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	<title>Business Themes - Business Issues</title>
	<link>http://www.business-themes.com</link>
	<description>Business Themes</description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
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	<language>en</language>
			<item>
		<title>Sales Marketing: 12 Sneaky Tricks To Help You Outsell Your Competition</title>
		<link>http://www.business-themes.com/sales-management/Sales-Marketing-12-Sneaky-Tricks-To-Help-You-Outsell-Your-Competition-1477/</link>
		<comments>http://www.business-themes.com/sales-management/Sales-Marketing-12-Sneaky-Tricks-To-Help-You-Outsell-Your-Competition-1477/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Sales Management</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Business can be like war sometimes.
You may have to fight hard to survive.
The winner takes all.
But that doesn&#8217;t mean you have to destroy your competition in order to survive and win.
But you can do one smart thing: outsell them, with a few smart tricks I will reveal below.
One of the tricks to outsell your competition [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Business can be like war sometimes.</p>
<p>You may have to fight hard to survive.</p>
<p>The winner takes all.</p>
<p>But that doesn&#8217;t mean you have to destroy your competition in order to survive and win.</p>
<p>But you can do one smart thing: outsell them, with a few smart tricks I will reveal below.</p>
<p>One of the tricks to outsell your competition is to compare your product to theirs.</p>
<p>When you find the differences between products, use your findings to improve your product.</p>
<p>Below are 12 things you can compare and improve upon to outsell your competition.</p>
<p>1. Price- Can you offer a lower price? Can you offer a higher price and increase the perceived value of your product? Do you offer easier payment options than your competition?</p>
<p>2. Packaging- Can you package your product more attractively? Do the colors of your package relate to your product? Can you package your product into a smaller or larger package?</p>
<p>3. Delivery- Can you offering cheaper shipping? Do you have a high enough profit margin to offer free shipping? Can you ship your products faster?</p>
<p>4. Benefits- Can you offer more benefits than your competition? Are your benefits stronger? Do you have believable proof that supports your claims?</p>
<p>5. Quality- Is your product built and tested to last longer than your competition? Can you improve the overall quality of your product?</p>
<p>6. Performance- Can you make your product faster at solving your customers problem? Is your product easier to use than your competitions?</p>
<p>7. Features- Can you offer more product features than your competition? Do your features support the benefits you offer?</p>
<p>8. Availability- Is your product always available or do your have to backorder it? Can your product suppliers drop ship to your customers?</p>
<p>9. Extras- Do you provided free bonuses when your customers buy your product? Are your bonuses more valuable than your competitions?</p>
<p>10. Service- Do you offer your customers free 24 hour customer service? Can you provide free product repair? Does your competition make their customers talk to a machine?</p>
<p>11. Proof- Can you provide more proof than your competition that your product is reliable? Can you provide stronger testimonials or endorsements?</p>
<p>12 Guarantees- Do you have a stronger guarantee than your competition? Do you offer warranties with your product? Do you provide an easier return policy?</p>
<p>Warmly,</p>
<p>I-key Benney, CEO</p>
<p>I-key, a Millionaire CEO from New York City is the creator of &#8220;Mscsrrr: Millionaire Secret Cash System&#8221;, home based business, online investment opportunity (<a target="_new" href="http://www.mscsrrr.com">http://www.mscsrrr.com</a>) which has helped thousands of ordinary people from all over the world to attain financial security and shining success during the past 2 yrs.</p>
<p>Mscsrrr Millionaire Cash System helps you to generate $1,500+/Week for life, from home or office, part time or full time. No large investment or hassles. Win $1000-$2000 free &quot;cash&quot;.
</p>
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		<item>
		<title>5 Questions Great Managers Ask (and they arent hard!)</title>
		<link>http://www.business-themes.com/management/5-Questions-Great-Managers-Ask-and-they-arent-hard-1476/</link>
		<comments>http://www.business-themes.com/management/5-Questions-Great-Managers-Ask-and-they-arent-hard-1476/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Management</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[However hard we try, we seem to make life more difficult for ourselves; more challenging; more complex. Yet it needn&#8217;t be so. try out these five questions with a regularity; a discipline and you will reap rewards. You will certainly reap rewards.
What do my customers want? Getting inside the head of your customers is a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>However hard we try, we seem to make life more difficult for ourselves; more challenging; more complex. Yet it needn&#8217;t be so. try out these five questions with a regularity; a discipline and you will reap rewards. You will <b>certainly</b> reap rewards.</p>
<li><b>What do my customers want?</b> Getting inside the head of your customers is a recipe for success. Taking the role on of one of your customers or clients and seeing from their perspective helps structure a sound and growing business. Better still, ask them what they want, need, what irritates them and thank them for their insights. Take complaints as a real positive - for knowing what went wrong, gives you information you can correct and grow stronger on.
<li><b>How do I get the best from my people?</b> Enjoying the benefits of truly &#8216;turned on&#8217; people in your business, makes a huge difference. Finding out what they need to be successful for you can be more challenging. But wait! Have you asked them what they need to do their best for you? Be sensitive and responsive to their needs. This simple step will provide you with all the people strategies that work. Many solutions will be very easy to do and can build belief and trust in you as a manager. The bigger challenges can be solved by using your people to have a positive and constructive input. It will be worthwhile - for everyone.
<li><b>How can we make best use of our resources?</b> What resources? People, goodwill, reputation, location. USP, and more&#8230; Well, make sure first of all that you understand what they are. Ask your customers and people what you represent to them - and then do more, much more of it. Then review those things that you can do less of, save resource costs on. Focusing on what you are best at and dropping things that don&#8217;t create value for you can be very value-creating.
<li><b>What wastes our time?</b> It&#8217;s a simple question, but with an easy answer. What value is created when I spend time on this activity? If your challenge is to make £100 an hour profit for your organisation, is what you are spending your time on doing just that? What things do you and your people do, which does not? Try stopping doing things, some of which you may have done for months and years, when little or no value is created and switch to more things that do. Stop some things and start others - simple as that.
<li><b>What do we need to change?</b> Constantly reviewing where you are in your business and making small course a djustments, like the autopilot of a jumbo jet, will maximise your performance. But whilst leading the cultural shift can develop autopilot-mode, the first steps are for managers to spot-check all they do manually. Doing this will encourage your people to start to do it themselves. Remember, the best time to review, review, review, is when you are successful. And then be very challenging and honest about yourselves. Build it in, make small but significant changes regularly, once you have evidence of drifting off course. That makes for a consistently healthy &#038; growing organisation and reduces the need for cataclysmic change.
<p>Are you up for this refreshing challenge? What better way to start your new focus on your business, organisation or team?</p>
<p><b>Martin Haworth</b> is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, <a href="http://www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com">http://www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com</a>.<b> &#8230;helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow&#8230;</b>
</p>
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		<title>Start your Online Business in 2006 with this Template</title>
		<link>http://www.business-themes.com/online-business/Start-your-Online-Business-in-2006-with-this-Template-1475/</link>
		<comments>http://www.business-themes.com/online-business/Start-your-Online-Business-in-2006-with-this-Template-1475/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Sep 2010 03:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Online Business</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Start your Online Business in 2006 with this Template
&#160;by: Mark Bellinger
You want to have your own online business but do not know where to begin, what to market or what it entails.
Well, the following is a pretty good template to follow that has proved to be successful for many an online entrepreneur and will provide [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><b>Start your Online Business in 2006 with this Template</b><br />
&nbsp;by: <b>Mark Bellinger</b></p>
<p>You want to have your own online business but do not know where to begin, what to market or what it entails.</p>
<p>Well, the following is a pretty good template to follow that has proved to be successful for many an online entrepreneur and will provide everything you need to get started.</p>
<p>A.	The Groundwork</p>
<p>	Research a memorable Domain Name</p>
<p>Finding an appropriate domain name that is available is not always that easy.</p>
<p>It is recommended that is simple, not spammy and not of the free variety - your actual business name is always a good choice.</p>
<p>	Choosing a Web Host</p>
<p>With all the thousands of hosting choices available, choose the one that is affordable, accommodates your requirements in terms of space, data transfer, software and service.</p>
<p>A quick way to check for bad reports on a particular hosting company is to do a search on Google for that host&#8217;s name.</p>
<p>	Legal Issues</p>
<p>Depending on what industry you are in, ensure you are covered on the legal front as well as ensuring that your website content etc is protected.</p>
<p>B. Your Website</p>
<p>	Design</p>
<p>Bearing in mind that first impressions are everything, you will need to decide whether you are equipped to design the site yourself or whether you will need the services of a professional web design organization</p>
<p>	Receive Payments</p>
<p>Your site should be geared to receive payments and this can be achieved in a number of ways ie. By using Pay Pal, Storm Pay or by setting it up to use credit cards which will be the most costly.</p>
<p>	Stickyness</p>
<p>It is vital that your site has the type of content that will have your visitors come back for me.</p>
<p>C. Website Marketing</p>
<p>	Search Engine Optimization</p>
<p>Getting ranked high in the search engines for your site&#8217;s popular keywords will only happen if your site is properly optimized for search engines - even then it may not rank highly as search engines place a high value on incoming links and other factors</p>
<p>	Offline Site Promotion</p>
<p>Advertise your site in the print media, business cards, signage, flyers, etc.</p>
<p>	Viral Marketing</p>
<p>A viral marketing campaign will help drive traffic to your site</p>
<p>	Pay Per Click Advertising</p>
<p>A surefire way of driving mega traffic to your site immediately is to set up a proper Google Adwords campaign</p>
<p>C. E-Mail Marketing</p>
<p>	Creating an Opt In List</p>
<p>In a prominent position on your website you should be inviting visitors to sign up for a free e-mail newsletter or suchlike.</p>
<p>From the requests you will build your opt in list to whom you can send out your e-mail promotional literature</p>
<p>	No Spamming</p>
<p>Make sure that you only target those who have signed up for your newsletter and never send (spam) to those who have not requested it</p>
<p>If you follow the above guidelines to setting up your online business you will have a solid foundation from which to grow your business into a highly profitable and viable organization </p>
<p><b>About The Author</b></p>
<p>Mark Bellinger is a successful businessman and creator of the following websites: </p>
<p><a href="http://www.income.za.net" target=new>http://www.income.za.net</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.internetbusiness.co.za" target=new>http://www.internetbusiness.co.za</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.onlinesynergy.za.net" target=new>http://www.onlinesynergy.za.net</a></p>
<p><a href="mailto:markb@onlinesynergy.net">markb@onlinesynergy.net</a></p>
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		<title>10 Surefire Ways to Add Sizzle to Your Brochures</title>
		<link>http://www.business-themes.com/marketing/10-Surefire-Ways-to-Add-Sizzle-to-Your-Brochures-1474/</link>
		<comments>http://www.business-themes.com/marketing/10-Surefire-Ways-to-Add-Sizzle-to-Your-Brochures-1474/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 Aug 2010 07:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Marketing</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Businesses rely on brochures as their front line in communicating their products or services. Yet according to Shannon Cherry, APR, many find them not as successful because they underestimate the skills and resources necessary to publish attractive and effective materials.
&#34;Most people forget a brochure is important because it represents you to the world and reflects [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Businesses rely on brochures as their front line in communicating their products or services. Yet according to Shannon Cherry, APR, many find them not as successful because they underestimate the skills and resources necessary to publish attractive and effective materials.</p>
<p>&quot;Most people forget a brochure is important because it represents you to the world and reflects your image,&quot; says Cherry, president of Cherry Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that helps businesses, entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations be heard.</p>
<p>&quot;But the best brochures do more than impress,&quot; she says. &quot;Effective copy and design can intrigue, inform, convince and capture customer business just as an effective salesperson does. Brochure effectiveness is linked to an audience-appropriate marketing strategy that drives the design process.&quot;</p>
<p>Cherry shares the following top ten list of hints can help your brochure put its best foot forward:</p>
<p>1. Keep headlines short. According to studies, headlines with fewer than ten words get more readership.</p>
<p>2. Focus your headline on your target audience. Show a picture of your target group and make sure the headline has the groups description in it. For example: If you are targeting moms, uses a headline like, &quot;Moms Know Best.&quot;</p>
<p>3. Keep text lines at a comfortable length. Body copy lines should never be shorter than the font size or longer than double the font size.</p>
<p>4. Keep paragraphs - especially lead paragraphs - short. Perhaps even one sentence.</p>
<p>5. Use graphical dingbats including bullets, hyphens, and asterisks, to break up text.</p>
<p>6. Use captions to draw the reader in. Next to the cover, captions are the most read items in a brochure.</p>
<p>7. Set captions in a different style.</p>
<p>8. Avoid typographic overkill by using too many CAPS, italics and bolds.</p>
<p>9. Stick to no more than three different fonts in a brochure.</p>
<p>10. If you use photos with people in them, make sure their heads are at least the size of a dime.</p>
<p>About The Author</p>
<p>Shannon Cherry, APR, MA helps businesses, entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations to be heard. She&#8217;s a marketing communications and public relations expert with more than 15 years experience and the owner of Cherry Communications. Subscribe today for Be Heard! a FREE biweekly ezine and get the FREE special report: &#8216;Get Set For Success: Creative, Low-Cost Marketing Tips to Help You be Heard.&#8217; Go to: <a href="http://www.cherrycommunications.com" target="_new">http://www.cherrycommunications.com</a>.
</p>
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		<title>When Do I Need To Hire A Business Plan Consultant</title>
		<link>http://www.business-themes.com/strategic-planning/When-Do-I-Need-To-Hire-A-Business-Plan-Consultant-1473/</link>
		<comments>http://www.business-themes.com/strategic-planning/When-Do-I-Need-To-Hire-A-Business-Plan-Consultant-1473/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Strategic Planning</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Every new business owner knows that a business plan is critical ? it is drilled into them by potential investors and every banking officer they meet. So why is something that is so important to the launch of a new venture so difficult to write? Good question! In this article I will try to address [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Every new business owner knows that a business plan is critical ? it is drilled into them by potential investors and every banking officer they meet. So why is something that is so important to the launch of a new venture so difficult to write? Good question! In this article I will try to address when you should go out and hire a business plan writer versus taking on the task yourself. First time entrepreneurs often cringe when sitting down to write their business plan. Some spend 6 months agonizing over each period and comma, and even worse others spend 6 months procrastinating and do nothing. So lets break it down and see where / when a business planning company should be brought in:</p>
<p>Who will read your business plan and why?</p>
<p>First you need to really understand the purpose of your business plan and who your audience (reader) will be. This is an important point as a business plan being written for a $100,000 loan is VERY different than a document needed for a $10 million round of venture capital! Since this article is focused on first-time small business owners, I will focus on preparing business plans raising less then $1 million in capital. For this &quot;startup&quot; or &quot;seed&quot; business plan 30-35 pages are perfect. You are not expected to deliver a thick book (and no one will read it anyway!). Once you have this down, you can honestly assess which sections you are qualified / comfortable writing and which may need consulting help.</p>
<p>Here is what you should write on your own</p>
<p>It is important for you to write a basic draft / outline of your business plan. Without this direction you are probably asking too much of your consultant. Once you have your thoughts organized on paper you can see what you are comfortable completing. Here are a few suggestions:</p>
<p>Executive Summary: Draft the opening of your business plan ? then hire a pro to come in and re-write it. Your executive summary will be read first and first impressions are critical!</p>
<p>Marketing: You need to write your own definition of your target customer / audience. For the market research on industry growth and fancy charts go ahead and hire a consultant.</p>
<p>Competitive Analysis: You should put together the first draft of this section, as it is almost as important to understand your competitors, as it is your customers. If you find a consultant that is an expert in your field, then you can work together and add to your initial list.</p>
<p>The Dreaded Financials</p>
<p>This is the most difficult part of a startup business plan, as you are making projections and assumptions on products / services that you have not even produced or sold yet! If you are stuck on this section you can hire a business plan consultant to just assist you with completing your projections (income statement, cash flow, and balance sheet). Figuring out the cost of goods, delivery costs, and return rates can be simplified by breaking them down into a &quot;light&quot; spreadsheet. Next you need to understand your startup and operating costs ? items like electricity, travel, phone expenses, etc. Again just organize these and your consultant can make all the fancy charts and graphs. Just make sure you understand all of the assumptions ? for example if you are opening a retail business, you should not look towards your consultant to &quot;guess&quot; your rent ? go out and meet with a realtor and come back with real data. If you work closely with your consultant, the financials are a great section to bring in professional help.</p>
<p>Managing Expectations</p>
<p>Now that you know a bit more about when to hire a business plan writer you also need to manage your expectations. You can&#8217;t expect a $1,000 business plan to have 20 pages of competitive analysis and a full-blown marketing strategy! If you carefully work through which sections of your business plan need outside help and then manage your consultant closely, your final document will be a success! My next two articles will focus on &quot;How to Find / Hire a Business Plan Consultant&quot; and more importantly &quot;When to Fire your Business Plan Consultant!&quot;</p>
<p>Howard Schwartz is a partner in several business strategy groups, including HJ Ventures International, Inc. Howard has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs worldwide with a focus on writing business plans for companies interested in raising capital from Venture Funds and Angel Investors. Howard&#8217;s business plans have secured several million dollars in funding.</p>
<p>For more information: <a target="_new" href="http://www.hjventures.com">http://www.hjventures.com</a>
</p>
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		<title>Selling the Dr. Seuss Way</title>
		<link>http://www.business-themes.com/sales/Selling-the-Dr-Seuss-Way-1472/</link>
		<comments>http://www.business-themes.com/sales/Selling-the-Dr-Seuss-Way-1472/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Aug 2010 15:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Sales</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#34;I am Sam. Sam I am. Do you like green eggs and ham? Would you like them here or there? Would you like them in a box, would you like them with a fox?&#34;
I think most people have read this Dr. Seuss tale either as kids or to their children. What is interesting is the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&quot;I am Sam. Sam I am. Do you like green eggs and ham? Would you like them here or there? Would you like them in a box, would you like them with a fox?&quot;</p>
<p>I think most people have read this Dr. Seuss tale either as kids or to their children. What is interesting is the relevance this story has to selling. First of all, Sam is selling a product and although his prospect is not initially interested, Sam doesn&#8217;t let that deter him from asking. Secondly, Sam consistently offers the prospect a choice when trying to close the sale. Thirdly, he refuses to give up. No matter how many times his prospect says &#8216;no&#8217; Sam keeps offering alternatives. In fact, he offers fourteen options before he finally closes the sale.</p>
<p>Now, I am not suggesting that you pester your customers or prospects but I do believe most people give up too early in the sales process. We hear a few &quot;no&#8217;s&quot; and decide to turn our attention elsewhere. It is your responsibility as a sales professional to ask the customer to make a decision - you cannot expect a customer to do the work for you. If you have been effective in learning about their specific needs and current situation and presented the appropriate solution to your prospect then you have earned the right to ask them for their money. Here are a few ideas that will help you reach this point:</p>
<p>Avoid launching into a lengthy discussion of what you can do for your client until you thoroughly understand what business challenges they face and the problems, concerns or issues they need resolved. Use open questioning to gather this information and avoid making assumptions or jumping to conclusions too quickly. Instead, listen carefully to what they say and clarify anything that is not clear. Ask them to elaborate by using prompters such as &quot;uh-huh,&quot; &quot;tell me more,&quot; and &quot;what else?&quot;</p>
<p>When it comes time to present your product or service, try not to limit the prospect to one option. Provide a choice of solutions that meet their specific concerns. Explain the benefits of each option, and when necessary, also discuss the drawbacks of each alternative. However, do not present so many options that the decision becomes overwhelming or difficult. Be prepared to tell your prospect which option best suits their needs if they ask.</p>
<p>Speak in terms they can understand, avoiding the use of terminology they may not recognize. A case in point; as I developed my web site, I found myself talking to people who were extremely knowledgeable but they used terminology that sounded like a foreign language to me. I found myself getting frustrated, and in some cases feeling a bit dumb, because I had to keep asking them what they meant. Be very cautious how much jargon you use in your presentations and make sure your customer understands what you are saying.</p>
<p>Recognize that objections are a natural component of the sales process. It&#8217;s common for a customer express several objections before she makes the decision to commit to the purchase. Don&#8217;t take these objections personally and do not assume that it means the other person is not interested. Understand that your prospect will likely have specific concerns about making a decision particularly if they have never done business with you. Clarify their objections to uncover the true hesitation ? do not hesitate to probe deeper to explore the real issues preventing them from making a decision. In most cases, your prospect will give you the information you need providing you keep your approach non-confrontational and neutral. Learn to handle objections in a non-argumentative manner. When you uncover their true objection keep your response brief and to the point. Talking too much will seem that you are trying to justify your product or price. Plus, you can sometimes talk yourself out a sale if you aren&#8217;t careful.</p>
<p>Ask for the sale. In many cases, your prospect expects you to ask for the sale. And as long as you do not pressure or try to coerce them into making a decision, they won&#8217;t be offended by your request. Develop the confidence to ask for the sale in a variety of ways and begin asking every qualified person for their commitment. Recognize that many people want to be given permission to make a decision and look to the salesperson for that permission.</p>
<p>Lastly, take a lesson from Sam and learn the importance of polite persistence. The most successful sales people ask for the sale seven or eight times and don&#8217;t give up at the first sign of resistance. Research has shown that these individuals consistently earn more than their coworkers and peers.</p>
<p>Copyright 2004, Kelley Robertson</p>
<p>Kelley Robertson, President of the Robertson Training Group, works with businesses to help them increase their sales and motivate their employees. He is also the author of &quot;Stop, Ask &#038; Listen ? Proven sales techniques to turn browsers into buyers.&quot; Visit his website at <a target="_new" href="http://www.RobertsonTrainingGroup.com">www.RobertsonTrainingGroup.com</a> and receive a FREE copy of &quot;100 Ways to Increase Your Sales&quot; by subscribing to his 59-Second Tip, a free weekly e-zine.
</p>
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		<title>How to Start a Profitable Niche Marketing Business</title>
		<link>http://www.business-themes.com/online-business/How-to-Start-a-Profitable-Niche-Marketing-Business-1471/</link>
		<comments>http://www.business-themes.com/online-business/How-to-Start-a-Profitable-Niche-Marketing-Business-1471/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Online Business</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[How to Start a Profitable Niche Marketing Business
&#160;by: Sandra Le Vaguereze
What does niche marketing mean? Niche marketing is about finding small opportunities on the web, small areas in which people might be interested and for which they might be searching. Big companies and experienced webmasters are not interested in these areas because they are not [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><b>How to Start a Profitable Niche Marketing Business</b><br />
&nbsp;by: <b>Sandra Le Vaguereze</b></p>
<p>What does niche marketing mean? Niche marketing is about finding small opportunities on the web, small areas in which people might be interested and for which they might be searching. Big companies and experienced webmasters are not interested in these areas because they are not important enough. But a small business could be something in which you might be interested.</p>
<p>Perhaps a small mini website will not generate thousands of dollars every month; it might generate 100 bucks, for example. That is ok, if the effort involved in terms of creating this mini website is not too high; in this way, you could repeat the same business model again and again. Taking into consideration that every small business could generate around $100 every month, with ten niches, you could earn $1.000 monthly. Does this sound better? And what if you could create 50 websites?</p>
<p>The first step in this kind of business is always keyword research. You need to find small markets which do not have competition. Wordtrack is a very good tool to use for finding niche opportunities. For every keyword, it tells you the number of searches and how many results are found on each search engine. You need to pay special attention to the KEI column. KEI is the index that balances the number of searches and the number of competitors. The more searches and the fewer the competitors, the better for you. A KEI higher than 10 is good, but you should, ideally, look at keywords with a KEI over 100. More than 400 is a gift.</p>
<p>Once you have identified your niche, you need to find content for it. Don`t worry about which product you are going to sell; this will come later. The fuel of any Internet business is content. So where can you find content? Well, if you are an expert in an area, you could write your own articles, but if you are not, you have to look for content somewhere else.</p>
<p>There are many article directories that offer a lot of content that you can use. You can also find much content just by searching the web. Use search engines, find blogs, forums, websites, etc. Last, but not least, you can always find information as in the old times, go to the library or buy one or two books.</p>
<p>After you have found enough content, it is time to register a domain name. You should choose a name that has something to do with your target market, but if your intention is to create multiple mini websites, you don&#8217;t need to register a different domain name every time. You can save money by having one global domain name, and create sub domains for each business.</p>
<p>The question now is, Since everything looks good, how do I make money with these sites? You need to follow this 3 step formula (CTM):</p>
<p>- Create Content - Generate Traffic - Monetize your website</p>
<p>You can build traffic by optimizing the webpage content for the search engines and by analyzing your competitors in order to build a better SEO strategy (but this is another chapter). Blogging and pinging is a way to make sure that your site will be spidered by the search engines. Wordpress is a very good option for creating your blog, as it allows you to post, not only articles, but pages. You can easily build miniwebsites with Wordpress. Finally, there are three easy ways to earn money with your site.</p>
<p>1. Sell some product that you can create yourself. If you have this ability and you want to allow people to buy your products with a credit card, the easiest way is to create a Paypal account. If you don&#8217;t have one, visit <a href="http://www.paypal.com" target=new>www.paypal.com</a> and create one.</p>
<p>2. Join affiliate programs. Find people who sell products related to your market niche and who have affiliate programs already set up. You will earn commissions just by selling other people&#8217;s items. A good place to find affiliate programs on products is <a href="http://www.clickbank.com" target=new>www.clickbank.com</a>.</p>
<p>3. Google Adsense. Create an account at Google Adsense and include Google ads on your site. Every time someone visits your site and clicks one of those ads, Google will share its profit with you.</p>
<p>Creating small businesses is like a game. They do not require high investment, but they will not make you rich either. However, if you start playing many of those games, it can become a serious business.</p>
<p>Copyright 2006 Sandra Le Vaguereze</p>
<p><b>About The Author</b></p>
<p>Sandra Le Vaguereze is dedicated to helping people find work at home. She is the webmistress of <a href="http://www.MakeMoneyOnlineAnywhere.net" target=new>http://www.MakeMoneyOnlineAnywhere.net</a>.</p>
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		<title>Sowing and Growing Your Network</title>
		<link>http://www.business-themes.com/marketing/Sowing-and-Growing-Your-Network-1470/</link>
		<comments>http://www.business-themes.com/marketing/Sowing-and-Growing-Your-Network-1470/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Marketing</category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The N-word! We all know the value of networking and we feel we should be doing more of it. Unfortunately, for too many of us the very thought of attending an event where we have to mix and mingle with total strangers is enough to drive us into hiding until it&#8217;s all over! What a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The N-word! We all know the value of networking and we feel we should be doing more of it. Unfortunately, for too many of us the very thought of attending an event where we have to mix and mingle with total strangers is enough to drive us into hiding until it&#8217;s all over! What a pity we often force ourselves to go to a potentially great conference, but we&#8217;re so busy worrying about the networking part that we forget to enjoy the event!</p>
<p>But networking is like so many other activities in life-it&#8217;s easy when you know how. I call the process &#8220;Sowing and Growing Your Network&#8221; because it has two distinct, but equally important, parts.</p>
<p>Sowing Your Network</p>
<p>Over the years, people have often told me they don&#8217;t &#8220;do&#8221; networking any more because it doesn&#8217;t work. When I hear this, I know that person has committed at least one, and perhaps all three, of what I call the three cardinal sins of networking.</p>
<p>1. The first cardinal sin of networking is selling. Oh dear, is that what you thought it was all about? Well, although networking can be an integral part of the selling process, the two are distinctly different. Have you ever been circulating happily at a networking event (even at one of your own conferences or tradeshows), when suddenly someone has you backed into a corner trying to sell you mutual funds? That&#8217;s the cardinal sin!</p>
<p>If you meet someone who seems to be a good prospect for your services, tell the person you have some information they might find useful and would like to meet or speak on the phone later to discuss it. If the person seems open to this, be sure to get their business card and make the call as arranged. That&#8217;s the time to go into selling mode.</p>
<p>2. The second cardinal sin of networking is asking for or offering someone a job. Certainly, job hunting is another reason for active networking, but once again it&#8217;s only part of the process. If you meet someone who seems a good candidate for a position you need to fill, follow the same process I&#8217;ve described above. If you begin discussing the job opportunity in detail, neither you nor the other person will have an opportunity to mix and meet others, which is the reason you are there.</p>
<p>If your new acquaintance seems to be in a position to offer you a job, this is definitely not the time to begin an in-depth job interview! Again, express your interest in talking later, get the card and make the call.</p>
<p>3. The third cardinal sin of networking is spending time speaking to the wrong people, which generally means the people you came with, or the people you see every day at work. Of course it&#8217;s a lot easier to chat with friends than make conversation with strangers-but it&#8217;s not networking. I&#8217;ve seen too many people spend the valuable networking time at conferences with their friends, and then sitting with the same people at the education sessions and again at mealtimes. What a waste of opportunity!</p>
<p>If you are there to develop business contacts and you spend all the time with your friends, don&#8217;t complain later that networking doesn&#8217;t work!</p>
<p>Business cards</p>
<p>There is no excuse at all for attending a networking event without business cards, and yet people do it all the time. Excuses range from forgetfulness to new jobs and having left them in the car in the parking lot. If you tell people you forgot your cards, many will assume you are as lax in your business habits and you might lose opportunities.</p>
<p>Even if you don&#8217;t have your new cards yet, you can easily produce a temporary supply on your computer. When you give them to people you can mention that they are temporary and offer to send them your new one when you have it. That, of course, is a built-in reason to contact people again! A business card is an essential networking tool-make sure you have a supply with you at all times.</p>
<p>For many people, the most difficult aspect of a conference is speaking to people they don&#8217;t know, and walking into a room full of strangers can certainly be intimidating. We&#8217;ve all stood inside the door looking at hundreds of people busily engaged in conversation, feeling as if everyone knows everyone else-except us! Here&#8217;s a secret: the only difference between you and all those others is that they arrived five minutes ahead of you and they have found one person to speak to! So how can you break into that buzz?</p>
<p>The refreshment line</p>
<p>No matter what time of day, there will be refreshments in some form. Most of us look around, find the food table and make a beeline for it while making sure we don&#8217;t look around and meet anyone&#8217;s eye on our way. Then we silently join the line, keeping our eyes trained strictly on the food and drink, while those on either side do the same thing. How ridiculous! This is your first opportunity to connect!</p>
<p>It doesn&#8217;t take much imagination to begin a conversation. You might mention the state of your appetite, the scrumptious smell of the breakfast muffins or the fact that you really shouldn&#8217;t ignore your diet but you will just for today. Whatever you say, the person you speak to will respond, giving you an opportunity to exchange names and keep chatting as you move along. By the time you reach the end of the table, you can move off into the crowd together. Guess what-you&#8217;ve just joined the buzz!</p>
<p>Breaking into conversation groups</p>
<p>One of the questions I&#8217;m most often asked during my networking workshops is about how to break into groups and join conversations in progress. To deal with this situation, you must master the fine art of &#8220;hovering&#8221;. First, choose a group you&#8217;d like to join. Now, move towards the group, but stop a yard or so from the edge-just close enough for someone to see you there-and look interested in the conversation. Nod and smile as everyone else does, and before long someone will see you and invite you into the group.</p>
<p>What you do next is important. If someone is speaking, you don&#8217;t want to be the cause of disruption. Simply say, &#8220;Don&#8217;t stop your story, Stan-I&#8217;d like to hear the rest of it too.&#8221; Then, when Stan is finished speaking, you can introduce yourself-and now you are part of the group! Wasn&#8217;t that simple?</p>
<p>Moving on</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve seen people twist themselves into knots looking for an excuse to end a conversation and move on. They&#8217;ll suddenly notice someone they&#8217;ve been frantically searching for, or they&#8217;ll remember they absolutely must make a phone call-they&#8217;ll even wave over the other person&#8217;s shoulder to an imaginary acquaintance! Well here&#8217;s a flash for you: you don&#8217;t need an excuse to move on because that&#8217;s the whole purpose of networking!</p>
<p>Say something like, &#8220;Well Janice, I&#8217;ve enjoyed meeting you and we should probably both move on and do some more mingling. I hope you enjoy the conference, and perhaps we&#8217;ll meet up again later on.&#8221; That&#8217;s it. By giving her an opportunity to meet others too, you&#8217;ve removed any suggestion that you are abandoning her.</p>
<p>After the event-growing your network</p>
<p>It&#8217;s vital that you make contact as soon as possible with everyone whose card you have. (Incidentally, that&#8217;s why it&#8217;s more important to get other people&#8217;s cards than to give out yours.) I suggest you divide these cards into two groups: those you specifically want to contact for a purpose, and those you simply met.</p>
<p>For the second group, I recommend a quick note, possibly on a postcard, saying how pleased you were to meet them at the conference and you hope you will meet each other again one day. Mail these as soon as possible after the event, and then enter the information in your database.</p>
<p>For the first group, if you said you would call on Tuesday morning-make sure you call on Tuesday morning. Seems obvious, doesn&#8217;t it? But most people don&#8217;t do it, so you will stand out simply because you kept your word. At this point, you can move from networking mode into sales or job search mode, or whatever is appropriate.</p>
<p>Don&#8217;t go to all the effort required to meet new people, and then throw away any potential opportunities by ignoring people afterwards. A network is a living, breathing organism. It should grow and change as you do, and if you look after it well, it will look after you for your whole life.</p>
<p>About The Author</p>
<p>Helen Wilkie is a professional speaker and author specializing in applied communication, which includes networking. For regular tips and techniques on communication, sign up for her free monthly e-zine &#8220;Communi-keys&#8221; at <a href="http://www.mhwcom.com" target="_new">http://www.mhwcom.com</a>. For more on sowing and growing YOUR network, visit <a href="http://www.mhwcom.com/pages/valuefromnetworking.html" target="_new">http://www.mhwcom.com/pages/valuefromnetworking.html</a></p>
<p><a href="mailto:hwilkie@mhwcom.com">hwilkie@mhwcom.com</a>
</p>
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		<title>Budgets that Damage - The Downsides of Making the Numbers</title>
		<link>http://www.business-themes.com/management/Budgets-that-Damage-The-Downsides-of-Making-the-Numbers-1469/</link>
		<comments>http://www.business-themes.com/management/Budgets-that-Damage-The-Downsides-of-Making-the-Numbers-1469/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 03:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Management</category>
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		<description><![CDATA[In my organisational career, I had budgets from the age of 22 to 47. I lived and breathed them and many times, budgets, the gospel that they were, caused havoc, albeit within the corporate retailer framework that I worked.Here are two examples of the damage caused.
Example One
Typically budgets were initially discussed in January, just after [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In my organisational career, I had budgets from the age of 22 to 47. I lived and breathed them and many times, budgets, the gospel that they were, caused havoc, albeit within the corporate retailer framework that I worked.Here are two examples of the damage caused.</p>
<p><b>Example One</b></p>
<p>Typically budgets were initially discussed in January, just after the Christmas rush. They were always dependent on year-on-year sales growth and at the time in question, individual businesses were not expected to deliver &#8216;profits&#8217;, as the way the business was structured was not capable of sustaining that level of information.</p>
<p>So the budget got signed off about May (for the fiscal year staring the April a month before!). Monthly sales budgets were built, usually to a corporate model, as were cost budgets, the biggest of all being salary costs. Half year budgets had to be met and so by the time September&#8217;s costs were in, you were well into planning your Christmas.</p>
<p>One year, after a review of performance of the organisation as a whole at the half year, a decision was made to radically trim salary budgets for the rest of the year. Out of 20 businesses in my geographical region, 8 were told to cut costs dramatically from November onwards. Because of the way that employment legislation works in the UK, you can&#8217;t just lay people off. So we had to find a better way to cut costs, just before Christmas (and at that time, the only two months the organisation made any profits to speak of were in November and December!)</p>
<p>It was decided to <b>reduce the hours</b> of every member of my staff (some 125 people) by 9.9% (apart, much to my <b>personal</b> disagreement, from the management team, who would be under &#8216;much greater pressure&#8217;, so would maintain their hours (and salary)). Although I say it myself, I had a great relationship with my team, and everyone made matters much easier by complying with the &#8216;request&#8217; within days (instead of the statutory notice-period, which for some could have been up to 12 weeks). My people were rock solid in how they put themselves forward and I was humbled.But my Christmas business was badly damaged. The <b>most</b> profitable time of the year was damaged, badly and when the sums were added up, we lost &#8216;profit&#8217;, as far as I could calculate. The organisation&#8217;s reputation was in tatters - and for what. Driving to achieve the budget, and more importantly keeping a lid on costs!</p>
<p><b>Example Two</b></p>
<p>My second example is the same organisation, bang up-to-date. Like right now, December 2004.</p>
<p>A manager is promoted in July 2004, to a very difficult store to manage - rather beyond his capability really. He inherits a budget cost overspend and is told to recover it by the end of the fiscal year (March 2005). He decides to cut back drastically on anything he can cut his staff costs on. So he <b>&#8216;cancels&#8217;</b> Christmas recruitment and plans no extras for the busiest period of the year. Admitted, not the only period they now make a profit on, but still very, very important to their profitability, for the year.Things go badly wrong:-
<ul>
<li>Systems fall apart.
<li>Preparation of merchandise for Christmas is too late.
<li>Staff morale plummets.
<li>People leave.
<li>Absense levels rise.
<li>He becomes depressed.
<li>He makes some serious lapses of judgement, because of the pressure.
<li>He is disciplined and demoted.
<li>Another manager (the fourth in five years) is brought in.
<li>There is a severe underperformance in sales (est. £50-100,000 for the period)
<li>The manager&#8217;s confidence is ruined, forever.</ul>
<p>All to meet the budget&#8230;He&#8217;s not a bad guy, in fact he has worked his socks off. With support and guidance he could have made this work and then progress his career. He was given none of these, except told that he <b>had to make the budget</b>. The article goes on to say that rather than performing to a pre-written script, managers are far better when they work towards forecasting more and more accurately on a rolling (and, over time, <b>learning</b>) basis. Performance <b>and</b> results become a lot more honest, realistic and outwardly (i.e. customer) focused, rather than inwardly (i.e. how to avoid or &#8216;cheat&#8217; the budgeting system).Perfect solution?Maybe. It&#8217;s just the nagging fear I have that the organisation anonymously mentioned in the article, with the solution above, might be the one I&#8217;ve been talking about in my examples&#8230;</p>
<p><b>Martin Haworth</b> is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website and specifically on budgeting at <a target="_new" href="http://www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com/budgeting.html">http://www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com/budgeting</a>. (Note to editors. Please leave a live link when using this article - thank you!)<b>&#8230;helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow&#8230;</b>
</p>
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		<title>Character Traits of Extraordinary Leaders</title>
		<link>http://www.business-themes.com/leadership/Character-Traits-of-Extraordinary-Leaders-1468/</link>
		<comments>http://www.business-themes.com/leadership/Character-Traits-of-Extraordinary-Leaders-1468/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Aug 2010 07:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Leadership</category>
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		<description><![CDATA[When people make a decision (either consciously or unconsciously) to follow your leadership, they do it primarily because of one of two things: Your Character or your Skills. They want to know if you are the kind of person they want to follow and if you have the skills to take them further. Yes, there [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When people make a decision (either consciously or unconsciously) to follow your leadership, they do it primarily because of one of two things: Your Character or your Skills. They want to know if you are the kind of person they want to follow and if you have the skills to take them further. Yes, there are other variables but these are the bulk of the matter. This week we focus on the kind of character that causes people to follow your leadership.</p>
<p>1. Integrity. Integrity is that you do what you say you will. You are trust worthy. People can rely on you. You keep your promises. The one thing that will most keep people from following you is if they can&#8217;t know for sure if you will actually take them where you say you will. Are you known as a person of integrity? If so, you will become an Extraordinary Leader!</p>
<p>2. Optimistic. People don&#8217;t want to follow others who think the future is bad! They want to follow those who can see the future and let them know that there is a better place and that they can get them there! Do you see the cup as half empty? Then you are a pessimist. Do you see it as half full? Then you are an optimist. Do you see it as totally full - half air and half water? Then you are a Super Optimist! Are you known as an optimist? If so, you will become an Extraordinary Leader!</p>
<p>3. Embraces Change. Leaders are the ones who will see the need for change and willingly embrace it. Followers will at first desire to stay where they are. Leaders need to see the benefits of change and communicate them to followers. If you don&#8217;t change, you won&#8217;t grow! Are you known as a person who embraces change? If so, you will become an Extraordinary Leader!</p>
<p>4. Risk Taker. Whenever we try something new, we are taking a risk. That is part of growing though and it is imperative. Most people are risk averse. Not the leader! They calculate the risk and what is to be gained from taking the risk. Then they communicate that to the followers and away they go to a better tomorrow! Are you known as a person who is willing to take risks? If so, you will become an Extraordinary Leader!</p>
<p>5. Tenacious. The tendency of the follower is to quit when the going gets tough. Two or three tries and their motto becomes &#8220;If at first you don&#8217;t succeed, give up and try something else.&#8221; Not the leader! They know what good lies beyond this brick wall and they will go and get it. Then they will bring others with them! Are you known as a person who is tenacious? If so, you will become an Extraordinary Leader!</p>
<p>6. Catalytic. A leader is ultimately one who gets people going. They are able to move others out of their comfort zone and on toward the goal! They can raise the passion, enthusiasm and the ACTION of those who would follow. Are you known as a catalyst? If so, you will become an Extraordinary Leader!</p>
<p>7. Dedicated/ Committed. Followers want people who are more devoted and committed then themselves. At the first sign of lack of commitment, followers scatter for the doors. If the leader sees the end and is bailing out, they better get out first. Followers follow those who will stick it out because they see the importance of the task and the goal. Are you known as a person who is committed and devoted to the goal? If so, you will become an Extraordinary Leader!</p>
<p>About The Author:</p>
<p>Chris Widener is a popular speaker and writer as well as the President of Made for Success, a company helping individuals and organizations turn their potential into performance, succeed in every area of their lives and achieve their dreams.</p>
<p>To see Chris &#8220;live&#8221; at the upcoming Jim Rohn Weekend Event as he speaks on the subject of Secrets of Influence go to <a target="_new" href="http://Chris-Widener.InspiresYOU.com/">http://Chris-Widener.InspiresYOU.com/</a> or call 800-929-0434.
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