The Three Little Pigs Went to the Stock Market
January 31, 2008
Three little pigs went to the market to stock up for the future.
The first little pig liked chips so he went to the DOW market. He was told by everyone you could always rely on their products. They were always good. The manager told him you could put them away and forget about them.
The second little pig liked spicy things. He shopped at the NASDAQ market where they had unusual products. He said that his purchases were good to put away even though they had some strange ingredients. He took his home and said he did not need to worry about them even though others had told him to be careful.
The third little pig went to both of those markets. He would pinch the tomatoes and squeeze the Charmin. He was a very careful shopper. Many times he would put things in his shopping cart, but later take them out because they were not “just right”.
Our first little piggy brought home his purchases, put them away and many times forget about them. The store manager had told him they would always be good and he believed him so he did not bother to check on them periodically.
Credit Unions Can Keep You From Bankruptcy
January 30, 2008
Credit Unions Can Keep You From Bankruptcy
by: James Mahony
The following article lists some simple, informative tips that will help you have a better experience with bankruptcy.
If you are one of the millions of Americans who have bad credit or bankruptcy on your credit report, and are looking to get a house someday, you may feel the need to correct your credit problem and get out of debt. In order to do this, you have three choices. You can go through a debt consolidator to help you, you can go it alone, or you can go to a credit union for help. Debt consolidators can be very helpful in lowering your debts for you or helping you to pay off your debts with less monthly fees. Most people do not succeed in going it alone, and the final choice is a credit union.
How Do Sellers Get Paid On Ebay?
January 30, 2008
How Do Sellers Get Paid On Ebay?
by: Dan Lim
A SELLER’S DASH FOR CASH
Today, eBay is considered to be one of the most lucrative auction sites available in the Internet.
However, selling on eBay is not that easy, and the very first thing a seller should do is to find the ways on how he or she will get paid once the item is sold. And so, here are the different ways how a seller can be paid:
1. PayPal
PayPal is the most common and convenient way of sending and receiving money based on an eBay transaction. Here, the payment for the sold item is sent directly to the seller by means of an established bank account or a credit card.
2. Personal Check or Cashier’s Check
Sellers may choose this kind of option. However, the drawback of using this kind of payment method is that the seller still has to wait for a number of banking days before the check gets cleared.
3. Credit Cards
Managing for Best Performance
January 29, 2008
Managing for Best Performance
by: Megan Tough
In it’s simplest form, performance management is a common sense set of discussions that make sure people are clear about what they need to do, have the support to do it and get open and honest feedback on their performance.
Any performance management process should answer 4 important questions for your employees:
• What do I need to do and how well? (Direction)
• How am I doing? (Feedback)
• What happens when I do well? (Reward/Recognition)
• What happens when I need/want help? (Support/Development)
Lets look more closely at each of these:
Direction
Employees are not mind readers. Just because it is clear to the manager exactly what is expected, doesn’t mean the employee has the same understanding. Having a detailed discussion about exactly what the job requires and any specific priorities is the first step in good performance management. Key points to cover include:
• what needs to be achieved throughout the year
• what data or information (evidence) will be used to measure performance
• the key actions needed to achieve the desired outcomes
8 Ways to Get More from your Existing Customers
January 28, 2008
8 Ways to Get More from your Existing Customers
by: Megan Tough
For many of us - especially those in service businesses - our existing and previous customers are vital for three reasons:
1. They have already bought from us, so providing they had a good experience, they might buy from us again. We also know that getting a new customer is much more expensive than selling to an existing customer, so by continuing to sell to them, we are really saving ourselves some money.
2. They can give us invaluable feedback on how we did. Was our service good enough? Did we delight them or were we ‘just ok’. Did our product meet their expectations? Was it good value for money? And so on.
3. They continue to save us money because they should be our major source of referrals and new business. So through them, we get access to new clients who already know about us and have a positive opinion of what we do.
How Well do Employers Really Know what their Staff Want?
January 27, 2008
How Well do Employers Really Know what their Staff Want?
by: Megan Tough
A major problem for business owners and employers today is getting the best employees and then keeping them. Sounds easy, but any employer will tell you that these activities take up the most time and have the biggest impact on business results. So how do you go about retaining the good people once you’ve found them?
Understanding what your employees want from a workplace sounds like a logical place to start. After all, if you know what your employees are after, you simply need to provide it and all will be well. This is a great theory, but research shows that employers are not that successful at identifying what their employees actually want. In fact there is a significant disconnect between the things that employees say are important to them, and how highly employers rank those same things.
This survey first came out in 1946 in Foreman Facts, from the Labor Relations Institute of NY and was produced again by Lawrence Lindahl in Personnel magazine, in 1949. This study has since been replicated with similar results by Ken Kovach (1980); Valerie Wilson, Achievers International (1988); Bob Nelson, Blanchard Training & Development (1991); and Sheryl & Don Grimme, GHR Training Solutions (1997-2001).
Re-Energise Your Business - Remove Sources Of Friction And Delay
January 26, 2008
Re-Energise Your Business - Remove Sources Of Friction And Delay
by: Megan Tough
Sometimes delays are important, but if you’re not adding value, then it is not good.
Some level of friction and delay are prevalent in virtually every business. Depending on what you are trying to achieve, they are not automatically bad things. There are times when deliberately slowing down (introducing delay to) an activity is the right thing to do. But where they are a result of poorly evolved processes, lack of training or resources, or lack of knowledge - it’s time to take action and remove them from your life!
How can we define Friction and Delay? Friction is whatever gets in the way of a smooth and uninterrupted flow of events. Think of sliding along a bench covered in sandpaper versus one covered with oil. Delay is adding time without adding value.
High levels of these in any business are expensive, leading to lower productivity, and higher costs.
Why do businesses tolerate these levels of friction and delay??
They are considered a cost of doing business.
Your Business Success Checklist
January 25, 2008
Your Business Success Checklist
by: Megan Tough
As a business coach, I spend a lot of time working with people who want to improve different aspects of their business. Many times these aspects are merely symptoms of a more fundamental, underlying issue.
If you want your business to truly shine, then there are some basic principles that, if not present, can lead to sub standard performance in other areas. And here they are:
1. Crystal clear purpose
The most common reason companies run into trouble is losing sight of the customer and their needs. Having a crystal clear purpose helps keep the focus from becoming too internally fixated, instead articulating why the business exists from the customer’s perspective. A clear and inspiring purpose will also give your employees a reason to be connected with their hearts, not just their minds.
2. Discipline
Sometimes this is an unpopular topic, but it is critical. Discipline means having a sharp and constant focus on your objectives, whether they be growth, profits or customer objectives. Successful businesses build continual monitoring into their processes, constantly aware of the gap between where they are and where they should be.
Landlording 101, Tricks of The Trade
January 25, 2008
Looking Inside Your Tenant’s Mind Basic Mind-Reading Report 101 for Landlords
It goes without saying but I will say it anyway. The better you understand your tenants and their personal situation, the better you can serve their needs and your own. Notice that your needs come after your tenants. Always put your tenants’ needs before your own and they will buy real estate for you in return. That’s a fair trade. Take it!
Many cold-hearted, self-serving, money-grudging, wanna-be landlords don’t understand human nature. Let me tell you right now, if you can’t put yourself in another person’s shoes and see a problem from that person’s perspective with empathy, you will fail miserably in the "landlording" business and in life. Wise up!
Fear not. If your not quite sure what I’m talking about, here come the stories and details of how to be loved and adored by those kind people called tenants.
Let me first dispel the horror stories about landlording. If you follow my advice and teachings, you should have very few tales of woe to tell. You’ve heard the stories and they sound like this: Those damn lowlife tenants. They trashed our house, they disturbed the neighbors, they ruined our lawn, they were filthy pigs who never paid the rent on time, they never did what we told them to do and it cost us a fortune to get rid of them and repair our investment once they finally did move.
Be Cautious When Considering A Credit Repair Company
January 24, 2008
Be Cautious When Considering A Credit Repair Company
by: Brandon C. Hall
Most people have some sort of debt. Almost everyone has a credit card balance, an outstanding student loan, or mortgage and car payments. All these loans and their payments result in a credit history, which most people don’t usually give too much thought too until it’s too late. Your credit history can have a major influence on your life, and once you credit history becomes poor you will find yourself unable to rent cars, obtain services without deposits, or get a credit card. This is why, if you find yourself in this situation, it is important that you take steps towards credit repair as soon as possible.
Many people will find their poor credit history to be overwhelming, and will be tempted by one of the many companies online that offer to “fix bad credit” for a fee. Although there are some situations where these companies may of use, for most people they are not necessary, and should be avoided.
The reason credit repair companies aren’t useful for most people are because they rarely do anything that you can’t do yourself. These companies will give the impression that they are doing things you wouldn’t normally be able to do on your behalf, but it most cases they are not.
