Dodo Loves Marketing

“I am ultimately responsible for the quality of all teaching in my district. Yet every day, in every classroom, there is a teacher and there are students . . . and the door is shut.”

Gerry C., a superintendent for a large public school district, captures the manager’s challenge perfectly: How can you get people to do what _you want them to do when you are not there to tell them to do it? Gerry knows what all great managers know: As a manager, you might think that you have more control, but you don’t. You actually have less control than the people who report to you. Each individual employee can decide what to do and what not to do. He can decide the hows, the whens, and the with whoms. For good or for ill, he can make things happen. ..more

• Read More »

Once you’ve done your market research and worked out if you can make a profit from the business, the next step is to take advice. This will not only confirm whether your calculations are realistic, but can take a lot of the pain out of setting up. The good news is that there’s lots of advice available - and much of it is free. What’s more, experts on small businesses reckon that over 60 per cent of small business failures could be avoided if only people took advice in three areas - money, management and marketing.

1 TECs/LECs A good place to start is your local Training and Enterprise Council (TEC), or Local Enterprise Council (LEC) . These can also put you in touch with other helpful agencies; such as your local Enterprise Agency and Business Link. You can find them through your telephone book, Yellow Pages or local library. The Department of Trade and Industry also has a hotline. ..more

• Read More »

Motivation is perhaps the single biggest factor in making the difference between success and failure in any business venture. Surveys have shown that poorly motivated employees, however hard they are worked, consistently produce poorer work than those who may work less hours but have better motivation.

But what gives us our motivation differs with our personalities. For some people, motivation is largely external. They work hard because they have external rewards to motivate them — a pay cheque, the approval of colleagues, or a boss breathing down their neck. However, when you work at home, you are largely out of sight — and possibly out of mind — of your boss. (This is the major reason cited by managers for their opposition to teleworking. In a recent Department of Trade and Industry study, many managers said that they did not approve of teleworking, because without a boss to manage employees their work would invariably decline.) Even more challenging, you may actually be your own boss. If you have been the sort of person who regards the boss’s holiday as a good reason to down tools yourself, you may well have problems working from home. ..more

• Read More »

Most people who have become disenchanted with their job consider the possibility of starting their own business. There are certain definite appeals to being your own boss—no-one to look over your shoulder, time at work determined by you, and financial rewards contingent upon your work input.

While the picture may look very rosy and alluring, there are certain pitfalls as well. You are solely responsible for the progress of the business and that will often mean longer hours and higher pressure. If the business involves employing others, there will be stresses and strains in managing your staff. Instead of being the applicant with hat in hand, you will be the boss making the hiring and firing decisions, a position of considerable responsibility and stress. ..more

• Read More »

Making The Deal

When you finally find a car that looks good, runs well, and seems like a fair deal, go back with a parent or friend—someone who’s more objective than you are. It’s easy to get infatuated with a car and miss some of the troubling details. Be sure to ask the owner about the car’s history of accidents and repairs. You may not get a straight answer, but it’s always wise to ask. Also, ask for records of maintenance and repairs. A person who keeps a file of receipts is generally someone who takes care of cars.

If it still looks like a good deal, take it to a mechanic. He can run simple tests on the car, inspect the brakes and fluids, and tell you if there’s anything scary lurking out of view. If the car has big problems, look for another—you don’t want to be buying someone else’sproblems. If the car passes your mechanic’s inspection, make an offer. ..more

• Read More »

Even in an era where mandatory retirement ages are .creeping higher and higher, corporate managers need to plan for their own transitions from the seat of power to new roles and other activities.

For some, a top consideration is perpetuating a philosophy of business that they feel they have helped their companies develop. They want to know that what they have contributed to the corporate culture and success will not be lost.

Others are more pragmatic. They accept that new management must set its own standards and tone. They put their energies into planning for their own futures elsewhere.

There are many managers who don’t care too deeply about what happens to their organizations after they leave. Such managers recognize that corporations are, by their nature, designed to survive the individual employee, and they, therefore, see little value in staying too emotionally involved. ..more

• Read More »

No matter what their background, education, financial standing and career opportunities, a characteristic all successful network marketers have in common is a positive ‘go-getter’ attitude; the kind of attitude that says: ‘Let’s give it a try.’

Entrepreneurs are people who make things happen. They are the people who refuse to sit back and wait for the good times to roll in. They make their own good times now, through their own actions.

What other characteristics do they share? They are tryers. They regard any experience as a learning experience of value. They recognize that small setbacks are part of the learning process, just as one falls when learning to ride a bicycle for the first time, but that success must come from trying. ..more

• Read More »

Step 1: The introductory meeting

Make the appointment and arrive on time; not early and not late. Try to meet both husband and wife if you meet with a married couple. Throughout the meeting talk in a relaxed and conversational way. If the meeting is in the prospect’s home, make some opening pleasantries. You might comment about an attractive painting on the wall or the lovely roses in the garden, anything to break the ice.

But this is a business meeting, so don’t labour the social side. Start your presentation properly by saying that:

• you have joined a company and you are excited about it, and that the business offers a significant moneymaking opportunity
• your organisation is a growing one and there is room for everyone to make money
• you are going to present an idea for her consideration but that there will be no pressure on her to make a decision. If she decides not to participate, you will not bug her. ..more
  • Read More »

When your network grows big, you can’t do it all. Don’t even try to, or you’ll run yourself ragged. The secret of success is to ‘grow’ your own people and, by doing so, let them handle their own affairs. Your role becomes more one of monitoring what is going on, leaving you free to spend more time looking for prospects. Never forget to build, build, build.

If you have well-developed and trained distributors in your downline you can, with confidence, leave them to build their own businesses. To be sure, always make yourself available to handle a crisis or to give expert advice, but don’t hinder your downliners with a ‘telling’ management style. Once you’ve given them a head start, push them from the nest and they’ll fly! ..more

• Read More »

Home Depot’s vast assortment of building supplies shows that it, too, knows that customers savor choice. But an even more important reason for its lasting success is that it knows how to capitalize on a customer’s wish to perform a task him- or herself. Home Depot employs our second strategy to attract the searchers, showering them with advice and insight.

This paradise for those who subscribe to do-it-yourself turns modestly competent amateurs into confident renovators and barely competent fumblers into people capable of remodeling their kitchens. Home Depot’s employees don’t do the job for you. Instead, they make accessible the information, products, and people you need to complete it for yourself. You feel capable of improving your own skills, which is exactly the feeling that searchers are seeking. ..more

• Read More »