Bob Doruma Journal

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Writing Fact Sheets For Your Business

Many businesses are looking for ways to differentiate themselves from their competitors.If you look around there are hundreds of competitors to your business just in your local area.So why should people buy from you and not your competition?

You could choose to compete on price ...but that is self-limiting as often you end up in a price spiral and cut dramatically into your profits.You could choose to compete on range ...but this means you are caught up in additional costs for stock or administration.

One of the most effective competition means is through service and one of the hallmarks of exceptional service is sharing your knowledge and expertise to make your customer's life easier.

If you have talented staff, they can personally share this knowledge with customers.But they can only serve one customer at a time.The more effective method is to capture this knowledge and to share it with multiple customers.That way, you are extending your service and reputation beyond just one person at a time (and beyond just one salesperson).

One way to do this is through creating a series of Fact Sheets for your business.

Fact Sheets can address:


* frequently asked questions,
* little known but useful facts about your product or service,
* instructions on how to best use the product or service,
* general information about your company and its ethos.




So how do you go about writing Fact Sheets for your business?Here are my top 10 tips:


1.

Work out the basics first.Are they going to be electronic or hard copy?If hard copy how big are they going to be A4, brochure style or DL?

All your company Fact Sheets should look and feel the same to give a professional image and to reinforce your brand.Having an eye to design and layout also means you will know if you need 150, 250 or 500 words for your fact sheet.

2.Work out your intent.For each Fact Sheet you are writing, you need to work out why you are writing it.What feeling are you trying to share with your customer?What difference are you trying to make?

3.Brainstorm the key points.Every Fact Sheet has key messages, facts or information that need to be included.It helps to brainstorm the most important pieces of information so that you don't miss anything when you write.Ask your top salesman what are the most important features of the product or service, and jot down their replies.

4.Brainstorm the benefits.Once you have a list of dot points, go back and work out the benefits of each of the main features.So if you have an automatic outdoor umbrella that opens by pushing a remote control (feature) one benefit could be that you can quickly close the umbrella as soon as you see an approaching storm from the safety of your home.

5.Brainstorm the actions.Work out what you want the customer to do with the information once they have read it.Make sure you jot down a call to action, this could be as simple as "To order, call the office on XXXX-XXXX".

6.Write the content.Next, convert your dot points into smoothly flowing sentences taking into account all of your intentions, key points, features and benefits.It is great to break up the paragraphs with bullet points to help improve the readability of your document.

7.Remove the jargon.Ensure you go back over your content to remove jargon and complex language.Aim for about a Grade 6 reading level.

8.Add in headlines.Headlines and sub headlines make a difference.They help to keep people reading, grab attention and reinforce key points.Make sure each headline is as powerful as you can make it.

9.Get someone else to read it!It is easy to miss spelling mistakes, typos and places where you are not as clear as you could be.By getting someone else to read over your document they can help identify areas for clarification and improvement.

10.Distribute widely.When you have a content-rich, powerful and persuasive Fact Sheet for your business, be sure to share it with people.Include a copy on your website, send a copy with quotes or invoices, include it in your business magazine as a feature article, hand it to customers with their purchases and have them available at trade shows.The more widely you distribute your Fact Sheets, the more powerful your marketing becomes.


About the Author

Ingrid Cliff is a freelance writer and the Chief Word Wizard of Heart Harmony - a writing services studio that helps put your business into words.

For a free copy of the "7 Secrets of Compelling Copy & Powerful Words" visit her website http://www.heartharmony.com.au "> www.heartharmony.com.au .

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A Small Business Coach Will Help You Identify and Sort Your Top Priorities

business owners typically have many goals for their business.They are likely to fall into long term, short term, intermediate term, and undefined term categories.They write them down in their notebooks and they look at them or not as time goes by.Some goals get met and others forgotten.Unfortunately the ones that get met are often those that are urgent - while those left behind are the ones that are really important to the success of the organization.

This is where small business coaches earn their money.Small business coaches are masters at asking questions - especially those that uncover the situation as it is today, what's important to the owners of the company, and what's possible to achieve given the desires and capabilities of all involved.They help their clients prioritize their planning so the important goals are considered first!.

Their objective, and that of the business owners, is to set priorities that will insure the accomplishment of shared goals.Shared goals for the future of the enterprise and for those involved.Small business coaches understand that the questions they ask and wait patiently for the answers to not only help in achieving consensus among the individuals concerned, they also help uncover differences in individual desires.

When asking these questions of the senior generation owners, their successors, key personnel, and heirs - they come away with the picture the decision makers and their professional advisors need in order to take the appropriate actions and take them in the order of their importance to their client.

Is it important to the owners to assure the continuation of the business in the next generation?How important is it, or is it important at all that there is a business opportunity here for the next generation?If there are successors or potential successors working in the business now is it important to you to reward their contribution in some way - beyond what they are getting paid for the job they are doing today?

The objective of these questions and all the follow up questions that inevitably result is to gauge how the business owners want to treat their next generation - whether family members or not.Most successful businesses have their resources tied up in the business - in the bricks, trucks, etc.and the financial security of the senior generation depends on the successful continuation of the organization.If the company's continuation is not important to the owners or the successors are not interested - other options will have to be considered.

Is it important to the present owners to maximize their income from the business now?Or if they are retired or about to retire is it important to make sure that their retirement income from the business is secure?What about the education costs of the owners or successors children and/or grandchildren - is that important?Can any numbers, their accountants and life insurance agents love numbers, be attached to any of these concerns and goals?

What's important when it comes to estate transfer costs and taxes?Small business coaches must ask these questions, whether or not they understand the implications of the answers they receive.Later when they discuss what they've learned with the advisors on behalf of the business owners - the answers will be important.

For example are documents in place to assure the orderly transfer of assets to the next generation?Does the business owner understand the terms and conditions?Have steps been taken to lower the combined estate settlement costs as much as possible?

Have they considered these potential costs and their possible impact on the business should death occur far into the future when the business is many times larger than it is today.Since it is the objective of the business to grow and since the successors are involved in that growth - has any thought been given to reducing, to the extent possible, the future growth of the business in the estate's of the senior generation owners?

Small business coaches are well positioned to ask these questions and all those that occur naturally - based on the answers given.

Business owners who have honestly articulated what's important, their business coach who has helped them through this often difficult and time consuming process, and their traditional advisors can work together to make sure that the concerns and goals of all those involved are prioritized and acted upon.


About the Author

Successful business owners understand the importance of developing relationships with competent professional advisers who will work together as a team to insure their long term success.

They also realize the valuable impact that business coaches have on their success, sorting out what's important and then working seamlessly with their traditional advisors.

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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

What Are The Things To Consider To Become A Successful Self Storage Owner

 Self storage owners are experiencing the poor effects of the monetary emergency.The self storage trade is directly connected to the landed property industry.The sub-prime emergency and the resultant   collapse of assets costs have severely affected the landed property business.It's after shocks have been felt in the self storage industry also.But how can a trade person rush over the emergency and the resulting harms?The miserable thing is that while the country is going through one of its most horrible financial emergency in recent records, there may not be ready-made solutions to several troubles.

Tips For Becoming A Successful Self Storage Owner


Here is a concise opening about the industry.

Self storage is the trade of renting out store house of various sizes to people and trade organizations to keep non-perishable and safe matter.If you take a self storage for rent, you can keep most of your own, household, and office-related things in the unit.You cannot keep living things for example pets, easily unpreserved commodities for instance food items, and combustible and deadly substances.The important feature is that you can keep the keys.The firm that provides this service makes detailed safety planning such as offering safety protector, containing electronic watch, fit in closed circuit television, etc.

The self storage industry was first established in the early 1970s.In the first phase the expansion was modest.The peak years of this industry were 2004 and 2005.Afterwards, the trade began to slow down.In the last 2 years, the industry has been boring because of the slowing down of customers' notice and the competition amongst the service providers.It is estimated that today, one out of ten households in the USA provides room for self storage industry.

But for appropriate a successful self storage holder, one want to discover ways to reduce costs.You cannot compromise on protection facilities and infrastructural preparations such as air-conditioners.It will reduce the quality of service significantly.Also diluting the power of precautionary actions is a certain way of inviting troubles like accidents.If the precautionary measures are not tight enough, you will have to allow the force.

On the other hand, what's good news is that one can utilize the recession in the housing region to locate low-cost storage units.Even though attainment of such storage units may be unwelcome expenses right now, it may become a big asset in the future.

Self storage owners need to generate innovative trade packages to magnetize or keep their customers.If you own a number of unoccupied storage units, you can give some storage unit as free along with each new trade as part of your proposal.You have to provide good promotion for such offers.

Another way of cost-cutting is getting rid of extra staff from your pay roll.But sacking an employee may cause disappointment among other workers.You can restructure the team to put more people in the marketing front.You can also fix an incentive pay for them based on the trade they get you.Another way of price reducing for self storage owners is to bring in more computer linked changes in areas like accounting.

Here is a concise opening about the industry.Self storage is the trade of renting out store house of various sizes to people and trade organizations to keep non-perishable and safe matter.If you take a self storage for rent, you can keep most of your own, household, and office-related things in the unit.You cannot keep living things for example pets, easily unpreserved commodities for instance food items, and combustible and deadly substances.The important feature is that you can keep the keys.The firm that provides this service makes detailed safety planning such as offering safety protector, containing electronic watch, fit in closed circuit television, etc.

The self storage industry was first established in the early 1970s.In the first phase the expansion was modest.The peak years of this industry were 2004 and 2005.Afterwards, the trade began to slow down.In the last 2 years, the industry has been boring because of the slowing down of customers' notice and the competition amongst the service providers.It is estimated that today, one out of ten households in the USA provides room for self storage industry.


About the Author

If you wish to become successful

href="http://www.

selfstorageowner.com/podcast/self_storage_owner_podcast.php">self storage owner, cost cutting is a significant factor to think.Visit www.selfstorageowner.com for more information.

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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

What Is Your Primary Goal For Investing In The Stock Market?

I always ask people, What is your primary goal for investing in the market?What is your primary goal?Not to lose money!Your secondary goal is to make money.Your primary goal is not to lose it.So whenever we look at a market or look at a stock we want to make sure we know what the chances are of losing it, and this is probably one of the biggest flaws for most people involved in the market, they don't know what their risk is when they buy a stock of losing it.

Most people when they buy a stock buy it because of one thing.Hope.That's normally why they buy it, they buy it based on hope and greed, and they don't buy it based on any sort of analysis.They don't buy it from looking at what their risk might be.They buy it just based on hope and greed and of course, that's why most people lose in the market.So if our primary goal is to not lose it the first thing we shouldn't do is to be trading speculative stock.

Now someone mentioned they were trading options before.Now I'm not against trading options or warrants or futures or spec stocks of CFDs, any of those markets are great markets to trade once you have the foundation and someone mentioned this earlier.Once you have the foundation and know how to trade and make 25% 40% per annum in the market, you can take that knowledge and you can apply it to anything.You can apply that and by the end of this course I will show you a strategy on how you can take all your knowledge you have learned in six weeks and you can apply it to making money going down in two or three hours, so you can just tip the whole lot upside down and make money both ways but you've got to have the foundation first and then once you've got that, see what many people do, once you've got that foundation you can apply it to other markets.

What many people do is they leverage their ignorance and of course this means massive losses so we don't want to be looking at spec stocks.We are going to look purely at the quality stocks; in fact in your manuals you already know there is a list of about 100 stocks there that we update on a regular basis.If you don't have that update by the way, if you've had your manual for some time and you don't have that update, just contact support and they can get you a copy or tell you where you can get a copy of that.

Then of course there is the stock analysis method.I don't think I need to spend much time on this.I started by looking at the market based on fundamentals.I read a book that I was given that went through fundamental analysis and it showed really three key principals to look at; net asset backing, PE ratios and I forget the other one.But it was looking at three fundamental ratios and that actually worked.I applied that over a number of years in the late eighties and bought just blue chip and quality stocks on that and made a reasonable return.

But fundamental analysis works some times and doesn't work other times, it tends to be a lot longer view of the market and so fundamental analysis is looking at the company based on it's past growth and what the company does.The more you learn about charts and technical analysis, the more you understand and can see why the markets are not driven on company activity.Stock markets are not driven on what the company does.That's what confirms it, but it doesn't drive it.What drives the market is purely the emotions of the buyers and sellers, and that's what our chart will tell us.

So our study of technical analysis is really the study of human emotions.A chart is nothing more or less than a picture or a graphic representation of the buyers and sellers or supply and demand.I go through a little bit on the video of comparing real estate and I am sure that if you haven't had a look at it you need to go back and have a look at it.But the value of anything doesn't mean it's the price it trades for.The value of a company which we can determine through fundamental analysis does not mean that is what people are willing to pay for it and ultimately something will only ever sell for what people are willing to pay for it.Not what we think that's its worth, but what people are willing to pay and that's the difference between fundamental analysis and technical analysis.

Fundamental analysis is studying what the potential value of something is or should be.Technical analysis is studying what the price is and what people are willing to pay right now for it and that will help us to gauge the emotion or the direction of the stock.I've got a bit of an example there of National Bank.


About the Author

David Schirmer has trained hundreds to people around the world to trade in the Stock Market Successfully.

Go Here To find out how to trade the

stock market successfully



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Tips for Beginning Your 2009 Financially Smart!

The reality is that most of us just need a strong kick in the behind to get started the right way, others like me and others like to simplify things in order to get things done quickly, efficiently and by deadline.As you already read in the last sentence, the important key word for making 2009, task, goal, deadline getting achieved could simply be done by simplifying things.

As you probably know by now there are thousands if not close to a million ways to simplify things and get things done by top ranked authors on the internet and on bookshelves on lovely bookstores like Borders, Walden Book and the like.The uncomfortable news is that it is never easy to finishing your new resolutions for this year or any other task wanted achieved by you.It would be easy starting it, but it might be a pain in the neck to finish the project or task at hand.Been there done that, pass that, many times as probably you too.

What can be done in order to cure the problem of not finishing your year resolutions, your high enthusiastic high five goals?While numerous experts have their own way, my custom way works for me and might work for you as an additional option.Here is what you can do:


Ask yourself what did you accomplished last year and what you did not.

Once you assess the 08 life, ask yourself very personal, emotional edifying points and jot them down in a piece of paper.Love your PC?Fine, add it on Microsoft Word but do not print yet.

Once you remind yourself what happen on 2008 ask yourself what you can do starting right now, to simplify your lifestyle.By simplifying it could mean to you to gain more spiritual connection, more peace, a better health, financial freedom, love?How can you achieve all of those options?

The new additive is born, and it took many years to really grasp and understand it.By simplifying and doing things correctly you can achieve all of the above.Many of us have found and received peace,love, financial freedom, love, spiritual connections, among other personal goals.But without doing things correctly, it would be like trying to become an Olympic swimmer and lifting weights like Ronnie Coleman!It just does not happen.

What can you then do to make sure you get things done?Without knowing what enthusiasm you have, your intelligence, your history or whether your mind programming, set yourself goals and get them done correctly.So in order to have hundreds of pages in one single informational article, in simple order: decide to simply, set yourself short term and long term goals and do the correct things.

Whether it is starting your very first wholesale store on the internet, offering items to sell in your very first e-commerce small business site or on the plenty available websites online to create yourself a good, great or fantastic lifestyle in reasonable time, do not be fooled by the simple suggestions your fifth great teacher gave you on the class on how to set goals.

Some people get insulted by reading simple articles about goals, deadlines and improving themselves, but the problem as you clearly see on how people really live is that the majority do not simplify, do the correct things to improve on what they want or simplify to get things faster.Would you create goals, simplify and do the correct things?


About the Author

Finding a Wholesale List online is one of the business components Joaquin serves as reference source, e-commerce coach and certified author.

His focus today is assisting people receive extra income through the acquirement of a Wholesale Video Games Distributor


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Monday, February 23, 2009

Guide To Starting A Garage -- Car Lifts And Other Equipment You'll Need

A whole lot more than buying a couple of car lifts goes in to opening a successful automobile repair garage.In addition to deciding whether you'll perform general repairs or specialize in certain kinds of repairs, you may also want to carry parts and accessories.This article provides a look at some of the equipment and repair parts, like car lift parts, you should consider.

Car Lifts Are Necessary


It doesn't matter which type of repairs you decide to perform in your garage, you'll need car lifts to do an effective job.

Since these lifts are vital to your business, you should choose a sturdy model that can take the rigors of everyday use.The type you choose can also make a difference in the kinds of services you are able to provide.

You need heavy-duty car lifts to work on buses or other large vehicles, but a standard version with extensions will work fine if you're just repairing cars and light trucks.In-floor models offer more stability and are more convenient in a commercial business setting.Two post and four post styles have their advantages, so consider their benefits as well.Make sure it is easy to get car lift parts for the model you choose.This includes having certain car lift parts on hand in case of a breakdown.

A Brake Lathe


Having a brake lathe in your automobile repair garage will allow you to better service customers.

A brake lathe can help you give customers better brakes cheaper than by totally replacing the old brakes, saving you time and making you money.There are several styles of brake lathes, so shop around to find the best model for you.Just like with car lifts and car lift parts, always make sure you have the equipment necessary for success.Don't wait until your brake lathe needs parts, have them ready just in case.

Small Pieces Of Equipment


Standard with just about every automobile repair garage on the planet, air ratchet compressors and other air powered tools will make work easier.

When work is easier, it's more efficient, leading to more profit.Sometimes, the only way to adequately make a repair is with an air powered tool.

In addition, don't forget about fluid equipment wheel changers, wheel balancers, lubricants, gas pumps and more.It is always better to have the right piece of equipment on hand when you need it than it is to have to see if you can find the right equipment in stock at a local store.Many automobile repair garages also have equipment for detailing.Offering this service can allow you to make some extra money outside of making repairs.

Customizing Equipment


Many automobile repair garages profit greatly from the use of customizing equipment.

As with offering detailing, customization allows you to make money outside of repairs.Popular customizations include paint jobs, muffler and exhaust system enhancements, interior makeovers, and more.By having exhaust equipment, sewing equipment, paint sprayers, welders, and other tools used in customizations, you can offer this service that is growing in popularity.

When starting the automobile repair garage of your dreams, make sure you start out right by having the correct equipment to do the job, including car lifts, car lift parts, a brake lathe, small tools, and customization equipment.The right tools will set your automobile repair garage out on the road to success.


About the Author

Christine O'Kelly is an author for the car lifts provider, SVI International.

They currently provide lifts and storage equipment including car lift parts to more than 2,000 U.S.and Canadian customers.

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Sunday, February 22, 2009

Why Your Real Estate Business Needs a Blog

OK.You've heard about blogs, and you've been told if you want to make an impact on the web for your business one of the best ways to do it is with a blog.But you have no idea what a blog is, or how it is supposed to help you.

So in this series of articles I'm going to tell you all about blogs.What a blog is.How to set one up.What to write about.How to get more readers, and how to get your blog noticed by the search engines like google.

For starters let's just put it this way.Creating a blog gives you a chance to put your story out there in front of a lot of people.Your blog gives you a chance to develop an online personality and it gives you a vehicle for interacting with your readers and staying in touch with them on a day by day basis.

So the first thing you should try to do with your blog is to let your personality shine through.Don't be overly concerned with writing award winning articles.Write about stuff that your readers will find interesting and relevant.And go out of your way to put some of your own personality into your blog posts.If you can do that you'll be well on your way to creating a successful blog.

Before you can get your blog up and running you have some decisions to make.You will have to decide where your blog is going to be hosted, what software platform you are going to use, what your blog will look like, and several other things.We cover all these things in other articles and videos in this series, and you can find a link to the entire series in the resource box at the end of the article.

But for now, the biggest decision you have to make is the theme or topic of your blog.If you are a real estate agent and want to use your blog to promote your real estate business, the theme has more or less already been chosen for you.To attract readers and generate prospects you should be focusing on providing information about your local real estate market, interesting features of your community, and topics of general interest to home owners, home sellers, and home buyers.

You may already have a pretty good idea what kind of things you should write about in your blog.If not, just ask yourself, "What kind of information would my real estate clients and prospects be interested in reading about in my blog?"


Finding interesting material to write about is not always easy.

Writing may be difficult for you, and you may find coming up with ideas a real challenge.But not to worry.There are short cuts for creating blog content, and here is one of them.

This is what I call the "blog skimming" technique.Use Google to find two or three other blogs in your niche that you find interesting.When you see something you like in one of those blogs, just create a post that contains a very short summary linking back to the original post, along with one or two original comments that reflect your own point of view.

But be careful when you do this.Don't just copy the original post as though it is yours.Make sure to give full credit to the original writer, and try your best to add a bit of original comment that makes the post your own.

While most bloggers make many references to other stories or resources they find on the web, a good blog is not just a rehash of items published in other places.Normally your blog posts will be a reflection of your own point of view - your take on the events.So your posts should contain commentary, criticism and your own personal insights.

This is a really important aspect of blogging.Express your own opinions and point of view and you are much more likely to get readers interacting with what you write.The more you do this, the better you will get at it.

As you know, building and expanding your business is about building relationships with customers and prospects.That's why a blog is so much more powerful than an ordinary static website.It not only lets you demonstrate how your business is unique, but it also shows you are interested in the people you do business with by inviting them to share their own opinions.


About the Author

Rick Hendershot specializes in online marketing for real estate agents.

For more free articles and videos about blogging see Real Estate Blogs or visit his blog called Local Web marketing.

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