Welcome to Michael's Article Collection

I Just Lost My Job: How Am I Going To Tell My Kids?

One of the responsibilities of a human resources professional is to let employees know that their job has been eliminated. It is seldom easy to do and often painful for the person who is hearing the news.Just recently, I was involved in communicating a large layoff to employees at a Fortune 500 company. I sat with one woman after she had heard the news to tell her about the career transition se. . .

Achieve More in 2004

Another year is upon us and if you are like most people you have hit the floor running without planning a clear objective for the upcoming year. However, top performing sales people make the time to establish clear targets. Setting goals is not a complicated process nor does it take a lot of time. Use the techniques listed below to help you achieve your targets. Ensure each of your goals follow. . .

Relocation Issues...Who Will Pay?

In light of recent unemployment figures, and a continual downturn in the labor market, many unemployed professionals are finding themselves in a bind when their benefits or severance packages are depleted. It is not easy to compete with 300-600 resumes for one job. Those seeking jobs through postings on the web or through a professional recruitment service must consider a new place to live as . . .

Mission-Critical Public Relations?

As a business, non-profit or association manager, any tool that helps you reach your department, division or subsidiary objective IS mission-critical. And particularly so when that tool helps you persuade your most important external stakeholders to your way of thinking, and then moves them to take actions that lead to your success. Here is such a mission-critical tool. One that lets you get se. . .

It's a Training Issue!

There’s a common phrase used by Organizational Development and Human Resource professionals, when identifying kinks in the growth of an organization or company - “It’s a training issue.” The same phrase can be applied to almost any group of human beings that are working together to achieve a common goal. When progress stagnates and obstacles appear, you can retrace the path of movement and dis. . .

Diversity in the Workplace

As you look around your office, is everyone just like you? Probably not. The demographics of the American workforce have changed dramatically over the last 50 years. In the 1950s, more than 60% of the American workforce consisted of white males. They were typically the sole breadwinners in the household, expected to retire by age 65 and spend their retirement years in leisure activities. Today. . .

Managerial Survival Key

For business, non-profit or association managers like yourself, survival pretty much depends on whether you achieve, or fail to achieve your department, division or subsidiary objectives. Which strongly suggests that, if you haven’t already done so, you may wish to employ a set of tools that will help you persuade your most important outside audiences to your way of thinking, then move them to . . .

How to Sell High Tech Solutions

How to Sell to High Tech SolutionsMany companies are looking to improve upon the speed, security, and accessibility of business technologies, especially satellite and broadband connections to the internet. While customers are becoming more savvy, many don’t speak ‘tech-ese,’ and they still are baffled by terms such as routers, IPSEC, T-1s, WIFI, and broadband. While these buyers may have a ge. . .

Working at Home Doesn't Have to Mean Feeling Alone

Operating a home-based business may let you set your own schedule, spend more time with your children, and earn more money but it does have its own set of challenges. One of those challenges can be a feeling of loneliness. Many home-based business workers spend all their time trapped within the confines of their house. They eat in their own kitchen, type email on their own computer, and sociali. . .

Organization and the Opposite Sex

In many of the companies I have worked in, there is a very high proportion of male managers to females. This causes a major challenge in the work environment, (although many of them are unaware it is an important issue). The women know that with a more balanced hierarchy, and viewing things from a totally different perspective this would increase morale, save time and money. Women are naturally. . .

A Career with the FBI

Do you have what it takes to become an FBI special agent? Do you have a sincere desire to enforce federal laws and investigate crimes? This job requires hard work and can often times be dangerous and stressful. You'll undoubtedly be in close contact with crimminals and victims of crime. But a special agent's job is rewarding if you enjoy serving the public. Long before applying for a job as an . . .

How Merchant Accounts Can Save You Money

We all know that accepting credit cards is the key to online sales. Unfortunately, most merchants are unaware that acquiring a merchant account can actually save them money. And in many cases, big money!For this experiment, we will use a fictional character named Bill. Bill owns and operates a great online resources for marketing tools and resources. Bills website is a membership based website,. . .

When Managers Play the PR Card

The payoff for business, non-profit or association managers can be a real assist towards meeting their department, division or subsidiary objectives. Playing that public relations card means they’ve decided to pursue their objectives by reaching, persuading and moving those outside audiences whose behaviors most affect their organizations, to actions those managers desire. Here’s a bluepr. . .

Mr. Cheapie's Frugal Budget Tips

So you feel like a hamster spinning your wheel? The faster you run, the faster the wheel spins. Just when you get a raise, you notice the price of hamster wheels jumps! Mr. Cheapie is here with his super-charged budget-cutting tips.One of the biggest wastes of money is restaurant meals. You can cook a meal at home for about 2 cents a plate. Just put leftovers in the microwave, and Presto! . . .

How To Subtract In Your Head

We all have to subtract numbers sometimes... whether it's budgeting your household expenses, checking your change at the store, or installing that new shelving unit during a spot of home DIY. The problem is, you won't always have a calculator handy. Well fear not. Doing simple calculations in your head is just as easy and even faster than using a calculator. Here's a quick way to do basic subtr. . .

Reducing Debt Before It's Too Late ... How To Avoid The P...

Reducing debt usually isn't a high priority for people until they have already gotten into trouble with overspending. Using a few basic guidelines, and debt calculations, can help you see when your debt load is getting into the danger zone.Budgeting GuidelinesFirst off, creditors use budgeting guidelines when reviewing and approving credit. If your debt exceeds the financial communities recomme. . .

Getting Software Developed for Your Business

At some point, your business is going to need to have some software development. Maybe your business is small, but existing software doesn't fit your needs. Maybe your company is larger, with significant technology resources already, but you need an outside perspective. Whatever the reason, it can be difficult to choose an software developer, especially if you aren't a technical person. I've he. . .

Are You Overlooking Your Best Referral Source

Studies show that current employees can be the number one source of candidate referrals. As a bonus, candidates referred by employees often ramp up to full productivity faster than candidates from other sources. So how are you taking advantage of this? Do you have a formal employee referral program in place? If not, you should look to develop one. If you do have a program, look for ways to impr. . .

Look Past the Bottom Line for a Property's Potential

It’s unfortunate that many real estate investors tend to look at the bottom line when deliberating about a property, rather than the big picture. The real moneymakers in real estate investments are the people with vision, who think creatively, and are willing to assume some level of risk. A client’s initial line of questioning about an investment property goes something like this: What has t. . .

Managers, Have You Been Shortchanged?

You have been if you’re a business, non-profit or association manager whose public relations budget is focused largely on nifty brochures, column mentions and broadcast plugs. Especially without a workable plan that helps you persuade your most important outside stakeholders to your way of thinking, then moves them to take actions that lead to the success of your department, division or subsidi. . .

Business Stationery, Part 1

One of the greatest forms of advertising is to create stationery that advertises your business. Just think, you would be exposing the Post Office and others in between to your business! First let's create a folder to put your work in. Go to 'start' -- 'Documents' -- go all the way to the top and click on 'My Documents'. Right-click in any open space and choose 'New' -- 'Folder'. A folder with . . .

Writing A Great Resume, Part 2

TIP: Update your resume often. Be sure to add details of any training course, new interests and areas of responsibility. Continue to style your resume the way we did it before. Use Bold font for section headings. You might also want to underline them. TIP: For Speed-highlight the text to underline -- go to the top toolbar. You will see a button that looks like U (with a line under it). Click . . .

Writing A Great Resume, Part 1

Need a great resume to land that great job coming up? We are going to learn to create an eye-catching resume, using Microsoft Word. First, you need to collect all the information you will need to complete your Resume (dates of employment, education dates.....). Let's go to 'start' -- 'programs' -- 'Microsoft Word'. When the page opens, begin where the cursor is flashing and type in 'Resume'. . . .

Get Coached!

Coaching is a hot trend at a growing number of companies, from IBM and Dow Chemical to entrepreneurial start ups. According to a recent survey by The Hay Group, an international human resources consultancy, between 25 percent and 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies use executive coaches. A coach is defined as being “part advisory, part sounding board, part cheerleader, part manager and part str. . .

Writing One or Two Line Ads

Some of you have expressed, to me, that you are a little afraid of writing ads. In this article, we will talk about writing one or two line ads and why they are more effective. One of the first things to think about is, 'How do you read ads?'. Are you in a hurry and just scan them? When you scan do you just look for the jist of the ad? Do you get bored because of all the yada, yada, yada? How . . .

Business Stationery, Part 2

In the first lesson, we learned how to create a Letterhead. In this article, we will learn to create other stationery items using our template. Making Compliment Slips: In Microsoft Word, click on 'new' from the toolbar. A new file will open. We need to set-up our new project. First, to get the maximum print area, go to 'File' -- 'Page Setup'. Set the top and bottom margins to 0. Click 'ok'. . . .

A Corporate Facelift With Sound Bytes

If Baby Boomers can get botox and tummy tucks, then why don’t companies receive facelifts to improve their image as well? The telephone is the lifeblood of any business. Use it respectfully. Don’t leave your clients on-hold to listen to radio static or elevator music. With digital recording and delivery of sound files, professional production of on-hold advertising is both economical and nece. . .

The Top 10 Priorities That Guard Your Five-Star Reputation

Making money doesn’t make your reputation... your reputation makes you money. Gala Gorman Whether your business is product or service-oriented, the loyalty and dedication of your customers is greatly dependent on your reputation. Your most effective sales force is your existing customer base. Word-of-mouth or the personal recommendation, serves to create an expectation that you must only live u. . .

Let's Make Training More Interesting!

Many HR managers believe that by sending their workers to participate in external training programs, they have fulfilled their responsibilities. This is not the best situation. In this article, I will be emphasizing on how to increase the interest-level of your employees who attend the training program taking into consideration that there is increasing cultural diversity and computer literacy i. . .

Boost Profits: Market to the Gay Community

Research shows that the gay and lesbian market is worth cultivating, no matter what your product or service. Despite the cultural changes during the past fifty years the gay and lesbian market is still relatively untapped. According to GLINN (the Gay/Lesbian International News Network) from 1996-1998 the annual value of the gay and lesbian market was 514 billion dollars. Online research conduc. . .

Sweet Parting Of Ways

Why settle for bad feelings when your employee leaves the firm? Human resource managers can help to sweeten the occasion during the exit interview, and get valuable information to help the company in the new knowledge age. More often than not, human resource (HR) managers place more importance on job interviews than on exit interviews. In the best scenario, the manager will view the employee's . . .

Minding Your Own Business

Think you have gone as far as you can in your present job? Instead of looking around for a similar position in another company, you may want to strike out on your own as a consultant. With a greater acceptance of telecommuting and companies outsourcing a number of their functions, individuals may want to consider being an independent consultant. But before you jump in, take the following into a. . .

Selecting a good Stock Trading Software

There are so many different stock trading software packages on the market that you could try a different one, every day of the year, and never run the same one twice. Many trading professionals use some type of stock trading software to keep their emotions in check and to enable them to focus on their stock trading strategy while avoiding the effects of fear and greed. Depending upon the progra. . .

Linking Purpose To Everyday Behaviors

How do you know what's the best use of your time right now?Link your daily behavior to your purpose.You'll make better choices and see the value in seemingly insignificant or trivial tasks. It keeps you focused on doing what needs to be done to get what you say you want.It's one thing to say what you want, to choose projects that will get you what you want, and set goals that will achieve those. . .

"How To Write A Riveting Sales Letter That Closes Sales"

How do you get people's attention and build their interest to take the time to read your sales letter? Let's face it. If you can't get the attention of prospects and keep their interest your sales letter will just fall flat on it's face and thus not make you much money. Today, I'm going to show you how to take that limp sales letter and inject more money making power into it. How? You make your. . .

Great Tips Of Choosing An Office

You have decided to strike it out on your own and set up a business consultancy. Chances are you want to look at getting your own office premises. Besides ensuring that your rental payment does not create serious cash-flow problems in the medium term, you have to look out for these other factors: The anchor tenant:Every office building will have a few anchor tenants. It is important to find out. . .

7 Bits Of Critical Information You Can't Afford NOT To Kn...

If you think customer relationship management is just a piece of software, you're dead wrong. Customer relationship management is about understanding your customers. It's about really knowing them as individuals, knowing what they mean to your business, and most of all, knowing what you need to do to keep their business.Ideally, you need a profile for each of your customers. Most customers w. . .

Don't Just Sit There, Write A Newsletter Article

Need traffic? Write an article.Need sales? Write an article.Need Your Name branded? Write an article.Writing newsletter articles can do all of these and more.You can get exposure for your web site, newsletter or what ever you are promoting by writing articles.This will not happen over night, but if you write one article a week and post it where publishers look for articles to use, it will do wo. . .

A Manager's PR Paradigm

If you manage a department, division or subsidiary for a business, non-profit or association, your primary public relations model probably should read this way: people act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired- action . . .

Lend A Hand

Small business owners are inundated with things to do. From making sure their clients are happy to ensuring there is enough capital to sustain the business, there is always something on the go. Some projects that need to be done, whether it’s a project for your client or a revenue generating task for your business, can be very satisfying, while others just seem to take up too much of your valua. . .

Common Question: Is this business viable?

Starting any small business is, for lack of a better term, a challenge. You can’t just jump into it without plenty of thought and research. Running your business is a never-ending roller coaster of good days and bad; ups and downs; rewards and failures; all from which we learn. An even bigger challenge is starting a business in an industry that is still very young and filled with competitors wh. . .

What Is A Mission Statement?

In order to do your mission statement you need to be able to answer the following: Why should this business exist? Who will be its customers and how will it benefit them? Why will they be better off? These questions are easy to answer for Lease Purchasing. Why should it exist because it provides a creative strategy for both buyers and sellers to either move their home or get into a home in 30 d. . .

Is Your Business Safe?

Well, is it! Do you back up your files on a regular basis? Do you have a back up plan in place? What’s important to your business and what isn’t? What happens if you get hurt, who will run your business? Do you have customers come to your business? What if they get hurt, are you covered? What about all the equipment you have, is it covered?These are all questions a home based business owner, (. . .

A Renewed View of the Modern Business Culture

Life can sometimes be unexciting if not refreshed by the will to create according to one's own conscience and freedom. Often, the power of passion fuses into unexciting or appealing activities. One sometimes expects to be free from the demands, the macro-strings of the society, so that one could do what one wishes. In many different ways, one could say that freedom of this nature may bring abou. . .

What to look for in Presentation Folders

My husband Jerry is in love with these discount, custom printed, two pocket presentation folders that he sells at Folders Only. I’m jealous, I think he worries more about them than he does me. I come home from a hard day at work and I see stacks and stacks of custom printed, two pocket presentation folders. Today they’re everywhere so I confront Jerry, “What’s with all these folders?” My hu. . .

Print Buying Consultant

Ten Money Saving Tips for Print ManagersDespite their stated desire to realize savings from streamlining the various components associated with the print buying process, it’s been my experience over the years, that many print managers neglect to do some of the easy things that can add up to significant cost savings annually. We all know these things, but we don’t always do them. Below are a fe. . .

Insurance and The Engineer

The world is no longer right when the two words, Engineer and Insurance are used together, side by side in a conversation. Individually they are words that justify their use, with their own explanations and own meanings as those that compile dictionaries see fit! They each serve their own purpose until such a time as when they are used in the same sentence or even on the same page. Engineer and. . .

Networking is Like Playing the Piano

For anyone who has ever read articles I have written or asked me for helpful tips for getting their business up and going, you know that I truly believe that networking is one of the most important aspects to building a successful business. The spoken word has an awesome power for any entrepreneur.Networking, in relation to running your business, is not just attending events that allow you to m. . .

Before Getting A Franchise

Buying into a franchise is a great way to be part of a recognized brand with the benefit of lower advertising outlay. With many franchises to choose, here are some tips before you get involved with franchise:Get The Support of Your Family:The success of your franchise is also the acceptance of your immediate family in supporting your effort. It is this simple. Take for instance, if you buy a. . .

Know What Matters Most About PR?

When, as a business, non-profit or association manager, you are able to persuade your key external stakeholders to your way of thinking, then move them to take actions that lead to your department, division or subsidiary’s success. And again when those outside stakeholder behaviors deliver results like more people returning to buy again, new prospects sniffing around, individual capital gift le. . .