Software I can’t live without

I’ve discovered something amazing – a use of the ChatGPT AI software that I will use again, and again.

The tip comes from a post on LinkedIn by Conor Grennan, Dean of Students, NYU Stern School of Business, who urges people to move beyond asking ChatGPT to “Write an email to my boss!” or “Create 25 taglines for my business!” Continue reading

Technology I can’t live without

Knowledge workers everywhere have been shaken and stirred by the advent of ChatGPT – a new bit of software that has already made my life as a writer easier, though I am not sure yet if it qualifies for that elite list, called “technology I can’t live without”.

Because there is such a list!
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My calm 2023 business strategy planning

When I worked as a full-time journalist, annual reviews and strategic planning for the coming year were not high on the agenda – we were always too busy dealing with the immediate issues in front of us. But now that I am entering the seventh year of running my own business, an annual review and business strategy planning session are vital.
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Website design – a checklist of things to think about

You want a website. Or you have a website, and there are some things you want to change.

Either way, and whether you are doing it yourself, or paying someone else to do it for you, it’s a good idea to do some planning. The more decisions you make upfront, the more efficient the build process or rebuild process will be.

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How to be a good client

A writer, editor and a website designer walk into a bar. And once they have ordered their drinks, they fall to complaining about their clients.

The non-payers. The scope creepers. The ghosters. The ones who say “that’s not what I wanted” even though they never did say what they wanted. The ones who want you to work for free in return for “exposure.” The ditherers. The ones who said the work would be with you by a particular date and then only deliver it three months later.
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Things I have learned from being retrenched (twice)

In 2002 I was at last pregnant.

After two years of fertility treatment, we had done it. Things were going well. We owned our own house, our relationship was strong, I had a good job. I was worried about how I was going to manage a baby and a career but I thought I would figure it out.

That was not how it was going to pan out, though.

At about the six or seven months mark of my pregnancy, I found myself in the boss’s office being told that my job was being made redundant. I was given a good package and a generous baby shower, and shown the door.

My therapist was a little unsympathetic, pointing out that being retrenched was not as bad as, say, losing a baby. With hindsight, she was of course right.

But retrenchment is not nothing, either. Continue reading