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Personal Coaching as a Business
Personal coaching is the 'in' thing for some people; be it for business, personal grooming, health, voice training, mental strength coaching, etc. Certified coaches can look into being a personal coach as part of their coaching offerings.

Lesson #1: Tease Your Customers into Wanting More
Warner did not spend any money on advertising for any of his product lines, not even the ever popular Beanie Babies. He did not have to. Instead, he pursued a novel and cost-effective strategy of teasing and taunting his customers into wanting more.

What is Your Company?
You know exactly what your company is, what it stands for, what it offers to its target audience and what it hopes to accomplish. But is that really your company?

Sell Em What They Want
I had an interesting conversation with a colleague the other day. We were discussing the fact that, try as we might, our prospects don't always know that they need what we have to offer. Often, they think they know what they want, but professional (not infallible) experience tells us we might know better.

Why Do People Refer?
I get asked the question above plenty. The answer is really easy: People refer people, products, services and companies because they like to, it makes them feel good, it's just human nature.

Guerrilla Problem-Solving
Guerrillas know that it's easier to sell the solution to a problem than to sell a positive benefit. That's why they position themselves as problem-solvers.

Guerrilla Timing
If your marketing is right, but your timing is wrong, watch out. Even the best-laid plans go awry when the timing is off. Here's how to prevent that.

Life time value, now there’s a number I love
I’m a marketing guy, so, like many marketing guys, I’m not so much a numbers person. I know I should be, but, there you have it.

The Scarcity Shortage
From four years ago: What's worth more: a pile of gold or a pile of salt? Throughout history, many people have chosen the salt. Gold is pretty, but you can't live without salt, and when it was more scarce than gold, it became valuable enough to use as a currency itself. (The word "salary" is even related to the Latin for "salt.")

The bad table
I saw a marketing dilemma at the hot new restaurant I went to the other night.

MYTHS ABOUT MARKETING TO OLDER PEOPLE
As older people, defined here as people over 50, become a larger and larger market with more and more disposable income, they become increasingly important to you. So it's crucial that you operate by the realities and not by the myths. The myth clarification starts here:

Help Them Problem Solve
As you already know, people do not buy shampoo; they buy clean, great-looking hair. That means selling a benefit. A way that some shampoos have achieved profits is by reassuring people that the shampoo cleans hair, then stressing that it solves the problem of unmanageable hair -- a benefit and a solution to a problem.

A PR CONCEPT BORN OUT OF THE RECESSION!
Can a business afford public relations during these recessionary times or can a business really not afford to have it?

How a Business is Learning What Small Businesses Want to Learn
Sampling is a standard strategy in package goods marketing. This project by a training centre shows how the same technique can be used to develop or improve a product and build new business.

10 Tweetlater Tactics to Make Your Twitter Life 100 Times More Productive
Being a fan of twitter and a gadget geek I have tried a fair few twitter tactics and table offerings over the last few months and one of my favourites is Tweetlater for several reasons. So, if you're looking for a reason to splash out on a twitter tool take a look at my list of twitter tactics you can apply by using tweetlater professional as part of your social media marketing campaign.

••••••>Getting Top SEO Ranking for Local Listings on Google Local, Yahoo Local, City Search etc.
As a free service by most of the local search sites, local listings is a powerful yet free SEO tool. Local listings Google and Yahoo appear above all other listings, getting #1 position in Local search may actually be easier than #1 in Organic/Natural rankings

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.

Marketing Opportunities in Difficult Economic Times

"Business as usual" is NOT the most effective strategy for surviving/thriving during economic downturns. Consumers don't stop buying during tough times but they do buy more cleverly. And they spend A LOT more time researching their purchases, seeking advice from friends and associates and otherwise doing their homework. Recession Marketers need to refine their tactics as well. In this article we share 7 essential tips to help you sharpen up your offerings (and actually most of these tips contain useful advice for marketing more effectively in ANY economy, good or bad). You won't blossom in 2010 simply by acting as if it's business as usual. Nor is it a time to hide your budget under a bushel. As one major advertiser summed it up: "When times are good, you SHOULD advertise. When times are bad, you MUST advertise."

5 Virtualization Strategies for the Budget Challenged and Reasons to Start NOW!
Virtualization is a technology finally hitting its stride, but there are still some companies that don't know how or why they should use Virtualization. Some challenges with virtualization are reviewed as well as 5 strategies that can be used to help make it affordable even with tightening budgets.

Indian outsourcing services maintain growth in recession

India’s role as a top player among outsourcing destinations has remained unchallenged for quite some time. In fact, AT Kearny has listed it at the number one spot on its Global Services Location Index – which ranks attractive offshoring destinations – since the list’s inception five years ago. However, in recent years, there have been many who have questioned whether the country could withstand competition from other locations with competitive pricing and a specialized skill set.

How to Ruin Your Business Reputation
No matter how desperate for customers you are, you must get that under control. People will sense desperation and either run from you or try and take advantage of you. Neither is all that good for you. So what can you do? Here are 3 tips to help you stay strong no matter what's going on in your business.

# The Invisible Close Sales Nugget - Using Written Testimonials to Boost Sales - 5 Quick Tips!
Using written testimonials allows someone else to promote your product or service, even if they're not there to do it. Here are 5 quick tips from The Invisible Close Ebook for collecting and using written testimonials to boost sales.

What do People Buy In A Recession?
Studies have identified five key areas where people buy in a recession. You can use this knowledge in your business.

Ideation!
Often I come across people and situations where budding entrepreneurs are looking out for that grand big idea that will propel them into instant millions and fame. I like to back ideas that are already proven, and strongly recommend that if you're really looking at starting your own venture you don't really need to create something radically new or unique.

How to Analyze a Competitor’s Website

Competitors' websites, if analyzed properly, can give you all sorts of information that you can use to increase the traffic and the popularity of your site. Here is an article on how to analyze a competitor's website. Start off by identifying the major players. A good place to do this is Yahoo’s directory. It is good to view the major players in similar fields to your own so that you have a better view of your web site as perceived by others.

The importance of understanding your buyer relationships - especially in a tough economy
The tough economy is leading to many nasty surprises for sales organisations. In many cases the surprise, or the extent of the surprise, could have been avoided if the sales organisation had better information about the relationship that they have with with their buyers. in this article Keith looks at the different ways of determining the relationship you have with your buyers.

Would a wiki work?
A recent study conducted by CSO Insights indicated that poor sales knowledge management is hitting the top and bottom lines of companies in extremely negative ways. These included high sales rep turn over, longer sell cycles and lower win rates.

Better Business Prospecting-Looking for Mr. Goodlead

Aren’t we all getting a little tired of hearing the dismal economic news? The endless stream of droning discussions about foreclosures, bailouts, bankruptcies, and, recession is enough to make even the most upbeat, positive salespeople want to bury their heads in the sand. Sure, it’s natural to feel overwhelmed and discouraged when times are tough, but this is NOT the time to slow down. Instead, it’s a clear signal for you to stay in the game and ramp up your efforts.

Broken Promises & Bagging the Competition

Nothing irks customers more than sales people overstating their capabilities and making claims and promises they cannot keep or live up to. It's the fastest way to break trust and leave customers doubting you and your business. Making grand claims with little or no substance is foolish at best. In today's networked world, many people have access to information and can check pretty quickly whether what you claim is true or not. So can you do what you claim you do?

How True Leaders Execute Plans Without Fail & Celebrate Their Victories
Execution is everything; it separates those with lofty ideas from those who end up winning the game…plan & dream, then turn that key or you've accomplished nothing.

Exceeding customers’ expectations?

If I hear "Oh let's exceed our customers' expectations" one more time I will scream. Usually my response is: ‘Why don't we just meet their expectations in the first place?' Too many times the marketing hype (the promise) does not always connect with the sales expectation set up by the sales team, which doesn't always translate into a service experience we were promised in the first place. We are often left disappointed, jaded and, if it happens more than once, cynical. Too many of us have stories of where we have been let down by businesses not fulfilling our expectations. We see broken promises, exaggerated claims, hollow offerings, no real value!

Stop Blaming Sales!

If sales isn't responding - then marketing is responsible. Marketing's role is to give sales the tools and training they need to sell the company's solutions. It's also marketing's role to get them excited about the newest offerings. So the next time someone starts to blame sales for lack of product acceptance in your customer base or for discounting deals that don't generate the margin or results you expected - think again. It's most likely sales is doing the best they can with what they've been given.

How to Choose a Value Proposition

What sets your product, service and company apart from your competitors? What value do you provide and how is it different than the alternatives? Your value proposition is the foundation of your entire business and the offers you take to market. When your market clearly recognizes (and appreciates!) the value you provide, it’s easier to generate new prospects and guide them to buy. Now … what if you don't have a clear value proposition? Well, it takes more time and money to show prospects why they should choose you. And as a result, you often end up competing on price – a tough position to sustain over the long term.

Presentation Skills And Media Training That Honor The Audience And Sharpen Your Marketing Message
The key to effective presentation skills-oriented business communication training is to respect your audience and shun, or at least de-emphasize, PowerPoint. Also, role-playing media training can help marketers of new products or services sharpen their message. In both cases, participants learn through role-playing to put a priority on good communication skills.

Are we All on the Same Page?
To tell great positioning stories, we need to give everyone the same frame of reference. Before we even get into the story - right up front. We need to place that paradigm shift right there in the middle of the table for all to see, and understand. We have to set the stage for everyone in a very, simple way.

8 Questions to Ask Yourself in a Recession
Questions to ask yourself in a recession.

May the Abilities Rest in Peace
The bottom line is that to truly communicate with our audiences, we need to stop using the same words that everyone drags along, and start thinking creatively, originally and most of all - think and talk like a customer.

Fill Your Pipeline by Refining Your Referral Requests

Lately I’ve heard a lot of people talking about how to get referrals. No doubt about it, they’re one of the quickest ways to fill your pipeline. They’re definitely easier and less stressful than cold calling. They’re more accessible, and there’s less competition to close the deal. Knowing this, more and more sellers are asking for referrals as a primary approach to filling their pipelines.

Selling Should Be Like Breathing
How I learned to be a saleman--something I discovered years after I had gotten my Ph.D. degree.

Vikings with Machine Guns: Is your Unique Value Proposition, unique in your customer's eyes?
Pretty powerful combination you might think. What would Brian Boru have done faced with 10th century marauders wielding 20th century weapons? He would not have had a hope! That is what dynamic imagery does for advertising and marketing. It provides an unstoppable combination that is guaranteed to get results. So what's missing?

Mars and Venus Part II. "Moving towards" or "Moving away from".

All too often sales people assume that buyers use the same criteria to make a purchase as they would. This can lead to frustration and indeed some serious self doubt on a sales person's behalf. "They just don't get it", you may think to yourself. The reality is that not everyone thinks the same way. This is the first in a series of articles that looks at how you make choices, your customer makes choices, and how to realign your sales strategy, should they be different to you.

Mars and Venus Part I. Sales people are from Mars, Buyers are from Venus - Introduction

Many of you are probably familiar with John Gray's famous relationship book, "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus". In his book, he talks about how to overcome the different way men and women think and indeed often act. Buyers and sellers also have different viewpoints, and not knowing how your audience makes decisions can be disastrous. This series of articles, will take you inside the mind of buyers, to help you fulfil their needs, to create successful commercial relationships. Buyers, like sales people, are also focused on WIIFM, What's in it for me.

Vendor Relationships
Leveraging your vendors can be a powerful way to help you compete with products, services, and financing.

HR Departments Need Business Acumen Too

The problem with a lot of HR departments is that companies relegate them too far to a “back office” mentality. This only renders the people who work in them out of touch with the front of the house where an understanding of the business and the people driving it is critical. So, in order for human resource employees to be the necessary link that connects internal functions with external performance, those working in HR should be as business minded and savvy as they are administrative and up on HR laws.

Inventory Targeting/Modifications
You can modify your inventory offerings without altering the flavor of your store to better serve your customers in a recession.

Expansion Plans
If you have a service or product based business you have the opportunity to expand sales within your customer base without adding new customers. Many times customers seek a supplier for a specific product or service and are completely unaware of other offerings from your company. There is also a chance that your customers are buying products from your competitors that you can provide them.

Use Testimonials to Attract Prospects and Win Sales

In today’s economy you need every advantage in your sales kit. Prospects are scrutinizing all requests for their time and each purchase decision. You want to pass their piercing investigation but the sales tools you’ve used in recent years aren’t cutting it. You need something more, and testimonials are the answer. They can be the difference maker in not just winning opportunities but also in attracting attention in the first place.

Create Opportunities in our Tough Economy

Every day we’re hearing about how tough it is out there. Prospects won’t take calls. Budgets are on hold. And yet, I remain optimistic, seeing opportunity all around us. While many clients are halting spending, others are getting creative and looking at their businesses from new perspectives. They are seeking ways to leverage these difficult times and evolve their own companies. They refuse to let the difficult economy stall their growth.

Will your business be successful? Shouldn’t you be the first to know?
So you have a great idea, you are ready to be your own boss so how do you get started? Well sit down with a pen and paper – a few trusted friends also help and see if you have answers to the following:

What Do Small Business Owners Really Want

We had an overwhelming response to the survey we recently sent out to our database. They were asked for feedback on what their key challenges were and what they wanted to know about being more productive and profitable. Here's just a few comments we received: • How do I motivate staff? • How do I keep myself motivated (I can relate to this one) • What is the easiest way to delegate? • How do I stay focussed and not waste time on distractions? • How do I prioritise? • How do I overcome procrastination? • How do I handle time management so I can do the selling not the paperwork? • How do I keep my clients coming back? • Where do I start? • How do I make more money?

Questions On Guest Loyalty
A readers question about guest loyalty. Is it really an effort to encourage guest loyalty or just a frequency scheme disguised as a loyalty program?

How 2.0 are you?
In other words, what “version” of the Internet experience are you providing visitors to your Web site?

A Bad Economy Doesn't Mean Stick Your Head In The Sand
Focus more on what you can do to take control of your own destiny and leave the things you can’t control out of your head.

Launching a New Nontraditional Offering
KLA is often introduced to companies that want to launch a new offering outside their traditional suite of products and services. These companies have developed a valuable service, but aren't sure how to generate awareness and drive leads with their customers and prospects.

Using the Right SMB Sales Approach
The sales approach to employ in the SMB accounts depends upon a number of factors, such as the culture of your organization, the offerings you sell, and what the customer needs from you in the sales process. Knowing when to use a solution sales approach versus a consultative sales approach is a dilemma that confronts many sellers and directly impacts your odds of success.

Does Your Website Jingle
Because people are being saturated with marketing messages, your message needs to be on-target but also worth remembering.

True business never fails
We live in really cool times. As I write this, I am not rich by any stretch of the imagination. I am not even wealthy. We are also about to enter a global recession - some are even predicting a depression. Many people are uncertain about the future and reacting to the situation. I am not. Why? Because I know that true business never fails.

A case for rebranding - catalysts for brand revitalization

Rebranding, whether a product or an entire brand, is a serious endeavour. The overall need for rebranding is based on the basic premise that just as people change their style of clothes, hairstyles and home decorating, so brands need to keep up with the times and changing market and consumer dynamics. At the same time, rebranding can be undertaken to fix errors made earlier in a product’s development, to create new consistency across products, or conversely, to take advantage of the benefits of product differentiation and market segmentation.

What Bookkeeping Software Package Should You Use?

I am well aware that there are few places for you to go and ask questions about the different accounting packages that are available. Not many of you have an accountant in the early days of business so where do you go for unbiased and expert advice on the choice of bookkeeping package? Do you ask friends and colleagues? Do you wait for months until you find a review in a magazine of 2 or 3 packages and use that? Or do you go to one of the large computer stores and look at what packages they sell and pick one of those?

What Sort Of Business Uses A Bookkeeping Bureau?
There are many possible answers to this question, from ignorance of bookkeeping to the proprietor focusing exclusively on the business growth leaving no time for other activities. However, this article will focus on the size of business - as a rule of thumb. Most of our bookkeeping clients seem to fall into a certain size bracket.

A Referral Doesn't Mean Closed Sales
You shouldn't skip steps in the sales process, even with a recommendation. Here's how you can make the most of your leads.

The Three Steps to Recession-Proofing Your Business
I know that the overwhelming message in the news is that “the sky is falling,” but if you’ll take the time to follow these three simple steps, I assure you that even while your prospects and clients are trying to avoid the impending doom, they’ll come to your bunker to avoid getting knocked down.

How to Unlock the Treasure Chest and Increase Your Income in 5 Easy Steps
Are you ready for the thrills of seeking your own treasure chest of gold? Adventure-seekers, what you’ll need is a map that’ll help lead you to the riches. Play the “Show Me the Money Treasure Hunt Game” to map out how you’re going to find the key that will INCREASE YOUR INCOME and unlock your treasure chest of gold!

JOINING FORCES TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MARKETING DOLLAR
How to make the most of your marketing money

#1 Strategy to Reach Your Unreachable Goals
Sometimes it's just plain tough to get sales. There could be a hundred valid reasons why it's happening - aggressive competitors, the economy, ornery customers. Or, the problem could be of your own making. It doesn't much matter though when your goals seem unreachable and you don't have a clue how to achieve them. Stuck is stuck. If you knew what to do, you'd have already taken action.

Who is My Market Its Smaller Than You Think

Many designers believe that marketing the widest range of services to the largest possible group is the path to success. You’d rather be a generalist because you think you’ll get more business. But in reality, it doesn’t work that way. In fact, success comes to those who focus on the smallest number of activities most likely to yield the quickest and largest return. What really lets you dominate the market and get more business? Specializing.

The Paprika Effect: The Brain-dead Simple Formula to Instant Customer Delight

It takes a lot of effort and time to add customer delight to your main product items, which are your main course. When it come to the smaller things, the ‘low-hanging fruit’ as it were, if you tweak the little things first, you will create a domino effect so that by the time you reach the ‘main course’, you already have a line of fanatical customers. Think about the various components of your customer relationship. Think about a small thing that other people ignore that you can make great. What tweaks can you make? When you do those little things, you create something for your customers to form a long queue about.

Strategies for Exceptional Growth
When analyzing business marketing strategies, you must define exactly what your product or services are and how you can outperform your competitors.

Is the Government of Canada's Shared Services Strategy a Threat to Small Business (Survey Result 3)
Many key stakeholders both within and external to the Government of Canada (GoC) see a shared services strategy as a threat to the Small-Medium Enterprise community? Do you believe that the current GoC shared services is a threat?

4 Easy Ways to Dissatisfy Your Visitors

Since creating a website that is "user friendly" is often difficult and time consuming, I thought it would be fun to explore a few ways to create a dissatisfying user experience on your website. Unlike the dozens upon dozens of things that go into creating a website that provides a positive visitor experience, one that creates an atmosphere of trust and is likely to improve conversion rates, creating a dissatisfying experience can be done fairly easily in just a few steps.

How to Choose the Best Web-based Project Management Service for Your Business
Choosing a web-based service for your business is a significant commitment. And with so many options available, it can be a daunting task to narrow your search down to just one. Here are some things to consider when evaluating which web-based project management service is best for your business.

A Brief Guide To Social Media Optimization (SMO)
SMO, or Social Media Optimization, is one of the latest Internet marketing strategies. Social media websites have become vastly popular, with the dawn of Web 2.0 being seen as the dawn of the social Internet.

Customer Service, Customer Satisfaction
Customer attraction, satisfaction and retention, to knowledge, products and services (both internal and external) are driven by the customer’s perception of the value of the offerings relative to the competition. They are also driven by the connection the customer makes to the “real” or practiced organizational culture. Do they like doing business with the organization?

Factors to Consider in Determining Whether a Franchise Will Work in Your Area
Whether your franchise will work in your area or not will depend on various market factors. Prominent among them are the age-group, income-level and ethnic-diversity of the population in the targeted market.

A Four-Part Framework for Reaching Out to New Markets
Many businesses enjoy the glamour of trying to penetrate new markets. However, as the framework in this article shows, the lowest-risk and highest-return strategy is to continue to serve your current, receptive markets.

Action without Planning is Fatal

When I started my online business I did not give much thought to my target market. I grabbed on to a bunch of marketing strategies and just let it rip; without giving any thought as to what might be the consequences. And surely, the results were abysmal. Not because the traffic to my website was not high, but because the visits were not converting into leads. That clearly indicated that I am not attracting targeted leads – a clear evidence of action without planning.

The Miracle of Investment
"Look here," said the man in the parking lot. "No, I'm not begging. Look at this chair. It is the first one he has made."

Increasing Microfinance’s Reach with Integrated Services
The destitute—individuals at the very bottom of the socioeconomic scale—are still outside the current scope of most microfinance institutions.

The Changing Face of Sales

Over the past few years the sales environment has changed in a number of ways. The reasons are vast but typically relate to the changes in our society, economy, business models, technology and more. When it comes right down to the actual selling environment, there are a few distinct attributes that stand out today that didn’t seem to be as noticeable, or even a factor, just five or six years ago. The key for all sales organizations and individual sales professionals alike is to understand and adapt to these changes. Few organizations today still live through the experience of the ‘90s where prospects would actually call them and buy something without having to work hard at finding and acquiring these leads. Back then, even poor sales performance was rewarded with revenue and quota achievement, in spite of a lack of skills and hard work.

Sell Me This Pencil
Were you ever being interviewed for a job when the interviewer said to you, “Sell me this pencil?” What did you say? What was he looking for? Why do people still do this? Without pondering the sociological rational of the interview process, quite simply he or she was just trying to find out how well you can sell, how you present yourself and/or how well you think on your feet.

Evaluating Franchise Systems

This article will examine some of the legal and business counselling issues presented when evaluating franchise offerings and counselling prospective franchisees. These articles are intended to provide an overview to the practitioner who does not regularly practice franchise law or is unfamiliar with regulations concerning the offering, sale and franchise relationships in the states at issue. Should specific issues arise relating to franchise law, we strongly urge our readers who do not concentrate their practices in franchise law to seek out competent co-counsel familiar with the crazy quilt of state regulation that may affect the structuring of these franchise offerings. peter macrae dillon Siskinds franchise franchisor franchising lawyer attorney Toronto Ontario Canada www.franchiselaw.ca

Evaluating Franchise Systems

PR Lessons from the Delphic Oracle
If the ancients could create a powerful legend out of nothing, can’t your organization do something similar with its substantive offerings?

Emotional Marketing, Part Two
In another article I talked about Emotional Marketing. I concluded it by saying that once the prospect has indicated an interest in what you do, that it wasn't the moment to pitch your service or outline all your product offerings. In fact, it's not even time to try for an appointment. In this article, I'll talk about the next step.

Staying Updated on Google SEO Trends
As a business owner, it is very important to ensure that your company as well as its offerings (products or services) are visible and available to your maximum number of targeted audience members.

Effective Low-Cost Marketing Tactics
You don’t always need million dollar ads to create a buzz out about your company. With some time commitment on your part, you can use several low-cost marketing tactics to build effective customer relationships and entice more people to your offerings,

Understanding Canadian Working Capital Finance – Cash Flow and Institutional Loans & Private Lenders
Information on working capital finance options in Canada . What offerings are available from banks and private lenders when you need business loans or cash flow financing.

Repurpose and Repackage Your Products To Build Your Six-Figure Online Business
Marketing strategies to build a six-figure-a-year business for authors, speakers, coaches and consultants. With online information products, you can repurpose your offerings. Here are a few ideas.

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