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Suggest You - The Howl --- Monthly Newsletter -- Issue #1
OK, so you took the plunge and purchased your internet domain. Good for you! Now what? According to Google.com there are about 8,058,044,651 current web pages. That's billion with a "B"! So how do you stand out?The first thing you should do is stop using a free email service. More often than not, a potential client will delete your email if they are not familiar with whom it is coming from. Think about what you do with emails that you are not familiar with. Having your domain name in the "From" field lets them know that it is you and your business that is calling on them. Plus, don't you want your business name in front of as many eyeballs as possible?If you use a free or fee-based email service (Hotmail, Yahoo!, AOL, Earthlink, etc.) then at least make it work for you. Having an email named wilsonwidgets@hotmail.com is much more identifiable than wilwid123@hotmail.com and again puts your companies name in front of the client. If you choose to send email via one of these services then most people will assume that you do not have a web presence and that can reflect negatively on your brand.The best way to present your identity to your clients via email is to make sure that they are reading what you are sendi
Examine the following tips and I think you’ll be able to figure it out
• Start at the begi
1. Be all things to all people in your business. Even though you've chosen a niche and created all that marketing material around it, go ahead and say yes to every request and whim of your clients, customers, employees, vendors and well, everyone else as well. They will appreciate it even if you are exhausted, confused and poor. And they will be loyal at least until your business folds.2. Do everything yourself. After all it is cheaper that way! Don't know how to keep the books, spend 16 weeks in a course that teaches you the basics, or better yet, just wing it. They say the IRS is nicer these days. Never worked on a computer? How hard can it be? Geeks do it every day. Just get in there and start reading those manuals. The customers can wait til you get it done. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day.3. Don't listen to anyone else, especially those who have already made it. After all, you're really smart and enthusiastic. That should be enough. You can certainly figure out how to do almost anything. Just because they've already done it many times over, doesn't mean you have to listen to them. Why save time and money and pass on all that on-the-job learning you'll get!4. Expect the worst so you
This initial groundbreaking issue contains:
What’s the Rave about RONA?
Client Corner ---- Questions and comments from the industry – The Cry-Baby Sales Person
Are Employees Really Your Most Precious Asset?
I have yet to walk into a distributor during my thirty five years in the industry that didn’t have some form of this statement about the value of employees printed somewhere. A mission statement, in their employee handbook, on a poster on the wall, the company newsletter and even in the strategic plan for the very few that actually have a strategic plan. However, when I think about it, I almost want to puke. Why? Because the majority of the distributors that make this claim have no idea what it really means to treat their employees like their most important asset.
Listen carefully, if you don’t treat your employees like your most important asset --- Then they certainly will not act nor will they perform like your most important asset. And that means you are missing the greatest opportunity in the world to leverage talent in creating competitive advantage in your market place. Make no mistake, it is your employees that create core competencies and core competencies create competitive advantage.
Kudos to every distributor out there that has figured this out but you are in the minority. Treating your employees as your most precious asset is not a mystery. It’s not rocket science. It’s actually fairly simple. WARNING! Lip Service about it isn’t good enough. Putting it in your mission statement, posting it on the wall, publishing it in the company newsletter doesn’t mean crap if you don’t act on it. Acting on it means spending money. Invest in the greatest power you have for achieving success. Your employees. Don’t cut training and education from the budget every time there is an economic hiccup.
Examine the following tips and I think you’ll be able to figure it out
• Start at the begi
This is not a course in how to get rich by embezzling funds from the company your work for but a group of suggestions on how to protect your company from this heinous crime.Embezzlement is defined as theft of money or property from a business by someone who has custody of the funds or property. Often embezzlers are the people you would least suspect. After all you wouldn’t put your money into the hands of someone you didn’t trust now would you? So don’t get fooled by an innocent looking face. Of course not everyone you meet who comes across as trustworthy is a crook in disguise. But by putting into place a few simple procedures you can protect your company.First of all whether you are just starting in your business or been in business for awhile, educate yourself in the basics of bookkeeping. You should be familiar with the terms used and their definitions as well as the proper flow of paperwork.Secondly know how to read your financial statements. Understanding the types of accounts and how they increase or decrease as transactions are posted will help you see when things just don’t look right – a possible sign that someone is dipping into your funds for their own benefit. You should at the very least have a
Client Corner ---- Questions and comments from the industry – The Cry-Baby Sales Person
Are Employees Really Your Most Precious Asset?
I have yet to walk into a distributor during my thirty five years in the industry that didn’t have some form of this statement about the value of employees printed somewhere. A mission statement, in their employee handbook, on a poster on the wall, the company newsletter and even in the strategic plan for the very few that actually have a strategic plan. However, when I think about it, I almost want to puke. Why? Because the majority of the distributors that make this claim have no idea what it really means to treat their employees like their most important asset.
Listen carefully, if you don’t treat your employees like your most important asset --- Then they certainly will not act nor will they perform like your most important asset. And that means you are missing the greatest opportunity in the world to leverage talent in creating competitive advantage in your market place. Make no mistake, it is your employees that create core competencies and core competencies create competitive advantage.
Kudos to every distributor out there that has figured this out but you are in the minority. Treating your employees as your most precious asset is not a mystery. It’s not rocket science. It’s actually fairly simple. WARNING! Lip Service about it isn’t good enough. Putting it in your mission statement, posting it on the wall, publishing it in the company newsletter doesn’t mean crap if you don’t act on it. Acting on it means spending money. Invest in the greatest power you have for achieving success. Your employees. Don’t cut training and education from the budget every time there is an economic hiccup.
Examine the following tips and I think you’ll be able to figure it out
• Start at the begi
There is a tool available for making money which is so powerful that you'll never find a successful entrepreneur without one. This tool is inexpensive, available everywhere, and you probably already have one you aren't using. I'm speaking, of course, about the humble notepad.If you think I'm exaggerating the importance of this little item, visit an office supply store. Take a look at the notebooks and notepads they have for sale. There will be two basic types in various sizes: simple paperback notebooks for students and elaborate vinyl or leather versions for businessmen. Next, ask yourself this question: Who would buy a $79 leather-bound journal when there is a perfectly good $1.29 notebook not three feet away?Someone with money to spend. Someone who considers it to be very important.You should take recording your thoughts seriously too. When you have an idea that might make money, write it down -- period. No matter how busy you may be, no matter who you are talking to, scribble out 5-10 words and put the pad away. Don't be embarrassed. If anything you will appear more professional and go up a notch in the eyes of your peers.Even ideas that seem completely out of reach should be record
Listen carefully, if you don’t treat your employees like your most important asset --- Then they certainly will not act nor will they perform like your most important asset. And that means you are missing the greatest opportunity in the world to leverage talent in creating competitive advantage in your market place. Make no mistake, it is your employees that create core competencies and core competencies create competitive advantage.
Kudos to every distributor out there that has figured this out but you are in the minority. Treating your employees as your most precious asset is not a mystery. It’s not rocket science. It’s actually fairly simple. WARNING! Lip Service about it isn’t good enough. Putting it in your mission statement, posting it on the wall, publishing it in the company newsletter doesn’t mean crap if you don’t act on it. Acting on it means spending money. Invest in the greatest power you have for achieving success. Your employees. Don’t cut training and education from the budget every time there is an economic hiccup.
Examine the following tips and I think you’ll be able to figure it out
• Start at the begi
There are a couple of factors to take into consideration when deciding on a major: your career and your soul. If you're lucky, you can pick a major that's good for both of them.Satisfy Your Soul: What Do You Like To Study? What Interests You?Where I went to college, the truism for picking a major went something like: "This is such a good school that all people will notice is your degree. Therefore, you can feel free to major in anything you like. When you go out to look for a job, the fact you went to school here will be more than enough." If you attend an institution with a similar philosophy, you will be encouraged to follow your passions when choosing a major, to forget about practicality and applicability.There are many benefits to choosing a major based solely on what you like to study and think about. First, you will be happier than picking something more practical that you hate. Secondly, if you are studying something that really lights your intellectual fire, you're bound to do better academically, which, in addition to being its own reward, will bring even more rewards down the road. Finally, while a college education should help you get a job, it is also an end in itself. Knowledge is its own reward. Beside
Kudos to every distributor out there that has figured this out but you are in the minority. Treating your employees as your most precious asset is not a mystery. It’s not rocket science. It’s actually fairly simple. WARNING! Lip Service about it isn’t good enough. Putting it in your mission statement, posting it on the wall, publishing it in the company newsletter doesn’t mean crap if you don’t act on it. Acting on it means spending money. Invest in the greatest power you have for achieving success. Your employees. Don’t cut training and education from the budget every time there is an economic hiccup.
Examine the following tips and I think you’ll be able to figure it out
• Start at the begi
Delegation is based on respect. You need to respect the person to whom you delegate. They, in turn, will not want to do the tasks, unless they respect you.The best way to delegate is in person. Giving someone a task face-to-face is ideal because you can get a sense of the person you are dealing with. You can tell if someone is happy to do a task for you, or if they are actually resentful. Establishing the bounds of your delegating relationship is important.When you ask someone to do a job in person, it is best to do it two ways: orally, and in writing. This way you both know what has been said and the expectations are clear from the outset. Make sure that you both know the what, when, why, and how of the situation.One reason to avoid asking people in email or on the phone is that it feels impersonal. You are asking a favour, and it behooves you to be polite and take the other person’s reaction into account. You will be unable to gauge their reaction if you are not in person.If you must delegate over the phone or via email, however, be sure that you do it politely. Get feedback from the person to whom you are delegating.Politeness is a must for all areas of delegation, regardless of the
Examine the following tips and I think you’ll be able to figure it out
• Start at the beginning, examine your hiring practice. The first thirty days of employment are critical. Create a buddy sponsor and pay the buddy $100 to guide the new employee the first month. Let the new employee choose his buddy after two weeks. Can you imagine the cooperation and help the new person will get that first week. Make sure you have a legitimate documented employee orientation program.
• Identify training needs throughout the organization. Create a training matrix. Allocate funds. Develop an intern program for leadership candidates that show exceptional promise. Create mentoring programs. Train your managers on coaching and mentoring. Don’t forget education. Reimburse tuition; create specific educational curriculums for specific management level employees. Create a company university program.
• Burn the annual appraisal forms. They are worthless. Create an obligation for all managers to spend a minimum of thirty minutes a month discussing performance and opportunity with their direct reports. Record it on a 3 x 5 card. This will make annual performance reviews meaningful because you now have data for the entire year, twelve mini reviews.
• Statistics and surveys prove that the majority of employees that leave their employers do not leave due to pay. Employees want to be treated like people. They want respect and trust. Employees will not start respecting their leaders until their leaders start respecting them. They will not start trusting their leaders until their leaders start trusting them. Ask yourself how you would want your managers to treat your son or your daughter if they worked for them? Some of you have family in the business.
• Fairness---- Employees want fairness in all their dealings. This starts with fair pay. Is it your goal as a company to pay at or above market? This includes base pay, benefits, recognition and other non monetary rewards. Fair an
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