I’m always fascinated by online tools that attempt to value or grade a site. Any time I come across one, I put it through its paces. Tonight, I stumbled on SmallBusinessHub’s WebSite Grader tool. Naturally, I plugged a few of my sites into it, as well as a few other well-known sites […]

Original post by DazzlinDonna

Think you’re a good networker? Make sure you’re not making 1 of these 3 big blunders.

Original post by Geoffrey James

I recently had a conversation about effective sales calls with Wayne Turmel, manager of instruction for the sales training firm Communispond.  He says that the best way to move a sales call forward is to ask questions that draw the customer into the sales process.  Here are some quick pointers:

Do your research. Don’t ask the customer to tell you stuff you can easily find out elsewhere. If you haven’t examined the customer’s website and SEC 10-Q filings, you’re not ready for the call.

Prepare yourself. Spend a minute before the call mapping out the questions that you plan to ask. Consider what you already know and what you’d like to know.

Structure your questions. There are five lines of inquiry that are important to EVERY sale:

1. The current state of the customer’s business.
2. The desired state of the customer’s business.
3. What blocks the customer from moving from 1 to 2?
4. What’s been tried, but failed, to move from 1 to 2?
5. What resources can be committed to the move?

While items 3, 4 and 5 are questions, they are not the literal questions to ask.  Each “lines of inquiry” could involve a dozen actual questions to help you figure out what the customer really needs.

Don’t hold an inquisition. While it’s normal to ask questions during sales calls, don’t give the customer the third degree.  It may take more than one meeting to get all the information you need.

Don’t rehearse. Rehearsed questions and canned spiels are strictly for novices. Wayne suggests you jot down key words to remind you of the general lines of inquiry you want to pursue.

Really listen to the answer. Don’t watch the customer’s mouth move while you think about what to say next. Listen carefully, pause to think about what the customer said, and then lead the conversation where you want it to go.

Original post by Geoffrey James

Podcasts are relatively inexpensive to create, as a result, and the quality in published podcasts is extremely diverse. Corporate podcasts can be very polished audio productions while hobbyist experimenting with podcasts may have dogs barking and children’s screaming in the background.

Making Your Podcast Standout

Original post by deucetwo

As many are learning about tonight, a well-respected blogger, Kathy Sierra, has received numerous vile and life-threatening comments both on her own blog, as well as on other blogs. (Details at the link above). These comments and blogs even involve prominent, well-known bloggers. The horrendous and disturbing words and images that […]

Original post by DazzlinDonna

Legendary basketball coach John Wooden may have created his Pyramid of Success nearly 60 years ago, but many of his former players, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton, say it’s still relevant in their daily lives.

Original post by Malcolm Fleschner

I recently put up a blog about a city I recently moved away from. I really despised the place so I put up a blog making fun of the town as a way to vent, and as a way to possibly get some publicity with the hope that my books and other products could share the limelight and enjoy and increase in sales.

Well, that’s exactly what happened.

A television station interviewed me regarding the blog. Two other stations immediately picked up the story, because media all watch each other to find out what stories are hot, and then two radio stations publicized the blog.

A portion of the 3,000 or so daily visitors that all of this media attention has generated are going to my other sites and buying. And, this didn’t cost me a dime. It’s all free traffic, free marketing, free publicity. Sales are up as a result.

The publicity stunt is gaining in popularity as a fun way to gain exposure for a business or a product. My friend Joe Vitale has both taught it and successfully used it in the past. Think about how you can use it, and what kind of fun things you can do that will get the public’s attention. And, this event proves what I’ve mentioned in my books - that all you have to do is get one media outlet to run your story. The rest will play copycat and run it too.

Finally, I’m going to refrain from posting the link to that blog here as I prefer not to offend anyone who may happen to live in that particular city … it’s all in fun but you never know.

Original post by fjr@nevercoldcall.com (Frank J. Rumbauskas Jr.)

Microsoft is attempting to spurn the adoption of Microsoft Vista Operating System. Many businesses are taking a wait and see approach, and Microsoft is acting to rectify the flat sales numbers.

This past week the company announced the Windows Vista Additional License program, which provides discounts to customers who have already purchased either a retail or an OEM edition of Windows Vista.

Original post by deucetwo

Neiman Marcus Group Inc. is suing a pair of domain name companies, accusing them of improperly registering more than 40 Internet addresses that resemble the department store chain’s trademarks.

The lawsuit accuses the companies of domain name tasting, or taking advantage of a five-day refund period to sample which of the addresses might generate traffic — and thus potential ad revenues, before committing to buying them.
Name.com LLC and Spot Domains LLC, two Denver-based companies that share offices and employees, were named as defendants. The companies told The Associated Press on Friday they do not comment on pending litigation.
The complaint, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Denver, seeks injunctions and damages of at least $100,000 per name.

The lawsuit comes weeks after Neiman Marcus settled a similar lawsuit against Dotster Inc., in which Neiman Marcus accused the registration company of tasting hundreds of names meant to lure Internet users who mistype Web addresses. At one point, the lawsuit said, the misspelled NeimuMarcus.com featured ads for Target, Nordstrom and other rivals.

complete article

Original post by deucetwo

Good news! And some news that might be good or bad, depending on where you’re deployed.

First, here’s the good news. Worldwide end users spent a whopping $1.16 trillion on information technology in 2006 and, better yet, will increase IT spending at a tasty compound annual growth ra…Read More

Original post by Geoffrey James