Americans’ increasing concerns about the economy haven’t hurt the leisure travel industry but business travel is taking a hit, according to the 2008 Travel Industry Association annual report, “Travel and Tourism Works for America.”

U.S. travelers spent a record amount–$739.9 billion–last year. But it was leisure travel that kept the industry in the red. Business travel declined by about 1.7 percent in 2007, following a 0.3 percent decline in 2006.

Business travelers face even more obstacles in 2008 as airfares and hotel room rates are expected to rise. 

American Express projects domestic economy fares will increase this year by as much as 5 percent, while long-haul business class fares are expected to rise by 10 percent.

PKF Consulting projects room rates to rise by 5.3 percent in 2008. And American Express projects meeting costs to increase by 8 to 10 percent.

But there is good news for business travelers. Those who continue to hit the road will enjoy increased perks as desperate airlines and hotels try to keep their business or lure them away from competitors.

Airlines are upgrading passenger lounges, increasing business class comforts and working to streamline security for business travelers.

Even discount carriers Southwest and JetBlue are looking for ways to attract business travelers who regularly eschew their discounts to avoid the pitfalls of a discount airline.

Both airlines now offer fully refundable fares and are among those racing to introduce in-flight Internet access. And Southwest finally is making its fares available through the computer systems that corporate travel managers use to book tickets.

Hotel chains hope to lure business travelers with more amenities—above and beyond those that the modern corporate traveler has come to expect. High-speed Internet is a must, but some hotels are now offering free wireless access—a great perk for a traveler who wants to work by the hotel pool.

And many large chains are putting a modern twist on frequent-stay programs by offering room upgrades and exclusive club floor memberships to loyal customers.

But even as these perks accumulate, many businesses, especially small businesses, are faced with the real challenge of keeping their travel budgets under control. Unlike corporate travelers who are backed by expense accounts, small businesses face a much tighter bottom line—especially as the economy takes its toll on all parts of the their business.

Some are cutting travel altogether; others are asking employees to drive to reasonable close destinations. Some companies are even requiring employees who travel together to room together.

If you’re not ready to go to such extremes, here are 10 tips for getting a handle on your travel budget from Allbusiness.com:

1. Create and distribute a clear travel policy.
2. Search the Web for bargains.
3. Volunteer to get bumped if your schedule is flexible.
4. Join your preferred airline’s frequent-flier program.
5. Streamline paperwork by creating a uniform reporting system for travel expenses.
6. Meet virtually.
7. Negotiate lower travel and lodging prices.
8. Use a single corporate credit card for all travel and entertainment expenses.
9. Take advantage of convention discounts.
10. Take advantage of tax deductions.  

I was sitting in a company meeting recently and as usual the financial talk led to odd acronyms you rarely hear outside the boardroom. The one that caught my ear? EBITDA. It sounds like a word spoken by Latka on “Taxi,” doesn’t it? But what is it?

EBITDA (pronounced eee-bit-da) is an acronym for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

At its most basic, EBITDA is a measure of a company’s profits. But it’s not as simple as that.

EBITDA came to prominence in the 1980s as leveraged buyout investors used it to calculate whether companies could pay back the interest and retire the debt on financed deals after a restructuring. Investors promoted EBITDA as a tool to determine whether a company could service its debt in the near term, say over a year or two.

The use of EBITDA has since spread to a wide range of businesses. Proponents say EBITDA offers a clearer reflection of operations by stripping out expenses that can obscure how a company is really performing. However, EBITDA in not a defined measure according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

In the calculation of EBITDA, interest, which is largely a function of management’s choice of financing, is ignored. Taxes are left out because they can vary widely depending on acquisitions and losses in prior years; this variation can distort net income. Finally, EBITDA removes the arbitrary and subjective judgments that can go into calculating depreciation and amortization.

By eliminating these items, EBITDA makes it easier to evaluate the financial health of various companies and to compare against industry averages. It also is useful for evaluating firms with different capital structures, tax rates and depreciation policies. EBITDA is a good measure of the fundamental earning power of a company’s operations because it eliminates some of the extraneous factors and allows for a more “apples-to-apples” comparison with its peers. At the same time, EBITDA gives investors a sense of how much money a young or restructured company might generate before it has to hand over payments to creditors and Uncle Sam.

But there are some problems with measuring a company by EBITDA. It leaves out the cash required to fund working capital and the replacement of old equipment, which can be significant. ETBITDA should not be used to determine a company’s cash flows; one should continue to use the statement of cash flows.

Like any other financial metric, EBITDA is only a single indicator and should be used with a variety of others measures to determine the full health of any company.

Owning a business can be complicated enough without having to deal with all the confusing acronyms and abbreviations that assault you at every turn. Take these two: Inc. and LLC. What do they mean to you and your business?

Well, if you plan to make money at the business, you’ll want to protect that money, right? That’s where Inc. or LLC comes in. These are your two choices for incorporating a business.

Why should you incorporate? Because if your business goes down the drain for any reason, you don’t want to go down with it. Basically, incorporation limits the liability business owners face if a business fails. As for Inc. or LLC, it’s important to understand what both are and the pros and cons of each.

LLC stands for Limited Liability Corporation, meaning the business owners’ liability is limited.

The idea of limited liability originated in Germany in the late 19th century, according to the website Limited Liability Company Reporter. By the 1940s, the idea had taken hold in 17 countries—but not the United States. In 1977, Wyoming became the first U.S. state to enact an LLC act modeled after the German statute. Other states eventually followed suit, though many of the laws varied.

Most new businesses opt for LLC because it has tax advantages over an Inc. LLCs don’t suffer from the double-taxation issues regular corporations face and they are the most flexible when it comes to organization. For example, there are fewer rules regarding who can be a shareholder. They also tend to be more informally run than a regular corporation.

Before the LLC came around, small businesses were often organized as partnerships and sole proprietorships—which did not necessarily protect the business owners’ assets.

Earnings and losses pass through to the owners and are included on their personal tax returns.

Among the disadvantages of an LLC: State tax law differences may make operating across state lines difficult. An LLC also can’t go public, so if you’re eyeing an IPO, avoid LLC.

The alternative to LLC is Inc., the abbreviation for incorporated. The biggest advantage of Inc. over LLC is that an Inc. can sell stock to make money. A new business can form a C corporation or an S corporation. The biggest difference between the two is how they are taxed.

C corporations face the aforementioned double-taxation in which both the company and its shareholders are taxed. S corporations are taxed like an LLC.

S corporations are most appropriate for small business owners and entrepreneurs who want the legal protection of a corporation but want to be taxed as if they were sole proprietors or partners. According to press reports, the number of S corporations is growing so fast it is surpassing the growth of C corporations.

Most new businesses opt for the S classification if they opt for incorporation at all. But the rules of S classification are narrow. For example, each stockholder must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and there can never be more than 75 stockholders. Only one class of stock can be issued—no preferred stock. Banks, some insurance companies, and certain affiliated groups of corporations are barred from the S class.

So a small business needs to choose between LLC and S Corporation. Before deciding which sort of corporation to form, it is best to consult an attorney who specializes in corporate law.

Now that you have the basics, the next step is to meet with your attorney and accountant and sort through the tax and organizational ramifications and figure out what’s right for your company.

I’m a journalist. I spent a lot of my career in the news business. As my career has progressed, I’ve spent time at small and large companies, and I have sat through dozens of business meetings wondering what the heck the “money” people are talking about. They used acronyms as if they were a foreign language.

Now I work for a company that publishes company information, and I’m in a whole new world of acronyms. One of the biggest in this business is the NAICS, pronounced “Nakes”, number.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is a series of numbers assigned to business establishments by government agencies (or themselves) that identifies the primary business of the establishment. In 1997, NAICS was established to largely replace the older Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system.

The five- or six-digit “Nakes” replaced three-or four-digit “Siks” in order to do a better job of covering service and technology industries and to include Canada and Mexico in the classification system—thus the North America part.

Although the change from SIC to NAICS was made in 1997 and updated in 2002, both codes are still in use, and both are widely used by market researchers, securities analysts and other systems used to classify companies.

What NAICS Numbers Mean
NAICS is a two- through six-digit hierarchical classification code system–the longer the number, the more detailed the industry description.

Each digit in the code is part of a series of progressively narrower categories, and the more digits in the code signify greater classification detail. The first two digits designate the economic sector, the third digit designates the subsector, the fourth digit designates the industry group, the fifth digit designates the NAICS industry, and the sixth digit designates the national industry. A complete and valid NAICS code contains six digits.

Examples of NAICS codes:
51 Information
513 Broadcasting and telecommunications
5133 Telecommunications
51332 Wireless telecommunications carriers (except satellite)
513322 Cell phones and cell phone service

NAICS codes are assigned by establishment, not by enterprise. An establishment is a business or industrial unit at a single, physical location that produces or distributes goods or performs services (e.g., store, factory, farm, etc.). An enterprise, on the other hand, may consist of more than one location performing the same or different types of economic activities. Each establishment of that enterprise is assigned a NAICS code based on its own primary activity.

How Companies Get a NAICS Number
There is no central government agency with the role of assigning, monitoring, or approving NAICS codes. Individual establishments are assigned NAICS codes as they do business with banks, vendors and credit lenders. The U.S. Census Bureau, for instance, assigns NAICS codes to collect, tabulate, analyze, and disseminate statistical data describing the economy of the United States.

Generally, NAICS classification codes are derived from information that a business establishment has provided on administrative, survey or census reports. The fact is, as soon as you start to do business, a NAICS code will be necessary and either you’ll seek it out yourself or someone will assign you one.

Marketing innovator to drive revenue growth, profitability and client acquisition for world’s largest company intelligence site. 

ECNext, the online media company that operates Manta.com, the world’s largest free company intelligence site, has announced that Katie Brennan has joined the company as vice president of advertising sales.

Brennan brings more than 25 years’ experience in advertising sales management, product development and online publishing experience to the Columbus-based company. In her leadership role at ECNext, she will be responsible for driving recurring advertising revenue, increasing client growth and retention, optimizing campaign profitability and managing the advertising sales team.

“We were anxious to bring Katie on board because of her experience as an online publisher running the business side of the operation, monetizing online assets, as well her track record in driving top-line revenue growth and profitability through maximizing the value of the inventory being produced on her sites via new client acquisition, innovative relationships and market expansion,” said Pamela Springer, president and CEO of ECNext.

“With over 5 million unique visitors and 19 million page views per month, Manta is fast becoming the authority for finding free company profiles” said Brennan. “Advertisers want to be on sites that have engaged users.  Manta users are the highly desired demographic that B2B advertisers are looking for – business decision makers, high education and income and have a heavy mix of small business owners,” Brennan added. “It’s a great time for Manta. All channels are growing; the mix is changing, the proprietary targeting platform continually improves CPMs, and newer channels are coming on strong.”

Prior to joining ECNext, Brennan was VP and publisher at Media Brains. Brennan also served as a group vice president for Cygnus Business Media, where she managed financial growth of 25 trade publications in diverse vertical markets.

Brennan spent 23 years with Miller Freeman (a division of United Business Media, now CMP Media). While at Miller Freeman as vice president of Enterprise Media Group, she to provided strategic direction, new product development and profit and loss management for the $23-million product group. She directed all marketing and publishing activities for Unix Review’s Performance Computing, Windows NT Systems, Sys Admin, Imaging and Document Solutions, Software Development and Rational Rose Architect Magazines, high tech card decks and corresponding websites.

A graduate of  the University of Delaware, Brennan has completed the Marketing Program at the University of London; the Executive Publishing Program at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and the Executive Management Studies Program at Cornell University.

About Manta

Manta.com, ECNext’s premium business information portal, is the authority for finding 45 million free small to large company profiles worldwide—and their related industries and products. Empowered with CRM tools, business users dive deep for fresh company knowledge. Manta.com is the prevailing destination to connect with community and collaborate, manage and share company intelligence. By leveling the playing field, Manta prepares users to compete smarter, accelerate sales prospecting and partnering and identify revenue opportunities faster.

About ECNext

ECNext is a Columbus, Ohio-based online media company that operates more than 50 premier business websites for business publishers. These websites serve end users such as business decision makers, entrepreneurs and business professionals seeking information and resources to help them make well-informed business decisions. Through these sites, ECNext offers millions of articles, reports, graphs, chapters, executive profiles and business resources. In making this premium content available via the open Web, it can be accessed on demand through pay-per view purchase, subscription license, or free registration.

 Contact:
Paula Volio
eMarketing Manager
ECNext
614-682-5106
pvolio@ecnext.com

New tools allow users to sort filter and share company information- becoming critical part of day-to-day prospecting.

COLUMBUS, OH ― March 26, 2008 — There’s no reason to go to multiple sites, spending precious time and money to research, collect and organize company profiles. Manta.com (www.manta.com) offers detailed, up-to-date intelligence on 45 million company profiles worldwide.

“Users come to Manta.com for deep, fresh company knowledge in order to compete smarter and win more business faster,” said Pamela Springer, president and CEO of ECNext, the parent company of Manta.com. “We listened, learned and responded quickly to our users,” Springer added.
 
Most Manta.com users are from small-to mid-size companies with limited time and budgets to conduct prospecting research, identify revenue opportunities or compete adequately. Having accurate, up-to-date information on companies is critical for every person in business but not always easy to find when you’re a small to mid sized business owner, sales representative, job seeker or anyone performing company research.

Getting a complete picture of a company’s structure, financial health, products, locations and competitors can be a challenge. “Time to insight accelerates time to execution,” says John Blossom, president and senior analyst at Shore Communications Inc. and industry expert in content publishing, content technology and knowledge management.

Jeff Hampel, principal of 361 Degrees Media, a media buying, planning and placement firm and Manta.com user, says his team uses Manta.com because “they have to be accurate” in prequalifying clients. 

Armed with relevant statistics on companies–such as revenue; employee size; geographic distribution and location; market; industry; products; line of business, and public and private status–smarter users can compete better.

“Ninety-two percent of sales representatives are not adequately prepared for sales calls,” said Gerhard Gschwandtner, founder and publisher of Selling Power. Manta.com shortens the sales cycle, removes cost and elevates sales opportunities faster with detailed information all in one place. The consulting firm Accenture reported that sales representatives spend on average two hours a day looking for company information—and 50 percent of the information gathered is useless, according to Gschwandtner.

Manta.com users now have easier access to company information to enhance pre-call data collection, sales prospecting and opportunity analysis than ever before. Having this level of detail makes users more prepared.

With recently improved sorting and filtering criteria added to Manta.com’s easy-to-use CRM tools, business users get more focused company information to define opportunities and goals and improve speed to sale. Building sales pipelines, aligning with partners, improving geographic reach—all are free to anyone anywhere, without installing any software.

Greater reliance on online business information speeds up the sales cycle and reduces expense. “In the past 10 years, face-to face selling has gone from 40 percent down to 10 percent,” said Gschwandtner. “I see Manta as a reliable source for improving daily productivity and workflow, shortening sales cycles and removing costs from face-to-face selling.”

Manta.com users take an active role in developing and enhancing this leading business research site. Manta.com content is supplied by 3,000 global premier information authorities and is integrated into one, easy-to-use site accessible by anyone from anywhere.

About Manta
Manta.com, ECNext’s premium business information portal, is the authority for finding 45 million free small to large company profiles worldwide—and their related industries and products. Empowered with CRM tools, business users dive deep for fresh company knowledge. Manta.com is the prevailing destination to connect with community, collaborate, manage and share company intelligence. By leveling the playing field, Manta prepares users to compete smarter, accelerate sales prospecting and partnering and identify revenue opportunities faster.

About ECNext
ECNext is a Columbus, Ohio-based, online media company that operates more than 50 premier business websites for business publishers. These websites serve end users such as business decision makers, entrepreneurs and business professionals seeking information and resources to help them make well-informed business decisions. Through these sites, ECNext offers millions of articles, reports, graphs, chapters, executive profiles and business resources. In making this premium content available via the open Web, it can be accessed on demand through a pay-per view purchase, subscription license, or free registration. 

For more information, please contact:
Paula Volio
eMarketing Manager
ECNext
614-682-5106
pvolio@ecnext.com

Or visit: http://www.manta.com/

Maybe you’re contemplating starting a business. Maybe you’re past that step and it’s time to start doing business.

Your idea is great. You’ve got a great product,but are you really ready to start doing business? This is the 21st century and “charge it” is the mantra of the day. And credit is just as important to a business owner as it is to a consumer. That’s why every new business needs to establish a credit file. That’s where a D-U-N-S number comes in.

A Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S® Number (”D-U-N-S” stands for “Data Universal Numbering System”) is a unique nine-digit sequence recognized as the universal standard for identifying and keeping track of more than 100 million businesses worldwide.

According to D&B, a D-U-N-S Number:

• enhances the credibility of your business in the marketplace

• enables potential customers, suppliers and lenders to easily identify and learn about your company

Businesses aren’t required to have a D-U-N-S Number but the U.S. government and many major corporations require their suppliers and contractors to have one. Basically, if you ever plan to open credit accounts with major vendors or suppliers, you have to go through this process.

Just like individuals, businesses need to build credit. Establishing a business credit file helps you get better interest rates, increase the likelihood that others will extend credit to you, lower your insurance premiums and, most important, make it easier for business partners to assess the risk of doing business with you.

Not having a business credit file with D&B (or having an incomplete file) can make your company appear to be unsound financially and could cost you valuable business.

There are two ways to start building a credit file:

1. Almost any large company that you have an account with will automatically report on a monthly basis to D&B

2. You can specifically request that D&B contact your smaller non-reporting suppliers and query them on your payment history (D&B charges a small fee for this)

When you start a new business, you have no credit history, and your D&B file reflects this, so the file is worthless to suppliers trying to evaluate your creditworthiness. But there is no harm in having an “empty” D&B file for a while; even an empty file can help you establish certain kinds of accounts. The best ways to start building your file:

• Launch new supplier relationships paying with cash/check or credit card

• Establish a personal relationship with your primary contacts at your “key” suppliers.

The goal is to build trust in you—and, by extension, your company. These relationships will be reflected in your file and you start building credit.

The bottom line is that it will take time for the file to collect data. This is just another reason to apply for your DUNS number as part of your new business checklist. The sooner you get a D-U-N-S Number, the sooner it has the potential to start helping you.

Melissa Mashtonio writes for Manta.com, the go-to site for researching company profiles. The site (www.manta.com) offers free research on more than 45 million companies in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the UK. Use Manta.com to investigate the creditworthiness of your partners and competitors.

Have you ever wondered what the largest company is in your city? I did. I’m in Columbus, Ohio, and I was sure that Nationwide Insurance was the largest company (by revenue) here. I was wrong. It turns out there’s an entire JP Morgan Chase entity based right here in my hometown. So that got me wondering about other big cities. And an easy search shows that the largest cities in the world rarely are home to the largest companies.

According to U.S. Census statistics from July 1, 2006, the 10 most populated cities in the United States are:

1. New York City
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. Houston
5. Phoenix
6. Philadelphia
7. San Antonio
8. San Diego
9. Dallas
10. San Jose

See if you can guess the biggest company in all these cites. Read on to find out if you’re right.

New York City
When you think of NYC, you think of money, so this is probably an easy one to guess. Despite a disastrous couple of years, Citigroup is still No. 1 in NYC. One of the largest financial services firms on the planet, Citigroup has offices all over the world.

Los Angeles
When you think L.A., you think Hollywood studios, right? Wrong. In fact, it’s unlikely you’ll ever see a celebrity wandering the halls of LA’s largest company. Northrop Grumman is the world’s No. 1 shipbuilder and a top defense supplier. The company made news in early 2008 after being awarded a hefty contract to build Air Force refueling tankers. Northrop Grumman’s partnership with Netherlands-based Airbus sparked a “Buy American” outcry from its archrival Boeing Corp.

Chicago
Speaking of Boeing, would it surprise you to know that the aerospace company (of Seattle-area fame) is actually the largest company based in Chicago? With more than $61.5 billion in sales in 2007, the profits keep flying in the windy city.

Houston
It’s Texas, so it must be oil. But it’s not ExxonMobil or Chevron that dominates the Houston market. Its ConocoPhillips, formed by the merger in 2002 of Conoco and Phillips Petroleum. The company owns Marathon Oil Corp. but did you know ConocoPhillips also owns Continental Airlines and trash giant Waste Management?

Phoenix
Spring training, sun and semiconductors? That’s right. The biggest company in Phoenix is Avnet, Inc., one of the world’s largest distributors of semiconductors, electromechanical components and other technology products. Another Phoenix tidbit: Petsmart, the nation’s largest pet services store (and a personal favorite of my pooch) is No. 4 in Phoenix.

Philadelphia
When Ben Franklin flew that kite in the 18^th century and jump-started America’s insatiable need for energy, he may never have dreamed that in the 21^st century, his City of Brotherly Love would be home to one of the largest petroleum refining companies in the world. Formed by the merger of many other companies, Sunoco has been around in one form or another since 1905.

San Antonio
It seems like sun and energy companies go hand in hand. Topping all other companies in San Antonio is Valero Energy. Named after the Alamo (the Mission San Antonio de Valero), the company is the largest independent oil refiner in the U.S.

San Diego
And in keeping with the energy theme, San Diego-based Sempra Energy serves the largest customer base of any energy utility in the United States. Maybe they’ve figured a way to turn sun, surf and sailors into renewable energy.

Dallas
Dallas means big oil and big hair, but neither ExxonMobile nor Nieman-Marcus is tops in Dallas. (Exxon’s based in nearby Irving; Nieman’s is only Dallas’ 13^th largest company.) But Dallas’ largest company depends on who you ask and when. Homebuilder Centex Corp. and tech maker Texas Instruments are so close in earnings that the No. 1 ranking is constantly changing.

San Jose
The only question when trying to guess the biggest employer in San Jose is which tech company is on top. That’d be Cisco Systems, the ubiquitous maker of network routers, switches and other computer peripherals.

According to a recent Reuters publication, some of the things your mother always told you to do may not be as helpful as you think. The British Medical Journal’s Christmas edition carried a story about a few of the long timed medical myths many people hold to be true. Although a long list of these myths appeared in the journal, Reuters published a shortened list of seven of the most commonly believed medical legends.

1.Drinking eight glasses of water a day will make you healthier: It turns out there is not scientific basis for this recommendation. The American Journal of Psychology seems to have recorded the lack of proof for why drinking eight glasses of water keeps you healthy.

2.Reading in dim light is bad for your eyes: The only thing reading with little light will do will cause squinting or blinking, many experts say. However, it seems there is no long term damage associated with this practice.

3.Shaving makes hair grow back quicker and thicker: This is simply an illusion according to studies. The regrowth of hair leads to stubble that it not as fine as unshaven hair due to its lack of taper.

4.Eating turkey makes you sleepy: Although turkey does contain the fabled tryptophan, there is no more in this poultry than chicken or chopped beef. Why the sleepiness? Perhaps the large quantities of food and drink consumed are the real culprit for the drowsy feeling.

5.Humans use ten percent of their brains: This myth has a long history dating back to 1907, but recent studies show that all areas of the brain are active.

6.Fingernails and hair keep growing after death: This is again a myth caused by illusion. Researchers say after death, the skin may dry out and retract, giving the appearance that hair or fingernails have grown.

7.Cell phones are dangerous in hospitals: There is concern that the waves emitted by cell phones interrupt medical equipment, but this has been found to be untrue.

Original Article

I can hear the jokes already and most of them are not politically correct. Let me throw out a word that we often don’t attach to work and yet I think it is a word of redemption, of contribution, of achievement, of community, and ultimately, of legacy.

Here it is: LOVE.

Kahil Gibran proclaimed, “Work is love made visible.” I would further clarify his position by insisting that a job is what you do for a paycheck. Work is what you do for a life. It is that energizing, all-encompassing activity that allows you to bring skills to bear in ways that are satisfying beyond a pay period. It is that activity that saves you from being a faceless number in a mechanistic wheel-hence it holds redemptive powers. It is that activity which makes a contribution to a larger world order. It is that activity from which you sense a measure of accomplishment and achievement. It excites you. It gives you joy. It binds you to a community of people who are stakeholders in what you do. Ultimately, it has a ripple effect and the potency of a legacy for those who follow.

“Ah come on!,” you insist. “How about a garbage collector? A waiter? A store clerk? Who is going to love those jobs?”

Great question. And at face value, it seems that not every employment opportunity has such grand potential. Just take the money, leave it as soon as you can for greener pastures. Screw those miserable bosses. Thumb your nose at the customer.

And tomorrow you die.

That’s it. Plain and simple. While you are looking for the dream vocation, the better work environment, the nicer boss, reality can step in and your one moment on the Planet is gone forever. It’s a reality made even MORE real by current events.

There’s an uneasy shift that has taken us by storm and rattled our plod-along workaday world. Many are paralyzed by the insecurity of the times. The terror of 9-11 and the subsequent global aggressiveness pushed us over the edge. With a wobbly U.S. economy, unsettled change continues to bombard us. Mega- mergers boggle the mind with the endless zeros streaming behind a behemoth’s financial size. We gasp at the number of employees who are cast off from a consolidated giant. We see plant closures and layoffs in everything from clothing manufacturing to banking. Overnight web companies turn almost under-age youth into millionaires and executives at age 40 are left scratching their heads. Then, dot.coms fail, leaving bewildered employees in the rubble. Wall Street meltdown, corporate greed, and icon-like presidents who crash as fallen idols make daily headlines.

Despite statistics that indicate employment is coming back, there’s pain and inaccuracy behind these cold numbers. We are working more but feeling as if we’re earning less and living in time poverty. Affluenza is an all too common word. The consistent notion that work should be a 24/7 event is being challenged by a rising number of strident voices. And with those voices comes a cry for the most urgent answer to sustainable success: finding meaningful work that makes an impact and lets us live in the bargain. Answer that plea and we’ll unleash a productive and creative power akin to a tsunami.

In short we want to LOVE what we do, who we do it for and who we do it with AND love the life we create outside that work. That’s the essence- the Holy Grail-the mysterious work/life balance piece. Finding that Holy Grail is done by parallel processing, working on two tracks. The first track is to make work “work” for you in your current situation.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to transform wherever you find yourself-even while continuing to search-so that if and when you leave, there’s a faint footprint of achievement, community, contribution and yes, even the memory of a beneficial interaction. Such a transformation allows you to love yourself in the process. It keeps bridges from burning and strengthens a network of relationships that one day you might call upon.

The critical question becomes: how do you turn a “job’ into a “work”-into something that gives you more than a paycheck? No, you might not be able to alter the corporate strategic plan, paint the garbage truck peppermint pink or change a boss from a toad to a prince. But, there are specific action items you can take within your sphere of influence. Too often, we expect management to lead us in career directions, to provide us with recognition, to make “it” a better place. It’s just like a marriage: there’s responsibility on both sides. Using the tools offered by Bev Kaye and Sharon Jordan Evans in Love it. Don’t Leave It (available at major bookstores), you’ll find a literal alphabet soup of specific action steps to help you take ownership for your life at work

Don’t wait. Time is too precious to squander. You CAN fall in love again.

——————————————————————————–

Eileen McDargh is a powerful keynote speaker, recognized work/life leadership expert, and award winning author. Discover your organizational and personal resiliency factor with this free online survey www.eileenmcdargh.com/res_free_surveys.html Call toll free 877-477-4718

Article Source: http://www.marketingarticlelibrary.com

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