Posted by Beverly on
February 27, 2010
Times Are Changing But Are You
Special Guest Post by: Edie Raether
In this rapidly changing economic, political and social environment, you have a choice. You can “hold on” for dear life to what once was and will never return as we have known it, or you can grab onto the one thing that you can control – the reality that lies within you.
You have a choice between two major energies that are polar opposites. One is an attempt to control outside events which is based on fear. The other is based on love and our intimacy, awareness, value and deep connection to life itself.
The Times They Are A Changin—But Are You?
This a time for you to get real! Embrace change and get rid of the illusion that you have full control over your money, your jobs, and your physical security. The fact is that your ultimate control is in how you choose to respond to the challenges of changing times and thus the emotional state you create. If you continue to hold onto the false belief that you can control all that is ”out there,” you will dig a deeper hole of despair and create even more anxiety.
Feeling powerless and helpless is a serious self-imposed emotional state. In their book, Getting Well Again, Stephanie and Dr. Carl Simonton, an oncologist, state that one of the personality traits consistently seen in cancer patients was that of feeling powerless and helpless. Feelings of despair reduce the immune system causing not just cancer but all diseases to have an unfair advantage. The thoughts and feelings you choose dictate not only your emotional well being but your physical health.
Tips to Take Charge of Change:
Don’t push the river. Go with the flow and learn to be a better swimmer.
Choose your battles wisely and look for what you can change. You can’t choose your patients or those you serve but you can change your attitude.
Perspective changes how you look at it. If there isn’t a bonus this year, remember there are millions of Americans that would love to have your job.
Be proactive – not reactive. Be part of the solution and not the problem
Lead the way to change. Stop whining and start winning! Both are contagious.
When Warren Buffet, one of the world’s wealthiest men, was asked what he considered the most important investment in times like these. He answered, “The most important investment you can make is in yourself”
Edie Raether, MS, CSP, is an international speaker, trainer, author and wellness consultant. Visit Edie at www.raether.com or contact her at edie@raether.com
Posted by Beverly on
February 11, 2010
Branding Your Business with Promotional Products
Guest Post by: Jennifer Lee
Branding is one of the most important aspects for any business as it provides you with a winning edge against your competitors. Not only does a personal brand help you to stand out from the rest, it can also increase the loyal customer base of your business. Delivering your message in an effective way, increasing the amount of exposure of your products and establishing your business as a credible source are some of the benefits which you can reap easily with the help of branding.
Some common ways in which business owners use for branding are: creating a website, blog, profiles on social media websites etc. I am going to discuss about the most traditional and effective ways of branding i.e. promotional products. Promotional products imprinted with company logo and contact information are a great way to promote your brand in the market. According to a study conducted by Georgia Southern University on promotional products, recipients receiving promotional products are more likely to recommend a business to others as compared to those who doesn’t received promotional products. The study also revealed that people who receive these promotional products remember the company name for a longer period of time.
If you are currently using or planning to use promotional products as a part of your branding strategy, here are the few tips you should follow while selecting promotional products for your campaign.
Select relevant products – Promotional products always reflect the image of your business, therefore, they should always be relevant to your own products. For example, If your business is related to travel industry then your promotional materials should be related to travel bags or backpacks and if you sell kitchen appliances then you can use knife set and other kitchen related items.
High usability products – Promotional products you give should be of high usability so that your target audience can use them at regular basis. The more they use your products, more they will see your brand name on these products and the more they will keep your brand name in their mind.
Products should be reliable – The opinions of your potential customers may depend on the quality of these promotional products. So make sure that the products you use for your marketing campaigns should be reliable and are of high quality. Sacrificing quality to reduce the cost is not a wise thing to do as people will associate these products with your brand and may form a negative opinion about your company.
Try to be unique – Giving the same promotional products which your competitors are also giving won’t get you the attention you want. Always try to give something unique and innovative so that you can easily stand out from your competitors.
Not easily available- Find out the products which your target audience is desperately looking for and offer them for free. Giving them something which they really need and is not easily available in market is a great way to grab their attention and to build some credibility amongst them.
If you follow these tips you should have a successful promotional and branding campaign.
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Jennifer Lee works for Fortepromo which creates high quality promotional products that help companies to promote their brands in market.
Posted by Beverly on
February 3, 2010
5 Tips To Make Customers Come To You
1. Determine who your customers are and what their needs and wants are. Know how your product or service can satisfy that need or want.
2. Make sure you select the proper medium to carry out your message and choose the proper location within that medium.
3. Direct your message to where your prospects are listening, viewing or reading.
4. Create a forum or place of business that is unique in some way. Make customers feel different and special while doing business with you.
5. Instill and practice the concept of continuous quality improvement and quality customer service as a way of life in your business.
Article courtesy of SCORE
Posted by Beverly on
January 25, 2010
When Social Media Relationships Go Bad…
Guest Post by: Wendy Y Bailey
I’m certain you’ve met people through Facebook, your blog or even Twitter. You connect with a few select friends and followers who are genuine professionals with solid reputations in the world of social media. Even though you’ve never actually met the people in person – you connect, tweet and in some cases, collaborate and partner.
What happens when these relationships go bad? What do you do about it?
When these relationships go bad, remember that people show up in everything they do just as they are. You can see it if you take time to observe, listen and feel what’s real and true. This is a time when patience as a virtue pays big. When people are less than gracious in their interactions, it doesn’t really change over time. Pay attention!
Keep in mind that social media creates a false sense of professionalism. The informality of 140 characters often masks less than favorable character flaws. True professionalism is present no matter what happens in the relationship. Make sure you always maintain an attitude of professionalism even when the other person has a foul or unprofessional attitude. You have a duty to yourself to be the bigger person at all times. It’s those challenging times that truly bring out the best in each of us.
Own your own stuff by acknowledging your contributions to the problem. Yes, you played a role, too! Personal responsibility is huge and the sooner you face it, the better off you can be. Remember, not everyone sees the world through the same lens that you do. Reflect on how you can learn and grow from the experience. Apply these “learnings”
in the future to ensure social media relationship success.
My mother always taught me to choose my friends carefully. Being somewhat of a rebel, I’ve always trusted until something came up that gave me a reason to question the trust. It’s the know-like-trust factor! In that very order, you must invest the time getting to know your Facebook friends and Twitter followers. Take your time getting to know your select friends’ character and strengths. Follow your heart to determine if you truly like the person and your values are aligned. Then – and only then, are you able to trust and continue building the relationship. Then, you’re able to connect, collaborate, partner and definitely entrust your friendships in social media.
What are your thoughts? How do you handle social media relationships gone bad? I’d love to know your comments.
Posted by Beverly on
January 14, 2010
5 Tips on Preparing for Disaster Recovery
In the wake of the happenings in Haiti, this is an important post. As a woman in business, you must be prepared for just about anything because on any given day some type of disaster could strike in your community and create havoc in your business and personal life.
You must recognize that your business can suffer a natural disaster. Small businesses the world over have been affected by disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and fire.
Develop your recovery plan before disaster strikes. Make sure everyone in your company(if you have emplouees)—and your immediate family—is familiar with the plan and knows what steps to take in emergencies.
Have adequate insurance. You’ll need coverage not only for property damage and loss (including inventory), but also for business interruption.
Draw up a list of telephone numbers for all employees if you have any. I would also recommend maintaining a customer list as well. Assign certain employees (or family members) to call others if disaster strikes. That way, you can learn who is all right and who needs help, and you can quickly communicate instructions about your business.
Calling your client base is also a good idea to let them know what has happened—especially if you have projects you’re working on for them or have products to be shipped, etc.
Don’t forget your computer system. Keep backup programs and duplicate records (accounts receivable, client information, and the like) at a different, safe site.
Brought to you, in part, by SCORE, America’s small business mentors, at www.score.org.
Posted by Beverly on
January 2, 2010
Unexercise Works
Special Guest Post by: Wendy Y Bailey
We’re bombarded with so much more in life these days. Business is no different. It’s a far cry from the simpler life my parents experienced more than 40 years ago. Fewer people. Less technology. No information superhighway. Today we marvel at the convenience of plug and play, cell phones and other touch-able devices that make our lives and businesses easier.
For the past seven years, I’ve coached many clients through overwhelm to create stronger systems and processes to support their business. That’s the easy part! Each time, I found a highly beneficial starting place – unexercise.
Unexercise is the act of doing absolutely nothing. I don’t recall where I first heard the term but when I did, it really stuck with me. It’s a fairly simple practice yet most entrepreneurs have a diffult time with unexercise. Why? I think it’s because you’re so accustomed to constant activity. Sounds of a ringing phone, ringing. Email notifications chiming. Tweets chirping. Flashing banners on your computer monitor. Write a blog post. Get on a call. Check your calendar. Get on another call. Whew, it’s no wonder!
Schedule an hour on your calendar for unexercise. For that one hour, do absolutely nothing. No telephone, no tv, no talking, no tweeting, no writing, no reading. Just sit. Let your mind flow freely. Daydream. Let your ideas pour out of you. Unclog your worries.
This will help to rid your brain of the garbage. Eliminate the muddled trivial details. Silence the noise keeping you from being your best self.
If you fall asleep during this time, your body is telling you to rest.
If your mind wanders to new ideas, let it. You’re moving to a highly productive space. How kewl is that?!
My clients love it! Start your unexercise in 5 or 10 minute chunks and grow to the hour. Engage in unexercise once a week and watch your business grow to greater heights. You may also find a way to quiet the activity in your life and gain a stronger sense of focus and purpose for business.
Ready to benefit from unexercise? I’d love to know your comments.
Posted by Beverly on
January 2, 2010
5 Tips to Brand Your Business Online
Special Guest Post By: Christine Banning, SCORE VP of Corporate Relations
1. Protect Your Name. As an entrepreneur, your name is vital to your brand & the identity of your business. Be sure to secure a domain name in your name. For example, www.myname with .com, .net and/or .biz. It’s usually a good idea to register multiple domains in case someone types the wrong extension, that way you can be found. Network Solutions and GoDaddy are two choices to register a domain name.
2. Create a Founder Profile Page. Brand yourself on your Web site. Create a profile about you to build trust with potential clients. Make it easy for visitors to find info about you. Clients and prospects want to know who you are in terms of industry, experience and personality. Personalize your Web site and share info to build a relationship with visitors to your site.
3. Prepare for the Future. Millions of people use mobile devices to connect to their business, when they are out of the office. Make sure your Web site is accessible to these devices and will load quickly and easily. Even if your site is not yet formatted for .mobi, get the name. By registering a domain with a .mobi extension you secure the name for your company.
4. Protect Yourself from Spam. Search bots troll the Web looking for email addresses. This can lead to spam emails to your inbox. Protect your business email box. Use email addresses on your Web site like: contactus@domainname.com, media@mybusiness.com or moreinfo@mybusiness.com.
5. Considering joining LinkedIn or ZoomInfo. These popular, social networking sites give you a free way to post a biographical profile. Be aware: everything you post is public information. You give up some privacy when you post info. The sites can provide connections between people with similar interests. The sites add to search engine results for your name & your company name.
Brought to you by SCORE, America’s small business mentors, at www.score.org.
Posted by Beverly on
January 2, 2010
5 Tips for Marketing Your Website
As a woman in business, you should have a website. A website allows potential customers to learn more about your and your business. Here are some tips on how to market your business through your site:
Think strategically. Your Web site should be a part of your overall marketing plan.
Choose a Web site address (URL) that’s intuitive and easy to remember. Your company’s name (if it’s short) or the name of your main product might work well.
Put your Web address on all your printed material, including business cards, letterhead, press releases and invoices. Include it in all your advertising.
Don’t forget offline media and traditional publicity techniques. Send news releases promoting your site to newspapers, broadcasters, and magazines.
Speak at conferences and trade shows, and write informative articles for trade publications. When you do, mention your Web address.
Brought to you by SCORE, America’s small business mentors, at www.score.org.
Posted by Beverly on
December 27, 2009
Stress Busting Tips
Special Guest Post by: Annmarie Kelly
Are you juggling work, caregiving and the holidays and feeling the holiday stress? Me too!
I don’t know about how it’s been at your workplace, but these past few months have been exceptionally busy for me! On the business side, I presented at women’s leadership conferences in Philadelphia PA and Asheville NC. I also facilitated several corporate and public workshops on communication, management and leadership skills for women. The conferences and classes were great!
At the same time, however, in October and November my mom was in and out of the hospital and skilled nursing care. Every working woman knows what it’s like to juggle caregiving with work. The stress can feel overwhelming.
Happily, my mom is back to independent living – with the help of home nursing and me. However, her illness reminded me of two self-care tips and, for all you caregivers, I’m sharing them with you this holiday season.
Here’s the first one: Watch Out for Overcare
One Sunday in November, somewhere between presenting at a Saturday conference and picking my mother up for a family party, I got a “nervous stomach”. It took a full day before I realized what the problem was. Yes, I was in overcare. In spite of all the seminars and workshops I’ve given on overcare and how it happens, I fell into it anyway.
Overcare happens to any of us when we upset the balance between our own self-care and caring for others. It happens because we put our own care on the back burner while being busy taking care of parents, or children, or both. Overcare also happens during certain times or events, like getting ready for the holidays. The result? We run down, maybe get ill, and then miss work or a special event.
Once I realized I was “in it” I started rebalancing. For me, breaking the cycle meant blocking off thirty minutes a few times a week for exercise and prioritizing that time. Also, I restarted my vitamin regime and made appointments with a chiropractor. Small things but they are making a big difference.
Here’s the second: Remember the Moments
For most of us, time zips by, one day into the next. And during the busiest moments, like Christmas and the holidays, we get so caught up in what we’re doing that we often forget to just stop and enjoy the moment.
That’s what I realized during one of the all-night ER stays with my mom. The two of us were laughing about how all the medical staff kept saying she didn’t look her age. Then, all of a sudden, she became very wistful about her ninety years and said, “It went so fast” Her words startled me. Later I thought, “How could that be? How could that many years seem ’so fast’?” But then I thought about how long I’ve known my spouse, Joseph – nearly twenty-five years. It doesn’t seem so long ago that I wondered if I’d ever meet someone I’d want to marry…and now it’s nearly a quarter of a century ago. How did that happen? It went so fast.
In recent talks with my mother, I’ve realized that what really stands out in our memory isn’t a “big” event. What makes up the best part of our lives are the little moments. When we are alone, it’s the memories of our moments that come back to us. It’s up to us if those memory-moments warm and comfort us, or make us feel sad.
So here’s the thing I’m urging you to do, starting today. STOP and pay attention to what’s happening around you. Make a point to take a mental picture of something, like a special look someone gives you or an intimate moment with a loved one. And also internally record your child’s laugh or a kind word someone says that touches your heart. Jot it down in your journal too. Don’t have time to journal? Then when you email a friend about something special that happened, make a copy and file it – it can substitute for that journal entry you might not make time to write. Bottom line: Do something to help your mind remember your best moments.
© 2009 Annmarie Kelly. All rights reserved.
Annmarie Kelly, Victory Strategist, speaks to Women Leaders at corporate and association meetings about how to face challenges, strategize their way to success and live victoriously. She is the author of Victorious Woman! Shaping Life’s Challenges into Personal Victories (Optimal Living Press 2005). Victorious Woman! features stories of everyday women who overcame overwhelming odds to achieve personal victories. To learn more, go to www.victoriouswoman.com or email Annmarie at info@victoriouswoman.com
Posted by Beverly on
December 27, 2009
Never Let Fear and Depression Control You
Special Guest Post by: Stanley Popovich
When your fears and depression have the best of you, it is easy to feel that things will not get any better. This is not true. There is much help available in today’s society and the best way to deal with your fears is to find effective ways to overcome them. As a result, here are some techniques a person can use to help manage their fears and anxieties.
Challenge your negative thinking with positive statements and realistic thinking. When encountering thoughts that make you feel fearful or depressed, challenge those thoughts by asking yourself questions that will maintain objectivity and common sense. For example, you’re afraid that if you do not get that job promotion then you will be stuck at your job forever. This depresses you, however your thinking in this situation is unrealistic. The fact of the matter is that there all are kinds of jobs available and just because you don’t get this job promotion doesn’t mean that you will never get one. In addition, people change jobs all the time, and you always have that option of going elsewhere if you are unhappy at your present location.
Some people get depressed and have a difficult time getting out of bed in the mornings. When this happens, a person should take a deep breath and try to find something to do to get their mind off of the problem. A person could take a walk, listen to some music, read the newspaper or do an activity that will give them a fresh perspective on things. Doing something will get your mind off of the problem and give you confidence to do other things.
Be smart in how you deal with your fears and anxieties. Do not try to tackle everything all at once. When facing a current or upcoming task that overwhelms you with a lot of anxiety, break the task into a series of smaller steps. Completing these smaller tasks one at a time will make the stress more manageable and increases your chances of success.
Take advantage of the help that is available around you. If possible, talk to a professional who can help you manage your fears and anxieties. They will be able to provide you with additional advice and insights on how to deal with your current problem. Eventually, you will find the answers you are looking for.
BIOGRAPHY:
Stan Popovich is the author of “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non Resistant Methods” – an easy to read book that presents a general overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties. For additional information go to: http://www.managingfear.com
Posted by Beverly on
December 12, 2009
Target Your Customers: Ready, Aim in 4 Precise Steps
Special Guest Post by: Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
Looking for more business? Marketing and PR expert Gary Purece gave me some advice that can help you as well. He told me that successful marketing means that you identify prospective clients and position yourself in the market so that they choose you over your competition. When I sit down with clients who want to position their marketing, I seek the answers to these four basic questions:
1. Who Is Your Potential Client? Who wants to buy or could be stimulated to want to buy? Who is in a position to buy what you sell? What geographical and financial factors affect this ability?
A good way to identify future clients is to listen — really listen — to those you have now. Their comments, especially negative ones, will help you tailor both your product and your approach to other prospects.
2. Why Will They Want To Buy? What emotional and physical factors will influence them? I just worked with an East Coast psychiatrist who ran a practice with ten other psychiatrists and wanted to position herself. Our conversations quickly disclosed that her community was predominantly upwardly mobile professionals. Many of the women had delayed having children. Due to fertility drugs, a high percentage of families had twins, triplets or more. We decided to focus her practice on these kinds of families. Hers was the first practice in the area to do that.
How did we do this? First, we realized her potential audience was geographical, that is, in her community rather than regional, national or international. These prospects also had distinctive demographics. By appealing to a unique aspect, we hit on her core group. She is now hugely successful in her practice.
3. What Angle Should You Take? How is your product or service unique? Why is it perfect for your target audience? How is it different from everyone else’s? How will it fulfill your core group’s needs in a way that no one else can?
This is positioning you in the market. (Remember how Avis advertised: “We try harder”) For example, when other advertising consultants do presentations, they talk about budgets, print versus TV, soft versus hard sell. I position myself by emphasizing that you start by targeting your audience, positioning your product and creating distinctive selling propositions. Lots of mom-and-pop businesses, confronted by super stores, cannot compete or even survive unless they find a unique niche to fill.
4. How Are You Going To Sell It? We all know people with great ideas, products and inventions. They spend a fortune developing this product, but it sits there because they have no idea what to do with it. Is there a system in place to put your product in customers’ hands and return their money to you? Or do you need to create one?
Market to your core group, and position yourself among the competition. That is million-dollar marketing.
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Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE, is a sales presentation skills trainer, keynote speaker and executive speech coach. She is the co-author of Speaker’s EDGE: Secrets and Strategies for Connecting with Any Audience and past president of the National Speakers Association. pfripp@ix.netcom.com“>pfripp@ix.netcom.com – 415-753-6556 — www.fripp.com
