Hey! I know someone who can help you…

You may have heard that word of mouth marketing is the best kind.

My question is, are you rewarding those who’ve referred the business to you?

(Are you being rewarded for the business you refer to others?)

So often, it seems, that we get a hot business lead, pursue it with passion, land the deal… and forget completely that, through the grace of another, how we got here.

“This deal just showed up!”

Whether a friend or an acquaintance just made a phone call. They just sent an email. They happened to mention us to the other or mention the other to us… and we made $1,000, $10,000 or a million! We need to acknowledge that lead.

They didn’t really do that much after all (we may think to ourselves.)

Why should I pay them 10% (or whatever is a reasonable finder’s fee)?

“Afterall, I did all the work,” you say.

More...

~ Burke Franklin, Founder & CEO of JIAN, Developer: BizPlanBuilder Software, Author: Business Black Belt

Food, Inc. — a movie recommendation. I am encouraging my circle of friends to go see the new documentary Food, Inc. at theaters now as it is a very important film. It's a bit disturbing to look into the sources of our food... Watch the brief preview here:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eKYyD14d_0

PR: Have your business featured in the media and get more business for your business...

We often have editors and producers ask to speak to our customers about their experience using JIAN products. Editors typically want to give their audiences stories about real people with real business issues, and how they successfully addressed those issues. This can lead to free publicity for your business through articles published in business, software/computing, and in-flight magazines; blogs; websites; TV shows, trade publications; and business sections of local and national newspapers.

We'll help you... Send us your success story of using our products and we will include you in our PR campaign. Specifically, how has a JIAN software tool helped you (at least one of the below)...

• start a new business after being downsized from a job
• as a student or graduate, raise capital and/or start you own company
  
• successfully raise money to start or expand your business
• obtain an SBA-backed bank loan
  
• reinvent your company and improve your performance/practices
  
• work with your family to build a business
• immigrate to the USA and get started in business
  

• Click here to email a request for our success story template.
• Click here to type your story directly into our website.

(Remember to sandwich in a pitch for your business and include your web address — make this work for you!)

“Who starts their own business?

I’ve observed and learned a lot in my experience over the past 35+ years in business. Click on me to watch this short (1:05) video on YouTube. This is one of a series of videos from an interview I did with marketing professor Terry Noel. If you're willing, please add a comment and give it your rating. Click here to watch.

Personal Success: 9 Ways to Keep Yourself Motivated & Moving Forward"
Part of the excitement of being an entrepreneur is often in the creation mode of having a brilliant idea, getting the thumbs up from those you admire, and seeing your concept take on a life of its own. Right? A benchmark of "success" could be in seeing that idea fully expressed with products and services being sold at a profit. However, it's how and if you make the journey from CONCEPT to FULL EXPRESSION which really makes all the difference of whether you succeed or not. It's not necessarily about how great your idea is. With that said it's no wonder that many great ideas never make it out there in a big way. Looking back it's often because the entrepreneur just gave up. So if you have a great idea and you're passionate about what you're doing, here are some strategies you can use to maintain a high vibration around your project and help keep you motivated and moving forward. More...

We like to pass along useful ideas to our entrepreneurial customers. When you have something to share, please email us here: Editor-Business Black Belt

Talking Tip: Vocal Awareness

Like you I have found there are people you work with that make a difference in your life. Sometimes their impact is small in scope — other times it’s more profound. It’s not the size or the scope of the contribution that matters- it’s that I have people in my life who help me grow and change for the better . I appreciate every single one of them and hope, in exchange I contribute to their lives too. Then something different happens… More...

More to Learn: Letter to the IRS...

It's amazing to me just how many different taxes we pay! Here is a copy of an actual 'Letter to the Editor' from the February 5th edition of the Wichita Falls , Texas Times Record News...
Dear IRS:
I am sorry to inform you that I will not be able to pay taxes owed April 15, but all is not lost.
I have paid these taxes: accounts receivable tax, building permit tax, CDL tax, cigarette tax, corporate income tax, dog license tax, federal income tax, unemployment tax, gasoline tax, hunting license tax, fishing license tax, waterfowl stamp tax, inheritance tax, inventory tax, liquor tax, luxury tax, Medicare tax, city, school and county property tax (up 33 percent last 4 years), real estate tax, social security tax, road usage tax, toll road tax, state and city sales tax, recreational vehicle tax, state franchise tax, state unemployment tax, telephone federal excise tax, telephone federal state and local surcharge tax, telephone minimum usage surcharge tax, telephone state and local tax, utility tax, vehicle license registration tax, capitol gains tax, lease severance tax, oil and gas assessment tax, Colorado property tax, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma and New Mexico sales tax, and many more that I can't recall but I have run out of space and money.
When you do not receive my check April 15, just know that it is an honest mistake. Please treat me the same way you treated Congressmen Charles Rangel, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and ex-Congressman Tom Daschle and, of course, your boss Timothy Geithner. No penalties and no interest.
Sincerely,
Ed Barnett, Wichita Falls
P.S. I will make at least a partial payment as soon as I get my stimulus check.

Marketing Tip: Time to Rethink Your Pricing Strategy?

There are four basic pricing strategies which can be drawn out on a grid or matrix:

1. Economy pricing: Low quality and low price. This would be the no-frills pricing, think of Wal-Mart or Southwest Airlines. Compare this to Nordstrom and first class on Virgin Airlines.
 
2. Penetration pricing: High quality and low price.  This strategy entails initially setting a lower than market price to gain entry into the market. Think back to when the Japanese initially introduced cars into the U.S. market. They were cheaper cars, but with equal or better equality. Now Toyota is poised to become the number one selling car manufacturer in the U.S. More...

‘OSHA is back’: More safety fines coming?

In a recent speech, interim administrator Jordan Barab said her agency “is back in the business of standards and enforcement.” Recent activity at the Occupational Health and Safety Administration shows this isn’t just talk.

Example: Wal-Mart faces a $7,000 OSHA fine after a crowd of 2,000 excited shoppers trampled a worker to death at a Long Island, NY, store on the day after Thanksgiving.

Does OSHA have a standard on retail crowd control? No, and it doesn’t need one. It used its General Duty Clause (GDC) to issue the fine.

The GDC requires employers to maintain safe workplaces, free of recognized hazards that are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.

OSHA called holiday shoppers a recognized hazard, saying previous experiences with day-after-Thanksgiving crowds should have tipped off Wal-Mart managers about potential dangers.

Some other examples of the newly aggressive OSHA:

• 37 days into the Obama administration, OSHA proposed more than $1.2 million in penalties against G.S. Robbins & Co. of East St. Louis, MO. It used a new regulation that allows fines to be multiplied by the number of employees affected by a violation.
• In another speech, Barab said the agency would work harder to give workers the “tools” they need to ensure their workplaces are safe. That’s a reference to OSHA’s efforts to get workers to turn in their own companies for alleged safety violations.

~ Fred Hosier, Business Brief.com

STROKE?: Remember the 1st Three Letters... S.T.R.
If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.  Seriously, please read:

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) ..she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening

Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Ingrid passed away.) Sh e had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die. they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

It only takes a minute to read this......
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' steps, STR. Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells d i saster.. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S * Ask the individual to SMILE
T * Ask the person to TALK coherently and SPEAK a simple sentence
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New Sign of a Stroke - Stick out Your Tongue
NOTE: Another 'sign ' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other,that is also an indication of a stroke.

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

Business Policies: The monkey story...

(How company culture can unconsciously develop.)

Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it.

Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana.

As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water.

After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result - all the monkeys are sprayed with cold water. More...

For fun: 2008 Darwin Awards (OMG, people can be stupid!)

Yes, it's that magical time of year again when the Darwin Awards are bestowed, honoring the least evolved among us. First, the honorable mentions:

1. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat-cutting machine and, after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef's claim was approved.

2. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her. More...

We like to pass along [silly/profound/fun/ny stuff] to our entrepreneurial customers. When you have something to share, please email us here: Business-Black-Belt

Parting Shot: The Job — Urine Test

Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me.  I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test with which I have no problem.
 
What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. So here is my Question.
 
Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them?  Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet.  I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their rump—doing drugs, while I work.
 
Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?  I guess we could title that program, 'Urine or You're Out' .

PLEASE Pass this along if you agree or simply delete if you don't.  Hope you all will pass it along, though. Thank you.

Update Your
Business Plan
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New from JIAN:
BizPlanBuilder - Suite Business Edition 2009

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Supporting Products:
We've found a variety of software, services, and web sites that will enhance your usage and experience of JIAN's tools. We look for function, form, and price as our criteria.

For example, we recommend voice coach Arthur Samuel Joseph.

JIAN Knowledgbase:
Yes, we have many outstanding articles, links and resources that you can put to work right now.

CEO Training:
Welcome to Real World CEO Training: Dec 7-14, 2008, Hyatt Lake Tahoe

Pro Marketing Tools:
UPDATED: Marketing Builder now incorporates JIAN's MIDAS collaborative system. Completely updated throughout. Use these templates and worksheets to put together a comprehensive marketing campaign to win customers and buld sales.

Publicity Builder also incorporates JIAN's MIDAS collaborative system and includes everythnig you need to promote your business to all media.

Summer Sale: Both Marketing Builder
& Publicty Builder together for...
$147

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