One thing you can count on during the holiday season is the obligatory office party. No matter what the size of the organization, there is always an effort to bring coworkers together for one more moment of merriment. Some people look forward to the chance to mix and mingle outside the confines of business and others would rather give up the annual bonus than have to spend precious personal time with the gang from work.No matter which side of...more
If you are anything like me, you probably find yourself often thinking of new projects to start, new things to achieve. I did that in my beginning on Internet. That in itself is very beneficial and indeed a required ingredient for success. The trick is to know where to draw a line. The trap I kept falling into was hoping and looking for new and better programs all the time,easy to find new once,but i forgot about them the next day,instead of...more
Rip Out Your Phone Lines I hate the phone company. Reading my phone bill is like reading hieroglyphics. I thought that the break up of ma bell was suppose to make it easier for the consumer. We were suppose to get more choice. The choices seem to all be the same. For instance, I was so elated last year when the phone company offered me a lower rate. Yes, 29.99 and that was all I had to pay. Well, they forgot to tell me about all the special charges. My 29.99 became a towering $55.00 a month. I went from jubilation to silent despair. Is there anyone who could rescue me from my prison? But then freedom came from the most unlikely source while visiting a friend's office. He told me that he had unplugged his entire office from the phone company. He was running his phone over the Internet. It's called Voice over IP. It has been around for a few years. Voice over IP allows you to make calls through a broadband Internet connection. I have always been reluctant to try it. I was concerned about quality of the sound, loosing my old phone numbers, and what happens if the cable goes out. My friend convinced me to take the plunge. I decided to go with Vonage, they are a fast growing Voice over...more
As a business, non-profit or association manager trying to get a bang for your PR buck, you could pretty much concentrate on simple print and broadcast mentions or, for that matter, the whole basket of tactical public relations weaponry including old favorites like high-visibility speech appearances and newsworthy special events. But if you really...more
As a small business operator, personal checks may be one method to receive payment for your goods or services. As a way to receive payment, a personal check is actually better than credit cards because the fees are less and there can be no charge back. Fortunately, most people are honest and studious in taking care of their checking account. But...more
A home-based business becomes for the business owner, an entity in and of itself. Because so much hard work, blood, sweat and tears goes into every home-based business, it is easy to view it as having a "life" of its own and a home-based business can be more real to the business owner than anything else in their lives.However, there is also a dark side to a home-based business, especially one that is failing miserably. Part of being successful within a work-at-home dream also means knowing "when" to quit, or "fold". A home-based business can be like a game of cards, when the "losses" exceed the "wins", it may be time to give up on the business and either start another one, or look into other forms of outside employment.It has been said, "that most entrepreneurs fail three to five times" before they actually start a business that succeeds. Although it is imperative that entrepreneurs be persistent, not being able to accept failure, when it is obvious that failure has occurred, can be extremely detrimental.So, how does an entrepreneur "know" when it is time to give up or when they should continue? Simple, the amount of actual "suffering" needs to be measured. The following "suffering...more
While some new business owners face the issue of not enough customers, others face the issue of too many customers/clients. Both are serious issues and must be dealt with carefully. There are many lists on how to find new customers/clients. Here is a...more
Years ago, when I was new in management circles, a veteran administrator decided to share his self-described secret of success. He said: You have to be careful, Bill. I*ve learned not to compliment my people. Makes them too self-assured, and they get...more
In the marketing world, radio has earned the reputation of being the odd step-cousin. You know the one. No one knows quite what to do with him. Especially at family gatherings when everyone tries hard to avoid sitting with him. (After all, who knows...more
There has been a lot of talk lately about the "Real Estate Bubble", and a lot of folks are asking the question: "When it is going to burst"? They are saying that the market just can't sustain this level of growth and appreciation much longer, and I...more
Are you spending more time trying to get new clients than actually working with them? If the answer is yes, then these three simple ideas will help you. First, have you ever asked for something and got something different to what you thought you*d...more
It's that time of year again, when all Canadians rush to their mailboxes, their corner stores or their neighbor's houses to read the latest edition of Maclean's Magazine.For those who don't know it, Maclean's is the Canadian equivalent of Time or...more