Last week I had a call that was expected to take 20 minutes. An hour and a half and several failed attempts to interrupt the talker later, I made excuses and hung up. It was gawd-awful. Worse, the caller was offended when I halted the one-sided conversation. Devon came to my rescue beeping in on…
Author: lwidmer
Start Cheap, Stay Cheap
This is probably not what you want to hear during a shaky economy, but lowering your rates is going to backfire. I was skimming back through my blog posts when I came across this one from 2006. At the time, I’d just had a client whom I’d worked for at a cut rate recommend me…
A Pain That Gets You Right There
I’ve probably mentioned before having a desk chair that had me craving Fridays at 5. What I didn’t tell you is the husband bought me a new one for Christmas – a top-of-the-line Big Girl Chair, with more adjustable settings than Craftmatic could dream up. Happily, I loaded my old chair into my car and…
Technology That Ticks You Off
Perhaps I shouldn’t write when I’m upset, but that I’m upset in the first place is bad, especially since I should be writing instead of being upset. Did I lose you? Stick with me – it gets better. I bought a digital recorder a while back – an Olympus VN-4100PC. Since my old recorder died…
Discrimination and You
Thanks for all the great discussion around the WAHM post last week. I was glad to get such great feedback, and very happy Katharine brought up discrimination issues based on something an HR rep once said to me. She made an excellent point, too. What that HR rep said bordered on discrimination, if not crossed…
Things That Make You Go “Huh?”
This is a totally off-topic post, so pardon the break in our usual writerly discussions. Just some things I’ve been wondering about. Feel free to add your own! Why is it you have to have a Google account to be part of Blogger, but you can’t use your GMail address as a logon? Every time…
When to Let Go
There was a situation recently involving one of my clients and one of their customers. (Facts have been altered to protect those involved, including me.) The customer was considered a difficult sort and the client was scrambling to make her happy. From her first contact with them, she’d laid down the ground rules, which appeared…
Craving Balance?
Good friend and exceptional coach Lisa Gates is offering something you’d be crazy not to snatch up – a free Craving Balance goal-setting teleclass. I said free, as in no money down, no payments ever. Having been fortunate enough to have attended one of Lisa’s coaching sessions, I’m here to tell you this is a…
Can You Barter For It?
Saw a segment on the Today Show yesterday about bartering in a tough economy. Everything from cars to vacations to haircuts to decorating is fair game. As things get tighter, how can we get what we need without spending money? For about 5 years now, I’ve been bartering with web designer Kevin Prutzman (an excellent…
A Blip on the Work Radar
It was more than a little scary to be driving late Sunday night from Manhattan to Philadelphia in a big snowstorm. I’m okay with the snow and driving – I’m not okay with being passed by idiots doing 70-80 when conditions (and warning signs) call for 35 and under. If I die at the hands…