“Employer of Choice” — What is It?

We’re seeing this term used a lot these days. “An Employer of Choice” say the recruitment advertisements, but you’re right to wonder what it really means. The term has as yet no universally-recognized legal or professional standing other than...

10 Powerful Ways to Grow More Business

Excerpted from “Helping People Grow” by Jim Cathcart This checklist for growth contains ten powerful ideas, any one of which could revolutionize your business results. As you explore each one, take time to answer the questions in writing and to discuss...

12 Profit Improvement Ideas

Here are 12 profit improvement ideas for your business from Andy Hanselman. 1. Choose ‘em Or Lose ‘em! First of all, do you actually know where your profits come from? I don’t just mean, what’s left at the end of the month when you do all the ‘sums’, but who, how and...

3 Questions You Need to Ask About Your Brand

Description: Traditionally, the people responsible for positioning brands have concentrated on the differences that set each brand apart from the competition. But emphasizing differences isn’t enough to sustain a brand against competitors. Managers should also...

4 Rules for Reporting Bad News

Many business owners have outside investors that have put money into the company with the expectation of turning a profit on their investment. But businesses don’ always run smoothly and sometimes the CEO has to report bad news to their sources of funding. Is...

5 Key Marketing Questions

When you know the answers to these 5 key marketing questions, you can create effective web pages, sales letters and other sales generating communications. The answers to these 5 questions reveal how you can get your prospect’s attention and motivate them to take...

8 Crimes of Marketing

We all make mistakes in business and some are more costly than others. Here are just eight of the marketing mistakes businesses make every day. Go through your marketing plan carefully and see if any of these errors apply to you. It may not be too late to make...

8 Keys to Employability

Personal Values Valued workers are honest, have good self-esteem and a positive self-image. They have personal and career goals, demonstrate emotional stability, exhibit a good attitude, are self-motivated and do not limit themselves. Problem-Solving and...
A How-to Guide for Facilitators

A How-to Guide for Facilitators

The owner of a firm is often expected to “facilitate” things. It could be training for a team member, or conducting a meeting. It could be to lead a discussion group for the purpose of conducting research or mediating in a dispute. The only problem is that...

A New Look at the Workforce

The implications of what has been termed the “skills shortage” need to be understood by every business owner. The ways we hire, train, remunerate and manage people will have to change, and so will the way we run our businesses. Most countries have an aging...

A Start on Office Ergonomics

Most of us have some general thoughts about ergonomics, but this information can easily be out-of-date. Fortunately for those involved with making decisions about office furniture and setup current ergonomics encourages variety and movement rather than rigid...

Accentuate the Positive

Every firm has its ups and downs, and that can have a major effect on morale. If times get tough or the firm has to drastically cut expenditures there’s often a negative emotion that grows until it pervades the enterprise. We’ve all seen places like that...

Accounting Education Resource Guide

Very handy compendium of accounting education resources. Whether you’re studying to become an accountant, you teach accounting or you’re a layperson who wants a better understanding of accounting practices and principles, the 40+ individual resources in this guide...

Add Benefits to Increase Sales

When someone makes a purchase they buy more than just a product or service. At the time the product or service is probably the most important element, but they also buy a range of benefits that can over the long-term become their reason for being satisfied or...
An Easy Way to Reveal System Details

An Easy Way to Reveal System Details

An easy way to reveal useful system details By Ed Bott Every version of Windows includes a handful of utilities designed to give you information about your system and its current configuration. The Systeminfo utility is especially lightweight and useful. This...

Analyze the Competition and Get Ahead

Author and futurist Charles M. Perrottet identified two types of businesses – eagles and ostriches. The eagles analyze their competitors and assume their competitors do the same to them. The ostriches don’t look around them and remain focused on their own activities...

Basic Market Research for Small Business

Market research is not just for the big corporations. Small and medium-sized businesses can also conduct market research with relatively little expense. All that is required is a carefully structured, properly targeted approach to obtain invaluable market information....

Be Different — and Quantify It!

The purchasing behavior of human beings is fairly predictable. If they buy something once and it works for them, they’ll be inclined to repurchase it when the need arises again. And if they purchase something from a source that is acceptable to them and...
Be Known by Your Affiliates

Be Known by Your Affiliates

Smaller enterprises have a hard time cutting through the brand strength of their larger counterparts. A small hotel will never be as easily-recognized as the Hilton up the street. Nor will an aviation business with two aircraft be seen in the same light as United...

Be Media-Friendly and Get in Print

Public relations is an important part of every business. You might place an advertisement and have an offer of free editorial space, or perhaps you want to write a press release about a new product or team member in hopes of getting some publicity. Whatever the...

Be Yourself and Sell Yourself

One way or another, business is all about selling. We have to sell to our customers, to our banks and other sources of funds, and even just when we’re meeting people for the first time in a social situation. “Selling” really means just being yourself...
Beating the Meeting Blues

Beating the Meeting Blues

Meetings are often regarded as a necessary evil. If they are not held, stakeholders complain they were either not informed or not part of the decision making process. But when they are held, they frequently disintegrate into time wasting sessions that leave the...

Business Cards that Work

Your business card is one of the most important marketing tools you’ll ever create. You give your business card to prospects and customers so they have your contact information. You tuck your business card inside of presentation folders, drop it in letters, and...

Coaches Do It By the Rules

As long as there has been a need for improvement there have been coaches to provide it. Two thousand years ago the Roman army had coaches to develop skills in such critical areas as fighting battles, defending a fortress, setting up an encampment and how to manage...

Coaching is Coaching

The term “coaching” is used a lot these days. We hear about “personal coaching” and “business coaching” as often as we hear about coaching in the field of sports, but are we really talking about such different things? Leaving aside...