I’ve always been a fan of LinkedIn and lately I’ve found myself showing more colleagues and friends how to use the site.  So for those of you that don’t know about LinkedIn, or for those of you who haven’t taken the time to check it out, I thought I’d give a brief description of what it is and why I think it is a valuable tool for ANYONE in the workforce (or for many of us that are trying to get back in). It’s like business networking without having to leave the house. You can join college alumni groups, industry groups, find old friends and colleagues, etc. and see what they are doing professionally. If your city doesn’t have many groups, start one! I’ve even started a group for Independent Belle so we can also connect via LinkedIn.

A lot of companies have group profiles, allowing you to get current information, and see if there are any company needs, etc. I recently reconnected with a lot of my sorority’s alumni that are located here in Chicago. Its been exciting to meet new people who I have something in common with, and not only that but we’ll all probably have an opportunity in the future to help each other out professionally in some way!

The thing I like most about LinkedIn is that it is strictly professional and doesn’t have a lot of distracting extras like other social networking sites. They also have a great search feature so it’s easy to find people you know! For some great ways to use LinkedIn, I suggest reading Guy Kawasaki’s article on 10 Ways To Use LinkedIn for more ideas. After you’re done, get your profile set up and send a request to join the Independent Belle group.  You’ll start connecting to everyone as if you were out at that event holding a big martini, shaking hands, and collecting business cards in no time!

Design-her Gals

I’ve been ordering note cards from Design-her Gals for years now and the thing I like most about them is that you can customize them in any way imaginable. You start by picking out your skin tone, hairstyle/cut/color, and then choose from hundreds of different outfit combinations. You can accessorize with shoes, jewelry, purses, etc. And if you see an adorable little yorkie on the site that looks like Henry, that’s right, they even made a custom illustration of him for me! Which is why I have to tell you how wonderfully kind and friendly the ladies at Design-her Gals are. It is run by a team of three brilliant women who are all friendly and willing to accommodate ideas of even the craziest of dog ladies like myself.

I have created note cards to send to customers to thank them for their business (in those I’m wearing a business suite and holding my blackberry and a briefcase). I’ve had some made with the Independent Belle web address on them (similar to the example below). I’ve even bought some for friends as engagement and wedding gifts (one set with their maiden name, one with their married name.) I’ve put an example of one of mine below so you can get an idea of what they look like.

There are TONS of great ideas on the site, so go check it out and DESIGN YOUR GAL!  You can send e-cards from the site so send me an email at Laura@IndependentBelle.com and let me see your gal!

I love to Jott

I recently had to come up with some “best practices” that I use to help me stay organized, or just stay on top of life’s chaos in general. So I thought I would share some of them in the next few posts in hopes that they will help you too!

Jott.com- I use Jott a number of ways. Jott takes your voice messages and transcribes them into text, and then delivers them to the specified recipient via email or text message (however you choose.) This is especially helpful when I am driving and need to email/respond to friends, family, or work items. I’ll call Jott and it works like this:

Jott: “Who do you want to Jott?”

Me: “Regional” (which is a distribution list I have set up for my regional team)

Jott: “Just to confirm, you’d like to Jott Regional?”

Me: “Yes”

Jott: “Okay, Jott…”

Me: “Hey guys, have you registered for the IMBA Annual Dinner? Are you bringing any customers? Let me know! Thanks!”

Hang up.

Jott will then take the message I left and send my regional team an email with my transcribed message. This way I don’t have to send the email on my blackberry while driving. Not only that but it allows me to get a lot of my follow up items done on my way home so I can spend time with my family (i.e. Henry.)

Jott will also transcribe your voicemail messages into text and send them to you via email or text message. I find this most helpful when I’m in an account or a seminar/meeting and I receive a voice message. Jott sends me a text message so I can see if the message is urgent and needs immediate attention.

You can listen to your favorite RSS Feeds via Jott as well, which is nice if you don’t have access to a computer or don’t have time to sit down and read them. There is a ton of information on the site and its simple to set up. The good thing is, once you have it set up, its done and you don’t have to constantly manage and update it. I’ve even set up a group (distribution list) with all of my family so I can send them updates without having to make 15 different phone calls.

If you have questions about Jott or want to learn more, go to www.Jott.com.

Welcome !!!

Hi everyone! I am both excited and overwhelmed as I begin this blog. Excited because it is the beginning of 2009, a new year, with infinite possibilities and opportunities that I can’t even begin to imagine. Overwhelmed because, like you I’m sure, life seems to get more difficult to manage gracefully as each year passes. I feel like I’ve seen it, been through it, wanted, had, lost, and dealt with it all, although I know I haven’t. I won’t begin this with any boring New Year’s resolutions and vows to avoid food after midnight, because I’m sick of letting myself down. What I am going to resolve to do is give myself a break, and I hope you will too. In preparation of doing this, I’m forcing myself to be very honest about where I am in life. I’ve written down the ugly truth about the things I’m not so proud of, and getting them out of my mind and on paper was scary but also a relief.

So wherever you’re at in life, whether it be lonely, depressed, unhappy at work, unfulfilled in a relationship, out of touch with friends, out of touch with your money, overweight, underpaid, stuck, unmotivated, or unfocused, there won’t be any judgment placed here. Even the best of us have skeletons in our closets. If you haven’t dealt with them and feel like you need to, put them down on paper and then give yourself a break because beating yourself up doesn’t change anything. Once you’ve made your list, take a look at it and then read this: “I can manage this.” I’m not saying in every case you won’t need help, we all do at some point in our lives, but that is also part of being able to manage things.

One more thing before you put it away someplace safe, (so you aren’t dwelling on it every day), think of one person you can tell. If you don’t trust anyone that much, send it here and it will be kept confidential. Hell, send it to Henry, he knows all of my secrets and despite my attempts, I’ve never been able to get him to talk.

Now go take a bubble bath, write in your gratitude journal, have a glass of red wine or something equally rewarding and GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK (and quit rewarding yourself with Coach bags if you’re in debt sweetheart!)