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7 Reasons Great Companies Rise To The Top, Even During Recessions
How you perceive and respond to a recession will determine whether your business grows profitably or fights for survival. Here are the top 7 reasons why great companies thrive during a recession and how you can do the same.

How to Inspire Employees through Recognition
Build your company's culture on the foundation of rewarding and recognizing hard workers and you'll create a fertile work environment where resiliency, high standards, high retention, loyalty, innovation, positive risk taking, and high morale are all present. Here are 8 time-tested ways leaders can inspire employees to do their best.

Top 10 Marketing & Sales Strategies for a Slow Economy
The quickest road to bankruptcy in a struggling economy is to sit on your hands, do nothing, and wait for things to improve. Here are ten sales and marketing strategies you can use now to make your business recession proof.

QuickBooks 2009 Saves Time, Provides Better Insights
Small business owners and accountants who have wished for ways to save time and gain quick insights into their businesses are in for a treat with the new version of QuickBooks. Find out all about the new features here.

Why People Buy
When selling products or services, it is important to understand why people buy - not just why they make a purchase, but why they make it from you. Once you know that, you can mold your businesses' marketing, sales and customer service around that information. Read more >>

Make An Appointment With Yourself
Telephone calls, emails, people stopping by your office - none mean to stop you from completing important tasks, but often that's the end result. Rather than unplugging your computer and telephone, try this idea to get some uninterrupted work time.

7 Ways to Increase Your Leads, Customers and Sales
If you only rely on one source of leads, chances are your business is feast or famine: one week you're so snowed under you don't know how you'll get caught up, but the next week the phone barely rings. The fix is to make sure you have diversified your lead generation efforts. Here are seven different ways you can keep a steady flow of customers coming to your business.

Top 10 Direct Mail Mistakes
In order to make a direct mail campaign work, it’s important to avoid common pitfalls. Mistakes can be in your copy, your list, and even on what you put on your envelope. Here are ten common mistakes people make that sabotage sales.

Chilly Jilly Founder Jill Boehler
We've all had ideas for inventions -- momentary ideas that flashed through our minds like a shooting star, then faded to black about 10 seconds later because we didn't know how to make them happen. About 2-1/2 years ago, Jill Boehler, a speech pathologist and mother of three grown children in Andover, Mass., had one of those brilliant moments.

The Magic Formula for Attracting Clients
Businesses that are thriving and growing have a steady flow of repeat and referred customers. And they get those customers by attracting them rather than pursuing them. Learn their secret for attracting clients here >>

Violent and Property Crimes Decline
After rising for two straight years, the estimated number of violent crimes in the country declined slightly from last year's total, and the downward trend continued for property crimes for the fifth year in a row, according to the FBI's 2007 edition of Crime in the United States.

5 Deadly Sales Letter Mistakes
Just like the salesperson who has to be careful not to be too eager or too pushy, there are certain mistakes you can make in sales letters that you want to avoid. Eliminate one or more of these five common blunders and the response you get from your sales letters will most certainly improve.

CRM is Not Enough: A Case for Action
Customer relationship management (CRM) isn't just about gathering more and more data on your customers. CRM is only as good as what you actually do with that data once you've collected it. Read about a company that has mastered the art of customer service through it's use of CRM technology.

Get a Little Greener, HP
I had to replace an ink cartridge on the newest HP printer in our office this morning. I had purchased the extra large black ink cartridge (74XL) which says you get 3 times more prints than the standard size cartridge, so I expected the cartridge to be larger than the regular size version. So, when I ripped open the cardboard box the cartridge was packaged in I was surprised to see that the ink cartridge took up less than half of the space of the box. Read more ...

12 Steps to the Perfect Direct Mail Piece
Direct mail might seem "old school" compared to online marketing, but it's still one of the most effective marketing tools around. Learn the benefits and basics of a direct mail campaign from marketing pro Barry Fieg.

7 Ways to Promote Yourself Without Bragging
Do you find self-promotion embarrassing? Does it feel like you're bragging? Not all businesspeople are comfortable telling others about how great their product or service is. But self-promotion doesn't have to come off as bragging. Here are 7 methods you can use to promote yourself and your business.

4 Secrets for Selling Value Instead of Price
Are your customers worried about price and not seeing the value of your product or service? Here are four secrets that can help you sell on value so that price is no longer an issue.

Executive Coaching in Talent Management
Research indicates that as many as 70 percent of U.S. firms still do not have successful talent management or succession planning programs. And yet many authorities continue to warn that, despite the current economic downturn, a war for talent is looming. What should companies do? Find out why executive coaching may be the answer.

Manipulation at Work
How do you get your way at work? Whether you realize it or not, you probably use some form of manipulation in your day-to-day dealings with coworkers. Do any of these twelve popular manipulation techniques look familiar to you?

How to Be a Top-Earning Coach or Consultant You know your stuff. You are an undisputed expert in your field. The few customers you've helped sing your praises. But that's the problem. There are still too few customers. What's the single most important thing you can do to build your business and grow your profits? Click here for details >>

Why Conformity is Bad for Your Business
As a business owner do you ever find yourself trying to act the way you think your clients want you to? Or even more dangerous, are you trying to be more like your competition? Here's why conformity is not a good business strategy and why being yourself is best.

Prepare Your Business Before Disaster Strikes
How prepared is your business for a disaster? Though we all hope a disaster will never happen on our own turf, we can never be 100% sure that it won't. The businesses that stand the best chance of survival and recovery are those that prepare in advance. Here's what you need to consider.

7 Ways to Escape from Job Captivity
Do you feel like you're a prisoner to your job? Do you feel like no matter how hard you try, you'll never stand a chance of advancing at your workplace? Here are seven things you can do to escape the sensation of being a workplace prisoner.

Sarah Palin -- The Ultimate Working Mother?
While VP potential Sarah Palin could very well become the ultimate example of what working mothers can accomplish, I'd say the following no matter which party she represented: Given what's on her family plate, it's debatable whether even Wonder Woman would be up to the monumental demands of helping to run the country. Continue reading this week's guest blog entry >>

Business Ethics Survey: How Ethical Are You?
A number of recent reports show the American consumer is increasingly demanding businesses to be run with honesty, integrity and sound business ethics. Take the Business Know-How ethics survey for business owners and employees, and find out how ethical you really are.

Keep It Simple Feedback
When was the last time you gave a member of your team some feedback? Not the kind you give in a formal review, but the kind you give on the spot? That's the kind of feedback that results in real growth in your team members - if you keep it simple. Read more >>

The Most Valuable Source for Leads
What do you think is your most valuable source for new leads? Is it networking? The internet? Email or direct marketing? You might be surprised to find out that your biggest untapped source of new leads is quite close at hand, just waiting to be invited into your business. Read more >>

5 Ways to Keep the Sale
After lots of hard work you finally closed the deal. But before you go spending your commission check, you've got to make sure you keep the sale. Here are five things you can do to make sure the deal stays sealed.

More Sales Without More Products
How do you sell more stuff to your existing customers when you don't have more items to sell? The answer is in affiliate programs -- selling other people's stuff for a cut of the profits.

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