Growing Sales Through Creating Connections

As a business owner it is your mission to develop a marketing strategy to offer your potential clients a way to improve their situation, solve a problem, provide more value, or open new opportunities to motivate them to buy from you. These ten powerful tools, taken from The 90 Day Marketing Marathon Blunders from A to Z will support you in creating meaningful connections with your customers and provide real time solutions to challenges of today.

Keywords:

business, marketing, customers, clients, sales, sales management, product development, strategy

Article Body:

Your mission as a business owner is to develop a marketing strategy which offers your potential clients/customers a way to improve their situation in a certain way, solve a problem, provide more value, or open new opportunities for them which will motivate them to pick up the phone and buy from you. This requires that the focus of your marketing plan be placed on your customer - NOT ON YOU! Taken from The 90 Day Marketing Marathon Blunders from A to Z these ten powerful tools will support you in creating meaningful connections with your clients/customers and providing real time solutions to their challenges of the today.
1. Custom Assessments.

By using a tool such as Assessment Generator you can build custom assessments which will allow the visitors to your website the opportunity to engage with you while providing value which is memorable. With Assessment Generator you as the business owner will receive the basic results of the survey to see if clients are where they want to be in their lives or their businesses.
2. Online Survey Tools.

A well-designed online survey can greatly empower business, academic, and charitable organizations by finding out quickly what is on the minds of your current and prospective customers/clients. Creating an online survey can be extremely simple and convenient with a free survey tool such as Advanced Survey or Zoomerang. By designing a survey and sending this to your database, you can poll targeted groups quickly and in detail while obtaining real time results.
3. "Feedback" Hot Links.

As you update your website, author articles, or launch new products and services, add a “feedback hot link” to your site or to your e-mail signature. This link can state "Send me feedback" or "Send me your comments" and will automatically link to an e-mail which can be used for your website visitors to provide you with insight into what is working and what is not with your products and services. The key is to make communicating with you as easy as possible.
4. Weblogs With Comments.

A weblog is a simple yet compelling online environment, which will allow you to put your thoughts, ideas, and experiences on the web via a journal, photo album, or diary. With a tool such as Typepad you can provide your clients and customers with access to your online journal AND allow them the ability to comment to your posts. If you are blogging around a topic which creates discussion or a topic which can generate ideas for your new products and services, you will find that blogging with a tool which allows for comments will take your products and services to a more advanced and sophisticated level quickly and with the support of your customers/clients.
5. Client Scenarios That Create an Emotional Tug.

What are the typical challenges of your clients, what do they complain about to others, and what do they really want in life? Do they say things such as:
· I am a CEO, and I cannot seem to motivate my team.
· I am a pet owner, and I am looking for a Veterinarian I can trust.
· I am a Solopreneur who is working for a lunatic.
· I am a business owner who is looking to invest my money to double my financial wealth.
· I am a new college graduate, and I am looking for the career of my dreams.

By honing in on what's most important to your website visitors and actually posting these for the world to see, you will begin to connect with these folks in a way which calls the emotions to be tapped. List these client scenarios in bullet form on your website, and link each scenario to a very tangible benefit of what you can offer.

Example: If you are marketing to pet owners who are looking for a Veterinarian he/she can trust, link this client scenario to a special report on “The Top Ten Questions to Ask When Hiring a Veterinarian for Your Pet.”
6. Data Driven Landing Pages.

Landing pages, also known as “jump” pages in the world of marketing, are self-contained web pages that visitors are driven to for a specific purpose (usually for the purpose of collecting e-mail addresses.) Landing pages are very focused and usually contain a message, in most cases to allow you as the web host to determine what visitors click on as well as other statistics. A data driven landing page contains a form requesting the user to enter contact information, usually in order to get something, such as a free special report, newsletter, or to register for an upcoming event. By including a question on this page such as “What is the thing you most want in the area of _______________” (fill in the blank) you will be able to see trends of what folks most want, which can be key to the growth of your business.
7. A Research and Development Team.

A Research and Development team is a group of people you invite to join you in developing your products, programs, and services. Your R & D Team may be as small as ten people or as large as 1,000 people. It is recommended that you call on your R & D team at least two times per month, as they will provide you with valuable information about what is working/not working in your business, and they will tell others about what you are up to. As your business grows, you will want to continue to add people to your list so that you have a cross section of people, ideas, and perspectives from people from all walks of life and all corners of the globe.
8. A Mastermind Group.

The purpose of a mastermind group is to share thoughts, ideas, opinions, and information. To be successful in business, it is important for this group to be supportive and to care enough about you and your business to provide you with honest feedback about what they see is possible for your business. Spend at least one hour per week with your mastermind group, and use the feedback gained to grow your life, both personally and professionally.
9. A Product/Service Development Team.

Are you ready to develop a new product or service, and you just don't know where to begin or how to make it happen? If so, invite ten of the coolest people you know to support you in developing the new product or service in exchange for a slice of the pie once the product/service is launched. People love to share their wisdom, especially when they know that they are involved in development of something that will be financially rewarding in the end.
10. Risky Business.

One time per month, add one product or service that is out of the norm or a little bit risky for you and your business. Why? Because it will keep your mind moving and will allow your customers to sample something which is cutting edge and exciting! Example: You are a bookstore owner, and you host a “Mystery Night.” Invite the public to preview the 12 hottest mysteries by attending a masquerade party on the premises of your bookstore - loads of fun, intrigue, and excitement. A suggestion/comment box can be situated near the door, inviting guests to contribute feedback and ideas for the next big event for your biz.

For more information on the 90 Day Marketing Marathon program please visit www.90DayMarketingMarathon.com

© Copyright 2004 by Alicia Smith All Rights Reserved

Growing trend to use nameplates for a variety of purposes

The article defines nameplate and its use in variety of purposes, how it is used industrially and personally for display and promotion of brands.

Keywords:

nameplate, nameplates, name plates, personalized name plate, industrial name plates, name tags, identification tag, custom name tags, screen-printing, chemical etching.

Article Body:

A Dictionary defines nameplate as “a plate or plaque, as on an office door, inscribed with a name”. Now a day this definition is too simple to define it. From merely being an office doorplate, which provides information, it has risen to a higher platform where it promotes a brand. These are important instrument in industrial promotions. On the basis of their uses there are personalized name plate, which can be used at home, office desks or doors. Industrial name plates, which can be adhered to any industrial product, machines etc and thus give information regarding the instructions, validity of product, its make and handling criterions, wiring information, warranty terms, service contact numbers and brand name, etc. Nameplates can be categorized on the basis of its utility like ring tags, data plates, identification tags,custom name tags, etc. Name tags are some thing different from name plates. These are tagged on the uniforms as identification tags, badges.

Name plates are crafted out of variety of materials and by using varied processes suiting different purposes and working conditions. Some of the materials used are stainless steel, brass, plastics, aluminum, wood, etc and processes employed are chemical etching, die-cast, screen-printing and many more. However these are not just limited to industrial use. Its trend in vanity purposes is scaling high. These are carved in precious metals like gold, silver and studded with stones like rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and pearls. So these are widely used in jewelry items i.e. pendants, rings, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, etc. People love to display their name or the name of their dear ones, thus the gold or diamond name plates are best gifting options. Every industrialist intends to give an impressive outlook or exposure to its brand name and name plates provides him the best display solutions.

Cost Saving Trade Show Exhibits for the Growing Company

In order to achieve a company’s new image while keeping a handle on its budget, a good interim step for a firm that wants major attention at a key trade show is a custom modular trade show display that has the "look and feel" of a high-end custom build but at a substantial cost saving.

Keywords:

trade show, trade show exhibit, trade show display, custom modular exhibits, trade show booth

Article Body:

As an early stage startup company matures, the image that was right for the times four years ago as an “up & comer” is often no longer appropriate. This emerging business now needs a more mainstream image to convey its strong new corporate identity.

The transition to a mainstream image necessitates not only a change in identity but also a change in trade show exhibit presence. Early on, portable pop up exhibits at trade shows worked. But with a company's mounting success it now needs an image that reflects its solid business stature as a true leader in its field. However, before being tempted to leap into a major investment in a custom build mega trade show exhibit, there is a practical intermediate step.

In order to achieve a company’s new image while keeping a handle on its budget, a good interim step for a firm that wants major attention at a key trade show is a custom modular trade show display that has the "look and feel" of a high-end custom build but at a substantial cost saving.

In terms of projecting awareness, the custom modular exhibit succeeds in reinforcing a company’s new prestigious image while reducing the operating costs associated with a custom build by 75%. The custom modular exhibit saves not only on the design and productions costs of a custom construction but also on such expenses as drayage, shipping, installation and dismantling.

Additionally, the configuration of the exhibit is expandable into a variety of spaces -- including a 10x20, 20x20, 20x30 or larger to scale with a company’s growth, enabling them to service large and small trade shows alike.

As the growing company moves into a stepped up trade show venture, it can benefit from an experienced trade show exhibit design and construction company. The company’s display team should be able to work seamlessly with a professional exhibit design firm to determine and meet key trade show deadlines and assembly demands.

Keeping costs on target should be a top priority for the expanding company. Before venturing into a top-end custom build spectacular, there’s good logic in taking an appropriate next stage exhibit step. For comparison, here are seven cost savings benefits of a custom modular vs. custom exhibit:

1. Less shipping and drayage expense:
The 75% lighter weight custom modular exhibit keeps shipping and drayage costs in line with a trade show exhibit designed with less weight and compact packing.
2. Reduction of trade show storage costs:
75% fewer crates reduces storage costs substantially.
3. Lower labor costs due to ease of setup:
A smaller crew is needed so less time is required to install and dismantle exhibit.
4. Less Refurbishing required:
Panels can be removed from the crate by hand reducing the amount of potential damage to the display. A forklift never touches a panel keeping trade show related repair costs at a minimum.
5. Flexibility:
The versatile custom modular unit facilitates expanding or reducing trade show exhibit space without adding a variety of expensive components.
6. Quality of Trade Show Exhibit Consistency:
Interchangeable panels and components built the same way every time to strict quality standards save costs and time.
7. Potential 10% reduction in cost of production and reduced design time:

The majority of trade show design elements could be pre-engineered which reduces the time to build and money spent in production.

Custom modular exhibits are increasing in popularity as the next stage exhibit option in the trade show industry because they offer designs that create tremendous impact, ease of use and cost savings. Smart companies are looking to succeed in trade show exposure while properly managing the balance between dramatic exposure and disciplined cost constraints.

Dick Wheeler is President of Professional Exhibits & Graphics, headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. The firm is a full-service premiere trade show exhibit, graphics and management services company. For additional information, go to www.proexhibits.com.
© Copyright 1996-2006, Professional Exhibits & Graphics. All Rights Reserved

Free Counseling And Advice Every Startup And Growing Business Needs To Succeed

Business counseling fees can be extremely expensive and not knowing where to turn for business advice can be a significant waste of valuable time. That is why there are 80 Business Information Centers (BICs) in the United States and over 1,100 Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs). Not only do they provide small business owners with free counseling, but they also have an extensive reference library of books, publications, and video tapes. Small Business Development cente...

Keywords:

business loans, business finance, business funding, business capital, business information, business

Article Body:

Business counseling fees can be extremely expensive and not knowing where to turn for business advice can be a significant waste of valuable time. That is why there are 80 Business Information Centers (BICs) in the United States and over 1,100 Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs). Not only do they provide small business owners with free counseling, but they also have an extensive reference library of books, publications, and video tapes. Small Business Development centers and Business Information Centers help with start-up business planning or assist in expanding an existing business.

BICs are partnered with the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) to provide businesses with free business counseling. Retired business men and women volunteer their expertise and experience to assist with any issues that may be confronting your business. These men and women can also assist you in developing a customized business plan for your specific business needs. There are over 10,500 SCORE volunteers in 389 chapter locations who assist small businesses across the country. SCORE also provides an online counseling initiative for businesses. More information on this can be obtained at the SBA.gov website.

Business Information Centers are constantly adding new resources to serve the needs in their local business community. Some BICs, such as the Sacramento Business Information Centers, offer bookkeeping, tax planning, budgeting, business financing and loan information, developing business plans, legal information, management skills, and marketing techniques to name a few of the areas BICs specialize in. The majority of all major cities provide BICs.

The Small Business Development centers are a training resource which is a cooperative effort of the private sector, the educational community and federal, state and local governments. It is the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) largest resource partner and an initiative that enhances economic development by providing small businesses with management and technical assistance. There are more than 1,100 SBDC lead and service centers located around the country. To locate the nearest development center to you visit the following page created by the Small Business Administration (SBA): http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/sbdcnear.html.

The SBDCs, SCORE, and the Women’s Business Center all fit into the SBA’s Office of Entrepreneurial Development.

Healthcare Jobs Are Growing Fastest

With an aging population and new innovations in medical diagnosis and treatment, healthcare jobs are growing faster than in any other field. An aging population needs more health services while healthcare innovations increase the use of medications and the demand for treatment facilities.

Keywords:

Pharmacy Jobs, Pharmacy Technician Jobs, Locum Pharmacy Jobs, Locum Pharmacy Technician Jobs

Article Body:

With an aging population and new innovations in medical diagnosis and treatment, healthcare jobs are growing faster than in any other field. An aging population needs more health services while healthcare innovations increase the use of medications and the demand for treatment facilities.

Even though healthcare provides job opportunities both to health services professionals and others such as accountants, personnel officers, buyers, computer programmers and food service personnel, the emphasis in this article is on health services professionals.

Health Services Professionals

Health services require both professionals with advanced training and technicians with different kinds of operational skills. We look at the range of healthcare jobs in this market. This is more an indicative list rather than an exhaustive one.

• Physicians, dentists, chiropractors, optometrists and veterinarians are professionals who require varying levels of training






• Technologists and technicians in clinical laboratory, EEG, EKG, nuclear medicine, radiology and surgical work






• Health technicians like dental hygienists, dispensing opticians and emergency medicine technicians






• Dieticians and nutritionists, occupational, physical, recreational and respiratory therapists and speech pathologists






• Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians






• Registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, nursing aides and psychiatric aides






• Home care nurse, health aides, medical assistants and social workers






• Medical billing specialist, coding specialist, patient account representative and insurance claims/reimbursement specialists






• Medical records technicians






• Medical transcriptionists

As would be immediately evident, the field is quite extensive, and could extend further with new innovations in diagnosis and treatment.

Healthcare Jobs Information Resources

Each of the healthcare jobs requires specialized training, certification and licensing. Being a matter of life and death, unlicensed practitioners are not allowed to work in healthcare fields. Licenses are granted by different states in the USA, and each state has its own licensing regulations.

There are many sources for information on healthcare jobs.

The US Department of Labor publishes projected demands for different kinds of labor. Similar projections might be published by the healthcare industry also. These projections can help you select a healthcare job that is in line with your inclinations and also promises a growing demand.

Then there are numerous career centers, on the ground and on the Web, which will provide you information about each job. You can get information on:

• What the job involves. A description of the work that the job involves.






• Qualifications needed to be hired, and details of education and training needed to acquire the qualifications






• Training institutions and admissions procedure






• The formalities regarding certifications and licensing, such as the need for internship






• Career progression paths indicating the potential for growth in job satisfaction and earnings






• Current earnings levels in each healthcare job






• Associations of healthcare professionals and technicians

These career centers also interview persons engaged in each occupation and publish the interview details. These published interviews portray life in each profession, the kind of satisfaction it can provide, and give you a more realistic picture of what to expect if you choose it.

Growing Data Entry Business

Data Entry Business provides an all in one system of data entry and many other income streams plus additional free bonuses. This makes Data Entry Business a perfect choice for work at home moms, students and retired people.

Keywords:

data entry,work from home

Article Body:

Data Entry Business provides an all in one system of data entry and many other income streams plus additional free bonuses. Data Entry Business is one of the best data entry programs I tested. This makes Data Entry Business a perfect choice for work at home moms, students and retired people. You can be the first one to write a review for Data Entry Business. However, while it is true that you can work at your own pace, you will need to be sure that you are sufficiently fast on the keyboard and the 10-key or you won't be able to make much money per hour in your work from home data entry business. Once you know you have the basic equipment needed for your data entry business, then you need to carefully consider your skills. Another skill that will come in handy for your data entry business is the ability to decipher bad handwriting in order to accurately enter the data you have because most of the files you will be processing will come to you in hard copy and often hand written. Data Entry can make a lot of difference in the performance standards of your Data Entry business, whether small or big. So many people are now developing their data entry jobs into a full data entry business. As success comes and with it money, it is often possible to quit your job and work full time on the data entry business and with that comes a certain amount of freedom. The data entry business is a small non profit business that provides data entry services for a fee to researchers. This offer is to own your own data entry business and the fee comes because the teaching materials are sent to you via email so if I waited for the payments they would never come and the customers woulh have the information.

If you are looking to see what types of data entry and typing the internet has to offer, it is all at this site. As to traditional data entry work, most jobs consist of typing in names and addresses either into lists or databases. But honestly you will never make a decent income with typing and data entry work like this, even if it is medical transcription, word processing or typing statistical data into spreadsheets. The amount of money you can make with this type of work will be directly related to your typing skills and speed. If you are not a fast typist, and very accurate, then you have two choices, find a good typing course and practice until you can type 50-60 words per minute with very few errors, or find some other kind of internet work from home. With poor typing skills you will quickly get frustrated at how little you can earn, and the company supplying the work to you will probably be unhappy with the quality of your data entry work as well. All you need is access to the internet, have basic typing skills and follow the simple step by step system. There are software programs available such as Typing and Data Entry thatcan be used to learn how to enter data without having to go to formal classes.

Home based business ideas are sometimes as easy to find as looking at some of the activities that took place in your old office. This may give you the opportunity to start your own home based business doing data entry work from your own home. Our country's dependence on computers may give way for you to start your own home based business doing data entry from your own home. As the owner of a home based business providing data entry services, you would have the freedom to do the data entry work yourself at home or hiring other people to do data entry for you, from your home or their own. Before you start any home based business, educate yourself or hire someone else who can help you determine if there is a market for the type of home based business you want to start and whether or not you should be able to earn the amount of money that you expect to be able to earn from your home based business. Of course you can try the usual internet job search engines to try to find your own data entry contracts, but it's not likely you'll be able to launch your own home based business of data entry services from these search engines. Most of the home based business opportunities that are listed at these search engines generally are usually not legitimate home based businesses and you should avoid them. You may want to check with other companies in your area that provide similar data entry services to see if your new home based business can be a subcontractor for them. This home based business, although it would probably start small, could be grown to virtually any size depending on the amount of work you were able to secure for your home based business. If you will pay a service for information to help you find the data entry work for your new home based business, make sure you are dealing with a reputable company and that you understand exactly what you will receive for your investment.

Service Bureau providing data transaction capture and process management. Services are provided to the medical and pharmaceutical industries and to manufacturers. The demand of today's business is to deliver new products and services more quickly, and at competitive prices. Business solutions like that of JustE Services are revolutionizing how winning companies compete. You will also learn to make money from very simple Affiliate Marketing System, where you just submit some forms, working like mere home typists using the services of Google, which is free to join and can make incredible amount of money promoting many products online. Provider of computer database and file preparation services. Provider of legal transcription, document preparation and typing services. Provider of data processing, systems integration, networking and programming services. It gives you many competitive advantages in data entry services. Availing the benefits of outsourcing data entry services for your Data Entry works will be a wise option. We can guarantee quick and accurate Data services for any business that needs data to be extracted from any source. This gives us the confidence to undertake Data service projects of any volume. Depending upon you budget we can give you different option in business website design like flash logo, flash intro, payment options for your service, search engine optimization, search engine ranking. The data entry business is a small nonprofit business that provides data entry services for a fee to researchers. As the owner of a home based business providing data entry services, you would have the freedom to do the data entry work yourself at home or hiring other people to do data entry for you, from your home or their own. There are many books and courses that may assist you, as well as professional consulting services you can hire to assist you.

Growing Your Business Online With Loyalty Programs

This is the first in a series of articles we will be publishing relaying thoughts and ideas from the Internet Retailer Conference in Chicago, which occurred June 5th through June 7th. Mark Goldstein, CEO of Loyalty Lab (a company that implements loyalty programs for merchants), and Gary Korotzer, CMO of Red Envelope (a company that specializes in selling gift items), delivered a presentation about loyalty programs. Red Envelope currently has a loyalty program managed by Loyal...

Keywords:

internet, marketing, relationship, loyalty, program, retail, web, sales

Article Body:

This is the first in a series of articles we will be publishing relaying thoughts and ideas from the Internet Retailer Conference in Chicago, which occurred June 5th through June 7th. Mark Goldstein, CEO of Loyalty Lab (a company that implements loyalty programs for merchants), and Gary Korotzer, CMO of Red Envelope (a company that specializes in selling gift items), delivered a presentation about loyalty programs. Red Envelope currently has a loyalty program managed by Loyalty Lab.

Loyalty programs are taking off. If you have a retail web site and you don't have some kind of loyalty program...chances are that by the end of next year you will. Jupiter Research expects that by the end of 2007, 78% of retailers doing business online will have a loyalty program, compared to 24% now. So what's the big deal?

It costs a lot more to generate a new customer than to sell to a repeat customer. Loyalty programs allow you to build a customer base that is loyal to your products, and will continue to purchase from you, rather than your competitors. A loyalty program is some kind of program that allows your customers to build up credit to apply to further purchases, or to redeem for cash. For example, a retail web site could grant a customer "points" for every purchase he makes. When he has enough points, he can redeem them for a discount on more merchandise, or possibly redeem them for cash.

To implement a loyalty program, you need some way to keep up with your customers' accrued points (or whatever kind of measurement you use). This should be done by keeping records of a customers' transactions in a database. Goldstein and Korotzer recommended tying the information to a customer's credit card number. Every time a customer makes purchases with a particular credit card, a record of the purchase is recorded along with the credit card number. In this scenario, if a customer used a different card than in previous purchases, her existing loyalty account would not receive additional credits.

You should try to make it easy for a customer to know how many points they have. Out of sight, out of mind, as the old saying goes, so make sure your customers are aware of how many points they have and how many more they need to redeem their rewards.

When you begin the process of deciding on the details of your loyalty program (exactly what participants will receive, and how much they have to purchase for redemption), Goldstein and Korotzer argue that you should explore your company's economics as deeply as possible. Two important statistics to examine are the lifetime value and acquisition cost of your customers. This will better help you determine how much you can afford to give to your customers. Another critical consideration is exactly who gets to participate in the program. You may choose to only extend an invitation into the program to the top 20% (or whatever percentage generates the majority of your revenue) of your customers. If there is a segment of your customer base that represents the majority of your income, then it makes sense to concentrate your marketing dollars on that group.

Another point that Goldstein and Korotzer emphasized is that your loyalty program should be cross-channel. In other words, if you operate a physical retail location and take orders by phone in addition to your web site, the loyalty program should extend to all of the channels. Avoid confusing your customers. Make it easy for them to gain credits and cash in on their loyalty regardless of what channel they use to make purchases.

Loyalty programs have been around for years in certain industries (i.e., airline frequent flyer miles) but are just starting to gain traction with a lot of retailers. If you sell retail, you should begin the process of researching the implementation of a loyalty program now - before your competition does. Feel free to contact Work Media for information on implementing a loyalty program for your web site.

Growing your Business with Invoice Factoring Financing

Do your clients take 60 to 90 days to pay their invoices? Could you use the money sooner? Read this article to find out about an exciting business financing tool

Keywords:

factoring, invoice factoring, factoring company

Article Body:

Is cash a little bit tight? Have you ever risked missing payroll? Have you ever had to pass up an opportunity because you did not have enough money? If so, you are not alone. Every business owner goes through those same challenges every day. Some come out on top. Others perish.

What is the biggest difference between those that succeed and those that perish? Cash flow. And plenty of it.

If you work with commercial or government clients, then you are already used to waiting up to 60 days to get paid by your clients. That is ok if your business has lots of resources and a stash of cash in the bank. But what if you don’t?

One of the most frustrating things that can happen to a business owner is realizing that his company is invoice rich and cash poor. Meaning, you have tons of money owed to you by clients (and payable in 60 days) but little cash to show for it. This does nothing for you, if you need to meet payroll in 3 days or need money to buy supplies for a new project. Fortunately, there is an easy way to turn those invoices into cash, without using any collections or heavy-handed tactics.

The solution involves factoring your invoices. Never heard of invoice factoring? You are not alone. Factoring is one of the most used and least talked about business financing tools. It allows you to convert your invoices into immediate cash. It helps you turn your invoice rich business into a cash rich business.

Qualifying for factoring is simple and only takes a few days. As opposed to business loans, you don’t need a long business history or reams of financial statements to qualify. All you need are invoices for credit worthy commercial clients or government clients.

And how does factoring work? Well, it simpler than you think. As soon as you have completed a job, you submit an invoice to your client and send a copy to the factoring company. The factoring company will advance you a substantial portion of your invoice, usually within a day. Once your client pays the invoice, the transaction is settled.

As you can see, factoring provides you with immediate cash as soon as you invoice. This helps you meet payroll, pay suppliers and take on new jobs. With factoring, you can streamline your billing cycle and grow your company, without ever needing a business loan.

Growing your VAR Business

Although competitive pressures are intense, the VAR market is highly robust and can be quite lucrative. The continuing emergence of new and replacement technologies such as Microsoft's Vista, RFID, Mobile communications, and security, makes the market poised for another round of tremendous expansion.

Keywords:

ERP Software, Softwares, Computer Software

Article Body:

Given this backdrop of explosive growth opportunities, the challenges for VAR executives becomes managing for revenue growth and targeting the highest margin opportunities - in initial sales and throughout ongoing client relationships. Professional services automation software applications give VARs a competitive edge and make the difference between struggling to grow and harvesting profit from the abundant growth opportunities.

Advantages for VARs who use Professional Services Automation Software

1. Executive Insight

VAR businesses usually start by selling a primary set of products and services. As they become more successful, they add more products and services, ultimately bundling them up in ways clients want to buy them. Most VARs look at their business through "business practice" lenses - areas of marketing and delivery that bring together the multiple disciplines needed to constitute a client solution. Basic start-up system tools don't fit any more, VARs need professional services automation software tools that manage and report products the way clients buy them, through the lens of a practice.

#Example of how PSA Software can help improve executive insight

As an example of this, think of a network practice that combines elements of hardware (servers, routers, and hubs) with software (security messaging and e-mail), along with client education and even network monitoring and management.

A CEO view lists all the practices and ranks them by key performance indicators: revenue, growth rates, and margins. Practice managers can see how their projects are unfolding and with drill downs, identify what's working and what�s not.The important point is that with the help of PSA software, VARs can put their fingers on the pulse of the business and tell where the market is expanding or contracting.

2. Client Visibility: All clients are important, but in reality, some are more important to your bottom line than others. Once you understand a client�s lifetime value - revenue, projects, invoices, and opportunities with the help of a PSA software - you can shape your interactions with them better.

Look at yourself from your client's point of view

Clients see their relationship with the VAR as the sum total of their experiences with sales, receivables, service incidents and other interactions.

For a VAR, getting such specifics for even one client is usually a tedious one-off spreadsheet exercise. And when it's done, the rest of the organization usually doesn't share in the insights. As a result, the type of effective follow-up activities you want to have routinely - whether it's having an executive make a remedial call or initiating an incremental sales opportunity don't happen.

Professional services automation software changes all that. It gives executives the most critical elements of any client's transactions at a glance: practice revenues and margins, buying patterns, service incidents, and invoice payment. It gives insights about the client's experience with the VAR and shows the value the client brings to the VAR.

Using this knowledge can trigger a well placed call from a senior executive at the right time to reinforce your position and lead to a deeper relationship. It's the information you need to set priorities, ensuring you take care of your best clients and nurture the most promising ones.

#Keep tabs on ongoing interactions to improve revenue growth

Many executives measure the health of a client relationship by the number of interactions between the firms, recurring order patterns, and by increasing order size. The converse is an increasing number of calls to a support center about a repeating, nagging problem, or too many on-site visits that do not lead to any sales. Finding shifts in buying patterns through PSA software can act as an early warning system to help you prevent a good client from getting away and recognize where new strategies may reignite purchases.

#Making yourself visible to your clients increases trust

The ultimate deliverable is your ability to create trust and business value for your clients. Opening up to let clients see their own daily interactions with you saves your client time and money, and you too.

By using PSA software portal clients can answer their own questions like have my payments been received (and applied to the right invoices), which invoices are outstanding, which orders are still open (and is any delivery info available), how many service calls have been placed recently, and how many (which ones) are still open.

Once an order is placed you set up a project to design, install, get the system operational, and ultimately accepted. During the project your clients can use the PSA software portal to understand the status of a project, use it for internal reporting purposes, and use it as a communication platform.

Forward thinking VARs are using professional services automation software to monitor the acceptance process and even ensure that a project delivers on its business improvement or ROI projections. During this process, a savvy practice manager will be looking for sales opportunities for after market services.

3. Marketing Effectiveness: Capturing true marketing costs and performance improves your capture rates and minimizes wasteful spending.

There is an old marketing saw that says 50% of advertising dollars are wasted - we just don't know which 50%. Unfortunately, that principle is true for VAR marketing expenditures too. Through professional services automation software, you can collect true costs for all aspects of your lead generation efforts and compare them to sales achieved. It's powerful information that ensures winning propositions are used again and less than stellar efforts are jettisoned. Knowing the cost per lead and success rate of every campaign brings marketing operations closer to the company's mission of growing revenue and high margin opportunities.

#Watch pipeline activity to identify where you can stimulate growth

Pipelines are hard enough to manage, even if you aren't dealing with sandbagging or missed executions. Professional services automation software generates real-time reports for the sales executive, CFO, and CEO that detail the movement from proposal to order to shipment and acceptance. Reports that help you understand proposal conversion rates, internal execution, and how successful your employees are when visiting on site. Knowing this can help you identify good sales execution, spot remedial work for individual sales people, and decide what needs to be done to help cement a good relationship with a client.

#Use client feedback to productize opportunities

Every VAR maintains a support center for ongoing client support and project installations. Data from these interactions can be a treasure trove of new opportunities. PSA software identifies important call issues so you can examine them for add-on product and sales opportunities. Getting a lot of calls about start-up issues at the end user level? Perhaps an onsite introductory training class is needed. Do clients have insufficient skills in their IT departments? Maybe it's time to consider a managed services offering.

PSA software for VARs can provide the facts to make informed decisions about when to productize services for repeatable, high margin sales and to help you spot emerging areas clients are inquiring about.

#Accelerate upgrade opportunities through insight into your clients' installed environments

By its very nature, the technology industry is always racing towards the next breakthrough. Unfortunately, end user clients can't possibly keep up with the relentless adoption of the next big thing. In fact, they often don't maximize the use they get out of any piece of equipment and may not be aware of savings opportunities that come with some upgrades.

It's easier to sell when you know how and when the client buys. Many IT directors have a budgetary model that subscribes to the notion of being fully depreciated. Knowing when equipment depreciation occurs can trigger sales activities to harvest this built-in financial understanding. Creative sales executives will also see this as an opportunity to offer new contractual terms that extend beyond a single project or delivery. For example, they may take a deal off the street by replacing all of a company's PCs over a three-year period, as the systems become fully depreciated, and offering special payments terms to take the sting out of lump sum payments.

4. Internal Operations: Managing technology implementations means running projects on-time and on budget. Real time awareness can detect margin leakage before it becomes a problem.

#Tight control of new technology introductions can speed revenue and contain ramp-up costs

Becoming market ready for each new technology is not a small or inexpensive undertaking. PSA software with good project management functionality enables you to identify and control key ramp-up tasks such as obtaining licenses, employee training and certification, setting up development environments, arranging your product distribution network, and so on. Technology ramp up is a huge internal project that requires costly capital outlays and profitability often depends upon skillful project and budget management and preventing cost overruns. PSA software tools give you time and cost management insights to use to help guarantee a prepared staff and an on-time rollout at a cost you expected.

Growing the Leader in Us

Leadership is action, not a position. Leadership is defined by what we do, not the role we are in. Some people in "leadership roles" are excellent leaders. But too many are bosses, "snoopervisors," technocrats, bureaucrats, managers, commanders, chiefs, and the like.

Keywords:

leaders, leadership, management, entrepreneur, self- help

Article Body:

"For what we've discovered, and rediscovered, is that leadership isn't the private reserve of a few charismatic men and women. It's a process ordinary people use when they're bringing forth the best from themselves and others. Liberate the leader in everyone, and extraordinary things happen."

— James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations

Leadership is a verb, not a noun. Leadership is action, not a position. Leadership is defined by what we do, not the role we are in. Some people in "leadership roles" are excellent leaders. But too many are bosses, "snoopervisors," technocrats, bureaucrats, managers, commanders, chiefs, and the like. Conversely, many people who have no formal leadership role are excellent leaders. In today's fast changing world, we all need to be leaders.

To lead is to show the way by going in advance. To lead is to guide or direct a course of action. To lead is to influence the behavior or opinion of others. We all need to be leaders, regardless of our formal title or role. This starts with inner self-leadership and moves outward to influence, guide, support, and lead others. The process of becoming a leader is the same as the process of becoming a highly effective human being. Leadership development is personal development. Leadership ultimately shows itself in what we do "out there." But it starts "in here."

It would be easy if we could all become leaders by following a simple set of steps. But the journey of personal growth means finding our own way. There are, however, critical areas of personal development based on timeless principles. The distance we need to grow along each leadership dimension will differ for each of us, but defining and continually growing along each of these paths is the way of the leader.

Strong leaders are well-rounded and constantly expanding their personal leadership across these key areas:

* Choose Not to Lose. Whether we choose to focus on our problems or our possibilities is a key leadership issue. When we are faced with obstacles and failure, those who can overcome adversity and learn from their experiences, turning them into opportunities, are the ones who will be truly successful.

* Focus and Context. THE CORE OF MY BEING: This is central to our growth along all the other dimensions. Our Focus and Context is shaped by three vital questions: Where am I going? (my vision); What do I believe in? (my principles and values) and; Why do I exist? (my purpose or mission).

* Responsibility For Choices. IF IT'S TO BE, IT'S UP TO ME: Leadership means accepting responsibility for our choices in life. Leaders realize that life accumulates, that choice more than chance determines their circumstances. They refuse to succumb to the "Victimitus Virus" ("it's all their fault" and "there's nothing I can do").

* Authenticity. GETTING REAL: Leadership isn't just what we do, it's something that we are, which then drives what we do. Genuine leadership comes from within. It's authentic, and based on honesty, integrity, and trust. We must ring true to ourselves by exploring our inner space, gathering feedback on our personal behavior, and ensuring consistency with our stated values and principles.

* Passion and Commitment. BEYOND NEAR-LIFE EXPERIENCES: Successful people are energized by a love for what they do because it brings them ever closer to who they are. They overcome apathy and cynicism, develop a burning commitment to their cause, and with discipline achieve their dreams and desires.

* Spirit and Meaning. WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL: What is the purpose of our work? Of our lives? Material success alone is not enough. Leaders seek within — and find something more. In what is too often a mad dash from cradle to grave, we need to take time — in work and life — to nourish our inner selves.

* Growing and Developing. FROM PHASE OF LIFE TO WAY OF LIFE: The popular goals of security, stability, and predictability are deadly. The closer we get to these dangerous goals, the more our growth is stunted. True and lasting security comes from constant growth and development, based on regular R&R (reflection and renewal).

* Mobilizing and Energizing. PUTTING EMOTIONS IN MOTION: Leaders don't motivate with rewards and punishments. Whether at home or in the workplace, they energize people to motivate themselves. Highly effective leaders boost the energy of others with their passion and appreciation. They engage people's hearts as well as their minds. They get them involved and participating. They actively nurture the "being" or culture of the group, not just the "doing."

The more the world changes, the more leadership principles stay the same. Leadership principles are timeless. And they apply to all of us, no matter what role we play in society or organizations.

Free Counseling and Advice Every Startup and Growing Business Needs

Free Business counseling information is available, and can save your business money.

Keywords:

business loans, business finance, business funding, business capital, venture capital

Article Body:

Business counseling fees can be extremely expensive and not knowing where to turn for business advice can be a significant waste of valuable time. That is why there are 80 Business Information Centers (BICs) in the United States and over 1,100 Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs). Not only do they provide small business owners with free counseling, but they also have an extensive reference library of books, publications, and video tapes. Small Business Development centers and Business Information Centers help with start-up business planning or assist in expanding an existing business.

BICs are partnered with the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) to provide businesses with free business counseling. Retired business men and women volunteer their expertise and experience to assist with any issues that may be confronting your business. These men and women can also assist you in developing a customized business plan for your specific business needs. There are over 10,500 SCORE volunteers in 389 chapter locations who assist small businesses across the country. SCORE also provides an online counseling initiative for businesses. More information on this can be obtained at the SBA.gov website.

Business Information Centers are constantly adding new resources to serve the needs in their local business community. Some BICs, such as the Sacramento Business Information Centers, offer bookkeeping, tax planning, budgeting, business financing and loan information, developing business plans, legal information, management skills, and marketing techniques to name a few of the areas BICs specialize in. The majority of all major cities provide BICs.

The Small Business Development centers are a training resource which is a cooperative effort of the private sector, the educational community and federal, state and local governments. It is the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) largest resource partner and an initiative that enhances economic development by providing small businesses with management and technical assistance. There are more than 1,100 SBDC lead and service centers located around the country. To locate the nearest development center to you visit the following page created by the Small Business Administration (SBA): http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/sbdcnear.html.

Further information on SCORE can be found at SCORE.org. Their website contains more free information for businesses including a unique template gallery which gives businesses templates for business plans, cash flow projection reports, balance sheets, break even analysis reports, cash flow statements, competitive analysis reports, and more. You can also locate the nearest SCORE office via their website.

The SBDCs, SCORE, and the Women’s Business Center all fit into the SBA’s Office of Entrepreneurial Development.