How to Avoid Distractions in School and in Business
April 22, 2008
Who has the best widget, program, or software this week? I guarantee that no matter where you’re located, someone wants you to see the latest, greatest something, and if you try it once, the creator promises that it will change your life.
I’ve heard this claim hundreds of times while in college and operating a business. How about you? Very few times, if ever, has this claim positively altered my study practices or post-college goals. Three things have occurred in most cases:
- Time drain while attempting to learn a process that took me back to the basics (what I had been doing)
- Energy overload becoming enthused with a product that promised a positive result but did not deliver
- Wasted money (if available for a fee) due to a convincing sales pitch
I’ll admit that some items do deliver, but many more are a distraction, delaying your arrival from the goal you want to reach.
Here are three methods I suggest to students or business owners when speaking at seminars throughout the world to determine if a new program is a distraction or good deal:
- Ask yourself before opting in, “How will this item create a better experience from what I use now?”
- Search for comments from other users. You’ll be able to tell the good reviews from those that are planted or mean spirited.
- Compare the pros and cons with competitive options.
You’ll deal with many distractions throughout your life. Develop good habits now to make the best decisions as you sidestep your way to success.
Technorati Tags: college success tips, business success tips
Home-Based Gift Basket Book Introduction
April 8, 2008
How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business, 4th edition, 281 pp.
by Shirley George Frazier
Copyright 2006, ISBN 978-0-7627-4177-9
Partial Excerpt
Picture this: After ten years of unquestioned loyalty, you march into the boss’s office to ask for a bonus.
It was you who brought in those new accounts that tripled the company’s revenue. You make your case, and then it happens. The boss announces that not only won’t you get a bonus, but your job is being phased out, and this is your last day.
Dazed and humiliated, you take a box of empty memories out to the car and sit slumped in the driver’s seat. How will you start over?
All of a sudden, a beautifully stenciled delivery van pulls up. You gaps with excitement. “Why didn’t I think of it before” you shout out loud. “I’m creative and have lots of contacts. I’ll start a gift basket business!”
Three years later, you’re a success and up to your designer nails in deliveries. Today is your driver’s day off, and strangely enough, you have a delivery to make at your former building.
On the way in, a man exits holding the obligatory “just fired” box in his hands. Your eyes meet. It’s your former boss. life is sweet.
It’s a twisted tale that’s very close to the way I began my career in the gift basket business. The part about being a success is absolutely true and gets better every day.
The notion to enter this $4.2 billion industry doesn’t hit you like an oncoming train but rather surfaces little by little from the recesses of your mind. It seems as though it was deep within you and finally rose to the top, commanding your full attention. That’s what happened to me in December 1988.
After I had contemplated and dropped the idea of starting a word-processing service and been on the verge of opening an intimate apparel shop, the thought of gift baskets took hold of me and never let go.
==============
Read more about the book at How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business.
Shirley George Frazier is known worldwide as “the gift basket expert” and speaks about solo (independent business), small business marketing, and gift basket business topics at meetings, events, and conferences.
Bring Shirley to your next event. Complete this contact form to reach AVG Talent Management for details.
Technorati Tags: small business marketing, solo business marketing, gift basket business, How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business, Shirley George Frazier, professional speaker
Marketing Strategies Book Introduction
April 8, 2008
Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business: Solutions You Can Use Today
by Shirley George Frazier
Copyright 2008, ISBN 978-0-7627-4240-0, 174 pp.
Partial Excerpt
There you are, changing a baby’s diaper or completing a clinical trial on stem cell research, when suddenly a life-changing business idea jumps into your head. The concept borders on brilliant, and it’s perfect to launch as a solo enterprise maintained at home.
You can see people of all ages, living in different parts of the world, buying and requesting help for extra services needed to successfully use the product. Your bank account grows – first by thousands and then hundreds of thousands – until you reach the one million dollar mark and more.
Life is poised to be a bed of roses. There’s just one thing standing between you and success. That obstacle is marketing. It’s the hurdle that wasn’t conceived in the initial idea.
Marketing, as defined by the American Marketing Association, is “an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.”
That’s the clinical definition. Marketing is much more to the person who invests his life savings. It’s:
- The unglamorous, behind-the-scenes work performed on a daily basis to make the dream a reality.
- A review of problems and pitfalls associated with why the idea may not launch according to schedule.
- That question everyone asks (”How do you market?”) to learn your secret as they attempt to incorporate your genius in to their own master plan.
- A time-draining activity that all aspiring business owners should perform but many negate, which is a common reason why most great ideas follow us to the grave.
- The main ingredient that commits your passion to paper, ensuring long-term success throughout the business life cycle.
Marketing isn’t just for large corporations. Their inaction shows that this essential component isn’t always taken seriously. The speed at which some big firms close shop proves that their marketing failed. All the layers of management couldn’t devise one workable plan for success.
Things will be different for you. There’s just one layer in your organization. You are the person who sets the groundwork and implements the strategy that puts the product or service into the hands of individuals and/or businesses that need it most.
Your marketing campaign starts with this book. Within these covers, you will learn all of the options to successfully market in your backyard and around the world 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
This book contains many ideas that solo business owners are able to complete on their own. However, no reference source helps if you are not committed to positive action. For example, a plan to contact a television producer to book an appearance is no good without the physical action of picking up the telephone and making the call.
If you’re ready to be proactive, this is the resource that gets the ball rolling.
=================
.Shirley George Frazier speaks about solo (independent business) and small business marketing topics at meetings, events, and conferences.
Want Shirley to speak at your next event? Complete this contact form to reach AVG Talent Management for details.
Technorati Tags: small business marketing, solo business marketing, Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business, Shirley George Frazier, professional speaker
Three Cards That Guarantee Frequent Sales
April 7, 2008
Whenever I buy a major appliance, I receive a thank-you note and business card from the sales rep.
It’s a small gesture that I expect when buying a product that’s worth more than a $300 investment.
It’s also a technique that rarely occurs when I make purchases from other stores, specialty or otherwise.
This is the main reason why clients will return to you and refer others to your products and services more often than to competitors.
Sending a thank-you note is so easy that it’s a wonder why most companies don’t express appreciation more often. Some business owners continue taking customers for granted, or they simply never learned how to properly close the sale.
Expressing your thanks in writing is a habit to make part of your daily business life.
Here are two more ways to give thanks:
- Birthday Cards. Send one with a coupon for a dollar amount or percentage off any order during the birthday month. This is what cable shopping shows send me to acknowledge my birthday. Collect your clients’ birth months, and send cards to those proven buyers to get more sales.
- Gift Cards. These cards, available through most retailers and credit card firms, cost pennies in relation to the goodwill that positive affects business. Clients who purchase a specific dollar amount in sales, such as $75 or more, could be your targets for this program. It’s a thoughtful and business-building product to consider.
Showing appreciation by saying “thanks” elevates the clients’ perception of your firm and provides incentive to continue choosing your service when their ready for help.
Technorati Tags: small business marketing, solo business marketing, client appreciation tips
Leadership Lessons that Last a Lifetime
April 5, 2008
Look at children playing together in any playground or classroom setting. Some find comfort and joy on their own, and other guide their playmates in team-based activities.
This innocent environment uncovers, at an early age, who will lead, who will follow, and which children will march to their own tune. But this young interaction is not an absolute indication of future status.
I was fiercely independent in kindergarten, not needing playmates to satisfy my curiosity. Things changed 10 years later. My high school gym class was separated into two teams. We raced against each other to win bragging rights.
After watching the first race, I assessed weaknesses on the opposing team and shared the news with teammates. That strategy gave us the winning edge, and we claimed the trophy.
Although my strengths serve my individual needs, I’m always ready to set up to team leader status. College students, entrepreneurs, and employees must also learn to balance both sides, and there are plenty of opportunities for this at work and in social environments.
Convincing others to listen and act on your words takes confidence and compassion.
Iron-fisted individuals need not apply. Your mission is to convince team members that you have the wisdom to get them to the goal line, even if this is your first time at the top.
Remember these three leadership traits.
- The manner in which you conduct yourself in front of others is key to winning their trust.
- Successful completion of independent tasks helps to elevate your leadership potential.
- Giving up is never an option. Leaders always find or inspire others to develop an alternative method to get the job done.
This lesson is an excerpt from my keynote presentation, 10 Leadership Skills that Build Success in College and Life. Audiences leave the event with a clear understanding of how to mold and strengthen their own leadership styles to motivate teams in every environment.
Email AVG Talent Management through the contact form to bring this inspiring message to your students. Ask me about free copies of my book, Smart Students’ Guide to…Leadership Lessons that Last a Lifetime, when I speak at your school.
Technorati Tags: leadership lessons, college success
