|
Mar10
Snake Oil Anyone?There’s an old adage that says, “if you stick around long enough - things will change.” Well, I have and they did! If you’ve been around as long as I have, then you can remember when you told people who asked that you were in “Direct Sales” - they pegged you about two steps above a snake oil salesman. I’m happy to tell you that has all changed, and to buy and sell in the comfort of a home setting is at the heart of direct sales today. Mar02
Prepare Crisis ControlA personal crisis doesn’t have to spell disaster for your business if you’re prepared. Every business occasionally endures a crisis, but what happens when your dilemma isn’t falling profits but personal. Because we have no idea what type of personal crisis may await us - an ugly divorce, debilitating disease, or ailing parent/child/spouse, we must be prepared. Just as you plan for advertising and promotions, you must plan for life’s surprises. Feb22
Irresistible Query Letters1. Test Your Idea: To lead to a sale, your query must convince the editor that you have a clear idea of what you plan to cover in the article, and what approach you ‘re going to take. So before writing the letter, think your article idea through carefully, and picture yourself describing the article to a friend. 2. Find Your Angle: Finding your angle is often a matter of narrowing your topic. A topic like “Sports” is far too general, narrow it to say, “Table Tennis” is better. Often, reducing the story to a single dimension e.g., focus on a key person, place, or event - gives a salable angle. Feb14
The “Wright Way” To Solve ProblemsWhen Wilbur and Orville Wright finished the first successful manned flight on Dec. 17, 1903, they amazed and astonished the world. They also demonstrated the power of their problem solving method. They not only solved a problem that others had found too complex and technical, but they did it without any help from outsiders. These brothers had little formal training or education, but they had amazing brainpower. Few accomplishments can match what these two former bicycle mechanics did with that flying machine. The key principles of problem-solving used by the Wright brothers are still relevant for business owners today. There are only eight of them, and here they are: Jan29
Body LanguageWhen you are at an interview, you may not be aware of this but your interviewer is observing your body language, very carefully. Your body language says a lot about yourself, so you need to control negative body movements and encourage positive body movements and habits. Humans naturally send and receive nonverbal communication; they have been doing so since the beginning of time. When your girlfriend folds her arms but has a smile on her face, are you not wondering what she upset is about or clammed up for. At an interview, you never want your body language to contradict your words, this makes you appear like a liar. The first impression, or the first few minutes of your interview are the most lasting. Jan21
Marketing Your Own ProductsOne of the main problems within the “inner circle” of the mail order business is that everyone is selling everyone else’s products. Pages crammed full with commission dealerships is turning a good thing out of hand. It’s been said over and over again, but newcomers to the industry should realize that they need to develop their own products and services. Commission dealerships are fine to compliment your business if the product is relative to your main product, but everyone should strive for developing their OWN product too. No one will ever get rich dealing in just commission dealer-ships. And people who think this way will give up over a period of time because they go broke. Let’s stop this madness and spread the word about becoming a Prime Source. Jan13
Markets & The Dynamics of CompetitionToday marketing is not the same as it was in the ’60s or ’70s, because there are enough products to satisfy customer’s needs. In fact customers are “hyper-satisfied”! Companies have segmented the market until it has become almost too small to service profitably. Distribution is now largely in the hands of giant corporations such as Wal-Mart and Costco. There are more brands and fewer producers, products “life” have been shortened, and it’s cheaper to replace than to repair - all complicating the process further. Jan05
Only 10 Years to Get to the Start Gate!It seems hard to believe that it was in 1994 when we saw the first banner ad online that captured and monopolized our eyeballs. By the late 1990’s, dot-coms flush with venture capital cash, operated with a “money is no object” attitude and the hype knew no end. When the dot-com crash hit, it seemed that online advertising was a lost cause. Ad blockers killed the banner ads, and spam killed the e-mail campaigns. Users tuned out, and it seemed that marketers had killed the golden goose. But a funny thing has happened between then and now. Not only has online advertising and marketing endured, but it has emerged as an absolutely crucial part of today’s marketing mix. Dec28
The Secrets Of Free AdvertisingThe opportunities for getting free advertising for your product or services are limited only by your own imagination and energies. There are so many proven ways of promoting your objectives without cost that it literally boggles the mind just to think of listing them. One way is to write an article relative to your particular expertise and submit it to all the publications and media dealing in the dissemination of related information. In other words, become your own publicity and sales promotions writer. Get the word out; establish yourself as an expert in your field, and “tag-along” everything you write with a quick note listing your address for a catalog, dealership opportunity, or more information. Dec20
Most Profitable Internet ProductThe easiest way to make money online is by selling a product that can be delivered electronically. There are no shipping or fulfillment costs eating away at your revenue. Electronic products are easy to produce and it is not necessary to get anything published. Another great reason for selling products electronically is that delivery is instant and free. Selling products online is completely automated or hands free. So what type of products can you sell electronically. Selling software online is excellent because new software is always necessary. Programmers at local colleges come cheap, if you have the funds. If you do not have extra funds, cut them a profit for the first two years. You will still earn more than your expenses. Dec12
An Automated Ordering SystemWhen you have an online company, it only makes sense to use all the online resources available. The payments you accept should be credit card and paypal, if you choose. Are you going to accept international orders. If you are going to receive orders daily, which is the goal, you will want to use an online shopping cart that automatically accepts the credit card, approves it and delivers the autoresponder emails and in the end, the product itself. What exactly is an online shopping cart. It is a lot like a regular shopping cart, where you can add or remove items as you please. Dec04
Technology Bites Man AgainIf entrepreneurs didn’t know by now that Technology was taking over the business world, now it’s encroaching on the gambling casinos. We can’t even escape it on our trips to Las Vegas. RADIO-FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION is headed for Vegas. Casino chips embedded with RFID tags and are being tested at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and will be displayed this month at the new $2.7 billion Wynn Las Vegas hotel and casino. The chips will each be given a unique player code to track behavior and possibly get more revenue out of high rollers. It’s estimated that this could be a $100 million business by the year 2010. Nov26
I Need Your Help, Please!I’ve been writing to you for some time now. I’ve tried to give you the benefit of my entrepreneurial counseling, and have touched on many topics. We’ve had articles on customer service, positioning yourself in your niche, marketing, advertising, giving your customer what they want, and even some tips for you about the Internet. I hope you found them helpful and interesting. The time has now come for me to find out what MY readercustomers want, or rather what you as my reader wants. I may not be a well of unlimited information, although I think I come close, but I AM FREE! What better deal could you get? Nov18
Business Dress - WomenLike it or not, the first impression people get from you is your appearance. When engaged in an interview or you are already hired, you always want to look best. Clean cut, professional looking people get treated like a professional. How you dress sends specific signals to people. Let’s start from head to toe for women. First of all, never wear too much jewelry or makeup. One item of jewelry is enough. A small ring on one finger, or small earrings is plenty. No big loops ladies. Makeup should be conservative, just plain powder or concealer and barely any eye makeup. No lipstick is appropriate at an interview. Nov10
Guaranteed To Increase Sales!As a Publishing entrepreneur and by doing publicity for my clients, I’ve spent years studying the art of selling. The techniques that follow aren’t difficult to learn, but they require discipline and practice. Your most important skill as a business owner is your salesmanship. Having the best product or service means nothing if you can’t get anyone to buy it, so to ensure the success of your business you must develop the ability to generate revenue - “salesman-ship”. Here is a brief outline of 13 techniques I’ve developed for increasing sales: Nov02
Reduce Costs -Anchor More SalesI bet that got your attention! It’s something that every business owner knows, but it seems to get lost in the shuffle of our day-to-day doing business. I’m not going to give you a lot of rhetoric on the subject. Instead I’m going to simply give you a list of 10 points on each that will jog your business memory. Let’s start with some savvy ways to reduce the cost of you doing business: 1. Barter - You should be bartering goods or services with other businesses. Try to trade for something before you buy it. Oct25
Success Secrets Still ValidAuthor Michael Jeffreys personally interviewed 15 top motivational gurus in 1997 for his then upcoming book. After talking to gurus from Brian Tracy to Dr. Wayne Dyer, he distilled 8 Secrets to Success they all agreed upon. These secrets are still good today and are as follows: 1. Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life - In a society where people blame everything from their parents to the government for failure, those who don’t buy into this mentality or succumb to the “victim” thinking succeed. To blame something or somebody outside yourself is saying they have control of your life and not you. Someone else’s opinion of you doesn’t have to become your reality. Oct17
Wisdom of the Ages for ManagersHow are your managerial skills? Does there seem to be a gap like the Grand Canyon between you and your employees? Let’s see how we can change that. If you gathered 100 experienced managers together and asked for their advice, it would probably sound like the roar of Niagara Falls until you got them talking in an orderly way. But there’s one thing for sure - they wouldn’t be saying much about “temporal rhythms,” or “competing values models.” Instead, this is probably what you’d hear. Oct09
How to Build your Opt-In ListSome companies decide to send customers a free newsletter to get an email list. But there are other ways to collect email addresses. Sometimes having a newsletter just doesn’t make any sense for your company. For instance, if you happen to sell dishwashers, how much information could you send your customer, daily, on dishwashers. So, instead here are a few other options for increasing your email list. You could run a contest. The puzzle, game or task should be easy and straightforward so that you don’t frustrate the customer and you still get their email address in the end. Oct01
Where Did I Put That List?Working a job, or owning a business, and handling your personal life, leaves you very busy, both personally and professionally, but here are a few tips to help you. Anytime can be a great time to get a jump on your competition, and exerting a little effort can differentiate you. Now is a great time to take advantage of planning early, getting organized, and taking the stress out of the season. Lists serve you well during this time, so follow these tips: Sep23
“Info-Loading” Can IncreaseYour Ad’s Pulling Power There are many schools of thought on how to write a successful direct-response ad, letter or brochure. Some say you need to be subtle, some say be harsh, some say be round-about, some say be direct. There is one technique, though, that is coming to the forefront as one of the most successful to employ. Info-Loading is the style of overloading an advertisement with information about your product or service. The theory is, you give the customer more information than they’d ever want on your product/service, and they’ll feel more confident about you and what you offer. Also, the customer that actually reads through it all is the one who’s interested enough to buy what you offer. The good news is, it works! Sep15
Cheap Web Site TrafficEvery online company knows that without traffic to their site, they go broke, quickly. There are many ways to get cheap web site traffic. One way is pay per click advertising, where you pay per click through to your site, but you do not know if the customer is going to purchase your product, so you do lose some money with that. Another way is to request links from other relevant, high traffic sites. Links to other well established sites is like personal recommendations, where you establish credibility fast, which increases the chances that they will buy your product. You must be persistent enough with some sites, though. You want to download the alexa toolbar, which gives you information about a website, such as traffic rating, ranking, contact info, site stats, related links, etc. Sep08
So You Want Your Own Business!There are many reasons for wanting to start your own business, and most of us get to this point. Which one of the following applies to you? * Freedom from daily routine. Aug31
Dispelling 8 Misconceptions of OrganizationSome people were born organized and then there are those of us who struggle with organizing every year at this time. It seems that it’s always at the end of the year when that little annoying bug begins nudging you to clear things up and start the new year organized. Well, I’ve read just about everybody’s directions, books, and helpful hints about getting organized (in fact, I’m thinking of writing one myself), and I’ve got to tell you there are some misconceptions being fostered by every organizational guru. It will be my pleasure to give you the “skinny” on that in today’s column. Aug23
Tips for Achieving Your GoalsDo you have long-term projects with short-term expectations? If you do, that is a sure path to frustration and failure. Lifestyle goals such as exercise and healthy diet have to become habits in order to be effective. Career change also takes time and planning, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Your world has shifted. There’s voice mail, e-mail, pagers, and faxes that have made a “waiting” period unacceptable and almost obsolete. With information immediately available, we expect relationships and goal achievement to be done the same. As you read this you know that it is unreasonable to expect that, don’t you? We’ve been led by advertisers to believe that we deserve immediate gratification, and that it is readily and effortlessly available! Aug15
Safe Way to Start Your Own BusinessHopefully, you took my advice last week and you have a handy-dandy list now of what you want to do. We know you want to start your own business; hopefully you now know what it will be. Being used to a steady paycheck from a regular job, with a family or other financial obligations, makes stepping out of your comfort zone a little risky. It doesn’t seem to matter how miserable you are in that job, the alternative scares the pants off many of us. There is a safer way of jumping off that cliff and it entails your current boss. Aug07
Some Facts About Women in BusinessSince mentoring many small business hopefuls I’ve come to realize a very disturbing fact. Many very bright and hopeful female entrepreneurs have crossed my office threshold with the mistaken idea that just being a woman gives them an advantage over their male counterparts. Sadly, this is not as true as we’ve been led to believe. Certainly the female population of today is much better off than their mother’s or grandmothers, but obtaining financial support/loans isn’t viewed by bankers any differently than it is for male entrepreneurs. Jul30
Figuratively SpeakingI’m tired of reading those boring business articles, and I’m thinking that you might be too. So, as you read on, relax and put down the pad and pencil, and enjoy a few chuckles with me. Some interesting trivia compiled by Clark Consulting has to do with that business giant, Donald Trump: * Percentage of professionals surveyed who say it’d take more than the prize of $250,000 for them to intern for Trump was 38% How well do you perform as a boss? Jul22
Is Franchising Your Bag?Are you wondering what the hottest franchising trends are? Much of the recent success in that area is traceable to two demographic trends: Americans are getting older and feeling pressed for time. Doesn’t sound too bright, but it means booming business in franchising circles. Now I am by no means a Franchise Guru. I’ve never owned one, worked for one, or even considered one and for good reasons. Jul14
Tried For A Bank Business Loan, Lately?If you’ve tried to get a loan from the bank for your business lately, you know it’s no slam-dunk. The promos for SBA loans and loans for minority or women owned businesses sounds great, but when you get nose-to-nose with a banker it’s another story. Some of the reasons that make it seem so difficult are that many lending officers feel that they’re lending you their money instead of the bank’s. They take almost personal responsibility for maximizing repayment. Another is that they are particularly suspect of new ventures. Since 4 out of 5 or 80% fail within the first three years, many lenders require a three-year history of doing business. Jul06
Email PromotionsOpt-in email marketing works with any business model, you can make money following some key rules. When you have someone’s email address, they are practically inviting you to come sell them something. They want to hear from you, hear the updated news; they want to receive your information. This means lifetime valuable relationships with customers who are interested in what you have to say. You can see the results of the email you have just sent out within hours, which means no wasted advertising dollars, you know what works and what doesn’t, simple as that. Opt-in email marketing is not only effective and instantaneous, but free. Jun28
An Online NewsletterWhen you start an online newsletter you have the opportunity to collect opt-in email addresses to build your subscription base and establish creditability with your subscribers so that they may want to purchase products from you, a trusting source. The best part about an online newsletter is that it is free to start up. With an online newsletter you can offer your subscribers juicy daily or weekly information and they will love it. It will slowly build up their curiosity and they may purchase a monthly membership or products from you because they love receiving the information you supply. Now, if you send them junk, the complete opposite will occur, so having an online newsletter takes work, but you can always pay someone to do it for you. So, with all this work put into it should you consider charging for subscription. That depends on what you want to accomplish. Do you want to attract visitors and entice them to your main product. Or are you only offering an online newsletter with no products. How often do you send out autoresponders and how in depth and valuable is your newsletter. Is this information easily found free somewhere else on the Internet. Jun20
Gas Prices Got Your Bottom Line?If you’re a small business or entrepreneur you can bet your bottom dollar that the high gas prices are affecting you. It probably will be your “bottom dollar” too! Regardless of what the politicians are telling us, and regardless whether you deliver your products to the client or not the price of fuel is affecting you. It’s affecting your business because it’s affecting the consumer - your consumers. In a recent survey done by the National Retail Federation they state, “Whether gas prices pose a fiscal or psychological concern consumers are affected regardless of income.” « Previous
|
|||||||
Loading ...