4 Classic Cold Calling Mistakes

Have you noticed that the old "tried and true" cold calling techniques which were once successful have completely lost their effectiveness over the years? They just don’t work anymore.

But many salespeople are still use them because that’s all they know. They’re working from that old, ineffective cold calling mindset. And they’re making the same mistakes over and over again.

I’d like to talk about 4 classic cold calling mistakes from the old traditional approach that will put you on the wrong path if you’re not careful.

1. Deliver a strong, enthusiastic sales pitch

People almost always feel "pushed" by sales enthusiasm, especially when it’s coming from someone they don’t know.

You see, a strong sales pitch includes the unspoken assumption that your product or service is a great fit for the other person. But think about it. You’ve never spoken with them before, much less had a full conversation. You can’t possibly know much about them at this point.

So to them, you’re just another salesperson who wants them to buy something. And so the walls go up.

It’s much better to modestly assume you know very little about your prospect. Invite them to share some of their concerns and difficulties with you. And allow them to guide the conversation, rather than your pre-ordained strategy or pitch.

2. Your goal is to always make the sale

When your target in cold calling is to always make the sale, prospects are aware of your agenda. And almost immediately, they’re on the defensive. After all, you’re primarily focused on yourself and the sale – not on them.

In the old traditional mindset, you forge ahead with the hope of getting a sale. You’re coaxing, persuading, and pushing things forward.

But most cold calls break down the moment the other person feels this sales pressure.

Why? Because they don’t know you, and they don’t trust you.

So the sales momentum you’re trying to create actually triggers a backlash of suspicion and resistance. They’re trying to protect themselves from a potential "intruder" with what appears to them as a self-serving agenda.

Instead, you can approach cold calling with a different goal. Your focus can be on discovering whether you’re able to solve a problem for the other person.

When you become a problem-solver, this feels vastly different to the person you’re talking to. You’re not triggering rejection. You’re calling with 100 percent of your thoughts and energy focused on their needs, rather than on making a sale.

3. Focus on the end of the conversation – that’s when sales are lost

If you believe that you lose sales because you’ve made a mistake at the end of the process, you’re looking in the wrong direction. Most mistakes are made at the beginning of a cold calling conversation.

You see, it’s at the beginning that you convey whether you’re honest and trustworthy. If you’ve started out your cold call with a high-pressured sales pitch, then you’ve probably lost the other person in just a few seconds.

When you follow a sales script, strategy, or presentation, then you’re not allowing a natural, trusting conversation to evolve. So the "problem" has been put into motion by your very first words. So the place to put all your focus is at the beginning of the cold call, not at the end.

4. Overcome and counter all objections

Most traditional sales programs spend a lot of time focusing on overcoming objections. But these tactics only put more sales pressure on your prospect, which triggers resistance. And you also fail to explore or understand the truth behind what’s being said.

When you hear, "We don't have the budget," or, "Call me in a few months," you can uncover the truth by replying, "That's not a problem."

And then using gentle, dignified language, you can invite them to reveal the truth about their situation.

So move away from the old sales mindset and try this new way of approaching your cold calling. You’ll find yourself being more natural, and others will respond to you in a much more positive way.

4 Simple Steps To Great Free Advertising

Advertising a product, service, or any undertaking, such as a website for example, has always been a pain in the wallet.

I have been a follower of the free advertising mode, incidentally.

I would like to share with you two of the strategies I've used in getting free advertising.

The first strategy is to advertise in free but well-visited web sites.

I have published some of the best web sites that accept free advertising. You can access these free ad sites by first going to internetmarketinglearningcenter.com/classified-ads.html.

The second strategy I used to post free ads is to buy a Free Classified Ad Course.

This is actually a brief course and I had to pay Clickbank $19.95 to avail of this ad resource.

The highlight of the Free Classified Ad Course is going to the download link of a free software that you will use to post and monitor your ads.

I would like to share with you this Free Classified Ad Course FREE.

You don't have to pay Clickbank $19.95, and you don't have to spend hours researching for this free software.

Just go to my web site listed on the resource box below, click the link on the sidebar menu entitled 4 Simple Steps to Great Free Advertising, and you are off to posting your free ads. Free.

Enjoy your success in ad posting!

5 Reasons to Send Business Christmas Cards

The holiday season will soon be upon us, which means that it's time for businesses to start thinking about Christmas cards. If you've never sent business holiday cards, or don't make a point of sending them out every year, here are five reasons why you should start:

1. Meet Expectations. Although the adage, "It's better to give than to receive," is a sentimental favorite, those with whom you do business expect to be remembered during the holidays. Holiday greeting cards help smooth your business relationships during the rest of the year by meeting expectations during the Christmas season.

2. Improve Customer Relations. Whether you have a business-to-business enterprise, provide a professional service, or own a retail store, chances are that your success is built upon maintaining relationships with your customers and clients. Christmas cards show your customers and clients that you appreciate their business, and that you want to share the spirit of the season.

3. Cost Effective. Perhaps you already buy holiday gifts and remembrances for your best customers or clients, but business holiday cards allow you to reach many more people for relatively little money. You can purchase personalized business holiday cards for as little as $1.40 each, including options to select among many different styles and verses, several colors of ink, and imprinted envelopes. This is an excellent investment in your business.

4. Excellent Return on Investment. Chances are, you and your company receive business Christmas cards from your vendors and suppliers. So, you understand the warm feelings that arise when you read their holiday cards, and you probably experience a "carryover" positive impression when you do your purchasing in the New Year. If you doubt that business holiday cards generate an excellent return on investment, ask yourself this: All other things being equal, which company would you choose to do business with - the company that sent you a holiday card every year or the company that only contacted you when it was time to reorder or collect payment?

5. Limitless Choices. With the rise of Internet and ecommerce, companies have an unprecedented opportunity to select business Christmas cards that reflect their company's image and values. The best online sources for business holiday cards have a wide variety of high quality card designs. In addition, the best online greeting card companies offer a free choice of verse, free coordinated foil-lined envelopes, free samples of Christmas cards, and a multitude of choices for personalization.

In today's business world, you need to take advantage of every opportunity to differentiate your company from your competition. Sending business Christmas cards is a small gesture than can mean improved customer relationships and an excellent return on investment. You really can't afford not to send holiday cards to your customers, clients, and associates.

4 Tips To Ensure A Rewarding Experience When Hiring Others

Hiring an employee can be a big step for many small business owners. It means the end of doing EVERYTHING yourself and passing off some of the work!

In order to make the experience rewarding for both you and your employees there are a few things that every boss and leader should do…

1) Reward people for a job well done. Its frustrating working for someone who enjoys all the financial rewards of the efforts put forth by the entire team, especially if they don't recognize what everyone has accomplished and contributed.

It doesn't take much to acknowledge the effort of your staff. It makes a HUGE difference in the working atmosphere when you take a few moments to acknowledge your team. People like to know that they've done a good job.

2) Always provide a balance between positive and negative comments. Your job as a leader is to recognize the talents of those around you and feed them with the motivation and positive energy to take YOUR ideas to entirely new levels. Help them serve you better by building up their confidence... not tearing it down.

3) Step up and accept responsibility for your projects. At the end of the day if things don't go according to plan, in my opinion, the responsibility falls onto the leader's shoulders. Stand up and accept the responsibility should anything ever go wrong.

If your staff always bear the burden of projects gone bad, it will drag people down and destroy your working environment. Start contributing to the emotional bank account of those around you.

If you acknowledge the behavior you want to see more of, you'll start seeing more of it. Be positive and accept some responsibility when things don't go according to plan.

4) When you have good people it's your responsibility as a leader to hold on to them. People with talent will take your company to entirely new levels but if they keep leaving, the growth of your company will be stinted.

People with skills know that they have options. Hanging the carrot of a potential big pay day will only work for a certain period of time. After a while it wears off and they start looking elsewhere. The last thing you want is for them to end up with your competition.

So the moral of the story is find good people, train them, treat them well, and your business will take off.

2 Step Marketing

Do it Right.

I receive postcards all the time. The other day I received a postcard trying to sell me a copy machine. It had tiny, tiny lettering slathered all over the front and a large portion of the back of the card.

It was extremely hard to read, so hard in fact that I threw it away.

Several days later I received a postcard with 32 words on it telling me that I could get complete information on unrestricted long distance telephone service for 5.5 cents a minute with no additional monthly fee by calling the 800 number on the card.

I did call. I got the information, had my questions answered and ordered my long distance service changed.
The company who offered me the long distance service was using a time tested 2 step selling process:

Step 1. Generate a lead - Get me to call their 800 number.

Step 2. Provide the requested information - Provided to me on the phone by one of their sales representatives, who was able to answer my questions and make me feel confident that I could save quite a bit of money on my long distance bill and that the service would be as good or better.

What's So Good About 2 Steps?

It is much easier to create interest (a lead) than it is to get a person through an entire buying process (a sale).

You aren't getting the prospect or existing customer to part with any money just yet.

You can use postcards to inexpensively promote to your target prospects and customers and generate leads (inquiries about your products and services) to then be followed up on and converted to sales.

This 2 step process also helps you to create a list of people who were interested enough in what you offered to contact you.

You can then recontact the one's who you didn't complete a sale with when they first inquired, preferably until they do buy from you.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to get the information you will need to recontact the people who responded to your postcard offering.

Repetitive follow-ups with the people who contacted you will result in increased sales. Make it a company policy to follow up with those people who contacted you about your products and services.


The Most Effective Use of Postcards:

The purpose of your postcard's message is to generate a sufficient level of interest in the mind of your prospect to get him/her to contact you to ask you about your offer.

You are generating interest, not collecting their money (not yet anyway). That is what the 2 step marketing process is about. Generating interested prospects and customers who contact you for more information.

Your message needs 3 parts to be most effective:

1. A clear statement of the biggest benefit of your product or service (in the long distance example, it was cost savings).

2. A good reason for them to contact you NOW.

3. A simple, easy way for them to respond (an 800 number for example).


Your message should be short and to the point. Short messages on postcards produce more leads than long ones.

For example:

Call 800-555-1212 for Your Copy of Our Free Report:

What 99% of Business Owners Don't Know and Will Never Find Out About Using Postcards to Explode Their Profits

Offer ends 5-5-01 (Print a date 3 weeks from your mailing date to create some urgency)

Lots of people will respond to find out what they might not know. Don't forget, they responded, which is least some interest in the information you have created a curiosity about.

This method works and is sure to produce a large number of inquiries if sent to your proper market.

This 2 Step Marketing Process Works.

Use the tips you have read here to create your next postcard's message and see what happens.

You will generate a bunch of leads from people who are truly interested in your products and services.

5 Easy Ways To Get Your Creative Juices Going

Writing an article doesn't just mean putting down thoughts into words then typing and writing it. You have to capture the interest of your readers and get them to keep on reading. To send your message across you have to get the attention of the reader and have a firm grasp of their interest and pique their curiosity.

The main ingredient in baking up an article is a large dose of creativity. While creativity may come natural to many people, some just gets into a block or something to that effect that can drive someone crazy. Many writers have literally torn their hair out when they get writers block and just can't seem to get their creative juices flowing.

Putting words into images in the readers mind is an art. A clear and crisp depiction requires a certain flair that only creativity can provide. Similes and metaphors help a lot, but the way an article gets entwined word for word, sentence by sentence then paragraph by paragraph into a whole article develops the essence of the article.

So just what do you have to do when nothing comes to mind? There is no surefire ways to get the perfect ideas but there are easy ways to get your creative juices flowing. No one can guarantee you of having the perfect mindset but many methods may aid you in achieving that state of mind. Here are five easy ways for that.

1) Keep a diary or a journal with you always. Ideas can be triggered by anything you may hear, see, or smell. Your senses are your radar in finding great ideas. Write all of them into a journal and keep it with you for future reference. You may also write down anything that you have read or heard, someone's ideas could be used to develop your own ideas and this is not stealing. Remember that ideas and creativity can come from anywhere; it's the development of the idea that makes it unique.

2) Relax and take time to sort things out. A jumbled mind cannot create any space for new ideas. Everyone must have a clear mind if one wishes to have their creativity in full speed. Get rid of all obstacles that can be a hindrance to your creativity. If you are bothered by something, you cannot force your mind to stay focused.

Try to relax every time that you can and think about your experiences and interactions with others. Your experiences are what shape your mindset and your opinions which could be reflected on your writings. Try to discover yourself, find out what triggers your emotions. Discover what inspires you and what ticks you off. You can use these emotions to help you in expressing yourself and your ideas, with this you can grow creatively.

3) Create a working place that can inspire your creativeness. Your working place can be quite a hindrance if it doesn't make you feel happy or relaxed. Creativity comes from being in a good state of mind and a messed up workplace that causes distraction won't be conducive in firing up your creative flow.

Surround your working place with objects that makes you happy and relaxed. You may put up pictures, or scents, objects that inspire, or anything that can get your creativeness cranking. A clean and well organized workplace also rids of distractions and unwanted hindrances. With a good working place, you can work in peace and never notice the time pass by.

4) Set the mood. Setting the mood requires you to just go with the moment or to induce your self to feeling what makes your mind works best. Finding out what makes you tick could help you find ways to get your creative juices flowing. Set the pace and tempo for your mood and everything else will follow.

There are many ways to set the mood. Some writers have been known to use alcohol, a little sip of wine to stir up the imagination. Some would like some mood music while others let the lighting of the environment create the mood.

5) Go on a getaway and just do something unlike crazy. Letting yourself go and have fun produces adrenaline that can make your imagination go wild. Take an adventure or a solemn hike. Whatever it is that is unusual from your daily routine can take the rut out of your schedule. In no time at all, your creativeness will make use of that experience and get your imagination to go on overdrive.

5 Reasons Why Recordkeeping Is So Important

When you decided to start your business, was your first priority concerned with setting up your filing system for recording your expenses? I seriously doubt it. This simple task (yes it is simple) is usually the item that is the last thing on the new business owner’s mind. The more “important” issues of what product to sell, how am I going to advertise, how much money is it going to cost me, and how much money can I make are the first questions we consider when going into business.

The task of recordkeeping is usually procrastinated until the very last minute, when it is required. It is time to file your tax return, or time to go to the bank to get a loan for the business and the banker wants to see some financial records for the business. This can be a very daunting and cumbersome task if you have to dig through receipts and expenses for the whole year! No wonder we hate keeping records. That’s no fun!

Well, guess what? If you aren’t keeping good, timely, and up-to-date records monthly, you don’t need to be in business. That’s right. I said it. Here are the top five reasons why I truly believe this statement.

1. Lost tax deductions = Lost Money If you are throwing your receipts in a shoebox each month and not keeping an organized record of your income and expenses, I can bet you money that you are losing out on some major tax deductions. A smart businessperson keeps track of her income (cash in) and expenses (cash out) monthly, sometimes even weekly. You do not need a fancy accounting software package to do this. You don’t even need a computer! Simply keep a journal monthly and log in all of your receipts and invoices, and there you have it.

2. High CPA/Tax Preparer Fees = Lost Money I can speak from personal experience, that if you bring in that shoebox of receipts for the year and expect your tax preparer to record and properly deduct your business expenses on your tax return, you are sadly mistaken. Tax season is the busiest time of year for these professionals. If you expect them to do your bookkeeping and recordkeeping as well, expect to pay for it. They don’t have the time, or the desire to make sure that every receipt is accounted for. As a businessperson, it is your responsibility to make sure they are given the right totals and you can trace it right back to your tax return.

3. Too much time spent looking for receipts The time you spend looking for a past receipt for a particular purchase for whatever reason, you can be utilizing this time in advertising your business or producing your product. These are important money generating activities that you are sacrificing due to your lack of recordkeeping.

4. No financial statements Every business owner should review at least the profit and loss statement (income statement) for their business MONTHLY. This important piece of paper tells you if you are making money or losing money. How can you possibly run your business and make a profit if you are not analyzing your sales and expenses continuously? A good recordkeeping system will allow you to have this information at your fingertips.

5. No need for expensive accounting software If you are just starting your business, or are a small business owner, you more than likely do not need software to prepare your books. A simple journal that is kept monthly of your income and expenses is all you need. At a glance, you will know how your business performed for that particular month.

As a business owner, you need to realize the importance of a good recordkeeping system. This should also be a task that the business owner performs for at least three to six months before delegating the job to someone else. You will be able to run your business more effectively, determine possible cycles in the business year, and know where your money is going. Your business will be much more successful if you keep a simple recordkeeping system.

3 Myths That Ruin Meetings

These myths have cost companies billions of dollars in wasted payroll money.

Myth #1) Structure spoils spontaneity.

I once attended a two-day long disaster that easily cost over $40,000. Thirty people spent the first hour seeking an issue to discuss, then spent the next 15 hours arguing over insolvable problems. When I asked the manager who called the meeting, "Where's the agenda?" the reply was, "I didn't want to spoil the spontaneity by imposing a structure."

Reality: If spontaneity were a universally sound business practice we would build buildings without blueprints. Of course, no smart business leader works without a plan.

The Fix: Set a goal and then prepare an agenda. Ideally, this agenda should be so clear, complete, and specific that someone else could use it to lead the meeting to obtain the accomplish the goal.

Myth #2: Since it's my meeting I should do all the talking.

Some meetings are run like a medieval court. The chairperson sits on a verbal throne while the subjects sit in respectful silence. The big talker justifies this by thinking: if the other people in the meeting knew anything worthwhile, they'd be leading the meeting.

Reality: If you're the only one talking, you're working too hard. In addition, realize that most people protect themselves from extended monologues by sending their thoughts off on a holiday. That is, no one is paying attention to you: they're busy daydreaming, doodling, or dreaming.

The Fix: Convey large amounts of information by a memo or email. Then call a meeting based on participant driven activities that test or reinforce comprehension.

Myth #3: Meetings are free.

Most meetings are paid for with soft money. That is, it's money that has already been spent for wages. In addition, no purchase request is necessary. No budget needs to be approved. All someone has to do is call a meeting.

Reality: Meetings are very expensive. They use people's time, and payroll is the largest part of running a business. When people hold bad meetings, they waste the most important resource in a business - the time people that spend working to earn a profit for the company.

The Fix: Design meetings to earn a profit. After all, a meeting is a business activity, not a company picnic.

3 Tips For Choosing A Payment Gateway: Collecting Money Online

As a consumer, when you check out of your local convenience store, you may swipe your credit card through a point-of-sale device and your gas, coffee, and donut are paid. But what if you are the retailer and your business is online? It’s not like you have a card-swiping device at every customer’s PC! There must be a way for you to process that information. Essentially, that is the job that a payment gateway does for online retailers. Roy Banks, president of http://Authorize.net, a leader in the payment gateway industry, describes his company’s function as “the digital version of a hardware point of sale terminal.”

What is a Payment Gateway?
Payment gateways allow online merchants such as eStore owners or auction sellers to accept credit card payments over the internet. They authorize the cardholder’s credit—that is, they check to ensure that the customer has enough money on their credit card to cover the charges. They then place a hold on that amount so the buyer can’t turn around and spend that same money elsewhere before it gets transferred to the retailer’s merchant account. Banks describes this as “the technology…necessary to consummate a payment transaction.”

A Payment Gateway is NOT a Merchant Account.
Many people confuse merchant accounts with payment gateways but they are not the same. Merchant account services act, for the most part, as a liaison between your business bank account and the payment gateway. When a customer orders a product from your online business their card is processed via the payment gateway. The money is then moved over to the merchant account service. The merchant account service then moves those newly captured funds to your business bank account.

3 Tips for choosing a Payment Gateway:

1. Is it PCI-compliant? That means that the company’s security has been audited by a third party and found to be up to industry standards. Since payment gateways store all your customers’ credit card information (sparing you the stress), it also means you can sleep better at night, knowing your customers’ valuable information is safe and sound.

2. Good customer support. ‘Nuf said.

3.Lastly, it is important that the payment gateway you choose be integrated to the third-party solutions you are planning to use. That means things like store front platforms and shopping carts—you want them to be compatible with your gateway.

Payment gateways will not only allow you to collect the monies from your sales, many also offer an array of security features, some of which will help you avoid becoming a victim of fraudulent orders! In the end, they will make your ecommerce business a less-stressful, more pleasant experience—for both you and your customers.

3 Key Secret Components For Wholesale Profit Success

Everyday it is getting more attractive to start selling wholesale items online and offline because of the profit potential many products carry. Now a days if you plan to make a part-time income or make a full-time living by selling wholesale items, you need to know three basic components that almost every seller online and offline do not use to their advantage.

In order to have success within the wholesale business you need to follow the three steps key components 98% average Joe marketer does not apply and fails to recognize as vital important factors for company short-term and long-term success as competition is getting heavier every day, such key steps are:

Key Component Number 1: Research. Product and market research both online and offline is a must for the initial start-up success of a potential profitable wholesale business.

You need to discover what wholesale items are profitable, which items are viable and saturated, item acceptance-nationally or worldwide, market population, item conversion rate, return on investment and competition research to name a few.

Know how to make this research before deciding to sell a product and more importantly, a wholesale item. Since when we sell wholesale, profits are less since we sell to merchants, retailers or clients and therefore need more research time to enjoy possible future profits.

Key Component Number 2: Test. Most successful businesses test their product and system before even starting to sell the main item both online or offline.

One of the tools you can use for your immediate advantage is the use of surveys. By using and completing a survey to a potential customer, you obtain valuable rapport on customer likes and dislikes about your idea, product or business concept. Use this free survey resource to your advantage before selling for immediate feedback.

Key Component Number 3: Take Action. Start offering the wholesale item for a fee and gather final conclusions if your item will or will not sell. By doing the proper research, testing and getting into an action process mode, you will win or lose money. No matter what happens in your sales experience with your new item, you earn profits or you gain considerable knowledge and experience.

Very importantly, you must take action with your new idea or recurring wholesale business venture as doing so will increase your experience and potential profit success within your niche and industry.

Arranging Furniture Storage

Sometimes, there isn't enough room for all of your belongings – and arranging storage, on top of moving can be a blessing in disguise – or a nightmare. So you need another, convenient, cheap option for your furniture.

Storage companies are basically large warehouses or lockups that you can rent – and range in size from a box room to an area large enough to store a complete house.

Storage is great if you're needing to move out of one house before your other hoese is ready – or when you've sold your old house but haven't finished arranging the new one. It saves the you having to work out what to do with your things.

It's also a good idea when you have too much furniture for your new house, and no where to store it yourself – and while garages and basements are great for short term storage, they aren't protected, in some cases against the elements, nor, possibly insured against accidents, such as fires or flood. Garages and basements also, while accessible, may also need to be used for other things.

It is possible for your belongings to be damaged in storage, but highly unlikely – you'll be given a list of belongings that you're checking in – and you should check at that time that everything is secure, sealed and stacked or placed well.

If you're moving long distance, its always good to research, throughly, by phone and if possible, in person, how much access you'll have to your furniture, and belongings, and what sort of notice you need to give – you'll also need to work out what is going into storage and how much space you'll need for it all.

If you're unsure of storage companies, and you're using a removal company – ask them – they may have a group of storage companies they deal with, and offer you a better premium than you may otherwise get. It also means that you've got less research to deal with.

3 Million Items and Counting, Bidville Becomes Big Business

Since their introduction, online auction sites have been making e-history as some of the most popular destinations on the Internet. From designer-label clothing to grandma's jewelry to cars and even houses, anything and everything imaginable can be auctioned off online.

People who place items for sale on auction sites are attracted to the prospect of building a business from home with no morning traffic jams and little required capital to start. And bidders are drawn to the unique shopping opportunities and the potential to purchase hard-to-find items from all over the world.

Increasingly, buyers and sellers are discovering the unique benefits of using emerging sites rather than the giants of the industry, such as eBay. Bidville.com is one such site that has been quietly gaining momentum in the wake of eBay's ongoing fee increases.

Bidville started in 1999 primarily as a sports card auction site, but began expanding its merchandise base in late 2003 to take advantage of burgeoning market opportunities. Throughout 2004, its membership base increased to nearly 1 million members and the number of items listed daily reached 3 million. In addition, the site now has more than 600 "storefronts" that sell anything from collectibles to electronics at a fixed price.

Bidville markets itself as "the alternative auction site" because it does not charge listing fees. Rather, sellers pay what's called "final success fees" after their items sell. These fees, at no more than 5 percent of the selling price, are lower than what other sites charge.

So what is the key to Bidville's success? The company is striving to expand its growing community of loyal members and makes it a policy to give them personalized attention. While most auction sites answer questions with an automated reply, Bidville has live customer service representatives who respond to all queries within 24 hours.

In its extensive community section, there is ample opportunity for member interaction via the Member to Member Help Desk, the Bidville Cafe, where members can share stories and make friends, and the Sellers Forum, where members can discuss successful selling tips and offer suggestions for site improvements. A special charity section allows nonprofit organizations to use Bidville to raise money for good causes.

Share Your Knowledge with Others for Cost-Effective Online Marketing

Every day, online surfers are seeking information on millions of subjects. Whether they need to know how to fix an appliance, promote their online business, play better golf, or how to write a book, there are plenty of questions to go around. If you own a business and are quite knowledgeable in a particular subject, you can benefit from cost-effective online marketing through knowledge creation and management.

Questions and Answers are Lucrative for Your Business

Imagine answering questions for very targeted Web surfers every single day and getting free exposure for your website in the process. Wouldn't this be the ultimate form of online marketing for your business? When you provide answers to those tough, not-so-common questions in your field of expertise, you're doing just that.

You'd be amazed at how educating potential customers can help increase your business. It's a secret that marketing gurus have known for years, but many online business owners fail to recognize its potential. When you provide answers to questions from a targeted readership, then your business suddenly hits the spotlight as the "expert" in its field. Potential customers will begin to trust you simply by reading your articles. They will feel as if they already know you when they arrive at your website, and they will be much easier to convert to real paying customers.

Free Advertising and Ads Revenue Sharing

There are two ways to use knowledge creation and management for your benefit online. One, you can add knowledge through articles and tips posted at your own website or in a newsletter. Two, you can publish your articles and tips at other websites to receive advertising benefits.

Some websites will allow you to advertise free through ads or a bio on your particular article pages. Others might allow you to share revenue from other businesses that advertise on your article pages. This is called ads revenue sharing. Both can offer long-term benefits, especially as the traffic to your article pages grows over time.

Multiple Opportunities

Online marketing through knowledge creation and management can be focused on one particular knowledge-based website or multiple websites. The choice is yours. With multiple websites, you might post the same article on many different websites (if allowed) or you might write different articles for only one website. Either way, you'll have multiple opportunities to advertise your business or to enjoy profits from ads revenue sharing.

Cost-effective online marketing through knowledge creation and management gives you the freedom to share what you know with your targeted audience without paying for advertising or taking unnecessary risks while implementing a marketing strategy.

Search online for specific questions you can answer and write articles based on these questions. Or, you can hire a writer to put your thoughts into words for you. Either way, you can provide answers that will draw targeted readers to your website for years to come. Once you establish yourself as an expert in your field, your online business will grow like never before!

'Shifts' to Help You in Times Good or Bad

Six months ago, the economy was roaring. Stock prices were going up, interest rates were staying low, unemployment was down. A few months later, those indicators all were going in opposite directions. Now, it's hard to tell from day to day where we stand.

I'm optimistic that the current situation is a short-term one, and that long-term prospects are for growth and good times. But that doesn't mean that there won't be dips, sometimes deep, along the way. The question is: Are you positioned to take advantage of the good times and navigate the bad?

You have to expect one as well as the other. Fortunately, there are "shifts" you can take that will serve you well during both.

1. Get out of debt. The quicker the better. You can't take advantage of opportunities when you're mired in debt. And there are opportunities in both good times and in bad. In both, debt keeps you from profiting from the opportunities that present themselves. In bad, it magnifies the negative, as the cost of money increases and debt service becomes an ever-increasing portion of your expenses.

2. Think globally. No longer can we afford to think and act locally. We must have a broader

vision. We must think about how our vocation, our business and our industry will operate in a global economy - because it already does.

3. Be entrepreneurial. This is the age of the free agent. Even if we are and plan to continue working in a larger company or organization, we must at least think like an entrepreneur. We need to be "in-trepreneurs." Seniority and experience does not have the value that it did. Producing results - and profits - is what matters.

4. Become a capitalist. The wealthy own assets, the rest own liabilities - things that cost money to own and maintain. Capitalism is not a dirty word. A capitalist, by definition, is someone who owns assets - assets that produce income. Stock, equipment and businesses are assets that generate income. In America, 80 percent of all millionaires are self-made. Be one of them.

5. Be flexible. Things are moving at a rapid pace. This demands adaptability. Things will not remain the same, nor will they go back to the way they used to be. We must be willing to change directions quickly. It's dodge and weave time. It is time to embrace change. Shift happens!

3 Cold Calling Mistakes that Trigger Rejection

Here are 3 common cold calling techniques that you should probably avoid:

Mistake #1: Center the conversation around yourself and what you have to offer

In the old approach, you introduce yourself, explain what you do, and suggest a benefit or feature of your product. And then you close your eyes and pray that the other person will be interested

Unfortunately, the moment you stop talking you usually hear, "Sorry, I’m busy," or "Sorry, I'm not interested."

You see, you’ve started your cold call by talking about your world and what you have to offer. But realistically, most people aren’t all that interested in you. When you talk about your company and your product, it’s just another advertisement to them. You haven’t engaged them, so they often just "turn the page."

Prospects are much more interested in themselves and what’s important to them. So if you start the conversation by focusing on their world, they’re more likely to interact with you.

So instead, talk about an issue or problem they may need solving. Focus on them rather than on what you have to offer. And see where it takes you.

Mistake #2: Be confident they should buy your product or service

In the old cold calling mindset, you’re taught to focus on the sale and be completely confident that what you’re offering is something the other person should buy.

The problem with this approach is that you haven’t asked them to determine this along with you. So think about it – in the old mindset, you’re really deciding for someone else what’s good for them. I know this isn’t intended, but that’s exactly what comes across to your prospects.

So rather than being full of confidence and enthusiasm, stop for a minute and think about the other individual. Relax into a real conversation instead of moving into a persuasive strategy or sales pitch. Put yourself in their shoes and invite them to explore along with you whether what you have to offer is a match for them.

Others really can distinguish the difference. You’re inviting them to see if you might be able to help them solve a problem. This makes for a much better connection right at the beginning, and you’ll get that immediate rejection reaction much less.

Mistake #3: When someone brings up an objection, try to overcome it

You know, one of the reasons cold calling is so difficult is that sometimes you may not be very familiar with the other person and their business. When you make that first call, you don’t know very much about their issues, problems, budget, and time constraints.

Chances are, not everyone is going to benefit by your product or service.

So realistically, your company or product isn’t going to be a match for everyone. And yet, when someone brings up an objection ("we don’t have the budget for that," etc.), the old cold calling mindset trains you to "overcome," "bypass," or "override."

But when you do that, you put the other person on the defensive. Something they’ve said is being dismissed. And here’s where rejection can happen very suddenly.

So it’s much better to listen to their concerns and continue to explore whether what you’re offering makes sense for them. There are some wonderful phrases you can use that validate their viewpoint without closing the conversation.

So now you’ve discovered the 3 major cold calling mistakes people often make. See if you can shift away from those old self-sabotaging mindsets. When you do, you’ll notice that people will engage you much more, and the immediate rejection you’ve grown so accustomed to will happen much less.

“The Cons of a 50/50 Equity Business Partnership.”

This article could have been titled “The Pros and Cons of a 50/50 Equity Partnership”, but the cons far outweigh the pros. When partnerships are formed, the obvious concerns are addressed. How do each partner’s skills-set and experience complement each other? How much will each partner contribute to get the business going? How long will they grow the business until they entertain selling it? Is that it? … hardly.

Once the business gets going no doubt economic and industry variables change which affect the business. Each partner’s perception of the direction the business should go changes as well. There are constant decisions with regards to the mixture of product and service offerings … the decision to get into another line of business or get out of one. Should the focus be on a higher volume, lower profit margin business model or vice versa? What about a shift to a more capital intensive model. If the business becomes a success, many times potential investors creep in, whether an angel investor or venture capitalist. Both partners need to agree on the investment proposal.

What if one of the partners acquires an asset for the business whether it’s land, a building, a small data center, a thousand servers, or to complicate things further contributes an intellectual asset of some sort. When the company is going to be sold, what is the value of the partner’s contributed asset? Who is supposed to value it? This can become an insurmountable hurdle. Most buyers know not to value any one piece near what it’s worth by itself.

When it’s time to sell the company, the financial situation of each partner has no doubt changed since the company was founded. The consideration for the company could be all cash, all stock or a combination of cash and stock. The tax implications of each of the three scenarios are different for each partner. I have seen the process of divesting a company go up in smoke too many times because the partners didn’t agree on the proposed deal. They spent years growing the business then totally disagree about when to sell, who to sell to, and/or how much to sell it for.

Business is about return on equity, not “all for one and one for all”. My suggestion … one ship, one captain.

Merchant Accounts For Restaurant Owners

A merchant account for restaurant owners may be just the thing to help your business grow. If you have experimented with several marketing techniques and feel that you are ready to venture into e-commerce, this might be the venue you need to help your business really take off and start bringing in high-level profits.

Many banks and financial institutions that offer Visa and MasterCard accounts can provide a merchant account for restaurant owners. After building a solid community reputation and maintaining a clean credit history, you will have the credentials you need to apply for a merchant account. Keep in mind that the bank’s underwriters may not feel comfortable conferring this privilege to companies that are involved in questionable activities like pornography, spam, mail drug orders, and so on. Some merchant account providers will let you complete the application online, taking just minutes to fill out.

Your merchant account for restaurant owners could be approved in a matter of hours or days. The company may send a confirming email message or you might receive a letter in the mail. Either way, you probably will not have to wait very long for an answer, and then a few days more and your credit card processor will be installed and ready for use on the premises of your restaurant. If you make home or business deliveries, staff members who transport orders can process credit card payments when you equip them with a portable wireless unit. They won’t have to worry about carrying cash for change or accepting a check that may bounce at the bank.

After receiving a merchant account for restaurant owners, you may decide to put up a restaurant Website for marketing purposes. Your Website can feature attractive photos of inside and outside the restaurant location, along with a map and driving instructions that can be downloaded. The site might include a menu with posted specials as they become available on the schedule. A price list or wine list might be helpful, along with a brief bio of the owner, manager, hostess, or head chef with photos. Food arranging or meal planning tips might be offered weekly to keep customers coming back for the newest postings on your Website, which serves as a marketing tool and a bridge that keeps customers connected to your restaurant when they are not visiting. You may even want to include an occasional discount coupon or free beverage, which will serve as added inducements to keep people coming back. The more comfortable they become with visiting your Website, the more likely they are to place orders and pay online.

Learning to surf the Web as a restaurant owner with a merchant account can be both fun and challenging. You will enjoy the opportunity of presenting your eatery to the world via the Web pages posted at your site and then checking messages and payments to appreciate your impact on the global community. These are some of the attractive benefits of a merchant account for restaurant owners.

What Is It Millionaires Have That Make Them Millionaires?

Ever wonder what makes a millionaire different from your average Joe? Why is it some are "meant" for riches while others are "meant" for poverty? Well, it is simply a choice.

When you realize that to have success is to simply choose success is when you will see results in your life. Now you're probably wondering how does somebody choose success? If you were to go back and study all of the successful entrepreneurs, for example Ford, Edison, Gates, they all had one thing in common: The Mindset For Success.

It's not just luck or by chance that people are successful nor does someone happen to just make a million dollars. The elite realize that there are exercises, daily practices, and knowledge that can get anyone to the top and this knowledge is accessible to anyone who truly desires wealth in their life.

Now, how does someone jump over the gap from being an employee to becoming a successful entrepreneur and living a lifestyle of absolute freedom and abundance? Well, without the right training, without daily mental preparation, this task would seem insurmountable. However, with the right people mentoring you and with the knowledge that can get you basically anything you desire, YOU CAN'T FAIL! The only x-factor is you; do you really believe that you weren't meant to have success and wealth in your life, but that wealth and success were meant for others? Ask yourself, are you truly ready to leap from mediocrity to excellence?

You Now Have a Choice...

Sales From The Crypt

In today's contemporary society, where everything can be done already over the Net, online shopping is one lucrative activity for the seller and convenience for the buyer.

This is where eBay comes in the limelight. Every online shoppers and online traders can benefit a lot in eBay. But because of its wide diversity, things being sold on eBay had increased to amore wider, broader, and weirder.

Yes! With the wide access and convenience eBay gives to its members, there were reports that even the weirdest things were auctioned and even sold on eBay.

Here are some of them:

1. Ghost in a Jar

There was an actual report about an item, dubbed as a "ghost in a jar", being sold on eBay. The seller narrated in his item description how he got the jars (there were two, actually). The seller claimed that the remaining jar contains some "black thing" based on what happened to the other jar after it fell to the ground and emitted some sort of black smoke.

The auctioned placed 60 bids during the listing and had reached $90 million. Though, there are no concrete reports as to whether the sale was really closed or who got the item in that amount.

2. Vampire killing kit

This refers to a kit suitable for some "vampire hunters". This kit includes an ebony wood stake, a crossbow with four silver-tipped arrows, a variety of surgical instruments, and a large bottle of holy water.

3. UFO Detector

This is a modified magnetometer manufactured by a Brazilian company. It was said on the auction that this item can actually detect an approaching UFO or can spot an UFO activity.

4. Russian Test space Shuttle

It's a spacecraft built by a Russian company. The actual reserve price for this item is $2 million but was auctioned and bid on eBay with only a small percentage from its actual selling price.

5. Serial Killer's Fingernails

This refers to the fingernails of a certain Roy Norris who sailed to Southern California, in 1979, for a killing binge that murdered five people. He was with a certain Lawrence Bittaker.

These fingernails are placed at the back of a Christmas card with Norris' note, signature, and black thumbprint.

These are just a few of the weirdest things that a buyer can get on eBay. In fact, there are thousand others lurking in eBay and are waiting for some eager and gullible bidders.

Self-Employed Jobs

Being self-employed often sounds exciting. The thought of not having to work for anyone else and being able to enjoy your freedom is appealing. Those who decide to take this route anytime soon will find out that this is often not the case and realize that they will actually be working longer, harder hours for a few years as they try to get their business off the ground. The difference in being self-employed and working for someone else is that now everything rests on your shoulders. When you were working for someone else, you didn't have the responsibility of the whole company to worry about, it didn't matter too much if the company was a financial success or not, it was not your concern – it is now. In this article, we will look at some types of businesses that you can have at home.

1. If you are a pet lover then consider a pet-based business from home. You may be one of those individuals that animals of all kinds are drawn to, and if so this type of business is perfectly suited to you. A pet-business can involve everything from pet sitting, to walking and training pets, and providing supplies and toys to the pet owners. More than 60 million American homes have pets and that is a huge market for a home based business on any level.This kind of work can be done world-wide with very little start up costs. Most pet owners will spoil the beloved animals with anything that they find is cute, fun, and practical.

2. Home improvement is an excellent self-employed business opportunity, as homeowners will pay to have items removed from their residence as well as fixing up much needed repairs. This is an excellent source of income for the person who is good at fixing things and loves to clean and clear items from one place to another. During the warmer seasons, this is a great way to make extra income. Obviously you cannot do this type of business with a car so you will need a pick-up truck of some type or a vehicle that is capable of carrying away a variety of items.

3. If you are good at typing and have knowledge of how to work a computer, you may want to consider medical transcription. Transcription can be done at home and if you do not have much medical knowledge you can brush up on medical terminology or even through taking a quick course at your community college or other institutes. This is a demand that will not slow down anytime soon. Doctors offices, dentists, and even veterinarians all need someone to transcribe their records. If you are good at typing and familiar with Word documents and formatting this is a good choice for you.

Home-based jobs are becoming very popular for many families who are looking to increase their income but not necessarily work outside of the home.

freelance

Is having a Business in Your Home Legal

There are various laws you will need to consider before you start running a home business. Millions of businesses are operated illegally out of peoples homes, in violation of their local laws. This approach isn’t recommended. You should always try to do things legally, and consider moving if home businesses aren’t allowed where you live. You should contact your local governmental body and ask them about zoning laws in your area. Check these things out before starting your home business or you could run the risk of being shut down.

Zoning laws If you live in a residential area zoning laws could restrict what you do there in terms of business. There are good reasons for this. What if your neighbor opened his house as a shop? Zoning laws also keep rich developers from buying up neighborhood homes and turning them into businesses, increasing traffic problems and lowering property values. The laws are there to protect your neighborhood, and to stop business from interfering with people’s home lives. Ask about zoning laws in your neighborhood and consider a visit to a lawyer. Zoning laws vary greatly from place to place.

Strict Zoning Policies In many areas a strict ‘no business’ policy is enforced, if you try to start a home business without permission. You may need to make a formal application and there could be a public hearing to give other residents a chance to object. There could also deed restrictions set by the developer or homeowners’ association regarding operating a home business. Even if there are other businesses in your neighborhood, you may still need to get approval from officials and neighbors. Talk to other home business owners in your area for any advice they can give you.

Percentage Policies Some areas allow you to use only a percentage of your house for business, and are unlikely to make exceptions, to avoid residential properties from becoming completely commercial. Perhaps only 20% of your house could be used for business. This can be restrictive if you have a small house or need storage.

Restrictions by Industry It is worth checking if there’s an exception in the zoning laws for the home business you’re starting. Artists are often excluded from the laws, as well as people who give lessons, such as music teachers. Doctors and dentists are also common exceptions.

Signs, Traffic and Visitor Rules The laws in your area may have special restrictions for signs and traffic. You could be restricted from putting anything on your property considered advertising, not even a sign with the name of your business on it. Trucks bringing deliveries to your house can pose a big problem, especially if someone complains about them, and there are lots of children in your area. People like their street quiet, not constantly busy. Some laws allow only a set number of visitors per day to your business, or restrict the number that you can have at one time.

House Flipping for Profit

A lot of people these days are preaching about the buying and holding method of gaining wealth with real estate. There indeed may come a time in your life or business when you'll want to hang onto a piece of property, although you'll only be interested in keeping certain types of property. If you're just starting out, flipping a house may be an ideal way to get started.

Basically, there are three ways that you can flip a house, although each one has it's own terms, motivation, and type of property. The first method is known as retailing. What this means, is that you buy a house in bad shape, do the repairs to fix it up, then turn around and sell it. There are a variety of houses in need of repairs out there, and several ways that you can quickly flip a house to net profit. All you need to know are the techniques that will get you the most money in the least amount of time.

The second way you can flip a house is though wholesaling. Wholesaling involves finding a home for sale then flipping it to an investor for a fast, yet small profit. To do this, you'll need to know the real estate investors in your area, the types of homes that flip the best, and how to fund your property so you can flip it to them. If you live in a big area or a city, you'll find that using the wholesaling method of flipping houses is actually easier to accomplish.

The third way to flip a house is by assigning the purchase. Using this method, you'll commit to buy the house. Instead of closing the deal yourself, you'll assign it to a real estate investor - of course for a small fee. The investor will take the contract over and close the purchase themselves - flipping the house. This can be very profitable, especially if you invest in the right home. You don't need to have your contract worded any special way to be legal, although you will need to determine the assignment fee.

If you're looking to break into the real estate market and make big bucks, you'll need to learn all about flipping houses. Flipping houses is very profitable, especially once you have learned the basics. The first and third methods are the best, although they will both take quite a bit of work on your part. Restoring homes isn't easy, and you'll need to have a team qualified to handle any repairs. Assigning the purchase may be difficult when you first start out, although it will get easier with time. If you stay at it and do your best to make a profit - you'll be an expert at flipping homes in no time at all.

"Hello, I'm Johnny Cash"- Surprising Lessons For Work At Home Moms

I've unearthed some surprising bits of wisdom for new wahms by listening to Johnny Cash lately. I thought I would share some of these tidbits from the Rockabilly legend.

1) Understand Your Man ...er, target market!
That's right. Do you understand your target market? Are you aware of her needs, desires and driving ambitions? Does your website speak to your target audience? If not, perhaps you should make some changes or your website visitor or customer will be "as gone as a wild goose in winter" too!

2) A Boy Named Sue
Life ain't easy for a boy named Sue...and life ain't easy for a wahm either. In your business you will have those confidence killers, dream stealers, fun suckers...whatever you want to call them. You will have people who try to tell you that you can't achieve your goals, that what you try won't work. Don't let them get you down!
Sue's father told him, "This world is rough, and if you're gonna make it, you've gotta be tough."
How can you get tough in your business?

3) Man In Black- or Branding 101
J.R. Cash didn't don the all black suit because he didn't have anything else to wear. It was his trademark. He wore all black for a reason.
What about you? Are you working on your brand? In a world full of Elvis Presleys and Jerry Lee Lewises, how will you stand apart? And remember, your target market doesn't have to be just like you- Johnny Cash wrote Folsom Prison Blues and connected with inmates when he had never yet step foot in jail!

4) The Legend of John Henry's Hammer
This song has two bits of wisdom:
a) Learn your business and you will succeed
John Henry's Daddy told him to: "Learn to a turn a jack, learn to lay a track, learn to pick and shovel too." Are you learning all you can about Internet Marketing so that you can succeed in your business? Do you reinvest in ebooks, coaching and mentoring, and software like John Henry's hammer?
b) Technology has its place but it can't take the place of humans.
When the steam engine threatened to take the place of men, Johnny proved that in the end, humans are more valuable. Learn to use technology (like autoresponders) but remember that your website visitor is a human and inject some of yourself into your marketing efforts.

5) One Piece at a Time
This ballad is about a man who decides to build a Cadillac. He steals one piece at a time from the assembly line "and it didn't cost him a dime". But in the end, it didn't work out exactly like he planned!
Does your website look like a pieced together jalopy? Are you unwilling to spend any money on your own domain and hosting, content with a free site cluttered up with ads?

6) In The Jailhouse Now
Please don't throw away your hard work by doing one of the following things:
Spamming Copying other people's articles or contentStealing graphicsClicking on your Adsense adsNot keeping records and neglecting to pay taxes
It just isn't worth it, and you may find yourself in the jailhouse. Much better to Walk the Line so you can sleep at night.

7) Ring of Fire
Maybe you've made a bad choice... entered into a shotgun romance with a business that's not right for you. Don't be afraid to realize this, chuck everything and start over! Don't beat your head against the wall if, after working hard on a project, you decide it's just not profitable. Better to find your match and pour your energies into that.
In this song, June Carter Cash chronicles her growing attraction to John. Though they were both involved with other people, they were obviously soul mates and ended up making music and growing old together for the next 40 years.

May you make beautiful music with your business!

10 Financial Yardsticks for Your Small Business

Time and again, accountants and consultants who specialise in small businesses say that such enterprises don't pay enough attention to cash flow. That's the measure of how much money you really have in the business.

Be Wary of Big Contracts

"Small entrepreneurs wind up taking big orders that get them in trouble," says Ronald Lowy, who heads a college business administration department. "They want the big contract, but they're not getting enough money at the front end of it and they don't have the cash reserves to pay workers and other bills while they're waiting to get paid themselves. They might show a profit on an accrual basis, but from a cash-flow standpoint, they don't."

Judith Dacey, a certified public accountant, calls a cash-flow statement "probably the most important thing in telling you if your business is on or off target." As an example she describes how board members of a non-profit group were not examining their cash-flow statements.

"They were hiring people and spending money on membership campaigns, and doing all of these things based on money they thought they had from looking at the profit-and-loss (P&L) statements," Dacey says. "They didn't realise that the profit-and-loss statement was an accrual statement, which basically means you are including paper promises of payments to come, not money that you have in the bank."

The non-profit board became aware of the difficulty only when the organisation bounced a check. Employees had to be laid off, and belts were tightened. "That could have been avoided if they'd seen the cash-flow statements," Dacey says. "A cash-flow statement tells you here's the cash that has actually come in and that you can work with."

A statement of cash flow starts with the bottom of your profit and loss statement — the line that shows your net income. Several adjustments are made to that number. The details are a little complex but a good accounting program that does a P&L and a balance sheet will also calculate this statement for you.

Tracking the Big 10

If you've established a way to track cash flow, then you can go on to organise and track 10 financials for your business. That's a big list, but don't panic: As with profit and loss statements, you can take advantage of software programs to automate tracking for many of the following:

• Your Assets

Tracking your equipment, furniture, real estate and other holdings should be easy. But to have a true idea of the value of your business, you also have to track changes in the value of those assets. More than one small business has found itself located on a piece of land that's worth more than the business itself. Similarly, you also will want to track the declining value of assets such as computers and office furniture.

• Your Liabilities

On the face of it, this is easy — liabilities are what you owe. But what you owe isn't always as obvious as a bill from your landlord. Payroll taxes are a liability that depend on the size of your payroll. Loans are a clear liability, but in repaying them you'll want to be able to track how much of a payment is applied against principal and interest.

•What does it Cost You to Produce What You Sell?

If you're buying a finished item for resale, this is relatively easy. It's trickier if you have to calculate all the factors, such as labour, that go into manufacturing a product.

•What's it Costing You to Sell What You Sell?

Advertising, marketing, labour, storage and the catch-all category of overhead — it's useful to know how much it costs you to get a product sold as well as what it costs you to create it.

•What's Your Gross Profit Margin?

This is calculated by dividing your total sales into your gross profit. If your gross profit margin is staying consistent or trending upward, you're probably on track.

Being able to track a declining margin can give you a heads-up that you must adjust your prices or your costs. In the worst cases your gross profit and profit margin disappear altogether. At that point, you'll be like the fellow who lost money on every sale but figured he could make it up in volume. Don't do it.

•What's Your Debt-to-asset Ratio?

This ratio can let you know how much of the stuff you have in your company is actually owned by someone else — your lender. Having this ratio climb can be a bad sign. It can happen as part of a major expansion, but it can also indicate that you're getting in over your head.

•What's the Value of Your Accounts Receivable?

This is the money you are owed. If accounts receivable are on the rise, you may be getting a warning that the folks you sell to are starting to stumble.

•What's Your Average Collection Time on Accounts Receivable?

This is probably one of the most aggravating pieces of information for cash-strapped businesses, because it tells you how many days you're acting as 'banker' for the people who owe you money.

•What Are Your Accounts Payable?

The flip side of accounts receivable. An increase in your accounts payable may merely reflect a larger amount of purchases overall. But an increase that hasn't been planned or managed can be an internal warning that your company's financial strength is waning.

•What's Happening With Your Inventory?

There are occasions, even in this just-in-time business world, when building up a significant inventory can be a good thing.

If prices for items you sell or use in production are relatively low, putting some of your money into inventory may make sense.

Being able to track your inventory can tell you whether business is increasing or slowing down. It also tells you how much money is tied up in this unproductive asset.

Knowing what's up with your cash flow is essential to your business. But sometimes the figures can be difficult to understand. Don't ever be afraid to turn to professionals for some help.

32 Words That Can Change Your Life

We all have ways of testing opportunities that enter our lives. Some of us just dive right in based on feeling, others walk straight into what they know is right by a gut feeling or intuition. And if it’s not gut feelings or emotions that are the tests of opportunities, it is the logical mind persuading us to ignore those feelings and emotions and test it with our reality of reason.
Most of us do not have a predetermined strategy for testing opportunities, or even more generally to test the actions we take and the choices we make in our lives.

There is an easier way to determine if our choices we make and the opportunities we receive ‘pass the test’. This simple 32 word statement of business ethics was first created in the 1930s and used to turn around a failing company. These four questions were applied by each employee to each and to every minute detail of the company’s workings. This little list of four questions from Rotary International, a humanitarian business organization, is the most widely printed, translated and reproduced piece of business ethics today:
“Of the things we say, think or do:1. Is it the TRUTH?2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?”
If we built businesses and our lives based on these very simple 4 questions we would be coming from a place completely the opposite of the competitive mind and the lack mentality. As you can see, these questions prompt you to choose what is true, fair, and good, making choices that can build friendships and goodwill. It helps us to see how the choices we make can be beneficial to all concerned.

Because of our societal influences, we most often are inclined to make choices and act based on a competitive mind. This comes from the perspective of lack, scarcity, and ultimately greed.
Any opportunity based on the model of competition and lack will simply not pass the test. Competition promotes strife. It embodies winning one spot, taking it away from all the other people who want it. It misleads people to believing there is only one chance for success, when in reality there is plenty for all.

The competitive model encourages people to rely on a source outside of themselves to give them what they need. This denies the power of their own ability to create what they want. This narrow focus shows they are choosing to ignore the possibility of creating this opportunity in their own lives, instead of trying to win the spot from millions of others.
This simple testing technique takes us completely out of the competitive mind of greed, scarcity and lack. It turns our thoughts and choices toward the positive, realizing there are opportunities we can take that can provide increase for all concerned.

I invite you to use these questions to test your actions and opportunities in your life. If you are seeking opportunity, these questions may help you see things in a different way. In doing this, perhaps you might find an opportunity in your life which truly allows you to benefit the world, while at the same time reaching whatever your dreams, goals, and desires are.