Successful Small Businesses Use PRWritten by Robert A. Kelly
Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net. Word count is 735 including guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2003. Successful Small Businesses Use PR It’s obvious when a small business has accepted fact that its most important outside audiences need lots of care and feeding. They do something about it. There’s a sense of urgency and a recognition that those “key target publics” have behaviors that really impact business, and that they had BETTER do something about it! What about you? Are you ready to follow winners and get public relations working for your small business? The payoff can be significant – key audience behaviors that directly support your business objectives and make difference between failure and success. But, as always, there’s some work connected to reaching that pot of gold, but it’s really worth effort. If you’re willing, begin by listing those most important outsiders in a priority ranking. Probably, customers and prospects will take #1 and #2 positions. But others rate a spot on that list depending on how crucial they are to success of your business. In fact, an audience only makes list if, left unattended, its perceptions and behaviors actually can hurt your business. You’re at a disadvantage when you don’t know what those important external audiences think of you and your small business. And only affordable way to find out is for you and your colleagues to talk to members of that key audience by interacting with them. Ask questions about what they think of you, your business and its products or services. Especially watch for any negativity, misconceptions, inaccuracies, wrong-headed beliefs, or rumors. And monitor local print and broadcast media, especially local talk shows and newspaper pages, for similarly negative signs. The responses you gather help you set your public relations goal. For instance, correct that wrong-headed belief; fix that inaccuracy; or straighten-out that misconception. The goal, by way, will also become your behavior modification marker against which progress can be tracked.
| | Intuition: The secret to your career successWritten by Michelle L. Casto
Intuition: The Secret to Your Career Success Michelle L. Casto, M.Ed.For far too long, we moderns have relied on our analytical/logical brain to make important life decisions. It is my belief that our imaginative/creative brain holds key to better, smarter and more soulful decisions. This is because right side of brain, which loves creativity---taps into your intuitive nature. Take your career for instance. How could following your intuition make you more successful? Because you will be following your true internal compass---one that leads you to best career and a more fulfilled life. The word intuition means “in to you” in Latin. Florence Scovel, a theologian, once said, “Intuition is spiritual faculty that doesn’t explain; it seemingly points way.” It’s also been said that intuition is your divine Spirit talking to you. If we stop for a moment and acknowledge this, we realize incredible perspective we have. Unfortunately, this is a perspective we often choose to ignore because it is an undeveloped skill. Using your intuition when making important decisions allows you to move along your career path easily and effortlessly. You don’t have to struggle and worry, because things fall naturally into place when you follow your inner nature. Developing your intuitive guidance (your inner voice) is essential to smart decision-making and career choices, and includes balancing your cognitive (thinking) abilities with your affective (feeling) abilities. Synthesize information from your head and your heart, and bring them into your consciousness. You only have to learn how to develop these powers and I promise that it will become second nature to you. The first step is obviously to become aware that you contain this amazing power. But you must consciously choose to use it! Next, you have to realize that when dealing with matters of work, there can be some discrepancies between what mind thinks and what heart feels. When we think about work, we focus on what we should do so that we can pay bills, etc., which only takes into account practical side. When we feel about work, we focus on what we want to do and consider impractical, such as moving to a foreign country. We very rarely take time to see how two sides can meet and form a whole new possibility. When making a major life decision, such as, “What should I do as my life’s work?” it is pretty safe to say that our equilibrium is all out of whack. And we tend to do one of two things: We either throw out all rational behavior altogether or block any and all emotions from our consciousness. We need to learn to align these two extremes, balance them, and make decisions from a true state of knowing, which is our intuition. You can learn to take these two seemingly opposing faculties and fuse them to have singleness of purpose and direction. The best way to do this is to be clear on what you are looking for from your career, so that you can then allow your intuitive nature to take over. The key is to believe that your higher self sees what is best for you. Indeed, Spirit is trying to send you messages, but you must learn to open up and receive information in order for it to make a difference in your life. Once you have learned to have faith in this process, your heart and mind will function together for greater harmony than you ever dreamed possible. By following your intuition, you become empowered. When you are empowered, you trust that you know right thing to do—despite what other people might say. You look within yourself for direction. Dis-empowered people look for answers outside of themselves. They turn to others to find answers to their life, and thus become confused and often misguided. Confused people are easy to spot---they tend to change their minds almost on a daily basis. It stands to reason that if you are dis-empowered and confused, you will not be making decisions with clarity and focus. If you are like most people, you prefer one faculty (thinking or feeling) over other. People tend to use one they are most comfortable with, but sometimes it is necessary to look at situation through your “weaker” one.
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