“You’ve probably heard that it’s much easier and less expensive to get existing customers to buy from you than it is to go find new customers. And it’s a true statement for all businesses whether they are on or off-line.

Yet many businesses take the approach that getting new customers is their number 1 priority. They actively seek out those interested in their wares, entice them to buy and then after they make the sale they treat them like D.I.R.T.

D – Disposable

I – Insignificant

R – Removable

T – Trivial

One of the things that has always confused and irritated me is how some businesses penalize their customers for their loyalty. Here’s an example of what I mean:

We used to live in the Denver, CO metro area and subscribed to both of the Denver newspapers. (Yes, there used to be 2 large, popular newspapers in Denver.) Almost every year we received notices that the subscription rates were going up. This went on for several years and we didn’t think much about it since it seemed the price of just about everything was always going up.

Then 1 day I received a sales call for 1 of the newspapers. Like most telemarketing phone calls, they went through their entire sales pitch and offered me a “”special rate”" if I would subscribe before I had a chance to tell them I was already a subscriber. When I did tell them I was a subscriber they thanked me for subscribing and were just about to hang up when I asked – “”Since I am already a subscriber can I get the special rate?”"

This question seemed to shock them when they stuttered, “”no.”"

I then asked them why not and their response was that the special deal was only for “”new”" subscribers.

Since the special deal was for more than 60% off the normal subscription price of several hundred dollars a year, I was, shall we say, slightly perturbed.

When we hung up I immediately called the subscription department for the paper and asked them about getting the discount that new subscribers were getting. They also stated that I couldn’t because it was “”only for new subscribers.”"

As soon as they finished the statement about only new subscribers getting the discount, I replied, “”I see, then cancel my subscription – TODAY.”"

Did I ever take that paper again? Yes, 1 year at a time.

You see, I knew that every 6 months there was a subscription drive to get new subscribers. And even if I didn’t get a phone call, I’d see a table set up at any of the grocery stores I visited where I could get a new subscription with a new subscriber discount. Plus, if I signed up at 1 of these tables, I’d get an additional gift.

Now I’m not opposed to giving gifts to get new subscribers. I do it myself. What does upset me is having a business that I’m paying on a regular basis tell me I have to pay more because I am already 1 of their customers.

To this day I don’t understand why that newspaper and many other businesses treat their loyal customer base so badly.

The point I am trying to make is: while you’re working so hard to gain new subscribers and customers, treat your existing subscribers and customers like the precious gems they are. Don’t forget about them and don’t penalize them.

As online marketers we are always looking for new and better ways of doing things so we can increase our profits. We look for ways to increase our traffic and ways to increase our conversion rates. We look for ways to build our lists and then for ways to get more of our subscribers to buy from us. Unfortunately, some of us forget that making our loyal subscribers and customers feel special is 1 of the best ways to keep and profit from them. Over the years I’ve offered several different free gifts to gain new subscribers. However, when I put the gift online I also either send out a mailing to my list giving them the same gift or make it available inside the member area. When I’ve sent a mailing about the addition of a bonus on an existing sale, I’ve included information about how those who had already purchased the product it could also get the free bonus.

Am I obligated to give my existing subscribers and customers the new free gift. No, it’s not an obligation. It’s just good business.

Unfortunately, too many businesses have forgotten the old business practice of. “”take care of your customers and they will take care of you.”"

To Your Success,
Susan Carroll

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Susan has been helping people with their online marketing for more than 4 years. You’re invited to join her free membership site at: FriendsWhoCare.us where she gives many free tools and resources.

You may re-publish the article in its entirety, with the resource information at the bottom left intact.

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Tags: ethical, management, power, financial, resource

Integrity is generally agreed to be a vital quality in a leader. It’s usually defined in terms of honesty and adhering strongly to an ethical code. However, when applied to non-human areas such as a body of data, or an ecosystem, something that has ‘integrity’ is ‘intact’, ‘whole’, or ‘not tampered with’. This was in fact the original meaning of the word (from the Latin meaning ‘untouched’).

Integrity therefore came to mean ‘ethically sound’ by metaphorical extension. As so often with metaphors applied to human subjective experience, we can discover something useful when we take the metaphor literally.

Consider a person who is grappling with an inner conflict. It may be that two of their most important values are in conflict, or that they cannot choose between alternatives that seem to be equally tempting (or equally scary). Because memory, learning and behaviour are influenced by emotional states, it could even be that what they believe and how they act change significantly depending on how they are feeling.

Can a person who has significant unresolved internal conflicts be a good leader? It’s doubtful. Such a person would find it hard to make decisions and stick to them, because whichever alternative they choose would leave part of themselves unsatisfied. In addition, when you feel ambivalent about your own decisions, it is hard to defend them against criticism.

So unresolved internal conflicts do not make for good leadership. They lead to indecision, inconsistency, and an inability to stick to your guns – none of which are desirable characteristics in a leader. In order to build the sound internal foundation (also known as “character”) which is necessary for leadership, you need to identify your own values and resolve any values conflicts that you uncover.

Being clear about your own values and acting in line with them also means that you will be perceived as “walking your talk” – the key element in leading by example.

The most important thing to remember about emotional intelligence as it applies to leadership is that self-awareness is the foundation on which all the other ‘competencies’ of emotional intelligence are based. If you are not aware of your own emotions, it’s impossible to manage them and hard to understand the emotions of others; in turn, self-management and empathy are prerequisites for being able to handle and inspire emotions in other people.

For a splendid fictional example of how low self-awareness impacts on leadership, see any episode of the hit TV series “The Office” or the nearly-as-good American remake, “The Office: An American Workplace”.

Andy Smith is an Emotional Intelligence consultant and NLP Trainer based in Manchester, UK. His website contains many free articles and downloads.

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Tags: ethical, management, power, financial, resource

Thomas Paine once said, “Character is much easier kept than recovered.” This dovetails with being prepared for an emergency. Planning to keep a reputation can help the organization avoid suffering a devastating loss. When the plan laid out in advance is to admit any faults and err on the side of honesty, the credibility of what is admitted will garner more respect than when an attempt to back-pedal is made.

Anticipation

How can management and decision makers control a crisis? The answer is simple. A crisis cannot be controlled, but the consequences of the crisis can be managed, mitigated and/or prevented. The first order of business is to know and understand the hazards that threaten the “”business.”" An effective organization must conduct a hazard vulnerability analysis that ranks threats. Dealing with threats against organizational character must be one of the threats considered.

Many disaster preparedness programs consider the traditional natural and manmade hazards, but a class of hazard often overlooked is related to business continuity, especially public relations. Public relations incidents raise concerns, and if not handled properly, can elevate to the level of a crisis. If the crisis grows large enough, it can threaten the very existence of an organization.

Crisis Response Begins With an Admission

The most critical part of crisis response is admitting that you are, in fact, in the midst of a crisis. It is only at this point that the consequences of a crisis can be managed. Following a predetermined action plan and set of organizational morals can guide the response. A public information campaign addressing the situation and describing what the organization is doing to rectify the problem is activated, and a trained public information officer addresses media and public concerns.

How To Be Seen As Responsive

* Be proactive in the approach, viewing the problem from the eyes of the consumer.

* Do not try to utilize the science of the issue to prove a point.

* Do not use the engineering aspect to explain that a repeat of the event is not possible or is incredibly remote.

* Do not try to utilize the facts as your defense.

* Remember that the public does not want to hear about the science, the engineering — or, at times, even the facts. The public wants to hear that you understand their concerns and that the organization sees the issue from their perspective.

Managing and Maintaining Character

Management of character is easy when your organization has chosen in advance to do the right thing. Warren Buffet once said, “”First, state clearly that you do not know all the facts. Then state the facts that you do know. One’s objective should be to get it right, get it quick, get it out, and get it over. You see, your problem won’t improve with age.”"

Preparing for a crisis allows the “”if-then”" thought process to occur in advance of an issue. Decisions can be made in advance, not under duress. Preparing to have an open and honest response to a public relations crisis in advance of an onslaught of reporters and public scrutiny (when your legal counsel is attempting to persuade you to limit your liability exposure) will prevent senior management from being led astray.

Waiting until the disaster occurs puts forces upon decision makers that may change their perception of reality. “”Groupthink is a mode of thinking within a cohesive group that is engaged in by people who so strongly seek consensus that there is no realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action,”" stated Michael C. LeMay in Public Administration: Clashing Values in the Administration of Public Policy. “”A drive for consensus at all cost completely suppresses dissent.”"

Crises easily can become a groupthink phenomenon. With prior planning and decision making, you can avoid having your values go sideways during the crisis. Follow the advice of Warren Buffet by engaging in public transparency that will save the organization time as well as its reputation. It’s easy when the direction has already been established from the executive level to “”do the right thing.”"

Conclusion

All aspects of a successful emergency response are contingent upon planning. A successful outcome is achieved by doing the right thing at all turns, not solely attempting to protect the organization from legal liability. Organizational character can be maintained if advanced planning and training ensures that all parties understand the organization’s policy is to be open and honest. This will maintain the integrity of the organization, ensuring that organizational character is valued and protected.

Author Bio

Mr. Reilly is the President of Emergency Solutions Ltd. His credentials include Certified Emergency Manager from the International Association of Emergency Managers, Certified Business Continuity Professional from DRI International, and he is a Master’s Degree candidate in Public Administration.

Mr. Reilly can be reached through his company’s website.

Visit the website to see how he and his associates can help you prepare you business, school, or hospital for a disaster.

(c) 2007 Daniel J. Reilly. All rights reserved.

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Tags: ethical, management, power, financial, resource

1. Being Organized

There are so many ways to keep organized in your business. First thing you need to do is clear your desk! Working in a clutter will slow you down especially if you are constantly looking for something you are missing. After you clean off your desk, take an organizer for your papers, even if it’s an inbox, and put your papers in there neatly. Take all your office supplies and put them in your drawer neatly. There you have it, the top of your desk! Since we are working virtual, our main concern for being organized is our computers. I have my companies (I have two) in separate folders. In those folders, I have folders like:

- Client Projects

- Confidentiality Agreements

- Invoicing

- Newsletters

- Articles

- Website Updates

Now, your folders might be completely different and you might not like having about 10 folders but it works for me. If I am looking for something for a client, I just go to my clients’ folder and there everything is in their individual folder. There are endless ideas to being organized!

2. Being Able

Being able means showing your intelligence and talent to your clients. This will improve your business and show you are efficient if you are one step ahead of your client at all times. They will appreciate your ability to ‘read their mind’ and it shows that you have been doing your job all along!

3. Are you good at your job?

It’s simple. Your clients will be able to ‘figure you out’ in the first month of having you as their virtual assistant. If you are good at what you do and prove that to them, you are being efficient for their business. Being good at your job includes:

- Looking into problems on your own and realising that its okay to ask for help too!

- Answering their questions without hesitation.

- Staying focused on your work.

- Completing tasks before the due date.

- Making sure the work is done right.

Like organizational skills, the list can be endless and it ranges on the type of you work you do.

Looking forward to sharing many successes with you!

Trina Lamarche

Efficient VA

Want To Use This Article In Your Ezine or Website? You have my permission, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:

Trina Lamarche (Efficient VA) started her virtual career three years ago by helping launch and setup Business Services, ETC, a virtual assistance firm. After two years working for other people, she realized what she really wanted to do; become an owner of her very own virtual assistance business. In the past year, she has been working part-time as a ‘Virtual Assistant’s Assistant’ (a term she coined while working on client work one evening.) Always the overachiever, she decided to open a second virtual assistance company, Efficient Virtual Assistant (EVA), working directly with clients.

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Tags: ethical, management, power, financial, resource

“Are you coach-able ? before we go on, give that question some thought. As a youth growing up a lot of us might have been a member of some sort of team sport. Within that sport there was rules in place to guide us in the proper manner of play. At times acting as a individual we may have had our own idea on how something was done regardless of the rules.

This kind of behavior was unacceptable, and are coach was there to reminds us of the right way to do things. Well in order to be a active team player you had to be coach-able, you had to follow your coaches instructions. Because the coach was a leader, and based his decisions on the rules of the game. Then the team perform their various duties to the letter.

The team made up of many individuals were all coach-able, and their coach-able attitudes assured the teams success. Have you ever been a member of some sort of home-based business, and it seem as through there was no real leader, no true path to follow. I, believe we all may have found ourselves in that kind of boat before. It’s a boat with out a rudder, no true direction, and no captain to guide your journey. So you would find yourself drifting aimlessly, and eventually running a ground without a clue why. So if you want to find success you must have a coach to guide you in making important decisions that will keep your business afloat.

A coach, or mentor is a priceless asset to any teams success. I, have some insight into this, and wish to share it with you. Stop your drifting, and start succeeding at your integrity based business endeavors, be coach-able. I, want to introduce you to a coach. It requires that you spend one of your most valuable assets, and that is your time. No other cost is involved other than your courage, your ability to listen, and most of all be coach-able.

Now I, must admit that is a higher price than most of us are willing to pay. Your desire to succeed should be stronger than your pride becoming embarrassed, or shamed of your pass failures. We don’t just want any run of the mill type coach, we want a winner who has won, and is winning everyday, right now. A coach that can prevent your failure, one who knows what lies ahead, and will be there to help you navigate around these hidden dangers ready to sink your hopes, and desires. So ask yourself are you coach-able, and are you ready to succeed.

If so go ahead, and visit me here to get started.

Join our team, we all have failed, and that was due to lack of direction. Let your business journey be a profitable one, and be a part of a winning team. To your success, I, welcome you. Kindly Yours, Kim S Elleman

I, live in Hawaii, on the beautiful island of Oahu. I enjoy skin-diving, and keeping fit. I love making smoothies, and over the years have gotten pretty good at it.

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Tags: ethical, management, power, financial, resource

Editors and reporters are constantly slaving over hot deadlines. And no one helps them more to meet these deadlines than reliable industry experts and trusted authorities who rapidly provide information and add clarity to feature articles and news stories — especially when time is tight. These are the people who get quoted in the news and have their names peppered throughout the Internet.

To reap the benefits of being the media’s “go-to” guy or girl for your industry, you’ve got to earn editors’ and reporters’ trust by establishing yourself as a dependable, responsive expert in your particular field. And by helping journalists gather information and meet their deadlines, you’ll generate your own positive publicity and strengthen your reputation among audiences important to you.

Here’s how you do it.

1) Identify key print, broadcast and Internet editors and reporters who cover your industry. Don’t forget on-line resources such as bogs. Journalists often peruse a variety of blogs to identify trends, search for potential story leads, research articles and generally stay abreast of industry scuttlebutt.

2) After becoming thoroughly familiar with key editors’ and reporters’ work, send each an email or call them directly — or do both — to comment on a particular story or your industry in general. Introduce yourself as the industry expert you are. Establish your credentials and offer to assist with the development of future stories. Suggest a few article ideas of your own, but make sure they’re not puff pieces about your company.

3) Start adding your comments, insights and observations to blogs that cover your industry. Project your name and your company’s name into cyberspace.

4) Maintain communication with media contacts by providing useful, unsolicited information, observations and article ideas. Your objective is to build trusting relationships, show your industry knowledge and keep your name on the media’s radar.

5) Be proactive. Contact reporters and offer your expertise when a story is breaking — or about to break.

6) Most importantly, when a reporter or editor contacts you for information, make it a top priority to respond quickly and accurately within deadline. Reporters often throw the same question to many potential sources. The first to respond with the most interesting and useful information gets quoted in the article or on the air. By not responding in a timely manner, you’re likely to erase all the goodwill and credibility you’ve established to that point with a particular journalist.

7) When a journalist quotes you or otherwise refers to you or your organization in a good way, leverage that publicity by sending the article to your clients, industry associates and other audiences you’d like to reach. Post it on your website. Use the exposure to reinforce your professional stature and present yourself and your organization in a positive light.

8) Thank the reporter for the opportunity to help with the story. Cultivating solid media contacts and establishing your reputation among reporters and editors as your industry’s go-to expert of choice is a systematic process. Do it right and you will become a vital media resource while generating effective, favorable publicity where it counts most for you and your organization.

Brian R. Salisbury, a writer and a public relations and communications consultant, combines a wealth of communications know-how with an engaging writing style to help his clients shape the most effective messages and deliver them with the greatest impact where they count most. Visit Brian’s website and subscribe to his free public relations newsletter and receive his free report “Ten Key Components of a Successful Public Relations Program.”.

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Tags: publicity, media, information, reliable, resource

Whatever the size or interest of your business, setting yourself apart in the public eye (aka gaining publicity) can give your products or service a professional image or even increase sales. In fact, there’s a strong argument to be made that publicity should be one of your first concerns.

But how does a home-based business with limited resources set itself out from the competition? Ads can be expensive and unless you’re willing to see it through the 5 to 7 exposures it takes before the public takes notice, you may find yourself in a difficult situation. Positioning yourself as an expert in your field with the news and trade media of your clients present another option.

In my discussions with many entrepreneurs, the question inevitably arises of ”why should a story on my business in the local media matter?’’ It is a valid question. Most think of dealing with the media and public relations as in the realm of big corporations and politicians. The fact is public or media relations have a very commercial application. When promoting your business, you need to consider all possible marketing methods and advertising efforts.

In any successful organization, PR is in fact an integral part of the marketing mix. Imagine if the local newspaper or radio station offered you free advertisement or even a series of free advertising. What effect could that have on your marketing efforts?

Properly developed media relations and a well-crafted story can have the same effect! Imagine yourself getting an article in your local paper profiling your business, yourself, or your service.

So what is an entrepreneur to do to be positioned as the media’s favoured ‘’guru’’? Ever heard the question, ”How will you know you’ve gotten there, if you don’t have a map to tell you where you’re going,’’ Communications and marketing are in the same boat.

Before going off to launch an ad, promotion, or contacting journalists to profile your story, dentify these key points:

WHO am I looking to target?

WHAT media are they most prone to view?

WHY does your idea matter to them? In other words, where’s the real STORY?

WHEN: why is it relevant for them to act now?

HOW: What’s going on in the lives of your target that makes you relevant?

From there, consider drafting a news release to launch a special event you’re doing or even tie your expertise into a current trend that’s all the rage. You’d be surprised at the effect that getting a mention in the news can have!

Mark Buzan is the owner of Action Strategies(see the site), a public affairs & marketing communications consultancy. You can subscribe now to his monthly tips newsletter by visiting and dropping down the “newsletter” menu. You can also subscribe to his blog here.

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Tags: pr, media, resource, business, marketing