Author Archives: Barbara Eldridge

How Do You Set Priorities?

| April 14, 2007

As a business owner, it’s easy to get caught up in the bustle of day-to-day
business. In the drive to make sure you will reach your monthly financial
goal, it can be tempting to spend a significant portion of your time fighting
the myriad fires that crop up every day. Instead, take the time to step
back and set “laser-sharp” priorities to focus on what’s really
important – and keep yourself from spending time on what’s not.

When you have set goals for the business the priorities should be unmistakably
clear and specific, you know what to focus on and, … Read More

Give Your Marketing Pull

| February 10, 2007

There are hundreds of books and articles too numerous to begin to count that deal with ways to get attention for your business. Most are predicated on delivering a message that speaks to your prospects’ needs. The difficulty for small business owners is to be able to use the internet to deliver that message, without chasing away other prospects. On line advertising is moving away from just display ads and into a more interactive (pull) model.

Have you seen some of the car company TV ads that direct you to go to
their web site and click on the car … Read More

The Greatest Revolution

| January 3, 2007

2007 can be a year you accomplish your greatest DREAMS. Fulfillment of those DREAMS demands well defined Goals and specific daily, monthly and yearly plans. In your planning and Goal setting process there is a need for tools to activate you and bring about the focus and behavior changes so necessary to effect the results you want.

For centuries one of the most powerful tools that people have used to reconstruct their mental belief systems is the tool of Visualization. You focus your energy and simply create a mental image of the goal you wish to attain. You experience the … Read More

Marketing on Your Home Turf

| November 2, 2006

A recent B2B Expo was quite an eye opener. Many companies paid $800 to $1000 to create awareness and showcase their product/services. My observation was that few exhibitors got a return on their investment; not because of the attendance but because of poor understanding on the part of the booth “staffers” on how to engage their audience. Sitting behind a table, failing to qualify booth visitors or even ask for their business cards, were some of the negative comments I heard from colleagues who attended looking to do business with the exhibitors.

Trade shows open doors and pave the road … Read More

Survive and Thrive

| October 4, 2006

To quote an old advertisement for financial software we agree that, “Of all the hats we wear as a small business owner, the accounting fedora itches the most.” We all market our time – so I hope all of you have put those 2005 taxes to bed and are focusing your time on the high priority, high pay off areas of your business in particular, making a profit. At the heart of maintaining a profit is your accounting system. (Ugh, Ugh). Most people get confused and frustrated with their finances and the major cause of the confusion is lack of … Read More

Wake Your Sleeping Giant

| July 3, 2006

Summer has arrived, the excitement of vacation looms large – BUT, as your Business Development Specialist I must ask, are you at the mid point for your 2006 Goals and Objectives? How many of you after these several months working day and night to achieve those goals you set in January to create a new service, introduce a new product or even design a new business model – all at once find all the drive that brought the initial motivation and excitement has melted away, the steam has run out, the place you are in is comfortable and the dream … Read More

All About Internet Marketing

| May 2, 2006

By Debra Simpson

People opt for internet advertising methods because practically half of the world’s population knows HTML. If you have your own business, you have to decide on what internet advertising method works for you. Ask yourself what are you going to avail yourself of the expensive internet advertising methods or the cheap ones? Others will pipe in “expensive!” immediately, but they don’t know cheap internet advertising method attracts great benefits as well.

Here’s the lowdown and a comparative look on the cheap and expensive internet advertising methods:

The Expensive

  • Pop-ups
    Not only are these expensive, but also outright
… Read More

Avoid Undue Risk

| April 13, 2006

Keeping up to date on legal matters is usually the last thing on the to do list of most small business owners; unless of course we need a lawyer fast. Last week I was invited to a Business Briefing by a friend and business attorney. He gave a brief overview of risk management. That sounded too corporate for the small business owners in the room, so we asked how risk management affects us?

Generally, Risk Management is the process of measuring, or assessing risk and then developing strategies to manage the risk. In general, the overview covered several areas … Read More

The Fear of Self Promotion or Fearless Self Promotion

| March 16, 2006

How often have you walked out of a seminar thinking you wasted your time and maybe even your money because the presenter seemed more interested in promoting his/her next workshop then delivering the topic you signed on for?

I have often heard business owners complain that they hate being sold. The market place has changed, customers do have access to more information and have become more educated about what they want. But what is “wrong” with self promotion?

Sometimes it has to do with that bad experience we had with that salesperson who talked us into buying something we really … Read More

Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking

| February 4, 2006

By Dana Bristol-Smith

Appeared in Presentations Magazine, April 2001

Knocking knees, butterflies (who came up with that word?) in your stomach, sweaty palms, quavering voice. We’ve all been there – some of us more than others. I’m going to share with you some of the tricks of the trade to help manage and reduce your anxiety before and during your presentation. These methods are tried and true and have helped many presenters.

How about having a conversation?

Use your mental energy to think of your next presentation as a conversation. You have conversations all day, every day! Do you get … Read More