All About Business Resourcess

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Humor in Business

With the advancement of computer simulators, anybody can repeat all the business routines before he goes to the field, and have the opportunity of relaxing from the tedious work with numbers. The businessman can concentrate more on the human factors: The Customer Service, the relationships among fellow workers, and self care. The occupation with Human factors is obligation to deal with emotions. Emotions volumes are not measurable accurately, contrary to cognitive or physical volumes. We can measure I.Q., or weight lifting, but not the intensity of love or hate. Questionnaires about satisfaction from a product or a boss give very limited answers. The reason we cannot measure emotions is that they expand all the time. This is their main attribute. It gives them their most unique quality: The ability to identify with the other and be empathic. We can memorize cognitive or physical practices, but with emotions we are left bare like children in a barren field. This leaves the businessman exposed to mistakes of emotional intelligence, and the computers cannot help him.

There is nothing better then the sense of humor, the best therapy for the soul, for illuminating the human factor. The definition of humor is: Emotions made precise. It derives directly from an overloaded mind, which seeks to facilitate the feelings he faces with others. Every accurate expression of emotion is followed by it, as part of a relief. Every business deal is a transaction of emotions. These are accurate emotions, purified through the long bargaining process. Between the negotiating sides, after a deal closing, comes immediately a mutual sense of emotional relief. While it fade away down, It create a by product, in the form of lightness of the spirit, a humor.

The precision of humor observations makes them suitable for the businessmen training. There is a use for humor in all the aspects of human relations at work, but it is limited, in scale and methods. There are humor workshops for businessmen, but they are relatively rare, in contrast to the amount of time dedicated for self improvement. Starting at the morning meetings, through the motivation papers, and finally with the private learning, the average businessman provide himself constantly with emotional intelligence advice. Compare the percentage of humor in it to humor in ordinary life, and you will find that while daily life is a continuous effort for laugher, business life is a cooperated effort for making life more serious and heavier. The businessman needs a steady supply of concrete, healthy humor. Otherwise he may turn into acidly cynic person.

One medium of humor, the Cartoon, is more suitable then others for the Businessman. The Visual aspect of the cartoon makes it easy to grasp the content. It affords a visual relaxation in the visually intensive world of business. Humor in business is not as simple as it looks like. It demands professionalism both in humor and business. It has to be precise. Otherwise there is a danger of getting out of focus. Laser precision is part of any humor. If the target is missed, the damage is big.

Two major daily cartoon series deals directly with the business world. One is Dilbert, by Scott Adams. You can find it at the link: http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/index.html Another one is the Daily Cartoon by Randy Glasbergen. You can find it at the link: http://pub49.bravenet.com/cartoon/show.php?usernum=4194105148 Let us compare between the two cartoon series.

Dilbert has not a very inspiring affect. The characters are clumsy. They create clumsier situations. It is the result of incriminating surface behavior. It is very hard to understand them. We laugh at them, without very much intellectual gratification. The Daily Cartoon by Randy Glasbergen is much more sophisticated. A delicate situation, the result of internal acting forces, is in the center, and not a character. The situation is always a very sharp event of people behavior, mostly regarding money. The elusive world of money making motives finds here its accurate, funny representation. The characters serve just as a mean for clarification. The subject is not a certain character with unique attributes, but a situation with a strong common background, that anyone can encounter.

This makes the Daily Cartoon by Randy Glasbergen a favorable choice for the business world. Imagine if we could apply it on a daily practical basis. We would laugh all the way to the bank. To do so, we need a closer focus on business themes. Anybody can identify and act properly, when facing a situation that was represented in a cartoon with dynamic replacing of characters.

The need is for sophisticated cartoons is huge. It is a human problems solving technique. Whenever I open the http://pub49.bravenet.com/cartoon/show.php?usernum=4194105148 website, I find new concrete inspirations regarding business activities, and, as a bonus, guides for other aspects of life like health, family and self improvement. The Daily Cartoon by Randy Glasbergen combines intensity with sophistication. A new cartoon is published once a day, and it is backed up by a huge archive. I suggest The Daily Cartoon as the best way for introducing emotional intelligence to the business world. The subjects of the cartoons deals directly with the modern business arena of: computers and Internet work, management and workers, Decision making, work morality, and so on. It covers in exactingness almost any field, with a very positive affect.

The next step is to take The Daily Cartoons to a higher level: increase the circulation, add more sub topics from the business world, and find a way of implementing them to the infrastructure of the daily business work, for a better world.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Ideas Are Free - A Book Summary

This article is based on the following book: Ideas Are Free By Alan G. Robinson and Dean M. Schroeder Published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2004 ISBN 1-57675-282-8 232 pages

Without great ideas, no organization can stay afloat, much less flourish. Managers and top executives are constantly struggling to come up with big ones � creative marketing strategies, ingenious cost-cutting schemes and other corporate solutions that will save time and money and improve productivity. But what few of them realize is that right under their noses is a virtually limitless source of valuable ideas � ideas that can revolutionize their company and help bring substantial and sustainable competitive advantage. These great ideas come, surprisingly, from the lowest point of the corporate food chain � from the frontline employees who do the �dirty� work and who therefore see a lot of problems and opportunities that their managers do not.

Employee ideas are a lot more valuable than most managers think. More importantly, they can be had virtually for free, if you know how. This book teaches the most effective methods for tapping this �hidden� resource, based on extensive research in more than 300 organizations around the world. It offers precise techniques for setting up an idea management system that can empower your people, transform your organization and make you a much more effective leader.

The Idea Revolution

In traditional companies there are two distinct types of workers:

1. The thinkers � the supervisors, managers and other executives; and

2. The doers � the frontline employees. The rationale behind this division is that regular workers are not capable of the kind of critical thinking needed for problem solving and strategy formulation, and therefore they should not participate in brainstorming.

The Idea Revolution invites you to break free from this old, limiting thinking pattern and to change the rules,because the truth is that although your frontline workers may indeed not have the knack for strategic planning, they do possess other, equally valuable type of knowledge � detailed, practical information about the company�s daily operations, and common sense. Because they are actually where the action is, so to speak, they see a lot of things that you do not � what the customers really need, what machines are not working, what is being wasted. And often they know what to do to make things better.

The only thing you need to do is to ask and to welcome, not discourage, their ideas.

Why Employee Ideas are Important

In most organizations only the first type of knowledge is encouraged. The other kind is not only discouraged, but actually suppressed. But actually both are needed to run an efficient company. Managers and employees need to cooperate, to contribute what they know in order to come up with workable solutions and significant improvements.

Managers and supervisors can tend to generalize issues and gloss over certain details, while employees who work directly with what is causing the problem know exactly what is wrong and what should be done about it. Their knowledge of the problem is direct and intimate, and they can provide accurate solutions. They know things by experience, not by theory.

The Power of Small Ideas

Big ideas are always more attractive � they are splashier, grander, always more promising. Managers are therefore more likely to weed out �small� ideas and go for the really big ones, the �home runs� � those that could help generate millions of dollars in revenue or topple the competition, instantly. But when it comes to ideas, small does not always mean ineffective or weak. In fact, in organizations it is often smarter to focus on small ideas rather than on big ones.

Idea Management

As simple as it sounds, getting and using employee ideas to improve your organization�s performance entails a lot of planning, preparation and hard work. Two crucial issues that you would have to deal with are:

� How can the employees be encouraged or motivated to come up with so many ideas?

� Who has time to deal with all of them?

After all, once the ideas start pouring in, they would each have to be evaluated, and then implemented. These are non-value adding tasks that can take up all of your valuable time. The only way you can effectively manage employee ideas is by setting up a good idea system, one that will make the process, which can become messy, organized and productive.

Profound Change

By encouraging the free flow of ideas, you will have the opportunity to bring about a profound transformation within your organization, one that could not only boost its overall performance, but would also liberate the people who work within it.

Idea systems have the power to change the very culture of an organization, by bringing about more trust, respect, openness, commitment and harmony among its people.

When employees see that their ideas are valued, their attitudes change, from one of detachment and frustration to involvement and fulfillment. This not only uplifts the quality of their lives, but also brings about real growth in the organization.

By: Regine P. Azurin Regine Azurin is the President of BusinessSummaries.com, a company that provides business book summaries of the latest bestsellers for busy executives and entrepreneurs.

http://www.bizsum.com "A Lot Of Great Books....Too Little Time To Read" Free Book Summaries Of Latest Bestsellers for Busy Executives and Entrepreneurs

About the author: Regine Azurin is the President of BusinessSummaries.com, a company that provides business book summaries of the latest bestsellers for busy executives and entrepreneurs.

Leadership and customer service - is there a link?

It's your first day in a new job.

This is the job that you really wanted. The one that you saw advertised and immediately knew was for you. The one that you spent hours crafting an application letter for. The one that required you to beat all the other applicants at interview. The one where you anxiously awaited the postman to see if you'd been successful.

New suit. Clean shirt and your favourite tie. Shoes freshly polished. Hair cut just the way your Mum would like it.

You're keen. You arrive early. You greet each new person with a warm smile. Trying hard to build rapport without seeming to be over confident. You go out of your way for customers. There's a spring in your step and a friendly ring to your voice.

Now look around. No matter what job you're in and no matter how long you've been there. Does everyone around you have the energy and enthusiasm of new starters? Or has their energy and enthusiasm dwindled? Are they still there because they love what they do or are they simply there because they haven't been able to escape yet?

Is there a link between leadership, customer service and business success? Absolutely! Research by the Strategic Planning Institute found that businesses which gave good service grew twice as fast as those with poor service. And, in all my years of researching customer service, I've yet to find a business with weak leadership giving great service.

So what are the qualities that I've observed?

Leaders need to have a vision of what they want to achieve. How will anyone ever sign up to a cause if there is no cause to sign up to?

The vision needs to be communicated. Let everyone share in it. Let them see what is in it for them by becoming a follower.

Great leaders have passion. The strength and the energy to work against the odds to achieve their vision.

Great leaders delegate and empower. That doesn't mean that they simply dump on their people. But they create structure, they allocate responsibility, they help to create systems, they provide support and training and resources. And they empower their people to make decisions. This is part of what makes people feel significant.

There's respect. Great leaders sometimes have to take tough decisions but there's always respect for their people. They treat their employees as customers - internal customers.

More communication. How are we doing? What are we doing? What new is happening? Successful business leaders are masters at keeping their people informed. Notice boards are up to date and informative. Key performance indicators are understood and displayed. Targets are set and success is celebrated. This is how leaders create a sense of community.

People are motivated to do what's important. If you believe that customer service is important to your business what are you doing to motivate your people to deliver great service? Bonuses based purely on profits are not the answer.

Great leaders stick to principles. In my previous article I told the story of Pret A Manger and what great service they give their customers. I once wrote to their Chief Executive, Julian Metcalfe, and asked if I could spend time in his business researching what they do and how they do it. I promised that I was only looking to report a positive view and that Julian would have the final say on anything that I wanted to publish.

The next day, Julian called me up to thank me for my interest but explained that he would decline my offer. He went on to explain that he is incredibly proud of his people and what they achieve but he could not collaborate on any project that might be seen to praise his business. Julian told me of an old Chinese proverb - "The higher that the monkey climbs the tree the more that you can see of it's backside". I understood what he meant and admired his principle.

Great leaders walk the walk and talk the talk.

There's a famous story about a group of visitors to Disney. They were walking in the Magic Kingdom when they saw a grey haired man walk out of his way to pick up a piece of litter. One of the group approached the man and asked, "How many custodians are there here?" The man replied, "45,000". The guest was surprised at so many.

The next day the group attended a Traditions meeting and the same grey haired man was there. His name was Michael Eisner, Chairman and CEO of Disney.

And great leaders keep the energy going.

I have been fortunate enough to spend some time at Richer Sounds. Richer Sounds is a hi-fi store that has been in the Guinness Book of Records six years running for the highest retail sales per square foot of any retail business anywhere in the world.

Throughout my day at Richer Sounds, members of the Team were regularly checking their performance against target. They kept reminding each other about hitting target and getting together for a drink at the end of the week. There was a buzz and the Team was loving it.

How would I sum up leadership in one sentence? It's simply creating a Team of people with the skills and experience of older employees but the energy and enthusiasm of new employees. If you're the boss, does this describe the people who work in your business?

About the author: Derek Williams is creator of The WOW! Awards� an International Professional Speaker and Chief Executive for the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Europe.

For more information about Derek Williams visit www.MrWow.co.uk. For The WOW! Awards (including access to a FREE customer service newsletter) visit www.TheWowAwards.com

Five Proven Methods For Internet Marketing Success

There are hundreds of ways that you can promote your online business or website, some more effective than others. These five proven methods will help you to generate traffic to your site and also to generate income into your wallet.

1. One thing that appeals to everyone is �free.� If it is free people will take it. Think of the samples of cheese given away at grocery stores. Do you really want a small piece of cheese? Of course not! But you take it simply because it is free and someone is nice enough to offer it to you. The same principle applies with information or services offered from your website. You can send out free newsletters or offer a free trail period. One popular thing that is being given away now are free credit reports or free PC scans. These freebies are what we in the marketing field like to call teasers. After running the free credit report or PC scan we alert the customer if there is something found on their credit record or PC and then offer to show them what it is or repair the problem for a price. This can be an effective way to get information to your potential customers, create sales or to generate traffic to your site.

2. Your website contains information about a service or product that you are very knowledgeable about. You can use this knowledge to generate traffic to your site by writing articles in your area of expertise and having them published in an ezine or an article information site. The most effective way to use these articles is to write them for free and ask in return that the publisher allow you to include a byline. A byline is a very short summary of the author, their credentials and their website. Your byline is a way that readers will come to know you as an expert on the topic and will in turn come to trust your site as a source of credible information.

3. Some search engines will allow a website to purchase their ranking. This is an excellent Internet marketing technique in that it is effective and inexpensive. In the pay-per-click programs, website are only billed for those who actually visit the page, unlike banner ads which may be seen by millions but only used by a few. When using the pay-per-click program you are asked to choose keywords and when those are entered your site will appear and if the surfer chooses to view your site, you are billed for that click. Many pay-per-click programs will offer other benefits as well, such as updated lists of commonly used keywords.

4. You should remember that others are in the same boat as you. You can choose to network with those who have similar marketing ideas. When networking you will be able to share links and refer customers to each other. You should always be very cautious when choosing a networking partner as everything that you recommend is a reflection of yourself or your product and therefore, you should be certain that your networking partner is a reputable source of information.

5. Simply because your website is online, doesn�t mean that all your advertising should be. Advertise in newspapers, TV, the radio or you can even send out a press release to get your information to thousands of people all over the country.

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Weather Proofing Your Garden Centre

Whilst politicians debate whether global warming is a serious issue, horticultural retailers are fully aware of the changes taking place and they are having to adapt their retail practises accordingly.

Whether it is spring arriving a month earlier in the UK in this century compared with the 1950's, severe droughts in the Western Cape of South Africa and Australia or more severe winter storms in parts of the USA, garden centres are realising that they are having to weatherproof their businesses if they are to survive.

In the 1970's a typical British garden centre would rely on up to 75% of it's sales coming from outdoor plants. In today's business, this is as low as 35%. This has happened for a number of reasons. One is historically, many garden centres originated out of wholesale plant nurseries and have evolved into gardening and lifestyle centres, but one of the factors has been the need for retailers to weatherproof their businesses.

Weatherproofing Categories

Retailers soon realised that bad spring weather could have a dramatic affect on core categories and upset the cash flow for the remainder of the year. Garden centres have been forced, by economic pressures, to look for weatherproofing product categories to ensure a successful future.

One of the key global weatherproofing strategies has been to introduce a coffee shop. This has had a number of benefits. Firstly, in good buying weather, customers are encouraged to linger longer and hopefully spend more. But, when those bad weather days arrive, customers will still visit the garden centre, but now the coffee shop becomes the destination.

In Australia, the average Aussie spends $13 per week to put fuel in their car and $10 per week on coffee, this is 'big business'. In the UK, some garden centres are reporting 60% of customers go to the coffee shop and the average coffee shop now brings in 11% of total revenue.

The coffee shop has evolved into licensed restaurants that remain open after the garden centre has closed, but they have become a key factor in garden centre weatherproofing.

Seasonal Changes in Trading Patterns

One of the biggest shifts in weatherproofing has been to reduce the reliance on spring trading. After a long winter, gardeners suffer from 'cabin fever' and rush into the garden centre. We should continue to promote this, but we are all aware that a wet or cold spring can dampen the spirits and bank account.

Another weatherproofing strategy has been to create alternative seasonal events to create new sales peaks. Christmas was the logical choice, being the worst season to have a traditional garden centre. Again, many garden centres are recording Christmas sales that are now 10% of total sales.

Following on from Halloween and I have one client who now finds it is more cost effective to put there efforts into Halloween rather than Christmas.

Non-Seasonal Weatherproofing

The ultimate solution would be to find product categories where the consumer comes to the garden centre whatever the weather.

Many garden centres choose the gift category as the solution. As with any category development, there are pitfalls as well as opportunities. The pitfalls with gifts or home ornaments are that there is a trend to de-clutter our homes as we go for the simple look. This means less, but often more expensive ornaments. Plus gifts and ornaments are high fashion and you need to be 'on the ball' when buying and be ruthless with your stock control. Having said that, get it right and it can be a highly profitable weatherproof category.

The Ultimate Weatherproof Insurance

The ultimate weatherproof insurance would be one where the customer comes to the garden centre every week, whatever the weather conditions and spends a considerable amount of money. This may sound like an unachievable paradise, but I do have clients who believe they have found their paradise.

Garden centres that have incorporated a farmers market, selling fresh produce, are finding this the ultimate weatherproof insurance and a highly profitable venture. With farmers markets generate a third of the business income from an eighth of the space. One client generates $40,000 from two square metres of olives a year.

A fresh produce consumer who is interested in buying produce of high quality for a known source is also likely to be a keen gardener, hence the win: win formulae.

Again there are pitfalls, you will need a dedicated team for this category who know their produce. They need to know what a celeriac is and how to cook it. Plus, you need an excellent produce buyer, the key is to provide produce range width and depth with the minimum of wastage.

But Can You Weatherproof Your Plant Category?

The Dutch and Germans would definitely argue that there is a case for putting a structure over the whole plant area and protect plants and consumers from inclement weather. To be successful you do need to increase your stock turn to ensure the plants remain healthy and hardy., but it is working for these retailers.

An alternative is to not weatherproof the plants, but to weatherproof the customers. Covered walkways are not the total solution, but they do help encourage consumers to go into the plant area when they would otherwise resist. The secret is to ensure the covered walkway fully circulates around the plant area, otherwise you'll find some locations are over shopped whilst others are under shopped.

And the Future?

I believe plants will continue to reduce there percentage of total sales as garden centres discover more weatherproofing strategies. This is not to say plants will be less important, I believe the reverse will be true. Plants are the core strategy in a garden centre and as such should remain in a prominent position in the customer's journey around the centre.

The future will introduce more weatherproofing strategies. The weather is one of those unpredictability's we have to work with an as a result we will continue to invest in weatherproofing to ensure we have profitable businesses in the future.

About the author: 20 years experience in 15 countries. He regularly contributes to retail magazines around the world and has authored several successful marketing and retail books including the best seller Just About Everything a Retail Manager Needs to Know. www.johnstanley.cc

Easy Money.

Is it possible to make easy money? I have seen truckloads of pure hype about this subject out there. Still, most people ask themselves these questions probably on a daily basis: Could there be a reliable way to make money easier than how I am doing it? Could there be a way for me to quit my job and enjoy life as I deserve?

Well, the answer is YES and NO. Many times the opportunities are in front of us and we can't see them. Other times we choose with our decisions what we get. Everyone is different though. What may seem easy to you, may seem very hard to others. In my opinion there are certain professions or jobs, which require little effort and can help you earn a lot of money comfortably.

How can you define if you are making money easily? How can you tell your friends that your job is easy or hard? That's up to you! As I told you already everyone has a brain and everyone judges things differently. Bellow I enumerate the qualities that a business or job may have in order for me to categorize it as easy money.

1. You can do it from anywhere in the world.

2. You don't have to deal with people ‘face to face' or via a telephone.

3. You don't need to purchase anything to start.

4. You work only three hours per day or less.

5. Your clients come to you. You don't have to seek them.

6. You are doing something moral and ethical. People feel happy with you.

7. You are helping others succeed.

8. You can make a lot of money (thousands of dollars per week).

9. Other people do all the selling for you. You only pay them a small commission for each sale they generate.

10. You don't have to work every day. You choose your own schedule.

11. You don't have to organize merchandise within a room.

12. You don't have to physically deliver the products to your clients.

13. Other people could create the products and services for you, so you don't have to do that either.

14. Other people take care of your marketing campaign for free, so you don't have to pay them.

15. You don't have to rent real estate for business related purposes.

16. Since the beginning your duties are just to make sure that everything is running smoothly.

17. You can start with almost no money at all.

Now, do you agree with me that such a business could make you easy money? The problem is most people don't believe that such a business could really exist. Let me tell you that they are far from the truth. Remember that everything is easier on the Internet. There is no reason to make it complex. Starting your own online business is one of the best decisions you could make in your life!

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