Work Priorities: Where Can You Spend Your Time Most Effectively?
August 31, 2008
Understanding where you can spend time most effectively requires concentration in three areas:
1. Doing what you enjoy 2. Concentrating on your strengths 3. Understanding Job Excellence
Let’s start with doing what you enjoy. Your quality of life is in many ways dependant on how much (or little) you enjoy your job. While every job has aspects that you may not enjoy as much as others, overall your job satisfaction should be high. The higher your job enjoyment, the more effectively you will be in getting things done.
If you are working in a job that you don’t enjoy, you have two choices. The first is to minimize those things you don’t care for. This does not mean you no longer do them, but you look for the positive things about those individual components you don’t like. Over time you should be able to reduce the number of negatives and increase the positive aspects. This will automatically increase job enjoyment.
If you are certain you will never be able to enjoy your job, it’s time to consider option 2, changing jobs. This is a drastic measure and should not be done without careful thought. However studies continually show that people who do make a decision to change from jobs they don’t enjoy to jobs they like almost immediately experience a better life with less stress.
Reduce Stress, Increase Profits By Incorporating Strategic Systems In Your Small Business Success
August 30, 2008
Whether you are an Entrepreneur or Business Professional there are many things you do each week that would benefit from a strategic system to help you be more effective, reduce errors and stress, help you enjoy your time at work and give you more time to have fun outside of work.
Strategic systems are not static; they allow you to be flexible, creative, and spontaneous, and because they help you look at situations with a clear focus and a specific intention you can easily achieve your desired results. When you develop your strategic system you begin by setting an intention for what would be the best outcome in this area.
If we use the example of incoming mail both email and snail mail. An intention you might set would be to handle it only once, sort it effortlessly, and help you leverage your actions for greater success.
Once you set your intention and define the focus you can develop a strategic system to achieve that intention. With the snail mail those systems might include scheduling fifteen minutes a day to look through the mail when it comes in. The system could include a three tier sorting; things to throw away, things to file, and things to take action on. You can set up further systems so an action required on the mail will automatically be handled. In the case of accounts receivable or payable, answering an inquiry, scheduling a meeting, or call back?
A Forgotten Marketing Tool ? The Postcard
August 29, 2008
The postcard can be a very powerful marketing tool. Many of our customers and/or students use them in their business. The key is to set up the card to market effectively for you. Concentrate on a specific item or niche.
When used correctly a post card can become very powerful marketing tool. Be sure the front of your card is explicit. It should be clear to your customer what you are selling. A color postcard is a must, unless you are using black and white to your advantage, that is, to make a point.
The front should motivate your customer to turn it around and see what you are offering or what you can do for them.
The back of your card should make your points in a clear and concise manner. After this is done be sure to give your customer a number of ways to contact you: by phone, by email, by snail mail. If you have a website be sure you mention it here.
Remember you need to take a limited amount of space and address the main concerns that your customers have or to delineate what you are selling and its advantages. Give your customers reasons to contact you. For example, you have a solution to their problems, and remember make it easy for them to contact you.
Is Your Money Keeping Up With Inflation?
August 28, 2008
In today’s unpredictable global economy, you obviously never know what is going to happen next. Uncertainties and concerns regarding the Iraqi threat, North Korean crisis, and hidden terrorist cells and networks continue to loom in the back of the minds of consumers. Moreover, the stock markets and industries around the world.
Price inflation is another major concern for everyone. The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) number released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics states that prices, in all U.S. cities, are up 0.1% in the month of December for the calendar year of 2002. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a program that produces monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services. Furthermore, the national unemployment rate continues to remain steady at 6.0% for the month of December 2002. Believe it or not, this may not be as bad as it sounds.
Economic theory suggests that an increase in the inflation rate will lead to a decrease in the national unemployment rate. But since the unemployment rate is currently 6.0%, this may also suggest that in order for this rate to eventually decrease, we should expect more inflation in the future. The recent upsurge in oil prices together with precious metals supports this theory and may also be a hint of what’s to come.
Blogging for Fun and Profit
August 27, 2008
Blogging for Fun and Profit
by: Paul Majestyck
When it comes to making money, what can possibly beat a job you like? Nothing, that’s what.
And when it comes to writing about your online business, what could be more fun than blogging?
A timid voice pipes up from the back of the room at this point. “If you please, Sir,” it virtually squeaks, “what’s a blog?”
There are as many variations on the blog as there are bloggers. But to put it simply, a blog (or a web log, usually spelled weblog) is a space on the web that can be used to record thoughts, day by day.
Blogging can be used as a personal journal or as a space for like-minded people to come and collaborate, bouncing ideas off of each other. Online blogging can also be used for personal rants and journalistic critiques, to collect things such as recipes or to register memos to one’s family.
Blogging can also be used to put your online business over the top.
Using Direct Mail
August 27, 2008
The advantages of using direct mail to promote your home-based or small business are:
Selectivity-the ability to send your advertising only to people and organizations who can use and pay for your product or service.
Flexibility-the freedom to use either the simplest or the most elaborate presentation, ranging from a single-sheet mailer to an entire package, and the flexibility to test all sorts of minor changes in your mailing pieces.
Control-unlike the random placement of a newspaper ad, your mailer stands alone, and you have room to tell the entire story with illustrations, testimonials and guarantees.
Knowledge of results-by coding every mailing, you can identify the source of each order as it arrives. To get the most out of your direct mail, be sure to pay attention to the following:
1. The outside envelope. Most direct-mail experts will tell you to place “teaser” copy on your envelope to encourage prospects to open it. Envelope copy such as “Look inside to learn how to save money at the grocery store” can be effective. But consider that if you put such copy on the outside of the envelope, you save the recipient the trouble of opening the letter.
Using Your Whine Factor
August 26, 2008
Brian’s work was exceptional. Still, as his boss, I rarely offered him additional responsibilities, never thought of promoting him or selecting him for a critical project. Why? His whine factor got in the way.
He was quick to complain to anyone who’d listen how much work was on his plate, or how hard or how late he worked. His whine factor was a protective shield that insured he didn’t get more work to do. But, it also shielded him from getting the opportunity filled assignments, more interesting work, and the highest pay raises.
Stephanie was a different story. She was masterful at weaving vivid details with a precision that explained exactly why the expected outcome didn’t happen. This week it centered on a miscommunication, last week it was the delayed delivery, or the reduced advertising, an incompetent supplier or a staff illness. Every story was accurate; every reason plausible; every explanation justifiable; always a good reason why she couldn’t deliver the promised quality, precision or timeliness.
As her boss, it took me time to realize that Stephanie’s accountability decreased each time her whine factor increased. As she became more entrenched in offering reasons why something didn’t happen, she became less personally involved in the actual results.
Follow-Up with Your Contacts
August 25, 2008
What happens when you meet a potential client at an event and you do not follow up?
So now the event is over and you have collected a number of business cards, taken notes on the best prospects, divided the cards into Y(es), N(o), and M(aybe), now what? It is time to follow up. The best follow-up is immediate - they will remember you best if you go home that night and enter their information into your database and send a personal email or hand-written note. E-mail is much faster and you will be surprised at the fast response you get. This gives you instant contact and you can then ask how they felt about a certain event. You are sure to get a response. This gives you an immediate relationship with the individual.
Rarely-Used But Very-Effective Internet Marketing Tools
August 24, 2008
Rarely-Used But Very-Effective Internet Marketing Tools
by: Willie Crawford
While many online marketers struggle to build a successful business, mine grows almost effortlessly. I’m going to share with you today the “rare” tools that I use to make that happen.
Briefly, my seldom-used tools are: actually caring about your customers; a lot of actual customer contact; and giving them tremendous value. Please allow me to provide examples of how to actually implement each. I’ll use examples from my own business so that you can see how EASY they are to implement.
Rarely-Used Tool Number One - Actually caring about your customers:
I’ve witnessed scams where retirees invested thousands of dollars in programs where they were told that all they needed to do was plug in traffic. Then they were offered this plug-in traffic for a few thousand dollars more. In every case, that untargeted traffic failed to produce many… if any… sales.
Having a HUGE list, I’ve often been phoned and asked to promote a program with a mailing or two to my list. I’ve been told that I just needed to plug into the system, allow them to “mine” my list, and they would build me a nice residual income. Ideal prospects from my list would identify themselves, they’d be signed up under me, and I could just sit back and collect the passive income.
Cross Cultural Solutions for International Business
August 23, 2008
Globalisation, the expansion of intercontinental trade, technological advances and the increase in the number of companies dealing on the international stage have brought about a dramatic change in the frequency, context and means by which people from different cultural backgrounds interact.
Cross cultural solutions to international business demands are increasingly being viewed as a valid and necessary method in enhancing communication and interaction in and between companies, between companies and customers and between colleagues.
Cross cultural consultancies are involved in aiding companies to find solutions to the challenges cross cultural differences carry.
International and national businesses are ultimately the result of people. As with incompatible software, if people are running on different cultural coding, problems can occur. Cross cultural consultancies therefore concentrate their efforts on interpersonal communication.
Different cultures and cultural backgrounds between a highly diverse staff base brings with it obstacles, challenges and difficulties. Cross cultural differences manifest in general areas such as in behaviour, etiquette, norms, values, expressions, group mechanics and non-verbal communication. These cross cultural differences then follow on through to high level areas such as management styles, corporate culture, marketing, HR and PR.
