Q: “How do you carve an elephant?”  A:  “First, get a block of marble and then remove everything that doesn’t look like an elephant.”

In conversations with many business owners, I often get the impression that there seems to be some confusion about what they are selling and who they are selling to.  While that seems rather silly, if you think about it, why do most people do business with your business?  Is it actually the product or service you deliver?  Is it the way that you run your business?  Is it the experience?

Many ti

Read more…

Haven’s family has been producing livestock since 1924, priding themselves as raising natural grass-fed livestock. Long before organic farming became in vogue, they raise their livestock free of antibiotics, growth hormones and pesticides.

Aside from livestock, Haven’s family business has been supplying local farmers with fertilizers, made from manure of their animals in their farms. However, as farmlands turn to suburban housing, Haven needed to find a different market for their fertilizers. They decided to expand their market by selling on the web.

Authentic Haven Brand Natural Brew http://www.ahavenbrand.com  was born.

To succeed in selling animal manure as fertilizers on the Web, Haven had to do things differently.

First, Haven did not call their products “fertilizer”. Instead,

Read more…

In Atlanta, like other cities, from March until the end of April, we are faced with one of the most debilitating repertory inhibitors: Pollen.  The pollen begins to fall, from everywhere, like a light snow, covering everything with yellow dust.  While many of us celebrate the arrival of spring, many more suffer from the onslaught of a seemingly useless enemy.

Like the pollen in our area that can rob us of appreciation for the upcoming summer months, useless tasks, activates and events can rob us of productivity in our businesses.  This is not to say that we, as business leaders, should not do the things that we enjoy.  Rather, it says that out time is limited, therefore, we should consider why we do certain things.

For example, if you are a member of a networking group, and you’ve decided that this networking group is one that you want to grow your business through, how are you measuring the amount of time you’ve spent versus the amount of “success” you are getting from the group.  How do you know when you might need to rethink about your participation in the group.  The “why” should be tagged to results.

I’ve known of people who have attended networking groups for years, pay their dues and show up each week, only to realize that the group is not netting them anything.  I’ve known of people setting up useless coffees and other sorts of meetings that were about as productive as pollen.  These are time wasters – thieves of our productivity!

As business leaders, we must guard our time.  It is one resource we have that is constantly at odds with our ability to get things done.  Ever here someone say, “I wish there were a few more hours in the day.”  Perhaps in a well-managed day, there are.  Studies have shown that it takes about 15-20 minutes for most people to get settled into an activity.  Therefore, with every distraction, we are losing up to twenty minutes of the workday.  It only takes 3 distractions throughout the day to lose an entire hour.  Six distractions takes about a quarter of your day.  In a chaotic environment, you will be seriously challenged to get much done.

Low productivity results in missed opportunities, lost revenues and the general feeling of being overwhelmed.  If you are constantly rushing to get things done, you will have the added challenge of not doing your best work and having to pay people to do the things that you should have been doing from the beginning.  It is, indeed, a vicious cycle.

Home ›

10 Easy Ways to Increase Sales

by Terri Seymour Fri, 04/30/2010 – 15:35 in

• increase sales
• small business

One of the most common questions asked by internet business owners is “How can I increase sales?” Many articles, ebooks and reports have been written on this subject and trying to absorb that information just tends to make us more confused than ever! Below are some easy, innovative ideas to increase sales that anybody can implement into their online marketing strategies.

1. Offer “Freebies” on your site for your visitors. Free reports, ebooks, services, support, ezine, etc. can be great ways to increase your customer’s trust in you, thus bringing you more sales. Another way to offer something free it to offer a free bonus with every order.

2.

Read more…

Home ›

Cheap Alternatives to After-Hours Support

by David Liu Tue, 04/27/2010 – 10:05 in

• call center
• small business services

If you need a way to engage your target market, think about upping the level of commitment your customer care department offers to your consumers. Are you a 9-5 office, with no after hour care? Or are you a service business that has trouble keeping up with incoming calls throughout the week because of staff issues?

There are a number of ways to help your office manage your service issues, ranging from hourly help from secretaries to free voice mail options that can help you organize your office and also improve your productivity. H

Read more…

Share Vote now!

Ink For Think is a progressive new personal service providing handwriting analysis at the touch of a button. This exclusive service offers solutions to questions of character and provides access to a private Handwriting Analyst. This is a first-of-it’s-kind business that is supplying a valuable service that was previously unavailable. No other handwriting analysis company offers this simple, quick, and efficient form of service.

Information from their grant application is available here. Read below for more, and if you have questions for our semi-finalists don’t hesitate to ask them in the comments section.

Also, don’t forget to cast your vote!

Read more…

Share Vote now!

Characters of Character NFP teaches children about vital core values with our 2005 award winning National Promsing Practice Winning character education program.

Information from their grant application is available here. Read below for more, and if you have questions for our semi-finalists don’t hesitate to ask them in the comments section.

Also, don’t forget to cast your vote! YOUR vote will determine which entrepreneurs most deserve to be amongst the finalists.

How did you come up with the idea for your business?
As a parent and educator, I see that there is a need to teach our children strong good character traits to grow up with. In 2005 After piloting my program in an elementary school, it went on to win an award, quite an honor, A PROMISING PRACTICE.

Read more…