Atricle Dump - Business

Want to Brand? Well, Tell a Story!
The Art of Storytelling (eg. 'Branding')A few years ago at a conference for a large, multi-national corporation, I sat and waited for the keynote speaker. She was described in the program as a woman with all the appropriate credentials. At the podium, she said she forgot the notes for her speech and she would tell a story instead.The grey suited crowd shifted in their chairs, glanced left and right at each other. She began by asking for the lights to be turned down and for all of us to close our eyes. She then told a story about a young girl who had lost her imagination and, if she was to survive, she would have to find it. It was a frightening and joyful journey full of pictures, metaphors, and, as the crowd came to realize, it was

keting at conferences across the United States and in Canada, and I've taught hundreds of small business owners via teleseminar.

(7) Have your articles been published or have you been quoted or interviewed or written up in the media?

For example, my marketing advice is featured in Entrepreneur Magazine's Start-Up Series publication "How To Start A Personal Training Business." Additionally I am an Expert Author on EzineArticles.com and my marketing how-to articles are featured on numerous web sites.

(8) How can you quantify your business (e.g. how many business deals or transactions have you made, or how many articles have you written)?

For example, I've written and published 40 articles in the past six months.

(9) How many products have you sold?

For example, I made 20 sales my first two weeks in business.

(10) What experts in your industry have you studied or learned from?

For example, I have taken courses from such marketing and business experts as T. Harv Eker, Jay Abraham, Brian Tracy, Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen.

I challenge you to spend some time this week, co

SAS Update - Caporicci & Larson - San Diego, Orange County, Oakland, and Sacramento
In May of 2006 the Office of Management and Budget issued a new revised supplement for OMB A-133. This revised supplement had several changes made to grant program narratives on the program requirements, which resulted in other parts of the compliance supplement also being changed. The changes range from minor verbiage changes to specific changes in program requirements as a result of Hurricane Katrina. A brief over view of the changes can be seen in Appendix V of the 2006 Compliance Supplement.The major Program requirement changes were in the following parts of the supplement:Part 3 - Compliance Requirements Part 4 - Agency Program Requirements Part 5 – Clusters of ProgramsPART 3 The significant change made in Part 3 was in Section D, which was the cr

We could learn a thing or two from pro sports.

Baseball players use stats to tell the story of their season and their career. Scorekeepers keep track of every at bat, every hit, every strike out, every run scored and every base stolen.

Those stats are cited by commentators during the game, sports reporters after the game and they are featured on the backs of baseball cards to they tell the story of the player's career.

Those of us in business could learn a thing or two from baseball players about using stats to size-up our careers and experience.

Give your prospects a reason to listen to what you have to say.

I was attending a conference last month and the topic of using business stats to "earn the right" among prospects was brought up. "Earning the right" was explained as giving your audience a reason to listen to what you have to say.

Before you can sell anything you must establish credibility.

Before you can sell anyone anything, you must first convince them you or your product or service are worthy. And one way to do that is with stats.

At the conference, we were tasked with compiling a list of our own stats (what we've achieved in our business or career, or what qualifies us to be doing what we're doing) and I was amazed at how few of my own I could recall on a moment's notice.

Can you easily list all your "stats" — I couldn't!

It was easy to come up with the obvious - I've been helping clients successfully market for 20 years.

And I could also recall two recent marketing successes: gaining free exposure for my business to 100,000+ of my ideal customers and tripling my web site traffic in a three-month period.

But beyond that I was stumped. My 20 years of marketing experience and seven years of entrepreneurial experience were boiled down to three stats that did not do a very good job of representing my career or my expertise.

I came home from the conference determined to compile my list of stats and to start using them. And, to inspire you, my readers and clients, to do the same.

Use my 10 questions to create your own list of "stats"

To make it easy, I've compiled a list of 10 questions you can ask yourself to come up with your own list of stats. This list is just a jumping off point.

Feel free to brainstorm further to come up with your own list of compelling stats that you believe will help you "earn the right" to be seen as an expert in your field by your prospects.

I call this list your "10 Steps to Greatness" Why? Because when you are able to list stats in 10 different areas, you will be able to convince your prospects you are great at what you do AND that your product or service can help them.

I've included my own stats as examples, NOT to brag about them, but for several reasons: First, to show you I DID come home from that conference and compile my own stats; Second, to give you examples to follow; and Third, to inspire you (if I can do it, you can, too!).

Not all of my stats are earth-shattering. But by having a full list to choose from, you can be sure to have a handful of compelling stats available at any time.

10 Steps to Greatness

(1) How many years have you been in your current line of business (or a related field)?

For example, I've been in the marketing field for over 20 years.

(2) How many clients or students or customers have your served (in your current business or your total years in this industry)?

For example, I've taught over 600 small business owners how to create and implement their own marketing plans using the 10stepmarketing System.

(3) What results have you generated with your business, products or services?

For example, I increased my subscriber base by 590% in four months and I tripled my web site traffic in three months.

(4) What results have your clients or customers gotten with the help of your products or services?

For example, when I worked with the American Council on Exercise, I helped them generate over 340.8 million media impressions in three years, through public relations and public service ads. I have also secured nearly $1 million in free media exposure for my clients.

(5) How many awards or recognitions have you or your business, products or services received?

For example, I've earned three national and two local marketing awards, plus a small business top achievement award.

(6) Have you spoken, taught or done presentations?

For example, I have spoken on marketing at conferences across the United States and in Canada, and I've taught hundreds of small business owners via teleseminar.

(7) Have your articles been published or have you been quoted or interviewed or written up in the media?

(8) How can you quantify your business (e.g. how many business deals or transactions have you made, or how many articles have you written)?

For example, I've written and published 40 articles in the past six months.

(9) How many products have you sold?

For example, I made 20 sales my first two weeks in business.

(10) What experts in your industry have you studied or learned from?

For example, I have taken courses from such marketing and business experts as T. Harv Eker, Jay Abraham, Brian Tracy, Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen.

I challenge you to spend some time this week, com

Time Management Tips for Managers
Late last year I was presenting a workshop for the senior managers of a major organisation. Whilst doing a pre-workshop survey to assess the challenges these managers were experiencing it became very apparent to me that many of them were showing the signs of business burn-out. And it was no wonder why. They were suffering from 'Priority Problems'. Quite simply they were making the mistake of doing the urgent rather than the important tasks.They were working extremely long hours, with no time for themselves or the people in their lives. Their offices and departments were cluttered as was their communication as a consequence. This meant that they had difficulty communicating effectively with team members and, worse still with their families. Naturally this had a huge impact on the morale a

compiling a list of our own stats (what we've achieved in our business or career, or what qualifies us to be doing what we're doing) and I was amazed at how few of my own I could recall on a moment's notice.