Perhaps one of the most important elements in driving the success of your business or franchise venture is to market you business in the most effective manner to get high visibility of your company, products and services. While you may think a start up business will not have the capital available for a huge advertising campaign that involves national exposure on television, billboards etc, but PR can offer a cost-efficient and effective alternative...

One great aspect in investing in a franchise is the instant solid brand recognition you receive from the start. Your business will have been established within a consumer’s mind prior your investment in the franchise. However, in order for your franchise to succeed within its own exclusive territory, you need to gain promotion of your business with local people to make it truly successful.

Your first step in building a visible marketing business portfolio is to create awareness of your business within the local market place. And how do you achieve this? Gaining coverage in local media, whether it be press or radio or local TV, will help put your business ‘on the map’ and has the added advantage over advertising of being more likely to be read- and more likely to be believed!

If someone reads an editorial piece on how good your business service, products is, then they are more likely to trust this source, than a 30 second advertisement recorded on radio…In saying this, editorial coverage has also the added benefit of providing you with the opportunity to say more about your business, products and services than a short advertisement will allow.

So what makes a good PR story? The launch of your new business within the local market place is a good start. Thereafter you should announce:

• new business gains;


• achievements and awards;


• special deals;


• promotions and


• family, birthday and seasonal occasions.

A regular flow of newsworthy information will increase your business credibility and visibility in your locality and even outside of your local marketplace. This is a classic example of pull factor, whereby word of mouth can drive new customers to come looking for you. Once you have achieved this pull factor, your well on your way to business success and profitability…

Next make sure you send your story to the right place. It is important to find out the correct names of editors, writers, news reporters, radio editors who you will be contacting to promote your PR story. Keep your communications simple and to the point. Journalists do not what novels! They want snappy and short editorial pieces of news that is to the point, gives factual information and possibly a short bio of the business. Where possible include a photograph to illustrate your story too. As readers our eyes are drawn first to pictures in the pages of newspapers and magazines, and a good picture with your PR story should grab attention…

There are other forms of “PR” that falls under the banner heading of press releases, such as your business sponsorship of local sports events and charity events, supporting customers and clients can be an effective means in creating brand awareness and high visibility of your business. The principle of PR is based on fostering positive perceptions of your business through communication of information. What people feel and say about you- your customers, suppliers, business franchisees and franchisor, the wider community- will influence potential customers and make a real difference to your business success in the future.

In short, PR is not just about generating a “feel good factor” but in making a significant contribution to real business success for you and the franchise operation.

For more information on PR and marketing campaigns and incentives, please feel free to leave me a comment…

Aine Meade is a Website Editor for Franchise Direct, a leading Internet franchise advertising portal. Aine creates high quality franchise information for its international websites in the U.S., and Europe. Aine has a BA (First) in English and History; MA in Literature & Publishing; Diploma in Media Journalism and a Diploma in Marketing.

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For a solo professional having an up-to-date contact management database is one of the KEY administrative systems you have to have for your business. And, even more important, is having a system in place to create effective follow-up. Your business is built on following up leads and building relationships.

If you don’t have a contact management system in place, you will not be able to follow-up effectively with prospects, you could lose clients, and you will not be able to build your business.

Your contact management system needn’t be a ‘bells and whistles’ expensive database but it does need to be easy to use, easy to maintain, and easy for you to find your contact data. Once your contact management system is in place you need to ensure that you keep it up-to-date and are using it to follow up with prospects.

Spreadsheets are a great tool for keeping track of your contacts, but even they have their limitations, particularly if your database is starting to get very large - anything over 100 contacts really needs to be on a computerised, contact management database.

My very favourite contact management system is ACT! It really meets all of the criteria above in that it’s:

Easy to use;

Easy to maintain; and

Easy to find contacts.

And here’s a tip I have for you – you don’t necessarily need the latest version, especially if you’re going to use it just for yourself. I bought my first version of ACT! (ACT! 6.0 2004) off Ebay for $20. If you’re going to buy software off Ebay check that it’s being sold as ‘brand new and unregistered’. This was a very small investment for me to make to see if I liked the system and once I knew it was ideal I had no hesitation in upgrading to the latest version.

Keeping your contact management database up-to-date can seem a bit daunting, particularly if you have a lot of contacts. Here are my top 5 strategies for creating effective follow-up and keeping your contact management system up-to-date.

1. Update as you go along! Whenever you speak with or email a contact take a few minutes afterwards to update your database with this information BEFORE moving on to the next task. For example, did your conversation end with you promising to contact them again in a months’ time? If so, note this down and create a follow-up task there and then so you don’t forget.

2. Touch base regularly. Each month go through your database and see who you haven’t had any contact with over the last few months. Send them a ‘just getting in touch with you’ email, or call them.

3. Don’t forget good old-fashioned snail mail! Even snail-mail has gone all hi-tech. A great follow-up tool, and one that I currently use, is Send Out Cards - it's really quick and simple to use. You can choose to send either a card or postcard, and it makes for a great ‘stay-in-touch’ service. And just as simple to use as email, only more personal! You can even upload your own handwriting font to personalise your cards even more.

4. Send a newsletter. Okay, it’s not exactly personal one-on-one follow up, but it is keeping you in touch with your database. Very often your newsletter will generate a response from your reader, which means you will be able to turn this into a one-on-one communication with your contact!

5. Keep the process going! Make it a habit to update your database regularly. If you don’t get the opportunity to update your database as you’re going along (Tip #1) spend 20 minutes at the end of each day reflecting on what you’ve done during the day, who you’ve contacted, what the outcome was, and enter all of this information into your contact management system.

Follow these 5 tips and you will soon see your business start to grow through effective follow-up!

Online Business Manager & Virtual Assistant, Tracey Lawton, supports professional speakers, coaches, and authors to operate an efficient, organized, and profitable business. Learn how to create an efficient and organized office in 7 EASY steps, and receive free how-to articles at http://www.OfficeOrganizationSuccess.com.

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Business Managers not focused on improvement become administrators at best and bureaucrats at worst.

We tend to think of Sales as being the only competitive area of business, but that’s only the beginning; competition continues beyond Sales through the entire business process.

Improvement Equals Profit Enhancement

There are 4 basic ways to improve the bottom line:

1. Cook the books.

Long before the guys at Enron there was another Texan who bamboozled for profit. Billie Sol Estes made the cover of Time Magazine in the early 1960s as the "Texas Wiz Kid". An inquisitive child, Billie Sol grew to be an inquisitive man; he figured out that liquid fertilizer was lighter than water and was worth a whole lot more. Huge storage tanks filled with water, except for the top 2 or 3 inches of liquid fertilizer, provided the security for loan after loan. He also once borrowed money on his neighbor's cattle.

Billie Sol built a financial empire on one shady deal after another. He had all the politicians in his pocket, including LBJ. There’s a down side to "cooking the books", you may end up with a room mate named Burno who insists you wear a little apron. . . Don’t do it!

2. Raise Prices.

An increase in prices should increase profitability; unless you end up being noncompetitive and lose customers. Raising prices works best when you’re a sole source provider or when you have more business than you can handle. Remember the 90s?

Better still is raising prices when the quality of the product / service and business processes is higher / better than anyone elses. It’s the customers’ total cost of doing business, not price that keeps them buying. "Buying cheap to save money can be like stopping a clock to save time."

3. Sell More.

If you sell more and control the costs of those sales you’ll make more money. The most profitable sales are most often the repeat sales to the same customers. Customer retention and repeat sales are tied to more than price.

4. Decrease Costs.

Any reduction in cost of doing business without loss of income will have a dramatic impact on profitability. Improved productivity rules.

Ronald Coase and Friction in Business

An English economist, Coase wrote that there is friction or costs involved with business entities. There’s the friction/cost of "searching" for customers and suppliers. There’s the "coordination friction/cost" of on-going business processes. The last and most expensive friction/cost, is that of "failure", of something going wrong and having to be redone. The CEO of a chain of white table linen restaurants estimated that for every meal sent back, 32 new meals had to be sold to make up the loss.

Smart customers understand about the "total cost" of doing business. Your competitor’s prices may be lower, the quality of their product/service may be equal to yours; but if their business processes are screwy and drive up the customer’s cost. . . you have no competitors. You don't have to be twice as good as the next guy, be just a little better and you stand heads and shoulders above competitors.

Fewer Doing More

Unemployment is up, and so is productivity. Those companies that constantly work on improving the quality of their product/services and of their business processes will be the survivors. The future holds more of the same.

Document Knowledge / Expectations

All human endeavor is predicated on knowledge, on what you know. Business knowledge is more than facts or data; it’s the "orderly collection of information needed to get things done."

The verbal communication of policies (goal driven guidelines) and procedures (steps needed to achieve goals) expands on training time and creates errors. Word of mouth business operations are like a sailor’s promises while on shore leave, they’re not worth the paper they’re not written on.

Every manager’s job description should start with a commitment to improvement; "Focus on improvement, on how things can be done better for the same costs or less." If people aren’t told in black and white what’s expected of them, they get busy and forget.

Track the source of screw ups and reward customers / employees / vendors who tell you of a failing, of an opportunity for improvement.

Write down the goal(s) of each business function and then ask the experts, the employees, how the goal(s) can best be reached. Write down the steps necessary and ask new employees for new knowledge; how they’d do things differently.

In Closing

Don’t worry about industry averages when gauging the KPIs for different business areas; it’s much more important to focus on improvement, on how things can be done better. It takes a lot less effort to keep an old customer satisfied than to get a new customer interested.

And remember, "the bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of cheap price is forgotten."

Abe WalkingBear Sanchez is an International Speaker / Trainer / Consultant on the subject of cash flow / sales enhancement and business knowledge organization and use. Founder and President of www.armg-usa.com, WalkingBear has authored hundreds of business articles, has worked with numerous companies in a wide range of industries since 1982 and has spoken at many venues including the Shakespeare Globe Theater in London.

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This article is contributed by Sam Carpenter, author of the new book, 'Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Working Less and Making More'.

Whether you’ve established a small business, are in the midst of launching one, or simply considering it for the future, it’s certain you want at least one thing out of this investment: success.

Starting, and running, a small business isn’t a cakewalk. It’s hard to believe, but over 50 percent of small businesses fail in their first year and 95 percent fail within the first five years, according to the U.S. Small Business Association. Starting a business is risky for most, but success can come for those who proceed with logic and discipline.

Here are five common mistakes people tend to make when starting up a small business – and how you can avoid them:

1. Business owners don’t create documented procedures for the day-to-day operation.

It’s a simple equation: Systems = freedom. A “working procedure” is a documented description of how to perform a task. Having it prevents random problems and ensures the task is performed exactly and consistently. Procedures help you delegate, improve your scheduling ability, and allow you to work smarter and accomplish more with less effort. Thus, work less and make more. It’s ironic, but by implementing documented system procedures, your employees are free to be creative because they don’t have to “wing it” each time they perform their job duties; everyone operates at a smoother pace because there is a proven, working process. Everyone knows what to do and what to expect. Your people don’t have to be mind-readers or fortune tellers.

2. Owners don’t delegate – they are “doing the work.”

The reason a business owner can work a few hours a week, or take an extended vacation without stress, is because they have created systems, implemented written procedures with supporting documentation, and have learned to delegate. I know, I know. You’re zealous, dreamy-eyed, and proficient at what you do, and as the leader of an organization, you’re committed to doing whatever it takes to get your new business off the ground. Successful people don’t work harder; they work smarter. This means focusing on what you do best, and delegating the rest. Ask yourself what you enjoy doing least for your business. Perhaps that’s bookkeeping or making phone calls to potential clients. Then, imagine literally giving away these tasks. Get rid of the “I am Superman” attitude and hire people who are trustworthy and qualified to take much of the weight off your shoulders.

3. Owners don’t use time wisely.

Biological Prime Time is when your brainpower is at peak capacity. People function at maximum effectiveness about six hours out of a 24-hour day. It is important to understand this interesting facet of human performance, determine precisely when your prime time occurs, and then use it wisely. Six hours out of a 24-hour day is not much. Presuming you wish to reach your goals sooner rather than later, it is best the tasks that contribute most to your primary goals are performed during your prime time hours and you protect those hours from interruption. Also, don’t start your day without a to-do list. Make a list of tasks and categorize them into business-building activities, client activities, and personal items. Then, prioritize, remove distractions, delegate, and stick to your plan.

4. Owners see their job, life, and business as “holistic.”

You must change your fundamental perspective to see the elements of your world as separate, linear systems. See that these systems can be perfected, one-by-one. Understand that by perfecting a primary system’s sub-systems, the primary system will be perfected – and, although you are taking a non-holistic approach, your end product – your business – will be a highly efficient, entirely holistic, “Primary System.”

5. Owners don’t have a strategic objective or set of operating principles.

A strategic objective is short, usually a single page in length. It defines overall goals, describes methodology, and prescribes action. It gives direction for making major and minor decisions. It’s an essential instrument for a business and for personal life. General operating principles are a two to three page collection of “guidelines for decision making” that are congruent with the strategic objective. Essential for the work environment and in a simplified and shorter format, they also guide one’s personal life. Two examples of simple operating principles are “Do it now,” and, “choose the simplest solution.”

Sam Carpenter, author and speaker, is president and CEO of Centratel, an elite quality telephone answering service, and author of the new book, Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Working Less and Making More. Success in life, business, and relationships can be yours, too. Sam's approach is not mystical or esoteric; it’s simple, mechanical, and attainable. Visit http://www.workthesystem.com to purchase your copy of Work the System.

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I love racquetball. I played racquetball for over 18 years, very aggressively and very competitively. It's great exercise and a perfect way to let out your aggressions and stress. That's why I was so upset when my health club decided to forgo customer retention and worry about their own singular requirement - Getting new customers! Yes, I'm actually going to teach a customer retention lesson by discussing my racquetball experience.

I've been a member of this club for about 15 years. I was part of a league that played two times per week for 2-hours each night. There were roughly thirty members on this league and we were all friends and competed in a sociable and pleasant environment. The average tenure of the members of this league was about 10 years of racquetball experience at this club. Not all league members showed up each night. But typically anywhere between twenty and twenty-four would show up at any one time, which means we would fill up most of the courts with continuous singles games (one-on-one).

Then one day they closed down two of the 12 courts so they could expand their workout room. They added state of the art weight lifting equipment and hoped their existing body building clients would tell their friends and increase business. We weren't pleased, but at least we had 10 other courts to play on; enough to keep us all playing the full two hours without having to wait turns. Judging by the additional grunts and groans we heard coming from that new area, it seemed their plan worked. But I must admit that over time it seemed like the noise was ceasing and their increased business had waned. In the meantime, we loyal racquetball members continued to show up twice a week, every week, every year, paying our dues and buying supplies, soft drinks, and other miscellaneous purchases.

Then the owners decided to take over 2 more courts to build an aerobics gym with a climbing wall, dance area, and a few other amenities to attract new customers, at the expense of their existing racquetball members. Within a year, this new facility was as vacant as an atomic bomb testing ground. It was hardly ever used. And yes, we loyal racquetball members continued to spend our money at their club, which by the way, was the only club in town. Unfortunately, there were only 8 courts left and it started affecting our playing time since we now had to compete for court time and even started playing doubles (two-on-two) in order to get a chance to play at all.

A couple years after that they closed down another court to convert it into a Spinning room. Spinning is some sort of specialized stationary bike where you peddle your way to better health and fitness. Again, this was to bring in new health club members, at the expense of their existing loyal racquetball members, and again it flopped. Within 6 months the room remained dark and spun it's way into oblivion. But we loyal racquetball members kept coming week after week, without fail, spending our money in the only club in town, which now had only seven courts. They obviously hadn't re-converted any of these stolen courts so we could use them once again for racquetball. So they remained fallow.

As time went on, two more courts were closed due to damage. The owners said they didn't have funds to repair them. So we were forced to play in the 5 remaining courts. Needless to say, we were very unhappy. We could only play doubles and we frequently had to take turns since there weren't enough courts for us all to play at one time.

In year 15 of my playing at that club, we all arrived one night to the news that the owners were building a brand new health club less than a mile down the road and will be closing this older club once the new one opens. It would be three times the size with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, including an Olympic-sized pool. Well this indeed sounded like good news, at last. What sounded even better was the offer for existing members to get free membership into this new club for the first year it was open. They'd transfer our membership and we'd get to use all the facilities for a year at no extra charge. Now, I must say that we ONLY played racquetball at the original club. None of us used any of the other facilities there. And this was unlikely to change, new club or not. So naturally, guess what our single question was to the owners when they told us all this good news? How many racquetball courts will the new club have? Answer - Zero!

We were devastated. Naturally, we complained but to no avail. Our only recourse was to join another club with racquetball courts. Unfortunately, that was all the way in the next town. My 8-minute ride twice per week turned into a 40-minute ride to a club that was older, dirtier, and more expensive. But at least we could continue playing our preferred sport. Ultimately, I moved out of state and it didn't matter any more, except that I am now a little heavier and have strained breathing when I go up a flight of stairs.

So what's the moral of this story? These business owners tried desperately for years to increase their business with fads and gimmicks to draw in new customers. However, they forgot their bread and butter customers - us loyal racquetball fans. We spent a lot of money at their club over the years and were a consistent revenue stream for them. Even when they continued to do things that harmed their relationship with us, we remained loyal. Of course that goes to show you that this sort of loyalty wasn't good. It's called "your the only show in town so I have to be loyal to you" loyalty. And perhaps that's what they thought - that since they were the only show in town, they could afford to take us for granted. So they eventually lost 30 good customers, instantly.

Are you taking your customers for granted? Are you ignoring your loyal clients? Are you making changes to your business and it's future direction without considering what affects it might have on your existing customers? You obviously need to acquire new customers. That's understandable. But I hope you aren't doing what too many other businesses do - acquire new customers while negatively affecting the retention of your existing ones. It costs up to seven to 10 times more to acquire a new customer than to sell to an existing one. With the increasing costs of marketing and selling, this shouldn't be a surprise. So why don't more businesses curtail some of these expensive acquisition practices and focus more on retention strategies? I don't know. Maybe they need to get hit in the head with a racquetball a couple times to knock some sense into them. Or maybe they should give us a call so we can show them how to do this the right way.

Don't forget your existing customers and they won't forget you!

Good luck and good selling!

Russ Lombardo is President of PEAK Sales Consulting, LLC and an experienced CRM and Sales consultant, trainer, writer, speaker and radio show host. Russ works with businesses to help improve their customer acquisition and retention for increased revenue and success. Russ is author of the books, "CyberSelling", "CRM For The Common Man" and "Smart Marketing". He can be reached at 702-655-5652 and emailed at russ@peaksalesconsulting.com.

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When someone asks you about what you do, do you have a ready answer? Or do you stumble and stammer trying to explain your business?

I was recently at a writer’s conference where one of the main focuses was learning to create a successful book pitch. My instructor emphasized what a good pitch can do for a writer. She explained that when an editor asks an author about their writing project, they have one shot at sharing their pitch and getting the editor excited about their project. A great pitch makes a great first impression and can translate into a book contract. On the other hand, a pitch that is not well thought out can cost an author the chance of selling that project.

A good book pitch is a summary of the author’s idea, but more than that it’s a summary with a sizzle. At the conference, I learned that many authors spend hours crafting and memorizing their pitch. Then, when asked about their project, they are able to give a quick, concise synopsis that not only explains their idea, but makes the editor want to learn more.

I believe that the concept of creating a pitch can also apply to the home-based business world. As entrepreneurs, we can put together a summary of our business that will not only explain what we do, but grab the attention of whomever we’re speaking with.

A good business pitch summarizes the business concept in one to two short paragraphs, usually a total of 50 words or less. To begin, write out a list of the five most compelling aspects of your business. Try to think about your business as if you were on the outside looking in. What would interest you? What would make you want to learn more?

Try to answer these questions:

• Who is my target market?
• What are my top selling products/services?
• What about my company makes it stand out? If I were looking at starting a business, what would interest me about this company?
• Why did I choose this company?

Put your answers into sentences and you have the beginning of your business pitch. Try to keep your sentences short and use simple words. You want anyone who asks to be able to understand your answer, not get lost in your words. Take special care to describe what you like about your business. These same things will generally appeal to others as well.

While you want to keep your pitch simple, you also want it to give a picture of your business. Let’s say, for example, that you run health and wellness business. You wouldn’t want to use the statement, “I run a health and wellness business,” as a reply about what it is that you do. You want to add in a short description and catch the listener’s attention. For instance, you might say, “I operate my own business. We offer products such as chemical-free shampoo and natural snack foods to help others lead healthy lives.”

When I began my website, I was often caught off-guard when someone asked me about it. I would fumble for words and struggle to express exactly what it is that I do all day. I usually walked away from conversations like this feeling frustrated, and I’m sure the person I was speaking with was more confused than they were originally.

After learning the art of pitching, I can now give a short and snappy reply. “I run a Christian-based website for work-at-home moms,” I’ll say. “I offer resources to help them in their search and am able to make an income by offering advertising.” This usually leads to more questions about my website, which is exactly what I hope for. It gives me an opportunity to talk further about my business to those who are interested.

The next time someone asks you about your home-based business, remember to share your pitch with them. Take the time to hone your pitch to be as short, yet descriptive as possible. Over time, you’ll find yourself refining your words and your answers will become well-crafted summaries that pique the interest of anyone who asks. Word of mouth is one of the easiest ways to build your business and your pitch is a great way to get others talking.

Jill Hart is the founder of Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com. She graduated from Grace University with a Bachelor's Degree in Human Development and Family Studies/Bible. Jill has worked from since 2000 and started her own home-based business to assist other Christians who desire to work from home while maintaining a godly life.

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If you are like most women, you chose a career path at the tender age of 18 or 19 and have dutifully followed that path for many years. But let’s say you’ve grown tired of your career, or worse yet, never liked it to begin with. What are your choices?

-Stay where you are and make the best of it
-Change careers and start all over at the bottom
-Take advantage of the training offered by a franchisor and become your own boss in any industry you choose!

Let’s imagine a woman has been in public relations for ten or fifteen years but has a burning desire to spin pizzas instead of situations. What is she to do? As everyone knows, it isn’t easy for someone 40 or 50 to quit a career and start over, especially if she wants to try an entirely different field. She would have to give up a steady income and face months or years of reinventing herself. Perhaps she’d take a job at a pizza parlor and hope to learn enough to open her own shop someday. An alternative solution may be that she could buy a pizza franchise and take advantage of the training and support offered by the franchisor. Provided she has the financing, that would-be pizza chef could be managing a team of pizza spinners in just a few months.

Many or even most women will change careers at least several times their lifetime, whether because of changes in the economy or workforce, or because their careers don’t provide them with enough money/control/opportunities/ etc. While it was once common for someone to keep the same job from college to retirement, this had changed dramatically, particularly in the past 10 or 20 years, and this trend is expected to continue. Studies suggest that teens today may have between six and 12 careers in their lifetime.

Besides – many people really enjoy the challenge of a taking on a new career. Corporate executives replace their suits with sweats and open fitness centers. Doctors become fried chicken moguls and teachers get remade as pet groomers.

How do they make the transition? Many times through the power of franchising and one of the bonuses you’ll discover about franchising is that they can train you to excel in a job you’ve never done before!

No Experience Necessary

If you are a woman who is ready for a career change via franchising, the training a provided is one of the most important benefits a franchise system will offer you. The benefit of training goes both ways. It provides you with the tools you need to learn a new career and be successful in your new business. But it is also important to the franchise company. The franchise system depends on the integrity and stability of their brand from store to store and franchisee training is essential to this process.

You’ll find that a good franchise system will take pride in their training programs because, through the payment of royalties, your success becomes their success.

And guess what? Most franchises don’t require you to have experience in their field. In fact, many don’t even want a franchisee with previous industry experience. Because the systems of a franchise are structured for maximum success, previous industry experience often gets in the way when training a new franchisee.

Branding

Branding is another area where a franchise can offer you a shortcut. From California to Washington DC, you can buy a Häagen-Dazs ® Mayan chocolate cone and the quality and taste of the product will be exactly the same. If you own a Häagen-Dazs Shop, the public will know what you sell and that awareness will often make the difference between the success and failure of your business. Imagine how long it would take you to create a branded awareness of your new business if you started from scratch, not to mention the cost of hiring firms to create and advertise your brand.

Just as important to the quality of the product is the service the public expects from a franchised concept. You never know what to expect from the staff at “Jane’s Ice Cream Parlor” on the corner but you can trust that the people serving you at a Häagen-Dazs Shop will be friendly, clean and efficient. Why? Because the franchisor has set standards for employees and provided training and guidance in hiring practices. Everything that effects the perception of their brand is accounted for in the franchisor training.

Franchisors Care About Your Success

Your number one reason for choosing a franchise business over creating your own concept is that studies show your chances for success are exponentially greater. The franchisor has done many things before franchising the business that you, as a franchisee, you won’t need to, including establishing and building the brand, testing a variety of marketing concepts, finding the best way to deliver a quality service or product, and researching the best value in suppliers.

Most franchisors offer help to their franchisees in a combination of important areas, which may include: site assistance, initial training, operations systems, field support, grand opening assistance, national marketing programs, on-going training, and full-time encouragement for you to succeed. They become your business coaches and cheerleaders as you establish your new career.

The greatest merit of a franchise system is that you should be able to walk right into your new business after training and expect to have the tools needed to make it successful. It’s up to you, of course, to put in the hard work that will make that success a reality.

If you are thinking about a career change, don’t overlook the advantages of letting someone else do much of the work for you. A great franchise will offer you the training and tools you need to not only start a new career but to own your own business in any field you choose! Consider it a “shortcut to success.”

Kimberley Ellis is the President of Bison.com, a leading online resource for franchise and business opportunities. She has been quoted as an industry expert in USA Today, Wall Street Journal and a variety of local and regional publications regarding trends in business and franchising. Kim combines her entrepreneurial spirit with a diverse background in marketing and operation to help others succeed in franchising.

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All of us have got dreams we aspire to attain in our lives. These dreams come from people who inspire us. We may dream of making $20,000 a month, owning a luxury-y car and living in a million dollar mansion. At the same time, based on our beliefs, we also have what I call a 'level of acceptance'.

This 'level of acceptance' means that though you may aspire to earn $20,000 a month, you are willing to accept earning $3000 a month.

Although you would love to live in a million dollar house, you are quite willing to settle for a small apartment, Although you would love to be at an ideal weight of 65kg, you are willing to live life at 75kg.

You may set a goal to earn $20,000 but if you are willing to accept earning $3000, then $3000 is what you are going to end up getting. Why? Because the $3000 level of acceptance is what we make a 'must' for ourselves.

We will not allow ourselves to earn below that level of what we believe is our minimum. This is our tolerance level. The moment we think we are going to go below our acceptance level, our mind hits panic mode and we will do whatever it takes to get above that. Again, when we are committed to do whatever it takes, we will get it.

People who make $20,000 a month do so because to them, that is their level of acceptance That is what they believe they are worth. They will not accept anything less. They will never accept $5000 or even $10,000 a month. They will do whatever it takes to get the level they believe they deserve.

You Must Raise your Acceptance Levels.

Unless we raise our acceptance levels, we will never do what is necessary to achieve our goals. So if you want to make more money, you have to raise your standards of what you are willing to accept. You have to raise your standards of what you are willing to accept.

Be very honest with yourself, what is your current level of expectation and level of acceptance in the different areas of your life? Invest the time to reflect and to write down your thoughts.

If you want success to become your reality, make it so that you will never settle for anything less. Raise your level of acceptance to the level of your goals and you can't help but become successful.

Adam Khoo is an entrepreneur, a best-selling author and a peak performance trainer. A self-made millionaire by the age of 26, he owns and runs several businesses in education, training, event management and advertising, all with a combined annual turnover of $20 million. His best-selling "Patterns of Excellence" is a complete step-by-step system that will literally program you for success in life.

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Having a quality sales force in place is essential to the success of most businesses. As with most employees, there are always a few employees who just don't fit the position they are attempting to fill. And in some cases, people who are a good fit can fail as well depending on the circumstances. But why do sales people fail? We believe that these are some of the primary reasons:

• Poor job fit. The person is just not cut out to sell. Let’s face it, not everyone can do this kind of work. No sense trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

• Poor management. Since sales managers are responsible for hiring, training and overseeing sales people, it is logical that they would have a significant influence on a sales person’s career. More often than not, sales managers do a poor job of hiring people who are cut out to sell. Just because a person is outgoing does not mean that person will be a good sales person.

• Laziness. Selling requires hard work and long hours. Some people just are not willing to put in the time necessary to travel, complete paper work, plan, follow up on problems and issues and develop relationships. Field sales people working less than, say, 60 hours per week are probably not going to be highly effective. Many sales people work 50, 60 and even 70 hour weeks. Most poor sales people put in far fewer hours. There are expectations to this, but not many. Selling is hard work and requires long hours to do it right.

• A short-term mentality. Sales people who view sales as a way to put a lot of money in their pockets in a hurry tend to have short-lived careers in any given organization. Why? Because they view the customer as a cash machine that they can tap quickly and at whatever cost is necessary. This type of approach leads to weak or no relationships with customers. A long-term, relationship-oriented approach is far better. The sales person’s income over the short-term might not be as significant, but over the long-haul is much better. My largest customer, whom we have the best relationship together, took me four years to finally get in the door and close. We are both very happy.

• Lack of follow-up and service orientation. Sales people who leave customers hanging when there is a problem or a question lose credibility with their customer base. Good sales people are highly customer-oriented and service-oriented. They bend over backwards to take care of their customers even if it means working longer hours and fighting a number of battles to get things done.

• Focusing on customers they are most comfortable with. Sales people sometimes are fearful of working new or lesser relationships to the extent they need to be worked. They often gravitate toward customers they have a strong relationship with. However, some of those customers might not buy much. They just like to chat and make the sales person feel good about the possibility of buying something.

• Having no plan. Sales people need a plan each and every day. This plan should be priority-driven and should guide the sales person as much as possible.

• Lack of organization skills. A good sales people is organized and deals with details. There is a school of thought that good people are not detail-oriented. That can be true in some cases, but if the sales person is not detail-oriented, he must work harder to deal with the important details.

• Inability to multi-task. Sales people are required to deal with a number of issues at the same time. Some people can't handle the pressure of this type of work.

• Poor training. Sales people need excellent product training and sales training. A sales person needs to understand how your business operates and how to sell your products or services. They also need to learn basic selling skills even if they are experienced sales veterans. The longer you are in sales, the more likely it is that you will forget these basic selling skills or even take many of them for granted. For instance, veteran sales people can forget to listen because they have heard nearly every problem their prospects can throw at them, so they are anxious to jump in with a solution before the prospect has a chance to articulate their problem. While the solution can be the correct one, the prospect is put off because he may feel that the sales person didn’t give him time to explain and felt disrespected, or worse, that the sales person did not appreciate the prospect’s concerns and was just recommending something without full understanding or consideration of the prospect’s exact needs.

• Bad support from the company. In some companies, the sales people do a good job, but the company fails. Processes are slow and inefficient. Customer service people don't support them well. Shipments are slow and inaccurate. The list goes on and on. Even a good sales person can fail if the company fails them. It is important for a sales person to know the company's deficiencies so that he will not over-promise and under-deliver.

There are some of the key reasons why sales people fail. How do your sales people stack up against this list? How well does your company support your sales people?

Good luck and good selling!

Russ Lombardo is President of PEAK Sales Consulting, LLC and an experienced CRM and Sales consultant, trainer, writer, speaker and radio show host. Russ works with businesses to help improve their customer acquisition and retention for increased revenue and success. Russ is author of the books, "CyberSelling", "CRM For The Common Man" and "Smart Marketing". He can be reached at 702-655-5652 and emailed at russ@peaksalesconsulting.com.

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The food franchise industry is the largest and the most profitable of all the franchise industries. The biggest sub-industry of the food sector is fast-food franchises, such as McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, 7-Elevin Inc, and many more fast-food franchises. But every year there is always a new departure in the food industry that rivals fast-food eating and dining, and 2008 is no different.

This begs the questions, which way are consumer food trends heading for 2008? Although consumers are constantly bombarded with messages about healthy eating, encouraging them to cut down on fats, sugar and salt, obesity levels are still at an all time high. Convenience foods and takeaways are increasing. Nevertheless, there is a still a huge part of the market that is interested in new, healthier food which is all part of a global campaign for awareness of living a healthy, balanced life.

As a result the food industry is responding to consumer’s demands and changes in the market for fast-food convenience food. I have identified 10 key food trends that are encompassing this new desire for healthier foods, and these trends will be big news in the food franchise industry in 2008.

1. Wellness Foods

In response to government and health organizations warnings for greater awareness of what we take for granted in relation to excessive food habits, food companies are producing more foods with lower salt, less fat, more grains and fibres as well as other types of nutritionally beneficial ingredients.

The combination of nutrition and medicine is offering franchisors the opportunity for unlimited scope for new product developments. Recent examples include green tea drink with ginger that burns calories rather than adding them, vitamin enhanced beer and dark chocolate sold as an antioxidant.

2. New World Foods

There is a burgeoning interest in new foods sourced from “new” or “exotic” places. Superfruits like the purple acai berry from the rain forest, which has already achieved a market place in health food shops could make the transition to mainstream if undertaken effectively by clever business people.

Some have suggested that Peruvian cuisine- a combination of Spanish, Italian, Indian, Japanese and native cookery- could be the next big ethnic food. Coconut is finding new uses such as natural juice while fruit soups have also been encouraged as holding consumer potential.

3. Ethical/Environmental eating

This trend overlaps with wellness since both espouse organic and free range foods. However ethical eating goes beyond natural taste and health and into the realms of green politics and anti-globalization. It includes concepts of “fair-trade” and “sustainable” and also “food miles”, which brings together the related concepts of locality and seasonality. Good farming practices in terms of the treatment of livestock are also part of this trend. Organic or free-range food products will be a top of the food list for food franchises 2008-2012...

4. Ethnicity

Ethnic flavors that draw inspiration from distant cuisines are increasingly popular in the U.S. and across Europe. Vietnamese cuisine is becoming popular and, in cities, sushi is now a mainstream restaurant cuisine, and, in some locations, a mainstream supermarket product.

Spanish cuisines and South American restaurants are identified as trends with consumer potential. Similarly Asian food is also becoming quiet a popular food trend across the U.S., with great tasting low fat cuisines full of flavor becoming the dish of the day!

5. Water

Water is huge and is increasingly becoming a political and social conundrum, with the effects of global warming and the reduction in levels of water both for living and for consumption. The market potential for bottling naturally flavored water is huge and continues to be a highly lucrative industry. For example, there are now water bars, water menus along with some water sommeliers in restaurants to pair water with good food choices.

6. Specialities

Making ordinary food special, such as the way water can now be viewed as having health or other benefits, and can come in a range of product variations, is another growing trend.

An example is salt which has been diversified into gourmet sea salt, Hawaiian Red, Black Lava, Sel Gris, pink salt from the Andes and Tahitian vanilla salt. The variations are endless and any “ordinary” food product can be diversified into numerous “types”.

7. Portion Control

Portion control is one of the keys to attaining a healthy diet and losing weight effectively. This principle is also having a key influence on products and services within the franchise industry, such as “portion-controlled scoops”, or “portion-controlled plates” that help individuals effectively measure what is a good amount or bad amount of the food groups for each meal.

In addition, Spanish tapas, Greek meze, and Japanese izakayas are all types of the “portion-controlled” food an individual can buy in a restaurant. Manufacturers have also developed calorie-controlled mini portions of snacks and confectionary in response to healthy eating trends.

8. Constant Diet

Dieting will always be big franchise industry news, with the rise in products and services that help people diet lose weight and manage their weight. The increased pace in everyday life, the stress and longer working hours has ensured a consumer society that is dependent on quick food products.

But this is not great for the waistlines! Manufacturers have as a result come up with new services and products to encourage healthier eating and dieting. More personalized diets tailored to an individuals needs is becoming the new constant diet trend…

9. Provenance

Consumers are increasingly becoming aware of where their food comes from and its origins for safety. This trend overlaps with both wellness eating and ethical eating, but it is also a food trend and consumer preoccupation in its own right. Consumers no longer accept less than transparency. And this means products and services must display origins of content and structure...

10. Retro eating

Consumers, particularly boomers and generation X, tend to evoke sentiments of traditional food products. For the younger demographics, the concept of retro eating can be fun and exciting. There is an association with foods that are additive-free and pure, which, ostensibly, predate mass production and factory farming. And then there are as many new angles to retro eating as there are hindsight re-interpretations of history.

Appeasing today’s consumer is no small task. Food products need to address health concerns with features such as whole-grains, pro-biotics, omega-3, antioxidants, carotenes, vitamins, sugar-free and low-salt together with a dash of the three E’s- ethnicity, exoticism, and ethics- to top it all of, they need to be packaged in convenient, calorie-friendly portions!

Aine Meade is a Website Editor for Franchise Direct, a leading Internet franchise advertising portal. Aine creates high quality franchise information for its international websites in the U.S., and Europe. Aine has a BA (First) in English and History; MA in Literature & Publishing; Diploma in Media Journalism and a Diploma in Marketing.

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This article is submitted by Heike Delmore, President of Jack in the Web - Web Design, www.jackintheweb.ca

We are living in a day and age where doing-it-yourself is all the rage, from do-it-yourself home renovation to do-it-yourself business card design. And now most recently, we have do-it-yourself website design. The question is, is doing it yourself web design better than getting a professional web designer to do it?

In this article we will examine the advantages and disadvantages to building a website yourself.

Complete Creative Power

When building your own website with either template software you have purchased, or a free online application, you get to choose from a set collection of colors, font styles, and fancy backgrounds etc. So it is easy to fully customize the look and feel of your website, right?

Well, not so fast. No doubt you are given a selection of styles and frills, but you are falling short on your company branding. What do these styles and frills say about your branding? Does your website illustrate a recognizable and professional brand that sets you apart from your competition? The answer is no.

Web surfers can easily tell a professional website from an unprofessional one. And when given the choice, web surfers may be more inclined to trust and do business with the more professional looking company.

If you are a student, hobbyist, or the purpose of your website is personal, a do-it-yourself templated website may be the perfect solution for your needs. However, if you are a business, or you are a selling a product or service, hiring a professional to create your website is a must for branding purposes and for setting yourself apart from the competition.

HTML is not that hard to learn

It's true, basic HTML is not that hard to learn. If you have a lot of extra time and energy to pour into learning HTML, you could probably create your first webpage within a few days.

But what will that webpage look like? Professional or amateur? Chances are your webpage will look amateur in comparison your competition's, if your competition used a professional web designer.

Also, what if your code has left serious security loop holes, or your webpage displays incorrectly in some web browsers? Not everyone uses Internet Explorer. And not everyone uses a PC.

If it is important to you that your website reach a large audience - and make a positive and professional impression, then it is a good idea to hire a professional web designer. There is a reason why web programming and web design are professions.

A professional web designer can ensure that there are no security loop holes in your code, make sure users across all platforms with different browsers will see your site correctly, and ensure that search engines such as Google will be able to read your code and index your website!

Let's compare this scenario with that of a recreational photographer: Your Uncle just bought a new professional camera. He has no experience taking photos other than candid vacation snap shots. But he has read the manual and taught himself how this new camera functions. He says he is ready to start charging people to do their wedding photos. Do you hire him to do your wedding photos? The point is, just because someone learns how to use something new, doesn't suddenly mean they have the creativity or expertise to use well.

A professional camera does not make a professional photographer. Just as learning to code HTML doesn't mean your website will look professional.

So now that the HTML is out of the way, how will you create your professional looking logo and or customize the graphics for your website? To do this you will need a graphical software program such as Photoshop.

Is Photoshop hard to learn?

Again, if you have a lot of extra time to learn and master graphic programs such as Photoshop and learn programming languages such as HTML, designing a website yourself may be the perfect solution. Further, your new web design knowledge could be advantageous in understanding how, for example, coding and website content affects how your site will be indexed by Google or other search engines.

Saving Time and Money

If you bought a web design do-it-yourself kit, it probably seemed like an affordable and easy to use solution. Simply fill in the blanks and the program will do the rest for you. Seems quick and easy, right?

The first question you should consider is, how much money is your time worth? If you have a lot of extra time and taking on website design seems like a fun and reasonable thing to do, then this option may be right for you.

But you should keep one thing in mind before you start. What if you invest your time to create your own website and it doesn't work properly, or doesn't to look professional? Then what?

Let's compare this scenario to a home renovation project: You went to Home Depot and bought new shingles for your roof. The price of the shingles were somewhat affordable and they came with a user manual - which is great because it is your first time roofing. Perfect you are on your way. So you take the time and learn how to re-shingle your roof and you complete the job. Congratulations! The only problem is that your neighbors and potential future home buyers can see that it doesn't quite look professional… and when it rains parts of the roof leak… sometimes.

Now what? You have to find a professional to fix the mistakes and the leak. So not only do you have to pay a professional roofer to re-do the job, you also lose money on the shingles you purchased, and you wasted your time.

Doing it yourself may save you money at first, but if you have to hire a professional to correct any problems later, it may end up costing you even more money.

Either avenue you choose, whether you do-it-yourself or you hire a webdesign professional, we wish you the best of luck and all the success with your web design project.

* * *

This article is submitted by Heike Delmore, President of Jack in the Web - Web Design, www.jackintheweb.ca

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The process of turning a negative experience into a positive one is called reframing.

The two ways in which you can do this is Content Reframing and Context Reframing.

Content Reframing

Content reframing is the process of changing a negative experience into a positive one by changing the meaning of the experience. Remember, every event has multiple meanings. The meaning we choose to focus on is what becomes real for us.

The best way to do a content reframe is to ask the question, 'What else can this mean?' 'How can this benefit or empower me instead of depressing me?'

For example, if the recession hit when you were about to start your business, you could content reframe it by saying, 'Good! This means that business costs, like rental and salaries, will be lower and allow us to break even faster'.

Or you could say, 'Good! This means prospective clients will be more open to listening to suppliers who offer better value for money.' There are multiple reasons why starting a business in a recession will be a positive experience!

What if someone told you, 'My son does not stop talking' You could reframe this negative comment by saying 'Good that means he must be full of ideas', or, 'This means he must be very intelligent.'

If the person you love leaves you for someone else, reframe the loss by saying, 'Good. This means that I can find someone who truly loves me' or 'this means I can find someone who is more caring, beautiful and loyal.'

Context Reframing

Another way to reframe an experience is to do a context reframe. A context reframe is the process of changing a negative experience into a positive one by changing the context from which it is perceived.

Have you ever had a negative experience only to look back at it five years later and say, 'That was a blessing in disguise?' In a different context (i.e. the future), the meaning of that experience changed from bad to good.

In doing a context reframe, you must ask the question, 'in a different time or place, how would the meaning be beneficial?'

You see, everything that seems bad now, when put into a different time or place, could appear beneficial.

Going back to the first example of starting a business in a recession, you could use a context reframe by saying, 'When the economy picks up, the company will be positioned to do very well as it has been tested & strengthened by the recession'.

You could do a context reframe on the boy who talks all the time by saying, 'When he grows up, he will make a good public speaker' (context of time). Or you could also say, 'The fact that he talks all the time will certainly earn him a place on the school debating team (context of place). Are you getting the hang of it?

How we represent or (frame) our experiences determine our response and the outcomes we achieve. Therefore we must learn to constantly frame experiences in ways that empower ourselves and the people around us.

When we change the way we represent (frame) something, we totally change the meaning and the emotions associated with that experience. As a result, we change the decisions we make and the actions we take.

You must learn how to create resourceful meanings out of every experience. Successful leaders and entrepreneurs do this to empower themselves and others to reach their goals.

Adam Khoo is an entrepreneur, a best-selling author and a peak performance trainer. A self-made millionaire by the age of 26, he owns and runs several businesses in education, training, event management and advertising, all with a combined annual turnover of $20 million. His best-selling "Patterns of Excellence" is a complete step-by-step system that will literally program you for success in life.

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Lessons Learned From Brett Favre

Recently Brett Favre, the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, broke the all-time NFL touchdown record. As a fan of football and Green Bay (I grew up in Wisconsin) I've had the opportunity to watch Favre over the years, and I also realized how his career provides some valuable business-building lessons.....

Continued in BIZNESS! Newsletter Issue 63 >>>

- Self Serve Dog Wash
- Single-use Sachets For HABA Products
- Old School Gaming
- Revolutionized Garage
- Getting Uncomfortable
- Food and Drink In a Cup
- Ordering Take-out

Continue reading these top stories in the BIZNESS! Newsletter >>>

- Feeling Confidence!
- The Uniform Franchise Offering Circular
- Creating a Winning Business Plan
- Marketing offline Can Increase Your Online Business
- Your Brand: Integrity and Reputation
- The Gift Of Time
- BestBizWays Are Your Ways

Continue reading these top stories in the BIZNESS! Newsletter >>>

Can't stand your demanding boss anymore? Start your own business! Before that, be sure to subscribe to our free informative newsletter. BIZNESS! is jointly published by CoolBusinessIdeas.com and GetEntrepreneurial.com What you get in BIZNESS! - the latest new business ideas, small business advice, business tips and info and entrepreneur resources. Everything you need for your brand new business!

Free 20-pages PDF report (worth $38) - "New Business Ideas Report 2007" - included with your subscription. Learn more here.

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Eric Feng, one of our Network Experts, together with his two Public Speaking Experts recently appeared on Prime Time Morning (Channel News Asia) to share more about Public Speaking experiences and tips.

Kelvin, Irene and Eric (authors of The FAQ Book on Public Speaking) were invited to share about the book. They ended up dishing tip after tip to the hosts and audience. One of the funnier discussions were about the myth that speakers should imagine their audience naked.

The main rationale behind this myth is to put down your audience so that you feel more powerful than them. There are some who believe that this makeshift power will give them the courage to speak in front of their “naked” audience. However, if you have tried it, you will know how hard it is to imagine your audience naked.

Firstly you will be more distracted. Secondly, it doesn’t serve you. When you intentionally position yourself in power at your audience expense, you are sending out signals to your audience that you disregard them and that doesn’t exactly make you very popular with your audience.

Here's the short video clip and pay attention to the tips:

For those who want to get the hard copy of The FAQ Book on Public Speaking, you can buy it at any major bookstores in your vincinity like Popular, Kino, Borders, Harris, MPH and Page One.

For those of you who are not from Singapore, you can grab the electronic version of The FAQ Book on Public Speaking here. If you really love to have a hardcopy version, you can drop Eric an email: eric@ericfeng.com. Else, grab the ebook first!

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Every business operates on knowledge and yet many companies never organize and document that knowledge into useable P&P.

As a result of this failure to organize and document the knowledge it takes to operate a business, many companies operate on a word of mouth basis.

"The new guy learns from the old guy who learned from the dead guy."
Scott Stratman

Business Friction/Costs

Ronald Coase, of "Coase's Law", says that there is friction involved with being in business. The original friction or cost is that that goes with finding customers for a company's products/services, and of finding vendors/suppliers who can take care of the company's needs.

Beyond "acquisition" costs there's the ongoing friction of doing business; transactional costs.

The most expensive cost/friction is that of failure. Regardless of the "industry", the most expensive work done in a business is the "re-do".

As Right as Possible, the First Time

Some companies just don't seem to understand or care that when something goes wrong it drives up their cost of doing business, and it also drives up "cost of doing business" for their customers and vendors. Its like they really think that they don't have time to do things right the first time. Baloney.

A major source of errors, omissions, miscommunications and screw ups is the lack of written P&P, of operating on a "word of mouth basis". The cost? A $30 mistake can take $300 in time and effort to correct, and if that company is doing a 5% PTP (pre tax profit) it takes ( 20X$300) $6000 in sales to cover the cost of failure. And if a customer is involved there's no way of knowing the impact/cost of the mistake on/to that customer. And there's no way of knowing who that customer might have told about the failure. What's the cost in lost business from "negative word of mouth advertising"?

" The true cost of errors is unknown and unknowable." Edwards Deming

The 5 Organizational Ps

Every company needs a plan, a strategy that drives it's actions. The plan may be to increase market share, to reduce costs, retain existing customers, provide new products/services to old customers or it may be to have the "lowest price, always". Wait a minute that plan is already taken.

Based on the "plan", every business function must have a "Purpose" that compliments the "plan" and which answers the question, "Why incur the costs that go with this business function?". For example, distributors incur the costs of having a warehouse so that they can meet or exceed customer expectations, so that they have an acceptable "fill rate". A distributor doesn't have to have 100% of what customers want 100% of the time, but if they don't have an acceptable "fill rate" the customers will go elsewhere. Purpose is the first of the 5 Ps.

Once the "Purpose" is established`, every business function can be broken down into it's major components. In our warehouse example those major components might be "receiving", "shipping", "truck maintenance " and "inventory control". The goal for each major component is the basis for "policies', for goal driven guidelines. Policies are the second of the 5Ps.

There are 6B people on the world and there are 6B versions of reality. The third of the 5Ps is "Procedures", and one size does not fit all. Purpose and Policies are determined by managers who, if they're smart, let the experts (the guys doing the job) tell them how the goals established will be accomplished.

The fourth of the 5 Ps is "People". Based on the steps needed to achieve established goals hire the right people for the job.

The fifth and most important of the 5Ps is "Process Monitoring/Performance Measurements". The key steps in the "procedures" need to be monitored to ensure things aren't falling through cracks, that the process is on track.

In life and in business things will happen for which we haven't planned. In 1969 I was living in Denver and I was going to drive out to S.F.. My plan was simple enough, I'd drive north to Cheyenne, Wyo. and turn left. Outside of Boulder, Colorado there was a "hippie" and his girlfriend holding up a sign saying "SF", I picked them up. They had a large bag of soy nuts and of this other stuff which they shared; we missed our turn. Montana was nice and we eventually got to S.F.. It was a trip.

Performance must be measured against goals. If the goals are well thought out and achievable but are not being met its one of two things; either the procedures are wrong or you have the wrong people for the job.

"Employees respect what managers inspect , not what they expect." Don Rice Tex A&M

It doesn't matter what you ask for, its what you monitor and measure for that tells employees what you really want from them.

BestBizWays; Powerful in Effect with Little Waste of Effort

Document the knowledge needed to run a business and you'll do a better job of hiring the right people, you'll reduce training time with new employees, errors will be minimized, customer service levels will rise and the bottom line will go up.

Organize and document the knowledge needed to operate a company and you increase it's value by having a "cookbook".

In Closing
Harvest new knowledge by asking new employees to tell you how things can be done better. Do this in the first two weeks on the job, before a new employee starts thinking like everyone else. P&P are never done, things are always changing. P&P should have a cover sheet that says "Under Construction". The best information in the world is worthless until you put it to work. Its up to you.

The 5 Organizational Ps

Purpose: Every business function must have a clearly stated purpose which compliments the "Plan" and answers the question, "Why incur the cost ?".

Policies: Goal driven guidelines for each of the major components within the function.

Procedures: The steps needed to be taken in order to accomplish established goals.

People Requirements: Based on the procedures hire the right people for the job.

Process Monitoring/Performance Measurements: Track key steps in the process and measure against the goals.

Abe WalkingBear Sanchez is an International Speaker / Trainer / Consultant on the subject of cash flow / sales enhancement and business knowledge organization and use. Founder and President of www.armg-usa.com, WalkingBear has authored hundreds of business articles, has worked with numerous companies in a wide range of industries since 1982 and has spoken at many venues including the Shakespeare Globe Theater in London.

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Have you ever wanted to feel confident in certain situations when you were not? Like, meeting a client or giving a presentation. Would not it be powerful for you to change a lazy state at will to a motivated one?

How would that change your life? How about changing a fear to go on stage to feeling enthusiastic about doing it? How much will it change results you are able to produce in your life? Well, you can. You are in charge of your state and your physiology is one of the most powerful tools you can use to change your states. If you wanted to feel confident, all you have to do is to adopt the total physiology of confidence. If you want to feel motivated, adopt the physiology of motivation.This may sound very simplistic, but it is exactly how the brain and body are neurologically wired up together. The trouble with most people is that they are not willing to do whatever it takes to manage their states. They just let their states be affected by other people, or let it go on autopilot.

So, how do you to get a state of confidence? Imagine that you are going to make a presentation which you have prepared for but as usual you do not feel confident about it. You feel those butterflies in your stomach and you are afraid that everything will just go blank, and it has been this lack of confidence that has affected your performance in the past. If you think about it, I am sure there has been a time in the past where you felt totally confident about giving a talk, or feeling really confident in doing something you are good at. Go back to the time and adopt the same physiology.

Stand the way you stood when you felt totally confident, breathe the way you breathe when you felt totally powerful and confident, have the same tension in your face, your arms and your hands. Have the same focus in your eyes and say to yourself in your head what you normally say when you are feeling totally confident in that same exact tone and voice. It could be like, "Yes! We will do it. No problem!" I want you to get up right now and do this exercise, alright? If you had follow what I said, do you feel that confidence stay? I bet you would.

As long as you have access to the power of states of the past, you mind and body can recreate it exactly like it by accessing the past resources. There is a saying that says this, "Fake it till you make it!" If you are not confident, act as if you are confident, and you will become confident. And if you are not motivated, act as if you are motivated, and you will feel motivated.

To your success!

Adam Khoo is an entrepreneur, a best-selling author and a peak performance trainer. A self-made millionaire by the age of 26, he owns and runs several businesses in education, training, event management and advertising, all with a combined annual turnover of $20 million. His best-selling "Patterns of Excellence" is a complete step-by-step system that will literally program you for success in life.

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