Should You Hire an Intern This Summer?

The Employer’s Role in the Internship

Before you hire an intern, keep in mind that the student should optimally be afforded the following:
Real-world work experience in a field related to their major
One or more employees who will have the time and patience to train, mentor and supervise
A professional work environment that will be welcoming, communicative and supportive
Compensation in the form of payment, on-the-job training and/or college credits

An Internship can be a Good Investment for Your Business

Hiring an intern can prove to be a very cost-effective endeavor for your business, and when well-managed, can significantly increase workplace productivity. Erase the tired image of an intern schlepping coffee and making printer copies. Today’s interns can provide a wealth of valuable contributions to small and large businesses alike.

For small businesses in particular, interns can offer expertise in areas where a business may be lacking, and provide insight into developing a more successful future:

Social media launch and/or development
Assistance with digital marketing
Website design and development
Helping with small projects

On the flip side, training and supervising an inexperienced and immature intern could turn out to be costly. When interviewing a prospective intern candidate, be sure to look for qualities of punctuality, maturity and professionalism in addition to assessing an intern’s level of competence.

A Potential Way for Growing Businesses to Find Future Employees

More than ever, companies today are looking at internships as a great recruiting tool. In fact, some organizations hire interns with the sole purpose of training future full-time employees. And that’s because internships can be a dependable way to find someone who will be a good and productive fit for your organization. At the same time, it allows interns a chance to see if they enjoy working in a particular field, and to determine if your company is a good professional and cultural fit.

Hiring interns with a good work record as full-time employees can save employers time and money that would have otherwise gone to attracting, interviewing and training viable job candidates. To sweeten the pot, studies show that the retention rate of employees who starts out as interns is higher than those who do not.

Paid Versus Unpaid Internships

Although there has been no official count of unpaid versus paid internships in the US, word out there is that overall there are now more paid than unpaid.

Part of the reason is that the United States Department of Labor (DOL) stepped up enforcement nationwide on employers who improperly classify interns as unpaid interns. The Fair Labor Standards Act generally considers internships with “for-profit” private sector employers as “employment” and thus those interns are required to be paid at least the minimum wage, and overtime. (Non-profit and public sector employers are treated more leniently by the DOL, and generally are allowed to accept non-paid work.)

There is, though, an exclusion for “for-profit” private sector employers. If an internship meets the six criteria below (courtesy of the DOL Wage and Hour Division), the employer is excluded from the requirement of paying wages:

The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an education environment;
The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;
The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and;
The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

Many small businesses today are unlikely to meet these criteria. It is critical that employers find out beforehand if they are required by law to pay an intern, and then follow the letter of the law. This will prevent potential lawsuits or federal enforcement penalties for illegal unpaid internships. Employers can visit the Wage and Hour Division website at http://www.wagehour.dol.gov and/or call their toll-free helpline at 1-866-487-9243 for additional information or clarification.

In challenging economic times, an unpaid internship can present quite a financial hardship for struggling students. One local college student commented on his own recent internships: “I had two internship experiences; the first being an unpaid internship for a campaign, and the second a paid internship for a labor union. The unpaid internship was rough because you're still putting in all the hours of a regular job but not making a dime. Worse, you need to pay for your own commuting expenses, so it ended up costing me money to work. It’s something you have to do to get work experience for a real paying job though... I guess it pays off in the end one way or another.”

Willy Franzen, a former intern and founder of Onedayonejob.com, posed a question in his blog “Are Unpaid Internships Illegal?” … “If an employer can’t figure out how to put you to good enough use to make more than minimum wage off of your labor, is it really a company that you want to be interning for?”

Virtual Internships

Virtual internships are on the rise, where students work on specific tasks off-site and then check in with their work supervisor on a regular basis. What’s typically needed of the student is a cell phone, computer and Internet access. Research, information technology, marketing, sales, and social media development are some of the more common remote tasks of virtual interns.

For students, the benefits of virtual internship include saving money on commuting costs and being better able to fit work time into busy school schedules. It also opens up a vista of intern opportunities that do not rely on geographic proximity, particularly for students who live in isolated areas or have a lack of public or private transportation.

A small start-up entrepreneur with limited office space might fare well with a virtual intern. Other benefits to employers include having a larger pool of students to choose from and saving on things you won’t need to furnish, like computers and office equipment.

But with a remote internship, are students getting a true internship experience? And can employers properly train, supervise and receive optimal productivity from a person 3,000 miles away they’ve never met?

For students who don’t mind the absence of a physical work presence and the camaraderie an office experience can provide, virtual internships are a viable option. And employers need to take care that the student is an independent self-starter who can work productively without frequent supervision.

How to Get Started

OK, you’re ready to take the plunge. You’ll need to attract and interview candidates for your intern position. If you’ve got a decent social media presence, it could be as easy as posting internship positions on Twitter and Facebook. You can also contact local high schools, colleges and universities where career counselors can match students’ strengths, abilities and majors with your company needs. Sites such as Internships.com, Enternships.com (for entrepreneurial internships), and Internweb.com are also good resources and many allow employers to post internship listings for free.

How to Really Finance a Start-Up Business 3 Simple Ways

If you have been in the market recently seeking some type of financing for a new, start-up business, you are probably a little frustrated by now.

The thing is: Banks and most other non-bank or private lenders just do not lend money to start-up businesses. That is just the way it is.

They claim that the risk is just too high and their regulators or investors agree with them.

In fact, very few businesses last more than three to five years – the typical loan term for a standard business loan.

But, just like many businesses before you, there are ways to finance your new start-up:

First – always look to personal assets or personal means. Now, I know that you don’t want to hear this but if you don’t have any other choice and you truly believe in your business – then why not use your own assets or cash to get that business off the ground and making money?

You want a bank or lender to take a risk on you but you won’t take a risk on yourself – just does not seem fair.

Plus, I can guarantee you this: If you have your own assets at risk you will work harder and longer to make sure your business does succeed (which is the end goal anyways).

Second – other bootstrapping means. There are many ways to bootstrap your business besides using your own personal funds or assets. You might look into:

Crowd funding – while this might not provide a huge amount of money, it might provide enough to get started. Once started, other financing avenues will begin to open up.

Friends and family loans – your friends and family know you best and if you can’t sell your business concept and benefits to them then you will never be able to sell it to paying consumers. Even if your friends and family can’t or won’t invest in you, they may know of others who will – you just have to ask.

Micro credit lenders – backed by the SBA, these lenders provide more than just small amounts of capital – usually up to $35,000 with the average loan being around $13,500 – they also provide advice and guidance to help you better manage and grow your operation.

Third - Look to partners or investors. If your business concept is not in a huge market, has high and quick growth potential or has a lot of proprietary assets, then you will have to look locally. Get out and network in your community for other business owners or local investors.

You would be surprised at how many local or retired business owners just want to give back to their community and can provide more than just capital but can open up many other doors to you and your business. You just have to get out there and talk to everyone who will listen. And, don’t be afraid to ask. If you don’t ask, you will never get what you want!

While you might hear of others business owners landing some type of bank debt or professional investment to get their business started; also know that there had to be some outstanding circumstance or reason for it - like their uncle being the president of a national bank or as a favor to a well known family member or just simply that they have other sources of outside income that qualifies them for the loan.

The bottom line is that banks and other lenders just do not lend to start-up businesses.

In your early days, you really do have to go it alone. But, make it a challenge. Make it one of your goals to eventually qualify for that coveted business loan. This not only will help you financially manage your new business better (keeping items like cash flow, collateral, credit and debt ratios in mind) but, when you do get approved for your business loan, it will really let you know that your business has made it to that next level and on the right path to further success.

A true entrepreneur does not look at a failure to secure outside financing as a fatal obstacle to starting their new business but, in focusing on the long-term potential gains that business could provide, would easily utilizes these three steps and other self-funding means to get up and running as soon as possible.

As your business grows, more financing opportunities will open to both it and you – you just have to get started.

The Role of Decisiveness in Achieving Results

A core quality I look for in a manager is decisiveness -- I want managers to make decisions and take action. I have yet to find a strong results-focused manager who was not decisive. When decisions need to be made, effective managers gather the facts, analyze the situation, consider alternatives, and decide on the best course of action -- and they do it quickly! They don't procrastinate, and they certainly don't stand around wringing their hands. They move!

Further, once a decision is made, there is no looking back. The time for constructive dissent has passed. Instead, it is time for all members of the team to get behind the decision with 100 percent buy-in, even if their recommended course of action was not taken, and it is incumbent upon the manager to ensure this happens. Even the best decision can be undermined by lack of support and backroom second guessing.

Decisive managers understand that their decisions may not be perfect and, therefore, that modifications may be needed. They don't hesitate to modify or alter their decisions when it becomes clear that the original decision isn't working out exactly as planned. The effective manager knows that making a decision and taking action is almost always better than taking no action at all.

Frank was conducting a leadership session , in Toronto, Canada. It was a retreat for top-level managers. He asked the group about the outcomes of their decision making: "If you could go back through all the decisions you made in the last year, what percentage of those decisions would you make in exactly the same way?" The consensus of the group was about 50 percent. One participant said that even though he would change about 50 percent of his decisions in some way, he wouldn't want to get out of the "decision-making business."

Some managers postpone tough decisions with the rationale that they aren't hurting their organization if they wait until things look clearer and an obvious decision can be made. This rationalization couldn't be further from the truth. Many a manager has experienced missed opportunities resulting from this way of thinking. You need to gather facts and data, analyze them, consider alternatives, and move forward, making the best decision you can at the time with the information that is available.

I know that making decisions and taking action comes at a risk. After all, you may make a mistake. It has always been my preference to take the risk anyway. I've never considered making an honest mistake to be a career-interrupting event for myself or the people who have worked for me. However, making a mistake, realizing it, and not taking immediate action to correct it could very well be. Too often, ego and pride get in the way of taking corrective action, and the result is wasted time and energy.

The hardest decisions to make are usually the ones for which managers receive many different opinions on the best course of action. For some managers, myriad opinions would be reason not to decide at all. My advice to managers has always been to use their best judgment, choose a course of action, and get on with it. Furthermore, I always advise that if the decision proves not to be the right one, fix it as quickly as possible.

Have you ever had a manager who just couldn't make a decision? Unfortunately, there are many of them out there, and they are very frustrating to work for. As compared with consensus-building managers who procrastinate in making decisions, though they eventually will regardless of how late or watered down, here I'm referring to managers who just can't make a decision at all. Perhaps they lack self-confidence, believing they are unable to make the right decisions, so they take no action. These managers can be salvaged if they work for strong leaders who force decisions to be made.

Other managers might simply be lazy, or they don't want to take the time required to make good decisions. They are comfortable with the status quo and don't see, or choose not to see, that their decisions are necessary. These are the managers who usually can't be salvaged and need to find another line of work -- one that does not involve managing people.

The Role of Decisiveness in Achieving Results

A core quality I look for in a manager is decisiveness -- I want managers to make decisions and take action. I have yet to find a strong results-focused manager who was not decisive. When decisions need to be made, effective managers gather the facts, analyze the situation, consider alternatives, and decide on the best course of action -- and they do it quickly! They don't procrastinate, and they certainly don't stand around wringing their hands. They move!

Further, once a decision is made, there is no looking back. The time for constructive dissent has passed. Instead, it is time for all members of the team to get behind the decision with 100 percent buy-in, even if their recommended course of action was not taken, and it is incumbent upon the manager to ensure this happens. Even the best decision can be undermined by lack of support and backroom second guessing.

Decisive managers understand that their decisions may not be perfect and, therefore, that modifications may be needed. They don't hesitate to modify or alter their decisions when it becomes clear that the original decision isn't working out exactly as planned. The effective manager knows that making a decision and taking action is almost always better than taking no action at all.

Frank was conducting a leadership session , in Toronto, Canada. It was a retreat for top-level managers. He asked the group about the outcomes of their decision making: "If you could go back through all the decisions you made in the last year, what percentage of those decisions would you make in exactly the same way?" The consensus of the group was about 50 percent. One participant said that even though he would change about 50 percent of his decisions in some way, he wouldn't want to get out of the "decision-making business."

Some managers postpone tough decisions with the rationale that they aren't hurting their organization if they wait until things look clearer and an obvious decision can be made. This rationalization couldn't be further from the truth. Many a manager has experienced missed opportunities resulting from this way of thinking. You need to gather facts and data, analyze them, consider alternatives, and move forward, making the best decision you can at the time with the information that is available.

I know that making decisions and taking action comes at a risk. After all, you may make a mistake. It has always been my preference to take the risk anyway. I've never considered making an honest mistake to be a career-interrupting event for myself or the people who have worked for me. However, making a mistake, realizing it, and not taking immediate action to correct it could very well be. Too often, ego and pride get in the way of taking corrective action, and the result is wasted time and energy.

The hardest decisions to make are usually the ones for which managers receive many different opinions on the best course of action. For some managers, myriad opinions would be reason not to decide at all. My advice to managers has always been to use their best judgment, choose a course of action, and get on with it. Furthermore, I always advise that if the decision proves not to be the right one, fix it as quickly as possible.

Have you ever had a manager who just couldn't make a decision? Unfortunately, there are many of them out there, and they are very frustrating to work for. As compared with consensus-building managers who procrastinate in making decisions, though they eventually will regardless of how late or watered down, here I'm referring to managers who just can't make a decision at all. Perhaps they lack self-confidence, believing they are unable to make the right decisions, so they take no action. These managers can be salvaged if they work for strong leaders who force decisions to be made.

Other managers might simply be lazy, or they don't want to take the time required to make good decisions. They are comfortable with the status quo and don't see, or choose not to see, that their decisions are necessary. These are the managers who usually can't be salvaged and need to find another line of work -- one that does not involve managing people.

Four Tips to Beat the Feast or Famine Syndrome

1. Allocate Marketing Resources Effectively
How should you allocate your marketing resources—your time, energy, effort, and your marketing budget? The key is to find just the right balance in marketing to three groups: existing clients, prospective clients, and the broader market.

Without question, your best source for new consulting work is from your existing clients and the referrals they can provide. Your current clients should generate the largest share of your profits, so plan to allocate 60% of your marketing efforts to your existing clients.

Prospective clients represent the next generation of work for your practice. Your goal is to convert prospective clients into paying ones—if they fit your targeted client profile and have problems that you can solve. Commit 30 percent of your marketing resources to win work from this group.

It’s always important to maintain visibility in the broader market. This includes everybody in the business world not represented in the two groups above. Invest 10 percent of your marketing resources in the broader market. Focusing on this group is less efficient, but the effort has the potential to generate important contacts and leads.

The 60/30/10 percentages are rules of thumb, and are not set in concrete. If you’re just starting a practice, you’ll expend more of your marketing efforts attracting prospective clients. As your practice grows, move toward the 60/30/10 percentages.

2. Create a Plan You Can Stick to
Marketing literature is full of advice on building a marketing plan, so if your eyes are rolling about now, bear with me. The fact is, the most potent weapon to battle feast or famine is a long-range marketing plan that’s realistic, will achieve your goals, and has your buy-in.

Where do you want your practice to go? What clients do you want to work with? What sets you apart from other consultants?

Without a real plan that addresses those questions, your marketing will always be a hit or miss proposition. You might make time for marketing when it’s convenient, but you will put it aside when more in-your-face activities overwhelm your schedule.

The most effective marketing plan is short—seven sentences to be exact. It should fit on a single page. Feel free to add as much detail as you’d like, but begin with the basics. Even if you already have a marketing plan, try to re-craft it using these seven points:

Explain the purpose of your marketing.
What results will you achieve for your practice through your marketing efforts? Maybe you want to increase your market visibility, attain a certain market share in your industry, develop new business with existing clients, or launch a new service offering.

Explain how you achieve that purpose by articulating the benefits you provide.
Why are your services needed? Why should clients choose you instead of a competitor? Spell out the substantive value you provide for clients.

Describe your target market(s).
Who do you want to reach with your marketing message? You might, for example, target specific industries, segments within an industry, or a particular business function, like Human Resources.

Describe your niche.
What’s your specialty? Maybe you excel at improving employee productivity through training programs, or helping clients retain their best people by implementing career development programs.

Outline the marketing tactics you will use.
How will you convey your message to your target market(s)? Select the marketing tools you’ll use, such as publishing, publicity, speaking, or direct mail, to name a few.

Define the identity of your practice
How do you want clients to think of you—collegial, objective, analytical, creative, tough, collaborative, results-oriented, or generous with ideas? Identify the culture and reputation of your practice.

Quantify your marketing budget
How much will you invest in marketing? You can specify a dollar amount, or you can commit a percentage of revenue from the business to marketing activities. The process of creating your marketing plan will force you to make choices about the future of your business and about how to allocate your time and resources, especially if you are serious about achieving the objectives you’ve described in your plan.

3. Build a Marketing Road Map
Have you ever been convinced that you knew where you were going only to find out that you were totally lost? When you’re lost, looking at a map—assuming you have one—can quickly get you back on track. A Marketing Road Map spells out the details of how and when you will implement your marketing plan to steer your marketing activities in the right direction.

Preparing your Marketing Road Map is a strategic and tactical activity. It begins with your ideas on how to present your practice to the market and sets a precise schedule for each marketing activity on your plan. Your Marketing Road Map will always show you where you are and what you need to do to arrive at the future you’ve designed in your marketing plan.

You should derive energy and enthusiasm from your marketing plan and Road Map to keep you driving toward your goals—in spite of the fires raging in the short-term.

4. Be Consistent
The most successful consultants know that marketing is a continuous process. Marketing success is about creating momentum through consistent action over a sustained period of time. You must be the constant force behind that process.

Once you have momentum, it’s easier to lose than it is to maintain. Stop paying attention to your marketing activities and you’ll lose your hard-won marketing gains—you’ll have to start from scratch.

How much time is enough to maintain your momentum? Opinions vary, but try to spend a minimum of 20% of your time on marketing your practice. Variations of this rule are everywhere, so assess your own situation. But keep at it, no matter what.

You should schedule marketing time at the beginning of every month and every week. Treat your marketing “appointments” with yourself like client time: It’s uninterruptible, unless there’s an emergency. Reserve marketing time on your calendar and watch your market presence and success grow.

The consulting business can seem like a roller-coaster ride, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Keep your practice in the mind’s eye of your targeted clients, no matter how busy you are serving others. That will smooth out the ups and downs and pay dividends down the road. Take time every week to advance the visibility of your business, and you’ll experience continual feasts—without the famine.

5 Super Powers You Can Have Today

Everybody wants superpowers, from the simple innocence of a child yearning for flight to the sad perversion of the Amish man praying for x-ray vision powerful enough to peep a lady's calves. We all want to be superhuman, and you can start right now! This is but a sample of some of the currently existing (or soon to be developed) devices that can lend the average person abilities previously relegated to world of comic books.

Super Speed

Leg amputees, if not wheelchair-bound, are often left struggling with awkward prosthetics, canes, and crutches. But now, with the aid of newly developed super-legs, even double amputees can run every bit as well as some of the world's fastest sprinters.

This all began in the 2000 paralympics with a South African man named Oscar Pistorius who became the first amputee to complete the 200-meter dash in under 22 seconds, beating the previous world record, held by one Brian Frasure.

But there is some controversy over the legs' use. While they only put out a 95% return of force as compared to the normal human legs' 200% return, the running prosthetics also give the user a springing gait and increased stride distance, which could lend them an unfair advantage as well as a jaunty disposition.

Considering that this story took place in the ancient days of the year of our lord, 2000, and the fact that the legs have since gone through countless permutations by a myriad of companies, many designs endow abilities well beyond typical human capacity.

But there is a great tragedy being overlooked in this story: Brian Frasure, the previous world record holder, actually helped design these prosthetic carbon-fiber feet, and he was the one who gave them to Pistorius… who promptly proceeded to wipe Frasure from the record books with them.

The poor bastard. He's probably working on a time machine right now, to prevent himself from ever building these legs. If so, knowing his track record, he will most likely be thwarted when somebody inevitably uses that time machine to steal his plans and then invent it before him. He will die as he lived, crippled (by irony.)

Bullet Proof

D3O (d-3-o) is an exciting new development in bulletproofing material and not, as it sounds, a generic brand version of a Star Wars robot. Or rather, it's an impact proof material which, in conjunction with already existing bulletproof materials, could provide true invulnerability to most gunshot wounds. As it stands now, you can survive many gunshot wounds with traditional Kevlar, but are likely to feel pretty poor afterwords, as the distributed force causes fleshwounds, broken bones and large concentric bruises – like getting your ass beat by the atmosphere.

Oftentimes the impact from surviving a gunshot will temporarily knock the victim unconscious as well, leaving them vulnerable with a guy that has already made his feelings clear through the administration of bullets.

But D3O is set to stop that: It works kind of like cornstarch -- It starts off as gel, but gets proportionally harder when more force is exerted on it. When soft, the substance allows for greater flexure, but when rigid can reduce the strength of a bullet impact by more than half.

The UK Ministry of Defense has already commissioned body and head armor using the new substance, obviously seeing the potential for better protection… or just because it looks really, really fun to grab. We're talking bubble-wrap levels of tactile stimulation here, people.

Invisibility

Scientists are getting damn close to inventing a true invisibility cloak. Previous efforts -- while still scarily advanced -- are nonetheless always slightly inaccurate, because they rely on a camera/projector technique. Recently, a paper published in the March 2009 issue of SIAM Review collected all that we currently know about the method of invisibility, and it turns out it's a lot.

We can not only render things invisible in theory by bending light waves around an object, but have even progressed so far as to be developing the metamaterials needed to bring the theory to life.

So, while it's incredibly close but currently theoretical in the private sector, who's to say that better-funded government scientists don't already have a secret working prototype? How would you know, after all? They could be there right now…they could be….right…BEHIND YOU! Nah, I'm just kidding. Why would they be behind you? They're invisible, after all. They're probably right in front of you. Or in your bathroom, depending on their inherent creepiness and the severity of their pervert-mustache.

Spiderman Webs

Some of us, as children, saw Spider-man's amazing agility and web-swinging prowess and were immediately struck with jealous awe. The desperation even had some of us – who shall remain unnamed and are in no way me – microwaving spiders in an attempt to harness their radioactive bite. Not like Liming Dai, and Zhong Lin Wing, two professors at the universities of Dayton and Georgia Tech, respectively, who invented a material with ten times better proportional sticktion (I swear to god that's a word) than a Gecko's foot.

The true awesomeness of the material, however, is that the nanotube spatulae (basically microscopic hairs) design also allows the material to pull free with a well-placed tug, letting you adhere to virtually any surface as well as quickly remove from that surface for redeployment. Or, as your childhood selves would understand it: Holy Shit! We get to swing on webs now!

So on the upside: Childhood dreams realized! Let's get to work on making Transformer Best Friends a reality and we're all set. On the downside? Prepare for a massive Darwinian strike aimed solely at the ADD infested nerd-children of America. Their awkward, flailing flips and mid-air somersaults shall bring a reaping as terrible to endure as it is hilarious to see.

Super Sight

Rob Spence, a filmmaker from Canada, had his eye wounded in a shooting accident as a child. Presumably furious at its weak character and lazy work ethic, Spence asked doctors to just completely remove it a few years ago, and now he's getting it replaced with a small camera (of the type normally used for colonoscopies,) a battery, and a wireless transmitter – effectively turning him into a human documentarian capable of recording, broadcasting, and relaying literally everything he sees, as he sees it.

Clearly this is an advantage over other, larger, more expensive filmmaking crews, as it not only gives Scott a completely secret way to record, but makes him basically the world's smallest, cheapest studio. But god, consider what he's sacrificed to get here! Not only has he been shot in the eye, but he's demanded that said eye be removed, years later, and then replaced with something that normally goes up your butt. The man's got a butt-eye for christ's sake! Van Gogh may have cut off his ear, but until he replaces it with a dick, Rob Spence wins for craziest gesture in the name of art, hands down.

Sales Prospecting Best Practices

Prospecting is a key selling skill and a critical skill to develop if you want to increase your sales and achieve long-term success in sales. Yet, most sales people don’t invest enough time to this integral sales strategy. Part of the problem is that very few companies teach sales reps how to prospect. Here are five prospecting best practices for you to consider.

Allot a specific amount of time every day/week or month.

When my wife first started her software training business, our accountant said, “Devote a certain amount of time every week looking for new business.”

Prospecting is not a fun activity, at least not for most people. However, the more time you consistently invest prospecting for new business the more likely it is that you will never suffer from a sales slump. That’s why it is imperative that you block time in your calendar each and every week to prospect for new business.

Do you schedule prospecting time into your calendar every week?

Use a variety of methods to prospect for new business.

Too many sales people take the same approach week after week. Although they may generate good results it is critical that you use multiple methods and approach to uncover new business leads. Here are a few strategies you should consider:

Cold calling via telephone
Door to door cold calling
Asking for referrals
Networking
Speaking at conferences
Writing articles
Trade shows
Conferences

Are you using enough prospecting methods to generate ample sales leads for your business?

Develop a powerful introduction.

The majority of sales people fail miserably at this. I recall talking to a person I met at a networking event and after a fifteen minute conversation, I still had no idea of what she did or what service she provided to her clients.

Jeffrey Hayzlett, former CMO of Kodak suggests that you have 18 seconds to capture someone’s attention and an addition 100 seconds to convince them why they should continue a conversation or schedule a follow-up call or meeting.

Is your introduction powerful enough to capture the attention of new prospects?

Master all types of media including; telephone, email, text, direct mail, social media

Today’s business offers many more ways to communicate with prospect which makes it easier AND more complex to connect with new prospects. This means you need to be able to communicate effectively in more mediums than before.

Does your voice mail message help you stand out from your competition?
Can you send an email that compels your prospect to respond?
Do you know how to write an effective sales letter?
Are you utilizing social media to connect with your prospects?

Create a compelling value proposition.

The vast majority of sale people simply do not create a compelling reason why someone should do business with them or buy their product or service.

Their voice mails messages, emails and sales pitches sound like everyone else’s and do little to compel a prospect to return their call, respond to their email, or call them back after a sales presentation.

Is your value proposition valuable enough to compel your prospect to want to talk to you?

Consistent and effective prospecting can make the difference between average sales and great sales results. If you are serious about increasing your sales, make the effort to apply the strategies into your daily and weekly sales routine.

Great Speakers Keep It Simple

One thing that the best public speakers have in common is that they keep their speeches and presentations simple. Rather than trying to impress their audience, great speakers put their efforts into delivering a clear, compelling message.
Here’s one of the major differences between ordinary speakers and great speakers: Ordinary speakers want to impress their audiences, while great speakers want to communicate with their audiences—clearly and persuasively.

The finest speakers keep their organization simple. They rely on standard guidelines that keep the audience aware of what’s happening: “So moving from my first point—that we need to increase our sales this quarter—I’ll talk about my second point, describing a specific new training program we are initiating, involving everyone, including the CEO.”

Years ago I heard about a whimsical note someone supposedly scribbled on a tombstone: “To follow you I’m not content, until I know which way you went.” That statement summarizes how audiences feel. You may think you are being too repetitive with your transitions, yet audiences consider these spoken cues your vocalized GPS directions, to keep them on the proper route.

Second, the finest speakers keep their delivery simple. They don’t try to sound like product pitchmen, politicians, or broadcasters. In his fine book about speaking, You Are the Message, Roger Ailes noted that “The best communicators I have ever known never changed their style of delivery from one situation to the other. They’re the same whether they’re delivering a speech, having an intimate conversation, or being interviewed on a TV talk show.”

In other words, you don’t have to be flamboyant, bombastic, or gymnastic. Just have a sincere, energetic conversation with your audience. Sure, you might have seen other speakers who gesture like a windmill gone wild or shout at top volume. But because that fits their style doesn’t imply you should follow their example. The vast majority of audiences want you to talk to them with the same comfortable—but spirited—tone you’d use at a conference table when you participate in a meeting.

Third, compelling speakers use simple, everyday language. Certainly I applaud anybody’s effort to increase his or her vocabulary by working crossword puzzles, looking up words they don’t know when they’re reading, and even studying foreign languages. Primarily, though, our enlarged vocabularies are beneficial for reading, not for speaking.

My guess is that Winston Churchill may have mastered language more than any other statesman we’re familiar with. Even so, when he wanted to rally the British people during the Second World War, he didn’t speak like a scholar. He said—so basically that anyone could understand—“You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs—victory in spite of all terrors—victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.”

Did anybody miss his point? Not at all. Did citizens and soldiers rally behind the Prime Minister? Yes, with unforgettable dedication.

Next time you give a speech, leave out the big words. They belong in the dictionary, not in speeches. Instead of prevaricate, say lie. Instead of penultimate, say next-to-last. Instead of fortuitous, say lucky.

In closing (notice that I have given another obvious transition), I invite you to list the top five speakers you have heard in your lifetime, either in person or on radio/TV. Now picture those you selected, in action. I’ll bet every one of them made you forget they were giving a speech, because their content and presentation were so simple.

Do likewise. Keep it simple, and you’ll keep your audience interested, involved, and amazingly responsive to your message

Top 10 Ways to Maximize Your Networking Approachability

Ready to Engage
The word approachability derives from the Latin verb appropriare, which means “to come nearer to.” Interesting. It doesn’t say anything about the approach-er or the approach-ee. Just “to come nearer to.” So the first idea to remember is that approachability is a two way street. It’s both you stepping onto someone else’s front porch; and you inviting someone to step onto your front porch.

Although this article will address both sides of the street, here’s an example of the former. When you arrive at a meeting, event, party or anywhere in which many conversations will take place, prepare yourself. Be “ready to engage” with conversation topics, questions and stories in the back of your mind ready to go as soon as you meet someone. This will help you avoid those awkward “How’s the weather” type of discussions.

CPI
This acronym stands for the Common Point of Interest. It’s an essential element to every conversation and interaction. Your duty, as you meet new people, or even as you talk with those you already know, is to discover the CPI as soon as possible. It connects people to you. It allows them to feel more comfortable talking to you. And it increases your approachability inasmuch as people will be magnetized to you due to the commonality you share.

A great tip is to ask the right type of questions. Similar to our first example, “ready to engage,” you don’t want to ask people about the weather. You can do better than that! Instead, ask questions that begin with “What’s your favorite…” “Tell me the best…” or “When was the last time…” The CPI is almost guaranteed to be discovered.

Flavored Answers
In the event that one of those Fruitless Questions like “How’s it going?” “What’s up?” or “How are you?” comes up, don’t fall into the F.I.N.E. trap. In fact, fine isn’t even a word. No, seriously! I looked the word up in 23 different dictionaries and it wasn’t listed! Upon further research I discovered that F.I.N.E. is an acronym for “Feelings I’m Not Expressing.”

A great technique is to offer a Flavored Answer to a Fruitless Question. Instead of “fine,” try “Amazing!” “Any better and I’d be twins!” or “Everything is beautiful.” Your conversation partner will instantly change his or her demeanor as they smile and, most of the time, inquirer further to find out what made you say that answer. Because nobody expects it. And offering a true response to magnify the way you feel is a perfect way to share yourself with others, or “make yourself personally available” to others.

Don’t Cross Your Arms
Even if it’s cold, even if you’re bored, even if you’re tired and don’t want to be there – don’t cross your arms. It’s such a simple, subconscious non-verbal cue that too many people practice and it hinders their approachability.

As a result, people won’t want to “bother” you. They will form the impression that you are defensive, nervous, judgmental, close minded or skeptical. Honestly, would you want to approach someone like that? I know I wouldn’t.

Don’t Assume
Every time you assume, you end up making an … yeah, yeah, yeah – we get it. Or do we? How many times have we uttered one of the following sentences, only to be stricken with a terrible case of Foot-In-Mouth Disease?

You must be new here?
How’s work going?
Do you remember me?

Remember, just because someone walks in whom you’ve never seen before – doesn’t mean he’s new. Or just because you’re at a networking meeting – doesn’t mean everyone in attendance has a job. And believe me, not everyone you remember – remembers you.

Approachability is a function of comfort, so it’s important to sidestep these moments of embarrassment with Success Sentences. These are phrases that allow the other person to offer you’re the information you need to know. Examples include, “I’m not sure we’ve met before,” “What are you working on this week?” and “I’m Scott, we met last month at the Chamber meeting.”

Options for Communication
Your friends, colleagues, customers and coworkers will choose to communicate with you in different ways. Some will choose face to face, some will email, others will call, while others will do a little of everything. The bottom line is: make all of them available. On your business cards, email signatures, websites or marketing materials, let people know that can get in touch with you in whatever manner they choose. Sure, you might prefer email. But what matters most is the comfort of the other person and their ability to communicate effectively.

A good idea is to give people as many options to contact you as possible. There’s nothing more annoying to a “phone person” than when she discovers she can’t get a hold of you unless she emails you.

Email Signature
Whatever program you use for email - Outlook, Eudora, Yahoo, Hotmail - find out how to customize your signature. There's nothing more frustrating than receiving an email from someone who wants to talk further, get together or have you send them something that doesn't have any personal information in the email. So at the end of every email you send, always cross reference the following information:

Name
Title
Company/Organization
Mailing address
At least two phone numbers
Fax number
Email address
Website

A sentence or two about yourself, your company or your job
Think of it this way: have you ever received a handwritten letter from someone that had no return address stamped on the envelope?

Always Have Business Cards
Have you ever told a story about a successful, serendipitous business encounter that ended with the phrase, “Thank God I had one of my business cards with me that day!”? If so, great! You’re practicing approachability by being “easy to reach.”

If not, you’ve no doubt missed out on valuable relationships and opportunities. And it happens – people forget cards, get their supply reprinted or change jobs. But the bottom line is; there is a time and place for networking: ANY time and ANY place. Because you just never know whom you might meet.

No Fear
They won’t say hello back to me. They won’t be interested in me. I will make a fool of myself. This is the number one reason people don’t start conversations. However, practice will make this fear fade away. The more often you you start conversations, the better you will become at it. So, be the first to introduce yourself or say hello. When you take an active instead of a passive role, your skills will develop and there will be less of a chance for rejection. Also understand the gains vs. losses. For example, what’s so bad about a rejection from someone you don’t even know?

Wear Your Nametag
I’ve heard every possible complaint about wearing nametags, and all of them can be validated. Case in point:

Nametags look silly – yes, they do. But remember, everyone else is wearing them too.
Nametags ruin my clothes – not if you wear them on the edge of your lapel or use cloth-safe connectors like lanyards and plastic clips.
But I already know everybody – no you don’t. You may think you do, but new people come in and out of businesses and organizations all the time.
But everyone already knows me – no they don’t. Even the best networkers know there’s always someone new to meet.
Your nametag is your best friend for several reasons. First of all, a person’s name is the single context of human memory most forgotten. And people are less likely to approach you if they don’t know (or forgot) your name. Secondly, it’s free advertising for you and your company. Third, nametags encourage people to be friendly and more approachable. TRUST me on that one!

5 Ways Blogging Can Make You a Better Person

1. No doubt about it: blogging improves your writing
Many of us who read ProBlogger started our blogs with the hope of growing a readership and eventually earning an income. Blogging opened doors for me I didn’t even know existed (Who knew it could be a job?), but it also has done wonders for my writing ability. Am I the only one to inwardly cringe while rereading some of my earliest posts? Two years into this gig, I now feel much more comfortable in my blogging skin and my virtual corner. The daily act of writing cannot help but improve our skills. With each act of pressing Publish, we gain experience, insight, and feedback we didn’t have the day before. Collectively, this momentum refines and improves our abilities as encouragers and providers of information.William Zinnser, author of the bestselling On Writing Well, said that “writing is a craft, not an art.” Craft improves with practice, practice, and more practice.

2. All that practice rubs off on your character
Just like a runner training for a marathon, we learn about endurance on the race to better writing. Fitting blogging into an already busy life has taught me both perseverance and self-discipline. It has also thrown insecurity and self-doubt my way, at the same time giving me the urge to overcome them. Haven’t you had days when you wanted to shut your laptop and call the whole thing off? Days when the stats don’t add up or readers aren’t responding? Yet those of us in this for the long haul, sense a deep conviction—something within that pushes us to keep going. That resolve can’t help but spill over into other parts of our lives.

3. Blogging increases your life span (well, if it encourages you to change your eating habits)
I have the blogosphere to thank for introducing me to the whole foods movement. I’d always attempted to feed my family well, but had never seen nutrition presented in a simple, manageable way until I began following links from one foodie’s blog to another.Coconut oil, brown rice syrup, tofu? These once-strange substances now feel like familiar friends. I even found the courage to make my own yogurt and become a vegan for 30 days earlier this year.Bloggers add a personal voice to the nightly news statistics we hear about food, health, and disease. A snapshot inside someone else’s kitchen transformation serves to inspire our own.

4. An active presence in the blogosphere can transform your real-life relationships
There’s no question that I am a better parent since I started my first blog.
As a blogger who writes about motherhood, I expected to share my knowledge and experience with others. But I never imagined the depth of inspiration I would find myself. Whether it comes from a comment someone leaves, a random link that points me to a much-needed resource, or a post that reminds me of the bigger perspective in the midst of the daily grind, there’s no end to the ideas I’ve gathered. My three young kids have the blogosphere to thank for the mother I’m becoming.On top of that, I now have a built-in community—virtual kindred spirits to approach when life gets tough or questions arise. Our fellow bloggers become friends in every sense of the word, and mentors too.

5. Blogging and social media raise your awareness of global need and give you the chance to respond
Anyone who doubts the power of the blogosophere hasn’t heard of Compassion Bloggers. Comprised of over 30 writers who have traveled to seven countries, Compassion has proven that blogging gives a personal face to massive global issues, releasing children from poverty in the process.Or consider the example of Love146, a global charity seeking to abolish child sex trafficking and exploitation. My husband serves as CEO of this organization, whose blog and social media presence have sparked a worldwide movement of abolition. William Wilberforce didn’t have Twitter on his side when stirring up advocates against slavery; we do and we can use its power to influence the world for good. I would never have believed that blogging would become my job, alter my eating habits, improve my relationships, and help me fuel global change. To those who think blogging is dead, let me reassure you otherwise. We’ve only just begun–to grow, to change, to influence, to become better. Each of us reading today has been influenced in some way by the blogosphere. How has it changed you?