Write On! - Key Components of Successful Business CommunicationWritten by Sally Bacchetta
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Which writing projects should you complete yourself, and which should you outsource to a professional freelance writer? Consider these three questions: •Do I have expertise to write most effective communication? •Do I have resources necessary for results I need? •Do I have time to research, write, edit and rewrite project? Short, personal or proprietary communications, like agendas, meeting minutes and performance evaluations can easily and efficiently be completed in-house. Promotional or comprehensive corporate communications – such as press releases, sales and marketing materials, corporate newsletters, training manuals, and resumes – are often sourced to freelance writers who have experience and creativity to maximize impact of your written communication. A professional freelance writer who is skilled at combining art of words with attention to detail gives you freedom to focus on other aspects of your business. Partnering with a freelance writer for your corporate communications ensures that first impression you make is a good one. Copyright ©2005 by Sally Bacchetta. All rights reserved.
Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer/Sales Trainer Sally Bacchetta is an award-winning sales trainer and freelance writer. Contact her at sb14580@yahoo.com or read her monthly column on her website.
| | The Lean, Mean Profit MachineWritten by Susan Freidmann
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Employees who are normally careful with company resources tend to go a little crazy at trade shows. Excessive employee spending is a seldom-discussed problem, but one of most common ways for a company to bleed green at a show. Combating this can be as simple as reserving rooms at a moderately-priced hotel, setting per diem expense allowances, and enforcing employee accountability for expenses. Watch out for ‘entitlement’ mindset – “I’m entitled to a steak and lobster dinner at most expensive restaurant in town because I’m at trade show.” If employees know they’ll have to explain any questionable purchases after fact, they’ll be less likely to splurge on your dime. 4. Find good workout buddies: Spending time in gym can be infinitely more productive if you exercise with a motivated, skilled partner. The same is true for marketing. Here, you are counting on your employees to be skilled, motivated partner. When employee-employer relationship is truly a partnership, both sides will have common goals and ideals. Everyone will be working together to achieve these goals – and what better place to showcase this than trade show floor? Your booth staff represent your internal customer-service team. They act as your company ambassadors, representing entire company with everything that they do. Their attitude, body language, appearance, and knowledge help create a lasting impression that attendees will take away with them. Make sure your employees are prepared by providing excellent training and making sure they clearly understand what is expected of them. Training shows your employees that you value their contributions, and demonstrates to world at large that you care about what image your company is presenting. 5. Keep good workout buddies: We’re a mobile society. People move an average of seven times in their lives, oftentimes great distances. Therefore, companies are often hesitant to spend money on training. What’s sense, they ask, of making this investment when staff are likely to leave, taking their skills with them? Life is full of risks. When you go jogging first time, there’s risk you might stumble and skin your knee. You might wrench an ankle. You might fall into a sudden sinkhole and wind up in traction. But when you weigh rewards of physical fitness – increased sense of well-being, health benefits, and trimmer physique – and relative likeliness of risks – you see it is clearly worth it to go jogging. The same thing holds true with employee training. The benefits of a fully-trained, top-notch staff clearly outweigh chance that one or two may leave. Employees leave for a number of reasons, and it is in your power to minimize some of them. For example, employees may leave because of frustration, stress, or a feeling of being under-valued. Perhaps they don’t feel they have enough authority, growth opportunities, or direction. Providing training can remedy some, if not all, of these reasons, and help you retain quality employees. These five strategies will help you transform your company into a lean, mean profit machine. Keep those marketing muscles working and they’ll be less likely to be trimmed away as “excess fat”.
Written by Susan A. Friedmann,CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, author: “Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies,” working with companies to improve their meeting and event success through coaching, consulting and training. For a free copy of ExhibitSmart Tips of the Week, e-mail: susan@thetradeshowcoach.com; website: www.thetradeshowcoach.com
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