Even in a good hiring market, it’s often difficult to sort out good job candidates from great ones. Here are a few things you might consider in making your next hire.

Five Things to Look for in Hiring Great Employees

There are three key components to a successful business: Product/service, customers and employees. If you’ve got all the customers in the world and a great product, but your staff doesn’t have the right stuff, your business will never be totally successful.

Here is a five step strategy for creating a recruiting process to guarantee a great team.

5-Step Recruiting Strategy

Last week we looked at some questions to ask your customers. This week, research your company from the inside out by asking your staff what they think.

Be sure they know that you’re not looking for the “life is wonderful” answer here, but the real truth—the good, the bad and the ugly!

Here are a few questions to start with.

5 Questions to Ask Your Staff

Most women business owners want to run a successful business while being popular with their employees. Although this is sometimes difficult, you can have a great relationship with your staff while running a profitable business.

Five Ways to Be an Effective Yet Likeable CEO

One way to enhance both your bottom line as well as your personal life is to create a healthier work environment. You may not be able to make all the changes listed here, but every one you implement will benefit you, your employees and your customers.

Five Steps to Make Your Work Environment Healthier

You probably don’t have a big advertising budget, but don’t let that prevent you from spreading the word about yourself and your business. You can get great—sometimes even more effective results—from a strategic PR effort.

Here are five low-cost approaches you can use to get the word out.

Five Ways to Promote Yourself and Your Business

As a business owner, you’ve likely got more material wealth than the average person. With that in mind, consider how you can help others while benefiting your business. One way to do this is by donating your company’s products or services.

As a professional speaker, I provide one pro-bono speaking event a month. And I often give my books and other products to disadvantaged women. Besides helping these women, I gain from being in front of individuals who have not heard of me and become my raving fans.

Is there a way your products or services can help others while adding value to your business?

Here’s a process to “do well by doing good.”

One of my pet peeves is women who represent themselves as professionals, but use headshots that are seven years old, or were taken by a friend in the break room. Pictures that scream AMATEUR!!! Your headshot is the only image that many people have of you or your business, so you owe it to yourself to have a great one.

You know without my telling you if you need a new headshot. If so, bite the bullet and schedule one today. If you consider the number of times you can use it over the next several years, a professional headshot is a real bargain. And while you’re at it, give the business to a woman-owned business.

Five Steps to a Great Headshot

Days to months to years. Life zips on by and there’s no stopping it. But one way to capture the best in life is to focus on joyful moments…and to create as many of them as possible.

Don’t let a day go by without appreciating these five things:

Do you find yourself running around like crazy this time of year? Whether it’s holiday shopping, closing out the business year, preparing for parties and big family meals…the list goes on and on. As a result, few of us experience much peace during this “season of peace.”

Here are a few things you can do to bring peace into your life.