Welcome to Business Consultant Weekly

Issue #13 October 12,1998

Business Consultant Weekly is a FREE newsletter brought to you by NetChecks of Quartz Hill, CA <http://netcheckspayroll.com> helping small and home businesses succeed.

The goal of this newsletter is to bring insight into the challenges you face whether you're going it alone or working in a group to carve out a niche in the business world. Increase your cash flow and productivity with informative articles on time management, marketing, daily operations and read messages from well-known motivational speakers that will keep focused on your goal.

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Advertisers: Target your ads with low-cost, effective e-zine advertising that reaches others interested in succeeding online. Place your ads here for results. See details at the end of the classifieds.

In this issue:

1) Tip of the Week

2) FEATURE ARTICLE: How to Alienate Your On-Line Client Base In One Easy Step by Nancy Roebke

3) Classifieds

4) FREE Resources

5) MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGE: TAKING STOCK by William N Hodges

"Tip of the Week"

Networking, or creating relationships, can be one of the most inexpensive tools you have for getting the word out about your business and placing your name in the minds of prospects. However, effectively saturating your circle of contacts will take time. As with most things that require your valuable time, fostering relationships can really pay off when done correctly. Since today's feature focuses on networking online, here are a few tips for effective networking offline:

1. Attend meetings of your local professional groups like the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club or organizations specific to your profession. Have business cards ready to put in the hands of everyone you speak with. Don't forget to ask them what they do and jot it down (on their business card) for future reference. The idea behind networking is to support each other in their business. Someone trying to build one-sided relationships is quickly recognized.

2. Joining a professional group provides a good opportunity to increase the visibility of your business. If you do decide to join one or more of these groups, make sure you have the time to make contributions to them. Offer your help with small projects, or parts of bigger one-time projects. Over committing may leave you with disappointed contacts, the opposite effect of what you intended when you joined in the first place.

3. As you make contacts in the business community you may want to build a relationship with another business that is closely related to yours for the purpose of cooperative advertising. This could ultimately cut your ad costs in half and create referrals for one other.

4. Another possibility is to contact your competition. Let them know you are available to handle their overload work. You never know, you may need them to handle yours. A little caution here, get to know them first so you can trust them not to try to steal your customers. Word travels fast about unscrupulous business owners and almost as quickly about honest ones. As you do business with the highest of integrity, this will obviously work to your advantage.

5. Don't overlook the people you come in contact with in non-business situations, (i.e., hairdressers, neighbors, teachers, etc.). Leave them a business card (or stack) so they can refer your business to others they meet who mention a need.

FEATURE ARTICLE

How to Alienate Your On-Line Client Base In One Easy Step by Nancy Roebke

You've spent a great amount of time finding your contacts on the Internet. You've starting participating in the places they are. You're ready to take on the world now. Stop. Without a thorough understanding of the following concept, you can potentially lose your client base.

*Everyone in the fields that you want to make contact with WILL NOT do business in the same manner as you do, PARTICULARLY if they are not from your own country.

What does this mean? It means that the little things that you do every day, could potentially cause you to lose your online contacts. It means that you need to learn a whole lot more about customs and traditions before expecting to build strong, solid relationships. It means you may make a mistake or two, but you need to be prepared to go through a tremendous learning curve.

True life story. I'm borrowing from a popular current trend here in the US when I write about this story. The countries involved are Mars and Venus. (Here in the US, those are men and women, but in my story, they are actually persons from different countries).

Mars joins an e-mail list that is composed of mostly business professionals from Venus, but are a great potential client base. On Venus, things are done differently than on Mars, even though both countries speak the same language. Mars reads the list for a while (months, in fact).

After months, Mars begins to post informational posts to the lists- resource tips and business development information gleaned from various Internet sources. Keep in mind, this particular information was not specifically ASKED for, but in the spirit of sharing, Mars thinks this is a good thing to do- after all, sharing is good. AND Mars has been sharing the same information on OTHER e-mail lists and hearing how valuable it has been to people from THOSE countries (Like Saturn).

Venus becomes upset. First, because 7 posts arrive from Mars in one day. All different, but still *7* posts!. Then Venus is upset with the content of the posts. Does Mars think that Venus does not KNOW this information, or worse yet, does not know where to find it? And who said Venus NEEDED this information, anyway? What a totally Un-Venetian thing to do!

The rest, as they say, is history. In this example, there is proof that doing the same thing in the same way WILL NOT necessarily get you the same results. The main variable here, is the fact that the two participants were from two different countries with two different cultures. Both styles work in their homeland but will they work on an International basis? That remains to be seen.

Help With Understanding Other Cultures

To aid you in understanding the various cultures YOUR client base may be composed of, the following is suggested:

1. Check out the following International Links:

International Marketing Resources- http://www.profnet.org/intermar.html

Culture Page Index- http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/8363/

The Web Of Culture- http://www.worldculture.com/index.html

International Recommended Readings- http://www.inc.com/international/recommended_readings

2. Befriend someone who is a native in the area you are looking to expand. Ask questions and LISTEN to what the answers are. Find out how your actions would be perceived by natives of that culture.

3. Expect to make mistakes as you learn about each culture. Plan on varying YOUR style and methods to accommodate your potential client base.

4. Help those of other cultures understand YOURS. If asked, offer advice and suggestions on how YOU would have handled the same thing in your culture. What path would you have taken to the get to the same place THEY want to go?

Working on the Internet exposes us all to the world. We need to learn more about that world to be effective and productive. We still cannot say that EVERYONE from Mars acts the same way, and so does EVERYONE from Venus. But STYLES that are common in each culture often come through as inappropriate for other cultures. Don't lose your client base because of YOUR style.

Permission to reprint this article in its entirety is granted only if all information below this notice, including the WWIO web site link and copyright, is included as it is written.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - <http://certificate.net/wwio/>, your only source of FREEWare Content online.

Nancy Roebke, is the Executive Director Profnet, Inc., a professional business leads generation corporation. We bring business professionals together in a non-competitive environment to help each other make more money. Visit her site at http://www.profnet.org

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MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGE

TAKING STOCK Copyright 1998 William N Hodges, used by permission.

We tend to take it for granted that the new year always begins on January 1. But this is not necessarily true. Many government employees begin their new fiscal year on October 1 and many corporations start their fiscal years at various times. Some people consider their birthdays as the beginning of their new year. I can remember a time when the television industry considered the introduction of the new car models, and the advertising revenue that it brought, as the beginning of the new television season or year.

It really doesn't matter what date you consider the one that starts your year. What matters is that you are ready for it when it comes. To be ready for the new year, a review of what has happened to you in the past year is in order. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you do that review.

1. What have you learned over the past year that you can use to be healthier, happier, and more productive in the year to come? More importantly, how do you plan to use that information to better your lot in life. Keep in mind, knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when it is used. How will you use it?

2. Who are your current friends? The number of friends one has is not nearly as important as the quality of those friends. In choosing friends, you should heed Confucius who said, "Have no friends not equal to yourself." When you have one good friend, you should count yourself wealthy.

3. Has your financial position changed in the last year? True independence comes from a sense of financial security. Financial security does not just happen-it must be planned. Do you have a plan, and is it succeeding for you? Don't hesitate to seek professional advice.

4. How is your physical condition? After 40 especially, the pounds just seem multiply geometrically. Exercise becomes more difficult because of a multiplicity of aches and pains. But a good diet and exercise are your two most valuable allies in your quest to stay healthy. Do you have a diet and exercise plan?

5. Do you have a good mental attitude? A positive attitude is not something that just happens. You have to work at it. As the old song says, "You have to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative and don't mess with Mister in-between." Read, watch, or listen to something positive every day.

John Wayne said, "Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." If you have answered the above questions, you've learned something. With that knowledge, you can set a course for a productive, happy, and healthy tomorrow.

Bill Hodges is nationally recognized speaker, trainer, and columnist. If you enjoyed this article, you will enjoy his book Within Your Reach which contains 60 such articles on positive thinking available either in print or a three cassette audio tape. If ordering from your local bookstore, .reference ISBN #0-9622717-0-5, or you may order directly by sending your check for $4.95 USCurrency plus ($1.30 USA $3.00 Other)for the printed book or $20.00 plus ($3.00 USA $6.00 other) for shipping to Hodges Seminars International, P O Box 22 Fairborn OH 45324. Or order by Visa or Mastercharge at his Web site http://www.BillHodges.com

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