jimraffel.com



Story Teller | CEO | Traveler

Linkedin: Finding the Full Value of the Ecosystem

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I know plenty of people (myself included) who struggle to find the value of Linkedin. My gut tells me there is plenty of value there and I have found several small pockets of success already. The goal now is develop a more complete understanding of the entire Linkedin ecosystem and how to maximize … [Read more...]

Ideas + Discipline = Success

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"How do you pick which idea to write about" and "how do you write every day" are the two most common blogging questions I am asked. They are great questions, because you need the ideas and the discipline to write regularly in order to achieve blogging success. First, the ideas. Now that I have … [Read more...]

Sharing Success – The ApplyMate.com Story

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A while back I got an email from Tim Murphy of ApplyMate.com which contained the following excerpt: "...I recently launched ApplyMate.com - a free web-based tool that helps users track school and job applications. Most job hunters submit dozens and dozens of job applications, and most students … [Read more...]

Customer Service Automation Should Help All Involved

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A self service customer portal should enable both the customer and the service provider to have a better customer service experience. Recently I've written about Time Warner Cable's customer (dis)service (in my opinion) and Sprint's exceptional customer service. Today I want to share my experience … [Read more...]

Blog Comments or Sharing via Twitter and Facebook?

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Blog comments aren't dead any more than newspapers are dead. Until Twitter and Facebook became so big, blog comments were the only way to express your pleasure with a post. Now, sharing the post via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social media channels is a snap. Justin Levy weighs in. I … [Read more...]

Stream of Consciousness Writing

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The comments on The Calm Before The Launches post have shown me that part of what I gain by writing this blog each day is organization. By capturing your stream of consciousness, at quiet unhurried times, you are able to capture the important thoughts running through your brain. In my case these … [Read more...]

But I Don't Have The Time

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The most common complaint I get when sitting down with would be bloggers is "but I don't have the time" to write a post every day like you do. It's OK, neither did I until this year. What has changed is my perception of the importance blogging has in my life. I don't goof around much anymore. I'm … [Read more...]

I Work Without A Job Or Time Clock

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I don't have a job and haven't for more than fifteen years. I do work and quite often I'm working my butt off. I network, I hustle, I sell stuff, I juggle money and all the other crazy stuff small business people do. Trust me it's nothing like a job. How do I know? Well, if all goes according to … [Read more...]

Planning Pays Big Dividends

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I've managed to get to the point where I am writing my blog posts about a week ahead. All it took was a little planning and now that effort is beginning to pay big dividends. It's not just me. The quest to get ahead began when I read Chris Brogan's With Just A Little Planning. I'll still write … [Read more...]

Repurposed Blog Content

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Repurposing blog content is synonymous with finding new distribution channels. More distribution channels means you've cast a wider net to collect fans of your work. Contrary to what some believe there is nothing "wrong" with repurposing your work. Creating the content. One day you'll be working on … [Read more...]