Why risk the embarassment when with a little basic PR training, you as a business, non-profit or association manager can always be ready for battle? Never again will you fail to do something positive about the behaviors of those important outside audiences of yours that MOST affect your operation....

Have you ever worked for someone who was such a micro-manager that it drove you crazy? And have you ever worked for someone who was so hands-off that you felt like a lone warrior on the battlefield? These are examples of you working for leaders who did not adapt their style based on the employee?s...

As a professional speaker, one of my biggest challenges is to grab the attention of my audience within the first few minutes of the presentation- grab them by the throat if you will. I do this by coming out in a suite and tie, following an introduction in which I have been described as a recent col...

Is there something you`ve been meaning to do? If you`re like me, you probably have a long "to-do" list, but have you noticed that some tasks come and go very quickly on that list while other things linger. Look at your list now. Is there anything you can cross off today because it is just not necess...

I talked with a group of internal consultants last week - they felt they had to wear too many hats in their work. They had to be consultants, facilitators, coaches and trainers - sometimes in the same one-hour session. They weren`t always sure what role to be in and they felt that all this role-swit...

There?s no such thing as a captive audience--any of us can tune out at will. It may surprise you, then, to know that keeping people?s attention in this high-tech age takes the same know-how we had in neolithic days. The evidence of cave paintings points to our ancestors? grasp of the power of imag...

What is JPEG? It?s confusing for some and you might feel you need to be a genius to understand it. But you don?t. A lot of people make a lot of fuss about it, but, basically, a JPEG file is an image type. It has a fancy name but it is just the format in which your image is stored. We could also stor...

Let`s face it. It`s tough to stand out at most trade shows. Your competitor might have a wall of flat-screen TVs showing some slickly-produced promotional video. Or maybe they`ve hired a fleet of silicone-enhanced spokesmodels to help hawk their business. Who can compete with that?

It`s OK....

When your prospects see your marketing materials, your brochure, your web site or your ads you want them to read them. You want prospects to read not just the first sentence but the majority of your copy. Once they`ve read it, you want them to decide that they need your product or service and either...

One of the most popular questions I get when I speak about online marketing is how to drive more traffic to a web site. Eight different techniques for doing just that are outlined below. Save this article, and refer to it for additional ideas whenever you try to expand your online marketing campaign...

You?ve seen it. Management operating on data overloads; stacks of printed data falling off the desk, overflowing the file cabinets, and running down the stairs of the office data storage rooms. What to do with the data? Critical information is lost. Knowledge that could be of great help to the gener...

One of the most profitable advertisements in history was a print ad for the Sherwin Cody School of English. Written in 1918, the ad ran for over 40 years, generating millions of inquiries, and millions in sales. Penned by the legendary adman and copywriter Maxwell Sackheim, its captivating headline ...

Everyone wants to be wealthy. Only a few actually achieve it though so following these steps could help put you into that minority group of the rich. Check out these 10 steps then apply them to your own personal situation:

1. Set down a plan and chart your course.
   You need a plan if you wa...

If you have been following the recent advertising news you will notice that more and more major advertisers are looking to smaller ad agencies to handle their campaigns.

Is it because they feel bad? Is it because they are cheaper? Or is it because they see the level of creative talent of ...

While there exist several useful definitions of motivation, for our purposes we will define it as an individual?s desire to do something based upon a need. When a person is confronted with a need (either perceived or actual), he or she usually is motivated to perform specific actions for some sort o...

Saving time means pacing yourself, being organized, and always prioritizing your duties, responsibilities and efforts. Pacing yourself means allowing time for unexpected situations, such as having enough time to check the ever-growing inbox, setting-up special autoresponders for automatic responses ...

If you are planning to buy a business some day, or if you already have one, and want to know a secret way to expand quickly without begging a bank or lender for the money, then this article will show you how. I recently did an interview about buying businesses and a guy from Florida emailed the foll...

How, in your own lives can you find and more importantly create opportunities? In the Chinese language, you have the character representing crisis and the character representing change. When these are combined you have the character representing opportunity. Now why is that? Why is it that when cris...

One of the biggest challenges any business owner or manager has is hiring the right people. I`ve recently discovered a simple, inexpensive yet very effective way which will help you get it right. This week I`ve asked Nathan Chanesman, Managing Director of Myprofile Pty Ltd. to please explain? "Witho...

There are 3 basic components to capturing leads on free traffic exchanges that need to be understood. Lead capture pages , Autoresponder follow up systems , and Ad tracking URLs . The lead capture page can be hosted anywhere but it needs to have at least one thing on it to be effective... a way to c...

Money can be your servant or it can be your master. The choice is yours to make. If you want to be the master in this relationship, you must learn to assert your control. This process is simple. It may not, however, be easy. You are habituated to certain beliefs and behaviors towards money. The mass...

Well, Super Bowl XXXIX is history. Too bad for the folks who consider themselves the always-pullin`-for-the-underdog type. The Bandwagon team won. But, as far as Super Bowls go, the losers played well. For those who care, the Eagles actually covered the 7-point spread. T.O. is the deal, too. At ...

Knowing your NICHE MARKET and where to find your NICHE is more important than the product you sell. Most Netpreneurs take a narrow view of NICHE MARKETING as a limitation on their business, when in fact it is the POWER that provides longevity to their business. The biggest mistake most new netpreneu...

Many small companies are trying to empower their employees and alleviate some of the hardships of over regulations, taxation and paper work. Often these small businesses will attempt to make their employees Independent Contractors. Where this might sound like a good idea it is also a very gray area ...

Do you know what ISO is? Perhaps not. And, in fact, you don?t need to know what it is ? just how to use it. In very simple terms, the ISO setting is a measure of how sensitive your camera sensor is to light. A low ISO (e.g. 100) will not be very sensitive to light whereas a high setting (e.g. 1600)...

Many people are intimidated by radio interviews, whether live or pre-recorded and often spoil great promotion and branding opportunity in less then effective interviews. Did you know there are more than 1500 talk radio shows in the US? Also, radio is the only medium to show increased usage since the...

When I was a rookie salesman with Time-Life Books, I was taught a great principle: Always follow a negative with a positive. For example, if a prospect asked, ?How much is it?? we?d give a three-step reply: (1) We?d disclose the price, without hesitation;
(2) We?d immediately follow it with a ...

The following laws will provide guidance on how to act,
think and work in a lean way. You can apply these laws to
all areas of your life, work and business to get bigger
results from the time you invest.

1. Multiple Rewards
Aim to be rewarded multiple times for a single effort. M...

Writing a Business Plan these days is tough, venture capitalists are busy and there are so many ideas to choose from. Bankers want a tight, sweet and to the point business plan. Family Members who may lend you money are generally worrisome due to lawsuits and liability. This is why you need to pay p...

Whether you choose to do your own books and accounting or hire those services out there are a few things you should know first. A good book keeping service will normally charge you around $200 -500 per month while you are still somewhat small and you can receive: Profit and Loss Statements; Balance ...

If you?re reading this article, I?m sure I don?t have to tell you that discrimination has become much more sneaky than in the past. No one comes out and say, ?We?re not hiring you because you?re too old.? Instead, discrimination is subtle and equally damaging. ?She seems set in her ways.? ?I?m not s...

Most people think real change in an organization occurs as a result of top-level leadership. This isn`t always the case. Oftentimes, it`s someone within the rank and file who stands up and challenges the status quo. Remember the old adage, "If the people will lead, the leaders will follow." Years ag...

In their book, Beyond Budgeting, Jeremy Hope and Robin Fraser highlight the inadequacy of traditional annual based budgeting and argue passionately for a new management model that can cope with the volatility of today`s business environment. Their model embraces much more than just budgeting, it is ...

By now, you probably already have the theme of your website established, your keywords picked and your website ready to go live. You`re thinking that you`ll submit your site to the search engines, sit back and see how much traffic the search engines will send you, right? STOP! There are many differe...

In any event, getting the process right is a vital component. The credibility of the change managers will be scrutinised closely enough on the issue itself, with all processes in place. If process is at fault too, then things can get very messy indeed. Legalities Legalities of how you are dealing w...

Done right, it helps modify the behaviors of your most important target audiences, and that can spell S-U-R-V-I-V-A-L. I don`t believe that`s an overstatement because a customer who thinks badly of you and your business will not soon be darkening your threshold. Nor are you likely to see prospect...

You need to be the best you can at describing your best qualities; particularly your key strengths. In my coaching practice I generally, at some point, ask my client: "What are you good at?" purely as a means to establish if they have already thought through this most important question. Some hav...

You must look after your digital images. Your hard drive will either crash, break or get stolen. Plan for this. You will never believe it until it happens to you. It will happen. Then you will have lost all those lovely images you took over the months and years. What price would you put on those irr...

Looking at the most intricate details of the digital camera as a technologically advanced device a lot of functions come into play. Such s a point is that of the digital camera metering. This discussion focuses towards that intention of understanding and knowing the details of the component. Basical...

Why? Because sooner or later, virtually all business, non-profit and association managers must alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors among their most important outside audiences. And they must help persuade those external publics to their way of thinking, then move them to take...

Do you "feel the fear" when asked to do some Public Speaking? Public Speaking is still one of our greatest fears and it turns grown men and women into nervous wrecks. The mere thought of it turns our tongue to cotton wool, causes our internal plumbing to act up and turns our knees to jelly. We...

Sales managers frequently approach me for advice on how to keep salespeople motivated, especially when sales reps get into a rut - and seem to keep slipping deeper into it. Telling managers what not to do usually solves the problem. Most managers do things to de-motivate salespeople without even kno...

How often has your schedule been thrown out of whack because of a client?s needs? I try to live by the 80/20 rule: working from my home office 80% of the time and working onsite with clients 20% of the time. But, the past week has been the exact opposite. I had a demanding onsite project. I ha...

How to do brochures, throw parties, talk to reporters and write press releases? Or, are we teaching them what PR?s fundamental premise says we should be teaching them? In so many words, whether they go to work for a business, non-profit, government agency or association, students will soon discov...

Hi! Why are you so busy? Do you really have too much work? Is work so important to you that you`ll sacrifice just about anything in your life to get the job done? Even if it`s at the expense of your health and your relationships? If you find these questions disturbing then see how you rate with ...

If we want to fill our heads with the doom and gloom society seems to thrive on, all we need to do is turn on the local news at night. To make that quantum leap toward personal happiness and success in life, sometimes we just need to do what so many people seem to be talking about lately: clean h...

Need traffic? Write an article. Need sales? Write an article. Need Your Name branded? Write an article. Writing newsletter articles can do all of these and more. You can get exposure for your web site, newsletter or what ever you are promoting by writing articles. This will not happen over...

There is no magic pill, trick, teqnique, system or secret to success. However there are many beliefs and habits that will bring you the desired results that you wish to have. It is your choice to develop the appropriate beliefs and habits that produce the results that you wish to have. If you honest...

About a year ago, I had an opportunity to have dinner with the CEO of an engineering startup company in Pennsylvania. As we discussed engineering design matters over Chinese food, he took a few moments to talk about his business philosophy. "As far as I`m concerned," he told me, "if a product is goo...

Handling Customer Complaints Even the best business will receive an occasional customer complaint. Knowing how to resolve these complaints will help you gain loyal customers who will then refer others to your business. Here are some important tips. 1. Listen carefully to the customer and gather ...