Ten Ways to Foster Innovation

Ten Ways to Foster Innovation
In order to compete effectively, we must look for new and
better ways to accomplish our mission. We must find
creative methods to delight our customers. And we must find
innovative strategies for getting more done with fewer
resources.

With things changing as rapidly as they are, doing things
the old way won't be profitable for very long. To grow, we
must be constantly innovating.

And an innovative company attracts and keeps better
employees. People want to be part of something creative.
It's stimulating and it's fun.

Here are 10 things you can do to foster a culture of
innovation and creativity.

1. Live in the possibility. Know that every problem has
many possible solutions. Stand in the belief that you and
your team can find a better way to do anything you put your
minds to. Practice CANI—Constant and Never-Ending
Improvement.

2. Always question what you do and why you do it. All too
often tasks and projects creep into our processes that
aren't necessarily in keeping with our mission and purpose.
Make sure everything you do is in alignment and produces
the results intended.

3. Challenge long-held beliefs. Just because something's
always been done a certain way doesn't mean that it's still
the best way. As Anthony D'Angelo said, "Just because
something is tradition doesn't make it right."

4. Don't accept the first solution right away. There are
many possible solutions to every problem. Most people go
with the first plausible one that comes up, and they miss
the value of thinking longer and finding more effective and
elegant answers.

5. Read. You can't learn less. The more you know about
something, the more you find that you DON'T know. By adding
to your knowledge base, you find more and more
associations. And making associations is where seemingly
magical things happen.

6. Have fun. Coming up with ideas on how to do things
faster, easier, with fewer resources really is fun. And
things that are fun to do get done more often. Schedule
regular brainstorming sessions and practice green-light
thinking. Order pizza for lunch and focus on a problem or
process and generate as many ideas as you can.

7. Get around people in different industries. By stepping
out of your familiar territory, you open the door to new
and different viewpoints you can use to your advantage.

8. Challenge your team to look deeper. When Henry Ford
asked his engineers to design the V-8 engine, they said it
couldn't be done. He said it WILL be done—and
eventually, they did it.

9. Make sure you have adequate "moodling" time—time
to do nothing. When we're constantly engaged in DOING
things, we don't provide the fertile ground for ideas to
take root.

10. Charge your subconscious. Give your mind something to
work on while you sleep. Select a problem you want solved,
a process you would like improved or a new product you
would like to create before going to bed and then forget
about it. Tell yourself you want at least three elegant
ideas by the next day and then expect to receive them.
Trust me, it works.

----------------------------------------------------
"Innovation & Creativity" is one of the 10 pillars of a
World-Class Organization—get your special report on
all ten pillars from SuccessNet at:
http://SuccessNet.org/files/10PillarsWCB.pdf

Email Strategies for Strategic Marketing

Email Strategies for Strategic Marketing
If you run an online business, you already know that email
is an essential portion of how you do business and
communicate with customers - a veritable lifeline to your
client base. There are several email strategies, besides
the overused spam and direct mail, which will help you
reach potential new clients, inspire them to want to reach
you, and to build stronger relationships with your existing
clients.

Email Signature

A very simple and obvious way to raise your company's
awareness is to install an automatic email signature at the
bottom of all outgoing correspondence. This is something
that most companies are probably already doing, but it is
important enough to be mentioned. If you do not already
use an email signature, it is time to start, and if your
company is using an email signature—bravo—but
this is also a good time to re-evaluate the autograph and
company information that appears in the signature. Is it
clear? Easy to read? Does it contain a link? These are a
few things to consider when designing your email signature,
and evaluating the effectiveness of an existing signature.

Email Newsletter

Publishing an email newsletter is a great way to stay in
touch with your prospective customers, raise brand
awareness, share information and build relationships. It
may sound like a lot of work, but you may only choose to
release a newsletter monthly or quarterly, so it need not
be intensely time consuming, and it is an excellent,
non-invasive way to reach out to customers.

An email newsletter on the surface is simply a way of
sharing news and information with customers and potential
clients who have usually voluntarily asked to receive this
letter. Email newsletters are usually sent to existing
customers who have signed up for the service, so it is a
way of keeping in touch with and reaching out to customers
who are already interested in your business and services.
An effective tactic here is to personalize each
email/newsletter by using distribution technology that uses
the client's first name. Use of a client's first name will
further solidify your relationship by extending personal
attention and courtesy that the customer may not get from
another website business.

Special Offers

Sending coupons to your existing customers and letting them
know of special offers via email is a useful marketing
strategy. This will make customers feel that you are
looking out for their interests, that you appreciate their
business, and want to reward their loyalty. This will make
those customers feel that they have been recognized, and
that their business matters to you, further increasing
their loyalty to you.

This need not be a costly strategy for your business. You
can offer a small percentage-off coupon, which in the long
run won't affect your bottom line, but will benefit
customer alliance. In addition to this, the percentage of
customers who actually redeem these coupons and special
offers tends to be small - they may not need to re-order
products at this time- but the effect of increased loyalty
will be achieved whether the customer redeems the coupon or
not. These compatible marketing strategies are a strategic
choice, and an effective way to build relationships with
your customers, and to increase your business.

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

Setting Up QuickBooks for a Limited Liability Company

Setting Up QuickBooks for a Limited Liability Company
Operating your business as a limited liability company? As
you probably know, getting the QuickBooks accounting
program setup correctly in your situation can be, well,
tricky. But in a sense, that's a good thing. The trickiness
stems from the tax accounting flexibility that the LLC
option provides.

Fortunately, you can follow these three accounting tricks
to keep your QuickBooks LLC setup under-control and
well-organized.

Trick #1: Pretend the LLC Is Something Else

A limited liability company, for tax accounting purposes,
is always treated as something else. For example, a one
owner LLC operating a business is treated as a sole
proprietorship. An LLC with multiple owners that operates a
business is treated as a partnership.

What's more, both LLCs with a single owner and those with
multiple owners can make elections to be treated for tax
accounting purposes as regular corporations (called C
corporations) or as Subchapter S corporations.

And all this leads to the first tip for setting up
QuickBooks for an LLC. When you run the QuickBooks EasyStep
Interview to setup QuickBooks, don't indicate that you're
setting up QuickBooks for a limited liability company.
Rather, indicate that you're setting up QuickBooks for the
sort of taxpayer the LLC will be treated as.

For example, if you're a one owner LLC that hasn't made any
special elections to be treated as a corporation, tell
QuickBooks you're a sole proprietor. If you're a multiple
owner LLC that hasn't made any special elections, tell
QuickBooks that you're a partnership. And if you have made
an election to be treated as a C corporation or an S
corporation, tell QuickBooks that's what you are--a C
corporation or an S corporation.

Trick #2: Combine Child and Parent LLCs in a Single
QuickBooks Datafile

A common asset protection technique is to have a parent LLC
or a parent corporation own child LLCs. A retailer with
three locations, for example, might put each store location
into a separate LLC. These three child LLCs might then be
owned by a parent LLC or parent corporation.

Separate LLCs, however, shouldn't be segregated into
separate QuickBooks datafiles. Rather, the LLC's accounts,
income and deductions should be tracked within the parent's
QuickBooks data file.

This combination seems (at first glance) just plain wrong.
But here's the logic. In a parent-child structure, the
child (so to speak) is owned by the parent. And that means
that for tax accounting purposes, both the parent and the
children combine their income and deductions. That
combination means that both the parent LLC's and the child
LLCs' income and deductions need to be combined into a
single QuickBooks data file.

One caution, however. Because each LLC (whether parent or
child) is a different legal entity, you should use separate
QuickBooks accounts for each LLC's separate assets and
liabilities.

For example, each LLC might have its own bank account
within the QuickBooks data file. And each LLC should track
its own accounts receivable, furniture and fixtures, and
liabilities with separate, specific-to-that-LLC accounts.

Trick #3: Customize Forms for Each LLC as Necessary

If you're working with parent-children LLC situation, one
other setup tip should be mentioned.

While for tax accounting purposes, you can and should
combine the parent LLC and the child LLC transactions, you
still want to recognize and visually highlight the separate
legal identity of the parent LLC and of any child LLCs.

Within QuickBooks, an easy way to do this is to use
separate customized forms for each LLC. An LLC with its own
bank account will have its own check forms of course. And
those check forms will have the LLC name on them.

But go a step further than that. If an LLC invoices
customers or clients or sends a customer or client
statements, that LLC should have its own customized invoice
template or statement--one that uses that LLC's name.

Similarly, if an LLC issues purchase orders to vendors,
that LLC should have its own purchase order template that
uses the LLC's name.

Each QuickBooks form window includes boxes and buttons for
creating customized forms.

----------------------------------------------------
Stephen L. Nelson is a Seattle-area CPA. He's also the
author of QuickBooks for Dummies and the publisher of the
popular do-it-yourself web sites,
http://www.fasteasyincorporationkits.com and
http://www.llcsexplained.com

Job Interviews - When He Asked, "How Do You Motivate Yourself?," I Was Without a Good Answer

Job Interviews - When He Asked, "How Do You Motivate Yourself?," I Was Without a Good Answer
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

A reader emailed me with this question: "I was in an
interview, and was asked this question: How do you motivate
yourself? I could barely answer the question. What would
you suggest?"

This is a great question that deserves a great answer.
After managing dozens of employees over the years, I can
tell you not what I think, but what I know.

First, employees who do well and then lack motivation
generally have a change of attitude. What is more important
than what caused the change in attitude is recognizing that
there has been a change in attitude.

Knowing this is important because attitude drives
personality. A person with a good attitude generally has a
good personality. A person with a bad attitude generally
has a bad personality.

You can change your attitude just as you change your
employer, but if it means giving up a good salary and
benefit package, why bother looking for another job when it
is easier for you to change yourself?

Second, your change in motivation and energy level is
almost always tied to your exercise or lack of exercise. A
program of sustained exercise is not only a tremendous
"stress buster" but also provides you with more energy,
more motivation, better health, better decision-making
skills and a better attitude.

So when you feel your motivation is on the wane, start an
exercise program or return to exercising as a way to
improve your motivation. Exercise pumps more oxygen into
your bloodstream, clears your mind, improves your
self-image, increases your self-confidence and increases
your energy level.

Third, learn to live with gratitude. When you lack
motivation, remind yourself that there are many people who
cannot find work to support their family, others who may
not make the kind of money you are making, or have the kind
of opportunities you have for advancement through
production. Be thankful for everything good in your life.

Be thankful for your health, your family, your friends and
your employer who helps you generate income to support
yourself and your family. We can make choices while those
who are physically, mentally or emotionally challenged are
less able to make the same choices. Perhaps the only thing
worse than an ingrate is a capable person too lazy to work.

It was Abraham Lincoln who said "People are about as happy
as they make up their minds to be." Williams James said
"The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human
being can alter their life by altering their attitude."
Both statements show great insight and reflect truth that
is beyond refute.

Fourth, learn to laugh at yourself and with others. Do not
take yourself too seriously. Researchers have shown that
people who cannot cope with their situation generally have
low self-esteem, live in the past and cannot laugh at
themselves. Laughter makes almost every situation better.

Laughter can keep you going, keep your healthy and keep you
motivated.

Finally, realize that motivation is an "inside" job. If you
continually need your co-workers and boss to keep you
motivated, you are seriously not in charge of yourself or
your destiny.

This is why motivation by intimation or reward for effort
by your superiors cannot last. We will not tolerate
intimation forever, and the rewards for production must
continually increase to keep the production increasing,
thereby increasing the cost until it exceeds the benefit to
the employer.

The smartest, most successful employees motivate themselves
and keep themselves motivated with exercise, gratitude and
laughter.

----------------------------------------------------
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

Sell the Store, Not the Chair

Sell the Store, Not the Chair
As with all technology, there are positives and negatives.
This is evident with the web as a new marketing source.
Most products are becoming a fast commodity, even if they
were not before. If you are interested in buying a chair,
you can quickly search on Google, eBay, or any other major
search engine, and you will instantly find all chairs of
the kind that you are looking for. You will also know the
appropriate price of that style of chair, give or take a
few dollars.

This wonderful technology makes it much more difficult for
a furniture store to compete in the marketplace. The chair
may be selling for much less on the net, because the
furniture store has a great deal more overhead to run the
business.

In order to overcome the problem of being technologically
put out of business, the furniture store will have to start
selling the benefits of dealing with the store more than
the benefits of buying the individual chair.

Imagine two sales clerks who are approached by a prospect
looking for a new chair. Sales clerk number one takes the
prospect over to the chair that they are interested in and
begins to describe the chair and the price. Armed with
information from the web, the prospect knows the prices
that are available around the country as well as all the
details about the chair. The salesman is in the difficult
position of having to either match the online price or lose
the sale.

Instead of spending time discussing the chair, salesman two
discusses the store. The salesman describes the history of
the store, the customer service philosophy of the owners,
and how the store stands behind its product. When the
prospect and salesman arrive at the demonstration of the
chair, the customer now has additional factors to consider
when comparing the e-store with the furniture store. For
example, the prospect also considers the possibility of
effortless returns or exchanges if problems develop after
the customer takes the chair home.

The purpose of teaching the salesman to spend extra time
with a customer to discuss the store's long-term
relationships with customers is to attempt to educate the
buyer and create brand loyalty. Over time, brand loyalty
and the desire to work with a store that stands behind
their product can overcome many objections, including
pricing. Price is always an important element, but in most
cases and particularly over time, brand loyalty to a local
store is stronger. The key is to make sure that the sale is
made based on the store benefits and not the chair.

----------------------------------------------------
WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?
See The Business Growth Blog at
http://www.DicksNantonAgency.com

Selling Means Maintaining an Open Communications Channel

Selling Means Maintaining an Open Communications Channel
Yesterday I had the opportunity to work with two very
experienced process control engineers as we prepared for
and then participated in a lengthy meeting with a panel of
technical managers at a large manufacturing company. Each
of these knowledgeable gentlemen were twenty-plus year
engineering veterans of their company.

My function was facilitator, keeping the meeting on track
so that we could accomplish our goals, chief of which was
to collect the necessary information to solve their complex
issues and furnish a quotation for their immediate project.

I do not pretend to be a process engineer. Any pretending
would be quickly revealed and mistrust would surely ensue.
There is no shame in admitting your limitations and
bringing in qualified experts to provide technical support
and assistance.

None of us can be experts in everything. Customers
appreciate being able to speak their language and having
their audience understand it. In this manner, they feel
confident that there is an open communication channel and
their needs are clearly understood.

Our engineers worked all afternoon, evening and early this
morning preparing a sixteen-page proposal which I delivered
to them this afternoon. They appreciated this extra effort
as their need is immediate. We could have their purchase
order and down payment as early as tomorrow!

Yes... you read correctly; a down payment. In this case,
50% of the order value. When a partial payment is part of
the order process, the customer becomes committed and
serious. We cannot afford to spend 20-30 hours of
preparation and order components without such commitment.

In like manner, our customer expects the same commitment
and dedication from us. They expect us to proceed in a
timely manner, communicating with them regularly throughout
the process and delivering their system on-time.

These same sales principles can be applied in a variety of
industries and services.

1. Search out and pre-qualify customers who need your help.

2. Research their credit worthiness, financial strength and
reputation.

3. Be certain that they have a clear understanding of your
capabilities, products and services.

4. Learn everything you can about their operations and
needs.

5. Quote expectantly. Do not hesitate to ask for their
business.

6. Do not be shy about making a solid profit. It is why you
are in business.

7. Negotiate payment terms up-front. Be direct.

8. Over-deliver on your promises.

Sales is so much about communicating clearly. When everyone
is on the same page, errors and disappointments are less
likely. No customer expects perfection, but they do demand
your best effort and attention to their needs. Keep
communicating and you will likely keep selling.

----------------------------------------------------
Daniel Sitter, author of both Learning For Profit and
Superior Selling Skills Mastery, has garnered extensive
experience in sales, training, marketing and personal
development over a successful twenty-six year sales career.
Visit his resourceful blog at http://www.idea-sellers.com

What should you do after you have started a new company?

What should you do after you have started a new company?
There is a lot to do when you start a new company. First
you have to register through either ASIC directly or one of
their agents. Once you have your Certificate of
registration (which can happen within 30 minutes) you can
start to do other things as well.

You will receiver your ACN either via fax or email within
30 minutes of registration (sometimes this may take longer
if there is a hold up with ASIC), and once you do you can
start using it.

Apply for an ABN number: Even if you become a company you
still need and ABN (below is an extract from ASIC's
website):

ABN = Australian Business Number This is a new number for
business dealings with the ATO (Australian Tax Office) and
in future, with government agencies at all levels. An ABN
is needed to register for GST and other elements of the New
Tax System.

So it is essential that all companies apply for one. You
can apply either by completing the order form that is
provided when you purchase the complete company register or
online at their website (Google ASIC).

Get Your Domain Name:

In today's day and age it is important to have a website in
fact I would go as far to say you are "playing" if you do
not plan on having one and fast.

Websites are now very affordable and can be set up for as
little as a few hundred dollars. And for the power of what
the internet can offer it is a great marketing tool.

So you will need to start with a Domain Name (this is the
address that people will enter to go to your website ie:
www.companiesnow.com.au) It is a good idea to have the
domain name closely linked to what it is you do. Example:
Company Name: Hair Excellence Web:
www.hairexcellence.com.au.

If you cannot get that exact
match play around to get as close as possible.

If you are doing business all around the world then go for
a .com domain name but if you are mainly dealing in
Australia go for a .com.au as people will relate to you
being an Australian Business.

Set Up A Website:

This is quite simple these days and there are a lot of good
companies offering services, you can even build your own
very easily without having to know anything about coding.

If you are a client of Companies Now and would like any
information on them or other alternatives then please give
us a call and we will happily point you in the right
direction.

Open A Bank Account:

First you might want to start opening bank accounts. It
would be wise to go to a local bank and get a business
checking account as well as some kind of savings account.
With the business accounts you will be able to set up
payments to your own personal bank account and to your
employee's accounts too. This could be to direct deposit
their pay checks. You will also be able to sign up for
debit cards to your accounts. You can take the names of
people you want to have access to your account with you.
These people might need to sign something so be prepared
for that.

You will need to supply the bank with the following:
-Company Certificate Of Registration -Company ABN (some
banks may not require) -Your Identification

Need To Raise Capital?

You can also start getting funding for your company too.
You might need a lot of start up capital, or you might need
some capital to continue projects you have had in mind.
Either way once you are a viable company you will find it
easier to get this capital. You can also start getting
credit in the company's name. It might take some time to
get the credit considering you just became a company but it
is possible to start soon.

Need Staff?

With all your new company information ready to go and your
registration valid you can start to hire people to work for
your company. Make sure you have some kind of idea how many
people you need to get started. You will also decide if you
want part timers or full timers to work for you.

If you only want part timers you may not have to pay for
benefits that you would with full timers.

With that all in order you can choose an opening day. This
is the day people can use to help you advertise by
encouraging visitors to come on the first day of business.
Keep in mind that this usually means some kind of sale on
your products or services. But I highly encourage this to
get people to know who you are and what you do so that they
will come back.

Marketing:

I believe this to be the most crucial part of your business
and an aspect that you should not leave to chance. It will
determine the success of your business so make sure you
become a serious marketer of your company. I cannot over
estimate the importance of this as it will be the
difference between your new business becoming a great
success to the typical story of business start ups.

As you can see the registration of your business is only
the beginning for your new company. By keeping track of
everything you do and what you want to do you will indeed
be able to get started on the track to success.

----------------------------------------------------
To discover how to register a company in Australia or for
more articles and information on company formation visit
http://www.companiesnow.com.au

Should You Change Your Job?

Should You Change Your Job?
Are you currently unhappy with your job or with your
employer in general? If you are, you may have considered
changing jobs. With that in mind, if you depend on your
paycheck to help pay your bills or to help support your
family, you may be unsure as to whether or not a job change
is really in the best interest of you and your family. If
this is something that you have asked yourself before, you
will want to continue reading on.

When it comes to determining whether or not you should
change jobs, there are a number of important factors that
you will want to take into consideration. These factors are
important, as no two situations are the same. Different
individuals rely on their paychecks for different things.
That is why it is advised that you examine the factors
outlined below and then use them in your own, personal,
situations.

One of the many factors that you will want to take into
consideration, before deciding if you should change jobs,
is your current job's pay. Do you think that you receive a
fair salary? If you do, do you know that it may be
difficult for you to make the same amount of money
elsewhere? Unless you are lucky enough to receive a job in
upper level management, you may find yourself right back at
the bottom of the ladder, having to work your way right
back up. For that reason, you will want to first take your
current salary and compare it the salary that is being
advertised with job openings that you can find in your
local newspapers or online.

Health insurance is another factor that you will want to
take into consideration, when deciding if you should change
your job. Do you currently rely on your job for health
insurance, either for yourself or for your whole family?
If you do, this is definitely a factor that needs to be
taken into consideration. Yes, you may be able to purchase
health insurance for yourself or at least an extension of
your coverage, but you should know that this can get quite
expensive. With that in mind, should you still decide to
switch jobs, you may want to schedule all of your doctor's
appointments before you do so, just to get everything in
order. If your current coverage includes dental and vision
coverage, you may also want to make these appointments too,
just in case.

The current job outlook is another factor that you will
want to take into consideration. If you are looking to
change jobs, do you already have a new job lined up? If
you do not, you will want to at least make sure that there
is a good chance that you can seek employment elsewhere.
In most cases, you are unable to collect unemployment
payments if you leave your job on your own terms. If you
have a family to support or if you rely on your income to
pay important bills, like your rent or mortgage payments,
you may want to have a backup plan in place.

In keeping with the current job outlook, you are advised to
examine all job openings in your area. What you will want
to do is examine any required training, work experience, or
education. Unfortunately, many individuals realize too late
that they are unqualified for their dream job. This is
something that you do not want to do. Instead of assuming,
you can easily examine the average job requirements by
examining all available job openings in your local
newspaper or online. If you do not have the necessary
training, you may want to consider enrolling in a career
training course, as they may be able to improve your
chances of finding a new job.

The above mentioned factors are just a few of the many
factors that you will want to take into consideration,
should you be interested in changing jobs. Of course, the
decision to seek employment elsewhere is your decision to
make, but, with something this important, you are advised
to proceed with caution.

----------------------------------------------------
Find Your Next Job and Advance Your Career.
http://job-sources.info

Work At Home Need Special Care To Ensure Success

Work At Home Need Special Care To Ensure Success
Most people take up work at home to ensure that their
children are not neglected. In the majority of cases where
people chose to leave their 9 to 5 jobs for self-employment
spending more time with the family is the number one
reason. If you are considering the same step, be assured
that this is indeed a great way to improve the quality of
life in your family. However, you also need to know that
often self-employment can be very tough if you are not
prepared for it.

Making work at home successful requires hard work. Often,
the effort involved is more than what you applied in your 9
to 5 job. This is because when you were at your job, there
were norms, systems, rules and regulations that you were
required to follow as a part of the job. When you are at
home, however, there are no such rules which demarcates
where your house roles are over and where your working role
starts. In most cases your family will not understand that
you need a certain amount of time when you should solely
concentrate of your work. This can result in continuous
interruptions, which would hamper or slow down your
effectiveness.

In order to be successful with your work at home therefore,
you need to lay down some ground rules before you take the
plunge. First of all this decision should be taken in
collaboration with your whole family. Every member of your
family should understand and agree to cooperate with you
when you decide to take leave your regular job for
self-employment. You should then set aside a particular
location in your home as office or work place where you
could do your work. Your family members should be
sensitized to the fact that when you are working there
should ideally be no interruptions or "emergency" calls
unless there were real emergencies.

You also need to deal with the change with utmost honesty
when analyzing your requirements both in terms of time and
your involvement. If you think that you can adjust your
time when the baby sleeps, or when the children do their
homework, you are in for a big shock. Children are very
unpredictable and they will demand your attention and care
at all times during the day. If you want to be successful
with your work at home you need to be realistic about how
much time you need to devote to this work every day and
when.

Ensure that the time you need is earmarked in such a manner
that it would suffer the least interruptions. For example,
you could wake up two hours before or sleep two hours after
everybody else and use that time for your work. Or you
could ask your spouse or your older children to take care
of the little ones for a few hours while you work. Whatever
system you put into place, it should be consistent and
reliable. Unless you are serious and very particular about
your work-time, you would end up sacrificing it to the
needs of your family and this would mean the end of your
work at home venture. Success demands discipline,
commitment, dedication and the most important, self-drive
since here you are the boss and you are the employee at the
same time.

----------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.Trade4Net.com
Browse our site to find the right home business for you.

Employee Motivation Tips

Employee Motivation Tips
Motivated employees rely on their own resources to get the
job done. They have an inner drive that causes them to
provide outstanding customer service. Unmotivated employees
simply want to get by doing the minimum amount of work
possible. Experts agree you can't force someone to be
motivated. Supervisors can, however, provide a workplace
environment that encourages employees to make decisions,
deal positively with co-workers and receive recognition for
hard work. At the next staff meeting or in a company
e-mail, list a few simple tips such as "How To Provide
Amazing Service to Stressed-Out Customers". Then provide
practical ways for your employees to place the emphasis on
serving your customers.

In a January 1998 Roper Poll, it was found 9 out of 10
employees will work harder for you if you show an interest
in their growth outside of work. This statistic opens up a
wealth of ways to motivate employees. One company had a
bulletin board in the staff lounge with the caption
"Greatest Pets In The World". It was constantly covered
with pictures of adorable puppies and all types of pets
owned by the staff. Here are some other ways for you to
show entry level employees you care about them as people.

- Discover your employee's interests. If an employee loves
gardening, give them a small plant in appreciation for
their hard work. People appreciate knowing you gave them a
gift geared towards their interest or hobby.

- Never underestimate the power of meaningful conversation.
Asking an employee, "How did your son do at the basketball
tournament?" shows you care about more than their ability
to create the company website.

- Many businesses see an increase in workload during the
holidays. Help staff reduce stress by purchasing Panic
buttons. These bright red, actual computer keys are
imprinted with PANIC. Double backed adhesive lets you
attach them to any item that brings you frustration.
www.panicbuttons.com

These types of activities help employees feel staff cares
about them as individuals, not simply employees. Then, when
management reinforces policies such as arriving to work on
time and cutting back on sending holiday e-mail cards,
employees are more receptive.

The University of Kansas psychology department studied
other ways to motivate employees. Their results showed
recognition was a strong factor in developing employees
with high work standards. Again, giving recognition doesn't
take a huge budget. One supervisor gives "psychological
paychecks". When employees receive their paychecks, he
attaches a Post-it note on the envelope with a specific
positive statement such as, "Helen, Thank you for coming in
early last week during the budget crunch."

Employees take pride in knowing their extra efforts are
acknowledged. Begin staff meetings with public praise for
an employee's efforts or contributions to the department.
Wouldn't you enjoy being in a meeting that starts with,
"Last week, Jennifer came in as a substitute on incredibly
short notice. I'd like to thank her by giving her this
gift...a submarine sandwich!" Keep people informed. As much
as possible, let employees know what is going on. Rumors
and gossip uncertainty do little to motivate employees.
Reward employees who recommend new employees. Send balloons
or flowers to an employee's house if they deserve special
recognition.

Oprah Winfrey has the budget to motivate her employees with
exotic gifts and luxury vacations. Most supervisors and
managers need to rely on creativity and perhaps a Panic
button. The point is the same...letting employees know you
appreciate their efforts and hard work results in highly
motivated employees.

----------------------------------------------------
Silvana Clark is a professional speaker, presenting
keynotes and workshops on business-related topics.The
author of 11 books, she gained her marketing experience by
getting her "ordinary" dog to star in TV commercials. Oh
yes, she also appeared on the Fox reality show, Trading
Spouses.
http://www.silvanaclark.com

Does the cutting edge of social media really pay?

Does the cutting edge of social media really pay?
So someone asks you: "What's your Twitter name?" And you
look at them like they are a loony. Twitter? Huh?

And then the next person asks you, "You blog, right? What's
the URL?"

Hold it. What happened? In the seeming blink of an eye,
suddenly there's all this new so-called 'social media' on
the web, and you know nothing about it.

What's worse, is that everyone else seems to be there
already. It's like you went to the bathroom, and when you
came out, the party moved on, leaving you in a dark room
with empty glasses all around you.

Time to drop everything and catch up with the party...
quickly! Quickly!

And let's say you catch up with the party...

You've got your blog, your Twitter name, and all of those
things. And no matter how fast you run with it all, it
doesn't seem to be making much of a difference.

The world IS moving, you can't safely ignore it. And yet
chasing after it isn't working. What to do?

Innovation is a no-no.

There is a teaching in Sufism that speaks against
innovation. Well, not all innovation, and only in certain
circumstances.

This is sometimes where people get the idea that Islam is
anti-science or anti-progress. Not true.

In the twelth century, during Europe's 'dark ages,' Islamic
culture had some of the most advanced universities,
scientists, and doctors in the world, at the very cutting
edge of modern technology. The problem with innovation is
that it can feed on itself.

Innovation is forbidden when it becomes a false idol.

We've come to think about technology as 'computers' or
'science.' But, the word 'technology comes from the Greek
'tekhnologia' meaning, an interest in an 'art or craft'
(Oxford American Dictionaries).

The problem comes when someone studies technology for its
own sake. For our personalities, our egos, the lure of
'newness' is strong. New sensations and learnings can
encompass all of our attention, immerse us in the
experience.

This can be a good, because immersion is a great way to
learn. The problem is that with something like all the
innovation happening in web technology, is that there is no
defined 'end' point. There is no way to tell externally
when you've done enough.

If you get caught in this loop, you can emerge months or
years later, having totally lost track of the path you are
on.

The irony is- people want connection. The irony of
web-based social media like blogs and Twitter is that it's
coming out of the deeper hunger to connect to community, to
love, to Source. Yet all of this innovation in the internet
can leave you exhausted and isolated- even if you're good
at it and like it.

As you may already know, that connection you're yearning
for is in your heart, not Twitter. It's in the hearts of
other people, not in the technology. If you forget that,
you'll be lost. By remembering your true intention, then
technology can be useful to you.

So do I blog and Twitter, or not?

Well, I'll give you a definitive answer: it depends. :) It
depends on your business, and the hearts of the people you
are trying to reach.

If you work with younger adults or teens, or with engineers
or gadget geeks, then yes, you're going to want to meet
them where they are, which is usually on the cutting edge
of the latest toys. If you don't, it may not be as
critical. And, even if you suspect that a good portion of
your audience is found in the 'blogosphere' as it's
sometimes called, there's still no need to be so urgent
about it.

How do you proceed? Well, take breath, connect to your
heart, and let's take a look.

Keys to Technology

• Your current website and newsletter is not obsolete!

Don't panic and discard what you've got now. Just because
all of this new stuff is out there doesn't mean what you
already have isn't perfect for what you're doing. My
bicycle is more than fifteen years old, and it gets me
around just fine. And, if you haven't even gotten your
website done yet, it's still more than worthwhile to finish.

• You don't need the latest, just adequate. Unless your
business is about social media and cutting-edge web
technology, in which case you probably aren't even reading
this article (hiya!), then forget about Twitter, Pownce,
Digg, Stumble-Upon, del.icio.us for right now. You don't
need anything but entry-level basic. Just start reading
some blogs, without being in a rush. Here's a few to start
with:

Dawud Miracle

Michael Martine

Adam Kayce

• Set a 1-3 month 'safe zone' of learning.

As you begin to learn, tell yourself that you don't have to
do anything about it for one to three months, that you are
just going to learn. It will work even better if you find a
friend or colleague who can give you an hour or three for a
personal guided tour of this stuff.

This approach doesn't just apply to blogs, but it applies
to most anything new you need to learn about your business.
And, once you understand the basics, the more obscure
pieces will come MUCH more quickly.

You might actually find yourself enjoying the technology. :)

With blogs and other social media, remember that technology
is just a tool, and that the craft you are studying is not
blogs. You are involved with the craft of connection, and
you're just learning a new tool to do what you already know
something about.

Don't let gurus rush you. Take a breath, and dip in. You
may find that all of this innovation and technology can
actually increase your connection to what you care about
most.

----------------------------------------------------
Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your
Business: How Money, Marketing and Sales can Deepen Your
Heart, Heal the World, and Still Add to Your Bottom Line.
He has helped hundreds of small business owners around the
globe succeed in business without lousing their hearts. Get
three free chapters of the book online:
http://www.heartofbusiness.com