Waiting – Take 1

You arrive for an appointment and the person you are meeting is on the telephone. They wave you into the office. You go in, and sit in front of their desk and listen to them talk, feeling uncomfortable. You are uncomfortable both because you have to wait, and because you seem to be eavesdropping on their call.

Finally, they start to make apologetic motions, but they continue the conversation. You begin to get irritated, because you had an appointment and they should not have taken the call in the first place. By the time they hang up, you are pretty hostile. The meeting goes poorly. You leave, and you spend the rest of the day irritated.

Waiting – Take 2

You arrive for an appointment and the person you are meeting is on the telephone. They wave you in, but you happily smile and shake your head no, with a look that says “I couldn’t interrupt.” Then you STAND outside their door so that they can see you, but you look the other way so that they can’t motion you in again. Others in the office begin to get embarrassed, and offer you a chair, but you refuse and continue to stand. Either the person you have an appointment with will hurriedly finish up their telephone call and apologize, or someone in the office will go and force them to finish up and see you.

You have won the positioning battle. You cheerfully stood and made everyone else uncomfortable. The person will not be on the telephone the next time you have a meeting.

I am not one to make New Year’s resolutions, but the first day of year is as good as any to make a decision to change your work arrangement. If you find yourself stressed on a daily basis, or you feel guilty because you have missed important events for your kids or too many family dinners; the New Year may give you the inspiration to re-think your career priorities and start working on negotiating or finding a work arrangement that works for you and your family.

Not everyone needs the same thing when it comes to work and family balance. The key is to figure out your priorities in both your career and your home life, and then think creatively of how you can create a work arrangement that allows you to meet those priorities. Some strategies you can pursue:

1) Negotiate a schedule change at your current job. You might decide to reduce your hours or work out a job share arrangement. You could also just shift your hours, starting your day earlier or compressing your workweek (i.e. working four, ten-hour days).

2) Get a new boss. Your company may offer flexible work options, but your boss may have discretion in deciding who gets to work in a flexible schedule. You might be able to make a move within your current company to work with a manager that understands the benefits of flexibility.

3) Find a family friendly company. You may need to move on to a new company that has family friendly support such as flexible schedules, generous time-off and other benefits that support working parents. You can identify such a company through conducting some research (such as looking at Working Mother Magazine’s list of top employers) or through networking.

4) Make a career change. You may need to make a big change to find flexibility by changing careers to a profession that is more conducive to flexible work. Work that is more independent in nature can allow more flexibility. You might find that you can transfer your current skills to a new career without returning to school.

5) Go it alone. Starting your own business can allow you to create a more flexible work arrangement because you are the boss. Whether you start a consulting business providing a service to others based on what you do now, or follow your dreams and start a completely new business, the rewards in both flexibility and compensation can often outweigh the risks.

Consider these strategies as a starting point to starting thinking broadly about how changing your work will let you take control of your time. A transition will not be easy, but the outcome is a worthwhile pursuit. You can change your work arrangement to have a rewarding career and also have the time you want for you and your family. You just need to make a decision to get started. And why not make that decision this year?

When we started selling our house and looking for a new one last year, I drew upon my years of therapy training and experience and my well-honed instincts and sat down with my almost four-year old twins and explained to them that we were looking for a new house. Every weekend we were going to be having open houses as well as looking for our new home. I didn’t want my children to get stressed out by what they were seeing, all the strange people, all of the talk of a new home. I wanted them to understand what was happening all around them.

That was easily my biggest mistake in the moving process.

My children – especially my little girl – became so stressed, so anxious, I’m not sure she has been the same since. She became afraid to go to school in the morning, afraid every time we left, afraid we were going to move without her, afraid she would be all alone, afraid she would not have a bed to sleep in. She became afraid to go to sleep at night and began having trouble sleeping through the night, waking up with nightmares. It was horrible and I felt terrible. I knew my talk had actually made everything worse for her instead of easier.

Fortunately, once we moved and they saw their new bedroom, saw that Mommy’s and Daddy’s room was right across the hall, that they had a wonderful playroom, that the backyard was nice, that the house was safe, things got a lot better. But I vowed to be more careful about what and when I explained things to my children.

Recently, my wife, Gem, started working for the first time since our children were born 4.5 years ago. While it is only part-time in the beginning, it is a major shift for our family. A shift we have intentionally not talked to our children about. As anxious as that made me, “Mr. Talk About Everything to Be Prepared,” it has worked out much better than our move.

I remember my wife and I sitting at the dining room table brainstorming how and when to talk to our kids about this. We rehashed the tough move and the effect it had on them, nervous about making the wrong move, hurting them again despite our best intentions. Finally we decided we would basically follow their lead. We wouldn’t bring it up with them. We wouldn’t make a big deal out of this. We would go with the flow.

We did talk about her starting a new job in front of them, trying not to hide anything from them, but also not sitting down for “A Talk,” either. On her first day, I stayed home from work and spent the day with my children. On her second day, their Nana came up from Philly for her weekly visit. On day three, their Tia (Aunt) spent the day with them. Tia was going to be their primary caretaker when my wife and I weren’t around and they absolutely love her so that made my wife’s absence a little bit easier to handle.

When Gem told them she was going to work they took it in stride. A couple of weeks later Gem even brought them to her office so they could see it, see where Mommy is now spending her time away from them – the way they have visited my office countless times in the past 4.5 years.

Of course, the adjustment has been significantly harder on us and has made me wonder how families manage to do any of the things that need to get done, like groceries and other errands, when both parents work. It is terribly hard and overwhelming, so much to do in an incredibly short period of time. What’s worse, is now we both miss our children, now we both have little heartaches for the time we don’t see them, the things they are learning without either one of us around. More and more of their time is spent without either of us now and it wears on us both.

But at least, while it has been rather stressful on us, our kids have been spared much of the stress and anxiety – in part, certainly, because we spared them from “A Talk.”

Many companies have found that having a family friendly work environment is good PR. That is, a company can garner great public attention with policies and programs supporting working parents. Whether the company makes a national list such as Working Mother Magazine’s top employers, or a write-up in the local paper, the recognition helps an employer attract new workers, and also builds public support for the company.

Unfortunately in reality, many organizations don’t live up to their family friendly claims. The policies exist, but are not actually utilized in the company. For example, some companies offer a flexible schedule option, but only with the boss’s approval. If your manager doesn’t believe in flexible work, you don’t get the option. Or, your career progress is delayed if you ask for a flexible option.

So if you are looking for a job change and want family friendly work, you should spend some time evaluating the claims of a potential employer. In addition to finding out if you want the job, you need to make an effort to find out if the company is truly supportive of working parents. Here are some ways to do it:

· Look for indications that company employees appreciate their families, such as photo displays or invitations to company picnics. Evidence of other working parents is a good sign.

· Look for an opportunity to talk to co-workers about the company culture and learn about a typical day. The less you see a typical day, the better.

· Find out how your potential supervisor measures productivity on the job. If he or she only looks at hours at work, then flexibility may not be an option.

· Find out what flexible work options are available, and then find out how much they are utilized.

· Ask about overtime work requirement. If overtime is required, how much notice you receive. It is difficult to manage family obligations if your schedule will vary without your control.

· Look for other benefits that support working parents such as child care assistance, generous time-off allowances and solid health insurance benefits.

If you are a parent, a family friendly work environment is essential. Whether you want a flexible work arrangement or just some understanding when you are dealing with a problem at home, you must do some research to learn about what working at the company is really like. The key is to spend some time evaluating not only the job, but also the company culture. The more you can learn about the company as well as your potential new boss, the better. Time spent evaluating the company before you take the job could avoid many obstacles later.

People behave in predictable ways. If you study your co-workers for several years, you will begin to notice patterns in their behaviors.

You will find that you co-workers are either:

1. Mostly concerned about procedures
2. Mostly concerned about people, or
3. Mostly concerned about themselves

Those mostly concerned about people are the type that I call sensitive.

These are people who we most often describe as quiet, or shy. They make decisions abut work based upon the effect their decisions will have on others.

They tend to avoid confrontations, and will even do all of the work themselves, rather than asking for help.

If you are working with a sensitive co-worker or boss, you might have to push them to let you help them.

You should be aware that requests that they make that sound like options, really aren’t. If you have a sensitive co-worker at a meeting, you might want to ask them a question, to start drawing them out.

The sensitive person has to train themselves to enter into confrontations, and to assert their ideas. Once they do this, they make great leaders because, after all, they are mainly concerned about people.

If you are a stay-at-home parent looking to return to the outside workforce, you know you have a difficult road ahead of you. A big challenge in the process is talking about your time at home in the job interview. During my HR career, I have interviewed many parents trying to re-enter the workforce and I can tell you, how you talk about your time at home is extremely important to your success in getting a job.

In general, most companies seek employees who are smart, responsible and conscientious about their work. You must make an effort in the interview process to demonstrate these qualities. To succeed in the return-to-work interview, you must:

· Be prepared to explain why you decided to leave the workforce and stay at home. If your decision is what you felt was best for your family, then state that! However, be careful that you don’t say something that causes the employer to question your abilities. For example, don’t share that you were over stressed and couldn’t manage your time while working. The interviewer will question your ability to manage work and family now.
· Talk about things you did while at home that kept your skills sharp. Your volunteer work, online selling or networking with other professionals will show that you are a viable candidate for the job.
· Express clearly why you want to return to the work at this point and why you are the perfect candidate for the job at hand. This is not the time to share that your family is short on cash and you are returning to work against your better judgment. Convince the employer that you are ready to move forward with your career and that you are excited about the opportunity.

Taking some time to prepare for the interview will pay-off in the job search. The more comfortable you feel talking about your time at home, the more confidence a potential employer will have in you as a candidate.

In most human interactions, people think about each activity as it affects them, rather than how it affects the other person. Interviewing for jobs is just like that.

The interviewee is trying to convince the interviewer that they are perfect for the job, even if they are not.

The interviewer is looking to quickly find a person who will be able to do all of the aspects of the open position, without any training.

Neither of these goals is attainable. In reality, both sides should simply be checking to see if their personalities are compatible, so that they will be able to work together.

Things the interviewee should do

The interviewee should be sure that they convey their true personality, as it will be when they are working.

Anyone can successfully act well for an hour or so, but getting a job based upon an artificial personality will lose the job, or lead to misery, once the real personality comes out.

The interviewee should dress in a “professional manner,” as it applies to the prospective job. One would not wear a three piece suit to interview as a mechanic. “Professional manner” means clean and neat. I once interviewed a woman for a store clerk job, and she arrived in old shorts and a stained shirt. She told me that she had just been gardening. She might have been a good candidate, but I couldn’t get over the fact that her dress implied that the job and the interview were unimportant to her.

Things the interviewee should be looking for during the interview

The interviewee needs to be very aware of the character of the business during the interview. Are the offices neat? Do the staff members seem to be working happily? If they are in a corner gossiping, that is a clue that the workplace might not be a pleasant one. Does the interviewer devote their full attention to the interview or does she take phone calls and interruptions? This might imply that she would not be a good boss to work for.

Things the interviewer should be thinking about

The interviewer should realize that the interviewee is a guest. The interviewer should be ready, on time and should have a quiet place in which to carry out the interview.

The interviewer should be sure to explain to the candidate what the job entails. Once, when I was going over the description of an environmental technician job with a candidate, he interrupted me and said, “Wait a minute, this job involves working outdoors? Then I don’t want it.” He got up and walked out. It was much better for me to find that out before he started to work.

Things the interviewer should be looking for during the interview

The interviewer should ask questions that make the interviewee think. Situational “what-if” questions are good. The questions need to be non-typical, to bring out the interviewee’s real personality. For example, you might ask, “What would you do if you were alone here at the office, three phone lines started ringing at once, and the Fire Department showed up at the door?”

The interviewer should watch the candidate and see if they can detect unpleasant personality characteristics. A store owner told me recently of a candidate who came in and began to re-arrange the store displays during the interview. We often tour a candidate around our facilities, and see if they touch things, or if they give suggestions for our improvement. We don’t think that level of aggressiveness is a good trait for our employees.

The goal of the interview is to see if the candidate, the job and the work environment are compatible, and both sides need to be focused on this goal.

You probably spend as many hours at work as you do awake at home. Thus, you spend as much time with your co-workers as with your family.

It is nice to be able to tell people at work important things that are going on at home. Sometimes it is nice to gain the insight of a co-worker about a personal problem. As a result, it is hard to determine where to draw the line with business friendships. Should you be sharing all kinds of intimate details about your home life, or should you keep totally quiet about what goes on away from work?

Sharing too much can make others think less of you

One of my first supervisors had problems with her husband. She began to come in to work late. Then she would sit and tell her assistant all of her problems. As time went on, she did no work, and neither did her assistant. When she decided to move out on her husband, her assistant took the day off and helped. From that point on, her assistant no longer respected her, and no longer worked very hard.

When you are at work, you would like to be judged by the quality of work that you do. If you are a wonderful worker, but share with everyone that you cannot control your home life, they will include that in their estimation of you.

The main goal of work

At home with your family and friends, your main goal may be to socialize. The main reason that people go to work, is to work. People sometimes forget that.

How much should you share?

Some people believe that others are very interested in all of their problems. Perhaps others show concern, but most likely they don’t really want to be totally involved.

Keeping a distance between your work life and your home life is a good thing.

Here is a list of things to keep to yourself:

• Details of an illness
  
• Details of your arguments with your spouse
  
• Details of your financial problems
  
• Details of your vacation
  
• For women, details of their monthly cycles
  
• Details of romantic conquests
  
• Involvement with what your child is selling from school

Here is a list of things you can share:

• That you were sick and are now well
  
• That you are buying a new house
  
• That you are going on vacation
  
• That you are having problems at home, but not what those problems are

Supervisors should not socialize with their employees

Imagine a situation in which the supervisor and several of the employees have a weekly poker game. Imagine that it becomes apparent that one of the employees in the poker group is not working effectively, and should be fired. The supervisor has a very hard problem. If she fires the employee, the poker group might fall apart. On the other hand, if she keeps the employee and the weekly game, she will have to do the employee’s work to ensure that it gets done. Supervisors should not socialize with their employees.

About the author: Ruth Haag helps managers and employees understand the dynamics of the work environment, and how to function smoothly within it. She is the President/CEO of Haag Environmental Company. She has written a four-book business series: “Taming Your Inner Supervisor”, “Day-to-Day Supervising”, “Hiring and Firing”, and “Why Projects Fail.” Her enjoyable, easy-to-read books provide a look at life the way it is, rather than the way that you might think it should be. Visit her online at www.RuthHaag.com.

If you are considering online promotion, this is the most important article you will ever read. I know this sounds a bit presumptuous and I apologize. However, we are hearing the same stories over and over again from our prospective clients and we feel it is time to help educate and to protect you from the various scams and blatant dishonesty that takes place daily as more and more companies try to take advantage of the growing demand for online PR services.

Let me clarify that have we been in business since 1999 and have helped hundreds of experts and corporations grow their businesses, using the fastest growing and most effective way to build your brand available today…the Internet. Based on our experience and the overwhelming numbers of disreputable operations that exist, we have learned some crucial points about protecting your interests. We want to share those with you. There is one distinction that you need to make right off the top. If your goal is to be an expert and to maintain a prominent position within websites of your choice, then you are an expert or contributor. Any company who offers you article syndication is NOT what you are looking for.

Here are some of the critical ways you can avoid being taken advantage of and avoid losing precious ground in your media campaign.

If it sounds too good to be true…it is. Beware of any company who makes extreme claims. We often help with damage control when clients have been taken in by the most abused claim heard today…”we can submit your content to 100 sites or more…” Simply put, there are not that many credible websites on which to place your content. This is a red flag. A credible online publicist knows that real success comes in working with the best 10-20 sites and making those placements count.

Don’t confuse an online publicist with a traditional publicist. There is a huge difference between an online publicist who has dozens of relationships with websites who rely on them for experts and a publicist who simply submits a single article or excerpt blindly. It does not make any difference if the publicist is new and inexperienced, or the most reputable publicist in the country. Neither will have the loyal and time honored relationships necessary to create the ongoing and increasingly prominent placements you seek. These results come from online publicists who know how to present to this medium and how to maximize the promotional support the site can offer in a timely way.

Avoid anyone who offers a “quick slam” campaign. You can’t possibly receive any real value from placing one or two articles on any site, regardless of their size. Credible online campaigns only work when your needs are evaluated, appropriate websites are targeted and your submissions ultimately result in a relationship with those destinations that last over months or even years. Learn the difference between throwing content out into the Internet and carefully choosing how and where your content is placed. Once content is out there, you can not get it back. There are always risks when you place your content on the Internet, however there are firms who know exactly how to protect you when it comes to minimizing the risks

Choose an online publicist based on their contacts and experience. A credible online publicist has active relationships with editors of the sites on which you want to place your content. Blind submissions are not typically accepted, and in fact, these kinds of submissions are considered spam and can destroy your credibility and overall campaign objectives. Once that occurs you will not be able to get back into the editors’ radar unless you are working with someone who has those relationships in place and can repair the damage done.

Choose a publicist who knows how to secure fast and prominent placement. There are unique and rigid factors that are presented to an online editor in order to get prominent exposure on your targeted websites. Only work with a publicist who knows this process well.

Find a publicist who guarantees their placements. An instant red flag is when you are promised certain results with no guarantee in place. Credible publicists can and do guarantee their placements. Accountable publicists who value your business track your results and only promise what they can and will deliver.

Work with publicists who are taking your entire campaign into consideration. A single placement on the wrong site or presented in the wrong way can destroy your potential placements for both online and traditional media. Be sure you are working with people who have your entire campaign goals in place and only pursue opportunities that will enhance those objectives and not hinder them. An experienced online publicist will know everything necessary to secure prominent ongoing positions for you including how to assess your website, how to increase your search engine rankings and how to format your content. Online PR involves all of these components. Only work with someone who has proven knowledge and experience in all of these areas. If your publicist can’t discuss anything beyond submitting an article, run for your life.

Choose an online publicist who provides stringent follow up. Once you paid for your content to be submitted, it is crucial to conduct proper follow up. If no follow up occurs to determine if the articles were placed, how and where they were used or whether the site would like more content from you, the submission is ultimately worthless and without value. Many so called “publicists” will be more than happy to arrange this for you. And beware, some of these individuals many appear to be very notable experts in the PR field. Do your diligence and decide if they are truly the best person for this form of campaign. Not everyone becomes a well known expert based on ethical business practices.

Credible publicists create partnerships between you and online editors. Your publicist should be creating a variety of content features and opportunities for you. They can match what you have to offer with the needs of the sites, creating new and original features for the site that you will fill. This will result in ongoing leads that will be sent to you from the editors on an ongoing basis as well as acceptance from the sites for new content you wish to contribute. A successful online outreach should result in many new opportunities well beyond the original presentation.

Avoid the “cookie-cutter” approach. A reputable publicist will customize their campaign objectives and their fees to your individual needs. All clients come to a promotional campaign with a wide variety of needs. While some approaches may work for several clients, beware of any publicist who is not willing to be flexible when it comes to the goals of the campaign, the time involved and the fees to be assessed. You, the client, should feel like this person has your very best interests at heart and that you can trust that they are just as invested in your results as you are. Your publicist is not someone you hire, it is someone who is invited to be part of your team and your success. Make that the most important component in your decision making process and you can’t lose.

A change in your work schedule may give you the flexibility you need to better meet the needs of your family. There are many variations of flexible work that you can pursue such as reduced hours, a shift in schedule or an opportunity to work some from home. Such a change could lead to less stress and more time for your family.

Unfortunately, not all companies have policies or practices in place to support working with flexibility. Further, even companies that do have accommodating policies and practices often give individual managers discretion in granting schedule change requests. Therefore, you must be prepared to ask for the schedule you want and overcome your manager’s objections.

The best approach to making a schedule change request is to do so with your company’s best interests in mind. Think about how your request could actually benefit your company. Could your altered schedule or work arrangement be a solution to a problem your company is facing?

For example, reducing your hours could help cut costs in a department facing budget constraints. Shifting your schedule so that you come in earlier or stay later than usual could allow your company to extend the hours that they provide service to customers. Working from home could help free up office space if you are in a growing company that has a shortage of space. Allowing someone else to take over some of your responsibilities could provide a developmental opportunity to a less experienced co-worker. These are just a few examples; many possibilities exist.

The key is to identify how your proposed work arrangement actually benefits the company. In addition to the fact that you will be more productive since you will be less stressed and more committed to the company (both of which you should point out in your proposal), you should also clearly illustrate for your boss that your schedule change is in the company’s best interest.

Once you’ve built the business case for flexibility, then you need to put your proposal in writing. A well-written proposal that spells out exactly how the arrangement will work, and how you will succeed in the arrangement should answer any concerns your boss may hold. Make sure you clearly spell out the arrangement you want, how you will get your work done, the benefits you’ve determined for the company, any changes in compensation or time-off benefits that will result, your contingency plans to handle unexpected changes in workloads, and also a recommended trial period.

A well-thought out proposal will receive more serious consideration than a desperate request for a change. If you are confident that your proposed arrangement will work, with some persistence, you can negotiate a work arrangement that allows you to better meet your family needs and de-stress your life (well, at least a little!).

The work climate today is much different from what it was 50 years ago. A person who was born in the early 1900s could expect to get a job and keep that same job until retirement. A person born in the mid-1900s could expect to have at least two different careers during their prime work years. It is projected that those born in the later 1900s will have three to four different careers during their prime work years.

This difference is caused by the rapid changes in workforce requirements that our current economy demands. Often the job that a person starts their work career with will not even exist after 20 years.

Life is a Chess Game

Many people faced with the loss of a job lament, “I had planned to work here until I retired!” They are caught by surprise when the employer decides to shut down a factory, or move it to another area.

These days, workers cannot look at their employers as their guaranteed protectors. It is better if workers look at their careers as a chess game. Workers must always be planning what their moves will be, when changes in their current jobs come.

Winning the Job Game

Keeping yourself flexible, and keeping aware of the business climate, allows you to make moves before you are laid off.

Looking at career moves as a game requires you to do the following:

1. Learn everything possible, to make yourself able to move on. If your company is offering training, take it. If someone on staff can teach you something, learn it. Learn how to operate all of the computer programs that your company uses. It is very important that you keep yourself as flexible as possible, in order to keep your options open.
   
2. Be willing to change where you live. It really is not so bad to move, but some people are unwilling. Currently, there is a significant downturn in northern manufacturing jobs, but the railroads say that they need people. The only hitch is that people need to relocate. It doesn’t make sense to stay in one place and complain that you don’t have a job, while a job is available with a move.
   
3. Keep aware of changes that are coming. We asked an engineer friend why he had just made a job move, when it appeared to us that he had liked his job of 10-plus years. He explained that he was asked to sit on a committee whose mission was to determine who would be laid off. Based on his committee work, he decided that it would only be a matter of time before his own position was eliminated. So, it was time for him to look for a new job.
   

Most people who stay in the same job for their entire career report real boredom with the job in the last 5-10 years.

However, many people who are either laid off, or jumped before they were, later report that they are pleased that it happened, because their new job was better and paid more.

Accepting your fate allows you to stop worrying and begin finding solutions.

About the author: For the past nine years, Ruth Haag has been training managers and employees to understand the dynamics of the work environment and smoothly work within it. She is the President/CEO of Haag Environmental Company. She has written a-four book series for supervisors: Taming Your Inner Supervisor, Day to Day Supervising, Hiring and Firing and Why Projects Fail. Visit her online at www.RuthHaag.com.

The Internet is now becoming a mainstream media destination for experts, authors and companies who want to access the millions of repeat visitors daily to promote their work. It is more important than ever before that you are aware of the various kinds of services available. You want to make the best possible choice in hiring an online marketing company to help you reach your goals. Here are three of the most common kinds of services you will find and what you can expect in terms of how they work and what can be achieved.

1. Word of Mouth Internet Publicity: This is the most common and can be very effective. In this case, a company will blast your excerpt, article or press release out to a multitude of websites in an attempt to play the numbers game. These services are hoping that at least a few sites will post the material. There is no personal relationship with the site and you typically do the follow up yourself to see if the items posted. It is standard PR/Content Submission. The pros are that they can reach out to many sites and quickly gain some exposure for you. The Cons are that there is no accountability and no ongoing relationship with you and the website. Typically, the sites that accept this kind of content are directories and mass article sites that do not feature experts and content.

2. Blog/Chat Tours: These are quickly becoming more popular and involve targeting specific blog sites and directories for your topic. Blog entries, articles, etc are posted into Blog directories and site blogs and promoted from there. Chat Tours are promoted beforehand and can be a good way to again, gain exposure.

3. Expert promotion: This involves promoting the expert rather than the content and is the hallmark of Net Connect Publicity. Based on individual presentations to editors for a targeted list of websites, experts are positioned on a site as an ongoing contributor or panel expert. This kind of placement provides ongoing long term site exposure and credibility that other campaigns can not offer. While it can be more time consuming, this kind of campaign allows you to build relationships with prominent and strategic websites that results in sales of not only a specific product you might have now, but it also allows you to build a base to market all future products to. In addition, you are going to secure more credibility which is crucial when approaching publishers and prominent media.

Net Connect is unique in that we have built our foundation on sales and marketing principles rather than PR principles. We are not focused on securing placements. We are focused on building your business and helping you form partnerships with media outlets who will work to promote your past, present and future books and products. We help you design your branding so that you can approach new media and new audiences. We can guarantee the placements. There is no risk because we know what our sites are looking for and we have the tools in place to make it happen. The Internet is unlike all other forms of media in that you need ongoing exposure to create a lasting impact. Pages come and go quickly online, so simple one time article placements or features will soon disappear. While it will be archived, it won’t be prominently displayed. Thus ongoing relationships with websites are what will make you stand out among the pack of content submitted to editors everyday.

So when you are choosing a company you need to first define your goals. It is valuable to gain all the exposure you can and the Internet is a powerful place to accomplish this. However, you do want to examine what kinds of sites you want to be associated with, how much exposure you will receive on the website and what the real value will be for your investment. No approach fits every need. Evaluating your goals will help you be more knowledgeable to choose the form of online PR that will work best for you. Just ask yourself, am I looking for people to know my name? Only Expert PR will provide that opportunity.

I have written quite a bit about how hard leaving my three-year old twins every morning is for me. To sum up: I hate it. I hate leaving them every morning and feel there is something fundamentally flawed with a society that makes it so difficult for parents to stay home with young children.

Yesterday that difficult experience took a surreal turn. Yesterday, I didn’t leave my children to go to work. Instead, I brought them with me! My wife and I and our children took the train and the subway together to get to where I work. I kept reminding them this is how Daddy goes to work every day and they seemed like they were trying to absorb it all.

I took the opportunity to bring them to work because my wife had a meeting elsewhere in the city. When we got to my stop, we all got off and said goodbye to Mommy. They handled it very smoothly and we started walking out of the subway into the building I work, while she got back on the subway to head to her meeting.

When we got inside they were SO shy. Everyone was excited to meet them (apparently, seeing two bulletin boards of pictures and the hundreds of pictures on my screensaver is just not enough) and this was a bit overwhelming for them. I’ve been working there since before they were born and many of my colleagues have heard quite a bit about my children. Now, they are closing in on 3.5 years and haven’t been to my office in over a year.

After awhile they did get comfortable and behaved very well – even letting me get some work done while they were there. At one point, I stood up from my desk to go talk to a colleague and bumped into my children. For a brief moment I had gotten lost in what I was doing and I was taken aback to find them there. Something about that unnerved me, but I wasn’t quite sure at the time what it was.

I had been wanting to bring them in for some time and I think they really enjoyed it – especially Elijah who has more trouble than Jordyn with my leaving. That place, my work, is the cause of so much pain for him, I’m quite surprised he didn’t spit and stomp all over it. Instead, he enjoyed seeing the place that takes me away from them. When we had lunch afterwards he said, “Remember we went to your work?” When my children ask me if I remember something, they usually ask about something that has significance to them – not necessarily a positive experience, but a significant one. When Elijah does it, he tends to be asking about stuff that connects him to his parents. It is possible that seeing my work was another connection to me for him – rather than the cause of pain it has always been.

For me the experience was captured by that moment where I was taken aback to find them there. Work has always been separate from my children and having them there was like the bringing together of two worlds that were meant to always be separate. How many times have I been at work, looking at their pictures, wondering why I do this every single day? How many times have I gotten a phone call from Gem and wanted to leave work right then? How many times have I walked out the door, still hearing their screams in my head? How many times have I heard my children ask me, “You have to go to work?” and wishing I could say no, but having to say yes. I have carefully built a firewall between these two lives of mine, my two worlds. Work is the place I go everyday, where I am without them, where I try to simultaneously keep my connection to them, but not think too much about them so I can get through the day. It has been a balancing act.

Today, when I was leaving for the train, Elijah said, “I’m going to miss you, Daddy,” but it didn’t have quite the same pain that saying goodbye has often had in the past. Maybe seeing work, sitting in my chair, playing with stuff on my desk, seeing all of my pictures of them, is helping him with my leaving.

When I walked into work this morning, however, as usual they weren’t with me, but I remember them having been there. Those same images that might help my children deal with my leaving better seem to threaten to ruin my firewall configuration, to blur the line between my two worlds; the world where I want to be, the other where I have to be.

This month we have been working in the area I refer to as the home office. This area is wherever you store your paperwork; whether it is an actual office in your home, a desk in your family room, or simply a cabinet in your kitchen. I realize what an overwhelming task this can be, but need to stress how very important this is to your family. If you have questions, please contact your tax professional or attorney.

Last week we worked on the large filing drawer to keep important papers. These papers, although quite important, are not as imperative as the items I am going to ask you to keep in your smaller folio. Once completed this smaller folio will contain everything you need in case of an emergency. In addition, it is extremely important to instruct your family members as to where this folio is in case you are unable to get it. I suggest purchasing a fire box to store these items.

• Titles of owned property (real estate, cars, recreation vehicles, etc)
• Other property records
• Certificates of Deposits and Stocks that have not been cashed in
• Insurance Policies (auto, home, health, others)
• Open Loan Agreements
• Child Support Orders
• Retirement plan papers
• Birth Certificates for all family members
• Citizenship papers
• Marriage Certificate or domestic partner registration paper
• Divorce paper
• Death Certificate of family member
• Social Security Card
• Records of paid mortgages
• Will and Trust
• Power of Attorney
• Copies of all current credit cards front and back (in case they got lost or stolen)
• Past 3-7 years taxes (ask your tax professional)

In the event you are missing any of the above documents, now is the time to take care of this. You can get your banking information from your financial institutions. Personal legal documents (birth, death, marriage) can be requested from your state’s website. If it is your Will, Trust, Power of Attorney, etc. documents that are missing, I implore you to contact your attorney immediately. If it is not financially possible to hire an attorney for this there are ways that you can do the paperwork yourself. Suze Orman has a protection portfolio that is just amazing and walks you through the process step-by-step. All you need is to get the paperwork notarized. I know how difficult it is to handle these types of documents because you are forced to consider the worst case scenario. This said; simply ask yourself if you would ever consider dropping your children off at a new babysitter without any instructions. Of course not! These important legal documents are just that written instructions of your wishes when you are not around to state them, just like a note to the babysitter.

Spend this week working on this folio and completing your drawer files. Don’t forget to shred any papers prior to throwing into the garbage if there is any important information on them. Next week we are going to work on other paper clutter issues and creating a system that works for your home.
Betsy

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a million times.
“I’ve got the best recipe for brownies ever. Everyone tells me I could sell them, but I don’t know how to get started.”

“I’ve been making custom baby slings for years, how do I turn this into a career?”

There are innovative and talented moms all over the country who are just a few steps away from turning their hobby into a successful business.

Moms email me everyday asking how they can make their pastime into money, so I thought I’d give you 5 Tips to Launching Your Business Today.

Tip 1: Before investing a dime in your potential business, make sure that you are either extremely skilled or extremely passionate about it. If you aren’t a die-hard fan of hockey or have a background in the sport, DO NOT open a hockey supply shop just because you think your town needs one.

Passion is an essential ingredient in business because it will be the motivator when things get tough.

Tip 2: Find someone who is doing what you want to do and study them.

Notice how I didn’t say copy them. Check out their websites, study their inventory, research their suppliers, hell, even pretend to be a reporter and call and ask them questions. Do your due diligence.

Tip 3: This is my favorite part of business planning. After you’ve seen what your your future competition is doing, write out exactly what it is you would like to do. Be specific. With you as CEO of Your Business Enterprises, write out what an entire day would look like. What are you selling? Who are your customers?

Then write a business plan. Here is an easy model. You don’t have to follow it exactly, but pay attention to key points.

Tip 4: Based on your research, write out a budget of how much it will cost to stay in business for one year. Now double it. Brainstorm ways to fund your business. I’ve heard it all from taking out a home equity line of credit to selling one’s own plasma.

Don’t even think about leasing office space overlooking the beach or investing in flashy 10 color brochures. Keeping expenses low for as long as possible will be key to your success. One of the main causes of business failure is underestimating costs and running out of money.

Be creative when thinking about financing your business. Can you cater a web savvy friend’s event in exchange for a website? Babysit a Kinko’s employee’s kids for business cards? More Financing Tips.

Tip 5: Decide on a name and buy the domain name (I use GoDaddy.com). Putting down cash and owning the online name for your business will put you in the a business owner frame of mine.

Next step: File a ficticious name statement or DBA (Doing Business As) to make your business name official. Then, tell everyone you know about your new business. Not only will you develop future customers, now that you’ve told people, there is no going back!

It’s within your reach, but you have to stretch!

I wish you tons of success.

More Resources

Don’t do it alone.Meet and network with other entrepreneur moms: BusinessMom.net

Small Business Administration http://www.sba.gov

Ladies Who Launch http://www.ladieswholaunch.com

Entrepreneur.com Mom Guide

Read MC’s Business Profiles for more ideas and inspiration for launching your venture.

Last week I gave you a shopping list of items to pick up; (if you did not already own them) filing drawer, small folio, basket/bin that can fit bills, and paper shredder. In addition, I challenged you to do a quick toss of paper clutter that you absolutely knew you did not need to keep. Finally, I asked you to collect your unpaid bills, open and toss out the envelope and filler.

This week we are going to work on what you need to keep in your file drawer and for how long. Following are the files that I keep. You may need to add to my list to best suit your needs. The following information is not to replace the advice from a financial expert, so please use this just as a guide. If you have any questions please contact your accountant or lawyer, as I am neither.

Taxes- Items needed for this year’s taxes that do not fit into the other file categories

• Paystubs
• Medical bills
• Utility bills
• Credit Card Statements
• Bank Statements
• Quarterly Investment Statements

All of the above files are to be kept for one full calendar year unless they are used for tax purposes such as for use with Home Office business expense. In the event that they will be used for a business expense, at the end of the year combine them all into a large envelope and clearly mark on the envelope 20xx taxes.

In addition include:

• Cancelled insurance policies
• Records of selling real estate or stock
• Home Improvement receipts

The above should be kept for at least three years (check with your accountant to see how long you should keep your tax records). At the end of the year I store them with my other tax info for that year.

Also include in your filing drawer:
Paid Loans- Keep for 7 years
Sales receipts and warranty information- keep until the warranty expires

Now’s the time to get personal with your filing system. Add those items, which are important to you. The following list is my list to help you think of what you may need:

• School- important papers from my children’s school such as student handbook
• Vacation- brochures of places we plan on going
• Home/Garden
• Automotive
• Volunteer paperwork
• Pet papers and vet bills
• Scrapbook- I put in here anything that I will want to use in my scrapbook but is not a photo (birthday invite, program booklet, etc.)

This week simply work on getting the file drawer organized. Make sure you ask your accountant and/or attorney for their specific recommendations for your taxes or other records. Don’t forget to shred any personal documents. Do not just toss into the garbage. Next week we are going to work on the most important papers that will be kept in your separate smaller folio.

Happy sorting!
Betsy

You know how some parents look forward to going back to work to get a break from their children and spouses? I’m not one of them. I hate going to work in the morning. Absolutely hate it. I hate leaving my family – especially on Monday after I have spent so much time with them during the weekend. To make matters worse, my twin 19-month old children hate it, too. Sometimes they will cry and scream when I lean down to say goodbye. Other times they cling to me when I give them a hug and refuse to let go – as if I really want to leave in the first place.

My children have developed different ways of dealing with my leaving in the morning. Jordyn, my little girl, has somehow learned on her own to keep her connection to me throughout the day. She will point to pictures of me and yell out, “Da-Dee!” Or, and this just broke my heart, she will pick up my sneakers, take them to my wife and say, “Da-Dee shoes.” When she started to do this, my leaving in the morning wasn’t as hard on either of us.

But for my little boy, my leaving was much harder on him. When he gets excited, he sometimes actually has to back away from what got him so excited while his whole body shakes with emotion. He is already quite attuned to his emotions; he just doesn’t have the tools yet to deal with all of them. To deal with my leaving, he either would cry or scream or remain distant. When I came home at night he would barely acknowledge me, while his sister would scream out “Daddy” and lift up her arms for me to pick her up. I felt hurt and angry – mostly at myself – thinking about how much I was hurting Elijah every morning.

This continued until my wife observed that somehow Jordyn was able to remain connected to me during the day, while Elijah wasn’t and that was why he had such a difficult time. The challenge became how to help Elijah feel connected to me during the day.

My first thought was maybe a piece of clothing, like one of my shirts. I also took a lunch hour to look around at different stores to see if there was something I could buy that could better tie us together in his mind. While I was trying to find a long-term solution, I decided to give him the towel I use when I ride my bike in the morning. I asked him to take care of it for me during the day as I gave him a hug and a kiss goodbye.

The second day I gave it to him, he said “Tow-a?” The third day, my wife told me that he had been in our bedroom while I was at work and had found one of my work shirts on the floor. He then laid down and put his head on it and said, “Da-Dee.” He got it! He connected to me while I was not there. When she told me about that, I had tears in my eyes.

This morning, a few weeks after we started the “interim” solution of the towel, he was reaching out for it because he couldn’t wait to hold it. During the day, he tries to put it on his shoulder and wear it like I do. Now, not only do they not get too upset when I leave, but they even wave “Bye, Bye” to me as I drive my car in front of the house on my way to work. Work, where I have pictures of them all over my wall and have a slideshow of them as my screensaver – trying to keep that connection to them during the day so I don’t get too upset.

If I were asked which area my clients find the most challenging, I would definitely say the home office, with paper clutter being the major culprit. As we are in the midst of tax time, this problem area becomes more evident. Paper accumulates quite rapidly, it is easy to stash, and there can be great apprehension to toss (with good reason).

Like everything else, you need to come up with a system. You need to toss immediately what you don’t need, and sort and file the important papers. Don’t allow the clutter to build up. This is step #1.

Prior to our home fire, I literally hoarded all types of papers. I kept all paid bills, used duplicate style checkbooks, receipts, magazines, years of pay stubs, and piles of insurance papers (medical, house, and car). I kept everything because I really did not have a clue what I needed to keep and for how long. In addition to not knowing what to keep, I also had an ineffective filing system. If I needed to find something, it was nearly impossible because it was buried in a pile of clutter. After the fire I realized 99% of what I had kept was really not necessary.

Before you can start you need to purchase a few items including 2 filing containers, hanging file folders (at least 20), small container or basket for unpaid bills, and a paper shredder. The first container needed is some kind of filing drawer, if you don’t have a filing cabinet. These filing containers are rather inexpensive at office supply stores. Second, you need an easily transportable small filing folio that you can quickly grab in case of an emergency. You should instruct your family members on the location of this smaller filing folio, as this will contain the most important of your papers. Suze Orman created an amazing Portfolio that I would definitely recommend. Not only is the portfolio a perfect filing folio for the most important papers, but it also includes a CD to help you create very important papers such as a Living Will, Will and Trust.

Throughout the month of March we are going to work on creating a paper system that works for you. For this first week, I would like to challenge you to simply toss out the paper clutter that you KNOW you don’t need. In addition, purchase the items I mentioned above if you do not already have them in your home. Don’t forget to shred anything that has your personal information. While doing this quick sort I want you to collect all the unpaid bills. Open these immediately and toss out the junk filler and place the bill and return envelope into the bill basket/bin.

Next week we are going to create the files and I will tell you what papers you need to keep and for how long.

Happy Shredding!!
Betsy

Jen Varner and Amber Lipson are both Triangle moms that own and operate thriving businesses from their homes. Both moms make it work with very different outlooks on family time, raising their children and work/life balance.

Jen is an entrepreneur who founded a successful online maternity store before moving on to help other women who want to own an at-home business through her consulting business PureEcommerce (pureecommerce@yahoo.com). Jen manages to combine her family life of husband and three young children and business while keeping her kids at home with her. How does she do it? Find out when we interview her below.

Amber is a Certified Public Accountant and former Senior Manager at a Big 4 public accounting firm, writer, columnist and founder of her at-home online mother-daughter boutique, Footsteps Clothing (www.footstepsclothing.com). She has always separated her worklife and family time and chooses an out-of-home daycare provider. Amber is mom to eight-year-old son, Jarod and five-year-old daughter, Brooke.

Read how Amber and Jen, both successful at-home business owners, make their work and family life balance:

Childcare:
Amber – I choose to distinctly separate my work and family life. When I’m at work, I want to focus on it without distraction. But, in the same manner, when I’m with my family, I don’t let work encroach into that time either. My children have always been happy and well-adjusted at the quality daycare we choose for them. They are content to play with friends and engage in activities all day long that I couldn’t provide for them at home while trying to get work done.

Jen – I am able to multi-task and do many things at once. I can be typing up emails or on the phone to a customer while pouring milk and playing CandyLand. For my children and I it is important that I be their caregiver and that they be home with me. When I have to run errands for my business, I often combine it with something fun for my kids, like including a stop for ice cream.

Work Issues:
Amber – Now that my kids are both in elementary school, I work like a fiend from 8:30 to 4:00. I love that I can be home for them as they get off the bus and have their after-school snack ready. This is something I never had as a child and I enjoy doing it for my kids. I don’t work at all in the evening – that is my quality time with my family. But, after everyone is tucked snugly into their beds, I am back at it and often work until after midnight.

Jen – I work all day. Not exclusively, of course, but I am always doing two things at once, minding my kids and thinking about my business. My kids are used to Mommy always working and talking on the phone, but they know I am always there for them.

Getting it all Done:
Amber – Sometimes I find myself doing dishes and putting in a load of laundry at crazy times. Usually, I try to get these household tasks in progress while my kids are eating breakfast or playing together. But, many nights I can be found packing lunches and folding laundry into the wee early morning hours!

Jen – Organization. That’s how I do it. Planning what needs done for the next day and making sure everything is where is needs to be. Otherwise, I fear our lives would spiral into chaos.

Prioritization:
Amber – It’s easy to say ‘family comes first’ because of course, it does. But, doesn’t running a successful business and earning money for them also important? And that’s where the line for me gets fuzzy. Pretty much everything I do is for my family (even taking time out as I am a much ‘nicer’ Mom after a lunch outing or getting my nails done) so it is difficult to draw a line.

Jen- I agree with Amber that family comes first. For me and my family, that means begin together as much as possible and doing things together as a family unit.

Being a Role Model for Kids:
Amber – This is very important to me. I want my daughter and son to see me working hard but also able to play and relax and have fun. I didn’t have this balance for so many years and I want my kids to learn that there is more to life than work, work, work. But, at the same time, it is important to work hard. I hope that if they see me doing both, this will instill in them the work ethic and life balance that took me 30 years to discover!

Jen- I want my kids to be self-sufficient, well-balanced people who can do for themselves and not have to rely on anyone else for the things they want out of life. As a younger woman, all I wanted out of life was to get married and have children. As I matured, I was compelled by my entrepreneurial spirit and my family gave me the support to try my ideas. I hope my ambition and desire for family and an identity of my own is something my children recognize and enlist in their own lives someday.

Asking for Help:
Amber – I am not too proud to ask for help. I see some women who think they need to do it all themselves and I don’t understand it. When I was pregnant, if someone would have offered to pick me up and carry me to the refrigerator for a drink, I would have let them. I have a cleaning service to help with the house and my husband helps out a tremendous amount. When things get overwhelming, I enlist the help of grandparents and family in the area. I’ve even been known to fly my mother in from Pittsburgh in a crunch!

Jen – I don’t have family in the area and feel a strange (and often irritating) ownership of my house and its state of being. I don’t like to have others in my house to help clean – it makes me feel as if I’m slacking. It gets overwhelming at times, but we keep it together as a family. My husband and kids pick up for themselves and we all have specific tasks to keep the house running smoothly – (even my 2-year-old has responsibilities!).

How do You Feel About Each Other’s Choices?
Amber – Jen and I are neighbors and good friends. We don’t judge each other even though our perspectives are worlds different. We often joke and sympathize with each other about the challenges each of our choices presents. We are both loving, devoted Moms doing what we think is best for our kids. I would be a frazzled yelling machine if my kids we’re home all day and I were trying to work. Jen would be tormented with guilt at putting her kids in daycare. We do what works for us, we don’t judge and we encourage other moms to do what’s best for them, too.

Clever parentrepreneurs know their business. There is perhaps nothing more fundamental about knowing your business than knowing what it is made of and what it owns. In the 19th and 20th centuries, most companies found their value in land and tangible objects. It was fairly easy to know what you owned – you could walk on it or touch it. Today, companies are increasingly in the business of information, image, and/or services where a significant portion of their value comes from identity, ideas, and/or expressions. The market values of Google, Coca-Cola, Nike, Sony, and Walt Disney each substantially exceed the value of their tangible holdings. In order to protect such intangible assets, you have to first know how to identify them.

TRADEMARKS

The most common form of intellectual property is the trademark, or your mark in trade. Nearly every business, service, and good sold in commerce has a name and develops at least some reputation amongst its consumers. A trademark is any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof used by a person in commerce to identify and distinguish his or her goods from those manufactured or sold by others. A trademark tells the consumer from whom the good originated (even if the “legal” identity of the source is unknown). A trademark is generally synonymous with “goodwill.” A service mark is essentially the same thing as a trademark, but is used in conjunction with services. The appearance of a product and/or product packaging may also be a source indicator and is known as “trade dress.” Trade dress is given protection similar to trademarks for non-functional and distinctive aspects of products and product packaging, to include the shapes, colors, decorations, and other “look and feel” aesthetics. Trademark law protects your identity in the market. It protects against consumers confusing your business, goods, and services with those of another or from incorrectly assuming there is an association or endorsements between the companies.

There are two fundamental concerns for trademark management: selecting and protecting. The first principle of brand management is selecting a trademark that is inherently strong and distinctive. As a general rule, a brand should be something unique and distinctive that allows your consumers to readily identify you and your goods and/or services in the marketplace. The best brands are those that are inherently arbitrary to their goods or services or that cleverly suggest their nature or benefit. To the extent you want to immediately communicate what the good or service is, who might want it, or a benefit of using it, include a tagline that provides the description. A distinctive brand is much more likely to imprint itself onto a consumer’s mind. Courts also afford distinctive brands a broader scope of protection. When a consumer remembers the brand, he or she is also likely to remember the ideas and expectations associated with the branded products and services.

Once you select a brand, screen it against state and federal trademark registrations and applications as well as against common-law databases of trademarks and Internet URLs. The review must include analyses of any potentially confusing marks, such as those that deviate only slightly in appearance, phonetically, in spelling, or that share a dominant characteristic. Brands from all areas of industry should be reviewed to protect against treading on famous brands in unrelated fields.

Being granted a corporate name from a state agency should never be confused with clearing a brand. Similarly, a refusal by a state agency to register a corporate name because it is too close to a previously incorporated entity does not mean that your trademark would infringe the other entity’s trademark rights. The other entity may not make trademark use of the legal name, and even if they do, there might not be a problem. A company that sells pick axes in hardware stores under the name “ACES” is not likely to infringe the trademark rights of a company that sells lipstick over the Internet under the same name. An experienced trademark lawyer should be consulted to conduct your brand clearance.

Businesses that plan on making continual use of a brand or brands over a meaningful geographic area (such as over the Internet) protect their brands as a regular part of doing business. Federal and in some instances state and international trademark registrations protect and enhance a brand’s place in commerce. You should also secure all related Internet URLs to include simple derivatives and misspellings of the brand.

You may also want to consider “policing” the brand for potentially confusing brand usage by third parties. If a brand was distinct upon adoption, its success will likely generate imitators. Increased third-party use dilutes the strength of a brand. Brand owners routinely monitor the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office and other databases for evidence of infringing and diluting brand usage by third parties.

PATENTS

Where trademarks protect marketplace identity, patents provide monopoly rights on useful ideas. A person who invents or discovers a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement to the same, may obtain a patent. There are three types of patents available: design, plant, and utility patents. Utility patents are the most common and protect ideas relating to machinery or functional articles, processes (including computer software and methods of doing business), and compositions of matter, as well as improvements to any of these. A utility patent gives you the exclusive right to make, use, and sell the patented device in the U.S., or import it into the U.S., for a period of twenty years from the date of application. Design patents protect the way a useful article looks for a period of fourteen years from the date of filing. Plant patents protect asexually reproduced plants, and they generally last for twenty years from the date the patent certificate issues.

For an idea to qualify for patent protection, the idea must be new and non-obvious to those skilled in the art. The novelty does not, however, need to be revolutionary or ingenious. Most patents cover incremental improvements to existing devices or methods. Patentability analyses consist of searching published articles and issued patents to find references closely related to the idea. It is usually a good idea to retain a patent attorney to help determine whether an idea is patentable. It is important to remember that the prior art used to evaluate the novelty and non-obviousness of an idea is not limited to whether the same or similar idea is currently available on the market. The significant percentage of ideas disclosed in patents and in publications do not make it to market.

In order to pursue patent protection, your idea must not have been patented or described in a printed publication or in public use or on sale more than one year prior to filing the application in the United States. Should you fail to file your application or at least a provisional application prior to that time, the idea is deemed donated to the public. There are some exceptions for “experimental” uses.

Because patents are so powerful, the government exercises a fair degree of care before issuing a patent. In addition to government filing fees, the patent owner must explain in the patent the best method known for practicing the invention. In order to obtain the monopoly rights, the inventor must teach the new idea to the world in the patent itself. The patent application process is expensive and can be prolonged. Where a patent covers a marketable and profitable idea, the effort can be well worth it. Patents provide powerful protection and strong remedies, to include potentially large monetary recovery and the possibility of obtaining an injunction preventing others from making, using, selling, or importing anything or a method that falls within the claims of the patent.

Care and discrimination should be used when deciding whether to patent an idea and in selecting the lawyer or law firm to use. The value in a patent derives from the breadth of the patent claims that the patent attorney is able to get through the USPTO. If the claims are not well written, competitors will be able to copy your idea from the patent disclosure and make modest changes to design around the narrow claims. You should also stay far away from “invention” companies that offer to help patent and market your idea. These companies are almost always a bad deal for inventors.

COPYRIGHTS

Copyrights protect expressions and provide authors the exclusive right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies, perform in public, and display in public his or her work. Copyright exists in literary, musical, dramatic, choreographic, pictorial, graphic, sculptural, motion picture, audio visual, sound recording, and architectural works. An author that has used at least a minimal amount of his or her own creativity to create any such work owns the copyright in that work.

As the phrase “copyright” implies, the author has a right to prevent others from using or copying the work. It is not a monopoly right in the particular expression. If another person authors an identical expression without prior exposure or reference to the first author’s work, there is no copyright infringement. Of course, the more complex the expression, the less likely someone will make an identical version on their own. It is also important to keep in mind that copyrights protect the expression and not the underlying idea. It is the manner in which an idea is expressed that can be protected from copying.

Applying notice of your copyright to or near your works is no longer required to preserve and protect the copyright. Affixing a notice does, however, provide constructive notice of your rights, informs viewers of your property right claim, and prevents an infringer from claiming innocent infringement. The appropriate copyright notice consists of the copyright symbol or word followed by the name of the author and the year in which the works was originally completed. A standard format is as follows: © Anthony J. Biller 2007.

It is a very good idea to register your copyrights with the United States Copyright Office. If a work is registered at the time it is infringed, the copyright holder is eligible for statutory damages of up to $75,000 per act of infringement or up to $150,000 per infringement in cases of willful infringement. The copyright owner can also recover his or her attorney’s fees expended in enforcing the copyright. Without a prior registration, statutory damages and attorney’s fees are not recoverable. In many cases, such recovery is greater than the damages award. A copyright registration also provides contemporaneous evidence of ownership and constitutes prima facie evidence regarding ownership and copyright validity in a court of law. Finally, a copyright owner must register the copyright prior to filing a lawsuit. If you want to protect your copyrights, it makes good sense to file the registrations as soon as the works are completed and prior to introducing them to the market.

The duration of a copyright depends on the type of author and the date of publication. Currently, works authored by an individual last for the duration of the author’s life plus seventy years. Works made for hire, such as by employees of a corporation, and anonymous or pseudonymous are copyrighted for ninety-five years from first publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

OTHER

There are many additional ways to protect your intellectual property assets. While patents provide strong monopoly rights for a term of years, the patented idea becomes public domain once the patent expires. Further, you are required to educate your competitors on how to implement the idea as part of the patent. Some companies believe their idea will have market power for longer than the duration of a patent, and, where the idea can be “hidden” from public disclosure while in use, they rely instead on trade secrets. Perhaps the most famous and successful trade secret is the recipe for Coca-Cola. Trade secret law varies from state to state, but there are deliberate steps entrepreneurs can take to maintain their ideas as “trade secrets.”

Some companies also have their employees sign nondisclosure agreements and non-compete agreements to prohibit employees from giving company knowledge, insights, and experience to competitors. Works for hire agreements and promises to assign future intellectual property rights can also be valuable tools for a company’s resource management.

Many of these tools have strict legal formalities to which you must adhere for the tools to be effective. U.S. courts and public policy favor open markets and the free-flow of knowledge and information. Our public policy also disfavors, as a general rule, restrictions on labor and an individual’s opportunity to work. Because of these policies, courts typically strictly and narrowly construe trade secret, non-compete, and other contractually based efforts to protect knowledge and restrict competition. If you want to pursue any of these avenues, consult with an attorney that has experience in managing intellectual property assets.

Should you have any questions regarding this article, feel free to send me an email at abiller (at) coatsandbennett (dot) com.