Price-Packaging Strategies

Price-Packaging Strategies
The first instinct in a recession is to slash prices to
keep customers coming, but that's no remedy if it threatens
to destroy your bottom line. Instead of thinking discounts,
consider "price packaging" strategies that will show
consumers you offer the best value.

The marketplace can't tell you what to do. The signals
definitely are mixed when it comes to how the marketplace
sets prices. Discounters are doing well, and so are those
who offer highest-priced goods and services.

First-quarter reports this spring showed that discount
retail chains like Wal-Mart Stores and TJX Companies fared
better than full-price retailers such as Macy's and Kohl's
when it came to sales and profits during the first three
months of this year.

At the same time, businesses that cater to the super-rich
are reporting that business is as strong as ever when it
comes to high-priced luxury goods and services. More
expensive import car-makers are faring better than makers
of lower-priced domestic cars.

What does that mean for how to recession-proof your
business? Think in terms of value instead of prices. How
you package your prices or fees is what will establish your
brand as the smart value during an up or down economy.

If you package your products or services in a way that
shows they are a good value for the price, then you are
establishing a pricing strategy that answers the challenge
of serving a demographic that is worried about this
recession.

If your goods or services are designed to serve a luxury
market, establish a pricing strategy that incorporates the
words "smart value" in your marketing language.

Here are a few examples of how to incorporate
price-packaging strategies to best serve your market:

- Think 'smart value.' Consumers would rather think in
terms of a 'smart value' than 'cheapest' or 'most
expensive.' Point out the smart value of what you bring to
the marketplace, and phrase your marketing message to
reflect that what you offer is the best value available for
the price you are charging. High-end retailer Tiffany & Co.
incorporates that strategy and so does budget-minded Target.

- Bundle up. Re-packaging goods or services, or bundling,
can create a new way to do business without changing your
basic price points. Can you offer two complementary
products or services as a convenient (Remember: saving time
equals saving money!) service to your customers? Dell
Computers since its inception has utilized bundling in
offering one-stop shopping for laptops, printers, service
agreements, etc. Your bundling does not have to incorporate
in-house strategies only. Luxury hotels have long partnered
with luxury travel and/or adventure firms. Is there a
complementary business that can be bundled with your luxury
product or service as part of your price packaging strategy?

- Think extras. Consider adding and marketing 'extras.' If
you offer seminars, can you offer the extra of a free
e-newsletter subscription or mini-seminar?

- Embrace the I-cushion. Your I-cushion in this market is
the Internet. Numerous studies have confirmed that
bargain-hunters and high-end spenders alike are turning to
the Internet in higher numbers each year to "shop" for
goods and services. Don't scrimp on Internet marketing this
year.

- Think 'unique.' Ultimately, what is unique about your
business will count more than price. Your personality is
unique, and should be reflected in your brand and brand
marketing. What is different about your product or service?

Recession can be a scary time for your business. Relying on
your branding, marketing, consumer and marketing trends
will help you price your products and services
appropriately to weather the storm.

----------------------------------------------------
Ruth Klein is a branding, marketing, publicity and time
management consultant to law firms and business
professionals ranging from solo entrepreneurs to the
Fortune 500. As an award-winning business owner with a
master's degree in clinical psychology, Klein brings her
unique, results-driven insights, expertise and practical
solutions to her law firm clients. For more information,
visit http://www.ruthklein.com .

A Meeting of the Minds

A Meeting of the Minds
Meetings offer managers the chance to unify the workforce,
communicate important messages, and create an organized
forum for employee concerns. Therefore, meetings are a
crucial aspect of running a business. Unfortunately, many
managers treat meetings as ad hoc events and fail to
properly prepare. Preparation, however, is the key to
holding a successful meeting. Without clear objectives,
managers flounder. Without rules and protocols, meeting
participants can transform a quiet company gathering into a
chaotic brawl. To avoid such a disaster, managers must
learn to take charge of the meeting from the planning stage
through to the conclusion. Proper preparation is all it
takes to affect a meeting of the minds every time.

Most of us have sat through meetings where managers never
make a point. And most of us walk away from such meetings
feeling frustrated and confused. After all, no one likes
to invest their time just to come up empty handed.
Aggravated employees, however, are far from the only hazard
of poor planning. Ambiguous presentations require
employees to fill in the blanks that their managers have
left incomplete. Without clear guidelines, it's easy for
employees to draw erroneous conclusions about their
manager's expectations.

An unclear agenda also leaves room for one disgruntled
employee to transform a quiet gathering into an emotional
battlefield. Envision how this plays out: A manager
begins to discuss a controversial topic when one employee
interrupts with a probing question. As the manager
struggles to answer, the meeting participants begin to talk
amongst themselves. Suddenly the crowd becomes quite
animated. Order devolves into pandemonium as one employee
after another drills the manager about an unpopular company
policy. In this case, the lack of preparation allowed
meeting participants to override the manager's objectives
and unveil negative sentiments.

By investing time up-front, managers can avoid these
inherent dangers of poor-planning. Before calling a
meeting, managers must develop a clear and concise agenda.
Attempting to pack too much into one meeting will obscure
the bottom line, and prevent employees from grasping the
intended message. Managers should always provide meeting
participants with an advanced copy of the agenda.
Distributing the agenda prior to the meeting gives
participants the chance to prepare on-point question. It
also ensures that participants will not feel blindsided by
a controversial meeting topic. Well-informed participants
are more likely to engage with the meeting organizer,
creating a fluid and comfortable atmosphere. Finally,
attendees will appreciate knowing how their managers intend
to spend their time.

Planning puts managers on the right track but effective
facilitation ensures they hit the mark. Effective
facilitation has substantive and procedural components.
Success on the substantive side requires that managers
prepare talking points that track the previously
distributed agenda. Talking points help managers stay on
course when interruptions and disturbances threaten the
meeting's progress. They also help with time management
because managers can highlight the sub-topics they must
cover and address them first.

On the procedural side, meetings must have set time-limits.
Participants lose focus when meetings drag on and are more
likely to remain engaged when they know that a meeting has
a definite end. Time-parameters make it easier for
managers to refuse to entertain an off-topic question,
which helps to eliminate a major cause of unproductive
meetings.

Good preparation and effective facilitation are all it
takes to run a successful meeting. By investing time in
planning and strategizing, managers avoid stuttering
through difficult topics. A clear agenda not only helps
managers deliver their message, but it also helps attendees
receive the message. Planning offers comfort, which builds
confidence and a take-charge attitude. Pushovers get swept
under the rug, but self-assured managers captivate their
audiences from beginning to end. With foresight and
fortitude managers can avoid the hiccups that cause
meetings to go awry.

----------------------------------------------------
Linda Finkle, CEO of Incedo Group, works closely with
leaders and management to create sustainable productivity
and organizational strength. She holds a Master Certified
Coach designation through the International Coaching
Federation. For more information on Linda and Incedo Group,
please go to http://www.MakeSomeDamnMistakes.com

Build Trust with 9 Small Business Marketing Strategies

Build Trust with 9 Small Business Marketing Strategies
Marketing is all about creating and fostering relationships
with your prospects and your clients. A big part of
achieving this is that people need to know, like and trust
you before they'll engage in a relationship with you or do
any business with you.

Before a person will commit to making a purchase from you,
they need to trust that your products and services will do
what you say they are supposed to. Also, if you want to
keep your profitable clients, they have to continue to
trust that you'll deliver on your promises.

Trust is the basis of any relationship, be it personal or
strictly business. Take a look at the following ways that
you can build trust and credibility into your small
business marketing strategies:

1. Provide examples

Give lots of case studies and examples that outline how
you've helped clients and the difference it has made in
their business and their life.

Real examples are much more powerful and credible than
simply making claims about your service or products.

2. Seek out referrals

We all ask our friends and colleagues to recommend good
places to eat or a reliable plumber, because we trust the
opinions of people we know.

It's the same for your business; actively seek out
referrals from satisfied customers. Implementing a
marketing system to generate referrals is one of the most
overlooked marketing tactics for small businesses.

3. Get testimonials People always pay more attention to
what others have to say about you than any claims you make
about yourself and your business. Make it easy for your
customers to provide testimonials. Create some marketing
systems to facilitate this and then use the testimonials in
all your marketing tactics: website, sales pages, direct
mail, email communications, brochures and so on.

4. Offer guarantees

None of us like "buyer's remorse" and providing a guarantee
of service or results of your products and services will go
a long way to help alleviate any concerns people have in
handing over money to you.

Make sure you act promptly and with no hassles when you
have to fulfill your guarantee. Keeping your word is a
huge part of building trust with people.

5. Share your contact information

Nothing raises a red flag more with me than when I cannot
find a business's contact details - address, phone number,
fax, email address, website, name of their assistant,
customer service number, etc.

By listing your contact information on all your marketing
materials, you go a long way in showing people you exist,
you are a real legitimate business and you're available if
they have any concerns or questions.

6. Write articles

Write and submit articles to establish yourself as an
expert and to help build a reputation that shows you know
what you're talking about, you're willing to share your
expertise, and you're "here to stay" - all components
towards building trust.

7. Stay in touch

Regular and consistent contact with people helps facilitate
trust - they know you're around and interested.

Contact your prospects and clients regularly (via email,
phone call, card, etc.) to get feedback, follow up, and
provide useful tips.

8. Be a resource

Provide information that is timely and helpful to your
prospects and clients. Post articles on your website, send
them an applicable, interesting report or magazine
clipping, forward an email with details about a great
teleseminar or workshop they might benefit from.

9. Let your personality come through

People do business with people, not companies. Help
prospects trust you by letting them get to know you. Share
your personality and passion in your marketing strategies
and communications - for instance, have a picture of
yourself on your website, share some tidbits about your
personal life (hobbies, likes & dislikes, pets) and don't
be afraid to express opinions in your writing.

Take a look at your day-to-day marketing tactic and
determine if you are doing all you can to build trust with
your prospective and current clients.

If not, try incorporating a couple of the suggestions above
and once they're running smoothly and are part of your
marketing system, then add a couple more. Keep doing this
and you'll be rewarded with long lasting, rewarding and
profitable relationships with many people.

----------------------------------------------------
Jody Gabourie, The Small Business Marketing Coach, delivers
simple, innovative and powerful marketing strategies to
help business owners find and keep their most profitable
clients. To learn more about how she can help you take your
business to the next level, and to sign up for her FREE
special report, ezine and articles, visit her site at
http://www.JodyGabourieMarketingCoach.com

5 Strategies for Overcoming Your Client's Erroneous Zones

5 Strategies for Overcoming Your Client's Erroneous Zones
Ego is the unobserved mind that runs your life when you are
not present as the witnessing consciousness.

- Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

A couple contacted my husband several months ago about
building a new home. We spent many hours taking them
through the design process, finding out specifically what
they wanted in their new home, and how their budget could
best be utilized. They spent several thousand dollars
purchasing a lot, paying for my husband to do the home
design, and installing a septic on the home site. The
building permit is now ready to pick-up. Our clients are
at the final decision making stage. The only question
remaining is will they or won't they sign the construction
contract...

As we were going through this process, the housing market
took a nose dive. Suddenly the perception of our clients,
and most of those folks in the market to build a new home,
is that they should be paying a price per square foot
comparable to existing houses that have decreased in value
significantly.

Consider this scenario. If you were a home builder paying
astronomical gas prices, which affects every part of the
building supply industry; you had to deal with suppliers
and subcontractors who also have rising costs; and you had
employees who expect to eat and pay their bills regularly,
does it make sense that any of your costs would be going
down? I think not...

So, here we are at a crossroads with our customer. Their
perception and our reality are very different, and ne'r the
two shall meet. Where does this leave us? How do we
overcome the disparity between us and our customers?

As well as looking for ways to cut costs and get the best
prices on materials possible, it's part of our job to
educate our customers about what's going on in the building
industry, and the value we can add to their project. What
is not in our best interest is criticizing, judging, and
allowing bad feelings to dominate our lives until it
carries over into our business relationships, which could
lead to the death of our business.

Here are five strategies to help you overcome negative
feelings and move into a positive mode of caring for your
customers and your business, when you are faced with a
similar situation.

1. Walk a mile in your customer's shoes. If you were
hiring someone to provide a service or product, what would
you look for before you signed on the dotted line? Would
you accept a proposal or purchase the product without
making sure you were getting the best price and quality
possible? Probably not.

2. Make a list of possible objections your customers may
have, and make sure you are able to answer them before you
sit down to meet with your customers in person. Have you
ever looked back on a situation and thought, "I wish I had
said..."? Avoid the looking back syndrome and think ahead.
Thinking ahead will help you avoid getting ambushed with
an objection you haven't had time to think through.

3. Ask trusted friends and family what they would be
looking for in a service provider in your area of
expertise. Take their answers to heart and see how you can
improve your service or products based on their feedback.

4. Be proactive. Use the list of objections, and the list
of what people want, and address them on your marketing
material, your brochures, websites, advertisements, etc.

5. Focus on the value and results you can bring to the
table. Make sure you are communicating your unique selling
position. What do you have to offer that can set you apart
from your competition? If you position yourself so that
you have no real competition, it will be easier to address
objections.

The more time you spend focusing on how you can position
yourself as the expert in your field, and how you can
educate your customers on the unique value you have to
offer, the more your business will thrive in spite of a
"slow" economy. And as a bonus, your efforts towards
creating a positive, caring relationship with your
customers will enhance your life, your community and your
world.

----------------------------------------------------
Sandy Reed is a Professional Certified Coach and small
business owner with 30+ years of corporate and business
building experience. She publishes business building
articles, and has been featured in True Wealth and Simply
Home Magazines. Visit her website at
http://www.SoulpreneurSuccessStrategies.com to get more
information about upcoming Soulpreneur's Get Clients Now
Teleclass Workshops and to check out her free resources.

Sholuld Your Small Business Target Marketing Focus on your Brand or your Unique Selling Proposition?

Sholuld Your Small Business Target Marketing Focus on your Brand or your Unique Selling Proposition?
In the world of professional marketers, there is an ongoing
debate about the value of branding and its worth as an
investment for you, the small business owner. Many agency
and media reps tell clients, "You need to get your name out
there and build your brand so that when a prospect has a
need for your product or service, they will think of you."

Those of us in the direct response crowd disagree with that
thought process because the typical small business owner
usually lacks the resources to wait for prospects to need
their service. We believe marketing investments should
generate leads or clients with branding being an added
benefit of the investment.

An additional problem with pure image or brand advertising
is that it is very difficult to track and measure its
effectiveness. In my mind, if I am going to invest in my
company, whether it is in advertising, direct mail, new
equipment or staff, I want to know my return on my
investment and believe clients should also be able to do so.

Is there a happy medium between the two camps where we can
serve our clients with marketing that builds brands and
gives prospects a reason to buy now? Is there a small
business target marketing strategy that accomplishes both
objectives? Absolutely!

The tool to make this happen is the Unique Selling
Proposition, or USP. A compelling USP will will create a
powerful and compelling reason for a target prospect to
act now. They will think, "I need this" or "I need more
information about this amazing product."

Let's go back a couple of decades so we can illustrate this
point with a couple well-known examples: If Federal
Express had run their media campaigns by putting their name
out in front of the market, their name would have been very
well known but that's about all. Instead they said to
their prospects "When it absolutely, positively has to be
there overnight."

Did the compelling USP work? I think we can agree it went
over rather well.

Will it work for a small business? Well, several years
ago, a man named Tom Monohan was in one of the most
competitive businesses that also traditionally has one of
the highest failure rates - The restaurant business. He
was in the most competitive arena of this market - pizza.
His marketing message was not, "We have pizza" or "My
company name is." His message was, "Fresh hot pizza in
thirty minutes or less - or it's free." I think we can
agree that Dominos Pizza did well with their USP!

People, businesses included do not care about you, your
name or your brand. They care about what you, your product
or your service will to do for them. Once they've made the
decision to buy, your name increases in psychological
importance, but not until then.

Remember that your small business target marketing has very
specific objectives and they are to deliver prospects or
clients. If they are not designed to do so, you can either
hope that you will get more clients or throw out useless
ads and switch to ads and marketing designed to bring you
profits.

The marketing designed to generate profits starts with your
USP and tells your targeted prospect why they should buy
from you and do so now.

----------------------------------------------------
Join the legions of small business owners who threw out
risky brand advertising for marketing guaranteed to deliver
results! visit http://www.paulfloodmarketing.com and get
your bonus copy of my incredible special report "How to Add
an Extra $1,000 to Your Bottom Line Every Week"

Are You Motivated and On Track?

Are You Motivated and On Track?
How to Keep Your Dreams Alive and Kicking!

Just like your Business Plan needs periodic updates, so
does your Vision Plan (and I'm not talking about your eye
care insurance coverage!) Your Vision Plan is an Essential
Element to your success. What we think about, comes about.
There's just no way around this ancient truth. So what
exactly is a Vision Plan? A Vision Plan is a written script
of what your ideal "scenario" looks like. Your Vision may
be for the year ahead, or you may do several versions, in
time increments of your choice. What do you sincerely hope
to be, feel and experience in the next 6 months? What about
the next 12 months?

One of the biggest challenges that I hear busy
professionals, entrepreneurs, and business owners say is
that they are so overwhelmed with all there is to do, that
they quickly lose sight of the big dream, the big "why" for
what they are doing. Their energy is tied up in "surviving"
vs. thriving. The key to unlock from the struggle, work
hard mode is to turn on your own "Brain Power."

Did you know that there is scientific research which
confirms and validates the tangible benefits to
visualizing? Daydreaming actually can give you a big
payoff! Here's why:

First of all, our brains are actually hardwired to serve
us. We all have a part of our brain called the Reticular
Activating System. (That's quite a mouthful, it's also
known as the RAS.) Our RAS is designed to seek out
"matches" or "solutions" to what we've been focusing on.
Here's a case in point. When I was pregnant with my 1st
child in 1985, I was enthralled with all that had to do
with babies, motherhood and parenting. Everywhere I went, I
saw babies or pregnant women. Now, do you think that there
were more pregnant women at that time in history? Probably
not! Rather, my RAS was "working" for me, searching for
connections that were a fit for current focus, which was a
new baby. Our RAS is our "slave" and will help you to pull
to you exactly what will help you to solve a problem or
create a new solution! Nice to know, we don't have to work
as hard as we thought!

Here's a quick, easy and powerful way to "kick start" your
Vision:

Take a few minutes to relax. Allow yourself to close your
eyes and to envision your ideal life scenario. What is your
Vision of your own personal success story? Write it down in
vivid detail.

Here's an important additional element. Allow yourself to
truly tap into how it feels to have this be true for you.
How does your life make a difference for others? This will
anchor your Vision, making it even more powerful.

Do this for 30 days and you'll have lots of new, positive
results to celebrate!

----------------------------------------------------
Learn more about Diana and receive your FREE Report, "3
Huge Mistakes People Like You Make to Sabotage Their
Success & How You Can Completely Avoid Them!" and FREE
subscription to "Life & Work Design Secrets" e-newsletter,
please visit http://www.DianaLong.com .

Costco and Wal-Mart Lead a Consumer Revolution

Costco and Wal-Mart Lead a Consumer Revolution
A new survey shows a continuing powerful consumer movement
towards discount retailers and wholesale clubs - even as
overall consumer spending is rising for the first time in
nearly a year.

The May 6-14 survey of 4,403 consumers focused on spending
patterns for the next 90 days - and Costco (+9) and
Wal-Mart (+6) once again led all other retail outlets in
terms of future spending growth.

This is the third consecutive survey since February that
has uncovered strong results for Costco and Wal-Mart,
highlighting a continued large-scale movement towards
discount retailers that's being driven by high inflation
and - until recently - a slower spending environment.

But here's the kicker. The retail shopping transformation
we're seeing doesn't appear to be a short-term phenomenon.
Rather, it has the all trappings of a consumer revolution
that's continuing to pick up steam.

Case in point -- spending has finally begun to improve, but
consumers are continuing to shun the mall retailers for the
discount chains and wholesale shopping clubs.

Just as importantly, while some of the news in our survey
is surprisingly good -- much of it is still bad and even
downright ugly.

First The Good News

For the first time since June 2007 we're seeing a consumer
spending uptick. It's only a slight one and overall
spending still looks decidedly gloomy, but the 90-day
outlook is not quite as terrible as it was in our previous
consumer spending survey in April 2008.

Two-in-five U.S. respondents (40%) now say they'll spend
less over the next 90 days than they did a year ago - 2-pts
better than in our April survey. Another 28% say they'll
spend more - a full 3-pts better than previously.

The survey also queried consumers on their impressions of
current economic conditions, and once again while things
still look bad, they don't appear quite as awful as they
did in April:

- 17% of respondents think the economy will improve in the
next 90 days, which is notably 3-pts better than we saw in
April. Even more striking, just 39% think the economy will
worsen, a significant 11-pt improvement from a month ago.

- 29% say the current state of the economy is better than
they thought it would be 90 days ago, while 21% say it is
worse than they thought it would be.

Where is spending improving? For the first time this year
there is a slight uptick in consumer electronics sales,
although spending in the sector is still very sluggish.
There is also a 1-pt uptick in spending on consumer durable
goods.

Notably, the overall uptick in consumer spending is being
driven by an improved outlook among households earning more
than $100,000 per year.

But there are some very powerful undercurrents threatening
the U.S. recovery, as the economic downside grows uglier.

The Bad and The Ugly

First, the spending outlook for households earning Less
than $50,000 per year is extraordinarily depressed, with
61% saying they'll spend less over the next 90 days than
they did a year ago - a whopping 6-pts worse than in our
April consumer spending survey.

Secondly, among those who say they're spending less over
the next 90 days, more than half (52%) cite Inflation as a
reason - a 6-pt jump since April. Another 49% point to
Higher Energy Costs - also up 6-pts from previously.

Other consumer concerns have increasingly taken a back seat
to inflation. Perhaps most ominously, two-thirds of
consumers report that due to increased energy costs their
discretionary spending will be lower for the next 90-days.

Thus, we weren't at all surprised when Wal-Mart's latest
earnings announcement showed better than expected 1st
Quarter results -- with profits rising nearly 7%.
Similarly, Costco reported an 8% rise in April same-store
sales -- well ahead of the 6.1% consensus estimate.

In other positive news for the two retail giants, when
consumers were asked where they expect to spend their
economic stimulus tax rebate checks, Wal-Mart (12%) and
Costco (12%) were the two winners among the major retail
outlets.

So What's in Store For Consumers?

In sum, for the first time since June 2007 our surveys are
picking up some signs of a bottom among consumers. Although
spending remains weak, the 90-day outlook is better than it
was in April. There is also a notable improvement in the
overall consumer outlook on the economy.

Counterbalancing these positives is a continued
deterioration in the economic health of lower-income
consumers and a huge spike in inflation worries among
virtually all consumers.

According to the government's latest Consumer Price Index
(CPI) figures, inflation is tame, with a less-than-expected
0.2% rise in April. But there remains a huge disconnect,
between the relatively benign CPI report and the virulent
spike in inflation concerns among consumers.

Commentator Kevin Phillips recently derided the CPI,
calling it the "great inflation hoax" and charging that the
"misrepresentation of inflation, pursued statistically over
the last 25 years, has been the main buttress of
Washington's over-favorable and self-serving portraiture of
the U.S. economy."

Putting aside major doubts over the CPI's accuracy, we'll
continue to keep a close watch on the effects of inflation
on consumer spending. The bottom line is inflation is
radically altering spending behavior and dampening hopes of
a U.S. recovery for the 2nd half of the year - and beyond.

----------------------------------------------------
ChangeWave tracks the hottest stocks and technologies
through a series of online surveys. To gain early access to
reports highlight the winning and losing companies, sign up
for free at: http://www.changewave.com/hotwire
For additional information on ChangeWave, visit:
http://blog.changewave.com

The Top 6 Workers Comp Insider Secrets

The Top 6 Workers Comp Insider Secrets
For most organizations, employee related costs are one of
the biggest drains on the bottom line. And workers
compensation insurance is often the main drain. Unlike the
price of gas, however, understanding these six workers
compensation insurance industry secrets can help owners and
managers aggressively control these costs. So what are
they?

1. Insurance companies don't pay for your employee injuries
- they just finance them for you.

Do you realize that oftentimes you pay $2 to $3 back to
your insurance company for every dollar they pay out for
your employee injuries? Each claim results in an extremely
expensive financing contract. You pay your premiums. Then
you have to pay for almost all of your claims. You pay:
- For employee injuries through lost dividends and return
of premium
- Increased costs because your Experience Modification
skyrockets
- Lost productivity
- Reduced morale for the unhurt employees who fill in for
the injured employee
- Increased stress for management and staff
Workers Comp does not pay for employee injuries. You do!

2. Insurance Company Claims Management Services are
usually horrendous.

Now that you know you write the checks for your employee's
injuries you should realize how critical it is for you to
demand aggressive claims management. Claims adjusters are
snowed under with too many cases. Your injured employee
doesn't get the attention he or she deserves. In spite of
this, insurance companies continue to downsize as they
strive to increase profits. Add Managed Care to the mix and
your employee's claim is often outsourced to a case
management company. The adjuster doesn't even know what is
happening or how your injured employee is being treated.
You just can't notify the insurance company your employee
was injured and expect them to "do their job." You must
have a proven process in place to minimize the cost of the
injury and expedite your injured employee's return to work.

3. You are penalized and overpay when the "Audit Police"
make a mistake on an audit

Because your real insurance cost is determined after your
policy expires, it is essential the audit is correct.
You're at a disadvantage from the start. The insurance
company auditor knows the rules, you don't. The auditor is
not compelled by law to explain the rules, even if applying
a rule would cause you to pay a lower premium. Here's how
the auditor works against you:
- Your entire payroll is put into the highest classification
- Then, the "standard class exceptions" are put into the
correct cost classification. When someone is not properly
moved to the lower cost classification, you pay at the
highest rate. Misclassifications are common and the system
is designed for you to pay for all mistakes. Would you
allow an IRS agent to conduct an audit without an expert on
your side? Of course not. Then, why allow an insurance
company auditor to conduct an audit without an expert at
your side? A workers comp audit may actually cost you more
money than an IRS audit. A workers comp audit is every
year. You may go years without an IRS audit.

4. Experience modification factors are often wrong or
mismanaged

Most insurance buyers accept on "good faith" that their
experience modification factor is correct? Why? It's just
easier that way. I go into great detail about this in my
article Why Assuming Your Workers Comp Experience Mod is
Correct Could be a Dangerous Calculation. However, for our
purposes here, you need to learn how to double check your
mod because oftentimes it may be wrong. Your insurance
company then collects an unfairly high premium.

5. Your dividend may not be what it appears to be

If you were placed into a dividend program with the promise
of future savings, at least be aware that these promises
are often illusory. Did you just buy your workers comp
policy based on that fancy proposal your agent presented or
did you really read the contract that states the terms of
your program? Realize that you pay a bigger premium
upfront to finance the possibility that you will not have
any claims. And if you do have a few claims, your dividend
will magically evaporate.

6. Your money will fly away unless your agent pays closer
attention to your Workers Comp than any other insurance buy.

Here's what your agent must do to insure you have the best
value for your workers comp insurance:
- Claims need to be monitored
- Premium audits must be managed and verified
- Experience modifications must be double checked for
accuracy
- Contract must be analyzed
- Sub-contractor's insurance must be controlled Many
actions are time sensitive.
If you don't know why 6 months after your policy expires is
such a critical date, you may be overpaying your insurance.
If you need a specialist in any one area of your insurance
program, it is in the management of your insurance that
affects your employees the most- workers compensations,
medical and disability benefits.

----------------------------------------------------
Eric D. Patrick is an attorney and Chief Operating Officer
of Consumers Insurance Agency Inc.
http://www.consumers-insurance.com . He also engages in
insurance consulting and legal work through The RiskAssure
Consulting Group. Please contact him for further
information.

Are Men Better Bosses than Women?

Are Men Better Bosses than Women?
Which gender makes the best boss? It's a frequently asked
question in the workplace. Is it men or women who are
superior as boss-material? MSN Career Builder recently
featured an article espousing the fact that men are better
bosses. The writer's opinion and research notwithstanding,
I don't actually think this is an "either-or" kind of
question. It's really a question of what qualities make
someone a successful boss, and even further how do we
quantify success?

There are clearly differences between men and women. How
they function, and how they show up through their work is
simply not always the same. There are both pluses and
minuses on either side. Some men are better bosses than
some women, and some women are better bosses than some men.

To explore this fully, we must understand how the
attributes that either gender brings to a management
position plot on the workplace management map.

Women are raised to be nurturing, caring and communicative.
Men are not necessarily taught to exhibit those same
qualities and are certainly not rewarded for them growing
up. Often, when communicating with male executives, I hear
gruffly expressed comments like, "I don't like this warm,
fuzzy stuff", and yet women in those same positions seem to
be able to accomplish it naturally, without any effort at
all. There are pros and cons to exhibiting these
qualities. We live in a business landscape where a
leader's show of emotions is likely to affect the way their
people view their effectiveness. Often, emotional
awareness is associated with weakness and ineffectiveness.
Since women seem to be wired to express their emotions and
men to repress theirs, it's a no-brainer that many people
see men as more effective leaders than women.

Often the nurturing, caring side of women makes it
difficult for them to make tough decisions or have
difficult conversations. They don't want to 'hurt people'
and so they soften their 'hard conversations' in order to
avoid inflicting emotional pain. Often, this results in
not getting the true meaning of their thoughts across. Men
don't put such a high priority on taking care with
feelings, and while they may not like conflict or
confrontation, they don't worry about hurting others. So
when they have the same sort of conversations, their
attitude and language ends up being more straightforward
and direct. The flip side of the coin is that men, in
their lack of concern about feelings, simply state exactly
what they think without in-depth discussion or exploration,
often leaving the individual they've spoken to with all
sorts of unresolved issues.

For men in management positions, a lack of awareness
regarding the other person's feelings may mean that they
miss the clues and cues that show up during communication
with employees. People simply don't know how much you care
until you show them. It's possible to build loyalty
without the nurturing piece, but your staff may always
question how much you actually care about them.

In a society where social conditioning assigns specific
attributes to successful business management, many women
feel like they need to act like a man to work successfully
in a man's world. Since acting as someone that you are
not, and cannot ever be, will undoubtedly keep women from
showing up as their true selves, their business success is
indisputably obstructed. Being genuine and sincere in your
leadership is the foundation of business success.

Men see themselves as leaders. They are taught from a
young age to think, act and be the world's leaders.
Inevitably, they grow up to see themselves as leaders. So
when they are placed in a leadership role it is 'more
natural for them' than it is for women. This doesn't
necessarily mean they are more successfully; simply that
they don't work as hard at it as women have to.

The truth is that there are more men in leadership roles
today than there are women. The gap is closing slowly, but
it's still there. Since we are most familiar with men as
leaders, it's easy for us to think that men are better
leaders - certainly there are more good male leaders than
good female leaders... However, it's equally true that
there are more bad male leaders than bad female leaders.
The simple fact is that there are simple more male leaders
- good and bad. This is not proof that either gender is a
better leader.

Being a good manager or boss means you set strong values
for your business and live by them yourself. It means that
you have respect for the people you manage, guide them
without micro-managing them, build strong relationships,
create a team atmosphere, and appropriately reward your
people for a job is done well. So, the question isn't
whether one gender is better boss-material than the other,
but rather the question is what makes a successful leader,
and manager.

----------------------------------------------------
Linda Finkle, CEO of Incedo Group, works closely with
leaders and management to create sustainable productivity
and organizational strength. She holds a Master Certified
Coach designation through the International Coaching
Federation. For more information on Linda and Incedo Group,
please go to http://www.MakeSomeDamnMistakes.com

Top Three Home Based Business Opportunities

Top Three Home Based Business Opportunities
When it comes to working from home there are innumerable
opportunities out there. However, finding the home based
business opportunities may seem a little more difficult.
That is, finding the legitimate home based business
opportunities is a little more challenging. There is no
problem finding scams and opportunities that you must pay
for first! The following three home based business
opportunities are some of the best and you should consider
if one of them will work for you.

Consulting

No matter what your expertise there is a company out there
who is ready to hire you. Waiting for that company to find
you is a waste of time because more than likely they do not
even know you exist. As a result, you must make your
existence known to companies that could use your knowledge
and expertise as a consultant. This means you must market
yourself.

Do a little research to determine what home based business
opportunities exist in the consulting field and see if one
is a good fit for you. If not, then do a little more
research and find out what businesses could use your
skills. Then, simply make your existence known. It will
require a sales pitch, so to speak, to get you a job
because many companies may not realize they need you. As a
result you must figure out what you can do for them and
then prove it. When you do that you will have a home based
business opportunity just waiting for you, and doing
something you are good at!

Administrative Assistant

One home based business that is really growing is that of
administrative assistant. Many individuals are finding they
can work for several companies at once as an administrative
assistant and make good money all from the comfort of their
own home. They need a computer with high-speed Internet
access, a multi line telephone, and a quite workspace, but
other than that there are no major necessities. People who
begin working as an administrative assistant from their
home find they are productive and enjoy getting their work
done in their own manner.

Web Related

The last home based business that you should consider is
anything web related. This is a general term, but that is
because there are so many business opportunities combined.
So, if you can design websites you should consider
freelancing or working for a company. If you can write then
there are many individuals and companies looking for your
services. If you can write software then you will find many
home based business opportunities just witting for you.
When it comes to working over the Internet there is no
shortage of jobs. Every webmaster and Internet marketer
needs someone to help them do something. So, simply do some
research, figure out what home based business will work for
you, and make it happen!

These are some of the more popular home based business
opportunities. However, there are many more and of course
there are many opportunities that become available every
day. Be bold and go out and find that opportunity that is
just waiting for you.

----------------------------------------------------
To find out more information regarding the work from home
industry, check out our top home based business
opportunities of the year at
http://www.homebasedbusinesst.com

Boost Your Business with Target Marketing

Boost Your Business with Target Marketing
Often the most profound bits of wisdom are revealed in
mundane situations. This morning I finished up a bottle of
body oil and noticed that it felt really good to know I had
used it all up, wasting none of its contents. This led me
to think about my life. When I get to the end of my life,
I want to feel really good about having used it all up, and
know that I wasted none of the gifts inside of me. What a
terrible waste it is when any of us leave this world
without taking the time to discover our gifts and use them
in a way that can benefit our world.

That's what your business truly is. It's a love offering
to the world. It's an expression of your soul in such a
way that it brings value and happiness to your life and to
all your clients, whose life it benefits. It is your
privilege, and responsibility, to find ways to let people
know what you have to offer them.

What you have to offer will be unique and will express your
gifts and talents, that come from expressing what is in
your soul.

My definition of a successful business is - a business that
provides a vehicle for you to express in the world what
makes you happy. It expresses your unique gifts and
talents, and provides the means to create the lifestyle you
long for in your heart and soul.

As I mentioned, in order for this lifestyle to come to
fruition, the right people must know what you have to
offer. So, the question becomes, who are the right people?
Do you know who your ideal client is?

You may ask, "why should I care about who my ideal client
is?"

Here are 3 reasons to take the time to discover the
identity of your ideal, or preferred, client. Choosing an
ideal client will help you:

1. Market your products and services. If you don't know
who you're serving, how do you know the right advertising
venues to utilize? For example, if your preferred client
is 25 - 35 years old, you would choose a very different
marketing approach than you would if your preferred client
was 45 - 55.

If you decided to place an ad in a magazine or online
publication with readers who are 25 - 35 years old, you
might choose Cosmopolitan or Working Mother or New
Lifestyle Magazine.

If you were targeting 45 - 55 year old readers, you might
place an ad in AARP Magazine, Grandparents, or Slate
Magazine.

2. Get a clear vision of where your company belongs in the
market place. Take home buyers for example. New home
buyers have very different needs than retirees looking to
downsize. You would use a different marketing strategy in
both cases.

3. Helps you write your ad copy when you can address it to
one person who represents your ideal client. For example,
the verbiage and images you use to reach a real estate
agent is very different than the words you would use to
communicate with corporate executives.

If you know who your ideal client is, it will help you
decide how your gifts and talents can best benefit them.
So, when it comes to the end of your days, you'll have a
feeling of satisfaction and completion knowing that you've
expressed your talents and gifts to the people who needed
it the most - your ideal client.

----------------------------------------------------
Sandy Reed is a Professional Certified Coach and small
business owner with 30+ years of corporate and business
building experience. She publishes business building
articles, and has been featured in True Wealth and Simply
Home Magazines. Visit her website at
http://www.SoulpreneurSuccessStrategies.com to get more
information about upcoming Soulpreneur's Get Clients Now
Teleclass Workshops and to check out her free resources.

What You Need To Know About Modern Office Furniture

What You Need To Know About Modern Office Furniture
There are basically two criteria when buying office
furniture: appeal and utility. In any regular office, the
basic components of furniture are tables, chairs, sofa
sets, cabinets, file drawers and presentation boards. There
can be additional components depending on the budget and
tastes of the office personnel.

Is it correct to say that it's modern type if the furniture
is vinyl and steel? Yes, most modern office furniture is
made of vinyl and steel. The traditional wood patterns are
out. There is also a teeming use of glass, which enhances
the overall look of the furniture. Glass can be molded,
colored and etched, giving it various designs and patterns.
Glass coupled with other materials, or even alone, is an
integral part to give office furniture that so-called edge.

When buying modern office furniture, it's a must that
company character should be given utmost consideration. It
is just as bad to have lousy set of furniture when modern
office furniture seem to get lost way out of the character
of the company. For instance, if the company is into
electronics and gadgets then it would be advisable to have
some techno-themed furniture.

Tables are vital components in an office and they can come
in various sizes and shapes. The biggest tables are of
course required in conference rooms. Setting the tables in
conference rooms is a vital decision to make, as these are
the places where visiting clients are entertained and
presentations are held. Conference room tables should have
matching chairs. They must be comfortable, but they can be
as unconventional in design as needed, depending on the
character of the company.

Specific offices have their own kinds of furniture. Usually
required are a desk and a plush chair, other chairs for
seating clients and several drawers. It should be noted
that the desk should not be too large so as to intimidate
clients, and the drawers should not be too many to be
confusing.

Equally important is the furniture in the foyers and
waiting rooms, as this is the place where clients wait and
make their judgments about the company. Comfortable sofas
and a few low tables with magazines often suffice, but it
pays to have some paintings and wall hangings with bright
lighting. The reception desk also should be clean and
enticing.

Office furniture is often called commercial furniture.
Mortgages available for office improvements are levied at
commercial rates of interest. It only does entail that
building a whole office setup requires rigorous planning
and investment. Office furniture cannot be changed and
bought regularly like rolls of tissue in the toilet. For
one, you have budgetary constraint of the company. It will
also be counterproductive to always re-arrange the chairs
and tables salvaging the productive momentum of office
workers. Another reason is that staff and clients are often
nonplussed with ever-changing office furniture, as they
prefer familiar surroundings for them to work in. Frequent
furniture changes may also project instability to the whole
company.

So during the next shopping time for modern office
furniture, make sure that they are comfortable and
presentable enough to last for years.

----------------------------------------------------
MODERN OFFICE FURNITURE: Office Doctor has the perfect
medication for expensive office furniture: All the
furniture you can find on the website are 50% off retail
prices! For the perfect set of discount furniture to liven
up your office, visit the site
http://www.officedr.com/modern-office-furniture.htm

3 Tips For Creating Useful and Believable Business Plan Financial Projections

3 Tips For Creating Useful and Believable Business Plan Financial Projections
The core of any usable business plan, and also any plan
that is created in order to find financing or partners, are
the financial projections. Then, most important to those
projections are the assumptions used to create these
projections.

TIP 1: BE CAREFUL ON ASSUMPTIONS

The core of any usable business plan, and also any plan
that is created in order to find financing or partners, are
the financial projections. Then, most important to those
projections are the assumptions used to create these
projections.

Are the assumptions that are the basis for your financial
projections understandable? If you've written your
business plan because you're looking for an investor or
lender, don't assume that the reader can understand your
business plan assumptions. By the time you are finished
with your projections, you will be very familiar with the
assumptions you used to construct your financial models. A
first time reader of your business plan will not. Are you
certain that you made it easy to follow your logic? It's
better to explain a little more than you have to, than not
explain enough.

The best projections for your business plan are
well-rounded ones. Telling the investor that his projected
return is 52. 444% is not any more impressive than saying
you project a return of roughly 50%. Many entrepreneurs
come down with a bad case of "spurious exactitude" when
doing projections. This seems to be a highly contagious
disease.

TIP 2: BE CAREFUL WITH "WHIZ BANG" SCENARIOS

Many people think that the more complex their financial
models are, and the more "what if" scenarios they concoct,
the higher their chances of being funded. A variation of
this is the business plan that has projections seemingly
for decades. Fifty pages of imaginary numbers are not
better than five. Particularly in this age when technology
is evolving so quickly, it is impossible to accurately
forecast 3 years out, let alone 7.

Concentrate instead on answering these questions: How fast
are we going to use the investor's money, when does the
company's cash flow turn positive, and what margins can
this company earn? It is definitely better to KISS (Keep
It Simple, Sam) than to try and wow your business plan
reader with outlandish scenarios that they will know
instantly are not realistic.

TIP 3: THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT BUSINESS PLAN SOFTWARE

There are a number of business plan software packages that
sell thousands and thousands of copies. Software can be
very helpful in developing financial models and preparing
projections. But they are not going to write the narrative
sections of the business plan for you, so you may be
disappointed in the results you get from using a computer
program in building your business plan. How can the
programmers of "Super Duper Hot Business Plan Package" or
whatever the software is called, possibly know how your
plan should look since they have never met you and do not
know anything about your company? Software can't think for
you.

Better is to learn what you need in your plan, then simply
write the plan using the correct information. You can go
to Small Business Tool Kit (www.toolkit.com) for an
excellent outline. BTW - this site is a free Wiki site to
all who use it, and they are not selling anything!
Amazing, huh?

Incidentally, for the average cost of these software
packages, you can take a family of four out to dinner, and
at least two of them can order dessert. Why not do that
instead of wasting you money on one of these software
packages that will not really make things any less
complicated for you anyway?!

The overall idea here is: Make sure your assumptions are
simple and easy to accept, then your financial projections
and the example scenarios you create will also impress and
inform your business plan readers.

----------------------------------------------------
Henri Schauffler, The CEO Coach, has dedicated the last 20
years to helping small businesses like yours to "Outmanage,
Outhire, Outsell and Outprofit All the Competition." For a
FREE business assessment and tune up to see exactly how you
are doing in all Eight Essential Areas for Business
Success, go to http://www.QuickBizQuiz.com

Do You Need a Kick In The Pants?

Do You Need a Kick In The Pants?
How to Revitalize your Business Even in a Sluggish Economy:

Have you lost that "lovin" feeling for your work and maybe
even your personal life too? Your passion, your ambition,
your zest for your business has taken a nose dive? You look
at your desk and it's piled high with stacks of files, your
emails are multiplying like bunnies in springtime and
you're just plain tired, even though you've been fueling up
with Starbucks Venti Lattes to get you in gear.

When you turn on the radio, or watch the news or skim the
news in paper or on your computer, you are bombarded with
reports of the downturn in the economy. Whew! Put all this
together and no wonder your energy has left the building!
What you may need is a dose of revitalization. Here's the
kick in the pants you are looking for:

Top 3 Ways to Re-Energize Your Work, Your Bank Account and
your Personal Life

1. Take Time OFF - It's so easy for us to let our work
consume our lives. 24-7 we are living, breathing and
thinking about our businesses! Time Out! Even though it
seems counter-intuitive, it's critical that you take time
off so that you can clear your mind and re-energize your
body, mind and spirit. As soon as I detect "burnout" in
myself or my personal coaching clients, I immediately whip
out my prescription pad, Take Time Off! You may fear that
taking time off will compromise your business. The bigger
truth may be that your business and your bank account will
suffer if you don't! Be smart and be strategic about taking
a break. Don't think that you can take off an entire week
this month? That's ok. Take a 1, 2 or 3 day mini-break and
do what moves your spirit. The only hard-fast rule? Do
absolutely NO work related activities during your break.

2. Have an "Opposite Day" - Remember this from grade
school? Try this tomorrow. Mix up your day and change up
your routines. For example; return calls late in the day,
if you normally make your calls in the am, drive a
different route to an appointment, pay attention to what
you see, have your next client meeting at a brand new
restaurant, or take a walk in the woods and bring your
brown bag lunch. Shaking up the routine of life will give
you more energy AND improve your mood which in turn will
give you a new perspective. All very positive things!

3. Try a New Strategy - Review your business plan and your
strategies. Is there something on your list that you aren't
doing that you'd actually like to do more of? Maybe you've
got an idea for some brand new way to offer your service.
Notice your energy. What gets your creative juices flowing?
I've had clients try their hand at offering tele-seminars,
writing an e-book, and giving their first workshop, all
with great success because the project was fueled by their
passion. Passion can be quite profitable!

----------------------------------------------------
Learn more about Diana and receive your FREE Report, "3
Huge Mistakes People Like You Make to Sabotage Their
Success & How You Can Completely Avoid Them!" and FREE
subscription to "Life & Work Design Secrets" e-newsletter,
please visit http://www.DianaLong.com .