Casual Articles - Internet and Businesses Online

The Real Cost of Turnover
Imagine for a moment that one of your best programmers comes to you and says, "Sorry boss, but I'm leaving for a startup with more opportunity." There are lots and lots of questions to ask, but let's focus on one: "What will it cost to replace her?" Here's a quick breakdown of the direct costs, assuming that her salary is $120K and it takes you three months to find and hire a replacement:3 months unfinished work$40000 Recruiter fees$24000 30 hours of your time$1800 60 hours of interview time$3600 3 months of startup @ 50% productivity$20000 3 months mentoring by team @ 25%$20000 Total Direct Costs$109400That's a lot of money out of the company's bottom line: almost enough to hire another programmer. Now consider some of the indirect costs:Loss of project memoryIncreased stress on project to pick up the extra workIncrease

e accessible in three clicks
You've heard me say it before - A confused mind always says "No". So does a bored one. We're living in the Information Management age. If you can't give your customers what they want in a quick and easy fashion, you won't have a customer to worry about. A few years back there was a big lawsuit between two major .com's about the concept of the "one click checkout"... why? Because they knew then what I am telling you now. You have to make it easy. Easy to use. Easy to attract. Easy to remember. Easy to understand. Easy.

The Real Value in Getting Seen, Heard and Celebrated in Your Own Backyard...and Beyond
It’s February – a time of full-hearts, love, and gratitude. My cup runneth over as I note the sixth anniversary of my growing business and reflect upon its very humble beginnings. I often quip that I transitioned from desperate housewife to PR diva in nine life-altering steps. My public relations, publicity coaching, and information products business was born in February of 1999 out of a desire to earn money to buy better groceries.Up until May of 1997, I worked my way up the corporate ladder in a variety of marketing, promotion, and advertising positions that required creativity, resourcefulness, and decision making to influence bottom line results. When my son was born in 1998, I left the workforce for a year to learn how to be a mom and serve as the chief domestic officer of our household.Among my many duties was figuring out how to make our household budget stretch to meet all of our needs with half the money. I wanted to buy Nabisco® brand wheat thins for $2.99 a box,

1. People tend to click more often when specifically told to do so.
CLICK HERE to download the secret to my success! No, really. Please... One day when talking to a friend of mine through removing some spyware from his computer, I asked how he thought he got it. "I don't know..." he quickly replied..."I guess I clicked on something that told me to click on it."... I do recall reading somewhere that 10% of us turn our brains off when we get online. If you want someone to buy something, don't just tell them to buy it, tell them exactly how to buy it.

2. Most people can't remember more than seven things at once
There is a reason US phone numbers are 7 digits long - 10 if you include the area code... Humans are pattern driven creatures. We like 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, 4 weeks in a month, 12 months in a year... and so on. The more patterns we make as humans, the more our mind can relate different things. However, for the most of us, the patterns cannot be too complex. Don't confuse your customers. Give them details. Allow them to form the pattern in their mind. Then tell them to buy your product.

3. Research shows that web readers scan pages before they read anything, meaning they may leave your site if it doesn't grab their attention.
In the dial up days, I used to tell people they had 30 seconds to make an impression on a visitor. Now, it's a micro-fraction of that. The latest study indicated that a website had 3 seconds to deliver the content to the user, and that a user would make up their minds within 1 second. 1/2 second if that user was a female - seriously. It's what I call the "ummm". A site loads, a user says, "Ummm..." and that's followed by a "yes" or a "no". As soon as that scan is done with, the user knows if they feel comfortable on your site. If you use highlighting and bolding of keywords on your site - say about 7 of them per fold - and you tell the customer what to do within those 7 highlighted or bolded words... your site has more of a chance of converting a visitor into a customer.

4. Most buyers complete their purchase-related search engine research two or more weeks before they buy.
Two weeks. 14 days. 2 sets of 7 days. If your site doesn't make a lasting impression with the user - even visually - they won't be back. And if they don't come back, you don't make the sale.

Not too long ago, I was doing some reasearch on a particular subject. I had found a very good source, and shared it with a colleague of mine. About two weeks later, we were discussing the subject again. I hadn't book marked the page, and couldn't recall the name of the site. What I did recall was the pattern of the layout. I remembered the red and blue colors, with the yellow highlighted price. When I again found that pattern, I recalled more information about that website.

Had that site not grabbed my attention, and given me a few key items to remember, they would have lost a sale. Needless to say, they got my business.

5. People are more likely to read a headline that is followed by a blurb
This week I was driving by a steak house. I thought, "yeah.. I might like a steak tonight... but, there are some other restraunts on this road..." As I got closer to the steak house, the smell of that wood burning grill assaulted my senses... "Wow, I gotta have a steak, right now!" Was my next thought.... What changed my mind? The blurb after the headline. The restraunt itself wasn't enough to get the sale - but those guys aren't fools - they know how to get a customer in the door. The same holds true for any attention grabbing headline - without any more information, it's just a headline. Without that smell, a steak is just a piece of dead cow.

6. The top five search terms of all time are: Pam Anderson, Dragonball, Pokemon, Britney Spears, and WWE
To me, knowing what people are looking for is key. It's how you found this site. It's why you're reading, or listening to me right now. It's why you'll purchase the products I endorse or produce for MLMEruption.com. But knowing those top 5 search terms also tells me that I'm going to have to be creative with my headlines, give my customers good, memorable information that doesn't overwhelm them, and give them clear instructions on what to do on my site.

7. The three-click rule states that any page in a site should be accessible in three clicks
You've heard me say it before - A confused mind always says "No". So does a bored one. We're living in the Information Management age. If you can't give your customers what they want in a quick and easy fashion, you won't have a customer to worry about. A few years back there was a big lawsuit between two major .com's about the concept of the "one click checkout"... why? Because they knew then what I am telling you now. You have to make it easy. Easy to use. Easy to attract. Easy to remember. Easy to understand. Easy.

Why Outsource? How Does Outsourcing Help Companies in Rationalizing Their Costs?
Outsourcing has been the cause of much debate in recent times. There have been arguments for and against outsourcing. The supporters of outsourcing are primarily those motivated by the desire to cut costs and streamline their business processes while those against outsourcing are those primarily affected by their jobs being given to others. Whatever may be said about the topic, the fact remains that in these days of heavy competition, it’s become a necessity to outsource certain components of a business in order to remain competitive.For all those against outsourcing, they should realize that if their company supports them and doesn’t outsource, their company will be the first one to lose and they will consequently suffer from the company’s inability to remain competitive. Outsourcing makes companies more competitive and this in turn benefits the end-consumers in the country.How does outsourcing help companies in rationalizing their costs?Companies only need pay

. Then tell them to buy your product.

Had that site not grabbed my attention, and given me a few key items to remember, they would have lost a sale. Needless to say, they got my business.

The Truth about Pink Sheets stocks
The Pink Sheets. Pink Sheets stocks. The Pinks. Everyone seems to be talking about trading shares on this penny stock listing service and the chatter is only going to get louder once the Pink Sheets’ OTC QX division becomes fully functional. With all the buzz surrounding the Pink Sheets many people are asking themselves if they should check out investing in this market. Rumors abound in on-line chat rooms like Raging Bull about fortunes being made by those who trade in the smallest of small caps. Is it possible? Is it true? Is there something about the Pink Sheets that make it different from the NASDAQ or the Big Board? The answer is yes and I want to provide some antidotal evidence about the Pink Sheets.My name is Richard Bond and I want to tell you how trading Pink Sheets stocks turned my life around.It started when I turned my financial situation around which lead to a change in my overall outlook on life. Now I live my life on my terms. I learned the hard way that the amoun

4 days. 2 sets of 7 days. If your site doesn't make a lasting impression with the user - even visually - they won't be back. And if they don't come back, you don't make the sale.

Had that site not grabbed my attention, and given me a few key items to remember, they would have lost a sale. Needless to say, they got my business.

Great Presentation Skills - 5 Sure Fire Ways To Lure Your Audiences Back
Have you come across times whilst making your presentation, you feel like your audience is drifting into la la land or they beginning to switch off? According to communication psychologist people give a lot of non-verbal messages about whether they are listening. As a rule, if you see your audience start crossing their legs, fidgeting or looking around often, chances are you losing their attention. How to rein in those who are starting to switch off? I present to you the 5 strategies.1. Sudden Change.Yes. It true. A sudden pause or change in vocal tone, pitch and volume can awaken the mind. But remember, if you want to use this technique successfully, be prepared to follow up with something insightful or clever. Otherwise, you will look stupid2. Ask a Question.This is the classic method which my teachers always use in lectures or tutorials. When she sees someone dozing off or is pre-occupied with something else other than her lesson (usually its me) she will say “

that wood burning grill assaulted my senses... "Wow, I gotta have a steak, right now!" Was my next thought.... What changed my mind? The blurb after the headline. The restraunt itself wasn't enough to get the sale - but those guys aren't fools - they know how to get a customer in the door. The same holds true for any attention grabbing headline - without any more information, it's just a headline. Without that smell, a steak is just a piece of dead cow.

10 Critical Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Consultant
Talk to as many consultants as you can before hiring one. Even if you have one person or firm in mind, interview at least a few others as a sort of due diligence. You'll probably find that each interview helps you focus on the issues you're hiring a consult to help resolve.1. Most consultants focus on two areas: cutting costs and raising revenues. What do you see as the relationship between the two functions? Which do you do better?Cost cutting is the consultant's usual expertise. It's what most companies need. Most of these hired outside consultants to take an objective look at organizational charts, value-adding processes and competitive environments. "We spend a lot of time talking to a company's customers, so we understand what they like and don't like," one consultant says. "What does the customer value? Is it time? Is it quality? We define that." What this means is that a company can cut jobs and still not touch on one non-value-added activity or add value to the customer

8. The average user will click 12 times before leaving a site
We all want above average users on our websites, right? I know I do. If the average user clicks 12 times on a website, and any page should be no more than 3 clicks away, you can safely reason that a visitor will visit 3 or 4 pages of your website. Without your site being easy, attractive, memorable, and clear... you'll just lose that visitor. When you have some time, take the grocery store poll. It's a fun one. Go into several different grocery stores in your town. Make note of where the milk is located. Chances are, you'll find the milk in the back corner. Not the easiest place to get to. You have to walk past all that other stuff. Then you have to walk past all that stuff again on your way out. Chances are pretty high that you'll pick something up on the way to or from the milk before you check out. The exact same principle holds true for e-commerce. If you present your visitor with something to purchase on each page, chances are very high that those 12 clicks will lead to a sale.

9. Saturdays and Wednesdays are the most popular day of the week to surf the Web
These are the two days that you want your email to land in your newsreaders inbox. It's the two days you want to test market a new sales item. It's the two days you should do whatever it takes to double your daily e-commerce income. Not to say you can slack off the other days.... it's just important to know when the customers are out there. Your logs might indicate that you have higher traffic on other days, but generally speaking, Saturdays and Wednesdays are prime.

10. Twenty percent of Americans admit to buying products they learned about in E-Mail
Proper email marketing works. If you have the users permission to send them a commercially based email, and that email arrives in their inbox on a Wednesday or Saturday, with an attention grabbing headline followed by a well written blurb that doesn't confuse them, yet tells them exactly what to do - chances are high that you'll see a good return on that email.

Some time last year, an associate and I decided to publish a sales report. This report was the result of several months worth of work, and could have been considered a little edgy by some. Our e-mail blast went out on a Friday night, so that it would be sitting in peoples in-boxes on Saturday. The initial email was written quite well, and was a very honest, memorable, clear, and direct message. Sales of our report started Friday night. They did not end until six weeks later. In fact, I can ammend that date, as just two weeks ago we got another request for the report. Seems someone just got around to opening that email.

So, the 10 Keys to E-Commerce Success: Make it Direct. Make it Simple.Make it Grab their attention. Make it Memorable. Make it Meaningful. Make it Relative. Make is Easy. Make it Clear. Make it Timely. Make it Convenient. The one thing they all have in common: You have to make it.

For MLMEruption.com, this is Phil Foster - The Trusted Voice of MLM.

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There is a simple way to generate more leads without even leaving your office. Read on to learn how to fill your sales pipeline by creating brand partners.

Get the most out of your sales contests and build team cooperation. Powerful techniques to maximize profits and gain sustainable results.

When we break motivation down to its most fundamental level, it’s either inspiration-oriented or desperation-oriented. Whatever action we take, we are moving either toward something we favor or away from something we disfavor. The majority of the world uses desperation as a motivator. Desperation is like a cattle prod forcing you to move forward and take action. You can motivate anyone on your team with desperation. The problem is that motivation spurred by desperation does not last. When desperation is the motivator, sales reps are in an “away from” mentality. This kind of motivation is fleeting, arising only when threat, fear or discomfort is present. If you want motivation to last, you need to rely on inspiration. When your team is motivated by inspiration, they’re moving of their own initiative because they want to and are excited to, rather than because they are being forced to. Motivation becomes long term when it taps into a person’s inner recesses.

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