Managers and PR Genius
The real public relations geniuses might be managers. You know, managers who pursue their objectives by reaching, persuading and moving those outside audiences whose behavior most affect their organizations, to actions those managers desire. Their...

Are You An Expert At What You Do?
One of the most common refrains I hear from people is, "I can’t create information products…I’m not an expert!" Yet what is expertise? Many organizations have tried to pin down the exact criteria that make an expert. They talk about university...

Information Products: A Business Owner's Best Friend
We live in a post-industrial age where information is the coin of the realm. Knowledge is the most valuable asset that a business owns. For most businesses, that knowledge exists primarily in the heads of the people who work there. For entrepreneurs...

Wanted: A Dictionary-Perfect Leader
Answers are often before our very eyes or in front of our noses - particularly if we read the American Heritage Dictionary! Explore with me how some of the multitude of definitions for the word "leader" actually serve as a performance standard for...

Juggling The Day With A Deal
Doing deals with sellers is why you went into lease purchasing. Again, using organization and time management is very important here. We find the biggest problem beginners have is that they spend too much time going out to look at property. We teach...

Juggling It All
As we have mentioned in other articles, having a trigger to start your day is very important. One of the major problems with people running businesses from their home is starting the work day. For many of us seasoned home based business owners it's...

Various Aspects Of The Lease Purchase Business
In a previous article, we wrote why we believe that Lease Purchasing is the perfect home-based business, here we want to briefly touch on some of the actual aspects of operating such a business, the pluses and minuses and why Lease Purchasing...

Say It With Humor
When you own a business, you may find yourself in situations that may be a little tricky to handle. Dealing with customers who steal is one of them. A few years back we were faced with the problem of how to handle our free water cups. It seems...

Foolproof Customer Service Strategies (that only a fool would try!)
Ever notice how customer service varies from store to store? You walk into some stores, and before you can say "Buzz off!" a salesperson asks "May I help you?" "No thanks." "May I help you?" asks another. "No thanks." "May I help you?" asks a...

Something "New" For Managers?
A new public relations blueprint could be a good idea if you’re a business, non-profit or association manager who’s not getting the important external audience behaviors you need to achieve your department, division or subsidiary objectives. You...

Nuts and Bolts of Effective Cover Letters
As a job seeker, you shouldn't overlook the importance of a cover letter. If written strategically, a cover letter increases your chances for consideration, and provides an opportunity to highlight your individuality. A cover letter is much more...

It's All About The Customers, Baby
If you want to ensure a steady stream of customers in your business, you must always remember why you're in business in the first place. Sure you want to earn a decent income for yourself, but you also want to provide a useful service don't you?...

The Big Picture: 5 Questions that Can Boost your Business
As business managers, entrepreneurs, and Webmasters, we strive for unobtainable perfection. Why do I say unobtainable? Because when we focus on perfection in one area, we forego attention elsewhere. Limited money and time mean you must choose from...

The Six Most Common Barriers To Sales Success
There are a variety of reasons and excuses behind poor sales lead management because the $10 to $2000 companies spend to generate each business to business inquiry largely go to waste. I call them Barriers To Sales success. Here are six of the most...

What To Do When Your IT Project Is Late, Over Budget, and Looks Like I..
Here’s a scary statistic. According to four prominent research firms, only around 20% of all IT projects are finished in a timely manner. By “timely” the researchers mean without loss of quality or being over budget. They go on to say the average...

Porter's Five Forces Analysis
If you’ve ever listened to Warren Buffett talk about investing, you’ve heard him mention the idea of a company’s moat. The moat is a simple way of describing a company's competitive advantages. Company's with a strong competitive advantage have...

If Your PR Can't Do This, Bag It!
As a business, non-profit or association manager, why continue a public relations effort that doesn’t deliver the key external audience behaviors you need to achieve your department, division or subsidiary objectives? Time for a change. One that...

Hiring A Virtual Assistant Can Help Your Business Grow
In today’s tough economical times it’s hard to think of hiring someone else to assist you, but it may be more cost effective than you think. If you’re spending a large percentage of your day doing “busy work” rather than working on growing your...

Hey, Mr/Ms Manager!
Does it really make sense to bet your PR budget on results like newspaper mentions and zippy brochures while your all-important outside audience behaviors are probably receiving much less attention than they need? I mean, the concern is valid. What...

Prepare to Sell!
Sales is a critical part of any business, including non-profits. Sales is not complicated or difficult, but requires preparation, consistent action and a plan. Before completing any preparatory work in sales, consider asking yourself some tough...

The 11 Best Money Saving Ideas of All Time - Part 2
At any time in history, no matter what the current state of the economy, no matter what the current trends, no matter what the unemployment rate is or where interest rates lurk, some money-saving ideas stay true. Some of you may have heard of these...

Review of Ezine Article Creator V2.0
By now most entrepreneurs realize that the most cost effective method of promoting their business and services is writing and distributing articles to e-zines, newsletters, magazines and web sites. Many people have no idea how to get started with...

Virginia Workers Compensation for the Injured Worker
What to you do in Virginia if you suffer an injury at work? First, you should report even trivial injuries to your employer immediately and make sure a written accident report is filled out and sent to the employer's insurance company. Second, you...

Customer Service and Call Center Outsourcing, What's The Buzz?
The buzz is all about customer service and call center outsourcing, also known as BPO (Business Process Outsourcing). According to Gartner, the outsourcing market in Europe has grown with over 6%, BPO with 10%. The market for offshore outsourcing...

Get Outsiders on Your Side
Especially good advice for business, non-profit and association managers whose job success depends in large part on the behaviors of their key external audiences. I refer to behaviors like inquiries on the increase, new waves of specialized...