Job Interviewing Question: Why Do You Want To Work For This Company?

Job Interviewing Question: Why Do You Want To Work For This Company?
The first answer that comes to mind is, "Because you have
an opening, and I need a job." While this may be the truth,
it is not an answer that will get you points in a job
interview. The interviewer is looking for an answer that
indicates you have thought about where you want to work,
and are not just sending out your resume to any company
that has an opening. Doing research on the company and
industry before the interview will make you stand out as a
more informed and competent applicant.

It's all in how you say it

Annette is the first candidate interviewed for the position
of HR Manager. When she is asked this question she replies,

"I always wanted to work for this company. I not only love
the product but, have used it for many years. This job
would be perfect for me, a real opportunity for me to grow
and develop."

Annette's answer begins well, but then shifts to what she
can get out of the experience instead of what she has to
offer. The answer would be stronger is she were to indicate
that she had done research on the industry and the company,
and could discuss more than her experience with the product.

James is another candidate and answers more directly.

" Based on the research I have done, this company is an
industry leader. When I visited the website, I found some
very impressive information about future work planned here.
I was also impressed with the backgrounds of the founders,
and the current financial statements. This is a company I
have been looking for, a place where my background,
experience, and skills can be put to use and make things
happen."

James's answer demonstrates his interest and enthusiasm for
the company and what it stands for. He also indicates that
he envisions how he could be a member of the team.

The last candidate, Phillip, answers,

"I'm not sure at this point. I answered the ad because I
fit the description but, from the research I've done, I
think that this is the type of company and industry I want
to work in. I know I have what it takes to do this job, and
based on my research, there are some challenges here that
would be a great match with my past experience and skills."

Phillip's answer is honest and forthright. He is here to
learn more and check them out.

Research

It is a must to do research before the interview, and come
up with two or three reasons you want to work for this
company. It would also be beneficial for you to think of at
least two reasons that this job is a match for you - your
skills, your strengths, your experience, and your
background - what you can bring to this company.

Your Answer

There are no right or wrong answers to this question. Your
answer should reflect that you have thought about what you
want and have done research on companies, and this one in
particular. Let the interviewer know that you are being
selective about where you want to work, and that this is
the company you want to work for. A little flattery will go
a long way.

----------------------------------------------------
Carole Martin is a celebrated author, trainer, and an
interview coach. Her books, "Interview Fitness Training
Workbook" and "Boost Your Interview IQ" (McGraw Hill) have
sold thousands of copies world-wide. Receive Carole's FREE
job interview tips by visiting her web site at:
http://www.interviewcoach.com

The Secrets Sales Tool We All Have But Rarely Use

The Secrets Sales Tool We All Have But Rarely Use
All salespeople have a powerful tool they can use to get
more sales. It is simply the amazing power of curiosity.
You know more than your customer and they want your
knowledge or they wouldn't be talking to you! Let's take a
look at a few ways you can use this power in sales
situations.

Getting Customers To Call You Back

Weak salespeople leave messages that leave nothing to the
imagination and spark no curiosity. Messages like, "Hello,
this is Kyle. I am calling to introduce myself as your new
account manager. Give me a call at 555-1212."

Yikes! Who would feel compelled to return that call? How
high would it be on your priority list. Using the power of
curiosity, the new account manager could leave a message
that peaks interests more. "Hello Fred. I am calling to
apologize. This is Kyle. I am your new account manager and
I just discovered that you have not been informed about a
service we have been offering our clients that I believe
will save you about $1,200.00 a month on what you currently
spend with us. I apologize for this oversight and we will
make it up to you. Call me as soon as you can at 555-1212
so I can get you these savings. This is so important, I
will meet with you any time of day that suits you. In fact,
I will drop by your office on Thursday at 11:00 if I do not
hear from you to be sure to give you this information and
start your savings.

I hope you can see that the curiosity generated by this
example will increase the odds of a call back. Curiosity
can move your call up the priority pile.

Explaining The Price

Another use of the power of curiosity is in dealing with
price. In most sales situations, the customer wants a
brochure and a price. The salesperson wants a sale. Who is
getting what they want in most of your sales situations?
Curiosity can help. Weak salespeople blurt out the price.
Some even write it on a card or a brochure and give it to
the prospect, creating a "license to shop". Stronger
salespeople have reasons why they need to customize the
price for the client. They use this leverage to find out
how many units the customer wants per month, when they want
it installed, terms and many other factors that get the
conversation going and gets the customer revealing what
they want and need. Never reveal the price too early. Great
salespeople use the order form as worksheet to estimate
custom process and then simply get it signed at the end. In
doing this, they are using the power of curiosity about
price to open up the customer.

In some industries it is customary to give a quote.
Estimates are important but they should be worked into a
closing situation and never "left" or stapled to a card or
brochure. Remember that if the customer has a brochure and
a price, they don't need you any more. No wonder they will
not call you back or set up a second meeting. If you want a
sale or a second meeting, you need to keep the customer
curious so they want more.

These are just a couple of ways to use the tremendous
leverage of the power of curiosity. I hope you use
curiosity to increase your sales and profits. Remember not
to give too much information. We are not there to educate,
we are there to sell. Many salespeople who do great
presentations but sell little have simply revealed to much.
Use the power of curiosity to keep the most important
information to yourself until you can trade the customer
what they want for what you want.

----------------------------------------------------
This is a a free sales training article by Carl Davidson.
For more free tips visit our bklog at
http://www.sales-solutions-now.com You can download a free
evaluation copy of Carl Davidson's book "If You Can Make
Love, You Can Make Sales" which is a sales system based on
the fact that people buy the same way they fall in love.

10 Easy Ways to Ensure People DO RESPOND to Your Promotional Messages!

10 Easy Ways to Ensure People DO RESPOND to Your Promotional Messages!
It's amazing to me how much advertising material I see that
DOESN'T ask for a response from the reader!

I don't know what it is, but it seems to me that huge
numbers of business owners aren't any more clearer about
what they should be asking their customers or prospect to
do, then those of a hundred years ago.

I mean, we all should've learnt something by now, right?

You see, all around we're bombarded with colourful, flashy,
'creative' advertising that has no other intention than to
create a splash.

And by splash, I mean to attract attention WITHOUT asking
for any other response. It's called IMAGE advertising.
Putting ones name in front, hoping people will buy based on
that alone.

Of course, if you're a 'biggie', like Coke, Pepsi, Nike,
Persil, etc, you can afford to do it (though why they still
do it when they can easily draw in millions by interacting
with their audience, is a mystery).

But, as we're not big institutions, with deep wells of cash
to then go spend it on some daft ad agency to spill their
nonsense on us, we've got to be a little smarter, a little
more agile, a little more ninja like in our approach.

So, what should we be doing those steers us away from that
image-based stuff? And listen: it's not your fault if
you've been doing IMAGE style advertising until now.
Because ... here's the solution to the problem.

And that being... ASK FOR A REPONSE!

There. Pretty painless.

Now, it'd be pretty cruel of me to let this article slip by
without giving you several ways to elicit a response, a
murmur, a whisper from your audience (plus I would've
skated by on my promise made to you in the article headline
- tut tut!).

So then, here are 10 WAYS you can easily use to
dramatically increase the effectiveness of your advertising
and marketing.

1. HAVE A PRIZE DRAW!

There's nothing simpler than to ask prospects and customers
to call in, to fill in a form, to email you because of
winning something. And let's face it, WE ALL LOVE TO
RECEIVE PRIZES AND GIFTS. Asking readers to respond doesn't
have to be fancy, complicated or boring. Something as
simple as - " Listen, before I go, I want to tell you that
there's a mystery prize worth £249.00 up for grabs.
All you got to do is fill in the attached form, put PRIZE
DRAW somewhere on the margin and post it off in the
pre-paid envelope. Then, sit back and relax."

2. MAKING A FREE OFFER!

I'm sure that you've probably got some information that you
could ask people to call in for? I mean, even a butcher can
say " drop in on the week beginning 1st October and you'll
get a special booklet called "Making Sizzling Dishes Using
Succulent Sausages!"

3. SOMETHING EXTRA IF YOU SEND YOUR ORDER WITH PAYMENT

This is what we're all ultimately looking for. "Send your
cash with this order and your goods'll be rushed over to
you in a jiffy. PLUS, you'll get a super little gift that
you'll never want to share with anyone. Your own super
little indulgence!"

4. FILLING IN A QUESTIONNAIRE

From the latest information by DMIS (Direct Mail
Information Service, there seems to be more people
responding to questionnaires then any other response
mechanism). So, why not include one in your next
communication to your audience? You don't have to make it
elaborate or make it have an award winning design. Keep it
simple, to the point and of interest to the responder.

5. VISIT WEBSITE

If you're short on space, on cash, on telling your full
story in a print ad, direct mail letter, flyer, brochure or
other promotional literature, then driving people to your
website, where they can GET THE FULL STORY, is an ideal way
to get a great response.

But of course, you'd better have something interesting and
compelling to say that favours the reader!

6. MAKE AN APPOINTMENT

Any business can schedule an appointment for customers. Be
it by phone, call in to place of business, by email, MSN
messenger, fax, or any other way YOU want people to contact
you to make an appointment. The most successful
hairdressers, marketing consultants, party planners, estate
agents, you name it, all work on a scheduled appointment
basis. Can you use it in YOUR business?

7. MAKE A DONATION

No matter what business you have, or intend to have, you
can easily hook up with a charity and have people respond
to your messages where you inform them that a certain
element of the sales, gets forwarded to the charity. And,
if they wanted to make a contribution over a special
nominated amount, you'll be rewarding them in some way.

8. CUT OUT COUPON

Have you ever snipped out a coupon from a newspaper or
magazine? Whether it be a discount for health vitamins at
Boots, £5.00 off shopping at your local Sainsburys or
Tescos, or even a BY ONE GET ONE FREE at your local Pizza
Hut. You too can, and should use COUPONS as a response
strategy.

9. GAMES, QUIZZES AND SPOT THE DIFFERENCES!

You know, it's not that often people get to experience the
lighter side of life. The more you can help lift the burden
and weight off their shoulders for a little while, the more
they'll cherish you. If in your communications you set
little quizzes, games, puzzles... where the winner will get
a prize when they send in their answers, the mere
interaction will soon have your readers TRAINED to respond
to you in regular intervals.

Why not try it?

10. SOMETHING CONTREVERSIAL

Have you thought what the response would be if you sent in
something CONTREVERSIAL to your readers, prospects or
customers?

I know this may not be something popular, but, it certainly
creates a flurry of interest. I remember an ad where the
Headline said something like...

"Another Family in John Jones Neighbourhood Will Soon Be
the Victim of a Violent Mugging!"

Now, the 'John Jones' was real name of a person. There was
a direct mail letter sent to certain names on a database
selling a set of self-defence fighting videos. The videos
sold okay, but, there was a number of irate people who
received the letter, upset about the headline and the
thought of muggings.

Here's what happened next:

Another letter was sent APOLOGISING PROFUSELY about any
distress the letter had caused. It then went on to say that
if they wanted, they could have the video set at half price
as a way of compensating for the grief caused.

RESULT? They sold MORE videos at the half price than the
full price one!

Hmmm... in what little ways can you spark a profitable
'controversy'?

So there you have it.

Put any of the 10 ways to work to get people responding to
your advertising and marketing messages, and see your
responses... explode!

----------------------------------------------------
Nick James is a UK based direct marketer and product
developer. During the last 5 years Nick has sold in excess
of £1.6 Million Pounds worth of products and sevices
online. Subscribe to his Free Tip Of The Week email at:
http://www.Nick-James.com

Selling Jewelry to Women

Selling Jewelry to Women
- Ideas for selling your jewelry to women clients

It is obvious that as a jewelry designer, a majority of
your target buyers are women. Women love jewelry and women
spend hours and hours deciding to buy and eventually buy a
piece of jewelry. So how do you go about establishing your
jewelry business so that you target your client base? How
do you promote your business so as to attract and retain
your client base? Here are a few tips which will guide you
in establishing your jewelry business, target your client
base (which is primarily comprised of women) and even
retain your client base for a long time to come:

1. Establish a promotional tie-up with a quality clothing
retailer - any customer spending above a certain amount of
money would receive a discount coupon / gift certificate
for your store.

2. How about a vice-versa tie-up with say, a hair salon?
Establish a tie-up with a quality hair salon where women
who buy above a certain price range in your shop would then
receive a gift certificate / discount coupon to visit the
hair salon.

3. The traditional way is also another time-tested method -
be part of a community fashion show, be part of various
women's organizations, and such other fund-raising ideas.

4. Donate gift certificates to charitable causes - this
works especially if the committee members are mostly made
up of women.

5. Target your clients through newspapers - don't ignore
the sports pages or the business sections as modern women
are known to read these sections avidly.

6. Make sure your advertisements are also placed in upscale
fashion publications. Frame such nice ads and put them up
on your store walls in a nice manner.

7. Display the jewelry as it is meant to be worn. Don't
just display them on a pad - put pins or brooches on a
blouse or a scarf and show them off to your potential
clients.

8. Make sure that your staff is well dressed, especially in
the context of the market you are going to target.

9.Organize your displays / merchandise according to the
price range. Don't group expensive items with inexpensive
items. Make sure the price labels are visible to your
clients. If you are not comfortable with visible price
labels, you can put up price range label (From $50 to $70)
on the display case.

10. Show ensembles in different price ranges. This will
allow women with smaller budgets to make purchases in your
shop as well.

11. Make sure that your store hours are favorable for
professional women - it is logical that women won't be able
to shop at your store if your store is open only when they
are at work.

12. Provide for ample parking space around your shop. Make
sure your shop parking area has good security. At late
hours, offer to have a guard escort your women customers
back to their cars.

13. Don't forget that little touches mean a lot. When
customers visit your shop, offer them tea / coffee / cold
drinks in attractive glassware.

14. Make sure your store bathrooms (especially those that
customers can use) are well appointed. Use scented soaps,
guest towels, potpourri - these subtle touches make women
feel very comfortable while they are shopping at your store.

All these ideas should help you with creating the right
client base, and create the right ambience and provide the
right touch of elegance for your store, which eventually
will help you build up your jewelry business.

----------------------------------------------------
Mithun Rao, a jewelry professional, holds degree in
gemology and jewelry design from Mumbai and has spent 10
years in the industry (incuding running his own jewelry
shop). With an obsession for gems and precious stones, he
also shares a passion for music, painting and wishes to
explore new places, and understand new cultures. He owns
and manages the gemstones and diamonds site
http://www.gehnabazaar.com

How To Register Your New Company Online The Easy Way

How To Register Your New Company Online The Easy Way
In this article you will find information on how to
register a company online and what is needed.

To correctly register your company in Australia, you have
to follow a certain set of steps, especially if you want to
register this company online.

The first thing you need to do is have everything ready.
This means all the information you need to have available
to register and all the forms and decisions you need you
make available.

Here is some of the information asked for on the form:

· The name of the proposed company.

· The structure of the company and how you plan to
operate the proposed company ie, a Public Company, A Pty
Ltd company etc.

· The addresses, names, and birth details of the
owners, directors, and secretaries of the company.

· Share holder details for any members involved in the
company this way.

Before you start filling out any forms you need to make
sure the name you want to use is not trademarked or
otherwise used by anyone else in the business registration
system. There are links you can find on the ASIC website
that will show you exactly how to search these databases so
that you choose a name you can use. If the name you choose
is not available then choose a different name. I recommend
that the company name be relevant to the product or service
that you are offering.

The decisions about structure and operation and information
you should gather before you start your form. If you do not
know it is recommended that you sit with a Lawyer or
Accountant as to what is going to be the structure that
bests suits what you want to do with the business and your
situation.

Once you have all the information above you can then visit
one of ASIC's registered agents websites. Here you can
simply complete the order form. In some instances the order
form is extremely simple compared to the ASIC form (this is
if you attempt to register the company yourself).

The order form once completed can then be submitted which
will be sent to ASIC via the agent's link and your company
will be lodged. If there is no problems with the process or
information missing then your company can be complete and
sent back to you in as little as 30 minutes.

From there you will receive your certificate of
registration. You can request how you would like to receive
it (normally sent immediately via email or fax). You can
also decide if you wish to receive the company in a Company
Register. This is a Folder that holds all the legal
documents that pertain to your company. Or you can simply
choose to receive the documents via email which will be
sent to you in PDF format. It is recommended that you print
out a copy and keep somewhere safe.

In summary: If you use a Registered Agent to register your
company it can be quite a simple and fast process just make
sure you have the correct information on hand.

----------------------------------------------------
To register your new company online the easy way go to
http://www.companiesnow.com.au the company registration and
formation experts.
Making registering your new company easy.

Coaching Skills Training: Key Skills: Active Listening

Coaching Skills Training: Key Skills: Active Listening
If we're going to put so much effort into framing coaching
questions in the right way then it follows that we should
be equally concerned with really listening to the responses
we get. We need to employ the skill of active listening.

Listening happens at 3 levels:

Active

Conversational

Superficial

The bottom level, Superficial, is what we do when we're
hearing but not listening. We might have a conversation at
a party trying to take an interest in what another guest is
saying but really having our attention elsewhere, perhaps
on some other conversation we suspect would be far more
interesting.

The problem is that we are only hearing what the other
guest is saying, not listening, so we often get confused,
lose track of the conversation or end up having to ask them
to repeat what they just said.

In a coaching session this would be extremely damaging. If
we're only hearing superficially because our mind is
elsewhere, it will be reflected in our body language and
the person being coached will know immediately. This will
destroy any trust in the coaching relationship and make it
unlikely that the coaching will result in any useful
outcome.

The next level, Conversational, is the sort of listening
that most of us do most of the time. In conversational
listening, we listen while our partners talk and vice
versa. However the danger here is that while the other
person is talking, we are concentrating on making our next
point, rather than truly focusing on what the other person
is saying.

This is quite a challenge when you start coaching, as it
can be hard to keep the questions flowing when you're not
used to it. It's better to pause and think of the next
question when the person's finished speaking rather than
dwell on it when they are in full flow.

We must also watch out for the habit of finishing other
people's sentences for them. Invariably we do not pick the
words they would have chosen for themselves and all we've
ended up doing is disrupting the flow of their thinking and
making them feel hurried.

So we need to work hard to reach the top level, Active
Listening. Put simply active listening is about clearing
our minds of all other distractions and really tuning in to
what the other person is saying with as much focus as we
can muster. This is easier said than done and takes a lot
of time and practise to develop but is well worth the
effort.

On a practical level it means we should try not to coach
when we're in a hurry or preoccupied with something else.
Neither should we run a coaching session in a noisy
environment or one that is likely to get to hot or too
cold. It's impossible to actively listen in such
circumstances.

----------------------------------------------------
Matt Somers is a coaching practitioner of many years'
experience. He works with a host of clients in North East
England where his firm is based and throughout the UK and
Europe. Matt understands that people are working with their
true potential locked away. He shows how coaching provides
a simple yet elegant key to this lock. His popular
mini-guide "Coaching for an Easier Life" is available FREE
at http://www.mattsomers.com

"Must Knows" for Working With Recruiters During Your Job Search

"Must Knows" for Working With Recruiters During Your Job Search
For most job seekers, conducting a comprehensive job search
includes—at least to some degree—interfacing
with recruiters (a.k.a., headhunters). But, for many
people, this is also one of the most misunderstood aspects
of a job search.

Here are some quick tips and "must-knows" to demystify the
process of contacting and working with recruiters, and to
help you build relationships that ensure you are
top-of-mind when the ideal position for you comes across a
recruiters desk.

1) There are two types of recruiting firms and the
distinctions are crucial to understand. Retained recruiting
firms work directly for client companies and are paid to
screen candidates based on very specific criteria. Retained
firms often handle recruitment searches for the most senior
and highest paying positions. Contingency firms sometimes
work in competition with each other and only get paid if
they find the winning candidate for an open position.
IMPORTANT: Note that in both these cases, the company pays
the fee to the recruiter, not the job seeker. It is not
customary for a job seeker to pay the recruiting fee, so if
you are being asked to do that, be very cautious.

2) Remember that recruiters work for the company, not for
you! This is the most common misperception. The company is
their "client" and you are the candidate—essentially
the "product" that the recruiter is offering to their
client. Because of the way the recruiting industry is
structured, most recruiters will be seeking to work with
the candidate most likely to get hired (the candidate who
fits a very specific profile provided by the client). 'Most
likely to get hired' does not necessarily translate to
'most likely to succeed,' so if you find you are not the
perfect fit for a position, don't take it personally. For
this reason, if you are trying to make a career change of
any sort, recruiters will not be your best source as you
will rarely fit the profile provided to them by the client.
This doesn't mean you shouldn't contact them. But, do keep
your expectations in check.

3) Recruiters will often tell you that you (the job seeker)
should cultivate an exclusive relationship with just one or
two recruiters. In an ideal world this would be great, but
I disagree with this advice. Recruiters don't necessarily
share information about searches that they are working on.
So, if you only contact a couple of firms and 20 others
have an assignment that matches your qualifications, you
would never know about those assignments. That is why I
recommend contacting as many recruiting firms that that
specialize in your industry or profession as is practical.
If you have provided your resume, most recruiters will
place it in their proprietary database, and if a future
search calls you up as a perfect candidate, they will
contact you, even if you haven't had the opportunity to
build a truly personal relationship.

4) Related to point #3, once you have contacted recruiters
and have begun to establish rapport with at least a few,
your goal is to begin to build personal relationships.
Treat recruiters no differently than you would treat any
other contact in your network. While the initial contact is
generally made via email, now is the time to pick up the
phone and start to build a dialogue. The best networkers
know that effective networking involves some degree of
reciprocity. Do you have a lead that would help he
recruiter fill a position assignment they are working on?
Make a quick phone call. Did you see something important in
the news related to an industry specialty of the recruiter?
Send a quick email. By being helpful, you ensure the
recruiter remembers you the next time they have a position
that is a match for your background and interests.

5) Again, related to point #3, do your research. There are
presently well over 15,000 recruiting offices in just the
United States alone. It is impractical and a waste of
everyone's time to contact all of them indiscriminately. Do
a little research and determine which firms specialize in
your industry of choice or positions like you are seeking.
This small, segmented list is the one you should focus your
time and attention on. This is called taking the "rifle"
approach versus the "shotgun" approach. There are a few
credible service providers that will assist you with the
research and with contacting recruiters using the rifle
approach, but most use the shotgun approach. If you decide
to hire help during this stage, make sure you understand
this distinction and which approach the provider is using.

6) Make it easy for recruiters to help you. Structure and
write your resume in a format that makes it easy for them
to quickly identify your key qualifications. This is not
the time for a functional resume! Most recruiters will
simply throw a functional resume away. You must also be
absolutely honest. Do not be tempted to embellish your
resume. If you are found to be lying about anything, you
will be black-listed. Your accompanying cover letter should
be fact-filled and written specifically to help the
recruiter match you to their open assignments. When writing
letters for clients, I often include three to five bullet
points that clearly identify the qualifications and
experiences that we anticipate the recruiter will be most
interested in and looking for. Also, make the focus of your
job search crystal clear. Be specific and tell the
recruiter what you are looking for, the type and level of
position, the size and type of company, your geographic
preferences, and the salary range you are targeting. Yes:
salary range. Most recruiters will ask you for this
information, and you should provide it.

7) Put some thought into your job search and the order in
which you will conduct it. If you have already contacted a
company, your resume is likely already in that company's
internal database. If a recruiter now presents you as a
candidate for a position at that same company, the company
will not want to pay the recruiter for finding you because
you are already known to the company. This creates a level
of complexity in the whole deal that is almost impossible
to overcome and most recruiters won't work with you if they
suspect you have blanketed HR departments with your resume.
Selectively targeting a limited number of specific
companies is more effective than broadcasting resumes to HR
departments anyhow, but understanding this truth about
recruiters just gives you another reason to do so. Just be
smart about it, be selective, and use discretion.

----------------------------------------------------
Nationally certified resume writer and career coach,
Michelle Dumas is the director of Distinctive Career
Services LLC. Through Distinctive Documents
http://www.distinctiveweb.com and her Executive VIP
Services http://www.100kcareermarketing.com

Michelle has
empowered thousands of professionals all across the U.S.
and worldwide. Michelle is also the author of Secrets of a
Successful Job Search http://www.job-search-secrets.com

Use Innovative Pricing to Reduce Costs and Increase Demand for Your Offerings

Use Innovative Pricing to Reduce Costs and Increase Demand for Your Offerings
Mention innovative pricing to gain more profit, and most
people think of charging more for "extras." I got a new set
of glasses this week. The lenses only cost $59, but they
tried hard to sell me an "anti-glare" coating for another
$50. Based on what I know about coatings, this probably
costs $0.10 to apply. I'm on to that kind of so-called
innovative pricing. No, thank you!

Lower prices instinctively feel to most people like a way
to shave their profit margins, and drown in the resulting
profit squeeze. While you certainly need to be careful
whenever you lower prices, help can come in the form of
price adjustments that reduce your costs at the same time.
Let's explore how to find these cost-reducing price
adjustments.

You can also use pricing as a carrot or a stick to
influence which offerings your customers and end consumers
will choose. Whether you use the carrot or the stick in a
particular circumstance depends, in part, on your fully
analyzed current and potential costs.

Adding volume has widely differing impacts on average and
marginal costs across various offerings. This is true in
both the short term and in the long term. You should
consider both time perspectives and dimensions of costs.

Consider Southwest Airlines. That carrier uses pricing in
both ways to reduce costs.

First, the airline specializes in lean operations that have
lower costs than all other major air carriers. This enables
the company to offer lower prices for vacation travelers
and others who can book flights well in advance. Such
discounted prices are usually about 10 to 20 percent less
than competing airlines for the same routes.

You can often fly on the airline coast-to-coast for the
same price paid for a similar, discounted flight 38 years
earlier. Those low prices attract lots of customers, and
the airline often has a higher percentage of seats filled
than its competitors. That popularity drives down costs
because the extra expense to add another passenger is very
small. As Southwest might say, it's just peanuts. Most of
the increased revenue turns into profit contribution.

Second, like other airlines Southwest also charges more for
people who buy tickets at the last minute. However,
Southwest's prices differ from those of other airlines by
being based on a much smaller percentage increase from the
discounted fare. Thus, a business traveler may be able to
buy a last minute ticket as little as 25 percent of the
price of a competing airline. This drives a lot of last
minute travelers to Southwest at premium prices, further
lowering costs while fattening margins.

How can you use lower prices to cut your costs even faster
than your prices drop?

Copyright 2008 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved

----------------------------------------------------
Donald Mitchell is chairman of Mitchell and Company, a
strategy and financial consulting firm in Weston, MA. He is
coauthor of seven books including Adventures of an
Optimist, The 2,000 Percent Solution, and The Ultimate
Competitive Advantage. You can find free tips for
accomplishing 20 times more by registering at:
====> http://www.fastforward400.com .

3 Alphas In Management - 3Bs (BBB) Better Business Behaviours

3 Alphas In Management - 3Bs (BBB) Better Business Behaviours
-- 3 Alphas in Management

-- Introduction

3 Alphas in Management is written using very simple yet
effective and proven management techniques that I have been
using in my almost 30 years in senior management positions
in varied industries, including as a Vice President with a
large multi-national company (MNC) and as a Group Executive
Director of a public listed company (plc).

The emphasis of 3 Alphas in Management is on the formation
of teams, known as circles, involving every level of
personnel in the organization to create a cohesive work
force with a sense of purpose within a customer-centric
organization.

Circles are used to denote a roundtable atmosphere and
environment, whereby all the circle participants are equals
and are also equally important.

No one is left out, and in fact, no one should be left out.

After all, all employees are also consumers and are
customers and their ideas and input on how an organization
can be more customer-centric are valid and as such, should
not be discounted or overlooked.

3 Alphas in Management starts from AAA (the 3As) to ZZZ
(the 3Zs).

I do not for one minute believe that the list is exhaustive.

Instead, it is hoped that the 3 Alphas in Management will
stimulate your organization to create their own customised
3 Alphas.

For example, I have used "Ideas In Improvement" for III
(3Is), but also valid would be "Investing In Intrapreuners"
or "Innovations In Industry" etc. etc.

-- The 3Bs (BBB)

- Overview

Most businesses are very introverted and self-centric
rather than customer or society centric.

What most businesses forget is that the success or failure
of their business is very dependent on external factors
rather than internal factors, i.e. the customers are out
there and not within the company.

So how do you ensure that your company is not self-centric
and more customer and society centric?

First and foremost, you must remember that the people
working for you are also customers and consumers. So group
them together and let them tell you what is important to
them.

- The Circles

You can organise them into Circles, known as Better
Business Circles (BBCs).

Each BBC can be assigned a specific task or topic, for
example

* BBC on environment

* BBC on Sports Promotion

* BBC on Drugs Abuse

* BBC on Child Health

- Methodology

Circles are used to denote a roundtable atmosphere and
environment, whereby all the participants in the Circle are
equals and are also equally important.

* The Circle would be set up by the Management

* The Circle will be made up of personnel from different
departments or divisions

* The Circle will have a facilitator and not a Chairman,
and a Secretary

* Each BBC will have between 5 to 10 members, and they will
be responsible for :

** Identifying what your company is already doing in their
specific task area

** What more can be done by your company

** What would the cost be, if any

** Who (from the outside) should your company work with, to
ensure that the society is represented

** Should the efforts be localised, regionalised,
nationalised or even internationalised

** Report to Management on the findings and the
recommendation of the BBC

----------------------------------------------------
I have been in Management since the 70s, IT since the 80s
and since the late 90s I began merging all my expertise
into Internet Businesses that include Accounting Software,
Online Bookkeeping Services, Online Travel Booking System
and Online Shopping Catalog.
To view my products and services go to
http://www.your1stop.co.uk
To subscribe to any of my FREE tutorial, or for more
information on Management email me at
rajaidris@multibizlink.com

Build the Marketing Relationship With Your Prospects

Build the Marketing Relationship With Your Prospects
Congratulations, you've done the research into
understanding your prospects' hot issues and have gotten
noticed because you've demonstrated that you understand
what solutions they are seeking.

Your prospect has given you their contact information in
exchange for your great, solutions-packed free give-away.
They may also have sent an email, filled out a contact form
on the website, or come up to speak with you after a
presentation you've given.

At this stage in the marketing relationship when the
interest is mutual, avoid the temptation to sell them a
service or product. Successful people know that most sales
are made after the seventh or eighth contact with a
prospect - few are made after just one email, phone call or
letter.

It's the same with your marketing, don't try to book an
appointment the first time a person contacts you.

Remember, with each interaction you are earning their
trust. As a result, your prospective profitable client will
be open to what you have to offer. Each follow-up brings
them closer to the purchase of your services.

Your marketing efforts at this point are focused on
building the relationship with prospects and clients rather
than just trying to "sell" them your services. You want to
let them know that you consider them and their issues to be
important and welcome a chance to help them.

You accomplish this by ensuring that each contact with them
provides something meaningful for them. You never want to
waste anyone's time (or yours!) by following up without a
specific purpose. Remember, you are being of service to
them by sharing useful information.

Here are some examples of valuable content you could
provide to prospects, on a consistent basis, to keep
growing the relationship:

* great book you've just read

* list of business resources you use; i.e. printers, web
designers, writers, etc.

* interesting blog posting (yours or someone else's)

* latest industry news

* helpful articles you've written

* upcoming teleseminar (yours or someone else's)

* special discount on products or services

* list of useful industry-specific support, i.e. forums,
associations, conference, new products

* invitation to an upcoming seminar/workshop (yours or
someone else's)

People won't slap down their money on the table until they
feel confident that they know and trust you. There are many
marketing tactics such as writing articles, giving
interviews, having testimonials that can also help
establish your credibility with your prospects and clients.

If you keep building value and credibility in people's
minds by keeping in contact and sharing your expertise with
them, you'll move them towards the next step in the
marketing relationship - the commitment step. In other
words, the sales step!

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

Advertising Formats for Internet Marketing

Advertising Formats for Internet Marketing
The format of an advertisement refers to its type and the
position it occupies on a page. Web based advertising
formats are most similar to the types used in traditional
print media advertising because of the visual medium of
both. There are a variety of advertising formats to
consider when you are looking to strategically market your
business.

Banner Ads

The granddaddy of internet marketing advertisements is the
banner ad, a clickable rectangular image, displayed across
the top of a web page. The placement of an ad at the head
of the page is a strategic choice. Westerners are taught to
read top to bottom, left to right, so whatever information
appears at the top of the page is in a targeted real estate
area for grabbing attention.

Banner ads were one of the original internet advertising
tools, have enjoyed a great deal of success, and are
reliable and proven way to attract customers to your
business and services, and your website. Banner ads however
are not foolproof or one hundred percent successful. Banner
ads have become so prevalent that web users have started to
get desensitized to the images, sometimes ignoring the
images altogether. This phenomenon was first described by
researchers at Rice University as banner blindness, and it
is this issue that eventually gave rise to other forms of
internet advertising.

The next phase

The market saturation with banner ads prompted a new crop
of internet ads to be born. Tower ads, inline ads, sliding
ads, pop-up ads, and video based ads are all popular forms
of web advertising you see on just about every web page
now, and are types of ads that morphed out of the success
of the original banner ad.

Most of these advertising types are a variation on the
format of the banner ad, changing the placement,
orientation and style of the ad to gain more of an edge for
visually capturing one's attention. A tower ad is a
vertical rectangle banner placed either to the left of
right of the web page content. An inline as is a smaller,
more narrow banner ad that is inserted into the middle of
web page content.

Aggressive advertising

There are a couple of banner inspired internet advertising
formats that are more aggressive ways to grab a viewers
attention and tend to be more controversial, spurring loyal
fans and staunch opponents. The sliding ad and pop-up ad
are two of these more aggressive marketing tools.

A sliding ad is an advertisement that literally moves
around the web page, often until it is accessed by
clicking. These ads are some of the most infuriating for
internet users because they force you to stop what you are
doing to acknowledge the ad and make it go away, and one of
the most successful ads for strategic marketing for the
same reason: the advertisement demands the viewers
attention.

A pop-up ad is the most infamous of these aggressive
methods, literally popping up into a new browser window
when you click on a web link. These ads are another type
that cannot be ignored - you must acknowledge the ad to
dismiss it, thus the advertisers have achieved their goal
by capturing your attention.

Most companies use more than one of these types of ads to
make for a collaborative marketing platform. All of these
advertisements can be used in affiliate marketing systems
and using a combination of these methods is an intelligent
way to strategically market your businesses products and
services.

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