The Power of Plus One (+1)

Have you heard of the power of one?

In business terms it means doing one thing everyday that will build your business. Often you realise that you have 10 must do activities. Then you feel overwhelmed and do nothing at all. If this is your situation just do one thing on the list every day. After 10 days your list will be complete!

But I will let you into a secret here. If you do one thing on your list often you will be motivated to do more. The secret is to act.

Action takers are winners.

There is only ONE Boss

There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.
Sam Walton

It is easy to lose sight of the prime reason we are in business for. To serve our customers. If senior managers and boards stopped playing silly games and power plays the customer would be satisfied and the bottom line would be met.

The bigger the organisation, the bigger the chance of being disconnected from the customer.

Treat your customer like the Boss and watch your business grow.

Ciao

DK

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Empire Avenue - Must Join Business Social Network

I have been using Empire Avenue for well over a year now. This is like a Business "Facebook" which tracks your worth via a share value that reflects your social network scores across many social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Four Square, Google Plus and of course Empire Avenue itself.

My EA share value has gone up from 70 to 102 EA in the last 6 months. The top networkers are worth in excess of 1200 EA per share

Click the link below to check out the site.

Check Out Empire Avenue Now

DK

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Business - Dealing with the Future

Business, more than any other occupation, is a continual dealing with the future; it is a continual calculation, an instinctive exercise in foresight.

Henry R. Luce

How true that saying is. Our survival depends on how we handle the future. Unfortunately many business people and politicians ignore this valuable lesson. We only have to look at the end result of the MBA explosion in the 1980's to realise this. The living out of a short term strategy and maximisation of short term profit led directly to the Great Financial Crisis that hit us in the late 2010's and is still with us today.
DK

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Is your Web Presence iPad Friendly?

If you, like me, love to adopt new technology, then you likely have an iPad or android tablet.

So have you noticed that many web pages and sites are not iPad friendly? I have and it annoys me increasingly. My iPad is fast becoming my business tool of choice and when I come across "clumsy" sites I tend to move on. And funnily enough it is some of the big players who are the biggest culprits.

So if you want to carry on your web business then I suggest an iPad friendly makeover. The consequences of not doing this will increase month by month.

Family Business

My daughter is setting up her own business as a photographer and an associated social networking site. I have been invited to be a site admin but I am forbidden from posting anything lol.

Will give more details later.

I am a great believer in setting up your own company. You do the work and you get the profits, not some employer or shareholder.

My oldest daughter already has 2 successful and profitable businesses.

I will post more details later.

Look for new Trends

The business world today is fast paced. Successful business owners are always scanning the environment for new trends. Customers follow trends so you need to as well. The secret is to find the emerging trend before your customers and ride the wave of success. Sometimes you will get it wrong, but if you know business trends you will get it right for a high percentage of the time.

I have noted over time the growth in blogs, Twitter and Facebook as avenues for connecting with customers. Savvy movers were in there 3 years ago building and perfecting the tools to attract a new cohort of customers.

I would suggest for those of you that want free video training on this go to my web site and join up for Click Track Profit. Check the link: Dr Kelps Programs that Pay

Jon Olsen. Justin Ledvena and Tim know what they are doing.

DK
Dr Kelps Programs that Pay

What's In a Name: Your Business Name and it's Success

Today I welcome Amy Torres who has written this guest contribution.

What's In a Name: Your Business Name and Its Success


You may wonder what makes a business name successful and how you can come up with one of your own. Family, friends and business associates can help you with a brainstorming session to choose a good name, but it would behoove you to follow some of the guidelines below to help you choose the best one.



Easy to Memorize

A successful business name is a memorable one. Along with being memorable, it needs to be simple to spell. You want your customers to remember your name, but if by chance they forget it and need to look it up online or in a directory, it needs to be easy to spell. If you have a name like “Theowelltheon,” no one is going to be able to find it, because how would you even spell it? Go with something unique, but intuitive to spell.



Visual Element

To have a successful business name, you need to add a visual element. After all, when someone sees your name, you want them to have an image of who you are. If a customer can associate a visual element with your name, it can aid in their ability to return to you as a customer.



Positive Connotation

A successful business name also has to have a positive connotation to it. A connotation is an emotional meaning of the word. It can be positive, negative or neutral. To have a successful name, you want to pick words with positive connotations to associate your business with. Think of it this way. If you start a business for a trucking company, you don’t want to have a small or weak name such as “Little Twig Trucking” or “Fawn Transport”. You want to go with a strong name such as “Stone River Trucking." Makes sense, right?



Connections

A successful business name is going to have something to do with what your business is about. You probably don’t have a product that will instantly be popular like Nike or Apple Computers, so you have to have a name that customers will be clued in on what your business does. If you are a trucker, include trucking in the name somewhere. If you provide lawn care, include the term lawn care. This will also help potential customers find you if they are doing a search for a business that does what you do.



A Short Name

A successful business name should be short. This goes back to the whole memorable thing. It also helps when you are doing promotions. You want a name that will fit onto a business card, flyer or ad in the paper. In a search engine, you want to have a name that can be easily found with one or two words. The shorter, the better.



Colors

When you choose a name, think about colors as well. The color will be a big part of your business logo and the items you use for promotions and website. Red indicates an aggressiveness that defines excitement, speed, and passion. Greens indicate something to do with growth, nature, or something natural.



Remember that this is your BRAND - and if you change your brand, you risk alienating all your customers! This should also be something that you can play off or otherwise use to branch into other goods or services, so keep an eye on the future!



Amy Torres writes about business, finance & credit reports.

Guest Post U


The University of Great Content

www.guestpostu.com



 DK Dr Kelps Programs that Pay

Goals Drive Results

The old saying goes: "If you don't know where you are going, how will you know when you arrive?".

Over the last eight days I have been looking at all my business ventures and reviewing the past year and adjusting my goals for 2012 accordingly. Some of my goals were achieved to easily so this year they are stretched. Some were too stretched but I made some progress and these have been pegged down to a more realistic level. Not surprisingly some just failed to get off the ground for various reasons.

I track my goals monthly in Excel and that gives me a time for reflection and a mini review every month.

I put my success in life down to setting goals which I have done consistently all my adult life and achieving a good number of them. As well as business goals I also have personal, educational and family goals. I am a great believer in having a healthy work-life balance but as a Type A personality I have to work hard on this...

Have a great day and may you reach your goals in 2012.

Grant aka drkelp


DK

Dr Kelps Programs that Pay

Collaboration Works

Today in the 2010's we need to collaborate more than ever. Competition at all costs is a 20th century paradigm which is over it's best by date. Successful businesses partner and collaborate with other businesses who complement their own offerings.

Don't fight over dividing the pizza (competition) but rather bake more pizzas (collaboration).

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Towards Business Sustainability

We have to shift our emphasis from economic efficiency and materialism towards a sustainable quality of life and to healing of our society, of our people and our ecological systems.

Janet Holmes a Court

The age of rapacious growth is coming to an end as we exhaust the earth for raw materials. The businesses of the future will be balanced between profit and societal good.








DK

Failure Breeds Success

"Each failure to sell will increase your chances for success at your next attempt."

Og Mandino

This is an important lesson for all business owners and shows the importance of attitude. Sales is a numbers game and those brave souls who do well with cold calling know that about 2 in 100 calls will give significant income opportunities. Don't focus on the failures look at the successes.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

The Business Life

I'm a big believer in growth. Life is not about achievement, it's about learning and growth, and developing qualities like compassion, patience, perseverance, love, and joy, and so forth. And so if that is the case, then I think our goals should include something which stretches us.

Jack Canfield

Being in business is all about learning and growth. We grow when we fail and grow when we succeed. Every day in business is a day to learn something new. Keeping up to date in business stretches you when you set stretch goals.
DK

Hire the Smartest - they will grow your business

Hi All



I would just like to share an old business quotation with you because it can have a very real influence on the way you run your business:

When you hire people who are smarter than you are, you prove that you are smarter than they are.

R H Grant

Never be afraid
to hire the smartest people you can. Sure they may not stay long for a long time, but while they are there they will help you to look at things, and do business in a new way. Learn to leverage on the skills of others. This is not hard to do. Not all smart people are good business people and many rather work for a wage than to set up their own business. This gives you are head start. Balance your employees need for security and you can literally pick their brains.



So think big, think smart and grow your business fertilised by the smarts of your employees.

DK

Help the Newbies

Do you remember your first tentative steps into online business? I do, it was scary and exciting at the same time. I was very lucky to have some excellent mentors at that time, who patiently answered my emails and queries and provided the way for me to succeed. They didn't try to sell up to me but they really helped and over the years I have spent thousands of dollars with them based upon the relationship they nurtured with me.

I had 2 people this week who asked me some questions and I replied, encouraged them remembering my first foray into this area.

So be kind to newbies, they may become your best clients over time. In fact the fact that they contact you or reply to your welcome emails is a very positive sign that they will end up in the 10% of your team who will contribute.

Hang in there.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Brand yourself

Sound's painful doesn't it! But I am talking here of using the best brand you have, which is a photo of your face. When advertising online you need to make your pages stand out. It has been demonstrated that the first thing the eye is drawn to on a web page is a photo of a face. Many websites have great graphics and content but nothing that distinguishes it from the other million pages out there advertising the same thing into the same market.

Did you know that your face is unique? It does not need to be pretty or handsome (for proof of that look at my photo on this blog!)just yours.

So if you want to get a better response to your webpages include a photo of yourself and play on your unique brand, your face.

DK

Get to Know People before You Sell

One mistake that people often make in business is working their contacts for sales to early. The secret is to get to know your customers/contacts and give them an opportunity to know you. Trust will come as people get to know you and then when you make an offer people are much more likely to respond.

Using social networking sites such as IMFaceplate
will allow you to meet people who may become customers once they know you.
So be patient, the rewards will come.

Ciao

DK

Growing as a Manager

In the last few weeks I have mentored two of my new managers through the angst of their first, respective human resource, performance related problems with staff. Every manager always remembers the first disciplinary session they had to run, the first review of a poor performer or the first time they had to let someone go. This is a watershed time for new managers/supervisors and both of them came through with flying colors and felt much better about themselves as managers afterwards. The secret is to be professional, firm and objective.

DK

Be a Self-Starter

When you see a problem or a need what do you do? Many people say, "It's not my problem, its X's problem".

Successful people say, "Here is a problem, excellent, now I can find a solution.

Every problem is a solution building opportunity. As they say, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going!!".

Use problems as a growth goad. The best business people have become successful by having a toolbox of solutions that they can apply to problems. There are very few new problems, just different and more innovative solutions. If people could see this, they would say, that problem is mine!!

DK

The Secrets of Management

If you want to be a successful manager, you have to like, and be able to motivate people. It is a truth that a team can do more than any one gifted individual. Picking the right team is the secret.

One thing I have learned from years in business is that recruitment is a key component of business success. Look for personalities that will work on your team. You can teach skills, but you can't change someones personality. Nothing destroys team morale more than having a primadonna or a non team player come into the team.

Choose your staff wisely, nurture them, play to their respective strengths within a high performing team and you will achieve success.