Do You Make These 7 Mistakes In Your Business?

Written by Ray L. Edwards


Continued from page 1

The sharper your arrow point isrepparttar more likely it will strikerepparttar 148837 bull's eye. Know who your target audience is and design your advertising to reach them.

4. Not asking your customers what they think of your product or service.

If you don't survey your customers to find out what they love or hate about your product or service then you may be losing them without even realizing it. Customers appreciate when you value their opinions enough to ask for it. In this way you can find out how to improve your products to better suit your market. The more satisfied your customers arerepparttar 148838 more you'll get with less effort.

5. Ignoring your present customer base.

You knowrepparttar 148839 saying, "A bird inrepparttar 148840 hand is worth two inrepparttar 148841 bushes". This could be said about customers as well, but this time try five inrepparttar 148842 bushes. Yes, it can take 5 times as much money and effort to win a new customer as it takes to keep an old one.

Rather than just concentrating on building your customer base you should spend a greater amount of your marketing resources to keep those that you have already happy. If you don't do this then you'll just be trying to fill up a leaking barrel. You'll continue to lose customers as fast as you gain them-a great way to waste your marketing resources.

6. Not having a 'back end' product to sell to your existing customers.

After your customer has made an initial sale, you should have another complimentary product to sell to that customer. You have already won their confidence to do business with you sorepparttar 148843 second sale should be easier to make.

Even if you don't sell such a product or service then you should form a joint venture with another business owner and splitrepparttar 148844 profit. Ignoringrepparttar 148845 wealth that is in your present customer base is a grave mistake. Yet many businesses do this year after year.

7. Not 'spying' outrepparttar 148846 competition.

Even if you are #1 in your niche you should be still keeping an eye on what your competition is doing. You may learn some valuable lessons and it may help you to seerepparttar 148847 weaknesses that you have in your own company.

No general will want to go to war without knowing what type of armorrepparttar 148848 enemy has and how well they use them. The same for a business as well; you must know what your competition uses and how you can translaterepparttar 148849 successful strategies to your own business.

Ray L. Edwards is a master copywriter, published author and Internet Marketing Consultant. His copywriting clients have claimed up to 1,600% increase in their comversion rates just from using his services. He is an expert in writing sales copy for the web. He has studied extensively the relationship between website structure and design as a factor in internet sales success. You may visit his website at: http://www.webcopy-writing.com


Team Building Seminars: Why New Teams Struggle

Written by CMOE Development Team


Continued from page 1

New groups are particularly susceptible to this struggle when individual differences recognized and taken into consideration, or generalizations about motives and behaviors are made aboutrepparttar members of a group?

The first common stereotypical behavior to emerge, that we observed, was in male/female roles. More often that not, females are given a secondary role, are not allowed to perform physical tasks like lifting other, and are listened to only as a last resort. A more subtle stereotyping occurs when physical size is equated with strength, balance, and athletic agility. Often,repparttar 148836 largest male is often forced intorepparttar 148837 position of lifting, carrying, or pulling others even when activities in later exercises prove this stereotype, equating size with strength, is false.

We are constantly amazed, after only a brief introduction, how quickly generalizations are made about individuals. These stereotypes serve as blinders and keeprepparttar 148838 group from using allrepparttar 148839 resources available torepparttar 148840 team.

Action Items for Start-Up Teams

1.Jointly define howrepparttar 148841 group will function.

The challenge for a new group is to establish a way of operating that will allow process issues to be noticed, discussed, and taken into account asrepparttar 148842 group works onrepparttar 148843 tasks to be accomplished. New groups could profitably invest time in talking about some key issues:

  • How should we function as a group
  • How should we make decisions
  • What do we expect from one another
  • How will we monitor our process so that it doesn’t become a problem

Groups that become cohesive and maintain effective teamwork balance attention to tasks and to process issues. Effective team members do not fixate on either; they monitor both and openly discuss needed improvements.

2.Create a win-win atmosphere.

When teams are functioning effectively, disagreements or differing views are explored not to declare any one viewrepparttar 148844 winner, but to seekrepparttar 148845 best decision. A team, whererepparttar 148846 free flow of information is promoted, creates not a win-lose environment but an environment encouraging discussion that leads to better decisions than any ofrepparttar 148847 original positions presented.

The group will go through a phase when power struggles predominate unlessrepparttar 148848 leader or a team member establishes a mode of operation and has courage to point out when power struggles are occurring withinrepparttar 148849 team.

Functioning teams realize that leadership can shift from one to another member ofrepparttar 148850 team depending onrepparttar 148851 task at hand. The designated leader knows that leadership can be shared or transferred without any loss of power.

3.Manage fight or flight behavior.

Teamwork means managing fight or flight behaviors so they do not become counterproductive. All members takerepparttar 148852 responsibility for monitoring these behaviors and focusrepparttar 148853 group’s attention on resolving them when they occur.

4.Test out your assumptions about team members.

Teamwork demands clarity with regard to what each member wants, needs, and is willing to do. No assumptions are made or left unchecked. Profitable time can be spent discussing each team member’s answers to these three questions:

A.What should other team members do more of because it helps me be a more productive team member?
B.What should other team members stop doing because it hinders my productivity and contribution as a team member?
C.What should other team members start doing because this will help me be a more active and contributing member of this team?

An effective team building seminar will clarifyrepparttar 148854 various roles of team members and prevent stereotypes and assumptions from determiningrepparttar 148855 group’s behavior.




If you would like to learn more about a Team Building Seminar, and how it can help your team operate more effectively, please contact a CMOE Regional Manager. You can reach them at (801) 569-3444.




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