7 Awesome Leadership Power Generators!
May 31, 2009
7 Awe-Inspiring Leadership Power-Generating Strategies!
Here’s a really simple way you can use your personal infrastructure to increase your leadership power, create new innovative solutions and nurture your growth opportunities.
Failing to invest in your power-producing abilities will definitely prevent you from realizing success on the job and rob your future career efforts of enjoyment.
This article will show you 7 self-empowering ways to transform your ordinary power-deficits into:
=> Power-packed acts
=> Powered-up impacts
=> Power-generating results
Employing these time-tested strategies will boost your influence, improve your effectiveness and energize your leadership talents.
Empowering Strategy-1 - Envision Your Significance!
Every person has the potential to make a difference in this world. Look at how your life interacts with others and offers them opportunities to discover, contribute or create
=> meanings,
=> impacts,
=> solutions.
See yourself taking positive actions, making meaningful contributions and shaping creative solutions. To succeed, be someone who searches for and empowers meanings, impacts or solutions to enrich our work, lives and situations.
Empowering Strategy-2 - Model Success!
The first rule of investment is: “Invest in yourself first!”
Does Your Management Style Remind People Of Something They Read In Dilbert?
May 30, 2009
With thanks to Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian who does the “You might be a redneck series of jokes.
If you really believe people in your group are lucky to have a job, you might be a jerk.
If, when you call a meeting, people suddenly call in sick, you might be a jerk.
If you tell people, “It’s my way or the highway,” you might be a jerk.
If you think your staff is lucky to have a job, you might be a jerk.
And, there are a million more and I’m sure you get the idea.
The labor recession is over. people are returning to work in IT and not all your problems will be solved by ourtsourcing jobs to India, Ireland, China, Eastern Europe or Canada. You are going to need talent. And if you treat your staff poorly, you will be losing people that you are going to need because they understand your business and your systems and someone else will pay them more and treat them better.
So here they are. Five simple points that will help you succeed. A five point framework for finding and keeping good people.
Using a Contact List Profitably- Part Two
May 29, 2009
Besides a survey, your contact list can be used to generate sales directly. Some of the following ideas must be done one-on-one and others can be done to large quantities of prospects at a time. They all have varying levels of effectiveness. A general rule of thumb is:
The more personal the contact, the greater the chances of a sale. That means that an in-person interview has a better success rate than a mass mailing.
1. The in-person interview. As the name suggests, this is something that is done in-person where you have the advantages of eye contact, voice inflection and body language. Although, very time consuming, it is extremely effective in generating sales.
Much has been written about the “presentation”, but the main facet should always be finding out what’s in it for the client to do business with you. What do they need and what have you got that satisfies that need. This is the basis for ALL sales and I don’t see that changing any time in the near future.
Procrastination. Id love to but…
May 29, 2009
When a good friend asked me to contribute a little something for her newsletter it seemed like a great idea. When I cleared the decks and sat down to write it seemed a great time to color-code my closet or whip up a crab casserole. As an enthusiastic writer, who has nevertheless had writing blocks which have lasted longer than some World Wars, this business of avoiding doing something that I really want to do has always mystified me.
As a Life Coach I learned that the classic coaching take on this was that I have an agenda other than actually writing and finishing a piece. I am avoiding doing something I think I want to do because I don’t really want to do it. This is often the explanation I give to my clients when they ‘fess up to not taking actions which are so clearly needed in their lives.
“What do you really want?” I ask them. “What would happen if you didn’t take the action?” And the biggie. “What is your expected outcome?”
Critical Steps In Building A Profitable Online Business
May 28, 2009
Critical Steps In Building A Profitable Online Business
by: Elaine Engerdahl
Want to create a profitable online business but have no idea where to begin? Want to create an online business and eliminate the unnecessary expenses. An e-commerce business certainly can be profitable and very rewarding. It can also be very frustrating. There is so much hype and outrageous claims of wealth. It is more about building relationships than instant wealth. I wanted to share a website that I found really refreshing and provides a wealth of great content without the hype and expense.
This website teaches many of the marketing techniques that I paid more than $500.00 to learn and offers if for free. Not only does it teach the important techniques of building a profitable e-commerce business but it also teaches you how to develop a website, eliminating the cost of having somebody else develop it for you. I was amazed at how much information this website revealed.
Using a Contact List Profitably Part One
May 27, 2009
In previous articles, we discussed the generation of a contact list. This time, we look at one idea on what to do with that list once you have it.
The Survey
Your contact list can be used as a great source of information, especially about the importance and need of specific products or services. This type of survey is most effective when asking what are called “probing” questions- questions that cannot be answered by “yes” or “no”. Useful questions to ask include:
1. The “Who are you?” series of questions. This includes the name of the company, the name of the contact, address, phone number, email, fax, web page, etc. Use this part of the survey to update customer records.
2. The “How often do you buy product type A? B? C?” questions. These questions are used to determine customer needs. It can help flush out a “niche” that is currently not being serviced to capacity by yourself or your competitors.
3. The “How often do you shop at business type A? B? C?”. These questions can be used to determine client buying habits. They are helpful in determining whether your product/service should be available to purchase through a large store or whether you should be providing on-site visits.
Why Small Businesses Need Both A Logo And An Identity System
May 26, 2009
Experts urge small business owners to "brand" their business ? to use a logo and a set of consistent marketing materials. But, they rarely go into the reasons behind this advice. Here’s a list of some of the benefits to having a professionally designed logo and marketing package:
Not to look so small - Home-printed business cards with perforated edges, or cards printed with standard designs available through Microsoft software or online business card vendors (like Vistaprint) scream, "Small-time vendor!" to your potential clients ? and you’ll be similarly compensated.
To increase your chance of getting venture capital or selling a business ? If you present a thorough business package, including marketing materials and graphics, your business will look more complete.
To attract more clients ? Some clients look for a well-defined company look-and-feel as part of their qualifiers for making a purchasing decision.
To brand yourself ? If you’re a consultant, you need a logo in order to build an image and a brand that’s bigger than just yourself.
To convey that you are established ? A logo and professionally printed materials show that you are committed to both your business and to your clients.
Career Moves: Take Charge of Your Life
May 25, 2009
Every day millions of people let their inner fears stop them from creating the life of their dreams. No one will deny that it is scary to step out of your comfort zone, but once you challenge your fear and take action, you can attain great things.
1. Dream Great Dreams
Imagine you could be, do, and have anything you want. How is what you want for your future different from your life today? Once you’ve identified your dream, you can take the steps to make it come true.
2. Make A Decision
In every decision we make, we exert a power to shape and control our own life. Unfortunately, instead of pursuing our own empowerment, we sometimes blame our choices on things that have nothing to do with us. Understand you have power over your personal choices. Notice how your life changes with every decision you make, no matter how small. Take responsibility for your decisions so you can shape your ultimate path.
3. Exercise Your Power To Choose
Hiring for Success
May 24, 2009
Hiring someone new to work in your business is one of the most critical decisions a business owner makes, although it is not always given the justice it deserves. If a position is vacant, or additional staff are needed, recruitment decisions are often driven by the pressure to get someone in quickly, rather than waiting for the best person to fill the job. Lack of proper and systematic recruitment process can also result in a high cost to the business.
The direct and indirect costs of this recruitment process are many, and have been estimated to be at least 30% of the new person’s salary on average:
Recruitment costs ? include advertising and agency fees (if used), travel
Cost of time ? for everyone involved in the interview process
Cost of having the job unfilled -if the process is lengthy
Cost of lost productivity ? "the show must go on!" Co-workers are picking up extra workload and completing unfinished projects. The reduced productivity of managers who lose key staff can be a big issue
Cost of training ? on average it takes 20 weeks for new employees to become fully productive. Consider also the costs of orientation, learning materials and lost productivity of the manager overseeing the new employee
Developing a Contact List- Part Two
May 24, 2009
In a previous installment, we spoke about how to come up with a list of persons you currently know. Although everyone on that list will not necessarily become your client, everyone can lead you to clients. In this section, we will talk about how to get referrals from all of the people on your contact list and what to do once you have those referrals.
Most people will not feel comfortable giving you referrals until they know how you intend to handle these contacts. No one wants to refer you someone that you are too aggressive with, that you take advantage of, or for what ever reason, that you make them look bad in front of. The following is an excellent approach to use that is not only non-threatening for the referred person , but does not embarrass the person giving the referral.
1. Determine who your client base is. For illustrative purposes, let’s say your clients are CPAs.
2. Ask everyone on your MEMORY JOGGER list for a referral to a CPA.
3. Tell everyone who you ask for a referral from, that you will be using these referrals to seek advice on how you might best develop your new business. Make it clear that you will not be asking for work from these referrals.
