Here are some suggestions:

• Create a tracking system so you know who is paying bills on-time and how is not owning up to their end of the bargain.
• Check for accuracy with your billing information. 
• Is it worth outsourcing?  This one is a tough call.  Is it worth using an outside bookkeeper?  The good news is that they don’t have a vested interest, the drawback is they will take a cut.  You call it.
• Consider offering an incentive system for people who pay on-time.  For example, a discount on their next order.

Hope this helps… until next time

For whatever reason people create an article, find every free PR site possible and then blast the article to the masses with the hopes of getting it picked up.  Here is one thing you may want to consider, some paid PR services will distribute your article over many sites (what a plus), but we’ve found that might be a waste of money and a potential problem if Google thinks you’re spamming with duplicate content (that would be a minus).  Therefore a good rule of thumb is to pick a few- say no more than 5 - (larger) article submission sites and upload your article there since most of the smaller sites will pick up and distribute the content from the larger sites without going through a direct submission anyway.

That said and before we get to the heart of this article, let’s negate a common misconception.  The market is flooded with ‘How-to’ manuals that create the illusion of article marketing propelling your business to the stratosphere.  One book I read suggested that one well placed article made him big bucks.  Ok, for the sake of argument let’s say that did happen but, at the same time let’s stay grounded.

Media outlets are not your marketing partners and should not be treated as such.  Or in other words, don’t fool yourself into thinking you can leverage them into plugging your business.  From my perspective any article you write should be for the benefit of the reader.  So when writing your articles keep that in mind (please).  Ok, now let’s switch gears and talk about how to get some ‘real’ PR.

1. Choose a free press release service. The trick is to find a service that will add the release to search engines.  Here are some choices

• 1888pressrelease
• freepressrelease.com
• PR.com (I like this one)
• PR zoom
• isnare

2. Try your local newspaper (or similar outlet with some local flavoring sprinkled in).  Here is the way the game works, newspapers need stories- you contact them and give them one (yours)

3. Send the release to industry (read: niche) outlets.  Please avoid getting lazy.  The trap people fall into is that people will find your release via Google will do the legwork. 

4. Give Social Bookmarking a whirl.  Social Bookmarking is when you step up to the plate and say this content is so good I will stand behind it so therefore it is ok to tag/ link their own online bookmarking accounts.  Here are some sites:

• Digg
• Furl
• Reddit
• Del.icio.us

5. Take the shot and contact the Associated Press.  What is the worst that can happen, they say no?  Go to AP and look for the regional office.  Send the release via fax or email, you never know. 

6. Don’t forget the obvious.  Once your release is posted add it to your site.  If you don’t have a media section please add on, ok? 

 So there you go.  Save your money and by-pass PRweb, PR Newswire and 24-7 Press Release. Enjoy!!!

Take some time and survey your existing customers.  By taking a survey and asking questions relevant to their business you may be able to unearth some need you were previously unaware of.  For example, in tough times people (or companies) tend to vanish and “hide”, using the economy as an excuse.  By contrast, reaching out to people will help you keep your company fresh in their minds while your competitors pull back… get it?

To this day I am surprised at the amount of entrepreneurs who spend hours upon hours learning all the functional knowledge to operate a business but invest next to nothing in learning how to interact with people.  If there is one constant on this planet it’s people and all the book knowledge you have will do nothing if you can’t interact with others.   

So what is the point?  Far too often we overlook the basic people skills because we convince ourselves we already have a handle on the subject, or find the topic boring and skip it altogether.  Taking the time to do the obvious is the point. Furthermore there is a difference between common knowledge and common practice. Learn basic people skills, or better yet check out our section dedicated to the subject- either way it’s worth it!

For example consider the following dialog. “Welcome to Chik-fil-a, my name is ____, how may I serve you today?”  If  you engage in conversation you will hear “please”, “thank you” interspersed throughout the conversation, at the conclusion of the order they say, “my pleasure”.  Let’s analyze this for a moment. 

Did you notice the words?  ‘Serve’, ‘please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘pleasure’ are all positive words.  Or put another way the people behind the counter are using, feel-good, warm-fuzzy terminology.  Contrast that with other fast food establishments.  At other fast food joints how often do you hear “No problem” or less than desirable words. If you compare their words with Chik-fil-a’s approach which dialog are you most likely to remember?  My guess is the latter.

So why does this work?  Advertisers spend millions of dollars and invest significant time researching the impact of words on people’s psyche.  Every sales message is crafted using a specific dialog intended to create an image in your mind.  Therefore if you phrases like, “no problem”, “don’t worry about it”, think about those terms.  ‘Problem’,’ worry’ and ‘no’ are all negative terms; therefore you are fueling a conversation with less then desirable words.  Interestingly enough how often do we this unknowingly?

Chik-fil-a realizes how negative words can work against customers and have adapted accordingly. If you take a page from Chik-fil-a’s book and use positive, warm fuzzy phrases you can increase your customer service by simply creating positive images in their mind. Maybe there is something going on besides a great sandwich?

• Letting people go is never easy (read: it sucks)
• Despite your best efforts they will take it personally (read: they will hate you, despise the company and most likely will disparage you every chance they get)

That said let’s begin.  When you have to let people go it is on your shoulders to do the dirty work, own up to your responsibility and you inform the employee personally.  Using a hatchet man is not a cool idea.  Also, please avoid doing one of the dumbest things possible- letting them go at the close of business Friday with the idea being they can decompress over the weekend.  That is ridiculous.  Instead, let them go the first thing Friday morning so they won’t feel used before termination.  I’ve seen people get let go on Friday afternoon and can say with almost no exception their general mindset is always like, ‘geez… at least they could have let me go early so I could have the day off!”  In case you don’t agree try to put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself how you would feel?  Is getting another eight hours out of them worth it?

Warning: this next part is a rant.  If you are one of those sick people who delight in firing people, do us all a favor and fire yourself and seek professional counseling.  Heartless people like you are vile and should never be employed by anyone else.  When you fire someone realize that you are affecting them on several levels.  Their self-esteem will be shattered, they lose their income (most likely the have dependents), and now have to start over again. The very least you can do is try to preserve their dignity.  For the record I have been fired, to this day I will not recommend any of my former employers. Would you? And I have been in the position of having to fire staff, which is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.  Please allow me to share with you the best lesson I’ve ever learned about how to let someone go. (I feel much better now…)

When I was in the investment business I got to know some of the executives.  One executive had a rather unique way of laying off people, one that I still use to this day (if needed which fortunately is not very often).  Whenever he had to let a quality employee go due to a downturn in business, he would call them into his office, explain the situation and then let the hammer drop.  So what’s different? Here is the twist- he would not let them go immediately; instead he told them to go look for another job, when they found one they would part ways.  Or put another way, he would say something to the effect of,  ”I’m sorry but I need to let you go since things are slow. You can stay here and work while you interview, just tell me if you are going on an interview so I know where you are.”  He would then carry that person on the payroll until they found something else. 

If the person was really bad (read: crappy worker) he would give them a two week notice.  He would allow the person an additional two week “grace period” before they were officially let go. During the two week period the employee could work or interview as long as management was in the loop.  At the end of two weeks the person was officially done no matter if they found a job or not

So why did he use this method?  He realized the value of word-of-mouth and how negativity can impact any business.  Instead of doing things “by the book” and letting someone go, he would preserve the person’s dignity by giving them some time before dismissal.  He knew that a terminated employee would rip the organization every chance they got, so he would opt for the “easy let down” with the hopes the person would not say anything derogatory about the company.  Unorthodox, yep.  Worth it… you be the judge.

Most entrepreneurs are familiar with the term article marketing.  If not the general concept is write a few articles, distribute them via news release services, reporters, and various media outlets.  Once they reach the outlets the goal is to have the article picked up. Having your name in print gives you instant credibility; in turn this credibility feeds you leads since people will contact you via the articles and presto– instant sale.  For the record I am a proponent of article marketing.

That said, please note you still need to have the prospect sign the dotted line (read: buy) your product or service after they look you up via the article.  Having an article in print does not guarantee money flowing into your door. Lacking basic sales knowledge turns things into an uphill battle.  Let me explain. 

The issue I have is some advocates of article marketing create illusions by making you think that all you need to do is write some articles and leads will pour in.  While there is some truth to this, you still need to close the deal.  Or put another way, just because they call does not mean they are going to buy.  Take some time to become familiar with the sales process.  In the coming months you will find a lot being written about the subject.

How often have you left a sales meeting (or sales pitch) beating yourself up for not closing the deal when it was well within our reach? And then begins the process of guilt, self- condemnation and intense scrutiny of our actions. Our minds overload with thoughts of all the things we should’ve said and all the things we shouldn’t have said.
Consider this maybe the root of the problem lies in the obvious fact that you’ve know how to close a deal, but you haven’t mastered the art of selling. Say what?!? And yes there is a difference. The best sales focus their attention on trying to understand why a client might not be willing to buy and then works toward appeasing any concerns through guidance and not a hard, high-pressure close.
The old school mentality of ABC (Always Be Closing) has gone the way of the Dodo. So how do we turn our objections into opportunity How? Blocking objections before they show themselves can increase our chances of success.
Let’s examine this. When a client objects there is a high probability that it is not the true objection. Example, if a prospect claims the price is too high, you can rebut by saying, “So if price was not the issue you would do the deal.” (Not in those words mind you but you get the idea). After you call their bluff there is a good probability the client will respond with, “Well. Not really” In short, the first objection is most likely a smokescreen. Once you identify the true objection through gentle probing you and the client confirms it until you can minimize, nullify or eliminate that objection, no crafty closing technique you use will work. Therefore the goal should be to head off any objection before it gets stated. Once the objection is out there we are on the defensive trying to convince the client to change their mind.
So how do we stop the client from objecting to begin with?
Do you remember the article about empathy? During our presentation we should be answering his own questions and we will be in a great position to close the deal because he’s already sold (read: convinced) himself. Let’s summarize:

Objection Prevention Techniques

1) Make a list of all the possible objections as to why the prospect could possibly not buy from you and create rebuttals
2) Think of a rebuttal for each objection
3) During your presentation intertwine the rebuttal into your presentation
4) When you are able, validate each rebuttal with an example, story, testimonial, etc.

If you have done your job at the conclusion of your presentation the only thing they could say is “where do I sign?”

As some of you may know for the past several years I have been teaching the Martial Arts, one of the topics I focus on is how to talk yourself out of a bad situation.  Some people may know this under a different name, verbal de-escalation. The trick to effective verbal de-escalation is to use empathy.  Granted this may sound funny but when you utilize empathy against an aggressor you stand a pretty decent chance of awakening their “human side” and getting out of a tight spot.  Now you may ask what does this have to do with sales?  Well, actually a lot!

Customers don’t want to talk to salespeople who don’t understand their situation.  Instead they want to work with people who not only understand the difficulties, but they also empathize with their situation. Sadly too many entrepreneurs are over-zealous about their product and push it onto someone instead of selling it. Keep in mind customers want you to feel their sense of urgency. The tightness of their situation and want you to feel what is at stake when they make high-risk buying decisions.

Salespeople can’t fake pretending to empathize, people are too smart for that and will see right through you. If you want to show a customer you truly understand their pain requires you have to walk in their shoes and see things from their perspective, not yours!!

No doubt many of you are saying, “That’s easier said then done”.  And have convinced yourself you can’t empathize with the prospect.  I have no way of knowing what they go through!”   Right?  Wrong!  You can empathize.   Try this exercise:

- Do you worry about making money?

- Do high-risk decisions scare you?

- Do you have a mortgage or other bills to pay?

- Have you been burned in the past?

- Are decisions overwhelming when there is a lot at stake?

Odds are you answered ‘yes’ to most or all the questions, guess what you can ‘empathize’ with top decision makers frequently deal with. 
 
Therefore keep in mind if you are squeamish about meeting with a buyer remember the person sitting across from you has problems just like you and they need to solve them.  They need a solution which is why they will meet or speak with you.   Potential customers are not weirdo’s who possess omnipotent power over you and your future.  Empathy breaks down walls. Never lose sight of the obvious. Show potential customers you have thought about their problems and have come to present some answers on you can help with their problems.

The formula is simple: if you empathize you can influence.

The Conceptual person can be identifed by their deep quest for knowledge, data and reality.  They love to learn, tend to be objective in approach and favor critical thinking.  They don’t like opinions and really only care about the facts.  Feelings take the back seat to reason/ logic. In case you haven’t figured it out- they are adamant about knowledge, learning, thinking and reasoning.  Plain and simple.

Now let’s tie all the pieces together.  Since we have studied the six motivators that entrepreneurs can use to help identify in people (read: build bridges to, or use to your ethical advantage).  Most people tend to focus in on one motivator, when in fact they should look for two.  Keep in mind that people will have a dominate motivator and another secondary motivator that will “temper” the first. If not the primary motivator may overwhelm us.  For example, if someone has exhibits the Power and Authority motivator, they may have the Social motivator as the secondary.  This means they may want some control but may funnel that control to a reformist cause. 

Or let’s say they have a strong Power and Authority tempered by Economic.  In this case they may  have a strong desire for Power but they are into financial control. You see?   Let’s look at another combination.  Aesthetic and Doctrine; in this case the person may be way into art- as in Renaissance but may have an affection for tribal rituals and cultures.  Making sense?

All this means is that people will exhibit two motivators. If you can identify them these motivators will act as hot buttons.  Craft your message to appeal to how they are motivated and your chances of success increase.  By contrast, if you want to de-motivate someone try to motivate them with anything but what traits they are exhibiting.  Or put another way, if you are a manager with a strong Economic motivator, how effective will you be if you offer a raise and they are motivated by Power and Authority?  In this case, keep your money and offer them an office closer to the CEO’s, they will respond to that better.