I went to my barber a few days ago. We talked about his hobby, which is playing poker, and his nephew who is a boxer, and about my job and my kids, etc., etc. I told him where my son, a high school senior, wants to go to college. It is a rather expensive private school in the city where we live. Jerry, my barber, said he knows several people that attend and work at this college, and that he believes it is an excellent school. And then he...more
Today, good credit is the one constant necessity needed to succeed in any endeavor, from starting a new business venture to purchasing a home. Without having established prior good credit and maintaining this status, re-establishing decent credit can be a very difficult task. The need for credit and a good credit history is further enhanced by the internet, considering that a large majority of credit card transactions are conducted on the net, it...more
Ever since I created Unlock The Game, one of the first questions people always ask me is, 'Does Unlock The Game apply to online selling?' I've been holding off on answering that question because I wanted to get enough experience under my belt with my own online business so I could answer this from an authoritative position. My answer is, 'For the most part, yes -- but with some differences.' Those of you who fully understand the philosophy behind Unlock The Game are well aware that the core of everything I teach is based on the elimination of all sales pressure from the selling process. You also know that the single most powerful way of eliminating sales pressure is through authentic language -- in other words, replacing traditional sales language with the most natural dialogue possible, which creates almost instant trust between two strangers. This is exactly where online selling differs from person-to-person 'offline' selling. In selling online, you don't have the opportunity for that natural two-way dialogue. People come to your site and are exposed to a one-way reading of your message, which can feel impersonal. Check it out for yourself. If you look at 9 out of 10...more
Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. But, when it comes to yellow page display ads, you better know who you're imitating and why! A yellow page ad is supposed to do one primary thing: get people to call your business. If it's a really good ad, it should get people to mentally discount competitor ads and favor yours. If a particular...more
According to Pricewaterhouse Coopers, investment by institutional venture capitalists in startups grew from less than $3.0 billion at the beginning of the 1990's to over $106 billion in 2000. Although venture capital volume has retreated significantly since the economic "bubble" years of the late 1990's, the present volume of around $ 19 billion...more
You can meet your goals for your business this year. Consider these resolutions as ten steps to your success in 2005.1. Develop a business plan or strategic plan. You won't get where you're going unless you know where you want to be and let your employees know as well. 2. Constantly Promote Your Business. You can't execute one marketing effort each year and expect your business to grow. Plan marketing efforts quarterly or even monthly and plan time for follow through and tracking of results. 3. Create action plans for each person in your organization. Make sure every employee knows how his or her job relates to the company's overall vision, and that each has individual objectives and goals with measurable standards and timetables. 4. Survey your employees. Sometimes the biggest employee dissatisfactions are the easiest things to fix. Know what changes your employees would like to make in their work lives and do your best to increase their quality of work life (and usually their productivity as well). 5. Survey your customers and suppliers. Maybe the way you are doing business is costing you relationships with suppliers and customers. Know what bugs them and make it easy...more
You have a head spinning with business ideas but you encounter difficulties in financing? Or you have recently started your great potential business but are not yet turning profit? A fundamental aspect for your business, financing is usually the most...more
IntroductionOne of the easiest "things" that can happen in life is the ratcheting up of a large credit card debt. For whatever reason, making purchases with credit cards seems easier than spending cash to obtain a product or service.Maintaining high...more
Almost everything you have ever been told about the world's stock markets is probably wrong. Almost everything you have ever assumed about the world's stock markets is also probably wrong. You probably believe that share prices go up and down due to...more
Any old policy and procedure format saves time by not having to start from scratch, right? Well, not necessarily. Using a weak starting point can hurt employee usability, introduce confusion and user-error, and may not assist in your compliance and...more
Writing a business plan is a daunting task. If you do not know that by now, you will discover that soon after you have read your first set of instructions for writing a plan. While each of these preparations will require much of your time and...more
OUTSOURCING: AN OVERVIEWBusinesses of all kinds can and do benefit from the tool of outsourcing every day. Businesses large and small have been outsourcing every day projects for many years. The businesses that use outsourcing as a tool to enhance...more