Copyright 2006 Kelly Robbins

I’ve been exploring RSS feeds and how to get your company’s
information on them. RSS stands for Really Simple
Syndication and as a reader is an easy way to get short
bits of information on a topic. This saves you the time of
reading the entire article if you’re not interested in the
topic. It’s also an easy way to keep up with news on a
particular topic that interests you. Like healthcare. Or
marketing.

RSS feeds contain headlines with hyperlinks to a longer
article or web page. Many of us receive daily email updates
from healthleaders.com. Each of these headlines is an
article from another news source. These are RSS feeds.

So as a marketer, how do you get your hospital or clinics
information on RSS feeds?

Here are some steps Catherine Seda gives in the February
issue of Entrepreneur magazine.

Decide what information to syndicate as an RSS feed. Blogs,
special offers, company news, events, product announcements
and articles make compelling RSS content.

Prepare an XML file. A sample is at www.usatoday.com. Go to
the very bottoms and click on RSS feeds. You can then click
on one of the topic links and see all the articles picked
up by that feed. She also recommends checking out
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss. (That site is way to
techie for me. It explains the details of how to set it up.
That’s what IT is for, isn’t it?)

Get RSS aggregators to pick up your feeds. You can submit
your feeds to major search engines like
www.google.com/intl/en/feedfetcher.html and
http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/submit. Seda says that if your
RSS feed becomes popular with readers other aggregators
will find it and pick it up.

I have to admit I haven’t done this yet. It sounds pretty
simple (for my web guru to figure out) and a great and
inexpensive way to share information about your company
using another medium.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the benefits of
marketing through RSS feeds

Not email so doesn’t run through spam filters People choose
to receive information on your topic. You not only have a
better chance of getting their attention, but they are much
more likely to read it because the feeds are topic
specific. A cost-effective way to drive traffic to your Web
site. Especially for companies that publish content
regularly (events, jobs, articles, news). Once you produce
an RSS file, you are enabling others to syndicate your
headlines without any work on your part.

Experts have said that RSS feeds will soon join email
marketing, web site banners and search engine keywords as
viable marketing tools. You owe it to yourself to
investigate.

—————————————————-
Author of Healthcare Copywriting Secrets Revealed and The
Healthcare Copywriters Toolkit, Kelly Robbins is a
healthcare copywriter and marketing coach/consultant. She
also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection
(http://www.healthcaremarketingconnection.com), a free
e-zine on healthcare marketing tips. Contact Kelly to
receive her free report, “5 critical things you must know
when writing for the healthcare industry” —
info@KellyRobbinsLLC.com or 303-460-0285.

Copyright 2006 Audrey Burton

If you already have a website, how’s it working for you?
How much money are you making from it? When’s the last time
you updated it? If you don’t even have one yet, what are
you afraid of?

There are some things you should know about website design,
and you need to understand a little about the internet
world before you start, but when it comes right down to
execution, Don’t Do It Yourself! You may find yourself
spending 100s of hours in education and correcting your own
errors. So, unless your time is worthless, just learn the
basics and hire professionals.

I do not recommend you just hire someone without knowing a
little bit about web design yourself. Although most of the
designers are honest, there are those that are not and
those who overestimate their abilities, and I want you to
spend your precious money wisely.

The first thing to know is the difference between a graphic
designer, a web designer and a web developer. What you can
count on:

•  a graphic designer is an artist and may have a specialty
(logos, home pages, business cards/stationary, etc.) And,
according to allbusiness.com’s Buyer’s Guide:
•  a web designer designs the look of the ‘front end’ of
your site - what the visitor sees
•  a web developer makes sure everything works properly -
the ‘back end’

You may need someone with all these skills and they are not
difficult to find. Just make sure you hire the right person
- ask her if she can do it all.

Of course, it’s not just that easy to create a successful
website or I wouldn’t be writing about it!! On top of
artistic and technical expertise, I suggest you also hire a
designer with marketing expertise. This may not be so easy
to find! Here are some questions to ask:

1. What marketing training do you have?
2. How much business has been generated for websites you
have designed?
3. Once it’s finished, how do I bring visitors to my site?

If you find this to be impossible, and that may be the
case, it might be worth your while to hire a group of
professionals. In chronological order:

•  You may need to start with a coach with small business
expertise (like me) to select and fine-tune your marketing
foundation (target market, benefits). This is probably less
expensive than paying a marketing consultant to do this
work for you, and then you’ll know how to make these
decisions in the future.
•  Hire an experienced copywriter to write website content.
This is especially important, even critical, if you plan to
use your site to sell. If your site is informational, look
at others’ sites and write it yourself.
•  Hire an internet marketing consultant to make sure you
have all the components necessary (photos, copy, location
of everything) and to explore your internet advertising
options.  There are some consultants who have industry and
marketing expertise in designing websites.
•  NOW hire the web designer and developer to make it all
work attractively. The designer can be a different person
than the developer.
•  Test, test, test. Test the design on several types of
computers on both dial-up and other internet connections.
Too many graphics will turn off visitors if your site is
too slow to load. Make sure everything works - every link,
sign-up, payment function, form, etc. Do this yourself
before you make final payment.

This is not the absolute word on designing your website; it
is based on my experience and education. If you can’t
afford all of this, then you’ll need to do plenty of
research to do some of it yourself. Here are some tips:

•  Check out what others in your industry have on their
websites - especially people who are actually making money!
•  Especially if you’re selling a service, put a
professional picture or caricature of yourself on your site
•  Keep your target client in mind at all times. Before
putting anything on your website, ask yourself if your
ideal client would benefit from that information
•  Know what you want your visitors to do when they visit
your site – what is your intention?
•  Put contact info on every page - twice if applicable
•  Site needs to be easy to navigate and easy to read

Building and maintaining your website is a commitment, and
requires some experimentation to figure out what works best
for your personality, your target market and for your
industry.  The process is not an easy one, but hopefully
you will have an easier time of it after reading this
article!

—————————————————-
Audrey Burton is a practical Small Business Coach. She
eliminates business/marketing overwhelm and gets you
excited to work on your business again! To sign up for her
free, monthly email newsletter, visit her site:
http://www.TigressCoaching.com

Copyright 2006 Sandra P. Martini

Remember the commercial of the woman in a business suit
top, pajama bottoms and bunny slippers while on a
conference call?  Way back when, I used to think that
symbolized home office life.  Ahhh, the joy of it.

Once I started running my business from home, however,
reality set in very quickly!

*  The days of commuting to and from a workplace with a
defined work schedule are gone.

*  The days of being accountable to a “boss” are gone.

*  The days of doing “home” stuff while at home and “work”
stuff while at work are definitely gone!

In the early days of my business, I would actually feel
guilty if the house was not spotless and I was spending too
much time in the office (justified by “billable hours”).
Or I would feel guilty if the house was clean and the
laundry was done, but I wasn’t making enough money.

It’s enough to drive an entrepreneur insane!

So how do you handle it?  Here are some tips that have
helped insure my sanity over the years:

1. Create a separate workspace that works for, not against,
you.

Whether you’ve taken over a spare bedroom, a corner of the
basement or the dining room table, be sure that you have a
space that is yours just for working (even if it is just
for work between certain hours and for eating at other
times).

In deciding where you want to work, you need to first
determine HOW you work.

Do you prefer a lot of space?  Do you work with piles or
does everything need its own file folder?  Do you prefer a
clear workspace with nothing except your current project or
do you like to have all ongoing projects in sight?

Regardless of your work style, you need an area that works
for you and that is just for work.

2. Beware of shiny objects.

In setting up your office, don’t run out and buy every
gadget known to man.  It’s tempting to get the best of
everything right off the bat – resist the urge!

Get the basics and add things when there is a need.  For my
purposes, the basics are: a good laptop, a multi-line
telephone with speakerphone and mute, a color laser
printer, a scanner and a separate hard fax machine (in
addition to my electronic fax account).  What you need will
depend on how you work with your clients.

3. Limit the chatting.

Once they hear you are working from home, many friends and
family (especially those who are home during the day) will
think nothing of calling or IMing you throughout the
workday and, while you may love to chat or IM with your
friends and family, be sure they know when you are working.
It is too easy to fall into the habit of chatting with
someone and then realizing you’ve spent an hour or more of
your workday and haven’t finished the project or made your
calls.

Save the visiting for after your workday is complete or
when you are taking a break.

4. Know when to say “when”.

Starting and growing a new business is invigorating!  I
love what I do and draw a lot of energy from it.  That
said, be sure you set limits on how long you spend working
each day so as not to drain yourself.

My workday typically starts around 8am and I go until lunch
when I take a break, grab the dogs and go for a walk.  Once
back, I work for a few more hours and then do a final check
of everything in the evening.  This schedule works well for
me.  You need to find one that works for you – if you have
children, your prime workday may be while they are at
school or after they’ve gone to bed.

5. Do what you do best.

Working from home can lead to a sense of isolation and the
feeling that you need to do everything yourself.  You don’t.

Focus on those things that you do best – the reasons why
you chose to go into business for yourself – and outsource
the rest.  A virtual assistant can help you with all those
tasks that you shouldn’t be spending time on.  It is better
for your business to hire someone, say to do the books,
than it is for you to spend X hours trying to figure it out
when you could be marketing your business or working
directly with your clients.

6. Automate, automate, automate.

When possible, set up your systems such that regular tasks
are as automated as possible.  Do you have an evergreen
(i.e., never changing, same for everyone) welcome email
that you send all your new clients?  If so, set up an
autoresponder.

Need to keep track of projects and have updates
automatically sent to clients?  Use an Intranet solution
such as WebOffice.  Need to explain something “in person”
to a potential client?  Use a webinar.

To the extent possible, you want to be working in your home
office, not running around during the work day.  As an
entrepreneur, commuting and waiting cost you money.  Use
technology to your advantage.

7. Get out and visit.

As you work on your marketing plan, get new clients and
generally build your business, it’s easy to forget the
outside world exists.

Be sure you get out of your home office (and your pjs) at
least once a week.  Go anywhere there are people: the gym,
a favorite coffee shop, networking events, out with
friends, etc.  It’s not healthy to become a recluse and
you’ll get far more ideas by mixing with people.

With a little planning, you can create a home office
environment that suits both you and your business.

—————————————————-
Online Business Manager & Entrepreneur, Sandra Martini,
coaches small business owners to more efficiently manage
their businesses while increasing profits and having fun.
Sandra’s coaching programs are available via
teleconferencing, emails and telephone calls.  Want to grow
your business?  Sign up for the FREE e-course “How to Write
a Dynamic Marketing Plan” by sending a blank email to
smartini-187175@autocontactor.com today.

Copyright 2006 Sandra P. Martini

I’m guessing that right now there are several tasks you’ve
been putting off and that when you look at your “to do”
list, you see some items day after day – perhaps even week
after week.  Maybe it’s redoing your website, figuring our
your books, having a difficult conversation with a client,
or kicking your marketing plan into high gear.

What’s stopping you?

Believe me, I deal with this same issue. But you know what
I realized?

Procrastination is not necessarily a bad thing.

Instead of seeing procrastination as a negative thing, I
now view it as a tool that helps me learn how I work best.

Here are the reasons I’ve come up with for why people tend
to procrastinate (and ways to deal):

1. You are feeling overwhelmed.

The Fix:  You need to start somewhere.  Just pick one thing
(ANY one thing) off your desk and do it.  I like to start
with something “quick and easy” so I feel a sense of
accomplishment and build momentum to move on to the next
thing.

2. You don’t enjoy the task.

The Fix: I once heard that if you “eat a toad first thing
in the morning, you can do anything”.  If you need to have
a difficult conversation with a client or handle a billing
issue, get it done first thing.  You will feel a great
sense of relief once it’s over and that “cloud” will no
longer be hanging over your head.  Or, if it’s a larger
project, set a timer for, say 15 minutes, and stop when the
timer buzzes.  This gets you going and allows you to make
progress while knowing you can soon move on to something
more enjoyable.

3. You don’t enjoy a part of the task or project.

The Fix: If you’re putting off an entire project just
because there’s one part you don’t want to do, either
figure out how you can get away without doing that piece or
outsource it.  The reward of finishing the project will far
outweigh any costs of outsourcing.

4. You don’t know how to do “it”.

The Fix: If you need to do something, but don’t know how,
wishing it done will not help.  You must either learn to do
it – online course, coach, mentor, etc. – or outsource it.
I am dating myself here, but Samantha from “Bewitched” is
not going to fly in, wiggle her nose and complete the task.

5. You feel stuck.

The Fix: Similar to #1, you may just need to get momentum
going. Give yourself permission to do just one small part
of the task. Or do the easiest part first. Doing this
usually creates momentum, and you end up doing a lot more
than you originally planned.

6. You don’t really want to do what you thought you should
do.

The Fix: Chances are good that if you really don’t want to
do something anymore, it is no longer right for you. Slow
down and listen to your intuition.  A goal may have been
perfect for you last year, but not any longer.  You change,
your business changes, let the project/goal go and see what
happens.  It’s okay to change your mind. : )

7. You are too busy.

The Fix: If you keep telling yourself (or others) that you
are just “too busy” to get something done, then you need to
reevaluate your time and the project.  Do you really need
to do the project?  If so, then one of the above reasons
most likely applies or you may be spending your time on
non-essential tasks.  If you are truly too busy doing other
“mission critical” items, then you must schedule future
time to do it, get rid of other tasks to create the time
you need or outsource it.

Once you start realizing which tasks you tend to put off,
you will learn to recognize the underlying cause and handle
it appropriately.  Perhaps you need to “eat that toad” or
maybe it’s time to delegate something – you will now be
able to handle each bout of procrastination as it comes.

Take some time to make a list of everything you’re
currently procrastinating and figure out which of the seven
reasons applies – don’t judge yourself, just list them.
You’ll soon be on your way to getting more done than ever.
GO FOR IT!

—————————————————-
Online Business Manager & Entrepreneur, Sandra Martini,
publishes the ‘Effective Entrepreneur’ weekly e-zine. She
also coaches small business owners to more efficiently
manage their businesses while increasing profits and having
fun. Sandra’s coaching programs are available via
teleconferencing, emails and telephone calls.  For more
information or to sign-up for ‘Effective Entrepreneur’,
visit http://www.thevirtualsolution.com today.  Want to
grow your business?  Sign up for the FREE e-course “How to
Write a Dynamic Marketing Plan” by sending a blank email to
smartini-187175@autocontactor.com today.

Improve Your Bottom Line Through Executive Coaching
Copyright 2006 Red Ladder, Inc.

If someone were to ask you whether or not you would
consider working with an executive coach, would you feel
insulted or exhilarated? Your answer will probably depend
on a number of factors including what region of the country
you live in, the context in which the question is asked,
and your previous experience (or lack thereof) in working
with an executive coach.

For leaders on the east or west coast, having an executive
coach has become a perk or status symbol. For them, it is
now simply part of the executive compensation package. In
other areas of the country where executive coaching is
still not a common practice, this request will most likely
be met with some skepticism, particularly if an executive’s
performance is in question.

Why consider executive coaching? For the same reasons
someone like Tiger Woods hires a coach: to improve
performance and provide a positive boost to your bottom
line — both personal and organizational. And, here’s the
good news. Executive coaching is an affordable alternative
and you won’t come anywhere close to paying the $1 million
fee that Tiger Woods pays his coach.

What are the benefits of executive coaching? According to a
survey* of 100 executives who had received executive
coaching, the key benefits to their companies included
improvements in the following areas:

Productivity 53%

Quality 48%

Customer Service 39%

Reduction in Customer Complaints 34%

Cost Reductions 23%

Bottom-line Profitability 22%

In addition, other benefits to the executives who received
coaching included improvements in the following areas:

Working relationships with direct reports 77%

Working relationships with immediate supervisors 71%

Teamwork 67%

Working relationships with peers 63%

Job Satisfaction 61%

Conflict Reduction 52%

Organizational Commitment 44%

Working Relationships with clients 37%

*Source: Manchester, Inc.

In fact, the same survey indicated that the return on
investment to an organization that invested in coaching for
its executives for a period of six months to one year was
almost six times the cost of the coaching.

Organizational environments continue to flatten out, and
executives are being asked to do more with less while
managing broader spans of control. At the same time,
employee turnover is increasing, employee morale is
decreasing, and employee productivity is beginning to lag
in many organizations. If you are a leader that wants to
develop your full potential or that of your employees, then
you may want to consider executive coaching. After all, the
return on your investment will far outweigh your costs, and
that can only mean one thing: a positive impact to your
bottom line.

—————————————————-
Regina Barr is a management consultant and speaker who
helps companies develop strategies to attract, develop and
retain women leaders. Sign up for her FREE Ezine,
Developing People…Inspiring Success at
http://www.RedLadder.com .

Network Marketing:  The Best Product To Sell
Copyright 2006 Donovan Baldwin

A lot has been written on the subject of network marketing
and the products commonly sold through network marketing.
Unfortunately, most people joining a network marketing
program for the first time don’t read the books first.
Even if they did, they would get a message that is really
hard to grasp for someone used to the standard sales
techniques of the modern world.

If you are new to network marketing, a great book to read
is “Masters Of Networking” by Ivan R. Misner, Ph.D., and
Don Morgan, M.A.  While it does contain instructions on how
and where to network, I believe that part of its value lies
in what it doesn’t always say out loud, but hints at in the
subtitle: Building Relationships For Your Pocketbook And
Soul.

So what does that have to do with selecting the product
that you will attempt to “sell” through network marketing?

The book I just mentioned gets a lot of its message across
through the stories of people who have passed through the
stages of learning to network.  In keeping with that, I am
going to talk about my favorite subject…myself.

In 1996 I was introduced to my first network marketing
venture.  Never mind what it was, but I will say that it
was a valuable product and I felt good being associated
with it.  I honestly felt that it was a service that many
people could use and that by purchasing this service they
could get better service in certain health related areas
and they could possibly save large sums of money.

In other words, I BELIEVED!

I also believed that I could make a lot of money.  After
all, I saw other people doing it, and being a product of
20th century marketing practices, I began doing what I
thought I was supposed to be doing.  I placed ads, I handed
out flyers, left business cards laying around, and mailed
out a lot of brochures.  After a few months, I was making
some money, but it sure seemed a hard way to make a living!

In the meantime, people I knew were making larger and
larger sums from the same product, and with a fraction of
the time, effort, and money.  So I did the next logical
thing…I dropped out and spent a couple of years licking
my wounds, nursing a grudge, and generally being a chump.
The one thing I didn’t do was ask for help or study the
subject of network marketing.  However, I DID keep signing
up for program after program, with the same predictable
results.

Finally, I broke down and did the unthinkable…I did some
research!

What did I learn?  I learned that some of the best “sales”
people and some of the best network marketers had the same
thing to say.  Their opinion was to quit concentrating on
sales and concentrate on building a network of people who
respected you.  They did not necessarily mean “respected”
in the sense of someone who was an expert or who stood head
and shoulders above the rest.  What they meant was that you
should be someone who is willing to listen, to help, to
guide, to support…to be a genuine friend and someone who
could be counted on.

I started thinking about the people I had known who were
successful.  Not a one was a “sales” person.  They were
housewives, retirees, ex-teachers, bus drivers, fast food
workers, garbage collectors…but most had three things in
common.  They believed in the product and the company, they
knew the important points of the product and the
opportunity, and they were genuinely interested in and
involved with those they sold to or recruited.

As it happened, at about the time I was doing this
research, I actually had a JOB teaching newcomers to an
industry how to become successful in that field.  It felt
great.  I got to take people and help bring them to a point
where they were going to be in a position to have a new
career and make lots of money.  I didn’t have to “sell”
them anything.  I provided solid information, guidance,
advice based on experience, and sometimes a shoulder to cry
on.  I noticed one interesting thing.  They hung on my
every word.  If I said a certain item was important to
have, within 48 hours at least half of my students would
have that item if they didn’t have it already.

By the way, one common benefit of the job I am speaking of
and a network marketer is the gratitude of the people that
have come into the business and been successful thanks at
least in part to the interest and support you have shown
them.

I saw this happen again and again, and not just with me,
but with others who were providing this instruction as well.

Okay, I’m slow, but not fatally so.  I realized that if I
could place myself in a similar position in a network
marketing endeavor, I might have similar results.

I then began to apply my newfound knowledge to network
marketing, and, after a couple of false starts and the
occasional retraining session, I found out that the
technique works!

Start with a good strong product from a reliable company.
Make sure you understand what the heck you are talking
about, arm yourself with order pads and pencils, and then
get out there and start being NICE!  I know it’s going to
be difficult, but you will have to buckle down and be a
benefit to society and let people like you.

I guess you’ve figured out that in the network marketing
world, YOU are the best product to sell.

—————————————————-
Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area writer and network
marketing professional.  He is a graduate of the University
of West Florida, a member of Mensa, and is retired from the
U. S. Army.  Learn more about network marketing at
http://donovanbaldwin.com/cbmall/networkmarketing.html

Leadership on the Brink
Copyright 2006 Progress-U Ltd.

THE PROBLEM SITUATION

Imagine you are the chief operating officer (COO) of a
mid-sized corporation, say with 2,000 employees. Your
company manufactures commodities like cables for cars. It’s
headquartered in Hong Kong, but has factories in two
different provinces in China, one in Southern China (Guang
Dong) and the other in Northern China near Beijing.

As COO, you are responsible for operations, i.e.
administration including HR, Finance and Controlling, as
well as for Manufacturing. The chief executive officer
(CEO) holds functional responsibility for Sales & Marketing
and R&D.

Both factories in China were previously state-owned
enterprises (SOE’s). Factory A in Southern China, acquired
by your company three years ago, is highly productive. On
the other hand, you keep struggling with Factory B in
Northern China near Beijing, which was acquired five years
ago.

What’s the problem with Factory B? You notice high staff
turnover, especially among the executives where in the past
six months over 25% of them left. This makes the annualized
turnover rate a whopping 50%. Also, there seem to be major
difficulties between the Hong Kong managers you delegated
to that factory and the local managers.

In the past, you had additional difficulties with what you
call “a lazy workforce.” You somewhat fixed that problem by
firing people who were caught reading newspapers during
working hours or hiding in some dark corner sleeping. This
doesn’t happen anymore, but productivity levels are still
rather low.

You wonder if this is a cultural problem since you used the
same approach for both factories after acquisition. Or
perhaps it could be a language problem. The people in
Factory A speak Cantonese, which is the mother tongue for
most of your Hong Kong managers. The people in Factory B
speak Putonghua. While all your managers are fluent in
Putonghua, the people in Factory B still notice a Cantonese
accent.

This is actually a real story of one of our clients. Of
course, I modified a few details to keep confidentiality
intact.

When this COO walked me through the past events, I again
realized the strong limitation of models when it comes to
working with human beings. I’m not saying that models are
useless when working with people. I’m saying that we need
to be very careful and highly sensitive in cases where
models need to be adjusted depending on the human dynamics
we encounter.

I could see that this COO was highly frustrated that all
the hard work of the past five years still did not yield a
satisfactory situation at Factory B whereas Factory A
thrived after only three years. He was in a real dilemma.
The CEO and shareholders were demanding higher profits,
which were curbed by the losses from Factory B. So what
were his options?

• Option A: Close down Factory B. This would result in a
huge loss of face plus all the millions of dollars spent in
the past years would be wasted. Additionally, closing down
a factory doesn’t come free of charge.

• Option B: Sell Factory B. But who would buy a factory
with low productivity levels and a considerable debt
burden? Any buyer would probably ask to receive rather than
to pay money to take over Factory B. Not an attractive
option either.

• Option C: Make Factory B profitable. This would be the
best solution, of course. But how to do it? Didn’t the COO
already try everything he could to make it work?

The COO thought that upgrading the intercultural
competencies of both the Hong Kong and the local managers
at Factory B would improve the situation. That’s why we
were invited to talk with him.

BAND-AID OR SURGERY?

At first glance, this made sense to us. However, the longer
I listened to the COO, the more I got the impression that
an intercultural training program would be a small band-aid
which would have only a minor positive effect on this
heavily injured body. If things were to improve
considerably, a band-aid wouldn’t do the job. Surgery would
be required to save the patient.

As it is so often the case, one of the root causes of this
problem was the COO himself.

I noticed that at first he talked about how tough he acted
with the people at Factory B to weed out the lazy attitude.
Later he talked about how he takes great interest in his
people, that he cared about their backgrounds and surprised
them with knowledge of details like that someone’s wife was
in hospital, etc. Then again he talked about how the local
Chinese managers don’t seem to understand what his company
wants. Then he complained that the Hong Kong managers
frequently lose their temper and are not sensitive enough
with the local managers.

THE ISSUE OF COMPLAINING

In my experience, people who complain heavily about others
actually complain about themselves. Let me explain. When we
complain about someone, we state that we disagree with that
person’s behavior (what they do or say). But complaining is
more than that. It’s a strong judgment that such behavior
is wrong.

We make judgments based on our own experience and
knowledge, which may be different from the experience and
knowledge of the other person. Making a critical judgment
therefore means that we don’t want to accept the other
person’s way of thinking even though it is their current
truth.

Psychologists have found that people have difficulties
accepting other people’s way of thinking only when they
have difficulties accepting their own way of thinking. Once
they fully accept the way they think and their own
opinions, they will be more in a position to also fully
accept the way other people think. Accepting in this case
does not mean agreeing. It just means that we accept the
other person as he or she is and then work from there.

Back to our COO. To enable him to make Option C work, I had
to first help him understand that unless he was ready to
change himself, it would be difficult to make real and
lasting positive change at Factory B. Luckily, given his
desperate situation, he was very willing to look at pretty
much anything that could help.

EXECUTING SURGERY

Looking at himself was painful at first. We used Harrison
Assessments and personal feedback from his CEO and selected
managers of Factory B (both local and from Hong Kong) to
provide the COO with a clearer picture of his strengths and
important areas for improvement.

We then went on a two-day retreat with the COO and the key
local and Hong Kong managers at Factory B, seven people in
all plus myself. During the first day we worked out a
direction for Factory B following a process based on the
GAP model. It included finding a clear understanding of
where the factory should be in two years time and possible
ways to achieve that. Moreover, it called for participants
to outline a desired corporate success culture for Factory
B, including core values and required leadership
competencies that would support this culture.

During Day 2 we worked on an action plan to implement the
findings of Day 1, including a communication strategy and
required development through group training and individual
coaching. Intercultural training was one of the measures;
this time, however, it was an integral part of the
‘surgery’.

The positive side effects of this two-day retreat were an
immense increase in trust among all participants and a very
positive outlook. The completion of the ’surgery’ followed
by ‘rehabilitation’ lead to a turn-around in a timeframe of
6 months.

CONCLUSION: The COO did a good job in creating the
structures, regulations and processes for Factory B. The
results, however, were not satisfactory because the human
dynamics at Factory B did not support his objectives. To
turn around the situation, the COO had to first change
himself and then work pro-actively with his management team
to develop the desired direction and culture for Factory B.
Creating mutual acceptance and trust was a precondition for
success.

—————————————————-
Charlie Lang is a professional Executive Coach, Trainer,
Keynote Speaker and Author of articles related to
leadership, coaching, change management and sales. He is
the founder of Progress-U Ltd., a company assisting
successful people and organizations to become even better.
More info on:
http://www.progressu.com

Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter

In my experience, there is almost always something that
holds an independent service professional back from either
getting his/her business started or ramping it up to full
capacity and keeping it there. I call it the “Fraud
Factor”. Until you no longer feel like a fraud, any
investment you make in marketing your business will be
diminished because these unresolved issues are draining all
of your marketing efforts. After all, if you don’t believe
in yourself, why will anyone else believe in you?

What is the “Fraud Factor?”  It’s a great sense of
insecurity that overwhelms you any time you attempt to talk
about or market your business in some way.  Below is a list
of 6 statements that business owners suffering from the
Fraud Factor Syndrome often tell themselves. Do you
resemble any of these remarks?:

“I have no idea what I’m doing here — why would my client
trust me?”

“I don’t have any experience in working with clients as a
(fill in the blank here with your profession) — the people
I talk to about my business are going to see right through
me.”

“I can’t charge this much money for what I do — I’m not an
expert in this field.”

“I don’t have enough information to work with clients — I
need to get more training.”

“I’ll bend the rules just once for this client. After all,
I’m a newbie, and I need to do anything I can to get a
client.”

“I don’t have all of my marketing materials completed — no
one will ever believe I’m a business owner, so I can’t
start until everything is perfect.”

I would be lying to you if I told you that every single one
of these thoughts didn’t flutter through my head on at
least one occasion in the start-up phase of my business.
One or two of these come back and visit me on a regular
basis, even though I’ve been a successful business owner
now for 7 years and counting.  It’s very natural to be
visited occasionally by your own IBSC (Itty Bitty Sh**ty
Committee).

What distinguishes happy, successful, confident, and
fulfilled self-employed business owners from the
unsuccessful ones are how they handle problems and
challenges and deal with their self-doubt and
self-confidence issues. I’m of the opinion that life is
comprised of mountains (places and times when you’re at
your best), valleys (when you don’t think can take another
minute) and missiles (unexpected events that take you off
track). If you were to ask 20 very self-confident people
about the low points and high points in their lives, every
single one of these people would tell you that his/her life
has never been all mountains — that they have all seen
their fair share of valleys and missiles just like the rest
of us.

However, the difference is that these self-confident
business owners realize it’s a phase and it will pass. The
IBSC (also known as the little voices you hear in your
head), will rule your life and your business if you let it.
None of you fell off the turnip truck yesterday, to borrow
a phrase from my growing-up years out in the country. Every
single one of you brings into your business a unique set of
skills and experiences that no one else has and no one else
can duplicate.

So, if you feel yourself to be a fraud, for whatever
reason, you need to learn to “act as if”, or “fake it ’till
you make it” — pretend as though you’re a wildly
successful business owner until you truly believe that you
are. If you need help, get it — from a good friend, a
business colleague, your spouse, a coach — whatever works
for you.

People with high self-esteem who handle problems and
challenges well understand that the only people who don’t
have mountain, valleys, and missiles in their lives are
lying in the cemetery. So, fake it until you make it, act
as if, and suck it up and get over yourself. Mark Twain
says it best, “Whether you believe you can or you believe
you can’t, you’re right.”

—————————————————-
Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Business Coach
Donna Gunter helps self-employed service professionals
learn how to get more clients online at
http://www.OnlineBizCoachingCompany.com . To sign up for
more FREE tips like these and claim your FREE gift,
TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site
at http://www.GetMoreClientsOnline.com . Read about running
an online biz at our blog,
http://www.getmoreclientsonlineblog.com

MT Newbies Ask: “I’ve graduated, now how do I get my foot in the door?”
Copyright 2006 Cynthia Bull

If you’re a new medical transcriptionist looking for a job
and have asked this same question, then you know that your
foot must be pretty big to get through that door.

Why? Because the room is bigger than you can imagine.

Even with the best training available, excellent technical
skills and a good beginning background, it may not be
enough to secure that on-site job you want. And if you’re
thinking about working at home as a medical
transcriptionist, you have even greater challenges to
consider.

Employers expect that the MT they hire is experienced and
will not waste their time. Most on-site facilities have no
time (or personnel) to further ‘train’ their MTs. You’re
pretty much ‘off and running’ when you’re hired. And most
of your colleagues will not want to use their ‘production
time’ to help you because it means less money for them.

To qualify as a ‘good candidate’ you need the most focused
training you can obtain, not only to be correct, but also
to be competitive. The days of on-the-job training are
practically nonexistent, so you can’t count on that as a
valid training venue.

In recent years, medical transcription has evolved into a
subspecialty of medicine, thanks in part to resources
available via the Internet, in addition to on-site training
at community colleges, business schools, and other related
centers. As a result, facilities want an MT who can handle
the job coming right out of the gate, after graduation, and
with an MT certificate.

In the ‘real world’ of MT, you’ll be exposed to a lot of
information you just don’t have in the beginning, but that
you will need and learn as you move through your career. In
addition, there are several learning curves that must be
mastered to be truly successful.

Here are 9 steps you can take to secure the job you want in
your MT career:

1. Enroll in a good training program. You need to know
anatomy and medical language, and to have language skills
that include dialects. Today, most medical facilities
employ ESL (English as a second language) physicians. Some
dialects, even native ones, can be very strong and unclear,
and accurately transcribing such dictators requires
additional care to see that all medical terms, and
especially medications, are transcribed without error. A
mistake could literally mean someone’s life is in the
balance.

2. Your proficiency in technical skills and manual aptitude
is an absolute requirement for getting hired. During your
career, your exposure to different types of equipment and
software will expand beyond your imagination, so be
prepared to learn and quickly adapt to new systems, because
you may find yourself in situations where you work with
several systems at once.

3. If necessary, seek additional training in a
comprehensive program that includes anatomy, medical
knowledge and language, transcription skills, and practice
tapes of real cases with real dictators.

4. When job hunting, check local directories for facilities
in your area and surrounding cities. Make inquiries first
with a phone call and speak personally with the contact
person associated with the job you seek.

5. Follow up with a written letter of introduction that
includes your resume and MT certificate, and refer to your
initial contact by name.

6. Review MT Internet sites and forums for both online and
offline opportunities using a variety of search engines,
such as Google, Yahoo, AltaVista, etc., entering “MT jobs.”
Pose questions via email or call the numbers listed on the
websites for more information.

7. Keep your mindset in a forward-thinking mode and have a
positive attitude. Show initiative and confidence that you
can do the job, and ask the employer questions about the
job you want.

8. Be Resourceful. Explore all options as you move forward
in your job search. The competition factor is greater than
you might think, so do your homework and be innovative
about your MT career.

9. Continue to practice, practice, practice until you get
that job!

A newbie with thorough training, good skills and
determination is a good candidate to seek a position in a
private office that requires basic MT skills and knowledge.
Many such offices are under less stringent time crunches
than larger facilities, where the pace is faster and more
demanding. Thus, you have more time to continue building
your skills, to learn and look up what you don’t know.

The possibility of a newbie being hired by a large facility
is diminished due to the level of expertise required and
competition with more seasoned MTs. These are coveted
positions and, generally, only the best and most
experienced MTs prevail.

It depends on the needs of the facility, but it IS possible
to get a job right out of the gate by being properly
prepared with knowledge, skills, and a creative mindset.

—————————————————-
Cynthia Peavler Bull is founder of CYN-R-JE Consultants
LLC™, mentor and author of “How To Be A Medical
Transcriptionist” that gives you insider facts, secrets,
tips and techniques on how to get started as an MT. To
begin your career at the head of the class visit
http://www.howtobeamedicaltranscriptionist.com

Copyright 2006 Alvin Toh

No matter who you are or what you do, there’s a common
force that’s driving that shapes your emotions and
behavior. It determines how you live, the quality of life
and ultimately your destiny.

This universal force is the human need. Irrespective of
where you are in the world, what culture you are from, what
color, status, background, we are universally driven by our
human needs. We can break it down to 6 areas of human
needs. They are unconscious needs that automatically drive
us.

Of these 6 needs, you can view them into two broad
categories. One group is the primal need and the other
spiritual need.

There are 4 human needs in the Primal needs group. These
are the needs you would seek to fulfill as a base and
drives every one of us.

First need is the need of Certainty. Everyone wants
stability about their basic necessities like food, shelter
and other material resources. When people cannot control
their physical circumstances, they seek certainty through a
state of mind such as religious faith or positive
affirmations.

Second need is the need for Variety. People have a need to
change their state to exercise their body and emotions.
They seek variety through different ways like change of
environment, physical activity, mood change, change of
people they interact with, entertainment and others. The
need for variety sometimes runs into conflict with the need
for certainty.

The 3rd need is the need for Significance. Everyone needs
to feel special and important in some way. People seek
significance through recognition from others or from
themselves. Some people meet this need in a paradoxical
way. Some people when they feel insignificant or helpless
will go out to get others to recognize how significant
their problems are and how helpless they are. This
ironically raises their significance, just by getting
people to acknowledge the enormity of their problem and
their helplessness.

The 4th need is the need for Love and Connection. We all
need to feel connected with someone or something be it a
person, an ideal, a sense of identity. Connection may take
the form of love or just engagement. One can still be
connected by means of an aggressive interaction.

That was the 4 Primal needs. The next 2 are classified more
in Spiritual needs.

The 5th need is the need for growth. Everything in the
universe is either growing or dying. Many are not satisfied
spiritually unless our capacities are expanding.

The 6th need is the need for Contribution. Just as we
survive through the contribution of others (our parents for
example), we seek to be spiritually fulfilled through
contribution.

The fulfillment of the spiritual needs gives rise to more
sustainable joy versus momentary pleasure associated with
just fulfilling the primal needs.

There are many ways that people find to meet these needs
whether they are positive, negative or neutral ways. We
unconsciously act to fulfill our needs and some actions may
fulfill a subset of these needs or all of them. When we
have a behavior that fulfills at least 3 of these needs,
these actions are considered strongly addictive or
sometimes known as habits as they fulfill more than half of
your needs. Again, these actions can sometimes be positive,
negative or neutral to ourselves.

So how do we use this knowledge in marketing?

In evaluating what you are providing, look at if you are
fulfilling any of these human needs and especially if you
are able to meet at least 2 to 3 of the 6 at a high level.
That’s when you have a compelling story or offer that
fulfills a person’s strongest desire.

Look at how they market a high end car like a BMW.  You are
sold on just how great the engineering of the car and how
its handling gives you unsurpassed confidence (CERTAINTY)
in any condition on the road. Its safety features protect
you (CERTAINTY) like none other. Its various controls,
gadgets and funky designs allows you to change your
experience (VARIETY) whilst you are driving. The name of a
BMW says something about you being an owner and driver who
is discerning (SIGNIFICANCE) and accords you with some
stature. You will be part of a BMW Club (CONNECTION) where
you get to meet other owners and go on driving trips or
specially, exclusive invited events (SIGNIFICANCE).

Another message that is put forward “By buying a BMW, you
are actually doing yourself and your family a great favor
by providing them the best technology and safety for their
transport” (Contribution and Certainty). If you want to
upgrade your skills as a driver, you can be provided a
special free pass to BMW Driving School (Growth). They have
showroom with high class touches like a private cafe and
lounge (Significance) where staff greet you by name and
cater to you one on one.

I am just taking this an example of how I see the marketing
of a marquee car hits on the different human needs and I
took some liberties in some of the offers to illustrate the
point. I live in Singapore where these cars are selling
like hotcakes and yet we are one of the most expensive
markets for cars in the world due to the taxes. So knowing
the keys to market to the human needs can set you apart in
providing value to a customer even in the most competitive
market niche and create a rabid, loyal following, just like
drivers of BMW.

Note: I do not represent the view of the manufacturer or
have anything to do with BMW.

—————————————————-
Learn about how successful internet marketers are
exploiting the science of human psychology in marketing by
visiting
http://www.scientificwealthonline.com/art-6needs