Month: May 2010

Categories
Networking

Business Success: Utilize Key Sites And Stay Focused

Article Contributed by Tami Stodghill

In talking with a number of associates recently, I found out that some of them felt overwhelmed with all of the social media sites that are out there. They expressed concern that they wouldn’t have time to actually call prospects and potential clients if they were to entertain a presence on the sites out there nowadays, yet knew that social media was an important part of their business. Some of them said it seemed that every day there was a new social site and they felt a pressure to sign on and participate when they were already spread thin. It’s true. There are countless sites out there and available now to network, market and connect with others on that may help propel your business to success. And while a solid presence for your business on these sites is always beneficial if done right, it can also take away from time you need to effectively approach the clients that contact you regarding your opportunity.

What I tell them is that I do sign up for most sites out there. However, I quickly ascertain which ones seem to be the most popular and that offer what I want to portray as far as my business. I find quite a number of those sites are nothing but spam and people hyping their business or opportunity and offer no real advantage or knowledge that will help me build my business. And when that is the case, very minimal, if any, continued participation is necessary in my eyes. Lately there have been 2 sites that I set up a profile on, and to be honest, I haven’t reaped even one shred of knowledge from them. What I have received is countless contacts and messages, all of which are from others pushing their opportunities. Since that is not the way I market, needless to say, I have relinquished all participation on those sites. I will leave my profile up, but since they don’t really offer a chance for me to post items that will benefit others (other than if I was to push my opportunity and “spam” members), it makes no sense for me to take away from time that could be better spent in my business day.

What I have learned, and what I advise people to do, is to participate in any site they are on and gauge the response and the type of information exchanges that take place on those sites. If there are links with valid and useful information posted and the opportunity is there for you to do the same, then definitely invest the time to actively and regularly participate. If the site is netting you nothing but hype and spam-type marketing, then you will be one of countless others on there and not really be moving toward valuable exposure for your product or service.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, forums offer a relief from some of the social site’s downfalls. They have moderators that keep the spamming out (except in maybe one section set aside for that) and allow for valid exchanges of information and advice. And also as I have mentioned, we can definitely always learn from others who have experience in areas we don’t. I spend quite a bit of my time that I allot for sites on the forums. People are generally there to learn and to help others learn. And that’s an environment I want to associate my business with.

I do participate on social media sites, but I stick to the key sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and I make sure that my content offers value and that I develop relationships with like-minded business individuals. I enjoy meeting new people as well, and am able to share resources that I found useful in the building of my business. That, to me, is time well spent and invested and presents my opportunity the way I want it to be presented.

If you make sure that you appraise the actual quality of the sites you spend your time on, you will definitely gain from the dedication of time. And time in your business is money—so it is of the utmost importance that you dedicate your time to only the sites and forums which best “fit” you and your business. By doing that, you can also improve the quality of the content you share on those key sites and stay focused on growing your business. So, take the pressure off yourself to be “everywhere”. Because being everywhere will not produce the results you are looking for if you aren’t even in those places effectively.

About the Author

Tami Stodghill was the Press-Relations manager, for a world-wide extensible-technology distributor based in London and the US for 20 years. She was also a freelance writer for several industry publications and is now a home-based business owner with WMI. She makes her home in Page-Lake Powell, Arizona, in the summers and Palm Harbor, Florida in the winters where she enjoys boating and reading, camping, hiking and meeting new people. She runs a blog site exclusively to offer tips for success for any small or home-based business.

Categories
Home-Based Business

3 Lessons to Learn Before Starting Your Home Business

As with any aspect in life, there are both pros and cons to working from home. On the plus side is the fact that you don’t have to commute to and from work every day; you don’t have to deal with careless drivers, frayed tempers and traffic snarls; you get to keep your own hours; and you can work without someone peering over your shoulder. But on the downside, you tend to get distracted more easily, people don’t often consider what you do as a real “job” because you’re at home the whole day, and your social skills start to take a backseat because you don’t get to interact with coworkers and colleagues. In general, working from home is an attractive option if you’re ready to learn three important lessons and avoid the following traps:

The “easy” trap

It may be run out of your home, but that does not mean that this business is going to be easy. When you start to believe that it’s going to be a breeze to manage your home business, you’re setting yourself up for failure. You don’t put in the necessary hard work to grow your business and make a success of it. And you begin to find excuses for everything that goes wrong because of your laziness and laidback attitude. Lesson number one – a home business takes much more dedication and effort than a regular business.

The “money” trap

If you’re working on the web, you’re going to be swamped with offers that promise to make you filthy rich in no time and with no effort. They make making money very easy and simple. All you need to do is send in some money, and you’re definitely going to rake in much more than you’ve dreamed of in a few short months, according to the spiels that bombard you through email and website promotional offers. If you want to work from home on the Internet and make a success of it, never ever pay money in exchange for job opportunities. Instead, visit legitimate sites that allow you to sell your services and which regulate payment through escrow accounts so that you have unbiased arbiters to deal with any conflict of interest. Lesson number two – you will make money working from home, but it will take a fair amount of time for you to establish yourself and make enough to quit your regular job.

The “time” trap

And finally, you may wake up every morning thinking you have the whole day ahead to get your work done. But if you don’t set designated hours for work and stick to them, you’re going to find that the day has gone by and you’ve not even done 10 percent of what was scheduled for the day. It’s very easy to get distracted when working from home, what with the television, the Internet, and family distracting you and demanding your time. Lesson number three – unless you set schedules and keep to them, you’re bound to fall behind on your work and miss deadlines when working from home.

Categories
Networking

Why You MUST Attend Events to Grow Your Biz

Look, I get it. Attending events can be a big deal. There’s travel costs, time away from work, time away from the family, etc. etc.

So why on earth should you bother? After all, between social networking and the telephone, you can meet all the people you want, right? And with all the classes and programs out there, you can get all the learning you need without leaving your house too. Right?

Well that’s not exactly true.

You see, going to events is a lot bigger than the networking and the learning. I would go as far to say something magical happens when you start going to events. Here are 3 reasons why you MUST make attending events a part of your marketing tool kit.

1. Gets you out of your “day to day” rut. It happens to the best of us. Between your huge to-do list and your commitments to your family, community, life etc., you have a lot going on. And sometimes it’s all you can do to focus on the next thing you have to get done.

The problem is when you’re in that mode (and trust me, I’ve been in that mode many times before) you can’t see the forest for the trees. You’re focused on the details, not the big picture. And when you get in that mindset, it’s really easy to miss something — maybe it’s a big opportunity, maybe it’s a problem waiting to explode in your face.

Going to an event means a break in your routine. It gives you a chance to breathe, to see things you might not have seen when all those to-dos are staring you in the face. It can give you a perspective you never had. You could end up with an idea that could transform your business, add an additional income stream or stop a problem in the bud that could cost you thousands in money, time, energy and aggravation.

2. Keeps you from feeling lonely. There’s no question about it — being an entrepreneur can be lonely. Chances are your friends, neighbors and family really don’t “get” what you do to make money, much less what it means to be an entrepreneur — the responsibilities you have and the decisions you need to make. Who do you use for a sounding board? Who do you talk to when something goes wrong — maybe your web site goes down during a crucial launch or your assistant sends the wrong email to the wrong list and causes all sorts of confusion and complications. Your friends and family probably don’t even understand the problem much less be able to give you any sort of help solving it.

But your entrepreneurial friends “get it.” They know EXACTLY what you’re going through because they’re living it too. And it can be such a relief to be surrounded by your “tribe” (not to mention having the opportunity to brainstorm and bounce ideas off of other successful entrepreneurs to see what “pops” for your business.)

3. Gets you in front of people you would never be able to reach any other way. Are there people you’d love to connect with but think they’re so “big” you’ll never get their attention? People like Alex Mandossian or Ali Brown? Well, I can tell you from experience it’s a heck of lot easier to connect with thought leaders at an event then it is to try to get them on the phone or through social networking. (And yes, one of the reasons why I got both of them as a client was I first met them at an event.) Over the years I’ve met nearly all my clients in person, and that has really helped me develop deeper relationships with them. And that doesn’t even count all the joint ventures or other opportunities that have come up because I met great people in person at events.

I really believe one of the reasons why my business started taking off is because I started attending events several years ago. Events can be a great way to boost your business, especially if you know how to approach them. I’ll cover some tips on getting the most out of your event attendance next week.

Categories
Communication Skills

How Communicating With a Lack of Specificity is Sabotaging Results in Your Organization

Article Contributed by Skip Weisman

Communication is a catchall phrase for things that go wrong in companies and relationships. Unfortunately, the concept is too ambiguous to do anything constructive to fix it.

There are seven communication mistakes that lead to mis-understandings, and cause conflicts between co-workers, and bosses and their subordinates, which lead to low morale and toxic work environments.

They are called the “The 7 Deadly Sins of Organizational Leadership Communication.” This article will address the least understood and most common of these leadership communication sins, a “lack of specificity.”

The “Law of Specificity” states, “the level to which communication lacks specificity is the level to which individuals are required to become mind readers, guess and assume. We all know what happens we assumptions are made.

Three of the most common areas for non-specific communication, which will be addressed in this article, are:

  1. Lack of Specific Details
  2. Lack of Specific Direction
  3. Lack of Specific Meaning

Lack of Specific Details

This is one of the most regularly violated. It’s a simple as leaving out dates, times, and locations, etc. when making a request. Even when one believes they are being specific, often times they are not.
A recent client, who has embraced adding specificity to his communication, and has effectively integrated this strategy into his senior leadership team’s culture, sent me this e-mail recently:

“I will be in the office working on two projects Thursday and Friday. I can take a break to speak with you, though. To be specific, can you call me at 11:30am?”

He thought he was being specific. You may, or should notice, that although he was specific regarding the “time” he wanted a tele-coaching session, he forgot that he gave me two days to choose from.
This type of communication happens all the time. Double check your communication for specificity and ask for clarification when you feel you need it.

Lack of Specific Direction

Another client, a CEO, had a habit of moving things off his desk by putting them in his office manager’s in-basket. Because of his position, the office manager assumed that if he was giving her something “it must be important.”

Every time she would immediately stop what she was doing to work on the latest thing he had given her.
This seems like a very proactive assistant getting things done. The challenge is that it was causing stress and frustration for the office manager, as it prevented her from accomplishing her other priorities.

The problem was solved in 30-seconds by asking the CEO if everything he put in her in-box was an urgent priority requiring immediate attention. He said, “no,” that he was just trying to get stuff off his desk.

Moving forward the CEO began putting notes on items identifying the required level of urgency. This allowed the office manager to prioritize and schedule those items around her work without having to assume and mind-read.

Lack of Specific Meaning

A wife recently accused her husband of leaving the front door to their home “open” when he came home from appointments during the day. Her meaning for the word “open,” as it pertained to the front door of the home, and the husband’s meaning were found to be very different.

Upon further discussion it was learned the wife meant the door was not “locked” so as to seal the door to keep the cold winter air from seeping through the weather stripping. The husband’s meaning for an “open” front door was that the latch was not shut and the door was truly open so one could see outside.

Words have different meanings to different people in different contexts. Often times we assume the other person has our same point of reference. That is often not the case, causing misunderstandings and trust to break down.

A lack of specificity is just one of seven communication mistakes organizational leaders are making when interacting with their peers, direct reports and those they answer to such as shareholders and board members.

About the Author

Skip Weisman of Weisman Success Resources, Inc. of Poughkeepsie, NY (www.WeismanSuccessResources.com) works with organizational leaders to improve personnel, productivity and profits by helping them “Create a Champion Organization,” one that communicates effectively and takes action with commitment towards a shared compelling vision. His latest White Paper Report is “The 7 Deadly Sins of Organizational Leadership Communication” available free at www.HowToImproveOrganizationalCommunication.com

Categories
Recommendations

Businesses Make Their Postage Habits More Tech Savvy

Article Contributed by Samantha Morse

In the new world of smart devices, businesses are trying to get on top of the tech world in all facets of their operations. One of the last places consumers and businesses might think of as tech savvy is the mail industry, but they are finally jumping on board as well. FP Mailing Solutions has released Mailone™ which is a mailing, tracking and accounting software that allows businesses to save money.

This new software makes postage meters extra smart and easy to use. It allows all businesses to easily take advantage of significant cost savings every time they place a package on postage scales without needing to do any calculating. It is software that is easy to use for most businesses of all sizes. Kevin A. Pietras, the Director of Marketing for FP Mailing Solutions says, “Software with this kind of performance typically is priced for only the largest mailers, but mailone™ is priced so it can pay for itself in just months, even for small- and mid-sized operations.”

Mailone™ offers percent savings for a multitude of shipping criteria. The process is all electronic eliminating wastes, it also allows for free discounted and delivery confirmation. Commercial-Base Pricing offers discounts up to 9.9 percent on Priority Mail and 5 percent on Express Mail. Detailed reports can be generated in graph or table form, and can reveal new opportunities for savings and efficiencies allowing for even more cost savings that already present. Also, cost figures are easily exported to financial accounting software.

Mailone™ allows for cleaner and easier accounting/documenting. The accounting feature automatically records detailed data on an unlimited number of transactions, accounts and customers. The process is appealing because it can track expenses by department or customer, bill back accounts and automatically add a handling fee if necessary. This makes Mailone™ extremely attractive for businesses that ship a lot of product. It’s only a matter of time before businesses go completely electronic with the release of new innovative products

About the Author

Samantha Morse is a writer and pet lover based in San Diego, California. She writes extensively for an online resource that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs such as phone systems & voip service at Resource Nation.