Business Development: Belly to belly

If you had to distill everything there is to know about business development into a sentence, it would be something like: get face to face with as many clients and prospects as you can, as often as you can. That.....more...

Latest Job Vacancies in Accenture Nigeria

Job Role: Business_Development Job Location: Lagos Industry: Consultancy CLICK HERE TO APPLY Job vacancy 2: Consultants Needed at Accenture Nigeria Job Description: Job Number: 00022333 Job Description .....more...

Get out on the wire.

Seth Godin made a good point on his blog about two hours ago. It's not a new point, or a complex one, but that, I guess, is why it's good. Here it is, paraphrased by me:. There is all the difference in the world between the people who .....more...

Do the Unthinkable: Cut Your Rates

It's bad out there. If you're bottom line is taking a beating, some of your clients are doing much, much worse. Some of them are giving going under a long, hard look. If you have clients in real estate, construction or finance, .....more...

Everyone Loves Cupcakes!

There's a fascinating post in the Harvard Management Review blog. It's entitled Developing Services Consumers Want, and it's a step-by-step guide to the major steps in determining if a service will succeed or fail in the marketplace. .....more...

Who Knows if It Will Work? Do It Anyway.

Seth Godin posted yesterday about the allure of systems that promise guaranteed riches. Examples of this kind of thing are online stock trading "systems", internet marketing schemes, or whatever. He opines thusly: .....more...

Sometimes, marketing is beautifully simple

I was walking up a street in San Francisco, and I saw the most brilliant, simple marketing I've encountered in a long time. On the sidewalk, in front of a rug store, was a nice, big rug. You had to walk over it to walk down the street. .....more...

Business Development in Niagara Falls, Canada - Niagara Falls Canada

Attract new Business, expansion of current business, Business Resources...more...

Business Development: It's a New Year -- Call Your Contacts, But ...

Ford Harding made a good point right before the year ended, one I'm going to kind of borrow and expand upon. In his December 29 post, he suggests calling your contacts at the end of the year to thank them.....more...

Sell what you can do, not what you can prevent.

I have a conference call in about three hours with a client who is a) an attorney who specializes in municipal finance; b) developed an innovative new vehicle for financing a certain kind of project. I am absolutely thrilled with this, .....more...

BBC News Search: business development (20)

House prices 'fell 15.9% in 2008'

House prices fell by 15.9% last year, according to the latest survey by the Nationwide building society.

My sadness at Woolworths' demise

A former employee of Woolworths looks back on his time working for the business as its final stores close.

Cameron makes savings tax pledge

David Cameron proposes to axe tax on basic rate taxpayers' savings and to increase pensioners' tax free allowances.

Steep sales drop for US carmakers

US carmakers report sharp falls in their sales in December as the economic slowdown drives customers away from showrooms.

The Potteries feel Wedgwood blow

The BBC's Bob Walker spends the day in Staffordshire where Waterford Wedgwood has gone into administration placing up to 1,200 jobs at risk.

Perfume seller in administration

Retailer Passion for Perfume becomes the latest high street victim of the economic slowdown.

UK maths failures 'cost ВЈ2.4bn'

Children who are bad at maths at school end up costing the taxpayer up to ВЈ2.4bn a year, research suggests.

Bets are off for Macau gambling boom

Macau's huge construction boom, linked to surging gambling revenues, is grinding to a halt as some 12,000 workers are laid off and projects stop.

Investor warning on Bellway bonus

Housebuilder Bellway looks set to clash with investors after a shareholder watchdog raised concerns over bonuses.

Obama's huge South Asia headache

Ahmed Rashid in Lahore argues that the entire South Asia region faces another year of uncertainty in 2009.

Busy year coming up in education

Mike Baker looks over the diary for next year - when there are some big risks on the horizon.

Why Braille is brilliant

Few inventions have been as simple yet liberating as Braille. To mark the 200th birthday of its inventor Louis Braille, former British home secretary David Blunkett explains how it shaped his life by providing him from an early age with a window on the world.

Two Vietnamese editors sacked

The authorities in Vietnam have sacked the editors of the country's largest two pro-reform newspapers.

China's graduates fight for a future

China's graduates will struggle to find jobs this year as the economy slows down and unemployment rises, the BBC's Chris Hogg says.

Most Britons 'still oppose euro'

A BBC Radio 4 poll finds that 71% of people would vote against Britain joining the European single currency in a referendum.

Country profile: Guinea

Key facts, figures and dates

Paisley cast big shadow over 2008

BBC NI political editor Mark Devenport looks back at the year in which Ian Paisley stepped down as DUP minister, the Executive had a 150-day stand-off and there were a number of interesting developments regarding the future of unionism.

Timeline: Global credit crunch

BBC News looks at how the global credit crisis unfolded.

Honour for rock star Robert Plant

Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant, from Worcestershire, becomes a CBE in the New Year Honours list.

OBE for paralympics sports chief

The chief executive of Paralympics GB, who lives in Essex, is appointed OBE in the New Year Honours list.

Internet And Online Business With No Education Discrimination

Online business opportunities do not rely on a college degree. Your success in business will not depend on letters following your name. You can succeed in online business even if you’ve never taken the A.C.T. test.

I’ve written in other articles about the fact that in online business you are not discriminated against because of your age or gender. Thankfully the same rule applies to your education.

Now, let me turn a corner. Even though you do not need a degree to own a business online you do need to have a hunger for knowledge. You will not be able to succeed if you are unwilling to learn what it takes to make your online business a winner.

This isn’t simply a matter of putting a homemade sign on a table in your front yard in the hope that everyone comes to buy from your lemonade stand. You will have to learn to take your message to the masses and invite them to place trust in your product.

Online marketing can be a difficult thing to master, which is why you need to prove yourself a diligent student of online business management.

Like the layers of an onion you will need to take each layer of your business as a separate and unique challenge. Concept by concept you will learn to develop your business site. However, too many individuals quit before they get to the heart of their business onion. They shed some tears along the way and end up saying, “It’s just not worth it.”

For those that endure and maintain diligence in learning they will find that their skills coupled with increased knowledge can combine to transform dreams into reality.

The best things in life are free. Things like the smile of a child, the beauty of a flower or the smell of freshly baked bread. However, when it comes to online business the best things may require some work. Opportunities are lost because business owners failed to try every door. Repeat sales do not happen because the business owner discounted the notion that follow-up and better than average customer service is important.

If you are a business owner evaluate your time today. See if you can make room for an hour or two each day to spend in research and application. Forge some time to develop new skills and then work to put that expertise into practice.

If you’re like most people you spend time ‘playing’ online everyday. This can be a great and even needed diversion, but it should never come at the expense of business development. Honestly evaluate how you manage your day and see what room can be made available to explore uncharted business waters.

It is true that the Internet does not discriminate against business owners who do not have a degree, but discriminating shoppers usually can tell when an online business doesn’t quite have it all together.

Try to learn something new about your business or online marketing every day. Refuse to be idle. Do something to cause your business to grow. It may not happen today, this week, month or year, but one good decision today will improve opportunities in the future.

Effective Networking For Coaches

When you introduce yourself as a coach at networking events – what do people do? Sign up immediately? Probably not, in fact they may see the introduction as an offer of your services so, could then react defensively and say “I don’t need a coach – I am perfectly happy and I am doing fine thank you”.

What amuses me about this scenario is that they are exactly the type of people we want to work with and the type of people that would reap amazing benefits from working with us. Most of us want to work with people who are doing ‘fine’ and are ‘happy’. We want to empower them to be inspired and motivated to reach the next rung of the career ladder or explore the next phase in their relationships.

Using networking as a business development tool, how can coaches tap into the market of ‘fine and happy’ people and educate them so they understand that working with a Coach will only increase their potential for health, wealth and success?

This question has generated many responses from coaches across the world. Responses have ranged from offering a free consultation session so individuals can understand coaching first hand, to holding seminars to explain how coaching can benefit people. Both are successful methods and have generated clients for the coaches that offer them. Now the coaching industry is growing and becoming more competitive, what is the next step? What can coaches do to differentiate themselves from other coaches and at the same time generate clients more effectively?

A coaching partnership requires trust and this is tough to generate in just one meeting – so how can we turn every contact we meet in to a prospective client more quickly?

1Know your target market and be able to explain it in a clear and specific pitch. This might seem obvious but how many of us describe ourselves as a Coach who works with stressed and overwork individuals? Try to narrow this down – men or women, old or young, female entrepreneurs or stay at home dads? The more specific you can get the more likely you are to get a great referral. I recommend you follow this 3 step process:

o What do you do? I am a Career Coach.

o Who do you work with? I work with men, over the age of 25 in the HR industry

o What do you offer? I motivate and empower male HR professionals to develop effective communication skills, be heard they way they want to be heard and ultimately get ahead in a predominantly female industry. (Contact Lou Clark through www.etrecoaching.com to receive a copy of Кtre’s Effective Communication Toolkit)

2Develop a clear networking event planner. Find 2-3 events that you can attend regularly so people begin to recognize your face, develop trust and then they will be more likely to introduce you to the colleagues / friends. Begin to be like a blinking light and ensure that you are not out of peoples minds for long. This will be far more effective that attending different events each month. I recommend you check out www.bni.com for details of a local chapter and also www.meetup.com for some great networking events in your area. I also recommend working to become a part of the leadership team of the networking events that you attend. This will automatically add credibility to your name and work.

3At networking events when you first meet a prospect, listen to what they do and tailor your description of what you do so it is relevant to them.

4Develop a strong networking follow up process. The majority of networkers that I speak to collect the cards of people they meet at events but don’t do anything with them. Not every person you meet will want to sign up for a coaching program but, they might have a sibling, colleague or friend that is interested. I recommend that you have a clear follow up process for everyone you meet – tailoring the letter / email / phone call to suit the individual and act on this within 24 hours thanking them for taking the time to speak to you yesterday. Remember to ask “who do you know that would be interested in the services that I offer?”

5Keep scheduling one to ones with people you meet. Talk about what you do, success stories and make the tangible benefits relevant to them so they begin to see how coaching might work for them without blasting them with a direct sales pitch.

6Keep reviewing your contacts list on a monthly basis. Have you done everything you can to generate communication with each person. Have you written to them / called them / invited them for a coffee or to another networking event?

7Enjoy the process. Not all of us feel comfortable walking into a room full of strangers but the more you do the easier it will get and the more people you will begin to recognize if you keep attending the same events. However nervous or anxious you feel don’t let anyone else see that – smile, walk tall and be passionate about your business. If you are just starting out why not ask a colleague or friend to come with you for moral support for the first few events?

8Remember to take time to re-fuel, re-energize and evaluate the success you are having.

Networking can be such a powerful business development tool and if done effectively will generate clients and referrals.

Happy Networking!