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I Want My Money Back
No matter what you do, there will come a time when a customer will ask for a refund for some reason or another. Do you give it to them? That depends. If you have an unconditional money back guarantee, there's no question. Refund the money -- no questions asked. What if you have no stated guarante. . .
Investing As A Sport?
I said last week that money doesn't generally buy happiness, but the lack of it can buy absolute misery. This, by the way, is not just my personal observation. It is the conclusion of some of the most respected happiness researchers (Yes, there is such a thing -- read my book.)The trouble is th. . .
Managers: PR More Than Tix and Plugs?
You bet! And in three ways vital to you as a business, non-profit or association manager. To succeed, your public relations effort needs to do something really positive about the behaviors of those outside audiences that most affect your operation. It needs to deliver external stakeholder beha. . .
Insurance Credi Scoring: An Ethical Issue
The issue at hand is the use of a consumer’s credit score as an underwriting tool for auto insurance rates. What is a credit score or FICO score? A FICO score is a credit score developed by Fair Isaac & Co. Credit scoring is a method of determining the likelihood that credit users will pay their . . .
Coaching Tips for Powerful Presentations
Tip #1 The purpose of your speech is to get results; to help people make changes and think or act differently. So start with the end in mind. What do you want people to do as a result of your speech? What do they need to know to do this? What do they need to feel to do this? Tip #2 Show . . .
Advanced Hosting for the Mission Critical Web Presence
As companies that conduct their business online have proliferated, hosting of those websites that provide the primary point of contact for transaction of business has become highly mission critical; having these sites go offline or perform poorly not only loses revenue but also detracts from the . . .
10 Tips To Prevent Credit Card Fraud
Imagine opening your credit card statement one morning and discovering to your horror that you suddenly owe thousands of dollars - on purchases that you never made. Impossible? Credit card fraud on the rise, so you need to treat your card and its information with extreme care. Here are 10 tips to. . .
Save Time and Boost Profits with Free Content
Public domain gives you a head start creating ebooks, ecourses, newsletters, teleconferences, website content and email registration incentives you need to keep in constant touch with clients and prospects.Public domain refers to information free from copyright protection. The two most important . . .
POOF goes your RRIF !
Some time ago I attended a seminar where participants were told to burn some money; a reasonably-sized amount of money. You should have heard the gnawing and gnashing of teeth in that room! Step right up, folks, and light it on fire. Come on now. It’s only money.Some people, likely less adept at . . .
Getting Results from Your Writing & Speaking
When we communicate, we usually want something to happen. We want results. And, when we’re conscious of results, we’re seeking effective communication. To put it another way, the effectiveness of communication can be measured by the responses it gets. It's not measured by how well we wrote or how. . .
Make Sure You Get The Customer Perspective
Businesses that fail, often forget to seek out the customer perspective. I have talked to some folks at businesses that were less than succesful, and when asked if they actively seek out customer comments, the answer invariably is no. Why don't they do that? Why not get the customer perspective? . . .
Business Legacy Less Important Than Comfortable Retirement, Say Business Owners
Half of Canadian entrepreneurs worry about retirement and succession planning, finds study(NC)-About half of Canadian owner-managers say they're concerned about retirement and succession planning, according to a recent study by Grant Thornton LLP. These business leaders say they're most focused o. . .
Steering Your Way To Wealth
(NC)-When it comes to growing your net worth, one of the vehicles capable of moving you along the road to wealth is your investments. A roadmap, in the form of a good financial plan, and 'directions' from a knowledgeable financial adviser, can come in handy, too. "Once someone has decided to inve. . .
Make Your Money Work Year-Round
(NC)-For many Canadians, the only time they are prompted to think of their investments is during the winter months, primarily in response to RSP deadlines. However, investing regularly and putting your cash to work year round, reaps many more benefits including growth through compounding, improve. . .
Covering All The Bases: How to Make Sure Your Newsletters Get Opened and Read
It’s not enough to prepare and distribute a monthly newsletter, one that offers information of genuine value to your market. You also have to make sure your newsletter gets opened and read! Covering letters provide reasons for recipients to open, download and read your newsletter each month.Cover. . .
Book Summary: What Is The Emperor Wearing?
This article is based on the following book:What Is The Emperor Wearing?Truth-Telling In Business RelationshipsButterworth-HeinnemanISBN 0-7506-9872-1217 pagesThis book is inspired by the popular tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. It provides stories of ordinary individuals in the workplace who a. . .
How to Enhance Quality in Your Business
Every business must strive to provide quality products and services to customers. To achieve that objective the company must draw well thought out policies and procedures to ensure 100% achievement of the targets.Here are some tips to ensure that your business attains and enhance quality:Document. . .
Speaking Body Language
I observed an almost surreal event when I was a business student.At the front of the classroom, an entrepreneur was practicing a pitch he would make later to venture capital firms. Specifically, he was talking about a technology his firm had developed, a respirator which had the potential to save. . .
Public Sector Economies in Transition
In the previous article, we described the various methods developed in the West to cope with the ever-burgeoning public sector. Yet, economies in transition everywhere in the world have learned a lesson the hard way: not everything that is Western - necessarily fits their needs. Many Western tec. . .
How Well Do You Speak?
The ability to speak well can enhance your career, clinch a sale, sell a point of view and increase your business productivity. 1.The most important objective of any speaker is to appear credible and knowledgeable about their subject. Speak to your audience as if you were having a conversation.2. . .
The Predicament of the Newly Rich
They are the object of thinly disguised envy. They are the raw materials of vulgar jokes and the targets of popular aggression. They are the Newly Rich. Perhaps they should be dealt with more appropriately within the academic discipline of psychology, but then economics in a branch of psychology.. . .
Let The Market Choose Your Price?
Setting the correct price is hard for any on-line business, and there are plenty courses and manuals dedicated to this delicate subject.You want to have a price that will make you a profit, obviously. But you also want to have happy customers who feel you've charged a "fair" price.The problem is . . .
Top 7 Tips for Speakers
Public Speaking is the number one way to advance your business career. Do you get nervous when speaking to a group? Do you feel butterflies in your stomach? The following tips will help you get your butterflies to fly in formation. 1. Everyone feels some nerves before a presentation. Try . . .
Is My Money Safe? On The Soundness Of Our Banks
Banks are institutions wherein miracles happen regularly. We rarely entrust our money to anyone but ourselves – and our banks. Despite a very chequered history of mismanagement, corruption, false promises and representations, delusions and behavioural inconsistency – banks still succeed. . .
New Book Demystifies How To Protect and Grow Wealth With Ease
Ask investors what their primary financial concern is and most will respond with how to protect and grow their wealth properly. There is an easy solution; the answers are in Optimal Investing: How to Protect and Grow Your Wealth With Asset Allocation (Marshall Rand Publishing; available by callin. . .
Alternative Legal Billing -- Win Win Strategies
In the old days of legal billing, lawyer's invoices — usually a single page of elegant letterhead—contained only the phrase, "legal services rendered," and a hefty dollar amount. No time breakdowns, no list of activities performed or equipment and supplies used—just a final, usually shocking, cha. . .
Managers: Why Not PR Like This?
I mean public relations that presumes from the get-go that the right message, strategy and communications tactics can change perceptions among each of your business, non- profit or association audiences. And do so in a way that produces the behaviors you need to achieve your objectives. It all co. . .
6 Ways Small Businesses Can Survive In A Crazy Economy
Contrary to popular belief, small businesses can survive a crazy economy by taking some proactive steps. 1. Provide spectacular customer service -- every time. Have a friend or colleague visit your business and provide feedback from a customer’s perspective. This person should be unknown by your . . .
The Three Largest Factors In Your Interest Rate
There are three major factors that affect how much you pay for a loan. Understanding these factors can save you time, money and frustration. 1. The Federal Reserve Discount Interest Rate.Banks and other lending institutions borrow money from the Federal Reserve Banks. The discount rate is the in. . .
Business Writing Tip: Question & Answer Format
Traditionally, business writing uses the "one thing after another" format, which usually means a plain recitation of the facts, circumstances, or whatever else needs to be said.But, we have a number of other options, and some of them may provide more responses or better responses. Consider the Q . . .
Economic Free Zones in Macedonia
Question: Dr. Vaknin – is it true that you are the father of the Law of Free Economic Zones? Answer: I participated in the dedicated and professional team, from many ministries and state organs, which prepared the law. The initiative – in collaboration with the delegation of the govern. . .
Alarming Marketing Trend
One key discipline of successful direct marketing has been to test marketing communications tactics to continually improve results. There is now an alarming trend according to a recent survey that we conducted among business-to-business marketers who are readers of Sales Lead Report. Only 24% of . . .
Financial Crises, Global Capital Flows and the International Financial Architecture
The recent upheavals in the world financial markets were quelled by the immediate intervention of both international financial institutions such as the IMF and of domestic ones in the developed countries, such as the Federal Reserve in the USA. The danger seems to have passed, though recent tremo. . .
Retirement is never urgent until...
If you’re like many people, your retirement savings have not been growing consistently over the years. We’re not referring to the wild fluctuations in the stock market, but rather the fluctuations in our short-term needs. Every once in a while, it just seems like a good idea to yank ALL those ret. . .
Retirement or Financial Freedom?
In the past most people never retired. They died. The average life expectancy was much less than it is these days, and there were no financial planners around to help people save up enough to quit work. As recently as the 1960’s, if you did manage to save up enough money to retire, you’d be lucky. . .
Making Transitions
Ever notice how smoothly some speakers or writers move you through their speech or memo? It seems they effortlessly take you from start to finish without making you strain to follow.Yet, while the reading may be effortless, the writing probably took some extra work and attention to detail. In fac. . .
Persuasive Communication
Is all communication persuasive? Sometimes, it seems it is. At the least, we can say much of our communication includes a persuasion component.Consider this article, which takes an editorial rather than an overtly persuasive approach. Yet, the underlying premise is that strategic communication wo. . .
Hidden Traps for Life Partners Who Work Together
You may think that it would be wonderful to be in business with your spouse, but the truth is that when life partners become business partners unspoken assumptions can cause significant problems.Neither couple I describe knows the other couple, but their stories are strikingly similar. Craig and . . .
From An Insider’s View These Items Are A Must Before Making The Decision To Purchase Any Off-The-...
1. What determines the software price? Is it Per Seat or Per User or Per Processor? The cost of software is determined in many ways. The two most popular ways are Per Seat or Per Concurrent User. Per Seat is determined by how many seats in your business will be using the software at any given ti. . .
The Advantages of Credit Cards
There are many evils associated with credit cards, but there are benefits that are hard to ignore. One benefit is having the credit card company act in your behalf to recover funds from a disputed transaction. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act the credit card company has to investigate the disp. . .
How To Survive A Small Business Setback
(NC)-Business ups and downs are a part of an entrepreneur's life. But sometimes the downs can reach the point where they seriously threaten the survival of your business. Many factors can contribute to business difficulties. You may have been outflanked by a competitor, or have been blindsided by. . .
Employers - Protect Yourself from Custody Battles that Hold Your Company Hostage
Child custody? How'd that get to be an employer's concern? When an employee faces child custody litigation, it will effect their ability to do their job. And it often causes legal consequences for their employers as well. Unless you know where to draw the lines regarding your legal obligations an. . .
Focus on a Trade - Not a Discount
Smart buyers will always ask for a better price. Unfortunately, too many sales people and business owners automatically think that reducing their price is the most effective way to respond to this request. However, negotiating is not always about price. Although price is a factor in virtually eve. . .
Is The Traditional Press Review Still A Business Tool Of The Future?
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 calle. . .
10 Mistakes That Reduce Profitability
In my professional experience as a sales and marketing coach/consultant, I've had the opportunity to work with a number of small business owners on various issues related to sales and marketing. The owners who are struggling to keep their businesses afloat tend to engage in some, or all, of the f. . .
Smashing the Myth of the Press Release
A musician spends years honing his craft. He writes world-class songs and performs them in a manner that moves his listeners to tears. He records a demo tape and sends it to record labels. He gets a contract and becomes rich, famous and adored. The lesson: demo tapes are the secret of becoming a . . .
Meditation: Why Just Sitting There Isn't Just Sitting There
Meditation: Why Just Sitting There Isn’t Just Sitting There At first you might not think this is a tool for creativity. Meditation does typically involve sitting quietly by yourself for a period of time. No computers or pens or pads of paper included to record your inspiration. So how can this he. . .
While You're Waiting
Not long ago, I made a partnership pitch, on behalf of an organization I represent, to another organization with similar interests. If the idea had come to fruition, it would have radically changed our organization.So, you can imagine my impatience when I didn't hear back from the person to whom . . .
Winning The Fight Between You And The Clock
"Slaves to the clock" was the cover story in the March issue of CEO magazine."You can never out work a problem, you have to out think it." said A.G. Lafley, Proctor & Gamble's CEO."Too much to do. Too little time. It's a universal problem. From the CEO to the newest hire.We're bombarded with info. . .
Temp Gretta and the Great Seattle Race
They met at the very edge of Queen Anne Hill, in the parking lot of a defunct Safeway store. In the dead of night they gathered, this gang for sly and sneaky temps, to fight for the longest and best temporary employee assignment in Seattle. Make no mistake about it, they would fight to the deat. . .
Costing At No Cost
Cost estimation is always a crucial topic in many industries. For converters, it may be one of the keys to success… or to failure.The estimation comes into play for several reasons: to prepare production budgets, for cost management and to define the prices and to make offers to customers.Here we. . .
Managers: Why PR is SO Key
When outside audiences important to your operation do not understand what you are all about or, worse, harbor misconceptions, inaccuracies, untruths and false assumptions about you, you are likely to suffer negative, key audience behaviors that can prevent you from achieving your operating o. . .
"The Lazy Way To Build A Responsive Opt-In Email List"
If you're in business on the Internet to make a profit, then you're probably aware of how significant a list of prospects is to your success.But what if you don't want to spend countless hours each and every week promoting, writing and managing a continuous email publication?Well, here's a relati. . .
You Can't Do It All Yourself
As the economy improves, so does the outlook for small business. That may mean you'll find way too many things to do and not enough time for you or your staff to complete them. Or maybe you've been solo for a while and have decided your business is growing enough to need help. What do you do? Hir. . .
Lessons In Leadership: What Not To Do... From A Canoe!
When it comes to fishing, my husband takes the lead. But his lack of leadership ability in a recent canoe trip on the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota offered wonderful lessons on how leaders can unknowingly screw up. (1) Assign responsibility without authority. Bill insisted that in order t. . .
Top 5 Reasons To Check Your Credit Report Regularly
#1 Make sure mistakes aren't hurting your credit.Reviewing your credit report can help you avoid costly errors. In one recent study, more than 50% of the credit reports checked contained errors. Other studies have shown similar results with as high as a 70% error rate. The most common error occu. . .
27 Tips For An Effective Presentation
So you’re not a professional speaker. That’s no excuse for NOT giving a professional presentation.You have a great product or service! You’ve put together an awesome presentation with great content!You really know your stuff! You’re an expert! None of this matters if you don’t have public speakin. . .
Should You Be In Business?
To be or not to be an entrenpreneur!Get a mirror, take this quiz, and find out! Your face says a lot about you, so be truthful and answer yes or no.DO YOU HAVE THE "RIGHT" FEATURES TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN BUSINESS?1 - Do you have high cheekbones?2 - Do you have a cleft in your chin? 3 - Do you have . . .
Want to Loosen Uncle Sam's Grip on Your Wallet?
Talking About MoneyWith Jim Larranaga(ARA) - The average person pays more than $6,000 in federal income tax, according to the Congressional Budget Office. If you cringe at sending a big chunk of change like that to Uncle Sam, you may be looking for ways to keep a little more jingle in your pocket. . .
Managerial Malpractice Claims on the Rise
Protect Your Assets and Executives with D&O Insurance (ARA) - When disgruntled shareholders, employees, customers or competitors allege financial mismanagement, discrimination or other wrongful acts, blame often lands at the feet of corporate directors and officers. Claims of managerial malpracti. . .
Why Your Mutual Fund Doesn't Return as Much as You Think
(ARA) - As tax time nears, many mutual fund investors are starting to wince. While most mutual funds' returns were down last year, their tax bill remains high.After years under-performing the S&P 500, the average US stock mutual fund finally beat the index last year. But while the average fund wa. . .
Keep Your Credit History Clean. Remove A Negative Credit Record From Credit Report
The three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union are similar and feature a "Credit Score", which is created from credit report data submitted to them about you. But very often your credit report includes inaccurate, wrong or incomplete information (credit records).In this situati. . .
Retirement: Why Quit for Good, When You Can Quit for the Better?
Talking About MoneyWith Jim Larranaga (ARA) - Only one quarter of Americans age 35 and older have amassed $100,000 or more for retirement, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute's 2000 Retirement Confidence Survey. What's more, the previous year's survey found that 20 percent of "fo. . .
10 Mind Blowing Ways To Increase Your Sales
1. Show your prospects how much enthusiasm you have for your product and business. If you're convincing enough, they will be enthusiastic too.2. End your sales letter or ad copy with a strong closing. It could be a free bonus, a discount price, a benefit reminder, an ordering deadline, etc.3. Ple. . .
True Success In Wood And Water
Let's get right to the point, folks.We're all looking to succeed, in our own individual ways, and we're all looking for nuggets of wisdom to lead our course. We wake up every morning in search of meaningful thoughts that will carry the day. Sometimes optimistic little catch-phrases work; other ti. . .
10 Ways To Gain An Avalanche Of Sales
1. Utilize holidays to increase your visitors or sales. You could give away free electronic greeting cards, hold discounts, send customers holiday cards, etc.2. Become well known by speaking or chatting at seminars. The seminars could be held offline, in a chat room, by telephone or via e-mail.3.. . .
The Dismal Mind - Economics as a Pretension To Science
It is impossible to describe any human action if one does not refer to the meaning the actor sees in the stimulus as well as in the end his response is aiming at. Ludwig von Mises I. INTRODUCTION Storytelling has been with us since the days of campfire and besieging wild animals. It served a num. . .
10 Amplifying Ways To Turn Up Your Sales Volume
1. Make your potential customers forget about the competition. Just tell them to forget with a factual and believable reason why they should.2. Joint venture with your competition if you can't beat them. You could agree to work together and beat the other competition then share the profits.3. Vis. . .
Three Business Lessons From The US Postal Service
There was a buzz in the air recently about the US Postal Service. Seems as though they were running into a budget deficit in the billions. The Postal Service claimed they must cut Saturday service to customers to stay afloat -- a service they had provided for years. And one that customers expecte. . .
Small Businesses - Big Obstacles
Everyone is talking about small businesses. In 1993, when it was allowed, more than 90,000 new firms were registered by individuals. Now, less than three years later, official figures show that only 40,000 of them still pay their dues and present annual financial statements. These firms are calle. . .
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