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Browse published articles attributed to Andrew McCombe, with full-archive search.
If you are a small business owner, then you have probably had to pass up a fantastic opportunity or two because you lacked a particular skill, or simply the capacity to undertake the project. The good news is that there is an alte ative – entering into a joint venture with another company. Let us look at how that can help your business.
Have you ever started a weight loss program and no matter how hard you train, how much you eat all the right foods and no matter how dedicated you are, nothing you try seems to shift that unwanted body fat? Well, today I have some good news for you that may help you to get rid of that unwanted body fat forever… In nature body fat is a natural protection mechanism, it is used to protect our internal organs, our bones, it cushions us from exte al blows, it aids in the transpo
Have you ever noticed how business seems to have its own language? Even small business owners seem to speak with a language that is all their own, and if you are new to the world of commerce, all that jargon can be daunting.
If you have decided to become an entrepreneur, it may be that you are the sole proprietor of your business, and that you have no employees, at least at first. There is probably going to come a time when you do need to hire people, and it takes a little bit of work to find the right employees for every job. Then, once you do find them, and they turn out to be really great employees, you must take steps to ensure that you retain them as employees.
The main goal of any business is to make profits, and in most cases, the way this is done is through sales. Obviously, the more sales you get, the more you are going to earn, but being a good sales person is not something that comes easily to everyone. Although some people are born with the gift of being able to schmooze and sell just about anything, many others have to really work at it to be really good at sales. Luckily, as long as you are willing to do some hard work and learn what it takes, you too can be a great sales person.
Do you have a dream? Of course you do, we all have dreams, we all at some stage have or have had a vision to be an olympic athlete, to be a successful business and / or career person, to be rich and famous, to be a loving parent or partner, to be an integral member of the community etc. Stop for one minute and answer the following questions: What is your dream(s)? Have you achieved your dream(s) yet? If not, why not? For most people what stops us from achieving our drea
Believe it or not, there are a few things that everyone can learn about running their own business right from their grandmothers. No, they probably don't have any extraordinary business skills. But, they do have other skills and experiences that can definitely translate into the business world. One of the most important things when you are in business is to be great at customer service, and as we all know, Granny can deal with just about anyone. Here are a few of the lessons that you can learn from Granny about customer service:
Sales are not the easiest thing in the world to do, and the idea of going out for sales is a terrifying one for many entrepreneurs. The fear of rejection can really be overpowering for some people, but it is also something that you just have to get over if you want to be successful. Sure you are going to have rejection. Everyone does. But you are also going to have a lot of positive reactions too, and this is what will keep you going. To be successful in sales, you need to know how to sell, and you need to have certain skills.
Studies from the 1950s, 60s and 70s predicted that with advances in technology we would have a lot more leisure time by the year 2000. How wrong they were! Today we are expected to produce a lot more, of a higher quality, as fast as possible and all with less support than we had 30 years ago. In this information age we spend more time living inside our heads than in our bodies; we move less and think more and it is taking a major toll on our health. The effects of pressure ha
As a sport scientist, personal trainer and performance coach, I have been working for many years with clients who come to me for advice about how they can improve the performance and quality of their bodies. Some want help to lose weight and tone up, others need to reduce their blood pressure, some want to put on muscle and everyone wants to look and feel better. However, I have found that it is never my client’s physical body that requires improvement in the first instance.
Motivation is possibly the biggest determining factor when it comes to creating your life of EASE. Your level of motivation can make or break your plans. That is why it is so important to be clear on the underlying values and feelings that your goals will give you before you embark on achieving them. If they are very clear and you feel 100% committed to their achievement then nothing will get in the way of your success. But there may be times when you feel a little flat and i
Everyone knows that in order to make a profit when you own a business, it really helps a lot to keep expenses to a minimum. Although this is wonderful in theory, it is not always the easiest thing to do. After all, you always have expenses, not to mention all of the little unexpected expenses that pop up from time to time. It is so important that you take the appropriate steps to control your expenses, which may be eating into your profits, and there are many ways that you can cut back easily.
Everyone is born with a natural sense of curiosity, and as an entrepreneur, you can use this to your advantage for your marketing campaigns. For example, having an article with an interesting headline that hints at something great to come, people are going to read that article. So, you need to learn how to create headlines that are going to grab people's attention and make them want to find out more. Here are some ways you can do just that:
If there is one thing most new business owners are scared of, it is the prospect of selling. You hear it over and over – the phrase ‘I’m not a sales person.’ The truth is, we are all sales people. The only difference is that we do not all have the same sales style.
How much time do you sit around using Facebook? If you are like the nearly 400 million other users, probably quite a bit. Some people think that using Facebook and other social networking websites is nothing but a huge waste of precious time. Facebook can be a great marketing tool, especially for entrepreneurs who have small marketing budgets, but a lot of people end up spending far too much time on this website and not getting other more important things done. So, is Facebook such a great way to market a business after all? Here are some reasons why it may not be:
Unless you are one of those very few people who just seems to always have luck on their side and opportunities are always falling into their laps, you are not going to be able to sit around and wait for good things to come to you. You have to get out there and work to make things happen, and if you are sitting around wasting time, you are not going to have opportunities, because you won't even know about them. If you are a small business owner, and are wondering why you have not become as successful as you thought, maybe it is because of missed opportunities.
If you still think that YouTube is all about pets doing dangerously funny things, children falling, and various other amusing, but unimportant things, then think again. Yes, YouTube is a video sharing platform, and yes, it does allow users to upload their own video content. That does mean that there are plenty of pointless videos among the 6.1 million or so videos currently on the site, but it is also being used, to great effect, by savvy online marketers. After all, YouTube has had more than 1.7 billion video views already, and its popularity is growing daily.
When most of us think about starting a small business, we think it is a fairly straightforward process. We believe that we go from idea to business in a blur of activity, and that we suddenly wake up owning our own company. That is not strictly true however, and no matter what type of business you plan to start, there are several steps to starting a small business that you should bear in mind.
What is one step you can take to earn more profits for your business? Do everything you can to be able to get more done in a shorter period of time. No matter if we are business owners or not, we are always looking for ways to save time, which there just never seems to be enough of. In the business world, saving time is of course leveraging your business, and in order to do this, you have to take advantage of today's technology, and outsourcing.
Many people, when they first start a business, believe that ‘if they build it, they will come.’ While that may have worked in the movies, however, in business, just opening your business does not guarantee that it will be a success. Even if you have a brilliant business idea, offer top quality service, and exceptional products, your business can often fail, through no fault of your own. The key to avoiding that lies in doing market research long before you ever open for business, and to keep doing it as your business grows.
There is a good chance, if you have been involved in online business for a while, and are tech savvy, that you have used video and audio, either as marketing materials on other sites or platforms, or on your own site, as interesting content for your visitors.
What is the one thing just about every person you know these days will not leave home without? If you answered their mobile phone, you would be correct. Billions of people around the world take their mobile phones with them wherever they go, and they keep them on, all day, every day. Even when they are out of reach of their computers, and email, their phones are within arms reach. It is no wonder that mobile phone marketing is such a phenomenon!
We all want to be wealthy, but unfortunately, not everyone is. Why isn't everyone wealthy? Because not everyone wants to do what it takes to get there, which means doing a lot of hard work. Very few people become wealthy because they have inherited a fortune or won the lottery. The majority of people who are wealthy got that way because they worked hard to achieve their goals. If becoming wealthy is one of your goals, then you really need to sit down and take a good hard look at yourself. Figure out exactly what it is that you want, and how you are going to get it.
Many a business owner has uttered the phrase ‘the customer is always right’ with a sarcastic tone. That’s because, in business, far from finding the perfect customer, the person we’d love to deal with, and are happy to serve, we often find ourselves dealing with people who make our lives miserable.
Even if you have never heard the term pay per click advertising, or PPC, if you have ever used the internet, you have certainly seen it in action. One of the best-known pay per click advertising programs is the Google’s Adwords service, although every browser, many social networks, and several other sites also offer some form of PPC advertising.
One of the biggest problems that many would be entrepreneurs face is that they do not believe that they can start, and run, a successful business on their own. They believe that only those with high level degrees in business or related fields have the skill and talent to create a company, and that they’re stuck in the day to day drudgery of their jobs forever. The truth is that whether you have a degree, or whether you never even finished high school, the key to business success is often in the business planning and visioning you do, rather than the certificates and diplomas you hold.
If you are relatively new to the world of online business and marketing, then you might not know what webinars are, and what they can do for your business. A webinar, as the name suggests, is the modern equivalent of the old fashioned seminar. You, as the host or leader of the webinar, share your thoughts and ideas with the people who view it and it can include question and answer sessions, polls or other elements, just like a real world event.
Every business goes through its slow periods, and when they do, it is important that business owners take steps to improve on their marketing. Even during times of a tough economy, people will still spend money if they need something and are getting value for their money. But, you may have to work a little bit harder to get these customers to do business with you. This is the time to get creative, and a bit more forceful with your marketing strategy. This is the time to get into guerrilla marketing, and here are five ways you can get started:
In case you have missed it, Twitter is a revolutionary micro blogging and social networking platform that is fast gaining popularity around the globe. At last count, nearly 200 million people were using Twitter to connect with friends, colleagues, business associates, and even celebrities. However, it is hard to call Twitter a competitor of Facebook, or even classify them in the same category, because they are just so different.
Many would be small business owners and entrepreneurs believe that if they have a good idea, and they put a lot of thought and planning into it, they are virtually guaranteed that their venture will be a runaway success. However, while it is true that planning, logic and reason have a lot to do with business success, there is also the element of passion that you need to bear in mind.
Many people I know think that internet marketing is only for people who have internet based businesses. That could not be further from the truth. Internet marketing is something that every business owner, and particularly every small business owner, should be doing. It should not be an option in your marketing plan – it should be a distinct and non-negotiable element.
I have a friend who emails every important document that he has on his computer to his Gmail account. He has done it for years, and I have always thought that it is a clever way to make sure that his important information stays safe, no matter what happens to his computer!
Many people think that being an entrepreneur is a really great way to be able to work from their own homes. This may seem like something that has all kinds of wonderful benefits, but if you are thinking about working from your home, think again. While there are some benefits, there are also some real problems that can arise when you work from home, and it can actually hurt your business. If you still think that it is a good idea for you to operate a business from the house, here are five excellent reasons for you to change your mind:
There are probably many business owners out there who are still asking whether the hype around Facebook is worth paying attention to, or whether it’s just the next fad. Let’s turn that question around. Is having direct access to hundreds of millions of potential customers important to your business? If you answered yes, then yes, Facebook is important to your business.
Do you know what it takes to create a really successful press release? Although it may seem like a pretty simple thing, a press release is actually a very important document that should include important information that is going to capture the interest of your reading audience. There are certain elements that make up a really great press release, such as headlines that make an impact. Do you know what these elements are? Here are five tips to get you on your way to writing really effective press releases:
Just knowing every little detail about your product is not going to be the thing to give you the success you really want with your sales. There are many skills involved with being a great sales person, and in order for any business to succeed and see a profit, sales must be made. You must be constantly honing your skills, and taking advantage of any education you can have (including on the job education) to be a great sales person, and it is something that you are always going to be working on.
Let's face it. We all want to be wealthy and never have any financial worries, but most of us never seem to be able to achieve this dream. This is really sad, because anyone can achieve their dreams if they only believe in them, and learn how to do whatever it takes to be successful. If you are tired of being in a rut, and want to make some changes to become wealthier, here are six irrefutable laws for building an unshakable wealth foundation:
If you want to be an entrepreneur, one thing that is going to be very helpful to you is the ability to be adamant. When you are not adamant, and you are wishy-washy instead, it is not going to take you very far in the business world, and you are not going to have nearly the level of sales that you would like to. Entrepreneurs who are adamant don't take no for an answer, and they get things done. They don't let anything stand in their way, and they are successful.
What is one of the most important things needed to ensure success in the business world? A great team of people who can come together and work to create a business that is successful. Now, the problem is to find the right people to make up that team. This can actually raise a couple of problems. First, you have to actually be able to find these people. Then, you need to find ways to be able to retain them in your business. Hiring them is the easiest part. Ensuring that you keep the team together is a lot tougher. Here are five great ways that you can recruit, and keep, the best people ever.r
Having a website these days is not optional. If you want to do business effectively, and you want to compete, then your company has to be online. However, there’s a vast difference between an effective website, that boosts your company’s profile, and creates new business, and one that does little more than take up space in a forgotten corner of the internet.
It may not be everyone's favourite way of getting contacts and new customers, but no one can deny the effectiveness of door-to-door cold-calling. This is a marketing technique that many try to avoid, because they are so afraid that they are going to have too many doors slammed in their faces. You know, door-to-door cold-calling doesn't have to be a scary thing at all. In fact, if you are good, it can be a very profitable way of doing business. What you need is the right mindset, and the skills to pitch your product or service and seal the deal.
It’s impossible to ignore the phenomenon that is the e-book these days. Major online retailers like Amazon.com are reporting e-book sales that match, and sometimes even beat, their traditional book sales! There are even publishers springing up around the world who publish solely in electronic format, and nearly every tech manufacturer has, or is releasing, an e-book reader. Even traditional publishers are jumping on the band wagon, and you’d be hard pressed to find a single one that doesn’t have at least one electronic impression.
One of the most common complaints of small business owners is that they do not have the budget for advertising. While that is usually true, that does not mean you cannot get your message out there, and reach thousands of interested readers with the information you would like them to see. The answer lies in publicity and media, and if it is done correctly, it is both free, and the perfect way to generate interest in your company, site or product.
Have you ever noticed how the term ‘published author’ always makes you sit up and take notice? Whether it is a doctor, a lawyer, or an entrepreneur, having a book published is a definite way to gain credibility and expert status. You don’t even have to have read their book to believe that they are somehow more knowledgeable than their competitors, do you?
When eBay first started out several years ago, it was very much a platform for ordinary people to sell their second hand belongings. There were a few new items, but they were far from the norm. Fast forward a decade or so, and a large proportion of the goods for sale on eBay these days are new items. There are even people who make their living being eBay traders.
If you have been to a number of business presentations, you know just how boring many can be. When a business presentation is boring and dry, it is not going to have the intended effect. In fact, you may even find that those who you are presenting to are actually not paying the least bit of attention. They may even be doing things while you are giving your presentation, such as texting or sending emails to others. A great business presentation is one that will really knock the socks off potential customers, and get them interested in what you are selling.
A lot of people who really want to start their own businesses never try because they think that it is going to be way too much of a financial risk. But, when you have things well planned and have your goals set, there really is nothing that you can't achieve, including running your own business. The risks are not nearly as great as you may think. Even though we are living in a tight economy, as long as you are offering a product or service that people need, you will get the sales you want. To get you started out on the right track, here are six insightful ideas to fortify your business:
Anyone who is thinking about starting their own business needs to sit down and create a business plan. This is not only something that you use to get financing for a new business, but also something that is going to keep you on track to achieving your business goals for many years to come. Your business plan needs to be able to provide guidance when you need it, and it must be flexible, because you never know when things are going to change, and your business plan must be made in a way that it can change as well.
It’s one of the biggest conundrums that small business owners face. They need more, better-qualified staff in order to take their business to the next level, but because they can’t take that crucial step, their turnover means they can’t afford to hire great people! Whether you’re running a home based business, or have a small brick and mortar company, chances are you’ve encountered that particular problem at some point.
If you have just started to look at the internet as a means of promoting your business, chances are you have been focusing on your website. While websites are the cornerstone of online business however, they are not the only essential, and if you really want to boost your business online, you should also be focusing on a blog.