A big THANK YOU, dear readers, for the outstanding marketing tips you contributed to the Best Kept Marketing Secrets roundup.
As promised, we took 100 submissions and turned them into a downloadable PDF document.
It’s 33 pages of tips for marketing, including relationship marketing, marketing strategy, selling, messaging, online marketing and social media. (more…)
Sete Lagoas/MG – A SIVEF - IMAM DO BRASIL, a SCM - Sistemas de Comandos Mecânicos, indústria do segmento automobilístico, seleciona estagiário.
Requisito:
Interessados devem se cadastrar neste site.
Several of you have written recently, expressing your appreciation for the work we do on your behalf. Some of what was shared is too good to keep to ourselves.
I am a Manager in a [European] IT company and for 6 months I slogged with my 8 member team unknown and unrecognized in a small corner of the office.
Then last month our clients started reviewing all the teams that were servicing their account and were quite disappointed with the people management systems in place. Or rather the lack of them.
Until they reviewed our team.
They saw strange terms bandies about,like O3, Coaching, employee engagement surveys,constant feedback systems.
Guess what?
My VP promoted me to ‘Process Excellence Manager’ to ensure ALL teams followed the lead of the ‘Center of Excellence’ that my team is now recognized as.
All it is all because of 2 people in a distant country. You make a difference and maybe in the end that is all that matters.
A fan
ForestCitySummit:
Jill Carlson found her niche after being invited to a home party showing Upper Case Living, decorative expressions for walls. “I got invited to a party and right there I was sold,” Carlson said. “I don’t make a lot of money at it, but it’s extra income.”
Some people become distributors of a product so they can purchase it wholesale for their own use. Some would like to supplement their income by selling their product to others. A third group of people see the business potential and by sharing their product and knowledge with others are able to expand their business by creating a sales team.
Carlson conducts her business mainly through “book parties,” sales generated through a circulated catalog. For now, she is happy selling something she loves and generating a small income.
The secret is finding a product or a company that is a good fit. “I tried Avon and Mary Kay, neither one did anything for me,” Carlson said.
Photo via abcnews
Today’s essay is directed mostly at the small-business owner who has employees, but its message is relevant to each and every one of us—employees or not.
I heard almost identical stories twice within a few months from two managers who have never met and for whom I have the utmost respect.
The first was from my friend and manager, Jack, from Nashville, TN. He told me about an employee coming into his office to complain about a co-worker.
“She is so annoying, Jack. She doesn’t get to work on time and leaves a messy desk for the rest of us to see and…”
Jack patiently waited for her to finish and then astonished her by saying, “Thanks for sharing that. Now, please sit down for a minute and I will ask her to come in and let Susie tell her side of the story.”
“But, uh, but…I don’t really want to do that, Jack.”
“Well,” he replied, “I do. No triangles in my shop. If you can tell me, you can tell her.”
His theory is that it’s merely a gossip when someone comes to him to rail on another person. Nothing positive can come of it. Also, by forcing a confrontation, in the future the complainer will either go to the source of the problem directly or keep it to herself.
In the situation that Jack relayed to me, there was actually a good result. A compromise was reached by the two parties and a new level of understanding came about after the awkward initial discussion.
The idea intrigued me because most of us would not show the same boldness and courage that Jack did.
Not too long after hearing Jack’s story, I was visiting with my friend Bill from Dallas, TX. Something came up about a situation in his office where an employee approached him about an issue with someone else.
“Hold it,” Bill said, “don’t say another word.”
He buzzed the other party and said, “No triangles. Tell him what your issue is and let’s get this sorted out right now.”
I didn’t ask Bill the outcome of that particular encounter but was amazed to hear the same idea from two different sources in such a short time.
It makes me wonder how often most of us do the easy thing by going to a third party to whine rather than face the personal or professional issue with integrity and work the problem out.
Bear in mind, I’m not preaching.
Rather, I’m challenging both you and myself to do the right thing next time the ‘triangle challenge’ develops.
If you’re the complainer—complain to the right person.
If someone comes to you to complain about someone else, call the third-party in to defend him/herself in front of the complainer.
Done correctly, there will be three winners at the end.
Bill Sheridan—SHERIDAN WRITES: bio under Guest Authors
One of entrepreneurs’ favorite pastimes is complaining about venture capitalists (VCs). (Incidentally, I’m fairly sure the reverse holds true for VCs, but I won’t put words in their mouths.) Although some of this is understandable (raising money is extremely hard and can be a frustrating process), I’ve often thought it’s in bad taste and just plain stupid.
I agree with Jeff Bussbang — too many entrepreneurs play the VC blame game. This is when an entrepreneur complains about a VC’s incompetence, because they didn’t agree to fund the entrepreneur’s startup. I understand the frustration, and you can be sure all VCs aren’t created equal, but the more you play the blame game, and openly complain about VCs while still trying to raise money from them the harder you’ll find it.
(more…)
News.com.au:
Next time you nervously eye the dazzling window display of the competition or groan in disbelief when another business beats you to offer a deal you've been cooking up for months, don't panic. Instead, accept that competition is a fact of business and – when battling the might of corporate competition – joining forces with other small to medium businesses could help you win.
Small business is a powerful sector in Australia. The Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA) estimates there are more than 1.8 million small businesses employing around 3.6 million people.
Yet that 'force-to-be-reckoned-with' sensation hardly exudes from the cluttered workshop of your local mechanic. Nor the humble shelves of the family-run corner store.
Nonetheless, the sector has a combined worth of $4.3 trillion, four times that of the Australian stock exchange.
But is it possible for individual small business owners to tap into any of that combined power?
General manager of COSBOA, Robert Mallett, believes it is. First, however, small businesses need to shake off their fear of each other and start talking.
"SMEs (small-to-medium enterprises) often feel like they're the only ones with certain staffing or IT predicaments, says Mallett. "In reality, these issues are usually identical to others in the same field."
Naturally, Mallett suggests a good way to draw on the strength of numbers is to join an association such as COSBOA, which not only lobbies on behalf of small businesses but also offers networking events and mentoring.
Local Business Clubs or Business Enterprise Centres are also good places to start for those new to the game and struggling with certain areas such as bookkeeping or human resources.
Often small business owners get so competitive that they forget that they’re still only a small business. That doesn’t mean it can’t be powerful. That’s why it’s not bad to become friendly with someone who might have been thought of as competition before. In the end the bond created by different small businesses teaming up can bring on a power that can be almost as stong, if not more so, than big business.