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

Make It Happen

| January 5, 2006

A New Year, new goals, new opportunities! Now that you have things sorted out and put together, put last year behind you, scrap the old plans and get ready for a new start. New things require new strategies, new tactics and new plans. There’s an old saying – if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. Einstein may have put it better when he defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over, while expecting different results.

Over the last 15 years as I have worked with business owners who had dreams … Read More

Welcome To Mind Masters

| January 3, 2006

Turning dreams to reality as Small Business Owners Sharing Insights and Influence

Could you use some support to help you set, reach and add vision to your goals for growing your business? No great entrepreneurial enterprise was ever created in isolation. Surround yourself with smart business owners and you’re much more likely to succeed.

Mind Masters provides a value based program so that business owners harness the power of each members’ success, make wise business decisions and realize dreams. Visitors please check out our services.

Hear what our members have to say about Mind Masters!… Read More

The 2006 Dilemma

| December 4, 2005

Are you keeping up with the pace of change? The pace of technology? The pace of your marketplace? The pace of your competition? The 2006 Dilemma is how much do you and your business have to change to keep pace? As a business owner you need to have information at your finger tips that help you make the best decisions.

Planning for 2006 is a hands on process. You might start by asking some tough questions. Do you recognize the need for change?

  • Are you prepared to look reality in the face?
  • Are you willing to change the way you
… Read More

Investing in Your Business

| November 3, 2005

The question is always asked, how much should be spent on marketing and advertising. Some businesses start on a shoestring and grow rapidly. Others take hundreds even thousands of dollars and go at a snails pace. While I have never heard a hard and fast answer to how much you should spend, you need a strategy that will produce results for you.

The key here is not how much you spend, but that you consistently reinvest money in your business. Determine how much you can afford, is it $100 or 10% of your gross, or maybe for a new product … Read More