business articles

Need a New Idea? Try Changing Your Perspective

One definition of creativity states that creative people look at the same thing everyone else does, yet they see something no one else does.

But even creative people (which includes all of you, of course) can run into roadblocks every now and then. Sometimes it's not possible to see something different. Sometimes you've just been staring at a problem for so long it's now impossible to look at it in any other way.

So what do you do in these situations?

Why not try changing your perspective?

Consider this: A friend of mind who does needlepoint has a design that's mostly black. Rather than simply stitching the design on white canvas with black thread, she's using a black canvas and is stitching the negative aspects of the design instead of the positive.

She changed the way she viewed the problem. And now she has a really cool-looking needlepoint design that's different from most other ones out there.

Or what about this: An art teacher has her students turn a photograph or object upside down and paint what they see -- not a picture but an arrangement of shapes.

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Posted by Angie at 11:48 PM | TrackBack

Keep Business Reports Brief

The point of a business report is to communicate information, or an opinion, and sometimes to persuade or convince. To do this effectively the two keywords are brevity and clarity.

When you read some reports you wonder what they are trying to achieve. They are too long, too verbose, and too vague. When you get to the end you wonder what was the point of it.

Don't say in a hundred words what you can say in ten. It does not impress in a business environment. You are not trying to win literary prizes. You are trying to transfer information from one person to another. Don't use flowery phrases when you can spell it out with short and simple words.

Don't use jargon when it is not universally understood. Don't use acronyms without an explanation. Explain all specialist terms and abbreviations. Use footnotes or an appendix if this helps to prevent breaking up the flow.

Don't assume pre-existing knowledge in the reader unless you are certain of it. Don't assume that he hold the same initial opinions as you if your report builds upon them. If everything you say flows logically from an initial assumption, you need to establish the truth of that first.

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Posted by Angie at 11:10 AM | TrackBack

A Guide to Getting Started in Corporate Philanthropy

Business guru Charles Handy, writing in Harvard Business Review, summarized the value of philanthropic businesses by saying, “A good business is a community with a purpose.” Here are six steps to setting up a corporate philanthropy program:

Step One: Values audit. Start from your values base. Most corporations begin with an audit or evaluation of their values, bringing together leadership and representation from the staff to identify and articulate the company’s ethos and how it relates to the company’s mission and values.

What does your company care about: kids, shelter, domestic violence? For example, Polaroid created a foundation, managed by a committee of employees, to increase self-sufficiency among the disadvantaged by building their business skills with computers, literacy and business comportment.

Step Two: Engage directly. Increasingly, employees look for ways to have an intense, short-term project. For example, Volunteers of America has found over the past five years that corporations often prefer an all-day or weekend-long group project, such as painting a women’s shelter to the longer-term individual commitments such as being a big sister.

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Posted by Angie at 01:23 AM | TrackBack

How to Get Your Business Featured on Oprah

Chicago--In 1998 Robert Smith sent a letter to The Oprah Show on behalf of a client. A few days went by and then a few months and Robert never heard from the show. Then one day by accident Robert saw a show based on the volume of mail Oprah receives.

" It was crazy. She gets like 20,000 letters a week. I thought I was being smooth when I put my letter in a bright red envelope. Boy, was I wrong. There were hundreds of red envelopes," beams Smith, 30 year old president of Robert Smith & Associates PR in Rockton, IL. robertsmith.citymax.com

Smith says, "If you’ve ever thought about reaching a worldwide audience and promoting your business on Oprah, now is the time."

You might be thinking why would Oprah talk to me since I’m not a famous celebrity or I haven’t done anything important.

The Oprah Show has 48 producers who need a constant flow of guests. You can write to the show at Harpo Productions PO Box 909715 Chicago, IL 60690.

A much faster way to contact the show is to go to www.oprah.com and about half way down her site is a link that says, Share Your Story/Be on the Show.”

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Posted by Angie at 05:31 PM | TrackBack

Street Fairs Are A Great Way to Raise Funds For Your Community

Every town and city can run street fairs and support their community through a grant or grants to non-profit organizations striving to improve quality of life for its community, or plant trees, improve parks, etc. Proceeds from the "renting" of booth space in the street can fund these programs.

The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce (MCC) has been helping over 130 nonprofit organizations for 10 years through the running of the 2nd Ave. & 3rd Ave. Street Fairs. Through its affiliate, The MCC Community Benefit Fund, MCC has contributed $1 million from 1992 to 2004, to not-for-profit community-based organizations for programs which help improve quality of life ranging from health and welfare to educational and cultural enrichment, homeless, elderly programs, etc. In addition, another $1.0 million has been raised through the CBF raffle ticket program run through the fairs increasing MCC's total contribution to $2.0 million since 1992.

These street fairs consist of one mile of great food, shopping and entertainment from 66th to 86th Streets with over one million people attending each year. This provides a unique way for New Yorkers to gain access to more than 1000 businesses and non-profits located on these blocks. The purpose of these events is to improve the local economy and to build a better community by raising money and distributing it to non-profit neighborhood groups. There are over 800 booths and entertainment stages. Each booth is actually a 10x10' space on the street from the curb out. Participants "rent" the space. Many of the "renters" are shops and restaurants on the street as well as crafters, antique vendors, etc. Local radio stations and publications take over the stages and line up children's programming, jazz, rock and roll, etc. Non-profit organizations wishing to get more visibility for their programs are offered free spaces. So it is a great mix of shopping, entertainment and community outreach!

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Posted by Angie at 05:53 PM | TrackBack

Six Reasons to Give

If you run a business, you undoubtedly feel many pressures on your time and money. Why would you want to add "giving to the community" to your "to do" list? Here are six reasons .....

1. It feels good. Making contributions to the community is personally rewarding. Our values are important to us - from helping kids to supporting neighborhood cleanup efforts. Charitable contributions enable us to support these values.

2. It's tradition. Local businesses traditionally have been principal supporters of many community organizations that do good work. Without the support of the local business community, many programs that serve your neediest residents would not exist.

3. It builds company morale. Contributing to organizations that are important to employees enables business owners to promote a more positive work environment and build shared pride in the company's role in the community. Providing opportunities for employees to contribute, whether financially or volunteering time, improves morale and helps reduce turnover.

4. It's good for business. Support for local causes is a good way for a business to develop a positive image, reinforce relationships with customers, and develop closer relationships with community leaders and officials.

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Posted by Angie at 05:15 PM | TrackBack

Top 3 Presentation Disasters of 2004

During the year we've seen some great examples from celebrities of presentation Do's and Don'ts. On the Do -side we've seen how an actor, former body builder, named Arnold, can morph into a Governor through demonstrating both charisma and confidence. We've also seen some really terrible demonstrations of behaviors that we wouldn't be caught dead doing in public.

As Shakespeare said “All the world’s a stage”. I’ll go ahead and take it a step further and say that all the world is a presentation. How we present ourselves in the world is how we are judged. All we have to do is go off course, or off key, just once and that is what people remember.

There’s some life and business lessons we can learn from these celebrities disasters and mistakes.


1. Janet Jackson’s Wardrobe Malfunction

What were you thinking, Janet?

Janet Jackson says it was all her fault that the costume reveal at the end of the number was only supposed to reveal a red lace garment under the bodice. "The decision to have a costume reveal at the end of my halftime show performance was made after final rehearsals," the statement, which is on the MTV Web site. "MTV was completely unaware of it. It was not my intention that it go as far as it did."

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Posted by Angie at 12:50 PM | TrackBack

Use Collaborative Approach - and Get Leveraged Earnings

By helping others to grow their business you ensure growth of your own business. I have seen this theory work even while dealing with competitors. This confirms one of the golden rules - you get what you give to others.

I have been involved in building and running factories to generate profit and credibility - right from constructing foundations for machines and buildings up to the point of developing customers and retaining them. In the process I have had to deal with many agencies - suppliers, customers, consultants, government officials, licensing firms and many others.

Whenever I negotiate a deal with these agencies, I always have two considerations at the back of my mind. One of them is cost reduction and the other one is the prospect of entering into long-term relationship. It is often possible to resort to arm-twisting to get a deal which appears better for you. But there is a better approach - the collaborative approach.

Collaborative Approach - Let us take the case of a supplier or a vendor. While it is possible to force a deal in your favor, collaborative approach makes that unnecessary. In this approach you actually work with the vendor as a consultant to help him to reduce his cost of sale, and then get the savings passed on to you. This creates a win-win situation, good relationship develops and long-term source of supply is ensured.

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Posted by Angie at 10:08 PM | TrackBack

7 Reasons to Host Teleseminars and Teleclasses

Entrepreneurs, Authors, Coaches, Trainers and all sorts of experts the world-over are quickly learning the value of incorporating Teleseminars and Teleclasses as a method to reach - and have a positive impact upon - current and prospective clients. You can increase your effectiveness - and your bottom line - immediately by utilizing this format for the delivery of information.

1. Reach a worldwide audience with your message instantly. Stretch beyond where you can fly, drive, or take the train on a moment's notice.

2. Perfect your public speaking skills from your home office (or current workspace). No need to invest in new clothes, no need to go anywhere.

3. Be seen as an expert and increase your name recognition. Participants in teleseminars and teleclasses have a tendency to be action oriented, interested and change-making people - excellent word-of-mouth-spreaders.

4. Test the market-place to see if a particular subject matter would be of interest with minimal time, financial and energetic investment.

5. Create another income stream without creating any new content: instead, simply recycle previously written material delivered here in a new format.

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Posted by Angie at 10:52 AM | TrackBack

Does Becoming a Published Author Enhance a Business?

There is a boom occurring lately, especially in the online world. More and more business people are authoring their own print book and e-books. These materials can run the gamut from information books to personal life stories, as well as coaching materials, and life skills training manuals.

With so many doing this, it would seem apparent that this is a great way to escalate a business to the next level. After all, if a person can set themselves up as an expert by publishing materials on certain subjects, others will obviously buy more, and revenue will skyrocket, right? This is not necessarily so.

While it is an advantage in some instances, it can be a disadvantage in other instances. There are parameters that need to be followed for successful publication, and there are certain requirements that must be met for successful publication.

The advantages of authoring and publishing are as follows:

1. An individual can set themselves up as an expert in a specific field of interest, thus enhancing sales and trust with clients and customers. If a publication is effective enough, and the marketing done well enough, massive exposure will occur, and an individual can fast become a "semi-celebrity" in their chosen field.

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Posted by Angie at 10:10 PM | TrackBack

10 Things To Do When Business Slows Down Over The Holidays

I'm sure you've seen it happen every year: your business slows down during predictable times, like the summer vacation months or year-end holidays. For the self-employed who rely upon steady cash flow, this can be a disconcerting time. Should you just take a vacation until things naturally pick up again? Or should you try to find the needle-in-the-haystack business that might be out there during slow times?

This year, vow to be different! Instead of languishing in no-business-never-land, get off your butt and do something to build the foundation of your business so that natural business cycles don't affect you too deeply:

1. Clean your office. Go through all the piles of papers and magazines that have been sitting around and get rid of them once and for all. Remember the office organizing mantra: do it, ditch it or delegate it. File all your papers, dust and vacuum your office. Reorganize your desk and your office so that you can find everything you need in 60 seconds or less.

2. Take a mini-vacation from work. Walk away from your office and enjoy a day or two of renewal and relaxation. Go to a day spa. Take a weekend retreat. Go for a walk in the local park. Breathe.

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Posted by Angie at 07:38 PM | TrackBack

Secret of Strategy - Part 1

A step-by-step guide to creating a growth strategy based on your current situation and future possibilities.

I’ll bet you think you already have a strategy.

And well you may, but strategy as a concept is just like love: much used and little understood. Many businesses (and that includes small entrepreneurs, large corporations, non-profits, community organizations, governments, NGOs…the works) neither know what strategy really is, nor how to get one.

And even if you do, in fact, have a strategy—is it the right one? The best one? This is so important—marketing guru Jay Abraham says—and I agree—a superior strategy badly executed will beat a bad strategy well executed, any day.

It’s easy to say, “This is big company stuff. We know what we need—why should we do all the extra work.” While a “strategy-less” group of marketing tactics may work well and produce good results, is it taking your business in the best direction? You may be making money, but are you making the most money possible? Could another suite of tactics implementing a superior strategy produce far better results?

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Posted by Angie at 09:22 PM | TrackBack

The 7 Principles of Business Integrity

If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters. - Alan K. Simpson


If I were to ask you which attribute is the most influential in regard to the success of a business, would you know immediately which one is the most important? Based on my many years as a business owner and entrepreneur, I have discovered that at the very top of the list is the distinguishing quality of integrity. Without integrity at the helm of a company, a business is usually short-lived. In fact, when business integrity is present throughout the deepest layers of a company and not just at its surface, it becomes the heart and soul of the company’s culture and can mean the difference between a company that succeeds and a company that falters.


The Internet’s Immeasurable Impact on the Marketplace!

The importance of integrity has always existed among the business community, but in recent times has been shown as falling short. It is the Internet’s immeasurable impact on the global marketplace that is now making the expression of integrity, reliability and credibility extremely important. Furthermore, the consequence of global competition means that customers will simply not consider a company that shows any less than the highest level of integrity. Since there is a wealth of competitive companies easily available and accessible via the Internet, there is in fact no need to accept anything less than the best.

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Posted by Angie at 05:54 PM | TrackBack

3 High-Impact Publicity Ideas

Every business needs to get the word out about the basics of who they are, what they do and why they are special. Well-crafted, focused messages about how a prospect can use your services or products are critical marketing tools for thousands of online entrepreneurs. Why? Because both prospects and reporters need a clear understanding of how you can benefit them.

As a business owner, you can attract a substantial and continuous flow of publicity and referrals quicker than ever before- just because you know what to say and how to say it. When you know your main points, you get results faster from all your promotional methods.

The three ideas below will help you figure out exactly what to say:


1. Shop Yourself

Get into your prospect's head by role-playing. Interview yourself from your customer's point of view. Write down the questions that you imagine your customer would ask.

Answering the question "What's in it for me?" from your customer's point of view is a guaranteed `cut through the clutter' way to figure out what to say in your promotional materials.

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Posted by Angie at 01:36 AM | TrackBack

Design Your Business The Way You Want

Whether you're starting a new business or developing an existing one, if you want to build it up, first you need to design it. This design should not only attract success but 'fit' for you personally. Instead of moulding yourself to fit your business and conform to a particular way of doing business, you can design your business so that it is unique to you.

If you think you can't design your business the way you want it to be, it's possible that conventional thinking and some of your ingrained beliefs are getting in the way. Most things are possible. You just need to shift your thinking out of the box and look for possibilities. Force-fitting yourself into how you think your business 'should' be will often result in discomfort. It's like being a square peg in a round hole. Instead, design your business to be unique and personalised to you so that it enhances your life, instead of torturing you.

Too many people go into business for themselves and then find that somewhere down the road they've lost a big part of themselves to their business. The reason may be the long hours they're working or they feel stuck and frustrated by how the business has turned out. Whatever stage you're at with your business you can choose to design it the way you want. On a blank canvas, lay out the foundations, the structures and the finished result.

A key to designing your business is to get in touch with your authentic self, focusing internally and trusting yourself, then identify what you truly want from your business. When you've got it designed, you'll be ready to take the steps towards making your business as you see it. You'll need to go to work on your business, not just be working in it, to fulfil this design. Working on your business means you must stop regularly, take a couple of steps back and look at the whole of your business objectively. This gives you an opportunity to assess, evaluate and identify new improvements, possibilities and ideas.

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Posted by Angie at 01:03 AM | TrackBack

Catch More Clients Using Strategic Networking

Is networking helping you bring in the new clients you want? If you are like most independent professionals and small business owners, you put hard work into getting your name out there and distribute your business card wherever you go. You may even attend a weekly or monthly networking group or occasional business conference where people share leads. And like most people, your time and effort isn't generating a steady stream of new business.

The problem is that most people think that networking consists of telling as many people as possible what they do, and handing out as many business cards as they can. They waste the few precious moments they have with new and existing contacts by focusing on themselves.

Its possible to meet someone in the airport, hand them your card after a brief conversation, and have them call you to request your services, but this random approach is like playing the lottery. You can't count on it to produce results. It is a Push and Pray technique: you push your information out to others and pray that they respond.

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Posted by Angie at 11:49 AM | TrackBack

Brief Experiences on How I Started Making Money Online

I started selling different products as a mail order business in 1996, however, a month later, after buying a computer and discovering the Internet I decided to open an online store. Very soon I found out that selling books and information online in general was a hit and also a very convenient way for an extra income home business, considering that my personal life had very little money, little space, a lot of work and a family to support. Therefore I registered a domain name, I sign up for an Internet connection and then finally opened my bookstore named QualityBooks.com.

Setting up the store at the beginning was very hard, I had to design my own pages, plan and put in action my own marketing strategy, take orders, ship the books, and do by myself whatever else came up.

At first, I only had a few books for sale (approximately 20), after two months there were absolutely no orders, I even sent out a catalog by mail to possible clients with zero response. I was completely frustrated and seriously considering doing something else. I decide then to sign up for a book drop ship dealer program with the idea to increase the number of products to offer and consequently the chances of sales, and also started advertising at the pay per click search engines. That is when orders finally started coming in. But don't think that there were many, only two or three per week. However this was only what I needed in order to keep working on this project.

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Posted by Angie at 12:23 PM | TrackBack

10 Ways to Develop a Great Business (Or Any Other) Strategy

As you may know, in management there are 3 main levels: strategic-, middle-, and first line management. Strategic management is the top level of an organization. Therefore, strategic management does strategic planning. Sounds logical so far? Good! Now, strategic planning pertains to the company ’s performance over the next 5 or 10 years: long term, in other words.

It may be best to start out by trying to explain what a strategy is in simple terms: If you are now at point A, and you want to go to point B, then the road you choose to go from A to B is your strategy.

A ---strategy---> B

But just like everything else in management, strategies are also things that non-managers deal with all the time. After all, we are always deciding how we will go from one point in our life to the next, isn’t it? Well, those are all strategies. We just don’t call them that.

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Posted by Angie at 04:26 PM | TrackBack

Understanding Your Importance To Your Corporate Team

Fostering teamwork is a top priority for many leaders, according to Suzanne Willis Zoglio, Ph.D., the author of Teams At Work: 7 Keys to Success, The Participative Leader. There are obvious benefits: increased productivity, improved customer service, more flexible systems and employee empowerment.

A team is a group of people working towards a common goal. Generally, the objectives that a team sets out to accomplish can't be effectively achieved by individuals. Think of it this way: TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More.

Within a business, every employee serves as a crucial member of the company's team. No matter where you are on the corporate ladder, you add intrinsic value to your organization through your strengths, talents, gifts and other assets.

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Posted by Angie at 10:43 AM | TrackBack

Don't Call Me

A recent issue of Psychology Today (3/2004) reports on an experiment involving identical business negotiations between test subjects. The only difference was that half started the transactions with a brief phone call and completed it with email. The other half used only email.

The transactions beginning with a phone call turned out much better.

So we should all foster our business relationships with more phone calls, right?

Well, maybe not.

See if this script sounds familiar. You're watching Jeopardy (or whatever your favorite TV show is) when the phone rings. You answer it and get tied up with a telemarketer, your sister, your business associate, or a wrong number. It's fairly easy to get away from wrong numbers and the telemarketers. Your sister and your partners, however, require your attention for more time.

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Posted by Angie at 12:02 PM | TrackBack

How To Get 50% of Your Freelance Fee Up Front - And a Whole Lot More!

This is valuable content from my free online newsletter, the FREELANCER'S BUSINESS BULLETIN. In the April 2004 issue I shared with my subscribers the secret to getting at least 50% of your freelance fee up front, plus a whole host of other important requirements for your freelancer's business.

It was FREELANCER'S BUSINESS BULLETIN subscriber and copywriting expert Susan Fantle who asked for a discussion of this topic because she had recently encountered some difficulties with clients. In her own words:

"I've been in this business for 23 years and only in the last two years do I finally see the need to have a contract with new clients."


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Posted by Angie at 04:53 PM | TrackBack

Find 50,000 Referrals for Your Business in Your Little Black Book

When you need an auto mechanic or an air conditioning repairman, where do you turn for help? Sure, some people turn to the yellow pages. But most will turn to friends and family and ask if they know of anyone who can do the work.

The best place for your business to be positioned is to be the business on the tips of the tongues of the people asked to make the referral.


THE 300 RULE

Preachers, funeral directors and people in a few other professions have learned "the 300 rule" through their own personal experience.

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Posted by Angie at 04:41 PM | TrackBack

Financial Intelligence: Age of the Pro-sumer

The Consumer
============

Fortune magazine is calling this New Millennium we are living in the "Age of the Consumer." And for good reason. With on-line shopping and the expansion of huge discount chains, prices for goods and services continues to drop daily, "saving" consumers billions and billions of dollars every year.But wait a minute! Are you really "Saving"?

Consider this, when you buy a $150.00 item at 50% discount, you don't "save" $75.00. You "SPEND" $75.00. So you not only lose $75.00 from your net worth by spending it but you lose the ability to invest that $75.00 to grow more money over time.

"Consumer-thinking = spend money."


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Posted by Angie at 03:58 PM | TrackBack

Decrease Your Business Costs to Increase Your Profits

Henry Ford taught us that to simplify the manufacture of automobiles, that the best way to do so was to install the assembly line. That one change revolutionized the auto manufacturing industry permitting the industry to build cars at a cost whereas the average person could afford to buy one.

The lesson we should take from this is that having the ability to improve the process of getting the job quicker and cheaper, without compromising the quality of the job being done, will help catapult the person who simplified the process to the top of his/her field.

Pennies saved in your home business can turn into dollars at the end of the day, and dollars can quickly multiply into hundreds or thousands of dollars over time.

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Posted by Angie at 11:29 AM | TrackBack

Make Ideas Your (& Their) Own: Persuade Yourself and Others

Have you ever watched a TV program where the supporting actor has a grand idea only to find the lead actor immediately repeat the idea as if it were his own?

You've probably experienced it yourself! It goes something like:

Friend: "I've got it! We should go to Sparky's for dinner!" You: "Hmm... how about we go to Sparky's for dinner?" Friend: "That's what I just said!" You: "No you didn't!"

Well, there's a reason for those common conversations. It's because the best ideas are ones we personally created and we often don't hear other ideas unless it comes from our own mouth.

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Posted by Angie at 10:42 AM | TrackBack

Writing SEO Copy – 8 Steps to Success

We all know that the lion's share of web traffic comes through the search engines. We also know that keywords and links to your site are the two things that affect your ranking in the search engines. Your keywords tell the search engines what you do, and the inbound links tell them how important you are. This combination is what determines your relevance. And relevance is what the search engines are after.

There's a lot of information around about how to incorporate keyword phrases into your HTML meta tags. But that's only half the battle. You need to think of these tags as street-signs. That's how the search engines view them. They look at your tags and then at your copy. If the keywords you use in your tags aren't used in your copy, your site won't be indexed for those keywords.

But the search engines don't stop there. They also consider how often the keyword phrase is used on the page.

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Posted by Angie at 04:15 PM | TrackBack

5 Tips For Writing Sales Letters That Sell

1. Be Focused: Know what you want the sales letter to achieve, stick to it and organise your thoughts and words to achieve just that. If you talk without an aim, you are sure not to miss your mark; Aim at Nothing, you Hit Nothing.

2. KISS: Keep It Short and Simple. Forget about all the ramblings. Say what you want to say in a short, straight forward and simple manner. Here is a little secret. When you talk too much, your audience most times have forgotten the beginning by the time you reach the end. While still being persuasive and convincing, talk straight and simple. An helpful way to getting this done is to talk one point per paragraph and write short and sharp sentences in your paragraph.

Remember, one paragraph with just three lines written in a short and powerful manner is better than one whole page which contains nothing more than ramblings.

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Posted by Angie at 01:40 PM | TrackBack

How To Develop a Great Business Strategy

Business strategy development is key to growth and profits. Here are 10 ways to help you devise a powerful business strategy.

As you may know, in management there are 3 main levels: strategic-, middle-, and first line management. Strategic management is the top level of an organization. Therefore, strategic management does strategic planning. Sounds logical so far? Good! Now, strategic planning pertains to the company’s performance over the next 5 or 10 years: long term, in other words.

It may be best to start out by trying to explain what a strategy is in simple terms: If you are now at point A, and you want to go to point B, then the road you choose to go from A to B is your strategy.

A ---strategy---> B

Continue reading "How To Develop a Great Business Strategy"
Posted by DK at 01:24 PM
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