Category: Business

  • The History of the Modern Money Clip

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    The history of the money clip is not a very long one since the need for a them only arose with the invention for paper money. Paper currency was first developed in China during the 7th century due to shortage of copper. Before this time ones wealth was worn around the neck in the form of necklaces the wealthier you were the heavier the chain you wore. This became physically uncomfortable and problematic, so the Chinese developed a system where they could leave their coins with a person of trust in return for a paper note. They could get their money back by showing the note at a later time. This practice was later discontinued and paper money doesn’t arise again until 1690 in Europe. During this time England produced paper money to facilitate the movement of goods and services while waging colonial war in faraway Canada. It was much easier to move paper money then large amounts of heavy coins.

    So as paper money gained popularity the need to hold ones money became a necessity. The first patent for a money clip was patented on May 7 1901 by B.G Deovich for a safety holder for paper money. This clamping device held the money and also had an attached chain to secure to and convenient button. The ones we know today was not invented until 1931 when L. weeks applied for the patent that we know today as the modern money clip. Before this time paper money was hap hazardously carried in pocket of in change purses or in folded pieces of fabric.

    Today there many styles and types they are made of different metals and materials and come in many different styles to fit anyone’s taste. Some money clips have time pieces on them; some have secret compartments, some even have knives in them or flash lights. They come all metals from platinum encrusted with diamond to silver and gold and the more readily accessible stainless steel. Stainless steel is prized for its durability and low cost and is the most well known of all the materials. Many groups such as the Mansions carry money clips with special logos on them. They can are used as an extension of one’s personality or to show affection or affiliation with an affinity group such as sports teams or military units. They are given as both corporate and personal gifts because they can easily be engraved and made as personal or impersonal as needed.

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    Source by Brenda L Hopkins

    Views: 0

  • Whatever Happened to Customer Service?

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    In the old movie, Miracle on 34th Street, the Macy’s Santa sends customers to rival store Gimbels for products that Macy’s does not have. After a management outcry, it then turns out that customers really appreciate this service and become more loyal to Macy’s than ever before.

    Retailers today have forgotten that lesson. Everybody is looking to cut costs. Customer service is no longer considered a revenue generator, so it’s one of the first things on the chopping block when a retailer starts tightening its belt.

    Good customer service is good business. It creates repeat customers. Repeat customers are what every retailer wants because it is far less expensive from a marketing standpoint to sell to a former customer than to bring in new customers.

    Retailers no longer know what makes “good” customer service. The general feeling is that if the product leaves the store and does not come back, everything is fine. Customer service is only for the “problems” and the job of customer service is to make the problems go away at the least possible cost. The less interaction between the store and the customer, the better.

    Superior customer service demands extensive interaction between the customer and the retailer. In my Internet company we look for every possible opportunity to contact and engage the customer. Once a customer has placed an order, the company will contact them at least four times during the 4 week period between the sale and the delivery. The first contact is to acknowledge the order and thank the customer for her (or his) purchase. At that time the customer receives information about the production and delivery process and they are encouraged to call if there are any questions. A second contact is made shortly before production is complete The third contact is made when the product is actually shipped. At this time, there is a detailed description of what the delivery process will entail. There is also a tracking number provided so that the product can be tracked by the customer during the shipping process. The fourth contact is after delivery when each customer is contacted to find out whether they are happy with the product or whether some additional followup is needed.

    When we receive a request for one of our free catalogs, we send it along with a letter noting that we also offer free fabric swatches and free design advice. When an order is placed, we acknowledge the order electronically, then send an email personally thanking the customer. We notify them when the product (in our case sofas) is about to be shipped. We notify them again after it has shipped. Most important, we contact the customer after the product has been received to make sure that everything is OK and that there are no problems. In doing this, sometimes there is a minor problem that the customer might not have mentioned but which distracts from the enjoyment of the sofa — for example a cushion feels too firm. We send out free, softer replacement cushions. The result is that instead of having a silent but disappointed customer, we now have a very happy buyer who enthusiastically recommends us to friends and family. The cost of the extra cushions is a marketing cost.

    The secret behind outstanding customer service is simply to put yourself in the place of the customer. What would you want the company to do if you were the customer? Treat the customer the way you want to be treated.

    1. Answer telephone calls promptly. It is amazing how grateful a customer can be when they realize they are speaking with a real live knowledgeable person who can answer their questions.

    2. Respond to emails and phone messages promptly. All emails phone calls should be handled as quickly as possible, hopefully in less than one hour.

    3. Be honest. It is amazing how often salespeople feel that telling the truth gets in the way of making a sale. If a microfiber fabric already has a stain protector built in and does not need the optional spray protector, tell the customer. Once you have saved them from spending an unnecessary $50, they will trust you completely and might even be willing to forgive minor glitches that may pop up. If a sofa won’t be finished by the promised deadline, call as soon as you are aware of the problem.

    4. Under-promise — If a delivery will take 3 weeks, estimate 4. Customers are usually delighted when something is ready ahead of schedule.

    5. Maximize contact with the customer. This does not mean sending frequent ads or spam. It means keeping the customer informed of the progress of their order up to and after delivery.

    6. Be knowledgeable about your products and your company. If you don’t know the answer to a question, find out quickly.

    7. Surprise and amaze your customer — give them something they do not expect. This can be as simple as delivering your product one week eaarly, or it can involve giving an upgrade at no charge. This is particularly important when an error has been made and you are trying to correct it. Go farther than your customer expects and they will change from disgruntled critics to enthusiastic supporters.

    Retail stores have been cutting back on customer service for years. As competition grows and profit margins shrink, customer service is one of the first places to cut back. Everyone who has ever tried to call a computer company for technical assistance and winds up talking to someone from India knows the problem. Corporate bean counters forget that with good customer service you can earn better margins. You are not forced to fight over who can offer the lowest price. Besides, it’s just nicer working in a friendly environment. When you have happy customers, you have happy employees.

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    Source by Jeff Frank

    Views: 0

  • Ann Sieg’s – The Renegade Network Marketer – A Review

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    If you’re looking for a novel, convenient, and effective way to do network marketing, The Renegade Network Marketer from Ann Sieg may just be what you’re looking for.

    What You Won’t Do with the Renegade Network Marketing System

    Once you become a renegade network marketer, you can permanently say goodbye to all the things about network marketing that you hated. This includes but isn’t limited to nagging your family, loved ones, and strangers to take up a business opportunity they truly aren’t interested in as well as performing recruiting activities that never worked in the first place.

    With the Renegade Network Marketer from Ann Sieg, all those will simply be a fading memory of the past.

    What You Can Learn from the Renegade Network Marketing System

    You’re probably thinking that getting hold of this system would cost you money, and you’re right. But what you probably never expected is receiving so much more than what you’ve paid for. Here are just a few things you can expect to enjoy once you’ve got this system running for your network marketing business.

    Remote Control Selling

    Did you ever imagine it could be possible to use the same amount of time for selling to just one person to sell to a thousand? With the Renegade Network Marketer, remote control selling isn’t a dream but a reality. Even better, not just you but your distributors as well can make use of the system, consequently multiplying your income a hundred fold!

    Step by Step Strategy

    Didn’t you hate how so many “effective” systems couldn’t manage to effectively teach you even one simple lesson? Well, color the Renegade Network Marketer different. Knowing the difficulties that newcomers to MLM face, Ann Sieg made sure to break down her strategies for network marketing step by step. In fact, it’s so easy to understand that you can immediately pass on what you’ve learned to your downline.

    Kill Your Competition

    Network marketing is a tough nut to crack and competition can be terribly fierce. But once you become a renegade network marketer, you’ll have in your palm the key to driving your competition away…and you won’t even have to sweat for it!

    Successful Lead Generation

    Network marketing success always has its roots in profitable lead generation. It is the first and most important technique you should learn, and it’s certainly one of the major focuses of the renegade network marketing system.

    A Marketing Pipeline

    Just imagine how wonderful your life could be if all your prospects were sold on your idea even before you made a pitch. If you’re wondering how that could happen, you only have to sign up for Ann Sieg’s the Renegade Network Marketer and you’ll not only learn how it happens, but you can experience it, too!

    Make Them Believe You

    Last but most important of all, Ann Sieg uses the Renegade Network Marketer to share her best kept secret – one that every MLM associate would die to know: make your prospects believe you. Network marketing hasn’t enjoyed a positive reputation for quite some time, but don’t let that get you down. If you play by the renegade’s book, your prospects are sure to have faith in your words.

    All those are just the tip of the iceberg of what lies in store for you behind the pages of The Renegade Network Marketer.

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    Source by Dave Jales

    Views: 1

  • Enterpriship – The Art and Science of Entrepreneurship, Leadership, and Management

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    Every individual who starts, owns, or is a member of the management team of an enterprise, should strive to build sustainable advantage. Sustainable advantage is essential to value creation because cash flows become predictable and reliable over long periods of time. As a consequence, it is easier to plan for investments in new endeavors and to maintain contingency reserves for downturns.

    Building sustainable advantage requires proficiency in the disciplines of entrepreneurship, leadership, and management. Collectively, these three disciplines embrace “enterpriship.”

    Enterpriship is both an art and a science. Art is an occupation that requires both knowledge and skills; science is method for systematizing knowledge. Through both knowledge and skills, enterpriship provides a systematized approach to building sustainable enterprises by employing the techniques of entrepreneurship, leadership, and management.

    Entrepreneurship is a competency for starting, developing, and assuming risk for an enterprise. Leadership is a competency for aspiring, inspiring, and motivating others. Management is a competency for directing and controlling events and activities – management as a “team” has the authority and responsibility for the enterprise.

    Being proficient in all three competencies requires experience. Entrepreneurs may lack the leadership and management competencies, leaders may lack entrepreneurial and management competencies, and managers may lack the entrepreneurial and leadership competencies to build a sustainable enterprise.

    Upwardly mobile entrepreneurs have to demonstrate to investors that they can build large markets. Lifestyle business enterprise owners, such as dry cleaners, hairdressers, professional service providers, restaurateurs, and retailers, are responsible for everything in their businesses. Executives and managers in larger enterprises are under constant pressure from investors to generate quality earnings on an ongoing basis.

    The enterprise depends upon the use of all three enterpriship competencies as do the employees, customers, suppliers and investors.

    When entrepreneurs start enterprises, they tend to focus on the benefits and features of their products and/or services. Intrapreneurs, who are agents of change in established enterprises, tend to do the same thing. However, focusing on products and/or services alone is insufficient for building sustainable advantage over time.

    Without people there is nothing in business. Processes must be effective and efficient at delivering quality products and/or services conveniently. If an enterprise can’t deliver, a competitor will.

    Hence, the management team collectively must be proficient in entrepreneurial, leadership, and managerial roles that dictate successful people-oriented, process-oriented, and product and/or service capabilities.

    The entrepreneurial role is both process-oriented and product-oriented, through which innovative ideas are transformed into value at every stage of an enterprise’s development.

    The leadership role is people-oriented, through which direction is set that others will follow to achieve results – equally applicable to top-level executives, team leaders within functions, or anywhere in between.

    The managerial role is process-oriented, through which resources (time, materials, and supplies) are applied to activities to achieve results.

    These three roles embrace the planning and policy development, deployment and execution, and performance measurement activities of the enterprise. Deployment means positioning the resources of the enterprise in the best markets for its products and/or services. Execution means getting things done through people and processes effectively and efficiently.

    Unless the management team employs these three enterpriship competencies collectively to address people, process, and product and/or service capabilities, the enterprise will be unable to build sustainable advantage over time, and will ultimately decline, and maybe fail.

    If the management team can systematize building sustainable advantage through the effective and efficient use of people and processes, then there more time to spend on developing the benefits and features of products and/or services. Enterpriship provides the approach…

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    Source by Nigel Brooks

    Views: 1

  • Effortless Entrepreneur – Book Review

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    By: Nick Friedman & Omar Soliman (2010)

    ISBN 978-0-307-58799-2

    Book Price: $17.00

    Multimillion-dollar franchise

    Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman are founders of, “College Hunks Hauling Junk.” This company has become a multimillion-dollar franchise and the nation’s premier junk removal service. Nick and Omar have been named among the Top 30 Under 30 Entrepreneurs in America by Inc., and have been profiled in the New York Times.

    Entrepreneurial success

    Nick and Omar supply readers with 13 chapters leading to entrepreneurial success. They discuss the following topics; the making of an entrepreneur (Ch. 3); creating your business foundation (Ch. 4); building staff and client loyalty (Ch. 7); optimizing your ability to make the sale (Ch. 10); working smarter and playing harder (Ch. 13), etc.

    Passionate pursuit of business dreams

    Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman relate their journey with passion and energy. This book conveys more than a love for building a business; it also exhibits practical steps along the journey. Nick and Omar relay, “As we expanded and built systems that allowed our company to function more effectively, we discovered that we could spend less and less time doing the everyday grunt work… and more time doing the things we really enjoyed… “

    The crux of this book shows how anyone can convert a common serviced industry into a wealthy enterprise. The authors state, “… now we’re trash men. Of course, by trash men we mean we’re Gen Y entrepreneurs in our mid-twenties who understand that trash is cash and transformed a summer gig into a multimillion dollar business.”

    Nick and Omar use challenging words to arrest readers from inactivity saying, “To succeed as an entrepreneur, be prepared to act on your ideas. Otherwise, you’re just another dreamer who wishes and longs and prays to have a business but never gets further than sneezing… people who turn ideas into reality make the difference… “

    Vision motivates! Friedman and Soliman express this key to success through practical examples as they share, “… the more passionate you are about achieving goals, the greater your chance for growth. Our vision was clear when we started… we didn’t blink twice at spending $13,000 to buy our 1-800-Junk-USA phone number… “

    Shift into entrepreneurial breakthrough

    Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman energize readers to shift into Entrepreneurial breakthrough in business.

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    Source by Dr. Steven J. Lynne

    Views: 1

  • How To Start Marketing Your Business

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    To new business owners, starting a business is often its own reward. They are thrilled to be able to be their own bosses, and to successfully get a business up and running. Often they are happy just to keep the dream alive.

    But every business needs to grow. That doesn’t mean you have to reach out to a larger market – it means working toward increasing your share of the one you are targeting. This will keep your business healthy enough to survive obstacles such as tough economic times.

    In order to keep moving forward, we need to market our businesses constantly. We need to dedicate a certain percentage of our resources to building our brand and reaching our target market. Here are some simple things you can do to help your business grow.

    Have a clear picture of your target market.

    Find out what types of people use the products and services you provide and respond to your business philosophies. If you’re not marketing to the right people, all will be lost.

    Research, research, research.

    Determine how to best reach your target market and what they expect out of your offerings. Study your competition carefully, and make note of what they’re doing right and wrong.

    Choose your marketing channels wisely.

    If your target market rarely reads, there’s no point in advertising in a magazine. Use what you’ve learned about them to find the best possible outlets for your message, and focus your marketing efforts there.

    Give your advertising a chance.

    Studies show that consumers require repeated exposure to a product before they will even consider buying. So don’t be surprised if one ad run doesn’t bring spectacular results. If you’ve done your homework and found a viable way to reach your market, run the ad at least two more times before you evaluate the results.

    Take advantage of free publicity.

    Sending out press releases and finding other ways to attract the media will give you high-quality exposure, and it won’t eat into your budget.

    Keep track of the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

    If what you’re doing is working, you should be generating more revenue. Use some of that revenue to do more marketing. If it isn’t working, make adjustments and try again.

    Sometimes you’ll have to take a step back with your marketing plans. But that’s not a sign you’ve failed. It’s a sign that you’re a smart marketer. Sometimes the market changes, and it’s up to us to monitor those changes and adjust our marketing plans accordingly. No successful company markets the same way forever. By evolving with our target market, we can make our marketing work better.

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    Source by Jon Allo

    Views: 0

  • MLM vs. Consumer Direct Marketing Business Opportunities

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    We’ve all seen them before – businesses that promise great wealth and prosperity with a minimal amount of effort. Did you know that only 1 out of every 1,000 home-based businesses last longer than 5 years? So what REALLY sets all these companies apart, and which method has the least risk for everyone?

    First, let’s take a look at a way of marketing that has gotten SO popular (and many times out-of-hand) – Multi-Level Marketing. When you think of multi-level marketing, you may think of overbearing sales people who begin by bothering their family and friends, and resort to manipulating others into buying lots of inventory. You might also imagine a get-rich-quick scheme with promises of great wealth through very little work. Finally, you may envision business schemes that lack a compelling product, but hype up the promise of big incomes.

    Now, let’s take a look at what a few companies are turning to – Consumer Direct Marketing. What’s the big difference? Well, Consumer Direct Marketing typically redirects the funds that would typically be used for advertising, multiple shipping costs, various middlemen, and several distribution channels into spending for higher quality ingredients, product innovations, and profit sharing with customers. The result of this is a new and interesting method of delivering quality, low-cost products to families around the world – and then SHARING THE INCOME with those families.

    The companies that are truly heads and tails above the rest are all turning their attentions to the important aspects of Consumer Direct Marketing. The true result is less risk for the business-builder as well as the consumer, because there are no inventories to buy, no financial risks, and no hype. EVERYONE, people referring the products, and customers alike, only buy what they need each month. And of course, anyone who refers someone else earns a commission from the purchases of the customers they refer.

    Maybe the neatest thing about this almost “laid-back” method is that the majority of customers buy each month without any interest in receiving commissions, and when you have customers that really love the products and aren’t pressured from the vast majority of MLM companies out there, that means true residual income – income that you’ll receive the rest of your life – your retirement, or your children’s college education!

    If you’re interested in a 20-year-old Consumer Direct Marketing company that might be a great opportunity for you and your family, please don’t hesitate to contact me, and I’d be happy to share my experiences with you.

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    Source by Hayley Keller

    Views: 0

  • How Internet Network Marketing is Helping and Empowering Multi Level Marketing Businesses

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    If you’ve been in or around the network marketing industry you’ve seen some of the consequences of doing what the old scholars have done over the years. Sure, there is plenty of empowering things about the business model and there are also somethings that some network marketer’s wouldn’t want to talk to you about.

    What happens when you send someone out with just a of names list and a few words to tell people when they come in contact with. Which have high hopes and ambition to go out and talk to people only to find out the person tells them no. After that first no it’s harder to get up and get going again to ask the next person.

    What happens when they call leads and no one answers only to find out that the leads that they purchased are old leads and they find out later that they just wasted their hard earned money for something that they thought at the time would help them in their network marketing business.

    How their up line told them that they need to come to an event or a summit when they new that they didn’t have the money to go, but went anyway just to hear the same lecture over and over the whole entire time they were there. Just to find out later that all of that was a waste of time and money. Of course they are pumped for a little while, but reality comes back quick!

    Going to weekly briefings will help them in there business if they will come and bring someone. Only to find out that every week is the same thing. Their doing “the thing”, but nothing ever happens.

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    Source by Mark Colbert

    Views: 0