When you make the decision to earn income from the internet you will need to go through a set up process to be ready for business.
Following are the basic steps in setting up for home business success.
1. Attitude
The key to your business success is your attitude.
Treat your business like a business.
This is critical whether you are working part-time or full-time. One of my colleagues is a mother who works from home around her family. She has always put her family first whilst at the same time developing her business. She says, "I work part-time, but I have a full-time attitude."
Put another way, "If you have a hobby attitude you will have a hobby income, if you have a business attitude you will have a business income."
You can be successful working part-time and you can be successful working full-time but it is highly unlikely that you will be successful working in your "spare time".
2. Working Environment
A space that you can call your own, free from distractions for your scheduled time.
A comfortable chair and organized desk.
Stationery supplies as required. For example:
- pens
- highlighters
- stapler
- hole punch
- sticky tape
- note book(s)
- a simple filing system
- ring binders
- manilla folders
Consider the value of a broadband connection. Your time is valuable and a broadband connection can allow you to get more done in a given time frame.
3. Schedule
Develop a schedule that works for you, your family (or "significant others") and your business. When you allot a block of time for work then use that time for work. Equally important is to schedule time for your other commitments - family time, self education ( reading, listening and viewing), "health time" (exercise, cooking and eating), and leisure time. During these other times don't work. After all if one of the reasons to work from home is to spend more time with your family then you don't want your working at home time to consume your family time.
You are working for yourself and your schedule (by your choice) is your "boss". When you have people calling you or dropping around unexpectedly or maybe out-of-town visitors may want to catch up with you then you need to make a choice. Are you committed to your own business success? What will be your choice in these situations? Only you can decide what is important to you.
In a family environment you may need to negotiate with your partner and children to have your business time agreed upon, during which you will not be interrupted. Put this schedule prominently somewhere so all family members are aware of your work schedule.
4. Describe Your Business
Be able to describe your business concisely; a powerful one or two sentence description that someone can repeat in describing your business to others. A unique and memorable tag line can also be invaluable for promoting your business.
5. Know Your Product or Service
Once you have selected your product or service to sell, it may or may not be something that you use yourself but you need to know your product intimately. If you are selling ebooks then know the content and its value. If you are selling software then use it know it "inside out". You will develop a reputation of providing quality information and because of your product knowledge you can become the preferred supplier.
It is not practical to use certain products (for example a woman may choose to sell man's shoes or vice versa) in which case the seller won't be a product user, however the seller can still know the benefits and features of the product intimately.
6. Administration
Use good record keeping practices.
This may involve a consultation with a tax advisor who can let you know about the optimal way to set up your financial records and what records need to be kept. Your advisor will also recommend record keeping systems and you can find out what software may simplify this aspect of your business. Additionally your obtain advice on the best arrangement for your bank accounts. You will most likely be advised to have a separate bank account.
You will also need to keep track of your various logins, usernames and passwords. A very handy little software tool for this is Treepad available as either the free Lite version (without password protection) or the commercial Plus or Biz versions. http://www.treepad.com
There are other useful tools for this also from a simple paper notebook to free and commercial password keepers. One popular solution is Roboform that will remember your login details and can automatically fill out your login and other registration forms. http://www.roboform.com
7. Computer Protection
Your computer is the lifeline to your business dealings and must be protected including the data that is stored.
You need a virus scanner, personal firewall, anti-spyware and anti-adware and preferably an email scanner with the ability to delete suspect of spam email from the server before it is downloaded to your computer.
Some suggestions are:
AVG Anti-Virus: http://www.grisoft.com
Spybot S&D: http://www.safer-networking.org
Microsoft Anti-Spyware:
www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
Adaware: http://www.lavasoft.com/
Mailwasher Email Scanner: http://www.mailwasher.net
8. A Domain Name
You will most likely need a domain name for your business and one cost effective registrar is GoDaddy, http://www.godaddy.com.
9. Payment Processing
You will need a way to process credit cards; that may be using services such as:
- PayPal https://www.paypal.com
- Storm Pay http://www.stormpay.com
- 2 Checkout http://www.2checkout.com
- Clickbank http://www.clickbank.com or others.
This is the most economical way to get started. Once your business picks up you may need to look into your own merchant account for credit card transactions.
Consideration may also be given to other forms of online currency such as eGold http://www.egold.com
10. Email accounts
Once you have your own domain you can use an associated email account. This can further assist in the promotion of your business and promotes a more professional business image.
As a final comment on continuing in your internet business, conduct your business ethically, provide extraordinary service and be proud to put your name to the products or services that you are selling and you will be on track to developing a sustainable long term internet business.
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Importance Of Technology Changes In Business Computing
The importance of keeping up with changes in business computing and technology can be more important over time as your business grows. As and an IT professional far too often I have seen many small businesses get way too far behind in computing technology and wonder why they should pay for the upgrades. Usually I have to explain to them the hard way that the current computers system that are over 4 years old are not going to perform the requested task very well and are not supported by software. Usually do to combination of software changes and incompatibility with older software and hardware platforms that cause issues. I explain that it actually will cost them more money in the long run to try and maintain there existing computer equipment then buy a new replacement.
Most small businesses fail to recognize that keep computer equipment very long periods actually can cost them more money to maintain those systems then the price of a replacement. One cost is the amount if money you pay out for replacement parts when there is no warranty on the old device. If the computer, server or printer is made by a specific manufacture then there is a good chance that you will have to go back to them for certain parts which can be very costly. Another problem is that they actually don’t make replacement parts for broke unit, this is a worse case issue I have seen although sometimes you might find a vendor that makes similar parts and hopefully it fits properly and works properly but not always.
Another disadvantage is if your business is operating on older slower computer equipment that takes a long process customer request and this might open the door for your competition to take your clients away from you but offering better service. If your competition is reinvesting in there business computing and technology changes then most likely they will have the ability to complete products and request faster and at a cheaper rate. The advance technology will cost you money upfront but if the proper equipment is purchased and utilized in office it can add to your over all business.
Some of benefits can include lower power requirements for the devices, more storage capacity for computer files, improved CPU along with memory speeding up processes run on the computer, faster and higher quality documents from new printers. Less down time and less delays in completion of customer request. These are just a few of the benefits of keeping up with technology in your business.
I know that some of you are say that this is easier said then done and in some cases that is very true depending on your current business. But as a small business or home office you should plan for these events after all that is what large companies do and you should follow the same lead. Your business should have at least a basic IT business computing plan that has budget plan and cycling out of computer and office equipment. By having budget and plan in place it should not impact your business finance as much since you set planed ahead. The IT business computer plan should have some flexibility after all you don’t want to do a complete equipment change in the middle of a big job or shutdown your business at the wrong time. And if your business in booming and you don’t have them time then hiring a temp IT professional to help with computing change which might not be a bad idea.
Investing in the proper technology is the key to success it does not matter if you have established small business, home office or if you’re a new startup business. Remember that your business most likely will change over time along with the clients you are serving so your computing equipment should also.
In conclusion business computing when done right can truly add to your business by adding to productivity and efficiency of the day to day operations and can help you take on more clients and over all help you build your business.
Most small businesses fail to recognize that keep computer equipment very long periods actually can cost them more money to maintain those systems then the price of a replacement. One cost is the amount if money you pay out for replacement parts when there is no warranty on the old device. If the computer, server or printer is made by a specific manufacture then there is a good chance that you will have to go back to them for certain parts which can be very costly. Another problem is that they actually don’t make replacement parts for broke unit, this is a worse case issue I have seen although sometimes you might find a vendor that makes similar parts and hopefully it fits properly and works properly but not always.
Another disadvantage is if your business is operating on older slower computer equipment that takes a long process customer request and this might open the door for your competition to take your clients away from you but offering better service. If your competition is reinvesting in there business computing and technology changes then most likely they will have the ability to complete products and request faster and at a cheaper rate. The advance technology will cost you money upfront but if the proper equipment is purchased and utilized in office it can add to your over all business.
Some of benefits can include lower power requirements for the devices, more storage capacity for computer files, improved CPU along with memory speeding up processes run on the computer, faster and higher quality documents from new printers. Less down time and less delays in completion of customer request. These are just a few of the benefits of keeping up with technology in your business.
I know that some of you are say that this is easier said then done and in some cases that is very true depending on your current business. But as a small business or home office you should plan for these events after all that is what large companies do and you should follow the same lead. Your business should have at least a basic IT business computing plan that has budget plan and cycling out of computer and office equipment. By having budget and plan in place it should not impact your business finance as much since you set planed ahead. The IT business computer plan should have some flexibility after all you don’t want to do a complete equipment change in the middle of a big job or shutdown your business at the wrong time. And if your business in booming and you don’t have them time then hiring a temp IT professional to help with computing change which might not be a bad idea.
Investing in the proper technology is the key to success it does not matter if you have established small business, home office or if you’re a new startup business. Remember that your business most likely will change over time along with the clients you are serving so your computing equipment should also.
In conclusion business computing when done right can truly add to your business by adding to productivity and efficiency of the day to day operations and can help you take on more clients and over all help you build your business.
Cold Calling Really Sucks
There are many oh so many different ways to market a product or a service. Among these varied techniques, there are many good ways to generate sales and customers. But as many are the good methods, marketing also has its fair share of turkeys. Cold calling is one of the techniques in marketing that is subject to scrutiny in many ways. Marketers and other organizations are beginning to doubt the efficacy of cold calling.
Cold calling is also called blind calling. The marketer in this case calls up or contacts a ‘random’ person who might, if the marketer is lucky, want the product or service want to buy into what the marketer is offering. Cold calling is pretty much like blind guessing who your next customer will be. The caller then does his pitch talk to this person even if he or she has not been referred to by anyone.
This method of marketing has also been used by honest marketers and has also resulted in good customer relationships. However, cold calling has fallen out of fashion due to the fact that it has been well abused by many an unscrupulous marketer.
Advantages? It allows you to tap into a potentially unsaturated market. It allows you to create a new network of referrals, especially if yours is running dry. But do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
1. Irritates the investor
Cold calling has gained the ire of many a customer. This is because many of the cold callers usually conduct their business at nighttime. This is very inconvenient to potential clients because they generally want this time to be private. And dragging a person out of bed in their pajamas to talk about business is as irritating as it gets.
Many marketing firms employ boiler rooms to conduct cold calling. Boiler rooms are a team of cold callers whose specialty is spewing out very persuasive scripts on why you should buy into their product. Unfortunately, these callers tend to be abusive, and pugnacious. Many of the clients they get only took up their offer because they were coerced into doing so. Their motto is: as long as the person is on the line, there is still a chance to badger him or her. This is not the kind of marketing that gains mutual trust and respect.
2. Unfocused Marketing
Cold calling marketing is unfocused marketing. If you cannot focus your energies on better prospects, you might find yourself using up resources on people who are not really interested in your product. It would be better to use mailing lists or profiling to know which customers would most likely avail of your offers.
Cold calling sometimes relies on pure luck or stubbornness to get their clients. Unscientific. Unreliable.
3. The law
Believe it or not the law has made steps to safeguard clients from the wrath of cold callers. Law dictates that cold callers only call during working hours. They are no longer allowed to call from 8:00 P.M. onwards. Clients can now submit complaints to the authorities if your cold callers become abusive or disrespectful. For a business to be successful, you would like to avoid tangles with the law such as this.
Unfortunately there have been many reported scams in regards to cold calling marketers. As said in the first reason. These callers are usually annoying and abusive. The people you call may take offense at this and report your company to the authorities.
4. Loss of Trust
Since cold calling already has a bad reputation, affiliating with this kind of service could have a negative effect on the image of your business. If you want your business to be reputable, you will have to use reputable methods to gain the confidence of your customers. Remember that you are not merely wishing to siphon money off of them, you are also trying to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with them.
The Verdict
Cold calling can still be a good way to broaden your client network. However, the intrinsic dangers that it displays may not be very appealing to many companies. Before even considering cold calling as an option, take a look at the other marketing strategies that are in existence.
Cold calling is also called blind calling. The marketer in this case calls up or contacts a ‘random’ person who might, if the marketer is lucky, want the product or service want to buy into what the marketer is offering. Cold calling is pretty much like blind guessing who your next customer will be. The caller then does his pitch talk to this person even if he or she has not been referred to by anyone.
This method of marketing has also been used by honest marketers and has also resulted in good customer relationships. However, cold calling has fallen out of fashion due to the fact that it has been well abused by many an unscrupulous marketer.
Advantages? It allows you to tap into a potentially unsaturated market. It allows you to create a new network of referrals, especially if yours is running dry. But do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
1. Irritates the investor
Cold calling has gained the ire of many a customer. This is because many of the cold callers usually conduct their business at nighttime. This is very inconvenient to potential clients because they generally want this time to be private. And dragging a person out of bed in their pajamas to talk about business is as irritating as it gets.
Many marketing firms employ boiler rooms to conduct cold calling. Boiler rooms are a team of cold callers whose specialty is spewing out very persuasive scripts on why you should buy into their product. Unfortunately, these callers tend to be abusive, and pugnacious. Many of the clients they get only took up their offer because they were coerced into doing so. Their motto is: as long as the person is on the line, there is still a chance to badger him or her. This is not the kind of marketing that gains mutual trust and respect.
2. Unfocused Marketing
Cold calling marketing is unfocused marketing. If you cannot focus your energies on better prospects, you might find yourself using up resources on people who are not really interested in your product. It would be better to use mailing lists or profiling to know which customers would most likely avail of your offers.
Cold calling sometimes relies on pure luck or stubbornness to get their clients. Unscientific. Unreliable.
3. The law
Believe it or not the law has made steps to safeguard clients from the wrath of cold callers. Law dictates that cold callers only call during working hours. They are no longer allowed to call from 8:00 P.M. onwards. Clients can now submit complaints to the authorities if your cold callers become abusive or disrespectful. For a business to be successful, you would like to avoid tangles with the law such as this.
Unfortunately there have been many reported scams in regards to cold calling marketers. As said in the first reason. These callers are usually annoying and abusive. The people you call may take offense at this and report your company to the authorities.
4. Loss of Trust
Since cold calling already has a bad reputation, affiliating with this kind of service could have a negative effect on the image of your business. If you want your business to be reputable, you will have to use reputable methods to gain the confidence of your customers. Remember that you are not merely wishing to siphon money off of them, you are also trying to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with them.
The Verdict
Cold calling can still be a good way to broaden your client network. However, the intrinsic dangers that it displays may not be very appealing to many companies. Before even considering cold calling as an option, take a look at the other marketing strategies that are in existence.
Achieve Your Business Results Through Executive Coaching That Yields a 500% Plus ROI
What if you could have a 500% plus return for very dollar that you invested in your employees? What would that mean for your business? Possibly right now you are thinking that this is not possible and even if it was, any business owner would jump at the chance for such an incredible investment?
First, it is true. So begin looking for that jump rope. According to a recent report by MetrixGlobal for a Fortune 500 company, executive coaching provided a 529% return on investment. This report is supported by other research including Dell Computers. Half of the 761 senior managers at Dell Computer Corporation recently received executive coaching within a two-year time period. Dell has been actively monitoring these managers through pre-determined measurements. One of these criterion indicates that executives who received coaching tended to be promoted more often than those who were not coached.
So, if you are now convinced that coaching is a viable strategy to enhance your bottom line, then what do you need to do as a business owner to implement a coaching program?
First, research any coach or coaching organization that you are considering. Ask for specific references where measurable results were put in place prior to the coaching. The coaching should be results focused with clearly identifiable measurements. Also, coaching certification should not be a limiting factor as many certified coaches fail to earn even mid five figures. The determining factor should be about the results that the coach has delivered with his or her clients.
Second, look for a coaching program that works with your company and can be quickly and affordable aligned to your company's culture. This curriculum should also be easily adapted to other training and development group sessions as well as to the different roles within the organization including Executive Leadership, Management, Supervision and Leadership.
Third, coaching is a personal relationship between the coach and the client. Your employees must feel comfortable with the coach. Some preliminary communication should take place with your employees before the implementation of a coaching program.
Fourth, the coaching curriculum should be structured, proven and provide numerous opportunities for application and feedback.
Fifth, everyone in the organization needs to support and reinforce the coaching program. Management above those in the coaching program must understand and be in agreement with the program.
To be truly effective, an excellent coaching approach extends beyond the professional life into the personal life. For it is within each individual personally where the performance excellence evolves.
Coaching is a proven way to dramatically enhance your bottom line provided you incorporate at least these five strategies. By taking such action, you can achieve your goals quicker and leave your competition in the dust. That is unless of course they decide to enact a coaching initiative before you do. So what are you waiting for?
First, it is true. So begin looking for that jump rope. According to a recent report by MetrixGlobal for a Fortune 500 company, executive coaching provided a 529% return on investment. This report is supported by other research including Dell Computers. Half of the 761 senior managers at Dell Computer Corporation recently received executive coaching within a two-year time period. Dell has been actively monitoring these managers through pre-determined measurements. One of these criterion indicates that executives who received coaching tended to be promoted more often than those who were not coached.
So, if you are now convinced that coaching is a viable strategy to enhance your bottom line, then what do you need to do as a business owner to implement a coaching program?
First, research any coach or coaching organization that you are considering. Ask for specific references where measurable results were put in place prior to the coaching. The coaching should be results focused with clearly identifiable measurements. Also, coaching certification should not be a limiting factor as many certified coaches fail to earn even mid five figures. The determining factor should be about the results that the coach has delivered with his or her clients.
Second, look for a coaching program that works with your company and can be quickly and affordable aligned to your company's culture. This curriculum should also be easily adapted to other training and development group sessions as well as to the different roles within the organization including Executive Leadership, Management, Supervision and Leadership.
Third, coaching is a personal relationship between the coach and the client. Your employees must feel comfortable with the coach. Some preliminary communication should take place with your employees before the implementation of a coaching program.
Fourth, the coaching curriculum should be structured, proven and provide numerous opportunities for application and feedback.
Fifth, everyone in the organization needs to support and reinforce the coaching program. Management above those in the coaching program must understand and be in agreement with the program.
To be truly effective, an excellent coaching approach extends beyond the professional life into the personal life. For it is within each individual personally where the performance excellence evolves.
Coaching is a proven way to dramatically enhance your bottom line provided you incorporate at least these five strategies. By taking such action, you can achieve your goals quicker and leave your competition in the dust. That is unless of course they decide to enact a coaching initiative before you do. So what are you waiting for?
Friday, March 05, 2010
How to Combat Work At Home Loneliness
Always dreamed of having your own work at home business, right? No boss. No commute. Your own hours. Sounds great. However, one rude awakening most new work at home business owners is the work at home loneliness that is a natural occurrence for most work at home careers. That lack of interpersonal interaction can take its toll on you, and you could even become irritable, lethargic, or sad for no reason.
Feeling work at home loneliness is not uncommon, and there are ways to prevent or emerge from it. It could be the result of doing work in which you have little interpersonal contact, or it can happen due to not having any co-workers for intellectual stimulation. No matter the cause, it is important for your own well-being that you find ways to combat work at home loneliness.
You can force yourself to make outside contacts. It is easy when you are feeling isolated to become more introverted. Get out of the routine. Get in touch with others who share the same interests through simple social groups. If you have kids, you could get together with other parents of children their age. You could join a group that focuses on your favorite hobby, or do some community service. Getting out of the house and meeting people is a great way to combat work at home loneliness.
However, if getting out of your house is not an option for you due to your health or transportation issues, there are still great social opportunities available to you so that you can combat work at home loneliness. There are a number of great websites out there that allow you to interact with people who share your interests and hobbies. You can even take classes online that allow you to learn new things while interacting with other students.
Another way to get over work at home loneliness involves creating business contacts. You can join business organizations such as your local Chamber of Commerce or networking groups to meet people who may be interested in your products or services. There are even networking websites that do the same. By joining networking groups and business organizations you are not only gaining social interaction, but you are also building your business.
Remember, work at home loneliness is normal. Many people fear it, as they think they are being melodramatic or that they are not being successful in their business. Yet by getting together with some people on a regular basis, you allow yourself to fill a social need that we all have. Taking some time out to interact with others will enhance your well-being, combat work at home loneliness, and make you better at your job.
Feeling work at home loneliness is not uncommon, and there are ways to prevent or emerge from it. It could be the result of doing work in which you have little interpersonal contact, or it can happen due to not having any co-workers for intellectual stimulation. No matter the cause, it is important for your own well-being that you find ways to combat work at home loneliness.
You can force yourself to make outside contacts. It is easy when you are feeling isolated to become more introverted. Get out of the routine. Get in touch with others who share the same interests through simple social groups. If you have kids, you could get together with other parents of children their age. You could join a group that focuses on your favorite hobby, or do some community service. Getting out of the house and meeting people is a great way to combat work at home loneliness.
However, if getting out of your house is not an option for you due to your health or transportation issues, there are still great social opportunities available to you so that you can combat work at home loneliness. There are a number of great websites out there that allow you to interact with people who share your interests and hobbies. You can even take classes online that allow you to learn new things while interacting with other students.
Another way to get over work at home loneliness involves creating business contacts. You can join business organizations such as your local Chamber of Commerce or networking groups to meet people who may be interested in your products or services. There are even networking websites that do the same. By joining networking groups and business organizations you are not only gaining social interaction, but you are also building your business.
Remember, work at home loneliness is normal. Many people fear it, as they think they are being melodramatic or that they are not being successful in their business. Yet by getting together with some people on a regular basis, you allow yourself to fill a social need that we all have. Taking some time out to interact with others will enhance your well-being, combat work at home loneliness, and make you better at your job.
Give the Gift of Gas
Gasoline prices are at and all-time high, and this fact has created an outstanding opportunity for motivating employees and thanking customers, by presenting them with official Gas Rebate Coupons.
What are Gas Rebate Coupons? They are the perfect solution to letting your employees and customers save money at the gas pump. Available in either $40 or $100 value-pack denominations, these gas rebate coupons are worth real cash when filled out and sent in for processing. It's almost like giving your employees or customers a discount every time they buy gas.
Here's how gas rebate coupons work:
Whether you choose the $40 rebate pack, or the $100 one, the process is the same. Your employee or customer buys at least $10.01 worth of gas from any gas station that they choose. Then, they send the gas rebate coupons in to the processing company along with the gasoline receipt. They receive a check back for $10. Sweet! And it's that easy. The $40 pack has four $10 gasoline rebate incentive coupons, and the $100 pack has ten.
But don't think that you have to pay $40 or $100 to give these motivating incentives out!
That's not the case at all. In fact, these gas rebate incentive coupons are sold for pennies on the dollar. The companies that provide them realize that consumers often buy additional items like oil, cigarettes, soft drinks, food, beer, and other products while they are at the gas station, and that's where the real profit is. It's their hope that these gas rebate coupons will stimulate people to buy gas and then come inside to spend more money.
That's why you can get these employee incentive coupons and customer thank you gifts for so little money. But there IS one catch...
You've been waiting for the catch, haven't you? Here it is:
Just like anything else, there are people who run scams when it comes to employee incentive and customer thank you gift programs like the gas rebate coupons, so you have to be careful. Make sure that you purchase from an authorized reseller who has REAL contact information on their web site. Never buy incentive program coupons from a company that doesn't list a real address and telephone number. A site with no contact information should be a serious red flag.
Gas rebate coupons are part of the Travel Incentive industry where organizations can buy incentive coupons for travel, hotels, gas rebate coupons, etc., to motivate their employees, increase sales response from new customers, and thank existing customers for their continued loyalty.
Incentive coupons are inexpensive and they are proven to work. Try a test campaign and watch your employee productivity or sales explode.
What are Gas Rebate Coupons? They are the perfect solution to letting your employees and customers save money at the gas pump. Available in either $40 or $100 value-pack denominations, these gas rebate coupons are worth real cash when filled out and sent in for processing. It's almost like giving your employees or customers a discount every time they buy gas.
Here's how gas rebate coupons work:
Whether you choose the $40 rebate pack, or the $100 one, the process is the same. Your employee or customer buys at least $10.01 worth of gas from any gas station that they choose. Then, they send the gas rebate coupons in to the processing company along with the gasoline receipt. They receive a check back for $10. Sweet! And it's that easy. The $40 pack has four $10 gasoline rebate incentive coupons, and the $100 pack has ten.
But don't think that you have to pay $40 or $100 to give these motivating incentives out!
That's not the case at all. In fact, these gas rebate incentive coupons are sold for pennies on the dollar. The companies that provide them realize that consumers often buy additional items like oil, cigarettes, soft drinks, food, beer, and other products while they are at the gas station, and that's where the real profit is. It's their hope that these gas rebate coupons will stimulate people to buy gas and then come inside to spend more money.
That's why you can get these employee incentive coupons and customer thank you gifts for so little money. But there IS one catch...
You've been waiting for the catch, haven't you? Here it is:
Just like anything else, there are people who run scams when it comes to employee incentive and customer thank you gift programs like the gas rebate coupons, so you have to be careful. Make sure that you purchase from an authorized reseller who has REAL contact information on their web site. Never buy incentive program coupons from a company that doesn't list a real address and telephone number. A site with no contact information should be a serious red flag.
Gas rebate coupons are part of the Travel Incentive industry where organizations can buy incentive coupons for travel, hotels, gas rebate coupons, etc., to motivate their employees, increase sales response from new customers, and thank existing customers for their continued loyalty.
Incentive coupons are inexpensive and they are proven to work. Try a test campaign and watch your employee productivity or sales explode.
The Secret That Will Help You Make More Money On eBay
It was the middle of the afternoon and I was hungry. Nothing decent in the kitchen to eat so I had to go out and get some food.
There was a new book shop just opened in the city, one of those massive places with a Starbucks and a café on the upper floors. Since I had not read a book for some time, I could kill two birds with one stone ( I hate that saying) and go there to eat and read.
I hit the business section. After getting past the pile of Trump books, I found what I was looking for:
The 80-20 Principle, by Richard Koch.
Reading the back cover, it says that... 80 per cent of the output of an activity comes from 20 per cent of the inputs.
So how can this help you make more money on eBay?
Well, the applications of the 80-20 principle will depend on the approach towards eBay that you're using. Let's say that you are dealing in a 'niche' market, trading in antiques of a certain kind. I don't know much about antiques, but let's say you are buying and selling ancient Chinese antiques. Now, what you might find here is that you'll have the same people buying these antiques repeatedly. In other words...
80 per cent of your business comes from 20 per cent of your customers.
The implications of this? Firstly, suiting your products to these 20 per cent. If they're buying X, give them more of X.
Plus, make sure you keep these customers very happy indeed, because thats one way to make more money on eBay and where the biggest profits lie. So think more of what they want, more freebies just for them, constant communication just for them and so on.
Also, you might also find that 80 per cent of your great products come from 20 per cent of your supplier base.
Furthermore, you might find that 80 per cent of your hassle comes from 20 per cent of your products, and within that figure, 80 per cent of the hassle comes from 20 per cent of the hasslers! Or, generally, 80 per cent of hassles come from 20 per cent of your customers. Also, you might find that 80 per cent of your profit in a given year comes from a selection of items - maybe 20 per cent of your items produce the profits, the rest only mediocre.
But here's the interesting thing.
You see, the intuitive thing to do - if you have products that are losing, and some that are winning - is to try and 'work' the losers so they come up to speed. Not so, according to the 80-20 principle. Because rather than bothering with these losers, we'd want to do more with those few that are winning.
Sounds strange, huh?
Because most people would try and work with the losers...they'd try to bring them up to speed. Well, the author of this book says that, instead, you should concentrate your efforts on what's working best:
The 20 per cent that's producing 80 per cent of the results.
That's right. You DON'T concentrate on improving the 20 per cent... you simply work harder with the 20 per cent that is producing 80 per cent of the results!
That may sound a bit well, silly - and counter-intuitive. You'd think that if you had ten products, and eight were performing badly... well, most people's natural reaction is to try and boost the results of the bottom eight. Uh-uh. Go the other way. Try and boost the results of your best two.
Or, in the case of suppliers, concentrate more on the best two. Or, if you've got a mailing list of buyers, concentrate on the top 20 per cent. How? As I've said, by treating them right... maybe rewarding them with free gifts and so on.
And what if you're selling products wholesale? And what if you're selling the same product over and over?
Then what? Do you concentrate on the losers and try and improve them? Uh-uh. Probably wrong. Try the winners... and try to boost the results of what's already working.
I'll give you a practical, real-world current example. I tried a listing for a product. It went pretty well. In fact, it went really well, better than I expected. Now, it just so happens that I was selling the same product over and over again - the wholesale approach. But what could I do to expand? The logical thing would be to get more products.
But no. Instead of doing that, I listed the same product AGAIN - right alongside the identical product!
That's right. I simply listed the same product again, at virtually the same time (i.e. running them simultaneously) but with a different picture. And it sold nearly as well. It's all about getting more out of the winning 80 per cent.
See, instead of diversifying, the implication of the 80/20 principle is actually one of anti-diversification. Because instead of going into new markets and the like, perhaps I should concentrate more on the current niche that's working very well for me, and yes - working with the current one product that's working so well. So after the current product is 'hammered', and I've listed it as many ways as I can (concentrating on what's working), then I can try other products in that SAME market that's already producing great results for me.
Make sense?
What we're doing here is the opposite of diversifying our eBay business. It's concentrating purely on what's most effective at the current time, and working out ways to boost the current good results.
What's your best performing listing right now? Try listing more of it. Try new categories, new approaches, different descriptions and pictures.
Who are your best customers now? Sell them more, and make sure they're well looked after.
Where are your profits the biggest right now? Instead of trying to expand out in the logical way, try a different approach and concentrate on what's currently most effective.
Most eBayers don't think about these things! Very few do! If you stop to think about it for a moment, you might be surprised. If you analyse it, you'll probably be even more surprised. You might find just ONE product is carrying your business, and it's that product that deserves a great deal more attention.
So I'd urge you to think about the areas of your eBay business where the 80-20 principle might apply - and how to harness it so you make more money on eBay.
There was a new book shop just opened in the city, one of those massive places with a Starbucks and a café on the upper floors. Since I had not read a book for some time, I could kill two birds with one stone ( I hate that saying) and go there to eat and read.
I hit the business section. After getting past the pile of Trump books, I found what I was looking for:
The 80-20 Principle, by Richard Koch.
Reading the back cover, it says that... 80 per cent of the output of an activity comes from 20 per cent of the inputs.
So how can this help you make more money on eBay?
Well, the applications of the 80-20 principle will depend on the approach towards eBay that you're using. Let's say that you are dealing in a 'niche' market, trading in antiques of a certain kind. I don't know much about antiques, but let's say you are buying and selling ancient Chinese antiques. Now, what you might find here is that you'll have the same people buying these antiques repeatedly. In other words...
80 per cent of your business comes from 20 per cent of your customers.
The implications of this? Firstly, suiting your products to these 20 per cent. If they're buying X, give them more of X.
Plus, make sure you keep these customers very happy indeed, because thats one way to make more money on eBay and where the biggest profits lie. So think more of what they want, more freebies just for them, constant communication just for them and so on.
Also, you might also find that 80 per cent of your great products come from 20 per cent of your supplier base.
Furthermore, you might find that 80 per cent of your hassle comes from 20 per cent of your products, and within that figure, 80 per cent of the hassle comes from 20 per cent of the hasslers! Or, generally, 80 per cent of hassles come from 20 per cent of your customers. Also, you might find that 80 per cent of your profit in a given year comes from a selection of items - maybe 20 per cent of your items produce the profits, the rest only mediocre.
But here's the interesting thing.
You see, the intuitive thing to do - if you have products that are losing, and some that are winning - is to try and 'work' the losers so they come up to speed. Not so, according to the 80-20 principle. Because rather than bothering with these losers, we'd want to do more with those few that are winning.
Sounds strange, huh?
Because most people would try and work with the losers...they'd try to bring them up to speed. Well, the author of this book says that, instead, you should concentrate your efforts on what's working best:
The 20 per cent that's producing 80 per cent of the results.
That's right. You DON'T concentrate on improving the 20 per cent... you simply work harder with the 20 per cent that is producing 80 per cent of the results!
That may sound a bit well, silly - and counter-intuitive. You'd think that if you had ten products, and eight were performing badly... well, most people's natural reaction is to try and boost the results of the bottom eight. Uh-uh. Go the other way. Try and boost the results of your best two.
Or, in the case of suppliers, concentrate more on the best two. Or, if you've got a mailing list of buyers, concentrate on the top 20 per cent. How? As I've said, by treating them right... maybe rewarding them with free gifts and so on.
And what if you're selling products wholesale? And what if you're selling the same product over and over?
Then what? Do you concentrate on the losers and try and improve them? Uh-uh. Probably wrong. Try the winners... and try to boost the results of what's already working.
I'll give you a practical, real-world current example. I tried a listing for a product. It went pretty well. In fact, it went really well, better than I expected. Now, it just so happens that I was selling the same product over and over again - the wholesale approach. But what could I do to expand? The logical thing would be to get more products.
But no. Instead of doing that, I listed the same product AGAIN - right alongside the identical product!
That's right. I simply listed the same product again, at virtually the same time (i.e. running them simultaneously) but with a different picture. And it sold nearly as well. It's all about getting more out of the winning 80 per cent.
See, instead of diversifying, the implication of the 80/20 principle is actually one of anti-diversification. Because instead of going into new markets and the like, perhaps I should concentrate more on the current niche that's working very well for me, and yes - working with the current one product that's working so well. So after the current product is 'hammered', and I've listed it as many ways as I can (concentrating on what's working), then I can try other products in that SAME market that's already producing great results for me.
Make sense?
What we're doing here is the opposite of diversifying our eBay business. It's concentrating purely on what's most effective at the current time, and working out ways to boost the current good results.
What's your best performing listing right now? Try listing more of it. Try new categories, new approaches, different descriptions and pictures.
Who are your best customers now? Sell them more, and make sure they're well looked after.
Where are your profits the biggest right now? Instead of trying to expand out in the logical way, try a different approach and concentrate on what's currently most effective.
Most eBayers don't think about these things! Very few do! If you stop to think about it for a moment, you might be surprised. If you analyse it, you'll probably be even more surprised. You might find just ONE product is carrying your business, and it's that product that deserves a great deal more attention.
So I'd urge you to think about the areas of your eBay business where the 80-20 principle might apply - and how to harness it so you make more money on eBay.
Sales and marketing terminology
Terminology / Acronyms
ABC figures: This is the independently audited sales figure for all recognized publications in the UK. By using the ABC figure, you can quickly establish how much the advertising will cost per 1,000 readers.
Account Managers: These are sales people who have great skills in getting repeat orders and maximizing revenue returns from existing accounts. It is very rare that a good “Account Manager” will be good at winning new clients.
Blue Bird: This is an unexpected sales opportunity that has a high chance of turning into profitable business.
BRAD: This book lists every UK publication including magazines, newspapers, vertical publications etc. It also contains key information i.e. “ABC figures”, advertising deadlines etc and is one of the most useful tools available if you are looking to place advertising or embark on DIY PR.
Comfort Factor Statements: Also known as credibility statements they show that you can deliver exactly what you say you can. They must not be emotive i.e. include words like “the best”, “fantastic”, “amazing”, “superior” or contain anything that cannot be proven i.e. “high level of customer satisfaction”, “unparalleled support”, unless supported by facts.
Commission Plans: This is how a salesperson is paid for their efforts. It is strongly advised that you include a minimum contribution and ensure that if you plotted a graph of gross margin and percentage of target it would create an incremental curve.
CRM: “Customer Relationship Management” This is software that organises all your sales contacts, schedules activities and is used in targeted marketing campaigns. This is vital to all sales operations and there are many packages to choose from costing anything from £80.00 per user upwards i.e. ACT! Goldmine etc. Previously known as TCM.
Double Bubble: Sales slang for two people being paid out the full amount of commission on a specific deal / incentive or the same person being awarded double the amount of commission.
Elevator Pitch: This term comes from the theory that if you are in a lift on the 10 th floor of a building you should be able to explain what you do before it gets to the ground floor i.e. about 10 seconds. This is often the opening statement of any form of communication and is predominantly used in lead generation and marketing activities.
Farmers: These are sales people who have great skills in getting repeat orders and maximizing revenue streams from existing accounts. It is very rare that a good “Farmer” will be good at winning new clients.
Gross Margin: The difference between your buy price and your sell price.
Hunters: These are sales people who are very good at winning new accounts and getting the first order but tend to lose interest when they know that the new customer will continue to buy, this often makes them very bad farmers. Also known as New Business Sales Exec’s.
Kick Back: This is when a company gets an extra soft margin when they buy sufficient numbers / value of a product. i.e. if you buy 10 cars we will give you / or the company free servicing.
Minimum Contribution: This is the account value that all sales staff are required to reach, in gross margin terms, before any commission. This is put in place to ensure that commission is not paid before staff have covered their basic salary plus all other costs i.e. NI, travel, phone, expenses etc.
New Business Sales Exec’s: These are sales people who are very good at winning new accounts and getting the first order but tend to lose interest when they know that the new customer will continue to buy, this often makes them very bad farmers. Also known as “Hunters”.
OTE: “On Target Earnings” This is how much the sales person will earn if they hit their sales target. Please note that when the person has achieved 50% of target they should not earn more than 30% of their OTE. By using this method it creates a further incentive for the salesperson to hit the their sales target.
Over Ride: This is the term used when a sales person over achieves his target and hence is given a large bonus. Remember the bigger the “over rider”, the bigger the incentive and hence this increases the motivation to over achieve the gross margin sales target.
PPC: “Pay Per Click” This is a much-targeted method of advertising and enables sponsored links to be placed at the top of search engine results when your particular key words or phrases are encountered. For each sponsored link placed you are charged from as little as 10 pence upwards.
Prospect: A company / person that you know will require your services and they are looking to purchase. Particularly if you have been asked to bid for the work
RTR: “Ready to Run” This is the term used mainly by advertising agencies or company's for an advert which is ready to be placed. It is then common practice to place the advert on the deadline in order to get the lowest possible price.
Sales Forecast: The system that sales people and managers use to look at how much business is likely to be won each month, unfortunately these are often misleading due to sales processes that minimize inaccuracies not being implemented.
Sand Bagging: This is a tactic used by sales people who hold back orders so that as many as possible fall in the same month or quarter and hence they over achieve the target to win a large Over Rider. This is not only expensive because extra commission is paid but can also have very negative effects on cash flow. By having a properly implemented Sales Forecast it is very easy to establish if this is occurring.
SEO: “Search Engine Optimisation” This is the method of making sure that your website gets lots of traffic and enables your company to be listed higher in the search engines for specific key words and phrases i.e. car hire Newcastle, buy discount fishing rods, mortgage advice etc. The downside of this methodology is that it takes several months for your website to get a good position on the major search engines i.e. Google, Yahoo etc.
Soft Margin: This is most commonly found in the reseller market and generally provided by the manufacturer in form of marketing assistance i.e. for every £10,000 of product x sold we will provide you with y amount of money that must be spent on promoting our product / service.
Suspect: A company / person that you know will require your services but nothing else is known.
TCM: “Time Contact Management” This is software that organises all your sales contacts, schedules activities and is used in targeted marketing campaigns. This is vital to all sales operations and there are many packages to choose from costing anything from £80.00 per user upwards i.e. ACT, Goldmine etc. Now known as CRM.
TMUP: “Target Market User Profile” this is the type of company / person that would be a prime target for your business i.e. single male 30 – 40 and divorced or SME services based companies with staff of between 3-10 people based within 5 miles of central London etc. Finding and Targeting your prime TMUP will reduce the cost of sales and increase marketing and new business efficiency's.
Tyre Kicker: This is a company / person who pretends to be interested in your product / service. This term comes from the motor trade when customers would kick the tyres to fain interest when they had no intention of buying a car and were just browsing / looking for a test drive. Sales people who are not performing and wish to give the impression that their sales pipeline is strong often put this type of prospect on their sales forecast.
USP’s: Unique Selling Points i.e. what makes your company different from its competitors. This is used predominantly in lead generation and marketing activities and therefore is a MUST HAVE for any sales strategy to work.
ABC figures: This is the independently audited sales figure for all recognized publications in the UK. By using the ABC figure, you can quickly establish how much the advertising will cost per 1,000 readers.
Account Managers: These are sales people who have great skills in getting repeat orders and maximizing revenue returns from existing accounts. It is very rare that a good “Account Manager” will be good at winning new clients.
Blue Bird: This is an unexpected sales opportunity that has a high chance of turning into profitable business.
BRAD: This book lists every UK publication including magazines, newspapers, vertical publications etc. It also contains key information i.e. “ABC figures”, advertising deadlines etc and is one of the most useful tools available if you are looking to place advertising or embark on DIY PR.
Comfort Factor Statements: Also known as credibility statements they show that you can deliver exactly what you say you can. They must not be emotive i.e. include words like “the best”, “fantastic”, “amazing”, “superior” or contain anything that cannot be proven i.e. “high level of customer satisfaction”, “unparalleled support”, unless supported by facts.
Commission Plans: This is how a salesperson is paid for their efforts. It is strongly advised that you include a minimum contribution and ensure that if you plotted a graph of gross margin and percentage of target it would create an incremental curve.
CRM: “Customer Relationship Management” This is software that organises all your sales contacts, schedules activities and is used in targeted marketing campaigns. This is vital to all sales operations and there are many packages to choose from costing anything from £80.00 per user upwards i.e. ACT! Goldmine etc. Previously known as TCM.
Double Bubble: Sales slang for two people being paid out the full amount of commission on a specific deal / incentive or the same person being awarded double the amount of commission.
Elevator Pitch: This term comes from the theory that if you are in a lift on the 10 th floor of a building you should be able to explain what you do before it gets to the ground floor i.e. about 10 seconds. This is often the opening statement of any form of communication and is predominantly used in lead generation and marketing activities.
Farmers: These are sales people who have great skills in getting repeat orders and maximizing revenue streams from existing accounts. It is very rare that a good “Farmer” will be good at winning new clients.
Gross Margin: The difference between your buy price and your sell price.
Hunters: These are sales people who are very good at winning new accounts and getting the first order but tend to lose interest when they know that the new customer will continue to buy, this often makes them very bad farmers. Also known as New Business Sales Exec’s.
Kick Back: This is when a company gets an extra soft margin when they buy sufficient numbers / value of a product. i.e. if you buy 10 cars we will give you / or the company free servicing.
Minimum Contribution: This is the account value that all sales staff are required to reach, in gross margin terms, before any commission. This is put in place to ensure that commission is not paid before staff have covered their basic salary plus all other costs i.e. NI, travel, phone, expenses etc.
New Business Sales Exec’s: These are sales people who are very good at winning new accounts and getting the first order but tend to lose interest when they know that the new customer will continue to buy, this often makes them very bad farmers. Also known as “Hunters”.
OTE: “On Target Earnings” This is how much the sales person will earn if they hit their sales target. Please note that when the person has achieved 50% of target they should not earn more than 30% of their OTE. By using this method it creates a further incentive for the salesperson to hit the their sales target.
Over Ride: This is the term used when a sales person over achieves his target and hence is given a large bonus. Remember the bigger the “over rider”, the bigger the incentive and hence this increases the motivation to over achieve the gross margin sales target.
PPC: “Pay Per Click” This is a much-targeted method of advertising and enables sponsored links to be placed at the top of search engine results when your particular key words or phrases are encountered. For each sponsored link placed you are charged from as little as 10 pence upwards.
Prospect: A company / person that you know will require your services and they are looking to purchase. Particularly if you have been asked to bid for the work
RTR: “Ready to Run” This is the term used mainly by advertising agencies or company's for an advert which is ready to be placed. It is then common practice to place the advert on the deadline in order to get the lowest possible price.
Sales Forecast: The system that sales people and managers use to look at how much business is likely to be won each month, unfortunately these are often misleading due to sales processes that minimize inaccuracies not being implemented.
Sand Bagging: This is a tactic used by sales people who hold back orders so that as many as possible fall in the same month or quarter and hence they over achieve the target to win a large Over Rider. This is not only expensive because extra commission is paid but can also have very negative effects on cash flow. By having a properly implemented Sales Forecast it is very easy to establish if this is occurring.
SEO: “Search Engine Optimisation” This is the method of making sure that your website gets lots of traffic and enables your company to be listed higher in the search engines for specific key words and phrases i.e. car hire Newcastle, buy discount fishing rods, mortgage advice etc. The downside of this methodology is that it takes several months for your website to get a good position on the major search engines i.e. Google, Yahoo etc.
Soft Margin: This is most commonly found in the reseller market and generally provided by the manufacturer in form of marketing assistance i.e. for every £10,000 of product x sold we will provide you with y amount of money that must be spent on promoting our product / service.
Suspect: A company / person that you know will require your services but nothing else is known.
TCM: “Time Contact Management” This is software that organises all your sales contacts, schedules activities and is used in targeted marketing campaigns. This is vital to all sales operations and there are many packages to choose from costing anything from £80.00 per user upwards i.e. ACT, Goldmine etc. Now known as CRM.
TMUP: “Target Market User Profile” this is the type of company / person that would be a prime target for your business i.e. single male 30 – 40 and divorced or SME services based companies with staff of between 3-10 people based within 5 miles of central London etc. Finding and Targeting your prime TMUP will reduce the cost of sales and increase marketing and new business efficiency's.
Tyre Kicker: This is a company / person who pretends to be interested in your product / service. This term comes from the motor trade when customers would kick the tyres to fain interest when they had no intention of buying a car and were just browsing / looking for a test drive. Sales people who are not performing and wish to give the impression that their sales pipeline is strong often put this type of prospect on their sales forecast.
USP’s: Unique Selling Points i.e. what makes your company different from its competitors. This is used predominantly in lead generation and marketing activities and therefore is a MUST HAVE for any sales strategy to work.
How to Start Your Home Based Business and Quit Your Day Job
Ever dream of leaving that daily commute, nagging boss, and finding your freedom in running your own home based business? Can’t wait until the day you can walk out the door and work at home? Well, the key is finding the right home based business that will allow your dream to become a reality, and quickly.
No one wants to feel forced to stay in a job they do not like. If you already have a part time home based business that you believe can make you enough money, go for it. However, if you have no idea what to do in your business, then you first want to find a home based business that will pay you a continuous residual income on a monthly basis. This way you do not have to stress about selling enough to live on each month.
You will also want to find a consumable product for your home based business. Some of the most lucrative businesses are those in which the consumer needs to replenish a supply of it on a monthly basis. This way you only have to build a small base of repeat consumers, and you don’t have to work so hard to build a new consumer base.
Also, you will want to find a product that is easy to market. Complicated products are hard to sell, because consumers don’t want to think that hard about what they are going to purchase. Make sure that the service or product your home based business is selling is not only simple to understand but reliable and easy to use. People want to buy a product that will work on a regular basis. Create a great reputation for your home based business by choosing a quality product.
Selling an exclusive product or service is key to making money in your home based business. If it cannot be found anywhere else, you’ve found your niche. Make sure your clients feel like they just have to get the product or service from you. Many companies start up and sell a product that people can find almost everywhere. Find your uniqueness in your home based business product and use it to your advantage.
Hard work and a great product are two components that spell success for the home based business owner. One without the owner makes success very difficult. Find your niche. Then sooner than later you’ll be able to put in your notice and find your financial freedom in your home based business.
No one wants to feel forced to stay in a job they do not like. If you already have a part time home based business that you believe can make you enough money, go for it. However, if you have no idea what to do in your business, then you first want to find a home based business that will pay you a continuous residual income on a monthly basis. This way you do not have to stress about selling enough to live on each month.
You will also want to find a consumable product for your home based business. Some of the most lucrative businesses are those in which the consumer needs to replenish a supply of it on a monthly basis. This way you only have to build a small base of repeat consumers, and you don’t have to work so hard to build a new consumer base.
Also, you will want to find a product that is easy to market. Complicated products are hard to sell, because consumers don’t want to think that hard about what they are going to purchase. Make sure that the service or product your home based business is selling is not only simple to understand but reliable and easy to use. People want to buy a product that will work on a regular basis. Create a great reputation for your home based business by choosing a quality product.
Selling an exclusive product or service is key to making money in your home based business. If it cannot be found anywhere else, you’ve found your niche. Make sure your clients feel like they just have to get the product or service from you. Many companies start up and sell a product that people can find almost everywhere. Find your uniqueness in your home based business product and use it to your advantage.
Hard work and a great product are two components that spell success for the home based business owner. One without the owner makes success very difficult. Find your niche. Then sooner than later you’ll be able to put in your notice and find your financial freedom in your home based business.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Preparing Yourself Mentally for Business
People say that starting your own business is difficult. Guess what? They're not kidding. Starting a business, in many ways, is a lot like having a child – and would you just have a child without thinking it through first? Before you get started, there are lots of things you need to think about and discuss with anyone you can.
Can You Afford to Fail?
You might have heard the old saying ‘only gamble what you can afford to lose’. Well, however you approach it, starting your own business is still gambling. A massive percentage of businesses fail in their first year. If your financial situation is such that you agonise over every small amount you spend, starting a business is probably a bad idea.
Put it this way: do not expect to succeed. Expect that you will fail, and always try your hardest not to. You'll be pleasantly surprised if things go your way. Note that this doesn't mean that you shouldn’t believe in yourself and your business – simply that you have to realise the kind of odds you’re up against, and stay realistic.
Will You Stick at It?
You can’t get halfway through all this and have a sudden change of heart, or feel like you’re doomed to fail. All successful business spend plenty of time doing badly before they start to pick up. You need to prepare yourself for a steady stream of failure being slowly replaced by success. Don’t expect the world all at once.
Could You Take the Stress?
Starting a business is one of the most stressful things you can do. It will affect you mentally, physically and emotionally. You need to be strong to deal with this kind of stress, and you need to have someone to turn to for support.
Are You a Survivor?
There are some people who always seem to make it in the end, regardless of what life throws at them. You need to be the kind of person whose response to things going wrong is to work harder and get it fixed, not someone who cries and goes into hiding.
Many entrepreneurs say that this, more than anything, is the secret of success. You need to be a never say die’ kind of person. You need to be always ready to try again, no matter what gets thrown at you. Remember that it’s not when things start to go wrong that you fail – you haven't failed until you've given up.
Be Prepared to Work Hard.
If you’ve been doing a standard nine-to-five job, you’re probably used to a world where it’s someone else’s responsibility if the work doesn't get done – you work as fast as you can for the hours you’re told to, and if it’s not done on time then it’s the manager's fault for not hiring enough people. When you work on your own, though, there’s no-one to blame – the buck stops where it starts, with you.
You Need to Satisfy Every Customer.
When you run a home business, you can’t afford to lose any customers. You need to always be nice to them, trying to meet their needs. You have to remember that you’re the most senior person they can talk to in this organisation, and you have to act like it – when there’s no-one other than you to handle complaints, you have to either give in to customers at every opportunity or watch them take their business elsewhere.
Do You Really Love What You Do?
If you don’t love what you do, then sooner or later you’re going to want to stop doing it – and when you run a home business, that’s difficult. Besides, you can’t run a home business if you’re always sitting and thinking about how great it’ll be when it’s the weekend. No, the only way to succeed in home business is to be absolutely sure that you really love what you’re doing. If you can think of another job you’d rather have, then you’re in trouble.
Think of it this way: could you run up to someone on the street with a leaflet about your business, and tell them all about it in a way that would really leave an impression? It doesn't matter whether you actually could or not – if you think everyone will be interested, then, believe me, they will be.
Can You Afford to Fail?
You might have heard the old saying ‘only gamble what you can afford to lose’. Well, however you approach it, starting your own business is still gambling. A massive percentage of businesses fail in their first year. If your financial situation is such that you agonise over every small amount you spend, starting a business is probably a bad idea.
Put it this way: do not expect to succeed. Expect that you will fail, and always try your hardest not to. You'll be pleasantly surprised if things go your way. Note that this doesn't mean that you shouldn’t believe in yourself and your business – simply that you have to realise the kind of odds you’re up against, and stay realistic.
Will You Stick at It?
You can’t get halfway through all this and have a sudden change of heart, or feel like you’re doomed to fail. All successful business spend plenty of time doing badly before they start to pick up. You need to prepare yourself for a steady stream of failure being slowly replaced by success. Don’t expect the world all at once.
Could You Take the Stress?
Starting a business is one of the most stressful things you can do. It will affect you mentally, physically and emotionally. You need to be strong to deal with this kind of stress, and you need to have someone to turn to for support.
Are You a Survivor?
There are some people who always seem to make it in the end, regardless of what life throws at them. You need to be the kind of person whose response to things going wrong is to work harder and get it fixed, not someone who cries and goes into hiding.
Many entrepreneurs say that this, more than anything, is the secret of success. You need to be a never say die’ kind of person. You need to be always ready to try again, no matter what gets thrown at you. Remember that it’s not when things start to go wrong that you fail – you haven't failed until you've given up.
Be Prepared to Work Hard.
If you’ve been doing a standard nine-to-five job, you’re probably used to a world where it’s someone else’s responsibility if the work doesn't get done – you work as fast as you can for the hours you’re told to, and if it’s not done on time then it’s the manager's fault for not hiring enough people. When you work on your own, though, there’s no-one to blame – the buck stops where it starts, with you.
You Need to Satisfy Every Customer.
When you run a home business, you can’t afford to lose any customers. You need to always be nice to them, trying to meet their needs. You have to remember that you’re the most senior person they can talk to in this organisation, and you have to act like it – when there’s no-one other than you to handle complaints, you have to either give in to customers at every opportunity or watch them take their business elsewhere.
Do You Really Love What You Do?
If you don’t love what you do, then sooner or later you’re going to want to stop doing it – and when you run a home business, that’s difficult. Besides, you can’t run a home business if you’re always sitting and thinking about how great it’ll be when it’s the weekend. No, the only way to succeed in home business is to be absolutely sure that you really love what you’re doing. If you can think of another job you’d rather have, then you’re in trouble.
Think of it this way: could you run up to someone on the street with a leaflet about your business, and tell them all about it in a way that would really leave an impression? It doesn't matter whether you actually could or not – if you think everyone will be interested, then, believe me, they will be.
Why Doesn’t Your Business Plan Consistently Secure Your Desired Results?
From small businesses to large corporations, when you render all the challenges and issues facing these economic engines from employees to growth and innovation, the inability to secure desired results or implementation always float to the top as the number one to number three obstacles that prevent business success. As a business owner or management executive, have you ever asked yourself one of these five questions:
1. How do I move from my vision to my desired results?
2. How do I get my employees to perform?
3. How do I recruit new employees with the skills that my company needs?
4. How do I attract new customers or clients?
5. Why can’t I consistently achieve my desired results?
All of these questions when rendered down are about implementation. The failure to implement each corporate wide business goal consumes valuable resources specifically time, people and money. These resources may have been already allocated to other initiatives.
Effective implementation is what separates the successful companies from the not so successful ones. Many authors from Rick Page in “Hope is not a Strategy” to Jason Jennings and Laurence Haughton in “It’s Not the Big that Eat the Small, It’s the Fast that East the Slow” write about the affects of poor implementation.
Possibly why implementation continues to vex today’s businesses is because executives search for an ineffective answer through a business plan instead of a strategic business plan. A recent search using Inventory Overture revealed that searches for business plan were over 200 times as many as for strategic business plan (148,650 vs. 614). From these searches, it suggests that business owners may be looking for the wrong answer.
Why choose a strategic business plan over a business plan? The answer is simple because a strategic business plan defines “Who Does What By When” through the critical success factors and supporting goals that are in alignment with the sales and marketing plans.
The structure of a strategic business plan is all about implementation. Using the ADDIE Plus methodology may help you in your efforts to create an effective strategic business plan.
Assess - The current market conditions, future market conditions and the organization need to be assessed. This evaluation should begin with an overall organizational assessment and may extend to internal and external customers.
Design – After the evaluation, a design is crafted. This design should include the vision, values and mission of the organization and is overall architecture for the plan. Simply, speaking this is the “Big Picture.”
Develop – The plan is developed according to the structure of the organization. Smaller plans or pictures such as marketing and sales fit within the overall plan.
Implement - Using specific goal setting and goal achievement, the strategic plan is implemented. At this juncture, who does what by when is identified.
Evaluate – Goal achievement is the mechanism to monitor and evaluate successful implementation.
Plus - Follow-up is the plus to ensure necessary course correction that may again require some new assessments along with design, development, implementation and evaluation.
Using the ADDIE+ methodology provides business owners a consistent vehicle from which to create, monitor, evaluate and follow-up on their strategic business plan.
If you truly want to reach that next level of success by bridging the implementation gaps, stop focusing on a business plan and take the time to create a strategic business plan that clearly defines who does what by when.
1. How do I move from my vision to my desired results?
2. How do I get my employees to perform?
3. How do I recruit new employees with the skills that my company needs?
4. How do I attract new customers or clients?
5. Why can’t I consistently achieve my desired results?
All of these questions when rendered down are about implementation. The failure to implement each corporate wide business goal consumes valuable resources specifically time, people and money. These resources may have been already allocated to other initiatives.
Effective implementation is what separates the successful companies from the not so successful ones. Many authors from Rick Page in “Hope is not a Strategy” to Jason Jennings and Laurence Haughton in “It’s Not the Big that Eat the Small, It’s the Fast that East the Slow” write about the affects of poor implementation.
Possibly why implementation continues to vex today’s businesses is because executives search for an ineffective answer through a business plan instead of a strategic business plan. A recent search using Inventory Overture revealed that searches for business plan were over 200 times as many as for strategic business plan (148,650 vs. 614). From these searches, it suggests that business owners may be looking for the wrong answer.
Why choose a strategic business plan over a business plan? The answer is simple because a strategic business plan defines “Who Does What By When” through the critical success factors and supporting goals that are in alignment with the sales and marketing plans.
The structure of a strategic business plan is all about implementation. Using the ADDIE Plus methodology may help you in your efforts to create an effective strategic business plan.
Assess - The current market conditions, future market conditions and the organization need to be assessed. This evaluation should begin with an overall organizational assessment and may extend to internal and external customers.
Design – After the evaluation, a design is crafted. This design should include the vision, values and mission of the organization and is overall architecture for the plan. Simply, speaking this is the “Big Picture.”
Develop – The plan is developed according to the structure of the organization. Smaller plans or pictures such as marketing and sales fit within the overall plan.
Implement - Using specific goal setting and goal achievement, the strategic plan is implemented. At this juncture, who does what by when is identified.
Evaluate – Goal achievement is the mechanism to monitor and evaluate successful implementation.
Plus - Follow-up is the plus to ensure necessary course correction that may again require some new assessments along with design, development, implementation and evaluation.
Using the ADDIE+ methodology provides business owners a consistent vehicle from which to create, monitor, evaluate and follow-up on their strategic business plan.
If you truly want to reach that next level of success by bridging the implementation gaps, stop focusing on a business plan and take the time to create a strategic business plan that clearly defines who does what by when.
7 Easy Ways to Make More Money in Network Marketing
Hit a snag lately? Haven’t been able to recruit any new agents? Is you network marketing job paying less and less because you can’t generate any sales? You don’t have to fret! With these easy network marketing tips, you can revitalize your sales pitch and methods in no time at all!
1. Contacts
Remember that your contacts are your most valuable asset. Who are your contacts? The people you see on the streets? Your next door neighbor?
When considering whom to invite, try those closest to you first. This is because they are most likely to be more open to your suggestions and will be willing to do you a few favors (such as buying that detergent you are hawking). The great thing about this is that they will really mind plunking a few bucks to help jumpstart your business. And when they see that you are doing well, they could very well join you as well.
When you run through the whole list of you clan, what will that leave you with? You will of course have to go to those people that next in line with regards to closeness or affinity to you. And what if that gives out too?
You can always adopt a friendlier stance and chat up that neighbor you never talked to. You could meet new people on the bus and on the train. But remember, you have to like them as people first. Don’t go about and look at them like walking piggy banks. People will know if they are being looked upon as things.’ Always regard them highly and get to know them. Build their trust. The truth is, the friendships you build will be the true reward, and the sales will be just a side dish.
Always ask for referrals from your contacts. This is another sure way to increase your prospects.
2. Believe
If you yourself do not believe in your product, chances are you won't be able to sell it to others. Remember, nothing promotes a product better that a satisfied customer. Let others see you using the product. Say glowing things about it. And most of all, let all that you say be true. If your customer finds out you weren’t being honest, you could ruin your business relationship.
When you choose a network business, take into consideration their product. See if you can believe in it and pitch for it effectively.
3. Recruit the right people
Don’t just recruit anybody. Make sure the people you recruit share an unbridled passion, and tireless work ethic with like you. If you don’t chances are, they will drop out of the networking business and you will not be able to build your down line.
4. Don’t force the issue
When trying to close a sale, don’t force the issue. If you do, people will get suspicious as to why you are doing so. Are selling them counterfeit items? Are you only interested in your profit and not in your customer's satisfaction? Always keep this in mind: the customer always comes first. Please them, and the profits and windfall from these relationships will follow.
5. Look the part
When recruiting others, you can’t say, “You will get rich with network marketing,” and look shabby all the while. They’d say, “I thought you got rich from this thing, why do you look like you didn’t.” People will want to see a visible sign of success. You are their only reference point. If you are not convincing as a successful networking agent,
6. Hang in there
Perseverance is a virtue. If money grew on trees, you’d still have to wait for them to grow. Remember the old adage: try and try, until you succeed. Remember that your goal is not to just to get money, but to build upon a good income generating business.
7. Evolve
Don’t be satisfied thinking that your techniques at recruiting will forever be effective. Although there are basic principles that should be followed, you can forever improve on your techniques. Today's society is constantly evolving. If you want to catch up with them, you have to evolve in your marketing strategies as well.
1. Contacts
Remember that your contacts are your most valuable asset. Who are your contacts? The people you see on the streets? Your next door neighbor?
When considering whom to invite, try those closest to you first. This is because they are most likely to be more open to your suggestions and will be willing to do you a few favors (such as buying that detergent you are hawking). The great thing about this is that they will really mind plunking a few bucks to help jumpstart your business. And when they see that you are doing well, they could very well join you as well.
When you run through the whole list of you clan, what will that leave you with? You will of course have to go to those people that next in line with regards to closeness or affinity to you. And what if that gives out too?
You can always adopt a friendlier stance and chat up that neighbor you never talked to. You could meet new people on the bus and on the train. But remember, you have to like them as people first. Don’t go about and look at them like walking piggy banks. People will know if they are being looked upon as things.’ Always regard them highly and get to know them. Build their trust. The truth is, the friendships you build will be the true reward, and the sales will be just a side dish.
Always ask for referrals from your contacts. This is another sure way to increase your prospects.
2. Believe
If you yourself do not believe in your product, chances are you won't be able to sell it to others. Remember, nothing promotes a product better that a satisfied customer. Let others see you using the product. Say glowing things about it. And most of all, let all that you say be true. If your customer finds out you weren’t being honest, you could ruin your business relationship.
When you choose a network business, take into consideration their product. See if you can believe in it and pitch for it effectively.
3. Recruit the right people
Don’t just recruit anybody. Make sure the people you recruit share an unbridled passion, and tireless work ethic with like you. If you don’t chances are, they will drop out of the networking business and you will not be able to build your down line.
4. Don’t force the issue
When trying to close a sale, don’t force the issue. If you do, people will get suspicious as to why you are doing so. Are selling them counterfeit items? Are you only interested in your profit and not in your customer's satisfaction? Always keep this in mind: the customer always comes first. Please them, and the profits and windfall from these relationships will follow.
5. Look the part
When recruiting others, you can’t say, “You will get rich with network marketing,” and look shabby all the while. They’d say, “I thought you got rich from this thing, why do you look like you didn’t.” People will want to see a visible sign of success. You are their only reference point. If you are not convincing as a successful networking agent,
6. Hang in there
Perseverance is a virtue. If money grew on trees, you’d still have to wait for them to grow. Remember the old adage: try and try, until you succeed. Remember that your goal is not to just to get money, but to build upon a good income generating business.
7. Evolve
Don’t be satisfied thinking that your techniques at recruiting will forever be effective. Although there are basic principles that should be followed, you can forever improve on your techniques. Today's society is constantly evolving. If you want to catch up with them, you have to evolve in your marketing strategies as well.
How to Buy Wholesale Store Fixtures for Your Business
It may sound funny, but honestly, if you’re opening up your own retail store the last thing you’ll ever want to do again for the rest of your life is buy anything retail -- especially if it’s for your own store. Buying your store fixtures wholesale is not only mandatory it’s a last resort after you've tried buying antique fixtures at a fraction of the cost. Even if you’ve hired a top-notch retail store designer, he or she should be buying your fixtures and other materials at prices even better than wholesale. The designer should be charging for his services and not making a markup on the raw materials.
If you’re setting up your store by yourself, you have to shop around to know the best wholesale prices to pay for your fixtures. But expect to pay full price for the design and manufacture of items that must be custom-made for you. For example, if you want a certain look imitated in a new material you can expect to pay a premium for that service as well. But if your tastes are not too esoteric and if your product can be handled tastefully in a variety of attractive displays you should have no trouble finding the right fixtures at the right wholesale prices to fit your budget. Research and flexibility is the key here. After all, whatever it is that you are selling, you wouldn't pay retail for it, so why pay retail for the fixtures?
There are numerous store fixture wholesalers in and around every city in
America. There are enough stores in existence in any major city and enough new ones opening up to make the wholesale market for fixtures a healthy and competitive one. Visit them, get their catalogues when you are planning the look of your store and ask them about closeouts and discontinued items for sale. Their business, like yours, changes with the seasons, the trends and technology. Give yourself time to make your purchase and you may end up getting the fixtures you’ve been wanting at prices even better than you expected.
If you’re setting up your store by yourself, you have to shop around to know the best wholesale prices to pay for your fixtures. But expect to pay full price for the design and manufacture of items that must be custom-made for you. For example, if you want a certain look imitated in a new material you can expect to pay a premium for that service as well. But if your tastes are not too esoteric and if your product can be handled tastefully in a variety of attractive displays you should have no trouble finding the right fixtures at the right wholesale prices to fit your budget. Research and flexibility is the key here. After all, whatever it is that you are selling, you wouldn't pay retail for it, so why pay retail for the fixtures?
There are numerous store fixture wholesalers in and around every city in
America. There are enough stores in existence in any major city and enough new ones opening up to make the wholesale market for fixtures a healthy and competitive one. Visit them, get their catalogues when you are planning the look of your store and ask them about closeouts and discontinued items for sale. Their business, like yours, changes with the seasons, the trends and technology. Give yourself time to make your purchase and you may end up getting the fixtures you’ve been wanting at prices even better than you expected.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Getting Help and Advice on Starting a Business
When you want to start a home business, it can be easy to feel alone, confused, and scared. The chances are that you don’t know anyone else who's ever started a business, and you don’t even know who to ask if you get stuck. Here are a few things you ought to be looking at.
The Internet.
The Internet is a great resource for people who are thinking of setting up a home business – as well as all the articles you can find with practical advice, there are also many forums, where you can read about others experiences, and ask questions.
The Government.
Scary as it might seem to be getting advice on anything from the government, most governments go really out of their way to produce all sorts of easy-to-understand material on starting your own business. Encouraging you in business is a great way for them to both strengthen the economy and increase tax revenues.
Depending on your area, you might find that local government agencies are also keen to give you help and advice, and might even have some kind of ‘small business centre’ that you can visit.
Mentors.
Mentors are usually volunteers who think it would be nice to offer local businesses help and advice. They often have years of business experience, and can be really useful – if you find one, hang on to them.
Librarians.
Always willing to help and sadly neglected in our ‘wired’ age, you really should talk to a librarian. Libraries generally contain all sorts of business books and resources that they’ll be able to point you towards, and they’ll be more than happy to do research into obscure areas for you.
Lawyers.
Pricey as they might be, lawyers know all about starting businesses – they’ve almost certainly done it thousands of times over. It can be well worth paying for an hour of a lawyer’s time and just asking them every question you can think of.
Accountants.
A less expensive alternative to lawyers, accountants also know their stuff, especially (obviously) on the financial side. If you want your business to be profitable, you should take on board what your accountant tells you – and if you don’t have one, you should get one. By the time they’ve helped you navigate through all the tax mazes, they’ll almost certainly have made their fee back for you anyway.
Incubators and Investors.
If you think your business would be an attractive proposal to people who back businesses for a living, then you can try going to a ‘business incubator’ or some other kind of investor with your idea. If they like it, they’ll often have a quick process set up to get your company up and running as soon as possible.
Universities.
Here’s an interesting one: universities are full of business students. They’ve all spent ages learning about nothing but business, and many of them would just love to help get a real one off the ground – it’d look great on their CV, after all. Business students can be a great source of free help and advice, and they’ll probably even be thankful to you for letting them help out!
Teachers.
If you do a course to get a formal qualification in what you want to do before starting the business, you’ll probably find that your teacher is also a good resource on the business side of things. They’ll have had plenty of students starting businesses who’ve asked them similar questions, and they might even have prepared some material to give to anyone who asks for it.
Your Bank.
Traditionally, your bank would have been the first place you went if you were thinking of starting a business, but many people seem to ignore them nowadays. While they’re no replacement for accountants, most banks will offer you a ‘business advisor when you open a business account, and they can be especially helpful with the technical and financial elements of starting up.
Associations, Societies and Unions.
Whatever industry you’re thinking of entering probably has some kind of trade association, society or union. You should join as soon as you can, and take advantage of all the resources that they will almost certainly offer to people wanting to get started in their industry. After all, the more people who are in their industry, the more members they can get.
The Internet.
The Internet is a great resource for people who are thinking of setting up a home business – as well as all the articles you can find with practical advice, there are also many forums, where you can read about others experiences, and ask questions.
The Government.
Scary as it might seem to be getting advice on anything from the government, most governments go really out of their way to produce all sorts of easy-to-understand material on starting your own business. Encouraging you in business is a great way for them to both strengthen the economy and increase tax revenues.
Depending on your area, you might find that local government agencies are also keen to give you help and advice, and might even have some kind of ‘small business centre’ that you can visit.
Mentors.
Mentors are usually volunteers who think it would be nice to offer local businesses help and advice. They often have years of business experience, and can be really useful – if you find one, hang on to them.
Librarians.
Always willing to help and sadly neglected in our ‘wired’ age, you really should talk to a librarian. Libraries generally contain all sorts of business books and resources that they’ll be able to point you towards, and they’ll be more than happy to do research into obscure areas for you.
Lawyers.
Pricey as they might be, lawyers know all about starting businesses – they’ve almost certainly done it thousands of times over. It can be well worth paying for an hour of a lawyer’s time and just asking them every question you can think of.
Accountants.
A less expensive alternative to lawyers, accountants also know their stuff, especially (obviously) on the financial side. If you want your business to be profitable, you should take on board what your accountant tells you – and if you don’t have one, you should get one. By the time they’ve helped you navigate through all the tax mazes, they’ll almost certainly have made their fee back for you anyway.
Incubators and Investors.
If you think your business would be an attractive proposal to people who back businesses for a living, then you can try going to a ‘business incubator’ or some other kind of investor with your idea. If they like it, they’ll often have a quick process set up to get your company up and running as soon as possible.
Universities.
Here’s an interesting one: universities are full of business students. They’ve all spent ages learning about nothing but business, and many of them would just love to help get a real one off the ground – it’d look great on their CV, after all. Business students can be a great source of free help and advice, and they’ll probably even be thankful to you for letting them help out!
Teachers.
If you do a course to get a formal qualification in what you want to do before starting the business, you’ll probably find that your teacher is also a good resource on the business side of things. They’ll have had plenty of students starting businesses who’ve asked them similar questions, and they might even have prepared some material to give to anyone who asks for it.
Your Bank.
Traditionally, your bank would have been the first place you went if you were thinking of starting a business, but many people seem to ignore them nowadays. While they’re no replacement for accountants, most banks will offer you a ‘business advisor when you open a business account, and they can be especially helpful with the technical and financial elements of starting up.
Associations, Societies and Unions.
Whatever industry you’re thinking of entering probably has some kind of trade association, society or union. You should join as soon as you can, and take advantage of all the resources that they will almost certainly offer to people wanting to get started in their industry. After all, the more people who are in their industry, the more members they can get.
Why Should You Incorporate Your Business?
If you do well with your business, you may want to incorporate it. There are many advantages gained by incorporating. For one, if (and this is a BIG if, but you never know), if you are ever sued, your personal assets will be considered separate from your business assets. On the off chance that anything like that ever happens, you will be immensely thankful that you incorporated.
It works the other way too, if you are ever personally sued, all your business assets are safe. Legally, you and your corporation are two entirely separate entities.
Another reason for incorporating is to save money on taxes. Talk to an accountant about the different ways to incorporate – if you qualify for an S-corporation or an LLC, you may save considerably in taxes. Plus, it’s always nice to pay your taxes on a monthly or at least a quarterly basis rather than owe one giant, lump sum to Uncle Sam on April 15th.
Many a business has gone bankrupt due to unpaid taxes.
Another benefit of incorporating is to convey professionalism. Most people recognize that the abbreviation of Inc or LLC after a company name is evidence of incorporation. Your prospects may take you more seriously. And every little bit helps.
You may get a few more sales just due to the fact that you look like a real company!
So talk to your accountant today and find out if incorporating is the right move for you to make. It takes some time to start the process, but can be well worth it in many instances.
It works the other way too, if you are ever personally sued, all your business assets are safe. Legally, you and your corporation are two entirely separate entities.
Another reason for incorporating is to save money on taxes. Talk to an accountant about the different ways to incorporate – if you qualify for an S-corporation or an LLC, you may save considerably in taxes. Plus, it’s always nice to pay your taxes on a monthly or at least a quarterly basis rather than owe one giant, lump sum to Uncle Sam on April 15th.
Many a business has gone bankrupt due to unpaid taxes.
Another benefit of incorporating is to convey professionalism. Most people recognize that the abbreviation of Inc or LLC after a company name is evidence of incorporation. Your prospects may take you more seriously. And every little bit helps.
You may get a few more sales just due to the fact that you look like a real company!
So talk to your accountant today and find out if incorporating is the right move for you to make. It takes some time to start the process, but can be well worth it in many instances.
The REAL TRUTH on How to Price Your eBook
You've written and compiled an ebook. Now you have to decide how much to charge for it. Finding the right price is essential to the success of your product. If you charge too little, people will think it's of little value, and they won't purchase it, or even it they do buy your book, you will have to sell thousands of copies to get to the point where you can begin to see a profit.
If you price it too high when compared with your competition, you will find yourself steadily lowering the price, which will cause you all kinds of new problems in the future. For example, if you sell your ebook at first for $39.99, and later reduce it to $24.95, don't you think the people who bought it for $39.99 are going to be PISSED?choosing the right price for your ebook is one of the most critical parts of the marketing process. The first rule of pricing ebooks is to never underprice. Determine the highest price your audience can afford, and then if you find your book isn’t selling, you can make sure you are promoting your book like crazy on the Internet and on websites.
The price should be aimed at bringing in profits, but you should never forget that price is one of the factors that people use in judging the value of your ebook ? before they buy it. So always start with the highest price, and Then launch a mega-marketing campaign.
Pricing an ebook is particularly difficult because ebooks are a fairly new commodity. Since they are digital, the value of an ebook is as confusing as the understanding of what digital actually is to the average layperson. This means that we must look at ebooks in a different light in order to determine their actual worth in this brave, new cyber world.
Let's look at the difference between a book in print and an ebook. A printed book is an object you can hold in your hand, store on your bookshelf, even hand down to the next generation. It is priced on factors such as paper stock, design and production costs, and marketing.
But the fact that unites ebooks and print books is that they are composed of ideas. It is the ideas in these books that have the ability to change, or possibly transform, people's lives.
What do you think an idea is worth when evaluated against the cost of paper and ink? It is the IDEAS that are valuable! That is how you determine the cost of your ebook. What should I charge for my ideas?
There are all different formulas and methods for determining the correct price for your ebook. Let's begin with honing in on your ultimate goals.
Decide if your goal is to get wide distribution and maximum exposure. This goal is aimed at drawing customers to your business or service, or to establishing the credibility of your reputation. If this is your main goal, you should aim to keep your price on the low side. Some authors have even priced their ebooks at a profit loss to draw a high number of new customers. The key is to find a price that maximizes your profits and the number of books you sell.
This is an excellent pricing strategy if you are looking to acquire long-term customers. Long-term customers are extremely likely to buy from you again and again ? as long as the first ebook they buy is of exceptional quality and beneficial to the customer.
However, if your book contains valuable ? and more importantly NEW information, references, or techniques? then you should aim to price it on the high end. After you figure out your goal, you must figure out what your audience's need is for your ebook. For example, does your book solve a particular problem? If it does, and solves it in a way that hasn't been written about in one hundred other ebooks, you will be able to achieve high sales at a high price.
If your book solves a problem or answers questions in a new and unique way, you should price your book as high as you can go. You will achieve larger profits this way, but bring in fewer customers.
Just make sure the question or problem that your book solves is one that is important and relevant to the majority of your market audience. If your ideas are not common knowledge, or you are presenting a brand new technique, you will be able to sell books at a high price. Just be prepared for your competition to undercut you on price as soon as they hear about your book.
Keep in mind that the above pricing strategy is temporary. Eventually, you will cease to sell books at this high price. So figure out in advance how long you plan to offer your ebook at this high price, and when that time is up, change your pricing strategy.
If you want to see large profits over customer draw, aim for an audience that is looking for easy solutions to their problems at a low price. If your book is aimed at solving one particular problem rather than general advice, then you can charge more. Start at the highest price the market will bear to bring in the largest profits, and plan to discount the book a number of times throughout the year.
Marketing Strategies:
The key that unlocks the sales potential of your ebook is to find a single sentence that becomes your selling handle. This sentence states what question or problem your book answers and the benefits your ebook can provide. Then be sure to use that sentence in every piece of sales and promotional material, and every time anyone asks you about your ebook.
Besides promoting your books assiduously online, there are several other strategies that can help you sell more books. One is to give something away for free with your book, such as a valuable bonus item. Or bundle several ebooks under one price, which lowers the price for each ebook if they were sold separately.
An effective technique for figuring out a price is to send out a survey to your current customers. If these customers have already bought an ebook from you, ask for their opinion in terms of price. Do this by creating a sales page for the new book, but don't include a price on that page. Instead, add a number of links to survey questions that ask pointed questions to aid you in assigning a price to your ebook. Another strategy is to test out prices by creating a number of duplicate sales pages with different prices on each page.
Make sure your sales copy is exactly the same on every page, and includes your selling-handle sentence. Then figure out for each page the conversion ratio between visitors to your site and sales of your book. This will tell you what your optimum price is.
Ultimately, if you've written a book that solves a problem or presents a new technique, your book will bring in both traffic and profits. So be sure to write that selling-handle sentence that sums up what problem your book solves and what the benefits of your book will be to the customers who purchase it. And then watch your market come to you!
This article is part of a 6 part series on ebook writing, compiling and pricing structure. You can find all articles here over the next couple of days or see them all, along with other great and informative articles on "The TRUTH" about Internet and affiliate marketing on my website listed below.
If you price it too high when compared with your competition, you will find yourself steadily lowering the price, which will cause you all kinds of new problems in the future. For example, if you sell your ebook at first for $39.99, and later reduce it to $24.95, don't you think the people who bought it for $39.99 are going to be PISSED?choosing the right price for your ebook is one of the most critical parts of the marketing process. The first rule of pricing ebooks is to never underprice. Determine the highest price your audience can afford, and then if you find your book isn’t selling, you can make sure you are promoting your book like crazy on the Internet and on websites.
The price should be aimed at bringing in profits, but you should never forget that price is one of the factors that people use in judging the value of your ebook ? before they buy it. So always start with the highest price, and Then launch a mega-marketing campaign.
Pricing an ebook is particularly difficult because ebooks are a fairly new commodity. Since they are digital, the value of an ebook is as confusing as the understanding of what digital actually is to the average layperson. This means that we must look at ebooks in a different light in order to determine their actual worth in this brave, new cyber world.
Let's look at the difference between a book in print and an ebook. A printed book is an object you can hold in your hand, store on your bookshelf, even hand down to the next generation. It is priced on factors such as paper stock, design and production costs, and marketing.
But the fact that unites ebooks and print books is that they are composed of ideas. It is the ideas in these books that have the ability to change, or possibly transform, people's lives.
What do you think an idea is worth when evaluated against the cost of paper and ink? It is the IDEAS that are valuable! That is how you determine the cost of your ebook. What should I charge for my ideas?
There are all different formulas and methods for determining the correct price for your ebook. Let's begin with honing in on your ultimate goals.
Decide if your goal is to get wide distribution and maximum exposure. This goal is aimed at drawing customers to your business or service, or to establishing the credibility of your reputation. If this is your main goal, you should aim to keep your price on the low side. Some authors have even priced their ebooks at a profit loss to draw a high number of new customers. The key is to find a price that maximizes your profits and the number of books you sell.
This is an excellent pricing strategy if you are looking to acquire long-term customers. Long-term customers are extremely likely to buy from you again and again ? as long as the first ebook they buy is of exceptional quality and beneficial to the customer.
However, if your book contains valuable ? and more importantly NEW information, references, or techniques? then you should aim to price it on the high end. After you figure out your goal, you must figure out what your audience's need is for your ebook. For example, does your book solve a particular problem? If it does, and solves it in a way that hasn't been written about in one hundred other ebooks, you will be able to achieve high sales at a high price.
If your book solves a problem or answers questions in a new and unique way, you should price your book as high as you can go. You will achieve larger profits this way, but bring in fewer customers.
Just make sure the question or problem that your book solves is one that is important and relevant to the majority of your market audience. If your ideas are not common knowledge, or you are presenting a brand new technique, you will be able to sell books at a high price. Just be prepared for your competition to undercut you on price as soon as they hear about your book.
Keep in mind that the above pricing strategy is temporary. Eventually, you will cease to sell books at this high price. So figure out in advance how long you plan to offer your ebook at this high price, and when that time is up, change your pricing strategy.
If you want to see large profits over customer draw, aim for an audience that is looking for easy solutions to their problems at a low price. If your book is aimed at solving one particular problem rather than general advice, then you can charge more. Start at the highest price the market will bear to bring in the largest profits, and plan to discount the book a number of times throughout the year.
Marketing Strategies:
The key that unlocks the sales potential of your ebook is to find a single sentence that becomes your selling handle. This sentence states what question or problem your book answers and the benefits your ebook can provide. Then be sure to use that sentence in every piece of sales and promotional material, and every time anyone asks you about your ebook.
Besides promoting your books assiduously online, there are several other strategies that can help you sell more books. One is to give something away for free with your book, such as a valuable bonus item. Or bundle several ebooks under one price, which lowers the price for each ebook if they were sold separately.
An effective technique for figuring out a price is to send out a survey to your current customers. If these customers have already bought an ebook from you, ask for their opinion in terms of price. Do this by creating a sales page for the new book, but don't include a price on that page. Instead, add a number of links to survey questions that ask pointed questions to aid you in assigning a price to your ebook. Another strategy is to test out prices by creating a number of duplicate sales pages with different prices on each page.
Make sure your sales copy is exactly the same on every page, and includes your selling-handle sentence. Then figure out for each page the conversion ratio between visitors to your site and sales of your book. This will tell you what your optimum price is.
Ultimately, if you've written a book that solves a problem or presents a new technique, your book will bring in both traffic and profits. So be sure to write that selling-handle sentence that sums up what problem your book solves and what the benefits of your book will be to the customers who purchase it. And then watch your market come to you!
This article is part of a 6 part series on ebook writing, compiling and pricing structure. You can find all articles here over the next couple of days or see them all, along with other great and informative articles on "The TRUTH" about Internet and affiliate marketing on my website listed below.
Where To Find Products To Sell On Ebay
One key for business success using eBay is sourcing products to sell. The first questions eBay sellers should ask themselves are: "What can I sell?" and "Where can I buy?"
There are two kinds of sellers on eBay, garage sellers and business sellers. Garage sellers are people who sell products they are not going to use any more and that are usually not new. Garage sellers are not profit driven, their main objective is usually to get rid of some stuff they don't need. They will be happy to make some money by selling something that is no longer useful to them. On the other hand, business sellers are people who will buy and sell products for profit, they consider eBay a business and need to earn profit on the products they sell.
The first key to success for business sellers is an old marketing rule, RESEARCH. The products you need to sell are products that eBay buyers will want to buy. Apart from being a massive market place, eBay offers you a cheap source of research that you can conduct without moving from your computer.
If you are a business seller, it is fundamental that you spend some time researching before you decide which products you want to sell. Follow these research guidelines:
1. Search for the categories that are most popular. The first index is the number of listings that exist under each category. In addition, you need to look at how many bids the products have.
2. Look at the ratings of the sellers who are listing products in each category and study their profiles. See how many products they are selling and how many products they have sold in the past.
3. Analyze prices. You need to become an expert in your category and you need to know at which price a product is worth buying as well as the expected final winning price of your auction.
4. Select no more than one or two categories. "Specialization" is another basic rule of marketing. It is better to become an expert on something, as this will inspire confidence and trust in your potential customers. Online marketing is all about trust.
For conducting good research, you need time and organization. There are different software programs in the market that can help you save time as well as optimize your research.
Now that you are becoming an eBay expert and have conducted a proper search, you are almost ready to start your business. Before starting to sell, you need to buy! Here are some ideas from where you can source products:
1. Write your own e-book and sell it. If you have any passion or are an expert on a subject for which you can find a niche in eBay, do not hesitate to spend some time on writing your own book. The advantage of this is that after your initial time investment, you can sell and sell copies of the book without having any additional costs. Selling information products is one of the most profitable businesses. Even if you are not an expert writer, you can find other people who can write the book for you.
2. Use drop-shipping. There are wholesalers that will sell you products and send them to the address that you tell them. The advantage of this source is that you do not need to carry inventories, so your investments are minimized. After your auction is finished, you send them your customers address and they will do all the shipping. If you decide to use this kind of source, you need to make sure that your auctions winning price can be higher than the price you will pay for the articles. At minimum you should expect to double your costs.
3. Buy from eBay. Many eBayers success comes from knowing how to buy well on eBay and sell the same products at a higher price. If you know your category very well, you can easily find opportunities that will allow you to buy and resell making profit. Again, solid research is fundamental.
4. Buy Asiatic products. If you are willing to carry some inventories, you can invest on Asiatic products and buy them for a very cheap price. You can easily start importing Asiatic products from the Internet at www.alibaba.com.
5. Sell local products. If you live in an area that produces local products which can be bought at a cheap price and shipped to other areas where people would pay more, you should take advantage of the situation.
Best wishes for your success.
There are two kinds of sellers on eBay, garage sellers and business sellers. Garage sellers are people who sell products they are not going to use any more and that are usually not new. Garage sellers are not profit driven, their main objective is usually to get rid of some stuff they don't need. They will be happy to make some money by selling something that is no longer useful to them. On the other hand, business sellers are people who will buy and sell products for profit, they consider eBay a business and need to earn profit on the products they sell.
The first key to success for business sellers is an old marketing rule, RESEARCH. The products you need to sell are products that eBay buyers will want to buy. Apart from being a massive market place, eBay offers you a cheap source of research that you can conduct without moving from your computer.
If you are a business seller, it is fundamental that you spend some time researching before you decide which products you want to sell. Follow these research guidelines:
1. Search for the categories that are most popular. The first index is the number of listings that exist under each category. In addition, you need to look at how many bids the products have.
2. Look at the ratings of the sellers who are listing products in each category and study their profiles. See how many products they are selling and how many products they have sold in the past.
3. Analyze prices. You need to become an expert in your category and you need to know at which price a product is worth buying as well as the expected final winning price of your auction.
4. Select no more than one or two categories. "Specialization" is another basic rule of marketing. It is better to become an expert on something, as this will inspire confidence and trust in your potential customers. Online marketing is all about trust.
For conducting good research, you need time and organization. There are different software programs in the market that can help you save time as well as optimize your research.
Now that you are becoming an eBay expert and have conducted a proper search, you are almost ready to start your business. Before starting to sell, you need to buy! Here are some ideas from where you can source products:
1. Write your own e-book and sell it. If you have any passion or are an expert on a subject for which you can find a niche in eBay, do not hesitate to spend some time on writing your own book. The advantage of this is that after your initial time investment, you can sell and sell copies of the book without having any additional costs. Selling information products is one of the most profitable businesses. Even if you are not an expert writer, you can find other people who can write the book for you.
2. Use drop-shipping. There are wholesalers that will sell you products and send them to the address that you tell them. The advantage of this source is that you do not need to carry inventories, so your investments are minimized. After your auction is finished, you send them your customers address and they will do all the shipping. If you decide to use this kind of source, you need to make sure that your auctions winning price can be higher than the price you will pay for the articles. At minimum you should expect to double your costs.
3. Buy from eBay. Many eBayers success comes from knowing how to buy well on eBay and sell the same products at a higher price. If you know your category very well, you can easily find opportunities that will allow you to buy and resell making profit. Again, solid research is fundamental.
4. Buy Asiatic products. If you are willing to carry some inventories, you can invest on Asiatic products and buy them for a very cheap price. You can easily start importing Asiatic products from the Internet at www.alibaba.com.
5. Sell local products. If you live in an area that produces local products which can be bought at a cheap price and shipped to other areas where people would pay more, you should take advantage of the situation.
Best wishes for your success.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Want to earn more Profits
It's a simple yet common question, "How can I make my business more successful?"
Success can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people but when it comes down to it, the success of your business should only be measured by one thing - profit.
At the end of the day, it's not how many people came in to your store or phoned in. It's not even how many widgets you sold. At the end of the day, what truly matters is how much of a profit you made.
It would make sense then that your efforts focus on profit as the end result. With that in mind, there are only three strategies to increase profits for your business.
1) Increase the dollar size of each order
2) Increase the number of times people buy from you
3) Increase the number of people who buy from you
Most likely, your business is already primed to attack each of these three angles and implementing that attack should be fairly easy.
Let's say that you are the owner of Happy Wicks Candle Store. Let your customers know that for every $50 they spend they will receive a free 4-inch candle. When they are eligible for the free candle, offer them the option of upgrading the 4-inch candle to a 6-inch candle for only four dollars.
Implement a customer loyalty program. Whenever a customer spends $200 with your store they receive a 20% discount on their next order. Show loyalty to your customers, too. Create customer-only events and sales, even workshops on how to make candles at home.
Candles are also popular gifts. Be sure to place your contact info on each and every candle. This makes it easy for the gift recipient to purchase from you. Be sure to also use this tactic when co-promoting with similar businesses such as a flower and bath and body shop.
Looking at the example Happy Wicks Candle Store, the tasks of increasing profits was not a difficult one. Truly, it's a matter of putting systems in place that generate increasing profits.
Take a look at your business and examine the systems you have in place. Chances are there's undiscovered profits lying about. Put systems in place to gather those profits and you'll find your business reaching new heights of success.
Success can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people but when it comes down to it, the success of your business should only be measured by one thing - profit.
At the end of the day, it's not how many people came in to your store or phoned in. It's not even how many widgets you sold. At the end of the day, what truly matters is how much of a profit you made.
It would make sense then that your efforts focus on profit as the end result. With that in mind, there are only three strategies to increase profits for your business.
1) Increase the dollar size of each order
2) Increase the number of times people buy from you
3) Increase the number of people who buy from you
Most likely, your business is already primed to attack each of these three angles and implementing that attack should be fairly easy.
Let's say that you are the owner of Happy Wicks Candle Store. Let your customers know that for every $50 they spend they will receive a free 4-inch candle. When they are eligible for the free candle, offer them the option of upgrading the 4-inch candle to a 6-inch candle for only four dollars.
Implement a customer loyalty program. Whenever a customer spends $200 with your store they receive a 20% discount on their next order. Show loyalty to your customers, too. Create customer-only events and sales, even workshops on how to make candles at home.
Candles are also popular gifts. Be sure to place your contact info on each and every candle. This makes it easy for the gift recipient to purchase from you. Be sure to also use this tactic when co-promoting with similar businesses such as a flower and bath and body shop.
Looking at the example Happy Wicks Candle Store, the tasks of increasing profits was not a difficult one. Truly, it's a matter of putting systems in place that generate increasing profits.
Take a look at your business and examine the systems you have in place. Chances are there's undiscovered profits lying about. Put systems in place to gather those profits and you'll find your business reaching new heights of success.
Prenuptial Agreements: Protect Your Family Business
Imagine this scenario. You have worked very hard to build up a small business for yourself. You are your own boss and your business is running quite successfully. The only thing missing from your life is someone to share it with. You finally meet that special someone and choose to get married. But before you make that step, you start to wonder about this life you have built for yourself. Does she really love me? Is he only after my money? These questions race through your mind. What can you do to make sure that you don’t lose everything you have worked so hard for? The answer lies in prenuptial agreements.
In this day and age, owning a small business is not all that unusual. But the work behind it is just as hard now as it was in the past. And there are also more single people out there especially older people who have had longer to build up assets. There is also an increased amount of people out there who are looking for the quick buck and that, coupled with the higher divorce rate and ease of divorce, can make for a costly marriage.
The best thing that a man, or woman, who has built themselves a successful business prior to meeting the right person can do is have their future spouse sign a prenuptial agreement. These agreements protect the owner of the business against gold diggers and anyone who is confident that their marriage will survive should have no problem signing one. On the other hand, if the person you are about to marry happens to be after you for your money as you so much feared, then they will likely refuse to sign and this will let you know that this “right” person is not so right after all.
Now, imagine, working so many years making a name for yourself and putting aside money for your retirement and then meeting the woman of your dreams. You are swept off your feet and rush off and get married to a woman that you are so deeply in love with. Your marriage is so perfect and you couldn’t ask for anything more. Then several years down the road, she hits you with the request of a divorce. It seems to come out of absolutely nowhere and you are completely heartbroken. You go to court and end up having to fight for the one thing that you have worked hard at. You end up losing half of your money and your business to the woman whom you thought loved you. And she is laughing all the way to the bank. This was in her plan all along. Sacrificing a few years of her life meant nothing to get all that money.
This doesn't have to happen to you. You can do prenuptial agreements several ways, so consulting an attorney and getting it done the way that is right for you is important. Some prenuptials will allow the spouse to acquire some of the assets earned during the marriage years while others will leave all the assets to the business completely off limits. Make sure that you do your research so that the prenuptial agreement is done properly.
Just because you have spent so many of your years building a successful business does not mean that you have to either spend your life alone or risk losing it all. Trust is a very important thing in a marriage, but there are so many people out there who are good at making you believe something that isn’t true. Everyone always says that it can’t happen to them, but truth is, it can happen to you and is more likely to if you are not prepared
In this day and age, owning a small business is not all that unusual. But the work behind it is just as hard now as it was in the past. And there are also more single people out there especially older people who have had longer to build up assets. There is also an increased amount of people out there who are looking for the quick buck and that, coupled with the higher divorce rate and ease of divorce, can make for a costly marriage.
The best thing that a man, or woman, who has built themselves a successful business prior to meeting the right person can do is have their future spouse sign a prenuptial agreement. These agreements protect the owner of the business against gold diggers and anyone who is confident that their marriage will survive should have no problem signing one. On the other hand, if the person you are about to marry happens to be after you for your money as you so much feared, then they will likely refuse to sign and this will let you know that this “right” person is not so right after all.
Now, imagine, working so many years making a name for yourself and putting aside money for your retirement and then meeting the woman of your dreams. You are swept off your feet and rush off and get married to a woman that you are so deeply in love with. Your marriage is so perfect and you couldn’t ask for anything more. Then several years down the road, she hits you with the request of a divorce. It seems to come out of absolutely nowhere and you are completely heartbroken. You go to court and end up having to fight for the one thing that you have worked hard at. You end up losing half of your money and your business to the woman whom you thought loved you. And she is laughing all the way to the bank. This was in her plan all along. Sacrificing a few years of her life meant nothing to get all that money.
This doesn't have to happen to you. You can do prenuptial agreements several ways, so consulting an attorney and getting it done the way that is right for you is important. Some prenuptials will allow the spouse to acquire some of the assets earned during the marriage years while others will leave all the assets to the business completely off limits. Make sure that you do your research so that the prenuptial agreement is done properly.
Just because you have spent so many of your years building a successful business does not mean that you have to either spend your life alone or risk losing it all. Trust is a very important thing in a marriage, but there are so many people out there who are good at making you believe something that isn’t true. Everyone always says that it can’t happen to them, but truth is, it can happen to you and is more likely to if you are not prepared
How to retain good talent for your business?
The employment market for IT related professions is finally back in full swing. After 4-5 years of outsourcing, downsizing and complete company shutdowns the employees in Information Technology finally have a choice again. Many IT employees were holding on to existing jobs to wait out the drought and the storm out there. Others were not so lucky and had to find a new job - either in the same field or in a different career path. In most cases an employee ended up with less money and a smaller benefits package. Employers had the choice and could push their requirements and options knowing that the employees had not much choice.
But now things are changing again and if an employer was using the low salary with no benefits approach for the last few years he better is prepared for the backfire. Employees read the same publications and the same statistics as the employers does. The IT employees know everything about outsourcing, right sourcing or best sourcing or whatever acronym employers came up with to disguise the fact that work can eventually be done for less by someone else. Employees also know when the market starts picking up again and an employer turning a blind eye to that fact can shoot himself in the foot this way.
So, what can employers do to retain talented people when the market picks up again? In some cases there is nothing they can do. If the employer added insult to injury (meaning: treating the employees like slaves during the market downturn) the employees will leave as soon as a better opportunity comes their way - especially if the opportunity is provided by a company that treats employees with respect and offers a fair salary. If the losing employer thinks they can fix the problem by now offering a little more money they are in for a surprise. If you kick a dog into the guts for 5 years he will still shy back even if you are mow offering a cookie. The money saved by offering no benefits and low salaries will now have to be spend on hiring a new employee for a higher market value (remember: the market picked up already) and the loss of productivity for a while until the new employee is properly trained cuts into the margins. It would have been cheaper and better to avoid low-balling right from the beginning.
Companies that value their employees usually have fewer problems retaining the talent. They even get new employees referred by existing ones which often proves to be a good choice when hiring new talent. Small treats during hard times can pay off easily. If an employer explains that overall money is tight due to market conditions, but then shows appreciation when the market picks up gains much more respect than somebody trying to squeeze employees to the last drop. Free pizza lunches every once in a while or a gift certificate for Best Buy or the movie theatre help in keeping morale high and people motivated during hard market conditions, too.
But now things are changing again and if an employer was using the low salary with no benefits approach for the last few years he better is prepared for the backfire. Employees read the same publications and the same statistics as the employers does. The IT employees know everything about outsourcing, right sourcing or best sourcing or whatever acronym employers came up with to disguise the fact that work can eventually be done for less by someone else. Employees also know when the market starts picking up again and an employer turning a blind eye to that fact can shoot himself in the foot this way.
So, what can employers do to retain talented people when the market picks up again? In some cases there is nothing they can do. If the employer added insult to injury (meaning: treating the employees like slaves during the market downturn) the employees will leave as soon as a better opportunity comes their way - especially if the opportunity is provided by a company that treats employees with respect and offers a fair salary. If the losing employer thinks they can fix the problem by now offering a little more money they are in for a surprise. If you kick a dog into the guts for 5 years he will still shy back even if you are mow offering a cookie. The money saved by offering no benefits and low salaries will now have to be spend on hiring a new employee for a higher market value (remember: the market picked up already) and the loss of productivity for a while until the new employee is properly trained cuts into the margins. It would have been cheaper and better to avoid low-balling right from the beginning.
Companies that value their employees usually have fewer problems retaining the talent. They even get new employees referred by existing ones which often proves to be a good choice when hiring new talent. Small treats during hard times can pay off easily. If an employer explains that overall money is tight due to market conditions, but then shows appreciation when the market picks up gains much more respect than somebody trying to squeeze employees to the last drop. Free pizza lunches every once in a while or a gift certificate for Best Buy or the movie theatre help in keeping morale high and people motivated during hard market conditions, too.
Five Tips to Obtain Credit for Small Businesses
As many small business owners know, financing is crucial to the financial health of their enterprise. While some small business owners have the resources to launch their business, most look to the credit market for financial help. Indeed, the banking industry is an important source to gain necessary capital. However, many entrepreneurs may not realize that that applying for commercial credit requires a great deal of preparation. Here are five tips to assist entrepreneurs in improving their chances of getting credit approval.
Tip #1: Decide on the type of commercial loan that is needed. Loan options include short-term loans, intermediate loans, long-term loans, and lines of credit.
Short-term loans are usually for less than a year. They typically provide interim working capital for a business temporarily in need of cash.
Intermediate loans are often used for business set-up, the purchase of new equipment, expansion, or an increase in working capital. This loan can be anywhere from 1-3 years.
Long-term loans are for major capital improvements, acquiring fixed assists, and business start-ups. The loan term is usually from 3-5 years and repayment installments are on a monthly or quarterly basis.
A line of credit gives a small business the ability to borrow money repeatedly, up to the credit limit. The lender will usually perform a review once a year, at which time the borrower is asked to update financial statements.
Tip #2: Make sure all paper work is in order. Applying for commercial loans can be very tedious and requires much more documentation than applying for consumer credit. So, the key is to be prepared. In addition, entrepreneurs who have carefully put together the needed paperwork to include the loan purpose, the amount of money needed and for how long, and a repayment schedule proposal will be viewed more favorably by many lenders.
Tip #3: Develop a well thought out proposal. The proposal should include the loan purpose, the amount of money needed and for how long, and a repayment schedule proposal. Points to include are the business description that tells the nature of the business, product and service, a personal profile, and a business plan that outlines the corporate strategy for the next three to five years. Additional points to add are supporting documentation that supports the information outlined in the proposal, and collateral that will be used to secure the loan. Financial statements, both personal and for the business, are important as well.
Tip #4: Seek advice! It is important for entrepreneurs to talk with someone who has gone through the process of obtaining commercial credit before a lender is approached. This is especially important for the first time buyer. Entrepreneurs can approach mentors, qualified business counselors, business support groups, and the U.S. Small Business Administration. This step will increase the chances of getting a favorable credit decision.
Tip #5: Be prepared to pursue various options. Sometimes, financial institutions will say no. Once again, obtaining credit can be difficult, especially for entrepreneurs who are first-time borrowers. However, since financial institutions have different standards, an inability to meet the standard of one lender does not mean one fails the standards of all. It is highly possible that credit approvals can be gained with another lender. So, it is important to keep seeking until a lender is found.
Obtaining credit is necessary for many small businesses. Knowing what steps to take in this process can greatly increase an approval from a financial institution. Now, put these five tips into practice and be on your way to getting the credit you need for your business venture.
Tip #1: Decide on the type of commercial loan that is needed. Loan options include short-term loans, intermediate loans, long-term loans, and lines of credit.
Short-term loans are usually for less than a year. They typically provide interim working capital for a business temporarily in need of cash.
Intermediate loans are often used for business set-up, the purchase of new equipment, expansion, or an increase in working capital. This loan can be anywhere from 1-3 years.
Long-term loans are for major capital improvements, acquiring fixed assists, and business start-ups. The loan term is usually from 3-5 years and repayment installments are on a monthly or quarterly basis.
A line of credit gives a small business the ability to borrow money repeatedly, up to the credit limit. The lender will usually perform a review once a year, at which time the borrower is asked to update financial statements.
Tip #2: Make sure all paper work is in order. Applying for commercial loans can be very tedious and requires much more documentation than applying for consumer credit. So, the key is to be prepared. In addition, entrepreneurs who have carefully put together the needed paperwork to include the loan purpose, the amount of money needed and for how long, and a repayment schedule proposal will be viewed more favorably by many lenders.
Tip #3: Develop a well thought out proposal. The proposal should include the loan purpose, the amount of money needed and for how long, and a repayment schedule proposal. Points to include are the business description that tells the nature of the business, product and service, a personal profile, and a business plan that outlines the corporate strategy for the next three to five years. Additional points to add are supporting documentation that supports the information outlined in the proposal, and collateral that will be used to secure the loan. Financial statements, both personal and for the business, are important as well.
Tip #4: Seek advice! It is important for entrepreneurs to talk with someone who has gone through the process of obtaining commercial credit before a lender is approached. This is especially important for the first time buyer. Entrepreneurs can approach mentors, qualified business counselors, business support groups, and the U.S. Small Business Administration. This step will increase the chances of getting a favorable credit decision.
Tip #5: Be prepared to pursue various options. Sometimes, financial institutions will say no. Once again, obtaining credit can be difficult, especially for entrepreneurs who are first-time borrowers. However, since financial institutions have different standards, an inability to meet the standard of one lender does not mean one fails the standards of all. It is highly possible that credit approvals can be gained with another lender. So, it is important to keep seeking until a lender is found.
Obtaining credit is necessary for many small businesses. Knowing what steps to take in this process can greatly increase an approval from a financial institution. Now, put these five tips into practice and be on your way to getting the credit you need for your business venture.
eBusiness - Small Business Necessity
The rapid growth of the internet commerce in recent years presents established small businesses with a serious dilemma. On the one hand, they can stick with the business model that has worked for them for the last number of years. On the other hand, they can make the shift to serious eBusiness.
Choosing to stand pat is usually much easier in the short term. But in the longer term this almost certainly means they will be left behind by technology, and lose many of their most important clients to more aggressive competitors.
But shifting to eBusiness may involve committing substantial resources to developing a new game plan. That usually means refining product lines to make them easier to sell online, upgrading computer systems and websites, and training personnel at all levels to be more web savvy. It also means developing or hiring staff to handle the administration of new marketing, sales, and delivery systems, and working with outside consultants and service providers to handle the technical aspects of the new program that cannot be handled by your own people.
Is adopting an eBusiness Solution worth the effort?
Are the short term difficulties involved in making the transition to eBusiness worth the effort?
In virtually all cases, Yes.
It is like any other investment in your business. Some businesses look at the cost of upgrading production equipment or of renovating their office or retail space and decide it is simply not worth the cost. They decide the future is too uncertain to risk moving ahead, so they opt to tread water until either circumstances change, or they simply cannot continue any longer in business.
In this sense, choosing to stay abreast of technological changes is a business necessity. And these days, deciding to get involved with eBusiness is the most important technological decision many current businesses will ever make.
Advantages of eBusiness
Here are some of the more important advantages of moving to eBusiness.
You can develop a more cost-effective Communication and Marketing Strategy - The most obvious advantage of "upgrading" to eBusiness is that it gives you a vital web presence. In an upgraded "eBusiness environment" your company web site becomes the focal point of your communications and marketing strategy. And in an era when an increasingly large number of people are using the web as their first source of product and service information, "being there" 24/7 is extremely important.
You can reach New Markets World Wide - The internet offers exciting ways of reaching new markets that could only be dreamed of in the past. There are methods of promoting your products online that allow you to precisely target the customers you are after whether they are in your town or on the other side of the world.
You can reach Local Customers and Prospects more effectively - Until recently, companies offering a product or service to local customers could not see the benefits of having an online presence. But as more and more people become comfortable with using the internet instead of traditional advertising sources like classified ads or yellow pages, having an aggressive web presence makes better business sense even for local companies. This may also offer a springboard to developing new markets further afield.
You can cut Advertising and Marketing Costs - Online advertising is not only more efficient, but it is often less expensive than traditional advertising. After sales training expenses can also be reduced by utilizing online seminars, training videos and tutorials.
You can streamline the Ordering Process by taking orders online - Implementing an online ordering system allows you to eliminate manual paper work or telephone order taking. It also offers the possibility of integrating your sales order system with order fulfillment and delivery so customers can be up to speed on the progress of their orders at all times.
You can cut Communications and Telephone Costs - While the costs of voice communications using long distance telephone services have been coming down rapidly over the last few years, switching to an eBusiness model offers the possibility of totally eliminating many of these costs. Of course there is traditional email. But beyond that, there are systems like "Live Help" where customers can chat live with support or sales staff. And the most recent development is VoIP (Voice Over Internet) which promises to completely revolutionize telephone service.
Finding the right eBusiness Solution
Every business is unique, so every business will require a unique eBusiness solution. Chances are most small businesses will not have the resources in house to make the move. In that case they should find an eBusiness solution provider that takes a comprehensive approach to each situation. Rather than offering a pre-packaged program, they should be able to look carefully at a business and make recommendations based on its specific needs. That includes the ability to provide staff training and ongoing support long after the initial system is put in place.
Choosing to stand pat is usually much easier in the short term. But in the longer term this almost certainly means they will be left behind by technology, and lose many of their most important clients to more aggressive competitors.
But shifting to eBusiness may involve committing substantial resources to developing a new game plan. That usually means refining product lines to make them easier to sell online, upgrading computer systems and websites, and training personnel at all levels to be more web savvy. It also means developing or hiring staff to handle the administration of new marketing, sales, and delivery systems, and working with outside consultants and service providers to handle the technical aspects of the new program that cannot be handled by your own people.
Is adopting an eBusiness Solution worth the effort?
Are the short term difficulties involved in making the transition to eBusiness worth the effort?
In virtually all cases, Yes.
It is like any other investment in your business. Some businesses look at the cost of upgrading production equipment or of renovating their office or retail space and decide it is simply not worth the cost. They decide the future is too uncertain to risk moving ahead, so they opt to tread water until either circumstances change, or they simply cannot continue any longer in business.
In this sense, choosing to stay abreast of technological changes is a business necessity. And these days, deciding to get involved with eBusiness is the most important technological decision many current businesses will ever make.
Advantages of eBusiness
Here are some of the more important advantages of moving to eBusiness.
You can develop a more cost-effective Communication and Marketing Strategy - The most obvious advantage of "upgrading" to eBusiness is that it gives you a vital web presence. In an upgraded "eBusiness environment" your company web site becomes the focal point of your communications and marketing strategy. And in an era when an increasingly large number of people are using the web as their first source of product and service information, "being there" 24/7 is extremely important.
You can reach New Markets World Wide - The internet offers exciting ways of reaching new markets that could only be dreamed of in the past. There are methods of promoting your products online that allow you to precisely target the customers you are after whether they are in your town or on the other side of the world.
You can reach Local Customers and Prospects more effectively - Until recently, companies offering a product or service to local customers could not see the benefits of having an online presence. But as more and more people become comfortable with using the internet instead of traditional advertising sources like classified ads or yellow pages, having an aggressive web presence makes better business sense even for local companies. This may also offer a springboard to developing new markets further afield.
You can cut Advertising and Marketing Costs - Online advertising is not only more efficient, but it is often less expensive than traditional advertising. After sales training expenses can also be reduced by utilizing online seminars, training videos and tutorials.
You can streamline the Ordering Process by taking orders online - Implementing an online ordering system allows you to eliminate manual paper work or telephone order taking. It also offers the possibility of integrating your sales order system with order fulfillment and delivery so customers can be up to speed on the progress of their orders at all times.
You can cut Communications and Telephone Costs - While the costs of voice communications using long distance telephone services have been coming down rapidly over the last few years, switching to an eBusiness model offers the possibility of totally eliminating many of these costs. Of course there is traditional email. But beyond that, there are systems like "Live Help" where customers can chat live with support or sales staff. And the most recent development is VoIP (Voice Over Internet) which promises to completely revolutionize telephone service.
Finding the right eBusiness Solution
Every business is unique, so every business will require a unique eBusiness solution. Chances are most small businesses will not have the resources in house to make the move. In that case they should find an eBusiness solution provider that takes a comprehensive approach to each situation. Rather than offering a pre-packaged program, they should be able to look carefully at a business and make recommendations based on its specific needs. That includes the ability to provide staff training and ongoing support long after the initial system is put in place.
How to give your customers a choice between you and the competition and have them choose you.
Instead of giving your customers or potential customers a choice between you and your competition and having them choose the other guy, have them choose you.
Michelle Dunn’s new book” Become the Squeaky Wheel,” says creating a credit policy can have surprising results.
According to Dunn, a leader in the debt collection industry, some customers, when given the choice, between signing a credit application or paying at the time of sale, mostly choose the credit application regardless of who has the cheaper prices. It is true that some customers will buy more from you if they are approved for credit and have more time to pay. It makes it easy for them to place orders and receive a bill, rather than have to pay at the point of sale.
Like everything else, the easier you make it for the customer to buy from you the more sales you will have. Customers want things to be easy, fast and instant. If they are credit approved and can call and order and have the item quickly, then pay when they receive a bill, they will be more likely to order from you than someone who doesn't offer that option. Resulting in your business making more money and more sales.
Michelle Dunn’s new book” Become the Squeaky Wheel,” says creating a credit policy can have surprising results.
According to Dunn, a leader in the debt collection industry, some customers, when given the choice, between signing a credit application or paying at the time of sale, mostly choose the credit application regardless of who has the cheaper prices. It is true that some customers will buy more from you if they are approved for credit and have more time to pay. It makes it easy for them to place orders and receive a bill, rather than have to pay at the point of sale.
Like everything else, the easier you make it for the customer to buy from you the more sales you will have. Customers want things to be easy, fast and instant. If they are credit approved and can call and order and have the item quickly, then pay when they receive a bill, they will be more likely to order from you than someone who doesn't offer that option. Resulting in your business making more money and more sales.
The Top 5 Setting-Up Mistakes.
When you're starting a home business, it's all too easy to make mistakes -- after all, you've never done this before. Fortunately for you, though, you can learn from others' errors, by making sure you don't do any of these things.
Thinking Skills You Don't Have Aren't Important.
So you have no idea how to keep records and accounts, or you don't know how to maintain a mailing list. You need to learn these things! Too many home business owners just do the things that they know how to do, and assume that they can probably get by without everything else.
You need to realise that when you're running a home business, you're going to need to do as much as you can for yourself, especially when you're starting out. This means that you can't get by if your business skills are lacking. I always say that everyone who is thinking of starting a business should take an inexpensive and quick local business course, and I stand by it -- even if you think you'll be fine, it can't hurt, can it?
Not Managing Your Time.
When you're used to working nine to five, an easy trap to fall into is not managing your time effectively. Your home is full of distractions, and there won't be anyone there to tell you to get on with it. If you're prone to daydreaming or procrastinating then this can be disastrous -- whole days can go by with only tiny amounts of work getting done.
You need to be sure that you have a schedule, and you stick to it. Draw a clear line between work and non-work time, and don't cross the line in either direction. Apart from that, the word to remember is 'prioritise': appreciate that you won't always be able to do everything, but make sure you get at least the important things done.
Making Clients Think You're a Joke.
There are many home businesses where clients might need to visit your home -- but make sure it's fit for visiting! You can't lead them into a messy office, or be holding your dog back from barking at them when you first meet. Remember that professionalism is important, and it's too easy to end up looking silly if you don't plan how you're going to make a good impression when you invite people to your home.
If you can't afford a 'business annex' to your house, then consider hiring someone to look after your dog or children for a few hours while you have a business meeting there. It might also be worth paying a cleaner to give the place a quick once-over, if you haven't had time to clean up for a while.
Not Specializing.
Too many home businesses, when asked who their target market is, say 'well everyone, silly'. Your target market is never everyone -- if it is, you will fail. You can't just choose an industry and advertise your new-found profession to everyone, in the hope that someone will work out that the fact you're an electrician means maybe they should ask you about re-wiring their house.
The key to success is this: think about what you can do, and then market that to people who will want it. Advertise in places where these people are. If your business has no target market, then you have no business, period.
Making Start-Up Costs Too High.
Finally, too many people overestimate how much money it's going to take to start a home business. Do you really all brand-new equipment? If you're spending thousands of dollars before you've made any sales at all, you're setting yourself up for a disappointment.
Start your business on a shoestring, work hard, and expand gradually -- otherwise you're setting yourself up for a big fall. However much you might think you ought to do things 'properly', you need to make sure that you're minimizing costs and maximizing profit every step of the way, otherwise you're failing yourself as a home business owner. It's when you start to get some bigger clients and better cash flow that you can start paying a little extra to make your business life more comfortable.
Thinking Skills You Don't Have Aren't Important.
So you have no idea how to keep records and accounts, or you don't know how to maintain a mailing list. You need to learn these things! Too many home business owners just do the things that they know how to do, and assume that they can probably get by without everything else.
You need to realise that when you're running a home business, you're going to need to do as much as you can for yourself, especially when you're starting out. This means that you can't get by if your business skills are lacking. I always say that everyone who is thinking of starting a business should take an inexpensive and quick local business course, and I stand by it -- even if you think you'll be fine, it can't hurt, can it?
Not Managing Your Time.
When you're used to working nine to five, an easy trap to fall into is not managing your time effectively. Your home is full of distractions, and there won't be anyone there to tell you to get on with it. If you're prone to daydreaming or procrastinating then this can be disastrous -- whole days can go by with only tiny amounts of work getting done.
You need to be sure that you have a schedule, and you stick to it. Draw a clear line between work and non-work time, and don't cross the line in either direction. Apart from that, the word to remember is 'prioritise': appreciate that you won't always be able to do everything, but make sure you get at least the important things done.
Making Clients Think You're a Joke.
There are many home businesses where clients might need to visit your home -- but make sure it's fit for visiting! You can't lead them into a messy office, or be holding your dog back from barking at them when you first meet. Remember that professionalism is important, and it's too easy to end up looking silly if you don't plan how you're going to make a good impression when you invite people to your home.
If you can't afford a 'business annex' to your house, then consider hiring someone to look after your dog or children for a few hours while you have a business meeting there. It might also be worth paying a cleaner to give the place a quick once-over, if you haven't had time to clean up for a while.
Not Specializing.
Too many home businesses, when asked who their target market is, say 'well everyone, silly'. Your target market is never everyone -- if it is, you will fail. You can't just choose an industry and advertise your new-found profession to everyone, in the hope that someone will work out that the fact you're an electrician means maybe they should ask you about re-wiring their house.
The key to success is this: think about what you can do, and then market that to people who will want it. Advertise in places where these people are. If your business has no target market, then you have no business, period.
Making Start-Up Costs Too High.
Finally, too many people overestimate how much money it's going to take to start a home business. Do you really all brand-new equipment? If you're spending thousands of dollars before you've made any sales at all, you're setting yourself up for a disappointment.
Start your business on a shoestring, work hard, and expand gradually -- otherwise you're setting yourself up for a big fall. However much you might think you ought to do things 'properly', you need to make sure that you're minimizing costs and maximizing profit every step of the way, otherwise you're failing yourself as a home business owner. It's when you start to get some bigger clients and better cash flow that you can start paying a little extra to make your business life more comfortable.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)