Safety Consulting Corner

Skeletons in the Closet

Almost a year ago, I wrote about a service called Pipl. Read the post here. Pipl is also mentioned here but in a different context. As you can probably guess by the title of this post, this discussion is about finding out what information about YOU is out there on the web. Pipl is one way to do this. Many people have a jaw dropping experience when they find out how much is really available about their life. Sometimes there is stuff out there that isn't even true. In this world, anyone can write anything and post it online for the world to see. If you want to check the WWW and see if any of your skeletons are already out of the closet, visit the following site:

Pipl

reunion.com

peekyou.com

spock.com

wink.com

zoominfo.com

If you would rather leave all this checking to someone else, there are sites (of course) that can do that too. One to check out is ReputationDefender.

Whatever method you choose, it is a good idea to make sure your skeletons are where you want them to be!

Wanderlust

I am currently living in Munich and I am experiencing the same sensation I had while livingin London about 10 years ago - Wanderlust. I love that word. It's actually a German word (how fitting) that means a strong desire to explore. Here in Munich it's easy - so many fabulous places are just a train ride away. It gets more difficult (and more expensive) when wanderlust strikes me back at home in the US! Wanderlust can also strike you in business and hopefully you have this experience at least once a year. I would define wanderlust in business as intense thoughts to explore new fields, new techniques, new business opportunities and new areas of specialization. You might attend a conference or meeting that is not exactly in your area of expertise and decide you really want to explore that field further. You might meet someone at a party and hear about their job and think you might like to do that too. There is nothing wrong with looking outside your field for ideas and motivation and in fact, there is nothing wrong with moving outside your field. Who said you had to do the same exact thing forever anyway? I am not saying that you are going to switch from being a safety consultant to another field overnight, and not that you should (there are not enough safey consultants!) but you could take steps to combine the best parts of that other job into your practice to keep things exciting - and to help satisfy that wanderlust! What other fields interest you? What can you borrow from them to make your safety consulting practice more exciting (and lucrative?) Think about it, Go explore!

Out of the Office - for 3 months!

If you are planning on being out of the office for an extended time - say you want to live abroad for 3 months or want to spend the Summer at the beach - it is totally possible if you plan ahead. I am actually doing this right now and I would like to share some of the tools I am using to help me accomplish this. In today's post, I want to rave about Skype. I know Skype has been around for awhile and I am actually late getting on this bandwagon but I have been a heavy user since leaving the US - mostly because I can call other Skype users for free and I can call anyone in the US without Skype for pennies a call. My Macbook has a microphone and speakers built right in so I don't need to do anything at all except find someone's name in my Skype address book and click on their name to dial it, and Bingo - we are talking (and the sound and connection is great!) If you don't have Skype, sign up for a free account and give me a call! - Linda

Back from a break

Hello - If there are any regular readers out there, you probably noticed (hopefully) that I haven't posted in quite awhile. With the holidays and unexpected move across the Atlantic ocean, I have gotten backed up a bit. Well, I am back! I hope to post much more regularly now and I am still on schedule to have a short guide for safety consultants ready by June. Thank you for your patience!