Shopify gives advice on how to start your online business using their platform – Why not!

– This is a HUGE resource for any of you interested in getting started in an online store. I’ve never seen anything this complete…

It may be a 10 minute read but once you “decide to become” … and follow the amazing leads on this page you will spend your entire weekend getting SMART!

Do it NOW! – J Epperson

This may be you at the end of your research. Read this post!

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by Mark Macdonald

May 2, 2020

10 minute read

The future of ecommerce is incredibly bright. But, starting an ecommerce business is hard work and demands many steps and decisions that need to come together at the right time.

To help, we’ve put together a comprehensive blueprint for starting a business, compiled from Shopify’s most popular content. These blog posts, guides, and videos have been organized based on the most important tasks you’ll face when researching, launching, and growing a profitable ecommerce business.

I. Choosing a product

– (Check out my previous blog post on selling T-Shirts… It’s an idea 🙂

Finding a product to sell

The first step to building an ecommerce business is knowing what products you want to sell online, wholesale, or direct-to-consumer. This often is the most challenging part of starting a new online business. In this section, we’ll highlight strategies you can use to find product opportunities, explore the best places to look for product ideas, and finally, look at trending products to consider.

Find Products to Sell on Shopify with Oberlo

Strategies for Finding Your First Profitable Product Opportunity

Places to Look for Profitable Product Ideas

Trending Products to Sell in 2020 and beyond…

Online Business Ideas You Can Start from Home

Evaluating your idea

Once you have a product idea in mind, how do you know if it will sell? In this section, we’ll cover a few approaches that active entrepreneurs have used to validate their product ideas and potential market.

How to Validate Your Product Ideas

The 16-Step Checklist to Evaluating Your Product Idea

In less than 40-minutes, let us walk you through how to find product ideas, how to validate them, and how to sell the product once you have an idea you want to pursue.Register now

Obtaining your product

After landing on a strong product idea, your next step is figuring out where and how you’re going to obtain your products. The next four posts cover the various methods for acquiring your products, along with the pros and cons of each model.

Should You Make, Manufacture, Wholesale, or Dropship?

How to Find a Manufacturer or Supplier for Your Product Idea

12 Shopify Apps for Finding Products to Sell (Without Shipping Them Yourself)

Print on Demand: A Low-Risk Way to Sell Custom T-Shirts, Books, and More

Sell your retail products online

Many independent retailers face a challenging road ahead. Shifting your brick-and-mortar business online can help you weather this storm, generate cash flow, and build a more resilient business.

How to Move Your Brick-and-Mortar Business Online

Sell Gift Cards for Your Retail Business with a Simple Online Store

Quickstart Guide: How to Start Selling Online With Local Delivery

How to Quickly Set Up a “Buy Online, Pickup Curbside” Experience

II. Research and prepare

Research your competition

You’ve found your product, evaluated its potential, and sourced a supplier. But before you get into that, you’ll need to thoroughly research your competition so you know what you’re up against and how you can differentiate your business from theirs.

How to Conduct a Competitive Analysis

How to Conduct a SWOT Analysis

Writing a business plan

With your competitive research complete, it’s time to write your business plan. A business plan is a roadmap that helps bring your ideas and thoughts together. A business plan is vital in determining what to prioritize and how to effectively reach new customers.

A Detailed Guide to Writing a Useful Business Plan

Business Plan Template: A Framework to Streamline Your Next Business Plan

III. Setting up your business

Naming your business

Aside from figuring out what to sell, another challenging decision is determining your business or brand name and choosing an appropriate and available domain name. These blog posts will help you tackle these important tasks.

What Should I Name My Online Store?

Choosing a Brand Name: 10 Tools & 5 Brainstorming Strategies

Creating a logo

Once you’ve selected a memorable name and registered a corresponding domain, it’s time to craft a simple logo. In these resources, we’ll show you several options for creating a great logo for your new business.

Hatchful: A simple logo maker by Shopify

5 Easy to Use Online Logo Makers to Design Your Brand

How to Design a Memorable Logo in 7 Steps (We Make One From Scratch)

Learn more: From a logo maker and business name generator to gift certificate templates and a discount calculator, Shopify offers free marketing tools to help run your business.

Understanding search engine optimization (SEO)

You’re almost ready to begin building your online store. However, before you jump into it, you should understand the basics of search engine optimization so you can properly structure your site and pages for Google and other search engines.

The Beginner’s Guide to Ecommerce SEO

What Can I Do to Help My Store Rank in Search Engines?

Keyword Research for Ecommerce from the Ground Up

Business SEO Checklist: How to Rank a New Site

Building your store

With a better understanding of search engines, it’s time to build out your store. There are many crucial elements to consider. Below, we’ve listed our essential reads to help you build high-converting product pages, write captivating product descriptions, shoot beautiful product photography, choose your ecommerce color palette, and much more.

50 Exceptional Shopify Stores to Inspire New Entrepreneurs

11 Experts Share How to Optimize Your Product Pages

How to Write Product Descriptions that Sell

The Ultimate DIY Guide to Product Photography

Customizing Your Shopify Theme: How To Use Images, Colors, and Fonts

Must-Know Tips for Optimizing Your Images

How to Create a Coming Soon Page and Start Marketing Before You Launch

Don’t forget, if you run into any problems getting your store set up, you can always hire help from Shopify Experts.

Choosing your sales channels

One of the best ways to reach new customers is to choose sales channels where they already shop. The right mix of sales channels will depend on your products and your target customers, but there are a number of great options that can complement and support your self-hosted store.

Etsy and Shopify: How Three Makers Used Both to Grow Their Businesses

Selling on eBay: How One Business Finds New Customers

This Business Generates 76.8% of Orders Selling on Amazon with Shopify

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As you prepare for the launch of your new business, there are several shipping and fulfillment elements you need to prepare for. In this section, we’ve curated a few comprehensive guides on how to determine your shipping strategy.

The Beginner’s Guide to Shipping and Fulfillment

International Shipping: Everything You Need to Know

How Do I Price and Implement a Strategy to Handle Returns?

How to Reduce Shipping Costs as a Small Ecommerce Store

It’s also a good idea to define your key performance indicators up front so, once you launch, you know what measures of success to track.

67 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Ecommerce

What Are the Basic Ecommerce Metrics I Need To Focus On First?

As a final checklist, this post covers the 10 essential things you need to do before launch.

The Essential Shopify Store Launch Checklist

V. Post launch

Acquiring your first customer

Now that you’ve launched, the hard work of marketing your products begins. While many new store owners should consider selling their physical products in person, the rest of digital marketing rests on doing one thing well: driving targeted traffic. Next, we’ll share a variety of marketing tactics that will help you in your first months.

Marketing Checklist: How to Get Your First Sale in 30 Days

Need Traffic? Here’s How to Get Visitors to a New Website (Even If You Don’t Know Where to Begin)

Customer Acquisition: How to (Profitably) Gain New Customers

Marketing your store

You’re well on your way and now likely have a few sales under your belt. It’s time to get serious and focused. The following posts will help you zero in on your top-performing marketing tactics or expand into new ones for driving traffic and converting that traffic to sales.

Email marketing essentials

Driving traffic from social

How to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy

How to Get More Followers on Instagram: A Guide for Businesses

Pinterest Marketing 101: Why You’ll Need a New Playbook to Win

How to Start a YouTube Channel for Your Business

Driving traffic and conversions from paid ads

Facebook Ads for Beginners: A Step-By-Step Guide to Running Your First Campaign

The Google Ads Playbook: 13 Campaign Types And What to Expect From Them

The Best Price Comparison Engines to Increase Ecommerce Sales

Optimizing for higher conversions

The Complete Guide to A/B Testing (Tips from Google, HubSpot, and Shopify)

How to Find and Plug the Leaks in Your Conversion Funnels

Drive More Sales and Revenue with Targeted Live Chat

19 Experts Share How to Increase Revenue Without Increasing Traffic

9 Ways to Earn Customer Trust When You Have Zero Sales

How Trustworthy Is Your Online Store? 39 Ways to Build Customer Trust

Driving Traffic but No Sales? Here’s How to Diagnose and Improve Your Store

Using analytics to uncover insights

The Beginner’s Guide to Analyzing Shopify Reports and Analytics

What Basic Ecommerce Metrics Should I Focus On First?

5 Google Analytics Segments You Can Use to Increase Revenue

9 Google Analytics Custom Reports by the Experts

Facebook Custom Audiences 101: A Starter Guide for Ecommerce Businesses

A blueprint is just the beginning

Building your own ecommerce business is as exciting as it is challenging. At a rapid pace you’ll learn a ton about choosing a product, evaluating its viability, figuring out how to get it produced, building an online store, and marketing and selling to new customers. The process can feel like you’re solving a head scratcher of a puzzle, but it’s rewarding all the same.

We hope following this resource roundup helps provide you with a clearer roadmap. As always, the best advice anyone can give is to just get started and to enjoy yourself along the way.

I told you it was an amazing compilation of just about everything you would need to start and sell from a Shopify site. Let’s “Get Going”… That would be Day 12 of My XYZ’s of Excellence – One Day at a Time – Online Course Check it out.

(Ever wonder how some of your favorite bloggers and podcast stars always seem to have a new t-shirt for sale. What about you?

Since we’re stuck working remotely and you’re tired of looking at the walls of your home, how about starting a t-shirt store with Shopify.

Take a look at this article… [J A Epperson])

Braveen Kumar – Products to Sell
Sep 19, 2020 15 minute read

Print on demand services to create custom products.
With custom products, you can create your own clothing line, monetize your audience, or cater to a specific niche. Print on demand is a fulfillment model that makes all of that possible without having to hold your own inventory.

But choosing the best print-on-demand company to work with and bring your vision to life can require a lot of research. Each platform has its own distinct catalog of products, shipping considerations, and unique features that will factor into your decision.

To help narrow your list of options, we’ve reviewed 10 of the best print-on-demand sites for designing, selling, and shipping your own custom products.

The 10 best print-on-demand companies
The following print-on-demand sites are free to start with and require you to pay only for the cost of the product and shipping after someone has placed an order:

Printful
SPOD
Printify
Apliiq Dropship
Teelaunch
CustomCat
Lulu Xpress
T-Pop
JetPrint: Print On Demand
AOP+ Easy Print on Demand
To make it even easier to choose the best print-on-demand site for your specific needs, we’ll look at these key factors:

Shipping: How long does production take after a customer has placed an order? Where does the company ship from? What are its standard shipping times? How is shipping calculated?
Printing options: What printing techniques and customizations do they offer?
Unique features: Are there any unique features or offerings that set them apart from the rest?
Recommended for: Who is this print-on-demand solution best for?
Product catalog overview: What are some of the customizable products the service offers?
All of the print-on-demand companies on this list integrate with Shopify, letting you build a branded online storefront to sell your own custom products wherever your audience spends their time.

1. Printful
   

Shipping: Products are usually ready to ship within two to five business days from the US, Mexico, or Europe with 50% of orders ready in under three days. Standard shipping to the US starts at $3.99 and takes three to four business days (see their shipping map for other destinations). Shipping costs depend on the product with discounted rates for additional items in the same order.
Printing options: Printful offers direct-to-garment, embroidery, cut and sew, and sublimation printing depending on the product. You can also add tear-away tags to your products, as well as inserts and stickers to your packaging for an additional cost for a more branded customer experience.
Unique features: A built-in mockup generator means you can be ready to sell in minutes. Printful also boasts the most integrations with marketplaces and commerce platforms—including Shopify. They also offer a 20% discount on sample orders.
Recommended for: Both beginners and experienced entrepreneurs who want a flexible, well-rounded solution to start on that can scale with them.
Printful is one of the most popular print-on-demand companies, offering a wide range of products to customize and features to help you get started that range from mockup generators to services like logo design. Whether you want to sell apparel, prints, home decor, or accessories, you can find what you’re looking for in Printful’s catalog.

For an additional cost, you can also add your own branding to your products and packaging, including inside labels and packaging inserts to help encourage repeat business or promote another product line. Printful also offers services from graphic design to marketing videos, as well as bulk discounts of up to 30%.

Product catalog:
T-shirts (American Apparel, Bella + Canvas, Gildan, etc.)
Sweatpants, leggings, and joggers
Tote bags and backpacks
Mugs
Phone cases
Bean bag chairs
Framed posters
Prints
And over 220 more

How to quickly start a profitable print-on-demand store

In our free 40-minute video workshop, we’ll get you from product idea, to setting up an online store, to getting your first print-on-demand sale.

2. SPOD
   

Shipping: Ships within 48 hours from the US, starting at $3.57 for domestic shipping with an estimated arrival time of 3 to 8 business days. Costs are based on total order value rather than individual products or quantity. See SPOD’s shipping calculator for more details.
Printing options: Digital direct, thermal sublimation, digital transfer/laser transfer, special flex, depending on the product you want to create.
Unique features: A product customization tool that lets customers personalize their purchase with their own images, your own designs or over 50k free designs offered by SPOD. It also offers a 20% discount on sample orders.
Recommended for: People new to print on demand who are looking for speedy fulfillment, simplified shipping, and competitive prices. If you want to give customers the ability to personalize your products, such as a t-shirt sporting a picture of their dog, SPOD also has one of the best customization tools in the game.
SPOD is a print-on-demand site owned by Spreadshirt. It boasts one of the fastest fulfillment times in the industry—95% of orders ship within 48 hours—which makes for a satisfying experience for the end customer.

While it may not offer the largest variety of available products, it does offer some of the most competitive prices and an easy-to-use product designer.

It also has a simple pricing model for shipping, which is based on the value of the products you order. With most print-on-demand companies, calculating shipping costs can quickly become complicated for orders containing multiple products from different categories. With costs based on order value, SPOD makes it easier to create shipping rules that maximize your profitability while using upselling and cross selling to encourage customers to add more to their cart.

Product catalog:
Classic t-shirts (as low as $6.39)
Premium organic t-shirts
Adjustable aprons
Baseball caps
Women’s longer-length fitted tank top
Camper mugs
7-inch crew socks
And 110 more options

3. Printify
   

Shipping: Printify is a vendor network, which means it sources and prints products from partners around the world. That also means that products, shipping costs, location, packaging, and production times will depend on the print provider you choose.
Printing options: Direct to garment, sublimation, cut and sew, embroidery, and more, depending on the print provider and product.
Unique features: You can upgrade to the monthly premium plan for 20% off all orders, which can allow for better profit margins when you’re ready to scale.
Recommended for: Anyone looking for a flexible and cost-effective print-on-demand solution that lets you find a printing partner that ships specific products from a specific region of the world.
Printify is notable in that it gives you access to a large network of printing partners distributed around the world. This not only means a larger variety of products to choose from, it also lets you select your printer based on the country you want to sell in for faster and more cost-effective shipping.

Altogether, Printify offers some of the best margins and the largest selection of products available. The inherent trade-off is that the quality of the products and the printer’s service can vary based on who you work with. Also, choosing to work with multiple vendors that will require further setup.

Product catalog:
T-shirts
Hoodies
Backpacks
Canvas wraps and framed prints
Fridge magnets
Stickers
Swimwear
Skirts
Blankets
Sneakers
High heels
And over 250 more
Choosing the best print-on-demand company to work with and bring your vision to life can require a lot of research.

4. Apliiq Print On Demand
   

Shipping: Production can take up to seven days for orders. Apliiq offers weight-based shipping starting at $3.99 to the US and ship internationally to over 150 countries worldwide (see their international shipping page for their shipping rates table). For faster fulfillment, you can pay a 10% rush order fee or choose an expedited shipping option.
Printing options: Add your own branded label, clothing tags, or embroidered patches to create products that truly feel like your own. Apliiq also offers digital print, screen print (for bulk orders), cut and sew, appliqué (where your designs are sewn on as a separate fabric), and embroidery options.
Unique features: Add custom labels, clothing tags, and patches to brand your products. Apliiq offers more robust customization than other platforms with the ability to design the interior lining of a hoodie or add pockets, patches, and more to your clothing.
Recommended for: Anyone who’s serious about fashion and starting their own clothing line with premium apparel at a higher price point, especially if you want to order in bulk to have products on hand to sell offline.
If you want to start a clothing line that puts design and quality above all else, there are few better options than Apliiq. Based in downtown LA, it offers a wide range of customization options that let you create your own retail-quality private label apparel products.

With better wholesale discounts than most print-on-demand providers (starting at 20% off for a bulk order of 10), Apliiq is a great partner for anyone who wants to start a fashion brand and sell through a mix of online and offline retail channels.

For $100 a year, you can upgrade to a plan that includes 100 custom woven labels that will be sewn onto your products. Instead of offering a discount on samples, like most companies, you pay a markup for quality assurance, wherein an in-house production artist will review your product and make minor tweaks to your design. That way, when you’re ready to dropship or buy in bulk, you can be confident that customers will receive the best version of your product.

Product catalog:
Pocket tees (designs on the chest pocket)
Premium joggers
Hoodies with print on interior lining
Kangaroo hoodies
Premium snapback hat
Denim jackets
Eco-friendly clothing
And more

5. Teelaunch
   

Shipping: Production usually takes three to six business days, after which orders are ready to ship from facilities in the US, Canada, or the UK. Shipping costs depend on the product and destination. You can see Teelaunch’s full breakdown of product costs for details.
Printing options: Direct to garment and cut and sew all-over-print for apparel, and laser etching for products like tumblers and cooking boards.
Unique features: Teelaunch offers a product personalization tool that lets customers add their name or upload their own photo to a product. It also autogenerates high-quality professional product mockups, including lifestyle photos for some items.
Recommended for: Anyone looking for an all-around solution for creating quality products. Teelaunch makes it easy to source high-quality items at competitive prices.
Teelaunch is another solid and versatile print-on-demand partner. What stands out the most is the quality of the mockups it generates for you—it gives you professional-looking product images to use in marketing materials and even lifestyle photos for some of its items.

With a competitively priced catalog of quality products (including rather unique items like Bluetooth speakers), reasonable fulfillment times, and a responsive customer support team, Teelaunch has all the ingredients to help you build a print-on-demand business.

Product catalog:
T-shirts (Next Level, Bella + Canvas, and more)
3-piece canvas sets
Color-changing mugs
Monogram handbags
Balloons
Penryn backpacks
Running shoes
Bluetooth speakers
Dog bowls
Jewelry
iPhone cases
Phone chargers
Journals
And over 120 more

6. CustomCat
   

Shipping: Orders are produced in the US and usually ready to ship within two to three business days. From there, it takes about one to seven business days for domestic shipping and four to 15 days for international shipping. Domestic shipping to the US costs $4.99 for the first item and then $1.50 for each additional item, while international shipping is $7.50 for the first item and $5.95 for each additional item. See CustomCat’s FAQ page for details.
Printing options: Direct-to-garment, sublimation, 3D dye diffusion, and embroidery printing.
Unique features: An optional paid plan for $30 a month gives you access to some of the lowest prices in the industry ($7 tees and $3.50 mugs).
Recommended for: Sourcing hard-to-find products as they boast one of the largest catalogs on this list.
CustomCat is a large-scale print-on-demand company with the biggest catalog of products on this list—over 550 and counting. If you’re looking for a variety of products and are OK with a simple design tool, CustomCat is a good all-around partner with competitive prices and fast fulfillment times.

It offers a wide range of brands and products to choose from, along with a paid plan of $30 a month to get a discount on its entire catalog.

Product catalog:
T-shirts (Bella + Canvas, Dickies, Gildan, and more)
Sweatpants
Laptop sleeves
Pet accessories
Jewelry
Drinkware
Windbreaker jackets and pants
Jerseys
And over 550 more items

7. Lulu xPress
   

Shipping: Ships within three to five business days to over 150 countries from fulfillment centers in the US, Canada, Europe, and the UK. Starts at $3.99 to ship to the US. See Lulu’s pricing calculator for details.
Printing options: Digital printing with the option to choose paper type, trim size (from pocketbook to A4 landscape), print quality and color, binding type (perfect bound, hardcover, etc.), and matte or glossy finish.
Unique features: With Lulu, you can also sell your books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu’s own marketplace, or even as an ebook.
Recommended for: Authors, teachers, comedians, illustrators, and creatives of all kinds who want to monetize their talent or their audience with a book or calendar product.
Lulu xPress is the print-on-demand arm of Lulu, an online platform for self-publishers. It makes it easy to create and sell your own print products, from books to calendars, that you can customize in a variety of ways.

Lulu xPress is great for writers, photographers, educators, and creatives, especially those with an established audience that they want to monetize. Outside of the standard merchandise that creators typically sell, Lulu lets you convert digital content into a physical item, such as turning your webcomics into a coffee table book.

Best of all, using Lulu doesn’t close you off from other distribution channels with more reach and scale, such as retail book stores and Amazon. Instead, Lulu xPress is an easy way to test an idea or retain more of your profits by selling directly to consumers under your own brand, bypassing all the gatekeepers of traditional publishing.

Product catalog:
Novels
Photobooks
Cookbooks
Journals
Artbooks
Workbooks
Novelty coffee-table books
Textbooks
Poetry books
Calendars
Comic books
Magazines
And other print products
You need to find a reliable service to partner with to ensure your products look and feel the way you want.

8. T-Pop
   

Shipping: Orders are printed in France and take two to four days before they’re ready to ship. From there, orders within France arrive in two to three working days, the rest of Europe in three to seven days, and international orders in five to 10 days. Shipping rates are weight based, which you can dig into on T-Pop’s shipping page.
Printing options: Direct-to-garment for cotton apparel and sublimation dye for polyester and accessories.
Unique features: White label customer experience with fully customizable packing slips, plus eco-friendly products, printing, and packaging.
Recommended for: Selling within Europe or anyone looking for a quality print-on-demand company with an ethical and eco-friendly supply chain and business practice.
T-Pop is a print-on-demand company based in Europe that focuses on apparel and accessories. When customers receive your order, everything from the packaging to the packing slip will bear your brand. With a monthly sales volume of 100, you can also add your brand to the inside labels of your products for 2.50.

What makes T-Pop stand out is its commitment to the environment, from “zero plastic” packaging—advertised on it for customers to see—to 100% recycled paper packing slips.

It goes the extra mile to ensure its supply chain is as ethical as possible. Its main supplier, Stanley/Stella, is part of the Fair Wear Foundation, an organization focused on ensuring compliance with labor laws in the manufacture of apparel products.

Product catalog:
T-shirts
Hoodie dress
Aluminum bottle
Tank tops
Tote bags
Sweatshirts
Metal and ceramic mugs
Cushion and cushion covers
Baby bibs and onesies
And more
Template Icon

9. JetPrint: Print on Demand
   

Shipping: Average production time is three to five business days. It offers free global shipping with an average arrival time of 14–20 business days. However, it also offers $15 express shipping for delivery within five to nine business days. See their FAQ page for details.
Printing options: JetPrint focuses mainly on watches with the ability to print your own designs on the watch face. It offers many different watch types, colors, and straps to customize the final product.
Unique features: Automatically process orders, setting a timeframe that allows you to make changes or corrections if needed. JetPrint also gives you the ability to automatically generate a variety of high-quality mockups and detailed specs to use on your product page.
Recommended for: Anyone interested in starting their own custom watch company with a drop-shipping fulfillment model.
JetPrint specializes in a unique product category within the print-on-demand space: watches. With different styles, straps, and colors to choose from, you can design your own watches to sell on demand. Shipping is simplified into free and express options with international coverage, making it easy to advertise free international shipping to entice customers to shop with you.

Once you’ve designed your product, JetPrint will automatically generate a collection of product photos that show off your watches from several angles.

While JetPrint’s focus has largely been on watches, it’s also expanding its catalog to include other product categories, such as home decor and phone accessories.

Product catalog:
Genuine leather strap watches
Steel strap watches
Magnetic steel strap watches
Perpetual calendar watches
Hard phone cases
T-shirts
Wall tapestries
And more

10. AOP+ Easy Print on Demand
    

Shipping: Production usually takes three to five business days (seven to 10 for all-over-print), after which it will ship from one of its fulfillment centers in the US, Europe, or the UK. Shipping costs depend on the product with discounts on additional items in the same order. See AOP+’s shipping rates for details.
Printing options: AOP+ focuses on dye sublimation all-over-print (hence the name) and direct-to-garment printing.
Unique features: Include your own custom packing slip in orders. You can also unlock discounts of up to 10% off, along with other custom branding options, like packaging stickers and private labeling features, with AOP+’s paid plans.
Recommended for: Anyone who wants to quickly launch and test their designs on a large variety of products or is open to paying a monthly fee ($11.99 to $19.99) to bring their unique vision for a custom print-on-demand business to life.
As its name suggests, AOP+ focuses mainly on easy all-over-print products. You simply upload a design and choose which products you’d like to create, making it perhaps the fastest print-on-demand app to get started with. It also prints everything in-house, which allows for better quality control.

While AOP+ offers a free plan that includes many of the features you’d expect from a print-on-demand company, its paid plans are where it truly shines, giving you access to both discounts, various customization options, and more.

Product catalog:
T-shirts
Mugs
Throw pillows
Leggings
Organic tote bags
Hard phone cases
Hoodie dresses
Flip flops
Doormats
Flags
And over 200 more items

Print on demand’s strongest appeal is giving you a low-risk way to try your hand at selling custom products. As we’ve covered above, you need to find a reliable service to partner with to ensure your products look and feel the way you want and are reliably shipped to your customers.

At first glance, many print-on-demand companies can seem interchangeable, especially if all you want to do is start an online t-shirt business. But it’s important to choose a partner based on where its strengths lie, the products it offers, and how it can scale with your vision. Once you know what you want, your partner’s distinctive catalogs, pricing, and feature sets make a meaningful difference.

Illustration by Eugenia Mello

About the author
Braveen Kumar

Braveen Kumar is part of the content team at Shopify where he develops resources to help aspiring entrepreneurs start and grow their own businesses.

Remember to check out my Online Course – My XYZ’s of Excellence – 26 Days to Excellence in Business Leadership and Life – “One Day at a Time.”

By David Humphreys | Published on November 06, 2020 (Updated on 11/10/2020) | 7 min read

Teams across the globe have embraced remote work, and with it a whole new way to collaborate. A modern work environment doesn’t just get created overnight, there are hurdles along the way to make it feel “normal”.

Team building is not a one-off activity you do when you happen to think “hey, it’s been a while since we did a team bonding exercise!”. Team building efforts are most effective when done regularly, and result in a caring and connected team.

When it comes to remote teams, virtual team building is especially important. Since the intention to communicate and collaborate needs to be at the forefront of all remote initiatives, making sure that your team feels emotionally connected is a good place to start.

Instead of looking at those as “cheesy” or just a standard in-person exercise, start looking at it as a way of breaking your virtual team’s routine to cultivate connections, spark conversations, and getting to know your co-workers, beyond just work.

Team Building, But Make It Remote
By many measures, communicating in person is just flat out easier. When your team members are sitting directly across from you, it’s more straightforward to give them your full attention, pick up on nonverbal cues, and build rapport via shared experiences.

However, choosing to get together in person as a distributed team does come with some major downsides. Assuming it’s safe to travel, airfare and hotel accommodations can be pricey, and each flight will add about 0.5 metric tons of CO2 to your carbon footprint.

On the other hand, relying on the internet to communicate can also be challenging. Up to 92% of human communication is nonverbal, and current technology can only partially translate the spectrum of human expression.

Even video conferencing, which allows you to pick up on facial expressions and some body language (which constitutes 55% of communication), has its limitations. When the person you’re talking to is a two-inch-tall disembodied head that magically transforms into a buffering wheel every 15 seconds, deciphering facial expressions and body language can be frustrating.

But remote meetings don’t have to be that awkward. Building rapport and understanding helps fill in the communication gaps during those technologically-challenging moments. Let’s look at some icebreakers and quick virtual activities to help your team kick-off your next conference call on the same page.

Easy (Not Cheesy) Remote Team Building Exercises
Getting to know your co-workers does not have to be time-consuming or awkward. The key here is to make it consistent, rather than a random bonding exercise. In the long run, your team will become more familiar with the idea of opening up to other team members through some fun virtual activities.

Here are some quick and ongoing team building activities to implement in your distributed team conference calls to keep work moving forward in a collaborative and connected light.

1. Point Your Camera Out The Window
   One of the great aspects of video conferencing is that it allows you to catch a glimpse of an unfamiliar environment in real-time, without ever leaving the comfort of your remote office.

If you live in Minnesota and someone is joining your meeting from New Zealand, chances are you’ll want to take a peek out their window. Will it overlook a spectacular Lord of the Rings-style vista or an ordinary Wellington street? The opportunity to play tourist for five minutes will be fun for everyone involved and will help the team get a common perspective of their surroundings.

team building activity showing your surrounder

Here’s an example. Where do you think the picture above is from? It kind of looks somewhere in Scandinavian, doesn’t it?

Here’s a hint: It’s Canada’s Silicon Valley and—more importantly—the historic birthplace of Joseph Schneider, founder of the Schneider hot dog company. Is it easier to guess now?

If you said Waterloo, Ontario, you guessed right!

See how fun that was? You can add fun facts to your location to give more hints for your co-workers to guess. This is also a great icebreaker for a virtual happy hour.

2. Desk Show And Tell
   Another major advantage of virtual meetings is that everything in your office is always within reach. Chances are, you’ve decorated your workspace in a way that reflects your personal taste.

Explaining the story behind a piece of artwork or an accessory on your desk can be a great way for other people to get to know you better. The next time you’re on a video call with your team, take them on a tour of your desk!

Alternatively, you can use the objects on your desk as the basis for a virtual team building game: Which item within reach would you take with you if you were stranded on a tropical island?

Here’s some advice: Take a laptop charger. In lieu of a proper rope, it would be the ideal instrument for rappelling up trees to pick coconuts.

You can also expand this team building activity to your chat tool, such as Slack, by randomly asking your team members to share their remote office desk at a certain time of the day.

You can learn a lot about your remote workers’ personalities and state of mind depending on the day they are having.

Example: Is the chaos that is Max’s desk reflective of Max’s organizational skills or a stressful day? This will help your virtual team create empathy and connection with other team members across the globe.

3. Two Truths And A Lie
   This virtual team building activity is based on the popular Jimmy Fallon’s segment, and there’s no reason to believe it won’t be popular during your conference call. The rules of this virtual icebreaker are simple: Write down three statements, two of which are true and one of which is false. Read all three statements out loud and give everyone else a minute to guess which of the statements is false.

You’d be surprised how many times you can play this before you run out of fake things to share, or eventually knowing your co-workers so well, that you can easily tell when they are lying.

4. Team Coffee Or Team Lunch
   It’s a scientific fact that eating together promotes team bonding. Most companies that pride themselves on having a strong company culture have picked up on this, and just because your team can’t physically meet at the same restaurant doesn’t mean that this tried and true team building activity is off-limits.

It’s fairly straightforward to hold team lunches remotely via video conferencing: Have food, eat in front of your camera, let the conversations (and probably coffee) flow. It may feel weird, but it works!

If you have a group of foodies, you could create a remote cooking experience with your co-workers. This can even be opened as a company-wide virtual team building activity where participants share their recipes using the same ingredients. This is a great way to learn different flavors when your remote team has a diverse cultural background.

Breaking down virtual barriers by breaking bread is simple to organize and something everyone will have in common.

5. Summarize A Story In 60 Seconds
   Everything becomes more exciting when a time limit is involved. For instance, listening to an academic summarize their PhD dissertation is hardly the stuff of high drama, and yet one of the most popular public events at universities is the 3MT, a competition in which PhD students attempt to whittle down their thesis into an easily digestible three-minute-long sound bite.

Substitute PhD dissertations with resumes, change the time limit from 3 minutes to 1 minute, and you have the basis for a pretty good (and quick) team building exercise that can be added to any virtual meeting.

Your colleagues are going to want to know a bit about your background, but they’re not going to want to know about it in Proustian detail. By forcing everyone to summarize their careers in 60 seconds, you’re not only sharing information that will help cement bonds between team members, but you’re doing it in a way that would nab solid ratings if your virtual meeting were broadcasted on TV.

You can also spin up this idea as a fun way to start your virtual meetings. Instead of sharing a career background story, you can have each team member sharing a fun, not yet-known story about themselves in 60 seconds.

Start With Team Building Basics, End With A Bond
These five virtual team building activities are just a small fraction of the hundreds of possible meeting games out there, but they’re ones that are easily adapted to fit into your regular meetings.

Remember, good virtual team building activities should create natural conversations—similar to the ones that take place in the traditional workspace, and all while sitting in the comfort of your favorite chair and outfit.

Start small. Pick one idea above and give it a try! You will be impressed by the results that this can bring to your team.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2017 and we’ve added a whole heap of new ideas and nuggets of information to this post in October 2020.

Use Trello to help manage your team efforts. find more at https://trello.com or if you need more power try out Monday.com or Wrike.com

What if you got paid for recommending your favorite grocery store, or gas station or tire store or insurance agent or movie theater? You do it every day, you recommend stores and services who have treated you well and you’ve done it for free. Wow you are incredibly generous. But what if those businesses offered you a gift card or maybe even a portion of the sales income you helped the business generate. Wouldn’t that be a good thing?

What if I offered to reward your kindness in telling your friends and family about my online course? Would that be such a bad thing?

As soon as you have checked out the My XYZ’s of Excellence – One Day at a Time – Online Course and decided to share it with your friends and family, I want to provide you a financial reward for your kindness if they choose to enroll and take my course. Let me know if you want to receive a portion of the tuition paid.

If you think the course has merit and would like to recommend it to others, I want to share an income opportunity with you. Affiliate marketing within the internet is a very effective way for you to add income to your life by simply sharing something that you have already found to be of value.

Imagine if you could be rewarded for all the times you recommended a tire store or a fast-food restaurant or a real estate agent or an insurance agent or new movie or new album. Imagine if every time you simply shared something you found to be of value with your friends, the owner of that product or service gave you a financial reward in return.

Well, that’s what I want to do. I am more than happy to share a sales commission with you. For every dollar received from someone choosing to improve their life by enrolling in my course I am prepared to share part of that tuition with you. Can you imagine the income you could have received already if colleges and universities would have shared just a small portion of the received tuitions with anyone who had recommended to a high school graduate that they attend their alma mater?

Any user within my Thinkific account can be assigned an Affiliate role. Once I have assigned you a unique identifying number, each affiliate will have their own set of unique links, you can use those links to direct traffic to my Thinkific site: “My XYZ’s of Excellence – One Day at a Time – online course.”

The first time any prospect visits my site, having been directed there through your affiliate link, a browser cookie records how they got there; if it was through your affiliate link, the cookie will record that information. If the prospect, then goes on to enroll in my course within the next 30 days, they will be associated with your affiliate identification.

Affiliate commissions are tracked for any enrollments that are made by a prospect using your affiliate links. This assignment of affiliate commissions includes full payment or installments on a payment plan.

I hope you will accept my offer to you to share a large portion of the tuition with you. My goal has always been to help other people. I can help students (business and team leaders) through their completion of my course and I can help you through recommending to them that they participate in the course. This can be as Steven R Covey once said a true “Win- Win” opportunity.

How to become an affiliate:
1) Enroll in My XYZ’s of Excellence – One Day at a Time – Online Course. Either full course, one of the Bundle of modules or the Free Day One Module.

2) Email me a request to become an affiliate. My email address is admin@jaepperson.com

3) Invite your tribe to enroll.

4) Collect commission after your friends enroll.

Security & Privacy

News you Can Use…

Ruth Gonzalez | September 17, 20192 9 min read

The original intent of social media was to bring people together. We share our lives with our far-away loved ones and friends and make new friends across time zones and cultural boundaries. 

Sound good? If this was the only outcome of millions of humans sharing cat videos and baby photos, the world would be a sweeter place. However, with this intent came something more unfriendly—to put it mildly.

Hackers, marketing companies, and more besides, take and share your informational data for a variety of reasons.  Extreme examples like Cambridge Analytica using your likes and dislikes to influence an election should be enough to give the everyday user a pause for thought.

Let’s take a look at the kinds of security issues that come from social media, and how you can keep yourself and your data safe in a time when everyone is online all the time.

How Is Social Media a Security Risk?

These days, almost everyone with an internet connection or mobile device has at least one social media account. Their methods of use may differ from reading the news to sharing their lives, to updating their professional resume. Regardless of usage, social media is a part of the fabric of modern-day life. 

What used to the content of private conversations is more often than not shared in a public space such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Multitudes of strangers have access to your opinions, comments, political leanings, and family concerns.

Bearing this in mind, it’s important to learn how to protect one’s data and privacy while feeling free enough to learn and share on these platforms.

With privacy and security a top priority, enabling best practices for safely using social media will give you peace of mind.

Start with a Strong Password

Password managers are your best friend when it comes to social media protection. A password manager assists in creating random strings of characters that are unique, hard to crack, and also hard to remember. Bearing that in mind, the manager stores these in a safe account that is easily accessible. 

Trusted password manager apps are everywhere, but the top ones include:

• 1Password
• Dashlane
• LastPass

While you may have numerous accounts that require passwords, these apps keep them all in one place, while diversifying the actual passwords themselves. It is recommended to never use the same password for more than one account. Tools such as Chrome Password Manager will generate unique strings of characters for you.

Security Concerns on Facebook

Facebook is the behemoth of all social media. 

With an estimated two billion users daily, it can be impossible to avoid. Even if you’ve decided to limit your use of the platform, it can be very difficult to disengage from it entirely. Most users of social media assume others have a presence on Facebook. Think about all the ways in which family, friends, and colleagues use it. Even cultural and entertainment institutions rely on Facebook to announce important events. 

Facebook has become our default, despite its faults and shifting demographics, everyone seems to be on it.

Now consider all the problems that arise from this fact. Exposes in the media and documentary films have uncovered widespread hacking and abuse of personal information. Cambridge Analytica harvested personal data on over 50 million Facebook users and used it to alter the course of a democratic election. There’s a saying that ‘If you’re not paying for the product, you ARE the product.’

We are still a long way away from any solid implementation of global data rights as human rights law. Therefore, it is up to you, the user, to know how to protect yourself and your digital identity.

Easy Security for your Facebook account:

• Create a complex Password & store in a Password Manager.
• If you’re checking your Facebook account from any device other than your home computer or personal cell phone, do not check ‘Keep Me Logged In’.
• Set up 2FA: Two-Factor Authentication ensures only you can log into your account. This can be enabled inside the ‘Settings’ menu under ‘Setup’.
• Only accept friend requests from people you already know in the real world, or are within two degrees of separation from your personal network. 
• Report suspicious activity to Facebook.
• Block accounts that harass or attack you on comment threads.

Next up, Twitter!

Twitter has revolutionized the way we absorb news and media. 

With its short bursts of journalism, to its hilarious use of puns and wit, to its unfortunate abuses of fringe ideology and ignorance, this social media platform has changed the game when it comes to information.

You no longer need to scour an entire news blog to follow a story that means a lot to you. Simply locate the journalist on Twitter and follow her, or find the relevant hashtag for the latest updates.

Twitter is also great for self-promotion of your small business, building a network of trusted colleagues, and promoting brands and business practices relevant to your interests.

With the great ability to communicate also comes great risks. 

Here are some valuable ways to protect your identity, location and data on Twitter:

• As with Facebook, begin by creating a complex Password & store in a Password Manager.
• 2FA is your best friend from now on! Two Factor Authentication should be used wherever and whenever it is offered on a social media platform
• Go into ‘Settings & Privacy’ and choose ‘Protect my tweets’ for added privacy. This way, only your approved followers can see what you choose to share and say on Twitter.
• Monitor all third-party apps that have access to your Twitter account. Some of these allow data access, therefore it is wise to limit any third-party capabilities.
• Don’t accept or click Direct Messages from unknown accounts. They may be phishing attacks or viruses.
• Don’t forget to log out of any devices that are not your home computer or personal cell phone!

Onward to LinkedIn

Chances are if you’ve ever searched for a job in the last ten years or more, you’ve got a LinkedIn profile. 

It’s the world standard for professional networking. This also means it hosts a huge amount of personal data from your location to your professional network and education background. That can be quite tempting for a hacker, identity thief, or third party marketer.

LinkedIn is a haven for phishing attacks, scam artists promising ‘dream jobs’, and the usual hackers that abound all over the internet. With your professional life on the line, you can’t afford not to put privacy practices into place on this platform that is the global standard for resume hosting.

What you can do on LinkedIn:

• Starting with the password, begin by creating a complex Password & store in a Password Manager.
• Think carefully about what data you wish to share on LinkedIn. Only post the most essential professional details about yourself. If you already have a resume or CV up, go over it and remove anything that seems like oversharing.
• Check what third-party apps are authorized to connect your LinkedIn. Sometimes these are outside job boards or old application processes. Delete any that are not in use.
• Be wary of direct messages from unknown recruiters or countries where you’ve never done business. Practice internet savvy and don’t trust every message that comes into your inbox!
• Keep track of where you apply for jobs and how you’ve shared your LinkedIn profile. 

Picture Perfect Privacy: Instagram

Who doesn’t love pretty pictures? 

Instagram’s popularity has soared in recent years. What used to be a niche photo-sharing site, has beaten the old standard Flickr and risen to the top in popularity. It’s platform encourages the exploration of beautiful landscapes, fabulous parties, and gorgeous fashions. It also allows for story-sharing, hashtag following, linking to other profiles, and conversation threads.

The good thing about Instagram is that you can make your profile completely private from prying eyes. This doesn’t stop your handle from being linked, however, if the average user, or bot, who is not in your curated followers list has no ability to see your photos. For a platform with more than 1 billion active users, privacy is a concern.

How to make sure no one is accessing your IG account:

• As with all other social media platforms, set your password with a unique string of numbers and characters.
• Enable 2FA (two-factor authentication).
• Consider changing your passwords every few months as an extra precaution against fraud. Do NOT use the password twice.
• Monitor any third-party apps you may have already approved, and disable any that are not in use.
• Do not geo-tag your photos. Disable geotagging that allows your location to be shown when you post a photograph.
• Do not hashtag your location unless absolutely necessary. For example, if you’re posting a photo of a hotel where you stayed a few months ago, that may not be leaking sensitive information. But if you’re currently on vacation and away from your home—which is now empty—you may want to re-think posting that Instagram photo.

Staying Safe Online

Following these basic instructions for security and privacy is good practice for making them the normal way you go about using social media. 

As you can see, most of them employ common sense and good password implementation. Familiarize yourself with the unique differences of each social media platform your information is on, and make the adjustments necessary for a safe user experience…

(See my approach to this topic in my online course – “My XYZ’s of Excellence,” Day 1 – The letter A – Assess and Acknowledge)

BY SHANNON MULLEN O’KEEFE

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Using strengths as a common language improves engagement and performance
• To change a culture, all employees need the opportunity to learn their strengths
• When everyone “speaks strengths,” work gets done more efficiently

As leaders grapple with how to build cultures of inclusion, using a common language based on strengths can be an effective tool.

Pivoting from divisive factors to 34 ways to describe what people naturally do best (in 33.4 million varieties of top five theme combinations) can help everyone get at the heart of what makes humans alike: the way we think, feel and behave.

Leaders can choose to have pockets of their teams explore their talents using a strengths-based approach like CliftonStrengths — but to change a culture, it can’t be that just a few experience it. It needs to be baked in, and everyone needs to take part.

Employees who agree that their organization “is committed to building the strengths of each associate” are also much likelier to agree that:

• their organization’s mission — and therefore their job — is important
• they are supported in their development efforts
• their opinions count
• they have an opportunity to learn and grow at work
• they can do what they do best every day
• someone at work cares about them
• they receive helpful feedback on how they are doing

GALLUP ACCESSUse CliftonStrengths to Improve Team PerformanceGet access to the CliftonStrengths assessment and team tools within the Gallup Access platform.

Employees who know and use their strengths are six times as likely to be engaged at work, nearly 8% more productive in their role and much less likely to leave their company.

Business leaders who invest in building cultures where people are positioned to do what they do best every day see up to 19% increased sales, 29% increased profits, 59% fewer safety incidents and 72% lower turnover (in high-turnover organizations).

These outcomes sound pretty good — but taking the step from knowing about a strengths-based culture to leading one requires a shift in how decisions are made. The “way things happen” in the workplace must be underpinned with an appreciation for what makes each employee unique. That starts with a baseline expectation that each person has an opportunity to discover what they do best.

Leaders can set the expectation for every employee to learn and use a common language about strengths.

In theory, it is possible to get to know what others do best through observation and interaction over time.

But when leaders have everyone take the CliftonStrengths assessment, they speed things up by adding a common language for everyone to use to describe each other’s potential right from the start.

An approach like this is designed to underpin a strengths-based culture by improving communication and opportunities for development all throughout the employee life cycle.

When everyone uses a common language to describe what they naturally do best — from the very beginning, starting when someone joins the organization, meets their team, partners with or collaborates with someone new, or is mentored by someone — everyone speaks in “strengths.”

In this way, when leaders expect everyone to learn about and apply their CliftonStrengths, they fuel the creation of an inclusive, collaborative culture. Everyone knows each person’s potential superpowers right from the start.

Leaders should also expect constructive communication and development using a strengths-based approach.

Without a real commitment to ingraining the language of strengths in the culture, everyone loses precious time in the potentially messy process of figuring out how best to work together.

Team members can even get their wires crossed with each other — meaning they fail to understand one another while trying to figure it out. That happens when people don’t understand the motivations of those around them.

For example, someone who likes to make fast decisions may grow irritated when a partner prefers to move more slowly (and vice versa). What can be less obvious without an understanding of strengths is that the slow-mover is mitigating for potential barriers while the fast-mover is pushing for the action that makes things happen.

Rather than having a conversation about their different approaches, where they can each name their strengths and the motivation that those strengths create for them to act in that way, they end up feeling it out and naturally experience friction along the way. This can end up as fodder for more frustration rather than productive outcomes.

Without a real commitment to ingraining the language of strengths in the culture, everyone loses precious time in the potentially messy process of figuring out how best to work together.NEW BOOKIt’s the ManagerLearn why the manager is key to every aspect of your workplace.

It’s even worse when managers repeatedly assign work to employees in areas that don’t fit them well or align with their natural talents. Each move the employee makes on behalf of the organization can negatively affect their own engagement and the outcomes they aim to deliver for customers.

When managers “speak strengths,” though, the projects they assign can boost both growth for the individual and ultimately performance outcomes for the company.

And when everyone speaks strengths when starting projects together, they might choose partners who complement their work style. Or they might just acknowledge their differences upfront and stay respectfully aware of them as they navigate the completion of the project together.

Focusing on strengths doesn’t mean forgetting about weaknesses or overlooking poor performance. But learning the language of strengths enables discussion about barriers that may exist because of a misalignment of talent — where coaching and support are needed to develop an area of strength, or where there’s a void to fill via partnerships, processes or shifts in work.

In cultures that are truly strengths-based, people working together are able to move past annoyances and miscommunications to acceptance, appreciation and ultimately admiration for the differences that help them to achieve results together.

The “way things happen” in the workplace must be underpinned with an appreciation for what makes each employee unique.

As the late Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

An organizational culture where people work outside their personal strengths zone, day after day, does very little for business performance.

On the other hand, the performance outcomes of strengths-based cultures are clear.

With a focus on what employees do best, leaders who prioritize strengths development provide a common language for people to discuss how they can collaborate effectively — creating an inclusive culture where teams can build on those proven performance outcomes and generate organic business growth.

Not sure where to start? Let us help.

• Explore our free online guide for creating a strengths-based company culture, or listen to our webcast How to Create a Strengths-Based Culture in Your Organization.
• Learn why over 23 million people are using their CliftonStrengths to do their best work and live their best lives.
• Partner with us to make your aspirational culture a reality.

Editor’s Note: A previously published version of this article stated that employees who know and use their strengths are “nearly eight times more productive in their role.” This has been corrected to read “nearly 8% more productive in their role.”

AUTHOR(S)

Shannon Mullen O’Keefe is an Adviser and Performance Lead, Organizational Performance Consulting, at Gallup.

(SEE MY APPROACH TO THIS TOPIC IN MY ONLINE COURSE – “MY XYZ’S OF EXCELLENCE,” DAY 10 – THE LETTER R – READ, REFLECT AND REMEMBER)

Kaleigh Moore
Feb 1 2020 10 min read

(editors note… the year is nearly over, quick go get one or two of these books.)

When you think about improving your productivity, you probably don’t think of sitting down to read a book.

However: That actually might be one of the best things you can do. Reading is an easy way to learn some of the best tips, tricks, and tools about productivity that you can apply to your everyday life.

If you’re looking for a good book recommendation on this topic you can read (or listen to!) in your down time–you’re in the right place.

We’ve got a list of 10 books that will help you get the most out of your days.

Why productivity books are a good idea
Before we get into the actual book recommendations, let’s quickly go over why productivity books are a good idea in the first place (and the reality of modern adults’ reading habits.)

It turns out that book consumption among US-based adults is fairly low these days. In fact, Pew Research shows that about 26% of Americans admit to not having read even a part of a book within the past year.

That said, if you can make time to read even one book this year, a title that’s focused on productivity is a good choice, as it’ll help make you more effective at work and in your daily life. Plus: They’re often easy to digest, tactical, and provide actionable tips and tricks you can apply right away.

Overall, reading productivity-focused books is a smart time investment, but it has a mental health benefit, too: A study conducted at the University of Sussex revealed that reading reduces stress by 68%. Not bad, right?

Next, let’s look at some specific titles that’ll help you get on the path to maximum productivity based on your needs.

Top productivity books: Find the right book for your needs
These 10 books are a great shortlist if you’re looking for productivity advice around a variety of needs and issues. Be sure to look at the descriptions and “Read if” sections to find the one that’s right for you.

#1 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

by Stephen Covey
This book was originally published back in 1989 and has sold more than 25 million copies since its release. Its focus is an approach that pivots on aligning with your “character ethic”, which happens by forming a series of seven habits. These habits allow the reader to move from dependence to interdependence for maximum effectiveness in life. It’s a good high-level productivity read if you’re more into long-term behavior modification rather than quick hacks and tricks.

Quote: “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”

Read if: You are into gurus with life-changing insights…

#2 Deep Work – Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

by Cal Newport
Newport’s Deep Work is a book that focuses on eliminating the clutter, noise, and distraction of the modern world so you can focus on deep, productive work. This is especially difficult in a world of technology (think buzzing phones, never-ending notifications, and a flooded email inbox.) If you need to simplify and get rid of the things in the way of your deep work, this book is for you.

Quote: “Less mental clutter means more mental resources available for deep thinking.”

Read if: You need help getting into deep work, which allows you to focus without distraction on a difficult or demanding task.

#3 Getting Things Done – Art of Stress-Free Productivity

by David Allen
This book was crafted for the business crowd and has spawned a whole offshoot of seminars, courses, and workbooks that people around the world swear by. With tips and principles around organization, prioritization, and clear goal-setting, this book also shares some meaningful insight into how to include relaxation as part of the big-picture strategy.

Quote: “If you don’t pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it will take more of your attention than it deserves.”

Read if: You need help overcoming feelings of confusion, anxiety, and overwhelm at work.

#4 Essentialism –The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

by Greg McKeown
Essentialism is a book for the person feeling frazzled by having too much to do and not enough time. The Amazon description sums this approach up nicely: “Essentialism is not a time management strategy or a productivity technique. It is a systematic discipline for discerning what is absolutely essential, then eliminating everything that is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution towards the things that really matter.”

Quote: “Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done. It doesn’t mean just doing less for the sake of less either. It is about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy in order to operate at our highest point of contribution by doing only what is essential.”

Read if: You’re looking for a strategy to help you figure out what is absolutely essential so you can be as productive as possible doing the things that matter most.

#5 Zen to Done

by Leo Babauta
If you want an ultra-simple productivity system, look no further. This book is the “Art of Tidying Up” …but for your workday. Focusing on habits and structure, you’ll learn how to become more mindful and at peace with what’s on your to-do list so you can logically and thoughtfully tackle your work.

Quote: “Keep it simple, and focus on what you have to do right now, not on playing with your system or your tools.”

Read if: You want to get your life organized and actually executing the things on your to-do list and changing your existing habits.

#6 Free to Focus

by Michael Hyatt
More than 25,000 professionals use the ideas outlined in this book to have more productive workdays. It teaches you how to: Filter your tasks and commitments, cut out the nonessentials, eliminate interruptions and distractions, and set boundaries that protect your focus and drive results. If you want a simple, no-nonsense approach to productivity with only three steps, this is the right book for you.

Quote: “True productivity is about doing more of what is in your desire zone and less of everything else.”

Read if: You need help discerning what’s important (and what’s not) in your day-to-day life. This book will help you gain clarity and direction around how to better prioritize your work.

#7 How to be a Productivity Ninja: Worry Less, Achieve More and Love What You Do

by Graham Allcott
Written by one of the UK’s foremost productivity experts, this book is all about making the most of your attention, beating procrastination, and learning to work smarter–not harder. By reading it, you’ll gain tactics for guarding your time (and will teach you how to be ruthless, if needed) as well as insights into how to stay calm and work with a clear mind.

Quote: “The trouble is, the modern work paradigm gives us so little sense of completion or clear space that it feels like we’re constantly straining to see the light at the end of a long, long tunnel.”

Read if: You’re looking for a fun, accessible guide to productivity that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

#8 Extreme Productivity – Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours

by Robert Pozen
Written by a Harvard Business professor who also balanced a full-time chairman role for a global financial-services firm, this book is all about learning how to maintain laser focus to get the most done in the least amount of time. One of the key principles to this book is the idea that you have to make a critical shift in your mindset from hours worked to results produced if you want to be fully efficient and effective.

Quote: “If a project looks as though it may fail, make sure to give your boss plenty of advance warning. Bosses don’t want to be surprised by long delays or major blow-ups. It is bad enough if they occur; it’s even worse if they occur without prior warning to the boss. With advance notice of a serious problem, your boss may be able to revise the project goals, reshuffle its resources, or come up with a brilliant solution. At the very least, your boss won’t make promises to his or her superiors that cannot be kept.”

Read if: You want practical advice from someone who understands both the classroom and at-work context of being productive (and still maintaining a healthy family life.)

#9 Principles – Life and Work

by Ray Dalio
Written by the founder of Bridgewater Associates, one of the most important private companies in the United States, this book is all about the unconventional principles he’s developed, refined, and used over the past 40 years in business and in life. If you want to get more familiar with terms like “radical honesty” and “radical transparency” (with no BS!) this is simple and easy to read book that’ll hit all the important notes for you.

Quote: “Time is like a river that carries us forward into encounters with reality that require us to make decisions. We can’t stop our movement down this river and we can’t avoid those encounters. We can only approach them in the best possible way.”

Read if: You want to learn from a seasoned entrepreneur who has an unconventional (and maybe controversial?) approach to being productive.

#10 Scrum – The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

by Jeff Sutherland
You may have heard of the term “scrum” in the management world–it’s based on the rugby formation in which the entire team locks its arms to gain control of the ball. In the business environment, this term (and the idea behind it) is all about spotting what is wrong with the way we currently do work. The author of this book coined the term, and shares his (sometimes blunt) ideas on how to eliminate it from your workday for maximum productivity.

Quote: “Multitasking Makes You Stupid. Doing more than one thing at a time makes you slower and worse at both tasks. Don’t do it. If you think this doesn’t apply to you, you’re wrong—it does.”

Read if: You don’t want any fluff and want a straight-talker who can tell you how to maximize your day with less overall friction.

Productivity books will set you free
You have a spare 15 minutes every day, right? Grab one of these books off Amazon or at your local bookstore (or library!) and make it a goal to work through one. You’ll be ahead of the curve–and might even learn some tactics that revolutionize your workday while you do it.

Kaleigh Moore
Kaleigh is an experienced monday.com writer and Forbes + Vogue Business retail contributor.

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I can’t believe she somehow missed my book;

“My XYZ’s of Excellence – 26 Days to Excellence in Business Leadership and Life”

by J A Epperson
Alas, I’ll plug it now for you. You can even get a copy from my publisher by clicking here I used Booklocker.com a high quality publish on demand provider.

It’s now a full online course check out the free course module click here. In the “One Day at a Time” online course you’ll find that the course module Day 10 – Read, Reflect and Remember confirms Kaleigh’s argument of the “need to read” and the mantra “leaders are readers.”

(SEE MY APPROACH TO THIS TOPIC IN TWO MODULES IN MY ONLINE COURSE – “MY XYZ’S OF EXCELLENCE,” DAY 8 – THE LETTER M – MEANINGFUL MEASURABLE MILESTONES AND ON DAY 9 – THE LETTER P – PLAN PREPARE PLAN)

By Jeremy McAbee, October 8, 2020

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home was becoming increasingly common. However, in the wake of the coronavirus, work from home (or WFH for short) has become the new norm — and a lot of professionals are working from home with kids. 

In this article, we’re taking a deep dive into how to work from home with kids, how to create a workspace at home, and how to develop a manageable work-from-home schedule that your whole family can benefit from.

Why is there an increase in work from home parents?

According to research out of Stanford, 42% of the U.S. labor force is working from home full time. The cause of this new “working from home economy” is clear: the coronavirus pandemic. 

According to Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, “The stigma associated with working from home prior to COVID-19 has disappeared.” What’s more, Bloom says that a number of corporations are developing plans for more work from home options beyond the pandemic. In fact, a separate survey indicated that “the share of working days spent at home is expected to increase fourfold from pre-COVID levels, from 5% to 20%.”

Naturally, many of these now-remote employees are working from home with kids. On top of that, many of those children are attending virtual school from home. That means these work from home parents are not only adjusting to new working environments and a work from home schedule for themselves, but they’re also balancing their jobs with their duties as parents, tutors, and classroom assistants to their children. 

Common challenges of working from home with kids

The challenges of working from home with kids can vary greatly depending on factors like how many kids you have at home, their ages, and any special accommodations or needs they may have. For instance, a newborn baby or a toddler will likely require more time and attention than a high-schooler, although teenagers present plenty of unique challenges of their own. 

Some of the most common challenges facing work from home parents include:Power the Modern, Agile EnterpriseCrush your 2020 goals and keep moving forward with Wrike’s work management platform.Get started for free

Time management

Maintaining a regular schedule can be extremely challenging when working from home with kids. Not only do you have to manage your own time, but you have to manage your children and ensure they’re taking care of their schoolwork, if they’re of school age. 

Managing time and a busy work schedule can be even more complicated if your child or children are five years old or younger, which means you must be extra diligent about creating a manageable schedule and having the necessary support systems in place. 

Interruptions 

Probably the biggest challenge of working from home with children is dealing with interruptions.  These always seem to come at the most inopportune times — like when you’re on a Zoom meeting with colleagues, managers, or clients. Even if you’re not in a virtual meeting but are concentrating on a work task, interruptions can derail productivity. In fact, according to one study, it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task at hand after an interruption.

Switching from “work mode” to “parent mode”

Another common challenge for work from home parents is switching gears from “work mode” to “parent mode”. This can be tough, even after 5:00 p.m. when most people are typically done with work for the day.

In fact, separating your work life from your home life becomes significantly more challenging when working from home. Work duties and parental duties can easily bleed into one another without the physical separation that comes from working in one distinct location and living in another. This is why creating a designated workspace in your home can be so beneficial for work from home parents. 

How to create a workspace at home

The importance of creating a workspace just for you goes beyond the psychology of training your now-WFH brain to recognize work actually needs to be completed in your home. A physical workspace also helps to remind your family that you are, in fact, not 100% available to cater to their every need. Setting down rules on how to get your attention can also help to ensure you get some time to concentrate. A starter project you may even consider giving your child is to make a sign for your office door that you can update with “In a meeting” or “Busy until 2:00” messages. 

If creating a physical barrier simply isn’t a possibility (e.g. your kids are too young, you’re the only adult home, etc.), you may instead consider setting up both you and your children in the same room, but perhaps in different corners. One for your work and one for theirs. Many schools are providing online instruction and assignments. Turning half your office into a pseudo-classroom can help everyone stay focused and on task. 

Make use of noise-cancellation — for you and your team

We’ve all been in meetings where there is suddenly a siren in the background or other auditory distractions that derail the call. Considering it takes an average of 16 minutes to re-focus after reading an email, reducing the number of distractions both you and your team encounter should be top-of-mind. Now that you and your children have been thrust into the same environment, make use of both a noise-canceling headset and your microphone’s mute button whenever you are on a call. If you’re the only one home, having a video baby monitor available to watch your kids can help you keep an eye on them even if you can’t hear them. If total separation isn’t possible, consider giving the noise-canceling headset to your child (it may help keep them focused on their tasks/entertainment and stop them from attempting to join your meeting). 

One handy feature of video conferencing tools like Zoom is a push-to-talk (PTT) option when muting your microphone. Utilizing features like this can further help to reduce background noise and reduce the number of times you have to mute/unmute yourself while on the call. 

How to work from home with a baby

Working from home with a baby can be particularly challenging since they require so much time and attention. However, here are a few tips to help you stay productive while tending to your baby.

Take advantage of naps

Most babies tend to take multiple naps throughout the day. If your baby is a napper, you can take advantage of these pockets of time to get some work done. In fact, you may find that tackling your most intensive tasks during naptime is a good strategy, since you know you will have a certain amount of time that’s totally distraction-free while the baby is conked out. 

Work when they’re content and calm

Of course, most babies don’t nap the entire day, and you’ll likely have more work than can be done during naptime alone. The second best time to work from home with a baby is when they are at their calmest, typically right after they wake up or after they eat. 

Use a baby carrier

Another strategy is to use a carrier that allows you to “wear” your baby while you work. A standing desk setup plus a carrier can help you remain productive while keeping your baby close and content.

Overcommunicate with your colleagues

Nothing spells disaster more than leaving your co-workers in the dark. If they’re unable to get in contact with you to answer questions, collaborate on projects, or get information so they can do their job, the likelihood of something falling through the cracks increases dramatically. Utilizing group chat statuses and clearly defining what hours you’re available can help to let others know what your workload looks like and when you’re available during the day. 

To further increase collaboration, consider implementing an online project management tool like Wrike to create a single source of truth for your teams. By keeping all information in one spot and centralizing communication, you can ensure everyone stays well-informed on projects’ and deliverables’ statuses. 

Don’t beat yourself up

The fact of the matter is that working from home with kids — particularly a baby — is a real challenge. Do the best you can to communicate with your teammates and managers, create a reasonable work schedule, and be as productive as possible. But also give yourself some grace and try not to get caught up in feeling guilty.

How to create a work from home schedule that works for everyone

Parents know their children’s attention span never seems to last long enough. No matter what project or entertainment you give your kid, you know they’re only going to stay distracted for so long. The good news is you can use this to your advantage to time out your tasks during the day. Studies have shown multitasking is detrimental to productivity, and the advantages of breaking up a large project into smaller ones can also be incredibly helpful. Timing yourself to work on one task at a time should not only help ensure your efficiency, but also help keep an eye on your little ones. 

Past individual tasks and daily schedules, creating a shared calendar with project deadlines and milestones can help keep everyone aligned with what needs to be finished by when.

Be (and stay) flexible

We all know something going perfectly to plan almost never happens — especially when taking kids into account. Planning as much as you can will help identify roadblocks and potential issues that may crop up over the next few weeks — but it won’t account for everything. Bake in some flexibility when planning out your time. 

Any tools you use to collaborate with your colleagues should be able to handle rapid changes. Dynamically changing due dates on deliverables (and accurately extrapolating that to dependencies) should be something your tools can easily accomplish. This will help to simplify your processes when change occurs.

Wrike can help work from home parents stay on track

The processes that worked for you in the office may no longer work now that you and your team are distributed. Now is the time to look at what your workflow management processes are and see how they can be improved. Doing this now will help to alleviate potential issues from this radical workplace change, better prepare you for future business growth, and minimize familial distractions during the workday.

Wrike’s own remote workforce has been sharing tips and tricks from our home offices all over the world. Additionally, you can take advantage of Wrike’s free trial to learn more about how to manage the future of work.

Learn more about Planning and Preparation on Day 9 of My XYZ’s of Excellence – 26 Days to Excellence in Business Leadership and Life “One Day at a Time” online course.

(SEE MY APPROACH TO THIS TOPIC IN MY ONLINE COURSE – “MY XYZ’S OF EXCELLENCE,” DAY 9 – THE LETTER P – PLAN PREPARE PLAN)

All of us at monday.com; Oct 7 this is an 8 min read

Managing a single task is straightforward enough — you put in the work and submit it for review when it’s finished.

In reality, a typical project consists of many moving parts that must work together to meet deadlines. Just one part breaking down can cause delays and financial losses.

Keeping everything on the right track isn’t easy. This is why every project needs to have a system in place to monitor and evaluate its progress.

It sounds obvious enough, but how do you actually do it?

In this article, we’ll provide an in-depth look at what project monitoring and evaluation is, why it’s important, and how to implement it in your organization. We’ll also give you an actionable template you can customize and put what you’ve learned into practice.

What is project monitoring and evaluation?

Project monitoring and evaluation is used to measure a project’s progress. It’s important because it lets you keep tabs on a project and identify potential problems.

Let’s take a closer look at these two concepts.

What is project monitoring?

Project monitoring is the process of keeping a close eye on the entire project management life cycle and ensuring project activities are on the right track.The success of a project depends on a clearly defined structure. Not having a plan would be like building a house without a blueprint — possible, but incredibly difficult with tons of room for error.

A lack of goals and measurable objectives (37%) is the primary reason why projects fail.

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Goals are important for any project because they act as a guide. But just setting an objective isn’t enough. You need to make it a point to check if you’re actually meeting them.

Project monitoring is all about comparing actual performance to the goals you set. If you’re not hitting milestones (e.g., delivering a prototype within a specified time), the project has a high chance of failure.

A project can be divided into five phases: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Closing, and Monitoring and Control.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these phases:

• Initiation: The initiation phase outlines the steps and processes that must be approved before any planning begins.
• Planning: The planning phase determines the project scope and details the processes for the execution phase.
• Executing: The execution phase involves carrying out the activities defined in the planning phase.
• Closing: The closing phase finalizes the project and its completion is communicated to all stakeholders.
• Monitoring and control: The monitoring and control phase involves making sure the project is on track and incorporating any necessary changes. This happens at the same time as the planning and execution phases.

Project monitoring is the ‘monitoring part’ of the monitoring and control phase.

It involves measuring project-related details (e.g., budgets, schedules, scope, etc.) against your goals to ensure you’re on the right track.

Now let’s take a look at project evaluation.

What is project evaluation?

Project evaluation is the ‘control’ part of the monitoring and control phase. It involves looking at the information you gather from monitoring and making decisions based on it (e.g., do we need to adjust schedules or fast track certain processes to meet deadlines?).

Not every project goes according to plan. Costs might exceed the initial budget, team members might miss their deadlines due to scope creep, a stakeholder may suddenly back out, etc.

But project issues are also perfect learning opportunities to identify where things in the project plan started to go awry.

This is what a project evaluation framework is all about. Evaluating why a project is heading off course allows time for intervention.

Best case, you discover an issue early enough to get back on course. Worst case, you gain valuable insights that you can use to improve future workflows.

The evaluation process happens throughout the project — not just after project objectives are met. There may also be more in-depth evaluations at big milestones, like the retrospective at the end of a sprint.

Companies waste an average of 11.4% of their investment on projects due to poor performance. Project monitoring and evaluation is a tool to help you improve a project’s overall efficiency by catching and resolving issues before it’s too late.

Let’s look at how you can get started.

How to get started with project monitoring and evaluation

Project monitoring and evaluation enables you to make better decisions about ongoing and future projects. Here’s some framework and steps you can follow to get started.

#1: Create a plan for monitoring and evaluating your projects

The first step is to create a process for how you will monitor and evaluate your projects. Start with the following steps:

• Organize your projects: You need a platform or system to capture and organize your data in one place. Use project management software to keep tabs on different phases of a project. Here’s an example of how teams are monitoring the project scope in monday.com:

• Identify responsibilities: Who will be responsible for monitoring each phase of the project and conducting evaluations? How will they determine and measure project success? Designate stakeholder roles as early as possible and create a checklist of their responsibilities.
• Record project bottlenecks: What were some issues that you or your project team experienced? Make sure to record those incidents, including how you addressed them and what the outcome was.
• Create an evaluation plan: Will you conduct evaluations every week or after each phase of the project is complete? Collect feedback from your team to get their thoughts on how workflows can be improved.

#2: Monitor performance in real-time

Whether you’re managing a construction project or launching a new product, you need a real-time view of what’s happening to monitor your projects and make informed decisions.

Here’s an example of how the team at monday.com monitors and manages project implementation in real-time:

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Monitoring performance in real-time enables you to track each team member’s progress and allocate resources accordingly.

The last thing you want is to work with outdated information, which is exactly the kind of issue that M Booth, a digital PR agency in New York City, experienced.

Their team was copying and pasting information from Basecamp into a spreadsheet to see everything in one place. But problems arose when one platform was updated and the other wasn’t. This meant that some employees were working with outdated data.

#3: Evaluate project reports

Was the project delivered on time? Or were there unexpected setbacks?

Answering these questions is what project monitoring and evaluating is all about. But you need to collect the right data and assess the results to find the answers.

Pull reports from an ongoing or completed project and evaluate your key performance indicators (KPIs) — metrics that gauge your project’s performance.

Reviewing reports can help you understand how your team is performing against their goals and pinpoint where timelines started to deviate.

Here’s a quick glance of a project report created in monday.com:

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#4: Improve workflow processes

If a project didn’t meet the deadline, dig deeper to find out why. What were some of the setbacks? How were they eventually resolved?

Don’t stop there though. Use our incident management template to record any incidents and how you addressed them.

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If anyone on your team runs into a similar issue for future projects, they can refer to the board for a solution.

#5: Focus on learning and improving

Project monitoring and evaluation lets you keep tabs on projects, evaluate their progress, and improve processes. Just making one change can have a huge impact on future projects.

For example, the team at monday.com turned hours of tedious meetings into a single 20-minute session just by adding more boards.

But we also recognize there’s always room for improvement, so the team is constantly focusing on learning and improving. That’s the additional reward of project monitoring and evaluation.

Even after implementing a new change, don’t celebrate just yet. Continue learning from and optimizing your evaluation system to make your work processes even more productive.

Conclusion

In a perfect world, all of your projects would go according to plan. Everything would be completed on time and within budget.

But that doesn’t always happen in reality — employees may miss deadlines due to personal emergencies, external stakeholders may back out without explanation, etc.

Project monitoring and evaluation enables you to identify and mitigate issues that may impact the project scope, quality, timeline, or budget. You can then take those insights and use them to optimize processes for future projects.

Use a project tracker template to monitor projects and get a high-level view of where everything stands — all from one place. You can easily customize the template and create a tailored plan that fits your workflow.

Get a project tracker template now!

Learn more about Planning and Preparation on Day 9 of My XYZ’s of Excellence – 26 Days to Excellence in Business Leadership and Life “One Day at a Time” online course.

Infographic brought to you by Wrike