10 Tips for Successful MeetingsWritten by Jim M. Allen
1. Ask yourself if a meeting is really necessary. Often same things can be accomplished via phone, e-mail, etc. Use your office technology to its fullest potential. 2. Pick a leader. If it's not you, pick someone to lead meeting. Somebody has to be in charge of meeting to ensure that it accomplishes what it's meant to accomplish. Decide this up front. 3. Have a plan. Create an agenda for meeting and distribute it, in advance, to everyone who will be attending. Ask them to provide you with any changes or additions to agenda in advance. 4. Pick an appropriate time. Too early in morning and you risk people being late because of traffic. Too close to lunch and they're thinking of food. Too close to end of day and they're thinking of going home. Find that "just right" time, normally in mid-mornings/afternoons. 5. Have meeting in an easy-to-find location. Pick a "common ground" for most of attendees. If a meeting will be held off-site or involves getting clients to your location, provide clear, concise directions. 6. Follow plan. You've got an agenda, everyone at meeting has seen it, so stick to it. If it's not appropriate for meeting, table it for
| | HOW TO START AN ONLINE AUCTION BUSINESSWritten by Carol Woods
Have you spent any time looking at online auctions? There are thousands of visitors to big online auction sites every day, looking for something to purchase! This is an excellent place to find buyers of your products without having to do any significant marketing, and an inexpensive way to start making money without much upfront investment.Heres how to get started: First, decide what you will sell. ------------------ You can sell most anything via an online auction, but here are a few items Ive seen do very well in this venue: * Collectibles of any sort * Childrens items, especially clothing and toys * Handmade items, including quilts, soap, and dollhouse items * Craft supplies Select your venue: ------------------ Decide which online auction you will use to sell your items. Ebay (http://www.ebay.com) is site with most traffic, so it is an excellent choice, but Yahoo! Auctions (http://auctions.yahoo.com) and Amazon Auctions (http://auctions.amazon.com) both get significant traffic. Also keep in mind that there may be specialty auction sites for your particular item with customers looking only for what youre selling. Once youve selected your auction site, sign up for a sellers account. Find your products: ------------------ There are many ways to locate products to sell. Heres a list to give you some ideas: * Visit garage sales and flea markets * Peruse sale racks at local shops * Go to discount or dollar stores * Watch your newspaper for inventory closeout sales * Locate wholesale sources; buy large lots and sell in small lots * Start a consignment service, where you sell items for others for a fixed fee or percentage of auction price
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