Fire Your Inner Brat!

Who runs your business -- you or your inner brat? Everyone has an inner brat. It's the part of us that's still a 2-year-old. It gets furious at the slightest inconvenience. It feels entitled to get what it wants when it wants, and it whines and complains when things don't go its way.

Chances are this describes at least one of your clients or employees. It's always easier to spot someone else's inner brat than your own. But take a moment now to reflect on yourself and answer the following questions:

* Do you frequently complain that something isn't fair?

* Do you frequently forget to follow through on things or return phone calls?

Three Ways To Generate New Business

One of the biggest challenges for small business owners is finding a fast, effective way to bring in new customers. That's because most owners must wear several hats - bookkeeper, technical support representative, human resources manager and marketer. And, of course, owners must provide quality goods or services. Finding the time to market can be especially difficult if you are a one- or two-person operation.

The reality is that spending the time to market is essential to maintaining or growing a business. It helps you avoid one of the biggest pitfalls in small business: relying on a big client or two for the lion's share of your company's revenue.

Two things often happen in this scenario. First, business tend to provide preferential treatment to the older, bigger client rather than to smaller, new client, which may cost some business. Secondly, businesses find themselves in a tenuous position by putting most of their eggs in one basket. If the primary client leaves, the company could be economically devastated.

A healthy company always has new clients coming in the door as well as happy existing clients. You can rely on word of mouth to get those new clients on board, but usually it's not enough. Here are three tips to help you stay on top of marketing efforts.

Preparation is Key

Interviewing for a new job, or a promotion, can be a stressful situation. However, Preparation is the KEY! When preparing for that all important interview, take time to reflect upon your career experiences; and look for at least five good examples of your accomplishments and challenges--we will call them "bragging points".

Make a list of these "bragging points", and then write a short summary about each situation. Become very familiar with these situations and their details, because they will help you identify certain skill sets (i.e. creativity, leadership, motivation, negotiation, etc.) used in these situations.

Top 10 Ways to Turn Clients Into Raving Fans

Do you find great joy in being a coach? If so, you will find that your enthusiasm is contagious and will attract clients. Be sure to develop a superb and supportive community. Enlist them in building a practice and in supporting you as you go down the coaching road. Embrace change. It is your constant companion as you build your coaching business.

1. Be someone that they really enjoy as a person and as a vendor.

7. Do the unexpected, again and again.

Business Attire: 10 Tips to Perfect Your Look

Being appropriately dressed is essential in making good impressions in the business and corporate worlds. A polished image is important in business survival and can be an important factor in career advancement. Periodically, it is a good idea to take a look at your business attire and the image you are presenting. Is it the image you want to project?

1. No matter what your age your business attire should be as professional as possible. Avoid clothes that are the latest fad and choose a more conservative look.

2. Wear clothes that are comfortable, that do not itch, ride up or bind. If your clothes are irritating, having to tug, pull or scratch is not something you will want to do in public. Dress to suit your personality while keeping in mind professional standards. When you feel comfortable you will feel more at ease and will be able to attend to business.

3. Your blouse should fit well. Be sure it is the correct size, is not taut and does not gap.

4. Keep your hemline conservative, about one to two inches above the knee. This length is not only more attractive but a length that suits most women.

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?

Oftentimes, the company is overconfident, and thinks they know what customers want. This myth, because that's what it is, can be upheld as long as the customer is not involved. However, the customer has a strong vote in the buying process, and in the end it will become crystal clear how the customer feels! At that point, of course, it's too late to do anything about it.

Another reason for not asking the customer is fear. From the customer perspective you might not be doing so well as you thought you were. For insecure persons that may come as a blow! In order to protect themselves, some folks just don't want to hear it and simply don't ask. On the other hand, they could be missing out on a whole lot of uplifting comments.

Get real! Would you rather get the customer's votes in your wallet, or in your mailbox?

8 Ways to Earn More Without Working Harder

Conventional wisdom has it that there are only three ways to grow your business: find new customers, increase the amount of each sale to existing customers or get customers to buy more frequently. But I've seen business owners go blank when presented with those three options. So here is a more useful list of ways to increase your total revenues without in most cases having to put in more hours at the office.

1. Charge by the project rather than by the hour. Hourly fees are a death trap for the experienced professional. You get penalized for being able to zoom right in to the nub of the problem and its solution. If you are good at what you do, instead provide customized quotes for each whole project. Most clients prefer this anyhow, so that they know in advance what they will owe you. The exception is when you can't nail down the scope of the project before getting started; in that case alone, revert to hourly fees.

2. Boost your exclusivity and perceived value. If you emphasize that you don't sell to just anyone who shows up at your door, but you have certain criteria for the clients you choose to serve, people become more eager to engage your services. Likewise, if you drive home the value that you provide with testimonials, case studies, client lists and specific results you have achieved in the past, you'll get a greater return from all the marketing you're already doing.

3. Create higher-end, higher-priced programs and options. A photographer friend of mine learned that people enjoy options to select from, and they most like to select the next-to-most-expensive option. So to increase her income from framed family portraits, she simply offered a larger and more expensive frame as the biggest option. Customers were then more likely to choose the second biggest, which cost more than the previous second biggest frame.

The Top Ten Qualities that Allow Business Operations to Grow Easily

My husband and I were enjoying our dinner meal one evening while discussing various plans and ideas. I was sharing that I wanted to submit articles and ads to a huge number of ezines to market my eProgram in a big way, and I wanted his help to make this happen. His response stopped me in my tracks, "Can your systems handle the increased demand?"

I know that my online systems and processes are capable of handling significant transaction volumes daily - but there are still a couple manual processes that are not as smooth as they could be and at times they may not create the very best experience. With the current demand, I can tolerate these manual processes and easily get by, but the additional demand that I expect from my marketing efforts will make these tolerations intolerable very quickly. If I had moved forward without changing and extending my systems first, I would have risked some very important things - my new customers' loyalty and my sanity!

It seems like I am frequently in this push-pull situation. The need to establish the right system setup conflicts with going after the opportunities. With my strategic sense, I can see several steps ahead. I often get really excited about those steps and I'm eager jump ahead before it's time.

I see this as a challenge for both large and small businesses alike. I believe the successful ones plan their operations and implement the correct systems to properly manage the increased demand loads. The key is to take strategic steady steps forward - you need to learn to walk before you run. All businesses need a solid foundation or platform of business operations so they are able to easily handle increased business needs and growth while serving the customers well. This is fundamental. Otherwise, the business owner may easily become overwhelmed.