If you want to be successful at anything, you will need to
set some goals for yourself.  These can be short term
(immediate) goals or long term (future) goals.  I find it
easier to start with my long term goals.  What is it that I
want to have accomplished 2 years from now, 3 years from
now?  Where do I want to be?  What do I want to achieve?

Once you have these answers, it will enable you to see the
big picture.  Now you need to write down your goals.  A
goal is just an idea until it is written down.  Write your
goals down, all of them and place them somewhere where you
can see them every day.  I have mine next to my computer
with another list on the refrigerator.  Visuals are also
good to have.  If it is your goal to move into a bigger
house, have a picture of that house near by.  This is going
to give you the motivation that you need to succeed.

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Forgive what may seem like a bit of a theoretical argument
today. Sometimes you have to step back and get a sense of
the biggest picture in order to understand how all the
simple, practical parts relate.

Small business is often held together with sweat,
creativity and a heavy use of duct tape. (In case you ever
wondered where I came up with the term Duct Tape
Marketing.) That’s the outer reality of small business. The
inner reality, the part that most don’t see and even the
owner of the business might not understand, is more like a
living breathing ecosystem.

I didn’t really excel in science in school, but to me the
parallel is obvious. In an ecosystem, the many parts are
dependent upon each other for success. In a small business,
this is equally true and just as hard to measure and
control.

There are lots of small businesses out there that appear
healthy and happy on the outside but are being held back by
some component of the overall system. The very first thing
you must do is acknowledge this idea of dependant parts. If
one isn’t thriving, isn’t even noticed, others will suffer.

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Why send video email? Why would you want to send video
email when you can send an ordinary email, that is the
question? What is the difference?

When you send video email, you bring message to life by
adding audio and visuals to your message which will make it
much more effective than an ordinary email.

You never get a second chance to make the first impression.
In this fast-paced world you have to move ahead of your
competitors. It is no longer big fish eat small fish, it is
now fast fish eat slow fish!

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According to inside contacts, the Japanese banking crisis shows no signs of ameliorating. If anything, it’s getting worse.

Following last week’s news that Origami Bank had folded, we are hearing that Sumo Bank has gone belly up, and Bonsai Bank plans to cut back some of its branches. Karaoke Bank is up for sale, and it is (you guessed it!) going for a song.

Meanwhile, shares in Kamikaze Bank have nose-dived, and 500 back-office staff at Karate Bank got the chop. Analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank, and staff there fear they may get a raw deal.

Having a brand identity is extremely important to your
business’s success. However, many business owners have
misconceptions about brand identities that can damage their
businesses.

“Brand identity” is the result of the combination of
consistent visual elements that are used in your marketing
materials. A basic brand identity consists of a logo,
business card, letterhead, and envelope. It can be extended
to include a website, brochure, folder, flyer, or any other
professionally designed pieces.

I’m not a big company:  I can’t have/create/build a brand.

Just because your company’s not huge doesn’t mean that you
can’t benefit from creating a brand identity. Even for the
smallest company, a brand identity will make you look
bigger than you are, will make you appear more
professional, and will make your sales process easier.
You’ll also have a starting point for designing all of your
marketing pieces, and your brand identity will make your
marketing a breeze as well.

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THE 8 ASCENTS OF THE ULTIMATE LEADER (Continued from Part
I) are the Psychological foundations of what makes a great
Leader, they are…

1. Master Your Rules of Engagement

• In War, “Rules of Engagement” are what you do when you
engage the enemy.

• The enemy in this case is experience of when your
surroundings don’t match your perception of ‘what should be’

• Psychological “Rules of Engagement” exist as reaction
responses to these surroundings and the experiences, if you
become more aware of what they are, you will have a
foundation to influence your actions and reactions, you
will Master your Rules of Engagement

2. Increase Your Circle of Tolerance

• This is the measure of your ability to deal with things
“intelligently” and without reaction. The more rules you
have about the way things should be, the smaller your
Circle of Tolerance

• If you have a large Circle of Tolerance, you can deal
with more situations intelligently and make better
decisions.

• Things that happen outside of your Circle of Tolerance
usually trigger your Rules of Engagement

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American manufacturers are turning away lucrative business
because they can’t attract or retain enough qualified
workers. Productivity diminishes when there are not enough
skilled employees, and the situation convinces “ or forces
“ many employers to lower their hiring standards while
simultaneously canceling profitable contracts.

The Jacksonville Business Journal, for example, recently
reported that Atlantic Marine Holding Company in Florida
has passed up millions of dollars worth of new business due
to a lack of productivity based on too few employees. As
alarming as that might sound, the incident is not an
isolated one. Businesses across the manufacturing sector
are experiencing significant shortages and rates of
attrition that directly affect the bottom line. In fact, a
recent survey by the Manufacturing Institute, the research
arm of the Washington D.C. based Manufacturers, revealed that 90% of manufacturers report a moderate to severe shortage of qualified skilled production employees.

5 Proven Ways to Attract and Keep Quality Employees

To overcome this challenge, manufacturers need to take a
vigorous and proactive approach.

Here are 5 ways to attract quality employees and retain
those you have already trained:

Use dynamic marketing techniques.

Posting a dry job description is no longer enough to
attract good candidates. Don’t view hiring opportunities as
mere job postings but instead approach them like an
advertising campaign. Use the expertise and creativity of
your marketing team and employ direct response writing
techniques to improve your response rates.

(more…)

Are you frustrated with your employees and wonder what you
can do to improve their efficiency and reduce your stress?
Would you like to be more successful as a boss, manager,
etc.?

Are you an employee and you want to enjoy working with your
superiors, reduce your stress, and be more effective?  If
you answered yes to any of the above, then read on and
learn some important insights and solutions to assist you
to reach your goal.

As a Marriage, Family Therapist for 27 years, I heard many
clients complain about their bosses and employees. I
realized that they were having similar problems. The number
one issue seemed to be that they were projecting other
people in their lives on each other. Therefore, they were
not seeing one another clearly.

It is important to remember that we are all human beings,
no matter what role we are playing. We all have feelings
and beliefs whether we are aware of them or not. In a
sense, it is similar to a loving relationship, in that some
of the same basic principles apply.

(more…)

Whenever I conduct a workshop or teleclass, invariably
someone asks the question: “What should I say when the
prospect says, ‘I’m not interested?’”

My response invariably is: “It’s probably too late.”

Certainly you can try to recover from that “I’m not
interested” response. You can ask, “Why do you say that?”
(Say this gently, as though you are confused and really,
really want the answer.) You can repeat back: “Not
interested?” (Again, say this gently, as though you are
confused.) This sometimes gets people to start talking and
explain themselves. Bottom line, however, if everyone that
you speak with says, “I’m not interested,” you’re not
saying anything interesting.

If you have a compelling script with stellar delivery, you
will hardly ever hear the words, “I’m not interested.”
That’s because you will actually be saying something
interesting!

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Have you heard of the Law of Contrast? What about the Law
of Authority? Or the Law of Social Proof?

You won’t find these laws in your country’s Constitution or
legal writings, but whether you realize it or not they
affect your life every day. That’s because people are using
these laws to influence your thoughts and actions.

We all know, of course, that the advertising industry is
constantly “pushing our buttons” — that’s how they
persuade us to buy the goods and services they are selling.
We accept that. Sometimes we are aware of the tactics and
consciously decide whether or not to respond, but for most
of the time we’re oblivious to them. We simply react, and
very often with the desired response — THEIR desired
response!

These laws are psychological laws, and they work because we
human beings are remarkably predictable. We may be
different from each other in our personalities, our
backgrounds, our belief systems, our characters and other
ways, but our basic human psychological responses are
surprisingly similar.

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