When I ask salespeople to define what a gatekeeper is, I generally hear: ?Someone who keeps out people who will waste the boss`s time.? But gates are two-sided - they open as well as close: a gatekeeper`s job is actually to make sure the boss gets to spend his/her time efficiently. I`ve probably go...

Press reviews are a common and basic feature for surveying the market situtation, your company?s public image and the coverage of your competitor?s business. Only if you are well-informed about theses topics, you can make sound business decisions. But can the traditional press review ? also called p...

How many times have you been asked, "What is your dream job?" Even if you document a dream job on paper, will you be happy every day in that job? Unlikely. Heck, you could work in your dream job for two different companies and end up being happy in one and miserable in the other. It`s not just the r...

Most people allow their cameras to stay in the drawer for most of the year. They may see the light of day during a vacation or some celebration or festivity. If that describes your camera, then it?s OK. You are a ?snapshot? photographer and most images are taken by people like yourself. That?s great...

There are a number of things you can do today to create a successful business. The key to success is founded in adopting a positive attitude and investing your time and effort to take consistent daily actions. Here are some great ways to get started. 1. Take action. Successful business owners ar...

Probably the most misused and abused and disused management tool in history is the performance appraisal. It`s the strangest thing. Ask managers or human resources staff whether they think performance appraisal is an important thing to do, and you`ll find they usually agree. "Of course it is", is th...

The ambush. We have all been there.

You are in the grocery store, pushing your cart around the corner when WHAM! You run into that woman with the big blue eyes. You met her at that local meeting or perhaps some business lunch. Either way, you remember that face. but what is her name? Before you...

The following tips have come from a wide variety of sources; some from other successful businesses we know, some from our Home-Based and Small Business Support Group meetings and some we`ve developed by trial and error.

Some of the ways to get clients are: contact previous employers; mailing...

In the popular 1980?s movie ?Dune,? man learned that by ?folding space? the distance between two points shortened and he could cover those distances faster. Around 1995, we found a substance that could bend time in the business community -- it was called Venture Capital. With enough of it, we could ...

THE MEASUREMENT OF TRAINING: Evaluation is one of the most valuable ? and challenging ? aspects of a training manager?s job. A well-planned and on-target evaluation process can be the tool which separates a superlative training department from a merely satisfactory one. Evaluation can help you deter...

With the growing popularity of podcasting, publishers and marketers around the world are asking themselves how to monetize this content channel and make delivering audio content via RSS profitable. Today, let`s take a look at how publishers can expect to generate podcasting revenues both directly an...

Most small business owners find themselves in a Catch 22 situation because on one hand, they need to increase the customer base, but on the other hand, they cannot hire enough employees to service these new customers. Small business merchant accounts can help the small business owner to over come th...

Now that we are in the 21st century, most companies need to have some form of connectivity or another in order to have their business running well. In another word, network management can be the life line of these companies. Can you imagine Yahoo, Google, and Ebay going down for a few minutes? Milli...

Moving without a job will challenge your identity -- but for some people, it`s the best way to go. Here are some ways to deal with the question. How will you answer the "What do you do?" question? Landlords and bankers want something more solid than, "It`s about being, not doing." And will your self...

In previous articles under "Meaning and Marketing", we have learned about the verb "To Be" and that the name of God is I AM. Stephen Hawkings, the world`s greatest mathematician, and author of several books on science and the Universe, was more or less a bum during his university years in England a...

Well, the time has come to ask you a simple question and really this is for my own personal benefit and I promise not to tell anyone your answer. Do you find yourself reading those long sales letters, which are four to ten pages or more of psycho babble? Oh they start off fine and tell you some thin...

Most employees spend the majority of the day sitting in their workstation, being comfortable should be important. When it comes to proper positioning, sitting correctly and making sure the equipment is at the right height, is most important. Improper positioning can lead to serious problems such as ...

Marketing to women entrepreneurs is not difficult. You just have to follow six easy, but essential, principles. As of 2004, there are an estimated 10.6 million privately-held firms in the U.S. that are 50% or more women-owned, accounting for nearly half (48%) of all privately-held firms. These firms...

Although North Americans were the dominant population on the Internet, that has now changed, and the rest of the world has caught up rapidly. And while English is still the most widely used Internet language, it`s not the language of choice for many, many Internet users. So are YOU ready to communic...

Too many people are trying to start their home businesses with an ordinary employee`s way of thinking. This has become a common reason why not long after sitting down and giving it a fair look into even the most lucrative business opportunity they bump into, they put it away and decide not to take ...

If you hire staff, you know how difficult it is to know from a resume and interview who is the best person for the job. It?s easy enough to establish credentials and even identify ?hard? skills (such as keyboarding speed, mechanical skills etc). However, measuring the ?soft? skills (communication s...

Everyone in business needs information. A business owner only has so much time, so it would be easy to miss industry news that affects them, or even more devastating, they could miss an opportunity to make a profit. You can help. Make a list of your clients to keep at your desk. Also, keep directori...

When considering a job offer, how can you be sure that you?re joining a good company and not a bad company? The worst career decision I made early in my career was leaving one job that wasn?t really going anywhere (it was a good company but the job was boring) to a bad company where the job ended up...

This is a question that you can almost count on being asked at your next interview What the interviewer wants to know is, ?Why are you available?? The answer you give could set the tone for the rest of the interview. For instance, if you were to indicate that you were bored or burned out at your las...

One of the biggest debates in the photography world is whether digital cameras are better or film cameras better? The answer to this question cannot be answered in a simple yes or no. There are several issues which need to be considered while answering this question. To make things simple and with...

As consumers, we don`t really think about the importance of branding. We just seem to go with the flow of brand names that have become synonymous with our daily living. But the impact of a name reinforces the importance of branding when we promote our business. Think about one of the world`s most...

E-mail is becoming the preferred way to receive media releases. Although it can sometimes be harder to get valid e-mail addresses for media contacts, e-mail releases are more likely to be read than faxes and faster than snail mail. Collect e-mail addresses for your preferred media contacts from the ...

When you go through all of the work and trouble to set up your own forum, you don?t want anything to get in the way of its success... especially your forum software. Because of this, it is incredibly important for you to have a good forum software solution that will support your forum just the way y...

What do you call trucks from Mexico which come into the United States and pollute the air and do not comply with air quality or EPA rules for trucks? What do you call a truck from Mexico, which is not mechanically sound and may have many equipment violations including faulty brakes? What do you call...

The average person spends more time in meetings than they?d like to. The average manager spends the majority of their workday in meetings. Given these facts, it isn?t surprising that you can read lots of books, articles and tips about running and managing meetings more effectively. Seldom will yo...

You are if you stand by while your public relations people futz around with communications tactics instead of nailing down those outside audience behaviors that help you reach your objectives. No slap at communications tactics. They come in real handy at the right time, as noted later in this piece....

Do you have your own site? Do you have any banners on your site? Banners are everywhere, the internet is full of them all over the place. So the question is, how do you ad a banner that receives a lot of clicks? - By not placing it with 20 other banners - By adding your banner everywhere you can - B...

Now we turn the corner to our final phase: Re-Discovery. Last year marked the 200th anniversary of the expedition of Lewis & Clark, and much has been written about their remarkable journey up the Missouri River and on to the Pacific. This band of explorers was aptly named The Corps of Discovery. In ...

Make Sure You Understand Your Motivation for Selling Are you thinking about selling your business? This simple one-question quiz will help you to better understand your motivations behind this thought. A better understanding of your underlying motivations will help you make the right decision. Sele...

With the world moving a faster and faster rate every day, it?s very easy to get left behind. Developing efficient time management skills and techniques is the key to success, not only in business, but in all areas of life. Not surprisingly, the art and science of time management is a growing discipl...

Imagination is the unreal, real state of mind, where all things are experienced as real. Imagination is powerful and is an intermediary step between thought and word. Thoughts are experienced in the imagination before they are manifested into physical reality. As important as this step is in the pro...

Everyone has received poor customer service at one time or another. Whether by accident or on purpose, it?s never pleasant and always frustrating. Have you ever wondered what you could do about improving it? Maybe you think there?s nothing that can be done. What we all forget is that the power in...

Delight = Customer Expectation plus 1. This was the simple formula for delighting your customers that Ken Blanchard informed us of in his book ?Raving Fans? For me this is a great formula, but in itself it also raises a number of questions. For example, to deliver a plus one, to exceed something, y...

It?s great to be multi-skilled?be able to type your own correspondence, do your bookkeeping, answer all phone calls, prepare your PowerPoint presentations, organise your own travel, seminars, pick up and send your mail, pack orders, do your own marketing, do all the photocopying, ring your clients a...

If you operate a small business, you may feel that your income potential is quite limited. However, you can increase and diversify your income through international trade. 1. Importing Retail store owners can find additional products to sell from foreign manufacturers, distributors, and other su...

Leaders speak 15 to 20 times daily. You speak at meetings, you speak across their desks, you speak on the phone, you speak in e-mails, you speak at lunch, beside the water cooler, and on elevators, etc. It`s in the interaction of those speaking encounters, multiplied daily, month in and month o...

There dozens of reasons why any one individual might not be successful with his/her network marketing business... or any other business for that matter. Here are a few that I can think of right off the top of my head: NOT TREATING IT LIKE A BUSINESS... Network marketing or MLM is just anoth...

After a thirty (30) second glance lots of resumes get thrown into the wastebasket. One of the reasons this happens is because the resume writer has failed to use the appropriate resume format. Each individual has different work experiences and objectives. You may have gaps in your work history. Yo...

The power of public relations is its ability to alter individual perception, resulting in changed behaviors that lead directly to your organization?s success. Its power really lies in doing something positive about the behaviors of a business, non-profit or association manager?s important outside...

Quite a bit, actually. Public relations helps business, non-profit and association managers achieve their managerial objectives with results like these. New proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; rebounds in showroom visits; customers making repeat purchases; stronger relationships wi...

I`m in the process of moving from one computer to another, and one of the things I really miss so far is a good keystroke macro program. That`s a program, a communication technology, that allows you to trigger long strings of text, including names and email addresses, with just a couple of keystrok...

Working from home can be a most effective way to be more productive! Today`s open plan offices stop many people from getting their work done. The constant noise, phones ringing and colleagues interrupting can drive anyone to distraction! Many people would dramatically boost their productivity if the...

Dear Website Owner, If you have an existing website or domain name you no longer need and wish to sell it to an interested buyer for a one-time profit, or if you?re a speculator looking to build a steady source of revenue by buying and reselling valuable domain names, this helpful guide will expla...

Years ago I read an article by a renowned psychologist wherein he wrote his studies found one percent of all human beings would never lie, cheat or steal. One percent would always lie, cheat or steal and given the right set of circumstances, the rest of us would likely lie, cheat and/or steal. I m...

Moving from one house to another is always a challenge, but it doesn?t have to be a nightmare. Here are some simple tips on how to get it done with minimal stress and strain.

• Look at all the alternatives: hiring a moving company, for example, versus renting a truck and doing it yoursel...