Author: Pamela Swift

Categories
People & Relationships

Do Good and Do Good for Your Business

Article Contributed by Lisa Cherney

When I was a junior in high school, my life changed forever. My mom was diagnosed with cancer and I was faced with the harsh reality that life is short. Her cancer shaped the way I live my life, even now two decades later.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and last Sunday I walked with my mom – who has been cancer free for 24 years – in the San Diego American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. It’s a noncompetitive walk supporting the American Cancer Society’s unique mission to fight breast cancer on four fronts: research, education, advocacy and service programs.

Getting involved in a cause you believe in is not only good for yourself and the cause – it can also be good for your business. Yes, you can do good, and do good for your business, at the same time.

The key to getting community relations to work for you is to leverage your involvement into positive marketing. Do your customers know you donate time and/or money to those activities? Do you get sales because of your involvement? Are you building your brand and/or awareness of your business because of your donations? If you’re not sure, then consider some of the following activities:

  • Devote a section on your website telling people about your involvement
  • Use your website to help raise money and/or volunteers for the causes you support
  • If there’s an event involved, market your services during it
  • Send out press releases detailing your involvement
  • Have your logo added to the organization’s marketing materials
  • Have the organization link to your website

There are lots of benefits when you and your business become involved in the community, including building credibility for you and your business; building relationship with customers; positive public relations; and general goodwill.

Whatever cause you get involved with, make sure it is coming from the heart. People can sense if you’re not being sincere, so make sure you truly do believe in the cause if you’re going to support it. With any luck, you’ll discover your own win-win-win situation.

About the Author

Lisa Cherney is a Marketing Intuitive and President & Founder of Conscious Marketing™. Lisa has helped thousands of business owners tap into their intuition and market their businesses from the ‘Inside Out’. For 15 years she worked at Fortune 500 companies and top advertising agencies. Lisa tells her story in her co-authored book “Inspiration to Realization,” available at www.ConsciousMarketing.com. Conscious Marketing also offers workshops and coaching. Visit her website for more details or call 887-771-0156.

Categories
Operations

7 Tips for Preparing Your Office for a Move

Article Contributed by James Adam

There is no doubt that moving an entire office can be as time consuming and as stressful as a typical residential move. This is mainly because a business move typically means the business will have to suffer from down time. When a business suffers from down time, that business may lose profits. Many businesses decide to take advantage of professional movers in order to make the move go through smoothly. However, men and women of the office can do a few things in order to make the move more organised and stressful. Staying organised and stress free is a great way to spend less time moving and more time running the business.

1. Empty the Desks

It is important that employees empty all drawers and desktops. Removing all of the items from drawers and desktops can ensure that certain items do not get lost. It also ensures that the desk is not ruined during the move. Once all of the items have been removed, they should be packed into a moving box. You can choose to divide the items and pack them accordingly. You should label all of the boxes. They can be organised by contents, owner, or by where the box is going to go. How you organise the contents of employee desks is up to you.

2. Empty the File Cabinets

You should also make sure that you are able to empty all of your file cabinets. Once they have been emptied, you can pack them into file boxes. Make sure that all of the file boxes have lids. Seal the lids and label them by date and time. You can also have signatures of everyone who is responsible for the files on the box. This raises the security of these documents. In addition, labelling the boxes makes the move easier. Your employees will know where things are and where they need to go.

3. Take Care of Expensive Equipment

It is extremely important that your professional and expensive office equipment is taken care of. For example, all of your electronics, computers, and phone systems should only be disconnected and moved by professionals. You do not want someone to mess up a very important piece of equipment. This is especially the case for your printers and copiers. Make sure that a maintenance representative maintains the equipment. A maintenance representative can make sure that the heads are locked. In addition, the maintenance representative will perform other immobilising techniques so your printers and your copiers do not become damaged during the move.

4. Wrap Paintings, Pictures, and Other Wall Hangings Properly

You may need to wrap all of your paintings and pictures in padding before they are moved. In addition, you should treat canvas items differently. They should be placed in a box in a vertical position. Placing canvas items in such a way makes sure that the frames are not damaged. In addition, smaller items will not damage the canvas.

5. Pack Books Separately

When you are packing a large number of books, you should make sure that all of the books are placed in boxes face down. By placing all of your books flat in their boxes, you are keeping all of the pressure off the bindings of the books. You may also want to consider obtaining special boxes that are designed to keep books safe. The boxes that are designed for books are sturdier than your standard moving box. You need a sturdier box because books are heavier than other office items. In addition, the boxes are smaller than normal moving boxes. This means that you will not be able to pack too many books in one box. This makes things easier to handle while moving.

6. Check All Emergency Systems

Make sure that all smoke detectors, fire alarms, and sprinkler systems are in working order before you move important equipment into the office.

7. Make Sure Your Business Is Not Interrupted

It is important or you to keep all lines of communication open while you are moving your office. You can do this by signing up for a call forwarding service. You can also simply continue your current phone service until the move is complete and all products and services are in working order.

About the Author

This article was written by James Adam who writes for Office Kitten, a UK-based store offering packaging tape and office paper for businesses.

Categories
Online Business

10 Ways to Piss Off Your Readers So They Never Become a Customer

Are you unknowingly writing articles that simply annoy your readers? If you are making the 10 article writing mistakes below, then I’m sorry to tell you – but “YES!” you are.

10 Ways to Make Sure Your Article Readers Do NOT Become Prospects and Customers…

1. Over-promising and under-delivering in terms of content.

If you make an outrageous proposition or a huge promise like (Lose 30 pounds in 30 days) in your article title, then you better make sure you back up your claims. For example, when I wrote the article, “How to Promote Your Book to the Top of the New York Times Best Sellers List,” I showed the exact steps we took to help Dr Mark Hyman achieve that status. Within our article, we shared our case study and provided valuable information for authors.

2. Too many errors.

Whenever I make an occasional grammar mistake (or when I pronounce a word wrong) my GetLinkedInHelp.com business partner Kristina Jaramillo has to correct me. She’ll do it in a lovingly way (as she is my partner in business and in life) – but she has to point it out every time because to her it’s like taking your fingers and making the screeching sound on the blackboard. Do you want your readers to have that kind of response because you simply did not take the time to proofread your articles?

3. Not enough beef.

You really expect me to trust you and buy from you when you are giving me bits and pieces of information. Yes, 200-250 word articles are perfect for your blog as long as you produce highly-valuable, highly-informative content all the time. But if I’m reading your articles on someone else’s blog, website or ezine I need to see that you are the expert and I need you to give me a real reason to go to your website to grab even more information.

4. Hard selling.

If you if you are hard selling within your articles, you instantly lose credibility. Instead of being seen as an expert who truly wants to help others success, you’ll be seen as an advertiser.

Also, trying to sell me within your article is like asking me to marry you on a first date. You have to build and nourish your relationship with me first. Provide rare gems that no one else is offering, then invite me in your bio box to grab a free resource such as a special report, ebook, templates, video etc. And, make sure this free offering provides real value – otherwise you are wasting your time.

5. Writing in gigantic blocks of text.

Big blocks of text are easy to get lost in. They also strain eyes and make reading difficult because it’s hard to scan, let alone read. In fact, a study shows that only 16% of your readers will actually read your article word-by-word. The rest mostly scan.

6. Writing like a robot with no personality.

Readers do not like to read writing without personality. It feels as if you’re reading from a robot! Or even an impersonal “professional” commercial site! Instead, write your articles with style and personality.

This is one of the reasons why I say that you should be writing your own articles instead of hiring a writer. No one can copy your personality. Let your personality shine through and you will create an instant connection with your readers. This connection builds trust and will help you in your cause of getting them onto your list.

7. Crossing the line with your writing.

I want you to write with personality. That doesn’t mean to get profane. It doesn’t mean to insult your audience. It does not mean to talk down to your readers. It doesn’t mean to be a Rush Limbaugh in words!

8. Re-purposing the same story over and over again.

One of my article marketing clients includes the story on how he went from barely making it to the bottom of his driveway to climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in every single one of his articles. These articles are getting put on his blog. They are being used for article submission and in a 30 day auto-responder series. Now, I just want to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to get away from this story.

9. Over-stuffing your articles.

Now, I already talked about not adding enough beef. Here, it’s the complete opposite. Many article marketers are throwing together so many different ideas together – and they’re all over the map. They’re literally confusing and overwhelming readers.
Keep your articles on focal point! If you need help, check out these article templates: http://www.StartWritingArticlesFaster.com

10. Making your articles boring.

The number one rule of writing anything – is to stay away from boring. You need to
add stories. You need to engage readers. And, you need to add psychological triggers.

By avoiding these 10 ways to piss off your article readers you will convert more readers into prospects and customers. Just remember, you need to provide value.

About the Author

Article marketing expert Eric Gruber creates online marketplace opportunities for authors, internet marketers and small business owners who want more website traffic, prospects and profits. Now you can get started with article marketing fast with Eric’s free instant article writing templates that will help you write articles in 30 minutes or less. Grab them now at: http://www.trymyfreearticletemplates.com

Categories
Entrepreneurship

60 Great Books to Spur Your Entrepreneurial Spirit

Article Contributed by OEDB

The selection of books on business seems limitless, but entrepreneurs can pay special attention to those that offer a spark of entrepreneurial spirit. Inspiration, innovation, management, leadership, and more are all addressed in these books. Read on to find an excellent collection for any entrepreneur’s library.

Entrepreneurial Passion

In these books, you’ll learn about the passion behind entrepreneurship.

  1. The Fountainhead: Ayn Rand’s book encourages entrepreneurs to work without asking for permission.
  2. Oh, The Places You’ll Go: Dr. Seuss’ book will remind you to stay positive and focused.
  3. The Little Big Things: Tom Peters explains how you can pursue excellence in your business.
  4. Crush It!: Gary Vaynerchuk explains how to cash in on your passion with this book.
  5. Never Get a “Real” Job: In this book from Scott Gerber, you’ll find out how to ditch the idea of getting a real job.
  6. You Need to Be a Little Crazy: Read this book to understand how to be just crazy enough to grow your business.
  7. Impro: Keith Johnstone discusses how to face the unexpected as an entrepreneur.
  8. Ready, Fire, Aim: Serial entrepreneur Michael Masterson offers important business lessons.
  9. A Whole New Mind: Daniel Pink’s book encourages reinvention for entrepreneurs.
  10. Rework: Rework will inspire you to toss out the old rules of business.
  11. How to Own the World: How to Own the World explains habits and attitudes that can make you successful as an entrepreneur.
  12. Go Big or Go Home: Take Wil Schroter’s approach to business and go big.
  13. The Winning Spirit: Build an excellent network with a winning spirit inspired by Lisa Wicker’s book.

Read more about the entire list of 60 books at OEDB.

Categories
Customer Service

Your Customer’s PIR: Price Investment Ratio

Article Contributed By Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter”

Have you ever really considered how price affects your customer with regard to their perceived benefit? Too often, we use a simplistic approach to determining a price – figure the cost to produce a product or service, tack on some arbitrary percentage, and call it good, right?

Price, though, is consequential in ways we may not initially consider. The price a person pays for something goes a long way in determining the perceived benefit they expect to get from it. The perceived benefit cuts two ways. First, the expectation of service goes up the more a person pays for something. Second, the perception of what they’re gaining also goes up with the amount they pay. The two are not opposites; they work in tandem and in nearly all businesses, this tandem relationship can and does work to your advantage.

Many companies, hopefully including yours, are known for delivering incredible service. This quality service may be what your customers comment upon and why they are willing to refer you to other customers. This level of service comes at a price. One of the things you always should be doing is explaining to and showing your customers how your level of service helps them.

The more you share this type of information with your customers, the more comfortable you become in seeing the value of what you offer. Having confidence in your service allows you to increase your “Price Investment Ratio” (PIR). This all has to do with what you expect customers to pay.

For the customer, the PIR is revealed when you help frame their expectations. To help explain this best, let me refer to what I call the “IBM paradox.” This is the belief people have that although you will pay more for anything you buy from IBM, you will never be fired for using IBM. What this means is there are plenty of companies that sell the exact same items and services as IBM, but at a less expensive price. Although other vendors will be less money, there is a level of safety and confidence in using IBM – so much so that it translates to a premium price that customers will pay.

The “Price Investment Ratio” (PIR) is the amount over the minimum amount a person would have to pay for something. They are willing to pay it to feel confident in what they are buying. You might say the PIR should really be the CP – the “Confidence Premium.”

There are no two ways about it – when you have great service but do not reflect it in your PIR, then you are underselling. If you are underselling, you are not making the profits you could be making.

I can hear some of you at this point thinking, “What if we don’t have a solid sense of how good our customer service really is?” In other words, maybe your company receives very few complaints, but at the same time, you are not sure if your service is at a higher caliber than what your competitors bring to the table.

In order to find out your “Price Investment Ratio” (PIR), you must do a deep dive with your existing customers to get them to tell you what your service means to them. Once you do this, you can then match up what existing customers are telling you with what prospective customers are asking you to do. When you grasp this, you begin to understand what the PIR really should be. How much “investment” is the customer willing to make in going with you instead of your competitor?

As I have often said, in the B2B arena, companies don’t buy anything, they only invest. If your customer can’t see the return on investment, they won’t invest – they won’t pay the price you want to get. When they do see the value, though, then you can feel very confident in charging a price above what your competitors charge. Don’t settle for a lower price when doing so is detrimental to your bottom line.

About the Author
Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” is a sales expert who speaks to thousands each year on how to increase their sales profitability. For more information, to receive a free weekly email sales tip, or to read his Sales Motivation Blog, visit http://www.TheSalesHunter.com. You can also follow him on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and on Facebook