International businesses are facing new challenges to their internal communication structures due to major reforms brought about through internationalization, downsizing, mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. Lack of investment in cross cultural training and language tuition often leads to deficient internal cohesion. The loss of clients/customers, poor staff retention, lack of competitive edge, internal conflicts/power struggles, poor...more
Whether you are already running your own business, or still thinking about starting your own business, I suspect that deep down you know you have gifts and talents that can really make a difference to others. In an ideal world, you'd spend the majority of time doing the work you love to do, with a steady stream of clients knocking at your door as and when you want them. The reality, however, can be somewhat different, and the whole process of...more
Before becoming a netpreneaur, I was an entrepreneur. First, I owned a successful child care center which grew to capacity in less than two years. When I sold that, I bought a little flower shop that had less than 300 customers and grew it to what it is today, one of the most successful, award winning companies in South Florida with more than 7,000 customers who purchase from us on a regular business. To better serve our customers, we took our business to the Internet. We still have a brick and mortar storefront, yet everyday we receive more and more customers via the Internet. How about you? Do you or did you have a traditional business or professional practice? Is it successful? Unless you were born under the star called "LUCKY," you probably did lots of planning. A business plan, a marketing plan, maybe even a succession plan for what to do with your business when you were through. You may have heard the statistics that half of all small businesses fail in their first year and of those, only 25% make it through to five years. According to youngbiz.com it can be even less for e-businesses.Build it and they will come! Not! You can have a terrific site, with lots of bells...more
"Quality and service are important, if you want to make a sale. If you want to keep a customer for life, keep your promises." - Heidi RichardsThe buzzword these days is "relationship" marketing. Just what is it? And why is it important? Relationship marketing is so much more than "networking. It's gathering support of your friends, peers, and...more
"Cross promoting with other businesses can give you a significant advantage over the competition, with many benefits and cost savings." -Heidi Richards-More and more competition in the marketplace is making it necessary for companies to find creative ways to connect with customers and prospects, to enhance brand identity and attract top-notch...more
Welcome to Monday Morning Mindfulness . . . to my Clients, Colleagues and Friends. Join me every other Monday in getting motivated and inspired to act/think/feel something differently. 1. ON SPECIAL OFFERS AND INVITATIONS Would you like to be paid to speak? Learn how to connect with your audience? Persuade people to act on what you say? You can get answers to these questions and more through my new feature, Approach the Coach. Go to this web page http://www.schrift.com/approach and ask me your number one question about speaking skills or speaking professionally. I will answer your questions by email and every few months will compile your questions (with answers) in a FAQ page for my MMM readers. Complimentary teleclass Would you like to learn "How to be a Better Public Speaker Immediately?" I will show you how to do this on Thursday, August 26th, from 7:00-8:00pm eastern. This teleclass is being hosted by www.RebelBusiness.com, a web-based community where you find endless fresh ideas, support and connections with people doing radically cool things with their businesses. Register now, limited seating. http://www.schrift.com/teleclasses.htm End of Summer Sizzle...more
BOOK REVIEW: Performance of Financial Institutions: Efficiency, Innovation, RegulationIt is rare for a financial text to be written by a Cypriot author yet one of the authors (Stavros A. Zenios) is a Professor at the University of Cyprus.The aim of...more
In my career advising practice, I often find that my clients are not clear about what success means for them. Our society defines success primarily around three elements: power, money and fame. Many of you reading this may be saying, "wait a minute...more
Only the weak ones quit. Is that true? There is a story of a CEO of a multi-national company who decided to withdraw a product from the market when it had consistently failed for nine months and eaten up millions of pounds in advertising, promotions...more
Most people online are very familiar with the Nigerian Email Letter Scams. They've victimized thousands over the years and continue to do so. I am certain you've received many in your inbox over the course of your online experience. They are easy to...more
Many online marketers work odd hours, with no beginning of the day and no real end. How does this impact support and customer service inquiries? Some small businesses are afraid to reply to customer queries off-hours, fearful that the message...more
It can be a major source of frustration trying to keep up with all of the business-related information, newsletters, updates, offers and so on that land in your email box. And although there may be no perfect way to ensure that you can read...more