How Will Your Business be Judged?

Like it or not, people DO judge a book by its cover. It's just a fact of life. Everything having to do with your business that is presented to outside world is one more judging opportunity. How do you measure up?

You've probably heard it said, "You only have one chance to make a good first impression". There is a reason why it is an old adage; it's true!

There are so many ways that your business presents itself for that first impression. The first one that comes to mind is YOU, which can be either in person or on phone. In person, you must look part that you play. For example, if you portray yourself as someone who can help a business be successful, you must look successful. If you own a restaurant and you greet your guests, you should look clean, friendly, and inviting. The owner of a restaurant greeted us in a grease-stained T-shirt. Wrong! Not very appetizing, is it?

On phone, you need to sound like you care about caller and their problems. What kind of an impression would it make if you (or an employee) answered phone sounding annoyed at interruption?

Printed materials also make an impression, for better or worse. Is your business card professionally done, or does it look cheesy? Are your brochures professional looking or are they made on a copier? If they were made on a copier, you may get away with it if they are clean and neat, with good toner saturation. A sloppily made copy that is too faint, uneven, and/or crooked on page will do you more harm than good. I am reminded of a man who approached me at a trade show and wanted to work together giving seminars. He handed me his 'brochure', which consisted of about 10 pages of poorly copied pages, most of which were crooked, and all of which were bent, crumpled, or torn. I could not believe my eyes. I was appalled, but our parrot didn't seem to mind when I used it to line his cage.

Keys To Success -- #1 Commitment

The world we live in is based on commitments. Businesses sign contracts, banks sign us to loan agreements, couples agree to terms of a marriage, and even our children are taught ideals of keeping commitments by having assignments due on certain days at school. Why then, do so many view network or internet marketing businesses as quick in and out ventures with no thought toward actually committing to them? The best online ventures are ones that do keep commitments and expect same out of their members. Whether people realize it or not, a lot of business is built solely on basis of reputation, or at very least name recognition. Can you ever expect to get any kind of name recognition or to build a solid business or personal reputation without a commitment to your business? It's unlikely. Even those who simply work affiliate programs are still bound by this principle. No, they may not have their own business name or reputation, instead they are affiliated with another who does. Building kind of online presence that it takes to be truly successful does not happen instantly. It takes time to build. Some have come quickly to success, true, but as you'll always notice, they came online with prior expertise and/or skills in area their business deals with. In working online, expect to be committed to your business if you want to succeed. Dropping in and out of programs may net you some profits if you hit them right, but there's no chance at ultimate goal of true lifetime residual income this way. Expect to make a financial commitment. While Internet marketing and network marketing in general requires very little investment when compared to traditional self-employment, there still will be some finances you must put at stake in your business. The key lies in