Posts Tagged ‘business help’

Five Top Selling Books for Business-Minded Improvement

July 5th, 2011 by stevezog

In the next two blogs we’ll take a look at 10 of the top selling business books ever written, a couple of which have been helping people since before World War II and are still relevant today. If you haven’t read any of the books mentioned, or just need another copy, just click on the title to buy your own.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Think and Grow Rich is a motivational personal development and self-help book written by Napoleon Hill and published in 1936, during the depths of the Great Depression. It is still a must read today, if for no other reason than to understand the foundation on which most other books of the genre are built. The title implies that this book deals only with how to achieve monetary wealth, but the author explains that the philosophy taught in the book can be used to help individuals do or be almost anything they want in this world. At the time of Hill’s death in 1970, Think and Grow Rich had sold 20 million copies and it remains the biggest seller of Hill’s books, and a perennial best-seller after nearly 70 years.

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life, was published in 1998. It is a business fable by Spencer Johnson that describes how four characters deal with change in their work and life. Each character represents one of four typical reactions to change while they hunt for “cheese”. Who Moved My Cheese? spent five years on the New York Times Best Seller List and more than 23 million copies have been sold. While we may not all like parables, this book resonates to this day thanks to the easy to understand story that puts most people’s troubles into perspective.

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

The Secret became incredibly well known when Oprah featured it on her television show. Soon after, it reached the top of the New York Times best-seller list and, to date, has sold almost 20 million copies. The Secret isn’t strictly a business book, but instead teaches the reader how to think and visualize in a way that leads to prosperity and growth. It was written by Rhonda Byrne and based upon William Walker Atkinson’s, The Science of Getting Rich, published in 1910. The Secret is somewhat controversial because many claim that the book misleads readers into thinking positive thoughts can influence a reader’s life and real-world outcomes, but there are many successful people that believe in The Secret and one can’t dispute its status as a best seller, no matter what they think of the text.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, was first published in 1989 and is a self-help book written by Stephen R. Covey. To date it has sold more than 15 million copies in 38 languages. In this book, Covey presents an approach for being effective in attaining goals by aligning oneself with what he calls “true north” principles of a character ethic that he presents as universal and timeless. This book has been highly influential since its publication, especially in the way it has advanced the idea of the “abundance” mentality for both people and businesses. ActionCOACH, for one, takes great pride in its mentality of abundance, even making abundance one of the company’s 14 Points of Culture.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

How to Win Friends and Influence People was written by Dale Carnegie and first published in 1936. Over the decades it has sold more than 15 million copies world-wide. While the book has been updated and changed periodically (the Seven Rules for Making Your Home Life Happier, as well as other sections were omitted from later editions) it still contains some timeless lessons about creating and developing a persona that helps you work with people in a more productive and profitable way. Like many classics, its message still resonates, as networking and dealing with people has never been more important than it is today.

In our next blog, we’ll fill out our Top 10 with five more terrific titles that have sold millions of copies around the world.

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Are We Ready for a New Way to Buy Groceries?

June 27th, 2011 by stevezog

What is more important, convenience or health? How about low prices or local products?

These are just two questions that come to mind when you hear about the newest type of grocery store, called in.gredients, which will open its first store in Austin, Texas this fall.

What makes in.gredients so different? Instead of your usual ShopRite or Smith’s supermarket, in.gredients promises to be the first “package-free, zero waste grocery store in the United States.”

“How is that even possible?” you might ask.

They will not sell items produced by major brands, instead focusing on local farmers and businesses to provide their wares, limiting the environmental footprint of the store.

Customers that shop at in.gredients will be asked to bring their own containers, because the items sold will not be packaged. For those customers that forget to bring their own packaging, disposable bags will be available.

While these ideas sound good, there’s a bigger question that a for-profit store has to focus on, how will they make money?

Will people really want to forget about all the convenience of shopping at a major supermarket to shop at a store where they have to bring their own bags and their choices are far more limited than what they are accustomed to? And will the prices be more than what people are used to paying?

Most people want to make their shopping experience as easy and hassle-free as possible, they have more than one or two people to consider when they do the grocery shopping and they can’t afford to pay premium prices for things they could by cheaper around the corner.

Of course, in.gredients isn’t really meant to cater to convenience shoppers, but will instead focus on environmentally conscious people who only eat healthy foods. Their website lists dozens of categories of foods they will sell, but meat doesn’t seem to be one of those categories, so vegetarians will be happy with the selection.

But is their target market large enough to even sustain a profitable business?

Sure Whole Foods has had tremendous success catering to a healthier target audience than most supermarket chains, but while their focus is on health, they offer all the convenience of the other brands in the marketplace.

On the other hand, in.gredients is a completely new way of shopping that may not appeal to those who are used to grabbing a package of hot dogs and buns on their way to a barbeque.

Whether the idea works or not will say a lot about the changing nature of the American consumer.

Have health and environmental concerns finally reached the tipping point where people are willing to pay more and be inconvenienced to fills those needs?

The story of in.gredients, beginning in the fall of 2011, may help us find out.

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Breaking Up is Hard To Do

June 9th, 2011 by stevezog

Even when they are successful, partnerships aren’t easy.

Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce and those relationships are between two people that presumably love each other. Business partnerships don’t usually involve people in love, so it’s no surprise that those relationships can go bad so quickly and irreparably.

So what can you do to protect yourself when the partnership for your small business goes bad?

The best way to avoid a bad business partnership is by protecting yourself BEFORE it starts by not getting into one, because once your partnership turns bad, your options are limited.

If you end up in a business partnership anyway, here are some things to think about.

Both you and your partner need to seriously consider all decisions beforehand and create a detailed operating agreement. This should be the source to turn to when you and your partner have issues that can’t be easily settled.

Once you’re in the partnership, if you don’t have an agreement that spells out how to handle issues, you may be in serious trouble.

You can’t simply ask your partner to go away or vote them off the business like a reality show. You will have to continue working with them or buy them out of their piece of the business if things go sour. Both of those situations can be impossible to deal with, so spelling out any and all eventualities ahead of time is key.

Remember, a partnership is a legal engagement and if you are partnering with someone who doesn’t pull their weight or fulfill their end of the bargain, you may have little to no recourse. You could end up spending months in court, suffering financially, losing your small or medium sized business, or worse.

If you’re already in a partnership, don’t have any written agreement with your partner and things are going downhill, what can you do?

Your goal should be to negotiate some sort of compromise with your partner. After all, they are in virtually the same position you’re in and will probably want to get out as well.

Start by talking to your partner, who may also be unhappy and looking for a way out. If leaving isn’t an option for either of you, you may want to think about restructuring the business to better reflect the work each of you do.

The simplest thing to do is to buyout the other owner, but there are some issues with that strategy. Buyouts can destroy your cash flow and those that leave, at times do so with valuable assets, leaving the business short-handed for a time.

And if you don’t have a buy-sell agreement in place, an angry partner can demand that a court set the price the business will be sold at. A judge can even order partners to stay together, even if both want out.

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A Tasty Way to Grow Your Business

May 5th, 2011 by stevezog

Who doesn’t love a nice grilled cheese sandwich?

The ultimate comfort food for many, a grilled cheese sandwich is easy to make, cheap and delicious… and now it is the subject of an event glorifying it, the Grilled Cheese Invitational, which attracts fans eager to display their own unique take on the ultimate American comfort food.

The Invitational was started about eight years ago by Tim Walker.

Walker started the Invitational on a lark with friends, but his event has showcased the power of contests and business awards as a way to build publicity for any brand or item. Incredibly, after 8 years the contest has grown to include 221 participants and about 8000 spectators (who pay $12 a piece to attend) in its latest edition.

For business owners, the story isn’t about the grilled cheese competition itself, it’s about the way this contest has generated incredible buzz around something as simple and common as a grilled cheese sandwich.

Imagine if your business could take something it does and turn it into a contest the business could host that would create loads of publicity. Don’t you think that could pay big dividends for your business?

The idea of creating contests to grow your business while presenting contestants with awards is a natural for restaurants. For instance, some restaurants hold eating contests and places that have specific themes could hold contests directly related to what they serve, like an oyster shucking contests in a seafood restaurant.

But it isn’t just restaurants that can use this tactic. Any business that provides a service can turn that service into a contest to promote the business with just a little thought.

So if you are you looking for a way to grow your business, but aren’t sure what to do, why not hold a contest that customers and potential customers alike can take part in?

A contest centered around your business, complete with awards you can give to the winners can be a very powerful tool and if you don’t believe it, just ask one of those 8000 people that spent $12 to attend the last Grilled Cheese Invitational.

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Brad Sugars Strikes a Balance While Helping Businesses

April 9th, 2011 by stevezog

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A Meme by Any Other Name- Part Two

April 8th, 2011 by stevezog

A marketing meme always accomplishes four things. It actively transfers specific information. It’s immediately and obviously beneficial. It’s ultra-simple. And it’s easy to remember and pass along to someone else.

When all of these elements are in place, marketing memes work like magic.

Let’s use an example to make this point clearer.

Say you are at a party and just used your marketing meme to answer someone’s question about what you do for a living.

Even if the person you’re talking to doesn’t need your services, they understand immediately what your business is about.

Now, about a half an hour later, that same person drags a friend over to you and says, “You should talk to Sarah here — she needs to attract more clients.”

Bingo!

This can happen anytime and anywhere, which is why it’s smart to apply the meme idea to virtually any marketing message.

When you do, people will understand you more quickly, and as a result, you’ll attract more attention, interest, and response.

You don’t have to worry about snappy slogans or phrases.

Instead strive for clarity, simplicity, brevity, and a description of benefits, wrapped up in just a few words (or a combination of words and images).

And remember that great marketing memes make a direct and memorable connection.

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A Meme by Any Other Name- Part One

April 5th, 2011 by stevezog

In 1976, Oxford University biologist Richard Dawkins wrote a book called “The Intelligent Gene” in which he introduced a new concept to our culture: the concept of memes.

According to Dawkins, a meme, which rhymes with “seems” is similar to the genes that we all have inside us, in that it is self-replicating.

But unlike genes, memes don’t replicate biologically but, instead, are passed along, from person to person, in the form of ideas.

Dawkins argued that memes are the “basic unit of cultural transmission” and that concept is pretty clearly evident just by looking at some examples of memes.

Songs, ideas, catch phrases, clothes, fashions, ways of making pots, or of building arches are all memes and just as genes propagate by leaping from body to body via sperm or eggs, so memes propagate by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation.

Understanding this concept and creating marketing and advertising that serve these purposes can be very important to the success of any business.

Over the next few posts, we’ll take a look at some concepts regarding memes that should help you understand how to create a marketing campaign that people will remember for a long time.

When it comes to marketing, the concept of memes is very important, since you want ideas to naturally flow from one person or group to the next, replicating itself over and over again.

We’ve heard of this concept when we’ve heard of video going “viral” on the internet, but how can you accomplish this for your own business? Come back for the next blog as we explore this idea.

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ActionCOACH Rates High in Satisfaction

March 18th, 2011 by stevezog

ActionCOACH was honored to be ranked 31st in the latest Franchise Business Review in the large systems category for the most recent poll.

Because franchisee satisfaction is so important to the health of our business, this is an award we strive for every year and earning a spot on this coveted list is becoming something of a habit for ActionCOACH. We are proud to be recognized by the Franchise Business Review again this year.

No matter how great a company is, if the franchisees aren’t happy, growth and success simply aren’t possible. Our franchisees at ActionCOACH are our business partners, so keeping them happy and satisfied is one of our top priorities and we look forward to being named to this coveted list again next year.

To review the entire list of businesses that ranked on the list, just click here.

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Are You Attending the Business Excellence Forum?

March 14th, 2011 by stevezog

Will you be at the Business Excellence Forum? It will be held at the world famous Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, Florida on August 19 and 20. Without a doubt, it promises to be one of the most exciting global initiatives ActionCOACH has taken on.

The Business Excellence Forum will be a great way for small business owners and entrepreneurs who want to learn from and network with, successful business people, connect. And it will take place in one of the most beautiful hotels in the world.

The Business Excellence Awards Ceremony will take place on August 20. This ceremony will honor some of the best companies and entrepreneurs in the world of small business today.

The Business Excellence Forum promises to be a powerful event for any small business owner, entrepreneur or Business Coach.

Anyone who is involved in a small business will get tremendous value from the training, workshops and speakers scheduled for the Business Excellence Forum.

For more information on the 2011 Business Excellence Forum, just click here.

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Coaching for a Cause Helps Charities

March 11th, 2011 by stevezog

ActionCOACH Business Coaches already help local communities by working with small businesses and small business owners to make them profitable.

But ActionCOACH’s Coaching for a Cause program takes it a bit further. Coaching for a Cause is a global initiative that focuses on spreading the principles of gratitude and abundance by applying systems used by “for-profit” companies to the non-profit and charitable world.

Through Coaching for a Cause, Business Coaches from ActionCOACH teach non-profit organizations how to operate like businesses that generate profits.

This is done by building systems and implementing them and in this way non-profit organizations learn how to make the most of each and every contribution they get.

Last year Coaching for a Cause helped increase donations to non-profits and participating charities by more than $3 million.

This year, ActionCOACH expects to teach even more non-profits how to be successful.

Click on the link to see how Coaching for a Cause works and how it has created success for participating organizations.

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