Social Media Management - Watching the Chick-fil-A Cows

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Enzo F. Cesario


What can you do as a small- or medium-sized business owner to increase your reach with your customers? One smart idea is to look at what the big guys are doing. One company that is maximizing its marketing efforts online and offline is Chick-fil-A, the second largest chicken-based fast-food restaurant in the United States.

They do a great job of entertaining in their television commercials and their billboards. These are one-way communications. They also have two-way conversations with their people online. And here is where they are setting themselves apart from the rest of the pack.

Let's start by looking at their website - chick-fil-a dot com.

Their website is well designed, pretty robust, and is a great informational tool. It is easy to navigate through the massive amount of information including nutritional information, company history and an entire section devoted to the cows. It's a fine website. But there are other things these guys are doing to create a conversation with their loyal customers and potential clients.

Cows all aTwitter

If you look at their social media aspect, their Twitter account specifically, they are broadcasting statements from their customers. If someone is ordering something online, they'll say, "Hey someone in Texas has just ordered some great food online." That's a fun way to give their customers a platform or voice.

Cowbook

Also their Facebook page is huge. They have a tremendous fan base and the page is a kind of a hub where customers can come in and chat with each other and talk about the brand and actually help build the brand.

Cow-site

Lastly, there's a new micro-site they just launched just recently. It is EatMoreChikin dot com, hosted by their famous cows, who take matters into their own hooves. But it's a fun, entertaining site that gets you involved. You can see that there is an interaction and playfulness and a back-and-forth with customers.

So, to wrap up, Chick-fil-A does a really fine job of having multiple digital assets online. What they do is to start a conversation. You can do the same thing with your business online with social media, with a micro-site, maybe even with an email campaign.

You have to remember that you have to give people something. You have to give them a reason to come back. You have to give them a platform to have their voices heard. These are simple things that a brand can do to get people interested in them and they will reward you with their loyalty. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money and you can reap the benefits until the cows come home.


About the Author:
Enzo F. Cesario is an online brand management specialist and co-founder of Brandsplat. We are social media consultants. Make your site more findable and your brand more recognizable. For the free Brandcasting Report go to http://www.BrandSplat.com/ or visit our blog at http://www.iBrandCasting.com/


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Impactful Talent Management: The Five Essential Dos

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Andria L. Corso


Talent Management Programs can seem daunting and cumbersome to leaders and HR inside organizations. Yet, when you refer to the "talent" of the company, you are referring to the most precious commodity within an organization. Companies do not exist without people and when you think of and plan for the appropriate development of these precious commodities, things can get complicated and seem complex. However, if you keep in mind that people are people and we are all one of them, it really can simplify what often seems to be quite complex. We all know how we like to be treated and what motivates us and keeps us engaged in our work. We all also know that this is unique for everyone; however, if you follow the Five D's of Impactful Talent Management (or consider these the five "dos"), your organization can implement impactful yet simple talent management and development programs.

1. Define What You Are Talking About.

The first "Do" is to have clear definitions. You want to be clear what you mean when you refer to the "talent" of an organization. Is it the entire workforce or is it a subset of the workforce who is considered "talented"? Most companies use talent synonymously with "employees" or "workforce"; yet, some refer to "talent" as the high potential employees. Neither is right or wrong, but the most important thing is to be clear with your definitions. If talent equates to the overall workforce, then who are the high performers or high potentials? Are they just that (high performers or high potentials) or are they called something else that distinguishes them from the overall workforce? Whatever you decide to call your workforce and your high performing and high potential employees is fine; just remember to define it clearly and be sure everyone is on the same page and speaking the same language. You must also define the critical roles and leadership positions within the company that require the development of specific talent and skills. These types of skills required can then become the focus of the development programs for the talent in the organization. Defining all of these things to ensure that everyone is speaking the same language is the first "Do".

2. Describe What It All Means; Be Transparent.

Next is to be transparent about the talent management definitions, process, and programs. You must be open with your workforce so that they understand what it all means to them. Refer back to the opening paragraph about treating people like people and reflect for a moment about yourself. Do you operate much better and feel much more comfortable and confident when you have an understanding about your career development and the process your company employs to manage and develop employees? The same applies to the rest of the workforce in your organization. They want to know how they are performing and understand what their potential is and what their possible career paths may be. Be up front about this information with the employees and be sure they are well educated on what it takes to advance within your company as well as what it means if they choose not to advance.

3. Discuss Career Aspirations With Employees.

This next "do" is vital to ensuring that your talent management and development programs are impactful. You must know what employees' career aspirations are before planning out their career development path. You must also know what motivates and inspires them at their particular career stage (i.e., young professionals might be motivated by something drastically different than mid-career professionals who have families at home). Often times, leaders decide that an employee is high potential and could possibly be the next CEO of a company because of the employee's performance and drive. However, what if that employee has no desire to be the CEO of the company? It is unlikely that this individual will continue to be successful moving toward that position if he or she does not want it and are not committed to doing what it takes to get there. You must have an open honest discussion with employees about what their aspirations are and whether or not they are willing to do what it takes to reach their desired goals. In the same vain, it is important to know if employees' aspirations are completely out of alignment with their performance. For example, if an employee expresses desire to be the CEO of the company but, based on past performance and a seemingly unwillingness to take on new assignments, it is clear to the leaders and HR that this person will never advance past a Director-level position, then someone must let this person know the hard truth. Someone must tell him that his aspirations are not in alignment with his performance and then let him know what he must do to better align with his aspirations. It then becomes the employee's choice as to whether or not he can or will make the effort to do what is required and becomes a test of time to determine whether or not he can be successful in his efforts. It is truly impossible to plan appropriate talent development without understanding the individual employee's career aspirations.

4. Decide Who Belongs Where.

This next "do" is when the various talent identification processes and tools come into play. After you have your definitions of the "talent" in the organization and the critical positions for which you need to ensure you have a pool of skilled employees for, it is time to decide who belongs in which category. This is also where leadership and 360 assessments and performance ratings, as well as the important career aspiration discussion results come into play. These all aid in determining who has the skill and the ability to take on certain positions and who may have the potential to be in a role eventually, but perhaps may need some additional development to prepare for the specific role. These decisions around who belongs in what talent pool and who is considered a high potential versus a subject matter expert, versus a critical technical leader will all feed into the specific talent development plans for the workforce.

5. Differentiate The Development.

The final "do" is to actually pull together specific and differentiated development plans for the employees. This type of development can take several formats. First, you want to consider development for all; that is, the general leadership development and basic technical skill development that will be required of all employees in the organization. Next, you want to have special differentiated talent development for the high potential employees who will be the future senior leaders of the company or have been identified to fill critical technical positions in the future. Oftentimes companies have very targeted and focused development courses for this population. And lastly, you want to be sure each employee (especially those high potential future senior leader) has a specified, differentiated development plan to address his or her specific development needs. This type of plan needs to be developed in conjunction with the employee, their leader and the HR department so that it is a managed plan. This will help to ensure that these individuals get exactly the type of growth they need to be ready for the future critical leadership roles.

If we go back through these five "D's" to simplify yet create impactful talent management solutions, we can see how they all are items that each of us, as individuals, would respect and want from our companies and leaders. Remembering to treat people like we want to be treated keeps things in perspective and oftentimes can help simplify seemingly complex items.


About the Author:
Andria Corso is an Executive Coach and Human Resources leader who works with clients to develop leadership skills and talent strategies that align with business strategy and drive results. She is the principal owner of C3-Corso Coaching and Consulting, a premier executive coaching and strategic HR consulting firm specializing in the design of customized coaching and performance excellence programs for companies looking to increase employee engagement and deliver outstanding results. Visit http://www.andriacorso.com/ for more information on how C3 can help you or your company.


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5 Ways to Save on IP Telephony with Call-Accounting Software

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Alexander Anoshin


A call-accounting solution is a regular companion of any telephony system. To manage your personal expenses for paid calls, you can get by information from your telephony service provider, who uses a call-accounting system to control their client calls. To manage effectively expenses for thousands of paid calls made each day by your employees through your enterprise VoIP network, you need your call-accounting solution.

Learn how you can reduce your employee telephony costs with enterprise call-accounting software.

1. Limit Your Expenses for Paid Employee Calls

Call-accounting software receives call detail records (CDRs) from your IP PBX, processes these data and provides you with various reports that you can use to find out who spends the most on paid calls and why. With this information you can set up your call-accounting software to:

limit such expenses for each user or user group individually;

restrict paid calls, when a limit is reached;

deny access to long-distance calls for selected users or user groups.

You can restrict calls to suspicious numbers, too.

2. Restrict Calls to Flagged Numbers

After you analyze your CDR reports, you can wish to eliminate calls to special countries, cities or certain phone numbers. Call-accounting software allows you to set such restrictions both for all users and for any user or user group individually.

You can also track calls to flagged phone numbers with immediate automatic notifications sent to an appropriate person in your organization when a user dials such number. Thus you will make your employees more responsible using corporate VoIP and save yourself from unnecessary expenses. (For example, this facility can help schools and colleges prevent false calls to emergency organizations.)

Another way to pay significantly less for phone communications is to limit employee private calls.

3. Stop Paying for Private Employee Conversations

If your CDR report analysis highlights unnecessary use of long-time/long-distance "friends and family" calls, you can limit these expenses by:

limiting duration of local private calls and restricting them during peak phone network load;

restricting long-distance private calls.

CDR report analysis can help you also detect peak periods and timely assume the necessary measures to improve both your employee productivity and customer satisfaction.

On the other hand, you can sharply decrease your telephone expenses by re-billing charges to appropriate users and user groups.

4. Allocate Call Costs to Appropriate Budgets and Save Time on Daily Accounting

If you use a shared telecom service in a hotel, a motel, an educational institution or a condominium, then you need an easy-to-use tool to allocate timely telecom costs to corresponding users and user groups.

For example, if you manage a hotel, you can use your call-accounting software to provide your quests with timely information about their phone conversations and re-bill them for their costs. Or, if you have to administrate a VoIP network of a university, you can use this software to set different usage rules/limits for students, lectures and staff.

Call allocation also saves time of your accounting staff, providing them with daily reports on expenses of each user/user group in a convenient form to process further.

If you consult your clients by phone, you can bill them for their conversations, too.

5. Bill Your Clients for Phone Consultations

If you are a lawyer, a government contractor, a psychologist or some other specialist, who consults his/her clients by phone, you may want to bill your clients for your phone calls. With CDR reports you can get complete information about your client calls (such as client phone number, date, time, length, cost) and send invoices to your clients for the corresponding amount of consultation.

Case Study: Call-Accounting Software for a Large Manufacturing Enterprise

Today's of "out-of-the-box" software contains various call-accounting applications, however, larger enterprises may require a custom solution. For example, to cut employee communication costs at a large manufacturing enterprise and ease the management of a VoIP network of a few thousands of Cisco IP phones and dozens of Cisco CallManager servers, custom software was developed that provided:

settings to limit expenses on paid calls of each user/user group individually and restrict paid calls when a limit is reached;

connectors to the existing accounting, HRM and inventory software to streamline daily tasks of the staff to allocate

+ to allocate timely phone costs to appropriate budgets,

+ to manage phone numbers and automatically update corporate address book,

+ to do phone inventory at all enterprise sites from a single working place.

This custom call accounting and VoIP management solution proved to significantly cut telecom and IP telephony management expenses.

Conclusion

As statistics show, an average enterprise spends about 3-4% of its annual total expenditure to telecom communications. You can use call-accounting software to

limit your employee expenses for paid calls;

eliminate long-time/long-distance "friends and family" calls;

make your employees more responsible using enterprise VoIP network;

save time and money on daily accounting tasks related to processing of paid call data;

re-bill your clients/employees/departments for their charges and, consequently, decrease your phone expenses by about 12%, depending on your phone usage.

About the Author:
You can learn how to empower your enterprise with VoIP in the book, "The Connected Enterprise", here http://bcs-it.com/books/connected-enterprise/ The free e-book, just as the article, was written by Alexander Anoshin, the CEO of BCS-IT, who specializes in VoIP solution development for enterprises.

5 Savvy Ways to Make the Most of Your Call Accounting Software

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Alexander Anoshin


If you are looking for a savvy way to improve your business efficiency with a low input, learn 5 call accounting tips to increase your enterprise VoIP network ROI.

1. Cut Your Employee Telecom Expenses

Call accounting software can help you not only calculate your employee telecom costs but also decrease them sharply. To do this you should:

analyze thoroughly various reports that your call accounting software builds on the base of call detail records (CDR records) received from your IP PBX;

determine:

+ the longest and the most expensive calls,

+ which employees spend the most for phone conversations,

+ contribution of these calls to your business development (for example, select communications with high-value prospects and "friends and family" calls);

set a number of rules for your employees to eliminate unnecessary calls;

setup your call-accounting software to:

+ limit employee expenses on paid calls,

+ restrict paid calls if a limit is reached,

+ deny access to long-distance calls,

+ group calls by users/user groups and allocate expenses properly to correct budgets (enable charge back to departments, cost centers and clients).

You can also make special settings to make your staff more responsible using your enterprise VoIP network.

2. Make Your Employees More Responsible Using Corporate Telecom Resources

Telephony network misuse/abuse often causes excessive telecom costs. To eliminate these expenses and make your enterprise IP telephony network even more profitable you can:

examine CDR reports to check if your employees observe your telephony usage rules (let us consider two striking examples: an employee calls to a corporate toll free number using a mobile phone that results in paying twice for his/her calls - for the toll free call plus the mobile call or employees use external conferencing services instead of using your IP PBX conferencing features);

setup your call-accounting software to

+ restrict calls to flagged numbers, cities, countries,

+ track calls to/from suspicious phone numbers with immediate automatic notifications sent to an appropriate person in your organization when such number is dialed/called from (for example, this facility can help schools and colleges prevent false calls to emergency organizations or protect your employees from threatening/abusive calls).

Besides, all the above can help you improve your employee productivity and save time and money on daily tasks.

3. Enhance Your Employee Productivity

Use the facility to group automatically calls by users/user groups to both speed up and simplify your accounting staff daily operations and always have timely information on expenses of each phone user. For example, if you manage a hotel, your accounting staff can use call-accounting software to provide your quests with information about their phone conversations any time they need it.

On the other hand, CDR reports can help you:

determine peak phone network hours and compose an appropriate call plan;

select "friends and family" calls and set a number of rules to limit them (by duration/cost or in peak load hours);

control productivity of your call-center staff and sales managers and assume timely measures to improve it.

Thus you will simultaneously increase your customer service quality.

4. Improve Your Customer Satisfaction

Get from CDR reports the answers to such questions as:

Do your client calls stay unanswered?

Do your employees return calls in a timely manner?

Does your staff give adequate attention to your high-value customers? etc. and take necessary measures (see above) to both improve your customer satisfaction and turn prospects into your clients.

CDR report analysis can also help you control your marketing and advertising ROI.

5. Measure the Efficiency of Your Marketing Efforts

To get well-timed information about the efficiency of your marketing and advertising campaigns, you can direct phone inquiries to a dedicated extension and track incoming calls with your call-accounting software that will become your easy-to-use tool to control marketing ROI and timely stop losing campaigns or enforce the winning ones.

Case Study: Call-Accounting Software for a Large Manufacturing Enterprise

Today, many vendors suggest "out-of-the-box" call-accounting software with various functionality for companies of various sizes. But, sometimes, the deployment of a custom call-accounting solution can be more advantageous. For an example, to:

increase the efficiency of a VoIP network with about M Cisco IP phones and N Cisco CallManager servers,

speed up employee communications by decreasing time, wasted on searching for a necessary contact information at a large manufacturing enterprise, special call-accounting software was developed. It provides:

various CDR reports to analyze employee calls;

settings to manage/limit expenses on paid calls of each user/user group individually and restrict paid calls when a limit is reached;

connectors to the existing accounting and HRM software to streamline corresponding daily tasks of appropriate staff members:

+ to allocate timely phone costs to appropriate budgets,

+ to manage phone numbers and automatically update corporate address book;

multi-location inventory facility to do phone inventory at all enterprise sites from a single working place.

Deployment of this solution proved to cut telecom expenses and essentially increase employee productivity.

Conclusion

As it was shown above, you can use call-accounting software with extended settings and wide reporting facilities to:

control your employee telephony costs;

make your staff more responsible using corporate telecom resources;

increase employee productivity and save time and money on daily tasks;

improve your client satisfaction;

control the efficiency of marketing and advertising efforts and take timely measures to increase it,

and thus make several important steps towards your business prosperity.


About the Author:
You can learn how to empower your enterprise with VoIP in the book, "The Connected Enterprise", here http://bcs-it.com/books/connected-enterprise/ The free e-book, just as the article, was written by Alexander Anoshin, the CEO of BCS-IT, who specializes in business IP telephony solution development.


Read more of Alexander Anoshin's articles.

How You Can Beat 97% Of The Pack

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Scott Bywater


When I was seventeen I remember doing a program called Discovery.

I think I was the only teenager who paid for half the fee and begged and pleaded their parents to let them go.

Basically, it was a course which taught a lot of life skills from motivation to how to deal with conflict... kind of like an Anthony Robbins for teenagers.

Anyway, I remember them doing this exercise at the course where they talked about how when a plane flies from Sydney to New York, it is off course for about 97% of the flight.

But it always reaches its destination.

And there's a very simple reason for this. The pilot knows where he is going. The pilot has a flight plan. And the pilot knows how to get back on track.

And if the pilot isn't paying attention, the auto-pilot adjusts the plane automatically.

Pretty cool, huh.

And here's the thing: when you are clear on your goals and where you are going, you have your own automatic pilot which keeps you on course.

For instance, if you're a real estate agent and know you want to double your income by the end of the year and have that goal in mind, then you are unlikely to be pulled off course by...

negative thinking

the latest business idea

avoiding the hard yards such as making the phone calls or distributing the letters and thank you cards etc.

NO, you're going to be focused on where you want to go. And your unconscious mind is going to be working with you instead of against you, sort of like your own personal co-pilot.

So do yourself a favour and set some goals today.

And then break them down into...

12 month goals

12 week goals

12 day goals

12 hour goals

It's certainly worth doing.

Just take a look at this story I first heard from motivational speaker, Brian Tracy...

In 1953, researchers surveyed Yale's graduating seniors to determine how many of them had specific, written goals for their future.

The answer: 3%.

Twenty years later, researchers polled the surviving members of the Class of 1953 - and found that the 3% with goals had accumulated more personal financial wealth than the other 97% of the class combined.

So make the decision to write down your goals today.


About the Author:
Scott Bywater is a direct mail copywriter and the author of Cash-Flow Advertising. To get access to his highly prized complimentary copy of '7 Ways To Get More Customers" (valued at $29.95) and to join his controversial and insighful "Copywriting Selling Secrets" newsletter where you'll uncover the truth about why most ads and sales letters don't work (and how to make yours stand out from the rest) head on over to his web site at http://www.copywritingthatsells.com.au/


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Business Turnaround: An Overview of How to Best Enhance Your Company's Finances

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Thayne Carper


A successful business turnaround requires the owner to take certain steps to become a profitable enterprise. By taking the following actions, you can reorganize your company and produce positive cash flow.

1. Good decision making requires a stable environment.

In order to transform your business into a more profitable enterprise and achieve business turnaround, you must take action and stabilize the situation. In doing so, you will have the opportunity to make good decisions that benefit your company. It is essential that you create and then maintain a positive cash balance; otherwise, your business can fall into serious debt from which it will never recover. This kind of cash management will keep your business alive as you make decisions that affect your company in the short and long term.

2. Discover the root cause of your company's issues.

You will not achieve a business turnaround without identifying and then repairing the problems your company faces. You must carefully study why your business has financial problems and use comparative financial analysis when making this determination. It may be your costs are too excessive when compared to revenue. Perhaps an unexpected competitor has taken some of your sales.

3. Make the necessary changes to make your company profitable.

You may have to reorganize your business in order to become profitable. You must identify which products or services make money and which don't. The products or services that are profitable are the foundation of your reorganization; you should maintain those while discarding the ones that are not money-making.

4. Create a plan that your creditors will back.

The relationship between your business and its creditors must remain positive. You must keep them updated on your objectives, forecasts, and how you will change your company so that it becomes profitable. Creditors want to know your business turnaround plan; they want to trust the debtors are doing all they can so that the creditors will receive a good return on their investments. For this reason, you must apprise them of any kind of business turnaround plan so they can make any necessary concessions.

5. Prioritize how you will reimburse your creditors.

A good business turnaround plan would have you sort your creditors in two groups: those that you depend on and those you can replace. It is important that the business owner maintains strong connections with the first group, whereas the second group is not a priority, and you can consider hiring a debt negotiator to get out of these debts.

6. Carefully execute the plan.

Business owners often fail to execute their business turnaround plans. Such plans require persistence, yet business owners sometimes grow impatient and turn back to sales instead of focusing on their cash flow and working with their creditors. As a result, nothing will change and there will be no real recovery.

7. Expand or sell the business.

Finally, business owners should know when to maintain the company and when to sell. After using your business turnaround plan, the company will, ideally, become profitable. The business owner will then have learned from previous mistakes, and the company will thrive and grow. However, the owner may simply lose interest in the business and should sell while it remains a profitable enterprise.


About the Author:
Thayne Carper spent 4 years of college competing in student business plan competitions. He's never won a business plan competition and was dropped from his college's entrepreneurial program for lacking potential. Today, he is one of the youngest published experts on the topic of business turnarounds and cost reduction. Visit his website lower supply costs up to 30% for a copy of his report "The Definitive Guide to Doubling Your Profits in less than 6 Months" and learn how you can easily lower supply and service costs up to 30% without hiring a consultant. Learn more: http://www.ThayneCarper.com/


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Nine Policies That Greatly Improve Collections in Your Dental Practice

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Peter Gopal, Ph.D.


Many dental offices lose between $10,000 and $50,000 annually, year after year, due to deficiencies in Accounts Receivable management. Sadly, some of them don't even know how much money they are leaving on the table.

With a systematic process for collecting monies that are owed, a practice can drastically reduce the revenues that remain uncollected. Sound - and profitable - collections begin with the following policies.

Nine Collection Policies for Your Dental Practice

1. Do not schedule any treatment without providing the patient an estimate. If the practice is providing a full treatment plan to the patient in writing, be sure to state that the treatment could change and hence the estimated cost could also change. Also, state that the estimated costs are valid only for 90 days, as fees are subject to change.

2. Both your clinical staff and your business staff must learn to communicate value regarding treatment. Front desk staff must be confident in asking for money.

3. Assign a single staff person to take full responsibility for Accounts Receivables (A/R). Request periodic reports from this person and review them carefully. These reports must be put out once per month or more frequently. Set standards and targets for A/R totals and A/R age and communicate them clearly to this staff person. Discuss the status on A/R at Team Meetings.

4. Base all staff bonuses on collections, and not on production. This ensures that everyone has a vested interested in collecting payments that are due to the practice.

5. Notate or designate patients with a poor payment history in your records and take particular care to enforce financial policies with these patients.

6. Do not seat any patient in a treatment chair who has not signed a Financial Policy Sheet, which explains the financial policies of the office and clearly defines the patient's financial responsibility.

7. Support your staff in enforcing the financial policy, as some patients may try to negotiate special discounts or different terms for payment. With the exception of Senior Citizen Discounts, no other price cuts or concessions should be offered. You run a professional practice, not a retail store. Once financial policies are set in place, your front desk staff should not consult the doctor regarding granting a discount when the patient is still in the office. Some patients may ask the front desk staff to ask the doctor if he or she would give a discount. Your staff should simply say that the doctor does not get involved in financial decisions.

8. Invest in software training and be sure to sign up for technical support. Maintain a binder with notes regarding the software. Staff turnover is inevitable, and having in-house notes will make it easier to train the new person. Make sure at least two staff members know how to use the software. The doctor needs to know the capabilities of the software, but does not need to know its intricacies.

9. Set up software privileges in such a way that no staff member can delete accounts. Only the doctor/spouse should have this privilege. Provide only one or two staff members with the access and password to alter accounts and enter checks and other payments. Other staff members should have access to the schedule and be able to answer the phone and schedule a patient. They should also be able to read account balances, but not have the privilege to alter balances.

With support from your staff, you should be able to implement the above system in 30-45 days. You'll quickly be on the road to collecting more money with less hassle, leaving you more time to treat patients and enjoy dentistry.


About the Author:
Peter Gopal, PhD, together with his wife, Hema Gopal, M.B.A. and D.M.D., consults with dentists who are intent on building a more profitable practice. Whether you are leaving money on the table due to broken patient appointments, improper scheduling, poor case acceptance, low hygienist productivity, excessive overhead, or unnecessary reliance on PPOs, they can pinpoint your weaknesses and prescribe remedies. Receive a free, realistic assessment of the earning potential of your dental practice by going to: http://www.visionary-management.com/assessment.php

Internet Fax Services - Which One Is Right For You?

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Titus Hoskins


Online or Internet fax has become extremely popular in our ever-increasing mobile society and workplace, mainly because with this modern way of faxing you can take your faxing with you, no matter where you go. While it is far too early to forecast the demise of the traditional fax machine, the writing is on the wall. This is one form of "cloud computing" that's here to stay.

Internet fax is often referred to as email fax because you use your email system and your Internet connection to send and receive all your faxes. You sign-up to an online fax service provider where you're given a local or toll-free fax number. There is no need for an extra fax phone line since everything is handled through the web. Your faxes are sent as email attachments, usually in Tiff or Pdf formats.

If you're in need of online faxing, there are many top-name Internet fax service providers to choose from. Average monthly charges run around $10 a month, but there are cheaper rates and plans out there, especially if your faxing needs are minimum. Since this is an ongoing business expense, it pays to do your homework and shop around. If you choose wisely, you can save significant amounts of money, especially over the long term, .

But which fax service is right for you or your company?

First, you must make a close examination of your own faxing needs. Do you or your company depend heavily on faxing to bring in sales, for contacting clients, or for communicating with your employees? If you need a robust faxing service with thousands of faxes sent and received each month, then you have to be extra careful when picking your online faxing service. Are their services 100% reliable? Can they handle your heavy faxing? Are the rates competitive with using a traditional fax machine?

Now on the other hand, if your faxing needs are very minimum or low, you probably only send 4 or 5 faxes a month and they're not crucial to your business, then choosing an Internet fax service will require less consideration. Keep in mind, you still want a good quality service but you can probably get a service for under $20 a year if you shop around.

Regardless of which type of service you're seeking, here are some common points or a checklist of things to look for when choosing an online fax service.

1. Check the monthly fee or charge. The average is around $10 but there are cheaper ones which you can choose. Also keep in mind, some of these services also offer bundled plans which include voice mail, call-waiting, call-forwarding... or a virtual PBX service which may be well suited to you or your company especially if you're operating a home business. Charges will be higher, but they will be much less expensive than setting up a real system with phone lines and receptionists. Just consider the virtual PBX option, especially if your overall business operating funds are low.

2. Check the set-up fees or charges. Most online fax services don't charge a set-up fee but there are a few that do. Don't necessarily rule these companies out because of the set-up fees but just be aware of them.

3. Check the number of Free Faxes allowed each month. The average is around 300 (incoming/outgoing) faxes each month, but these numbers will differ depending on the company or even the fax plan you choose. Also check how much it costs for faxes once you go over the allowed monthly limit, rates can be anywhere from 3 cents to 10 cents per fax. Might not seem like much but like phone bills, these costs can quickly add up.

4. Check if your service is completely scalable for companies. One of the great advantages of using an online fax service, it can be scaled up or scaled down very quickly and cheaply since you don't have to install extra hardware such as fax phone lines or fax machines. Most of the better known fax services are completely scalable but also check before you sign-up.

5. Check the online storage amount and how long your faxes are stored online. With most fax providers you are given an online account or interface which you can use to check and send your faxes. Your faxes are also stored online here so check for how long and what amount of storage you get with the service. You should also check how exactly are your faxes sent, many companies have a desktop application you can use besides your online account and/or your email system.

6. Finally, check to see if the service offers a 30 Day Free Trial. Most Internet fax services offer this feature and it is a great way to thoroughly test-run the quality of a service before actually buying. This way, if the service or provider doesn't meet your needs or come up to your standards, you won't have lost any money.

Finally, if you take into consideration all of the points mentioned above when checking out the different fax services, your job will be much easier. Just remember, like buying any product or service, find one that perfectly meets your needs and you won't be disappointed. Choose wisely.


About the Author:
For more information on Internet Fax Services use this handy online Comparison Guide to get your own: online fax service. Or if you want more detailed information on Internet Faxing try here: internet fax services.

Copyright (c) 2010 Titus Hoskins. http://www.bizwaremagic.com This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.


Read more of Titus Hoskins's articles.

Four Tips For Creating An Effective Authors' Resource Box

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Bill Platt


In article marketing, there are many factors that will affect your articles' ability to promote your website in the most effective manner. In this article, we will briefly discuss a couple those factors, before we dive into how to create an effective Authors' Resource Box, also known as the About The Author Information.

Before the Authors' Resource Box

Hands down, the most important element of a successful article is its title. Your title must serve three masters: the publisher, the reader, and the search engines.

Before anyone can see your article, you must attract the interest of a publisher. Your title will determine how many publishers open your article, in the process of determining whether your article will answer the needs of his or her readers.

Unless a publisher decides to publish your article, your article will be forever confined to a few article directories - very few article directories have any real traffic, beyond the writers who go to that site to get their own articles submitted.

Your article title is essential to getting your article opened by publishers first and readers second. You need publishers to open your articles, so that they can consider them for publication. Once a publisher has decided to publish your article, you need readers to open your article and read it. Better than that, you need readers to reach your resource box and a visit your website, so that they can consider purchasing what you sell.

The third master that your article title serves is the search engine algorithm. Once your article is published on a third-party website, you want the search engines to find it, to index it, and to present it in its search results. But, as an individual who plays the search engines, you also want the search engines to credit your website as being related to the anchor text that you used in your links.

After The Title

Once a publisher has opened your article and began reading, you want that publisher to decide that the article content is appropriate for his or her audience.

Your title will only ensure that your article will be opened. But, it is the body of your article that will determine if a publisher actually uses your article. Your article must answer a need of people in the publishers' target audience. If the publisher determines that your article content is not relevant to his or her audience, it does not matter how good your article might be.

Beyond relevance, the publisher must consider the article to be interesting and useful to his or her audience. As an article writer, you serve the publishers' needs and the publisher serves the needs of his or her audience. Ideally, your goal when writing the article should be to answer the needs of a publishers' audience. In doing so, you can gain the approval of the publisher, who stands between your article and your intended audience.

Your first master is the publisher. Without the support of publishers, your articles cannot be exposed to a much larger audience.

Your second master is always the reader. The reader must appreciate what you have written. If the reader appreciates the story that you have told, then your reader will want to read your resource box, to determine whether you can offer them more... A satisfied reader, who is also intrigued by your resource box, is someone who will be very likely to visit your website, through the link in your resource box.

Your third master is always the search engine algorithm. Once again, you want the search engine companies to acknowledge the link from a third-party website pointing to your website, and also the relationship of your anchor text keywords to your website.

The Money Shot

The publisher is seldom concerned with your actual Authors' Resource Box. The only time a publisher will shoot down an article, based on its resource box, is when it contains offensive language or links to offensive websites.

When you construct your Authors' Resource Box, there are four goals that you should seek to accomplish with every single article you write.

First, you want to define an author. People, who have read your article, want to know about the person who has written it.

Some marketers want to leave a name off of the Authors' Resource Box. This is frequently done for one of two reasons.

First, companies may want to separate its content from the people who have written content. Companies rightfully consider the article to be part of the intellectual property of the company; therefore, no individual should be given credit as the author.

Second, individual website owners may want to hide behind the anonymity that the Internet offers to them.

Articles do have the capacity to deliver real people - shoppers - to your website. If your goal is to attract real people - potential customers - to your website, it will be imperative to allow your reader to connect to an individual author...

This is not to say that you have to use a real name in conjunction with your article. In fact, many marketers utilize multiple pen names, with the articles that they publish online.

For example, I utilize article marketing to promote dozens of websites online. In doing so, I utilize a new pen name with every new website I promote. Anson Werner writes about travel. Barry Prouty writes about WordPress blogs. Emerson Lockwood writes about home improvement.

Anson Werner is not real, but he is one of my alter egos. Anson lets me write about other topics that interest me, without watering down my online persona.

Anson's most important role is to give readers a connection to an online personality, a name through whom they can find other articles of a similar nature, written by the same person.

Anson gives identity to the person responsible for the creation of the content, for the reader.

The flipside is suggesting that "Business Name" wrote the article, but that is such a disingenuous method to identify the person, with whom the reader had felt a connection.

The only thing worse than trying to convince the reader that a "Business Name" wrote the article, is to try to convince the reader that "No One" wrote the article... If you try the "No One" approach to taking credit for the authorship of the article, you will have stepped beyond the obvious, little white lie and entered into the territory of convincing the reader that you have a good reason to hide. If you must hide from your audience, then why should they trust to give you their money?

The second thing you want to is to provide a strong call-to-action to your readers. If you got a reader to open your article and read it to its conclusion, then you should absolutely be interested in getting that reader to visit your website to consider buying what you are selling.

But so many people lose the race right here, by providing either no call-to-action or an ineffective call-to-action.

The people who have just read your article are primed to do what you want them to do. But you have to tell them what you want them to do and why.

Don't miss this opportunity to encourage your readers to visit your website and buy what you are selling.

The third item is a plain text copy of the link to your domain, which is your opportunity to brand your website with your articles. This is an opportunity that is overlooked by most article marketers.

Many article marketers make the mistake of believing that the only thing that article marketing is used for is to influence the search engine algorithms. They quickly forget that before the search engines find value in a page, people will be reading the articles.

By only providing anchor text links, your readers will not know which website supported the development of an article. But, if people know the name of your website and why they would want to visit your website, then people will be more inclined to type the name of your website into their browser bar, rather than to look for you on the search engines.

35% of my global traffic comes from people who type in the URL of my website into their browser bars.

Additionally, you want to include a plain text copy of your URL, as a matter of self-protection, if the publisher does not publish your article with your anchor text links.

The fourth and final item you want to include in your Author's Resource Box is your anchor text links, which explain to the search engines what keywords best define your website.

If you use more than one anchor text link in your Author's Resource Box, then you should point each one to a different URL, to maximize the value your website will receive from the search engines. This will show the search engines that more than one URL on your website is worth consideration, and it will help your overall ability to find visitors from the search engines.

In Conclusion

Too many article marketers have the idea that article marketing will only serve one master - Google. But Google will find your articles hard to appreciate if real people do not also appreciate your article...

When publishers appreciate what you have written, they will put your article into their website, giving you access to their audiences. The more publishers, who appreciate what you have written, the more of them who will publish your article, which will give you even more links from your articles.

When readers appreciate what you have written, they are very likely to visit your website to see what else you can do for them.

If you desire only to chase search engine rankings, then that is your business. But wasn't the original purpose of chasing search engine rankings to attract potential customers to your website? So, why not chase publishers, readers and search engines with your articles?


About the Author:
My name is Bill Platt. If you enjoyed this article and found it useful, then you will love my newest article marketing ebook titled, "How To Use Article Marketing To Positively Impact Your SEO Efforts". It is 70-pages of hard-hitting information about how to make your article marketing truly profitable: http://thephantomwriters.com/ebooks/article-marketing-seo.html Or, you can get warmed up with my free "Article Marketing: Beyond The Basics" ebook at: http://thephantomwriters.com/ebooks/advanced-article-marketing.html

Online Brand Building By the Numbers

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Enzo F. Cesario


In the process of building your company's online brand, you're going to have to deal with a veritable ton of information. We have discussed how the practice of Web Analytics can quantify all manner of data such as number of users, the location of visitors, and changes over time, all intended to allow you to analyze your brand's performance. However all the information in the world isn't going to do your online marketing efforts a bit of good if you aren't able to measure it against carefully chosen benchmarks of performance. In short, you need to identify your metrics.

What is a Metric?

Boiled down, a metric is some unit of measurement intended for you to compare current information to previous information, and to evaluate the difference in light of your goals. An example of a metric is the Conversion Rate, which is typically defined as the number of visitors who took a desired action divided by the total number of visitors in a given time period.

Metrics vs. Goals

It is important to understand the metric is not the goal itself, but rather the way to measure that goal. For example, visitor traffic numbers in a given month (quantity + time) is a metric. It is a unit of data that can be compared to other units. Trying to increase user traffic is a goal that can be evaluated for success by the use of metrics (i.e., if user traffic decreases from one month to the next, the goal has failed).

Setting Your Metrics

The keys to every metric are universal: quantity and time. Visitor rates per month, unique visitors per quarter, bandwidth use before and after an advertising campaign—each of these is based on a quantifiable measurement within a predetermined timeframe. The key is to have a piece of hard information that can be compared between two points.

In the online branding arena, there are numerous metrics you can choose to help evaluate your brand's performance.

Usage statistics - Hard numbers that can be compared by date, user statistics are essential and vital. This category includes numbers of unique visitors, time spent viewing each page, how frequently certain videos are downloaded, and the like.

User Commentary - While this may seem a more qualitative category, there are actually several ways that user comments can be judged in mathematical terms as metrics. Evaluators can measure comment proportionality (percentage of positive, neutral, and negative commentary per product, for example). Including a rating system enhances this effort, as it allows comments to be summarized, reducing the time spent on reading and interpreting the text itself, if necessary.

Social Media Influence - Social Media venues are the newest and most efficient source of word of mouth press. Being linked through a popular blog or Facebook page can spike a brand's visitor statistics overnight. In this case metrics can include the number of link-backs spread around various Social Media sites, or the popularity of a site's own SM pages in various communities.

Timing is Everything

The Web is a place where time becomes downright bizarre. Companies start overnight and fold just as quickly, so the perception is that any changes have to be immediate and drastic. The problem is that this can be utterly counterproductive to good metric analysis. Metrics take time to properly analyze, and indeed are useless without the consideration of timing.

Consider a webpage that gets a total of twenty-one unique visitors. This doesn't actually say anything in and of itself. Now, compare a page that gets twenty-one unique visitors per week, and one that gets twenty-one unique visitors per minute. Suddenly a comparison can be made. This is it the essence of metrics, comparison over time.

You must establish realistic time goals for your brand, so you can logically evaluate the impact of various decisions and procedures. To do otherwise is simply robbing yourself of any way to use the vital data you're gathering properly.

Some sample time benchmarks include the obvious daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and quarterly periods. These should be examined in a before-versus-after context. For example there is Burger King's quirky Ugoff campaign, which ran for a single summer in 2004. The metric in question would be the number of Burger King salads purchased before, during, and after the campaign.

A Parting Thought

It is important to remind yourself that a metric is not the goal. Just as importantly, remember that the metric is not the brand itself. Metrics are measurements. The brand is something that can be evaluated in the light of the metrics you choose, but the brand is greater than the sum of its parts. It is a thing distinct unto itself, the image of your organization that is presented as a combination of the actual quality of a product and peoples' perceptions thereof.

Consider very carefully what exactly your brand is, and what you want the brand to be. Compare the two honestly and carefully, and you will find that the metrics you need to evaluate the success of your brand are actually quite easy to discern.




About the Author:
Enzo F. Cesario is an online brand management specialist and co-founder of Brandsplat. We are social media consultants. Make your site more findable and your brand more recognizable. For the free Brandcasting Report go to http://www.BrandSplat.com/ or visit our blog at http://www.iBrandCasting.com/


Read more Articles written by Enzo F. Cesario.

Who's Linking to Your Web Site - and What Does That Say About You to Google?

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Stone Reuning


Linking is the mechanism that connects all the pages on the Internet. You've got links throughout your web site to let people navigate their way around. You may have links going out to other web sites that you think will be useful for your visitors. And hopefully you have links coming into your web site from independent sources.

All types of links can impact your search engine optimization results, helping determine where your web site shows up online. Though the hardest to control, inbound links pointing to your site can make the biggest impact.

At its most basic, the concept is that if several high-quality sites are linking to your web site, then Google and other search engines figure your site must be a popular, valuable resource - and they will be more likely to show it higher in their search results. In effect, your site receives "link juice" from other web pages that link to it.

However, it's not enough to secure a couple links and then sit still. The Google PageRank algorithm looks at the pattern of links to your site as they build over time.

Building the right kind of links can bring a major payoff, while a wrong turn could get you penalized - and the Google Sandbox is not easy to dig out of.

Armed with a bit of knowledge and some creativity, you can build up valuable incoming links naturally and powerfully, avoiding the traps that plague amateurs.

Spice Up Your Links With Some Variety

There are all kinds of link farming schemes to grow links, and you need to run the other way from these. This is also called reciprocal linking, where you exchange links with other web sites that will then link to you on a mass scale. Warning: Google is onto this.

While it's perfectly advantageous to link to high-quality sites that also link to you, the key here is to cultivate a natural mix of links over time.

Is it natural to suddenly have 100 links pointing to your site, all with the same text? Of course not. When people link to you naturally, they might use your business name (SEO Advantage) or some variation on a descriptive phrase (search optimization company). If too many similar links exist, it can signal that those links were generated artificially and potentially result in penalties.

Also consider which pages on your site inbound links point to. Your home page is probably going to get the most, but it's natural to have links pointing to specific pages inside your web site, too. Cultivate links to your services, your blog, your news pages, your articles, etc., to help those pages get indexed and build their own PageRank. Called deep links, these can help bolster your site's overall performance.

Some links also carry a title tag, which is indicated in the source code. This is a little too technical to go into detail here, but if you can influence this you'll want both the link text and title to vary a bit among the links pointing to your site. Once again, the key is to grow your links in a natural pattern.

Not Every Link Carries The Same Value

Links from popular, established web sites usually carry the greatest value. That's because they have high PageRank from plenty of other people already linking to them. A link from CNN.com, for example, will carry much more weight than a link from a free press release distribution site that few people know of. Likewise, a link from www.sbdpro.com will offer greater impact than a link from a directory that uses no-follow tags.

No-follow tags are the bane of naive link builders. It's tempting to think you can just link to pages on your site from your Twitter tweets, Facebook and other social media applications. However, many of these sites as well as online ads and also some directories employ "no follow" tags that prevent the search engines from following a link to your site. In this case, it's as if the link doesn't exist in the eyes of the search engines. (That doesn't mean the links aren't valuable to people who find you and follow the link, it's just not helping your web site show up in Google.)

So, How Can A Business Build Incoming Links Naturally?

The mix of links created out on the web pointing back at your web site should avoid skewing toward any particular type. A good mix that you can influence may include:

Directories - Professional organizations, online communities and forums, business directories, etc. can all potentially provide good links to your site. There are several premium directories that are staples in an SEO firm's link building toolkit, like DMOZ.org. Keep in mind that your listing itself should be optimized in order to reap the full link juice benefits.

Press Releases - Writing and submitting press releases online can help you get your news in front of more people and build links to your site. (Be sure to use best practices for writing and evaluate carefully your outlets for good links).

Blogs - Link to relevant pages on your own site from your blog. Build relationships online with other bloggers, too, and they may want to link back to you! Active blogs with high visibility and large followings are going to be your best bet, but you can mix it up over time targeting lesser known bloggers, too. Keep in mind that as other sites grow in PageRank, the value passed to your site will also grow.

Create Some Link Bait - Make sure your content is so fascinating or funny that people will want to tell others about it. This is the ultimate for building naturally growing incoming links but of course hard to do.

A sample schedule could mean every month you list your site in two good directories, link to interior site pages from a couple relevant posts in your own blog, distribute one press release to news sites, and write one great article that other people may want to link to and then let them know about it.

A word about selecting outlets is in order, too. You'll need to carefully assess each place you target in order to determine the link value they can pass onto you. For example, different press release submission sites and directories can offer you a wide variety in link value. This can be time-consuming to determine but worth it when your site's PageRank starts to climb. (Find some information on how to evaluate outlets in this article on press release optimization.

See Who's Linking To Your Web Site

You can see all the links pointing to your site via a couple handy tools online. Go to Google.com to see who Google is crediting with a link to you. Enter in the search box [link:www.yourwebaddress.com] without the brackets.

Not all your links are going to show here, though, but you can use Google's free webmaster tools for more in-depth research if you're inclined. You can also use the free Yahoo! Site Explorer to see what links Yahoo! shows pointing at your site.

Every month, make it a part of your link-building strategy to check for any new links and build relationships with more web properties. After all, a link is a compliment and a great way to network in addition to an important way to build value for your web site.


About the Author:
Stone Reuning is president of SEO Advantage, a search engine optimization company that helps businesses harness the revenue generation potential of their websites. Referenced in books such as "Writing Web-Based Advertising Copy to Get the Sale" and the BusinessWeek bestseller "The New Rules of Marketing and PR", http://www.seo-advantage.com/ offers information to help small businesses compete online.


Read more Articles written by Stone Reuning.

The End Of Dumb Affiliate Marketing

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Willie Crawford


One of the saddest things that I witness day after day is affiliate marketers who really struggle to make sales. They send out email after email, promotion after promotion, yet often make very few sales.

This is not only sad, it's also needless "practice bleeding." Making affiliate sales is easy when you know the secret. It's even very scientific and does have fairly predictable results.

Let's look at what most affiliates are doing wrong, what I've termed "dumb affiliate marketing" and how that can be easily corrected.

Before I offend anyone, I should explain that when I use the word "dumb" I mean untargeted. I come from a military background, and I think of "dumb bombs." Those are bombs that are dropped off of an airplane and they tumble unguided towards a target. They may or may not hit the target but once they are released they get no guidance.

A "smart" bomb often has a built in navigation system, and after it is dropped from an airplane it often flies a precise, pre-programmed route of flight to a target - often getting satellite GPS updates enroute. A smart bomb can be dropped from miles away, and be steered right though a window on a building that the pilot flying the aircraft never even sees.

Your affiliate marketing can be just as on-target when you acknowledge and harness just a little know-how.

Promoting an affiliate product no longer needs to be a gamble.

First of all, you need to tap into data that is readily available on which products are already selling. One source of this data is the blogs maintained during many affiliate sales contests. Monitor these to see how well a given product is selling, and to see if you want to invest your time and effort into setting up a protracted marketing campaign. You can market many of these products after the big initial launch is over - often with lessened competition.

I personally also rely upon my network of friends who readily share with each other which affiliate products are proven sellers. Many of us are members of a Facebook Group called "Affiliate Products Proven To Sell." If you are on Facebook, you can join this group for free by registering at http://timic.org/APPTS

Many affiliates also struggle because they use marketing methods that are outdated, and simply no longer work. One newer method that works like CRAZY is using quality videos. You can now have CUSTOM videos created for you for under $50 each, and that includes professional voice talent. For that,

I personally use Jason Anderson's team at: http://timic.org/ProVideos

These are not PLR videos. They are produced from scratch and are mini-commercials. Mine are 1-minute because, just like your audience, viewers of my videos have short attention spans. So, take a clue from the television industry. They've mastered getting the message across in 30 seconds to 1 minute. You need to do the same.

Another fact that you need to "get" - a fact most struggling affiliate marketers still refuse to acknowledge is that your promotion needs to be for just ONE product. If the purpose of a solo mailing or ezine issue is to promote a specific product, then just mention that ONE product in the email.

Without fail, when I've tried to promote multiple products in an email, even if they were all free, overall response rate significantly decreased. I think that it's because when you promote several products in an email, it comes across as too desperate. Be laser focused rather than using the shotgun approach.

Many affiliate marketers fail to make sales because they promote something that they like rather than something customers are ALREADY buying. With so many great products out there, I do not believe in being the guinea pig. You should only promote affiliate products where the product owner has thoroughly tested market demand AND his conversion process.

It's foolish to put time and effort into promoting unproven products when you can just pick the low-hanging fruit by offering your customers the products that they've proven to you that they want.

Given that often there are numerous affiliates for a product that's a proven seller, you may need to differentiate yourself from all of the other affiliates. One easy way to do that is to offer a valuable, related bonus. I like using unique audio interviews or related courses as bonuses.

If you've taken the time to actually communicate with your subscribers and customers, your offer isn't identical to that made by others marketing the same affiliate product anyway. Just the fact that it's YOU, whom your clients have grown to know, like and trust, that's marketing the product... makes it different. The difference is that purchasing through your affiliate link is less risky.

That is one of the key factors in smart affiliate marketing. Earn their trust and the sales come a lot easier. I actually have subscribers email me doing a big product launch ASKING for my affiliate link. Over the past 13 years, I have built that kind of customer loyalty. If you work at doing that, everything else will fall in place.

Now that you know the secret, it's time to stop doing dumb marketing. If your sales aren't what they should be start by looking at WHAT you are marketing. Is it something that your customers really want? If it is, then next look at HOW you are marketing it. Read back thought this article for tips on the profitable way to do that.


About the Author:
Willie Crawford is a seasoned affiliate marketer with 13 years of experience selling goods and services online. He now spends several hours many days mentoring other online marketers on a private discussion forum that's part of a tight-knit membership community called "The Internet Marketing Inner Circle." Join them at: http://timic.org/


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The Art of Working A Room -- Networking Skills for Small Business

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 K. MacKillop


Mastering the art of effective networking marks the difference between merely successful entrepreneurs and captains of industry - the better you are at networking, the more power you wield. Networking serves many purposes, from building your customer base to providing and receiving needed resources from contacts in the business community, and anyone planning on growing a startup should devote time to sharpening their networking skills.

For many experienced entrepreneurs, networking events are the most productive way to spend their limited business-social time. For others, entering a room full of people seems overwhelming, especially if they don't know anyone else there. There are a few simple rules to follow to be successful working the room, and anyone with a little willingness can learn to be a master of networking.

Begin With the End In Mind

Before you attend any networking events, plan your objectives. Whether you have a specific business problem you need to address, or you are looking to add three solid business contacts to your network, or you need two new client leads, going in with a plan will make the time you spend networking far more effective. Attending without set objectives is far more likely to result in a lot of time spent with very little payoff.

As you become more involved in your business community, you will likely find that there are enough networking events to completely fill your calendar. There is no need to attend every event. Some organizations will meet your particular needs better than others. Try out different venues, and evaluate the outcome based on a simple rule - you should obtain at least three new contacts, leads, or pieces of useful information for every hour you spend networking. If you find yourself attending a weekly event with the same people and you are not garnering any new information or leads, consider reducing your attendance to once per month and trying different events to improve your results.

In addition to setting specific objectives, prepare topics to discuss, knowledge to offer, and questions to ask to keep the conversation going. If there is a specific referral or information that you need, make a note so you don't forget. Take your planner with you to hold business cards and take notes as needed.

Working the Room

Every networking event you attend will fall into one of three categories: you know everyone there, you know a few people, or you don't know a soul. Each circumstance requires a different approach. If you know everyone, be sure to make contact with them all. Limit your conversations to a few minutes each. If possible, make introductions between professionals you know who have something in common or complementary skills or businesses.

If you know only a few people in the room, start by catching up with each of them. Ask them who else they know and to introduce you around. Be sure you do the same by introducing the people you know to each other. Be prepared with business cards to exchange and make a habit of giving two to each new contact - one to keep and one to pass on as a referral. When you receive cards from new contacts, take a moment to note any interesting personal or business information about them to add to your contact database. If someone you meet does not have a business card, write down their information in your planner...whatever you do, never let a potentially good contact go to waste.

If you don't know anyone at a networking event, start by looking for people standing by themselves. No one likes to be on the outside looking in, and generally these other folks will also be uncomfortable because they don't know anyone. Once you have chatted for a few minutes, take your new contact with you to meet another loner, and another, until you have a group that everyone else in the room wants to join. Showing that kind of leadership will make you the go-to contact in your business community and will increase the odds of growing your business through referrals.

If the event you are attending has a "special guest" invited, most attendees will be clamoring for their attention. If the press is present, you should be talking to them. Meeting the state Senator is exciting, but knowing the local business reporter will get you more exposure and, thus, more business. Pay attention to what people are talking about and be just as interested in what you can do for them as in what they can do for you. Set an objective to be the best networking contact in your industry or area, and work every room with that intention in mind.

What to do (and not to do) at networking events

Some basic do's and don'ts of networking events:

Do dress one step up from how you expect everyone else to be dressed.

Don't make critical judgments of others based on how they are dressed.

Do carry more than enough business cards, at least one pen, and your planner or notepad.

Don't answer calls, texts, or emails while talking with others. If you must use your smartphone, excuse yourself and step outside.

Do listen to what other people need and take note - if you can help them, it will improve your reputation as a great contact.

Don't talk too much about personal things, especially if they are negative. Even if you are on the brink of divorce, your kid was suspended from school, and your dog bit the neighbor, nobody in the networking environment needs to know about it. Same goes for medical issues.

Do review your notes from the last event and follow up as appropriate.

Do not bring up negative issues in front of uninvolved contacts.

Do make a point to chat with the bartender and servers - you'd be surprised who they know and who they might end up to be.

Don't drink alcohol. Avoid eating unless absolutely starving. Food in your teeth and garlic breath is not the image you are striving for. If you must eat, take a break and be sure to check yourself in the restroom before getting back to networking. Don't try to talk to others while they are eating. Seriously, grab an energy bar on the way - why waste limited networking time on a snack?

Effective networking skills are a powerful tool for entrepreneurs, and the ability to work a room is one of the toughest to master. Use common sense and make a point of evaluating your performance after each networking event. The more self-aware you are, the easier it will be to become the go-to contact in your area and industry.


About the Author:
K. MacKillop, a serial entrepreneur with a J.D. from Duke University, is founder of LaunchX and authors a blog focused on starting a business. It is a complete business startup kit containing everything you need to turn your idea into a successful business. Visit http://www.LaunchX.com/ for a free Business Readiness Assessment and get on the road to starting a business today.


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Internet Marketing - Why 2010 Will Be A White Knuckle Ride For Web Marketers

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Titus Hoskins


Next year may just prove to be one of the most challenging times for pursuing online or Internet marketing on the web. It may just be a watershed moment for many marketers struggling to keep abreast of all the different factors which have come into play in recent months. Most of these changes will stem from two main sources for potential upheaval: the first being the New FTC (Federal Trade Commission) Guidelines regarding Testimonials and Endorsements and the second being "ALL" the recent changes within Google.

Actually, we already have the new FTC Guidelines which came into effect on Dec. 1st of 2009, but how these new rules are enforced will play out in the coming year as test-cases are brought to court. Basically, these new rules call for absolute disclosure and full transparency regarding Testimonials and Endorsements when a product or service is being offered for sale. Any business (monetary) relationship between the endorser and the company must be made known to the potential buyer. Obviously for those in online or affiliate marketing this could have a great impact if these new rules are strictly enforced. Just imagine all the website owners and bloggers who slap a few banners or affiliate links on their sites to cover hosting or operating costs... will they now have to disclose all these business arrangements?

For professional affiliate marketers and the companies/products they're promoting, these new guidelines could cause potential headaches and/or legal ramifications since a general blanket disclaimer on their sites will no longer be suffice. To help solve this problem, many of the major companies are now placing an "affiliate" tag on all their banners and making it obvious a business relationship exists with its affiliates. In addition, many online marketers are placing additional disclaimers, affiliate seals and in other ways making it known certain links are indeed affiliate links and a relationship does exist with the product and/or services being promoted.

With these new guidelines, another big issue is email marketing, one of the major marketing techniques of most online marketers. Will a full disclosure be necessary for every email sales pitch? Savvy web marketers know the key to increased sales is in the "follow-up" and the "cookie-ing" of potential buyers; how will the new Guidelines affect this very effective marketing practice? How all these new rules or guidelines play out will make next year a very interesting one for marketing on the web.

Despite this, perhaps the greatest cause for upheaval in the coming year will be Google. There are countless reasons why Google will be a major game changer in 2010 for online marketing. Ever since Bing and more recently the potential Bing/Yahoo competition, Google has gone into complete overdrive, implementing new changes and debuting new programs like there was no tomorrow.

First, we have Google Caffeine which Google is introducing (full force) early in the new year. Google Caffeine, which is a major overhaul of its search engine, will no doubt cause many a marketer some sleepless nights as the total fall-out becomes evident. Other Google updates in the past (Florida Update comes readily to mind) have wrecked havoc on many top ranking sites, but this time Google is doing things a little different and have even given webmasters a beta version of the new search engine. Still, rightly or wrongly, many online marketers are bracing themselves for the full impact of Caffeine, will it mean smooth sailing or a stomach sickening roller-coaster ride for marketers and webmasters?

Second, we have the introduction of "Real Time" search which will be featured in Google's SERPs. This will make the social media sites like Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace... much more important. Again, the implications for online marketers could be enormous since many can now reach the first page through a different route. Will it also mean more "Real Time" spam? But more importantly, will it mean a greater marketing opportunity for the online marketer who exploits it?

Third, we are seeing Google moving more and more towards "Visual Search" with the introduction of Google Goggles for mobile phones. Just take a picture and you get the Google results instantly - no typing, just point and click. Just envision countless clueless teenagers or more importantly helpless shoppers suddenly being empowered with knowledge and wisdom. Could do more for education since the invention of the printed word and the info-commercial combined. Talk about scary! But will the implications for web marketing be just as revolutionary and enlightening?

Fourth, Google has made it known through its spokesperson Matt Cutts, that site-loading times will be a ranking factor in the new improved Google. Also, proper and correct page coding will also be more important if you want your site to be at full advantage. Broken links will be a big "No-No", while linking out to important related sites a big plus. All this is only logical, Google's main product is and has always been its search results, anything which improves those results and provides a more pleasing experience for the Google user should be front and center. Obviously, one way for Google to stay on top, is to provide the best search results to its users.

Fifth, in order to please the end-user, Google is also moving more towards "Personalized Search" which will make SEO and ranking in the top spot for your chosen keywords a total nightmare for many professional SEOs and online marketers. If everyone can choose their own top results, isn't SEO more or less, a lame duck? Again, the ramifications of personalized search will further play out in 2010, but will professional marketers like what they see?

Finally, while no one would argue Google is King of the Hill when it comes to online search, will all these new changes strengthen or weaken Google's grip? Will the combined Bing/Yahoo be able to give this giant some much needed competition? Or will Google's main competition come from an unlikely source, such as big name multi-national corporations who are moving their operations online. Can these big-name keyworded domains start directly pulling in the majority of the web's traffic, making all search engines secondary? As people become more web savvy, will they go directly to what they're looking for on the web, bypassing the search engines altogether - including the mighty Google? Such a scenario could have greater consequences for the affiliate marketer since a direct line to a company's site or product will obviously mean less sales for the online marketer, who really works in coordination with the search engines, either through organic search or PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising in these same search engines.

Overall, the new FTC Guidelines and recent changes to Google, will make next year one of the most interesting times to be pitching anything online. Throw into this the full effect what a combined Bing/Yahoo might bring to the table, and you have the recipe for a tumultuous white knuckle ride, until the dust finally settles and marketers make adjustments like they always do. So hold on, because things will probably get a little hectic for many web marketers before we see the light at the end of the tunnel.


About the Author:
The author is a full time online affiliate marketer. His livelihood is derived from and depended upon search engine marketing and daily monitoring of targeted keywords, mainly within Google. He runs numerous sites, including: Internet Marketing and Internet Marketing Tools.

Copyright (c) 2010 Titus Hoskins. http://www.bizwaremagic.com This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.


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Many Fail To Plan, More Fail To Execute!

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Martin Harshberger


As the owner, CEO or senior executive of a business, you share many things in common with the coaches of professional sports teams. Can you imagine the head coach of a team - say in the National Football League - going into a game without a game plan? Of course not! That coach would soon be out of work. Coaches literally spend hundreds hours preparing for a 60-minute event.

A good coach not only develops and documents a strategy to win; he makes sure it's understood by every player on the team. Every successful coach knows that a plan is essential for success.

But every successful coach also knows that a plan alone is not sufficient for success. The best plan in the world is useless if it's not implemented. When the whistle blows to start the game, the players can't simply stand on the sidelines and talk about what a great plan they have. They must take the field and play to win.

A coach that doesn't learn from failures and make adjustments so that his team consistently wins soon finds out what the letters NFL really mean: Not For Long.

Why should you view your business as any different?

Your Role As An Executive Is To Execute!

It never ceases to amaze me - I'll work with a company for weeks to develop a comprehensive strategic plan, and then nothing! Nada! It's as if management says, "OK, now that we've finished the plan, we can check that off our list and get back to business as usual."

They know they have issues that need to be changed. They pay good money to hire outside assistance to facilitate a planning process. They complete their plan. Then they proceed to ignore it!

Why? Is it fear of change? Fear of making a mistake? Fear of confronting people? A lack of confidence in themselves and/or their staff? Probably it's a mixture of some or all of these.

For most executives, implementation is harder than planning. It takes determination and courage to actually do what you say you want to do. Implementation requires commitment, accountability, and change. That's where the majority of companies fail.

Bold Actions Require Bold Leadership.

The absence of a decision is a de facto decision. That goes for all aspects of business planning and execution - from acknowledging problems to resolving them.

Tolerating poor personal performance from a staff member is choosing mediocrity. It lowers the bar for the entire staff.

Failing to take action about substandard quality is a decision about quality. It sends a message about core values to everyone in the organization.

It's wise to gather the facts before making decisions. But postponing action "until there's a better time" or "until there's more data" is too often a cover-up for plain old fear to act.

Want to diminish focus and credibility in your organization? Here's a sure-fire way: Develop a plan, communicate it to your people, and then fail to execute it.

When you fail to act on your plans, you undermine motivation, enthusiasm, pride, respect, commitment, and productivity. Yet 90 percent of American companies do just that, as shown by the chart below.



Talk about an alarming statistic! If only 10 percent of American companies take the necessary actions to implement their plans, no wonder we're losing our edge.

Many executives confuse busyness with effectiveness. They think they're accomplishing a lot when people come to them all day long with questions and problems. It makes them feel important. They like being the center of the storm.

But executives who react instead of act accomplish little. They don't produce progress because they're concentrating on the minutia and ignoring the momentous. They're playing around instead of playing to win.

But remember that your employees are watching your actions. They'll respond to your leadership based on how you execute your plan.

To help you maintain your focus on decisive action, here are four principles for you to periodically review:

If the status quo isn't working, change it.

If you don't make a decision, you're making a decision.

If you don't like making tough decisions, you're not alone. But winners do it anyway.

If you want to exercise real leadership, you must act.

You have to "walk the talk" every single day to attain excellence in any organization. You must take the field and play to win!

"Action without vision is a nightmare. Vision without action is a daydream." --- Japanese proverb


About the Author:
Martin Harshberger is Managing Partner of Measurable Results LLC. Marty specializes in strategic planning, pre- and post-merger integration, as well as business process improvement. He can be reached at 662-844-9088 or by email at: mailto:info@bottomlinecoach.com His new book Bottom Line Focus is available on Amazon and his website: http://www.bottomlinecoach.com/


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To Improve Collections in Your Dental Practice, Manage Patient Expectations

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2010 Peter Gopal, Ph.D.


Many patients come into a dental practice with the notion that insurance will cover everything. This needs to be set straight during their first visit. In fact, the word "insurance" is a misnomer. What the patient has is really a dental benefit plan, which could cover all or a portion of their treatment. The coverage is never guaranteed, and there are dozens of ways in which payment could be denied even for a preventive exam and cleaning visit.

The patient also needs to be aware that the dental benefit plan they have is a contract between their employer and the insurance carrier. The dental office has nothing to do with it. The full terms of the contract are in a document that their employer's Human Resource Department would have. In the absence of this contract, the dental office can only provide an estimate of what the insurance payment might be. This cannot and will not be 100% accurate, regardless of the software or methodology used for the estimate.

Essential Steps for a Patient's First Visit

During the patient's first visit, obtain the full residential address of the patient, as well as their residential telephone number, work telephone number, and cell number. Also, obtain the name of their employer as well as the state in which they are employed.

Along with the Health History Form, include a separate Financial Policy Form that explains the financial policies of the office and clearly defines what the patient's responsibility would be. The Financial Policy Form must achieve the following:

Inform patients that they must pay their estimated portion at the time service is rendered (i.e., on the day of their visit).

Inform patients that the dental office provides an estimate of the patient portion. It is not guaranteed to be accurate. Indicate clearly that any balance will be billed to the patient after the insurance pays their portion, and any credit will be issued to the patient within 45 days.

Make sure all patients sign an agreement that they have read the financial policy and are responsible for any amounts not paid by insurance, for any reason whatsoever. If the patient is a minor, the parent or guardian becomes the guarantor.

Do not seat a new patient in the chair and start any dental procedure until you have verified his or her insurance information.

Other Tips for Improved Collections

Estimate the patient portion accurately, then add 10% to your estimate. Test your software for a variety of insurance plans and procedures to make sure it provides a good estimate. It is better to have a credit on the patient's account and then reimburse, rather than having to bill the patient for a small amount.

Refrain from making your financial policies so tight that you drive patients away. Many practices get frustrated by Accounts Receivable issues, make an emotional decision to put in place stringent financial policies, and are proud of the fact that they collect close to 100%. Unfortunately, by virtue of these policies, they may have driven away significant business and are completely unaware of the consequences of their actions. Keep in mind that 98.5% of $1.00 million is greater than 100% of $800,000.

Your goal in managing accounts receivables is to maximize total collections, while minimizing uncollected payments. Many dental offices lose between $10,000 and $50,000 annually, year after year, due to deficiencies in Accounts Receivable management. By managing patient expectations, you reduce the amount of money you are leaving on the table and improve the odds of collecting nearly all the money earned in your dental practice.


About the Author:
Peter Gopal, PhD, together with his wife, Hema Gopal, M.B.A. and D.M.D., consults with dentists who are intent on building a more profitable practice. Whether you are leaving money on the table due to broken patient appointments, improper scheduling, poor case acceptance, low hygienist productivity, excessive overhead, or unnecessary reliance on PPOs, they can pinpoint your weaknesses and prescribe remedies. Receive a free, realistic assessment of the earning potential of your dental practice by going to: http://www.visionary-management.com/assessment.php


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