Understanding what you want to accomplish is critical to a successful outsourcing venture. Although there are many who claim to offer offshoring procurement services, the fact remains that only the business contemplating outsourcing can determine the what, who and when of any offshore service project.
To this end, a business needs to understand the WHAT of any outsourcing project. The what of course, is what will be outsourced. It's not enough to simply state we're gong to outsource IT technology services, or Human Resources, or any other facet of the business. To determine the WHAT means an intimate understanding of how your business is currently handling that work.
So the first order of business when considering outsourcing is:
Define the current Process. This should be done with an understanding of requirements. Requirements should be clearly defined in such a way as to eliminate ambiguity and offer a measurement method. Fast service is NOT a metric. Answering and resolving a specific type of customer inquiry within x number of minutes IS a requirement.
The exercise of defining the current process allows you to understand the details of what actually needs done. This information will be needed when/if transferring that process over to your new outsource partner.
Now would also be a good time to do a cost benefit analysis on the proposed process. This allows the business to have a solid estimate of the current operating costs of the process under consideration for outsourcing. When doing this analysis, be certain to honestly consider all the costs involved.
I was involved with a major technology company who insisted that any cost that couldn't readily be quantified, be marginalized or simply ignored. They based the decision to outsource their internal help desk for thousands of people based on a simple statement; "Support call costs will go from 25 dollars to 6 dollars." Problem was that they didn't cover all the costs. Although they required calls to be answered within a certain period of time, they didn't set a resolution time. When support was in house, an engineer could call for support and get a resolution in hours. After the transfer however, that same call took a minimum of 3 days and sometimes over a week for resolution. The cost in lost productivity to the company because the engineer didn't have access to his files and email were never considered in the simple statement above. If the total costs were considered, the savings would have been much less significant.
So the key tip is to know your process and costs prior to considering offshoring any project. By being armed with solid information, it's then possible to select the right outsource partner and make a good decision for the business.
A Critical Tip To Make An Outsourcing Project Successful
8 Tips to be Successful with your own JV offer
Most likely you have already heard other people getting all excited about JV's and how they can help you build your online business.
Or maybe you belong to that group of people who are not familiar with JV offers, which is short for joint venture offers... also known as business proposals.
Either way... you can benefit tremendously from the following 8 tips to be successful with your own JV offer. Let's get started...
1. A JV offer doesn't require a JV partner to buy your products or services to become a JV partner.
Asking you potential JV partner to buy the product or service would be considered a sales offer and not a JV offer. A JV partner is usually offered a free review copy of your product or service.
Doing that drastically increases your chances to gain a JV partner as this makes him or her feel obligated to return the favor by doing his part of the partnership and e.g. promoting your product or service to their lists.
Why am I mentioning this? Yes, you guessed it right... I had people contact me to do a JV with them and when I asked for a review copy to check first the value of the product... I was referred to their sales page!
2. A JV offer has to be a win/win or better a WIN/win. :)
A JV offer has to provide your JV partner with one or more additional benefits for becoming your partner... his WIN. Your win will e.g. be to be able to tab into your JV artners list and gaining extra sales.
A JV offer that offers a win/win could e.g. be:
"I am looking for JV partners that can promote my product or service to their list of contacts.
In return for you are recommending my product or service to your list, I will not only provide you with a free review copy of my product or service, but also pay you a 10% higher commission than regular affiliates."
Another example... a JV offer for a service you provide could e.g. offer this:
"I am looking for a JV partner who needs a small to medium sized software product developed in Visual Basic. I can offer to do that for you free of charge in return of 10% of the profits you generate selling that software for the first year starting at your first sale and 5% for the time after the first year."
Again, a win-win situation... the JV partner has a product without out of pocket expense that he can sell exclusively to his lists, his WIN. And you can earn royalties for live without your own list.
3. Don't make the initial JV proposals too lengthy. Especially when you propose to a well know marketer, this can be the JV kill. Those people often have very limited time and will not even read your message all the way to the end if it's pages long.
It is better to send a short teaser email first and then follow up once they reply with all details.
4. Make your potential JV partner feel like you're a peer and not a salesperson.
Do your research before you send your first email to a potential JV partner.
Make the style of your JV offer personal, mention details about their business and how the JV offer can help them in what they want to achieve.
5. Don't let your JV partner do all the work, participating in the JV should very as little work as possible for them.
Be prepared and offer them to provide marketing material for your JV partner. This can be solo-ad copy, banner and text ads and other materials your JV partner can use to share the word about your product or service.
The less work it is for them, the more likely they will become your JV partner. It is that simple.
6. Don't just go only for the big player.
Overlooking smaller publishers that have a very loyal and responsive list can be another mistake. Besides, those will be much more likely interested in your JV offer as they are not flooded with them (yet).
7. Show them how you can help their clients and customers.
Give an example how your product or service compliments your potential JV partners own products or services. This way you help them to provide an even better service to their clients and customers.
This will also build trust that doing a JV with you will not only earn you and them money, but show that you are interested in helping them to look good in front of their own clients and customers.
8. Test your web copy and conversion rates and provide details.
By letting them know your conversion rate, they will know that sending traffic to your is not a bottomless pit. They can estimate how much they will be able to earn by doing a JV with you.
If you know e.g. that you will generate 1 sale out of every 70 targeted visitors your sales page gets, then let them know that you have a 1.4% conversion rate on targeted visitors.
Knowing all of the above, your next question might be... where do I find JV partners to contact?
Here is a list of resources in alphabetical order that will help you getting started:
- Anthony Blake Online - Entrepreneurial Success Forum: http://www.ablake.net/forum/
- JV-Network: Free membership site to become a JV partner of top marketing experts or to post your own JV offers for a fee: http://add2it.com/see.pl?JVnetwork
- jvAlert: Paid membership site to become a JV partner of top marketing experts, post your own JV offers and search their offers database: http://add2it.com/see.pl?jvAlert
- jvAlert Member Forums: http://www.jvalert.com/forums/
- JV Money Makers Forum: http://jvmoneymakers.com/forum/
- Mark Hendricks's Inner Circle Marketing Forum: Free section to post and find JV offers: http://www.hunteridge.com/forum/members/
- Mark Hendricks's JVdealmaker Players Club Forum: Free section to post and find JV offers http://www.jvdealmaker.com/members/
- Michael Green's "How To" Internet Marketing Forum: http://www.howtocorp.com/forum/
- MikeFilsaime's Marketing Forum: Free section to post and find JV offers http://www.1sitemanager.com/forum/
- The Warrior Forum: Free section to post and find JV offers (Note: Before posting, first post helpful feedback in other sections of the forum) http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/
- Warrior Discussion Forum: Free section to post and find JV offers (Note: Before posting, first post helpful feedback in other sections of the forum) http://www.warriordiscussion.com/forum/
Awareness and Mastery -Two Essential Keys To a Successful Small Business
At the heart of it, mastery is practice. Mastery is staying on the path."
~ George Leonard
US pioneer in human potential
We often hear managers complaining that their employees aren’t productive, don’t listen and just can’t consistently get the job done. As a youth sports coach, I hear coaches with similar complaints—the kids don’t listen, don’t know where to go and don’t try very hard. I can’t relate. The boys on my team are usually focused, do what I ask of them, and work hard. As a business owner, my employees are focused, do what I ask of them and work hard. What am I doing that is different from the rest? And what can this teach you about running a successful small business?
As a coach, I make my boys’ jobs very simple. I ask only two things of them. I ask them to master one shot and I ask them to be aware of what is going on around them. Of course we work on defensive and offensive strategy, but both of those revolve around the two keys that I gave them for success—awareness and mastery.
I teach awareness by constantly asking them to be aware of where the ball is and at the same time to be aware of their teammates are and where their opponents are. I teach them how to see the ball and their opponent when he doesn’t have the ball. Sounds simple, but for ten year olds this is work.
I teach mastery by assigning homework to each boy. The second week of practice, they have to show me a spot on the court from which they can make a shot every time. I don’t care if it is from just two feet under the basket. I want them to know they can make it every single time. As the season progresses, they may gradually move their spot further and further out, but I still ask that they be able to make their shot every time unguarded in practice.
These two simple concepts have a tremendous effect on the boys during their games. They have incredible confidence in their ability to make shots because they “know” that they will always make it. I don’t need to yell at them like other coaches about where they should be on the court because they have developed awareness of what they are doing and seeing. Now let’s see how you can use this in your successful small business.
As a business owner, I put these two key principles to work in training my employees. From the first day on the job, I work with them to be aware of what tasks are needed, what I expect of them, how I want customers treated, etc. And I ask them to master tasks and customer scripts. Once they are mastered, I open it up for them to adlib just like with my players. When correction is needed, it is usually in one of these two areas. They are either unaware of what is needed or they haven’t mastered the task at hand.
Not only does following these two concepts make it easy for me to get results with my players and employees, it also brings incredible results. My first team lost only one game all season and my employees rarely lose a sale. My businesses and products win awards earned by my employees. And, as a bonus, everyone enjoys themselves with this simple structure. I knew I was doing it right when the father of one of my boys told me that his boy enjoyed practice so much that he chose to come to practice instead of going to see our professional basketball team play one night. And I know it works with my employees because they show up on time happy, focused and ready to work. Remember, awareness and mastery are two essential keys to a successful small business.
For more tips on creating a successful small business, visit http://www.biznbeyond.com and get your free copy of From Vision to Action --A Five Step Process For Getting Started, Getting Unstuck, and Eliminating Overwhelm
Be Curious – And Be A Successful Communicator
There are many ways to improve the way you communicate. For example, you will always start things off on the right foot by opening the conversation in a way that creates mutual respect. Using phrases such as, "If you have a minute, I'd like to talk with you about something that I think will improve the way we work together," helps set your conversation partner at ease. It tells him or her that you have positive intentions.
It is also important to know your purpose for the conversation. Some purposes are more useful than others. A useful purpose is one you have power over. For instance, you can control your own reaction; you can share your view; learn about your partner's view; work toward a sustainable solution.
On the other hand, examples of purposes that are NOT useful are: trying to change the other person; attempting to control their reaction; or going in with a hidden agenda.
Be Interested
Of the many ways to improve your conversation skills, one of the best is to be interested. Curiosity is one of the most useful tools in the communication toolbox. When you enter the conversation with "beginner's mind," you will necessarily adopt the attitude of a learner. You will not have to pretend to ask honest, open questions. They will come naturally. As you listen, you can reflect on what is being said (and not said). You will gain information and ease tension. If you can't think of a question, you can always acknowledge what you've heard, or you can say: "I see, tell me more about that."
One of the reasons we're not curious more often is that we mentally equate curiosity with agreement. We think that if we don't disagree immediately, our conversation partner will assume we're okay with whatever he is saying. This is not useful thinking. It prevents you from seeing the whole picture and from learning where your partner is coming from.
The next time you find yourself in a difficult conversation, give yourself and your partner a gift by asking questions - questions to which you do not know the answer. Watch what happens. You will learn a lot, and you will feel more powerful, not less. Remember – listening does not equal agreement. It means you are a skilled and active learner, a good partner, and a conscious communicator. Live, learn, and enjoy the moment.
Good luck and good communication!
10 Tips for a Successful Entrepreneurial Pitch
One of the hardest presentations to make is the entrepreneurial pitch. You have a great idea for a business and you want someone to give you money to make it happen. The problem is that venture capitalists, angel investors, and even rich uncles are heavily predisposed against you. Why? Because 99% of the pitches they hear sound like sure-fire prescriptions to lose money!
If you are pitching investors to give you money for a new venture, you should subscribe to the following rules:
1. Explain exactly what your business is within the first thirty seconds. Many entrepreneurs waste valuable time giving loads of data, background and other info—all the while investors are left scratching their heads thinking “What does this business actually DO?”
2. Tell your audience who your customers will be. Paint a vivid, specific picture of these people.
3. Explain why your customers going to give you there hard-earned money.
4. Explain who your competitors are. (And if you say you have no competitors, that is a certain sign you are unsophisticated and deserve no investment money!)
5. Explain why you are the ONE to make this happen.
6. Give your presentation with confidence and enthusiasm. Investors want a founder/CEO to be a chief salesperson; they want to see that you can convince the world of your dream—not just them.
7. Explain what star you can hitch a ride to. Has Best Buy or Radio Shack agreed to distribute your new product? Investors feel much more comfortable knowing you have an established player willing to distribute your wares.
8. Ask for a specific amount of money. If all you do is ask for money, then you can’t complain if an investor gives you $3.25 for a cup of Starbucks coffee.
9. Tell prospects exactly what you are going to spend the money on (hint:a trip to Maui for you and your friends will not impress)
10. Dress well, act confident, and put on the air that you don’t really need their money, but would be willing to accept it if they bring enough to the table to be a strategic partner for you. Sad but true regarding human nature, but people are much more likely to give you money if they feel you don’t really need it.
Finally, make each pitch presentation serve as a focus group for your next presentation. When one group of investors asks you a series of questions after you pitch, write down all of those questions and make sure most of them are answered in your next pitch so that the next group doesn’t have to ask them. Keep pitching and keep improving your pitch and eventually you may get funded.
10 Critical Decisions for Successful E-discovery Part 2
The Information Management Journal/September / October 2007- Todayีs explosion of electronic data, coupled with the December 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) concerning electronically stored information (ESI), requires information and legal professionals to expand their knowledge about handling electronic discovery. The recent changes to the FRCP include:
* Definitions and safe harbor provisions for the routine alterations of electronic files during routine operations such as back ups [Amended Rule 37(f)]
* Information about how to deal with data that is not reasonably accessible [Amended Rule 26(b)(2)(B)]
* How to deal with inadvertently produced privileged material [Amended Rule 26(b)(5)]
* ESI preservation responsibilities and the pre-trial conference. [Amended Rule 26(f)]
* Electronic file production requests [Amended Rules 33(d), 34, 26(f)(3), 34(b)(iii)]
There are many opinions about how ESI should be planned for, managed, organized, stored, and retrieved. Some of the available options are extremely costly in terms of their required financial and time commitments. Constantly changing technologies only add to the confusion. One area of confusion is the distinction between computer forensics and electronic discovery; there is a significant difference. These are described in the sidebar Computer Forensics vs. Electronic Discovery.
Making the Right Choices
Successfully responding to e-discovery within the constraints of the amended FRCP requires organizations to make many critical decisions that will affect the collection and processing of ESI.
Processing Choices
Because of the volume of information available in even the smallest of collections, it becomes necessary to manage the process to control time and budget. The following questions need to be answered:
1. Who are the key people?
The people important to a case should be identified. These key individuals include not only executives, but also assistants and other support personnel from the technology, accounting, sales and marketing, operations, and human resources departments.
2. Where are the files located?
All the potential locations of electronic evidence should be identified. These include home computers and all computers that a key person would use elsewhere (such as a girlfriend or boyfriendีs home), cell phones, PDAs, Blackberries, and any other digital device that might be used. It is important to note that MP3 players, such as iPods, can also be used to store documents or important files.
3. How can the collection be culled?
Methods for limiting the number of files collected may include collecting only those in certain date ranges or only those containing selected key words or terms. This can be done either before or after an entire hard drive is collected forensically. Known file filtering can also reduce the collection by removing standard application files common to all computers (such as the Microsoft Windowsจ logo file).
4. How should password-protected/encrypted files be handled?
Encrypted files cannot be processed until the encryption is broken. In some instances, files with exact or similar names may be available without using passwords or encryption. File locations may also provide information about the value decryptions provide. Decryption may require significant time. Sometimes a password can be obtained simply by asking for it, so this should be the first step. If that fails, using a subpoena may be successful.
5. How should duplicate and near-duplicate documents be handled?
Electronic file collections almost always include duplicates. Multiple individuals may have the same e-mail, with the same attachments. Two or more people may have reviewed key documents, saving them on their hard drives during the process. In processing electronic collections, it is possible to identify exact duplicate files and limit the number of documents that require review.
Identifying exact duplicates usually occurs during the phase in which the metadata is identified and extracted from the files. De-duping the collection will minimally delay the processing.
Standard de-duping involves identifying files that are exact duplicates and eliminating them. If anything has changed within a document, including formatting such as a change of font, it is no longer an exact duplicate and is not de-duped.
It is imperative that both sides of a case agree on what is meant by าde-duping.ำ Many electronic discovery systems literally delete the files so they are gone from the collection. The forensic tools used in law enforcement, however, usually do not delete the duplicates, but merely identify them for future use.
Discussing this definition during the pre-trial conference to ensure that all sides of a case use the same definition is imperative to ensuring that there is not a discrepancy in the number of files that each side later has.
A more significant portion of any collection will be าnear duplicates.ำ This includes files that have been significantly altered or contain only a portion of the main document. For some projects, the sheer file volume requires that near duplicates be identified and reviewed as a group. This significantly reduces review time and costs when compared to traditional linear review.
Identifying near duplicates requires comparing each document to every other document or using sophisticated software applications that require additional processing time. This technology increases consistency of review categories, reducing the chance of near-duplicate documents being identified as both privileged and non-privileged.
6. What form should the collection take?
The new rules state that the parties will meet and determine the format in which they wish to receive electronic evidence. In the absence of an agreement, the format will be that าin which it is ordinarily maintainedำ or in a าreasonably usableำ format.
The choices a legal team has include whether each side prefers to receive the electronic evidence in native file format, converted to TIF or PDF, or in some other form. Often, this will depend upon the teamีs standard litigation review system.
Such systems handle both native and converted files, with or without associated metadata and full text. There are pros and cons for both options. Native files with extracted metadata reflect the exact original file; however, they cannot be Bates labeled, which is a technique to mark documents with a unique identification code as they are processed, and are subject to inadvertent change.
Converting native files to TIF or PDF is time-consuming and is the most expensive task in electronic discovery. Because 60 to 80 percent of the files in a collection may be non-responsive or irrelevant, both the time and finances expended in conversion may be counter- productive.
The best compromise involves receiving files in native format, reviewing them for relevancy, and choosing only those that may be produced or used extensively for conversion to image format.
Managing the vast amount of electronic files for litigation requires preparation planning for the production, organization, and retrieval of pertinent and relevant documents and managing both cost and time budgets. Because every case presents unique circumstances, there are no absolute correct answers to the questions above. But a team that understands the choices and their ramifications is prepared to make the informed decisions that will result in the best possible outcomes for the case and the organization.
Anatomy Of A Successful Trade Show Exhibit
A trade show, also known as a merchandise show or market week, is an exhibition or a business gathering organized by companies that showcase and demonstrate their new products and services and also their latest offerings. Trade shows also provide opportunities for companies to meet their customers, to learn new trends and to identify new prospects.
Trade shows are not open to the public and can only be attended by company representatives, members of the trade and members of the press. One advantage of holding a trade show is that it shortens the time it takes for companies to look for prospective customers. But the major disadvantage is that customers and prospects pay little attention to the many exhibitors and their products due to the many distractions and the busy atmosphere inherent in trade shows.
Exhibitors can make effective use of trade show displays in trade shows to direct visitors to their main display area. Trade show displays are used to give visitors a better understanding or appreciation of the products or services being marketed. Although exhibitors are only supposed to put their trade show displays within the confines of their designated trade show exhibit area, exhibitors also display items in strategic areas of the fair grounds. Trade show displays often used include banner stands, counters and cabinets, panel display etc. that clearly display the company logo, basic company information and company slogan.
The trade show booth is an important component of the trade show display as it aims to enhance the brand and marketing experience for the visitor. It facilitates valuable direct face-to-face contact between the companies and their prospective customers. The whole booth set-up includes counters kiosks, lighting, flooring, literature racks, banner stands and high impact graphics, with the booth design, the staffing and the handouts the main factors to a successful trade show booth.
Many companies prefer to rent pre-owned trade show exhibits and displays rather than to buy or to create them from scratch to save on the trade show booth construction costs and also on the expense of warehousing the displays after the trade show is over.
Trade shows demand a lot of work and effort, and exhibitors have to plan well in advance so as to make the trade show a success. It is because any successful trade show offers exhibitors with a very valuable opportunity to build relationships face-to-face with their clients and to close lucrative business deals.
Art Marketing Tips - Launch a successful business selling your art or crafts
Define your goals and get organized - What are your goals as an artist? Do you hope and dream to one day have your artwork displayed in a museum or do you just want to sell enough of your art to make a good living? Defining your goals is an important first step toward your success as an artist. Realize your long-term goal and then set reasonable and attainable short-term goals.
Build your confidence - You need to believe in yourself and your artwork. If not, your marketing efforts will be less effective as the fear of rejection will hold you back. You have to learn to take risks. No one is going to come knocking at your studio door. Get out there and meet new people, network with other artists, open a booth at an art show, etc.
Get in a business mentality – If you want to be successful with your art business, then you will have to learn how to juggle more than one task. This means learning how to become successful as a businessperson. The artists that are most successful have learned how to enjoy both creating and marketing their art.
Art fairs – Art fairs open up great doors of opportunity for artists. They enable artists to market directly to the public without the need of an agent. The public loves art fairs. They usually come to these art fairs with the intention to purchase something, which creates more opportunity for an artist to make a sale and get recognized. You can find a wealth of information about art fairs online. One such place is http://www.sunshineartist.com/. Sunshine Artist is a great magazine that provides detailed information about art fairs and festivals. Check it out!
Follow up – You must get into the habit of following up with anyone who has shown interest or has appreciated your art. That person who saw your painting in the doctors office, or the person who took your business card at your last art show are leads who can possibly turn into paying customers. They may also be able to help you in other ways you never thought possible. It’s important therefore to keep in touch with everyone. Create a mailing list and ask your contacts if they would like to be added. You can send out mailers whenever you create a new piece, or to notify your contacts of upcoming exhibits or art fairs you will be attending.
Customer service – You must go above and beyond your customer’s expectations if you want to set yourself apart from the competition. Make sure you treat your customers and leads with the utmost professionalism. Answer all inquiries promptly. Send out thank you notes and instructions for preserving and caring for the art with all of your orders. Customer service is important to all businesses, and your art business should be no exception.
Artist agents - You are your own best agent. No one knows your art better then you, and no one can express yourself and your art better than you can. An agent generally deals with more than one artist at a time so their focus is not on you and your art alone. Agents usually charge a lot of money as well. By the time it’s all said and done, the artist doesn’t make very much on the sale. It’s better to learn the ropes yourself and learn how to reach your buyers directly.
Get your own unique website - The Internet has become a huge platform for selling goods and services. More and more people are going online then ever before and artists are taking advantage of this amazing opportunity. If you want to expand your business and reach more people on a worldwide scale, you should definitely consider getting your own website. You can market and sell your artwork directly online with your own website. Your website is also a great way to organize and showcase your art to interested galleries and the people you meet in public.
Awareness And Mastery – Two Essential Keys To A Successful Small Business
At the heart of it, mastery is practice. Mastery is staying on the path."
~ George Leonard
US pioneer in human potential
We often hear managers complaining that their employees aren’t productive, don’t listen and just can’t consistently get the job done. As a youth sports coach, I hear coaches with similar complaints—the kids don’t listen, don’t know where to go and don’t try very hard. I can’t relate. The boys on my team are usually focused, do what I ask of them, and work hard. As a business owner, my employees are focused, do what I ask of them and work hard. What am I doing that is different from the rest? And what can this teach you about running a successful small business?
As a coach, I make my boys’ jobs very simple. I ask only two things of them. I ask them to master one shot and I ask them to be aware of what is going on around them. Of course we work on defensive and offensive strategy, but both of those revolve around the two keys that I gave them for success—awareness and mastery.
I teach awareness by constantly asking them to be aware of where the ball is and at the same time to be aware of their teammates are and where their opponents are. I teach them how to see the ball and their opponent when he doesn’t have the ball. Sounds simple, but for ten year olds this is work.
I teach mastery by assigning homework to each boy. The second week of practice, they have to show me a spot on the court from which they can make a shot every time. I don’t care if it is from just two feet under the basket. I want them to know they can make it every single time. As the season progresses, they may gradually move their spot further and further out, but I still ask that they be able to make their shot every time unguarded in practice.
These two simple concepts have a tremendous effect on the boys during their games. They have incredible confidence in their ability to make shots because they “know” that they will always make it. I don’t need to yell at them like other coaches about where they should be on the court because they have developed awareness of what they are doing and seeing. Now let’s see how you can use this in your successful small business.
As a business owner, I put these two key principles to work in training my employees. From the first day on the job, I work with them to be aware of what tasks are needed, what I expect of them, how I want customers treated, etc. And I ask them to master tasks and customer scripts. Once they are mastered, I open it up for them to adlib just like with my players. When correction is needed, it is usually in one of these two areas. They are either unaware of what is needed or they haven’t mastered the task at hand.
Not only does following these two concepts make it easy for me to get results with my players and employees, it also brings incredible results. My first team lost only one game all season and my employees rarely lose a sale. My businesses and products win awards earned by my employees. And, as a bonus, everyone enjoys themselves with this simple structure. I knew I was doing it right when the father of one of my boys told me that his boy enjoyed practice so much that he chose to come to practice instead of going to see our professional basketball team play one night. And I know it works with my employees because they show up on time happy, focused and ready to work. Remember, awareness and mastery are two essential keys to a successful small business.
A Successful List Means Profit Increase
It is a tough world out there, especially in the world of cyberspace. The internet has brought with it many technological innovations, yet with it came along an influx of websites. The opportunities to make money online are there, but the competition is tough. The best option for survival is to have a solid relationship with your subscribers.
Internet marketing is obviously different than offline marketing. In order for your website to stand a chance against all the million websites that are out there you need to know how to generate traffic. This may sound like an impossible mission but the answer clearly lies in opt-in list building.
It is understandable that most first time visitors on your website will not make a purchase. That is why you have to be willing to give them something that will make them want to fill in their email address. This in fact is the concept of an opt-in mailing list.
Many marketers have come to understand that a well built opt-in list is the key to profit margin increase. Clearly that is why so many people are using their freebies to increase their opt-in list. The key concept is that the more people that sign up for your free stuff, the more able you are to reach like minded people. It is a time tested marketing strategy that has great impact.
Opt-in list building is about getting your internet business the publicity it needs. It is clear that the word free does in fact allow people to let go of their precious email address. Therefore you do not have to opt for the illegal warped version of opt-list building - SPAM. List building is indeed a wonderful and perfectly legal way of website promotion.
An opt-in list is the evidently the most powerful tool that you can posses in order to make your internet marketing a serious success. It gives you the opportunity to make your subscribers aware of what your product can do for them without actually saying so.
Internet marketing through opt in list building is about building a relationship with your subscribers. You need to understand what it is that your subscriber wants and you have to be willing to part some of that information along.
This way you can give your subscribers what they want while at the same time wetting their appetites to what you have to offer. A more effective relationship is thereby built this way and your profits will start seeing their way to the sky.
10 Tips for Successful Ezine Advertising
Article Body:
When it comes to advertising, I've tried just about everything. I tried free classified ad sites, I tried FFA sites, I tried banner exchange programs.
The results? Not much.
I was tired of hearing that the Internet is the largest market in human history. Maybe so, but how could I reach those millions of people?
The answer, I discovered, is ezine advertising.
Ezines are sometimes called 'opt-in' lists because everyone who receives an ezine has chosen to do so.
And that's why ezine advertising gets results. People read ezines and they'll read your ad. And if you've matched the ezine to the product you're selling, you've reached your target audience.
There are currently around 90,000 ezines being published every month. So whatever you're selling, there's more than likely an ezine that will take your ad straight to the audience you want to reach.
Ezine advertising is not only effective, it's cheap as well. A 5 line ad in an ezine that goes to 3000 people will cost you between $5 and $20 per issue.
As a general rule, you'll always get back at least the cost of the ad, and usually much more. So there's very little risk.
But there are some tips for successful ezine advertising. Here they are:
1. The first and most important rule is: "Track your Ads!" Say you place an ad in 5 different ezines and get a hundred responses. If you don't track your ads, you won't know which ezines were pulling responses and which weren't.
But how do you track your ads?
Then, when you get a reply with 'ezineA' in the subject field, you'll know which ezine it came from.
For a URL, it's the same principle:
However, if you're going to code your URLs, you'll need a good webstats program to track the coded URLs. Here's another way to code your URLs: for every ezine ad, create a duplicate of your homepage and name the page after the ezine that your ad will appear in. So, if the ad is appearing in EzineA
2. Target your audience. It may seem obvious but some advertisers overlook this. If you're selling a web-marketing course, don't advertise in an ezine that deals with stock options; they probably won't be interested.
Use the 'subject categories' in any ezine directory to find ezines that relate to the product you're selling. You can find a list of 56 ezine directories in 'The Free Directory of Ezines' at:
3. Once you've chosen a number of ezines that target your audience, subscribe to them and examine the ads closely. If you see an ad that keeps repeating issue after issue, you can be pretty sure that it's getting results. You've found a good ezine to advertise in.
4. Check to see how many ads are in the ezine. You probably won't get much response from an ad in an ezine that has 15 or 20 ads per issue. Readers of those ezines have become hardened to the ads and have learnt to skip them.
5. Check to see if the ezine publisher has a policy of never running ads for two similar products in the same issue - your ad will be much more effective if it's the only one of its kind in that particular issue.
6. Small ezines Vs. Big ezines: bigger is not always better. The big ezines with 1000's of subscribers tend to have more ads than the small ezines. Also, small ezines with only a few hundred subscribers often have a much more targeted audience than the big ezines.
7. Repeat your ads. Research shows that off the Web, an ad has to be seen about 21 times before someone acts on it; on the Internet it's about 9 times. If your budget allows, try and have your ad repeated at least three times in a particular ezine. Most ezines offer discount packages for bulk advertising.
8. Email address Vs. URL. The advantage of giving an email address is that it gives you the opportunity to send a powerful sales letter to the person who responded to your ad. It's also much easier to track your ads with an email address than a URL.
9. Offer something free in your ad copy. It'll often tip the balance between a response and no response.
10. Keep your ads short, even if you're not using the number of words you're allowed. Short ads are more likely to be read. Keep your sentences short too; they pack much more power. Use the word 'You'. Don't describe your product but tell the reader what your product can do for them.
A Successful Business Financial Projection Can Be The Key To Securing Financing
A business seeking capital can’t afford to underestimate the importance of business financial projections. A business financial projection is simply forecasting your sales and revenue to the lender. This information is important because it is a key indicator to your ability to repay a loan.
If you are unsure about financial forecasting and how it relates to your business it is best to hire someone who does know. Most lenders will want to see a three or five year projection. There are 14 different items to include and fully support in your financial projections. With these different items it is best to give a month-by-month breakdown for the first year, a quarterly breakdown for the next two years, and an annual breakdown for the final two years you are projecting.
The different items to include in your projections are; sales revenue estimates, administrative costs, production costs, sales costs, capital expenditures, gross margin by product line, sales increase by product line, interest rates on debts, income tax rate, accounts receivable collection plan, accounts payable schedule, inventory turnover, depreciation schedules, and the usefulness or depreciation of assets.
The income projection enables the owner/manager to develop a preview of the amount of income generated each month and for the business year, based on industry supportable predictions of monthly levels of sales, costs, and expenses. When determining the total net sales you will be finding out how many units of products and services you expect to sell at the prices you are projecting. Make sure to think of what returns, allowances, and markdowns can be expected. The sales costs needs to be calculated for all products and services used. Ensure that when determining the costs of sale that you don’t forget anything such as commission paid to sales representatives, transportation costs, or any direct labor costs.
For the gross profit you would subtract the total cost of sale from the total net sales. To get your gross profit margin you will divide the gross profits from the total net sales. This will be expressed as a percentage of total sales or revenues.
When formulating your business financial projections there are five items that will ruin the accuracy of your projections, and hurt your chances of being approved for business financing. The first one is wishful thinking or being over-optimistic about your sales potential. Ask yourself: “Is it possible to achieve the sales levels you’re forecasting?”. A good example is that a sales team can only visit a certain number of customers each week or a factory can only manufacture a given amount of products on each shift. Make sure to keep your projections realistic and even more important to be based on supportable evidence. It is imperative to also make sure that your sales assumptions are linked directly to your sales forecast or your information will contradict itself. Most lenders are “by the numbers”, so if your numbers don’t add up, you will get declined. A good example of this is to say that you expect increased sales in a market that is declining. That just does not add up.
Another thing not to do when projecting your business finances is to spend a lot of time refining the forecast. Try to avoid tinkering with the target numbers once they are set. Many business owners neglect to ask the opinions of the sales people who know the buyer’s intentions about what they think the projected sales should be. It is important to make sure your sales team agrees on any sales targets that will be set. One other fatal mistake made by business owners when working on financial projections is not getting feedback on the projections from an accountant.
10 Critical Decisions for Successful E-discovery Part 1
The Information Management Journal/September / October 2007- Today’s explosion of electronic data, coupled with the December 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) concerning electronically stored information (ESI), requires information and legal professionals to expand their knowledge about handling electronic discovery. The recent changes to the FRCP include:
* Definitions and safe harbor provisions for the routine alterations of electronic files during routine operations such as back ups [Amended Rule 37(f)]
* Information about how to deal with data that is not reasonably accessible [Amended Rule 26(b)(2)(B)]
* How to deal with inadvertently produced privileged material [Amended Rule 26(b)(5)]
* ESI preservation responsibilities and the pre-trial conference. [Amended Rule 26(f)]
* Electronic file production requests [Amended Rules 33(d), 34, 26(f)(3), 34(b)(iii)]
There are many opinions about how ESI should be planned for, managed, organized, stored, and retrieved. Some of the available options are extremely costly in terms of their required financial and time commitments. Constantly changing technologies only add to the confusion. One area of confusion is the distinction between computer forensics and electronic discovery; there is a significant difference. These are described in the sidebar Computer Forensics vs. Electronic Discovery.
Making the Right Choices
Successfully responding to e-discovery within the constraints of the amended FRCP requires organizations to make many critical decisions that will affect the collection and processing of ESI.
Collection Decisions
The following questions need immediate answers:
1. Are e-mail files part of this project? If so, do any key people maintain an Internet e-mail account, in addition to their corporate accounts?
The sheer volume of transactions for large e-mail providers prohibits the storage of massive amounts of mail files. Many Internet e-mail account providers, such as AOL, BellSouth, and Comcast, retain their e-mail logs no longer than 30 days. If a case could potentially require the exploration of e-mail from Internet accounts, the discovery team must expeditiously request the records, or they may be gone forever. This usually requires a subpoena. In rare cases, fragments of Internet e-mail may be recovered forensically from an individual’s hard drive.
2. Is there any chance illegal activity may be discovered?
Many cases involving electronic data uncover wrongdoings. These situations may involve a member of the technology department or a highly technical employee. In these cases, an organization’s first inclination may be to terminate the employee(s) involved and determine the extent of any damage prior to notifying law enforcement agencies.
This may be exactly the WRONG thing to do. If the wrongdoing is by a technical person, there is a chance that he or she is the only person who knows how to access the files, find the problem, or fix it. This is often the person who knows the passwords for mission-critical applications. The technical employee usually has the ability to work and access company files remotely. Unless such access is eliminated prior to the employee’s termination, it is possible that a terminated or disgruntled employee may access the network and do great damage.
A better solution is to restrict the employee’s complete access privileges, both local and remote. The employee is then notified of management’s knowledge of the situation and given an opportunity to cooperate to minimize the damage. If the situation involves criminal matters, especially if financial or medical records have been compromised, a good decision is to involve law enforcement as early as possible. Electronic criminals frequently disappear and destroy all evidence of their activities.
3. Is it possible that deleted or hidden files may play an important role in this case?
There are three ways to collect electronic files for discovery:
* Forensically ะ as described in the sidebar
* Semi-forensically ะ using non-validated methods and applications to capture files
* Non-forensically using simple cut and- paste copy methods to move copies of files from one location to another. These methods do not include hashing files to ensure the files have not changed, which involves using a hash algorithm to create a mathematical fingerprint of one or more files that will change if any change is made to the collection.
For some matters, the content of electronic documents is all that matters. The context of the files ะ who created them, how they are kept, how they have been accessed, if they have been changed or deleted ะ is not as important.
For other cases, contextual information, including finding deleted files, is vital and requires a forensic collection. This includes
* Ensuring legal search authority of the data
* Documenting chain of custody
* Creating a forensic copy using validated forensic tools that create hash records
* Using repeatable processes to examine and analyze the data
* Creating a scientific report of any findings
Determining the value of electronic forensic file collection must be done prior to any data being captured. Once semi- or non-forensic methods have been used, it is impossible to return records to their original states.
4. Are backup tapes part of an active collection?
Some cases involve historical issues, making the method of handling computer backups important to address immediately.
Most businesses use a schedule of rotating their backup media. For example, in a four-week rotation, daily backups are done for a week and then those tapes (or drives) are taken offsite for storage. A new set of media is used for the second, third, and fourth weeks, and then those three tapes are stored offsite. On the fifth week, the tapes/drives from the first week are reused. This process is done for financial reasons, as it is extremely cost-efficient.
Backup tapes may become part of the active information required to be kept under a litigation hold. This requires cessation of any rotation schedule, and the 2006 amendments to the FRCP make it critical for the legal team to convey that information to the technology employees responsible for business continuity processes.
Be an Independent Nurse Contractor and Start your own Successful Nursing Agency
How To Start A Nursing Agency Business Guide Books are flooding the internet. Most of these manuals are extracts from articles found on the world wide web. Because individuals seeking to start their own nursing agency buy information guides that do not have all the contents and key tools for success, a good number of these agencies either fail within their first year of business or simply never get to launch their new business.Thats many business man today want to build their own nursing agency.
Entrepreneurs have made lucrative business in nursing agency, nursing registry, homecare business, medical recruiter recruiting, or as independent nurse contractor in their own field.The time is now for entrepreneurs to start a nursing agency,nursing registry business, operate a homecare business, or as a medical recruiter or just become an independent healthcare contractor. By being an independent healthcare contractor, you are bypassing the agency and are self employed. Healthcare facilities are the clients. Homecare are regulated by all levels of goverment from local to fedeal level. Homecare levels of regulations depends on the category of service provided to clients. Homecare services ranges from providing just companions or the more medically needed clients such as terminally ill clients. Homecare services can be in the form of social service, non-medical, and medical services.
Nurses now a days wake up and take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity. Are you tired of having no input in your career, little money in the bank, lack of respect for your profession and little compensation for the long hours and years of dedication? Starting a nursing agency business or becoming an Independent RN Contractor is a great way to renew your interest and rejuvenate your nursing career. An Independent contractor can contract his or her nursing services directly with a healthcare facility or with a patient and continue bedside practice.
You don't have to be a nurse or a doctor to start your own Nursing Agency. All you need is our packages and the desire to be self employed. This is the only industry where there will always be a shortage. 2007 Professional Edition of "How To Start A Nursing Agency" covers all 50 states and is jam packed with new additional products and services, making it the most comprehensive guide offered on the internet today! And NEW Searchable Database of over 22,000 Hospitals and Nursing Homes.
For more info: www.nursingagencykit.com
A Successful Home Business – What You Need To Know
In order to have a successful home business, you do need to work at it. Even though you are working your own hours and you are your own boss, you still have to put in time growing your business. The power of the Internet lets you conduct international business because your website is available all over the world. The Internet has become the way people do business and has led to many people having their own very successful home business. It is very possible to set up a successful home business on the net without spending a lot of money.
If you want a successful home business, then you are not alone. This is something that everyone wants, whether it is on a part time or full time basis. Most people start working at home as a hobby and work at it until it becomes so successful they can quit their regular job and devote all their time to their home based business. You might be operating out of your garage or basement selling products that customers want. To become truly successful and reach the largest possible number of customers you do need to have an online presence with an international Internet business.
The best place to start setting up a successful home business is to find a product or service that customers need and that you really like. If you have a product that you don’t really care too much for, then you’re not really going to be that successful because you won’t want to spend time promoting it. When you set up your own website, you pay for the domain name and the web hosting and that’s it. That’s all you pay to have your own international Internet business.
Finding affiliate companies where you can sign up for free and add a link to your site is really simple. When customer click through your site and make a purchase, you make money with your successful home business too. It may be a percentage of the sale or a set dollar amount for each purchase.
You don’t have to worry about the cost of shipping products all over the world with an international Internet business. The affiliate company takes care of all that as well as processing the credit card orders. You don’t necessarily have to focus on one product because you can have many pages on your site. The successful home business owners are really diversified and offer many options to customers. The most successful home business sites right now tend to be in the field of travel, hard to get items, health products and exercise equipment. Become part of the Internet shopping experience and start your own successful business operating online out of your home.
You can have a successful home business on the internet, but you have to work at it. If you do then the opportunities are endless.
Article Marketing - Not Sexy, But Successful
Article marketing has become one of the most common Internet marketing techniques in the past few years. It has grown exponentially due to the knowledge of its impact on search engine optimization (SEO) and its effectiveness for business and personality branding. But still, its impact is often underestimated or completely overlooked by would-be entrepreneurs.
Article marketing is a very effective method for building your home business and earning money on the Internet. It has become a necessary tool for doing business on the web, and is one of many tools you should have in your small business promotion toolbox.
Article marketing is the practice of submitting keyword-focused articles to article directories and sites that then syndicate your content. It helps to promote your business and establish you as an expert in your chosen niche. It also increases the link popularity of your website (by providing valuable one-way links from many sites back to your site), enhances search engine positioning for your chosen keywords and phrases, and it helps you reach more potential customers for your products or services.
The benefits of article marketing include its immense effectiveness as a means of promotion and its small or no cost for implementation. Article marketing is a simple means of allowing your small business to compete with much larger companies. It increases traffic to your website, provides targeted traffic to your website, and generates leads from which visitors may be converted into customers. A single article can be the source of dozens of leads, subscriptions, sales or referrals, which is the reason that article marketing is such an effective promotional tool.
As an important aspect of your overall business marketing plan, article marketing is a smart, inexpensive and simple way to greatly broaden the reach of your online business enterprise, and a powerful tool for your small business arsenal.
Successful Career in Accounting Even if You’re Hit Forty!
You’re never too old to dream, right? If it is your ambition to become a well-known and most sought-after accountant in the business industry, you can turn that dream into reality even if you’re 40 years + already.
If you started planning your career path when you were still younger, your dream is within your arm’s reach. In order to experience continuing success, you must have excellent knowledge in accountancy. You must work accurately and you should gather work experience through the years in the profession. Check these steps so that you can at least evaluate your situation right now:
1. You must excel in Mathematics – you must know how to manipulate numbers. Did you excel the subject when you were still in high school or college? As an accountant, you should love mathematics. If you hate it, then you’re not an efficient accountant and you’re bound to commit mistakes especially in the computation and analysis of financial data.
2. Suppose you’re not a graduate of accountancy and you’re already too old to attend classes in traditional classroom-based colleges. Don’t you worry because there are now online colleges that let’s you earn a degree in accounting from your very own home. You simply need an internet connection at home and then you have to comply with the requirements of the online college and that’s it.
3. Are you already a CPA? If you’re not, then you can also get a certification online. Comply with all the requirements and pass the exams and you can become a CPA.
4. State requirements vary when it comes to accounting degrees. You have to ensure that the accounting degree you’ve taken fulfills all the requirements of the sate you live in or in the state that you plan to have your accounting career.
5. There are different accounting fields. Are you already in the right career path? If not, perhaps it’s now time to change your accounting career. So which is it going to be? Government accounting, public accounting, internal auditing, management accounting, etc? Choose the one you really like.
6. Older adults are sometimes hard to teach but if you want to reach your ultimate goals, you must not stop learning. You have to become proficient in the accounting software used by the company that you’re working. There is a great number of accounting software out there and you must familiarize yourself with the software.
7. How long have you been in the accounting field? Have you been promoted? You have to take advanced accounting career studies so that you can become highly skilled and experienced in the profession. You will benefit a lot and promotions will come soon.
Have you looked at the steps carefully? By now, you can already tell if you still have a chance to reach your goals or not. Age should not hinder your ambitions. Besides, by now you’re probably a senior accountant in the company and you’re earning big money. Still, if you’re not contented with your current position, you can always take advanced career trainings to improve and develop up-to-date accounting skills.
Don’t be left behind and don’t stop learning. Bear in mind that every year, new accounting graduates are produced and you have to stay as competitive as ever to maintain your seniority in the office.
Successful Blog Marketing Tips
So you have a blog and want to market it and make it a successful blog. How do you do this? How do you go about getting your blog out there to be seen and known by others? How do you draw readers and keep them coming back for more? There are many ways to get your blog out there and known by others. This can be known as challenging for some and just quite easy for others. If you have ever had a successful blog before then you know what it takes. You are not going to get anywhere by just setting up a blog and hoping that people will find it and read it. You are not going to gain any links, nor a higher search engine ranking by just having a blog. This is all part of blog marketing. Anyone can do it, even you.
Successful blog marketing tip number one. When you first create a blog, of course it is unheard of. No one knows anything about the blog unless you give them the link and show it to them. However, for a new blog that has never been seen, there are many ways to get it out there and known. You just need to know how. The first thing that you can do is to allow RSS feeds be taken from your blog. Allow other websites and blogs to publish your same exact blog. When you do this, they are giving you a link back to your blog, and also telling their readers all about your blog. You will get more traffic than ever with this tool. RSS feeds are wonderful for promoting and getting your blog out there.
Blog marketing tip number two. Update your blog frequently. We can not put enough emphasis on this tip. If you tell your readers that you are going to update your blog daily, then do it. If you tell them that you will be writing in your blog weekly, don’t let them down. Your readers are what makes your blog successful. You may not realize this in the beginning, and you will have few readers in the beginning as well, but you will eventually build a readership base and have people checking out your blog regularly. Maybe you do not plan on telling your readers how often you will update your blog. That is ok too. However, think about this, if you were reading a blog on a weekly basis, and you expected to see the blog that you like to read updated at least once a week, you would be very disappointed to find out that it was not. Sure, things happen that might prevent you from updating, and that is expected, and excused, but week after week can hurt you and cause you to lose readers.
Tip number three. While you are working on your readership base, and trying to gain readers, you are going to find that commenting on blogs that are relevant to yours will surely help. Find a blog that is on the same topic to yours, or close to it and leave comments. You can also make a track back with your blog postings to comment on your own blog. Doing so will probably more than likely give someone else the urge to track back to your blog. Which will be good for it as well. Commenting on blogs that get many comments will make yours be seen by those interested in that market. You will gain traffic and readers that way, and it is easy as well as free.
The fourth blog marketing tip. Learn and apply SEO to your blogs. SEO is search engine optimization. You are going to find that if you want your blog to go anywhere, you need SEO, and you need to know how to use it to the advantage of your blog. Just like a website, a blog will be better off optimized.