Dave J - Instant Small Business Startup Guide

Increasing Business Result Over The Phone!

2007-06-08T08:21:51+02:00

The other day, I received this email from a recruitment consultant:

"I would just like to say a BIG, BIG thanks, I feel totally transformed, my “phone fear” has disappeared. Its really quite weird, but I don't hesitate to pick the phone and ring people, in the past 10 days I've picked up 4-5 briefs. When I see an opportunity I just grab it.

I've noticed a big difference in my day too, I just don't know where the hours go, and I wish there were longer hours in the day to fit everything in. This will make you laugh, the last few days I've had lots of admin work, and haven't been able to get on the phone, I actually heard myself saying that 'I wish I was on the phone more' can you believe it?"

What would it be like if you felt the same way about your sales calls? Now, in order for you to be succeeding at your job, you must already be making sales calls, so I'm not talking about teaching you the basics here. I'm presuming you already do make calls, but maybe you tidy your desk, answer your emails and make a cup of coffee before you get yourself into the right mood. Maybe you stop after ten calls instead of stopping when the clients have all gone home. Maybe you make it harder for yourself than it needs to be.

Maybe you already love sales calls and you're already getting great results, in which case – why are you reading this? Get on the phone!

So, I'm presuming that you're reading this because you'd like to get the same results as the person who wrote that email. The good news is that this can happen very quickly. The longest this has ever taken was about an hour, the shortest about 10 seconds.

But how? Well, the exact process varies from one person to the next because every person I've ever worked with creates this situation in a slightly different, unique way – and so will you. Having said that, there are some general principles and patterns that I can tell you about that you can use right away to improve your approach and therefore your results.

Firstly, stop cold calling. It's difficult, time consuming and produces poor results. Instead, spend some time each day calling people you haven't spoken to before and finding out how you can help them.

Secondly, At the moment you pick up the phone to dial, what picture pops into your head? What does the voice in your head say? Do you begin your call by apologizing, or does your voice tone demonstrate the pride you take in your job? Just work through these simple steps, giving yourself time to think this through very carefully:

Imagine yourself sitting at your desk at the time you would begin making sales calls. As you imagine starting to dial, what picture pops into your head. Specifically, whose picture? If you find sales calls consistently difficult, I'm guessing the picture is of someone you don't have much in common with who doesn't look pleased to hear from you. If you find calls randomly difficult, I'm guessing there's no coherent picture. In either case, that's good news.

Next, imagine you're about to call your best friend or someone you like very, very much. You know exactly what I mean. As you dial, what picture pops into your mind? Now, stop and think about yourself – are you smiling? Are you sitting upright? Are you dialing eagerly? When you speak, does your tone of voice reflect this?

So, if you imagine someone who doesn't want to talk to you, simply imagine reaching out and grabbing the picture, screwing it into a ball and throwing it over your shoulder. Then simply draw a new picture of someone who looks like you, who you have something in common with and who looks pleased to hear from you, or at least open minded. Imagine calling that person and notice how your voice tone is different.

Practice this a few times, just repeating the process over and over. Imagine starting to dial, see the face of someone you want to talk to, hear your positive voice tone, notice how that feels nice to talk to someone who enjoys talking to you.

Thirdly, what do you say to yourself before, during and after the call? If it's in any way critical that's not helping. Often, the voice in your head has really valuable feedback but you don't hear it because it just sounds like nagging or criticism. Think again about sitting down to make your calls and this time pay attention to what you are saying to yourself. Change the voice tone to something more neutral, like a news reader, or to a voice that you like – even something sexy! Now, listen to what the voice tells you – is the information more useful? You can also ask questions back. If the voice is critical, say "Thank you! Now, how does that information help me?" or "Thank you! Now, what do you suggest I do differently?" Oddly enough, you'll find the same approach works very well with that person in the office who always offers you helpful criticism.

Last of all, you can't really control what happens during each call as you are not in control of the person at the other end. They might be busy or tired and you know the importance of respecting their state. So, no matter how each call goes, it's important to treat each call as if it's your first. There are many ways that you can quickly control your state, and the simplest for our purposes here is through your focus of attention. Think of a time in the past when you felt really confident and in control of yourself. Remember that time in all the detail you can, recalling what you saw, heard and felt. Maybe you even remember some smells and tastes. When you have all that, think of a word, color or piece of music that seems to represent it. Repeat this a few times so that the trigger becomes associated with the feeling. Now, in between calls simply replay the trigger and your state will switch to the confident, in control state.

After you have practiced all this for a day and then slept on it, your brain will build it into an unconscious calling routine for you so you won't even have to think in order to get good results. What's this based on? The principle that you are already following an unconscious process which is working perfectly for you. The process is fine but the results need a little tweak. By taking conscious control over the process and making some slight adjustments, you'll find that you can get surprising results, very quickly. How quickly? You'll only find out by finding out!
Dave J is a Certified Neuro-Linguistic-Programming Coach (by the American Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming), a business trainer & author of "Secrets Revealed," as featured on local radio and TV shows. His insight of NLP has given him the edge to provide peak performance coaching to individuals and corporations of all levels – across Asia. Dave J is available for keynotes speaking, breakout sessions and seminar sharing. You can reach him at dave@asiacertifiedbusinesscoach.com

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How to Get Instant Rapport with People?

2007-06-08T08:21:25+02:00

Have you ever had the experience of meeting someone who you just click with? Those situations where, even though you may be seeing them for the first time, this person feels like an old friend? This is an example of what psychologists call rapport. Being able to get into rapport with other people isn’t just a key for successful influence; it’s also one of the most funs, enjoyable & relaxing skills you can learn. People like to be around people who can get into rapport with them.

Researchers at the Boston University Medical School studied films of people having conversations. The researchers noticed that the people talking began (unconsciously) to co-ordinate their movements (including finger movements, eye blinks and head nods.) When they were monitored using electroencepholographs, it was found that some of their brain waves were spiking at the same moment too. As the conversations progressed, these people were getting into rapport with each other.

The phenomenon of rapport is well-known in the world of NLP and beyond as a starting-point for influential communication. It’s mentioned in countless NLP and influence texts, and crops up in most sales training programs. Yet what ‘is’ rapport, and how can you use it to help yourself and others?

Rapport has been described as what happens when we get the attention of someone’s unconscious mind, and meet them at their ‘map of the world.’ It is more commonly understood as the sense of ease and connection that develops when you are interacting with someone you trust and feel comfortable with. Rapport emerges when people are ‘in-sync’ with each other.

Any group of two or more people can be described as a ‘system’. Rapport is an emergent property of the system, like a fit of the giggles or a pregnant pause. As such, it’s not possible to ‘cause’ or ‘do’ rapport; you can however massively increase the likelihood of rapport emerging when you are communicating with another person.

On a basic level, we like people who are like us. One way to help rapport to develop is to mirror the micro-behaviors of those we wish to influence. Any observable behavior can be mirrored, for example:

* Body posture
* Hand gestures
* Head tilt
* Vocal qualities (pace, rhythm, tonality)
* Key phrases
* Blink rate
* Facial expression
* Energy level
* Breathing rate
* Anything else that you can observe…

To mirror another person, merely select the behavior or quality you wish to mirror, then do that behavior. If you choose to mirror head tilt, when the person moves their head, wait a few moments, then move yours to the same angle. The effect should be as though the other person is looking in a mirror. When this is done elegantly, it is out of consciousness for the other person. However, a few notes of caution are appropriate:

* Mirroring is not the same as mimicry. It should be subtle and respectful.
* Mirroring can lead to you sharing the other person’s experience. Avoid mirroring people who are in distress or who have severe mental issues.
* Mirroring can build a deep sense of trust quickly. You have a responsibility to use it ethically.

Exercise 1
Practice mirroring the micro-behaviors of people on television (chat shows & interviews are ideal.) You may be surprised at how quickly you can become comfortable as you subtly mirror the behaviors of others.
Pacing and leading is one of the keys to influencing people. It refers to meeting them at their map of the world (pacing) and then taking them where you want them to go (leading.) Rapport is a basic, behavioral signal that you have met someone at their map of the world. The simplest, most effective test for rapport is “if you lead, they follow.”

Exercise 2
Choose a safe situation to practice mirroring an element of someone else’s behavior. When you have mirrored them for a while, and think you are in rapport with the person, scratch your nose. If they lift their hand to their face within the next minute or so, congratulate yourself – you have led their behavior!
Skilled communicators have a wide range of behaviors they can mirror to build rapport. You can find a way to mirror virtually anything you can observe.

Exercise 3
Increase the range of behaviors that you can mirror, and introduce deliberate rapport-building into situations where it will benefit you and others (nb. Use your common sense and choose low-risk situations to practice in.)
Many people (especially in the area of sales) are familiar with rapport-building techniques and are particularly aware of body posture mirroring. Cross-over matching involves matching another person’s behavior with a different behavior of your own (eg. matching their breathing rate to your head tilt, or their eye blinks to your foot-taps.) This is a way of building rapport that is very difficult to detect, and still highly effective.

Exercise 4
During a conversation with another person, choose one of their behaviors (eg. breathing rate) to cross-over match with one of your behaviors (eg. speaking rate.) Notice how quickly the sense of connection develops!
The fact that you’ve read this far means that you can see the benefits of increasing your rapport skills. Reading is sadly not enough – practice is the key to building skill, so do the exercises. When you first start the practice of mirroring, you may have to pay some conscious attention to what you’re doing. After a while, however, you will start to catch yourself doing it unconsciously. This is where you really begin to build rapport elegantly with anyone you meet!
Dave J is a Certified Neuro-Linguistic-Programming Coach (by the American Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming), a business trainer & author of "Secrets Revealed," as featured on local radio and TV shows. His insight of NLP has given him the edge to provide peak performance coaching to individuals and corporations of all levels – across Asia. Dave J is available for keynotes speaking, breakout sessions and seminar sharing. You can reach him at dave@asiacertifiedbusinesscoach.com

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CHARGING Your Customer Service Division for Outstanding Customer Service!

2007-06-08T08:20:51+02:00

For most frontline managers, providing outstanding customer service is one of the most rewarding yet challenging activities within their organization. Exceptional organizations that provide outstanding customer service will experience the following benefits:

- Increased profits
- Increased customer satisfaction
- Increased revenues
- Increased repeat and referral customer traffic
- Less employee turnover

So how do we support and motivate our customer service division to give outstanding customer service? The following are six secrets to motivate your customer service team to give exceptional customer service to your customers:

1) Monitor the Attitude – Constantly work on your own attitude and your team’s attitude to providing outstanding customer service. As a customer service leader, always be aware of the tone you set and how your customer service team will be motivated by your attitude. If you are upbeat, your team will follow the lead and provide outstanding customer service. If you have a negative attitude, your customer service team will follow your lead and communicate this negative attitude to the customers they serve.

Work with your customer service team members to create a positive attitude in the following ways:

- Look at every customer service experience as a learning experience that is preparing
them for future opportunities.
- Put your team in the customer’s shoes to understand the customer’s “pain” and create
empathy for outstanding customer service solutions
- Have your customer service team take on the persona of a positive individual they
admire to help them through a difficult customer service situation.
- Create “positive triggers” to remind your customer service team why it is important to
give outstanding service. Your trigger could be as simple as a family picture or a
picture of an item (new car, home, etc.) that is important to you.

2) Furnish Ongoing Learning – It’s important that you not only provide training on organizational policies and technology, but also how to handle customers. Create an ongoing system for training and feedback. Request continuous feedback and have the “courage to listen” to your customer service team’s responses. Your customer service team members, because they are on the frontline, can provide you with excellent information on how to service your customer. Market conditions are changing all the time and the one piece of information your customer service team can share with you can make the difference between success and failure. After receiving the information from your customer service rep, if necessary, provide the training to your customer service team so that they can provide outstanding customer service.

3) Be Generous – Motivate your customer service team by giving incentives based on meeting your organization’s mission, goals, and values. Be timely, fair, and public with your incentives. Also, when putting together an incentive program, ask your customer service team what they would like as incentives. Many times organizations will invest thousands of dollars on incentives which are not the ones their customer service team wants. Just ask!

4) Show Gratitude – Appreciate to motivate your customer service members as much as possible. Remember, many times they are facing very challenging customer service situations everyday. Keep them motivated by sharing your appreciation in a timely, sincere, fair, and encouraging way. By consistently showing appreciation, you will motivate your customer service team to excel when it is most difficult for them to do so.

5) Support Outstanding Customer Service – Support and motivate your customer service team in a number of ways. You can support and motivate your customer service team by making sure the technology supports them and the customers. For example, I recently called my internet broadband company about a mistake on a bill. The automated system disconnected my call five times before I finally spoke with a customer service representative; and I told him that he must experience many upset customers if they experience the same. The customer service representative agreed and said it made his job very difficult.

Support your customer service team by “cheer leading” their concerns to upper management – which can turn out to be a very challenging task for many organizations. Champion their concerns to upper management and let your customer service team know the progress of each concern.

6) Keep High Standards - Motivate your customer service team by keeping standards high for customer service. When your organization is facing challenging times, it is very tempting to lower standards. That’s the last action you should take. By lowering standards, you decrease customer satisfaction, increase customer service turnover, and muddy your organization’s name in the marketplace.

Apply these customer service motivation secrets with your customer service team and you will have highly motivated customer service teams and happy customers, and your organization’s bottom line will increase. You do not need a PhD or an NLP certification to apply the above techniques TODAY!
Dave J is a Certified Neuro-Linguistic-Programming Coach (by the American Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming), a business trainer & author of "Secrets Revealed," as featured on local radio and TV shows. His insight of NLP has given him the edge to provide peak performance coaching to individuals and corporations of all levels – across Asia. Dave J is available for keynotes speaking, breakout sessions and seminar sharing. You can reach him at dave@asiacertifiedbusinesscoach.com

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Secrets to Motivating Others Around You

2007-06-08T08:20:01+02:00

“Don’t ‘tell’ to get things done, but motivate instead!” Dave J.

When a manager of business corporation thinks of ways of motivating her subordinates the first image that comes to mind is that of a coach gathering her team members together before a big project and giving them a pep talk and getting them all revved up to go out on the field to perform their very best.

While this initial form of encouragement may work at the onset, usually halfway through the project it has worn off.

It is therefore more important to find more permanent ways of motivating others.

While it is strongly believed that individuals cannot be made to act in one manner or another, it is possible on the other hand to create a favorable environment that will encourage people to act in a certain way and also will help to foster a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment for their achievements.

People become motivated when others defer to them for advice. Many individuals make the mistake of assuming that it is demeaning to them in one way or another to ask for advice of another, especially from someone who is lower then them at work. This is not the case.

When you ask advice of a person who is more knowledgeable in a given area than you are, you instill motivation in them because they realize that they must be viewed as competent or otherwise no one would ask them for their thoughts, ideas or suggestions.

This helps employees to feel that they are a worthwhile part of the greater whole of their workplace. When it comes to employees be aware that "people support a plan or a project which they have helped to develop."

Always seek to keep other people "in the loop" about what is going on whether it is family meetings or employee meetings at the office. At work make sure the meetings are relevant to those who attend and make sure they are full of useful information.

Employees in general feel more confident and are more motivated to do their best work when they are kept informed about the happenings around the office.

As well people are pleased when their immediate managers communicate vital workplace information to them. Make sure you share the end goals with your employees as well because no matter how choked full of information a meeting is, if it does not include the hoped for goals or results employees will quickly become bored, restless, confused and frustrated and will probably be looking for an excuse to get out of the meeting and return to work!

This is also the case with family meetings. Once children are old enough to understand, include them in the meetings as this will make them feel a part of things and will give them a sense of pride.

Being praised for work well done is one of the greatest motivators for anyone. This can be done most easily in the workplace but it can also be done in the home, such as when you praise someone for a delicious meal or praise how he or she painted a room or redecorated a wing of the house or when you praise someone's flower or vegetable garden.

Praise makes a person feel recognized and it also adds a sense of meaningfulness to just about any project, task, assignment or chore. All praise is relevant and appreciated but sometimes zeroing in on a particular aspect of a job and praising someone for that is so important. This is especially the case when a person has been working towards a goal for a very long time and needs all the encouragement and motivation he or she can get.

Knowing the right way to motivate others within your organization not only proven to be profitable to your business, but also elevate your “popularity poll” amongst your subordinates. Get started and give it a try….!
Dave J is a Certified Neuro-Linguistic-Programming Coach (by the American Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming), a business trainer & author of "Secrets Revealed," as featured on local radio and TV shows. His insight of NLP has given him the edge to provide peak performance coaching to individuals and corporations of all levels – across Asia. Dave J is available for keynotes speaking, breakout sessions and seminar sharing. You can reach him at dave@asiacertifiedbusinesscoach.com

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NLP – Six Simple Steps to Train Your Mind for Confidence and Success

2007-06-08T08:19:35+02:00

The internal voice is the voice of the mind talking to us. Everyone has a voice inside of them that affects our success and failure. This is the most significant voice of all. The voice maybe encouraging us to try something that we haven’t done before or holding us back from us from situations where we feel we are likely to make a fool of ourselves. In this way, this conversation that we keep having with ourselves decides our level of confidence and accent.

The best way to use this internal dialogue to our advantage is to replace all the negative talk that the mind gives us with positive one. Every time you find yourself saying something negative, stop and think something nicer and more pleasant. Slowly, you will be feeling much more confident and cheerful and your accent will improve. As we go on practicing this, our belief in our capability will strengthen leading to higher success.

These are the 6 simple yet powerful steps you can implement today that will transform your negative thoughts into positive beliefs for better living.

1) First of all, you need to observe where the internal voice is coming from and decide its location.

2) Now try to go back to a situation in life where you were confident of yourself. Try to imagine yourself in that situation again. Remember what you felt, saw, heard and spoke as if it were happening right now. Try to recall your tone of voice. Monitor the changes between your usual voice and voice you had used in that situation and see whether the new voice is louder or softer, whether it is clearer and easier to understand, or whether the rate of speech is faster. When you accomplish this, put this new more confident voice in the location of the old internal voice.

3) Go back to all the negative statements that you tend to tell yourself. They maybe statements like:
”My boss will never appreciate me.”
”I am not quite confident.”
”I can’t give speeches.”
”I will not be able to complete that project.”
“I think I will never find anyone I can settle with.”

4) For all of these suggestions that you give yourself continuously, invent more positive reverse statements:

“My boss appreciates me whenever I deliver solutions.”
“Confidence comes naturally to me.”
“I can give good speeches.”
“I am capable enough to take over that project.”
“I can see a great life ahead with a loving partner.”

5) Keep on giving these positive suggestions to yourself in the new more confident inner voice that you have put in place of the old hesitant one.

6) And when at any time in the future you find that you are talking negatively to yourself, take a deep breath and stop. Repeat all the positive suggestions in your mind three times. Keep doing this until it becomes an established habit.

Eventually, you will start believing in this new positive internal voice and the negative suggestions will no longer affect you harmfully. When we keep on telling ourselves that we are not skilled enough for something, we actually lose our esteem in our own eyes. The more we believe something is within our reach, the closer it becomes for us.

At no loss to you, I implore you to practice these steps today and implement them for a happy and successful life.
Dave J is a Certified Neuro-Linguistic-Programming Coach (by the American Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming), a business trainer & author of "Secrets Revealed," as featured on local radio and TV shows. His insight of NLP has given him the edge to provide peak performance coaching to individuals and corporations of all levels – across Asia. Dave J is available for keynotes speaking, breakout sessions and seminar sharing. You can reach him at dave@asiacertifiedbusinesscoach.com

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NLP Strategies Unfold – How it Actually Work!

2007-06-08T08:19:10+02:00

One’s thought patterns, beliefs and attitudes can be used to “preprogram” actual experiences that are yet to happen. NLP is very focused on how we think, what influences the way we think, and how we structure what we think. Subscribers to the science are encouraged to closely study and then model those individuals who do things well.

When studying them, you don’t ask them how they did it—just what they were thinking when they did it. For example, if you asked Michael Jordan how to play basketball, he could give you a big list of dos and don’ts. He might outline a series of necessary drills, but that is not what NLP is about. Instead, you would find out how Michael Jordan perceives basketball in his mind. What are his beliefs and attitudes about basketball? When he makes a decision on the court, what is he thinking?

NLP is made up of several different models, each then having different techniques associated with it. Let’s break NLP down further and take a basic look at some of its major models.

Sub-modalities: The Five Senses

Perhaps the foundation is, simply enough, our five senses. Each of us takes in the world around us through our five senses: seeing, hearing, feeling (both tangible and emotional), tasting and smelling. Everything and anything we think about in life, and the resulting beliefs and attitudes we form, can be based on what we receive and then interpret through these sub-modalities. Taking it a step further, with the entirety of our life experiences encapsulated in our memories as we experienced them through our senses, we can recreate those experiences in our minds, alter them if need be and thus gain tremendous power over our thought patterns, beliefs and ultimately the outward manifestation of such through our capabilities and achievements. The way you structure these representations in your mind determines how you will respond.

Try a basic experiment. Picture someone in your mind you hold very dear to your heart. Now, in your mind’s eye, enhance and intensify the colors of the image and observe how you respond. What happens when you turn up the volume of what has been said? What about if you visualize the image in shades of gray instead of color? For most people, “turning up” the colors or sounds also intensifies feelings, while turning them down diminishes those feelings. Cultivating your ability to fine-tune the way you perceive things, or the way your mind represents things, can be used to make powerful changes in your life. Once you realize that you can, in essence, create your world, you also realize that you also have the power to change it.

Meta-Model

A meta-model is a set of questions that are developed for the specific purpose of finding the exact meaning in a person’s communication. For example, often when we communicate, we generalize, or we may even distort information or leave it out altogether—intentionally or unintentionally, consciously or subconsciously. Individuals who use meta-models are able to systematically verify and clarify both verbal and written communication in order to communicate even more clearly and precisely.

Sensory Acuity

Our thought processes are very closely tied to our physiology. For example, people can sense that you’re happy, scared or angry without you even saying anything. Body language sends out strong cues about how we’re feeling. That is, our posture, our eyes, our head position, etc. all say a lot about us. Most body language is fairly obvious, but sensory acuity takes these observations beyond the obvious and uses physical feedback in addition to verbal communication to be as discerning as possible. Verbal cues even give some suggestion of which sensory modality a person operates from most strongly. For example, if someone says, “I hear what you’re saying” versus “I see what you mean,” it suggests that his or her auditory sense is more dominant than his or her visual one. It is helpful to give this concept consideration since miscommunication can often simply result from two people trying to talk about the exact same thing, only in different ways. Some experts argue that if certain thought processes are reinforced enough, over a long enough period of time, they can actually alter a person’s physiological state.

Milton-Model

The Milton-Model, named after Milton Erickson, the father of modern hypnotherapy, is a set of linguistic patterns that are designed to guide an individual without actually disrupting the way s/he is experiencing the particular activity internally. For example, the command “Recall a time when you were crying” doesn’t dictate whether the person was sobbing uncontrollably or weeping softly in the memory. This skill of describing feelings, places, events and activities in a manner that is specific and yet still universal allows the user to develop rapport with his or her subject. It also helps move the subject into a trancelike state. As a result, the Milton-Model is commonly used to induce hypnosis.

Meta-Programs

Meta-programs are essentially the “looking glasses” through which we view the world. The classic “Is the glass half full or half empty?” is a perfect meta-program example. Meta-programs control our personality and therefore how we behave. For instance, do you tend to be more of an active or passive person? Do you focus more internally or externally on the world around you? Is your orientation more focused on the past, the future or the here and now? Two people may regard the exact same thing from totally different angles, to the extent that that “exact same thing” may actually become a very different thing altogether. For example, do you move towards your goals, or do you move away from the things that are not your goals? One may simply seem like an inverted restatement of the other, but each has its own distinct nuance.
Dave J is a Certified Neuro-Linguistic-Programming Coach (by the American Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming), a business trainer & author of "Secrets Revealed," as featured on local radio and TV shows. His insight of NLP has given him the edge to provide peak performance coaching to individuals and corporations of all levels – across Asia. Dave J is available for keynotes speaking, breakout sessions and seminar sharing. You can reach him at dave@asiacertifiedbusinesscoach.com

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Why Bother to Understand and Learn NLP?

2007-06-08T08:18:41+02:00

While many people study NLP techniques for their own personal growth and development, they are also of the utmost value to the professional. Some professions using NLP include:

Salespeople, Business Executives, Managers, Business Owners,
Lawyers, Teachers, Trainers, Counselors, Educators, Doctors,
Chiropractors, Massage Therapists, Consultants, Hypnotherapists,
Psychologists, Athletes, Entertainers and Performers.

Regardless of profession, the majority of NLP participants are searching, and finding, better and more effective ways to increase their performance and improve their effectiveness.

Through using these techniques, you will be experiencing personal happiness and professional success to be much more consistent, and much more predictable. Your effectiveness working with others will be dramatically increased, and your ability to empower yourself for optimum results will be increased. You will be able to generate empowering emotional states within yourself at will, eliminate any negative emotions or limiting decisions, identify and change limiting beliefs, inspire yourself with a compelling future that will have much better chances of coming true, and create patterns of excellence from any role model you choose.

The positive result of using NLP is limitless! Whether you're already succeeding in your profession, having some difficulties, or if you're transitioning into a new position, NLP techniques can help you achieve, maintain and enhance excellence. Managers and Entrepreneurs use the information to develop strong teamwork and relationships, and to foster positive interpersonal skills. Negotiations and problem solving sessions are enhanced to create solution-oriented, win-win approaches.

Salespeople learn to build deep levels of rapport, elicit and fulfill the criteria and values of clients, and develop effective methods for handling buyer's remorse or future objections so the sales relationship is long-term and mutually satisfying. Trainers and Educators learn new paradigms for inspiring and engaging students, as well as effective techniques for dealing with challenging learning environments.

Mental Health Professionals learn new skills and techniques that supplement their repertoire, and gain additional insights into helping clients make the changes that support their own process of healing. Medical Professionals learn techniques to better elicit information from clients, and to help the client be more comfortable with and receptive to treatment, thus supporting them to heal in a more responsive fashion.

The application of NLP is wide and endless. It can also aid small to large business corporations to instill a productive mindset amongst their employees, motivate their employees for higher performance and helping them to be more adaptable to sudden change in working and market environments. An independent survey shown that 82% Fortune 500 companies have used or are using NLP as part of their employee educational programs.
Dave J is a Certified Neuro-Linguistic-Programming Coach (by the American Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming), a business trainer & author of "Secrets Revealed," as featured on local radio and TV shows. His insight of NLP has given him the edge to provide peak performance coaching to individuals and corporations of all levels – across Asia. Dave J is available for keynotes speaking, breakout sessions and seminar sharing. You can reach him at dave@asiacertifiedbusinesscoach.com

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Breaking Procrastination – The NLP Way!

2007-06-08T08:18:17+02:00

"Enlighten yourself by seeing failure at work, or failure in life as a stepping stone to your personal progress!" Dave J.

Many of us procrastinate doing something for many reasons. Sometimes it's a result of perfectionism – we simply have to get things “right” before getting started. We reason that if we can't do it perfectly, maybe we shouldn't do it at all. Or, we procrastinate because something is unpleasant. We just don't want to do it, period!

We also procrastinate because of deep seated fears – something that we “collected” along the years consciously or accidentally. Unfounded fears mind you, but fears nonetheless. For example, what if we do that thing and we fail? We can learn from our mistakes if we'll look at them from a new perspective. Adversity arms us with increased knowledge, ability, and experience. Not to mention increased self-confidence because we overcame the perceived challenge. Yes, the key word here is "perceived." It's all in how we look at it. One person's passion is another's peril.

1) Forget motivation. Just do it. It sounds a bit harsh, but sometimes we just have to do it. Get started on that task we don't want to do. Because if we wait until we're motivated, that day never comes. There are certain things we simply will never want to do. Whether it's cleaning the garage, clearing clutter from a closet, or completing a report.

2) In overcoming procrastination, all the motivational “hullabaloo” and “psychobabble” won't always work. Face your fears. What do you need to change? What part of YOU do you need to change? The only way out of fear is to go through it.

3) Take action. Get moving. Don't wait another day. The future is now. Whatever you do, don't stew. As the saying goes, worry is interest paid on trouble before it is due. Ever notice that once you get started on a task, after a while you're on a roll? For example, you say to yourself, "I'm going to work on this project for half an hour, then, if I want to stop I can."

4) The hardest part of overcoming procrastination is getting started. Try an experiment. Tell yourself you will work on that thing for just twenty minutes. After that, don't stop if you feel like continuing. Press through until you've finished. See if you don't feel better.

5) Think about how good you'll feel when it's done. See if this sounds familiar: Consider a time when you've procrastinated doing something. All the while you're working on a fun task instead. But in the back of your mind, you're thinking about what you should be doing. And it ruins all the fun!

Once you complete the task you'd procrastinated, you feel so much better, lighter and happier. You're saying to yourself, "If only I'd completed this sooner. I would have been so much better off!" Sound familiar? Been there, done that. In overcoming procrastination, think AHEAD of time how much better you'll feel just getting it done. You'll feel a surge of energy and self-esteem.

6) Don't take failure personally. Don't internalize it. So, what if you finally do that thing and it doesn't go as planned? See it as a learning experience. See your setback as temporary, not as a permanent fatal flaw. Remember, it's our response that determines if we will keep moving forward or give up.

7) Avoid blaming. Let go the mistake but don't lose the lesson. If we are always looking for outside circumstances or someone else to blame, we're not moving forward. Don't be a blamer. You know these people. Maybe someone you work or live with. They're so focused on blaming. They never learn the lesson to move them toward success.

8) Adversity creates maturity. Overcoming adversity builds strength and character. It shifts our priorities and changes our perspective. Petty annoyances don't matter as much. For example, several years ago in Singapore Suntec City, I delivered a keynote speech to heart-attack survivors and their relatives. I had them break into groups and share what they'd learned from a heart-attack diagnosis. Here were some phrases I heard many times over: "I've learned not to sweat the small stuff. I now know what matters. My relationships have improved. I have a greater appreciation for nature."

9) Find mentors. Model yourself after people you admire. What steps have they taken in overcoming procrastination, facing their fears, and achieving success? See if you can talk with them. Heed their advice. Listening to others share how they've overcome adversity is a huge motivator. You realize you're not alone. Don't isolate. Don't try to do it all on your own. Isolation is the killer of dreams. Take it a step at a time. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

In short, there is no miracle to breaking procrastination or the fear of taking action. The intention to taking action must come from your soul. The best way to do that is to identify 15 or even 20 compelling reasons why you must actually take certain actions, or complete a particular task. By the time you reach the 15th or the 17th reason, you already found the “momentum” to overcome your procrastination.

Do this the next time you landed yourself into procrastination mode.
Dave J is a Certified Neuro-Linguistic-Programming Coach (by the American Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming), a business trainer & author of "Secrets Revealed," as featured on local radio and TV shows. His insight of NLP has given him the edge to provide peak performance coaching to individuals and corporations of all levels – across Asia. Dave J is available for keynotes speaking, breakout sessions and seminar sharing. You can reach him at dave@asiacertifiedbusinesscoach.com

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"What is NLP and it’s Benefits?

2007-06-08T08:17:30+02:00

"One’s fate can be altered with every new lesson learned!" Dave J.

NLP, or Neuro-Linguistic-Programming, is the art and science that can be described in a nutshell, as an "attitude and a methodology that leaves behind a trail of techniques."

"First, the attitude of NLP is one of curiosity and experimentation. Next, the methodology is modeling, which is the process of duplicating excellent behavior. Another person's behavior can be duplicated by studying what that person does inside their head (language, filters, programs, etc.) to produce results.

NLP was initially created in 1975 by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, who began modeling and duplicating the "magical results" of a few top communicators and therapists. Some of the first people to be studied included Hypnotherapist Milton Erickson, gestalt therapist Fritz Perls and family therapist Virginia Satir. Since then, many others have contributed to the growth and development of the field. And finally, the trail of techniques created through this type of modeling is what is commonly known as NLP.

Today, NLP is widely used in business to improve management, sales and achievement/performance, inter-personal skills; in education to better understand learning styles, develop rapport with students and parents and to aid in motivation; and of course, NLP is a profound set of tools for personal development.

Can you surf the Internet? Surely you can surf the Internet! And we know you know computers!

… But what about your mind? You've managed to use a Web Browser and you're here, aren't you? But how much do you know about what's going on inside yourself and others? Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is about just that. Knowing about what is going on inside you and what's going on inside others! Perhaps you've wondered, "How do I communicate better," or, "How do I get in control of my own personal computer – my brain!" New technology finally makes it easy to understand how we think, how we communicate, and how we process emotions!

NLP techniques and processes help us to understand ourselves and others, and to produce new, and more effective ways to:

* Attract the right person for you
* Create ideal relationships
* Advance your career & make more money
* Increase motivation and energy
* Create your desired self-image
* Communicate to produce the kind of results you want

Neuro-Linguistic-Programming (NLP) is a behavioral technology, which simply means that it is a set of guiding principles, attitudes, and techniques about real-life behavior, and not a removed, scientific theorem. It allows you to change, adopt or eliminate behaviors, as you desire, and gives you the ability to choose your mental, emotional, and physical states of well-being. With NLP, you learn how to grow from every single life experience, thus increasing your ability to create a better quality of life – both at work and at home.

NLP is a very pragmatic technology based on an ability to produce your desired results, thus allowing you to become proficient at creating your future! In the end it is not a lot different from understanding how to program a computer – your own bio-computer.

If you understand computers, you already understand how NLP works! Computers are about man-machine interface. NLP is about mind-body interface. The entire process is very similar! Hence, self mastery begins with understanding of your brain.

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT NLP:

"NLP cannot be dismissed as just another hustle. Its theoretical underpinnings represent an ambitious attempt to codify and synthesize the insights of linguistics, body language, and the study of communication systems." Psychology Today, USA

"(NLP) does offer the potential for making changes without the usual agony that accompanies these phenomena. . . Thus it affords the opportunity to gain flexibility, creativity, and greater freedom of action than most of us now know. . ." Training and Development Journal, UK

“. . . real estate brokers and salespeople use Neuro-Linguistics to enhance their communication skills and provide them with more choices when working in a difficult situation. . . it shows how we make sense of the world around us and communicate." Real Estate Today, USA

Dave J is a Certified Neuro-Linguistic-Programming Coach (by the American Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming), a business trainer & author of "Secrets Revealed," as featured on local radio and TV shows. His insight of NLP has given him the edge to provide peak performance coaching to individuals and corporations of all levels – across Asia. Dave J is available for keynotes speaking, breakout sessions and seminar sharing. You can reach him at dave@asiacertifiedbusinesscoach.com

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STEP 10: Small Business Startup Guide in 10 Easy Steps!

2007-04-24T08:03:24+02:00

STEP 10: Sales and Marketing

Read any autobiography or business success story, you’ll notice one common denominator for success - sales. You need to take whatever action possible to ensure that sales are consistently growing to allow you to gain profit.

Again, a word of caution; do not target everyone! In today’s competitive environment, consumers are becoming more demanding and many would seek out products/services that meet their specific need or want.

First and foremost, I need to identify (and do some in-depth research) my specific target market. Next, I would develop sales and marketing blueprint ( similar to the one shown in DAY 8 ) to attract the kind of customers I wanted and meantime, to retain existing customers.

No matter how I intend to plan and execute these strategies, I must understand the formula - executing these plans is like playing a game. What game…? Yes, you are correct - the number game. The higher the number of sales agents/staffs, or the higher is the amount of advertisement posted, or the higher the amount of distribution channels, or the more attempts I personally made to seal a deal, the bigger chances I have in winning. I know for sure, a prospect or a client may say “no” to my product/service today. But, it doesn’t mean a “no” forever! According to LIMRA (a research center for financial planners and financial advisors in America) findings, a potential buyer usually says “no” seven times before making the actual purchase!

Before we move on, let’s understand first the relationship between sales and marketing. Marketing is the process of bringing awareness to the product/service, while sales is the process of making the customer buy the product/service.
Therefore, I am going to analyze eight sales and marketing strategies to increase my probability of winning:

1. Myself
2. Network marketing
3. Affiliate marketing
4. Online sales
5. Marketing materials
6. Direct mail
7. Advertisement
8. Outsourcing

Myself

The first approach is the most affordable yet effective strategy. It is made up of all the possible resources that I already have to generate sales and create awareness. These are some ideas that I would usually work on:

* Preparing a list of 200 or 300 list of target prospects, call them up, present to them how the product/service could benefit them and seal the deal
* Getting referrals from existing customers and reward them once the deal is closed
* Designing, printing marketing materials (i.e. brochure, flyer, discount card) and distributing them at local businesses, schools, community centers, newsstands, cafes and fitness centers
* Writing an article and pitch it to local publications as well as posting it online to newsgroup/newsletter
* Giving out trial services or free product samples
* Talking about the business to everyone that I come to interact. To do this I must place my business passion before my ego. If not, I’ll have difficulty in opening his mouth

Networking Marketing

The sky is the limit when it comes to marketing and selling the benefits of the product/service. Networking is a great, super low in cost to connect with potential customers as well as strategic business associates and spread the news about the business.
The chamber of commerce, local business association or elite business club are great venues for networking. They can connect me to an ecosystem of members who are all looking for business opportunity in addition to getting the right sources of product/service. Often times these associations hold events, offer industry-specific education and message boards online, and provide an opportunity for members to list their businesses on their Website.

Affiliate Marketing

This is not a new jargon. It means engaging freelance agent to do the promotion and sales, online. It is a popular marketing approach where E-commerce Website owners engage existing customers, visitors or even organizations that are willing to promote and sell the product/service for a stipulated commission. The role of a freelance agent (known as affiliate), is to direct traffic to the Website and ultimately when a sale is made, commission is credited into the affiliate’s account.
Website owners usually recruit affiliates by simply advertising online (usually through Google Adwords; a per-per-click search engine advertisement), and placing interesting ads (with bombastic headlines) or sending out recruitment announcement to thousands of bulk emails (purchased from database provider). This is a powerful yet cost effective method of generating sales if owners are involved in Internet-based business.

Online Sales

Regardless of the kind of business these days, I always find a Website is essential. And depending upon the business niche and objectives, it can be a major part of the company’s sales and marketing initiatives. Designing a Website can be made fairly simple by working with a company that specializes in helping small businesses create their Website or get Website DIY software available online.
It’s vital to own a Website that is effective in content. It’s not what the contents say, but how the contents say it that makes all the difference online. Establishing credibility is the formula - attach as many testimonials as you could. Usually, I would give out my product/service to people that I already know, get them test it and immediately get their testimonials. I never wait till I launch the product/service in the market to get testimonial - too time consuming!

Customers expect the world and are suspicious of almost everything. The content (words) must be crisp and intelligent. What the Website says should grab visitors’ attention, pique their interest and motivate them to action - to click the “buy now” button.
Search engine optimization and search engine advertising are two ways to get the business marketing message out on the Internet, and there is a big difference between the two in terms of cost. Banner ads are another way to do online marketing, although the opinion on their effectiveness is very subjective. If owners lack Internet knowledge, it is highly recommended to employ a company or a freelance Website designer to get the job done.

Marketing Materials

This may sound a little basic but it is vital to have all the basic marketing tools. Printed materials like business cards, letterhead and brochures should be a staple in any business. It’s essential for business communication and networking. The key to developing good marketing materials without breaking the bank is to identify an affordable graphic designer and low-cost printer. I normally engage a freelance designer to get all of them done.

Direct Mail

For many fresh entrepreneurs, there is no better way to reach their target market, than mailing literature directly to homes. Based on effective market research, entrepreneurs can identify their core market, assign them certain codes and obtain mailing lists to directly send them literature on the company profile, discount, coupons or other information. To optimize any direct mail strategy, entrepreneurs should consider retaining a direct mailer or bulk mail house company.
Alternatively, entrepreneurs can collect the information themselves by:

* Getting customers sign a guest book
* Obtaining customer feedback
* Purchasing mailing lists from community newspapers, chambers or other associations
* Retaining a list broker to customize a list

Advertising is one of the fastest ways to create awareness of the company, product or service. However, it can be relatively expensive for many startup owners. Before anyone spend money on advertising, however, it’s crucial to understand what advertising can and cannot do for the business, and draw up a blueprint for moving ahead. Here are four main functions of advertising:

* Triggering the curiosity of the public and attract new customers
* Persuading existing customers to spend more or keep coming back
* Establishing credibility, elevate branding status and creating unique business identity
* Reinforcing customers and prospects on the benefits of the brand, product or service

Advertisement cannot do one thing for sure - guarantee sales. Hence, placing up an advertisement campaign doesn’t mean a surge in sales or revenue.

Assuming budget is not an issue, I would definitely invest in an effective advertisement campaign. Therefore, I would create an advertising plan that fit into my budget plan in advance before committing to it.

Outsourcing

One simple and straight forward method that I would not miss out is outsourcing the sales of my product/service to an outsider. It’s easy, get the yellow pages (online or offline), search for marketing agencies, call them up and propose a joint venture (JV) with them in selling my product/service for a commission in return. The JV works perfectly as I am in charge of promoting and marketing the product/service as well as providing after sales service, and the agencies are only responsible for selling them. Most marketing agencies just want to focus on selling.

I would discuss with these agencies to attain a win-win joint venture - a remuneration system that allows them profit from each sale, while I could earn a healthy margin from each sale made. When it comes to negotiating an agreement, the rule is, the higher the commission I offer, the more excited these agencies are in taking up the JV.
In the ten-step process, I spend most of my time in preparation. Preparation is more important than rushing to getting the business open. Thus, if you are already in the process of starting up your business, stop whatever you are doing and put on your thinking cap. Sort out all the preparations you need to do for your business to ensure an effective startup.
I hope the journal could be of helpful to you in many ways. I have also taken an extra effort to include a SAMPLE BUSINESS PLAN (in the following pages) on how to startup an E-commerce business for your further understanding.

*Note: This content contains no unproven teory or thesis! If you need any small business startup help, feel free to visit my Website

Disclaimer - This article may be freely reprinted in its entirety in any e-zine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Dave J, is an E-preneur, NLP-Certified Business Coach and Author. Within a decade, Dave J has served as an advisor to countless small-level to high-level business leaders around the world. Despite such a short span, Dave J has becoming a highly-respected authority on the psychology of business leadership, business startup, management and marketing. His forte is coaching ordinary people to attain professional and financial breakthrough.

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STEP 9: Small Business Startup Guide in 10 Easy Steps!

2007-04-24T08:02:45+02:00

STEP 9: Establish a brand

There is one very important intangible asset I need to create and harvest in my business; a powerful brand. Brand here refers to the “summary” of my business identity, how unique is it from the rest, and why buyers should choose my product/service over other alternatives.

Branding is important for small businesses because many small operations do not have the funding to carry out a heavy branding campaign. Thus, a brand must be so powerful that it reduces a buyer’s perception of risk and makes the purchase a satisfactory choice.

In my research on what makes a brand a “super brand”, I have found out that a SUPER BRAND consists of six elements:
1. Brand Essence – Traits of the brand in terms of its purpose, uniqueness, personality and commitment to the consumers.

2. Target Market – The brand must be specific enough to the target market it seeks to penetrate and market.

3. Brand Name – A superb brand name has several criteria; emotional, easy to be remembered, has character and original.

4. Logo – It’s a visual image of the brand that communicates the brand essence.

5. Website – Dedicate a website for your brand with a domain name similar to the brand name.

6. Demand for the brand – Product performance or service quality, consumers’ experience dealing with the company all add up to a brand experience. Make them perfect so that the brand will bring more new and repeat business, even if the company diversifies to another field. Once the trust for a brand is established, the sales will keep flowing in.
Besides the six elements, I will be proactive in creating brand awareness. I constantly find out ways and means I could promote my brand to the public through “free” advertisements, media write up, newsletter, Q & A column, discussion board and classifieds. There are many media publications and online newsletters (and community or discussion forums) that allow me to advertise for free or for a very small fee. I won’t allow shortage of advertisement or promotion budget to slow me down in creating and enhancing brand awareness.

*Note: This content contains no unproven teory or thesis! If you need any small business startup help, feel free to visit my Website

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STEP 8: Small Business Startup Guide in 10 Easy Steps!

2007-04-24T08:02:10+02:00

STEP 8: People

In a small to medium scale business, the importance of a single team member can be enormous. Every person I place under my organization (be it associates, staffs or suppliers) must be a star. This may sound “impossible”, but it is possible. Firstly, I would define what a star is within each role in my organization. Then I would seek them out.

Throughout the years, I have been employing three simple approaches to be sure superstars are attracted to work for my organization - they have been proven to work successfully:

1. Understand the power of people
2. Take proactive role in recruiting great people
3. Retain great people through constant motivation

Great people can make mediocre idea and turn it into success. Thus do not underestimate the power of great people. I have read many autobiographies of successful business magnates and all do point out that their businesses shine partly because they have great people serving them.

Hence, I usually brainstorm to list down what kind of great people I want in my organization. I would cover all the people that I will be dealing with including my associates, suppliers, association members, staffs, sales representatives, etc.
When it comes to attracting great people, I always keep the recruitment role to myself. If I want a superstar, I must be proactive in recruitment. Find out as many ways as possible that I can to attract and recruit great people - for example personal observation, advertisements, word of mouth, recruiting agency and so on. Once I have the names, either through personal observation or advertisement, the key step is to call them for an interview or a meeting. People like to be invited or head-hunted to join an organization because people are flattered when they know they are wanted.

Once I have recruited great people and they have proven to deliver results, I would retain them at all cost. Of course I have to be cautious not to over commit! It is true that, many people work for money but money is not the sole denominator for loyalty. Here are some effective ideas I constantly put into practice to keep people motivated to stay loyal with my organization in the long term:

* Sharing the business vision and mission, and if possible, I would accommodate theirs into my business plan
* Creating a positive and supportive working environment
* Giving them a personalized touch so each member feel wanted and respected
* Customizing perks and incentives so that they could get what they desire
* Recognizing the whole team for their performance, yet avoid bias recognition
* Organizing regular social events to linger with my members to enhance the organization’s sense of belonging
* Listening to members’ problems and morally support them to solve their own problems
* Motivating for positive results and avoid fear management

*Note: This content contains no unproven teory or thesis! If you need any small business startup help, feel free to visit my Website

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STEP 7: Small Business Startup Guide in 10 Easy Steps!

2007-04-24T08:01:35+02:00

STEP 7: Support Team

I found out that many businesses went bust before they even went fully operational because they did not start right. Starting right can mean the difference between success and failure. It simply means I should have all the tools, information, facilities, contacts, money management and government compliances all fully prepared and organized. The four key professionals who could help me in getting all these logistics organized and put my organization on a path to starting up smartly and cost effectively, are listed below. They will also be instrumental as my business grows.

1. Accountant/Financial Planner – I need a qualified accountant’s expertise to ensure that my cash flow is in good order, expenses are well managed, tax liability is minimized and book-keeping is well organized. In some cases, a financial planner could cover a wider scope than an accountant.

2. Lawyer – An experienced lawyer will ensure that all agreements with my associates, staffs, and third parties are placed under well drafted contracts to protect my personal and business interests.

3. Banker – A banker can be helpful as the business gets running because I may need some financial facilities (i.e. short term loan, credit facility, checking account, treasury management) that can be useful from time to time.

4. Insurance Professional – I need an experienced insurance professional to identify all possible risks that I may encounter and insure all those risks cost effectively. I won’t attempt to cut corners in this segment and land myself into any possible financial liability.

In addition, there are other supports that may be vital to certain types of business. Of course there is a long list of people who can help an entrepreneur along the way depending on the nature of the business. However, I manage to sum up four important supports that all business entrepreneurs should not miss out. The four are listed below:

1. Website Designer or Programmer – These folks could help me build my multi-functional Website that would be the backbone of my entire business if my business depends heavily on online transaction. A web presence is also essential for my company’s brand positioning and customer after sales service.

2. IT Specialist – This kind of consultant could assist me to set up a paperless office system and an effective computer system to minimize office operational expenses. Besides, an IT Specialist could also ensure all business data and client database are well managed, hassle free and accessible.

3. Real estate agent – When owners are venturing into a brick and mortar business model, they definitely need an experienced real estate agent to advise them on the overall cost of leasing or purchasing, location suitability for their particular business, amenities and parking facilities, monthly maintenance and whatever hidden costs.

4. Local business council/association – I would definitely join a local business council or association (usually there is a small joining fee) and find out what kind of support or advisory they could provide. Normally the group members conduct a regular forum or meeting, where members could seek out solutions to many of the existing problems and foreseeable roadblocks. Many of them would have walked through the problems and could share with me some valuable insights.

Before I start my search for any form of assistance and support, it’s crucial to know what I want to accomplish with each of them and prepare a well-defined budget to meet my goals. However, I would be cautious as certain supports may be expensive! Once I hired them, I would work closely with them to attain my business goals in a strict timeline.

Regardless of who I retain, they should be well versed and experienced in the field of business I am involved in. Most importantly, I must be able to trust them, therefore I usually select my service providers through referrals, their years of experience (which is a key factor) and I must be comfortable dealing with them.

*Note: This content contains no unproven teory or thesis! If you need any small business startup help, feel free to visit my Website

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STEP 6: Small Business Startup Guide in 10 Easy Steps!

2007-04-24T08:00:43+02:00

STEP 6: Funding

This could be a very important step for businesses that require capital to startup and funding to keep overheads and inventories on track. Finding funding is not difficult. But getting the right funding is crucial. Of course there is a saying that goes, “beggars can’t be choosers”! Nonetheless, startup owners must be smart when seeking funding or it could turn their dream business into a nightmare.

I would normally identify my short term and long term business goals and the kind of business I am planning to launch. Once I finalize my directions, I would then identify which form of financing is right for me.

As money comes in many forms, let me tackle the available options to fund any kind of business:

* Oneself
* Debt Financing
* Grants
* Friends and Family
* Venture Capitalists

Oneself

First of all, I believe startup owners should look no further to find the funding they need i.e. savings, emergency accounts, credit cards, equity pulled from their home, extra cash from downgrading their car, etc. The upsides are owners get to maintain full control over their businesses, no equity holders to pay off if they made it big and there is no responsibility to report to anyone.
Nonetheless, if the business fails, they will face a lot of personal debts, high interest to pay off that could burden their monthly expenses and it limits the growth of their business (especially when they need more outlets or inventories for strategic growth).

Debt Financing

It refers to traditional bank loans. The lending process is inherently a tough one, but it’s also a system that has been the catalyst of success for many small-and-medium-scale business startups. The advantage of debt financing is owners don’t have to give up part of their business equity or control. Besides, they have instant access of capital when they need most throughout their business operation.

The core disadvantage - not many “new kids on the block” will qualify for bank loans because it typically goes for business with 2-5 years of history. Moreover, personal collateral is usually required to obtain any bank loan and if they failed to pay the loan they may end up filing for bankruptcy.

Government Grants

Grant is a very subjective form of funding because its source usually comes from government. Different governments at different times would launch different funding programs, but they all share one commonality; it is free money program designed to fuel the innovative fires of small businesses, and typically target specific groups or types of businesses. Of course the greatest advantage of getting a grant is owners need not payback even if the business failed.
Then again, the competition is stiff for grants as there is a high level of rigid red tape to be complied with and the usage of the grant (after being approved) are usually well defined.

Friends and Family

Just like it describes, a simple and direct way to raise capital in exchange for equity or as a loan to be repaid. The good side of borrowing from friends and family is, it’s less hassle, quicker and has less contractual obligations. The bad sides are the fund size is limited and the consequence of losing their money could lead to a sour relationship.

Venture Capitalists

They are made of individuals or organizations with large amounts of capital to invest in your business in expectation for higher returns. Getting investment from venture capitalists is equally as demanding as borrowing from the bank. They are demanding because they only invest in established companies. They usually get involved in the company’s decision making, and they must have an aggressive exit strategy to sell the business. Usually, they prefer a fast growing company i.e. Internet-based company.

Nevertheless, the upsides of venture capitalists’ funding are they can provide owners with powerful networks or contacts and owners need not payback if the business failed because they have big reservoir of money for owners to tap into.

*Note: This content contains no unproven teory or thesis! If you need any small business startup help, feel free to visit my Website

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STEP 5: Small Business Startup Guide in 10 Easy Steps!

2007-04-24T08:00:07+02:00

STEP 5: Create Key Assets

I definitely would not startup a business without any key asset. But it doesn’t stop here. My key assets are only as good as my ability to protect them, especially when intellectual property is concerned.

I have summarized five key assets that are crucial to all businesses - regardless of its nature:

* Website
* Trademarks
* Copyrights
* Patents
* Confidential Agreements

Website

As we live in the world of information, businesses are turning to the Internet for retailing opportunities, marketing and servicing. Every business should have a Website regardless how big or small the operation and the key to establishing a Website is securing a domain name i.e. www.yourbusinessname.com or www.yourbrand.com. Once a domain name is established, anyone can create their own Website using DIY software or engage a Website designer to get the job done.

Trademarks

My brand name, logo, and any other symbol that distinguishes my company or goods from others are classified as my trademarks. Trademark is one of the most important business assets I’ll ever own. I need to register my trademark with the local authority to ensure that I am the official owner of the mark, which gives me the sole exclusive rights to use the trademark.

Copyrights

A copyright grants me the exclusive legal rights to my creative work, which can include anything from literary or Website content to artistic compositions. I need to file a copyright with the local authority before I reserve the rights. Once granted, it prevents others from copying, performing or using my work without my permission. Don’t confuse copyright with trademark. Trademark is used only to protect intellectual property such as company names, brands, logos and symbols.

Patents

Assuming I start a business because I have a creative yet “best-selling” idea and I want to turn it into a commercial success. Therefore I should quickly protect my invention so I can have a head start. The best way to protect it is to get a patent on it. A patent is a legal property right granted by the government of the country I want to trade in, to the inventor to have the sole exclusive rights to exclude others from using, manufacturing or selling the invention for a limited time. In the United States, a patent will last for 20 years in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted.

Confidential Agreements

They are legal documents that allow me to keep my company’s secret once I have exposed them to my staffs, business associates, or any authorities. The documents will legally disallow them to disclose such information to the public indefinitely. For this reason, it’s important that I get the relevant parties to sign the agreement before disclosing any information to them.

*Note: This content contains no unproven teory or thesis! If you need any small business startup help, feel free to visit my Website

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STEP 4: Small Business Startup Guide in 10 Easy Steps!

2007-04-24T07:59:29+02:00

STEP 4: Organizational Structure

This is the step where I need to select an organization structure that best fits my business model. I personally find there is no “best” structure for all businesses. However, I normally prefer to select one that provides me with high autonomy and low tax liability. Again, this will also depend on the national, federal or local tax structure for each business entity in the country or state I conduct my business.

Before setting up my company, I would do insight research on all the options available for my particular business model, particularly the advantages and disadvantages of each formation, paying special attention to the tax implication and government formalities as well as red tape in the location or country where I operate. I never assume all countries are similar.

Let’s take a look at four common forms of business ownership:

1. Sole proprietor
2. Partnership
3. Corporation
4. Limited Liability Company

Before selecting the form of business, I always find it best to work closely with a lawyer or a financial planner to ensure I have the right information, compliance and resources that allow me to make the right choice.
Sole Proprietor

This is a very popular form of business in many countries (i.e. America, Canada, UK, India, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, etc.) because so little is needed to set up a sole proprietorship. Apart from local business licenses, there are minimal government fees and paperwork. It is instant, cost effective and minimal (or even zero) compliant requirements by local authorities.

On the other hand, there is also considerable risk to consider. The owner’s personal assets are vulnerable to creditors and other liabilities. Sole proprietorship doesn’t get the advantage of certain tax breaks that are reserved for Corporation or Limited Liability Company.

In short, this form of business is very ideal for home based business that has no massive inventory or a high number of staffs.
Partnership

Similar to sole proprietorship, this form is very easy to set up and maintain, requiring minimal government fee and paperwork. The initial setup cost and maintenance fees to run a partnership are very low. Moreover, no capital is required to form a partnership. Each partner is not required to raise any capital to start this form of business.

On the downside, each partner is required to account full responsibility for all the company’s debts. If one of the partners defaults on a company loan, creditors can actually go after your personal assets and belongings. Besides that, capital raising is also very limited in a partnership. Just like sole proprietorship, partnership doesn’t get much tax incentives.
Corporation

There are a few types of corporations available depending on the location or country the owners conduct business. However, most corporations (in many countries) share similar characteristics.

The key advantage of incorporating a business is that it shields equity holders (owners) of the company from personal liability. In other words, if business hits hard times, creditors cannot go after the owners’ personal assets to make up for any company debts. Yet, most creditors nowadays would require the owners of the corporation to guarantee the shortfalls if the company goes under. Besides that, a corporation offers significant tax savings (usually not extended to sole proprietorship or partnership), greater business flexibility, company name protection and better opportunity to raise capital via venture capitalist or financial institution.

Bear in mind that corporations are not cheap to set up. It requires some initial set up fees and certain amount of regular maintenance. With a corporation, you have to keep a proper set of financial records, audited by a certified accountant. Depending on where the business is conducted, some government or local authority would require a minimum set of compliance and would also require regular fees to be paid.

There is one option that a corporation possesses - that allow owners to sell their shares of stock to the public (known as public listed corporation). Then this will involve higher startup capital (usually runs into the millions), more legal and meticulous accounting compliances to adhere to.
Limited Liability Company

As for many new entrepreneurs, choosing a business structure comes down to liability protection, low startup costing, tax savings and convenience. This form of business requires fewer formalities and less on-going paperwork than corporations while offering the same personal liability protection and tax flexibility. Just as with a corporation, the company name is protected, and the other members of the company are shielded from creditors and other company liabilities such as lawsuits. A limited liability company only requires the owners to keep minimal company records, and there is no limit to the number of equity owners.

Nonetheless, this form of business is dissolved when a member dies or undergoes bankruptcy. In comparison to sole proprietorship or partnership, it has more paperwork and complexity to set up and to be maintained.

*Note: This content contains no unproven teory or thesis! If you need any small business startup help, feel free to visit my Website

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STEP 3: Small Business Startup Guide in 10 Easy Steps!

2007-04-24T07:58:49+02:00

STEP 3: Prepare a Business Plan

Once I have done all the preparations, I would start creating a detailed business plan - a document that will provide the priorities, strategies, agenda and sanity I’ll need to startup my business.

In my experience and observation of the business world, the “activity” of creating a business plan is as valuable as the end product itself. Just remember that the most important audience for a business plan is ME. I am accountable for all the statements, claims, statistics and facts. So if I try to “twist” the figure, I am actually lying to myself!

The business plan can also aid me as a tool to generate interest from financiers, venture capitalists, staffs, suppliers and strategic associates.

Regardless of the structure or format of my business plan, I will ensure that my business planning must contain answers for the following twelve questions:

1. What’s my business idea?
2. How does my idea address consumers’ needs/wants?
3. What business model suits me best?
4. What’s unique about my business idea over the rivals?
5. What is the market opportunity and potential?
6. What is my role and responsibility?
7. Who are the key staffs or workers (skip if I do not have any)?
8. What price will the customer pay and how will they buy?
9. How much money do I need to start and run the business?
10. What’s the source of my capital?
11. How will I measure the success of my business?
12. What are my key milestones?

While preparing my business plan, I would cover all the elements of a business plan shown in DAY 3. Just for your study aims, I have attached a sample business plan at the end of this section.

I must ensure that my business plan is concise and neatly formatted (i.e. Microsoft Word document for the bulk of the plan, with any financial documents as attached spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel), and need not include fancy graphics, flowery language or photos. The easier I make it to read, the better.

Alternatively, there are occasions I work better with business plan templates and wizards. Hence, I would search online as there are many business planning software packages available that only cost in the neighborhood of $100, as well as a few free online business plan templates. I would normally spend some time searching for the right software or templates to aid me in constructing my business plan.

*Note: This content contains no unproven teory or thesis! If you need any small business startup help, feel free to visit my Website

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STEP 2: Small Business Startup Guide in 10 Easy Steps!

2007-04-24T07:58:07+02:00

STEP 2: Business Model

Once I have selected the kind of business I want to do, I would brainstorm how to run the business. In today’s technology, there are many business models to choose from i.e. part time or full time, at home or totally mobile, online or brick and mortar business.

But the key is to choose a business model that fits into My Ultimate Plan. I do this to make sure that I spend the right number of days each month, take the right level of risk, investment wise and attaining the level of satisfaction that I want.

First thing first: How much time do I want to devote to my business?

If I only have three days to spare in a week, I cannot start and run a business full time. I will need to do it part time, to adapt my business to time consuming obligations that I already have, such as my day job, parenting responsibilities or other activities that would refrain me from doing it full time.

Once I have determined whether I would do the business full time or part time, I will need to identify the right type of business models to fit into my current situation.

I have complied six common business models here:

1. Home based
2. Brick and mortar
3. E-commerce
4. Franchising
5. Licensing a product
6. Multilevel marketing

Home based
Using the latest technology, anyone can create a legitimate and competitive business from home. In fact, this is the cheapest and fastest way to start an enterprise. It can be run full time or part time, Internet or non-Internet based.

Brick and Mortar
It simply means a business with a physical location outside the home, either leased premises or purchased. It involves a dedicated facility, whether retail, wholesale, service or manufacturing. This model usually involves relatively high capital.

E-commerce
There is no foot traffic in this business model. All the customers will purchase online, from A to Z of the transaction. The owner can sell and service the product/service through an Internet portal capable of collecting payment. This can apply to business that sells directly to customers or to other businesses.

Franchising
This model refers to buying a successful business model, which makes the buyer the “franchisee”. Usually, there will be a franchise fee upfront and a portion of the revenues over time to be paid to the franchisor. Everything the franchisee needs to know on starting and running the business is provided by the franchisor, including the equipment and sometimes, goods and services.

Licensing the Product
Any designer, expert, innovator or anyone creative enough to conceive a product or invention that people would buy but do not want to run the business, can still take advantage of a great product idea or invention by licensing it to another company that has the entire infrastructure in place to effectively manufacture, market and sell it.
Multilevel Marketing (MLM)
This is another business that could be started instantly and with low startup cost. However, to excel in MLM, one must have traits of perseverance and determination. MLM is a marketing and distribution structure. People at the top sell to those below them, who in turn sell to those under them. The higher one achieves in the structure, the more income one derives. Anyone chooses this model must be cautious before deciding to jump into the bandwagon as some MLM attracts its members using “greed tactics”!

Whichever option it may be, I would definitely do some research on its pro’s and con’s as well as the level of suitability to the kind of business I am going to venture into.

*Note: This content contains no unproven teory or thesis! If you need any small business startup help, feel free to visit my Website

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STEP 1: Small Business Startup Guide in 10 Easy Steps!

2007-04-24T07:57:25+02:00

STEP 1: Determine My Ultimate Plan

I never take this preliminary step lightly. I always start off with thorough planning. As we always say, plan your life, and then plan your business. Once you know where to go, you can then have a pleasant journey.

I have noticed that there are many successful business people who are not happy in many ways even though they have all the money to last them for generations. On the other hand, I also found out that business people who are successful, joyful and happy are entrepreneurs who created a business that’s in perfect synchronization with what they want out of life. They do what they love, the kind of things that fit into their personality, their life purpose and their lifestyle.

Therefore, before I lunge into a new business venture, I would run though a personal checklist to ensure that I am aware of what I am doing and where I want to be ultimately.

Here is what I’ll do:

1. Review my area of importance – I would review thoroughly my current job or business, my physical being, my lifestyle, my relationship, my family, my hobby, my finance, my spiritual aspect and my emotional state. Next, I would grade each area of my life on a scale of 1-100 (1 means not important at all; 100 means utmost important; 50 means in between). When certain areas of life (at different phases of life) do not concern me much, they are usually not important to me. However, aspect of life that I want to elevate desperately or thing that bother me most of the time, are usually aspect that I perceive as utmost important.

For instance, if my life is motivated solely by relationship with my loved ones, I would rate it 100. And if my top priorities in life are making money and being happy (simultaneously), I would rate my business at 90 and my emotional state at 90. Let say currently I am obese, and that doesn’t bother my conscious, so my physical being would get somewhere around 10!

2. Perform goal setting – Then, I would review (or maybe redo) my personal life goals for the short and long term. My goals in life would be referring to the “ideal life” that I want to live in. Factor in things like family time, hobbies, charity work, and early retirement - anything that gets me really excited or motivated.

3. Identify my skills, expertise or interest – Next, I will list down my highest abilities, strengths or area of interest, that I can build on to attain “commercial value”. I would finalize what are my skills, expertise or interest that could be an asset to my business.

4. Identify what kind of business is most ideal – I would list down several kinds of businesses I want to venture into; that meet my life’s purpose, my skills, expertise or area of interest. Ultimately, I need to choose the kind of business that I can be enthusiastic about during the startup and daily management. One pointer, I must be 100% certain that the business I’ve chosen must present a “hungry market” or else I’ll be a sitting duck.

5. Discover my ideal work style – Finally I would discover how I want to run my new venture; full time or part time, mobile office or home office, one-man show or with a team of people, online or brick and mortar business.

Once I have completed the above five steps, all the above elements will get consolidated into a very brief document called “MY ULTIMATE PLAN”

It’s very important for me to have MY ULTIMATE PLAN printed out and kept in plain view. The reason for doing so… to constantly remind me of what I want, what’s important, and what to do next (especially when things get tough).

I would utilize MY ULTIMATE PLAN to provide a context for most strategic decisions I’ll make - including what niche business I choose to venture, what business model to employ, who to employ, where to operate, how much capital to raise, product pricing factor, how to automate my daily operations, home based, or a one-man operation.

Most importantly, MY ULTIMATE PLAN will position me to do what I LOVE MOST and that will always bring out the best in me as an entrepreneur - unleashing the untapped potential within me!

*Note: This content contains no unproven teory or thesis! If you need any small business startup help, feel free to visit my Website

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How I Actually Start & Grow A Profitable Small Business From Zero!

2007-04-24T07:56:42+02:00

Hello…

Welcome to my journal, my experience and my lessons of entrepreneurship.
I am Dave J, an author, keynote speaker, E-preneur and a NLP-certified coach.

Before we begin, I would like to answer the question that pops into the mind of readers before they read on…
“What motivated me to share my experience and expertise?”

When I planned to start my own business many years back, I talked to dozens of successful entrepreneurs, I attended seminars, I purchased training materials, signed up for courses and participated in countless business events. But I still do not get satisfactory answers for a systematic approach to starting up and running a profitable business. One thing for sure, it has cost me a lot of money and time in the process. The saddest part is most of the materials, seminars and courses are expensive and too theoretical in nature. Most of them are not practical, not easily applicable and not cost effective for a fresh entrepreneur like me.

Secondly, as I have mentioned earlier I did manage to seek guidance from successful entrepreneurs on the nuts and bolts of starting up and running a profitable business. However, many of them are too busy to share with me their expertise. Furthermore, even if they do, they are not so keen to part with their “secrets” to me. Some are willing to do so, but the advice does come with a high price tag!

I always believe in the law of giving, in which the more I give the more I shall be blessed in many other ways. Hence, I have decided to share with you (anyone out there) a one-stop guide for everyone who is planning or decided to startup a business of their own choice (even if they do not have any capital) before they get disappointed or frustrated in the search for the right kind of guidance to starting up their own business profitably. I hope they will not walk the “costly” and “bumpy” path that I’ve taken many years back without any such help whatsoever.

In the next few days, I be posting my business startup journal - a 10 step-by-step guide to starting your own business (regardless whether it’s online or offline, small or medium, physical product or no-product at all). The journal is updated constantly whenever I found a new way to get thing done better, cost-effective or faster in result. Whatever I idea, formula or tip I shared with you, I assure you I have personally utilized it somehow directly or indirectly.

*Note: This content contains no unproven teory or thesis! If you need any small business startup help, feel free to visit my Website

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