Business Time Management

The target has the smallest circle in the center, (the bull's eye), with concentric circles gradually getting larger around it. Hitting the bull's eye is the objective as it produces the most points. As the circles move further from the center, they get larger and produce fewer points.

The activities that comprise the running of a business can be prioritized using an archery target model. Let us assume that the main goal of a business is maximum profitability. Each business will have core activities that most DIRECTLY affect profitability.

It is up to each business owner to identify these activities, as well as ALL the activities required to run the business. Make a list of all the activities.

Next, on a large erasable white board, draw an archery target. It should be plainly visible from your primary work space.

Take your list of all your business activities, and assign point values to them based on how closely they affect the profitability of the business. The points will be anywhere from 5 points for the most important activities, to 1 point for the least important.

You will assign ZERO points to non productive activities.

During your business day, each 30 minutes (approx) you will review the activity you are performing. You will walk up to the erasable board, and draw an arrow to the circle that provides the points you have just earned by performing the activity.

If you have performed a mix of activities, select the activity that you spent the most time on during that time block. The bull's eye, for example, would earn you 5 points for that block of time.

Your daily objective is to earn more points than the previous day. If you manage to beat your daily scores for a week, be SURE to reward yourself!

This business time management system is SUPER powerful because it develops an acute, conscious awareness of what tasks you are performing throughout the day.

In a relatively short time, you will find yourself "naturally" performing more productive activities!

Keep a weekly total of your scores, and strive to beat the previous week.

A good system is to make a list of tasks for the day and to score them on your list from 1 to 4 in order of priority so that you can see at a glance which tasks take priority over others, try to do this as honestly as possible; however tempting it is to rank the things that you like doing higher than those you dread, the list needs to reflect accurately how important each job is.

Once you have prioritised, you will need to allocated chunks of your time to each task, this will help you dedicate yourself to each job for a period of time without jumping to something else and leaving things unfinished. Remember to allow some flexibility in your plan for unexpected events; although no one can plan completely for the unknown, it is wise to try to factor it in.

Next ensure to keep the plan logged in an accessible, visible place, if you work best with paper, have a wall chart planner or desk diary in plain view, if you prefer technology an online diary or spreadsheet may suit you better, as long as where ever your plan exists it remains with you throughout your day.

Wasting time is very easy to do, a couple of over-long phone conversations and an hour spent chewing over a few ideas you had the previous evening and you could find yourself well off schedule for the day; if you are prone to letting time melt through your fingers employ deadlines to keep you on track. Fix the deadlines in place and remind yourself of what will happen if you miss them; financial loss is often a strong incentive.

Above all, however many 'urgent' matters compete for your attention throughout the day it is vital to hold fast to your plan. Insisting on an attempt to keep all of the balls in the air at once will not make you a hero; focus is the business owner's best friend, so, pick a task, concentrate on its conclusion and do not allow anything bar a forced evacuation of your work place to divert you.

Business Sales

1 - Understand What Your Market Actually Wants

It is important to do research and listen to what your market actually wants. If you are selling oranges for example, and your market wants apples don't go and pitch about oranges as no one will care. Either find a market who wants oranges, or start selling apples instead! Give them what they want.

2 - Package Your Offer Using Your Customers Language

Your customers will use certain words and act in a certain way. If you can tap into this and understand your customers neurology then you will earn trust and respect quickly. Your prospects will feel like you know them already. This is very subtle, but very powerful.

3 - Be Certain About Your Offer

People are going to do a deal with you on faith that you will supply a product or service. Ultimately they are buying you as a person after what you have promised. If you cannot be certain about what you are offering, your prospect isn't going to be either, you have to go there first and get them to follow you.

4 - Aim To Please Your Target Market, Not Everyone

Don't try and be a jack of all trades to please everyone, it will never happen, and you just end up watering down your expertise. Instead try to please a specific person with the specific offer you have. This is the quickest way to double your sales quickly and easily.

5 - Stick To Your Strengths At Selling

There are so many different ways of selling, be it online, face to face or telesales for example. I know people who prefer telesales as they don't feel confident standing in front of people, I know people who stick to online and use client attraction models so they don't have to engage anyone in the first instance, and then there are people like me who love face-to-face interactions. Just stick to what you are good at and enjoy it!

6 - Learn From Objections

Receiving objections is part and parcel of sales, accept this and don't get worried about it, start having fun with them instead. Always have a go at challenging an objection; you will be surprised how often giving a reason or further explanation will overcome them. Also, if you don't overturn it on that occasion, you can prepare how you would react next time it comes up.

If you apply each of the sales tips free beginners guide to your offer, you will find your confidence will increase and more people will take you up on what you have to offer.

Any business owner or entrepreneur, including you, can improve their selling skills and OBLITERATE your fear of selling forever

Business Marketing

Most professionals want to increase sales and online visibility and those of you in this category should consider using Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube as your main social networking choices. Facebook has some good applications too, like Facebook Connect, however, I've found this to benefit big brands in particular. For example, Ben & Jerry's promotes new flavors and solicits votes for brand building and to drive traffic to their stores through their "fan" page on Facebook. If you can think of a promotion and tie it into a major cause, this could be effective for you. Remember how CNN promoted the presidential election campaign using Facebook and Twitter to disseminate information to their audiences? CNN's screen still says, "Follow us on Twitter" and, by following, I'm able to keep track of breaking news.

I've been using Twitter since the summer of 2008, mostly for business purposes like networking, brand building, sharing news, marketing tips, stats, new products, events and for following trending real-time information. Check out Twitter's "trending topics" to quickly track the most popular topics. Breaking news often appears first on Twitter. Why? Because that's where the reporters and the media think their audience can be found.

Think about your own behavior. Have you noticed a change in the way you consume your news and information? If so, your customers are probably experiencing the same. Just the other day, my 95-year-old aunt asked how to go on Twitter because she wanted to keep her friends and family abreast of her surgery. She already uses AOL for e-mail. She may set a record for the oldest tweeter and it goes to show you that all ages are using social networking sites.

How Twitter will change the way we live, according to TIME Magazine

Time Magazine just featured a Twitter post on the June 5th front cover issue that said, "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live." The article points out, "it's just as easy to use Twitter to spread the word about a brilliant 10,000-word New Yorker article as it is to spread the word about your Lucky Charms habit." It takes five to seven times to repeat your marketing message before most people take action and social networking can make this easier for you.

These services are free communication tools and you can easily stay abreast of news and industry data, but you can also share your insights and expertise. Did you ever notice how all these social media Web sites have a search box? Everything begins with "search" -- whether you're using Google, YouTube or Twitter -- and the most recent statistics show the YouTube's has become the second largest search site on the Internet. Many users are searching for "how-to videos" and you could be the professional they find and need. You can easily establish yourself as a thought leader in your area of specialty and people will start to follow you based on the terms you use in your tweets or blog posts. It's also easy to search and find followers on Twitter, as it's all about what are you doing now?.

Thirty minutes per day

My social media marketing strategy is for brand building and to increase sales and visibility. First, you need to know your target market. Mine are baby boomer business owners, CEO entrepreneurs, self-employed and marketing professionals looking for integrated marketing campaigns and more visibility using online PR. They are typically involved in private equity, investment real estate and financial and professional services. My posts and tweets are usually around money and marketing/PR -- my specialties. Are you marketing to baby boomers, affluent seniors, self-employed professionals, or physicians? More than likely, they are using these sites to find timely information and they could be finding you.

How often do I use Twitter? I use Apple's iPhone app- Twitterfon (it's free) on my morning Ferry commute to my office and a few times during the day. It's similar to how I check my stocks and read Bloomberg News. You can also conduct fast research, using the search function. I find this very effective to get facts or current news for articles and/or PR stories I'm writing.

TIP: You'll definitely see a spike in your blog/Web site traffic when you add links to all your posts, tweets, Web site, and all other online tools. For example, I've been producing and hosting Webinars for four years and consistently attract more than 200 callers each month. I teach these tips and strategies in my MP3 series on Webinar Marketing. My last speaker got 21 qualified leads and only spoke for seven minutes.

Business Communication

1) Pay attention to physical cues. Experts say that when you meet someone, you have just ten seconds to make an impression on them. Elements such as eye contact, a firm handshake and a calm speaking voice are all part of the communication you are delivering or the interaction you are facilitating. Keep checking the other person's non-verbal cues as well to adjust your approach, mirroring their style - are they friendly or formal? Do they appear open to closer talking or prefer to have more space between each other? By answering to these questions in real time and adjusting your physical style appropriately, you can easily make a potent first impression.

2) Employees come first. Meet with employees one on one at regular time intervals. Experts recommend weekly meetings and advise both parties to come prepared with updates or issues for discussion. This is a perfect time to discuss career path strategies for your employees as well. You can also take the time to inform employees of any performance issues that have arisen, giving them time to mark improvements before any formal reviews.

3) Take advantage of presentation training. Group speaking skills are critical, and especially important for small businesses looking to grow referrals and network in their industry or market. In addition, be able to effectively communicate to employee groups to build credibility and ensure consistent messaging about your expectations.

4) Be careful with emails. Know the difference between what messages can be delivered via email and what must be discussed in person. As a rule, save more emotional matters for face-to-face discussions. On the flip side, learn how to become more succinct with your e-mail communications to ensure you're delivering the facts and outlining appropriate action steps so that everyone is clear on your requests. A good rule of thumb: write the way you speak and remember that longer is not necessarily better.

Continuing to develop interpersonal communication skills is never something that should take a back seat. Simply put, how you communicate is just as important - if not more important - than the product or service you are trying to sell. In our rapidly changing and fast-paced business environment, building relationships is critical to the success of any business. For small businesses in particular - that may not have a formal communications function - every individual in the business is a part of the communications effort.



1.      Auto responder is the most powerful marketing tool to help you to setup your e-mail marketing campaign. It is also a very powerful tool that will help you to communicate with your subscribers on a regular basis and helps them provide quality information through e-mail. This will help you to build solid relationship with them.

2.      You can also use the power of telephone to communicate with your clients and boost your relationship with them...

3.      Step 2 - Use the massive power of telephone through teleseminars.

4.      There are many services that will help you to conduct a simple seminar where you can present powerful content and information to your clients using telephone and interact with all of them using a simple centralized conference system.

5.      This will easily help you to boost your trust factor with your clients and boost your relationship with them as well as provide them quality content and help them out to solve their problems.

6.      You can also conduct an audiovisual presentation to explain your clients some complicated concepts...

7.      Step 3 - Setup a highly powerful webinar and provide them an audio visual presentation. Webinar is a powerful online presentation where your clients can watch your computer screen as well as hear your voice. They can actually see live as to what you are doing on your computer and this can help you to easily explain them some technical topics very easily.

Much of this can be directly attributed to the amount of business done via email. In fact, I'd reckon that such a figure is continually increasing because of our increasing reliance on many written forms of communication, from the aforementioned emails to instant messaging to texting.

When communicating in written form, we suggest you stand by the following guidelines:

• Set a clear objective for the communication. What is its main purpose?
• Consider your recipients and make a mental (or written) note of what information they will need in order to realize your purpose.

If you're writing a more real-time correspondence (e.g. IM, SMS, Twitter), try to keep each response to a single idea to avoid confusing the person on the receiving end. For emails, on the other hand, these best practices should be kept in mind.

• Anticipate as many possible questions as you can. Go through the gamut of the how, what, when, where and why, provided that each one is appropriate for the corresponding receiver (if they already know what a project is about, for instance, there's no need to repeat it).
• Organize your communication in a logical manner, the same way you would structure an essay. Start with the main idea, then lead down to the relevant details.
• Focus on clarity. The beauty of emails is there's no value in being flowery. It's all about being able to relay your message in a way that the reader will best understand.