WerkaBlog

Yay for more money!!!!!!!

When:

The holiday begins August 20, and continues until August 22.

What:

During the course of the three days, retailers will not collect sales tax on back-to-school items required of school-aged children such as clothing, shoes, and backpacks.

Items Covered by Tax Exemption:

Clothing: Belts, jerseys, raincoats, sleepwear and undergarments all make the cut. Personal flotation devices, rental clothing and baseball pants however will not be tax-free.

Shoes: Thumbs up for things such as cowboy boots, sandals, slippers, hiking boots and socks. Thumbs down for footwear such as ice skates, cleats, and roller blades.

School supplies valued at less than $100 including lunch boxes, calculators, tape and backpacks are all okay. All qualifying backpacks must be purchased for a school-aged child and can not have wheels.

Tidbits:

Take note of required dollar amounts. For example, if you’re planning on buying a fancy calculator for your little mathematician that cost $200 dollars, you should also plan on paying taxes on it. More times than not, $100 will be the tax free limit.

Plan ahead by studying sales papers and seeing who is offering what. And if a store is advertising that they will pay the tax for you on various non-applicable items, steer clear. That is no-no according to the Texas Comptroller.

Same goes for coupons and layaway. Call ahead to find out each stores policy on each. One store may allow you to use coupons while another won’t. Always check ahead of time.

(Taken from houston.about.com)

http://thechive.com/2010/08/10/girl-quits-her-job-on-dry-erase-board-emails-entire-office-33-photos

I found this very amusing! I’m sure a lot of unhappy ‘werkers’ would love to quit their job in such style and creativity

Let’s get real — we know at the end of the day, we all have to be salesmen. Regardless if we like it or not (and trust me, selling myself isn’t exactly my cup of tea), we’re constantly trying to seal the deal.

Whether that means we’re trying to get a major client, or if we’re trying to get a freelance job, it’s all about presenting ourselves as the “go-to candidate / company” who will satisfy all the needs of the position. So what does that mean for all of us who need help selling ourselves?

Well, I’m glad you asked! Here are a few tips that I’ve found helpful throughout the years:

1) Research research research! Do your homework on the company / position so that you know exactly what you’re talking about and sound like the expert on a particular topic, etc.
2) Know what the company / position’s needs are — what are they looking for, and what have you done in your background that would help the company with the issues that they’re having? Don’t give them a lecture about it, but jot down a list of 3-4 projects that you can talk about to make you sound important.
3) Smile. And I think this is the most important one — you need to seem confident and enjoyable to work with, because at the end of the day, it’s all about who you are that makes companies want you

Hope this helps!

This past Friday and Saturday the Werkadoo team was at the One Woman Conference! Not only was it a blast, but we met some amaaaazzzzing men and women there! Lisa and I definitely scoped out all the candy from the other booths, and we can definitely tell you that butterscotch candy from a-booth-I-can’t-remember-for-the-life-of-me-right-now has the best candy ever. Period.

We met some great people, and all those people are now in a drawing for a Barnes & Noble Nook! So be on the lookout for an email from the Werkadoo team!

Do you agree?

All of us on the Werkadoo team is unique — we all have our own niche. Bridge, the CEO, is definitely the freelance + VC funding + management guru; Teddy, the customer manager, is the go-to source about healthy food, organic trends, fabulous restaurants, and exotic destinations. Lisa, the sales manager, is the Linkedin expert, business article connoisseur, and Ohio native. And me? Well, I’d say I lean more on the marketing, social media, pop culture, and pilates sides.

What does this say about Werkadoo? Well, that we are quite an eclectic bunch.

It’s so important as a professional and/or business to establish who you want to be perceived as. The Wall Street Journal writes primarily about the business of big banks, while People magazine goes indepth into the lives of celebrities. Very rarely do these two extremely distinguished companies cross the boundaries of what they’re experts on — and that’s what makes them successful. When you start a blog, a website, a business, or even begin marketing yourself as a professional, it’s important to always do work or speak upon topics in which you have a lot of knowledge on. This not only solidifies your position in the professional standing, but it makes others come to you for advice, increasing your value to everyone!

So start thinking about ways to establish your brand.

1) Ask yourself what do you want to be perceived as — figure out what you’re interested in, and what you know a lot about, so that you can become the subject expert in that field
2) Create Twitter accounts, Facebook fan pages, Linkedin Groups, etc. that constantly update your followers/viewers on articles, webinars, etc. that fall into that category
3) Respond to others — go on other’s blogs, RT Twitter messages, etc. so that you not only are spouting information, but you’re making it a two-way street so that you’re communicating with others.

Hope this helps!

One of the questions that I’ve noticed a lot of you asking is whether or not you should pay a professional services company to look over your resume.

In my opinion, don’t do it. It’s a waste of ~$200, and there’s no guarantee that a polished, new resume will land you work! Instead, here are a few options for you to think about:

1) Have a resume party. Invite over friends, get some food, and tell everyone to bring multiple copies of their resume so that people can all get a chance to critique and look over each other’s resumes! This allows you not only to get a ton of feedback from your trusted friends, but it’s a great way to get ideas from other people’s resumes while beefing up your own!

2) Ask one of your “successful” friends to critique your resume. Not only will this boost their ego because you see them as extremely accomplished and want their advice, but it allows you to get tips from someone who has a great job already!

3) Search online, browse blogs, use Linkedin, etc. to see what others are doing to beef up their resume. You’re definitely not the only one with this issue, so it’s a great way to get ideas!

Hope this helps!

Who knows why, but I was hit with a feeling of nostalgia today. Maybe it’s because of the rain, or maybe it’s because my mom cleaned out the game room closet yesterday and left all the picture albums on the ping pong table for me to rummage through, but it’s definitely weird to think of me as an “adult.” It seems like all this happened another lifetime ago, back when I used to wear yellow jumpers with sunflowers on them willingly. Or back when my clothes were picked out by my aunt and mom.

So I leave you with one question — which one is me?

So I’m definitely one of the few Blackberry users left, and I have to admit, I’m feeling a little putout.

I have a Blackberry. Aka synonymous with having terrible apps, no interface, and crappy service. Sure, I have BBM, but…. I want apps. I want a big interface. And I want TMobile to get the HTC Evo!

Which phone do you guys like the best? Do you have buyer’s remorse? Because I totally do with my Blackberry, especially since I have one year left on my deal…

Check out the latest viral video that’s circulating the internet, “Jane Austen’s Fight Club”. It’s pretty hilarious and clever.