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Should a small, local business have a website?
Letâ€™s get to the point right away. Itâ€™s money. For any business, the ultimate reason for having a website is to improve their bottom line.

Master Your Game: High Performance Teams Self-Assessment

Last month, I talked about the difference between groups and teams. (See September newsletter.) I also discussed the many benefits of teams. For another important reason for improving your teams, look no further than the bottom line. When a team does not perform its task, the opportunity costs are great. Poor team results, missed deadlines, members not committed to the outcome, stress and frustration, unproductive hours - these are some consequences of poor-performing teams. How much are these worth to you? The good news is, with professional coaching, it is possible to convert your groups into teams. Furthermore, you can boost your team's level of performance from good to great. High performance teams mean mutual commitment that leads to innovative outcomes and measurable positive results.

You Don’t Have To Do It All Alone

For those of us in business, particularly the smaller businesses, we tend to think we have to do it all ourselves. Perhaps we are trying to keep costs down, maybe we really believe we have the skills, or perhaps we are hoping to hone skills we have not yet developed. In reality few of us can do it all; developing strategic alliances not only expands our resource base but it frees us up to capitalize upon those things that we are truly passionate about. The bottom line is that we move closer to our goals.

Refining Employee Relationships - Getting To The Bottom Line
When we are managers, supervisors and leaders, we build workplace relationships - and we do it for a reason. We want to achieve successes and we need to do this through our people. This is the bottom line for the interactions we take our part in...

Seeking Win-Win Outcomes - The Workplace Relationship Buy In
The core of all business relationships is parity. They are about the negotiation between an employer for output, in exchange for reward, the basis of which is usually a financial transaction. So this is a fair deal then...

How Increasing Your Self-Esteem Increases Your Bottom Line

We hear from everywhere that if we just learn that one right strategy, create the perfect look for our business or take one more class that our business will grow, we’ll get rich and all will be well. Now, I’m not saying these aren’t important. You do need to think about your brand image, hone your skills and have a great plan. However, in order for any of that to work for you, you first need to feel great about being you.

How To Control Your Bottom Line By Showing You Care
It's all too easy to overlook the obvious! To be a good business leader, you need to understand and practise a few basic 'relational skills'. Be a good operator, yes. But if you ignore the 'soft' skills like listening and acknowledging, your bottom line will suffer significantly! The best business leadership includes building the very best relationships with your teams. Here's a few ideas.

Recycling in the Office shows good Leadership
Many companies don't recognize the benefits of recycling, for improving the bottom line is often the motivating factor for implementing such programs; but it shouldn't be.

“People”…The Secret Ingredient to Success

In simple terms, you can measure your business success by how well you get customers, keep customers, and the efficiency of your operations. Many companies measure their success by revenues, income and other traditional accounting yardsticks. The problem is that the accounting approach measures how you did but not how you should have done. For example, take a company that grew 20% last year, and had $10 million in revenue. Its management team was weak, so it lost an additional 20% growth, missed out on another 5% in net margin, and had unnecessary turnover of 10% in client base. So this same company (assuming a 10% net margin) could have seen another $800K added to their bottom line. The one secret ingredient was “people.”

Using Product Recommendations To Increase Your Bottom Line

One of the more important ways of increasing affiliate marketing bottom line and sale is through the use of product recommendations. Many marketers know that this is one of the most effective ways in promoting a certain product. If the customers or visitors trust you enough, then they will definitely trust your recommendations. Be very careful in using this approach, though. If you start promoting everything by recommendation, your credibility will actually wear thin. This is seen especially when recommendations are seemingly exaggerated and without much merit. wealthdevelopments.com

How Leadership and Corporate Culture Impact Profitability

Turns out leadership isn't just a feel good thing. It drives the bottom line. A constructive culture is one where there is a sense of achievement, challenge, growth, encouragement and humanistic relationships. Organizations with a constructive culture had consistently higher profit margins. Aggressive cultures (very task/numbers driven without support/encouragement) have the most erratic profit margins.

YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE-Warren Buffet Business Principle # 10

Of all the business principles that are promulgated over at Berkshire Hathaway, this one can have the greatest appeal and application for business entrepreneurs, large and small corporation contemplating a public offering as well as the start up company developing its business principles. Business Principle # 10 invokes the golden rule of business and the bottom line that giving business value can be done in varying relationships to getting business value for exchanges and sales, stock offerings, stock options and public offerings.

Growing Your Business Profits

Consider how leveraging money you have already spent into advertising or maintenance or other ongoing expenses like printing, or landscaping, repairs or equipment maintenance or even purchasing new equipment can add additional profit and cutting costs to your bottom line. Consider how leveraging money you have already spent into advertising or maintenance or other ongoing expenses. Increase sales and profits with money you already spent!

How to Create Packages That Sell

And, the bottom line is you have to understand your customer's pain. Your job is to get them excited, intrigued and ready to take action! When your audience wants the outcome that you are offering you can be sure that they are not basing their decision on whether you are offering one call or 20 calls. They are simply interested in an offer that will give them the transformation they seek. When you're on the stage, you want 90% of your speaking and energy to be about the amazing, breakthrough results they can expect from investing

At Target Everyday is Earth Day
Some environmentalists have criticized Earth Day as a one day event, but companies like Target are making Earth Day everyday. Target is reducing their environmental impact through a multitude of sustainable practices. Target is amongst a growing number of businesses that are marrying their profit motive to environmental responsibility.

Send workers home to boost productivity

No, I'm not talking about getting rid of the deadwood, I'm talking about telecommuting and a virtual workforce. Think about it. Fewer bodies, less space, lower rent. What else don't you need? Well, electricity, heat, air conditioning, water, paper, phone, fax, copier, pens, notepads...you get the idea. It's time to cross that chasm and send your people home! Let's get your staff working remotely and watch your margins AND productivity soar!

Is MySpace Still Worth the Time?

Odds are you might already be questioning whether or not MySpace is worth the time anymore. In fact, you might well be wondering exactly who this site is for these days. The bottom line is that the traffic on MySpace is dropping like a stone. If you have been preoccupied with other things, such as getting your Internet marketing ventures up and running, then you might have missed MySpace’s rather impressive plunge from Internet greatness.

Apple’s Decisions Could Be Impacting Your Bottom Line
Apple and its founder Steve Jobs are making decisions that are impacting you even if you don’t realize it. As it turns out, Apple has been making changes lately that will impact Internet marketers and Internet entrepreneurs around the world. If you want proof of Apple’s massive clout, all you have to do is look at statements they have made concerning Flash.

Lesson #2: There Is Nothing Wrong With Being Cheap
He knows it and he’s proud of it: Robert Johnson is cheap. He did not get to where he is today by being careless with his money or by taking expensive chances. He got to the top by spending less than his competitors, by being frugal with his money, and by focusing on the bottom line.

Lesson #2: Grab a Partner and Go

Orfalea recalls the way in which he first came up with his idea for Kinko’s: “It was an easy business…My dad made women’s clothing, and he had all this inventory to worry about. So I thought, this inventory thing is bad news. I don’t want anything to do with it. With a Xerox machine, I can dial a button and what comes out the end I can sell. It’s actually a simple, dumb business really.”

Lesson #4: Have Your Own Definition of Success
“I busted my butt all my life building companies,” Huizenga once said. “I have a friend who’s my age, and the last thing we say when we hang up is QTR – quality time remaining. I don’t know how many years I’ll be able to play golf, so I’m going to enjoy every minutes of this.”

Lesson #4: Nice Guys Finish Last
“My father wasn’t a believer in ‘monetary allowances’ for my sisters and me, so he set us up raising chickens,” recalls Steinbrenner. “We sold the eggs to our neighbours…If one of our neighbours wanted a fresh chicken, then we also had to kill and dress the chicken.”

The Next Hill To Climb

I recently received an interesting letter from one of our subscribers, quite complimentary. He pointed out that he particularly enjoyed one week's edition of the newsletter having to do with success. Then he elaborated on the fact that he has achieved so many things--God has been really good to him--and his question was, "I guess it's like winning the World Series or the Super Bowl. After you have done that, there simply isn't a Universe Series or a Galaxy Bowl to win. When you are on top, how do you find a bigger hill to climb? Or do you?"

Be Positive Every Single Day
"You have to be positive every single day. You have to put effort into it daily, because no one else is going to do it for you."

Spontaneity
In his inspiring book Be A People Person, John Maxwell tells a true story about an important game of rugby that took place between two English schools. During the closing minutes of the contest, a boy more gifted with enthusiasm and school spirit than with experience, was sent into the game for the first time.

How to be a millionaire
First step, make a million dollars.

What's Culture Got To Do with It?

A beautifully crafted strategy can fail when the employees in various divisions within an organization clash. Logically, we think that strategy should drive behavior, but, in reality, it's the culture—underlying norms, values, belief systems—that dictates how effectively people work together. Employees' behavior has direct impact on the bottom line, costs, revenue streams, level of productivity, customer satisfaction, even the brand—every aspect of the business is affected. If strategy and culture are not aligned, the culture may support behaviors that conflict with what has to get done—and actually block execution of the strategy.

Vocabulary

Learn one new word each day. In less than five minutes per day you can get amazing results. The average American learns only twenty-five new words each year and actually has a speaking vocabulary of five hundred words. One new word per day will mean that in one year you will have a distinct advantage over most people with whom you are dealing; within five years you will have a colossal advantage, not because you know the words but because those words give you a breadth and depth of understanding that will enrich your life in every way. Plus there is more good news: Every word has several buddies; when you learn one new word you’ve just expanded your vocabulary by several more.

Credit Cards, Preference Reversals, and Debt

My friend Herb argued in a recent column -- and I'm paraphrasing here -- that "debt is high and the end is nigh". I cordially disagreed with him on CNBC during one of our twice-weekly on-air visits, in part because I'm more sanguine about debt, about people's general competence to make basic financial decisions, and about changes in the economy that have made it rational for people to have more debt than they did in the past. I'm also considerably less convinced about the quality of the NIPA data (it overstates expenditures, and understates income) etc.

Debunking The Time Myth
I always hear people say that they don't have the time to look for a new job or consult with a personal board of advisors or make that extra call to an important contact. BS, let's get real.

"Best Business Book 2008" (Hands Down)
If business's true bottom line is people & relationships (What else???), then I offer my, hands down, 2008 Biz Book of the Year:

Problems
Got A Problem? Find A Problem! Many years ago Dr. Karl Meninger of the world-famed Meninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, was asked the question: "What would you do if you feared that a nervous breakdown was coming on?" Without hesitation Dr. Meninger said, "I would find somebody with a bigger problem and get involved with helping him solve his problem; in the process I would forget about my own."

"The Word" According To Marshall
Marshall Goldsmith is widely considered to be the premier executive coach, more or less the inventor of the genre. We have been together on several programs, I like him immensely—and I think he does great work.

Bottom Line: This is Not the Bottom of the Financial Crisis
Thomas Barrack Jr. is a friend of mine who happens to be a brilliant guy. We’ve partnered on ventures and he’s the CEO of Colony Capital. He’s been following the financial crisis and occasionally sends me his thoughts about what is going on. He makes such good sense that I’d like to quote a few paragraphs from what he sent me a few days ago:

False Dichotomy! (If Anything, Backwards!)
False Dichotomy! (If Anything, Backwards!) I was asked to contribute "a paragraph" to a writer who was doing a magazine article on "management" "versus" "leadership." Herewith my contribution:

Handling Price Objections Should Not Mean Price Reduction
Price objections often lead to price reduction, but with proper sales training, employees can handle them without lowering cost.

Business success is all about sales.

Do you want to Up Your Bottom Line? The world market is heating up. Competitors are appearing out of nowhere and expectations are high, especially from the top. In today’s market both the business owner and seasoned professional salesperson have to be producing at their absolute best to stay up with the industry leaders. Business people must also be sales professionals who today have to be pro-active, highly energetic, entrepreneurial, self-driven and really concerned about efficiency and the bottom line. He or she needs to be honest, sensitive, a master problem solver and above all, a personal marketing genius with a win/win philosophy. The profession of being a salesperson is no different than any other profession. All

Discipline and Attitude Essentials for Difficult Times

Maintaining the right attitude during difficult times is definitely not the easiest of tasks, but it is probably the most essential ingredient required for overcoming challenging circumstances. Unfortunately, during difficult times, such as the current financial crisis, we often unconsciously become a product of our environments and reflect our negative surroundings through pessimism. Maintaining the right attitude requires discipline and it is this discipline that determines our success and satisfaction in life. It is important to remember that discipline, like

Discipline is an Effective Habit

What is Discipline? Does discipline have anything to do with success or motivation? Does discipline have anything to do with your everyday life? Can discipline be an effective habit? Discipline is defined as a commitment to the most important person in the world - YOU. It means doing what you have to do, even when you don’t want to do it. Discipline is an effective habit and effective habits lead to effective results. Conversely, ineffective habits produce ineffective results. Firstly, you must

Do you have an employee retention strategy that also increases employee motivation?

These were the questions posed to Business owners in a workshop at an Annual Conference at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort earlier this year. Thanks to their contributions, this article became possible as an employee retention and employee motivation learning tool for you. Teams were created to brainstorm answers to each of these questions. It wasn’t long before everyone started to see a common element in all three areas. The common element was people and how management relates to employee retention and employee motivation, , no matter what area they worked in.

Employee Recognition and Praise. Does it improve performance and productivity? Does it keep them motivated and loyal?
Maintaining a motivated staff is not always the easiest of tasks, but it does pay off for you, your customers and the employee. This article focuses on closing off periods, or events, with employee recognition. If you want to avoid losing your best employees, and encourage others to do better recognizing them publicly may save yourself the time and money of having to find and re-train new staff.

How Discipline and Attitude Can Make the Difference in Your Life, even in these Difficult Times
Maintaining the right attitude in difficult times is not the easiest of tasks, but it is the best thing you can do! With the right attitude in difficult times, realistic goals can be set, planned for, put into action and accomplished. However, both attitude and goal accomplishment have a common denominator, and it is that common denominator that is missing in the lives of most people.

Increasing Sales Results through Appropriate Behaviour

You can have a fantastic attitude, but a positive attitude alone is not enough to guarantee long term success. You need goals and an action plan to get where you want to go. The ‘B’ stands for behaviour in the ABC, 123 Sales Results System. Behaviour is the manner in which you conduct yourself. It is the way you behave, the way you act, function or react. The 1, 2, 3’s are the goals and behaviours from a personal, organisational, and market targeting level. Without goals there is no reason to act, no motivation to take daily actions or go the extra mile.

Sales Prospecting for Sales Results

Are you, as a sales or business professional, getting the results you are looking for from you sales prospecting strategies and techniques? Do you have a sales prospecting strategy in place? Do you follow a sales prospecting system or sales prospecting process? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you are probably considered a successful sales professional. If not, then allow me to share some sales strategies on sales prospecting with you from the internationally proven ABC, 123 Sales Results System, a non-traditional sales process.

Top 10 Characteristics of Successful Sales Professionals
Top 10 Characteristics of Successful Sales Professionals Success means different things to different people. But let’s look at sales professionals. What would you say are the top 10 characteristics of successful sales professionals? To a salesperson, it could be a

The Foundation to Sales Success

You can’t build anything without a solid foundation. The ‘A’ is for attitude – the foundation of all successful sales people. Attitude is the “advance man” of our true selves. Its roots are inward, based on past experiences, but its fruit is outward. It is our best friend, or our worst enemy. It is more honest and more consistent than our words. It is a thing, which draws people to us, or repels us. It is never content until it is expressed. It is the librarian of our past, the speaker of our present, and the prophet of our future. Yet, your attitude is under whose control? 1/3. Your attitude is 100 per cent under ...

Stop selling! Satisfy the Four Universal needs of Buyers, and They will buy!

Let’s face it, people buy from people, particularly people they trust and like – people who remind them of themselves. People that they can trust. Therefore it is important for you, as a sales professional, to be aware of and to understand the universal needs of buyers. The competencies of sales professionals are numerous but boil down to human interaction, communication and relationship building. You, as a sales professional, needs to establish rapport and build trust, to communicate effectively and to develop and maintain lasting relationships, if you are to succeed in the sales profession. In order to build a long-term relationship, you as a sales professional, must first establish

Selling Skills for today’s economy
In order to succeed and meet sales targets in today’s economy sales professionals need to be equipped with the appropriate selling skills, following a proven selling system or sales process, They can no longer afford to carry on with traditional selling skills of doing dog and pony shows, feature and benefit dumps, or hit and run closes.

Sales Training in Today’s Economy
Sales training in today’s economy will contribute more to your bottom line than any other activity. You will see how sales training will affect budget cutbacks, sales incentives, new product launches and personal growth. Let me share with you

Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

In the US where IQ and SAT scores have dominated thinking on who is likely to succeed, the evidence is now clear that people skills are far more important when it comes to the bottom line. For many years it had been considered inappropriate to show or to have emotions in a work situation. An overwhelming amount of research shows that not only are emotions very much a part of the work experience, but to a large degree they set the course that a company follows. Unlike IQ, which is unchanging from childhood on, emotional intelligence can be developed. In fact, it usually does become greater with age and maturity. The importance of developing one's emotional intelligence is essential to success in the workplace. Utilizing the power and energy of one's emotions leads to high motivation, and improves problem-solving and decision-making.

4 Ways to Raise Your Bottom Line by Being Adventurous in Your Business
To be adventurous means that you participate in exciting enterprises and bold undertakings. Are you adventurous in how you run your business? What would it look like for you if you were? Here are 4 Ways to raise your bottom line by being adventurous in your business.

What Are You Waiting For?

It's hard to tell someone to go. I wish it did not matter, but it is. If you have a decent performance evaluation system, it can be less difficult. If you do not have one, you do some extra work for yourself and employees may justify their decision. But the work must be done. Our economy will continue to be weak for the near term. You want to strengthen your team and always as efficient as possible to be. The team should be on making the right decisions about the best that way.

Unsurpassed Existing Mortgage Rates- Key points on Understanding How to Get the Best Current Mortgage Rates

Don't be an uninformed Canadian who simply takes whatever mortgage rate is offered. At the very least, make sure you have contracted a broker or financial service that has your best interest at heart. You want to also make sure that broker has the expertise and relationships in place to get you the best current mortgage rates possible as soon as possible. Depending what kind of mortgage you get, fixed or variable, can affect your bottom line significantly during your typically one to five year mortgage term. So ask questions and don't be shy. It's not a crime if you don't understand the mortgage industry. That is why there are experts in the mortgage field or in any other field for that matter. Let qualified, reputable professionals get you best deal for your cash.

Are You Customer Centric?
If you want your business to grow, drive the bottom line, and have happy customers that love sending you business, then build a customer centric culture!

Who Needs Personal Development at Work?

While trends in the past few years have advocated bringing your whole self to work, the prevailing culture in many industries still expects employees to leave their personal stuff at the door and stick to business when on the job. It seems the move toward openness has been brushed off the side of the desk in favour of leaner operations, especially with the current economy. This kind of ‘fluff’ just doesn’t impact the bottom line that much. Or does it?

You Can't Close The Sale
In this economy, in our new economy, the consumer is closing the sale. If you want and need more business to hit the books, more revenue to hit the bottom line, then learn to put your time and energy into front end of the sale.

Creating Successful Results with High Self-esteem

Having high self-esteem will give you the edge you need to apply confidence to every situation that demands it. Self-esteem is the combination of trust and belief in your talents and the ability to successfully complete the task at hand. It all starts with a clear identification of your talents, complemented by your understanding of their value. When you can acknowledge the value in your talents, you can acknowledge the value in yourself and that builds your self-esteem. The bottom line is that high self-esteem contributes to successful action because when action is supported by confidence, you encourage the likelihood for positive results.

Are You Connecting With Your Customers With Consistent Communication They Can Relate To?
Because copy is one of the key elements of your marketing materials, it’s important to keep up with what’s working and what’s not.

How to Be with Insecurity?

As an inner confidence coach, I often hear clients voice their frustration about feelings of insecurity. The inner critic is angry that they’re even feeling insecure - that they can’t get rid of that old feeling following them in places where they don’t want it to go. I understand. I, too, know about insecurity. And what I’ve learned through my years of working with this issue - within myself and with many, many people in the education, counseling and now coaching fields - is that it is natural and human to feel insecure. Everyone does - at times and usually in certain areas.

What Type of Managerial Attitude Do You Have?
Many of us are familiar with the inspirational phrase, "your attitude determines your altitude." In the worlds of human resources and management, this phrase holds much truth. In this issue of Astronology, we take an in-depth look into managerial attitudes, and how they affect the overall health and functioning of an organization.

Sales Tips for Trade Shows and Major Accounts
The exhibitor and visitor attendance is more good news relative to confidence, spending and outlook in the business sector. The bad news is that the exhibitors were clueless as to how to get people to stop at their booths and engage.

Selling to C-Level Executives Sales Training Tip 11- Handling the Committees Obstacle
A committees or a subordinate has been delegated the power of awarding the contract. This C-level selling tip will help you handle this tough selling obstacle.

Site Speed
As inventive as ever, Google is now launching a new version of its crawling and indexing engine. They’ve even given it a name: Google Caffeine. To the person searching for something, Google Caffeine will seem like plain old Google – the search page looks the same, the results look the same – so what’s so different and why should anyone care?

How to reform from MLM lead stalker to Professional Attraction Marketer

I want to tell you a true story about my former MLM life. I am a reformed MLM lead stalker. I have to admit, it didn't last more than a year. I absolutely hated it. The truth is, it just wasn't me. After doing some research, like you, I stumbled onto new information about how I could generate my own leads, and have the internet work for me 24/7. This system was like a gold mine, and I haven't looked back.

PRODUCTS COME IN MANY FORMS, THERE IS NO NORM!

Information masters who possess a great deal of knowledge when it comes to their craft fully comprehend that product creation is only half the battle. It is imperative that one figures out how to present all of their material in a clean looking fashion so that they can come up with a product that is user-friendly. The bottom line is that you must develop something that buyers will want to purchase or you will not make any money. If the appearance of a product is worth a thousand words, it can also be worth 1000 dollars if it is put into the right hands of a product creation specialist. Since there are so many ways to present your product, the words below will merely focus on a few of the many methods available.

How to Find the Right Social Networking Marketing Video Course to Meet Your Marketing Needs
In this day and age when social networking is so prevalent, marketing with a video online is not that unusual. Many people want to actually "see" what they are instructed to do instead of just read about it with some text online, so a social networking marketing video course is a must have in today's world of online marketing.

When the Accountant Speaks, We Don't Listen!

Warren Buffet's very informative and enlightening Annual Report each year includes a list of owner related business principles by which Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger)have skippered the ship. Principle # 6 discusses aquisition of portions of businesses or whole companies, the related costs and taxation benefits or drawbacks. Mr. Buffett has successfully led Berkshire Hathaway to the empire it has become through steadfast reliance on money saving, intrinsic value growth and goodwill accrual principles such as these.

Evalulate your Sales Team
You should always be evaluating your sales team

Effective Ways To Increase Targeted Website Traffic
These surefire techniques designed to increase targeted website traffic aren’t difficult to do and the price is right. Putting in the correct amount of time and planning really can have the positive effect you’re looking for.

What Are The Career Opportunities In The NGO Sector?

Forget those age old days where people were neither serious nor willing to peruse a career in an NGO (non-governmental organization) sector. They planned to work with an NGO only after their retirement and hence it never became a good career ground for them. However, with increased professionalism, ample growth opportunities, and a challenging career ahead, there has been a quantum change in the thought process of young aspirants who today foresees the NGO sector as a great hotspot for future career aspirations. Moreover, with so much industrialization and developments happening everyday, this sector also needs future leaders who have a vision and a mission to serve the society and fight for its justice.

Small Business Guide to Getting an 800 Number
Owning a small business used to mean that you couldn’t afford an 800 number. Not so anymore. These days it is just as easy to get an 800 number for your small business as it is to have the electric turned on for your small business.

Does a Lack of Self-Confidence Affect a Franchisee’s Success?
To own your own business or franchise, you need to have self-confidence. It affects how your job is done and how well your bottom-line does. Figure out the reason for your lack of self-confidence to target how exactly you can fix it.

Guess What? Succession Planning is not Rocket Science
Managing your workforce more effectively than your competitors can give your organization a competitive edge. Putting the best people in the most critical positions means that better decisions are made more quickly, and this leads to better bottom line results.

••••••> Get Me On Top SEO Tip of the Day: Creating the Best Title and Title Tags for Top SEO Rankings (Utilizing Keywords)
There are several basic search engine optimization techniques that you need to know about in order to be successful in your SEO efforts, a proper Title and Title Tag is one

Increase Profits Without Adding Resources - Part 1
There are countless ways to improve your bottom line WITHOUT adding resources. In this three-part series, I'll share some simple, inexpensive and easy-to-implement ideas for increasing your bottom line.

How do the Top 100 Global Franchises rate compared to the top online home business?
The Top 100 franchises are rated for many factors that might surprise you. You can see how they rate for you, and whether the top online business model is worth exploring before you buy a franchise.

How the millionaires are getting richer in this economy.
Everyone has been hit hard by the economy. Some predicted this would happen, and they are in better positions than most people. Wouldn't you like to be one of those people who were in the know?

How To Choose The Best Network Marketing Company, Part 3: Who says No or Yes?
A network marketing company should be as selective and careful about choosing to work with you, as you are being selective and careful about choosing to work with them! Partnering in any business should be a two-way road. Here are 4 recruiting tactics that a good recruiter/team leader should exhibit when interviewing you.

How To Choose The Best Network Marketing Company: 3 Crucial Choices, Part 1

Personal experience speaks volumes and here are 3 crucial question, in a longer series, that one must ask before joining any network marketing company. These questions and answers gathered from experience will save you thousands of dollars, years of wasted time and a great deal of heartache. Question #1: Does the company have a solid and highly tested marketing system in place for you to plug into? Answer #1: You are looking for a tightly constructed turnkey.... Question #2: Does the company allow online marketing NOW? Answer #2: Look for a company that will train you in Internet marketing..... Question #3: Does the company have a lucrative enough compensation plan allowing you to replace your income in 6-12 months? Answer #3: Look for a company with high end products $500-$1000 This is the first article in a series.

Characteristics of the entrepreneurs
Dream a big dream, big dreams attract a lot of people!

Billable Hours - Strong Business Credit Options
BILLABLE HOURS While the term "billable hours" is most commonly associated with law professions, this concept should be used by all business owners. It's important to set the minimal hourly rate you want to earn as a bottom line.

Lesson #5: “Where’s the extra value?”
Before Matthews gets behind a product, he always asks himself one important question: “Where’s the extra value?”

Alpha – Beta – Theta of Food Costing
Success by experience is Temporary, Success by system is Permanent. Funny!!! But True :)

The Long & Short of It -- Long Copy Versus Short Copy
There's an age old debate about long copy versus short copy. Which is more effective in marketing? TThe long and the short of it is that both are effective when incorporated in your overall strategy.

Social Media and You
Should you be using Twitter, Facebook or MySpace to promote your small business?

Sales Coaching – The Free Consultation is Dead as a Sales Prospecting Introduction
If you’re a professional service provider one of the things you’ve been told you should do to get clients is offer a free consultation, review, or session of some sort. Once upon a time when this was a new idea it was very effective. It no longer works...

Increase Productivity and Profitability by Simply Eliminating Gossip
Do your employees gossip? Have you ever considered the financial impact to your bottom line? What can you do to eliminate it?

Webinars: The Greatest Untapped Secret On The Internet
Do you know one of the most underutilized ways to increase business profits? It is a business webinar. Webinars are like online meetings. They are a great way to make more money, generate more business and improve the bottom line. Mastering them can help you to dominate your business niche. Many successful businesses use them as part of their marketing strategy.

Helping Staff Recover After A Layoff
Layoffs are wrenching for companies in many ways. First, there is the sobering reality that layoffs are necessary for the bottom line. Next come the anguishing decisions about what areas to cut, followed by the unpleasant task of sharing the news. No wonder company leaders want to wash their hands of this matter once they hand out the severance packages.

How To Create More Passion For Your Life and Work
Think of what you always wanted to do but haven't done yet. What would happen if you never did it? What would happen if you did? What would you do with it? How would it bring you joy for the rest of your life? Is it in allignment with the person you are? What needs to happen for you to get it?

How To Use Marketing Webinars To Grow Your Offline Business
Webinars are a great tool for online businesses to promote their products and services. Marketing webinars are also a great tool for offline businesses. With the right strategy you would be amazed at what this one tool can do to have a significant impact on the bottom line by increasing sales, reducing expenses and increasing profit.

What to Expect When Starting a Business
What is the biggest problem in starting a business? What has the American education sytem taught us about owning a business? This article gives the author's take on what is the most important aspect for working people to understand when starting a business.

Toll Free Numbers for Small Business

You may have a thriving small business and think that there is absolutely no need for you to have a toll free number. If that is your line of thinking you could not be more off track. A toll free number will no doubt help your small business grow and the benefits far outweigh the cost. You probably think that toll free numbers are reserved for the larger businesses because of the cost, but again you would be wrong. With the implementation of virtual 800 numbers now any business regardless of size can have a toll free number that is cost effective.

What we Think About Sales Motivation is All Wrong

The bottom line - for your salespeople - is that everyone is different; everyone is motivated by different things and for those who are clearly motivated by money, and where you have a clear goal and focus for them, their compensation should and must be commission based. When you have people who are motivated more by recognition, awards, competition, time-off, public service, or philanthropy, your compensation program should be flexible enough to compensate them in an appropriate manner too.

Check Your Ego at the Door

Managers by the nature of their duties have authority over employees that report to them. How the manager exercises this authority defines them as a manager or leader of people. Leaders control their ego, in most cases, managers do not and it takes a confident person, secure in their abilities to control their ego. Ego, for our purpose of discussion is defined as and elevated inaccurate self-image of importance and using that idea to coerce an employee to complete their command.

6 things you must know to attract affluent clients
Do You Want To Learn The Insider Secrets to Find People that Value Your Expertise, Are Willing to Pay Premium Prices and Will Build Your Business FOR YOU By Raving To All Their Wealthy Friends?

Time management in network internet marketing?
I should say, managing you with-in time. As we all know it can be difficult with your â€œregularâ€ job, family and friends to get everything done that needs to be completed.

Keys to Wealth and Success (part 4) Complacency
Complacency creeps on when you think you have arrived and it is easy to backslide and lose momentum. Always be looking to the next level and look for a mentor who can get you there.

5 Ways to Grow Your Sales Team
I have wondered for years if there are constants in sales management. Are there principles that would help me help others in the area of management? I realized, first and foremost, that there are two basic types of leaders: bottom line managers and people managers.

Competitive Advantage in a Down Economy
Your small business is bound to yield fruit when you keep long-term goals in mind during daily operations. Constant examination of each department that has an integral role in the effectiveness of the business should be monitored for its contribution to the "bottom line."

"Learn to Let Go"
Sometimes you need to stand back and let your employees struggle through the difficult times in order to build them and develop them. Find out why it is kinder to do this than to help them through.

Are You Choosing The Right Leaders?

I love a competitive economy. When the competition is stiff, and consumers are demanding, we have to perform at our best in order to be successful. What we offer is not nearly as important as how we offer it, and how we offer "it" is directly connected to the quality and attitudes of our people. I believe, choosing quality leaders right now is the most important strategic decision we can make. The leaders you have in your organization determine how your employees are treated, developed and encouraged and held accountable. The stronger your leaders, the stronger your bottom line.

One of the Most Important Sales Skills
When it comes to selling your services many find it a frustrating experience. You are after all virtually selling thin air.

Create Chaos, Change & Controversy! (...or at least chase after them)
There's a new buzz-word making the rounds. Have you focused on the "trigger event" concept? Can you make it work for you?

Think and act like business manager
The traditional role of sales rep as provider of information is obsolete. That role got outsourced to Google because it's a lot faster and easier that way.

Internet Marketing SEO
How to get a top ranking in the search engines Without a doubt, Internet marketing SEO (search engine optimization) is one of the most important online strategies you can learn. If people can't find your site, how can they buy your product, find out about your service, or learn more about your business?

How to Keep a Healthy Bottom Line
Her day is non-stop from 7.10 am to 7.10 am next morning. How much would her boss care? Probably very little. But the boss isn't necessarily the ogre. Every working person carries their work and personal problems 24/7. A healthy bottom line depends on regarding all people at work as humans, not resources.

Employment (NFP) Report and the Effect on Markets
I have to admit last week, I was little skeptical about this stock market. I was thinking that when the un-employment numbers came out (next week) tomorrow we could see a big sell off in stocks. The stock market has been off the charts lately, and everyone is trying to figure out whether or not they are under invested in it.

The "Yeah, But......" Syndrome
Be open to new ideas and participate in the learning process inherent in seminars, training sessions and strategic retreats. Then it’s up to you as to how “rich” you become.

Your Website Should Be Profitable - Not A Drain!
When the components of a successful website come together the results are amazing, if not they are disappointing. Most companies do not see the potential in websites and often put them up without thinking them through to profitability. It is no wonder so many fail in revenue generation.

Drive Higher Profit With Three Proven Pricing Tactics

As has been noted by leading analyst firms, such as McKinsey and Co. and A.T. Kearney, pricing is the quickest and the most efficient way to improve your bottom line. It has more leverage than cost cutting, traditional business process improvement and any effort to increase your sales volume. It is also an area that relatively few companies focus on. Thus, excellence in pricing gives you a strong competitive advantage.

Musicians, Put More Time Into Doing What You Love
Many musicians lose touch with their abilities because they work too much or life gets in the way. Solutions are easy to find when you look for them. Find an easy way to get more time to put towards music to improve your skill or just relax.

Harvesting For the Long Haul | Sales, Service 101

In any sphere, as in every business, people make the machines go. We buy, we sell, we make, we serve, we support, and we create. It is in doing all these things that we also provide a basic human need to interact; to know others and to be known. Loyalty, service, value, and earnings are all directly tied to our value upon the human capital, whether serving the company, or a customer of the company. Whatever it is you are selling, understand some basic principles.

8 Steps to Foster Employee Happiness
Are you having a problem with high turnover? Are your top performers leaving in droves? Are there performance issues? The key to overcoming these challenges is employee happiness.

Cutting Costs Now: 9 Hot Areas for Creative Small Business Owners
In good times and bad, it is always a good idea to look over your business costs. Keeping an eye on the bottom line means watching both the income and the expenses. Here are the hottest ideas my clients are implementing right now.

A Cunning Cost Cutting System for the Busy Business Owner
Smart small business owners are finding ways of cost cutting in their businesses. You don’t have to be struggling to think cost cutting is a good idea in this recession. If you want to thrive not just survive, here’s a system for cutting costs with just a little time.

Down Times Are the Best Time for Business Innovation
Down times are the best times to grow and innovate business because innovation is an immediate source of increased revenue and builds customer loyalty. Consequently, the best innovation comes from your current loyal customers.

How By Answering These Three Questions Can Dramatically Improve Sales Training
If you only had 3 questions to answer to improve sales training. what would they be?

Things You Must Master on Your Road to Success! ~INSTANT CASH SECRETS
What is true success and what do you have to master to accomplish it? And if you don't have as much money as you would like what must you master to gain more? Learn free in 3 short paragraphs the simple steps given to Omari by an elite group of multi millionaires on how to gain true success and what you must master on your road to success.

How to Increase Your Sphere of Influence
What is influence, and why would you want to increase your sphere of it?

Automotive Manufactures Site Control - What is it?

Unfortunately these are trying times for many domestic automobile dealers for a number of reasons. The depth of the problems has much to do with the brand, the market and the dealers' personal situation. For many, losses or a lack of profits is starting to take its toll not just on the bottom line but on the operators and their families, their relationship with the factory and their employees. I have some examples that, unless witnessed, can be hard to appreciate. Hopefully my description will shed light where it is needed, understanding where it must and empathy where it should.

10 Steps to Escape the Job World and Create the Life You Really Want

How many of us will look back in our old age and wish we'd gone to more meetings or put in more overtime. The point? Despite pressure to “play it safe” by sticking with your day job ("...but dear, you have a good job, you want to be HAPPY too?") you have every right to follow your entrepreneurial dreams. With the realization that life is for living comes the understanding that it is up to you – and you alone – to create the kind of life you really want.

Financials for Business Owners: More Than A Look In The Rear View Mirror

Financial reports are the least understood piece of business information for most business owners. Yet everyone expects a business owner to understand his financial reports. Banks want them and they're needed to prepare tax returns. If you're not an accountant, you probably don't know how to use them to manage your business. Accounting is the language of business. The reports tell the story of how well your business is performing. Once you know what your financial reports can tell you, your accountant can provide the information in a format that makes sense and is quick and easy to read, even for a non-accountant! This is the first in a series of articles that will put business owners back in control of their company and reduce the stress that comes from not being certain how well your business is performing.

Increase Sales by Remembering Your Footprints in the Sands of Business
Many individuals know the poem “Footprints in the Sands.” In business and especially in sales, we leave our own footprints. With the economy expanding from local to global, our footprints in the sands of business can quickly disappear.

Sales Success Begins with Defining What You Value To Better Understand What Motivates You
What motivates you each day to increase sales? Have you ever considered what motivate you is what you value?

How A Doubting Thomas Affects Your Ability to Increase Sales
With the sales process for many now involving more than one decision maker, this increases the odds for dealing with the “doubting Thomas.” Invariably one of those involved has not been totally convinced that you have earned the sale.

Upselling to Loyal Customers
Upselling at the POS is a known tactic, and when done properly can be very profitable, but how can you leverage this idea deeper into your customer database to enhance loyalty and profits?

Be a Legitimate SEO Guru - Steer Clear of Black Hat SEO Tactics
If you want to remain a legitimate SEO guru, steer clear of black hat SEO tactics altogether. Black hat techniques are illegal SEO practices that will eventually get you banned from search engines.

Close More Sales: 3 Ways to Get In, Get Started and Make More Money Now--No Matter the Economy
Build lifetime customer relationships with clients who want to buy from you over and over again even in a lagging economy...

Fed Decision: Deflation vs. Inflation
With the Fed in meetings the next two days, and fears of heavier inflation much greater than ever before, Bernanke and company find themselves in a very difficult spot and will have to tip toe around inflation fears and focus on their bigger fears of deflation.

Engaged Workers Impact Your Bottom-Line

The evidence is clear. Those employers who focus on optimizing their employee's contributions reap tremendous bottom-line benefits. Remember, unhappy employees make customers unhappy. The good news is that creating and maintaining high employee engagement is all within an organization's control. Employees will respond to management that takes care of them. Engaged workers are focused, hard working, and productive-and customers positively respond to them. There is tremendous financial impact, so managers cannot afford to ignore their employees.

2009 Cold Calling Checklist

If we listen to the media, 2009 is shaping up to be a tough year. People are losing jobs and homes and businesses are struggling. A tough economy, however, does not mean that no one will ever buy anything or that no business at all will be done in 2009. What it does mean is that business owners and sales professionals will need to adjust tactics to survive: They will need to become more proactive and more efficient at finding new opportunities.

How to Use Scripts to Ensure Consistency in Customer Service
Is your first reaction like that of my clients - scripting doesn’t work, scripting is too artificial, scripting doesn’t take into account different personalities? I’ve heard just about every excuse as to why scripts won’t work; but, as I wean my clients onto the idea and they see their bottom line increasing, converts are made. Here’s how to get started.

Writing Tip: Five ways to make it easy for your readers
You are more productive when you prominently position your bottom line up front. This writing tip is easier said than done. Here are five things you can do to make your emails and other documents easy to read—and write!

Writing Tip: Put what you want to get done in paragraph one
To pique the interest of your readers, give them your "bottom line" up front. This writing tip is common sense, but not common practice.

Writing Tip: Use a forecasting subject line
When you want your emails to get things done, begin with a forecasting subject line. This simple step will turn your readers from passive to active. It often determines whether your email gets read or not.

Cold Calling in the 21st Century: The New Rules, Part II
Is cold calling dead? Hardly. Cold calling is actually one of the most targeted, efficient and effective ways to reach potential customers. Nothing beats having a real conversation with a prospect. The problem is that so many people do it poorly—that’s why it doesn’t work for them.

Read On Book Review ~ twitter Revolution
If you don't have tweeps, aren't familiar with the twitterverse or haven't started tweeting, it's time to get on board with the twitter Revolution.

The Four Biggest Blocks I’ve Seen Clients Encounter
Selling is a communication skill. And like any communication skill, it can be learned and improved upon. If there are people having success in your chosen field, there is no reason that you cannot have the same success. Educate yourself. Read books, attend teleseminars or live seminars, talk to colleagues, hire a coach do whatever it takes to gain the skills that you need to be successful.

Filling the Sales Pipeline?
The bottom line is that if you want to be able to sell consistently, if you want to have those million dollar and beyond sales careers, if you want to avoid major frustration and wheel spinning, blanketing the earth with emails, voice mails or even phone calls is not the answer.

Breakfast on the run.

Picture this, your alarm screams at you at 5 or 6am. You think to yourself you’ve got a full on day ahead and need to get to work NOW. You skip breakfast and just grab a coffee as you run out of the door or at one of those drive throughs on the way to work. You get to work and are straight into it. Ten o’clock arrives and you are fading fast, your energy is below low, you can’t think straight and you are ready to eat the first thing that walks past you.

Interest Rates and Politics
The article discusses America’s national debt issues, policy makers and politicians, and why a higher interest rate is necessary for Dollar strength and a recovery.

Staying Competitive in Your Organization
In today’s economic situation, having and holding your job cannot be assured. We are no longer living in a world where the organization one works for has any guaranteed loyalty to its employees. Here are 6 tips on how to stay competitive within your organization:

But They're Our BEST Customer!
A strong relationship with a customer is the Holy Grail we all seek. After all, once you have a Win/Win relationship, both businesses profit, right? Sometimes, but not always.

How to REALLY Connect With Your Customers on Their Terms to Build Relationships and Generate More Sales
Knowing how to engage your readers with attention grabbing headlines is important and at the same time, it's not enough to really create a relationship, build trust and eventually win a customer or client.

How Many Bananas Do You Have?
What my bread machine taught me about creating books, articles, speeches, methodologies and other forms of your intellectual property.

3 Keys to Income Acceleration
How to Boost Your Bottom Line This Week

Four Steps to Help Improve and Spotlight Your Value
One of the biggest mistakes many women leaders make is avoiding the spotlight. Time after time, our women clients tell us stories of being "lost in the shuffle" when it comes time for promotions and opportunities. Most of the time, it's not because they lack the skills or the ambition to rise up in the ranks, but because they're not visible within their organizations...

What is the best Franchise?

As a Franchise Consultant I get asked all the time: "What is the best franchise?" The "best" franchise is relative to what business model fits you the best. I would love to tell you that every franchise is right for you, but that would not be true. First thing you need to do is figure out what business model you want to operate. Things like: - Do you want employees or not? - Retail, Wholesale, Mobile, Home or Office? - B2B or B2C? etc... No where in there was Brand name or $$ right? That is because those things should come after you decide what business model fits.

How do you manage a team that is already doing well. What do you bring into the team?
What a great question. It is rare that I read something like this and it inspires me to say the least. No doubt, this situation did not occur without much work and intervention (when necessary).

How to Write Better Job Descriptions

I never understood why job descriptions were such banal documents with no structure, but a laundry list of task-driven responsibilities instead – responsibilities that pretty much look the same from one organization to another. That makes no sense. They’re more than that. Or, they could be. Meanwhile, what they shouldn’t be are generic copy/paste instruments borrowed from the Internet or someone else’s workplace. That approach deprives a company of its originality. No, rather their contents should show a relationship to the larger organization, so that the person who occupies the role actually understands his or her relationship to the larger organization.

How Can an Executive Attain Peak Performance?
Using a classic article on corporate athletes, I offer some advice on how executives can consistently attain peak performance.

Focusing on the Outcome
Learn how focusing on the outcome, rather than your products and services, can help you connect with customer needs.

Web Analytics: Making Sure Your Online Offerings Are Working for You

With online analytics, you can track virtually everything—where your traffic is coming from, who your customers are, where your customers are, what sort of systems your customers use, how your customers behave while on your site—the possibilities are endless. And these are just the analytics you can collect for free. For a fee, companies like Gomez can give you even more data, including highly technical data both inside and outside your company’s firewall.

Disturbing Thought Patterns are Toxic

Disturbing Thought Patterns are Toxic. They permeate your body, your mind, and make you feel bad mentally. Your thought focus is then basically ‘in the dumps.’ What could we have done in our lives up to this point if we had never had a disturbing thought pattern? What if we hadn't gotten sidetracked and put things aside? What if we had focused on the matters at hand? What if we had done what we set out to do without letting negative thoughts get in the way? WHERE WOULD WE BE NOW??? Imagine the accomplishments, the feeling of getting it right that we would feel and where we would be!

Five Ways to Increase Profitability By Doing The Right Thing
Ethics is actually more profitable! Author and consultant Shel Horowitz, founder of the Business Ethics Pledge, shows how taking the ethical high road-and forming partnerships with your competitors-increases revenues and lowers costs.

Become a Leader of Leaders
Leaders draw people to themselves and as a leader you must build strong people skills. This skill is important no matter what you do in life. When people are comfortable being around you and when they feel good being in your space you can be effective.

DON'T BECOME AN ENRON: Make Truth and Ethics Your Road to Success

So much has been written about Enron since the company imploded, and that will probably be so for years to come. But this essay isn’t about Enron. Rather, this essay is about your organization. Because the simple truth is, you too could grow up to be like Enron. The seeds might already be planted to make it so. Learn how to recognize and avoid Enronism and make truth and ethics your road to success.

A Few Crucial Strategies to Beat the Recession

While economic turmoil continues to intensify, savvy business owners find ways to sustain and grow their revenues. Even tough economic times present opportunities for the ones who use creative strategies to promote themselves. After all, it is possible to turn challenges into opportunities and take your enterprise to the next level, despite gloomy economic forecasts. The article below will inspire you to take action, overcome the odds and achieve the success you deserve.

Building Self Assurance
How Ellen Thompson built self assurance and maintained confident when it mattered.

How do you Draw the Line?

I was raised to believe in the potential of people, to see others at their best and hold them there - even if they were struggling to live up to their opportunities. I was brought up to have faith in people. I still operate that way. The alternative is too darned negative for me to comprehend. But right now, I'm struggling with how to live by that philosophy and also run a business in the best way.

Do's and Don'ts of Reference Checks
Checklist of what you should and shouldn't do when it comes to providing references.

I Know What the Media Wants
No one knows what the media wants because what they want is constantly changing. Don't take for granted you are some kind of media maven. Remember, you're going to succeed by learning how the media thinks, not by assuming you think they know what they want.

Quiz: How Healthy Is Your Relationship with Money?
Money—the lack of it, the fear of losing it, the dread of not having enough—tops the list of concerns of many people these days. We’re more debt-ridden than any generation before. Some of us tie ourselves up with such notions as “Having money and leading a spiritual life are contradictions.” We let our feelings of scarcity color our decisions.

Obama vs. the Charities!
Veteran Financial Planner explains why President Obama’s reduction to charitable deduction will mean less for charities.

A Leaders Prime Objectives
The Four areas a Leader MUST attend to for success: 1.Personal growth 2.Bottom-line goals 3.Efficient works systems 4.Human Relations

I Quit But Didn't Tell You

Most people initially begin their work tenures as engaged employees. They come to work, wanting to give 110 percent. They’re passionate about what they’re doing and want to become a significant part of the organization. But effectively selecting engaged employees is necessary but not sufficient to achieve Passionate Performance. Even the most engaged employee can have his passion for work diffused if his leader doesn’t know how to ignite Passionate Performance.

7 Secrets of the Wealthy
Veteran Financial Planner shares his experiences financial planning for both the wealthy and the less wealthy. These are the keys to wealth building!

The Boomer Survival Guide
If the name of the game is 'Life', then 'uncertainty' is how it's played. All the other illusions are merely debilitating distractions along the way.

Measuring Marketing Results in 2009
Marketing of any kind requires that we measure results. That’s nothing new. In current times measuring the results of marketing activities is not an option. If it can’t be measured, don’t do it is what many CEOs mandate, and well they should.

Balancing Your Marketing Portfolio
We all understand the importance of having a balanced financial portfolio, but what about our marketing portfolio? If we invest the bulk of our marketing in limited activities, we are putting ourselves at risk of achieving a less than desirable return on our investment.

How to price for optimum profit - 5 steps
One of the greatest problems that businesses face is getting the pricing strategy right. This article explores the three key factors; all companies need to consider when getting this vital element on target. Missing only one of the three can have disastrous consequences. It is important also to realize that the best solution may also not be the cheapest.

People with Goals and Dreams
People with dreams and goals succeed because of one primary reason: They know where they're going. In any game, you must determine what winning means to you -- you gotta define success and you also have to determine what it will take to win.

What Impact Are You Having On Others?
An article of 1432 words explaining how to make the impact you want in the lives of those you meet along your journey through life.

Simple, Effective Planning

Business plans... you either love them or hate them. If you love your planning process it is because the process and investment produces results all year long. It keeps you and your team focused, it’s the basis for all significant decisions and everyone knows not only the master plan, but also their piece of it. If your past planning efforts have left you and your team frustrated, you are not alone, it happens far too frequently. The annual planning process does not have to be complicated and time-consuming. Here are some thoughts on how to make planning simple and effective in your company:

Website Usability – what does it mean for your revenue?
The true test of any marketing effort, whether online or otherwise is this: did it produce the desired outcome? Did revenue, leads, downloads or whatever your goal is increase as a direct result of this effort?

How to Hire a Motivational Speaker to Increase Employee Performance and Productivity

One of the best things any company can do to impact their bottom line, especially during tough economic times, is to bring in a professional speaker or coach to work with your staff. Offering a seminar to your employees can go a long way toward increasing productivity, sales and overall performance. In the past, companies invested in new and better equipment in order to be competitive and gain an edge in the marketplace. Today, your people are your most valuable asset, so an investment in upgrading their performance is a prudent move, one that will pay for itself many times over.

Liability Limits and you – Choosing appropriate limits
Helping businesses choose legal liability limits

15 Critical Leadership Skills You Need Today
In today's tough business climate, managers and executives are becoming obsolete and are being replaced by leaders. The new manager/executive must be an expeditor and leader rather than an order giver and manager of people.

How to Hit the Grand Slam Increase Sales Win More Clients and Reduce Costs
Sales or selling can be compared to baseball. You have hits, foul balls, butts, home runs and grand slams. What would happen to your bottom line if you could score more grand slams by improving the sales skills of your sales team? You would increase sales, win more client and reduce costs. Then read how you may achieve this sales goal.

How to Successfully Market Your Business On Twitter

Twitter has become a very popular social networking website. There are currently millions of members, with new ones joining daily. Twitter was created primarily to be a medium for friends and family to keep up with each other. However, savvy marketers and entrepreneurs are using it to grow their business, keep their customers updated and to stay in contact with leads. When used correctly, Twitter can improve a smart marketer’s bottom line.

Higher profitability based on intelligent management of superior information.
In a slow economy there are still plenty of companies that are making money. How? Business Intellegnce

What Employers Really Look For When Hiring A College Graduate
Even though we are in a recession; the war for talent still exists. Now more than ever employers are looking even more closely for individuals who can “contribute to the organizations bottom line.”

Sales Training Should Cost You Nothing, Nada, Zip
Are you researching the cost of sales training? What would you say if I told you that your efforts are in vain because sales training should cost you nothing? Interested? Read on about this different perspective.

Step Up to Staff Training – A Simple 4-Step Model
Staff training is important and yet oft forgotten in small and growing businesses - here is a simple 4 step model on how to make sure your staff get the training they need (and you profit from).

Does Your Resume Have That Extra Zing?
What are your dreams, goals, resolutions and commitments for the months ahead? For many it will be to get a new job. Maybe you have been made redundant or just left college or simply fancy a change of role. To make this goal of getting a new job reality, however, you’ll need to create a resume or brush up your existing one.

The Job Market is Tough – Does Your Cover Letter Stand Out?
Knock Knock. “Who’s there?” “A unique amazing cover letter” “That’s a rarity - come on in” Your cover letter knocks on the door of the hiring company. When that door is opened does your cover letter get asked to “come in” or is the door slammed shut?

How to Shape Up the Inventory when you have 5000+ SKU’s

The goal: NO EXCESS INVENTORY These days, independent retailers cannot afford one piece of excess inventory. Storage costs, insurance, pilferage, damage, depreciation, taxes and interest on loans add up to 30 percent annually to the cost of the goods you carry. Because those costs continue to rise, tight inventory control is still one of the best investments you can make - especially during the buying season.

Recession-Proof Your Business
10 Tips to Implement During Tough Economic Times

Which Industries hold most promise in 2009

The January issue of Entrepreneur Magazine is out on the news stands and for those who have never read the magazine, January issue is dedicated to the Franchise industry. In this issue, there is an article (see link on my web site under News and Articles) that talks about the Magazine's predictions for Franchise Industries that hold the most promise for growth and stability in 2009. Interestingly enough, I wrote a blog about the very same topic in October of 08 (See blog titled: "Businesses that are still making money in this economy"). Almost every industry that is mention in my blog is mentioned in the Magazine's article. Now I am not saying that I am the smartest man alive, but it is comforting to know that the experts agree with my views and that I am on the right track. There have also been plenty of talk about how Franchise ow

Got a Great Idea? Here's What to Do Next...
How to move forward with your great ideas

Are You Using this "Power Tool" in Your Business?
The Power of "Thank You"

How to Establish & Exert Influence
Do you have an upcoming meeting where you need to convince your boss, spouse, or co-workers to make a change? Lay the groundwork for a successful encounter before the meeting starts.

Florida Auto Insurance Companies

The majority of the Florida automobile insurance companies are cutting their automobile rates. It appears that the United States overall economy isn’t returning quick enough for most families. Currently, more than ever, Floridian families wish to decrease their costs. Getting a brand new Florida car insurance estimate could help in reducing that bottom line as much as $800 per year for many individuals. Have you examined your car insurance coverage recently? Get a totally free estimate right now from Edge Auto Insurance and obtain the lowest rate on the Internet.

How Can You Turn Nothing Into Something?
If you’re a manager, don’t just manage; lead people to a place they never knew possible in their world and then some. Here's how to begin...

So What Is This Thing Called Coaching?

Without a doubt, one of the most powerful tools to maximize your potential to produce better results is coaching. A client may initially hire a coach to reach a professional goal or they may be looking to make a personal lifestyle change. We live in a fast-paced world with a myriad of changes happening beyond one’s control. However, taking a leap of faith into exploring your own potential puts you in control with more confidence. You already are! Awakening to meet your potential is an invitation to make room for who you are to flow into expression.

How to Convert More Website Traffic into More Customers & Sales by Inviting Prospects to Take Action
Increase your website sales conversions... Make sure that every page on your website provides a roadmap for your visitor with a specific call to action.

10 WAYS TO HAVE FUN AT WORK WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK
10 easy ways to have fun at work that wont break the bank.

When is it okay to lie?
Tell your clients the truth so that they'll have a reason to trust you.

You Don't Always Have to Be Right
You know the situations - you're in a conversation with someone and it starts to get a little contentious because you differ on the "facts."

Improving the bottom line

Within 100 days it is possible to achieve outstanding improvements to revenues and profits. Organisations have increased revenues by as much as $27 million in this time and both large and small organisations have proved that the results are sustainable. The key lies in the way that we lead - moving to a leadership approach that is based on engaging people both within and outside of the organisation.

Finally! Meaningful Training Measures
Training consultant Arupa Tesolin shows how meaningful training metrics link to business performance outcomes.

Intercultural Management - The World Is Out There
Getting the very best results through their employees is the value of a great manager. In a changing world, their are huge opportunities where intercultural challenges can be both overcome and leveraged.

Business and Entrepreneurship Passion not required
What’s the deal with passion and business? I often hear people say, “To be in business requires passion”, “Entrepreneurs need passion to be successful”, or “You won’t make it in business without passion.” The list goes on and on. My intention in this article is to discover if passion is truly required for business (or life for that matter).

Want to Boost Technology Sales? Incent Your Support Staff
Clues for sales are everywhere, and many times they fall in the lap of someone who is not part of your company's sales team. While most of these leads are passed along to a sales professional, it's not a bad idea to provide incentives to the support team to continue to look for clues.

Keeping Your Employees Focused in an Uncertain Economy
In these tough times it's becoming more and more difficult to keep employees focused and motivated. This article gives business owners a few tips on how to keep employees motivated and focused in these tough economic times.

The Fork of Customer Service Can Determine Sales Success
The customer service experience is a great predictor for organizational and sales success. How your employees (internal customers) handle your actual clients (external customers) will either make your day exceptional or a sales nightmare.

Floating with a sinking feeling a different perspective
Opportunities for adjustment to succeed in the current business climate

Handling Economic Objections
The key to surviving and even prospering in this economy is to not understand, buy into or take the objections. Don't panic, don't become defensive and don't resort to price incentives. Simply remain calm, understand what they're doing to you and confront. If you do that consistently, you'll be the only one really selling and helping while your competitors wait to follow up late in 2009.

10 Reasons to use SEO Professionals
These are ten good reasons to use the Professionals when it comes to Marketing your business Online.

Understanding the Bottom Line

What’s there to understand? The bottom line is the last line on the Profit & Loss (P&L) statement and it is either a profit or a loss. That’s all you need to know, isn’t it? Yes, it is important to know whether you are making a profit or losing money, but understanding how financial statements work is knowing the nature of each account and how it fits into the scheme of things. This article provides a broader understanding of the bottom line.

Handling Irate Customers Allow Them to Vent
Understand that customers are irate because what they thought was going to happen didn't: they're "hurt." When you know a customer is upset, immediately give them permission to vent their frustration; and they will want to - you can count on that!

Human Resources Buzz Words; are they all “Greek” to you?
Employee Engagement, Organization Effectiveness, Organization Development, Leadership Surveys, Employee Satisfaction Surveys……………

How to Spread the Word About Your Business: Learning the Terminology of it All
Learn the meaning of and the difference between the various ways to get your business noticed.

The Media and the Economic Self Fulfilling Prophecy
The media needs to report the facts, regardless how grim, about the economic troubles. But, the messages of doom-and-gloom tend to become self fulfilling prophecies. The trouble is that in order to get our economy back on track, ultimately what we need to address is a confidence issue and one is going to spend or lend if they are continually being terrorized by the media.

Small Business Interview Series – Website Design and Development
Understanding the website development process is important for small business owners - a well designed and programmed website will add value to your bottom line by engaging your target audience and generating leads. In this edition of the small business interview series, I speak with Jordan Klassen, Vancouver Web Designer, about website design and strategy.

Four of the Most Common Mistakes in Persuasive Speaking
From more than two decades of working with business and community leaders on critical presentations, we've culled a few of the most common persuasive speaking mistakes -- and added a few ideas on how to avoid them.

There are do’s and don’ts in starting your opt-in mailing list.
As excited as you may get to see your list growing, don't get too excited and blow your chance to develop a long term relationship with these people!

RISKY BUSINESS

Human Resources is its own quagmire of risk. Compliance, employee relations, interviewing, and on and on. There are certain basic rules in the world of hiring and managing employees where risk-taking is not advisable. You can’t afford to not do background checks. You can’t afford to not have employees sign release forms, you can’t risk classifying your employees incorrectly, or guessing about the proper way to implement a disciplinary policy.

SOME EXECS WILL NEED TO DECIDE: layoffs vs. retention
It’s depressing, it’s scary and it’s your decision. For those first timers- welcome to the terrifying responsibility of keeping your company alive during a recession.

Recession Proof Networking
As we face economic unease, a sure fire way to prepare yourself for potential opportunities is simple: Network, Network and oh yeah, Network some more!

Improve Your Sales Training By Changing Fuel
Is your sales training where you want it to be? Maybe it is time to change fuel?

Sales Coaching Tip: Change Your Role to Increase Sales
Is your role as seller keeping you from increasing sales?

Hiring a Sales Force That Sells

It is no exaggeration to say the world has changed dramatically for salespeople. Not only has the information era radically changed the products we sell, but the sales function is subject to market forces that push up costs while eroding profit margins. The old travelling or door-to-door salesman model hardly exists anymore. Much of the sales done today is or business-to-business, and these sales teams face unprecedented change due to a number of convergent factors. In this business environment, aligning your sales team with the forces of change, and ensuring you have a team that can sell, are not simply nice-to-haves: they are essential. Realising the impact on their bottom line, forward-thinking companies have transformed their sales recruitment and training practices to address change.

Vision Correction as a Metaphor for Midlife
As you get older, things tend to get fuzzy and you need to get your eyes examined and to accept help to fix your vision. The same thing happens in midlife.

57% of Layoffs Occur in Middle Age
Just when you're least able to cope with upsets in your life, when you're reevaluating everything, your career gets upended. It's all part of how the midlife game is played.

Are You Paying Attention To Your People?
Being smart is no longer enough. It’s been proven time and time again that people want to be noticed for who they are as much as what they do. If an organization can’t support and grow their people, how in the world will potential clients expect them to do the same when supporting them and their businesses? Are you paying attention to your people?

Don't Shrink RETHINK!
Creative brainstorming for keeping afloat during difficult times. Eileen offers some alternatives to economic turbulence rather than the knee jerk reaction of cutting costs and laying off employees.

Winning the Talent War In Turbulent Times
Jettisoning employees in financial tough times can very well result in losing industrious producers, top talent, longtime workers, and top managers.

Providing Positive Feedback Can Improve the Bottom Line
In this extremely competitive business environment, we are all looking for ways to improve the bottom line and achieve the success we are striving for. One way to do so is the ability to provide effective feedback that can make a difference.

The Next Hill to Climb
Stories on Success.

The Socially Responsible Procurement Practice: Moving Beyond Social Consciousness (enterprising non-profits Profile)
“The question this raises is quite simply what set of circumstances will elevate green procurement from a nice to do “boutique” status to a more meaningful (and essential) element of a sound purchasing strategy? At the risk of answering my own question, I do not think that green procurement in and of itself will achieve this status, nor do I believe that it is a reasonable goal.

GREEN Business Practices

RecycleReduce -- Reuse -- Recycle. We have heard those words for quite some time now. Some of us take those words more seriously than others, however, did you know that by going "green" with your business you can: * help the environment * market to a different segment of the population, and * help your bottom line? In, Saving money and the planet - green can be good for bottom line, AllBusiness.com talks about ways that you can easily implement green strategies into your business, office and travel. There were a lot of things we were already doing, but the article gave me a few more that we should consider.

Are You Financially Responsible With Your Business?
Where do you spend your time? Where you choose to spend your time directly reflects the financial outcome for your business. Today, I'll focus on ways that you can evaluate and adjust how to spend your time so that you can positively impact your bottom line.

FATAL TRAPS OF NEGOTIATING EXPOSED

Negotiating is the most highly paid workyou will ever do. You are generally making more per hour when you negotiate than anything else you'll ever do! Here are the most common mistakes made in negotiations. How to avoid these "fatal traps". Why poor planning can lead to a disaster. Why rushing is a big mistake. Why it's important to understand what the person you are negotiating with wants before you open "your big mouth!!!

The Reasons Why Most People Will Never Find Online Success

There is no such thing as a real get rich quick opportunity. If someone tells you that you can start with no money and no experience and make hundreds of thousands of dollars overnight they are lying to you and you are a fool for believing them. Yes, you can make lots of money in a short period of time as an Internet marketer, but you're not going to get rich this week unless you hit the lottery or your rich uncle dies.

Maintaining Your Business Website
If you want to be a web designer, be a web designer. However, if the key focus of your business is building widgets, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that your time would be better spent building widgets, not Web sites

How To Handle The Occasional OopSee

First off, it's important that you understand that the magnitude of your mistake will determine the course of action you take to make amends. If your company's error was such that it caused your customer a significant amount of lost time or revenue, embarrassed them publicly, caused damage to their reputation, or otherwise negatively affected their bottom line, you may face legal repercussions that saying "I'm sorry" will not deter.

How To Boost Your Bottom Line With Just Two Little Words
I hate to sound like one of those cheesy get-rich-quick commercials, but this week I am going to let you in on a little secret that is so powerful that it will immediately change the way you do business. In fact, this little secret is so powerful that you will be amazed at its immediate effect on you, your employees, and your bottom line.

Dont Be Afraid To Give Problem Customers The Boot
We have all had customers who expected far more than was their due: customers who were unreasonable, overly-demanding, condescending, hard to please and sometimes, even dishonest in their dealings with you. When a customer's reasonable expectations become unreasonable demands you must decide whether or not that customer is doing more harm to your business than good.

Business Is No Guarantee of Riches
We have all had customers who expected far more than was their due: customers who were unreasonable, overly-demanding, condescending, hard to please and sometimes, even dishonest in their dealings with you. When a customer's reasonable expectations become unreasonable demands you must decide whether or not that customer is doing more harm to your business than good.

Basics of Search Engine Optimization part 1

Having a website with no visitors is very much like having lots of corporate brochures designed and printed but never finding any prospects to distribute them to. All too often web designers build sites which, although attractively designed, will never rank well on the search engines for that company's product or service. This is because they may know lots about how to design something eye-catching and attractive but nothing about what search engines need to see for success in the search engine results pages ("SERPS"). This series of tutorials starts with an introduction into how search engines gather information from sites and highlights some common mistakes made by web designers in their build methods.

Being Prepared Small Things Can Make a Difference
Often a big event "falls over" at the last hurdle, because of just one little thing that we failed to prepare for. This happened to me recently, and the lesson is - make lists! Even for the most mundane activity, lists can be the difference between success and failure. Read on.............

How Much to Spend on a Website Design is Not a Simple Matter

If you are about to have your website designed or possibly considering redesigning an already existing website, you probably have given thought to how much you should or want to spend on the project. Naturally, the choice isn’t easy, mostly because when it comes right down to it, how much you spend can make all the difference in the quality and the success of a website. So, how do you decide what to pay for your investment and how do you know if you are getting your money’s worth?

Basic Sales Techniques
Learn these no-brainer basic sales techniques and watch your sales take off. And always remember, selling is easy when you work hard at it.

6 Ways To Increase The Monthly Revenue You Make Per Client
While most fitness business owners spend a great deal of time focusing on finding new clients, they often miss out on the opportunity to maximize the value of their current clients. Follow these six tips and watch the value of your current clients soar.

I Dont Want PR I Just Want To Be Successful
Effective public relations isn't about wanting to be a star or simply appearing in the media - it's about success. It's about establishing yourself as an expert in your field and zooming beyond your competition.

Selling to Larger Accounts - Find the Chauffeur
Dave Kurlan's unique insight on major account sales is not to find the champion, coach, influencer or decision maker. It's to find your chauffeur!

What's Your Money Style?
We all have a different style when it comes to our relationship with money. I'm not talking about your fears or stories about money. Your fears are a whole other box of worms. When I refer to style, I mean how you would relate to money if you had never been influenced by another persons style or fears.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall – why do my employees come to work at all?
How to improve employee productivity

IT’S QUICKER TO DO IT MYSELF!
How to free up your time by up to 30%

The Need For Every Business To Raise Their Sights Above Only Bottom-Line Thinking
Tips on how to raise your sights avove bottom line thinking

Shift your But
How to get out of fighting fires and crisis management and reduce your stress levels.

The Power of a Sales Playbook Embedding Discipline and Best Practices in Your Sales Force

Sales people have a bad reputation in the business world. With movies like Boiler Room and Glengerry GlenRoss, Hollywood has only reinforced this. Frankly, some of this bad reputation is deserved. In many companies, the sales people may be hitting their numbers, but management knows they are only operating at a fraction of their potential. Is there a way to put discipline into the sales function? Won’t discipline kill the spirit and motivation of a good sales team? Good sales people are typically high-energy, relationship-oriented people with a low tolerance for structure. Their talents lie in handling the nuances of multiple relationships in an uncertain and dynamic environment. A Sales Playbook is the answer.

How Greed Can Cost You The Sale
I can't tell you how many times the "Buyer" has set the ultimate test in motion just to see if the salesperson is greedy or really sincere.

Need a new idea? Ask your staff.
“You must continually find new ideas, strategies and techniques to increase your sales and profits. If you are not moving forward you are falling behind. There is no such thing as staying even in the selling business.” Who talks to your customers more than you do? Who knows what will most satisfy your customers? Who knows what will attract customers to your business? Your Staff!

Getting Recommended By Others Will Increase Your Profits

Over the past 30 days you have purchased many items and services. If you are like most of us you are completely satisfied with the products and services you purchased. But how many of the sellers have you recommended to your friends, family and colleagues? If you are completely satisfied why haven’t you recommended the sellers to other? I know you are busy; it is not at the top of your mind. Not a priority. You have come to expect satisfaction from the sellers you buy from. You just have not thought about it.

Coaching Tip: Clear Your Plate
Are you feeling overwhelmed, stuck or do you find yourself procrastinating? Do you typically load your plate by taking on too much and expect to handle it all? Are your goals realistic or a bit too ambitious? Learn how clearing your plate will help you refocus on the things that matter most in growing your business and having a happier life.

What Are the Best Marketing Tactics for Growing Your Small Business?
The best marketing tactics in the world aren’t going to do diddley-squat to grow your business unless they are part of a bigger strategy.

Effective Money Making Website – Residual Affiliate Programs May Be Your Answer
There are many opportunities that can be grabbed online. Some websites offers part time and home based jobs like freelancing and others. Some also hire people that can be able to answer other company’s surveys. They only require their members to do their job well and to have their software that consists of the program they will use online to do their job.

A new approach to staffing
Ever been in the situation where your company is temporarily overstaffed and you're faced with making people redundant or acception you have to pay for idle time and take a hit on your bottom line? Wouldn't collaborating with companies in the reverse situation with a view to sharing skills make sense? Here's how, and why, the pooling of human resources makes so much sense.

7 Things to Know Before You Work From Home

Before you jump into a work at home program you should consider the following. There a lot of pitch pages that will urge you to buy and paint a very pretty picture such as, “make a six figure income working only 30min”. Do not fall prey to over hyped scams. This is not to say that all the programs you come across will be scams but there are a lot of them out there. Yes getting a great deal on a great product is well, great but you won’t know if it a great if unless you do your research.

The Ultimate Sales Introduction

Please do not fall into the trap of not being prepared when someone asks you what do you do, you owe it to yourself to make a great first impression, as they say, big yourself up, whenever you get the chance, whatever you do as a job or pastime, your special and don't forget it! Sell yourself you just never know how important that person could be in your life. Everybody is in sales they just don't realise it.

The 5 Top Power questions to ask your customer

When you get your chance to speak to your customer, please refrain from asking those lame questions that salespeople tend to ask during meetings/sale call, "What does your company do", "Who did you buy your machine from","How many copies do you produce", "How long have you been in business, etc, etc. You could well ask those question during a conversation, but I hope not too often. It's all about being different from your competitors, you need to make your customer think about their response, it's all about engaging with their thought's and making an impact at the beginning of the sale call/meeting.

Going Green Saves Green - Meaning Money
One of the nice things about thinking environmentally is the natural way it benefits your business.

How Should I Present Myself By Picking The Right Name for Your Business
This article explains how to name your business, keeping in mind that your business name needs to work from a marketing standpoint.

Lessons Learned about Planning
Lessons learned about planning.

Why Trademark?
If you own a business, you spend a significant amount of time and effort building it up to be successful. You need to protect it the same way that you protect anything else that is valuable to you. What is the best way to do that? With Trademarks.

Right Now
I often hear the past determines who you are and the future goals we set for ourselves determine what actions we take right now. It has nothing to do with past or future. It all has to do with 'right now'.

Love Me, Love My Spam
Years ago, I met a man (we’ll call him Fred) at a networking group. We exchanged business cards and soon afterwards, he started sending me a lot of internet joke emails. That’s fine – I can’t read all of them, but some of them give me a good laugh and perk up my day....

Five Steps to Lead A Team Effectively
Follow these five steps and you will be a more effective leader and build successful team.

Show Some Generosity
Why giving it away may be good for business.

The Evolutionary Language of Business Coaching
Following 16 successful years as a sales executive in Corporate America, I transitioned into a new role as a Life and Business Coach. At the end of my second year of training, I realized I had learned a whole new way to communicate and relate with other people.

Reality Never Lies
Often, the fastest, easiest and least expensive route to adding value and improving your bottom line is with the help of a qualified consultant or coach. Thousands of entrepreneurs and business leaders have learned that an extra set of eyes and ears, another perspective, and an objective point of view can quickly make a huge difference.

Excellence vs. Perfection
At some point, we have to settle for "excellence" and go for it! I'm not talking about being sloppy or settling for mediocrity, but in most cases, excellence is good enough.

Why Are You In Business
Think about serving satisfied customers. If you do, innovation, production costs, marketing costs, and profits, will tend to take care of themselves in a very satisfying way.

Find a Need and Fill It
If you want to increase sales and grow your bottom line, find something your audience wants and serve them better than anyone else in town. The key to success? It's simple: Find a need and fill it.

Converting Every Visitor into Subscriber
Before your visitor leaves your website, you want to convert him or her into your subscriber via a simple opt-in to your mailing list. You do this by asking for your visitor’s name and email address through your opt-in form.

Communicating for Success!
Exceptional communication skills are a definite must have to be successful in any enterprise. How well do you communicate??

Have you had your annual check-up?
With the business enviornment changing so quickly it's important to not only do annual check-ups, but quarterly check-ups.

Can You Afford To Be Too Busy?

Wouldn't it be great that every time someone sends you an invoice for their services/products you pay for it immediately? The cash is always sitting in your bank account and no matter what bills you receive you can always pay on time. The theory is if you're good at 'budgetting', you should be able to handle your 'cashflow'. So that leads me to this week's story. I had an outstanding payment for a supplier which was overdue. The only reason I hadn't paid it was the fact that I had a couple of queries about the work that had been done. Knowing that the business owner was disorganized in the way he ran his business, I wanted to check that everything on that invoice was correct. It wouldn't have surprised me if he had overcharged for work already paid for.

Investing Time With Your Staff Pays Off Big Time

I recently met up with a friend of mine who was telling me how little time he had working on his business due to the people problems he was constantly experiencing. He always complains to me that if he could run his business on his own, he would. Unfortunately this is not a reality so he constantly wastes at least 50% of his working week trying to overcome staff issues. The problem with Gary is that he's a 'know it all'. He likes to do things his own way and believes that having been in business for 15 years, he knows all about recruitment and keeping people who will be valuable assets and contribute to his bottom-line.

Working with Wisdom: Control Freak Confidential
Linda Naiman answers questions about workplace challenges

R1 for Business
The enviro 3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – are a great place to take some relatively easy steps to help the environment. Reduce is first because it has the most positive impact on the ecology and possibly your business’s bottom line.

Business Coach learnings about Unprofitable Sales
As Brian Tracy says, the root of all business problems is “low sales”- and the solution is “high sales”. Very true! Now read on to what his certified FocalPoint Business Coaches have to say about fixing that problem in your company.

How to Boost Your Bottom Line by Strengthening Your Power Factor
Your Power Factor is a combination of your energy, your bandwidth and your support systems. As entrepreneur's, our greatest asset is our creativity and ambition. But if our Power Factor is being compromised, then your bottom line can take the hit.

Data Strategies Checklist
From taking a hard look at your customer data to negotiating better pricing with your data providers, this article is designed to help you make an honest assessment of your data and the money that you spend on it. Our hope is that it will generate some good ideas for your next marketing campaigns!

I am a senior woman in an organization whose power structure is dominated by men. How do I succeed in this game without losing track of who I am?

Women who have attained senior positions in an organization often find it lonely at the top. A 2006 Catalyst Canada study shows that only 4.2% of FP500 companies have a woman as CEO or president. Women make up nearly half the work force, but rarely make it into the ranks of corporate officer. In fact, only 7.3% of so-called “clout titles” belong to women. As a woman in a senior position, you can maintain your personal momentum by staying true to who you are, knowing your strengths and having the confidence to show them off, as I describe below.

What is Your Customer's Price Tolerance Ratio?
You must begin determining the customer’s Price Tolerance Ratio, early in the prospecting and sales process or you will waste time chasing customers you ultimately do not want...

Status Quo is the Bottom Line
In previous newsletters, I've extolled the creativity of the solo-preneur or small-businessperson. But often I hear just the opposite.

Your E-Mail Name Could Hurt Your Career Advancement
What do email addresses like "Pookie Bear," "Hot Mama," and Sexy Stud" have in common. They could all hold up your advancement or even stop you from being hired.

7 Things I’ve Learned About Fear
Learn 7 things that will help you to think about and look at fear.

‘Stop Selling – Start Helping’ (Quote by Zig Ziglar)

Although, you would all agree that every client should be given special treatment and unique customised service - in today’s economic climate it is becoming harder to achieve. Taking into account funding cuts, budgetary restraints and with job losses at a premium it is less likely that ‘added’ resources can go into top end ‘wooing’ of Clients. Other possible reasons for this include having higher targets to reach in less time, constant restructuring resulting in less staff, more pressure, less resources and so on. The bottom line is that although you can’t resource your client base the way you used to, there are some fundamental and easy ways for you to continue ‘looking after your clients’ that don’t cost you a cent.

Maximum Impact Restaurant Greening

Are you eating? Here's a few statistics to chew on: In the US, restaurants are the top electricity consumer among retail businesses. 33% of it. Each restaurant produces an average of 50,000 pounds of waste. Eat up, unless you want to add to that last figure. That is, unless you happen to be dining at a restaurant certified by the Green Restaurant Association, which aids member restaurants in achieving a near zero waste status.

How to Avg. $3K to $4K Gross Profit per Vechicle Sold

There are only five ways to increase the bottom line of a business: Sell more vehicles, practice price elasticity (get more gross profit per sale), create more repeat customers, increase the speed of the buying, cycle for your current customers, and create continuity programs by getting the customer to continually do business with you (service, add-on selling etc.). Although all are important, one can be obtained instantly and with a huge impact -price elasticity and the ability to increase gross profits.

The Power of Productive Team Meetings
Recently I facilitated a strategic planning day for a small accounting practice. During the course of the day we reviewed the progress they had made since the last major planning day we had the year before. As we were reflecting on their achievements before planning the future, one of the partners made the comment on how crucial their weekly team meetings were.

Impress your bank manager! How to read your profit & loss account report

If you are relatively new to the business arena, you’re probably not too good at reading financial statements. But for someone who is planning to start a small business, it is crucial to learn how to read financial statements and understand what they mean. Today, we are going to discuss one type of financial statement called the profit and loss statement. A profit and loss statement is a summary of your income and expenses over a certain period of time, usually a quarter or a year. The profit and loss statement is important because it helps you to understand the profitability or financial condition of your company over that certain period of time.

Right Brain Cold Calling - What is it?
You know the feeling you get when you hear the rhythm of a song and it feels as if you’re grooving with it?

Am I in the Right Business?
Are you tired of working constantly without a vacation and having the money to show for your efforts? If you are wondering whether you are in the right business, consider the following questions:

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Do you ever find yourself saying these words above? If you’re frustrated by foremen, supervisors or crew members who just can’t get along then it’s time to resolve these workplace conflicts now! After all, have you ever stopped to consider what it’s costing you to let these problems linger? Consider this fact. A survey of 150 senior managers at America’s largest 1,000 companies found that today’s managers spend almost one full day each week resolving staff personality conflicts! How much does that cost your bottom-line? Plenty! Read on for our 7 steps to improving staff personality conflicts.

Overcoming People Problems In Your Business
I recently met up with a friend of mine who was telling me how little time he had working on his business due to the people problems he was constantly experiencing. ..... He always complains to me that if he could run his business on his own, he would. Unfortunately this is not a reality so he constantly wastes at least 50% of his working week trying to overcome staff issues.

Creating A PR Roadmap
Take some time and create at PR roadmap: if you don't know where you're going, how will you know when you've arrived?

How to Build a Great Team
Success in the workplace is no different than success in sports. It’s about having the best talent and using that talent, knowledge, skill and strength in the right place at the right time so you and your team can win the game. Do you know who your best talent is? Have you told them? Are you taking care of them? If not…Why not?

Checklist for Setting up a Strategic Plan -- To Win
What factors make for a strategic plan that you and your company actually will do? Here are key questions to ask yourself to avoid the most common planning mistakes:

Low Cost Web Hosting

As entrepreneurs, we all have to be wary of our bottom line. By and large, I am of the belief that it’s never smart to spend more than you’re bringing in. That being said, however, there comes a time, especially during our startup days, when it’s time to take a risk, to spend a little extra money in the hopes that it will bring you a bigger return. Here, especially, I am talking about low cost web hosting.

Business Advisors: Results Are the Top Priority
If you want to set your consulting and coaching practice apart, you should be able to explain exactly the results you get for clients — and those results should be compelling. But what exactly are results?

Fire-Up Your Employees

Do your employees need a boost of energy? Are they lacking motivation or inspiration? Could they use some fire underneath them? Sometimes motivational words just won’t cut it. Employees are looking for much more. Investing in the good ones can go a long way, today and in the future. If you can truly energize employees, they will drink the company kool-aid and your bottom line will be better off for it.

Give Away Something To Build Value and Watch Your Sales Grows as a Business Coach
If you are a business coach or executive coach, are you confused between not giving away an hour of your time and giving away an hour? Learn why giving away something when done correctly increase your value and increase your sales.

Take Your Business to Where It Has Never Gone Before By Using a Business Coach or Executive Coach
To do you want sustainable business growth? Maybe you need to learn the value that business coaches bring to the table.

Ten Ways To Be Better At Dealing With Difficult People
Dealing with difficult people is critical if you are to manage the rest of your team and business to the max. Yet sometimes, just one person can demand your attention, in one way or another, in a way more disproportionate amount than everyone else put together. And if you have two of them, well...

Funnels and Levels of Access
Is your business "all over the map"? Three elements can make all the difference in the marketing of your business and your success!

I’ll Do It Later

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." Douglas Adams Let's talk about the P word. Procrastination. If this is you, this pervasive, habit effects every aspect of your life. As a procrastinator you typically under perform, limiting success and the life you want to live. It dampens your ability to take action, creates missed opportunities, and is the single pattern of behavior I see in most entrepreneurs that if corrected would free up log jams of energy and potential. If you're a procrastinator you know in your bones that this is true, yet, it seems like an impossible habit to break.

Success Beyond Success

Can you imagine waking up every day, and feeling successful regardless of what's happening in your small business? That would be a nice place to be - especially with the myriad of details constantly on your mind. Your marketing plan, cash flow, managing time and deadlines. It's normal to sometimes wonder if you'll ultimately be successful, or if you'll have to eventually throw in the towel and go back to being employed.

What's YOUR Bottom Line?

"It is not how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing." Mother Teresa Business owners are trained to gauge the success of their business according to the health of their "bottom line" - that is - the last line on a profit and loss statement that tells you what remains (if anything) after all your costs of doing business. This makes perfect sense - if you don't show a profit, you don't stay in business.

Does Experience Based Training and Development Work?
Scientific proof that experience based training and development is effective.

ROI: Return on Investment or Return on Illusion?
Do we really know what makes up a true return on investment? And more importantly, do we know the cost/benefit ratio well enough to really ignore understanding this elusive construct. Read here for the reality about ROI.

Business Management: The Advantages of a Strategic Enterprise Office
Having a Strategic Enterprise Office (SEO) that services the entire organization, with a consistent message and methodologies is shown to be more successful than creating a number of Project Management Offices (PMOs) across the organization.

The One True Secret To A Guaranteed Internet Business Income
There are many people who claim they have the secret to guaranteed internet business income. They say it is a process or system. They charge large amounts of money for the secret or they give it away because...

How to Scientifically Increase Your Conversion Rate
Learn how to test and what to test, to drastically improve your website and increase your sales.

Business Websites Add to Your Bottom Line
A well thought-out website can deliver many opportunities to drive your business and expand your client base.

The Keys to Multi-Channel Success
This article reports on a webcast where an executive from Accudata talks about the importance of integrating multi-channel marketing into your overall strategy. If you're interested in learning more about this topic, just email us and we'll send you our whitepaper on Effective Multi-Channel Marketing Techniques. Our general email is info@rrwconsulting.com. Enjoy!

ARE YOU CREATING RAVING FANS?
Customer service is a key opportunity for most businesses in today’s marketplace to add and keep more customers as well as increase the bottom-line. Unfortunately, today’s customers have been forced to accept poor customer service as many companies have cut back on customer care in order to compete on price and profitability. This decision is hurting top and bottom-line results.

Make Your Story Add Value to Your Clients Bottom Line
The purpose of your story for a workplace audience is to improve the bottom line. Even in those employee appreciation programs where entertainment may seem the focus, there is an undeniable expectation of increased productivity after your story is heard. The question to ask yourself when using your story is: What is the point of the story and how does the story improve a client's bottom line?

How to be More Effective
This presentation will no doubt help out mangers become a more effective manager and people, which will add to our bottom line. We not only care about our bottom line but we also do many of our trainings on personal development because we feel the more our employees grow as people the more our business will grow.

Financial Insecurity
He’s always saying talking the bottom line. To me money has never been the bottom line. Children are the bottom line. Quiet children who won’t beg me to buy them stuff at the mall.

Manage Your Top Line & Your Bottom Line Will Take Care of Itself
\\\\\\\"Manage your top line and your bottom line will take care of itself.\\\\\\\" I heard Steve Jobs say this that was resurrected shortly after Steve announced his resignation as CEO of Apple Computer.

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