Look around – take stock of how much time you’re wasting looking for stuff, managing your Inbox and dealing with paper.

In business, we don’t have a second to waste. Our personal time can be super-efficient too IF we are using a few tools and smart clutter control tips.

If you need help conquering the top four clutter culprits – paper, stuff, email and time – then book a seat at  Organize with New York Style , a half-day educational event to be held March 5, in Manhattan, at The New York Helmsley Hotel.

Several metro New York professional organizing experts will deliver different workshops on time management, organizing your belongings, e-mail and paper. One speaker promises to enable you to have an empty Inbox – this one session alone is worth the price of admission! The program runs from 10 am – 1 pm, and registration begins at 9:30 am. Reserve your space by February 15 and pay only $75, after that the fee is still a bargain for three hours of tips and tricks – just $90. Click here to register online or get more info via email at:  OrganizeNY@napo-ny.net.

Jerry Greenfield spoke @ NY Times Small Business Summit

Within the last week I participated in  or spoke at 2 major small business events – the annual New York Times Small Business Summit in NYC (check it out, WomenCentic’s logo is among the business support groups listed in the Local Resource Cafe, on the homepage ;-) and Podcamp Boston 5, in Cambridge, MA. I’ll share my thoughts about attending my first Podcamp in the next post (it was awesome, so make sure you read  it) – right now want to cover the OPEN/NY Times event.

First – over 700 people attended – and there were regularly scheduled breaks in between the opening remarks, lunch keynote (by Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s) , workshops  and a closing keynote by Robin Chase, Founding CEO of ZIPCAR and GoLoco- so great networking opps abounded! Since I was invited to exhibit in the Local Resource Cafe, I was unable to personally check out the workshops. But everyone I encountered during the course of the day had nothing but good things to say about their $99 investment – which also covered a light breakfast, snacks, drinks, lunch and cocktails in the after party. Producers & production staff from MSNBC’s “Your Business” (evidently sponsored by OPEN Forum of American Express) - which airs Sunday mornings at 7:30 am EST – were also onsite videotaping interviews with various entrepreneurs, including me ;-).

Other top-level panelists included Lisa Price, Founder of Carol’s Daughter a growing skincare, bath & body product company (stay tuned for my video interview of Lisa!), David Liu, Co-Founder and CEO of the popular and highly successful bridal resource, THE KNOT, Cynthia Rowley, Fashion Designer, of CYNTHIA ROWLEY COLLECTION, Shiv Singh, Dirctor of Digital Engagement & Social Media, PEPSICO and Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, CEO and Chairman of POLYVORE, a fashion trends and style shopping site.

Jacqueline Wales, Author of the The Fearless Factor, chats with Pattie Simone, Founder of WomenCentric & President of Marketing-Advantage.net & Write-Communications.com

As promised, some of this year’s event focused on digital tools and tips, as well as marketing (i.e. building a brand – one of my personal favorites!), speed networking, a serial entrepreneur panel and the nuts and bolts of growing a business were some of the topics covered – an ambitious agenda that kept the attendees and speakers hopping from 7:30 am through 5;45 pm, when the event was officially over.

My take – you absolutely get your money’s worth on this one:  every event I’ve attended to date covers all bases: timely information, inspirational speakers, actionable advice, smart resources and terrific networking opps – a winning combination.

First up  - Accolades!

Let me start by saying Starbucks rocks – at least Lori, the effusive manager in the New City location, does. She listened patiently to my story, took action, gave me recommendations and urged me to contact her if I encountered any problems getting a refund (it’s a long story, suffice to say my daughter was overcharged for a discontinued item in a NYC store in a rather unusual way). This is kind of spectacular service produces raving fans, and Lori, God bless her, earns first place in the Accolades column this week.

Next up for minor kudos – Costco. Minor cause they are not making sure stuff is handled properly in the first place (i.e. “the system” needs to be fixed.) Here’s what happened… I added 2 of my kids onto my account. Seems “the system” automatically bills the yearly rate for all listed users upon renewal, even if some were added on a couple months before the renewal date. The Customer Service rep who handled my initial call neglected to tell me that my yearly contract would be up in a couple months. So basically I paid 40 bucks for 2 months, and then they billed me another 40 bucks 2 months later. The first Customer Service person I called to address this snafu said “I’m sorry, this is our policy.” Never say that to me, just patch me through to your Supervisor. The affable Supervisor did not need any arm twisting, sobbing or ranting to agree that I was right (boy do I love those words!) Anyway, spit-spot, he took care of refunding me the money I had originally plunked down to add my kids, and that was that. Moral of story grasshoppers – never accept the “policy” excuse, place nicely and go to the top when the first person can’t (or won’t) help you.

Now for exciting Conference news…

I recently covered the TWTRCON Conference in NYC and heartily recommend you get your buns to the San Francisco program in November. The New York program featured excellent speakers (@Martha Stewart was the main keynote) along with folks from Google, Starbucks, JetBlue, Mashable, Foursquare, Whole Foods, Pepsico, etc. The day featured great content from terrific panelists (including Laura Fitton aka @Pistachio) who provide incredible case studies and tons of practical advice on all things Twitter!

San Francisco is also the hotspot for the upcoming Search Engine Strategies Conference, held in tandem with Connected Marketing Week from August 16-20 at the Moscone West. Can’t wait to hear the latest news on emerging technology and best practices from a stellar roster of speakers, including: Jeffrey Hayzlett, VP of Eastman Kodak (maker of my favorite “Flip” style camera – the Zi8!), BJ Fogg, Director of Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University, Lisa Buyer, President & CEO of The Buyer Group, Andrew Chang, Marketing Manager, LinkedIn, Eleanor Hong, Lead Editor, SEO ABCNews.com. This venue is attended by marketing and PR leaders and CEO’s from around the world – so the networking is also excellent. If you’re not able to make this one, try get to one of the next Conferences, which will be held in Hong Kong in September and Chicago in October.

Hope you’ll find these useful; let me know what you think!

Sizzlin' Hot Marketing Tips

Welcome to Marketing-Advantage Insight – our spiffy news and Blog portal! Check in each week for sassy ‘n innovative  marketing success tips. Our goal is to provide you with as much info as we can, so you can make smart choices and get a “marketing-advantage” on branding,  online advertising, PPC, social networking, and websites, as well as direct mail, marketing planning, strategy development, PR and our newest favorite topic – digital asset management and deployment.

Stay tuned buckaroos – more comin’ atcha soon!