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Casual Articles - Copy SoapNet and Make Money
5 Warning Signs That Your Career Is Off Track way you present your business is honest – what they see is what they get (see the first tip above). Do not sign a new client only to later surprise them with hidden fees or contract loopholes that will strain your relationship. This tip has everything to do with creating a relationship that is honest and transparent. Perhaps your business is built around something that you know that other people don’t. Do not put yourself out of business by giving away all your secrets. But keep your client or customer relationships open and honest. You’ll find that fewer people will try to take advantage of you when they trust you are not trying to take advantage of them.Sometimes the changes in our career direction are so subtle and gradual that we fail to notice them. But the earlier you see that you’re headed in the wrong direction, the easier it is to get yourself back on course, or adjust course, if necessary.All too often, unwary workers realize they’re on the wrong track after years of time and energy have been expended. Foresight and extreme self-honesty can go a long way to prevent failure and disappointment.Here are some warning signs that your career may be off track:1) You no longer feel a sense of passion and purpose about your career. What excited you ten years ago may not excite you now. Or it may be that you never have been excited about your career. You may have entered this career because it promised money or because it was expected of you.2) What you do on a daily basis is motivated primarily by the avoidance of hassle. If you don’t keep up a minimum level of productivity, the boss will be upset. If you don’t work on certain reports, certain colleagues will miss their own deadlines. There is no intrinsic value to you in what you are doing.3) You often find yourself fantasizing about doing something else. We all fantasize about better and more glamorous jobs, but if you frequently find yourself fantasizing about working in an entirely different field, it might merit exploration.4) Your performance reviews are less than stellar. Perhaps you’re no longer included in key projects. Your coworkers seem to get all the kudos and you only get criticism, or worse, you’re ignored. Your boss doesn’t seem to like you. Your clients seem less than satisfied. Even worse, the above a Nobody actually falls down elevator shafts. But you may want to consider pushing parts of your business over the edge. Soap operas are The Fly-In Whether you want to admit it or not, soap operas may hold the key to your home business success. This article includes a few home and small business principles I learned while watching SoapNet.Early this week, I received a call from someone referred by a friend of mine in Utah. He was being flown in for an interview by a firm with whom he had been in conversations for quite some time and wanted some coaching before his interview. After all, it had been a decade since he interviewed!In circumstances like this, I try not to overload someone; in his case, he had an advantage because as a long term consultant, he was used to selling his abilities.I asked him about a few details.What time is your flight?Who’s going to pick you up?What’s your schedule that night?In his case, he had an afternoon flight. After he landed, he was going to rent a car and drive to a restaurant to meet the person who is sponsoring his candidacy for dinner; the next day would be when the heavy interviewing would occur.For one of my clients, they fly people out the day before, have a driver take them to a hotel to stay overnight, then interviews start in earnest the next morning (they bring people in the day before so that if flights are delayed or even cancelled, the interview schedule isn’t impacted).Given that he was meeting someone from the employer for dinner (I thought of how rumpled I can be after a flight), he planned to change at the airport into appropriate attire for dinner, rather than travel in his suit.I have had companies treat the driver like a surveillance member and report back any rude or obnoxious behavior. I have had job seekers abuse the ability to charge by expensing expensive liquor to their room.Be smart about lies ahead of you.You will be someone else’s control for a day or so. What can you do Be really, really good looking. I don’t know if you’ve had this experience, but every time I turn on SoapNet I feel overweight, ugly, and hopelessly average. There is no way I could ever compete with the collection of beauties, male and female, that the soap operas have assembled. But before you go out and buy a Bow Flex and dye your hair blonde, remember that I’m talking about your home business in this article. Just because you are running your business out of your home on a low budget does not mean it has to look like you are running your business out of your home on a low budget. Invest a little bit of money into getting a professional logo and stationary. If you own a website and cannot afford a professional web designer, take courses at your local college. Presenting your business professionally can open up doors you may believe are closed to you. Give them something to talk about. If soap operas do nothing else well, they create scandals that have people talking for days. It is a TV show for crying out loud! Can you imagine what kind of publicity you could bring to your business if you gave people something to talk about the way the soaps do? I’m not suggesting doing anything illegal or scandalous. But make sure your business does something that people would be willing to talk about. What do you differently than your competitors? How can you turn that idiosyncrasy into positive publicity? What good causes are related to your area of business? Is there some kind of event you could sponsor that would make the evening news and benefit a worthy cause at the same time? People like SoapNet because it is a lot more exciting than there own lives. Give people something exciting to talk about, and I guarantee they will. Be the good guy. In the days of silent films, the audience used to cheer when the hero first appeared on screen, and they would boo and hiss each time the villain showed up. Earn your clients’ and customers’ applause by being the good guy. We have all had dealings with people we don’t trust or who were extremely difficult to work with. Ask yourself, Are you the shifty-eyed gravedigger American housewives everywhere hate to see on television? Or are you the honest, wholesome doctor moms would love to have their daughters marry? Conducting your business in a way that earns peoples’ trust will go a long way in creating word-of-mouth referrals and sincere praise for your company. Remember, like so many SoapNet actors and actresses, your business can get type-cast very easily. Make sure you are cast as a hero and you can’t go wrong. Keep it simple. There is an entire channel, SoapNet, dedicated to explaining who is sleeping with whom, what happened when, and who is whose father. Plot twists and messed-up family trees may work well for soap operas, but people place a premium on simplicity when it comes to business. This does not mean that you have to dumb down everything you do, or stop offering complicated or intellectual services. It means the way you present your business is honest – what they see is what they get (see the first tip above). Do not sign a new client only to later surprise them with hidden fees or contract loopholes that will strain your relationship. This tip has everything to do with creating a relationship that is honest and transparent. Perhaps your business is built around something that you know that other people don’t. Do not put yourself out of business by giving away all your secrets. But keep your client or customer relationships open and honest. You’ll find that fewer people will try to take advantage of you when they trust you are not trying to take advantage of them. Nobody actually falls down elevator shafts. But you may want to consider pushing parts of your business over the edge. Soap operas are k Do this One Thing and Beat 85% of Your Competition! bit of money into getting a professional logo and stationary. If you own a website and cannot afford a professional web designer, take courses at your local college. Presenting your business professionally can open up doors you may believe are closed to you.Maybe you don't want to work that hard, or maybe you have been burned by consultants so you are not inclined to listen to one. Or maybe you already have a measure of success and don't think you need to do anything more. No matter what positon you are in, if you Do This One Thing you will beat 85% of your competition every day of the year. If you are in the 15% category already, please email me with a sentence or two confirming how well this works for you.What we are about to discuss applies to every business large or small and in every industry. Next, this is easy to do, but it does require some work. and a minor level of technical skill. However, I assure you if I can learn this, you can to. Finally, when you do this consistently, you will make more money than you ever imagined. This action is at the core of what makes people happy.OK, here it is: every business has customers. if you are a professional service business, your customers may be called clients or patients. At the transaction level they are customers. They buy something from you. Some people cross the path of your business and don't buy. Others you call on and some buy and some don't. With each action there is a contact and when you have contact you have an opportunity to make a record of that customer or prospect's contact information. That record can be as simple as a first name and email address. It may be comprehensive including complete contact information, biographical sketch, business history and so on.The one thing you must do if you are in business is obtain the contact information of people doing business with you and people who visit with you but have not yet purchased. You must Give them something to talk about. If soap operas do nothing else well, they create scandals that have people talking for days. It is a TV show for crying out loud! Can you imagine what kind of publicity you could bring to your business if you gave people something to talk about the way the soaps do? I’m not suggesting doing anything illegal or scandalous. But make sure your business does something that people would be willing to talk about. What do you differently than your competitors? How can you turn that idiosyncrasy into positive publicity? What good causes are related to your area of business? Is there some kind of event you could sponsor that would make the evening news and benefit a worthy cause at the same time? People like SoapNet because it is a lot more exciting than there own lives. Give people something exciting to talk about, and I guarantee they will. Be the good guy. In the days of silent films, the audience used to cheer when the hero first appeared on screen, and they would boo and hiss each time the villain showed up. Earn your clients’ and customers’ applause by being the good guy. We have all had dealings with people we don’t trust or who were extremely difficult to work with. Ask yourself, Are you the shifty-eyed gravedigger American housewives everywhere hate to see on television? Or are you the honest, wholesome doctor moms would love to have their daughters marry? Conducting your business in a way that earns peoples’ trust will go a long way in creating word-of-mouth referrals and sincere praise for your company. Remember, like so many SoapNet actors and actresses, your business can get type-cast very easily. Make sure you are cast as a hero and you can’t go wrong. Keep it simple. There is an entire channel, SoapNet, dedicated to explaining who is sleeping with whom, what happened when, and who is whose father. Plot twists and messed-up family trees may work well for soap operas, but people place a premium on simplicity when it comes to business. This does not mean that you have to dumb down everything you do, or stop offering complicated or intellectual services. It means the way you present your business is honest – what they see is what they get (see the first tip above). Do not sign a new client only to later surprise them with hidden fees or contract loopholes that will strain your relationship. This tip has everything to do with creating a relationship that is honest and transparent. Perhaps your business is built around something that you know that other people don’t. Do not put yourself out of business by giving away all your secrets. But keep your client or customer relationships open and honest. You’ll find that fewer people will try to take advantage of you when they trust you are not trying to take advantage of them. Nobody actually falls down elevator shafts. But you may want to consider pushing parts of your business over the edge. Soap operas are Leadership vs. Management e publicity? What good causes are related to your area of business? Is there some kind of event you could sponsor that would make the evening news and benefit a worthy cause at the same time? People like SoapNet because it is a lot more exciting than there own lives. Give people something exciting to talk about, and I guarantee they will.Management skills are a necessary subset of the skills of a leader. Some people claim to be leaders, but not managers. Usually they consider themselves a visionary. If you look up visionary in the dictionary you’ll find:visionary – noun. One whose ideas or projects are impractical.This is a very good definition of someone who wants to be a leader but doesn't want to participate in any management functions. Leadership is determining where you are going and management is determining how you are going to get there. Without management leadership is ineffective. Leaders who accomplish things without any management skills do so in spite of themselves. They would be much more effective as leader who practice management.There are individuals who are skilled at implementing someone else's vision, but are not leaders. These people exist can make some leaders abdicate their responsibility to manage. While a good leader will surround them self with skilled managers, that doesn't alleviate the need for management skills in the leader himself. The chances of success of a leader who doesn't participate in management are much lower than a leader who understands, values and practices a strong management ability.In its simplest form, management is the process of defining and measuring success. A leader who defines success, sets the vision, and determines the measurements of success will be much more effective than someone with the same skills who wants to determine the vision but refuses to do any work in the area of management. Be the good guy. In the days of silent films, the audience used to cheer when the hero first appeared on screen, and they would boo and hiss each time the villain showed up. Earn your clients’ and customers’ applause by being the good guy. We have all had dealings with people we don’t trust or who were extremely difficult to work with. Ask yourself, Are you the shifty-eyed gravedigger American housewives everywhere hate to see on television? Or are you the honest, wholesome doctor moms would love to have their daughters marry? Conducting your business in a way that earns peoples’ trust will go a long way in creating word-of-mouth referrals and sincere praise for your company. Remember, like so many SoapNet actors and actresses, your business can get type-cast very easily. Make sure you are cast as a hero and you can’t go wrong. Keep it simple. There is an entire channel, SoapNet, dedicated to explaining who is sleeping with whom, what happened when, and who is whose father. Plot twists and messed-up family trees may work well for soap operas, but people place a premium on simplicity when it comes to business. This does not mean that you have to dumb down everything you do, or stop offering complicated or intellectual services. It means the way you present your business is honest – what they see is what they get (see the first tip above). Do not sign a new client only to later surprise them with hidden fees or contract loopholes that will strain your relationship. This tip has everything to do with creating a relationship that is honest and transparent. Perhaps your business is built around something that you know that other people don’t. Do not put yourself out of business by giving away all your secrets. But keep your client or customer relationships open and honest. You’ll find that fewer people will try to take advantage of you when they trust you are not trying to take advantage of them. Nobody actually falls down elevator shafts. But you may want to consider pushing parts of your business over the edge. Soap operas are Marketing Tips For Small Businesses honest, wholesome doctor moms would love to have their daughters marry? Conducting your business in a way that earns peoples’ trust will go a long way in creating word-of-mouth referrals and sincere praise for your company. Remember, like so many SoapNet actors and actresses, your business can get type-cast very easily. Make sure you are cast as a hero and you can’t go wrong.Listed below are some ideas or tips for marketing your small businesses. Advertising is expensive and these ideas are an inexpensive way to get your name out there.Although theses tips are for tea businesses, they can be adapted for most types of small business.1. Signup sheet to ask customers their birthday month to send out birthday postcards. You can offer 1 oz. of their favorite tea or other incentive if they come in with their birthday postcard.2. Send out frequent emails to those who have signed up. Be sure to update and change each email so they won't think you are just repeating the one you sent earlier.3. Have an area on your website that allows them to sign up for your emails or an online newsletter. Be sure to update your website frequently to keep it relevant--especially removing old information.4. Offer a free pot of tea for bringing in a new friend.5. Have a coupon available on your website that would only be for your website customers.6. Offer a free pot of tea for your first-time visitors.7. Have a "pot of tea" card where the 10th or 12th pot of tea is free.8. If you are sending out postcards, have a featured item or a featured tea listed on it. You can also have a featured item or featured tea listed on your website.9. Piggyback off events that are taking place locally in your area. For instance, hot air balloon races could be a balloon tea or bubble tea.10. Piggback off other retailers in your area. have your fliers in antique shops, salons, spas, or alternative health centers or health food stores. You have to be willing to have their fliers in your business in r Keep it simple. There is an entire channel, SoapNet, dedicated to explaining who is sleeping with whom, what happened when, and who is whose father. Plot twists and messed-up family trees may work well for soap operas, but people place a premium on simplicity when it comes to business. This does not mean that you have to dumb down everything you do, or stop offering complicated or intellectual services. It means the way you present your business is honest – what they see is what they get (see the first tip above). Do not sign a new client only to later surprise them with hidden fees or contract loopholes that will strain your relationship. This tip has everything to do with creating a relationship that is honest and transparent. Perhaps your business is built around something that you know that other people don’t. Do not put yourself out of business by giving away all your secrets. But keep your client or customer relationships open and honest. You’ll find that fewer people will try to take advantage of you when they trust you are not trying to take advantage of them. Nobody actually falls down elevator shafts. But you may want to consider pushing parts of your business over the edge. Soap operas are Dealing With Difficult Clients way you present your business is honest – what they see is what they get (see the first tip above). Do not sign a new client only to later surprise them with hidden fees or contract loopholes that will strain your relationship. This tip has everything to do with creating a relationship that is honest and transparent. Perhaps your business is built around something that you know that other people don’t. Do not put yourself out of business by giving away all your secrets. But keep your client or customer relationships open and honest. You’ll find that fewer people will try to take advantage of you when they trust you are not trying to take advantage of them.We’ve all had ‘em – the client from Dante’s murderous seventh circle. If you'd like to avoid dispatching with a possible good source of income, here are some ideas I use in my web development business for recovering and coming out like a champ. Really listen. I’ve found that when I’m detecting some frustration on the client’s part, often simply acknowledging the reason for the frustration clears the path for a resolution. For example, the client says, “No orders have come in since we launched the site you built 2 seeks ago”. Instead of taking a “Not my fault” attitude, try repeating their issue as a question. “No orders for 2 weeks?” and then offer some hope. “Hmm, let’s take a look at why”. Empathetic humor. This is a dicey area but if used correctly can turn a potentially incendiary situation into a problem solving session. Self-effacing humor like “Wow, it is really hard to find good help these days” goes a long way toward getting the defenses down and getting the issues uncovered and solved. If everyone is in damage control mode, the real issues are not getting addressed.Solve the problem or give a damn good reason why you couldn’t. Make sure that you understand the problem or concern and then correct it. Often times, if it is a complex problem you’ll need to write it all down as an email to make sure you’ve got it. Find a common topic aside from the work to relate with them. This is an essential part of my protocol from the beginning. People are people. Finding a way to relate with them not only brings a personal touch to your work, but develops a relationship. Be careful t Nobody actually falls down elevator shafts. But you may want to consider pushing parts of your business over the edge. Soap operas are king when it comes to character turnover – if they are unpopular or the story line isn’t going anywhere, there never seems to be a lack of creative ways to kill them off. Take a look at your business and see if there are any aspects of it that may need to be “taken care of,” as it were. Cutting down costs by cutting out baggage could do wonders with regards to your bottom line. The SoapNet channel is now in more than 40 million homes. If you play your cards right, your business could be too.
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