Why Promotional Products Are Better Than Advertising

December 25, 2013 by 3 Comments
unique promotional products

unique promotional products

Promotional products are things like hats, mugs, T-shirts, water bottles, pens and basically anything else that you can put a logo on. If you look around your office or home you will probably see many different promotional products lying around. This is one reason why promotional products are better than advertising… people actually keep them. They are usually useful and are things that you might buy anyway, like pens and mugs.

 

Unlike advertising, you know exactly who got them and that the right people did indeed get them, because you control the process. An ad might not always get to the audience you’re targeting. With promotional items you can give them exactly what they are looking for, and since they want the product anyway, they will be much more likely to keep it around. [Read more…]

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Overcoming the Fear of Starting a Business

December 24, 2013 by 1 Comment
starting a business

starting a business

Not everyone could or should be a business owner, but don’t let the fear of starting business stop you from becoming an entrepreneur. Most people have a list of excuses that stop them from ever taking the first step. Here are a few of them.

It’s Too Risky

Yes, it can be risky to start a business. Risk comes with the job of being an entrepreneur, but so does reward. And the more you risk, the more chances you’ll have to be rewarded. In the past it was considered more risky to start a business than to work a steady job. But in these uncertain days of rampant unemployment and the constant fear that the axe will fall even if you do have what you think is a steady job, starting a business sounds a little less risky. Like any game, the only way to win is to play. You’ll never reach your dreams sitting on the sidelines.

I Don’t Have the Money

Guess what, unless you get really lucky and find someone to give you a lot of money with no attachments, you’ll never have enough money to start a business. The best way to start a business is with no money. You simply have to be more creative. And it’s usually the most creative things that work the best anyway. You’ll have to run the business yourself, which means you’ll learn every single aspect of running a business from the ground up.

I Don’t Have the Time

If you’re working another job, great! You’ll have an income and you can work on your business on the weekends or after your regular job. If you’re unemployed, great! This means you’ll be able to spend all of your time on it and can get it up and running even faster. [Read more…]

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Learn From the Mistakes of Others

October 28, 2013 by 1 Comment

I often wonder who the first food tasters were and how they knew what was poisonous and what wasn’t. Maybe this is why there are so few real innovators because being the first to do something can be scary and sometimes dangerous. We like to know that someone else has been through the trial and error first before we decide to jump in.

learning from others

learning from others

I was in the grocery store today looking up at the eggs on the shelf and a woman leaned over and said “Be careful”. She pointed at the ground to a pile of egg yolks with a big footprint in it. “I learned the hard way”, she said, “I almost slipped and broke my neck”.

The first thing I thought was what a tragedy it would be to break your neck on a pile of egg yolks in the grocery store. Not skiing the Alps or drag racing at 150 miles an hour, but in the egg aisle at Ralph’s. [Read more…]

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Speaker Sponsorship

July 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Every day more entrepreneurs are entering the speaking arena. Granted, public speaking isn’t for everyone. It does take a special talent to want to get up in front of a group of strangers and speak. But if you have the talent and you have the expertise, why not share it?

speaker sponsorship

speaker sponsorship

The problem is, once a market starts to get over-saturated you have to work even harder to find people who will pay you for that expertise. These days way too many meeting planners have stopped paying speakers.

If you’ve ever thought about becoming a speaker, you should know how much work goes into it. Writing a speech and giving a great speech are only a fraction of what you’ll spend your time on. Most of your time will be spent on getting the work. And getting free speaking jobs is much easier than getting a paid one. But there is a way to guarantee you’ll get paid every time and that’s through sponsorship. [Read more…]

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How to Sell Over the Phone

July 10, 2013 by 3 Comments
cold calling

cold calling

I made a call to a company today to find out about their legal services. The guy on the phone used the word “like” every few seconds. This made him sound unprofessional, and made me uncomfortable having him handle any legal issues. I would feel equally uncomfortable with a doctor who talked that way, but it really goes for anyone in a business position.

This got me thinking about how people can make slight changes in their voice and etiquette that will help them sell more over the phone.

  • Eliminate the word “like” – We all like to be liked on Facebook, but like, the word is like, totally overused. Nothing screams being unprofessional more than overusing that word. Like anything (used correctly here), you can break yourself of the “like” habit. The next time you start to say the word, pause briefly and continue. The more you practice not using it, the easier it will get. Practice not using it at all and you will eventually become more articulate. [Read more…]
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