Beyond Our Means: How America's Long Years of Debt, Deficits, and Reckless Borrowing Now Threaten to Overwhelm Us

Book Description

A take-charge book for today's working woman

An essential desktop guide for any woman aiming for success in today's male-dominated work world

Teaches and encourages you how to map out your goals and manage your way to the top.

Outlines different types of bosses and how to recognize and work with each one.

Including: How to handle injustice, discrimination, and unfair practices in the workplace.

Product Description

Consult your way to a new career! Reviewed by Booklist and Foreword magazine, this book provides a roadmap to starting your own business as an independent consultant. It's a great resource for professionals who want to become a master of their own fate. This book shows you how to set your rate, select the legal form of your business, market on the Internet, understand basic record keeping, and much more. It includes a recommended resource list and sample worksheets to help you start and maintain your consulting business.

Customer Reviews:

A Good Starting Point.......2006-07-12

This is a well-organized, very readable text for anyone who is considering the realm of independent business consulting. The book's coverage is comprehensive enough to allow the reader to develop a checklist of preparatory actions. The author is pretty good about not delving into too much detail-- especially where legal and accounting matters are concerned-- so that the reader at least knows where to go for more details.

The down side is that the contents focus on computer and information systems consulting. The tips and refernce suggestions are sometimes specific to that sector and not of use outside those industries. Also, the binding of my soft-cover version was defective. Almost every other page was not securely glued to the spine, making for a sloppy page-turning experience.

But overall, this was a worthwhile purchase.

Success Book - Successful Consulting.......2005-05-26

"Successful Independent Consulting" is the goal of my Entrepreneurship class, so the book of the same name by Douglas Florzak is a natural choice for my class text.

Mr. Florzak is a technical communicator himself, which matches the background and aspirations of a majority of my students. The examples provided in the book are the same situations found by all aspiring business owners, so the students find the reading interesting, relevant and practical. Most of my students are working adults who are studying for their Masters, and most have not done any prior consulting nor have they owned and operated their own business. The book provides a natural bridge for them, as the author explains how he transitioned from corporate `security' to the riskier world of independent consulting.

I teach in the Technical Communication program at the Illinois Institute of Technology; one of my classes is Entrepreneurship for Technical Communicators. To support the overall goal of successful independent consulting, we teach two main content areas: business planning and consulting skills. "Successful Independent Consulting" supports both areas, and we also use Peter Block's text "Flawless Consulting" for additional perspectives on consulting skills needed for large projects.

What Students Want to Learn

When you ask graduate students to list, as I do, what they hope to learn about starting and operating their own consulting business, you get a list of questions that correlates highly with the book's table of contents.
* How do I decide to start my own business? (See chapters 1-3 on why and when you might want to go independent, and how to leverage your current skills to get started.)
* What research do I have to do to on my business idea? What do I need to do to get financing? (See chapter 4 regarding the components of a business plan, and chapter 5 on the setting of rates.)
* What do I need to do to help ensure long term success? (See chapters 10-14 on marketing activities and the marketing plan, and chapter 17 on the delivery of services.)
* Do I need a lawyer? An accountant? (See chapters 6, 7, 8, 15 and 16 which cover legal entities, tax issues, record keeping, insurance, retirement funding, and contracts.)

In addition to the straightforward advice regarding business operations, the author also contributes to the consulting side of the equation. In one section, he reviews the characteristics of successful independent consultants, and then provides a discussion on how to assess your own qualifications as a consultant. A separate chapter is used to discuss the setting of rates, which addresses competitive research, types of rates for agency and your own projects, and projecting revenue to build a cash flow projection and therefore decisions regarding expenses.

Why You Will Like the Book Too

The biggest benefit for me from using the text is its approach to the business planning process. Some students need a business plan just for the planning exercise, so they are shown how to capture the spirit of their business through the coordinated use of vision, strategy, services/product, and marketing. Other students will be going to the bank or a venture capitalist for initial funding, and the business plan is the first step in that direction. While there are many business planning resources available, Mr. Florzak's compact and practical approach works well in the non B-school environment of our department. Through an example and a series of worksheets, the reader is led through the business planning process, shown how the spirit of the business is tied to the financials and operations through market analysis, competitor analysis, and cash flow projections.

As you can see from my comments here, I find many reasons, as an instructor, to like this book. The best recommendation, however, is reserved for my students: they rate it as easy to read and extremely relevant to their work. They are always positive when referring to the text.

Okay, but...........2003-05-04

This book is okay. But, I have used "Strategic Organizational Change" by Beitler as a reference guide in my work as an organizational change consultant. It is full of checklists, examples, etc. Beitler captures 25 years of experience in one book!

A tremendous help!.......2000-06-01

This is an excellent guide for anyone new to starting independent consulting and a good refresher to established consultants. After going through several similar books, this one, by far, is the best written, most helpful of the lot. He guides you through basic and more advanced steps in making your idea a reality in a clear, concise, and "user friendly" way. His approach is realistic and not stuck in the mundane as so many other "start your own business" books seem to be. While another book insults your intelligence by emphasizing the importance of street lighting for your new office (no kidding!) or devotes boring paragraphs on the evolution of their own business card logos, this author guides the novice entrepreneur effectively and intelligently from concept to practice. This book is highly recommended for professionals who do not have a background in business and who find "business speak" confusing and want a cogent initial guide. So if you are thinking of expanding your career path through independent consulting, and if you think "starship" when someone says "Enterprise," then you need this book to start thinking clearly about your new endeavor.

"Must" reading for anyone wanting to become a consultant........2000-05-04

In Successful Independent Consulting: Turn Your Career Experience Into A Consulting Business, Douglas Florzak draws upon his considerable experience and professional skills to create a practical, informative, "reader friendly" guide providing professionals in any field with a detailed "how to" plan for setting up and maintain a consulting business. Florzak explores the types of consulting work available, how to create a business plan, set up an office, and surveys the issues of contracts, law and taxes, fees, basic record keeping, retirement fund and insurance selection, and even offers marketing tips for utilizing the Internet. Successful Independent Consulting is further enhanced with a recommended list of resources for independent consultants and worksheets to help launch and maintain a consulting business. If you are contemplating becoming a career of professional consultation in your chosen field, begin with a thorough reading of Douglas Florzak's Successful Independent Consulting.

Successful Independent Consulting: Turn Your Career Experience Into a Consulting Business.: An article from: Technical Communication

Average customer rating:

Successful Independent Consulting: Turn Your Career Experience Into a Consulting Business.: An article from: Technical Communication
John Hedtke
Manufacturer: Society for Technical Communication
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Technical Communication, published by Society for Technical Communication on August 1, 2000. The length of the article is 987 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Successful Independent Consulting: Turn Your Career Experience Into a Consulting Business.
Author: John Hedtke
Publication: Technical Communication (Refereed)
Date: August 1, 2000
Publisher: Society for Technical Communication
Volume: 47 Issue: 3 Page: 417

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Average customer rating:

Comprehensive and practical

Powerful Presentation Skills: How to Get a Group's Attention, Hold People's Interest and Persuade Them to Act
Debra Smith
Manufacturer: Careertrack
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
Running Meetings & Presentations | Skills | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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Powerful Presentation Skills: Develop the Confidence and Skill to Make Effective Presentations (National Seminars Group Audio Series)

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Never Be Boring Again: Make Your Business Presentations Capture Attention, Inspire Action and Produce Results

Accessories:

Sony WMFX479 Walkman

ASIN: 1559777028

Customer Reviews:

Comprehensive and practical.......2003-12-02

I am glad someone took the time to bring together all the aspects involved in making a powerful presentation. It takes you through all stages developing goals, creating an opener, creating transitions between topics, closures, preparing, dealing with anxiety and stress, getting feedback, rehearsing, giving the actual presentation, handling Q&A....The guide also provides tips to handle hecklers, physical disasters during presentation, analyzing audience and most importantly preparing ahead of time for the presentation.

Book Description

Finding a new job is an overwhelming prospect for most people, no matter how many times you’ve done it or at what stage of your career you’re in. Especially in tough job markets when job seekers face tougher screening by recruiters, it’s crucial to standout from the crowd in every way—from your resume to your interview. Whether you’re looking for a job in Canada or outside the country, the right strategy coupled with expert know-how will give you the critical advantage to land your dream job.

Landing a Job For Canadians For Dummies is for everyone looking for a job. Whether you’re a newbie fresh out of university or a professional looking to change careers, you’ll discover how to find your ideal job and create a winning plan for getting it. This user-friendly guide helps you:

Decide on a career
Develop a strong résumé
Write memorable cover letters
Research jobs and companies
Maximize networking skills
Land a job

Explore how you can use computers, the Internet, and e-mail in conjunction with tried-and-true networking and follow ups to cast a discerning net that will catch the leads best suited to your skills and ambitions. Landing a Job For Canadians For Dummies includes unique coverage of these and many more helpful topics, including:

Three big questions you need to answer
Basic tools for your job hunt
Three dependable résumé formats
Anatomy of a cover letter
The art of gentle persuasion
Online job banks
Ten big job-hunting blunders
Exploring other options
Four steps to an inspired interview

In today’s competitive job market, the way you present yourself to an employer is just as important as the skills and experience you bring to the table. Arm yourself with the tools and strategies you need to find your dream job and put together the winning package—résumé, cover letter, and interview—to land it!

Book Description

"Baby-Boomers" know that Social Security and company pension plans will probably not provide sufficient income to support them in their golden years— especially not in the style they would like. What can one do to ensure a comfortable retirement?

Written specifically for those over 40, the Last Chance Financial Planning Guide provides vital investment strategies and key information for playing catch-up. Author and expert financial advisor Anthony Spare leads readers through the pitfalls of retirement, advocating taking personal responsibility and staying on top of such topics as inflation, tax rates, asset allocation, and investment returns— all of which critically influence portfolios. Sections cover:

• How Much Do You Need to Retire?
• Spare's Cheap-Stock Strategy
• Disregarding Noise, Understanding Time
• Formulating Your Personal Investment Philosophy
• Calculating Risk, Overcoming Fear

Spare takes readers from worry and regret to actively planning a comfortable retirement program. He tackles every challenge the late-starter faces, explaining in clear and simple terms how to determine retirement income needs and begin making it happen— today.

About the Author
Anthony E. Spare, a financial advisor to individuals and institutions for more than thirty years, is the cofounder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Spare, Kaplan, Bischel & Associates, a San Francisco investment firm managing funds in excess of $2.5 billion.
Paul Ciotti is an author and journalist who has written about economics, politics and culture.

Customer Reviews:

Investment Advice And Counsel You Can Use.......2000-03-04

Mr. Spare is a investment advisor who takes the long view. He presents his ideas in very simple language that both novice and experienced investors can use. Chapter 1 and 2 alone are worth the price of admission. Chapter 1 (The New Face Of Retirement) presents the case for continuing to work, save, and invest because of the simple fact that we will live longer and that experience counts in the marketplace. Chapter 2 (How Much Do You Need To Retire?) demonstrates that a million dollars today isn't what it used to be, and that inflation is a deadly force, especially for those trying to maintain a reasonable lifestyle. Chapter 6 (Disregarding Noise, Understanding Time) offers sound advice on not paying any attention to the noise in the marketplace, especially in these times of CNBC and CNN. The rest of the book is icing on the cake. The key is to read widely, have an independent mind, and develop a focused portfolio. There are only a few books that one needs to invest successfully--this is one of them. Mr. Spare's book is one that every sensible investor should read once a year. It clears the mind wonderfully. Read it and read the classic by Charles D. Ellis (Winning The Loser's Game) and you will be miles ahead of the competition.

Book Description

Discover how companies like Global Crossing and SFX Entertainment have raced past their competitors to become leaders in their fields. You'll learn about young companies, such as Inktomi and DoubleClick, that are poised for explosive growth, and the stories behind successful IPOs such as priceline.com and Red Hat. Anyone with a need to know about the hottest growth companies in the U.S. will find this book a gold mine of useful information.

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