Digg it UP - Business

Finding Joy Through the Human Connection
Every time the phone rings, every time you hear that tentative “hello,” every time a customer walks through the door is your opportunity to make a human connection. The words that you say and the way that you say them create an opportunity for joy. The connection that comes from two people speaking and listening to each other can be a joy or a labor. The difference is in the vocal picture you present. You can look at every contact as an opportunity or a trial but when you focus on the energy and excitement you stand to gain from each exchange, these contacts turn into your opportunity for joy.Joy can make hours fly by, laughter ring, and smiles aboun

ith their homework, gives them a bath and puts them to bed.

She sits down to relax in front of the TV with her husband around 9:00pm and has some ice cream f:00am to start this routine all over again.

Now, let me ask you a question

Do you feel like you know and understand your prospective client better based on the general description (age, family status, etc.) or based on the detailed 'character' description about Mary Smith and her typical day?

Which description would best enable you to create effective marketing messages?

Which description would enable you to select places to put your marketing messages to reach this ideal client?

If you're like most people, your answer is the detailed c

Starting Your Own Courier Service
Sooner or later everyone has dreamed of quitting their job and starting their own business. Unfortunately the main thing that stops or prevents someone from making the dream a reality is usualy what I call the 'two F's', and this is 'friends' and 'funds'. You can probably understand 'funds' as a lack of money needed, but why 'friends' ? Because I have said and I have heard others over the years say 'I am thinking of starting my own business', as soon as you say this to your friends, do they tell you it's a great idea ? No, they tell you 'oh it will fail', or 'there's no money in that' or some other negative comment, friends very rarely tell someone 'hey that is

When you are marketing and selling a product or service, it's key that you understand who you are talking to.

Who is your ideal customer?

Who has a problem that you, your product or service can solve?

Who would be most interested in your product or service?

Who is most likely to buy your product or service?

Once you identify who the best customer or ideal client is for your product or service, write a description of that person.

How old are they?

Are they male or female?

Where do they live?

What kind of work do they do?

What do they do for fun?

What is the problem your product or service can help them solve?

Are they affluent or is money tight?

You may not have all the answers to these questions, but do the best you can to write a detailed description.

Once you have completed the description, take it one step further: Create a character.

What exactly do I mean by that?

Picture in your mind, a single person who embodies all of these characteristics. Once you have a picture in your mind, begin to think about who this person is.

Here's an example

Let's say you are a wellness coach or fitness professional and your ideal client is a middle-aged, overweight woman who does not currently take very good care of herself, but wishes to drop a few pounds and get healthier.

First, here's a description

She is a woman between the ages of 35 and 50 years old; she's married with school-aged children; she works full- or part-time; leads a stressful, busy life trying to manage her family and work responsibilities; doesn't take very good care of herself because she's always caring for others; is 20-30 pounds overweight as a result; and doesn't eat very healthfully.

Now, here's how we create a character

First, we give her a name: Mary Smith

Then we imagine how her typical day goes, as follows:

Mary gets up at 6:00am and fixes breakfast for her two elementary school-aged children. She helps them get dressed and ready for school. She makes their lunches. She kisses her husband goodbye as he leaves for work, and proceeds to get ready for work herself.

Mary loads the kids in the car, drops them off at school, and heads to work. She works in a busy office, and rarely takes time off for lunch. Because she usually doesn't make time to pack her own lunch, she often runs out for fast food or another quick take-out lunch, and returns to the office to eat at her desk while she works.

At about 3:00pm, Mary needs a pick-me-up so she grabs a soda and a sugary snack from the vending machine.

Mary leaves the office at 5:30 and heads to the babysitter to pick up the kids. They arrive home between 6:30 and 7:00pm, tired and hungry.

Dinner is often fast food, frozen pizza or another quick meal, usually lacking in solid nutrition.

After dinner Mary helps the kids with their homework, gives them a bath and puts them to bed.

She sits down to relax in front of the TV with her husband around 9:00pm and has some ice cream f:00am to start this routine all over again.

Now, let me ask you a question

Which description would best enable you to create effective marketing messages?

Which description would enable you to select places to put your marketing messages to reach this ideal client?

If you're like most people, your answer is the detailed ch

7 Crucial Reasons Why You Need To Market Yourself As An Expert Starting Today
With the phenomenal rise of media outlets such as cable TV, online networks, blogs, podcasts, and more, never before has the demand for quality information been higher. From magazine publishers to bloggers, expert opinion is needed to provide valuable content for listeners, readers, and web surfers.As a business owner, you can take what you already know and use it to your advantage by branding yourself as an expert. With the right combination of expertise and visibility, you create credibility. And with credibility, doors open. Here are 7 crucial reasons why you need to market your expertise starting TODAY.Reason #1: Experts get thousands of

have all the answers to these questions, but do the best you can to write a detailed description.

Once you have completed the description, take it one step further: Create a character.

What exactly do I mean by that?

Picture in your mind, a single person who embodies all of these characteristics. Once you have a picture in your mind, begin to think about who this person is.

Here's an example

First, here's a description

Now, here's how we create a character

First, we give her a name: Mary Smith

Then we imagine how her typical day goes, as follows:

At about 3:00pm, Mary needs a pick-me-up so she grabs a soda and a sugary snack from the vending machine.

Mary leaves the office at 5:30 and heads to the babysitter to pick up the kids. They arrive home between 6:30 and 7:00pm, tired and hungry.

Dinner is often fast food, frozen pizza or another quick meal, usually lacking in solid nutrition.

After dinner Mary helps the kids with their homework, gives them a bath and puts them to bed.

She sits down to relax in front of the TV with her husband around 9:00pm and has some ice cream f:00am to start this routine all over again.

Now, let me ask you a question

Which description would best enable you to create effective marketing messages?

Which description would enable you to select places to put your marketing messages to reach this ideal client?

If you're like most people, your answer is the detailed c

Bye Bye Boss!
So you have this great idea and are convinced that you are the right person to make it work. 75% of people starting their own job are motivated by the idea of starting a new career. The other 25% is made of unfortunate victims of lay-offs or company restructuration. Those have less chance of succeeding because success is first and foremost a matter of attitude. Based on some studies, only 10% of people are made to be an entrepreneur. Are you one of them?Do you know how to sell yourself? Do you know your market? Do you have a good network of contacts? Can you handle the risk of having no revenue for a while? These are all questions you should ask yourself

old; she's married with school-aged children; she works full- or part-time; leads a stressful, busy life trying to manage her family and work responsibilities; doesn't take very good care of herself because she's always caring for others; is 20-30 pounds overweight as a result; and doesn't eat very healthfully.

Now, here's how we create a character

First, we give her a name: Mary Smith

Then we imagine how her typical day goes, as follows:

At about 3:00pm, Mary needs a pick-me-up so she grabs a soda and a sugary snack from the vending machine.

Mary leaves the office at 5:30 and heads to the babysitter to pick up the kids. They arrive home between 6:30 and 7:00pm, tired and hungry.

Dinner is often fast food, frozen pizza or another quick meal, usually lacking in solid nutrition.

After dinner Mary helps the kids with their homework, gives them a bath and puts them to bed.

She sits down to relax in front of the TV with her husband around 9:00pm and has some ice cream f:00am to start this routine all over again.

Now, let me ask you a question

Which description would best enable you to create effective marketing messages?

Which description would enable you to select places to put your marketing messages to reach this ideal client?

If you're like most people, your answer is the detailed c

Tennis Warehouses
Tennis is a sport that is played between two players or between two teams of players. This game is played with a stringed racquet and a felt ball in a lawn, open ground or even an indoor stadium. When played outdoors, it is usually played on the grass court, clay court or even on hard court. This sport is fast gaining popularity and is being played by men, women, and children of all ages. Various national and international players encourage the game and advertise towards its promotion. Manufacturers fabricate various tennis gears such as clothing and other accessories for the sports personnel, which are then put up for sale in malls and stores. Numerous brands

At about 3:00pm, Mary needs a pick-me-up so she grabs a soda and a sugary snack from the vending machine.

Mary leaves the office at 5:30 and heads to the babysitter to pick up the kids. They arrive home between 6:30 and 7:00pm, tired and hungry.

Dinner is often fast food, frozen pizza or another quick meal, usually lacking in solid nutrition.

After dinner Mary helps the kids with their homework, gives them a bath and puts them to bed.

She sits down to relax in front of the TV with her husband around 9:00pm and has some ice cream f:00am to start this routine all over again.

Now, let me ask you a question

Which description would best enable you to create effective marketing messages?

Which description would enable you to select places to put your marketing messages to reach this ideal client?

If you're like most people, your answer is the detailed c

Management of Non Profits; Are all Non-Profits Inefficient?
Most business people feel that Non Profits are highly inefficient like government agencies. Few would deny that government agencies are inefficient, yet many hold short when criticizing non-profits; why is this? Well we know from watching disaster response that many non-profit groups operating on a shoestring get the job done. They are often much more efficient than government throwing huge amounts of money at each problem.Are all non-profits inefficient or just the large organizations? Are non-profit groups inefficient in all nations? One business management consultant recently spoke of the situation in Canada; Rather, I have seen governmental and non-p

ith their homework, gives them a bath and puts them to bed.

She sits down to relax in front of the TV with her husband around 9:00pm and has some ice cream f:00am to start this routine all over again.

Now, let me ask you a question

Which description would best enable you to create effective marketing messages?

Which description would enable you to select places to put your marketing messages to reach this ideal client?

If you're like most people, your answer is the detailed character description because it turns a generalized description of your ideal client into a person you can understand. A person who has very clear challenges and issues you can help solve.

Yes, you will be making some assumptions and generalities when you do this. That's okay. Just consider you are creating a character that represents the type of client you would like to reach with your marketing. This character is merely a representation.

Combine the character description with a photo

To further identify with your ideal client, you may even want to post this character description along with a photo cut-out from a magazine to represent him/her, as a reminder of who you are marketing to.

Creating a character brings your target audience to life

It allows you to market and speak to people. It enables you to create messages that touch those ideal clients and truly address the challenges they face in their daily lives. It allows you to see how you, your product or service fits into their lives as a solution to those problems.

It enables you to market more effectively

I challenge you to look at your target audience description and take it one step further and create a character. Then make sure all of your marketing is designed to speak to that person in language that resonates with them and helps them see you understand their issues or needs.

Try it. I think you'll find that your marketing becomes much more powerful and effective as a result.

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During the past decade, I have noticed the prevalence of name changing, as I am sure you have also. Several of the organizations with which I am involved have chosen new and different names that they feel represent them and their missions more descriptively. Companies who were ready for a new start have changed names to reflect a new attitude, direction and/or focus. Some of these changes have made a positive difference, others have just caused confusion.

We all have a chair that designates a position in our career. For most of us the position, the responsibilities, the growth prospects and many such factors decide if we are happy in our seat?

To propel your job search into new territory, you need to locate the unadvertised job opportunities. Few job seekers know how to tap the hidden job market where these unadvertised positions can be found. This article explores this hidden sector of the job market and the best ways of tapping into this goldmine.

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