Welcome to Michael's Article Collection

Dealing with Difficult People

1. Don't get Hooked !!! When people behave towards you in a manner that makes you feel angry, frustrated or annoyed - this is known as a Hook. We can even become "Hooked" by the way people look, how they talk, how they smell and even by their general demeanour. If we take the bait then we are allowing the other person to control our behaviour. This can then result in an unproductive response. W. . .

How to Make a Joint Venture Successful

This text is a chapter of the book "Successful Joint Ventures" soon to be released on the market. Question: What was your first successful JV, and what were the steps you took to make it successful? Hello. This is Valerie Vauthey speaking. I am the CEO & Founder of the fastest growing coaching company in North America and Europe: MyPrivateCoach.comI would like to share with you a few of my expe. . .

Sales Therapy 101: Breaking Your Fear of Cold Calling

Almost every day, visitors to my Unlock The Game™ website click on my live instant-messenger chat button, which invites them to "Ask Ari a selling question." And do you know what their most common question is? Yes, you guessed it: "Is there any way I can break through or overcome my fear of cold calling?" Most of us have at least some resistance to cold calling, and some people I talk with have. . .

Throw Out Your "Selling" Language - Unlock Your Natural V...

I was sitting at my desk last week when my phone rang. I picked it up and said, "This is Ari with Unlock The Game." The woman on the other end of the phone said, "Hi, my name is Julie Jackson, I'm with XYZ company and we are a...and we offer...". As she continued to speak, I stopped her in mid-sentence and said, "Hi, Julie."There was dead silence on the phone.I could sense her struggling to rea. . .

Is There Any Way To Get Out Of Debt?

In this era where we are bombarded daily with commercials on television, radio, billboards, through email, not to forget the flyers slipped under the car's wiper blades while shopping at the mall, it's no surprise that so many of us find ourselves endlessly in debt to the services and products offered by others. How can we refuse, when we're baited with the juicy orange carrot of '0% APR' up to. . .

Ride the wave of ‘Wellness’ to Financial Freedom!

Ever wished that you’d timed things a little better so that your income was on par with that of Bill Gates? Perhaps you ponder how life would have been different had you the ability to see the big picture that Henry Ford saw – the NEED for automobiles, even when there were obstacles such as no roads and no gas stations to overcome in order to achieve this dream. Had you this same ability to “th. . .

The Desire For Money, Do You Have Business Sense?

For those of us who grew up with parents who worked for businesses rather than owned them, the world of business can be quite a mystery. Even more so if we've dared to try to start one of our own. There is the factor of what type of business to start - a product or service business. There are the issues of doing a good market analysis, licensing the business, understanding the codes of law gove. . .

Good Stock Market Tip; Good Return!

Forget making a profit; instead focus on the income provided from your stock portfolio. That’s right! Forget making a profit. The burden is now lifted - no more pressure on making a buck in the stock market. (Instead of trying to bend the spoon, that is impossible, instead just think of the spoon as – omigosh! - I’m in the Matrix!) When you focus on the amount of money your holdings are providi. . .

Rejuvenate & Re-Fuel Your Inner Drive

I believe that as solo-entrepreneurs, business owners, and executives we all need a pat on the back. Give yourself commendation. Why? Because we have the courage to step outside of the corporate box and start our own businesses, be our own boss and take on the challenge and responsibilities required for this adventure. In order to even contemplate that step we must have had a vision, a dream an. . .

Business & Family Safety and Health Rating

For good reason, practically every endeavor in life is rated. I've seen ratings on who or what's #1 in business, industry, NFL, NBA, MLB, person of the century, athlete of the century, technology, restaurants, university, neighborhoods, travel destination, best looking, best movie, best book, etc. It doesn't stop. In fact, there are multiple ratings for the same #1 spot because of varying value. . .

Defining The Qualities of A Professional

In today's business climate we are experiencing more interest in professionalism. The past five years provided many successes; however, most have been overshadowed by the non-ethical behavior of a few. Some people lost most of their retirement savings, and the US population is demanding a stronger US economy and a peaceful world.We've seen quality job opportunities decreasing and the need for p. . .

Fair Debt Collection

If you use credit cards, owe money on a personal loan, or are paying on a home mortgage, you are a "debtor." If you fall behind in repaying your creditors, or an error is made on your accounts, you may be contacted by a "debt collector." You should know that in either situation the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requires that debt collectors treat you fairly by prohibiting certain methods o. . .

A Note About Personal Bankruptcy

Sometimes, the formal and legal declaration of personal bankruptcy is the best way to go when you're "snowed under" with bills, and you just can't see your way clear to survive. Actually, bankruptcy allows you to make a fresh start. Generally, it takes only a small amount of money, a careful evaluation of your assets and your liabilities. In many cases, a lawyer is not necessary. If you have ve. . .

How To Triple Your Online Profits With Just 7 Simple Arti...

Hello everyone, today let's touch on the single biggest profit generator you MUST have to earn BIG money online. I call it the MAGIC minicourse. If you don't have your own multi-part, automated minicourse then you are throwing sales and profits away. When you wake up, do you go down to your closest busy sreet corner and begin handing out $20 bills - day in, day out? That's what you are doing by. . .

The Management Team Section of the Business Plan – Don't ...

Even the best new concept or existing plan will fail if executed poorly. The Management Team section of the business plan must prove to the investor why the key company personnel are "eminently qualified" to execute on the business model.The Management Team section should include biographies of key team members and detail their responsibilities. It is important that these biographies are not me. . .

Six Sigma Tools for Process Control

Part 4 of a Four-Part SeriesPart One: http://www.bizmanualz.com/articles/02-08-05_Process_Improvement.html?src=ART83Part Two: http://www.bizmanualz.com/articles/02-14-05_Core_Processes.html?src=ART84Part Three: http://www.bizmanualz.com/articles/02-16-05_Process_Mapping.html?src=ART85Aim for perfection. That’s a pretty lofty concept. It’s definitely not easy – especially when speaking of core. . .

Mystery Shopping

Mystery shopping is an excellent way to make extra money. In fact, some people make a full time living doing it. There are many mystery shopping companies that will pay you to shop, eat at restaurants and take part in focus groups. A mystery shop consists of getting paid to go into a business without the employee's knowledge and reporting back to the mystery shopping company. A focus group i. . .

Block Pop Ups and Lock the Door

Ralph Waldo Emerson said that “there is always time enough for courtesy.” But if you own your own business or work out of your home, you probably don’t have time for much else. Coupling the inherent challenges of owning your own business with the distractions of working at home can create a serious drag on your morale and income. If you find yourself spending too much time dealing with distract. . .

Medical Collection. How Organized is your office?

At one time or another, all of us have experienced the frustration of waiting in a doctor’s office. It seems as though every time we go to see the doctor or the dentist we end up having to wait for a ridiculous amount of time, and then when we finally do get in, we are only “treated” for a few minutes and then sent on our way. I have always wondered why that is the case. If the doctor is only s. . .

Make Lots of Money with No Work

Recently I received an email message that went something like this, “I want to do exactly what you are doing in my business.” Come to find out what this person wanted to “do” was make lots of money using the Internet without having to work at it. I almost fell out of my chair. I wasn’t sure if it was from the fact that I was now in my tenth hour of working that day and I was tired or being take. . .

Dramatically Increase Sales with The KISS Test

We've all heard the term KISS at one time or another - "Keep It Simple, Stupid." However, the majority of salespeople violate this basic principle more often than not.Let me start with some examples of what I'm talking about. At one position I held, I sat next to someone who could have been a top salesperson. He and I both operated much the same in that rather than cold call, we ran our own per. . .

Part-Time/In-Home Business - Low Expense and Low Risk

As a first time entrepreneur, there are a variety of franchises, dealerships, distributorships, and licensing opportunities available for purchase. Many of these you can start by working part-time from your home. In doing so, you save thousands of dollars in start up and operating costs, while at the same time reducing your overall risk.You (and/or your spouse) don't necessarily have to give up. . .

When Not To Register For GST

One of the decisions that all businesses have to make not long after starting up is when and if to register for GST.The first consideration is do you have to register? In New Zealand, the threshold is turnover or sales of $40 000, while it is $50 000 in Australia. However, that does not have to be the end of the story.If the business is profitable, and it registers for GST, it will be likely to. . .

Why Cold Calling Is Dead

Our world of selling is closed off from other areas of business that continue to adopt and embrace new, efficient ideas. I was reminded of this recently while re- reading Seth Godin's "Permission Marketing." Here's a book that was intended for business owners and marketing executives, yet it provides a much-needed dose of common sense that would be of great benefit to sales organizations, espec. . .

Keeping Your Sales Team Motivated

Sales managers frequently approach me for advice on how to keep salespeople motivated, especially when sales reps get into a rut - and seem to keep slipping deeper into it. Telling managers what not to do usually solves the problem. Most managers do things to de-motivate salespeople without even knowing it.Let's take the idea of funnels and forecasts, for instance. Funnels and forecasts are imp. . .

Is Cold Calling Dead?

Is cold calling dead? And if laws are being passed to put it to rest once and for all, how do we generate business from now on?Opinions on the subject vary greatly depending on the background of the individual. For example, most of the old-timers are vigilant in preaching their belief that the only possible way to succeed in the world of selling is to make no less than fifty calls each and ever. . .

The Red Phone - Management Consulting in 30 Seconds or Less

Modern business faces complex problems; management often calls upon highly-specialized consultants to help them address these difficult problems. If you're ever called to help identify these most pressing issues, one of the easiest and quickest ways to start is to talk about the "Red Phone".You know which phone I'm talking about -- it's the red phone that sits on it's own special corner of the. . .

The Monkey Trap and Communication Problems

Have you heard the story of the monkey trap?It's said to be true, and goes like this: In tropical countries, hunters used to capture monkeys with a simple but effective trap. They placed a banana or something sweet inside a basket, and anchored the basket to something solid. A hole in the top of the basket allowed a monkey to get its open hand inside and grab the food.So far, so good, from the . . .

Paper - More than Meets the Eye

We are surrounded by so much paper and card that it is easy to forget just how complex it is. There are many varieties and grades of paper materials, and whilst it is fairly easy to spot the varieties, it is far more difficult to spot the grades. It needs to be understood that most paper and card is manufactured for a specific purpose, so that whilst the corn-flake packet may look smart it is c. . .

Home Loans

Buying a home remains the great American dream. Home ownership rates have been exploding in recent years, spurred on by the historically low interest rates in the home mortgage market. Home prices have been rising at far faster than inflation, especially in major urban areas such as San Francisco, San Diego and Chicago. This means that not only can that home you’ve always wanted put a roof over. . .

Business Leads

Anyone who runs their own business can tell you how challenging it is to generate business leads on a consistent basis. Finding good leads and generating more sales is vital to the long term growth of any business. There are many well documented sources of business leads – we will try to cover some of the best in this article.As any job seeker can tell you, networking generates far more job off. . .

Financial Freedom, Is It Only a Dream or Just Steps Away?

Almost all of us go to work everyday and do the same routine over and over again. We work so hard until we caught up in the routines for years. With the salary that we earn every day, we try to pay all of our bills. We always expect to get a higher salary, getting promotion or our business running better so we can earn more money. But we do not realize that when we get more income, we also have. . .

Top 7 Methods to Empower Employees

How many times have you asked someone to do something like “draw up a plan for such and such project”? Your employee completes the plan, but then you say, “That is not what I wanted” or “That is not how you do it”. And so the employee thinks: but you didn’t tell me exactly how you wanted it done. If you find yourself having back and forth misunderstandings with your employees, then you might ha. . .

The ‘Leader's Fallacy' May Prove Howard Dean's Undoing

Howard Dean's tenure as chairman of the Democratic National Committee will be fleeting unless he avoids a common leadership trap I call it, the "Leader's Fallacy". Leaders adhere to the Leader's Fallacy when they believe their enthusiasm for a particular leadership challenge is automatically reciprocated by the people they lead. However, in leadership, automatic reciprocity is an illusion. Ju. . .

Why Not Juice-Up Your PR?

Say, from tactics like special events, brochures and press releases to a public relations effort more in keeping with the challenges you face as a business, non-profit or association manager? I speak of public relations that alters individual perception and leads to changed behaviors among those key outside audiences of yours. Public relations that does something positive about the behaviors of. . .

The Morphing of Thought and Cash

Here are some thoughts about the morphing of thought and cash. What do I mean by morphing? I mean the transformation of something from one form to another. If you have seen movies like TERMINATOR 2, X MEN, or MATRIX, you have an idea of what I'm talking about. In these movies, some characters literally change physical shape from one form to another. What I'm speaking about is a kind of men. . .

Team Building for Entrepreneurs

As a business owner and entrepreneur, you need an external and internal team of people to help your business thrive. As a business resource consultant, I also help others build the teams they need for continued success. Whatever the reason for creating the alliance might be - a joint marketing venture with other vendors, or creating an in-office task force - the steps toward successful team bui. . .

The Differences Betweeen the Wealthy and Everyone Else

I recently received an e-mail from a young lady who had doubts about the principles of wealth found in "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". She mentioned a couple of past failed investments, and wanted to know what I thought about investing and financial freedom - whether it was just a myth, or whether it could be acquired. I thought I'd share it here for the benefit of those who have struggled with investing. . .

The Key to High Productivity is Energy Management

One of the issues most often raised by my clients is better time management. People have tried prioritizing tasks, blocking out parts of their day for certain tasks, implementing new systems and getting better at delegation. While all of those things can make a difference, there is something else that will have an even greater impact on your productivity. The key to high productivity is energy . . .

3 Strategies to Market Your Business Even When There’s No...

Many small and home based businesses know they need to market and yet, have little or no money to do so. Sadly, many use this as a reason not to market. Even on a limited budget you can promote and gain visibility for you and your business. The following three strategies have proven extremely effective for countless businesses as they can for you.1. Press Releases – Very effective and they offe. . .

Get Rid Of Debt With Simple Steps

Someone who is not in debt appreciates a telephone ringing, because a person without excess debt does not fear creditors. A person without excess debt goes to the mailbox with general malaise, and doesn’t feel the stomach clenching fear when a handful of bills appear. Someone without a lot of debt can enjoy shopping, can handle the unexpected, and sleeps better knowing they have their ducks in . . .

Are Gift Cards the best gift?

January’s retail sales strength is reflected in people redeeming their Christmas gift cards. The average adult received 3.2 gift cards this holiday season, up from 2.5 gift cards last year. Gift cards are more popular and this also moves spending into January. Consumers are also interested in receiving gift cards at other times that just at Christmas. A survey by Deloitte & Touche USA found. . .

The 5 Secrets to Getting Out of Debt Fast

As they stare down at a teetering pile of bills, so many consumers wonder how they racked up such a large debt. The answer boils down to simple mathematics.“On a basic, fundamental level, the problem is created by spending more than you make,” says Brad Stroh, co-CEO of the San Mateo, California-based Freedom Financial Network, LLC, a company that specializes in debt resolution services. The re. . .

Day Trading Skills

I received an email from a prospective client. His question caused me to think about the wisdom of pursuing trading as a worthy venture. I know that a lot of readers are investors rather than traders, but regardless of your trading horizons, the skills and concerns of active short-term trading are relevant to us all.Question: “There are a lot of people who say that day trading is for ‘fools’ an. . .

How To Get A Visa/MasterCard With No Credit Check

SHAPING YOUR APPLICATION TO FIT THE RIGHT PEOPLE Creditors approve credit to those people who most closely match the right profile. They arrive at those conclusions by assigning point values to various items of information that are included either on your credit application or in a credit report. Credit card companies like credit scoring systems because as a large volume creditor, they can repl. . .

It Must Be Joe Cocker's Market

Agonizing displays of poor theatrics failed to entertain my mind one recent Saturday evening. I scrolled across several television channels hoping for an engaging program. Finally, one particular concert intrigued my senses. There on the stage performed one of rock and roll's most expressive singers.With every bit of his legendary convulsive style, Joe Cocker belted out each song with passio. . .

Hidden Bank Loan Charges That Would Make a Pick-Pocket En...

There can be more to a bank business loan than making interest and principal payments. Your firm may get a great rate on its new credit line or term loan but you may cry on the way home when you discover the hidden fees and charges.Even seasoned borrowers can be caught off guard. Borrowing costs can be boosted by thousands of dollars and the effective rate on the loan increased by many basis po. . .

Could You and Your Business Benefit from a Business Coach...

The surprising answer is "probably". Most individuals don't realize that a certified business coach or business consultant can add enormously to their home based or more traditional type business. Many individuals think a business coach or consultant will come into their business and tell them things that they don't want to hear.Nothing can be further from the truth. A business coach or consult. . .

When It Pays To Pause

In each case where a company's growth rate has the exceeded all projecions and forecasts, two things happen: (1)the growth rate has threatened the heart beat of the company and (2)the core competency of management and their support structures was misjudged - that core competency was inadequate.The lessons are many . The foundation lesson is: when a business starts moving to the next level of. . .

Protection of the Intellectual Property in Russia

A Governmental commission, headed personally by the Prime Minister has been created in Russia recently in order to counteract the infringements in the sphere of intellectual property. As he stated earlier, little is done for the protection of intellectual property rights in Russia and, therefore, both the rights owners and the state are actually robed. Are there any changes today in this area? . . .