Archive for May, 2008
May 31st, 2008 -- Posted in Business |
There is no doubt about it, in today’s competitive business world, every business needs an edge over their competition in order to stay in business.
Every business has salespeople, no matter how big they are or what they sell. In the past, each sales person has had his or her own technique in landing a sale. The techniques were always different and seldom worked for two or more people.
In today’s business world, with technology advancing everyday, it is necessary to have the not only the skills, but also the knowledge of how to connect with businesses on the other side of the world to make a sale. There are certain techniques that your sales for needs in order to keep you in business.
This is when sales training can play a very important role for your business. Sales training is conducted by people who have been in sales for many years. The sales techniques that they teach are proven to be effective. The methods of sales that they teach are effective for any area of business.
The training can be conducted in a few different ways.
First hire- training sales people can be conducted at the time your sales person (s) are hired to insure training is to your specifications from day one.
In office – training your in house salespeople right in your office can be don on a weekly or monthly basis. You can update the training without having to pay for costly business trips and hotels for your sales people.
Online – if your salespeople are on the road, you can set up sales training sessions online for them to take when it is convenient for them. All they have to do is log into a specific website and take the course.
Seminars – large companies often organize seminars to train their sales force. Weekend or weeklong sessions are filled with information from experienced sales trainers who offer the best techniques for today’s changing world.
Training your salespeople is a great benefit to any company. Whether it is big or small, it can teach your salespeople how to communicate with customers, as well as teach them how to interpret what their needs are and anticipate future needs. It can teach your salespeople how to close a sale quickly and effectively.
Working in today’s business world is vastly different from years gone by. With the inception of the Internet, businesses can compete on a global level. New businesses are started everyday on the Internet, and those who do not conform or keep up end up closing their doors.
It is imperative that your business that your sales people are trained in all forms of sales, including Internet commerce. This type of training is the main focus of many sessions because there are many effective sales techniques that are taught.
Many businesses that have initiated this type of training have seen positive results within the first few days of the sessions. They have seen an increase in sales, and profits and have accredited it to the training their sales force received.
Peter Geisheker is the CEO of The Geisheker Group marketing firm
Peter develops and implements strategic marketing programs as well as sales training for businesses of all sizes.
May 31st, 2008 -- Posted in Medical Business |
A medical practice is more than just seeing patients. It is a business, and like all businesses, it has monthly bills to pay, and employees who want their paychecks. There are many different aspects to medical practices across the country.
A medical practice relies heavily on reimbursements from insurance companies to fulfill their financial obligations. However, filling out insurance claims for hundreds of patients each week can be very time consuming. The whole process can be a very frustrating experience.
A physician must either hire someone to perform this task, another expense that can be eliminated, or do it him or herself. Either way, it can be a grueling experience for the person filling out the forms. Often, filing the forms is another headache that can leave the person feeling a huge amount of stress.
If the forms are not filled out properly, the insurance company will reject them and the whole process is started all over again and often these claims are added to the stack of claims that are pending. This can cause financial hardships for many practices, especially small ones. Even when the claim is accepted, it can take several weeks or months for the insurance company to send the reimbursement check.
Many medical practices have found that by using a medical billing company, they have increased the efficiency in their office. The staff can concentrate on other areas of office work. Medical billing services have fast and secure methods of submitting claims to insurance companies electronically. This means that the claims are no longer lost in the mail or sitting in a stack on someone’s desk waiting to be put into the system.
When a claim is filed electronically, it is either accepted or rejected immediately. The billing service then will make the necessary changes and re-submit the claim. Because the claim is accepted electronically, payment is sent within days instead of weeks or months.
Another benefit to using this type of company is that the personnel are highly trained in all aspect of medical billing. They are familiar with all of the rules and regulations and when they are updated or changed.
The medical billing service will also track each of the payments to make sure that the transaction is completed and that a check was sent. They will contact the insurance company and follow up on each claim that is not processed.
This gives physicians the time they need to treat more patients and to concentrate on them and not worry about when they will receive their payments.
Any type of medical facility can use medical billing services. It does not matter how big or small, the benefits are the same for all.
Many physicians are skeptical about using this type of service, especially small ones, however, the benefits of these services far outweighs any fees that they may charge because the reimbursement time is quick and the success rate of submissions is over ninety percent. This makes it very cost efficient for any medical practice.
Peter Geisheker is CEO of The Geisheker Group marketing firm. One of the types of clients that Peter helps are medical billing companies
May 31st, 2008 -- Posted in Business |
Fund Managers, Brokers, Investment Advisors and high net-worth investors looking for alternatives to the stock market and real estate to grow your portfolios may want to take a look at the Forex Market.
The Forex Market, also know as the Foreign Exchange or The Foreign Currency Market is a global electronic market 35 times larger than the NYSE with over $3 trillion a day in turn over. It is a cash market, with unparalleled liquidity and tremendous leverage (100:1 is standard). Opportunities for aggressive portfolio growth of 3% - 5% + per month are available.
Trading in the Forex market is a skill game and requires extensive knowledge and experience to garner consistent success. It is recommended that you invest in professionally managed funds only with a track record of wins and a strategy of capital preservation.
One such fund is the White Knight Investments Managed Forex Fund. The White Knight fund performed exceptionally well in 2007 with a total return for the year of 94.80% and only one draw down month of -.11%. This kind of performance and consistency is not easy to find in the Forex market, or any market for that matter, and should be worth serious consideration for those professional money managers who are looking for an edge to diversify their portfolios for growth.
White Knight Investments offers a high yield, high performance, professionally managed fund in the Foreign Exchange Market. Our fund is designed for the professional portfolio manager and high net-worth individual looking to diversify their portfolios in the lucrative Foreign Exchange.
Our professionally managed fund has consistently performed at a high rate of return while offering our clients the safety of full control and liquidity of their capital.
Minimum investment is US $100,000.
Trading Team
The White Knight managed fund trading team has combined experience in the Forex market of over 20 years. Our executive fund manager oversees all trading activities and has been a professional money manager for the past five years, trading the Forex market for the past six years.
Trading Systems
Our trading team utilizes a variety of technical and fundamental analysis tools as well as up to five proprietary automated signals for the trades executed for our managed fund. Currencies include the USD, CAD, CHF, GBP, EUR, JPY, AUD and the NZD.
Equity
Capital preservation is a primary concern to our trading team. Our combined trading systems never allow more than five percent of the total equity in your account to be in play at any time. Typically less than two percent is exposed in open trades at any given time. Appropriate stop-loss measures are always employed to minimize the downside risk of draw-down should market conditions suddenly shift.
The combination of these systems and analysis methods spread out over a variety of currencies and multiple crosses offers a high yield fund while maintaining a diversified and guarded approach to Forex investing.
Broker Account
To participate in the White Knight Managed Fund you will need to open a Forex trading account with our partner broker, GAIN Capital. GAIN Capital is widely recognized as one of the largest and leading Foreign Exchange brokers in the world.
Capital Control
Once your Forex trading account is set up and funded, you will sign a limited Power Of Attorney with White Knight Investments that allows us and our trading team rights and access to trade your account on your behalf. This also ensures that you maintain complete control of the liquidity of your capital.
Steve Patzkowski @ whiteknightfxi.com
May 31st, 2008 -- Posted in World Affairs |
For some it will be a date to note in their diaries and one on which they will undoubtedly rush out in anticipation to the record stores. For others it will quite possibly be time to clap their hands over their ears in an attempt to protect their hearing.
Either way for fans and detractors alike July 21 has been confirmed as the release date for Carla Bruni-Sarkozy’s new album. It will be her first since she took up residence alongside her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy, at the president’s official residence, the Elys?e Palace.
Bruni-Sarkozy launched herself musically speaking on an unsuspecting public back in 2002 with the release of her first album “Quelqu’un m’a dit.” Its cool, relaxed, some would say almost comatose melodies received both critical and commercial acclaim, blending as it did some simple tunes with husky tones that bordered on the spoken word. And it sold a whopping 1.2 million copies in France alone with a further 800.000 copies being snapped up abroad.
Her follow-up in 2007, “No promises” in which she set music to English-language poems was something of a flop by comparison, notching up sales of around 80,000 here in France.
Perhaps she has learned her lesson by only including one track on her new album where she sets a poem to music – this time by the French writer, Michel Houellebecq.
According to her agent – as if Bruni-Sarkozy actually needed one - the as yet untitled new album will include 14 songs, many of them penned by the singer herself. There’ll also be a remake of a Bob Dylan number as well as a song in her native Italian, proving that she remains ever the polyglot with an eye on the international market.
The new album will be released simultaneously in France, Italy, Germany and Britain
It will be the third offering from the clearly multi-talented former model,turned singer,turned president’s wife, and ardent music lovers will not be the only ones curious to find out whether her new life as France’s First lady has had any influence on her artistic output or direction.
But those expecting some sort of presidential revelation or behind-the-scenes surprise could well be in for a disappointment as apparently 95 per cent of the material on the album was written before she first met Sarkozy.
Leaving little to chance and definitely not relying on the presidential stamp of approval, Bruni-Sarkozy is also rumoured to be negotiating a number of television talk show appearances on both of France’s main channels to coincide with the album’s release. They have yet to be confirmed, but should they take place they will mark yet again something of a first for this First Lady who seems intent on not letting her role as the president’s wife get in the way of her singing career.
One thing’s for certain, whether you relish the chance to hear her folksy ditties or consider her recordings as nothing more than unwelcome warbling, it’ll be hard to ignore her.
Johnny Summerton is a Paris-based broadcaster, writer and journalist specializing in politics, sport and travel. For more on what’s making the headlines here in France, log on to his site at http://www.persiflagefrance.com
May 31st, 2008 -- Posted in Business |
Working with online travel jobs, I’ve seen interview shortlists narrowed down until the company gets their candidate of choice, but what if you were amongst the rejected? It would be helpful to know just exactly what you’ve done wrong though, wouldn’t it? 9/10 times, an unsuccessful job application will just be that there was someone that bit more qualified, and there’s nothing that can be done in that instance, except to try again… but if this keeps happening, it may be worth considering some of the following, which are almost universally considered a bad thing on the recruitment circuit. Keep these tips for your job interview and you should do better next time!
Starting with the CV…
They Didn’t Know How To Get Hold Of You
This one’s simple enough – if your CV doesn’t contain your contact information (address, telephone number, e-mail) then they can’t contact you. Sure, you can argue that if you e-mailed your CV into them, then they could find your address, but you’d have to be exceptional for them to spend more than 5 minutes looking for you! This is all about ease of use…
You Didn’t Have The Experience
Unfortunately, this is a common one, and one that’s not an easy fix. If you don’t have enough experience (or more usually, someone else who applied has more), then the only cure is to keep plugging away until you do. If you work in a creative field, it is quite easy to get freelance/voluntary work to give you more a portfolio to augment your corporate experience – a tip to get a job interview next time around.
Your CV Was Littered With Mistakes
One of the easiest ways of wheedling down a stack of CVs into a more manageable pile is to take out the ones with mistakes. If you haven’t been careful enough to proofread thoroughly, the chances are you’re too careless to work for your dream company, and yours will go straight into the ‘unsuccessful application’ pile!
You Got A Bad Reference
A bad reference will most likely kill your employment chances stone dead, and many recruiters will call them at this point in the proceedings, if you’ve included a contact on your CV. Of course, you could put that references are “available on request” in the hope that you can charm them enough that they either won’t check, or will not believe the referee, but the best bet of all is to work hard enough that your contacts will have nothing but good things to say about you!
In the Interview
You Didn’t Look the Part
Increasingly, the idea that workplaces are 100% formal has been greatly corroded, but the chances are that you won’t know until you visit. As for advice on job interview dresscode, without a doubt it is best to be overdressed rather than underdressed, so if in doubt, wear a suit – or at least go smart/casual.
You should also make sure you are looking your best – it shouldn’t come down to judging on appearances, but the interview panel are only human, and it’s natural to take in these things, even if it’s subconscious. Don’t take any chances, or risk adding to your list of unsuccessful job applications.
You Not Expressed Words Well
You need to present your ideas clearly to be in with a good shot of getting the post. Work on speaking slowly and articulately, to ensure your interviewers don’t have to second guess what you’re saying.
One bit of job interview advice here: It’s perfectly acceptable to be nervous in an interview, so there will be a little leeway for this, but at the same time it will put you at a disadvantage against someone who takes these events in their stride. Relax, take your time and see the meeting as a conversation rather than an assessment.
You Asked Too Many Questions?
The one thing worse than asking no questions in the interview is to do the complete opposite and ask hundreds! They do have other candidates to interview, and if you ask them about every little detail then you’re going to annoy them eventually. If you have a tendancy to do this, there are two job interview tips to counter this: the first is to be articulate with you questions so that you can ask one that covers a few of your points, rather than taking them one at a time, and the other is…
Pay Attention!
If you follow everything the interviewers say, you can be sure you won’t ask a question of something they’ve already explained… and you can ask them to clarify – much nicer! This is a simple piece of courtesy – they listen to you, you listen to them. Just think, would you employ someone who looks bored and distracted during your job interview?
You Were Late To The Party
Turning up late may be okay when meeting friends, but for something you’re supposed to be that enthused about, you really should be on time. Unless you’re very late, it would be harsh to not give you the job over this, but then if the other person was identical to you, but was early, then it would be a clear cut choice. A solid piece of job interview advice: call ‘early’ on time and ‘on time’ late – that way you’re sure not to lose points for this.
You Knew Nothing About The Company
Sure, if it’s a small company you’re applying to work at, then they may not expect you to know about them instantly, but they’d expect you to be enthused enough to have done a little research! Spend a little time digging around their website, to make sure you have a good handle on who they are, what they do and what your position in the company would be. You may not get a chance to show off this knowledge, but if you do, then it’s really impressive, and would easily put you ahead of a candidate who has turned up completely unprepared.
You Promised Too Much/Sounded Arrogant
With so many applications overselling people, it’s no wonder than employers are a little on the cynical side, so when it comes to selling yourself, don’t overdo it. Arrogance does not play well, and even if it is true, try and be a little humble about your achievements. If you rub the interviewers up the wrong way, then your application will be unsuccessful!
You Badmouthed Your Current Boss/Workplace
Sure, nobody has only positives to say about their workplace, but this really isn’t the kind of thing you should be sharing with your potential future employers. If you’re speaking this candidly about your past employers, why wouldn’t you be this rude about them? Simple job interview tip: if you want to complain about your work, go out socially with friends, if you want a job, keep this under your hat and be diplomatic!
Too Much Enthusiasm Was A Turn Off!
Enthusiasm’s great… in moderation. If you sound overly excited by everything, one of two things is going to happen: either they’re going to think you’re completely insincere, or they’re going to find you a little too creepy/annoying to be able to work with Monday-Friday every week! This is of course tampered by the fact that sounding completely disinterested is, if anything, worse, but it’s all a case of finding that perfect balance…
You Acted Like You Needed The Job
You and I know that this was the dream job, and that you were banking on it, but you shouldn’t let them know that! The last thing you want to do in a job interview situation is to appear desperate – that’s a major turn off for the interviewer. Again, this is a balancing act, because you want to look positive and that you are interested, just don’t cross that fine line between motivated and needy, and you should be fine.
But of course the best way of finding out why your application was unsuccessful is to ask! Most places will happily give you a response to this, although it won’t always be truthful… The best thing to do is to match up the feedback given by the interview panel against conventional job interview advice, and soon you should be on to a winner!
Gail Kenny is the managing director of Puregenie, an online travel jobs website. Jobs on the site are catered exclusively to talented individuals with skills and experience to succeed in the online environment from businesses looking to increase their online presence. Although the site is mainly travel focussed, it also displays vacancies in the hospitality and leisure industries.
May 31st, 2008 -- Posted in Business Management |
Nobody imagines their office will suffer from a fire… and to be honest, the level of preparation often reflects this. Previously in the UK, fire certificates were handed out by the fire services, but as of 2006, businesses are required to carry out their own fire risk assessment.
This fire safety risk assessment can be broken down into 5 sections:
1) Identify potential fire hazards
2) Investigate who would be in danger if a fire broke out
3) Evaluate the potential risks and hazards in the office and examine what can be done to limit these issues from being a problem.
4) Create a fire safety document detailing the actions taken – let your employees know of your findings.
5) Keep the fire safety risk assessment under review and revise as necessary.
So what kind of things should you be on the look out for when you fill out your business’ fire risk assessment form? The most likely cause of fire in the office is of course the abundance of electrical equipment the modern workspace is equipped with. All electrical equipment should be tested annually, and extension cords should not be a full time solution. Likewise, make sure not to overload power sockets. If you don’t have enough outlets for all the electricals, you should move onto a bigger a place rather than jeopardizing the safety of your current workspace. It’s also important to warn staff of the risks involved with the electricals, so make this part of your fire safety documents.
While you’re explaining that to the members of staff, it’s a good idea to make them aware of the procedures in case of fire, and maybe plan one or two drills to make sure their fire safety is ensured. Indeed, all new members of staff should be given an outline of the procedures as part of their induction. Things like fire escapes, corridors and routes may seem obvious, but it’s a situation of not being possible to be too careful.
If your office (or office block) has a full kitchen and dining area attached, then the likelihood of a fire is a lot higher. If food is left cooking unattended, the risks involved are greater still. The whole environment can be made a lot safer if you ensure that there is someone present in the kitchen at all times – or at the very least when someone is using the available facilities.
Store rooms may seem an unlikely location to be considered on the fire risk assessment form, but you could be surprised. With photo copying equipment and stationary potentially stored alongside potentially flammable liquids. Keeping the area neat and tidy will reduce the risk of fire considerably. Tidiness is actually something which should be considered throughout the office in relation to fire safety – if you keep things neat, and clear then there will be less fuel for flames to spread easily, should the worst happen.
Keeping the place tidy will also make an evacuation all the easier and considerably less risky. If you have items in the corridors, stairwells and exits, then the chances of slips, falls and injury are greatly lessened should there be a need for a rapid getaway.
It’s hugely important to keep a list of emergency numbers nearby. Sure, everyone knows 999, but getting in contact with staff members who are missing could save a life. Staff should also have a good knowledge of where all the fire extinguishers and alarm points are. It goes without saying, but heavy fire-doors should never be wedged open, no matter how inconvenient it may be – they can’t do their job if they’re being permanently held open.
The majority of offices have the same kinds of fire risks associated with them, and unless you work in an exceptionally dangerous environment, your fire risk assessment form will need to encompass the sort of thing covered here. Use this and your own common sense, and you should have your fire safety documents sorted, and the satisfaction of knowing you’re prepared against the worst.
Iain Mackintosh is the managing director of Simply-Docs. The firm provides over 1100 legal documents and small business templates covering all aspects of business from holiday entitlement to fire safety documents.
May 31st, 2008 -- Posted in World Affairs |
The big guns within the Socialist party here in France are warming up for battle ahead of an election to choose a new leader even though that’s still over six months away.
Segolene Royal officially announced her intention to stand last Friday. And now the man many consider will be her main opponent, Bertrand Delano?, has released a book “De l’audace” in which he sets out his vision for the future of the party and also takes aim at Royal.
When she announced her intention to stand, the party’s old guard or so-called “elephants” – many of whom have been at the helm for a very long time and openly support Delano? - were quick to criticise, saying Royal’s move would only further serve to split an already divided party and that she had declared herself too early.
They also accused her of ignoring party rules – even though she was by no means the first or the only one to have announced her candidature – and prematurely sparking a likely (media) confrontation with Delano?. In reality her choice of timing was probably made to help take the sting out of the publication of Delano?’s the book.
And in a sense the release of “De l’audace” is a rather disingenuous move by Delano?, who in March won re-election for a second term as mayor of Paris.
He still hasn’t officially declared himself as a candidate to head the party, even though everyone expects him to stand. Instead up until now he has allowed many of the “elephants” to do his bidding, and especially his mentor and main backer, the former prime minister, Lionel Jospin.
While recognising that the Socialist party has been in something of a malaise for several years, Delano? insists (in his book) that the party didn’t do itself any favours in choosing Royal as its candidate in last year’s presidential elections.
In levelling such criticism Delano? is firmly aligning himself with those that many (including Royal) say were responsible for the decline in the fortunes of the Socialist party.
Delano? accuses her of having run a directionless campaign and he firmly rejects any sort of alliance with MoDem, the centre party. Anyone even slightly familiar with French politics will recognise the words as ones echoing those of Jospin in his book, which attacked Royal last year.
In terms of policy perhaps the most surprising element of Delano?’s book is his call for the Socialist party to embrace economic liberalism and to accept the principle of competition – long a taboo to many on the Left. Indeed Delano? proudly claims to be a “liberal” himself in the true humanitarian sense of the word of course, and insists that it has long been a principle abused and misused by the centre-right.
The release of the book then is in effect just the latest offensive in a campaign, which gives Delano? national exposure without requiring him to take the plunge and officially declaring himself to be in the running for either November’s battle for leadership of the party or more importantly nomination as its candidate in the 2012 presidential race.
For her part, Royal has admitted to mistakes made in last year’s presidential elections and said she wasn’t helped by the lack of real support she received from the party’s “elephants”. She believes in realigning the party with the centre and in the more populist “listening and hearing” approach to politics. In addition she has already made clear that for her, the leader of the party should also be the 2012 presidential candidate.
Other major differences between the two pretenders to the Socialist “throne” will become clearer once they have both officially declared.
For the moment though the knives are out and all the current incumbent, Royal’s former partner, Fran?ois Hollande, can do is look on from the sidelines and keep his fingers crossed that the two don’t go for each other’s jugulars over the coming months.
A very public display of infighting is the very last thing the party can afford, especially after it has been weakened by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who successfully poached a number of its high-profile members and supporters for his government of “unity’ last year.
Johnny Summerton is a Paris-based broadcaster, writer and journalist specializing in politics, sport and travel. For more on what’s making the headlines here in France, log on to his site at http://www.persiflagefrance.com
May 31st, 2008 -- Posted in Business |
Branding is not just about your business logo. It covers and includes practically every aspect of your business including marketing, advertising, packaging, customer service and how you deal with your suppliers.
Branding covers every dot within and surrounding your business. The reputation of the owners, the shareholders, suppliers, employees, and even the customers all contribute to the brand image of the business. Every action that the entities involved in the business take, is contributing to the brand image of a company. That’s why it is important to plan every step carefully and take precautions, as every move you make will impact your brand image, either in a positive or negative way.
For branding to be truly effective it has to penetrate every aspect of your business dealings and no opportunity should be missed to enhance your brand further.
One of the ways you can enhance your branding is by being consistent. Consistency is a key to better branding. Take a look at all your applications and processes and see if your brand is promoted across the board in a similar fashion. Give the role of checking and applying your brand to one competent person, so that they can make sure that it is applied consistently across the board.
Chances are, not only will it be cost savings for you; you will also set one identity to your employees, customers and suppliers. When they see that one image, logo, management style and mission statement across the board, they will know it is you. It’s your business. It’s your company. The world will identify you with a common image, a common color, a common message or statement. If you change one or the other, not only will it confuse your customers, it will also be adding extra cost for you and your business.
To start your brand making process, try asking things like “what do we do in our company” or perhaps “what do we represent”. If your employees, customers or suppliers answer differently, then you have to investigate further on your branding. Why is it that people have different views about the business? Probably it was because you have given them varying representations about your business. In short, branding was not given proper attention and focus.
A proper brand will aid you when launching new products or services. Think about the Virgin brand and see how successfully Richard Branson has exploited it across his entire group of companies ranging from tourism, mobile phones, airlines and the train business.
Poor branding will hamper you at every stage of business development. Some new businesses struggle to make headway, purely because they had no strategy in place to maintain and develop their brand.
Take time to develop your brand and then support it fully across the full spectrum of your business activities. Branding defines the company’s strategy. It shows the world what makes you different compared to the rest of the competition. It sets you apart. That alone is an important benefit that a business can get from investing in branding.
Naz Daud - CityLocal Franchise & Business Business Franchises and UK Business Directory Franchise Opportunity & Internet Franchises Ireland Business Franchises & Directory Home Business Franchise
May 31st, 2008 -- Posted in Business Management |
This article is about the importance of lowering your business expenses in all areas. Lowering your business expenses is the easiest way to make more profit with your business, but many times it’s overlooked. Many business owners would be surprised how much they could save if they started cutting back and shopping around for better vendors. And the reason I say it’s the “easiest” is because any business can do it, its risk free and doesn’t cost anything, it just takes a little time.
The two biggest problems in this area that I’ve found are owner contentment and lack of knowledge. If a business owner is making $30,000 a month and they’re satisfied with that, they may not want to spend the time trying to lower costs, thinking it won’t add up to much anyway. Or many times the business owner doesn’t even know that they could be making $50,000 a month instead of $30,000 if they switched to a new vendor. On several occasions I continued to buy maybe a shipping box or a general item from a vendor for years, later to find out that a new company came up online that sells the exact same thing for 1/2 price.
Sometimes technology changes and an internet hosting service you’re paying $1,300 a month for you can now get for $500 a month. That happened to me. I could have been saving $900 a month for a couple of years if I would have switched, but the company I was using was great and I had no reason to look elsewhere. Why switch?
No matter how good the vendors or companies you work with are, you always have to be looking for better ones that charge less. Don’t wait for the slow months to start looking. ALWAYS be on the look out! It’s very easy to go with the philosophy, “don’t fix what isn’t broken.” But it could, and probably is, costing you thousands of dollars if you don’t.
Here a few areas where I found you can save money in your business:
YOUR PRODUCTS
This is BY FAR the biggest area where extra profits can be earned. This is basically finding a vendor who sells the same or comparable products that you sell for a lower price. In 2000 my fashion acessory business sold over $4,000,000. We bought our products primarily from a popular wholesale U.S. company. They told us they had their own manufacturing plant in China and were giving us the best price possible, which I later found out, was a lie. Well, we later found the company “they” were buying from and we were NOT getting the lowest price possible. Far from it! Since we were wholesale the profit margin was low, but buying from this new company from the start would have made us millions more in profits! We didn’t have to do anything other than order from someone else and our profits almost tripled! But many business owners don’t know this game. I honestly didn’t know it when I started. I call this “the lie and say anything to get your money” game. Beware of this, the vendor will continue to lie saying that you’re getting the best price possible, that all other vendors are sub par compared to them in service, product quality, etc., and they may even offer you credit. Credit? I’d rather have the millions of extra money in profits!
ADVERTISING
If you spend a lot in advertising, there are certain times of the year when you should cutback, or if it’s not effective stop it immediately.
YOUR EMPLOYEES
I’m not saying to give all of your employees a paycut, just make sure they have enough work to realistically make it through the entire day. You rarely, if ever, have an employee come up to you and tell you they don’t have enough work for the day. 99% of the time every employee tells you they’re swamped with work and they can never catch-up. But if you ever spent a day doing their job, or watching them, you’d find out that you could do their eight hours of work in five or less. My suggestion is to personally see exactly how long it should take for each employee to perform their job and require the work to be done at that pace. Then eliminate the extra employees that are no longer needed. This may sound kind of straight forward, but when you go out of business because of all of these extra employees, you’ll never see ANY of them again, so don’t worry if you have to let a few of them go. They wouldn’t think twice about quitting on you if they found a better job out there.
PHONE BILLS
Here’s something that if you never checked on it, you’d never know about it. The new digital and voice over ip phones could save you 50% or more on your phone bills, especially if you make international calls. At the very least, make sure you’re getting the best plan with your dial-up phone provider. There are so many plans and they change every few months. I was paying $900 a month for a while and a little research and a plan switch would have dropped it down to $500 a month. Not a huge savings but that’s $5,000 a year.
INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER
We were using an expensive but highly reliable internet service provider that was charging us $1,300 a month for two servers. We were with the company for seven years and the service was great, so I saw no need to change, until I found out that at least 50 companies were offering the same thing for under $500! That was a $10,000 a year savings!
CREDIT CARD PROCESSING
The more you sell the cheaper the rate you can get. Plus the market is very competitive and many companies run specials. Even a half percent savings adds up in the long run.
SOFTWARE
There are different types of software packages that are offsite and charge you a monthly fee. Often new programs are created that you can add to your website that will cost you a fraction of the price in the long run when you drop the software you were using with the monthly fee. Always keep your eye open for this.
SHIPPING COMPANY
For the best prices, use USPS (U.S. mail) for low value light items, use UPS for all U.S. shipments and FEDEX for all international shipments. Check the prices yourself but we found the best rates if we did it this way.
Also, be sure to use the smallest boxes and lightest envelopes possible for all of your mailing.
Remember: Savings = more profit instantly. ALWAYS look for cheaper vendors and where you can cut costs, without compromising your quality of goods or services.
Prices change every week. New offers are given every week. New companies with better prices open every week, but you won’t know about any of this if you don’t search it out.
Join me, John Rogers, each week at ThingsWeLearned.com, the business opportunities, work from home website, for over 100 of my free money making business articles. I’m one of the foremost experts in the world on making money on the Internet, earning over $5 million dollar since 1997 with several different businesses.
May 31st, 2008 -- Posted in Business |
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the Internet didn’t spring out of a golden egg hatched by a mythical hen. Many of today’s innovations are born of people who had innovative ideas, but who did not stop at simply having an idea. They took one brick of capital, another brick of knowledge, perhaps a brick or two of friends and family, and built their empires brick by brick. Building an online empire, with today’s technology, may be all the more easy. But with the rest of the people online who want to build their empires and will risk everything in order to get fame, how can you shine?
If you want to build that online empire, you cannot settle for simply having one website full of articles, or a website full of pictures – there are already thousands of sites like that online, and you need to come up with something new and innovative. In other words, you are going to have to be the whole package. An empire is not just one little town or one measly little hamlet where you can get the latest in sword design and armor packaging. So your online empire is not just one little site where you can download a few screensavers a month. Your online empire is going to be the one stop shop for anyone who needs anything in your field.
So if you are starting to build all this up, ask yourself: what do you really want to do, and what are you really good at? Believe it or not, you can make money at something that you are an expert in, and you need only to know what that is. So, can you offer web design, content, graphic design, and web hosting? Then your empire may include a whole package for companies that need their website made. Throw in a video making and editing business, party organizing, and some souvenir making, and you can practically sell your online empire to companies that want someone else to think of their marketing needs.
Can you cook? Do you have friends that you can invite to have a party empire online? Remember, having an online empire does not mean that you have to go it alone. You can take your friends along with you, that friend who makes nice party invitations and can make spiffy menus, that friend who mixes the best drinks and knows all the great bars in town, that friend who can feature events in her magazine, and that friend who can host a party and throw in a band into the bargain. Have a friend to advertise your services online, and that have separate websites for each kind of service that you can offer. That way, you can all link together and offer packages, or have separate packages and still get commissions for jobs that everyone else has. Your empire is alive and kicking!
If you are interested in building an online empire, then you will have to be prepared to not only come up with original ideas, but to carry your ideas through. For more information, talk to web gurus who have already succeeded in building their own empires. Talk to fellow bloggers or to people who are struggling. Join a mailing list that will help you get through the first few months of your struggle to bring your empire to its feet. As you move forward, you will find that you, too, can help people with building their own domains, and you will have a good many stories to tell – not to mention a lot of money to bring to the bank the next time you go there laughing.
To learn the real secrets to creating a long term stable online business that will allow you to retire on and to learn it live and in person follow the link in my resource box.
Kevin Tyler Smith is an expert Internet network marketer. “If banking over $14,139.79 per month whether or not a single lead joins your MLM opportunity gets you excited, then pay very close attention to what’s on the other side of this link” >>> www.EZWealthStrategy.com
Next »