Networking - How To Do It
October 31, 2007
Networking is probably the oldest, easiest, most effective and least expensive way to get more business. It doesn’t necessarily involve selling your product or service but it does mean selling yourself. However, that doesn’t involve a lot of talking - it does involve a lot of listening.
Networking is about making connections with people and building a network of meaningful relationships.
Having good relationships means - these people will either do business with you and/or recommend you to others. These people are your unpaid sales-force and you’ve got to ensure that they do a good job.
Here are 9 steps to successful networking:
#1 Be prepared - Particularly if you’re attending a formal networking event like the Chamber of Commerce.
#2 Think about whom you’ll be meeting - Consider what your opening remarks or questions will be. And think about what you’re going to say when they question you.
#3 Make sure you have lots of business cards, a small notebook, and a pen - These should be easily accessible and not involve a rummage through pockets or a bag to find them.
Reminder - NEVER go anywhere without business cards
7 Lean Marketing Laws For The Inspired Entrepreneur
October 30, 2007
The following laws will provide guidance on how to act,think and work in a lean way. You can apply these laws toall areas of your life, work and business to get biggerresults from the time you invest.
1. Multiple RewardsAim to be rewarded multiple times for a single effort. Moneycan be recovered but time cannot. Time gets spent. You can’tput it in a bank and you can’t earn more of it. Whereverpossible, you should look for ways to get paid/rewardedmultiple times for each hour you invest. You will neverbe truly independent if your income comes from your owntime and labour so package your knowledge as a product.Once you have aproduct you can sell your packagedtime again and again.
2. Mistakes Are GiftsMistakes are nothing more than “Learning Opportunities”. The best way to learn more and grow more is to make moremistakes. Mistakes are unavoidable when you’re learning soadopt a ready, fire, aim approach to decisions and learn asyou take action. If it doesn’t work you can easily makeanotherdecision to put things right again.
3. Know When To StopBe prepared to stop what you’re doing. Take stock and trysomething different. Don’t let pride, fear of ridicule orego get in the way of good judgement. When a mission isover, learn from it and move on.
Be Your Own Boss
October 29, 2007
Be Your Own Boss
by: Scott Bianchi
I recently spent three and a half months on short-term disability for stress related heart issues. I learned one thing while I was home, there is another way to live life. You do not need to deal with the corporate garbage you deal with. You do not need to sit in traffic every day. You do not need to worry about what your boss thinks of you. You can become your own boss and do it with very little risk.
When most people think of being self-employed they think they need to own a pizza place, used car lot, or any other small sized business. This may have been the case twenty years ago but it is no longer the case. The internet has opened up so many opportunities for people to become financially independent. Most of them are very little risk and require no money on your part whatsoever. Some of the opportunities do require a small investment if you are interested. By a small investment I mean less than $100. Then there is the business I would put into the no-brainer category and that is being an affiliate.
Gaining Business Intelligence
October 28, 2007
A white paper on how companies should analyse customer data to gain better business intelligence and how they can use that knowledge.
In an increasingly competitive world, using your client database smartly, to gain a better understanding of your number one asset ? your customers ? can make or break the success of your company.
Most companies use databases to store information about their current customers, previous customers, business partners, and potential customers. The challenge lies in finding a way to harness the useful information contained within these high volume databases in order to produce intelligent business solutions.
Business intelligence (BI) refers to the process for increasing the competitive advantage of a company by intelligent use of available data in decision-making. Business intelligence consists of sourcing the data, filtering out unimportant information, analysing the data, assessing the situation, developing solutions, analysing risks and then supporting the decisions made. This white paper describes the business intelligence process, some elementary methods of data mining, and how you can use business intelligence in your company.
Database Enhancement
Birds of a Feather May Be Turkeys
October 27, 2007
Birds of a Feather May Be TurkeysBy Gene Griessman, PhD
Seven Steps to Making a Successful Career Change
October 27, 2007
My first job was secretary to Moses. Having to transcribe and make 2,430 copies of the Ten Commandments convinced me I was on the wrong career path! OK, maybe I’m not quite THAT old. But I did start out as a secretary. While I didn’t mind the work, eventually I decided it wasn’t very satisfying. I often felt like a “tool” that helped others contribute to the organization’s success. I wanted to make my own contributions, to find creative ways to make a difference. It took me about 12 year to come to that conclusion, decide to do something about it, and change my life.
If you are not happy in your current job, perhaps it’s time to think about making a change yourself. Here’s what you should do:
1. Determine why you’re not happy. Are you really unhappy with the work you do, or just upset with your salary, boss, coworkers, or the office environment? There’s a difference between hating your job and hating your work, and realizing that will help you decide what course to take.
Unleash It!
October 26, 2007
On airplanes, in restaurants, in the newspaper and on television, I often hear people saying their businesses are not growing to their satisfaction or that they are not reaching their objectives. The explanations that follow consist of reasons like:
? It’s the economy? Our customers don’t get it? I don’t have the right people on the team
I could go on, and so could you.I think that is all a bunch of hogwash.People (both those doing the talking, and those they are talking about) are not all they can be. The organization is not all it can be. Both have tremendous untapped potential sitting there, waiting to be recognized and tapped. Both have potential waiting to be unleashed.
Dictionary.com defines potential as "the inherent ability or capacity for growth, development, or coming into being, or something possessing the capacity for growth or development."
When we point to others and other factors as the cause to our problems (in business or any part of our life) we are missing the point. We hold many of the answers ourselves. Maybe not in this moment, but when we unleash our potential, we unleash talents, skills, perspectives and ideas that can help us solve the problems we face and (as no small side benefit) become more fulfilled in our lives. Simply stated, as caretakers of our own lives we are cheating ourselves if we don’t do everything we can to unleash our potential ? that innate ability within us waiting to be developed.
When Landing Mega Joint Ventures, It IS Who You Know
October 25, 2007
When Landing Mega Joint Ventures, It IS Who You Know
by: Willie Crawford
Allow me let you in on a HUGE secret to landing lucrative joint ventures. The key to getting the biggest list owners to JV with you is often who you know.
It’s no secret that people prefer dealing with, and helping, people that they know, like, and trust. So to increase your chances of setting up major joint ventures you actually have to get known by your desired JV partners.
One of the easiest ways to get known within the Internet marketing arena, is to attend a few seminars, and spend some time talking with other marketers. The REAL friendships that you form at these events is amazing. After the seminar, keep in touch with the other marketers, and then when you are ready to do a JV, you’ll have a slew of people who would be happy to JV with you.
Meeting, and really getting to know your potential JV partners, before you need them, is an example of “digging your well before you’re thirsty.”
You’ll find a schedule of every major Internet marketing seminar planned within the next six months at: http://InternetMarketingSeminarSchedule.com
Fair Measures Corporation
October 24, 2007
A case study in online "thinking outside the box"
The Fair Measures Corporation Web site, at http://www.FairMeasures.com contains over 500 pages of free in-depth legal information and analysis, provided for both employers and employees. It includes a monthly e-newsletter, and an "Ask the Lawyers" page where visitors can post additional questions. The site attracts frequent media attention, and has been featured in "HR Magazine".
A few years ago we completely restructured the site to add content for the many employees who come there looking for information. Previously, we’d been concentrating on the traditional markets for Fair Measures - human resource professionals and managers who hire Fair Measures attorneys for workplace training programs. But we realized that in doing so, we were missing out on a very different audience for their expertise - and one that really only exists in the online context.
How did we know this? In two main ways: 1. by looking in our traffic analysis at the key search phrases that brought visitors to the site; and 2. from the content of questions submitted to "Ask the Lawyers"
Selling Commodities
October 23, 2007
“How do you create a perceived value to differentiate yourself from the competition, when you are both selling a commodity?”
That’s a question I’m often asked in my seminars. It uncovers a problem that is spreading to almost every industry. The rapid pace of technological development and our ultra-competitive global economy means that no one can keep a competitive edge in their product for very long. Develop a hot new product or service, and before you can take your first check to the bank, a competitor has a hotter or cheaper version. As a result, customers are more and more inclined to view your product or service as a commodity - no real difference between you and the next guy.
This complicates life for the salesperson. In some cases, you are selling exactly the same thing as your competitor. I spent a number of years selling for a distributor who sold, for the most part, exactly the same products as four or five competitors. Many of my clients work in this arena. Lumber distributors (a piece of lumber is a piece of lumber), industrial fasteners (a screw is a screw is a screw), petroleum (87 octane gasoline is 87 octane gasoline) etc. The list goes on and on.
