A large part of what makes a meeting successful occurs in
the preparation phase. Although it may vary by committee,
department or unit, there are seven key responsibilities
expected of chairs or team leaders before a meeting takes
place. Each is explained in detail below.

1. Clarify purpose and aims. A clearly stated purpose or
aim describes the key decisions that must be made or
actions that must occur at the meeting. The purpose of a
meeting should be stated at the top of the meeting agenda.
Some example purpose statements might look something like:
• Share best practices in graduate recruitment and identify
opportunities to recruit collaboratively
• Identify priority goals for next year
• Examine and update admission criteria
• Decide how to get feedback from faculty, staff and
students
Everything else on the agenda including topics, times, and
presenters are the activities that, taken together, will
accomplish the aims. A weekly or monthly staff meeting may
not require meeting aims beyond the agenda items.

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Copyright (c) 2006 UpLevel Strategies

Part three of this Winning “5″ Combinations article covers
combinations four and five, along with  “get to action”
advice.

Winning Combination #4

Know, Love, and Trust Your Customers

Why do so many new products and service companies fail?
Usually for many reasons, companies often are so enamored
of their new product ideas that they fail to do their
research on the most important entity in their entire
company…Their Customers! Even if they do get a nibble of
information, they often ignore what the research tells
them. It is important in product/service development to
develop products that your consumer’s want, not simply what
you desire to produce.

With effective market research, you can determine the need
for your service, a product’s likelihood to sell ,
target-market demographics , and desirable store locations.
There are numerous ways to uncover this information — from
online research to focus groups. Here are a few simple and
free ways for entreprenuers to do market research:

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“If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing
you have to do is wake up.” — Anonymous

We all have dreams, and I don’t mean the kind we have at
night.  They can be anything from swimming the Atlantic
Ocean to winning the lottery to receiving the Nobel Prize
to learning a new language.  There are as many different
dreams as there are people…times ten.

While dreams might be ephemeral in themselves, there is one
real fact about them, and it is embodied in the quote at
the top of this article.  While a dream MIGHT come true by
accident or some happy combination of circumstances, to
MAKE a dream come true, we first have to wake up and DO
SOMETHING.  Simply sitting around waiting for a dream to
come true is no more effective than hoping to win the
lottery because someone gives us a ticket.  While that
scenario could play out in real life, most lottery winners
had to first actually buy a ticket.

(more…)

Copyright (c) 2006 A Marketing Connection

What do I mean by stake your claim? No, I’m not talking
about digging for gold in the Wild West. I am, however,
talking about marking your territory. I am talking about
being the first to publicly say that you discovered
something and it’s yours. I am talking about being the
first to “claim” to do something different and better than
your competitors.

Don’t be alarmed. I didn’t fall off the covered wagon here
in Colorado and knock my head. I am talking about marketing.

(more…)

Copyright (c) 2006 A Marketing Connection

What do I mean by stake your claim? No, I’m not talking
about digging for gold in the Wild West. I am, however,
talking about marking your territory. I am talking about
being the first to publicly say that you discovered
something and it’s yours. I am talking about being the
first to “claim” to do something different and better than
your competitors.

Don’t be alarmed. I didn’t fall off the covered wagon here
in Colorado and knock my head. I am talking about marketing.

(more…)

Once there was plenty of opportunity for loan originators
to make calls to all consumers to create mortgage business.
However, the introduction of the Do Not Call List, October
1, 2003 presents challenges to consider. The rule dictates
that it is illegal for telemarketers to contact consumers
that have placed their name and phone number on the
National Do Not Call Registry. Exceptions to this rule are
calls placed by charities, political organizations or
telephone surveyors. Failure to comply can result in up to
$11,000 per incident fine, ouch!

At this point, the challenges focus around conducting
telemarketing or selling to consumers, not businesses who
are not on the list, but exceptions to exist within the law.

Existing Business Relationship

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Don’t take a passive role in your job search.  You can’t just sit by the phone.  You need to work harder to find the right job for yourself.  You might even want to console yourself with the fact that searching for a job is the hardest job you’ll ever have.  The reason why is simple -when it’s done right it’s full of rejection.

Too many job seekers will simply search Monster® and the other assorted job sites, post a resume to a few opportunities listed, and then sit back and wait. This is the passive no-win approach to job searching that will never get you the results you are looking for.  Don’t let yourself fall into this role.

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Copyright (c) 2006 Marketing Maven

Your company brand is an emotional reaction.

Branding is more than product recognition or a simple logo.
It is the overall intellectual and emotional impression
people have when they think of your company and its
product. It is a strong and consistent message about the
value of your business. Branding is a combination of
everything your company uses to present itself. It also
helps to ensure your customers and potential customers
understand why you are different from the competition. You
want to establish a superior benefit with you target
audience that encourages long-term loyalty.

When I mention UPS or Budweiser or Ipod, you most likely
have specific impressions of each business and what they
offer. Corporations spend millions each year reinforcing
their brand. A memorable and trustworthy brand reinforces
customer loyalty. It helps them remember that your business
provides the perfect solution to their problems.

Therefore, to succeed in branding you must understand your
customers’ needs and issues. Then, create a positioning
statement and messages that speak to those needs and
issues. Make sure your marketing materials are consistent.
They should have the same colors, fonts, and include your
logo and contact info. And, your marketing materials should
reinforce your company’s image and positioning over and
over and over.

(more…)

There is no decision more important than who you hire for
your business.  The right people will make you money.  The
wrong people always cost you money.

When you think about it, there is only one reason to hire a
new employee; to improve your productivity and make you
more profitable.  Unfortunately, studies have shown only 16
percent of employees actually make us money.

This is why it is so important to “actively” recruit until
you have at least five qualified candidates, use all
available resources to narrow you choice down to at least
two finalists and hire the one with the best “Job Match.”
If you don’t, you’ll most likely end up with an unreliable,
unmotivated, unproductive “workplace survivor” that will
limit your business growth, or a “mis-hire” that can kill
your business.

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Copyright (c) 2006 Mr Sital Ruparelia

Many businesses struggle to deal with under performing or
‘problem’ staff members. By “problem,” I mean anything from
persistent absence and lateness, right the way through to a
bad attitude or not achieving the job requirements to the
correct standards. When I examine these situations it is
often a self inflicted problem which the business leaders
and owners have created themselves. Either…
a) they hired the wrong people,
b) maybe they didn’t train them correctly, or else
c) they simply did not manage them when the problems first
arose.

This last point, failing to deal with a problem when it
first begins really is often the core reason and the
purpose of this article. Your failure to set boundaries and
have an ‘awkward’ conversation about deteriorating work
standards, attitude or time keeping as soon as they first
arise - will lead to problems down the line - I can
guarantee that 100%. So no matter how uncomfortable it
feels, you owe it to yourself, the business and the
individual to sit them down and “nip it in the bud” (as we
say in the UK) informally before it becomes a major problem
that grinds away at you and your business. So how exactly
do you do this..? Here is a 5 step model that you can use
when you first realize you have a problem with a team
member:

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