Top 7 Similarities Of Business And Sports

Writen by Lance Winslow

It is so very interesting that some of the best entrepreneurs have some sports in their background. It makes sense because business is a rather competitive game indeed. Just how much similar is a sporting event or sports to business? Well, pretty similar and many sports exist truly because there is commercial value. Professional Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, Football and Golf all are both a business and a sport. Here are some similarities to both sports and business, which you might find intellectually stimulating and intriguing.

1.) In business you must first learn how to run a business; in sports you must train.

2.) In business you need the most efficient equipment, computers and systems; in sports you need the best bike, shoes, gear or bobsled.

3.) In business you must make sales goals; in sports you must score goals.

4.) In business you must strategize and have proper planning; in sports you must have a game plan and memorize the plays.

5.) In business you are competing against the competition for market share and sales; in sports you must compete against your opponent (s) to win.

6.) In business if you are the best you must defend your brand name; in sports if you win you must defend your title.

7.) In business your brand name is paramount and you must stay on top; in sports if you lose too many games you are forgotten.

Those are just some of the most obvious parallels to business and sports and there are others. I bring you this only to help you see a new perspective in the game of business and help you win market share and increase sales. Business is much about competition and winning. Perhaps you can come up with 3 more similarities between the two; consider all this in 2006.

Lance Winslow - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Top 7 Mistakes Your Competitors Make And How To Capitalize On Them

Writen by Lance Winslow

Most of your business competitors out there will make serious mistakes from time to time and if you were watching closely you can capitalize on these mistakes and propel your company in the marketplace further and have your brand in the customer’s mind ahead of the competition.

For over 27 years our companies were always at the top of the game and seldom did we lose a battle to competitors in any market large or small, no matter how long the competitors had been in business been in business, we were victorious in the marketing place. We often noticed that the largest companies made the biggest mistakes or perhaps that was just because they were bigger and more noticeable.

Either way they were competitors and thus we capitalized on their mistakes. What are the biggest mistakes that your competitors will make?

Well, there are many actually and the biggest one is a that they will fail deliver a simple cohesive message to the customer and instead deliver the series of dissimilar messages. In other words they fail to define themselves. This allows your company to define its specific simple messages to each of its target market niches and define your competitors for them.

Your competitors will also go through cash flow problems, hiring the incorrect people, management turmoil, marketing mistakes and failures to execute on customer service. Every time your competitor makes a mistake they leave the door wide open. Remember;

“Your competitor's best customers are your sales apartments best prospects.”

You must capitalize on your competitor’s mistakes to win and earn additional market share for your company; it is the American way. Consider all this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Top Ten Small Business Mastermind Advisers All Small Business Owners Need To Have To Succeed

Writen by Chris Le Roy

The statistics on small businesses going broke in the first 12 months of operation are nothing short of obscene and seriously scary. In Australia and other western countries such as the United States 70% of all small businesses fail within the first 12 months of operation but let me tell you from experience, surviving after that 12 months is no less harrowing.

After 10 years of running four small businesses and creating them from scratch I can tell you with some authority, that I did not do this on my own. In fact, I reckon I have made every mistake in the book on how not to run a small business, but yet I have still survived. The secret to staying in business is all down to being able to talk to my ten Small Business Mastermind Advisers.

My ten Small Business Mastermind Advisers are there as my support team in helping me make the right decisions. See often when we make a decision in small business, it might be right at the time but down the track it can do you a lot of harm. Having your small business mastermind advisers on call, you can simply call them and ask them the consequences of the choices you are about to make.

For example, having the right business structure and putting your business assets in the right structure will play a major roll in the success of your business when you decide to exit the business. Se e most people who go into business only ever think of the business as a job they do not look at it from the perspective of how they will exit the business when they have built it into an enterprise.

Those ten small business mastermind advisers will help you to ensure that you have met your obligations and that there are no hidden issues that might come up in the future for your business. For example, we recently chose to sell off our car cleaning business as my wife wanted to pursue something different. Because of the way I had structured some of the trademarks in my company that related to hers, when we went and sold the business it created a number of headaches in the sale process. Essentially we had to shift ownership of those trademarks to her company prior to the sale which created a number of financial costs that we have had to endure even though my company never made any money. This issue arose simply because in the early days, I did not have my 10 Small Business Mastermind Advisers to tell me how my choices would impact on me in the future.

Adviser 1: Accountant

In business today, with the complexities of superannuation, sales tax or GST, income tax and all the other taxes out there an accountant is a must. As a small business owner you need to find an accountant that is a small business specialist and is proactive in working with you.

What I have found is that some accountants will only do what you ask them to do and will not step in and give you advice if you do not ask. You want an accountant that if they see you are doing something wrong then they will tell you without you asking.

The other thing you will need to ensure is that you hire an accountant that outlines where all of their hours are going. It is very easy for you with accountants and solicitors to end up with 5 or 6 figure bills.

Adviser 2: Solicitor

The solicitor is another important Small Business Mastermind adviser. Just like the accountant you need to make sure that the solicitor is a small business specialist. The role of the solicitor is to help you with all legal issues like what structure suits what you want to achieve, do your forms and policies meet your legal obligations, like your privacy policy, recruitment policy etc.

They can also help you protect your assets and in particular your intellectual property like trademarks, copyright etc. Often small business owners do not do the basics of trademarking their business name and logos to stop other business predators using their identities.

Adviser 3: Marketing and Advertising Expert

A Marketing and Advertising Expert is a must in today's market place. I have found that with the various media types, people in the industry can get better deals than if you dealt with the media owners. For example, recently I chose a new advertising specialist to join my small business mastermind advisers because their company was able to negotiate lower television advert placements, than what I could dealing directly with the station.

Your marketing and advertising expert should have some experience in your industry and be able to show real statistics of adverts and marketing campaigns that actually achieved results. More so, they should also have a mantra of test and measure to ensure that your campaigns are giving you value for money and more so, are making you a profit.

Adviser 4: Bookkeeper

Some accountants have their own bookkeepers, but I have found that quite often they are more expensive than bookkeepers not tied into an accountant. Further to this you should always check to make sure the bookkeeper is certified. In some countries, including Australia, bookkeepers can be certified through the National Bookkeepers association or the CPA.

Your bookkeeper must be prepared to work with your accountant and if they have questions you must give them permission to speak with your accountant and more so, you need to make sure that they document all communications with your accountant.

Remember one thing, it does not matter whether your Bookkeeper or your accountant makes a mistake, ultimately, you as the business owner are responsible for your books. If they get it wrong, it will be on your head, so always make sure that you understand what they are doing.

Adviser 5: IT Person

Everybody hates computers and I am a 20 year veteran of the industry and I still hate them. Having a good IT person is essential. Most businesses today are now totally reliant on their IT Technology and if your technology goes down, the question you need to ask is, "could your business still operate?" If the answer is no, then you need to hire an IT person who will be there in an emergency.

When choosing an IT Person or company make sure they are qualified in the technology you are using. For example, if you are using Microsoft Windows technology in your office, then your IT Person should have at the very least the Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician qualification.

Adviser 6: Website and Search Engine Expert

If your business is not on the web and you are not selling products to the global market then you are making your life incredibly difficult and you are missing out on lots of opportunities. The internet is a fantastic tool for doing business but be warned there are lots of crooks out there, especially in the search engine optimization industry.

Before choosing a web builder and search engine expert ask to speak with some of their existing clients or talk to other business associates and find out who they use. I will say you should expect to pay anywhere between $1,500 to $5,000 per month for this service depending on your business and what sort of income you want to derive from the internet.

Adviser 7: Business Coach

Business Coaches, are like website and search engine experts, there are a lot of snakes out there who have no real small business experience. Before choosing a Business Coach ask them if they have ever owned a small business or if they had been a principle small business manager.

If you have been in small business for a while, then it will be very obvious to you as to which business coaches have owned businesses before going into business coaching. Their approach will tend to be more practical then something out of a book. Once again before choosing a business coach, talk to your business colleagues and see if they can recommend someone.

Adviser 8: Financial Planner

Managing your money is a major issue and most accountants will not give you Financial Planning Advice. A good financial planner will be able to help you where to put your business money, to get good growth but also to be easily accessible.

You should also have a good financial planner for your personal 401k or superannuation policy but also if you are managing an employer superannuation program. Most small business owners forget to build their own 401k or superannuation policy as they are building their business and when they get to selling their business they find they do not have enough to live on once they retire because once the business debts are paid off, nothing is left.

Adviser 9: Business Banker

Finding the right bank and right business banker is essential to succeeding in business. You definitely need to build a constructive relationship with your business banker as they will be your life line in a dire cashflow situation or if you need money for a deal you just could not let go by.

Business Bankers can also help you with other issues like leasing and hire purchase accounts, but also other facilities like merchant facilities, sales tax bank accounts etc.

Adviser 10: Insurance Broker

I learned the hard way on how important an insurance broker is to your business. The previous insurance company I dealt with did not advise me that none of the glass in my building was covered if I was broken into. I have extensive insurance, but because Glass was an optional extra, the previous insurance company did not tell me this and when we were broken into, even though I pay over $5,000 per year in insurance, I still had a $4,000 bill for all the glass damaged during a break and enter.

This particular experience really drove home, how a good insurance broker, whilst upfront might cost you more, in the future will save you more.

Just like any employee when you are putting together your Small Business Mastermind Advisers you need to interview each adviser and ensure that you are able to work with them. Further to this, to get the best advice from your Small Business Mastermind Advisers you must be 100% honest and open with them, even when things are looking dire. If you are not totally honest, then they cannot give you the advice that will help you get out of trouble.

Would you like to learn more on developing your own Small Business Mastermind Adviser Group or how to implement the Thirteen Secret Steps all millionaires know in the path to becoming an obscenely wealth and successful person. Then find out how with a copy of our Think and Grow Rich book by Napoleon Hill and our audio package. Check out our Meditation Music to help you master this important program.

7 Ways To Find New Customers

Writen by Alan Rae

A key issue for people setting up a business is how to build a reputation that will attract customers.

When your reputation is good enough, people will ask you to contact them.

Why is reputation so important? Because as owner-managers, we are all really short of time and we really need to make our prospecting time count. What we need is a steady trickle of enquiries and referrals that will allow us to spend time with good prospects and so maximize our selling time. A good strategy is to drive traffic to our web-site which is set up so as to maximize the amount of exposure we get and convert interest into a live enquiry using effective language that results in an easy to follow call to action.

Reputation is a complex animal. It has something to do with expertise and competence, something to do with likeability and something to do with how many people have been exposed to you, your ideas, your personality, your company's goods and services.

It depends on how many people trust you. Trust is developed by a combination of

• Knowing your subject

• Delivering what you say you will when you say you will

• Being easy to work with

Reputation is based on quality x quantity (leverage). Once you have a reputation you have to roll it out.

The story you have to tell depends on how you think and what your values are, how your team thinks and what their values are and what your customers think and what their values are.

And it's what drives pull marketing. For a small business that's the way to start to build the marketing machinery that will allow you to generate the referrals and warm leads that you need. So we need to become skilled at pull rather than push in our promotion so we can generate the referrals that we need.

Traditional mechanisms of push marketing don't seem to work – mainly because of overuse by companies who don't understand that free doesn't mean free and that people don't like having their time and attention hi-jacked in crude and obvious ways.

So telesales, direct sales, and email marketing are all less effective than they once were.

Today's marketing strategies involve attracting attention, developing interest, getting the customer to contact you and getting their permission to follow up.

Identifying and using permission marketing / pull methodologies are the secret of generating a stream of qualified leads. That's why reputation is so important. But fortunately the most effective way of becoming attractive is to be yourself – be who you are – develop a story and tell it.

So what are the 7 things you should do to attract customers to you.

1) Really understand how search engines work. Find keywords that people are searching for but not many sites have. Work them into your pages.

2) Really understand how people take in information on the internet

• Concise, bullet pointed information is easily taken in and remembered.

• good writing and pictures say quality

• factual information that does what it says on the tin delivers attention in a way that sales puffery does not

• above all don't waste your prospects' time with slow loading graphics, clever videos, poor site navigation and LINKS THAT DON'T WORK ANYMORE

3) Drive traffic to your site by judicious use of Google Ad-Words or Overture. This need not be expensive – and in fact it's cheap market research. As well as telling you which phrases are pulling from your ads, the ones that don't convert still tell you what phrases people are searching for – so that you can work these into signatures and content of blogs (see below).

You can change the text of the offer at will and qualify the prospect by making the offer specific and being clear that you are selling rather than giving things away. Do make sure, however, that you have a strong landing page with a clear and easy to execute call to action – otherwise all the good work will be wasted.

4) Blog! What does this mean – in English? Basically its short for web-log – it means that if you write an article in a place that's picked up by the search engines, you will boost the attention that's given to your site. Good places to go are sites with high rankings themselves. Places like Ecademy or Silicon.Com. If you have good content, ask questions so that other people respond and work your keywords into the text, you will be surprised at the effect that this will have on the placing for you, your company and your products in a relatively short space of time.

5) Give something away free. Write up 10 tips that people who might want to use your service would like to know and have it available as a download on your site. Use the pay per click route to drive people to it

6) Use PR – an under-rated tool by small business. If you identify key journalists in your local or trade press and provide them with well-written, easy to sub-edit copy, the chances are good that they'll use it. If they've written it, then it must be true and if there's a link to your site and the site works – more enquiries.

7) Network – go and meet people – ask for referrals. Give referrals – connect people. Tell them who you would like to meet and ask them who they want to meet. And have literature with you – it doesn't have to be amazing but it does need to be clear, to the point, have an offer and a call to action and a link to your website.

All of these routes should involve a stage where you explicitly ask for permission to contact them with further information from time to time. Because that will form the basis of Part 2 of this article – how to keep your customers. In the meantime if you follow the advice given here – you should greatly boost the number of enquiries you get because all of the suggested approaches will enhance your reputation in one way or another.

7 Proven ways to keep your customers' can also be found under this category or visit http://www.howtodobusiness.com for more information on Alan's workshops, e-books and free factsheets.

Government Bids Top 10 Tips To Blunderproof Your Bid

Writen by Irvine Alpert

Make sure your government bids and government proposals are practical -- and your government paperwork is perfect. You may write the greatest government bids or proposals in the world, but if you fail to present them in a sophisticated, professional manner, you won't get the government contract.

10 Common Pitfalls to Avoid when Submitting Government Bids or Proposals

1. Using complex language in your government bids and government proposals. Keep your proposal simple and easy to follow. Use easy-to-understand language and avoid long-winded sentences and paragraphs.

2. Submitting a bid on government contracts that will place your current government projects at risk. All too often, businesses submit government proposals or bids they can't fully complete. Before applying for a contract, make sure you possess the skills and resources required to finish the project. Otherwise, you'll find yourself scrambling to meet the contract requirements while your other projects suffer.

3. Not accepting credit cards for payment. Many government agencies now prefer to use merchant credit cards and government purchase cards to buy goods and services. If you don't accept plastic, you may miss out on these government contracting opportunities. Many government contractors are also waking up to the benefits of credit card transactions. Instead of having to fill out detailed paperwork and wait for a check, they receive immediate payment.

4. Pricing an item in incorrect units. Many experts say this is the most common mistake made in submitting a bid. A typical example is submitting a bid on gallons when the request was for quarts. It may seem like a simple error, but it could cost you a government contract.

5. Submitting messy government bids. Just as you wouldn't send a coffee-stained business card to a potential client, you should not submit a proposal that is unprofessional in style or appearance. Before you seal the envelope, double-check your document for typos, blank pages, unnumbered or mis-numbered pages, smudges, rips and poor grammar.

6. Having preconceived notions about what specific government agencies need. Don't knock yourself out of consideration by assuming a government agency doesn't need your products. You never know: the City of Seattle may, in fact, be looking for scuba equipment. Contact the government agency before you decide. Businesses are often pleasantly surprised by what agencies will buy.

7. Focusing on frills rather than fundamentals. Instead of putting all your effort into dazzling government buyers with your marketing flair, you should concentrate on making your proposal or bid rejection-proof. Begin by responding to each and every requirement in the government solicitation. This makes it impossible for the agency to reject you for being non-responsive to the solicitation. Next, make sure your proposal offers a clear and well thought-out solution that will solve the problem at hand while calling attention to the direct benefits of your proposal. This makes it impossible for the agency to reject you for being not as qualified as other bidders, and the client cannot reject your bid on the grounds that you will not add value to the contract. Finally, make sure you firmly follow the rules of government bids and government proposals.

8. Not allowing enough time. When it comes to government bids and government proposals, the clock starts working against you from day one. Not only will you need time to check and recheck your documents, but you'll also need time to read any agency-specific rules and regulations and other information that will help you write your submission. Most importantly, you'll want to begin calculating the time and materials you will need to fulfill the government contract. You'll need this information to determine your bid price -- a vital part of the proposal. Finally, make sure you allow enough time for your proposal to reach the agency office before the deadline.

9. Ignoring or underestimating your competitors. A crucial goal of your proposal is to differentiate yourself from your competitors. How much more efficiently will you do the job? Why is your price better than theirs? What benefits will the agency receive if it works with your company instead of your competitor? If you haven't taken time to study and understand your competitors, it's unlikely that you'll beat them to the contract.

10. Inconsistency. Last but not least, it's important to review your bid for consistency before you send it off. Is your work plan in agreement with your budget and schedule? Do your figures add up? Are you consistent with measurements and any other elements that are vital to your proposal?

About Irv: Competing for government contracts can be extremely profitable — if you know how to approach them. After I grew my own business to one of the top AEC market information sources in the country through working with the government, I decided to start a company that helped other businesses be able to do the same. In our years of working with different government agencies, we've learned a thing or two about what works in the government procurement process and what doesn't. My site contains some of the most useful and important tips we've discovered for finding and winning the right government contracting opportunities. If there is a topic we don't cover or a question about doing business with the government we don't answer, send me an email at AskIrv@onvia.com.

Handy Corporate Gift Ideas For This Holiday Season

Writen by Titus Hoskins

The holiday season is a hectic time for companies. For those businesses in the retail trade it can prove to be your busiest time of the year with last minute orders, handling customers, hammering out holiday work schedules and meeting shipping deadlines. Finding the time to celebrate and the time to choose the best corporate gifts for your company can be a major chore.

Compounding the problem are all the social and family obligations your staff and workforce have to attend to at this time of the year. Fitting everything into this busy schedule can be a daunting task even for the most efficient boss or employee. Despite these concerns, most companies throw a staff party or celebration and give their employees small gifts of appreciation for all the hard work done throughout the year.

Most companies and CEOs know good company morale is priceless. They know a steady and happy workforce does make for a more productive and profitable company, no matter what business or industry you're pursuing. Therefore, choosing appropriate gifts for your employees or boss should be given some due consideration.

There are several ways to make the job of selecting the appropriate employee gift or boss gift a whole lot easier. A quick rundown of your options may spark some gift ideas for your own company.

Know Your Workers

First, you must know your workers, know what they like to do in their spare time -- their interests or hobbies. Finding a common activity that all employees part take could make the selection of one common gift that much easier.

Likewise, connecting your corporate gift with a company activity or event would include everyone in the process. Commemorating some recent company achievement or milestone in a gift would make your employees feel appreciated and rewarded. We all need those little pats on the back.

Personalize Your Corporate Gifts

It has been said, the sweetest word in the world is always your own name. So personalize your corporate business gifts with your company logo and the name of the receiver. Personalizing your corporate gifts make them much more memorable and more cherished. These days, almost any material or object can now be personalized with laser engraving.

Company Wish Lists or Registry

Large companies may consider setting up a corporate wish list of items with a good reputable gift company or merchant, then letting the employees choose their own gift from this list. Online gift sites and the Internet make this a very easy and practical venture to carry out.

Gift Certificates

Along those same lines, gift certificates are still a very practical way to handle a large number of employees. It may not be too exciting but gift certificates are still a fair and honest way to reward your workers. Seek out a reputable company and ask for a package deal or bargain on some gift certificates, you may be pleasantly surprised at the response. Business is business.

Corporate Gift Baskets

Another old standard or solution to any business gift giving dilemma is the corporate gift basket. Always appropriate and welcomed, the gift basket is another good choice especially at the last minute for those who always procrastinate.

Corporate Wine Gifts

Similar to the gift basket, a gift of wine is always another good choice. Quality wine products can now be easily ordered and shipped online at many excellent wine shops and businesses.

Go For Something Trendy

If you find the gift ideas mentioned above too predictable or boring, why not choose something a little more trendy. New electronic gadgets are always the rage, try giving the latest iPods, Blackberries or PDAs to your workers; many of these gifts also will serve a practical purpose in your company or organization.

Corporate Gift Organizer

Handling gifts for a large number of employees can be a daunting task. One simple solution is to use an online gift organizer like the one offered by Amazon.com -- you can organize and order all your corporate gifts from one location.

Use The Internet

Keep in mind, many top of the line gift shops and quality merchants now operate online stores and outlets. These stores will personalize your corporate gifts with your logos and details, many will even gift-wrap and ship your gifts free of charge on large volume orders. For this holiday season or for any occasion where you need gifts delivered quickly to your business, remember to shop online first, the solution to all your gift giving woes and worries may only be a click away.

.... For the latest corporate gift ideas and a handy Amazon gift-organizer try here: Corporate Business Gifts For Timely Special Savings/Deals/Coupons on Corporate Gifts...click here: Executive Business Gifts Copyright © 2006 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

The Top Ten Ways To Attract Buyers Not Just Visitors To Your Web Site

Writen by Judy Cullins

Have you put a lot of effort, time, and money into your site and are frustrated with low sales?

If you are like many professionals out there, you know your subject; you are excellent at your craft. You have a great service and maybe a great product to sell.

You may have hired a web master who didn't have a marketing background. You may have written home page copy about your mission and who you are. But when sales fall, you need to look at what's missing in your Web copywriting. You have only 10 seconds to impress your "to be" buyer.

Here's the top 10 ways to attract buyers, not just visitors to your web site:

1. Preplan and know your Web site's purpose.
 
When visiting other Web sites, do you often wonder just what they are about? What are they selling?

Without a clear purpose of what your web site does, your visitors will be confused and leave. First, make a list of everything you want to sell from the most important one to the least.

2. Write dazzling home-page copy.
 
If you don't give your reader a reason to buy or read further, she will disappear fast. For each product or service, write a benefit-driven compelling headline that leads your visitor to more information contained in your sales letter. You may have four different headlines on your home page because you want to sell four top products.
 
3. Use sparkling testimonials from the rich and famous on your home page.
 
On my site, a specific, outstanding testimonial by a fellow professional leads my visitors to my top-selling book "How to Write your eBook or Other Book Fast" sales letter. Make the whole testimonial a link.

4. Sprinkle testimonials throughout your web site.

Use at least five in each Web sales letter, on your coaching pages, free articles pages, and your teleclass pages. Most web sites miss the boat with just one link that says "testimonials."

5. Use a power benefit driven headline with specific benefits.
 
From your coach's web site this headline links to the sales letter for two books, "10 Non-Techie Ways to Market your Book Online," and "How to Market your Business on the Internet." It says "Discover How in Only 4 Months you can Quadruple your Monthly Book or Business Income and Reach 10,000 to 100,000 Internet Users Who Want your Information--GUARANTEED-To Move you to the Top Profits You've Been Dreaming About."
 
6.  Make your layout clear, clean, and consistent.
 
You need to organize each page in the same layout—such as left centered, right centered, or centered. If you mix designs, your would be client or buyer will think you unprofessional. Go to other Web sites and choose a design that resonates with you. Keep every page in the same format.

7. Use color, font changes, and small graphics to spice up your site.
 
When visiting a popular site I couldn't even read it and get the email address because it was so dark. Use red and dark colors sparingly. Use a lot of white space between short paragraphs.  Use graphics occasionally, but make sure they are small enough to load within ten seconds. Visitors are impatient and want information fast. Without easy-to-read and clear navigation, your visitors will leave.
 
8. Check your site often to see if you have any glitches.
 
Visit your site every week with a visitor mind set. What's clear? What's compelling? What turns you off? What do you like? Would you buy from you?

9. Put your content rich information beneath the headlines in short paragraphs.
 
When a visitor sees a long line of print, he gets discouraged because he wants his information fast, clear, and concise. Make each paragraph only 4-6 lines. Online readers want easy-to- read material they can get the main points from by skimming, and they want it faster than light rays.

10.  Be consistent with your headings and body fonts.

Do not use all capital letters in your articles or headings. Make them upper/lower case such as *Sell More Books with a Powerful Back Cover.* Web copy is different from book copy. On the Web, make your headings in Times Roman or other with serif (tails) font. For the copy use Ariel 12 font without serifs because it's larger, and easier to read. This style is just the opposite of how you use fonts in your books.

When your web site thoughtfully helps your audience with a lot of fre.e information and shows them how to make a decision to buy, you can quadruple or more your web sales in just five months.

Judy Cullins, 20-year book and Internet Marketing Coach, Author of 10 eBooks including "Write your eBook Fast," and "How to Market your Business on the Internet," she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says...and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 140 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com

Top Ten Tips For Online Publishing Success

Writen by Judy Cullins

Use the checklist below to make sure your article, tip, or book excerpt will get published and make you a household name on the Internet.

1.  Does the title grab you and include a benefit? Make sure it is clear, but clever and clear is great.

2.  Does the opening grab your attention? How? You need a hook in your short 1-3 sentence introduction. A shocking fact, drama, or question about where your audience is, their challenge.

3.  Avoid starting sentences with "This is, there is, She is/was." Avoid passive construction such as: have, is, was, seems, appears. Replace "Judy is a book coach" with Book coach, Judy Cullins, digs her client's buried treasure (their words) up to make their books saleable gems. Aim for only 2-4% passives. Use strong, action verbs instead.

4.   Punch up those sentences. Instead of "people who are assertive are willing to stand up for themselves," say, "Assertive people stand up for themselves."

5.   Reduce general words. Replace them with specifics that are more compelling to the reader. Instead of "saves you time," use "saves you 10 hours a week, so you can finally take that vacation to that Caribbean island."

6.   Shorten all sentences for Online reading. Did you know that 15-17 words per sentence is standard?  Over that number the sentence is "difficult?"  We write differently for Online because we are busy people who want information fast!

7.   Use the present or past tense instead of "would have" and other passive forms. These verb forms help your article's clarity and give punch to it.

8.   Show, don't tell. Instead of saying this book helps you to a healthy life, say after you read my book, you will have "leap out of bed energy."

9.   Reduce the use of adjectives and adverbs. Avoid all -ly adverbs. Make your nouns and verbs describe. Use the senses of sight, sound, emotions, touch. Instead of "Suddenly, she yelled at Tom," just say," She opened the front door and yelled at Tom."

10. Discuss only one point per article to help you write focused, compelling copy for the rest. Check out your article's thesis. What question does your article answer?

Remember, for opt-in ezine publishers to take your article and spread the good word about you, you need to submit a quality, well-edited article that will wow them.

Judy Cullins, 20-year book and Internet Marketing Coach, Author of 10 eBooks including "Write your eBook Fast," and "How to Market your Business on the Internet," she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says...and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 140 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com

10 Things To Do When Business Slows Down Over The Holidays

Writen by Karyn Greenstreet

I'm sure you've seen it happen every year: your business slows down during predictable times, like the summer vacation months or year-end holidays. For the self-employed who rely upon steady cash flow, this can be a disconcerting time. Should you just take a vacation until things naturally pick up again? Or should you try to find the needle-in-the-haystack business that might be out there during slow times?

This year, vow to be different! Instead of languishing in no-business-never-land, get off your butt and do something to build the foundation of your business so that natural business cycles don't affect you too deeply:

1. Clean your office. Go through all the piles of papers and magazines that have been sitting around and get rid of them once and for all. Remember the office organizing mantra: do it, ditch it or delegate it. File all your papers, dust and vacuum your office. Reorganize your desk and your office so that you can find everything you need in 60 seconds or less.

2. Take a mini-vacation from work. Walk away from your office and enjoy a day or two of renewal and relaxation. Go to a day spa. Take a weekend retreat. Go for a walk in the local park. Breathe.

3. Get ready for tax season. If your business slows down during December, no worries! Use that time to prepare your tax files so that you can whiz through tax season (it's coming sooner than you expect!). Tally business-related mileage for year. Estimate your last tax payment for the current year (many self-employed people make quarterly estimated tax payments; the final payment is usually due on January 15). Send your final invoices for the current year.

4. If the slow time falls around the holidays, use them to your advantage. Get into the holiday spirit with your clients by mailing holiday cards and gifts to them. Make specially-discounted holiday offers to clients/customers. Offer them gift certificates that they can give to their family and friends for your services and products.

5. Do your accounting. Enter all revenue and expenses into your recordkeeping system. Balance your checkbook.

6. Become goal-oriented. Take this down-time to look at your current goals, to see how you're doing so far and to write some new goals for the next 12 months. Create an updated marketing plan and budget. Make sure your budget includes a cash reserve to cover you during slow business times. Even if this business slow time falls mid-year, you can still spend time planning for the next 12-24 months.

7. Go back to school. List the topics you'd like to study, the classes you'd like to take, or the books you'd like to read, to keep you up-to-date with your industry and business skills. Use your quiet business times to read, study and add to your intelligence pool.

8. Get some personal chores done. Slow business times are ideal to schedule your annual dental and eye exams. It's also a great time to clean out the attic, garage or basement. Remember, a strong personal foundation helps to propel your business forward.

9. Go shopping. No, not for personal items (though that's always fun!), but for business items. Have you been putting off buying a new PC? Now's the time to research what's out there and determine your next computer purchase. Is your office chair uncomfortable? Spend some time at office furniture stores "butt-testing" for a quality office chair that will support you properly. Stock up your office supplies. Buy some music CDs to play in your office to inspire you.

10. Spend time with family and friends. When business is busy, it's easy to sequester yourself away to get all that work done. Now that business is slow, come out of your cocoon and visit with family and friends. They've been wondering where you've disappeared to!

As you can see, slow business times can be used productively to prepare you for the next burst of business coming your way. Renew your business, your office, your Self, and create a firm foundation for the busy business days ahead! Always ask yourself, "How can I use these days wisely?"

About The Author

Karyn Greenstreet is a Self Employment expert and small business coach. She shares tips, techniques and strategies with self-employed people to boost clarity and focus, create sustainable motivation, and increase sales and profits. Visit her website at www.PassionForBusiness.com.

7 Strategies For Handling Last Minute Meetings

Writen by Susan Friedmann

Have you ever found yourself having to scramble to organize a meeting at the last minute? Wouldn't it be nice that if and when this daunting situation arose, you were well prepared with all necessary information ready at your fingertips? That's why I've developed the following seven survival strategies to help you plan for the inevitable, because you know as well as I, it's going to happen 'someaday.'

Survival Strategy #1. Question the meeting need.

Before you jump into automatic pilot to start your last minute meeting organization, challenge the request. Since deciding to hold a meeting demands serious consideration because of the costs involved, both direct and indirect, double-check the rationale for holding the meeting. Develop a few pertinent questions to ask and find out if a meeting alternative, such as a teleconference would achieve the same results.

Survival Strategy #2. Know the basics.

If the meeting really needs to happen, make sure that you plan for the basics:

• What is the purpose of the meeting?

• Where should it take place – on or off-site?

• When is it scheduled for – date and time?

• What's the meeting agenda?

• Who needs to be invited?

• What refreshments and snacks are needed?

• What specific materials and equipment is needed?

• What travel and hotel arrangements, if any, are necessary?

• What's the meeting budget?

When it comes to budget, remind your boss that good quality, last minute buying and cheap don't usually correlate. The reality is that last minute pricing may well come at a premium.

Survival Strategy #3. Develop checklists.

Checklists should be every meeting planners guardian angel. They're there to help out in time of trouble and avoid unnecessary panic. With the hundreds of pieces that make up the meeting puzzle, the only way to put them together and keep tabs on all the details is with a checklist. Become a checklist fanatic and consider having a checklist for each checklist. Cover all your bases. The more thorough you are, the greater the probability of success, even at the last minute.

Survival Strategy #4. Create a contact list.

When you need something in a hurry who do you call? These are the people who need to make up your contact list. Consider your facility needs, catering, audio-visual, etc. Compile a list with phone including cell phones, fax and email information. Keep this list updated annually as contacts and their information can change. Also include useful website resources as you find them, but remember to check them out beforehand.

Survival Strategy #5. Build relationships.

Don't wait until you need a favor from someone, rather continually find ways to build a "dream team" or support network. Build a contact base of other meeting professionals, suppliers, vendors and angels you can call on at the last minute to help you out. Take time to discuss their strategies and resources for dealing with last minute meetings, and add this information to your "survival kit." Don't forget to include your fellow co-workers who might be willing and able to help out at a moment's notice.

Survival Strategy #6. Develop contingencies.

Because your plans are last minute, the greater the chance of something not working out the way you'd like it to. So what's your backup? If you don't have one, all your original plans could be destroyed in an instant, and you'll be scrambling even more than before to put a second strategy into operation. Have a Plan B ready "in the wings" just in case you need it. Once again, the more thorough you are, the greater the probability of pulling off this miracle.

Survival Strategy #7. Learn to laugh.

Keeping a sense of humor will definitely help prevent you getting mad, angry and frustrated with those disorganized managers who leave things to the last minute and expect you to perform miracles. Learn to laugh at them and yourself to keep a saner perspective on life. If nothing else, remember that laughing is a great survival technique, which is good for your health and will help reduce stress and blood pressure levels.

About The Author

Written by Susan A. Friedmann,CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, author: "Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies," working with companies to improve their meeting and event success through coaching, consulting and training. Go to http://www.thetradeshowcoach.com to sign up for a free copy of ExhibitSmart Tips of the Week.

Selling Insurance Online How To Bowl A Strike

Writen by Peggy Mace

I started selling life insurance on the internet in January of 2001. Online direct response marketing was a fairly new concept at that time, so gradually I'm becoming a person people go to when they are trying to decide whether to get into this career. Recently, someone went so far as to ask me for ten practical steps to establishing a successful online life insurance business. Ten steps. How does one convey the vision it takes to succeed, in ten steps? How can the steps be practical without becoming drudgery?

I started subbing on a bowling league in January of 2005. Some simple tips offered by my teammates helped me discover the thrill of making strikes. Whether those ten pins scatter like buckshot, or trickle down like dominoes, strikes make you feel great. I found myself excited to repeat the steps that enabled me to bowl strikes. And suddenly, my ten-pin/ten-step analogy was born.

Making life insurance sales online feels at least as exciting as making strikes, and has the added bonus of making you money! Having a goal that rewards you emotionally is what will enable you to follow, with enthusiasm, these ten steps to success. So here are ten pins to get down to experience the thrilling achievement of consistently making "strikes" in the direct response market.

1) Understand the game. Selling life insurance online is not the same as selling in an office. I have heard many traditional life insurance agents say that the hard part used to be getting someone in the door, the easy part was making the sale. The easy part of selling online is getting the client "in the door"; the hard part is making to the end of the process with a check in your pocket.

So what are online leads like? That can depend on how they came to you. If they were using a search engine that led them to a web site where they filled out requests for a quote or application, they are most likely motivated to buy. They are already your customers, and you had best serve them efficiently and expediently, because they will go on to the next web site, if you don't!

Perhaps your leads were prompted to request a quote as the result of reading or hearing an ad. Others are "incentive" leads, which means they've filled out a quote request form as a hoop to jump through in order to get some type of other reward. You may think that kind of lead is not serious, and some aren't. However, most are asked to give enough info that the truly uninterested ones will usually bow out before their form is submitted.

You've got to put yourself in their shoes to understand how to approach them. If you don't answer leads promptly, they may get the feeling the ad or form was insignificant, and blow you off. Some will see the ad or form as a "nudge"; you'll want to assure them that you can easily help them get the coverage they have been putting off. Some incentive leads will hear you out because they know every prize has a price. They may be pleasantly surprised to find that they've received a good insurance price along with their other prize!

It takes some conversation to get to know your leads and to build their trust. But you also have to respect their time, because people use the internet to save time and fuss. Unless they have complicated needs, it's best to start by offering the simplest solutions possible. No matter how your leads came to you, they did ask. So you have every right and every chance in the world to make that sale. And you WILL make strikes with internet leads.

2) Know the rules. You've got to have knowledge of all the products being offered at your fingertips to be successful in online life insurance sales. Leads often aren't willing to wait for answers, so you have to give them as much as you can on the first call. If you need to delay the quote due to needing medical records or having to first obtain a preliminary offer based on their health, it's important to explain that if anyone else is giving them a quote without that step, that quote will most likely be wrong and could end up with a blot on their MIB.

Ordinarily, you will find the best quotes for those with perfect health from about 3-5 competitive carriers (rated at least A by AM Best) that use traditional underwriting. Likewise, the best quotes for those with health problems will come from about 3 impaired risk carriers. You'll want to know which 3 instant issue carriers offer the best rates for those of good health, and about 3 simplified or guaranteed issue carriers for those of poor health. Those choices will more than satisfactorily meet almost every need, and anyone can learn the underwriting guidelines, ratings, etc. of a dozen carriers. This also helps you approach your leads from a point of wisdom, building their trust in you and enabling you to serve them most responsibly.

Along with understanding the underwriting guidelines, you need to get familiar with how each carrier works, i.e. whether they require a preliminary offer, whether the app can be filled out online, etc. You also need to know what health conditions are best met by what carriers. This sounds like a lot, but within 6 months, you'll have it down. Knowing the rules of the game will help you get many more strikes.

3) Have good equipment. Good bowlers know they will get more strikes with the right ball, shoes, etc. It is essential to getting sales to have a well equipped office. An all in one fax machine (fax, copier, and scanner) is great for a small office. A phone headset is a must with today's online apps. It's nice to have an auxiliary color printer, but mainly using a black laser printer will save cost. I don't waste one sheet of paper on a lead that isn't at least somewhat interested. Therefore, a good computer and some way to organize leads is essential. It's to your advantage if your lead provider offers software designed to manage your leads. If not, My Documents, an online calendar, and/or Mail Merge can help. It's important to get a system set up to systematically keep track of your leads, because it takes lots of leads to make lots of money, and otherwise you'll get overwhelmed.

I would have business cards and stationery printed for the apps you send out by mail, and to include with policies. You have very few chances to make an impression, and your mail is one way to make one. Use a phone with Voice Mail. Have a toll free phone and fax number. Be sure you have Adobe Acrobat Professional. Try to have an email address that identifies you with insurance. Have a web site, if possible. Good equipment is not only practical, but identifies you as professional, and that is a big part of consistently making strikes.

4) Invest in the game. You have to go bowling to get strikes, and you have to work leads to make sales. That means setting aside the time and/or money to work at least several leads per day. It will take at least 2 months before commissions start coming in, and about 6 months until you start getting some good stats. But at that point, you need to start keeping close track of how much time/money you are spending and earning, per lead. You will continually increase your profits if you commit to increase your lead volume as you are able, increase your average premiums and application placement rates (this will come with experience), and control your expenses.

Most good agents hire assistants after a while, because they see that they can make much more by SELLING more. Assistants free you up to sell. You can get to the point where you don't want to do anything but sell in this business, because your time so literally, is money. However, you've got to be able to follow up on the leads your have, keep track of your commissions, fix your computer, pay your bills, and all that other stuff that goes with your own business. So keep your finger on that other stuff, but have someone else do as much as possible, and aim for those strikes.

5) Start off on the right foot. Bowlers disagree as to whether to approach the lane on the left or right foot, and online agents disagree whether to first contact your lead by email or phone! But if an introductory email is sent to your leads as soon as they are assigned to you, there is no doubt that a phone call is the best action to take after that. Your leads are expecting a call, and you become a person to them so much faster by phone than email. You can ask the questions that enable you to give a valid quote, and ideally, you will make the sale on that very first phone call, app and all.

If a lead won't answer the phone within 24 hours, I go ahead and send an email, telling them I tried to call and would like to visit with them to find out their wishes and give them an accurate quote. If there is no response to that email or subsequent phone call attempts, I'll send them a second email with a guess at a quote, based on what info they gave. That is usually the email that will draw out leads who will only respond by email; they generally won't respond to later emails if they don't respond to that one.

Calling can go on longer, because you might just keep missing people, and eventually catch them at home. However, you'll want to make a rule of thumb as to how many messages you'll leave, because after that they might see your efforts to contact them as harassment. Getting a hold of your leads by phone within minutes of receiving their contact information is ideal, and the very best approach to getting strikes.

6) Come from a good angle. You get a strike by aiming at the strike pocket. Internet leads have many motivations that can form that pocket. Some are:

a) looking for a competitive price on life insurance
b) looking for a price they can afford
c) being unable to find life insurance anywhere else
d) having some life event that caused them to think about life insurance
e) wanting life insurance but not liking to meet with an agent
f) wanting life insurance but not wanting any hassle (e.g. exam)
g) wondering if what they have is their best deal (most do this with Term, while ignoring their UL which could be their biggest albatross)
h) hoping their request will convince their spouse/parent/etc to apply
i) curiosity

How do you find that pocket? You will lose them in the first seconds if you don't approach them from the right angle. I ask for the person by first name, introduce myself by my full name, and say that I am responding to their request for a quote for life insurance from our web site. That intro, done in a friendly, conversational tone, almost always opens the door to a response, and that is the first goal, just to get them to respond.

If their response is, "I don't recall filling that out", I usually ask if maybe their pouse did it for them, and give them a little info about themselves so they know that someone that knew them had to fill out the form (but not their health condition). Any response is good! Any response can lead to a sale. And if their response is no, you can thank them and go on to the next ones who truly want your service and products. You have nothing to apologize for in answering their requests with the best there is to offer!

Once they respond, pick up your cues from them in chatting for a little while. If they don't start chatting, I say something like, "I needed a little more information from you in order to find the best quote". And I start out with something very basic. E.g. if they've checked diabetes, I'll say, "I see you marked that you have diabetes. How old were you when you got that?" I'll stay on that, being professional but also trying to convey empathy with my tone of voice, until we've covered that (or until they give a sign that they don't want to talk about it any more… you can always go back to it). If no health conditions are checked, I'll usually start out asking how much insurance they would like me to quote, then go on to risk factors. Be sensitive, respectful, yet direct in guiding them to the details you need to know in order to quote them correctly. We do no one a favor by avoiding delicate questions if the application is later declined (or worse, payment of the death benefit is contested) due to our reticence to ask what the carrier wants to know.

In that conversation, you find out their strike pocket, and appeal to that. Hopefully, you can either convince them to wait until you get a preliminary quote back to them, or fill out an app right there on line. You might even sell a policy to a family member.

At the end of the call, I always tell them I'll send them an email with all my contact info, even if I've just made the sale.

7) Follow through. Once you've obtained the application, you need to submit it and follow the carriers' guidelines to issue (your brokerage could be a big help in this). However, you also need to guide your clients through, so you don't lose them in the process. I send emails to my clients with applications in underwriting about weekly, just to let them know how things are going. The minute you find out about requirements, use that as an excuse to touch base and let your clients know you are still on top of things (or as an excuse to find out what's going on with them). Following through will ensure that the strike is made!

8) 9) 10) Don't give up strikes for taps. The 8, 9, and 10 balls are the most common "taps" in bowling. A tap is a pin that stays standing even when you hit the strike pocket. Likewise, up to 3 out of every 10 leads you get may not respond affirmatively to you, if at all. You can try to pick them up, but don't give up strikes to do it. You knock down those first 7 pins to successful direct response life insurance selling, and the strikes will fly!

http://www.insuranceresponse.com/

Private Practice Success 10 Essentials For Starting A Practice

Writen by Juliet Austin

As a counselor, therapist or healing professional (massage therapist, physiotherapist, alternative health practitioner, etc.) it is quite likely that you did not chose your profession because you wanted to be a business person. As a result, it can be challenging to go into business for yourself and be successful. Taking time to prepare and plan as you build your private practice will help you avoid costly and time-consuming mistakes. Below are ten areas to address to help ensure your success.

1. Get Your Life in Excellent Shape

Counselors, therapists and healing professionals know that our personal lives affect our professional lives, yet many who are struggling to market a private practice fail to take this into account. Look at all aspects of your life and determine what seems to be working for you and what needs to change. Determine any activities you need to reduce or eliminate in order to have the time and energy to market your practice. Examine your lifestyle and personal work habits and see where improvement needs to be made. The more your life is on order, the more time and energy you will have for marketing and building a practice.

2. Develop a Financial Plan

Before you start your private practice, assess your financial situation and make a financial plan. Make sure you have funds from other sources until your practice becomes established. Do not put your self in a position where you are desperate to secure clients in order to pay your bills. Potential clients may sense your desperation and may not be eager to hire you. Feeling secure financially will allow you to market and build your practice with greater confidence and ease.

3. Know that You Are a Business Owner

It is essential that you start seeing yourself as a business owner if you haven't made this mind-shift already. You must pay careful attention to all aspects of your business--your revenue and expenses, how you spend your time, methods of attracting clients, and developing operating systems that allow your business to run smoothly.

4. Develop a Vision for Your Practice

It's difficult to get somewhere if you don't know where you are going. Develop a detailed vision of what you want your priavte practice to look like in 6 months, 1 year and 5 years and write it down. How many clients do you want to have? What days and hours do you want to work? How much income do you need/want? The more clarity and specificity you have, the more likely you will turn your vision into reality.

5. Develop at Least One Specialization

Helping and healing professionals new to private practice often fear that if they are too narrow in the type of services they offer, they will rule out many other potential clients. The opposite is actually more often true as people tend to want to hire specialists. The more targeted you are in marketing your practice, the more you will stand out from others and become known for your expertise. In addition, it's easier to market your practice to a particular group if you know where to find them.

6. Determine Any Negative Attitudes and Fears You Have About Marketing

Many counselors, therapists, and healing professionals are uncomfortable with the marketing aspect of being in private practice. They see their role as to be there for others and not to promote themselves. Our repeated exposure to negative and manipulative types of marketing further contributes to the belief that marketing ourselves is somehow inappropriate. Any negative attitudes and fears you have about marketing a practice need to be eliminated. You can and should find ways to market with integrity and authenticity. Be proud of your services and have confidence that you have something to offer people that they need and want.

7. Develop a Marketing Plan

In order to market your private practice successfully you must have an integrated marketing plan. One of the most common mistakes helping and healing professionals make is trying a few methods of marketing your practice haphazardly, and when the results are not immediate, they erroneously assume the techniques don't work. Flourishing private practices are frequently built upon a number of marketing strategies that work together over time. To market effectively you must make yourself repeatedly visible to potential clients and referral sources so that they get to know and trust you.

8. Choose Marketing Methods That Excite You

Take some time to explore and develop marketing methods that suit your unique talents and interests. There are numerous ways to promote your practice. To get ideas, read books, take courses, ask other professionals how they built their practices, or hire a marketing consultant or coach. Marketing can be an enjoyable and creative process that provides a balance to the work you do with your clients. Find a way to take pleasure in this aspect of your business and you will be more motivated to do it.

9. Make a Commitment To Build Your Practice

Typically it can take anywhere from 1-3+ years to build a full practice. Exactly how long will depend on several factors including the size of your current network, how effectively you market, the demand for your area of expertise, and how much time you spend developing your practice. Make a commitment to take action steps on a regular basis. It's best if you set aside a specific amount of time on a weekly basis for marketing your practice, and try to stick to this schedule even when you become discouraged or become tempted to allow other things to take priority.

10. Get Support

Because you will be primarily working alone, you may feel isolated and discouraged at times. It's important to have people and resources you can access for support. Most successful people have consistently had other people helping them. Whether you get expert guidance from a professional business coach or consultant, or get help from your colleagues and friends, getting support, guidance and feedback on your ideas and goals is essential. The more support you get, the greater your chances of success with your private practice.

Many professionals who are having difficulty building their private practices tell me the reason they can't get clients is either because there is too much competition or because of tight economic times. While it may be true that competition for clients has increased and that financial resources are limited for many people, there will always be those professionals in your particular field who do have a full practice.

Competition is not going to go away and you have you don't have control over the economy. You need to find a way to develop and sustain a private practice in spite of these apparent obstacles. If you act on the above ten guidelines on a consistent basis, you should have a thriving practice within a few years. Be persistent, believe in yourself, learn from your mistakes, and most importantly, get out there and market your practice.

© Juliet Austin

Bio of Author

Juliet assists helping and healing professionals (coaches, therapists, counselors, massage therapists, chiropractors, etc.) who are struggling to build their practices. She helps her clients overcome resistances to marketing, learn no or low-cost marketing strategies, create compelling promotional materials, and write effective website copy.

A graduate of both Coach U, The Institute for Life Coach Training and member of The School of Coaching, Juliet has been a practicing coach for almost 7 years. Juliet is also the Director of the Canadian Office of The Institute for Life Coach Training, a training program for therapists wanting to become coaches. She is former member of the founding board of the Vancouver Chapter of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and a current member of the ICF and Coachville.

Juliet can be reached through her website at: http://www.julietaustin.com or through her marketing blog at http://www.marketingaprivatepractice.com

7 Proven Ways To Keep Your Customers

Writen by Alan Rae

Having successfully gained some customers – how do we keep them?

This is a crucial question - companies lose half their customers in 5 years (according to the Harvard Business Review) and it costs 7-10x as much to get a new customer as to keep an old one.

The Cranfield Benchmarking study tells us that the average UK company just keeps pace with the fall-off. So we really need to pay attention to retaining those valuable customers. So apart from giving them that really good service that will build your reputation, deliver you referrals and make a friend for life – what else should you be doing?

Well the fancy name for it is customer relationship management (CRM) but for most of us this is going to mean having a customer database and a communication strategy that is going to keep reminding them of who we are and what we do. The first thing you must do is to have permission to contact them but that's easily achieved.

Then you must recognise the stages that companies go through in their relationship with us. Basically there are 3 phases.

Acquisition of customer - This is essentially sales activity that moves the customer into forming a business relationship with us. This is likely to use various marketing channels as suggested in the related article '7 ways to find new customers'.

Consolidation of Customer – Here we make sure that the initial delivery or implementation goes smoothly and that the customers appreciate the excellent performance of the organisation. We may need to identify some key after sales points and make sure that we draw the customer's attention to these. This is generally part of the transaction but additional selling opportunities can be built into the interactions.

Developing the relationship - This means systematically developing a process to give the customer more buying opportunities. These could be additional services, loyalty programs or chances to cross sell and up sell. If yours is a product that involves an ongoing maintenance programme, then try and ensure that the information in your sales and service systems inter-relate. This can help you

a) Allow your service people to act as sales people and feed back to the company about expected sales

b) Feed back to the sales force if there are problems that need attending

c) Get the sales force to look good by calling out the cavalry

Many of us miss a trick here because we are too busy looking for new business and delivering the business that we've got to plan our on going communication. We also don't look at our customer base in the way that more sophisticated database orientated marketers do.

So let me share a few of their secrets with you.

1. They will know who their top customers are. This could be the top 50 if it's a specialised business to business company or it could be tens of thousands if they are a retailer. More than that they will know what business or consumer segments they represent. Small businesses often don't organise their accounts to follow the profit profiles of their product or customer types – but it's an exercise that we should all undertake. The more sophisticated will identify the key characteristics of their top customers and actively go looking for more of them.

2. They will work out what the lifetime value of a customer is. This means multiplying what their top customers spend by a number of years (usually between 2 and 5) that depends on the type of business.

3. Then they might rank their customers by multiplying together size of spend, recency of purchase and frequency of purpose. This will identify different categories of customers who will need to be communicated with in different ways and maybe with different stories. For instance a company selling marketing services would emphasize different issues to a business services start-up than to a 50 employee food manufacturer.

So having analysed their customer base they will come up with a different set of relevant pieces of information, offers and education experiences that can be communicated to their customers to tie them in and get them to come back.

So here are 7 things that a small business can practically do.

1. Offer an e-zine that can be emailed every couple of months or so. It doesn't have to be long – 500 words are enough but it should contain information that will be useful to your customers. No-one objects to you making concrete business offers but they need to be relevant to the target group and embedded in some content that genuinely adds value.

2. If you can build some kind of maintenance or support contract that is paid for monthly or quarterly with an automatic renewal on direct debit – this is the best way of ensuring an ongoing relationship with the customer.

3. For key accounts make sure they are telephoned regularly. And don't always leave it to the salesperson – do it yourself – just say that you are keen to make sure they get the best service possible and that as the owner you are doing a bit of informal market research. As long as you mean it – it will work wonders.

4. Run workshops and seminars on relevant topics. If you can add enough value you can charge for them. You might be bringing them up to date, providing a guest speaker or just helping them to work through some issues.

5. Don't forget to use your website as a key resource for keeping customers up to date – if you can regularly refresh the content with fact sheets, Frequently Asked Question Sheets or other valuable content, it will give them a reason to get back in contact with you.

6. Involve your customers in surveys from time to time. Email surveys are very easy and inexpensive to organise using services like Zoomerang.com which allows you to invite your customers to feedback to you. Again it should be part of a structured communication strategy and not used too frequently - but used intelligently it can be a powerful tool

7. Source other complementary products that can be sold via your website or by telephone that enhance the value of your whole product. Most companies don't do this. A recent survey from Pannell Kerr Foster showed that 3 times as many companies try to find new customers for their existing products as new products for their existing customer. Even though the costs of getting new customers are so much higher. So look around for other things that are useful and offer them. The customer will appreciate it and keep coming back.

Responsiveness to clients is one of today's key differentiators but most companies are not very good at it. The opportunities for companies who can come up with simple robust solutions that are useful to their customers are very good. Just make sure that you use the database to keep track of what you've done. And don't over do it.

Good luck.

Dr. Alan Rae is Managing Partner of How To Do Business which focuses on helping small businesses grow. If you want to do some further work on these issues you should consider our Sharpen you Pitch Sales and Marketing course for the owner manager. Find out more at http://www.howtodobusiness.com

10 Surefire Measures To Become The Bosss Favorite

Writen by Paul W Wilson

Any office has two kinds of people, a group that works hard but is never noticed and the other who immediately spring to mind. The second kind are the ones who are noticed and at the forefront of all activities. Career success means more than working hard, being qualified, meeting crazy deadlines, and being diligent. To be truly successful you need recognition from the boss.

In order to be remembered and noticed by the boss you will need to:

1. Be friendly and pleasant. Have a nice thing to say to everyone, ooze good manners, and have a ready smile and caring attitude. Don't be brash and ride rough shod over others or be judgmental.

2. Refrain from gossip. It is the one thing that can make life uncomfortable. Know what's happening in the office but stay away from discussing it or spreading things however tempting it may be.

3. Update your skills and knowledge constantly. The world today moves at a fast pace and one needs to keep up with technical innovations as well as global business trends. Make all efforts to be ahead of developments in your field of work.

4. Be efficient in your work and have facts and figures at the tips of your fingers. Always prepare for meetings well be a visionary and make suggestions that can be backed up by action. When you speak it must be "pearls of wisdom."

5. Practice the art of listening. Analyze what others know and can tell you. Absorb knowledge like a sponge. Never restrict yourself to only your department. It pays to know other functions of the organization.

6. Be a leader in all aspects. Be the first to accept extra responsibilities, to take over someone else's load when they have problems, lend a hand when a team is working to achieve a deadline. Make valuable suggestions. Let people know they can depend on you for just about anything.

7. Respect and obey the rules of the office. Be disciplined and spread the culture to all others.

8. Always be in control, never appear to be stressed. Keep personal life and work separate—never form a relationship with a colleague or boss. Dress well everyday and stand tall.

9. Be methodical and organized in your work. Use filing methods that anyone can use—if you are away anyone in your department should be able to locate the papers. Keep your work area neat, computer files uncluttered. Device a workable backup schedule such that under no circumstance is your work lost. Disaster management measures must be in place. 10. Be poised, stylish, and approachable. Look good and smell good—excellent personal habits are always appreciated. Carry breath mints in your pocket along with a fresh hanky. Keep a laundered shirt on hand for emergencies.

It takes more than talent to impress a boss. Be ahead in the race for success.

Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for http://www.1888Onlinecolleges.com/ , the premier website to find top ranking colleges online directory including topics on public colleges, private colleges, online college, college course online, information on college costs, financial aid, degrees awarded, enrollments and more. He also freelances for the premier Cheap Shopping Deals site http://www.1866Shopping.com

Top 10 Ways Websites Makes Me Suffer

Writen by Jason OConnor

I believe some people create and publish websites for the sole purpose of tormenting their visitors. Browsing various websites and navigating the Web can often be like trying to read on an airplane while a kid kicks the back of your seat and the baby next to you alternates between screaming, crying and drooling on you. There are some excellent websites out there to be sure, but there are also a lot of dreadful ones too. The latter are the bane of so many people's existence, especially those who use the Web regularly.

The Net continues to grow in popularity and importance for consumers and businesses alike. Therefore, the quality of sites needs to keep pace. Creating and maintaining high-quality websites is more important now than ever. Higher quality equals more revenue.

The following lists the top ten ways that a website misses the boat and contributes to hair loss and nervous breakdowns. Notice the common thread that runs throughout each of these. Namely, a bad website neglects to consider the site visitor's experience in some fundamental ways.

1. Animation

Seven year-olds like watching animated cartoons on Saturday morning, business people, professionals and most other adults don't. Sites that include showy Flash animations as an 'Intro', animated gifs on every page, or flying words are really annoying. They take away from the content and distract the visitor from achieving their goals. Unless your site is an entertainment site, try to avoid maddening motion. However, if your product or service can be better demonstrated using Flash, Quick Time, or other multimedia, which is common, offer your visitors the chance to click a link to view it. But don't force them.

2. Too much scrolling

Once I scroll down a full screen's worth, my eyes start to blur, I feel slightly lost, my head spins and my interest wanes. Computer monitors really aren't the best medium for reading. The Net and many sites are so big that it's important to always provide a clear frame of reference for your visitors at all times while they're on your site. If a page requires two full screens of scrolling or more, simply split it up into multiple pages.

3. Long, text-heavy and blocky paragraphs of unbroken text

I really have to be into a topic or desperately need to glean the information to trudge through big chunks of unbroken text online. If I'm just shopping around for a product or service, you've lost me if I have to endure this kind of torture. Again, it is harder to read text on the Web than in other mediums such as books. Additionally, Web users are notoriously impatient, so make your content easy to read and non-intimidating. Use titles, sub-titles, small paragraphs, bullets and numbering.

4. No obvious ways to contact the company

If all you supply is an email on your website, your legitimacy may be questioned. Why can't you answer the phone? Why hide behind an anonymous and cold email address? Make it easy for your existing and potential customers to talk with you.

5. Unchanging or out-date content

If I start reading content on a site and soon discover that the content was written three years ago, I split. Since there's so much information out there, my reasoning is there's got to be comparable information online that's more current. If you keep your content fresh your site will attract repeat visitors. And repeat visitors are more likely to turn into customers.

6. Long page downloads

It's amazing that this is still a problem. When I click on to a site and have to sit there waiting for it to appear in my browser, I start sweating, picking my teeth, tapping my toes, rolling my eyes and soon want to throw my computer through my office window. I'm obviously a little impatient, but again, I know there are other sites out there with the same information that will download more quickly, so why wait? I'm gone.

7. "Me, me, me!" instead of "You, you, you"

Generally speaking, no one cares about you, your company or your thoughts. What they do care about is what you can do for them. So sites that show pictures of the company building or tout their deep philosophy on the way business should be conducted really don't bode well for keeping the interest of site visitors. On the other hand, sites that speak directly to potential customers about how they can solve their problems, make their lives easier, safer, richer or more comfortable have a much better chance of keeping the eyeballs glued.

8. Non-explanatory buttons or links

Here are some examples of buttons that leave me dazed and confused: A wedding site with a button called 'Blanks', a boating site with a button named 'The Lighthouse', a book site with a button called 'The Inside Story', or a Web design site with a button called 'Tea Time'. They sound like Jeopardy categories. Imagine trying to find your way on a highway where its various signs read 'Over Here', 'Moon Beams', and 'Lollypops'. Good luck navigating your way through. It's the same with navigating websites. Button and link names need to tell the visitor where the link leads to. Make it as easy as possible for a visitor to know where they're going before they click. However, there are times when naming a link an ambiguous name may pique the curiosity of a user and get them to click on it. But as a general rule, keep your links and buttons as descriptive as possible.

9. Inconsistent navigation

Imagine sitting down at a restaurant and the waiter comes over to you and hands you five different menus, one for the appetizers, one for the soups and salads, one for the entrees, one for the desserts, and one for the drinks. Annoying. Now imagine if each menu had a different format, layout and method for listing the items. Brutal. I really don't want to work that hard at picking out my dinner, I'm hungry and I just want a meal. Don't make your visitors work hard either by expecting them to re-learn your navigation system each time they enter another section of your site. They too are hungry; for useful information and they're even more impatient.

10. Inconsistent look & feel

When the look & feel completely changes from one page to another in a website, I think I am visiting another site, another company, a partner or subsidiary. I get very confused. This screams poor planning and often results from tacking on new sections later after the original site was built. This can lead to design-drift. It may be tempting to stray from the original design; you may have a better design now. But wait till you do a complete next-generation re-design of the entire site before introducing a new look & feel. If not, lots of visitors will be scratching their heads with one hand and possibly clicking away with the other.

Finally, any site that employs a number of these notorious features is particularly painful to experience. When I click to a website that has five different fonts and colors, scrolls down to the core of the Earth, incorporates zinging words and big fat blocks of text, lists no phone number and has content written and dated in 1996, I scream and know deep down inside that pulling my fingernails out wouldn't be as torturous as having to remain there a minute longer.

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Jason OConnor is President of Oak Web Works
The synthesis of Web marketing, design, and technology
Jason is an expert Web development expert, e-strategist,
and e-marketer http://www.oakwebworks.com jason@oakwebworks.com
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Copyright: 2004
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Critical Elements Of A Successful Business

Writen by Megan Tough

10 CRITICAL ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS

The rules that a successful business operate by today are very different from the rules of 20 to 30 years ago. The widespread use of technology has dramatically cut response times and elevated customer expectations of service. Competitive advantage is the catch cry, but most business owners struggle to articulate what their point of difference is. The statistics are well known: a staggering 40% of all new businesses fail within the first 12 months. Within 5 years, more than 80% will have failed. And yet, people are flocking to start up new businesses in ever increasing numbers.

What is it then, that sets apart the successful businesses from the unsuccessful ones? Here are my top ten tips for creating and maintaining a successful business. As you read, think to yourself – how does my business stack up?

1. Successful businesses have repeatable, scalable systems

The processes in the business are clear, usually documented and followed religiously by all. This ensures the customer gets the same experience, every time they deal with the company.

2. They don't depend on one person

If all the knowledge and skill resides in one person's hands or head, then the business is in serious trouble when that person wants to take a holiday, has to go to hospital, breaks an arm or leg etc.

3. Successful businesses can articulate what makes them different from others in their field

Businesses that can do this run the risk of competing on price alone, a war that nobody wins (except the customer)

4. They always add value to the customer's experience

The customer perceives that value has been added either through service, product features, distribution etc. The customer's perception is what's important – find out what's of value to them

5. Use strategies that recognize and reward their employees

Reward and incentive programs should be based on performance, not just years of service or other demographic criteria. Employees are human; they respond to recognition - both financial and non-financial

6. Most successful businesses have a powerful vision

They dream and think big, then they share it with their employees to create a uniting purpose

7. Planning – short term, long term, medium term

There's no escaping it – working out where you want to go and planning to get there, will set you apart from the great majority of businesses that don't perform this activity well. Doing a plan at business start-up stage and never looking at it again doesn't really count as planning either. Plans should be reviewed at least twice per year, and done properly, can be your most powerful business tool

8. Product innovation – re-create or die

The world moves on, people's needs change, and so must your products or services. If you don't offer it, no doubt your competitors will. Take time out to develop one or two new offers – road test them with your customers.

9. Surround themselves with the right support

Successful business owners know what their skills are. They also know exactly what skills they don't have (and probably will never have). They employ or rent the expertise they don't have – after all, it's impossible to be an expert at everything

10. Have an exit strategy

Most people don't plan to be in their business until they reach the end of their lives, but most people fail to plan how they will exit their business. Successful business owners know this before they start, and this drives the actions and decisions they make during the life of their business.

Complete potential is here to help you make more of your business. More profits, more income, more of what you want. Remove obstacles to growth and create new opportunities. To get more practical business strategies and tips, sign up to our ezine - Profits for Professionals - at http://www.completepotential.com

Your Leadership Shopping List

Writen by Holly Powers

'Tis the season to give. And finding the right gift to give the people on your team can be challenging. Oprah Winfrey once said, "It doesn't matter what the thing is; what matters is how much of yourself goes into the giving, so that when the gift is gone, the spirit of you lingers." This is especially true for leaders. When you give of yourself you build character and credibility both for you and your organization.

Below are ways you can give this Christmas that won't put a dent in your budget.

1. Acknowledge people everyday. A colleague of mine, Wayne Sellers, greets everyone with a handshake each morning. That few minutes he spends encouraging his staff is much more beneficial than one more cup of coffee or answering the emails waiting in his inbox. Too many people to make that work? Divide up by departments and appoint someone to be the morning greeter for each group.

2. Recognize important dates. Birthdays and company anniversaries matter. Add dates to your outlook calendar or palm pilot then set a reminder. Everyone likes to be recognized on their special day. And they will be impressed that you remembered.

3. Include people in decisions that affect their department. Listen to their concerns. Be open to their input. If it directly affects their department and you don't have their buy in, the decision will most likely be ineffective anyway. Even if it is a mandatory policy, let their voice be heard. Sometimes just venting their feelings is enough to get people on board.

4. Acknowledge their work. Be specific about the things they do well. A simple pat on the back or hand written note can be powerful at building an employee's professional esteem.

5. Leave your door open. This radiates an open door policy. When people believe they can come to you with any problems, issues or concerns, you open the door to know exactly what is going on in your organization.

6. Give people creative freedom. A team full of people who problem solve and brainstorm only your ideas will create a stagnate organization. Let them think 'out of the box' and watch your organization grow.

7. Be human. Admit when you make a mistake. Laugh at their jokes. Share stories about your family. People need a leader they can relate to.

You may be thinking a few of these 'gifts' are obvious. Perhaps you already give several of the 'gifts' on the list year. Or maybe you found a few new ones for your shopping list. At the core of all of these gifts is you. Whether it is the eleven gifts on this list or any of 100 others, give yourself this holiday season – and make it a habit the whole year through.

Holly Powers (Holly@KevinEikenberry.com) is passionate about working with Clients in her role as the Client Development Princess for The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://www.KevinEikenberry.com). She is also the editor of Unleash Your Potential. Go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/subscribe.asp to subscribe.

How To Use Bartering To Gain An Advantage Over Your Competition

Writen by Julia Tang

If you have a business on the Internet you should be bartering goods and services with other businesses. You should always try to trade for something before you buy it. Barter deals usually require no money. Although sometimes you may need money to offset the value of the goods or services being traded.

Bartering will give you many advantages over your competition. It can save your business money. You can spend the extra money on a buying paid Internet advertising. It allows you to offer your products and services at a lower price than your competition. You can afford to get the higher priced goods and services to compete on the internet.

There are numerous ways to find barter deals online. Set up a barter message board or chat room on your web site to get more barter offers. Note on your web site or e-zine you are willing to barter for goods and services. Join newsgroups or e-mail discussion groups that are about bartering. Join an online barter club to meet other businesses that barter. Find web sites that barter by looking up the keywords barter, trade, or swap in your search engine of choice.

There are a few things you should do before bartering. Compile a list of your goods and services you are willing to barter. Make a list of goods and services you need or want for your online business. Know the approximate cash value of the things you are trying to trade and the value of the things you are seeking in return. All of this information can help you negotiate a successful barter deal.

When proposing a barter offer, tell the person the benefits of the barter deal. Explain to them why it would be a win/win situation. Give their business many compliments in your proposal. Prove to them why it would be a fair trade. This type of proposal can increase your chances off them saying "Yes, I will barter.

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Julia Tang publishes "Smart Online Business Tips", a fresh
and informative newsletter dedicated to supporting people
like you. To find out the best online business opportunities,
to discover hundreds more proven and practical internet
marketing secrets, plus FREE internet marketing products
worth over $200, visit: http://www.best-internet-businesses.com
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