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career zone tips

CAREER ZONE MENU ****
01.How to Attract Business?
02.How to To Improve Your Company?
03.Tips on How to Get a Job
04.45 ideas to promote your business
05.Are You Making Any Business Mistakes
06.Building An Internet Based Business
07.Email Marketing Methods
08. To making money on the Internet
09.How to ask your boss for a raise?
10. 10 tips of leverage that small business has
11.How to be a Successful Sales Professional?
12.How to Choose and Keep Customers?
13.How to Developing Personal Creativity?
14.How to get media coverage for your business?
15.How to Grow Your Business Through Publicity?
16.How to Improve Your Goal Setting Skills?
17.How to make your hobby into a business?
18.How to organize your paperwork?
19.How to Promote Your WebSite?
20.How To Set and Achieve Goals? 21.10 keys of International Marketing Plan
22.How to Work Effectively At Home?
23.How to work effectively in a home office?
24.Internet Business Guides, Tips and New Ideas
25.Most Common Mistakes in Selling
26.9 Ways to get free PR-media coverage
27.Starting a Small Business Going Into business
28.Ten E-Mail Courtesy Tips For Businesses
29.Ten Keys to Making Money On The Internet
30.Ten Keys To Small Business Success
31.Ten Keys To Successful Negotiation
32.Ten Marketing Mistakes Small Businesses Make
33. Strategies To Build Solid Business Partnership
34.Ten Strategies To Increase Your Sales
35.Tips for getting FREE Publicity for your business
36.10 Myths About Selling
37.How to run Internet business from home?
38.What to DO When a Customer Says NO
39.Why you need a Website
40.Words That Limit Your Success

How to Attract Business?

1. How effective your product or service is.

2. Seek to serve instead of just seeking to sell.

3. Add value by network all of the time: Be a matchmaker every single day.

4. Add value to your potential customers by expanding their professional vision/goals

5. Add value to your current customers by making sure they're maximizing the use of the product/service.

6. Turn your customers into your company's R&D Department, not just a focus group.

7. Improve your communication skills/relating style so that people WANT to be around you - a LOT!.

8. Turn your customers into your sales deputies; have them feed you business instead of "prospecting."

9. Teach others how to sell in an Irresistibly Attractive way -- this guarantees you a strong future.

10. Strengthen your Personal Foundation/Reserve Levels so that you don't need the money anymore.


How to To Improve Your Company?

1. Know your personal values.
What's most important to you personally? When you know your values, you'll better filter new information and opportunities and can rely better on your intuition because you know what you're hearing and how it fits in with you.

2. Get candid input from at least 5 other people who know you well.
While it's nice to get input from experts, it's as valuable to get points of view from colleagues, family members, key employees who know you -- they know your tendencies, your moods, the way you think, your blind spots, your passions. Let them guide you.

3. Have a really big, big picture.
When you know your long term goals, have a vision or have a helicopter view of the current situation or opportunity, you'll be "seeing more" and thus have more information on which to base your decision.

4. Always have a Plan B, Plan C and Plan D ready to go!
You can improve your good judgment by having back up plans, whether you need them or not.

5. Don't put yourself in situations where you are forced to rely too much
On your "good judgment." This one is important. After all, shouldn't you be enough ahead of the curve to have been making good decisions along the way so that having "good judgment" doesn't become critical? Don't confuse good judgment with crisis management.

6. Separate the facts from the interpretation of the facts.
There are very few facts that aren't also coupled with someone's (even your) interpretation of the facts. Either sales are down 20% or they are not. An explanation is just that. There are great explanations, few of which are worth banking your business on. If sales are down, assume they'll stay down until you do something about it.

7. Always include a worst-case scenario -- and make it a really bad scenario.
For a decade or two, Detroit kept factoring in worst-case scenarios, yet they continually came up short because they took incremental actions based on what they wanted to believe would happen, not what was so clearly a long-term trend of foreign-made cars slicing up their market share. Living in denial is always expensive -- yet we all do it. A good way to get out of denial is to assume that sales will drop 50% in the next year (think Volkswagen) and "be ready" for that possibility. Just by including that option and developing options at that level, one will make a better decision about what is more likely to happen.

8. Always look at the downside of every decision you make.
If you're adding a new product, increasing the customer service budget, reducing overhead, permitting use of your name/trademark, entering into a co-venture agreement, make a list of the 10 potentially negative and even deadly consequences of even a no-brainer/excellent change. Everything affects everything today -- and unexpectedly. If you respect this ecological truth you'll realize that every decision affects, in some way, you, your employees, your shareholders, your profitability and your viability.

9. Seek to enhance your reputation first; bottom line second.
I used to base most of my decisions on whether or not my company would make more money. But in 1994, I realized that the future of my business came from my current customers, their word-of-mouth and from the press we were beginning to receive from the national media. At that point, it occurred to me that if I'd just invest more money in our reputation and make my decisions based more on reputation than quarterly profitability, I'd be a lot more financially successful --- and more proud of my company, too.

10. Hang out with others who have excellent judgment.
There are so many subtleties about acquiring and developing good judgment that most of the process comes best from friends, colleagues, competitors and staff who already have great judgment. Learn from them, in every conversation.



Tips on How to Get a Job

1) Decide what type of position that you want.
The usual choices are: teaching instructorship; research instructorship; industrial job; computer programmer, etc. An Assistant Professorship sometimes is tenure-track, which is then a prize position. Otherwise, it is little different from an Instructorship, which is almost always 1, 2 or 3 years and then out to look for another postdoctoral position.

2) For a research position
For a research position, emphasize your research by listing papers submitted, or even better, published. Emphasize any fellowships or other academic awards you have received. Note, they really don't care much about what classes you have taken. If you have taught well, say this somewhere, like under accomplishments: consistently rated very highly in department teaching evaluations. But be truthful, and if you say something like this, you must document it with teaching evaluations

3) For a teaching position
For a teaching position, emphasize your teaching. They will not hire you for your research. That is something you hope to keep doing after you get the job. So, emphasize success at teaching and other teaching activities. For example, participation in the PDP and other student-help programs is excellent. Also, list working at tutoring lab in Taft Hall as an item if you have this experience. For a teaching position, they might actually care about your courses. Especially, if you feel competent to teach some computer science courses, then list these as courses taken amongst a sampling of other courses that might be useful to the level of school where you are applying.

4) For an industrial position
For an industrial position, hiring will be decided on different criteria from teaching positions. For example, they might prefer to hear that you categorically failed one-half of the class (This will qualify you for a management position.) Not seriously, but you must think about what in your background might induce them to hire you. Emphasize any hands on computer experience beyond theoretical training. And they probably care little for your courses, unless you failed them all. On the other hand, they are very interested if you have other activities or have organized special events, not necessarily at the university. Just things to show them that you are a doer who will do good for them.

Finally, make copies of the vita(e) onto bond paper at a commercial copy shop (e.g., the University copy shop, or to Kinko's north of the Ike). They keep their machines in good repair, so the copies will be clean and crisp. Also, good bond paper gives the application a feel that helps it stand out. It cost you some money, which will make you think carefully about what you are putting on it.

5) Arrange for three or four letters of recommendation from faculty members.
They should know you or your work (hopefully both) and are willing to write a letter in support of your application for the type of positions that you seek. This can be one of the hardest steps; after all, you have to guess what person will write the most helpful letter, and the more enthusiastic the letters for you, the better the application is received by the employer. So get a letter from:

- your advisor;
- someone who is in your field and might know that your thesis work or other accomplishments are notable and can describe them independently of your advisor;
- someone who gave you praise in an advanced graduate class (and hopefully still feels that way);
- someone who knows about your teaching or TA experience, and can certify that you are a reasonable or excellent teacher.

If you are after a teaching position, then the teaching letter is absolutely crucial, and must have glowing praise for your teaching. If available, it is even worth asking for a second letter in support of your teaching. Your job search depends on strong teaching letters, especially if you are not a native american. As a recent testimonial to this point, a recent graduate got several offers of teaching positions a few years ago, and the inquiry calls from the hiring committee at the schools considering him were often to certify that his letters on teaching were true - they had rarely seen bond paper glow in the dark:-) Implore the faculty member writing the teaching letter to visit your class at least once. It is hard to write a sincere letter without having seen the person teach. It is also very helpful to have some form of course evaluations for your work as a TA or Instructor.

6) Select the advertised positions that are likely to want you.
They should be looking for someone with your experience (Ph.D., some teaching or TA experience) and a certain area (research in a particular area of applied or pure mathematics). Make a list for each type of job you are after: a list for the research positions, a list for the teaching positions, a list for the industrial positions. It is not unreasonable to have 50 to 100 places you will apply to. In fact, the recent horror is that some people now send to over 200 places. As ridiculous as this is, after all, if you don't get a job, you don't eat. One strategy is to send out 100 applications to your A-list in late November, then in late December or early January send out a bit more if you can stomach it. With enough applications, you can increase your chances that someone will find your vita to be what they are after. But there really seems to be diminishing returns in this strategy. Your best efforts should be made in preparing and putting your file together. If you have to rely on mass mailings, you are following a poor strategy - though sometimes, there is little choice.
WARNING: It is a mistake to assume that someone doesn't want you because they don't advertise for someone in Étale Homotopy Theory, or whatever your research area may be. If they don't specifically say do not apply, and it is one of the schools you really would like a chance to go to, then spend the money on copying and postage and apply. However, if the ad says "Looking for applied mathematician in queuing theory", then take your expertise in Étale Theory somewhere else.

7) Request the letters of recommendation as soon as possible.
The writers will surely take two or three weeks to write them. This is an optimistic estimate. Two weeks after requesting, check which letters have come in. It is polite job etiquette to then inquire with the writers of the missing letters if they have given your request any further thought. This request should be done with a wan, starving look to ensure that the letter writer feels the edge of guilt for not having done it yet. It can be maddeningly hard to get all of your letters out, so be persistent!

8) Write a cover letter for the jobs you are after.
Your cover letter should be clean and professional looking. In practice, this means use a word processors with spell-checker. You need a basic letter that states:
what position you seek (instructorship, CEO, etc)
your field and thesis advisor
what else is enclosed with the letter.
For the most important places on your list, you can then personalize the letter in some way. For example, if you know someone at the school in your thesis research area, you might add
a pointer towards one of their faculty members who might know your advisor or your work.
(This person is probably on sabbatical, so don't get your hopes up. But it is always worth the effort.)
In the early days of email, it also made sense to send inquiries to particular faculty members about the job possibilities in his department. But this has become trite, and almost counter-effective due to the nuisance factor. So stick to the written application you submit. However, it is always reasonable to send copies of preprints or reprints to a faculty member you might know of at an especially important position you covet. Preprints are always interesting, if not always read.

9) Mail your applications out as soon as possible.
The application should consist of:

- Cover letter

- A copy of the curriculum vita for the position you seek. If industrial, an industrial vita, etc.

- A copy of the Thesis Summary

- Documentation of teaching ability, if you have it.

- If you are pursuing a research instructorship, a copy of the Research Proposal.

If you have written a research paper (or better yet, published one) then for the most preferred positions, enclose one or two of your best papers.
On this last point, you do not need to send a whole stack of papers if you have them. The goal is just so the committee looking at you application can see that you are a serious researcher already. Enclosing a paper gets very expensive, both in the copying charges and for the First Class Postage, so reserve this for only about 10 to 20 selected positions.

10) Create a Homepage for you
The World Wide Web is now an established, essential tool in the job search. If you have not already done so, it is highly recommended that you create your own professional web homepage, which at minimum is a hypertext version of your Vita, and but can be much more, including listings of your expertise and projects completed, and even include online versions of papers you have written.
Attention can be called to your homepage by including a short phrase on your Vita, saying something like:
For additional information, see my WWW Homepage at
http://www.Smilefast.com/~your_user_name

Just be sure that the homepage you post represents you professionally. It probably does not help your job search, if your homepage has a picture of your latest tattoo - save that for your personal home page.




45 ideas to promote your business

1. Advertise in the classified advertising section of your community newspaper.

2. Advertise in the Yellow Pages.

3. Advertise on a grocery buggy.

4. Approach your prospective customers over the phone.

5. Approach your prospective customers in person.

6. Approach your prospective customers through the mail.

7. Be a guest speaker at seminars and present on your area of expertise.

8. Be a guest speaker on radio talk shows.

9. Build and maintain a customer mailing and contact list on database software.

10. Build your image with well designed letterhead and business cards.

11. Design a brochure that best explains the benefits of your services.

12. Design a mail order campaign.

13. Design a point of purchase display for your product.

14. Design a telemarketing campaign.

15. Design an image building logo for your company.

16. Design and distribute a quarterly newsletter or an industry update announcement.

17. Design and distribute company calendars, mugs, pens, note pads, or other advertising specialties displaying your company name and logo.

18. Design and distribute a free "how to do it" hand-out related to your industry (e.g. Tips for conserving energy in your home).

19. Design buttons, decals and bumper stickers or balloons with your company name, logo or slogan.

20. Design T-shirts displaying your company name and logo.

21. Explore cross promotion with a non-competing company selling to your target market.

22. Explore the costs of advertising in newspapers, magazines, on radio, television, billboards, bus shelters and benches.

23. Explore ways to share your advertising costs using cooperative advertising.

24. Follow up customer purchases with a thank you letter.

25. Follow up customer purchases with Christmas or birthday cards.

26. Have your company profiled in a magazine or newspaper that is read by prospective customers.

27. Hire an advertising agency or public relations firm.

28. Hold a promotional contest.

29. Hold a seminar on your service, product or industry.

30. Include promotional material with your invoices.

31. Look for prospective customers at trade shows related to your industry.

32. Look for prospective customers in associations related to your industry.

33. Look for prospective customers at seminars related to your industry.

34. Look for prospective customers in magazines and newspapers related to your industry.

35. Package your brochure, price lists and letter in a folder for your customers.

36. Place a sidewalk sign outside your store or office.

37. Place flyers on bulletin boards and car windshields.

38. Place promotional notes on your envelopes, mailing labels.

39. Place signs or paint logos on your company vehicle(s).

40. Prepare a corporate video.

41. Prepare a list of product features and benefits to help you plan your advertising and promotional campaigns.

42. Prepare proposals offering solutions to your customers' needs

43. Provide free samples of your product or service.

44. Provide public tours of your operation.

45. Sponsor a charity event.




ARE You Making Any of These
Small Business Mistakes?

1. Getting Wedded To an Idea And Sticking With It Too Long.
Don't marry a single idea. Remember, ideas are the currency of entrepreneurs. Play with many ideas and see which ones bring money and success.

2. No Marketing Plan.
A marketing plan creates the kind of attention you need to get in front of the right types of people, companies, etc. It is what attracts people to you! There may be as many as 25 ways to market your business at no or low cost. A good marketing plan implemented effectively, efficiently, elegantly and consistently, will eliminate the need for "cold calls!" (See below for how to create a results driven marketing plan).

3. Not Knowing Your Customers.
Changes in your customers' preferences and your competitors' products and services can leave you in the dust unless you get to know your customers well, what they want now and will likely want in the future, what their buying patterns are, and how you can be a resource for them even if you don't have the right products or services for them now! (See below for low cost techniques to gather facts about your customers and the people you'd like to have for customers).

4. Ignoring Your Cash Position.
The world (aka customers) doesn't respond to even superior products in the timeframe that you think they should. You'll need plenty of cash to sustain yourself in the meantime. (See below for how to forecast your cash needs and protect yourself from cash crisis situations).

5. Ignoring Employees.
Motivating, coaching and managing your staff is probably one of your toughest challenges as an entrepreneur/business owner today! Without your patience, persistence and "people skills," your problems can multiply quickly. Morale, productivity AND PROFITS can easily be destroyed!

6. Confusing Likelihood With Reality.
The successful entrepreneur lives in a world of likelihood but spends money in the world of reality.

7. No Sales Plan.
Without a sales plan, there's no serious way to gage the financial growth and progress of your business. You need a realistic map for where the sales will come from, how they'll come and from whom.

8. Being a Lone Ranger.
You might be the key to everything BUT you cannot DO everything and grow at the same time. Even modest success can overwhelm you unless you hire the right staff and delegate responsibility. (See below for effective delegation techniques)

9. No Mastermind.
Get an advisory board or a mentor! Sounds crazy for a small operation? It's not! The board can be family members that you trust, or friends. Ask them to be your board of directors and review your business plans and results with them. Having someone to bounce ideas off and get an objective opinion is critical.

10. Giving Up.
Some of the most successful entrepreneurs failed several times before doing extremely well. So, if you're failing, fail. And fail fast. And learn. And try again, with this new wisdom. Do NOT give up. Yet, do not suffer, either.


Building An Internet Based Business

Designing Your Site To Attract Visitors
Your Web site promotion campaign begins with the design of your site. Why? Because the design of your HTML pages affects how your site will score on the search results pages of the search engines.

Appearing at the top of search results pages translates into more hits and more traffic. Plus, certain parts of your HTML pages control the way your title and description appear on the search results pages, and you want these items to be appealing so that searchers will click on your link.

Submit Your Web Site To Search Engines And Directories
How can your potential visitors hear about you? They might search for you in a search engine or a directory or they can stumble upon your link in a "what's new" "what's hot" type site. In order to be listed you need to submit your site's URLs.

I recommend you submit manually at list to the major search engines and
directories, This means visiting each one individually. If you have properly prepared your website for promotion, then use the following links and Submit Away!

Submit your Website URL to The top search Engines
- Alta Vista
- AOL Netfind
- Excite
- Google Search
- Hot Bot
- Lycos
- Nothern Light
- Open Directory Project
- Yahoo
As for the rest of the hundreds of search engines, directories, "what's new", "what's hot", etc., You may use a submission service , or you can use a submission program.

Send Press Releases To Magazines And Online Publications
Magazines and online publications are always on the lookout for new and interesting stories. Mention of your site in such publications can bring you scores of visitors. The way to be included here is to send announcements and press releases upon launching your new web site and whenever you have something new that people might want to hear about.

Trade Reciprocal Links With Other Sites
Trading reciprocal links means that you approach other sites asking them to place a link to you in their site in exchange for a link in your site. Naturally you would want to approach busy sites that attract visitors with similar interests to your own. One good way to find such sites would be to go to a search engine and type in one of your keywords. The sites that appear at the top of the search results page would be good prospects.

Bear in mind that your site must contain interesting and useful information in order for others to agree to trade links with you.


Email Marketing Methods
UNTARGETED EMAIL MARKETING
Untargeted email marketing on the internet usually takes on the form of "Unsolicited Bulk Email". Whether you are doing it yourself or hiring one of the thousands of email blasting companies online, it makes no difference. Bulk email is NOT a smart way to market.

Let me explain exactly why...

"Spamming", or sending mass email to "unqualified" email addresses is considered bad "netiquette". If you send unsolicited email to addresses that do not want commercial email, not only do you risk the reputation of your business, you can get into more trouble than you would expect.

What kind of trouble? Well, since many ISP's do not allow this activity, they will discontinue your account as soon as the inevitable complaints start to trickle in.

If you want better results without the risk, consider the following alternatives...

TARGETED EMAIL MARKETING
Targeted email marketing works. Truly targeted email means getting your email to recipients that HAVE approved of it. Not only do your get better results, you won't have to worry about ISP cancellation and more importantly, the reputation of your business.

Here are the best targeted email marketing methods I've used. (Listed from most expensive to least expensive.)

- "Opt In" email list rental.
- Ezine advertising.
- Ezine publishing.
- Email Discussion group participation.

Here are details on how I utilize each...

"Opt In" email list rental
Did you know that you can actually rent email lists of people who have approved email about certain topics. (Just about any topic imaginable!)

This method is not the cheapest form of targeted email marketing, but it works! On average, you'll have to spend about ten to fifteen cents per address. The companies that rent the addresses even do the mailing for you. You just sit back and wait for the orders!

When I released my book, "Insider Internet Marketing", I used this method and sold a few thousand dollars worth of books in a two day span. The company I used is called Postmaster direct .

Ezine advertising
I'm a big fan of Ezine advertising and regularly utilize this low budget technique. I'm not just saying that to drum up advertisers for my own newsletter, actually I have a waiting list of about a month just to get an ad in here. Why? Quite simply, email advertising works!

Take a look at the advertising section of your favorite email Ezine. The reason there are so many ads there is because the advertisers get results. Not only do you reach your target audience, you reach them by the thousands. Of all the online marketing methods available, Ezine advertising could be the most effective.

Many larger companies are just starting to realize this and are entering into this exciting new advertising medium. Compared with the high costs of web site banner advertising, Ezine advertising is a bargain.

Ezine publishing
One step better than "advertising" in ezines, is actually publishing your own. If you are not already publishing your own e-newsletter, I highly recommend you do so. It is much easier than you might imagine.

Your customers and prospects will constantly be "in touch" and your Ezine can keep them abreast of new products and services as you make them available. You can also generate income offering classified or sponsorship advertising if you wish.

Unlike traditional newsletters, there are no printing or postage costs. Since your own cost is zero, you can offer free subscriptions, thus insuring a steady flow of new prospects.

To get started publishing your own Ezine, you do not need to pay for list management. You can manage and deliver your Ezine yourself with a good email program like Qualcomm's Eudora or Pegasus Mail by David Harrris. These are the best email programs available on the internet and
they can be downloaded for free at the following URL's


Once you have your email program installed, practice mailing to a few people at once by using the BCC (blind carbon copy) feature. It's important to use the BCC field when mailing to a list. This insures that everyone on the list does not see other email addresses on the list. No one wants their email address publicized all over the net.

After you've perfected your emailing skills, all you need is some subscribers. That's easy, simply post a message announcing your newsletter to the "NewList Announcement List".

Email discussion group participation
An email discussion group is delivered via email like an email newsletter. But a discussion list differs from an email newsletter in one major way -- you are allowed to voice your opinion, usually through a moderator.

Discussion lists also allow you to ask for help from others with similar interests. What's more, you can assist people in need while your sig. File (the footer you include at the end of every email message you send) invites readers to your site. Discussion group marketing works because the posts are delivered directly TO a targeted audience. Once again, push marketing at it's finest! In addition to posting to discussion groups you should consider advertising if the group you join offers it.

No matter what you are marketing online, participating in discussion lists makes sense. Not only will you learn some valuable information, it's is a great way to soft-sell some of your wares.


Now that you are armed with the facts about email marketing, go out and start your email marketing campaign today! And remember, whatever email marketing method you choose, be sure that every single email you send out includes your URL and a brief description of exactly how YOU
can be of service to anyone who may be reading that email!



TO MAKING MONEY ON THE INTERNET
#1. Provide Value
Let's look at two of the most successful online ventures: Yahoo and Amazon.com. Why are they so successful? They provide tremendous value to the Web. That's what they've been doing all along. Your website must provide free resources, foster a sense of community and show real value to your visitors. Without useful information and real content, your website will just be background noise. Provide real value and the revenues will follow.

#2. Quality Presentation
Providing content, community, and utility is not enough. It must be presented well. Quality means fast, clear web design that looks good and is easy to understand. It should be easy on the eyes, as well as the brain. Your users will make quick determinations about the quality of your site. High quality will result in repeat visitors and more traffic. The word about your awesome site will spread!

#3. Be Unique
Your site must be unique. You should own something no one else has. In most Internet business opportunities you're nothing but pitching something you don't even know anything about with a web site that looks exactly like thousands of others. It's depressing to see people waste their money promoting some "get rich quick scheme" or advertising the same programs as everyone else. Not to mention those rip-off cybermalls. So, if you don't have your own unique website which fosters the Five C's (content, community, consistency, capability and commerce) then you're nothing but a cyber-static sales pitch.

#4. Build Your Brand
Why is Yahoo! valued at 10 times more than Infoseek? It's their brand name. Yahoo! is now virtually synonymous with the Internet. Amazon.com has also attained great name recognition. Both companies have formed a name that people can easily remember and with a comfortable ring to it. Today the key success factor is not about gaining market share, but rather gaining "mind share." This means brand recognition. Your name needs to be catchy and meaningful. Your name needs to express a feeling or image in the mind of the consumer. For example, the name Yahoo! is exciting and makes me feel like I've struck gold. The name Amazon.com paints a picture in my head of a vast and great jungle where anything is possible.

#5. E-commerce
Let's face it. E-Commerce is here to stay. According to Forrester Research, Online retail sales will hit $108 billion by 2003. Your site must have a fully-functional E-commerce system built into it. It's expected if you want to actually make sales through the web. Visitors need to be able to purchase your product or service at any time with just a click of a button. Your site needs to make shopping a fast, fun and easy experience. Cater to the impulse buyer and provide a simple yet effective shopping cart system. How else do you expect to make any money on the Net?

#6. Form Affiliations
One of Amazon's biggest success factors is their affiliate program. Wherever we go there's an Amazon book being sold on a website. It is so important to form solid partnerships and affiliations. Set up your own affiliate program and you might just see your profits soar. Develop joint venture partnerships with those web sites that fit with the "theme" of your business. Remember, you won't survive very long if you're trying to do it all by yourself.

#7. Technological Knowledge
No one accomplishes all of the above key factors without substantial technical know-how -- or at least ready access to it. It goes without saying Yahoo! and Amazon.com have many very technically savvy people on staff. Surely you wouldn't expect to build a substantial online business without doing the same. Of course, you don't have to be a programmer, but you must have access to those people who can support you technically.

#8. Promote
Advertise! Promote! Tell the world about your site! And I don't mean spam. I'm talking about a constant, strategic and aggressive promotion by using opt-in lists, ezine advertising, classified advertising, search engines, targeted email marketing and other online promotional tools. Advertise on the radio, newspapers, and television. You have to let everyone know that you exist and that you mean business. A web site is, in reality, infinitesimal bits of data buried in a computer. It only means anything if people come see your site.

#9. Patience
You have to be patient and think long-term. It takes a lot of hard work to be successful and it won't happen overnight. Plan ahead. Focus on your strategy and develop the right moves for the right time. Take your business step by step and you'll be greatly rewarded. I see too many people trying to make that fast, quick buck without putting much work into it. It's just not going to happen that way.

#10. Investment
In order to reach your goals and dreams, you have to invest time and money. If you're short on finances, then try to gather friends, family or investors to fund your project. If you think you have a really great idea then you should approach angel investors and venture capital firms. According to the Small Business Administration, angel investors pour as much as $20 billion a year into some 30,000 small companies.



How to ask your boss for a raise
Thinking of asking for a raise? You're not alone. Most of today's work force is just waiting for their chance to ask for more money. But be wary-there are many do's and don't surrounding this issue. Use the following tips to find out what to do when the moment is right for your to make your move:

1. Consider Your Position
Look at the position you are currently holding. Are you a college-hire, a seasoned veteran, a part-time employee? Its a fact that employees must climb the work status ladder to get anywhere. If you are a college hire, your chances are slimmer for a raise than those of a seasoned veteran. If you are part-time, employers may not be able to consider you for a raise until you take full-time status. Put simply, position is everything.

2. Consider Time
If you are a new hire, you MUST wait at least six months before approaching your boss for a raise. If you've got a few years under your belt, its still advisable to wait at least three months from your last raise before asking for more money.

3. Consider Experience
How solidly do you know your area? If you are an expert, your chances are great for a raise. If you've got only a seminal knowledge of your area, consider training yourself to become more knowledgeable. If you are a valuable commodity and your boss knows it, they'll do whatever they can to keep you.

4. Feel Around
Try and see what the other employees in your office are earning. Ask them tactfully, or ask the employment office in your building. Chances are, they'll be able to give some good hints at what those around you are worth. Consider your raise question accordingly.

5. Spread Hints
Before asking for a raise, it's always good to exhibit a huge burst of company loyalty. Bustle around for a week or two, and do even more than you normally would. Stay later at the office, and contribute highly to company meetings. Try and showcase the fact that you are of great value to the company.

6. Give Hints
It's nice to spread some hints so that you don't take your boss completely by surprise. Schedule your meeting at least a week in advance, and tell him/her that you'd like to discuss your "position in the company."

7. Make a Case
Compile a list of all the reasons that you feel you should be earning more. Type a paper listing all of your projects and what you did to contribute to them. List your assets, and what you've learned. If your boss seems unconvinced of your worth, give them your compiled list of these projects. Practice expounding on all of topics in front of a mirror.

8. Stand Firm
If you feel that a raise has been long in coming, make sure that you stress how much you need it. Indicate to your boss that your comfort depends on the raise. Avoid speaking directly of issues such as a car or rent. Simply tell your boss that you'd appreciate some extra help in the areas of housing and transportation.

9. Watch for Signals
Read your boss carefully. If he/she appears to be having a bad day at the time of the meeting, switch the topic of the meeting, and schedule another one for the next week. The best time to ask for a raise is just after you've been lauded for a project or assignment. If praise is a rare thing in your office, then at least make sure that your boss appears to be in a jovial mood at the time of your talk.

10. Know When to Give Up
In the area of office politics, your boss always knows best. If they give you a definitive "no" to your question, do not press the issue. Instead, work hard, and watch for your next chance to speak to them on the issue of a raise.

10 areas of leverage that every small business has
1. Customer-base
Ask yourself: If I just bought this company, how would I sell more/expand what I sell to this customer base?

2. Cash
Ask yourself: If I could invest this cash in any one part of this business/niche/product line for the biggest cumulative return/profit over the next 5 years, where would I invest it all?

3. Market Leadership
Ask yourself: To remain the market leader for the next 25 years, where should I invest my time and company's resources right now?

4. Reputation
Ask yourself: What can I do to double the strength of our current reputation, within the next 6 months?

5. Momentum
Ask yourself: What's working well right now and how can I keep it working well?

6. Key Staff
Ask yourself: Who are the 5 key people in my organization and what game/plan can I create with them so they'll stick around for a long time?

7. Systems
Ask yourself: What systems work so well that we take them for granted? How could we improve them?

8. Responsiveness
Ask yourself; How quickly and completely do we respond to changes in our customers, market, technology, staff needs or economic conditions?

9. Intellectual Property
Ask yourself: What do we have, IP-wise, that just isn't being as leveraged as it could be?

10. The X Factor
What do we have that's very, very special and that we could really maximize, just for the pleasure of it?


How to be a Super Successful Sales Professional
Tip #1
An obvious and compelling Passion for People, not just the for product or service. (OLD: Really believe in the product/service.)

Super Sales Professionals care SO much for people and helping them to solve their problems/get their buying needs met that the buyer FEELs this. It's not an act; it's a calling.

Tip #2
An ability to help the prospective customer to FEEL. (OLD: Find/create pain.) The Super Sales Professional doesn't just look for the hot buttons as a way of getting the person to buy. Instead, they help to create a possibility that EXCITES the buyer.

Tip #3
A willingness to sell to the buyer's buying strategy instead of using a collection of selling techniques and hoping for a connection. (OLD: Using a technique that works for you.)

This requires a certain humility because the Super Sales Professional makes the buyer more important than the Super Sales Professionals collection of selling skills. Every buyer has their preferred way to purchase; get to know these in general and quickly discover the preferred way that your potential customer buys/makes a decision, etc.

Tip #4
An ability to peg/discern who is going to be a buyer and who is not. (OLD: Ability to qualify prospects quickly.) Super Sales Professionals have a sixth sense that helps them to distinguish between tire kickers and real buyers. This sixth sense is develop-able. And, it saves LOTS of time and frustration when mastered.

Tip #5
Ability to easily match the EXACT features/benefits of the product with the client's spoken or unspoken needs or wants. (OLD: Sell the sizzle, not just the steak.)

No buyer cares about ALL of the features and benefits; they usually only care about 1 or 2 of them. Your mission: Sense, feel or discover (by asking questions, guessing) the key benefits that turn this discussion into a sale, quickly.

Tip #6
Not needing to have to make the sale. (OLD: Don't appear too hungry.) Hungry salespeople scare away the meal.

Tip #7
Discerning the appropriate next step for the buyer and helping them to see how your product/service is the obvious choice. (OLD: Sell to the need.) This requires some thinking and feeling. When you can size up your buyer and look "ahead" for/with them, you'll see a picture of what's next and be better able to language how your product/service can assist them in their progress.

Tip #8
Having enough evidence of how REALLY effective valuable your product/service is and then sharing that with confidence. (OLD: Know your product/service well.)

When you've seen enough customers do extremely well with your product or service (not just well, but EXTREMELY well), you'll not be hesitant to share how well your product/service works. Facts inspire confidence. Get to know the real facts about how effective your product or service performs and delights customers, and you'll be a FEARLESS sales professional.

Tip #9
Naturally adding value to everyone you touch, buyer or not. (OLD: Be a resource to potential customers.) Either you seek to add value to everyone or you don't.

Tip #10
Be human, be light and be real with everyone. Don't perform or act. (OLD: Create rapport.) Drop the pretense, the false sincerity, the I'm-your-new-best friend, the I'm-here-to-SERVE-you-at-least-as-long-as-I-think-there's-a-chance-that-you'll -buy-something-from-me.

How to Choose and Keep Customers
1. Do you know who your customers are?
It may sound automatic, but many businesses simply don't keep track of who actually buys their products. And, those that do, rarely analyze buying behavior. A customer database is essential. If you don't have one, create one. Start by capturing the basics: customer contact information, product preference and purchase frequency.

2. Have you ranked your customers?
Not all customers are created equal, yet most businesses treat them exactly the same. That's why you need a customer ranking system. Look at those variables that are most relevant to your business -- purchase frequency, revenue, selling costs, referral potential, and so on and score your customers accordingly. Marketing research firm CRI, for example, ranked their 157 customers using a simple quadrant that bucketed customers according to the kind of business they generated each year, i.e. High Volume/Low Margin and Low Volume/High Margin.

3. Do you know which customers are your most valuable?
The ranking exercise may help explain puzzling disparities in company performance. The 'Why aren't we growing/more profitable/gaining market share when we have more customers than we ever have?' dilemma can be crystal clear when you really look at how each customer is contributing or subtracting from the bottom line. CRI found that only 10 of its customers fell into the preferred category-High/High.

4. Do you have too many customers?
In CRI's case, they concluded they were 'spending much too much time and valuable employee resources on too many unprofitable customers' -- in fact, 101 of them essentially contributed nothing to the bottom line. Smart CEOs understand precisely who their target customers are. And, they know how to go after only the right customers. Is there room in your business to be more customer-selective?

5. Which of your customers may be worth firing?
Less can definitely be more when it comes to unprofitable customers. Like CRI, who cut its customer base in half, getting rid of some customers may be your company's secret growth strategy. Also think about the costs you would NOT incur if certain customers went away. Are some draining the business? The process of raising your customer standards and paring automatically opens space to attract the flow of new, more profitable business.

6. When is the last time you checked customer satisfaction?
If you're not regularly taking the pulse of your customers, they may be sacrificing, rather than being satisfied. 'Customer sacrifice = What the customer wants EXACTLY minus what the customer settles for' say B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore, authors of The Experience Economy. Check to see if you can shore up the areas of your product or service that may be cracking or settling.

7. Are you spending too much on finding new customers?
Determine all of the costs (people, time and dollars) you incur to grab new customers. Are more company resources focused on customer acquisition vs. customer retention? Consider putting more attention on holding on to the ones you already have. It can have a profound impact on the bottom line -- current customers are 5-10 times LESS expensive to sell to than new customers. And, you can avoid nasty customer defections due to neglect.

8. Are you actively converting first-time buyers to long-term customers?
In some businesses, such as car or life insurance and credit cards, companies actually lose money on first-year customers. Check to make sure you don't have a 'leaky bucket' --- losing mature customers and replacing them with new ones. It takes many new customers to compensate for the loss of just one veteran, according to Frederick Reichheld, author of The Loyalty Effect. And, the bigger the leak, the harder you have to work to keep it full.

9. Are you fortifying relationships with your best customers?
There are 4 strategies to keep great customers, say Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, authors of The One-to-One Future:
#1) Recognize your Most Valuable Customers (MVCs) with special treatment (unique services).
#2) Reward loyal buyers, i.e. frequent buyer programs.
#3) Deliver Consistent Product Quality and Satisfaction.
#4) Customize Product/Service For Individual Customers -- the ultimate way to keep customers loyal longer is to spend more time catering more to their individual tastes. What can you do to better personalize each customer's experience with you?

10. Are you earning customer loyalty?
Strategic CEOs treat customers like assets and do everything they can to invest and safe keep them. Customer loyalty standouts, such as Lexus, State Farm and MBNA, engineer their entire company (not just the customer service dept.) around customer loyalty -- manufacturing, pricing, sales incentives, and all operations inside and out are built for lifetime customers.

How to Develop Personal Creativity
Creativity is a complex, multi-faceted process. Many myths have grown up around the process, one of which is that creative people have no say in the matter; that somehow creativity strikes certain people and misses others. Nothing could be further from the truth. Creativity can be developed, sharpened, amplified, because it is a factor of nurture as well as nature.
1. Believe You Are Creative
Everyone is. Or has the potential to be. It is part of being human.

2. Broaden Your Interests
Consciously seek out what you have not sought out before. Be open to new experiences, new sources of information.

3. Prepare to Create
Gather information, hunches, impressions, colors, textures, sounds. Keep Notes!

4. Look for (or, better still, make) Connections.
The more varied your interests, the greater the chance of cross-fertilization; of combining two or more things that have not been combined before. Look for relationships between things that are not related.

5. Break Habits.
Our own habits are what often keep us from being more creative. The more you follow the script, the less you can improvise. Breaking even little habits can shake up the system enough to allow new connections to happen, new points of view to form.

6. Provide the Right Environment (for you).
Some people like to listen to music, others prefer silence once they are in the creative flow. Experiment until you find what works for you.

7. Provide Time To Create
(1) Time to sleep on it. Time without your conscious manipulation. Time for seemingly random thoughts and bits of input to percolate and bump into each other.
(2) Time away from the immediate demands of work and/or home, dedicated to the creative task at hand. In certain environments, time is so precious that this seems like an unrealistic element of developing your creativity. But even five minutes could make a difference.

8. Persevere
Don't give up on yourself or your project. Creativity is not necessarily easy. Make lots of mistakes. Learn from them. It is to be expected. It is a part of the process. Keep going. There is a paradox here because sometimes an important part of being creative is knowing when to abandon an unproductive idea.

9. Maximize All Of Your Senses
The more you utilize all of your senses to gather and process information, the greater the chance of those bits of ideas bumping into each other . . . and sticking together to create a new something.

10. Forget How Much You Know.
Adopt the beginner's mind. Conventional wisdom may say this or that cannot be done and then unconventional wisdom goes right ahead and does it. Learn to look at things with a fresh eye. Don't be afraid to ask the "dumb" questions.

How to get media coverage for your business
1. Write a book on something you like or do, become an instant expert.

2. Challenge an existing institution and show that you're making progress.

3. Find/create a way to do something in 10% of the time/hassle/cost as it used to, before your product/service came along.

4. Create a website or email newsletter and wait for a reporter/writer to start your media coverage.

5. Hire a PR firm and ask THEM to achieve coverage for you.

6. Build a track record of serving a particular niche and then call your local newspaper, tell your story and see if they're interested.

7. Take an existing product or service, and change/customize it so that it's revolutionized or a different niche is using it.

8. Link what you do/offer to an already existing trend or news event.

9. Add an electronic or free component to what you offer and pitch the story with an Internet angle.

10. Get someone important/known to endorse you or what you're offering.


How to Grow Your Business Through Creative Publicity
Small businesses sometimes fail because their owners fail to use creative tools and techniques to get the added exposure they need. The following ideas are geared toward the smaller business, but would work for larger businesses as well. Some of the concepts are simple, and they have also proven to be effective over time with millions of small and large businesses.
1. Put your business and your name in highly visible places, no matter how unusual.
We all see billboards, Yellow Pages ads, and ads on the place mats at pancake houses and local restaurants. Try putting your business name and or logo on bus stop benches; ballpark walls; city buses; pens people sign charge card slips with at your business (often they take the pen anyway...might as well have your advertising on it!); T-shirts you, your friends, and clients and relatives wear(not unlike "Coach wear"); symphony, auto show, or concert program "inside ads;" plastic cups or mugs you use for your guests/clients in your office, etc. Keep the ads neat and the message clear. People DO remember names from events and places they go where they have personal or special interests.

2. Join or volunteer time to a few good local business organizations.
This can be the Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, Variety Club, United Way, small business clubs, breakfast clubs, business associations, your neighborhood business groups; anything that will expose you and your face and name and services to others who might need it, know someone who needs it, or even be your competitor. Knowing your competitors, what the *successful* ones are doing, and where THEY "mingle," can help you strategize where you might get some exposure of your OWN! If you can see what your competitors' strengths are, chances are you can also see where they have *weak* areas. If you can, use YOUR business and your expertise to fill in where they are weak.

3. Speak or write publically about your profession or your business.
This sounds self-serving. Of course it is! The KEY is to make it very subtle! Media folks will accept a story if they see it is interesting and about something where there is an "angle" that would appeal to many people. They will NOT be drawn to interview you or publish an article strictly on *your* business! Famous authors do not travel the country signing books in small town book stores to learn U.S. geography! Any good, honest exposure you can get through an article in a trade journal, one of the clubs you have joined, or a charity function, puts your face, your name, and your business name, its services & *results*, in front of the public. If you dislike public speaking, write an article for a business magazine related to your specialty or the service or products you sell. Most of those trade publications are looking for contributors with knowledge who will write for free or little money, to fill space and keep their readers interested. It's FAR better than having an ad in the same magazine! It gives you ten times the credibility to WRITE for a magazine than to have an ad in one! Make sure your name and all other pertinent short author "bio" copy is current and accurate. The "pen is often mightier than the ad."

4. Look for (or, better still, make) Connections.
4. Get with the times and get "online!"

Sure there are millions of people competing with one another on the Internet! Turn it around and know that there are *many* times the same number of consumers, looking for the best deal, the best service for the money, and the most qualified person to meet their needs. Here you can spend next to nothing or you can spend a lot. Learning how other people in your business use the "Web" will give you ideas as to where you might "beef up" your services, the quality of your goods, and the way you present your business and yourself as the owner to the public, who can either help your business sustain itself and grow, or not. See what other similar businesses do *not* offer that you could or do and play on that. The information is right before you. You have but to learn to access it and then the world and all of the world's businesses are in front of you!

5. Sponsor or be a co-sponsor for a local charity event.
Pick an event that is well-attended, and also one in which you might already have some interest. Taking the time off to man the telethon phones, attend a dinner or party or play or gaming event for a charitable function serves you in several ways. The two most important are that you are doing something for the benefit of others, which helps you spiritually and will give you a good feeling, and it gives you and your business some public exposure within a very positive and a very humanistic environment.

6. Get involved with civic groups and committees.
Pick your interest or one that you feel would be of interest to potential clients or current customers of yours: school boards, hospitals, libraries, art centers/museums, zoning committees, city council, neighborhood improvement, PTA, Boy Scouts, church groups, etc. Depending on the size of your city, you will have more or less choice. If your town is very small, get involved with something in the closest large town from your home. The more people you know and meet, the more people will know about you and "what you do" and what you have to offer. Simple truth.

7. Voice your opinion in print.
This "attention getter" has pros and cons. If you send a letter to the editor or write an article for your local paper's "editorial page," you are sure to have people who agree with you and will possibly give you some business or mention your name, as well as people who disagree with you BIG time and who you might even LOSE as a customer. If you write about something that is lighthearted, not related to religion or politics, and something you feel certain most of the people you really would want or already have as clients or customers would enjoy or be "neutral" on, you're safe. Again your name and maybe your business (many people use their business address in letters to the editor to keep their private address private) will be where many people from town and out of town might see it. Careful thought on the right topic, well phrased, can affect many people in a positive way for you.

8. Advertise or offer to give your clientele more than your competitors are giving.
Reason number one why to check out what your competition offers, gives, sells, and is all about with their business! It sometimes takes only a few cents less, better value for the money, extra courteous service, or other services or options, to make a client or customer choose you over one of your competitors...including the much larger ones! Develop or hone some skill or special "extra" you can offer people if they use your firm or buy from your company. Advertise that special extra! Small but thoughtful or useful gifts or services can actually make a difference in the kind of highly competitive marketplace of the late 20th century. This will be even more important in the 21st century. Know your strengths and play them up. Know your competition's weaknesses or things they simply cannot or do not give and find a way to fill some or all of those weak areas and voids yourself! Provide the best and most comprehensive and professional services or merchandise for the best prices, delivered in the best manner, on time, and you will be ahead of all but the very TOP people in your field. Much of what you can do will cost nothing but an investment in time and some extra "personalized" effort.

9. Send out a newsletter to clients and potential clients.
Simple newsletters can be done at home or office and copies can be made and sent out to mailing lists of your current clients/customers and other mailing groups. Don't make the mistake of filling the newsletter with ads and specials like everyone has in newspaper inserts! Write about what your business offers, what you do and how you do it, your staff, *special features or skills your business or firm has to offer*. Give the reader free hints, advice, etc. Let them see you are knowledgeable, friendly and not just out to send them junk mail filled with coupons or ads for products or services you are selling. They will be pleasantly surprised and they will remember you and your business if you do things with thought and good intentions. It's also a form of advertising, so it is a legitimate business tax deduction for most people.

10. Give free workshops or seminars to draw your special interest "target group."
If applicable and possible, decide on a topic or an aspect of your business, product line or knowledge gained from your business or the skills you sell. Advertise a workshop or seminar open to the public at your store or other appropriate place. (If demonstrating a skill, you may need to be in a place where you have the equipment to do so and where people in attendance can all see you doing it.) It can be all day long or last 1-4 hours, depending on your topic and your business. Again, the point is to offer some free, useful, interesting value and information to people who are used to paying you or your competitors for it! You need not tell them all you know so they would never need you again! Just give them enough to let them see that you know your business and are personable. You'll be surprised how many people will walk in the door or call you the week following a free weekend seminar or talk! Cost to you? Nothing but time, unless you pay to rent a room for your seminar or speech. If it is well publicized, and on a topic that you know, you will bring out the crowds; it will pay for itself with one or a few new clients or customers within a short time.


How to Improve Your Goal Setting Skills
Life is a journey. Not just any journey, but the most fantastic journey in the universe. Life is a journey from where you are to where you want to be. You can choose your own destination. Not only that, you can choose how you are going to get there. Goal setting will help you end up where you want to be.
Here are some tips to Improve your goal settings skills
* When it comes to setting goals, start off with what's important to you in life. Take out a sheet of paper. Sit quietly, and on that sheet of paper, brainstorm what you want to accomplish between now and the end of your life.
* Second step-use another sheet of paper, and this time consider yourself and your personal goals for the next 12 month period. Some key areas in which you might set personal goals include: family, personal growth, financial, health, social, career, hobbies, spiritual, and recreation. Write down the things that you plan to accomplish or achieve or attain during this one-year period?
* Now, as a third step, go back and compare the two goal lists you have made. Make sure that the items on your short-term list will, as you attain them, be helping you attain your long-term or lifetime goals. It is important that what you are doing short term is taking you in the right direction toward your lifetime goals. Please rewrite your short term goals now if you need to.
* As a next step, looking at the goals that are on your list at this time, if there are any that you are not willing to pay the price for, go ahead and cross them out, leaving only those items you are willing to cause to happen in your life. This does not necessarily mean you have the money or the other resources for attaining the goal right now. However, when you do have it, would you spend it on or trade it for the goals you have on your list?
* Now, on still another sheet of paper, create the job goals that are important to you during this upcoming 12-month period. Identify what outcomes you wish to attain or achieve during this one-year period in your specific area of responsibility and authority.
* Some key areas in which you might consider writing job goals, if you did not already, include: quality, quantity, cost control, cost improvement, equipment, procedures, training, sales, financial, and personnel.
* As a next step, look for the blending between your job or work goals and your personal goals. Anywhere you notice that you are attaining a goal on the job while at the same time you are attaining a personal goal, note this relationship: it is in these areas you will be most highly motivated.
* For each of the three lists that you have just created, take an additional sheet of paper and list the activities that you must do to attain the most important goal that you have on each of your lists.
* Now on another piece of paper titled "Things To-Do List" identify from the activities you just listed, the ones that you must do tomorrow to move you toward your most important goal.
* Rewrite your goals in these categories at least every three months.
* The only thing in life that is constant is the fact that everything is changing. It makes sense that our goals will change as we change.
* Recognize how focusing on what you do want, what you do intend to accomplish, also defines what you choose not to do in your life.
* Daily rewrite your list of "Things To-Do" after first reviewing your desired goals.
* Success is defined as "the progressive realization of a worthwhile goal." If you are doing the things that are moving you toward the attainment of your goal, then you are "successful" even if you are not there yet.
* Every step along the way to achieving a goal is just as important as the last step.
* It is not the achieving of a goal that is so important, it is what you become in the process.
* Set goals with your family also. Help children learn this process early in life.
* Decide what you should be accomplishing and then stick to your knitting. Do not attempt to be or do all things for all people.
* Dreams and wishes are not goals until they are written as specific end results on paper.
* Written specific goals provide direction and focus to your activities. They become a road map to follow.
* Being busy with activities does not pay, only results do. As in baseball you only get points for getting to the goal of home plate. Just making it to the bases does not count.
* It has been said that the amount of information available to us is now doubling in less than 30 months. We must learn to focus on only what is truly important to our self and our job.
* Be sure the goals and activities that you are working for are yours and that you really want and desire to achieve them. The commitment is vital to your success in achieving them.
* When you have a goal that is exciting to you, the life energy flows through you. You are excited about accomplishing it because it is personally meaningful.
* Create a time line or matrix chart on which you display your goals visually and the dates when you will have them accomplished.
* Continually look for ways to integrate or blend personal and professional goals.
* Setting a goal, that you believe is unattainable will result in frustration. To be challenging and motivating, goals must be perceived as realistic and attainable.
* Those people with dreams are the ones most likely to experience them.
* Set goals carefully for you will attain them. This also means if you set none, you will attain that.
* Goals, when thoughtfully set, can provide strong motivational direction.
* Clear cut, understandable and realistic objectives leading to the goal help to maintain the sense of realism and the hope of attainment of the goal.
* Establish measurement criteria to monitor progressive movement toward your goal. Then you will experience progress.
* Set goals that you will be proud to have achieved, then sense your having completed them.
* Have a vision that you know is unquestionably right and you will be internally driven to achieve that vision.
* A goal is "reasonable" when you can see the entire process needed to get to its attainment.
* Good planning assists in sensing reasonableness of challenging goals.
* Use picture goals.
* Develop an emotional reason why you should attain your goal.


How to make your hobby into a business
Life is a journey. Not just any journey, but the most fantastic journey in the universe. Life is a journey from where you are to where you want to be. You can choose your own destination. Not only that, you can choose how you are going to get there. Goal setting will help you end up where you want to be.
Here are some tips to make your hobby into a business
* 1. Register your business name by filing a "doing business as" statement with your local county clerk. * 2. Use business cards and stationary. * 3. Take out a company listing in the Yellow Pages. * 4. Keep a log of the business contacts you've seen during the year. * 5. Advertise in local papers. * 6. Send promotional mailings to prospective customers. * 7. Setup a business bank account. * 8. Get a business telephone. * 9. Buy a postage meter and a copying machine. * 10. Hire at least some part-time help


How to organize your paperwork
You can become a "self-publisher" by taking your material (book, manual, report, newsletter, etc.) and by-passing all the "middlemen" by going directly to a printer and handling all the marketing and distribution of the product yourself. As a self-publisher you invest your talent, time, energy and money. The benefits you receive are complete control over your product and all the profits! Here is a condensed version of 10 good reasons why you should self-publish.
1. Self publishing may be the only way to get published.
You may not be able to get anyone to professionally look at your idea. Self-publishing may be your only realistic solution at a given point in time.

2. As a self-publisher you get to keep all of the profits from your sales.
It's not a matter of greed; but ask yourself why you might settle for 4%-6% in royalties from a publishing company when you can have it all!

3. You have absolute marketing and editing control when you self-publish.
According to a Writer's Digest poll, 60% of the largest publishing firms do the final editing; 23% select the final title; 20% will not even consult an author on the cover design, and 37% do not involve authors in promoting their own material.

4. Major publishers may receive up to several hundred manuscripts a week.
Unless the have already published your work, the odds they will even look at your material aren't very high. There are thousands upon thousands of manuscripts, etc. being sent to publishers continually.

5. When you self-publish you are in control every step of the way.
By depending on another publisher to make things happen for you, you take the chance of never getting anywhere.

6. By self-publishing you gain a different perspective.
You will be able to see the complete marketing picture from a publisher's point of view, and gain the credibility of "walking the talk" regarding something creative that you believe in.

7. Self-publishing will save you valuable time.
Even if a publisher did accept your work, it takes an average of 18 months before the first copy reached the market place. This can become a toleration, especially if you can't afford to miss a market that may quickly pass by.

8. Self-publishing eliminates the waiting and wondering.
Waiting for a letter from a publisher that may never come can be a frustrating and embarrassing experience. Self-publishing is a proactive process!

9. You get more directly involved in the entire process.
When you self-publish and get more directly involved in marketing you will obtain a more total business picture, and develop greater skills than you otherwise would have.

10. As a self-publisher you will receive greater business tax advantages.
This can be important - especially if it means off-setting some of the income received from the sale of your work; something royalties alone cannot provide!

How to Promote Your Website
Many people believe that if you open a Web site, customers show up automatically. It just ain't so. You must drive customers to your site. That requires some work and a plan.
1. Get prominent listings on search engines and in Web directories.
The key word here is prominent. When Alta Vista returns 70,000 listings to someone searching for your type of product, you don't want to be buried on the bottom. You want to be in the first page of results. For most Web sites, search engines and directories are the most important sources of qualified visitors. They account for 70 percent or more of the visitors to many sites.

2. Rent or collect "opt-in" e-mail addresses and e-mail invitations to your prospects.
"Opt-in" lists consist of people who have asked to receive e-mail about a specific subject. One country music site rented three separate e-mail lists of country music fans, combined them, and e-mailed an announcement about a country music contest. Within eight hours, 11.6 percent of
recipients visited the site. A week later, 30 percent had visited. E-mail lists like these are one of the best ways to build traffic quickly.

3. Beg, swap, or buy links to your site from other sites your prospects visit
Associations, educational sites, and other companies are likely candidates for links. What other Web sites do your prospects visit? See if you can get a text link from those sites to yours. Over time, they could send you a steady stream of highly qualified visitors. Sometimes you can get a link from another site just
by asking. Try that approach first. Most of the time, however, you'll scratch their backs and they'll scratch yours as each of you adds links to the other. If the other site's visitors are valuable enough to you, you might even offer to pay for a link.

4. Promote your site URL offline everywhere you can
You ve seen other people s URLs (Web site addresses) on buses, billboards, t-shirts, and TV commercials. You can do the same with yours. Put it on your letterhead, business cards, and checks--anyplace you print a phone number. Make sure all your employees include your Web address in their e-mail signature files.

5. Send e-mail and "snail mail" press releases to announce your site.
When you launch your site, add something, or hold a special activity on your site, you can generate traffic through press coverage. Press releases are cheap, and they can produce stories in both electronic and traditional media. Those stories send a temporary burst of visitors to you, and the leads are qualified because the respondents are interested in the topic of your release.

6. Swap or buy banner advertisements on other sites.
As opposed to text links (#3, above), banner ads deliver short-term bursts of visitors to your site. That can be expensive, but there are services that swap banner space on your site in exchange for displaying your banners on other sites. Swapped banners usually generate less-qualified traffic than targeted banner ads, but they cost much less.

7. Pay commissions to affiliates who send cust