There are two ways you can build your small business. You can do it the hard way (this is most likely the way you are doing right now) or you can do it the easy way.

Sometimes building your business the hard way can be lucrative and you can make a lot of money, but it is a struggle, makes your life hard, so what is the point of it?

Building your small business the easy way will be a new concept for you.

Most people think that in order to get a business to succeed it has to be hard. Through the unconventional marketing systems you will learn throughout this program your small business will be fun, easy, and very profitable.

You will make a lot more money in your small business and you can do it easily and quickly. There is a lot more to life than going through a series of tough struggles to get what you want.

Using great unconventional marketing makes selling easy and most of the time unnecessary.

Most people interchange marketing and selling or are confused on the differences. Selling is face-to-face or person-to-person over the telephone. Marketing comes before selling and it is what you do to get the prospects to you so you can sell them. We have created unconventional marketing processes for your small business that will allow you to, in many ways eliminate selling face-to-face.

When unconventional marketing is done right, it will deliver to you people who are pre-qualified, pre-interested, and pre-motivated to do business with you. It will screen, sift, and sort people who want to talk with you and get rid of people who you should not be talking to.

Sometimes, in selling, an enormous amount of time is wasted talking with people who have no interest in the services or products you offer. When the unconventional marketing is done right like we are going to show you, you’re not going to have much difficulty selling because the marketing process automatically did all the work.

Always remember that unconventional marketing, done properly, is the fastest way to get clients.

Everything in this program is easy to understand, implement, and completely ethical.

Small businesses who have the biggest profits are not necessarily the hardest workers…

They are the smartest workers.

Working hard can only get you so far. There is no limit to your profit if you learn to work smart. And you will not have to sacrifice any part of your life or time with your family to dramatically increase your net profits.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Colosi

Today’s technology has many advantages and a great many disadvantages. I often wonder how our society survived without a mobile telephone. I wonder how I survived without the Internet. I was connected when Prodigy was first introduced on the scene. The pharmaceutical company for which I worked provided a laptop to help me manage my territory or I may have not been so well connected.

One disadvantage of a mobile telephone is the lack of telephone etiquette. People seem to have no manners when talking on their phones. Personally, I do not care to hear another person’s conversation. If I’m having dinner alone in a restaurant, I believe I am having more fun than a family whose parent (usually the Father) is interrupted by a call and does not tell the caller about the personal family time he’s having but continues to talk on the phone. Of course, it’s not my business. I have no idea the understanding that exists between those family members. I do know the call is about business because people tend to talk extremely loud when talking on their mobile phones. That really annoys me.

I have addressed my leisure time away from the workplace where I have observed others and their inconsideration to the general public. At the workplace, impoliteness and rudeness to others when on the phone or not, is totally unacceptable from employees. Since I am a trainer and consultant, I find it extremely difficult minding my own business when I hear conversations employees have with customers, clients or patients. I think of the many opportunities I have to offer assistance to the companies who have not made the connection between untrained employees in the area of proper telephone etiquette (or any area if the employee is untrained) and lower profits. Every connection an employee has with a customer, patient, client (or potential one) is vital to the profits of any company. I therefore offer to you, 20 Telephone Etiquette for Businesses Tips. I’m aware many of these tips are common sense yet I’m also aware common sense is not very common, oftentimes. This list was initially written for dental and medical healthcare professionals but is applicable to any business.

Make sure you speak clearly and are smiling as you answer the phone; also identify yourself.
Before placing a caller on hold, ask their permission first and thank them.
It is better to return a call than to keep someone on hold too long. If the phone rings back to you, you’ve kept them on hold too long.
Do not forget to return the call as you promised.
Do not permit the phone to ring into the office more than three times.
Always use a pleasant, congenial and friendly tone.
Never interrupt the person while he/she is talking to you.
Never engage in an argument with a caller.
Do not handle an unhappy caller’s concern openly at the checkin-checkout desk.
Do not make it a habit of receiving personal calls at work.
Do not answer the phone if you are eating or chewing gum.
Do not give the impression that you are rushed. It is better to return the call when you can give the person the time they need to handle the reason for their call.
Learn how to handle several callers simultaneously with ease and grace.
Return calls promptly that have been left on voice mail and ansafones.
Always get the best number (and an alternate) and the best time to have a call returned to the caller, especially if a manager or another team member must return the call.
Do not ever leave a message with someone else or on an ansafone or voice mail regarding details of a delinquent account. Instead, leave a message asking the person to call the “Accounting Department.”
Always make collection calls in private and away from the patient flow or public areas.
If possible, provide a telephone for patients/customers/clients to use. An area providing privacy is preferred.
Do not call a patient, customer or client’s home before 8:00AM or after 9:00PM, unless they’ve given you permission to do so.
When hanging up the phone, make sure the caller or person called hangs up first if the phone is slammed on the receiver. Otherwise, always hang up the phone, gently. I recommend a remote, handless headset for the business staff. They are wonderful. This will solve hanging up as you push release on the headset to hang up the phone. Also, it does not tie your staff to their desk. The team member checking on insurance really appreciates this device. (The phone can also be answered if away from your desk.)

Contact me if you’d like to know the make and model of the remote, handless headset recommended. I am not asserting this list answers (no pun intended) all of the issues surrounding excellent telephone skills but it’s a very good start. If a tip does not apply to you or your business, I commend you. If even one does, I encourage you to begin immediately to eliminate it.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Avis_Ward

Meeting new people and building new relationships is one of the most powerful things a small business owner can do to grow their business. A small business owner’s or entrepreneur’s personality is much more closely tied to the success of their business because their prospects and customers relate the business to the person. Rather than a large, faceless corporation, you are the face of your business. That’s one reason I advocate tying your personality to your marketing and advertising.

As you’re out and about in the community or as you attend business networking events, you’re going to meet lots of people. This gives you the perfect opportunity to discover a new customer, a potential joint venture partner, a new business referral partner or another business that you will become a customer of. You never know if the person sitting next to you on the plane or standing next to you at a networking event will become your best customer or biggest referral partner.

If you’re like me, you get a bit nervous approaching people you don’t know and striking up a conversation. It’s one of things we least like to do. We would rather just focus on creating a great product and providing exceptional service, hoping that new customers will magically appear.

The good news is that most other people are just as uncomfortable as you are to strike up a conversation with a stranger. Knowing that, you can relax and take the pressure off of yourself and the other person. The secret to talking business with a stranger is to talk about other things first. It starts with preparation and that preparation is done before you leave the house.

1. Read the headline news and the business news every day, whether you sit down with the newspaper, fire up your laptop or view your smart phone news app. Check out the leading stories of the day, especially what’s happening in your local town or neighborhood. There’s always a leading human interest story or breaking news about a local or national business. Form an opinion that you can share later when you meet that new contact.

2. Don’t leave home without your brochures, business cards or other form of information about your business. This seems obvious, but I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve met people, asked for their information and they tell me they’ve run out of cards or forgotten their cards. Put a business process in place so that new cards get ordered on a regular basis.

When you meet someone, your goal is to get to know them a bit first before launching into a business discussion. Start by asking a question or making a statement that the person can agree with. Talking about the weather may be a clich? but it’s always an easy way to make a connection, especially when you live on the east coast like I do. We can agree that it’s too hot, too cold, about to rain, about to snow or every now and then on an unexpectedly gorgeous day, we can complain about being stuck inside.

After you’ve established a rapport, then you can ask an open ended question:

- At a networking event: “What made you decide to attend this meeting?” This gives the other person an opportunity to tell you what their business is and potentially a problem they are trying to solve. It gives you an opportunity to ask questions and show an interest in them.

- Standing in line at the post office, grocery store or mall: “What brings you here today?”

- On the plane: “Are you traveling for business or pleasure?”

As they’re talking, stay in the present moment and be genuinely interested. When you’re distracted thinking about the work waiting for you back at the office or your next appointment, that comes across as you not wanting to be there. Body language, arms folded and a rushed air about you is a big turn off to the other person.

As they’re talking, think about people in your network who may be interested in their services or might be a good connection for them and offer to make an introduction.

At this point they’ll probably ask you what you do and you can offer your business card and give them your elevator speech. Always have a current project or customer success story to illustrate what you do. Just talking about how great your products are is borrring! But when you can share the story of how you helped a customer overcome a problem or an interesting thing you uncovered or the fascinating thing you learned this week, it makes for a rich conversation. If it’s interesting, the person will want to hear more and ask questions.

In all candor, this approach doesn’t work all the time. You may meet someone who just isn’t interested in you or what you have to say. They may be distracted. They may hijack the conversation, talk about themselves and never ask you anything. Don’t take it personally. If they aren’t interested, move on to the next person. If they’re obnoxious and talk about themselves, they probably wouldn’t be a good customer or business partner for you anyway. Your goal is not to make a connection with everyone you meet, but to stay open to the possibilities of finding a potential customer or business partner.

Talk to people everywhere you go, cocktail parties, weddings, running errands, airplane rides, supermarket lines, sporting events, festivals, bookstores, etc. It gets easier, the more you practice and I guarantee it will help you grow your business.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_Griffin