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small business Tagged Articles
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The Importance of Taking Your Biz Carbon Negative
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| What are there benefits to taking your business's carbon emissions BELOW zero? Learn how your business can become part of the solution to combating climate change--and profit while doing so--by becoming carbon negative. |
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Angel Investors- An Entrepreneurial Partnership
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| It's time for entrepreneurs to get real when raising capital and examine their relationship with potential angel investors. Discover what you need to do as a small business entrepreneur to prepare for bringing an angel investor on-board. |
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Small Business Operations Managers Deliver Huge Value
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| Are you an early stage or start-up small business entrepreneur who’s so busy you’re running around trying to do ten jobs at once? Are you running out of time everyday and can’t seem to get caught up? Let’s discuss how an operations manager can make all the difference towards the success of your business. |
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Top 5 tips to help you find the right work at home marketing business
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| In this day and age of the internet world there are just so many options out there for somebody to find an opportunity to own their own small business and work from home. But which one is right for you? I recently went through a search to find the right option for me, and the tips that you are about to read are vital to any home based online business.
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Commercial Retail Tenancy Agreements In Australia - NSW Retail Lease Law
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| Many Australian state governments have expanded their concept of consumer protection to include small business consumers who are bargaining on a playing field that is far from level, against owners of big shopping centres. They seek to provide this protection by making sure that prospective tenants have sufficient information to make a sound business decision about entering into or renewing a Retail Shop Lease Agreement.
Recent amendments to the Retail Leases Act of 1994 clearly offer further protection to tenants, the Government regarding them as the less powerful party in most retail leasing transactions. As a result, the Retail Leases Amendment Act 2005 requires greater responsibility and pro-active behavior from Landlord. |
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Selling a Small Business in a Down Economy:
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| How is the market? Is This a Good Time to Sell? |
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A New Race Car to Success in 2010 for Christmas This Year
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| A car lovers point of view on how to grow your sales in 2010. Steps to chose the road, the engine and the fuel you use to get your business to its best year ever! |
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How To Find A Niche Market For Your Small Business
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| For a small business, it is usually not possible to offer a whole bouquet of services to a large customer audience. What you need is to identify a niche market for yourself which you can serve best and device strategies to cater this market. |
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How can Outsourcing Help Small Business Grow Fast
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| Contrary to big businesses that can afford to hire people across different geographical locations and place them in offices across the country, small businesses are limited by their resources and options to look for ‘specialists’ in their locality only; this is when outsourcing becomes a boon; if used correctly, of course. |
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Effective Budgeting for Start-up Businesses
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| It really isn’t that difficult to make budget for your small business once you have charted out your goals and the path your business is most likely to take, say, in the next 5-10 years. Think long term first, then concentrate on short term ends and go on to compile a concise, but accommodating budget that could serve as one of the cornerstones of your new business. |
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Team Management for your New Business
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| Although forming an organized and responsive team for a small business may look like a daunting task, a few essentials and guidelines can make team management quite simple. |
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Small Business Franchise Opportunities Are Coming Straight For Us!
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| Small business franchise opportunities are coming straight to us and we cannot do nothing about it. The understanding of the whole small business franchise opportunity is its a traditional business where a small business owner can buy |
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Picking a Success Mentor to Accelerate your Results
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| Knowing HOW to pick a mentor or coach can be the most important decision you make this year. Having someone who can eliminate the guesswork, brainstorm new solutions assist you in prioritizing what to do in what order is essential to accelerating results. But you do want to make sure the person you hire is a good match for you. |
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Create a Successful Business Plan in 30 days
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| It's time to make business goals. How much time have you scheduled in for planning this year? If you want a successful business, you have to plan! |
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Don’t Wait for the “Right Time” to Start Your Home Business
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| As the end of another year approaches, countless individuals are reevaluating their career choices and are considering a future in Internet marketing. Starting your own home-based Internet business is much easier than it may first appear and there is no better time to start than right now. |
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Purchasing Real Estate using the SBA 504 Loan
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| For an owner occupied purchase of real estate a borrower espescially in today's economic climate should seriously consider the use of SBA Financing. Also if Congress passes the Recovery ACT proposals this amount may be increased to 5 Million for the 40% debenture, thus giving a much larger buying opportunity for Small Business |
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What is CEO Time?
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| You're the Chief Executive of your small business. You're also the Chief Employee. CEOs make a lot of money. Employees do not. If you're not making a lot of money right now in your business, have a look at how much time you're spending as a "Chief Employee." |
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SBA Loans - What Qualifies as a Small Business
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| I wanted to address what qualifies as a Small Business under the SBA guideline. As new rules and regulations are adopted for SBA Loans, the key point of what qualifies as a small business is always being addressed and updated. |
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Small Business Strategy- A Framework for Change
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| The business environment keeps changing. Are you standing still? Take a new look at your positioning, productivity, partnering, and personal goals |
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Advertising, Marketing and PR: What's the Difference?
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| Sure, They Are Related ... But Each Serves a Different Function |
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Understand Your P & L
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| While cash flow is the most critical financial measure for small businesses, it is imperative that the P & L us fully understood |
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Dealing with the Current Downturn
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| The current economic times are challanging, but we cannot "throw up our hands" and just react. We need to take smart, measured actions. |
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Fraud Prevention
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| Fraud is a problem in small companies |
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Manage Your Sales Force
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| Many CEO's/owners do not feel that they understand the sales process, so they hire salespeople and do not manage them. They just tell them, "Don't just stand there, sell something". Does this ever work? Probably not. Do not fall for the old idea that you must be a sales expert to manage the sales process. |
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Not Enough Meetings
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| Not enough meetings. What a dumb statement. |
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Performance Appraisals
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| All organizations should have formal performance appraisals. The following is a guide for a good appraisal system. |
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The Art of Networking
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| Is networking an important part of your marketing plan? If not, it should be. |
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The Balance of Managing
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| How many small business owners say they don't have time to manage? They must do it themselves. |
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Five Principles of Biblical Stewardship for Your Small Business
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| Stewardship is a biblical perspective that can be applied to your business. Stewardship simply means managing possessions and property that are not yours. There are five principles of biblical stewardship: persistence, planning, proportionate, pleasantness, and purpose. Let's see how we can apply them to your (God's) business. |
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Starting an Online Small Business
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| The first step in starting your online or offline business is to name it. When considering the name of your business, make sure it reflects the products or services you will be offering. |
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Delegation, the Key to Small Business Growth
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| In his bestselling book, "The E-Myth Revisited," Michael Gerber suggests that you prepare an organizational chart for your business right from the get-go, complete with descriptions for each job you currently perform. This may seem unnecessary (after all, you know what you have to do!) but it will help you prepare for the time when you need to start delegating to employees or outside services. Having formal job descriptions in place will not only allow you to identify the work you can delegate as your business grows, but make the transition less disruptive and stressful. |
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Small Business Planning - Or Not!
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| The concept of business planning is great for large companies, for we entrepreneurs it is a waste of time. The only person who needs your business plan is your lender, but it is more for their benefit than yours. So, make what you give the lender fat so it will fill up their file and believe you know exactly what you're doing. Then go do what makes money and be ready to re-write the plan for the next year's credit line renewal. |
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"Top Ten Questions about Selling a Small Business"
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| Answers to our most frequently asked questions about selling a small business. |
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How To Improve Your Sales
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| Are your sales where you want them to be? For most sellers and small business people, the answer is no, even if you are at a high level already. Do you know why they are not where you want them to be? Again, for most people the answer is no, even though you may have an idea as to why. So, where is the constraint in your sales process?
It is with awareness of where your constraint or constraints are that you can learn what you need to do, how to do it, and take action on what you need to do. And achieve the results that you want.
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How Can Working Capital Financing Help You and Your Business?
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| There are many different options from the traditional loan through the bank to a Small Business Cash Advance. If you have paid cash for equipment but now need that cash back, you may also qualify for a Sale Leaseback. You may even obtain a Collateral Loan for your Working Capital Financing needs if you have the collateral. |
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Small Business Cash Advance - How Does it Work?
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| For weaker credit individuals and/or Working Capital needs, a Small Business Cash Advance can still be accomplished somewhat easily. |
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Enjoy Your Small Business And Watch The Profits Roll In
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| Why you need to have fun and enjoy what you do in your Small Business and what to do if you a not.Find out why it is so important for you to enjoy what you do and the positive impact you enjoying your business will have on all aspects of how well it runs.Find out an easier way to get out of your business if you are not enjoying it and you do not know what to do. |
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Buy a A Business Instead of Finding A Job
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| In times of economic uncertainty, buying a small business is an option often turned to by people who suddenly find themselves out of a job. It is important, however, to understand the process of finding a suitable business to buy and how it differs from purchasing real estate in many important ways. |
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Taking debt now does not mean it is forever
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| Banks turning you down but you don’t want to use those seemingly high priced alternative financing companies to get capital for your business? There are ways to use these products (for a short period) to get what your business wants and needs right now. |
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Financing your start-up - tranche your funding requests!
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| One fatal mistake that nearly all new small businesses make when seeking capital is asking for too much up front. You must lower the risk by demonstrating your business and capital management skills. Find out how … |
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The Fallacy of Bank Lending
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| If banks really want to compete and grow though increased customer acquisition and market share, then they will quit ignoring small business customers. It is a true fallacy of banks to continue to ignore this important and very large market segment. |
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Retirement put on hold: Option, start your own business
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| Are you in retirement or approaching retirement? Fearful of being able to survive and maintain your lifestyle? Instead of trying to say in the work place, think self-employment. |
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Business Plans: To Have or Have Not
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| Business plans – should a new start-up business have one or not? Business plans are great tools for the business owner. Keeping this in mind and using this tool to your benefit can not only help your business grow but reduce the intimidation factor. |
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5 Steps that Improve Cash Flow
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| In down economies, cash is king. It is cash, not sales, that a businesses use to pay bills, meet payroll, service debt, and build growth. Here are five simple steps to improve your businesses cash flow. |
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Set your business apart with little expense and effort
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| Losing customers? Having a hard time attracting new customers? Maybe it has to do with the level of customer service you provide. Treat your customers right and not only will they be loyal but will also be more willing to purchase more for your business. |
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Understand your business’s cash flow and grow your profits
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| By not understanding your business’s cash flow – what it costs to obtain revenue and where those funds end up – will only lead to the decline and demise of your business efforts. If you want to increase profits, you have to manage your business finances. |
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Start-up your small business - 5 steps
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| Starting a small business can be a daunting task for a new entrepreneur. But, there are a few simple steps that you can take to help ensure your success. Incorporate these steps into your early development and you will be on your way to financial freedom. |
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Tired of hearing ‘NO’ when seeking funding for your start-up?
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| Turn a ‘no’ into a ‘yes’ by following a few simple concepts in financing your new business. Start-ups need money but they don’t need it all at one time – figure out how to get only what you need – when your small business need it! |
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What’s a small business to do regarding financing?
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| Banks continue to ignore small business borrowers. Even with signs of a recovery, they still are not lending. It isn’t your fault! And, there are things you can do about it. |
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Success - Something To Chew On
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| Even if you aren't a connoisseur of chewing gum, you'll find something to chew on in this short story: One day, Mr. Wrigley (of chewing gum fame) was traveling on a train between New York and Chicago. His traveling companion asked him why he continued to spend so much money on advertising and publicity. |
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Get the Small Business Start Up Help that You Need
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| Depending on the type of small business you want to start, you may need some capital in order to get things going. The best place to turn, but not always the first inclination, is the federal government. The government has millions of dollars available specifically for small business start-ups. The second best option to turn to is the Small Business Administration which is available solely for helping small business owners. |
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Buying a Franchise | A Small Business Start Up Franchising Primer Guide for Franchise Development Beginners
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| There are key components involved with buying a franchise and starting a business. The journey begins with a mind set that you will not be buying anything but rather investing in yourself with a concept to help achieve your goals. Investing in your future requires planning and honesty. Begin to think ownership thoughts as soon as possible and act accordingly. Design Build your idea with the end in sight. |
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Selling a Small Business in a Down Economy:
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| How is the market? Is This a Good Time to Sell? |
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The Four Factors of Small Business
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| We can banter back and forth about numbers and sales approaches for hours, maybe even days, on end and never reach a general consensus as to what the absolute best approach is. True there are many tactics in small business that have worked over and over again, but the real thing boils down to proper management and these four simple rules: |
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Going Green Business Ideas
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| Going green business ideas are everywhere on the internet. Some of these are practical for small business while others; not so much. There are steps any business can take to make their practices "more green" and help out the environment as well as improve your company's image.
Go with "green" cleaning products. Even if you use a cleaning service, ask them about the possibility of green cleaning products being used in the cleaning of your business. If your service does not have this option available, see about a discount and provide your own.
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Family Businesses Face Unique Challenges: What Makes Them Different?
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| In matters of cash flow and marketing, a family-owned or closely-held business is the same as any other small business. But family-owned and closely held businesses also they have significant differences, especially when it comes time to talk about retirement, resale, or transitioning the business to the next generation. Here were some key points noted by the Family Business Institute on what makes family-owned businesses different: |
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MomPreneurs: Resources Available for Women-Owned Businesses
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| The National Women's Business Council, which advises the Small Business Administration, estimates that in 2008 there were 7.2 million majority-owned, privately-held, women-owned businesses in the United States, employing 7.3 million people and generating $1.1 trillion in sales. Here are some organizations and resources that help women-owned businesses succeed. |
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10 Tips On How to Assess a Market Opportunity
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| The saving grace of small businesses in tough times may be their ability to be nimble but that doesn't mean you can act on a whim. There's due-diligence necessary before you change product lines, expand into new markets, or launch new offers to improve your business. Here are 10 questions to ask before deciding on a new direction: |
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Trial your adverts
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| If you advertise your business then you must trial your adverts and test to see which ones work the best for you.
By trialling your adverts you should agree on a design and more importantly the content of your advert and run each one for around a month at a time. At the end of each month change the advert to a different design and/or different content and so on. When you are testing your adverts you must make sure you take your marketing calendar data into account too.
At then end of each trial make a note of how many enquiries each advert received and of those enquiries that went on to converted into clients. As you collate this data you will begin to build a picture of which adverts work the best for you and use the ones that produce the most responses. |
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Develope a marketing calendar
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| All businesses should have a marketing calendar!
So what is a marketing calendar?
During the course of the year you should track where your enquiries come from and which ones lead to customers. At the same time you should record which month the enquiries come in to your business so that you can build a picture of which months are your busiest and which ones are the least busy.
Once you have compiled this data you can put this into the form of a calendar and then use this to your businesses advantage. By knowing which months in the year you already get most enquiries; you can then plan further advertising in those months to really capitalise on the months in which your customers are looking to buy. |
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Involve your employees in your business
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| You may be saying - but I do involve my employees in my business...but do you?
Of course your employees to do the work of the business and the employees, with the right direction, make any business great as it expands, but there are not many business owners that involve their employees in helping with important decisions.
I would suggest that you ask them their opinion on various expansion ideas or where you are looking at introducing new products or services get their input on this.
Also, ask them how to improve on customer service, especially those employees that are on the front line, as it were...as these are the ones that are dealing with the customers directly and are therefore likely to give you some of the best feedback. |
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Learn how to delegate tasks in your business
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| In order to have a good business you need to learn how to delegate tasks to your employees.
Delegation is one of the hardest things for business owners to do - the thought of relinquishing control and allowing someone to do your work is out of the questions - surely?
In fact it is not hard at all and is one of the best things you can do in business. There is a saying that even if your employees do things at least 80% as good as you do then this is better than you doing it 100% right.
Take a look at your work for the following week and decide on which day you want to take off every week and then stick to that. Then take a look at the tasks you would need to delegate from your work load so that things will not fall behind because you are now only there for 4 days instead of 5 (don't tell me you work 7 days or even 6 days)... |
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Small business profits – threat or opportunity
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| Turn-on your television or pick up a newspaper and all that is reported right now, apart from the present swine flu problem, is the "credit crunch" - falling house prices, rising unemployment, businesses going bust, repossessions, bankruptcies and more...
So what should small businesses do?
Well this depends on whether you see this as an opportunity or a threat. There are no doubt certain businesses that will find these times more difficult than others, for example, only today there are reports about how the number of unemployed lorry drivers has gone up almost 5-fold since this time last year.
Where businesses are selling less and therefore resulting in a less of a need for transport, then transport companies will see a dip in demand and as a consequence might need to make redundancies. |
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How to write a business plan
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| Every business should have a realistic and working business plan which should not only be prepared when the business is starting up or at a time when finance is being sought.
A business plan is like a road map for the business and is a set of directions to help it get to where it plans on going. A business might well get to where is wants to go without a business plan, but it will likely take a lot longer and there is always the danger that it will get lost along the way. Think about it this way - if someone asked you to navigate to a place you had never been before without a map or the modern Satnav, you would be able to get there, but it would take you a lot longer without the map. |
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How much money do businesses spend on advertising each year?
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| During an economic slow down most businesses take time out to think about their cash flow and their spending budgets, or so they should.
I know from talking to other businesses that things are tough out there right now, and you only have to look down your own high street to see the all revealing closing down sales and empty shops of businesses, including some large retail chains, to know that things are very difficult.
However, this is not a time to hold back on your advertising though and for one of my businesses we, as a board of directors, have recently decided to up our advertising spend. In this case the business concerned is in the care-sector and we chose to up our marketing budget to 7% of our turnover, so that as turnover begins to increase so will the amount we spend on marketing and advertising and so on. |
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Some write about 3 ways to increase profit
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| There seems to be a lot written about 3 ways to increase profit in business, but we consider there to be 7 ways to increase profits or "7 ways to grow your business".
The 3 known ways to increase profit are:
- Increase the cost to the customer/client or in other words put up your prices.
- Increase the number of customers you cater to (and I like to add to this - of the type you want to deal with).
- Sell more often to customers you already have.
These are just three ways to increase your profits, but if you want to learn the other 4 ways and to get your hands on a great piece of "Profit Increase Software" then click this link. |
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A Free Example of Business Plan
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| When seeking capitol or to clearly define your operational practices, you will need a business plan. It might seem like a hassle, but really even a large business cannot live without one. A small business will have a lot less trouble defining itself with a business plan in place as well. A free example of a business plan can be found online in several places and they all offer to be the best examples. For me though, I think it would be a good idea to outline what the average business plan should include.
The first part of a good business plan is an executive summary
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How To Go From Down To Up, Fast
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| Yesterday was not one of my better days. Despite starting off the year full of excitement and hope, yesterday I was really down in the dumps. For starters, I caught a cold and didn’t have much energy.
Everything on my to do list looked like moving a mountain and I just wasn’t up to doing a thing. That useless feeling somehow went from being a momentary feeling to escalating into the entire year being a mess. |
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Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions
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| Oooh, I’m so excited! I love this time of year. The New Year brings with it the promise of new beginnings, new adventures and new opportunities. Are you pumped about your resolutions for this year?
As you know, many folks struggle with keeping their New Year’s resolutions. It’s not that they are hard to set, but somehow hard to keep up with. One trip to the gym in January will tell you how many people have resolved to lose weight, yet another trip in March will show you how many have fallen off the wagon in just two months. |
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15 Beads For Happiness
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| Thanksgiving is the American day to reflect on our blessings and gifts. It is a time for family and friends to gather together and name the things they are thankful for in their lives. What would happen if we did that more often?
A few years ago when I was in Greece, I picked up a string of beautiful red and silver beads. There are 15 of them, strung on a lovely silver chain and tied off with a silver tassel. The Greeks use them as prayer beads but I’ve developed a new use for them. |
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What Can I Do?
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| I’m sitting in Barnes and Noble eavesdropping on the people around me. Yes, I do things like that because I learn a lot. Here is the conversation at the next table,
Woman in green, in response to a comment about a boss: “So, what are you going to do?”
Woman in red, sighing heavily: “I don’t know. What can I do? I’m stuck waiting for him to make a decision. I hope he does it soon. I wish there was something I could do.” |
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Watching Valentina
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| It has been a fun few weeks around my house. I’ve had two lovely visitors from Germany, my girlfriend Valentina and her mom, Barbara. Of course, we’ve had a blast traveling around and seeing the sights of Virginia and DC and blathering away in our own bizarre mix of English and German. What struck me, though, was how much I learned from watching Valentina. |
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You Don’t Always Have To Jump
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| As I climbed down the rickety metal ladder from the top of the Oribi gorge to the small ledge below, my heart was racing. Sure, I was secured in a study nylon harness, but my knees were shaking so hard I could barely walk. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins at breakneck speed.
From the bottom of the ladder, I walked out to the edge of the cliff and looked over the edge down at the river and rocks 33-stories below. |
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What I Bought WIth $81,000,000
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| The other day I was driving 30 minutes to go to a client’s networking event and I saw a sign that pumped me up for the entire day.
It was the lottery sign showing the jackpot at $81million.
I started thinking about what I’d do with that much money |
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Is It Okay To Aim Low?
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| This is a question I’ve been asking myself for a long time.
Self-help gurus the world over preach the virtues of thinking big, reaching for the stars, aiming high and stretching your limits.
But is that always the right thing to do? |
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I’d Like To But…
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| There is a little phrase that I hear everyday and I’ll bet you do too. Maybe you hear if from coworkers, clients or even your kids. Maybe you even hear it from yourself.
Does it drive you as nuts as it drives me? |
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Why Bad News Sells
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| I was having a meeting with the director of a division of child services for Virginia the other day and we got on the subject of reports about foster parents. She told me how disheartened she was that stories of poor care make the front page but stories like the one about a man in the Northern Neck who fostered a teen with AIDS through his last year of life go unnoticed.
A quick check of the headlines on any major news website confirmed her viewpoint.
That got me thinking about why bad news sells. |
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How Much Is Your Career Worth?
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| I’ve been doing a lot of research lately into between people who make success look easy and those who work like dogs just to keep up.
Here are two of the things I’ve uncovered. |
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What Is Under Your Covers?
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| My new client, Mark, just bought a new business. He was a homebuilder and since that industry wasn’t going too well lately, he decided to branch out into a line of kitchen renovation products.
His reasoning was that since he was used to talking with people about building $300,000 homes that it should be easy to sell $2500 kitchen accessories. |
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Driving lessons
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| Thursday morning I hopped into a friend’s car at 5:30am Central European Time for the one-hour drive from Bocholt to Düsseldorf in order to attend a BNI meeting.
Since I haven’t driven alone in a car in Germany for over 20 years, I was a bit apprehensive. The night before I carefully mapped out the directions on Google, but lacking a printer I had only a list of directions and no overview map. |
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The Three Second Miracle
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| Ever have those days when you are faced with a constant string of challenges, obstacles and set back on the path to your goals? Here’s a quick way to overcome every one of them in just three seconds (or less).
When you’re faced with a roadblock you mind automatically goes into assessment mode. That is, it looks at the situation and says “I can’t get past this.” |
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Does Passion Have A Price?
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| If you’re like me, you’ve got a lot on your plate these days. We’ve recently added some new revenue streams to our business, I’m starting a non-profit organization to save homeless animals and I’ve begun dating someone who lives 4000 miles away. I’m also working on my golf game, walking my beloved dog and catching up with some very interesting brain research I’ve been studying. Oh yeah, and I’m learning Italian and German. |
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Is The Economy Good Or Bad?
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| There is a plethora of economic data pouring in from around the world. Oil is at an all time high, the mortgage crisis seems to be larger than initially expected and the government doesn’t seem quite sure how to handle it. So what is a business owner (or salesperson) supposed to do?
In researching the Great Depression recently, I came across a statistic that said that more millionaires were made during that time than at any other time in history. Not flash-in-the-pan millionaires, but long-term successes. So what did they do that enabled them to flourish while others suffered greatly |
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The Genius At Work
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| Ever wonder why 80% of businesses fail in the first five years? Many people would say it is because they are undercapitalized. Michael Gerber, the genius behind the best-selling “E-Myth” would argue otherwise.
According to Michael all small businesses are failures and it is due to one, and only one thing. |
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What If You Could?
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| As a student of psychology, I’m often fascinated by what makes the most successful people in America different than the rest. It is interesting to note that the top 20% of our citizens control fully 94% of the country’s wealth. So what is it that makes them soar while the rest flounder near the ground? I think I might have an answer.
I don’t think that millionaires are necessarily smarter or even more risk-tolerant than other people. I think they simply see more opportunities for wealth creation than the rest of us. They find more ways to win because they don’t worry about losing. |
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A Lesson From My Dog
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| Many of you know that I am the very proud owner of a wonderful 8-year old Ibizan Hound named Gracie. We’ve had our ups and downs over the years together and I’ll admit she’s taught me a lot about myself and others. This past Fourth of July she taught me a great lesson about selling and owning a business. |
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A Dream… A Vision… A Life
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| It’s that time of year when many of us are beginning to get really busy. Sales are picking up before the dog days of summer hit, kids are off on spring break and the longer days entice us to be more active. Since the weather is so beautiful this time of year, I have a task for you. But not just any task. This is one that will change your life forever if you do it right. Are you ready for the challenge? |
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Two More Hours In The Day
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| How many times have you heard someone (maybe yourself) say, “I wish I had more time to do all the things on my list - there just aren’t enough hours in the day!” While it is true that we all get the same 24 hours to spend each day, there are great differences in the way we spend those hours and how much we accomplish.
Last week I talked about using Power Blocks to focus your energy into productive chunks of time. This week I want you to think about the hundreds of time wasters in your business that are keeping you from getting more done. Here are a few that might be killing your productivity. |
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Power Block Your Way To Focus
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| I recently sent out a survey to my clients asking them about their top issues in 2010 and an amazing 73% said that “lack of focus” was a major hurdle facing them.
As an entrepreneur and self-diagnosed sufferer of “bright shiny object syndrome,” I completely understand. The inability to stay focused on my goals over the course of year has derailed my plans many a time. |
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Should You Spend Time Planning This Year?
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| That seems like a silly question perhaps, but so many business people don’t bother really planning their year (much less their entire business) that I have to ask.
If you don’t have a plan yet, here a few of the best reasons to make time in the next two weeks to get one done. |
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Are You Limiting Your Income In 2010?
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| It is planning time again! This time of year many of us are looking back at the past year and deciding what we are going to do for the next year. It is a time of reflection as well as a time to get excited about what the future holds.
I spend a lot of my time in December helping clients get strategic plans for the coming year in place. Each time I work with a new client, I am surprised at the way many of them have been to taught to plan and how those teachings keep them earning far less than they are capable. Here is one of mytop suggestions for planning for 2010. |
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A Fast And Easy Way To More Abundance
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| I listen to lots of books on tape and I read pretty voraciously too. Sure, I consume my fair share of murder mysteries and fiction but many of my favorite books have to do with developing one’s mind and deliberately creating one’s future.
Recently I’ve been listening to a book called “Money and the Law of Attraction” by Esther Hicks. The very beginning of the book has two interesting questions; “Do you know what you want?” and “Are you vibrating at the right frequency to attract it?” |
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Why Johnny Can’t Focus
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| In my roles as adviser, trainer and consultant I get to talk to a lot of people. Business owners, salespeople, other trainers, managers – you name it, I end up chatting with them. One of the questions I typically ask is “What is keeping you from living exactly the way you want?” and more often than not one of the answers is “I just can’t seem to stay focused on my goals.”
Lack of focus seems like an American epidemic and I think I have the answer to the problem. |
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Three Lessons
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| Do you ever have one of those days when you just hit a rut? It’s like you can’t seem to make progress on your goals. No matter what you do, it seems like you’re either standing still or moving backwards.
I’ve had one of those weeks recently. All my goals seemed so far away and all I could see what how far short I’d fallen on some of them. Then three things happened which reminded me of just how far I’ve come. |
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What Do You Do At 3:15am?
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| It is dark and rainy outside. I can hear the storm pounding the windows as I lie in bed unable to sleep. My dog is happily curled up next me and dreaming her doggie dreams of chasing (and catching) squirrels.
But I’m wide awake. |
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Are You Folding Your Client’s Underwear?
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| I was having dinner the other night with my friend, Erin, who was complaining that she had to leave early so she could get home and finish doing the laundry. There was a pile of underwear sitting in a basket and it needed to be folded and put away. Erin really wanted to get it done before the next day when her husband and son would be using it.
I asked Erin what her family would think if she didn’t fold their underwear and she said laughingly they wouldn’t even notice; they’d be just as happy living out of a laundry basket. |
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Where Is Your Attention?
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| I’ve been doing a lot of studying lately. For me that means reading lots of books, listening to audios and watching webinars and movies. It also includes studying people to see if the things I read about hold true in reality.
Here is one of the most important things I’ve learned in the past few months of study. |
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The Orange Index Card Trick
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| I recently finished reading David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” and I have to say I found it very interesting. While I consider myself a very organized and productive person, I learned quite a few things from the book.
The most powerful thing I learned was to put all of my thoughts of things to do in one single place. I’ve always been a list maker and have most of the items in my head on the list but I didn’t have them all until I read David’s book. |
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The Five Why’s
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| So, did you hit all of your goals in 2008?
If not you likely encountered some obstacles, either mental or environmental that stopped you. In order to overcome those obstacles it helps to understand where they come from.
Asking yourself the question, “Why is that so?” can be really helpful in getting to the root cause of your challenges and help you find solutions to them. |
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How Travel Helps Your Sales
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| It’s no secret that I’ve been traveling a lot lately. In the past 4 weeks I’ve been in 3 countries and countless cities. In addition to having a great time, I’ve discovered that being away from the office has actually increased my sales. Here’s why.
Getting out of the office and recharging my batteries is, of course, a wonderful part of travel. A chance to get away and stop thinking about work is a terrific break for the brain. |
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The Three Second Miracle 2
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| Ever have those days when you are faced with a constant string of challenges, obstacles and set back on the path to your goals? Here’s a quick way to overcome every one of them in just three seconds (or less).
When you’re faced with a roadblock you mind automatically goes into assessment mode. That is, it looks at the situation and says “I can’t get past this.” |
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Let The Trapeze Go
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| Well here we are; it’s June already. So what have you done with your first six months? Given vacations, holidays, heat waves and other days off, most people only actually work about 10 out of the 12 months of the year. That means you should be at 60% of your total sales goal by now. Are you at 60% and moving forward daily?
Most salespeople I meet are already off target at this time of year. In fact, many of them have even started adjusting those lofty goals they set in January (remember those?) down a bit. Why does that happen to so many of us? And how do we change it? Let’s use a little analogy to clear things up. |
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A Little Mistake That Could Cost You A Fortune
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| There you are, across the table from a prospect. It’s been a very good meeting so far and he seems to like you, your company and your product. You’ve asked some insightful questions and he’s given you frank answers. In response to his answers you’ve laid out an attractive solution to his problem and he seems interested. After you finish speaking, the prospect pauses a moment and then asks you the magic question. “So,” he says, “How much does the solution you’re proposing cost?” |
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Get The Best Out Of Your Business
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| Have you ever wondered why some weeks are just better than others? Did you ever think that maybe each one could be better than the last one, on and on, forever? Here’s a tool for making that happen.
Get out a piece of paper and do the following: |
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Four Words Can Make You a Millionaire
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| When you walk into my office, you’ll notice a few things right away. I’ve got huge floor-to-ceiling bookcases filled with business books of all types. There is a beautiful painting done by one of my dear friends. Of course, there is an enormous collection of elephants in all shapes, sizes and colors.
But there is one thing in my office that will make you more money than anything else. It’s just four simple words on my white board. |
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Elephant Sized Changes at Dancing Elephants!
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| 2007 is here and with it has come a number of exciting changes at Dancing Elephants! We’ve changed physically and psychologically and we want you to be able to learn from our experience. It’s been an interesting few weeks around our office and we’re excited to share the changes with you. |
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Are Your Arms Wide Open?
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| Do you ever have one of those weeks that just knock you for a loop? The kinds where it feels like you are a roller coaster? High as a kite on Monday, wondering where your next check is coming from Tuesday, feeling a little like you got kicked in the head by a mule on Wednesday, just doing your best to endure Thursday and then flying again on Friday? |
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How Openness Yields Results
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| As you know, I had the incredible honor of speaking at the National Speakers Association Convention this past week. My topic was creating a one-page strategic plan in just 20 minutes and on one sheet of paper.
I speak on planning from a different perspective, that is, I talk about it from a right-brain or intuitive perspective, not the traditional “what I did last year plus 10%” route that many planning gurus take. |
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How Much Is Your Sanity Worth?
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| I’m a pretty good handywoman and I know my way around my power tools. I’ve got all the tools needed to complete some projects around my house but I’m not going to use them. Instead, I’m going to hire my friend, Pete, the handyman to tackle these little jobs for me.
Here’s why… |
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The End of Buyer’s Remorse
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| I’ve been doing a lot of research lately in preparation for a new online training course I’m developing and I’ve come across some very interesting ideas that you might be able to use in your sales process.
One of the most powerful is how buyer behavior has evolved over the past ten years and how you can adapt to and take advantage of those changes. |
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Why I Hate Asking For Referrals
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| I just read an article in Entrepreneur Magazine by one of the most respected marketing folks in the industry. Normally, I really like John Jantsch’s work but I have to disagree with him this time.
John suggests that you should ask every customer for referrals to their friends. I think that is one of the worst mistakes a salesperson can make. |
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Starting At Step 4
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| It happened to me again. I was meeting with another small business owner with exactly the same problem as at least 1000 others I’d met with.
In the course of our conversation, it became clear to me that she wanted to start at step 4.
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Who Is Your Proud Family?
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| Once again I was on the couch at 5am watching Disney cartoons. I like to get up early and get a bit of work done before I go for a run. While I’m cleaning out the last evening’s email, I watch a bit of children’s television to pick up a life lesson or two.
This morning, I got a great business lesson from Lilo and Stich. |
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I Can See Inside Your Head
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| There are tons of reasons why but one of them is my friend, Holly. She is an expert in marketing to women and one of the most well read people I know. When she and I get together, I learn so much, it boggles my mind.
A few nights ago we were having dinner, and sharing stories. In the middle of one, she popped out with the most amazingly insightful, simple phrases I’ve heard in a long time. |
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Stop Networking!
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| Okay, I’ll admit, the headline is a little misleading, but I wanted to get your attention. What I meant to say was stop networking the wrong way and wasting time and money.
If you’re like many salespeople you’ve been to networking events and had some success. But are you having as much success as you can? Let’s take a look these six quick and easy things you can do to make networking a sure-fire way to fill your pipeline. |
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Summer Is For...Prospecting?
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| Here we are at the beginning of summer, that traditional time when Americans leave their offices behind and head out to the beaches, mountains, amusement parks and other vacation hotspots, in search of a break from the 9-5 routine. As a salesperson, you might be tempted to slow down your prospecting activity because everyone seems to be on holiday. Instead, why not try these tried-and-true summer business builders. |
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How To Make A Fortune With A Love Story
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| I’d like you to think about a company that you do business with that you absolutely love. Not one you just like, but one that you love to buy from. It could be a product supplier such as a clothing store or car dealer or a service provider like an insurance company or restaurant. Think of an interaction you’ve had with that company that stands out in your mind as a great customer experience. What did they do and say that made it so wonderful? |
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How To Make Networking Pay Off
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| We’ve all heard that networking is a great way to generate business yet many salespeople don’t find it profitable. Why do some people make a great living through networking while others struggle to get even one sale from it? The answer is to understand the purpose of networking and use it to your advantage. |
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If My Dog Could Talk
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| As I’m writing this article, my dog, Gracie, is curled up next to me on the couch, sleeping happily. So far, today, she has been on a long walk in the rain, chased squirrels in the alley, had a big breakfast, snoozed on the bed and had a few dog treats. Not a bad morning.
Over the last 10 years that Gracie and I have been together I’ve learned a lot about sales and life from her. Here are a few of the things she has taught me. |
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Is Your Mouth Costing You Money?
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| I share an office with 7 other people, so you can imagine how much chatter, interaction and “sharing” goes on, whether I want to listen or not. Each day I hear what is happening in the other businesses through the walls and in the hallways.
As I was listening to one co-worker share her most recent interaction with a client, it dawned on my how powerful the story you tell impacts your listeners (even those who just passively overhear you) and your income. |
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How To Eliminate The Price Objection Forever
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| There are two ways to make money in sales.
The first way is to be a low-cost provider and sell a high volume of your product or service.
The second way is to be a high-cost provider with large margins and sell few items, but make more on each one. |
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What Are You Asking For?
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| A friend stopped into my office today and suggested I read the book “Women Don’t Ask” by Linda Babcock. While I haven’t read the book yet, the conversation got me thinking about success (of course!). |
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10 Key Points: Writing E-mails That Sell
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| Do you want to sell through an e-mail solicitation? Here are 10 things you need to do when writing your e-mail to improve your sales results:
1. Focus on value. Make sure the e-mail offers a very clear benefit to the customer.
2. ... |
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The Spirit Of Giving
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| The holiday season changes people.
Normally easy-going folks turn into store-storming gift scavengers and tight-fisted Scrooges find their hearts melted by the spirit of the season.
Even salespeople and business owners change their tune during the holidays. Rather than worrying about how much each piece of marketing will cost, they often dip generously into the company coffers and spend freely on fruit baskets and foil-laden cards. |
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Grandma’s Lesson
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| Thanksgiving this year was a fabulous family affair. We had the entire crew of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc. including dogs and cats romping around my aunt Cherie’s house. My grandmother was there cooking up a storm despite having had brain surgery to remove a tumor just nice months before. What a woman. |
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24 Words That Will Change Your Business
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| Chicago in 1932 was a mess. The Great Depression had a firm grip on the city. Businesses failed one after the other and people lined up outside missions to get bread or soup as their only meal of the day.
At the Club Aluminum Products Company, things were dire. The seller of a new and expensive line of cookware, the company had seen its high pressure, door-to-door sales pitches declining in effectiveness. |
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Competence Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
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| You’ve heard the old phrase, beauty is the eye of the beholder. Yesterday I got a reminder that competence, and other business success factors, are also determined by the customer.
I got a great referral from my friend, Rick. I’ve known him for years and I think the world of the work he does. We share clients fairly frequently so I wasn’t surprised to get a call from one of his clients, asking to work with me. |
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The Gift Of Receiving
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| Every family has one. That one person who shoulders all the family burdens, keeps the family secrets and cleans up the family messes. The one who is everyone’s sounding board and shoulder to cry on. The one who remembers all the holidays, birthdays and anniversaries. The one around whom the family always gathers.
In my family, it’s my grandma. She has been the rock in my family for as long as anyone can remember. |
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An Open Hand
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| Inspiration comes to me from the strangest places.
The other day I was watching “Clean House” a show I am addicted to. It is all about watching people let go of clutter and free themselves to function at a higher level. The hostes, Niecy Nash, is a very sassy woman who speaks real gems sometimes. |
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Who Are You Talking To?
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| Twenty minutes after we boarded the plane, the pilot came on to tell us that there was a maintenance issue with the aircraft and we would be slightly delayed taking off.
The red-eye from San Francisco to Charlotte ended up being over an hour late leaving the airport, meaning many passengers, including me, were going to miss their connection flights. As I had no particular place to be the next day, I settled in to for a nap. |
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What Is Your Word?
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| Every now and then I do something rare in my life. I step outside my tried and true shopping routines and I go someplace different for my supplies.
This week it was time to venture beyond my trusted Ukrops and go to Walmart for groceries. Now, you have to understand, I have a philosophical dislike of Walmart and all it does to local communities and suppliers. I believe in capitalism and Walmart’s right to do business as they see fit but I also believe in my right to object to their business practices by spending dollars elsewhere. |
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The Zulu Salesman
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| In South Africa, we stayed at a wonderful game reserve called Zulu Nyala. Most of the workers there come from a local Zulu village and take incredibly good care of the guests at the lodge.
One man, in particular, stands out because he was such a great salesman. “Mike” works in the gift shop and is single-handedly responsible for making sure guest go home with plenty of reminders of their stay in South Africa.
Here is how Mike worked… |
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Why Tom Is Going Out Of Business
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| It happens the same way every time we talk.
My friend, Tom, calls me up every so often to ask my advice about his business. Tom has been doing consulting for a little over two years now and his sales just aren’t where he wants them to be. He is barely making enough to take care of his family. Tom lives in constant fear that he won’t earn enough next month to make ends meet.
Each time we talk, I ask him the same question… |
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How Much Does The Customer Experience Matter?
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| After watching Jeffrey Pine’s video on authenticity and the power of the experience, I decided to conduct my own personal experiment. My lab was the realm of beauty salons.
For the last five years, I’ve gotten my hair cut at a local salon known for its fantastic client experience. Total cost of a haircut there is typically $60.
Yesterday, I took my appearance in my hands and headed to the local discount haircut chain where I paid $5.99 (with a coupon) for a trim. |
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How Buyers Make Decisions (Part 1)
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| Have you ever sat across the table from a prospect and wondered what was going through his head? Or perhaps you were creating an ad or marketing campaign and you thought, “Will this really appeal to my buyers?” If so, you’re not alone. |
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How Buyers Make Decisions (Part 2)
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| In last week’s article, we discussed the importance of emotions in the buying decision. Remember, in order to make a sale you have to satisfy the buyer’s emotions.
So, what kind of emotions do buyers have? That is, what are the ways in which you can emotionally satisfy them? In order to answer that question, you must understand human motivation. |
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How Buyers Make Decisions (Part 3)
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| In last week’s article we discussed the five basic human motivations and how to sell to an achievement-motivated buyer.
This week we’ll take a look at recognition-motivated buyers and how they like to buy. |
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How Buyers Make Decisions (Part 4)
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| Over the last few weeks we’ve been talking about what motivates buyers and how you can help them make the best decision for themselves. Doing this allows you to make the sales you want in a honest, ethical manner and ensures that your clients are so happy they come back for more and refer you. |
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How Buyers Make Decisions (Part 5)
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| For the last few weeks, we’ve talked about how achievement, recognition, and affiliation-motivated buyers make decisions. That was the easy part.
This week we’ll explore how control-motivated people decide what to buy. Read carefully - these are the tough ones. |
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3 Easy Ways: Drive More Traffic To Your Site
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| Do you want to increase traffic to your website? Would you like to create a site that others seek out? The good news is that you can build your ranking in the search engines and elevate your status as a trusted resource simultaneously. That’s because you can build traffic by using articles you write (or are ghost written for you).
Here are three ways you can use your articles to drive traffic to your website: |
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Is Your Job Title Holding You Back?
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| Take out your business card and look at your job title.
If you are a typical salesperson, your title is likely something like “Account Manager” or “Sales Representative”. If you are a business owner, you’ll read “Owner” or “President” on your card. |
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Businesses battle for funding as allowance deadline looms
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| Many small businesses are battling to secure bank funding with only weeks remaining before the Federal Government’s December 31 investment allowance deadline that allows them to claim an additional 50 per cent tax deduction on eligible depreciating assets. |
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Goals, Intentions, and Strategies to ¡KGet Noticed!
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| The clearer you are about your goals the more likely you will be to create a plan that will accomplish them. |
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Top 10 Get Noticed! Tips
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| Follow these suggestions and you will be noticed. The best people will notice and appreciate you „o and you will enjoy a wonderful life. |
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Where to – GET NOTICED!
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| In whatever you do, take that first, essential step; dive into the water. |
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11 Rules for Selling to a Skeptic
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| Let us examine eleven of the fundamental techniques used by those who succeed in persuading the worst of cynics. |
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Accelerate Your Growth with Business Coaching
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| For many entrepreneurs, business planning is not their area expertise, so they often feel overwhelmed, procrastinate, and focus on the wrong things. This inadequate planning ends up costing them tens-, hundreds-of-thousands, or even millions of dollars. Learn how planning with business coaching can dramatically accelerate your company's growth and profitability. |
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Finding the Right Business Partners
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| The right partner can ease the road and multiply the profïts of your business. Whether you are looking for investment funds, advice, a complementary skill set, or helpful associations, these insights will help you choose your releationships wisely. |
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How to Motivate Under-Performing Personnel
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| It is no secret that the performance of personnel is the largest contributing factor to the long-term success of any organization. Managers may give direction, but in the end, it is the company’s staff that determines how well it executes. It is the staff that must respond to the threat of competition and the shifting interests of shareholders and consumers. Taking this into consideration, one of the greatest challenges facing managers is motivating their personnel to achieve outstanding performance. Whether you are a first-time or veteran manger, these simple strategies will serve as a primer to put you on the right track. |
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Victim or Victor: Is Your Small Business Prepared to Profit in a Recession?
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| With volatile financial markets, tight credit, rising inflation, high fuel and commodity prices, small business owners and consumers are facing what many are calling a "historic financial crisis." However, this crisis presents the opportunity of a lifetime for prepared small business owners. The decisions you make now will determine the future success of your business. |
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Business-Building Lessons Learned in 2009: What Highly-Successful Small Business Owners Are Doing that You Can Do Too
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| I know some small business owners who’ve experienced unprecedented growth this year. I’m talking growth that would be considered stellar in a good economy. So, what are successful entrepreneurs doing differently?
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2007 Web Marketing Tips for Small Business
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| How can you get your site noticed and ranked without spending thousands of dollars on pay-per click? What are some of the most effective ways to promote your site on a small budget?
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Growing Your Small Business
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| Where do you find more customers? How do you compete with bigger businesses?
Answer. Build loyalty and rewards. You may not have the money to spend on
advertising like your competitors do, but you don't need it. What you need is
added exposure, added exposure that costs little or none. One of the best ways
is referrals. Getting referrals from your customers reinforces new customers
that they should choose you because they can trust you and they will be
satisfied.
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Starting out on your own, Should you “go it alone”, or select a franchise?
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| Almost everyone feels the need to take charge of their own desitiny and this often leads to thoughts about starting their own business.
The risks are great and should not be taken lightly.
A good way to minimize the risks is to consider purchasing a franchise, but what is the best way to start the search? |
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Outsourcing Accounting: Easy Accounting Outsourcing to India for Small Businesses in USA
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| Outsourcing Accounting Online is became a Powerful Business Strategy! 35% of America's Largest Businesses now deploy Accounting Outsourcing. Because of new technology advances, you now have the same alternative as Fortune 500 firms, no matter how small or large you are just outsourcing accounting to India makes your company focus on core business, reduces operating costs and increase profitability.
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Business from Anywhere in 5 Steps
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| The wonderful thing about an online business is that you can run your business from anywhere provided you have the tools necessary to access the internet. |
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Strategies to Help Small Business Cashflow During a Cashflow Crunch
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| When economic times are tough, you need unique strategies to maximize your cashflow and squeeze the most out of every single dollar. Following these tips can help you prioritize your small business to-do list and keep you afloat during rough financial seas. |
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What You Need to Know About Taxes for Your Business in 2010
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| Uncertainty is the best way to describe tax rules for 2010 and beyond, making it difficult for you to plan effectively for your business. Some things are certain, allowing you to make business decisions now, but other plans will have to wait until Congress acts. |
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Small-business growth: Transformation is required
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| Business growth constantly puts a leader in new positions that require learning, new perspectives, new skills and new stamina. If the leader relies upon what has served in the past, it may not serve in the future. Mastering transformation is crucial to keep up with the changes in one’s organization. |
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Business Equipment Leaseback
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| This seems like an option for small business that might be a little complicated, but it is really not that bad. A leaseback is a great deal for all parties concerned. I’ll explain how these business propositions work and how they can benefit you.
In a leaseback the business owner “sells” their equipment to a buyer. The buyer owns the equipment, but does not take it off the premises. Instead the seller enters into a lease agreement with the buyer and continues to use the equipment. In some ways this is a lot like a business loan with equity, but there are some key differences. |
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Why Network Marketing and Direct Sales Works
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| Warren Buffet has purchased a number of network marketing and direct sales companies. Many large companies use network marketing and direct sales divisions to get their products to their customers. But why? |
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Seven Cold, Hard Truths about Social Networking
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| Every time you turn around it seems someone is shouting about all the wonders of social networking and how easy it is to use it to market your small business…On the flip side, a quick online search will turn up plenty of articles wondering how, or if, you can actually make any money from Twitter or Facebook.
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Rules for Home Based Business Success pt. 2
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| This is the 2nd in a series of 3 articles on Rules for Home Based Businees Sussess pt. 2. Here we talk about something that is very common for people who decide to start a work from home,small business you will have your doubters who ask you if you are crazy for wanting to have what is possible for you and your family. People who think that their opinion should become your opinion. You just have to understand that beiong a entrepreneur so not widely excepted as being a intelligent thing to do |
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Essential Top 7 Communication Skills for Entrepreneurs
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| As a communication coach, trainer and yes entrepreneur, I get the chance to run workshops for entrepreneur and small business organizations, as well as personally coach entrepreneurs, consultants and other coaches. Each year the titles of the workshops may change but the core values do not. The question we must ask ourselves is what are the essential communication skills entrepreneurs need? I want to share them with you, so you can start to develop your talents as quickly as possible, and assess your personal and team communication strengths and weaknesses. |
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Growing Your Business Online With Social Networking
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| Social networking is a big part of Web 2.0, and it has now become a big part of growing online businesses as well. When a business owner is looking for ways to make his or her business well known online, particularly to those who will be interested in buying product, social networking sites should be an integral part of that business. |
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I'm a Customer, Damn It
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| With each passing day, businesses who covet my dollars seem to want me, the supposed customer to do more of their work and to give them money for that privilege! |
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Seven Reasons Why Everyone Needs a Website
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| According to Cisco Innovators Forum guest blogger Audra Hajj, the selling world today has turned upside down. How can you broaden your exposure as business owners and take your business to the next level? Here are the top 7 reasons why you need a website: |
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Starting Up Your Own Small Business?
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| Accounting and tax issues to consider when starting up a new small business. |
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How to Bring a Partner, Co-founder or COO into Your Business
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| According to Cisco's Innovators Forum guest blogger Bob Goedjen
It's not unusual to realize that as a solo-preneur you've reached the end of your expertise and that you need to bring someone else into your business. Even if you have employees, there are times when a partner can share the load. But how do you find a partner, vet a partner, and protect yourself in such a critical relationship? I've asked our guest experts to give us their insights. We'll be featuring them over the following weeks. Here's what members of Silicon Valley SCORE had to say. ---- |
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America vs. Canada | Small Business Blog
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| I had never heard of something called The Index of Economic Freedom until recently. The 2010 edition of this index published by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal tells me that Canada, our frozen neighbor to the north is now economically freer than the United States. |
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Making The Shift From Entrepreneur To Business Person
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| When is a business person not a business person? When that person is a narrow focused entrepreneur, brimming over with ideas and concepts and starting one project after another with hardly a breath in between. |
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A is for Advertising
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| When I first started Exceptional Thinking, just about everybody told me that I should do some advertising and to be honest, that’s what I thought I should do too. After all, that’s what businesses do to promote their products and services don’t they?
So, dutifully I advertised. First in a business magazine that resulted in nothing, then in a local community magazine – again nothing and then finally (I was learning my lesson at this point) in the local paper. Nothing there either.
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On Your Six, Boss!
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| The relationship between employer and employee in small businesses is often a very personal one. There is more camaraderie, more trust and more interaction than one typically finds in a large company. Small business employers know the stories behind their employees and see them as people with families, mortgages, college tuitions, etc. |
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If You're In Trouble, Reach Out for Help... Now!
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| Last week, I got a call from a client asking me to help a friend, the owner of a small manufacturing company. "What's a Forbearance Agreement?", she inquired. Gulp! "Tell me more," I suggested, knowing full well that a few months of trouble had certainly preceded her friend's question. |
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How to Begin and When Necessary Amicably End a Business Relationship
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| As a small business corporate lawyer, I see value in ending business relationships as amicably as they began, sometimes with compromise and always with the application of a pragmatic approach. The value of an amicable end can be measured in time, money and an on-going network of professional relationships.
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Employee or Independent Contractor?... That is the Question!
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| Twice in as many weeks, a client has called with a question about the characterization of a possible new hire. And, although it has been three years since the Massachusetts legislature passed the law that a Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly headline referred to as "an earthquake for employers in Massachusetts," the aftershocks continue to be felt.
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Bookkeeping: Are All Clients Liars?
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| Often when a client makes contact with a bookkeeping service, they will not always tell the whole story. After all, they maybe concerned are about the financial status of their business, and admitting it to someone that they may not necessarily know can be challenging. |
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Is Your New Customer Bucket Full of Holes?
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| Most small business owners focus most, if not all, of their marketing efforts attracting new clients-and hardly any on following up. That’s like pouring water into a holey bucket. Find out how to plug those holes with simple customer retention strategies in this helpful article…
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Three Ways to Take Control and Grow Your Small Business in Any Economy
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| People not buying what you’re selling? If you’d rather take control and make things happen than fall victim to the slowed economy, there is quite a lot you can do-in any economy-to make your business more successful.
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Twitter and the Pet Rock
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| very accurate and offbeat comparison of twitter vs the pet rock. |
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Brand Aid: The Basics of Branding
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| Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small, retail or B2B. An effective brand strategy gives you a major edge in increasingly competitive markets. But what exactly does “branding†mean? How does it affect a small business like yours? |
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Small Business Planning Lacking
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| “It’s surprising and even a bit alarming to find so many small business owners taking such a casual, shortsighted approach to plotting their future,” said Mark Papalia, President and Founder of Papalia Financial. “When you think about how much time and effort these entrepreneurs have invested in their enterprises, you would expect them to have a more structured, formalized plan to preserve their assets for the future.” |
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7 Things Small Business Owners Should Know About Payroll Tax Problems
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| Learn how to avoid severe IRS penalties, huge tax debt and federal criminal investigation! |
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Social Networking: You Are Your Brand
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| How you portray yourself on the world wide web is a major contributing factor in your personal brand. For the small business owner, their personal brand is also their company's brand. |
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Social Media Involvement
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| More small businesses are asking what they can do to get more involved in social media. I commend them for realizing how important it is for their brand as well as for understanding what consumers are saying about them or their product/service. The first thing I tell a customer about social media is that “you get out what you put in”, meaning, the more time you spend engaging people the more benefit you will get out of social media on a Personal, Educational, and Business level. |
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Business & Corporate Web Design - Tutorial on How To Build Under $100
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| Every business needs a website. Every business needs and way to update that business website. At the same time no business as extra cash laying around to pay for an expensive website. If your company is on a budget this tutorial explains how you can build your corporate or small business website under $100. |
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B is for Blogging
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| Over the last few years, there have been lots of new ways to market and promote your business springing up. One of those ways is to create a blog for your business. A blog – short for web-log – is an on-line diary.
You can set one up for free at Blogger.com or for those who are more technically minded, set one up at Wordpress.org. When you’ve set one up you can use it in whichever way you choose. Here’s some examples:
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Why Hosted Exchange Makes Sense for Small Businesses
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| A Microsoft Exchange solution is rapidly becoming a must-have for any business, allowing easy communication and collaboration. But smaller businesses hit a roadblock when they see the costs of having an in-house exchange server. If you own a small business that could benefit from increased efficiency and workforce productivity, Hosted Exchange may be the perfect solution. |
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The Five Most Dangerous Trends In Australian Small Business Today!
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| It's safe to say most business owners have attended seminars on everything from leadership to sales and marketing and they say they know their importance. Some have paid business growth gurus thousands of dollars to show them how to grow their business and increase sales; they all say they know the importance of ongoing staff training and business innovation. They attend networking events to make new contacts to grow their business. However, there is plenty of evidence to show that while Australian SME owners are talking the talk, they are not walking the walk. |
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Build Your Business With Testimonials
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| Testimonials are one of the most powerful ways for you to build your business, and it is for one reason, they come from people who have already done business with you, have bought and used your services and /or products, and continue to do so.
As I have said in the past people who like what you are selling but are reluctant, and reluctant for a number of reasons , the main one is that they do not what to make a mistake or be seen to make a mistake. |
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The Ultimate Question
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| One simple question can determine how well you business is doing now and if it will succeed and grow into the future. |
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12 Steps to Implementing Anything in Your Business: Step One: Take Responsibility
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| The underlying assumption for my framework for execution is that you, as the business owner actually want to increase your sales and profits, and if that is indeed is the case then you need to take full responsibility for making that happen. If you are a manager reading this then you are been paid by the business owner to maximize sales and profits.
This means that you have the responsibility for its success, you have to look ahead, anticipate what can happen and take action before the fact to deal with it. You cannot wait, deflect, or sidestep any issue or issues |
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12 Steps to Implementing Anything in Your Business: Step Two: Define Your Assignment in Writing
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| Ideally you need to be able to sit down with your staff, define the assignment verbally, answer any questions there may be, and then issue a written memo outlining what has been agreed.
While all of this may seem very simple and management 101, the giving of assignments is usually not treated with the consideration and respect it deserves. |
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12 Steps to Implementing Anything in Your Business : Step Three: Organise your Staff and Create a Strategy
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| Step two dealt with the creation of a good clear assignment. Now, I want to speak about how to respond to a clear assignment, once you have created one. You do this by organising your staff and creating a strategy.
What I mean by organising your staff is the creation of a core team. This team will be responsible for the implementation process in your business. If you have a small staff number in your particular business then you can do one of two things, make your entire staff the core team or select one person who will "champion" the process.
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12 Steps to Implementing Anything in Your Business: Step Five: Hold a Kickoff Event To Create Momentum
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| Once you have your strategy and you have tested it, you need to launch it. In most cases, because of the size and scope of the issues that a small or medium sized company faces, a small meeting will normally suffice.
This kickoff event is the bridging point between strategy formulation and taking action. |
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12 Steps to Implementing Anything in Your Business : Step Six: Use Plans, Schedules, Budgets and Controls
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| After your launch event you will have your staff fired up any ready to go, as this stage you may still have some minor problems to contend with but you will have a goal, major elements of your plan, your management process, your team(s) working together, and things should be heading in the right direction. |
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12 Steps to Implementing Anything in Your Business: Step Eight: Follow Up...Follow Up...Follow Up!
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| Getting something implemented in your business is a lot like moving a huge round boulder, it takes a lot of heavy pushing to get it going, but once it is moving it only takes the lightest touch to keep it momentum going.
If you have followed the previous steps, you have already done the heavy pushing to get the implementation and execution of your project underway, now it just takes a light touch to keep it going. |
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12 Steps to Implementing Anything in Your Business: Step Nine: Use Persuasion Skills
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| The use of persuasion is vital to get anything achieved in your business. You need to be persuasive to win over the members of your staff/ team and also to overcome any opposition you may encounter.
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12 Steps to Implementing Anything in Your Business : Steps Eleven &Twelve: Create and Manage a Final Push Towards the End...
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| As a project is coming close to the end, your energy, and that of your team will start to wane. This is the exact time when things can go off the rails and the project fails to be implemented.
The other problem towards the end of a project is that people, whose tasks are completed before everyone else, will begin to lose interest in the project. It is entirely possible that the only person at this point of the project implementation, who is completely interested in the completion of the project...is you!
It is up to you as the business owner/ manager to keep people interested in getting the project finished and implemented successfully. The easiest way to do this is organise a close event.
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Buyer's Remorse: What is it? And How Do You Avoid It?
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| Buyer's remorse is a phenomenon that occurs more often then business owners would like. It is the cause of about 35% of all returns to a business.
Buyer's remorse occurs when a customer is sold something they do not need, go home with the product, and then after a couple of days thinking about it actually feel remorse even anger that they were sold the item, and return it. |
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THE MOUSETRAP FALLACY
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| There are 3 big areas in which the Mousetrap logic does not stand up to scrutiny. It is easy for start up business people to get blinded by their new product and business, as they have worked hard to get it to where it is today and they believe in it, so by default they believe that everyone else should feel the same way, unfortunately they seldom do. |
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The Success Syndrome
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| I want to talk to you about an illness that strikes every single successful business at some time or another. It goes through 3 predicable stages. It is called The Success Syndrome. |
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Advertising: The Nuts And Bolts Of Making It Work: Step Two: Make you Advert focus on your customer and on the benefits of your product/ service not its features.
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| Your customers want to know what you can do for them. They want to know how what you are offering can help them meet their needs, solve their problems, help them achieve their goals.
To many businesses, when advertising, make the critical mistake of writing about themselves. |
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Advertising: the nuts and bolts of making it work: Step Four: Be clear about your offer, and what you want your prospects to do, and give them a reason to take immediate action.
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| It would to help to understand what exactly an offer is. Your offer is the proposition you make to your marketplace, it is what you are willing to give in exchange for a response from your marketplace. Your offer is an entire package of elements, not just your product or service.
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Advertising: the nuts and bolts of making it work: Step Five: Make sure your ad does not look like your competitors.
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| You want your business to stand head and shoulders above your competitors business in the marketplace as the logical choice for people to buy from; therefore you cannot place an ad in a magazine, in a newspaper or on the radio or T.V. that looks or sounds like the ads your competitors are placing.
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Staying in the Entrepreneurial Mindset Online
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| Entrepreneurs who start out with a brick-and-mortar business are generally seen in the community as a new business owner who is striving to get ahead in the business world. The entrepreneurial mindset that is required to start that type of business may be easier for some to sustain because of the support given by friends, families and neighbors. However, an online entrepreneurial mindset may be more difficult to sustain because it will not be immediately evident to other people what the business does or even that you have a business at all. To keep the right mindset when your business is online often requires a higher level of discipline than when the business is more physical. |
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Kentucky Fried Wisdom
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| His friends often ask when he plans to retire, and his response is “retire to what?” These older business owners are proving that age and accomplishment does have its privileges, challenges and rewards!
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Business Startup? What's Stopping You?
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| Recently one of my clients thought that she should get some more education before she launched into her own small business. This is what I call a perceived knowledge or experience barrier. |
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Are your economic fears imprisoning you?
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| What is keeping you awake at night? |
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To Blog or Not to Blog… Blogging Made Easy (Part 2)
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| If you are publishing content on a blog, you need a strategy. Without one you are shooting at moving targets and missing opportunities to hit the triple jackpot of being visible, valued and visionary! John Batelle, creator of Wired magazine recently stated that for brands to stay relevant and develop a true online experience for their customers, they must master the art of content creation. |
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7 Reasons Why Your Small Business Must Have A Content Management Strategy
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| Marketing guru Seth Godin has said ‘Content marketing is the only marketing left.’ New technologies mean traditional mass media is fast being overtaken by brands as publishers of content. It’s easy to publish content online, but much more challenging to achieve tangible business results (like sales!) Why? |
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How To Complete Your Goals With Ease
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| Are you struggling with a target you have set, or finding you just aren’t making any progress on a project that’s important to your business success? The bigger the dream, the harder it can be to get moving… Here’s a few simple tips that will make today productive for you! |
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Are your employees holding you hostage?
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| Ever had an employee who made outrageous demands (for salary, promotions, time-off etc) and you gave it to them because you felt you ‘had no choice’? As a leader, it’s important to manage your business strategically. Here’s ten tips on managing those who try to make themselves indispensible… |
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Influence: You’ve Got It!
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| My dear friend and coaching client Wendy Mulder launched her new book ‘Learning From Grief’ today with great pizzazz and insight. I was truly honoured that Wendy chose me to MC this momentous occasion.
Not only did I have a great time… not only was it a heartfelt privilege to promote Wendy’s phenomenal skills in this area… not only did I meet some amazing people who are following their bliss in life… I learned something today that will change my life, and quite possibly yours as well! Here it is… |
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The Business Owner's Challenge: Manager or Practitioner?
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| One of the most common challenges I see with practitioners and technicians who own a business is that they actually love being the practitioner! All of the beautiful advice from the e-Myth stands completely at odds with their greatest strengths and desires. So what to do? |
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C is for Cold Calling
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| Picking up the phone and talking to people you don’t know in order to try and sell them your products and services is something that most small business owners dread – and yet, most would consider cold calling or telemarketing to be a relatively easy way to get business through the door.
Whether you choose to use a company like us to do cold calling for you or do it yourself, this is one marketing method that I think most of us will consider doing at some point. I know I certainly tried it for Exceptional Thinking back in the early days.
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Three Easy Ways to Encourage Customer Loyalty - Mash Bonigala
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| Customer loyalty is a difficult issue to measure and an even more difficult one to procure. Many businesses offer an excellent product with exceptional service and still see their customers drift over to the competition. This can be devastating to a small business because it leaves you constantly in a price war and marketing battle to win over a fickle and highly mobile market. Luckily, there are a few steps you can take to keep your customers coming back for more. |
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Five Factors that Will Make (Or Break!) Any Small Business - Mash Bonigala
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| Everyone involved with business tosses around figures regarding the odds of success of any given business achieving success. However, these general figures are not very accurate because there are so many factors that can make a business successful or significantly reduce its chance of surviving. Here are the five factors that will make the greatest difference in your personal chances of success in business. |
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What The Obama Healthcare Proposal Means for Small Business
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| Cisco Innovators Forum guest blogger Jeanne Quinn reports that the National Small Business Association released a report predicting the effects that President Obama's Healthcare Proposal will have on small businesses. Will this help or hurt your business? |
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Good Marketing and Stellar Customer Service Key to Small Biz Success
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| Businesses that don't have the cash flow to build brand recognition with brand management and advertising can still compete. The opportunity to differentiate lies in Internet marketing and sales tools. Here are a few guidelines in helping develop a successful shopping experience from decision to purchase.
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Satisfying Customers is Key in Managing Small Business Brand Reputation
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| In order to better align your customer's perceptions with your intentions, it is important to actively listen to them. What are their concerns? What are their needs that you might not be fulfilling? Remember that "the customer is always right" even when they are wrong. There will be times when you as a small business owner will be unable to please a customer, perhaps because their request is unreasonable. There are some customers who will just never be satisfied. As a business owner, you have to just accept the fact that you can't make some people happy. However, as long as you handle their complaints respectfully and apologetically where appropriate, you will hopefully be able to thwart any negative publicity stemming from their dissatisfaction.
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How to Motivate Small Business Salespeople When Times Are Tough ©
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| Invest In Achieving Sales Results Now, and Win Long Term Benefits! Closing the sale is not typically a competition of resources (unless you allow it); it is a competition of priorities. A buyer¡¦s time and money are being given to someone, right? So, you have to manifest more value to win that competition. Here's how to manifest more value. |
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How To Complete Your Small Business Goals With Ease
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| Are you struggling with a target you have set, or finding you just aren’t making any progress on a project that’s important to your business success? The bigger the dream, the harder it can be to get moving… Here’s a few simple tips that will make today productive for you!
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Has Your Business Startup Stalled? Overcome Your Barriers to Success!
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| Recently one of my clients thought that she should get some more education before she launched into her own small business. This is what I call a perceived knowledge or experience barrier. After a lengthy discussion, I persuaded her to forget about becoming more qualified and focus on generating a cash cow that will enable her to choose the most relevant educational qualifications, once she has a successful business. |
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Small Business Coach - Want More Money, Power and Empowerment? Turn Crisis Into Opportunity
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| Money can't buy happiness, but the lack of it sure can create misery! Watching the global economic meltdown and the many and varied responses to it over the past few months has started me thinking about how much of our power we give away to money - making it, spending it and losing it! |
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Stretched Beyond the Breaking Point? How to Manage Your Stress Better!
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| As the economy grinds to a halt, more small business owners are starting to feel stretched - for cashflow, for goodwill, for sanity. The first step away from stress and feeling over-stretched is to consolidate with your support team. |
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Small Business Coach - How Your Small Business Can Create Profits From a Business Plan!
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| Late last century, E.B. White unwittingly penned the entrepreneur's planning mantra: "I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult." At the other extreme of self-determination is the proverb: "If you don't have a plan for yourself, you'll be part of someone else's." |
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Small Business Coach - Why Entrepreneurs Need Routine, Structure and Focus!
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| Most entrepreneurs hate the idea of routines, structure and rules - that's why we're entrepreneurs right? As a small business coach, what I've noticed is that the most successful entrepreneurs actually have the capacity to use routines, structure and focus at the right time and for the right reasons (unlike bureaucrats who do rules all of the time and for all the wrong reasons!!) |
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Small Business Coach - Do Your Pricing Strategies Maximize Your Profits?
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| Pricing strategies are often the last marketing mix tactic that most business owners consider important, but the first to get attention the moment sales decrease! Maybe you've never considered how your pricing strategies can maximize your profits. This is the first of a series of articles on using pricing strategically to maximize your marketing results. So, we'll start with some basics - here's seven pricing options you can consider when initially setting your prices. |
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Small Business Coach - How to Recession-Proof Your Beliefs and Your Business!
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| Whether you are naturally pessimistic or just facing an uncertain future due to the current economic climate, it is worth developing the skill of challenging your negative beliefs. People often wonder how I can be so upbeat 99% of the time. Despite appearances, there are many moments when it is not easy - because it makes a difference to my life and my business I choose to work at it! Your mind has 50,000 thoughts a day. Choose your thoughts wisely: you are creating your life and your business with your thoughts! |
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Who else can contribute to your business?
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| Two years ago I effectively had a network of about 50 people including my friends – I was shy, introverted and mostly preferred my own company! Not only that, I really didn’t want anyone to see me – I rather liked being invisible!! Or so I told myself… |
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Many businesses build their brand by educating potential customers. Informative, high quality content promotes what they do and demonstrates their expertise. However, it pays to think of your content as the vehicle – i.e. content is plentiful and everyone has some!
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| One of the most common challenges I see with practitioners and technicians who own a business is that they actually love being the practitioner! All of the beautiful advice from the e-Myth stands completely at odds with their greatest strengths and desires. So what to do? |
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Too Much Buzz, Not Enough Nectar?
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| Do you have too much 'buzz' going through your mind to truly do justice to the nectar that provides the joy in your business and life? Recently I've had a couple of insightful conversations with my sweetheart around our capacity to fit even more in than we already do, as well as minimising our stress levels. Sounds crazy but we are both high achievers and don't want to waste a second of our lives... here's the strategy we came up with.. |
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Is Your Business Delivering The Lifestyle You Desire?
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| A recent survey of almost 2000 small to medium Australian businesses by Quest Newspapers has highlighted that 71% of business owners are in business because of lifestyle factors such as following their passion, creating better work/life balance and being their own boss. |
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Is brand more powerful than strategy in creating competitive advantage?
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| “As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.” - Andrew Carnegie |
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The Value of Your Personal Brand
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| When Barack Obama recently won the Nobel Peace Prize, he proved that your own personal brand can deliver results beyond measure. Whether or not he actually deserved the accolade has been well debated elsewhere. The bottom line is, when it comes to brand, ‘perception is reality’. |
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Culture Creates Your Brand's First Impressions
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| Your impact on potential clients, customers and team members starts with their first impressions. Those first few moments of communication are driven by your culture and your brand... how does your business meet expectations? |
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Simple Rules or Stupid Rules? Which type is running your business?
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| All businesses have rules – some are simple, smart and understood by everyone; others are stupid, senseless and resisted by everyone. Simple rules make you efficient, they make you money and they make your team and customers happy. Stupid rules ensure you and your brand will be talked about for all of the wrong reasons… |
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Is Your Service ‘Entry Level’ or Extraordinary?
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| Has it ever occurred to you that what you think is great service is actually only the ‘entry level’ activities which allow your clients to put you on the list of possible suppliers? If not, you may be in for a rude shock! |
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7 steps to stop being held hostage by ‘indispensable’ employees
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| Most employees are willing to share information, knowledge and expertise. However there are the small minority who stick very closely to the ‘information is power’ adage and subtly or obviously refuse to share information throughout the organization. Often these people have come from corporate environments where this type of behavior was accepted and even encouraged. |
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Accessing Government Funding - First Impressions Count
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| You only get one chance to make a first impression. Nothing can replace the effectiveness of personal contact in this situation. If this is not possible, phone. Never do a blind submission. When your proposal lands on someone’s,desk they should be familiar with it and have been expecting it. |
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Government Business Grants in Canada. Are They a Myth?
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| Bureaucrats are famous or infamous depending upon your perspective, for lacking knowledge of what goes on outside of their own departments/agencies. Often they are not aware of the programs of another division within their own departments. Many government programs provide funding that is non - repayable but are not called grants. Some government departments finance third party sectoral or community based organizations to administer funding on their behalf. All of thes reasons may lead one to believe there are no grants available. Guess again.
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Accessing Government Funding in Canada
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| Whether you agree with it or not, Canadian governments, at all levels, are actively involved in the business community. Each year they award hundreds of millions of dollars to small, medium and large enterprises in the hopes of stimulating local
economies, fostering economic development and creating employment.
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Tips To Raise Capital For Your Small Business
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| Raising capital for your small business can be a tiresome exercise unless you know how to approach prospective investors. As the first step to raise capital for your small business, find out the capital required to get the business up and running. Your business plan should highlight this. |
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How to turn your prospects into paying customers
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| One of the biggest battles in the search for business is getting your website found on the internet - Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay per Click (PPC). You may be thinking that this is another article about SEO and if you were you will be forgiven for thinking this, but it's not at all...
SEO is a vital part of your online business, but it is not where it ends! Let me explain further...
People only buy when they:
1.Know your company;
2.Like what they see, and;
3.Trust you or your company.
So once you have spent your money attracting people to your website, you now need to direct your attention to converting those prospects into paying customers by working on the above list, so how do you do this? |
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Can We Handle the Truth?
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| Whether we can handle it or not, it is time for a major dose of truth. |
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SMB-Speak: Small Business & the American Dream
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| There is a brotherhood of sales people pursuing the American dream. These small business folk represent the universal opportunity to improve one's station in life. And The Dream lives on today. |
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Starting a small business-How to work smart not hard
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| Are you one of the many who dream about starting a small business? Do you struggle to find the right opportunity? Do you want to earn more money, work less hours and spend more time with your family and friends? If so here is some advice on how to find the best small business opportunity to suit your needs. |
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How to Ask for a Testimonial
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| You've got some very satisfied clients, and you wish that every prospect could hear how they heap praises on you, but how to ask for (and get) really useful testimonials can get sticky if you don't know exactly what to say and when to say it. Here's how I get great testimonials - without writing them myself! |
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