Disconnected? Get involved!
Ironically for a number of novice soloists the very thing that appeals - the vision of working alone - becomes a major reason to quit.
Working solo doesn’t suit everyone. Without planned habits and behaviours, isolation and loneliness is extremely destructive.
The trick is to engage in ‘purposeful participation’.
If you’re running a business, you’re clearly […]

How do you target a market as specific as left handed buyers of blue four door Fords? Pretty much the same way you target - mothers to be, pink toilet owners, and those who have a bobble-head on their dash.
First ask yourself, “Who has access to those I want to reach?” the answer is the […]

Sales letters, sent via e-mail or snail mail, are an effective and inexpensive way to get your message out. Even if your letter goes out to thousands of people, it can give the feel of a personal communication — IF you write it in a direct and conversational tone.
To get your creative juices flowing, here […]

Ask soloists which web browser they use and most of them will answer “Whatever’s preloaded onto my PC.” Typically, this is either Internet Explorer (IE) for Windows users or Safari for those with Macs.
Knowledge of alternative browsers was thin on the ground until late 2004, when Mozilla’s Firefox muscled its way onto the scene. Soon […]

Tried selling by walking in the door and telling them what you have? Lots of us have, here’s a thought though, try selling by not selling. Oh yeah you say how would that work?
Let me give you an example, two artist friends of mine want to be represented by an art gallery, so on a […]

New solo ventures require plenty of planning. Here are five questions that all aspiring soloist’s need to consider.

1. Have I done the right amount of research?
The excitement of starting a new business can cause new soloists to be too hasty. Often driven by the mistaken belief that some imaginary boat will be missed if the […]

Meetings are not supposed to be, as one office critic said, “a practical alternative to working.” In fact, if you plan the time and space, meetings can be productive as well as a means of promoting relationships.
Time. Meetings have been described as “a place where you keep the minutes and lose the hours.” To avoid […]

Judging by a recent poll, credibility is a big issue for solo businesses. Over two-thirds of respondents were concerned that their business was not being taken seriously by others.There’s no doubt cynical attitudes abound in the wider business community.
When you think about it, those who view soloism using a traditional work paradigm are bound to […]

Blogs Are the NEW Secret Weapon for Reaching Your Tarket. Just like you, I hate being marketed to. Every day we’re bombarded with over 3,500 marketing messages. And frankly I’m sick of it! But blogs are different. Blogs are a two-way conversation between blogger and bloggee (plus all the readers in between). Through commenting and […]

I was delighted when a good friend recently introduced me to John, a young man that wanted to get started in business. My friend said to John “Steve knows a bit about the business game, chat to him about it…” John told me about his ideas and I shared some with him. I then realised […]

For your own life, the example of Disney as artistic genius is especially relevant. While it is possible that you may patent thousands of inventions or become president of the United States, the odds are against it, but on a smaller scale, the tools of artistic genius are always available to you.
Walt Disney was born […]

My friend Ken, the toy poodle breeder, called the other day asking about imprinted pens to give away at dog shows to promote his kennel. From previous conversations I remembered something about height restrictions. “Ken, isn’t there a rule that when a toypoodle gets to a certain height, you can’t show it any more?” I […]

“The words we use in a sales presentation all carry weight. Some weigh more than others. Some are more believable than others. Knowing the words to use can increase your credibility dramatically.”  
Wayne Berry

For example…
If you’ve got around 50 happy clients using the particular product or service, don’t tell your prospect, “I have around 50 happy […]

I hadn’t come unglued for quite some time and, I suppose, I was due. Cause when the guy in the TV ad said, “Satisfaction guaranteed. Or your money back!” … I lost it.
“If my satisfaction is guaranteed,” I shouted, “then what’s with the “or” part. A guarantee is supposed to be an absolute. It’s supposed […]

You’re a genius and you don’t even know it
Paul MacCready is a writer and inventor who has carefully studied genius and the ways people understand that concept. MacCready has evolved several categories of what genius seems to mean, but the most important category for you is the one in which you belong - read on!
Types […]

When I coach my entrepreneur clients, one problem I often see is that they’re not taking enough time to market and grow their business. It’s not that they don’t understand the value of those efforts, or […]

I have a teacup poodle named Vito. Vito is the size of a toaster, but every time I take him for a walk, he never fails to pick a fight with some dog ten times his size. It’s become clear to me that Vito has an image problem - he’s a little dog who thinks […]

A newsletter is a piece of correspondence containing (hopefully) interesting insights into your business, which is distributed to your contacts via email on a regular basis. It is a simple and effective way of establishing yourself as an expert and building your list of contacts.To start, all you need is a working email, a bit […]

1. Specialists have opinionsAs you become immersed in your area of speciality, so you develop strong opinions. These opinions may be about a particular area within the scope of your work or they may be about the circles within which you operate.
For example, if you’re a retailer, your opinion may be about the products you […]

We accomplish much more when we learn to focus on others
There’s an old story of a young lady who was taken to dinner one evening by William Gladstone, and the following evening by Benjamin Disraeli, both eminent British statesmen in the late nineteenth century. “When I left the dining room after sitting next to […]

Is this a taboo subject? Is it wrong to be wealthy? Is a business purely profit based or can it add to society in other ways as well?
For too long I was ignorant of wealth and all that it conjures up. I also got success mixed up with it and before long found myself secretly […]

When I first got into selling I was told that to be successful I would have to learn how to CLOSE the sale. Indeed in that company, there was an elite group called “THE CLOSERS”.
This was a small band of highly experienced, highly regarded sales people, whom I was told, knew the “secrets” of closing […]

Many people who know me in business circles know that I am an avid fan of Tom Peters, Tom is a business guru to many and his books and speeches cause people to think in very positive ways. If you want to check out any of his work go for “Re-imagine” a great book and […]

I once worked as a store manager for a fast food chicken chain, (WOW, I was young then).
I learned lots of fantastic rules for good business there, but probably the most important was to always walk in the front

If you are a Sales Manager or run your own company with sales people, then you are in a leadership role.
I find that a great many sales managers however do not really understand what leadership is all about.
Let’s face it, leading a sales team to success is perhaps one of the most challenging leadership roles […]

The ability to ask questions is at the very heart of consultative selling and today’s most successful sales people are consultative sales people.
They use questions to understand their client’s needs and they also use questions to motivate their prospects to buy.
And some have developed the powerful skill of asking questions in such a way that […]

Use the Power of the Printed Word…
When you are talking with a prospect and you want to boost your credibility, where ever possible back up what you say by showing them something in writing. Research clearly shows that people are far more likely to believe what they see in writing, more than what they simply […]

I love talking to successful people.
It might be an entrepreneur I read about in a magazine, a biography, someone I saw speak, the top sales person in a large company, or someone I just heard of.If its someone I admire I usually try to talk to them and ask questions about how they “did it”. […]

Try this quick quiz, and ask yourself how you fair in the customer focus stakes.

Do you have a clear understanding about your customer’s wants and needs?
Does your staff share this understanding?
Do you have clear service standards that are written and easy to implement?
Do you know what your competitors are offering your customers?
Do you have a […]

Want an employee to do a job? Make sure the job description is up to scratch. If there is none, create one. If one exists, review it.
Some organisations get the past staff member to write it and hope for the best. I suggest that the whole process could become a great collaboration of the staff […]

Try selling a business as an asset after twenty years of operation only to find it had no value, buyers come and look but fail to put in any reasonable bid.
Your years of blood sweat and tears turn sour, your ‘nest egg’ lookslike it is failing to live up to what you wanted. So what […]

Far too many businesses I consult with find this area of the business difficult, how to sort the applications, getting the interviews happening, the final selection along with the induction of a new staff member.
How then does a business ensure that this process can be refined to ensure a system can be developed and put […]

Just as there are the seasons of nature, there are also seasons of business. Many will surely attest to this when they read the information, and may not have thought of business in these terms before. In time it can become very useful to view business from this stand point so that you can keep […]

Can you begin to imagine the fear that the staff felt when they found out their boss was sacked by an incoming executive committee. They wanted a change and the staff got a rude shock!
A step forward
The staff had closely monitored the progress of their leader as he worked his way through the system, spending […]

I care that’s who! Far too often I am called in to work with an organisation that manages to get itself into a spot of trouble, in time the analysis often shows they were asking for trouble by not fostering effective communication among the staff at all levels.
Flatten it out.
There are books that explain the […]

No they don’t smell that way, they are simply revolting due to the poor service they receive in many businesses, not all, just some.
They vote with their feet with only a small percentage actually complaining about the level of service received. These people walk out due to a range of annoying things that happen while […]

Have you ever heard someone say they know someone who is lucky in business? I have, on many occasions and have wondered if they realise what they are saying. If it was just luck then why are there so many courses available to develop business skills in a wide range of areas.
For some they may […]

When is a team not a team?
Precisely at the point when they fall back into old habits that were pre team… This can happen at any time and may only be for a day or three. However if your organisation is going through a crucial time at that point then you might expect standards to […]

Someone in the business asks for a report and the effort that goes into it would keep and household lit for three weeks. The reams of paper and sleepless nights culminate in a great report that was needed a the time, however does every word in the hefty document work to serve its purpose? Could […]

Studies have shown that the top two issues affecting customer’s decisions to return to a store are personal recognition and then service. What this reinforces is the fact that all of us, regard ourselves as the most important person in the world, and rightfully so.
Service Awards Results.
This was clearly shown at recent Customer Service Awards […]

The scene
Is the villain a mild mannered considerate person with the ability to reason? Or are they a person who shows a blatant disregard for their fellow workers and is often known to arrive late, rule with an acid tongue and generally irritate others at the drop of a hat. You guessed it, the latter.
Our […]

The story…
Imagine a business that is booming, the staff are happy, their jobs are interesting and rewarding. The products they produce are in high demand and every core area of their business is running smoothly. Before long they are looking at how best to manage their expansion into new products and maximising the staff they […]

Visualise!
It was all very well for the trainer to say this, yet I had little idea of what they meant at the time. New to business, the seminar I attended provided some exceptional material to assist me to move forward, yet the idea of visualisation stumped me for some time.
It was suggested that I get […]

You start a new employee and before long there appears to be a problem, not many know about it because it is cleverly hidden. The employee is starting to lose motivation and interest for the job. Like anything a person can get bored, the role may be too repetitive or un-challenging in some way.
Boredom
Our employee […]

It’s too easy to get yourself in water that is too deep for you to handle, then miraculously as you struggle a cramp can hit at any time. As you struggle for help the last gasp can come and you are down for the count. You had better hope someone that can do something that […]