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The Practice of Excellence. Limits Thereto. Or not?
As you doubtless know, one of my signature phrases is... EXCELLENCE. Always.

Transitioning to Your Offer Without Being Sleasy

In the body of your talk you've been planting seeds, using stories to illustrate your bullet points, and in your last bullet, your transition bullet, is where you start to illustrate how your program will benefit your audience. For example, your transition bullet might be "How you can turn today's information into a lasting transformation." Or it might be a bullet covering "Training, Tools and Ongoing Support." In my own Signature Talk, which leads to my offer of my

Lesson #3: Believe In Yourself
“The show’s not dead as long as I believe in it,” Kermit The Frog says in The Muppets Take Manhattan. “The frog is stayin’.” Much like his beloved signature Muppet, Henson’s determination and faith in his abilities were two of the driving factors behind his successful career.

Lesson #2: Do It Yourself

“I love my product,” said Lauder. “I love to touch the creams, smell them, look at them, carry them with me. A person has to love her harvest if she’s to expect others to love it.” Because of Lauder’s love for her company, she took a very hands-on approach to its operations, getting her hands dirty in everything from production to marketing to sales. She understood the importance of hiring a good team, but her desire for perfection and quality drove her to want to control all aspects of her company, at least until it got too big for her to handle alone.

Lesson #1: Creative Brilliance is the Bridge to Success

“It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product,” wrote Ogilvy. “Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. I doubt if more than one campaign in a hundred contains a big idea.” Ogilvy was an advertising executive who praised the virtues of creativity; if an ad didn’t sell, it was because it wasn’t creative. His years of experience taught him that people were not going to buy a product if the ad was boring; only interest and curiosity would entice people to buy.

Ten Questions With Donald Trump
Donald J. Trump is a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance and started his business career in an office he shared with his father. In August of 2006, Mr. Trump was voted by BusinessWeek magazine as “the world’s most competitive businessperson.”

Precious Moments
Many years ago at a family reunion in Yazoo City I had a precious moment.

6 Questions That Uncover Your Brilliance
When I work with clients, I use a series of processes that leads them directly to the magic of their work that they can express in their Signature Talk. Today I want to share with you six of the questions I use with clients that will help you explore the message that underlies your brilliance.

ANATOMY OF A GOOD DIRECT MAIL PACKAGE
An analysis of a good direct mail package.

Are You A Dinosaur
Do you really know your business? To know your business you must know all the operating metrics as well the core of your business model. Business is part art and part science.

Low Hanging Fruit
Begin anew with the basic fundamentals everyday and one of the best business fundamentals is to remember to pick the low hanging fruit.

SEVEN WAYS TO RELIEVE STRESS IN YOUR LIFE
To help you relieve stress in a crazy world seven examples are provided to give you actions you can consider when dealing with some of the often-cited causes of stress.

Resonsible leadership in an interconnected universe
What does a leader's responsibility mean in times of crisis and the established knowledge that we are living in an interconnected universe consisting of energy and consciousness only?

Understanding and Managing Your Stress
Stress management is, in its simplest terms, your ability to deal effectively with all the combination's of pressure that come at you on a daily basis. It is your ability to operate under optimal levels of stress without letting the pressure build to the point where you cannot cope. This is normally accomplished by developing a process of both prevention and intervention.

Role of the Supervisor: Retain Your Best Talent
Employees’ confidence in the ability of their supervisor is one of the most important predictors of retention. Employees want to feel proud of being part of a successful organization and therefore worth an investment of their time. Supervisors must accept the fact that to a large degree employee turnover is their responsibility.

How to Leverage Your Work to Make More Money in Less Time
When you create a product, service, process or system for your small business it takes a lot of thought, planning and time. It's important that you find ways to leverage your work by using it again and again to make more money in less time.

Starting a Home Based Business Opportunity and What it Requires
Starting a home based business opportunity on the Internet is appealing to more people on a daily basis. Before accepting the challenge, it is important for you to know what is required. Here you can get information that will help you to make an informed decision whether it is something you can and want to do.

5 Tasks a Virtual Assistant Can Do For a Business or Executive Coach
Are you a business or executive coach overwhelmed with administrative tasks? By working with a virtual assistant you will have more time to create additional revenue and build your practice. Here are 5 tasks that you can easily delegate to your virtual assistant.

THE ACORN THEORY

The Acorn Theory was first postulated in the modern era, at least in the public domain by James Hillman, author and psychologist, in his bestselling book; The Soul’s Code. It is Hillman’s view that one of life’s greatest mysteries is the question of character and ones destiny. In this theory he proposes that our calling is inborn and that it’s our mission in life to realize its imperatives. He has called it the “acorn theory,” the idea that our lives are formed by a particular image, just as the oak’s destiny is contained in the tiny acorn.

Home Business Opportunity-Research a Company Thoroughly Before Investing Your Money
Who is the ideal candidate for starting a home business opportunity? If you have been laid off recently or have been unemployed for too long, you need to get busy and look for a legitimate home business opportunity on the Internet. You will find information in this article to help you.

Internet Home Based Business Opportunity and What you Need to Start
These tough economic times call for an alternative to the traditional job. As more jobs continue to be outsourced and the unemployment rate climbs to double digits, an Internet home based business is the only viable alternative. This article will provide information you need before you join a business opportunity. Be careful not to make your move too soon.

Resume Writing: 3 Quick Tips To Get You Noticed
Resume writing is as much an art as it is a skill. This article gives practical tips on improving your resume.

Home Based Business Opportunity--Working Towards Maximum Productivity
If you already have an Internet home based business, this article will provide tips and ideas for increasing productivity.

Internet Home Based Business Opportunity-Effective Research Tips
This article is all about helping you with starting an Internet home based business opportunity. You will see effective tips on researching and selecting a legitimate opportunity. Continue reading and take advantage of the valuable tips.

20 Ways to Say No

Saying no is tough sometimes. But it’s a necessary skill if you want to live a life with any kind of balance. Demands on our time, money and other resources can take all that we have if we allow them. And failing to use this important word leads to resentments in our relationships, over-scheduling, overwhelm, over extending, frustration and inattention to our own needs or goals. When we aren’t good at it, coming up with a “no” on the fly can be very difficult. I encourage my clients to create some ready phrases so that they are prepared. The trick is to:

CHOOSING AFFILIATE PROGRAMS TO PROMOTE IS HARD WORK

Those who are in charge of affiliate programs care if you choose the best affiliate offer to promote. In fact, it is part of their job requirement to assist you in making this kind of selection. You are working for them as an online sale professional. This means that you get paid to drive traffic to the offer that the affiliate manager is in charge of heading. The hard part comes when you view the webpage of the program in question. Do you choose to get behind the site that is promising their top reps a new computer, a dream trip to a place that is known to be lovely, or the program that rewards its tops affiliates with 2000 dollars in cash? Your job as an internet marketer is to see clearly, and base your decision on the facts so that you can start promoting as fast as possible.

SQUEEZE ALL YOU CAN OUT OF YOUR AFFILIATE PROMOTIONS
Selling to current clients is one of the easiest jobs in existence. It is tons easier to sell a product in this manner because you already have a relationship with this person. They know that you can deliver, they have already bought what you have offered, and you do not have to prove that you can be trusted.

CHOOSE YOUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMS WISELY!

What affiliate programs are you currently promoting? Did you choose 3 random affiliate offers, throw them in a hat, and just pick the first one that you could grab? Unluckily, there are too many new affiliates who choose what they will promote unwisely. Picking an offer should be done in a way that will greatly increase your chances of doing well. If you pick in an unwise manner, you may be wasting a large amount of time and effort promoting something that is doomed to fail from the beginning. The good news is that there are several tips that you can follow to decide on which offer is best.

MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMS CREATE PASSIVE ONLINE INCOME
Membership programs are the rental real estate of the internet kingdom. In other words, these types of programs provide passive income on a monthly basis for those who operate them for a living. This type of business is smart for any online marketer to have in their online bag of tricks. In this article we will mention several types of membership site models you may want to consider.

Which Social Media Tool will be the First to Become Irrelevant?
A recent survey conducted by the 60 Second Marketer with marketing directors around the globe asked "Which social media tool will be the first to become irrelevant?" The answer may surprise you. Check it out.

The Top 13 Social Media Tools for Marketers

There are hundreds of different Social Media tools available, so it’s easy to get confused by them. But social media tools are a little easier to understand if you break them down into three categories - tools that help you network, tools that help you promote and tools that help you share content. Here’s a quick rundown of the top 13 Social Media tools for marketers. I’ve also included some brief tips on how to use each of them.

Advertise your business for free.
Are you tired of paying to advertise your company, want free advertising?

Promoting Your Internet Home Based Business with Article Marketing
This article is about promoting your Internet Home Based Business using article marketing. Thousands of business entrepreneurs on the Internet adopt this form of marketing and promoting. News and information you can use.

VIDEO MARKETING MAY BE WHAT THE ONLINE AND OFFLINE WORLD IS LOOKING FOR IN 2009

Video marketing is almost as popular today as Google Adwords. In case you have not heard, youtube.com was bought for over 1 billion dollars by Google.com. What makes this even more amazing is that this occurred over two years ago. If you are not putting the power of this marketing weapon to use in your own internet marketing home business you are leaving tons of money on the online marketing table. Fortunately, you can now put this incredible resource to work for you if you just utilize a few quick tips. This article will serve to enlighten any fellow online business owners with several video marketing pointers.

What's Wrong With Multitasking?
Switching back and forth among tasks creates stress and divides your attention. Plus, it’s harder to remember where you left off and requires more thinking.

What's Your Passion?
80% of the working population feels on some level, unhappy, dissatisfied, and unfulfilled. In all likelihood, 4 out of every 5 people you meet are frustrated, under-enthused and not feeling like they are living their “purpose”.

Is Your Financial Comfort Zone Keeping You Stuck?
If you'd like to change your financial set point and increase your income here’s what to do:

What You Should Learn From Union Organizing
This article discusses what companies should learn from union organizing and how management by listening to the voices of the workers can build a better work environment

Losing Focus and Clarity of Vision
This article discusses the lack of focus and clarity in vision and mission statements an how to regain this clarity and focus.

Online Business Opportunities And How To Promote Them Using Autoresponders
If you are looking for an efficient way to promote online business opportunities an autoresponder may be the answer. The reason why many business owners do not get the maximum benefit out of them is because they simply do not know the best ways to use autoresponders to generate sales and attract customers and clients to their business.

When Did You Last Put Your Ear To The Ground?

Adept trackers, Native Americans used to put their ears to the ground to hear horses' hoofs miles away. The ground carried the sound. Later, the train tracks did the same thing if you put your ear to the track, you could hear the train coming from miles away. When Did You Last Put Your Ear To The Ground? Explore these simple ways to "tighten" your marketing tactics from face-to-face to voice mail. Start measuring how you connect with your prospects and make it matter.

Driving Traffic Through Online Forums
An Internet forum is an area for discussion made available on a website for users to post discussions, read and respond to posts by other forum members. Online forums allow members or users to start new topics and reply to existing posts too. Conversations on forums are called threads.

REINVENTING YOURSELF

Recently and again, I had an opportunity to visit with Geoff Currier on The Nighthawk, CJOB’s evening show. Geoff asked me to join him in a discussion of how some people manage to re-invent themselves and he used the example of Frank McCourt the author of Angela’s Ashes to start things off. As a Life & Business Coach my work with clients is all about reinvention but perhaps not in the way you may think.

Don't Lose Your Focus
Of the many obstacles business people face one of the hardest to overcome is our loss of focus.

THE NEW RULES OF ATTRACTION FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
Recently, we’ve heard a lot about how we should be using social media to appeal to the younger generation. However, much of the focus has been about the tools and how they work, but little about how and why they appeal to the younger generation.

KNOW THE ‘HOT SPOTS’ OF YOUR DM PACKAGE
What are the ‘hot spots’ of your direct mail package? They are the parts that you want your readers to be drawn to, to pay attention to.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CONSUMER FATIGUE, ONLY MARKETING FATIGUE.
Don’t just blame the recession, there are other factors at play when trying to market to consumers.

"WHAT WE’VE GOT HERE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE."
When it comes to charities, one neglected area where communication fails miserably is during Post Gift Communications.

EFFECTIVE Meeting Facilitation - Say Goodbye to the WOMBAT

"Oh no! Another meeting! That's 3 hours of my life I'll never see again!" If you've ever felt this way or suspect you've evoked this response in others, read on. A new acronym has popped up that defines many meetings. Many people are now referring to meetings as a WOMBAT (Waste Of Money, Brains And Time). To turn your meetings from WOMBATs to EFFECTIVE, here are some tips to create an environment where participants can bring their strengths and ideas to the table. EFFECTIVE meetings have not only positive discussion, but also a will to make important decisions and to take action.

What's Your Favorite "F" word ?
Interesting replies I received from a Tweet on Twitter concerning thankfulness. This is an article you'll really enjoy.

How to Get More Things Done With Ease and Elegance
Here’s is a quick checklist of what you need to know so you can beat the odds, and create more and more of what you want in your business and in your life with ease, grace and flow.

The Four C’s at Work: A New Approach to Team Building & Why It’s So Important
The Four C’s at Work: A New Approach to Team Building & Why It’s So Important

Starting an Internet Home Based Business Opportunity – Is it the Right Venture for You
For anyone unemployed or may be next to be laid off, this article is required reading. Since most individuals are not sure what to do about it, here is a suggestion for what you can do; Your mission should you decide to accept it, is to prepare for starting an Internet Home Based Business. You will discover that it is the only viable alternative to a traditional job. Read more.

Which Would You Prefer, Wealth or Welfare? (it's a trick question)
The relationship between the words "wealthy" and "welfare" would surprise most people today. By the time you finish, you will realize you should have both.

LEAN INTO YOUR DISCOMFORT

I must admit that learning to lean into my discomfort has had a very positive effect in my life! It was a process over time but the value of being able and willing to do it, was magnified 10 fold during my two year battle to survive my deteriorating lungs, followed by another two year journey back from the edge of death to good health, after surviving a 13 hour double lung transplant operation. My new lungs came from a 40 year old man who lost his life in a car accident when he was killed by a drunk driver. His incredible gifts saved the lives of four people. I know about discomfort!

Self Motivation
This is an except from my book on self coaching. Chapter 6 deals with self motivation which is an essential ingredient in the self coaching process. This is an excerpt from my book: Deep Coaching: A Guide to Self Directed Living. You can find a free preview of three chapters to download and get directions to download the ebook or buy the book on-line. Thanks for having a look.

An Accountant or a Leader - but rarely both
Sometimes I think that the world is divided between the people who make things happen and those that account for it. I know it is an over simplification but all the personality assessments, type indicators and their like break us into four types: The Pragmatic, the Analytical, the Amiable and the Extrovert.

Having a Purpose

As children we are always asking the question ‘why?’ This often results in the majority of adults becoming frustrated with our incessant questioning. Through this we learn to tone down our questions as we get older. This, however, does not mean that we are not curious and do not want to know. In our workplace, or anywhere we are asked to make a commitment and strive to achieve something, the question looming in our mind is why? Why are we doing this? What is the point? What will we achieve as a result of doing this?

Earn Extra Income Online Writing Blog Articles
These are ideas on how to earn extra income online as a blog writer. It's something that is in high demand and can be very lucrative for you.

Top 3 Network Marketing Lead Generation Methods When Marketing On A Budget! ~GUARANTEED SUCCESS
Are you a person who is marketing with a small budget and would you like to know the top 3 network marketing lead generation methods when marketing on a budget? Well that is exactly what you are going to discover in this article. Enjoy this article by Omari Taylor and uncover the top 3 network marketing lead generation methods when marketing on a budget.

Home Based Business Opportunity - Using the Online Forums for Your Business Publicity
As the popularity of your home based business opportunity increases, you will see your profit increasing proportionately with it. New home based entrepreneurs normally start their businesses with very low budgets and the understanding of free yet effective website promotional methods always comes as a joy to them.

Starting an Internet Home Based Business
Starting an Internet home based business is the best alternative to a traditional job during this deep recession in the United States and the rest of the world. If you have a late model computer with high-speed Internet access and basic computer and Internet skills you are good to go.

Sales Prospecting on Steroids

With all of the articles written about sales and cold calls being dead (I usually write the counter arguments to that. How would you find new business if the only thing you could rely on was a lead?) it was a breath of fresh air when Michael Strickland, my guest on this week's edition of Meet the Sales Experts, spoke about prospecting on steroids. His five tips for sales success in today's economy are:

Internet Home Based Business
There are many different people starting an Internet home based business these days. A large number of people have computers and know how to operate them. They also have state-of-the-art computers with high-speed Internet access and are ready to tackle the business of running an Internet home based business.

You’ll Need to Be More Than a Full Time Resource for Your Home Based Business
Many people jump on board in a home based business opportunity without really understanding the commitment required to be successful. Prior to getting started, you need to educate yourself and understand you are the one that will be the resource for your business. To learn more, read the article on tips to be more effective.

Home based Business - Understanding the True Value of Customer Support
At the core of any successful business is making your customers happy. The only way to ensure you do that aside from excellent products or services is to have great customer support. To learn more, read the article.

Cubicle Courtesies Unlock Doors

It’s true that the close quarters of office cubicles in companies are a breeding ground for hot tempers, resentments and damaged relations. It’s also true that most of our complaints about our co-workers are valid and should not be ignored. The challenge is to devise and employ strategies to create goodwill in the office so that minor annoyances do not explode into a toxic work environment that no one will benefit from. Open environments and cubicles are here to stay. Ensure that your business relationships enjoy that same longevity by employing strategies of cubicle courtesies which will open doors to a more productive and enjoyable workspace.

The Day our Icons let us down

In the seventies Marks and Spencer plc, in UK was the icon of the retail industry. Everyone used M&S as a benchmark by which they measured their performance and aspired to achieve. National Westminster Bank was the biggest bank in UK and the bank that handled the Bank of England. British Airways was the major airline in the world and a company that other airlines looked up to. There were similar organizations in North America as well and other parts of the world. Then the world changed. In the 80’s the world shifted gear. The icons were found to be set in their traditional ways. In fact all three of these companies were challenged to the level that they nearly disappeared.

Using self-talk to conquer your goals
Having a positive mindset can help you achieve your goals with ease.

MLM Scam Review Sites -- Just More Advertising ?

We have all seen the ads stating that they have the facts that show which companies are scams and which are not. When you read through the site, you will see many facts and "testimonials" giving details about how unfair the business treats people. There are typically two or three graphically detailed accounts of deception. After you read most of the way through the articles, you come to a point where the author states that he can save you a great deal of money and heartache. Then he lists several companies that he personally recommends, as the best place to invest your money. Seems very logical. Seems as though he is really looking out for your best interest.

MLM Pre-Launch -- Great Marketing or Just Another MLM Scam
If you have been around the MLM industry very long, you have seen all of the hype that is generated when a new "pre-launch" MLM opportunity is announced. The "pre-launch" announcement supposedly gives people the chance to get in to the new opportunity before everybody else. The question is -- who IS everybody else?

10 ways to get business when bootstrapping
When bootstrapping a business - resources are usually limited. So here's a 10-point guide on stuff that's worked for me, and might just work for you as well.

Investing in the Invisible

If you’re a business owner, you might be surrounded by sea, but you know there is land out there somewhere and you are determined to find it. You are investing in the invisible – the land you can’t see yet is the land of your dreams, your goals, and your brilliant, successful future filled with riches, profits, and rewards. If you’re thinking of becoming a business owner, you’re thinking about investing in that same invisible, glorious dream.

The Hidden Power of Questions
Business leaders who know everything and always have a great plan can climb a good distance. But they rarely make it to the top. Why not? What’s missing? Good questions—that’s what’s missing. Or more specifically, a strong questioning strategy.

Eyes on the Prize
Trophy master turns hobby into a profitable venture.

Build Your Business with The 5 A’s Method
This is a simplification of basic best business practices. It is a quick tune-up check list to recommit you to what you love to do—your business. See how the ideas work for you.

Pushing Boundaries
Have you ever noticed how children are constantly pushing boundaries and checking how far they can push things? It is a natural thing to do as the child endeavors to discover what works and why.

Being Connected
There is an interesting situation in the work place these days caused by the social networking sites.

Another Conference
Who would put a team together that did not share the common goals and seek to work in harmony to complete the outcome?

Remaining Focused

Christopher Columbus set sail heading West to look for new lands. It was a daring move at a time of growing national imperialism and economic competition between states. It was risky and many thought that he would disappear off the edge of the world. However, Columbus remained focused even though he did not know exactly what he would find. In fact, he totally underestimated the circumference of the world and when he landed in the Bahamas he thought he had landed on the East Asian mainland. As with all these voyages in history, Columbus prepared as best he could for the months ahead. In part he was preparing for the unknown, but there was a lot he knew he could plan for and he recognized that his team would need to be able to adapt and change as challenges arose.

Obama on Leadership
After eight years of the Bush Administration and the last year of electioneering, the whole world watched in January, as the first African-American took the oath of office and became the 44th President of United States of America.

When to Fold 'em
One of the important aspects of leadership is to know when to stand firm and when to fold.

How Your Business Model Could Be Limiting Your Income and How to Change It

Most businesses start out with just one or two products or services. Maybe you’re selling services like coaching, event planning, personal training, web design or massage therapy, or maybe it’s an online info product like an e-book or course. Whatever it is, before long you find yourself selling time for money with your income limited by how many hours there are in the day, or you work hard to get lots of clients but the sale amount is so low and, since it’s a one time sale, you’re barely breaking even.

Compromise or Sacrifice?
In your pursuit of business or personal success, what are you willing to compromise or sacrifice? Read this article to appreciate their implications and impact on individuals.

Know When to Send Your Media Release for Free Publicity
Knowing when to send your media release to journalists and editors, can make the difference between getting free publicity or being overlooked.

How to Build a 6-Figure Income from Your Small Business
If you own a small or solo business or practice, or are an independent service professional here are some great business building ideas for you.

You Can Quote Me
The art of writing convincing quotes for press releases and other matreials

The Science and Art of Great Interviewing

Great interviewers use a structured process to gather the evidence they need to make informed hiring decisions. Plan your questions in advance. Build rapport. Investigate both sides of an issue. Check for capabilities, commitment and chemistry. Learn how to detect then trust your intuition. Keep your interviews on track. And record your observations during the interview in a structured way so you can fairly compare responses of all your candidates

Who's court is that ball in? Or, that ain't my job, man.
You want to be recognized for your contribution. You may not even mind a critique when you don't live to your aims. But you don't want to be blamed for someone else's shortcomings. The people who work with you feel the same way. This article points out how to manage, to keep the responsibility lines straight.

Just the facts, ma'am
Whether or not Joe Friday ever said "Just the facts, ma'am", the facts are necessary for your operation to judge what is not right, and what to change. Objective, open eyed facts, undistorted by opinions nor politics; nor by "it's always been done that way" nor by the dreaded Not Invented Here syndrome.

Policy
Productivity can be improved anywhere, including the board room. Basic policies set in place the mechanisms that control costs up and down the P&L and balance sheet. Be sure those policies serve the organization, and not vice versa.

Give the supervisor what he needs
Or what she needs, to be productive. But what the supervisor needs may not be what your system stresses, what it spews out. Here are points to consider.

Article Marketing Tips That Actually Work! ~EXPOSED SECRETS

Many people are told about using articles to earn a large income online but not many can actually do it. I work with an elite group of Internet marketing entrepreneurs who have shared this secret with me and I've been achieving incredible results with what they have shared. Now I want to share this secret with you. Read this article by Omari Taylor an learn simple article marketing tips that will definitely explode your income.

So what do you know – or what do you think you know?
One of my roles is to challenge current thinking. Businesses are formed and develop over time and certain ideas and concepts become embedded in the organisation. Mentors like myself challenge those ideas to ensure that the business remains fresh.

Do you have to be lucky to be successful?
Do you have to be lucky to be successful? I take time to think about my articles and an idea for one came up a couple of months ago and coincidentally whilst thinking on the topic, an associate sent me something on the same lines as my thought process.

Trapped by your business?
As with all my articles they come out of real experience and my on going conversations with MD’s and Directors. I have been quite active in the business acquisition marketplace recently on behalf of a client. The word “trapped” has come up a number of times in my travels.

Poker – a Metaphor for Business
Poker – a Metaphor for Business One of my sins (if you can call it that) is to play online poker. Not a great stakes player I hasten to add; I tend to play in tournaments with $5 to $10 entry fees. Actually I am quite good at that level and have made a small profit from my forays. But interestingly enough Poker has something to say about business that is worth repeating.

What’s the worst word in Business? FAILURE!

What’s the worst word in Business? FAILURE! No one likes failure or those who have failed. Business is supposed to be about success, making profits, achieving objectives, going places and hopefully having fun! But being in business also means taking risks and making judgements that can and sometimes do go wrong. And hitting that brick wall of failure, sometimes when you least expect it; can be very painful both financially and personally.

Management and Mentoring with Unconditional Positive Regard

This article is the first of a series of three covering the core conditions model developed by Carl Rogers and its application to Management and Mentoring. These core conditions were developed for use in Person Centred Counselling Psychotherapy and from my experience have great relevance to Management in general and my Mentoring practice in particular. Carl Rogers’ view was that everyone should be judged positively no matter what (and I mean no matter who they are or what they have done). Rogers described it as “Unconditional Positive Regard” or UPR for short. The Rogerian view is that everyone is born with a positive approach but held back by externally imposed “Conditions of Worth”.

Ethics and Business - Why Bother?

I have embarked on a difficult journey in developing skills in Counselling with the University of Hertfordshire. Part of that is a commitment to an ethical framework set out by the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists. I consequently considered that I need to make a similar commitment to my Mentoring clients (or prospective clients). I have separately adapted/abbreviated the BACP framework Now in business many people describe themselves as ethical and portray themselves to their customers and partners in that way. Rarely do they actually set down in writing the ethical framework of how they will do business.

Mentoring to buy and sell businesses

Buying or selling a business is an emotional activity. No matter how hard Managing Directors and their advisers try, the closer the deal gets the more emotional things become I have in my career bought and sold a number of businesses. The most important thing to do whether you are looking to sell or buy is to become detached and a good way to achieve that is to use a mentor like myself to enable that to happen. Detachment comes from precise and careful planning and most importantly from clarifying clearly what the objectives are for the disposal or acquisition.

Mentoring Management Commandments
My experience as a business mentor has shown that no matter what the SME business, the owner/MD has the same issues. These are usually ? Lack of a plan ? Lack of trust of their team ? Working too hard at doing the job ? Not planning or directing the business In response I developed the following commandments for MD’s to have on their walls; I share them with you.

Passionate but not Persuasive
There are times when we have an idea be it business or otherwise which we are passionate about. But I would issue caution when relying on that passion to persuade others. Sometimes you can be passionate but not persuasive...

Mentoring to remove the barriers to your success
Mentoring to remove the barriers to your success “As a result of the one hour I spent with Nicholas, I’ve achieved more in the last 3 weeks than I did in the previous 3 months! Thank goodness for his perception, honesty, clarity of thought and encouragement”. Looks a great testimonial but there is more to this than meets the eye and at one stage I was quite questioning of my approach.

The Vacuum Effect!

The Vacuum Effect! It is interesting how similar situations appear as you go through life. I suppose when something happens once you become more aware of when it happens again. Anyway this month I had a couple of instances of what I will call “The Vacuum Effect”. This is where in companies or organisations you have a key employee leaving with a consequential effect on the rest of the business.

Mentoring to hear what you say, to know what you think!

I recently read in a book a quotation variously attributed to E M Forster and others “How can I know what I think, until I hear what I say?” Managing Director’s endeavour to direct their staff and their company to move forward and would do well to read this quotation and think hard on it. How can others do what they want when they do not understand what the MD thinks or knows? And how can they know that if the MD doesn’t that have that clarity.

Mentoring is Good For You
SME businesses have gaps in their critical skills. They run on sparse resources (people, time and finance) all focused on lots of operational details and red tape. In addition this focus is skewed by personal passions or backgrounds. What they need is a mentor!

Are you Mad to be a Director?
You don’t have to be mad to work here, but it helps! We all know this phrase from office notice boards and the like but there is an element of truth in it for Director/Owners of SME’s. For the disturbing reality is that they are driven mad by the schizophrenic nature of their role.

The Brand Provides The Key ... or You Have What It Takes!
I have a gardening background, both from spending years as the Brand Manager for Miracle-Gro and from my master gardener mother, who continues to teach me all about how to coax loveliness from a bare patch of earth. She was talking about tomatoes, and it reminded me of a very important personal branding lesson.

Why Article Marketing Is Good For Your Internet Home Business
Article marketing is known as one of the best methods to market your internet home business online. The reasons all internet marketers write article eventually is because they realized the importance of article marketing is good for their internet home business.

Goodman's Top 10 China Business Mistakes
Here is the outline for 90% of the lectures I give on doing business in China.

Latest PWGSC Press Release Changes Little

Last evening took an interesting turn as I began to receive notifications of the latest press release from the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Chrisitan Paradis regarding the Government Enterprise Network Services: 2009 Industry Consultations Report. The following is a copy of the press release in its entirety followed of course by my take relative to its meaning in terms of the Government of Canada’s Shared Services strategy.

Are there 80,000 reasons that Alcock borrowed a page from Gershon?

“In what has been described as the most significant restructuring of public services for a generation, the rest of the $21 billion (in savings) will have to come from overall efficiency gains such as improving the procurement system, and streamlining areas such as information technology and human resources. That’s why the skeptics are skeptical.” In case some of you are wondering if I am just repeating what I had written in Saturday’s post regarding Reg Alcock’s statement “that the “federal government is on the verge of launching the biggest transformation in the way government is managed in its history,” the above comment was made during a July 22, 2004 BBC interview with Sir Peter Gershon.

Alcock Borrows a Page from Gershon?
“In what has been described as the most significant restructuring of public services for a generation, the rest of the $21 billion (in savings) will have to come from overall efficiency gains such as improving the procurement system, and streamlining areas such as information technology and human resources. That’s why the skeptics are skeptical.”

Small Details Big Profits
Business owners who want an edge in a tough economy don't need to put out big bucks. Focus on the little details and you'll soon find yourself rising above the competition.

Business Email Etiquette – What you should know BEFORE you hit Send
Tips on email for business associates

5 Online Forum Marketing Tips You Must Use
Online forum marketing is one of the best way to socialize on the internet. Forums work if you use them correctly and we will show you how you can build your internet home business using these online forum marketing tips.

Just How Different Are You
So how do you effectively pull your prospects out of the box? In other words, how do you define what makes you TRULY different. Having done many surveys for my clients asking their customers this very pointed questions, I can tell you this. 9 times out of 10 it is in the little things.

Do Your Need Your Own Website To Do Affiliate Marketing Online?
Affiliate marketing is an easy and very popular way to get started on the internet mainly because you do not need to create a product of your own and you are provided with an affiliate website. However, is this enough or should you have your own website and start an online affiliate home business of your own?

Viral Marketing – 5 Sure Fire Ways To Get The Best Kind of Virus To Have in the Winter
Viral marketing is the cheapest and fastest way to get your business understood and your business known. So how do you get started?

Online Home Business Ideas To Use Free Advertising To Make Money
How do you promote your online home business if you do not have any money to do it with? The internet has made it so anyone can build a business and make money online. What you lack in time you can make up for in money and vice versa.

Your Autoresponder – The Key to Seven Profit Centers
Your autoresponder – integral to your internet marketing and crucial to building that all important “list” but did you know that its use can also open up seven profit centers for you? Well here are a few suggestions:

Three Reasons to Write Articles and the Fourth Most Important One!
We think that articles are so important to your internet marketing strategy, that we also tell you the secret of getting your articles read, passed around and high up in the search engines.

Restaurant Marketing In A Downturn
My last post dealt with an very broad approach to your business overall during a downturn.

Work Life Balance: C.P.R. for a Balanced Life
Do you feel over-worked and under-appreciated? Are you struggling to balance work & family? Are you too busy taking care of everyone but never have time for yourself? Whether you want to have more balance, more inner peace, or more time for yourself, I offer these tips in my signature workshop "C.P.R. for a Balanced Life".

Is Email Hiding Your Personality?

Email is so much easier to use for prospecting than the phone. You can write it at any time day or night. You don't have to worry about being hung up on and you won't catch your client "at a bad time." But it's also easily deleted with no response. When you put yourself into your email, your chances of getting prospects to respond escalate. You stand apart from the other sellers who blend together as Inbox clutter.

6 Tips on How to Fully Unleash the Power of Email Marketing

All persons doing business online use email. Those who are successful use it a lot and are very effective with this medium. The most sophisticated internet marketers use email to generate recurring website traffic. They are also generating good profits from their readers. The marketing of a web site is complete once you establish a form that will allow you to gather email addresses. Here are several email marketing tips that you can put in place to improve your sales and profits.

Sales Pipeline Gives Sight to Blind Executives
In a struggling economy, executives of sales driven companies are able to see weaknesses and shortcomings on their sales forces that they were previously either blind to or chose to ignore when the orders were coming in. Now that these executives have sight, the question to be answered is can they invest the money to improve their revenue making machine?

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!

Are You Living The Law of Attraction Yet?
Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in the middle of something happening that you don’t want, and you just can’t figure out how to change it? Here’s the first clue, shift your focus to what you do want…

Getting the Best Out of Your Franchise Agreement

You’re at that crucial point which will start your franchising career, that moment when you put your signature down on the dotted line of the franchise agreement. Signing isn’t as easy at it sounds, though. Reading the terms and clauses in the agreement may send you into a whirlwind of second thoughts. By the time you actually get to the dotted line at the bottom of the contract, you’ll be wondering what you’re getting yourself into.

Use Noncompete Agreements To Help Protect Your Business From
Renegade former employees riding the free enterprise wave is one reason noncompete agreements are gaining in popularity among employers who hope to use them to help protect their business from competitive threats launched by former employees. Many employers are now demanding that key employees sign noncompetes as a stipulation of employment.

Hey Ive received an FDD Where in the world do I start this thing is huge

You are working your way throughthe franchise process and now you have a franchise company's Franchise Disclosure Document and it is several hundred pages. In this 5th article in our series we explain what the intention of the FDD is as well as what to look for when you receive it. This is a critical document and knowing what and where to look is critical. Read on for a description and guide for reviewing a franchise company FDD.

Franchise Agreements The Basics

What you need to look for when you want to start a franchise and are ready to sign the franchise agreement. So you’ve taken all the appropriate steps; you’ve researched, asked questions, found out about the competition, scouted locations and lined everything up. Now it’s time to sit down and sign the franchise agreement. But before you do, there are several things you need to know. The franchise agreement will be the bedrock of your business, and success (or failure) may lie somewhere inside all those conditions and terms. A smart franchisee will read the franchise agreement very carefully, making sure they understand everything within it. Here are some of the most commonly misunderstood or potential problematic areas you need to be aware of:

Personality Not Included by Rohit Bhargava

Does your business need a "personality"? Should you take a look at your business to evaluate ways to develop a positive personality? Is your business good enough? The answers are yes, yes and no. Even if you feel your business is good enough - there are always ways to improve. Developing an effective personality is a great way to set yourself apart from your competition. This book explains why your business needs a personality, how to develop it and what techniques are the best for you.

Using MySpace To Promote Your Business
While the MySpace social networking website is predominantly seen as being a music related site, it can be used for much more. Integrated into your online marketing mix, and treated properly, it can form a good basis for Social Media Optimization and for Search Engine Optimization.

Questions Concerning Severance & Separation Agreements
General analysis concerning severance and separation agreements from a business owner's perspective.

How do I get my sales people to create some urgency with the client?
If what you have will benefit your prospect enormously and they don’t go ahead now, who will lose? The prospect will, and of course so will you, but if you genuinely believe that what you have is right for your prospect you will be letting them down by not asking for the order then and there.

How to manage your time so you can get more done each day in sales
How to managing your time so you can get more done each day in sales

Severance and Separation Agreements
One topic I get a lot of questions about is severance and separation agreements. Although there's a distinct difference between the two, and some overlap, with some guidance the costs and benefits of both types of agreements can be understood and used to a business' advantage.

Using Your Signature To Promote Your Online Home Business
You are probably asking what a signature has got to do with promoting your online home business. It is one of the most effective methods of internet marketing that will drive free targeted traffic to your online home business website.

Using Your Signature To Promote Your Online Home Business
You are probably asking what a signature has got to do with promoting your online home business. It is one of the most effective methods of internet marketing that will drive free targeted traffic to your online home business website.

Use Forum Marketing to Promote Your Website
Forum marketing is definitely one of the most effective forms of free advertising available today. If you've got time on your hands, but no money to advertise, leveraging forums to promote your products, services, or website should be part of your daily routine.

Use Forum Marketing to Promote Your Website
Forum marketing is definitely one of the most effective forms of free advertising available today. If you've got time on your hands, but no money to advertise, leveraging forums to promote your products, services, or website should be part of your daily routine.

The eMail Signature - Use it to Promote
Small Businesses usually have very little money for advertising, but one of the simplest way to get free advertising is to use your eMail Signature.

Stop Sitting On Your Goldmine! How To Turn Your Ideas Into Highly Profitable Income Streams
Here are three key phases to creating a profitable signature program for your business.

Electronic Signature
An electronic signature is equivalent to hand-written signature, with data in electronic form being attached to other electronic subject data as a means of authentication. A signature can be referred to as a unique stylized script associated with a particular person.

The Importance of Electronic Signature Technology For the Real Estate Industry
Electronic signatures are considered to be as legally binding as traditional paper-and-ink signatures. The term “signature” generally refers to a unique, stylized script belonging to a particular person.

Email Marketing Made Easy #08 - More Marketing Methods
Here are some more marketing ideas: In "Signature Files" A signature file is what you add at the end of every email message you send, a few lines to advertise you, your website or your autoresponder. Depending on your email software, you can have a signature added to each message with your software directly, or as a separate file (text or HTML) hence a "signature file."

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