tools and techniques for shooting a video
Finalizing and sharing a videos online

Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate

About this course: Video marketing is making a huge splash online and on social media. But one thing what we consistently hear is that marketers aren’t quite sure where to start. Yet, videos have the potential to engage an audience in new and exciting ways — just look at BuzzFeed Tasty for an example of the power of video!

In this short class, Nicole Farb shows how you can create your own video in a scrappy, easy and high-quality way and how she has seen huge success with it in the past. Perfect for marketers and social media managers just getting started with video.

Entrepreneur.com | December 12, 2016 | Brian Peters

#Leadership : How Inefficient Processes Are Hurting Your Company…Siloed, Difficult-to-Use Business Systems Complicate Processes and Hamper Operations. Is This True of your Organization?

December 8, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Companies today are burdened by siloed, difficult-to-use business systems that complicate processes and hamper operations. According to market research firm IDC, companies lose 20 to 30 percent in revenue every year due to inefficiencies.

And yet, many companies continue to “make do” with their current applications and systems even though those may not be the right solutions. Unfortunately, companies will often repurpose one of these systems for a task which has a plausible functionality for the project — imagine using a flashlight to crack open a walnut — but is still not the right tool for the job.

Sooner or later, that misapplication is likely to cause a problem.

The consequences for using antiquated business process solutions or, gulp, no solutions at all, can be multi-faceted and ultimately damaging to a company’s bottom line.

Here are six common pitfalls that plague companies in nearly every industry due to inefficient or siloed business processes.

1. The silos themselves

Regardless of what industry you are in, or the type of customers you serve, the challenge of managing process flow and operations across diverse platforms and systems is universal. Combining tedious manual tasks with the reliance that company departments have on a smooth daily workflow makes it virtually impossible to maintain any kind of competitive advantage. Yet, this is how most companies operate.

There have been studies done on the effect siloing has on efficiency within certain industries. And the general conclusion has been that silos eat up a huge amount of resources, particularly in terms of interdepartmental cohesiveness. One noteworthy example referenced by author Gillian Tett in her book, The Silo Effect was Sony, whose successful PlayStation department jealously guarded its independence, even as the company’s then-new CEO, Howard Stringer, tried to break down silos.

As a result, Sony failed to capitalize on a series of technology shifts — such as the iPod and the rise of digital music devices — that at the time it was in a good position to dominate.

The fix. One of the ways companies can successfully break down work silos is to provide mechanisms to achieve transparency and openness. Companies may want to consider a “single system of record” to achieve transparency, streamline communications and manage performance.

A number of companies have built highly successful systems of record: Salesforce, in the sales function, Intuit in finance and Workday, in human resources are notable ones. Systems of record are typically the backbone of core business processes. Without a solution that keeps everyone and everything connected, an organization is vulnerable to the common issues that plague distributed teams.

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2. Poor systems integration

The growth of automation has led to more systems and solutions being in place than ever before, each requiring a set of processes to enable its successful use. According to an IDC survey, The Document Disconnect, over 80 percent of business leaders surveyed from sales, HR, procurement and other departments agreed that problems “arise because they have different internal systems/applications that don’t ‘talk’ to each other,” while 43 percent of workers surveyed said they often have to copy/paste or rekey in information.

Without a standardized solution, such as a SaaS platform that streamlines processes, employees are forced to continuously shift between disparate sources of information, resulting in productivity issues and even greater employee churn.

One major Fortune 500 automotive company cited in the report uses Sharepoint for document repository, Lync for collaboration, two separate document management systems and email for collaborating on critical business processes, such as managing supplies for a new product development initiative. Each process flow lives in a disparate system.

Those processes, in turn, help close the gaps between companies and their customers. And that leads to a more positive bottom line.

3. Bottlenecks

Just because a process has been executed one way for a long time doesn’t necessarily make it the best option. Often, companies will overlook sources of process slowdowns because of their lack of visibility and inability to understand the impact of a bottleneck.

These bottlenecks are sometimes the result of not adapting to new technologies — or “gatekeepers” demanding control over a specific phase of a process.

Regardless of the reason, process hurdles can cause major slowdowns, with far-reaching financial impacts.

General Electric reported that just a 1 percent improvement in oil recovery was worth 80 billion additional barrels per year — the equivalent of billions of dollars in additional revenue. Another GE finding: Avoiding just one day of down-time on an offshore platform can prevent $7 million per day in lost production.

The fix. Adapting to new technologies and being open to new solutions is the best way to improve processes. Be aware of a process that seems to be slowing down your business and actively pursue a way to improve it.

4. Redundancy

Another common problem for companies of all sizes is process duplication. Repeating steps dilutes the quality of a process and confuses those who execute the steps. This is commonly seen when there is a lack of departmental collaboration, or processes have been adapted in a less-than-systematic way.

The fix. Improving departmental collaboration can bring major benefits. One Fortune 50 consumer-package goods company was able to manage and improve its process flow by eliminating non-value-added activities. These included wasted time, wasted movement, wasted inventory due to overproduction, customer delays, waits for approvals, delays due to batching of work, unnecessary steps, duplication of effort and errors and rework.

5. Lack of insights

Even when companies have the right business intelligence information available, it may be inaccessible or erroneously reported due to a lack of real-time data. Leaders who don’t have the most relevant insights at their fingertips are less likely to make smart choices.

If a leader or sponsor doesn’t know exactly how you’re progressing (for example, where in the given initiative tasks are stalled, how cycle times are being impacted, whether the time line is being adhered to or whether a task is in the red or the black), it’s difficult to competently prioritize activities.

The fix. Oil and gas companies are an example of what can be gained by using real-time data analysis. They generate massive volumes of data from wells and sensors on their equipment and other assets they have already deployed. Concurrently, drillers and maintenance staff add to this volume by documenting their observations and the issues that concern them.

However, this potentially valuable data is often inaccessible or difficult to analyze because it’s in a text format or locked away in data silos.

6. Loss of operational performance

Without a complete understanding of all components of their business, executives lose the ability to identify critical weaknesses and plan for predictable growth. Simply put, they cannot remain reactive to operational vulnerabilities or mitigate the complexities of running a business in a global economy.

Ultimately, a lack of process visibility leads to the assumption of greater risk, a loss of stakeholder trust and less positive growth.

The fix. Processes that digitally connect suppliers, customers and assets are creating unique and unheralded efficiencies and customer value. From connecting machines on the shop floor to connecting data from different asset vendors, operations in the new digital economy entail using information to inspire new processes.

Those processes, in turn, help close the gaps between companies and their customers. And that leads to a more positive bottom line.

Entrepreneur.com | December 8, 2016 | NICK CANDITO

#Leadership : IKEA Introduces Trailblazing Parental Leave Policy in Retail Sector…Sad but True: The U.S. is Still One of only Four Nations in the World that Fails to Guarantee the Right to Paid Maternity Leave.

December 8, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Sweden, on the other hand, is unequivocally the sweetest country for working moms or dads, lavishing parents to a whopping 480 paid days off per child. Several top companies here in the U.S. are finally starting to catch up with the progressive Scandinavian nation, particularly in the tech sector.

Most recently, IKEA expanded its paid benefits to up to four months for new parents — a major breakthrough for a company in the retail industry. Last year, Netflix unveiled a trailblazing unlimited paid leave policy for new moms and dads, inviting them to take off “as much time as they want” in the year following the birth or adoption of a child. Software giant Microsoft also upped its parental leave offering. Adobe quickly followed suit, doubling the paid maternity leave it grants employees.

The message is clear and long overdue: American companies are finally grasping that workers with families require more flexibility than ever before. To get the best out of them — and to keep them from jumping ship — employers must step up and seriously support their charges, and not just in the workplace. On the homefront, too. It’s a smart business move, one that we hope goes viral, coast to coast.

Here are 14 leading U.S. companies offering exceptionally generous parental leave policies:

IKEA

Swedish furniture company IKEA has expanded paid benefits to up to four months for parents with a newborn in their lives. The policy applies to dads, moms and adoptive or foster parents, and to both salaried and hourly employees as well.

Extended paid leave like this is not as common in the retail sector as it is in industries such as technology and finance. For example, Wal-Mart offers 90 days paid maternity leave and 14 days paternity or adoption leave to salaried employees. Target doesn’t commit to any paid parental leave policies.

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Etsy

Image credit: Bloomberg | Getty Images

Started in April of this year, Etsy announced it will be giving parents up to six months of paid parental leave. Not only that, but the company has gone so far as to offer new adoption and surrogacy benefits as well coaching programs for new parents and their managers.

“It was the most important way I could have spent that time. Building a company is a team effort that includes the immense support we get from our families,” said Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson.

Spotify

Image credit: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/Stringer | Getty Images

With its roots in Sweden, it’s no surprise the music streaming company offers an awesome parental leave policy. Spotify offers six months of paid leave to full-time moms and dads across the globe. Employees are also offered flexible work options such as the ability to work from home or a part-time schedule upon their return.

The policy is “born out of a Swedish culture that places an emphasis on a healthy work/family balance, gender equality and the ability for every parent to spend quality time with the people that matter most in their lives,” writes Spotify’s chief HR officer Katarina Berg.

Netflix

Image credit: Shutterstock

The 18-year-old Los Gatos, Calif.-based streaming media provider offers new parents unlimited paid leave for one year. The pioneering policy enables them to take off as much time as they want during the first 12 months following the birth or adoption of a child. They also have the choice to come back part-time, full-time or to “return and then go back out as needed.” Not bad on top of unlimited vacation time. The company went even further in early 2016 to include hourly workers in the policy as well.

Adobe

Image credit: Adobe | Facebook

Starting Nov. 1, the multimedia software juggernaut will provide 16 weeks of paid time off for primary caregivers, “allowing new parents more time to spend bonding with their children.” The generous policy, available to Adobe’s 6,000 U.S. workers, will be extended to mothers and fathers who become parents “through childbirth, surrogacy, adoption or foster care.” With combined medical and parental leave, birth mothers who work at the San Jose, Calif.-based company — which views its employees as its “most important assets” — will be eligible for a total of up to 26 weeks of paid leave.

Twitter

Image credit: Twitter | Facebook

Birth mothers receive a none-too-shabby 20 weeks of paid maternity leave at the eight-year-old company. Meanwhile, new fathers and adoptive parents at Twitter get 10 weeks paid time off. Further cementing its commitment to supporting families with children, the San Francisco, Calif.-based tech social media mammoth also hosts new parent and new parent-to-be roundtables on a quarterly basis. During the meetups, moms and dads ask questions about leave and swap war stories from the messy trenches of parenthood.

Related: Twitter: What Went Wrong

Google

Image credit: Google | Facebook

Google, which will soon morph into Alphabet, grants biological moms 18 weeks of fully paid and vested maternity leave. Mothers who experience complications during childbirth are given 22 weeks paid time off. Primary caregivers, regardless of gender, are eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid baby-bonding leave, adoptive and surrogate caregivers included. Non-primary caregivers can carve out up to 7 paid weeks off.

On the heels of its maternal leave expansion from 12 weeks to 18 weeks in 2007, Google reported an uptick employee retention. “It just felt like the right thing to do,” a company spokesperson told The Atlantic. Additional perks for parents include priority placement at Bright Horizon child care centers across the U.S. and $500 in “baby bonding bucks.”

Cool fact: Google’s first employee to go out on maternity leave is current YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki. She has taken a total of five parental leaves since joining Google in 1999.

Johnson & Johnson

Image credit: Johnson & Johnson | Facebook

Perhaps best known for its baby products, Johnson & Johnson sure knows how to take care of those who take care of babies. New parents, whether by birth or adoption, who work for the 129-year-old consumer products conglomerate are privy to grocery and laundry pick-up services. Mothers get all of up to 17 weeks of paid leave and fathers nine weeks. The Brunswick, N.J.-based legacy brand’s recently expanded parental leave policy extends to parental units of all stripes — maternal, paternal, same-sex or adoptive. Time off can be spread outover the first year following birth or adoption.

Facebook

Image credit: maxpro | Shutterstock

Facebook, and its hot photo-sharing subsidiary Instagram, furnishes all new mother and father employees with 17 weeks of paid leave. Additionally, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based social media behemoth provides a $4,000 “baby cash” stipend for each child adopted or born.

We’re curious as to how long founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg will head out on leave when he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, welcome their first child, a baby girl. Zuck can divvy it up over a year or use it all at once, that is unless the head honcho is an exception to the rule. Facebook also subsidizes adoption programs, child care, and, somewhat controversially, surrogate parenting, sperm donation and egg freezing initiatives.

Goldman Sachs

Image credit: Goldman Sachs | Official Website

Per its policy published on its official website, Goldman Sachs provides new moms with 16 weeks of paid leave. That includes four weeks of parenting leave at full pay for primary caregivers. Fathers and non-primary caregivers are eligible for four weeks of paid leave. Paid surrogacy and adoption leave is also offered for up to 16 weeks. Breastfeeding new mothers at the New York City-based global financial services firm enjoy around-the-clock access to lactation consultants and are privy to use on-site lactation rooms.

Image credit: Reddit | Facebook

Reddit, which has been struggling to clear a path following a string of controversial leadership decisions, offers new mothers and fathers 17 weeks of paid parenting leave. The San Francisco-based company allows for leave to be taken within the first year in two-week stretches at minimum. Like Zynga, HubSpot and Groupon, the troubled social-sharing platform also offers unlimited vacation time.

Bank of America

Image credit: Alexey Rotanov | Shutterstock

The global banking giant boasts a progressive family “life management” program, offering employees who have worked at the company for at least a year up to 12 weeks of paid maternity, paternity and adoption leave. If more time is needed, workers can take up to 14 weeks additional time off without pay.

When it comes to adoption, the Charlotte, N.C.-based banking giant goes above and beyond, reimbursing eligible employees up to $8,000 per legally adopted child. BofA also pays for up to 25 days of childcare center babysitting for kids ages six weeks to 12 years of age, should the primary caregiver be temporarily unavailable during work hours (as in out sick or on vacation). It also reimburses employees up to $240 a month per child for childcare costs incurred while working.

Microsoft

Image credit: Microsoft | Facebook

On Nov. 1, Microsoft will roll out its most expansive parental leave policy yet. Piggybacking the tech industry trend, the Redmond, Wash.-based global software colossus will lengthen its maternity and paternity leave to 12 weeks at full pay, with an additional eight weeks of paid leave for birth mothers. Leave can be taken all at once or in intervals. Birth mothers also have the option to go out on short-term disability during the two weeks leading up to their due dates.

Yahoo

Image credit: KAREN BLEIER | Getty Images

In 2013, after giving birth herself, CEO Marissa Mayer installed a parental leave policy letting mothers take 16 weeks paid leave and fathers eight weeks. The company also offers them an additional $500 to help with any expenses related to the newborn.

Entrepreneur.com | December 8, 2016 | Kim Lachance Shandrow

MISTAKE #1: EVALUATING TRAITS INSTEAD OF BEHAVIORS AND RESULTS

MISTAKE #2: BEING TOO LENIENT WITH YOUR FEEDBACK

MISTAKE #3: WAITING UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR TO GIVE ANY FEEDBACK

MISTAKE #4: ACTING LIKE A JUDGE INSTEAD OF A COACH

MISTAKE #5: NOT BEING ABLE TO EXPLAIN YOUR RATING PROCESS

1. Flowing story.

2. Strong top-third.

3. Formatted for easy reading and skimming.

4. Use descriptive keywords especially in the beginning.

5. Be specific when describing your success.

1. LIMIT YOUR NEGATIVE LANGUAGE

2. MAKE SURE IT ISN’T PERSONAL

3. SPEND MORE TIME ON THE HIGH GROUND

4. END ON AN UPSIDE

1. Be specific and detailed in your demands.

2. Specialize your team.

3. Create a virtual meeting place.

4. Utilize the overlap in working hours.

5. Set up reward systems to motivate your team.

6. Give more jobs to the best of your team.

7. Establish some order in your personal work systems,

1. INFUSE HOLIDAY SPIRIT INTO YOUR WORK

2. SET INTENTIONS

3. DECIDE WHAT YOU DON’T WANT TO DO

4. MAINTAIN YOUR PACE

5. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DOWNTIME

6. USE HOLIDAY PARTIES AS INCENTIVES

View As: One Page Slides

Work on important life skills

Take preventative measures to stay healthy

Ask yourself daily questions

Fail

Take up a mentally stimulating hobby

Spend time by yourself

Get involved in meaningful causes

Build in cushion time to get where you’re going

Start saving for the future

Be better informed

Read

Review your week

Travel

Do something social and outside your comfort zone

Keep learning

Start a side hustle

Whatever you do, mix it up.

Free online courses to learn and improve your social media marketing skills

Free online courses to boost your digital marketing know-how

Free online courses to level up with marketing analytics and data

Free online courses to get up to speed on content, blogging and SEO

Free online courses to learn marketing design and imagery

1. The silos themselves

2. Poor systems integration

3. Bottlenecks

4. Redundancy

5. Lack of insights

6. Loss of operational performance

IKEA

Etsy

Spotify

Netflix

Adobe

Twitter

Google

Johnson & Johnson

Facebook

Goldman Sachs

Reddit

Bank of America

Microsoft

Yahoo