Audio Marketing - An Idea Whose Time Has Come!

Audio Marketing - An Idea Whose Time Has Come!
Whenever I suggest to a client that they consider adding
audio to their marketing and product development projects,
they come back with some version of "low class and tacky!"

Truth be told, I used to think so too. Equating audio on
the Web, or in my marketing materials as some version of
Friendly Henry the Used Car Guy or The Ronco Pitch Man
blasting from late night television.

No longer. Using audio for online and off line marketing,
or even product development, has enabled many professionals
to bypass their own limitations, and serve their market
much more effectively. Much can be accomplished with
either low-tech tools, or simple online services.

A long-time colleague of mine, Sabrina Braham, readily
admits that she just doesn't like to write. However, as a
therapist, consultant and coach, speaking comes naturally.
Earlier this year, Sabrina developed a new podcast-based
websiteas a primary service and marketing strategy. She
regularly interviews a successful woman leader, and then
posts the interview on the site, and announces the new
post. This process is all supported by using a simple
online audio service I had shared with her.

Teleseminars have become popular marketing and product
production tools. By offering a seminar by phone, listeners
all over the country can gain the knowledge they seek,
while everyone gets to stay home, have their own favorite
snacks, and lounge in their comfortable clothes...even the
presenter. Recording the teleseminar takes no fancy
equipment. Just use the same service both Sabrina and I use
which is inexpensive and always available. It even helps
you make the player for posting on the web, or allowing
people to download the audio file, or both. (Don't know how
to do teleseminars? Check out Jeanette Cates' great
"Teleseminar Basics" training program. She has all the tips
and tools needed to get you started, at a price you'll
appreciate.)

-- You may also choose to record your phone coaching
sessions as a bonus for your clients. With "Next Step
Coaching" the on-demand coaching program I developed
recently, each of my clients gets a recording of their
session. Since it's a suggestion/action item rich session,
a client can download and listen any time they choose. This
makes keeping track of and implementing action items so
much easier when you can review the original brainstorming
session.

-- You can use an audio file itself as a product, adding
the handouts and support files from a teleseminar, or do
what I sometimes do—I offer a copy of my notes for
the teleseminar—the notes I use to keep the content
on track.

-- Or, use the recording as the base for electronic books,
workbooks, and special reports by having it transcribed.
"You'll be writing at the speed of sound," as Jeanette says.

Just don't wait for a teleseminar. Ask a colleague to
interview you about your area of expertise or interview the
experts you know. Have the recording transcribed and use
all or part of it to produce multiple books and reports.

Special web-based transcription services can return a Word
document within 36 hours from a clear recording. Do go to
the effort of having it edited and then formatted to make
sure your clients and customers see the value of your
information as much as you do.

To go even further, consider developing a regular radio
show focusing on your market and with the experts you
already know. Raven Blair of Women Power Talk Radio has
done just that. She has been able to showcase her expertise
with the interviews and guests she interviews on her shows.
She is now sharing with others how to do what she has done.

==My favorite use of audio==

Use audio to build your mailing list and give a piece of
yourself to potential clients and leads. Record one of the
marketing presentations you've given to a business group.
Then offer to send new contacts a CD of the presentation
for only the cost of shipping and handling. (About $5-$6)
Because CD's are so inexpensive to produce, the shipping
and handling will cover your full costs, including
production. You will have a new lead to put into your
keep-in-touch marketing program and they get to hear the
full story about how you can be helpful. A real Win-Win!

Consider adding audio this next year. It could make a huge
difference in profitability and marketing in your business.

----------------------------------------------------
Need to get your small business more strategic, organized,
automated? Click here => http://www.1PersonBusiness.com for
Pat Wiklund's complimentary introductory course on How to
Run a One-Person Business Without It Running You.

After You ~ Joint Venture Strategies with the Other Guy In Mind

After You ~ Joint Venture Strategies with the Other Guy In Mind
As an entrepreneur and business owner, it's a given that
you are constantly thinking of ways to grow your business
and increase your profits. Joint venturing is a great way
to do just that. However, many times business owners
approach the concept of the joint venture with a "what's in
it for me attitude," as opposed to taking a look at what's
in it for the potential joint venture partner.

Approaching a joint venture opportunity from this other
person's perspective can be a great way to open doors for
future joint venture opportunities. Your ability to
successfully expose your joint venture partner's product or
service to your network makes you a valuable asset to their
company. Combine that with word-of-mouth marketing, and
you will have other companies coming to you to propose
joint venture ideas. So think about providing "the other
guy" with a fantastic joint venture experience, knowing
that your efforts on the front end will reap great rewards
down the road.

Once you've proven yourself in several situations, you may
find that more opportunities for larger joint ventures come
your way. Successful people tend to create more success.
Joint ventures are intended to create marketing synergies
that allow monies, ideas, and market share to grow. The
more valuable you are in creating a winning joint venture
for your partners, the more valuable you'll be when it
comes time for future joint ventures. Think about what you
can bring to the table and how you can best benefit your
joint venture partners.

For instance, one small business owner recognized that
there was a product that would do very well in salon, and
that the product was not being offered by any other salon
in the region. She researched the market and put together
a proposal. In her proposal, she showed how she would take
the time to introduce the product to the salon's clients,
since she was aware that the salon owner had no time to
promote additional products.

She then showed how the salon could make anywhere from an
additional $300 - $1000 per week, simply by making a strong
product introduction and then capitalizing on the reorders.
Her role would be to introduce the product, and share in
the revenue generated. The salon's job would be to give
her access to the customers and then help to promote the
re-orders via the internet. The salon owner loved the
idea. They started the venture with the understanding that
the feedback from the customers would ultimately be the
deciding factor. The customers loved the product, the
salon owner saw a profit, and the business owner increased
her market share and profit. It was a win-win all the way
around. Of course, other businesses have now contacted the
small business owner about the product and are looking to
see if there are other products she might be able to bring
to the table on behalf of their businesses.

In the scenario above, the small business owner took the
risk of giving time and the initiative of approaching
another business owner. She looked to see how it could
benefit the other business first. Needless to say, there
is a strong on-going relationship between the salon owner
and the small businesswoman. Think about the benefit to
your potential joint venture partner, put together an
operating strategy, and reap the mutual rewards.

----------------------------------------------------
Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A strategic
Collaboration Marketing consulting firm. He empowers
business owners to discover how to implement Integration,
Alliance, and Joint Ventures marketing tactics to solve
their specific business challenges. He demonstrates how you
can create your own Collaboration Marketing Strategy to
increase your new sales, conversation rates, and repeat
business. He can be reached at christian@christianfea.com -
http://www.christianfea.com

Team Effectiveness - 5 Factors to Manage

Team Effectiveness - 5 Factors to Manage
To improve a team's effectiveness, it is first necessary to
understand the factors that impact its performance. Once
you understand these factors you can determine when and
what team development is needed.

In order for teams to function effectively they must manage
how they work together and how they interact with the rest
of the organization. As a result of his studies, Richard
Beckhard ("Optimising Team Building Efforts", Journal of
Contemporary Business, Summer 1972) states that for teams
to be effective they must manage four areas internal to the
team: goals, roles, processes and relationships. Further
research has identified a fifth factor impacting
performance: how the team manages its interaction with the
organisational environment. Within these factors is a
hierarchy with some factors affecting all of the others.
These five factors become the focus of attention for the
manager who wants to raise team performance, because teams
that effectively manage these areas function more
effectively than teams that do not.

Environmental Influences - the impact of the organisation
and the outside world on team performance.

The organisation creates the context within which the team
functions. The policies, procedures and systems within an
organisation can either support or hinder a team's
effectiveness. An excellent example is the impact an
organisation's reward system has on teamwork.
Organisations typically reward only individual
contribution. Few organizations have found ways to reward
teams.

Signs to look for: The team is physically distant, not
given enough resources to do the job, individuals are not
recognized for team effort.

Goals - what the team is to accomplish

A team exists when members have responsibility for
accomplishing a common goal. An effective team is aware of
and manages:

1. The extent to which goals are clear, understood and
communicated to all members
2. The amount of ownership of team goals
3. The extent to which goals are defined, quantified and
deliverable
4. The extent to which goals are shared or congruent
5. The extent of goal conflict or divergence

Signs to look for: The goals are unclear or not
communicated, everyone is doing their own thing and not
participating in goal setting.

Roles - who does what on the team

Do all members understand what they and others are to do to
accomplish the task? Do they know their individual
responsibilities and limits of authority? In new teams
time should be spent discussing and defining roles and
responsibilities. As the team develops it is typical for
individuals to build expectations and assumptions of others
which are seldom recorded anywhere. These should be
discussed and agreed upon.

Conflict may occur as a result of differing expectations
among team members. Overlapping roles can create conflict,
especially when two or more team members see themselves as
responsible for the same task.

Signs to look for: Responsibilities are poorly defined,
there is a power vacuum, members act independently and
avoid responsibility.

Work Processes - how members work together

Once team members know what they are to do and who is to do
it, they must determine how they will work together.
Typical considerations are:

Decision making - how will each of the team members
participate in decision making. Communication - what should
be communicated within the team, to whom, by what method,
when and how frequently? Meetings - what is the team trying
to accomplish, what subjects are to be covered, who is
responsible for the subject, how will the meeting be
conducted, who should attend? Leadership style - the leader
and the team need to agree the best style to meet the
situation and the leader should be open to receiving
feedback on their style.

Signs to look for: Meetings are unproductive or poorly
attended, decision making is dominated by one or two
people, actions taken without planning or communication is
one way.

Relationships - the quality of interaction among team
members

As team members work together, relationships often become
strained. Members need ways to resolve problems and to
assure that a good working relationship continues.
Sometimes relationship problems occur because of a
difference in values or a personality or management style
clash. Managers may need to take an active role in
soothing relationships during times of conflict. The more
energy that is siphoned off because of bad feelings,
attitudes or strong emotions, the less energy is available
for the team's task.

Signs to look for: Personality conflicts, or members are
defensive or competitive.

Team development is a process aimed at improving team
performance in any one or all of the five factors in the
team hierarchy. After examining your team's performance in
these areas, your role as a manager is to identify where
your focus for team development needs to be.

----------------------------------------------------
Pam Kennett is Founder and Director of Chiswick Consulting
Limited a management consultancy which provides advice and
direction to clients in marketing and human resources. Pam
has more than 20 years experience working with teams and
leadership groups to raise performance. Contact her at
pam@chiswickconsulting.com or visit
http://www.chiswickconsulting.com .

Coaching for Depression

Coaching for Depression
When I train managers as coaches I always warn them to
respect the power of coaching questions and to recognize
the possibility that what starts as an innocuous, business
related conversation, may lead to the unveiling of a deeper
issue. Coaching managers would be advised to develop at
least a little insight into the signs of abnormal
psychology. Consider for example, depression: Depression
is a widespread disorder which about 10% of men and 20% of
women can expect to suffer at least once on their lives.

There are many signs and symptoms which even the untrained
could recognize as indicators of depression:

Emotional Signs:

Guilt, misery, despair

Cognitive Signs:

Self-blame, Negative self-talk, Dejection

Motivational Signs:

Loss of energy, sex drive or appetite

Physical Signs:

Headache, Dizziness, Fatigue

There are several psychological theories concerning the
causes of depression:

Psychoanalytical:

Freud (1917) interpreted depression as a reaction to loss.
He suggested that depressed people are more excessively
dependent upon other people for approval and positive
self-esteem and that when this is absent depression results.

Behavioural:

These theories suggest that depression results from a lack
of reinforcement, i.e. the sympathy and attention of
friends and family. Unfortunately this creates a vicious
circle in that depressive behaviour often serves to further
alienate family and friends.

Cognitive:

Beck (1967) concluded that it was how people viewed
themselves and the world that may influence tendencies
towards depression. He suggests that depressed people work
with false logic and that treatment therefore needs to
concentrate on their thought processes.

Physiological:

In the western world much energy and research has gone into
establishing biochemical causes and cures for depression as
our high usage of drugs such as Prozac and tranquillizers
illustrates.

Depression has been termed the common cold of psychology.
It would seem a lasting cure may be just as elusive.
Doesn't it make you fed up?

What then of the coaching manager who uncovers these signs
when coaching around workload management or time keeping?
Best advice would seem to be to keep to good coaching
principles. Ask questions designed to raise awareness,
generate responsibility and build trust then listen
carefully and attentively to the responses. This is highly
unlikely to make things worse and may actually do quite a
lot of good.

After that, it's a question of referring the coachee to the
relevant professional. For this reason I recommend that all
coaching managers familiarize themselves with their
organization's welfare procedure.

----------------------------------------------------
Matt Somers is a coaching practitioner of many years'
experience. He works with a host of clients in North East
England where his firm is based and throughout the UK and
Europe. Matt understands that people are working with their
true potential locked away. He shows how coaching provides
a simple yet elegant key to this lock. For a bumper load of
coaching tips and tricks - including FREE resources - visit
http://www.mattsomers.com

Painting Business - 3 Great Ways To Make Fast Cash in the Painting Business

Painting Business - 3 Great Ways To Make Fast Cash in the Painting Business
Have you been looking for a business to start? An easy way
that you could make some fast cash? Have you been wanting
your own painting business but you don't want to quit your
job and possibly go broke?

Have you considered a painting business where you could do
some small side-jobs each month to make your house payment
and pay the bills? Maybe you are looking for something
better, but hey, this is a good start profit-wise!

Maybe you are mostly working at home right now and you
could use an extra $1,000 a month to pay the bills so you
can continue to work at home the rest of the time.

If so, listed below are three great ways that you can start
your own painting business and make some red-hot immediate
income on the side. This is also a great way to learn the
trade before going into it full time.

I started my own house painting business in 1991. Since
then I have learned quite a bit about interior and exterior
painting. I also learned quite a bit about drywall repair.
If you know how to get customers and how much to charge,
the rest can be learned as you go. When I first started out
I ate quite a few jobs because I didn't know how much to
charge.

Today I can actually make more money in a day and a half
painting than I did all week long at my last regular
full-time job. And it's fun to be able to relax and enjoy
your work knowing that you are going to get paid well for
it.

I have listed below three easy to start, low-cost
businesses that revolve around my painting trade. Each one
can make you a quick $300 - $500 for just a few hours work
and over a thousand a week if you wish. The reason I write
about these 3 businesses listed below is because I know
them and they make me money. These are 3 proven moneymakers
that you too can specialize in.

#1 Residential/Commercial Painting Business: If you love to
paint this is a handy service you can render for the busy
homeowner and business owners as well. Many wives won't let
their husbands go near a paint brush. Many customers hate
to paint and would rather pay someone else to do it for
them. I started my painting business with just a few basic
painting tools and a beater car. My business over the
years has given me good immediate income whenever I need it.

#2 Faux Painting Business: If you like faux painting, you
can take on small jobs here and there. Get yourself some
basic faux painting tools and a 2' x 3' sheet of plastic to
practice different patterns on and you will get the hang of
it fast. If you like this type of painting business you
could get small one or two-room jobs per week and make a
thousand dollars per week even. Faux painting offers high
profit margins if you get good at it.

#3 Drywall Repair Business: Drywall repair goes
hand-in-hand with a painting business. You can easily
charge $300 - $500 doing simple small repairs like water
damage and texturing.

As an example, I just finished a small repair job for a
total of $335. It took me an hour and a half the first day
and the second day took 6 hours. Not too bad a wage for
only 7 1/2 hours work. $10 of the money went for gas,
another $3.50 for a roller cover because I painted it up
one fast coat. I used maybe $2 worth of drywall compound in
the quick-dry formula. So I netted about $320 or $40 per
hour labor.

You may also get small jobs hanging sheets of drywall. A
customer might have a basement or garage that they need
drywall hung in. They will want you to tape and finish it
as well. You will most likely get asked to do the painting
also and this can double your profits.

So there you go. 3 easy low-cost, time-proven ways you can
start a painting business or painting-related business. All
of these variations can be started for less than $500. If
you did just one small job a week it could mean an extra
$300 - $500 or $1200 - $2,000 a month extra income.

----------------------------------------------------
Lee Cusano has owned and operated his own successful
painting business since 1991. He has also helped many
others to start their own painting business with his "Paint
Like a Pro Estimating and Advertising CD-ROM".
Lee also offers a free report titled "How To Gain a High
Success Rate For Getting Painting Jobs". To get it go to
http://www.Painting-Business.com

Clients Don't Like Bad Breath

Clients Don't Like Bad Breath
"So, I had to tell my receptionist that she has bad breath.
I told her, 'clients can smell it'. And, she didn't like
hearing that...", said one of my coaching clients this
week. Having to tell one of your team members that their
breath or body odor is offensive will be one of the hardest
things you will ever have to face in your office. The thing
is, offensive odor, wrinkled clothing, outdated hair
styles, all work towards undermining the image of your
company when you come in contact with clients.

For example, have you ever smelled offensive breath or body
odor and just wanted to run away? Sometimes, that extra
garlic gets the best of us right before we have our next
client appointment. The thing is, sometimes we aren't even
conscious that there is an odor problem. However, the
prospect knows full well where the smell is coming from.

Interesting enough, out of all the cultures around the
world, Americans want to consistently be free from
offensive odors. We want our breath, body, car, living
room, closets, and carpeting all to have that fresh smell.
Americans will shower several times a day, carry around
boxes of mints, and even carry a purse size bottle of
cologne/perfume. Now, when I talk with other cultures, they
don't have the same odor hangup as Americans do. And,
realistically no one can walk around odor free.

Yet sometimes it's essential to take action and point out
that there is an odor problem, not only for the comfort of
you and other clients but for the team member's future as
well. Hygiene problems can block further progress with
clients. Always begin with the assumption that your
employee isn't aware of the problem. Start off by subtly
suggesting the same hygiene items you use to avoid similar
odor problems. If they take the hint, let the matter drop.
If you think your not understood, you'll have to press
further while still being diplomatic.

Remember, the key here is to start off subtly, then shift
to sincere concern if necessary. Follow these three steps
to handle bad breath around the office.

1. First of all, go to your local wholesale store and buy
enough mints for you and the entire office.

2. Put the box of mints out immediately after lunch, so
that you have an excuse for your strategy. If you need to
be more direct, then take the employee to the side to
minimize embarassment.

3. There's no need to be apologetic because you're doing
YOUR future clients, and your employee a favor. You are the
leader here.

Now, since most client meetings are done in close quarters,
you and the employee are really in this together. If the
situation were reversed, you would want someone to tell you
that the double onion cheeseburger lunch can be smelled by
all.

----------------------------------------------------
Kim Schott, your Global Client Communication Expert, is the
author of the Keys to Client Communication System, the
step-by-step, paint by numbers client communication program
to attract more clients in less time. To receive your
weekly how-to articles on consistantly attracting more
local and global clients in less time, visit
http://www.SchottCulturalConsulting.com

How to Make an Incredible Impression During Your Most Vulnerable Moment

How to Make an Incredible Impression During Your Most Vulnerable Moment
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

Thirty-nine years ago I had taken a weekend job as a police
reporter for the Colorado Springs Free Press, a daily
newspaper competitor to the long-established Colorado
Springs Gazette. The Free Press was a morning paper and the
Gazette an afternoon paper in Colorado in 1968.

Early one Saturday night an elderly man who looked like my
grandfather came rushing into the newsroom, making a
beeline path to my desk.

"I have a problem and I need help," he said quickly. "What
can I do?" I replied, kicking myself for volunteering. I
was new to the police scene and really had not acclimated
myself to the routine. After glancing around, I became
aware that he was headed my way because I was the only
choice at that moment.

"Do you know anything about producing a sports section?" he
asked.

Not knowing what I might be getting into, I slowly
answered, "I played some sports in high school."

Then he shared his situation: "I have been somewhat
critical of my sports editor in recent weeks, and when I
arrived to work this afternoon, I found out that he had up
and quit, walking out in a huff. Because of the loyalty of
his staff, they all walked out with him in a show of
solidarity. I need to put out the sports section tonight
and I need your help."

Being older, more experienced and more mature, I now
realize I kind of felt like the President was calling, and
so I stuck my neck out by agreeing to help.

My needy "grandfather" figure turned out to be the
publisher of the newspaper. He quickly ushered me into the
wire room, and began a two-minute drill on what I would
have to do in taking stories off of the Associated Press
and United Press International news wires. The first thing
you learn is the stories are continuous on the multiple
wires.

Then he took me to the sports department and began
explaining how we needed to choose stories to run, edit
copy, layout news pages, write headlines, choose pictures
to crop and run, write photo captions, answer phone calls
from stringers in the field, take dictation over the phone,
etc. There were formerly several support staffers that did
these tasks daily with the sports editor in command.

It became obvious to me that the publisher had not done
squat in producing a daily sports section—or any
section of the paper—in years. We started sending
copy and photos down to production so typesetters could get
cranking out copy. There was some real trauma at times,
but we managed to get the job done.

Remember that 38 years ago, there was no Internet, no
transferring of files, no software programs to generate
area layout, and no automatic plating process. Everything
was done by hand with IBM Selectric typewriters, and over
the phone.

At the end of the night, the publisher was very grateful
and invited me back to join him in the next night's
production. Long story short, I told him I would do it and
call him if I needed any help. That made him even more
grateful. I did not call him the next night and produced as
good a sports section as they had ever done.

What happened after that was incredible. The publisher
spent all of his time walking around the newsroom for the
next few days and telling anyone that would listen that "he
had been in the news business for more than 40 years and
had never, ever, seen a kid catch on to the business as
quickly as this Bagley kid."

Within a week, I was the new sports editor of the Colorado
Springs Free Press, a daily newspaper. I quickly hired a
bunch of my friends and contacts, and spent my immediate
future covering the Denver Broncos in the NFL and the Air
Force Academy in the NCAA.

How did it happen that I could make such an incredible
impression in my most vulnerable moment? Here is how:

When the publisher asked me if I knew anything about
putting out a newspaper section, I did not tell him that I:

1) Was an award-winning sports editor for The Arrowhead, my
school newspaper at Flint Central High School in Flint (MI).

2) Was a Michigan State University graduate with a Bachelor
of Arts Degree in Journalism.

3) Was a weekly newspaper editor prior to arriving in
Colorado Springs.

4) Knew how to handle wire copy, write stories, take and
develop pictures, layout pages, write headlines and photo
captions, and do everything else that needed to be done.

5) Was an outstanding prep runner in high school, had
played baseball, basketball, football and hockey in my
youth, and was also on the swim team in high school.

Why did I do this? Easy, if I shot off my mouth about what
I knew and then screwed up, I would never regain the
publisher's confidence in my abilities. By wisely acting
normal but giving the impression that I had fallen off of a
hayseed wagon, anything I did was impressive to a man with
an urgent need.

The moral to this real life, true story is: Never be too
quick to tell people what you know or can do, and never be
too slow to figure out when opportunity is knocking. It is
called street smarts and it is one way that successful
people get ahead in life.

From potential disaster, I would go on to be editor or
managing editor of 6 weeklies, an investigative reporter
for a daily, managing editor of a daily and own and operate
a community publishing company.

Another very important lesson in life that I learned from
this experience was, when a person has a need, do not shoot
off your face about what you know, simply shut up and get
about the business of helping the person at THEIR point of
need, not yours. Life has a way of rewarding people who
tend to be more other-centered than self-centered.

Take your eye off of yourself and put it on someone else,
and life will naturally send its blessings your way.

(Editor's Note: After I left the Free Press, it was
apparently acquired by the Sun Newspaper chain and became a
liberal leaning news product in competition with the more
conservative Gazette-Telegraph. In the 1980s it apparently
changed hands again when the Freedom Newspaper chain, owner
of the Gazette-Telegraph, bought it and eliminated its only
competition by immediately firing the staff and shutting it
down.)

----------------------------------------------------
Read my 4-part series on Job Interviews: "It Is Not What
You Say, But How You Say It That Counts ' Part 1", "How to
Answer When Asked Your Strengths and Weaknesses ' Part 2",
"How to Handle Job References ' Part 3" and "What Do
Employers Really Want When Hiring? ' Part 4".
Find my Blog at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
http://www.edbagleyblog.com/JobsandCareers.html