Jan 31, 2010
Posted by admin on Jan 31, 2010 in business | 0 comments
Investing in bonds is very safe, and the returns are usually very good. There are four basic types of bonds available and they are sold through the Government, through corporations, state and local governments, and foreign governments.
The greatest thing about bonds is that you will get your initial investment back. This makes bonds the perfect investment vehicle for those who are new to investing, or for those who have a low risk tolerance.
The United States Government sells Treasury Bonds through the Treasury Department. You can purchase Treasury Bonds with maturity dates ranging from three months to thirty years.
Treasury bonds include Treasury Notes (T-Notes), Treasury Bills (T-Bills), and Treasury Bonds. All Treasury bonds are backed by the United States Government, and tax is only charged on the interest that the bonds earn.
Corporate bonds are sold through public securities markets. A corporate bond is essentially a company selling its debt. Corporate bonds usually have high interest rates, but they are a bit risky. If the company goes belly-up, the bond is worthless.
State and local Governments also sell bonds. Unlike bonds issued by the federal government, these bonds usually have higher interest rates. This is because State and Local Governments can indeed go bankrupt – unlike the federal government.
State and Local Government bonds are free from income taxes – even on the interest. State and local taxes may also be waived. Tax-free Municipal Bonds are common State and Local Government Bonds.
Purchasing foreign bonds is actually very difficult, and is often done as part of a mutual fund. It is often very risky to invest in foreign countries. The safest type of bond to buy is one that is issued by the US Government.
The interest may be a bit lower, but again, there is little or no risk involved. For best results, when a bond reaches maturity, reinvest it into another bond.
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Jan 31, 2010
Posted by admin on Jan 31, 2010 in Networking | 0 comments
As business owners or managers we often find it difficult, even in the best of situations to get out and seek new business. You’ve probably thought that if you could just find a way to squeeze that into your day without spending more time away from your family or working weekends, you’d be all set, right? Guess what? You can and all that it’s going to take is a little preparation.
1. Keep a box of business cards in your car. That way, you can always keep a stack of cards in your wallet or business card holder.
- The next time you go out to eat, leave a card on the table when you leave.
- Drop a business card in each bill you mail out.,/li>
- When you’re at the book store, slip your card into some of the books related to your industry. Be sure to put them near the middle of the book so they don’t fall out when someone is casually flipping through.
- Place a card rack full of your business cards on the counter of your dry cleaner. Most of them are more than happy to help out a good customer.
- Give each friend a stack of your business cards to hand out.
2. Make a goal of meeting at least one new person each day. If you overhear someone mention your industry or a hobby of yours, make a point to introduce yourself. Start a conversation while you’re waiting in line at the bank or the Office Depot. You may never see or even talk to these people again, but chances are good that you will.
3. Never eat alone. You have to eat and so does everyone else, so why not use that time to catch up with friends and associates? There are a few benefits for both of you here.
- You can keep in touch with people without taking a lot of time out of your work day.
- By interacting with people that you enjoy being in the company of, your stress levels will go down.
- Your name stays at the front of their minds – great for referrals!
4. Network in one non-work related organization. It can be anything – a baseball team, a church or charity, a community group – pretty much anything. The idea is to have the ability to network without the usual competition that you would face in a Chamber of Commerce or other business related organization. If you don’t currently participate in something that’s not related to work you should seriously consider it. It will help you create a balance between your work and your personal life while opening up a channel for new business.
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Jan 26, 2010
Posted by admin on Jan 26, 2010 in Public Relation | 0 comments
You’ve just reviewed the final results of your last pro-active media campaign to launch that new product or service. The numbers look pretty good: media impressions were in the millions; coverage was evenly split between broadcast and print; and a leading national paper ran three stories on the launch-pretty impressive. But could it have been better?
Analyze this
Analyzing issues or campaigns is the first big step in truly understanding any communications success or failure. With busy schedules and/or tight client budgets, more often than not, media analysis isn’t always carried out. A big investment is being made on gathering the media content, but not on measuring and analyzing the trends, successes, and areas for improvement. Stories are often filed away immediately or distributed to a limited group, never to be looked at again or analyzed at all.
If you’re already conducting ongoing media analysis half the battle is won. But if not, you can bet your client or director will demand it soon. New analysis technologies combined with increased expectations to determine communications ROI (Return on Investment) are making analysis a must, not a should.
Once you’ve determined the need or importance of analysis, what’s next? This is where the confusion can set in. As can be expected, everyone has their own definition of how media content should be analyzed based on their own experiences. And usually the issue of PR standards and formulas arise…and that is when things often can come to a stand-still.
But before you get into how you are going to analyze, you must first determine what you’re interested in analyzing. Here are a few considerations:
- Track success in key publications and mediums based on demographic suitability
- Evaluate key message penetration in media stories
- Track quality – not just quantity – of coverage
- Determine success vs. competitors
- Success of spokesperson pick-up
- Determine campaign ROI
- Measure advertising equivalency (if you must!)
- Monitor regional penetration comparisons
- Tabulate media impressions/audience numbers
- Compare key issues and/or product penetration
- Resulting editorial or other media commentary/letters to the editor
There are endless ways of analyzing and cross-referencing the information. But you should note that you can accomplish all of the above considerations without getting into confusing PR multipliers or complex formulas. The key is to determine what you’re interested in evaluating and create benchmarks for future comparisons. And if you still want to add in PR multipliers you can, as long as you consistently keep to the same formula. So whether you’re multiplying by a factor of 3, 5, or 10, the coverage is always being evaluated in a consistent fashion and can therefore be viewed as an unbiased and accurate portrayal.
Go Electronic, Go Real-Time
Reviewing the success of a new product launch, the impact of a crisis on your organization, or a monthly comparison after-the-fact can provide valuable insight for future planning. But imagine the change you could make if you have real-time data available to you at your fingertips in an instant. Using real-time data you could monitor:
- What regions are having the most success and which need attention
- Misinformation being published so you can correct it
- Which publications need another follow-up call
- Which issues are getting the most attention
- The quality and tone of the coverage
- The impact on your organization
- What tactics are working and which aren’t
- How you can piggy-back on recent media trends or competitors’ tactics or success
The benefits of real-time analysis are endless and important. Knowing that you can have a timely affect on the final outcome of a new product launch is empowering and helps speak to the real power of PR.
A combination of real-time analysis and benchmarking will provide you with the tools to improve the results of a campaign mid-stream and properly analyze its success using a predetermined set of objectives and consistent criteria. So make 2005 the year you start benchmarking your analysis-an opportunity to learn more about the impact your communications strategies are having will pay dividends for years to come.
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Jan 24, 2010
Posted by admin on Jan 24, 2010 in business | 0 comments
When you are selling your products to clients, you don’t want to be pushy about it, you want to be persuasive.
Have you ever been around a sales person who seems to have everything going for him?
He has no problem talking to people, people like him, he seems to meet all of his sales goals so effortlessly.
This is not because he is lucky, or he was born with a natural gift when it came to selling. It is because he took the time and effort to make sure he went into the field well trained with the appropriate sales skills and product knowledge to make his sales seem as though they come without any effort.
This sales person, through hard work and sales training, has given himself the power of persuasion because he has the ability to find out what it is that his customers need.
When a sales person is being pushy with their product, it is a turn off to the customer. The last thing a customer wants, is somebody they just met up in their face who won’t stop talking. Pushy sales people come off rude, unprofessional and unknowledgeable.
From a customers point of view, a pushy sales person comes off as someone who just arrived from a one day sales training course on one particular product. Who is then sent out into the world to sell that product to anyone that will listen.
Most consumers can see right through this.
Persuasion takes subtlety. In fact, it is much easier to persuade someone to buy your product than to actually sell it.
Persuasion involves getting your customer to “buy in” to your product, or to see things from your point of view.
You must first get to know your customer. Take some time to ask a few personal questions. Such as where they live, what their occupation is, do they have any pets, etc.
People love to talk about themselves, so ask questions.
Once you get to know your customer, find out what their needs are. You can than match up your products to their needs.
Explain the benefits of your product, and give them a visual in their mind of themselves using your product. If you are selling baseball bats, give them the visual of using the bat to hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth too win the ball game.
Don’t do all the talking, listen to your customer. Listening is perhaps one of the most important sales skills you can posses. You can find out so much about your customer just by listening.
To persuade your customer to buy your product is to find a common ground with your customer. Smile, be courteous, answer their questions, learn what their needs are, listen to their concerns and try to alleviate them.
Once you have established what their needs are, tell them about the products you have that could satisfy their needs. Remember, don’t sell the product, tell them about the product, and what it can do for them.
Don’t think of it as selling, think of it as a normal conversation that you would have with one of your friends. Your sales will become more enjoyable, and they will also increase. Good luck.
This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.
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Jan 21, 2010
Posted by admin on Jan 21, 2010 in Networking | 0 comments
Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, feel like you have the gift of gab or just don’t know how to make small talk, networking know-how is very important for your business success. There is a notion in business that I believe most of us subscribe to that says “all things being equal, people will do business with and refer business to those they know, like and trust.” And the key to this is obviously being able to develop relationships.
Think of networking as the cultivation of mutually beneficial, win-win relationships. In order to be win-win, there must be GIVE and take (notice the emphasis on give). Networking shouldn’t be viewed as “events” where you go to sell your business. When effective networking is taking place, the parties involved actively share ideas, information, resources, etc.
Ok, so you know that you should be networking because it is one of the most cost-effective lead generation activities when used wisely, appropriately and professionally. But, maybe that seems easier said than done. Here’s a seven step plan to really get going with networking for your business.
1. Check out several groups to find the best chemistry and perceived value. Most groups will allow you to come and visit at least a couple of times before you have to join. Go and ask around to find out why others have joined and what value they get out of belonging.
Resist the urge to just go join the Chamber of Commerce simply because everyone tells you that’s what you need to do. If that’s not where your target group can be found, then you might just be wasting a considerable amount of time (and money).
I’m not telling you not to join the Chamber. Just be clear about what you’d like to get out of this or any other group. If it’s to find prospective clients or referral sources, then you need to be networking where those resources can be found.
2. When you find a group or two, join and go to all the meetings you can. Don’t go just once or twice expecting things to happen and then if they don’t quit. Building mutually beneficial, win-win relationships will take some time.
The contacts you make need to constantly see your face and hear your message. Continual contact with others over time will open up opportunities for you to go deeper and learn more about each others thoughts, ideas and capabilities in regards to your respective businesses.
Know, like, and trust generally only happens over time. Being regular and persistent will pay off.
3. Get involved – be visible. Do as much as you can to make yourself more visible within the organization. Volunteer to help with meetings, be on committees, or become a leader or board member.
Being involved does a couple of things for you and your business. First, you’ll get more opportunities to establish connections and get to know some of the contacts you’ve made even better. Secondly, the higher the visibility you have in the group, the less you’ll have to work to make new connections. Instead, as new people come into the group, they will likely seek you out because they view you as a leader within the organization.
4. Keep your circles of contacts informed. Don’t just assume that running in to someone once a month (or even once a week) will cause them to start doing business with you or sending it your way. You need to let them know what’s going on when you’re not at that particular group in order to inform and educate them.
Send them invitations to your events or open houses. Send them email or letters to share big news or success stories, especially anything of relevance to them or those in their networks of contacts. If you believe that you have valuable ideas, information and resources to share with others, then doesn’t this just make sense?
5. Work at GIVING referrals and sharing valuable information. That’s right, you need to be willing to GIVE before you get. That means you need to get to know other members and what makes a good prospect for them. What kinds of information might you have access to that could be useful to them?
You may initially think you don’t have much of value to share with others (besides your business and what you provide). Part of the key to getting good at giving is to not make assumptions. For example, don’t assume that some basic resource (e.g., a web site) that you’re aware of is familiar to someone you might be talking to just because they are the “expert” in that field. Be willing to ask if they know about the resource and ready to share if they don’t.
Want to get better at actually giving referrals? Here’s a simple question to ask someone you’re connecting with. “How am I going to know when I meet a really good prospect for you?”
Just the fact that you are willing to explore giving will elevate your know, like and trust factor.
6. Focus on Quality, not Quantity, Quantity, Quantity. It’s not necessarily about the number of connections you make, but about the quality of the ones you do make. Are they mutually beneficial, win-win relationships?
Quality connections will be identifiable because all involved parties will be actively sharing ideas, information, and resources. Yes, it is true that you need to spend some time and effort getting to know the other person(s) and what’s important to them. But, you also need to be clear and actively thinking about what information or resources you want and need.
Staying in touch with and following up with a smaller number of quality relationships will generally be much more productive than trying to follow up with a larger number of superficial contacts.
7. Be persistent, but be patient. The goal of a networking event shouldn’t necessarily be to come away with prospects every time you go out, but to come away with great connections. Networking usually takes time to get the relationships developed and nurtured.
Don’t approach networking as a scary proposition or a necessary evil for being in business. Take the pressure off yourself and really focus on how you might be able to connect with someone you meet. Focus on them first and look for ways to be useful to them. As you become known as a connector you’ll eventually be ready to reap what you sow.
