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Resources
Notes, tips, tricks, ideas and resources that can help with your use of technology, your business and your sales and marketing initiatives. Click on resource heading to learn more
My Publications (click on cover to open)
Business Resources
Technology Resources
TABLE OF CONTENTS (click on title to search)
Selling & Sales Strategy Part 1
Selling & Sales Strategy Part 2
Ten Secrets To Getting More Referrals
They may ask the price, but they buy value
How to prepare sales literature
14 Things That Can Double Your Income
Meeting With A Client - How Should It Be Done
Meeting And Exceeding Client Expectations
Running and Controlling Meetings
What To Do When You Feel Unproductive
How to Grow Your Business Through Creative Publicity.
U.S.P.: The Competition Killer
Essential Elements of a Business Plan
Ideas To Help Small Businesses Compete
10 Effective Business Networking Tips
Many ideas to make using Photoshop effective
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Rules For Writing A Genealogy Book
Step-by-step techniques for writing your own genealogy books
Microsoft word tips and tricks
Many ideas to make using Microsoft Word effective
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Many ideas for the ultimate personal selling exercise
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The CV is a tool with one specific purpose: to win an interview. A CV is an advertisement, nothing more, nothing less.
A great CV doesn't just tell them what you have done but makes the same assertion that all good ads do: If you buy this product, you will get these specific, direct benefits. It presents you in the best light. It convinces the employer that you have what it takes to be successful in this new position or career.
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Tips and tricks to get the best out of your iPad
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Great ideas to make Kindle standout
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A simple high speed, low cost iPad scanner. Using a little ingenuity, a set of bathroom shelves, a square of cardboard and a craft knife, I have created a simple but very effective scanner plinth for my iPad.
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Handricks-Gibbons Bridge System
Our bidding/play system.
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Selling & Sales Strategy Part 1
• The stages of the sale
• A typical selling plan
• Getting commitment
• Buying signals
• Trial closing questions
• Handling rejection
• Handling objections
• Handling excuses
• Opening negotiations
• The use of questions
• The initial benefit statement
• The use of visual aids
• Demonstration - presentation
• Features, advantages and benefits
• Getting agreement and involvement
• Handling questions
Selling & Sales Strategy Part 2
• Developing empathy
• Dealing with different types of buyers
• Justifying price
• Telephone techniques
• Getting appointments
• Handling objections
• Prospecting
• Closing methods
People make things happen. And although this is a time where both quality and service are "expected," we must always remember it is people who create quality and provide service.Here is a list of things to know about people
Ten Secrets To Getting More Referrals
Referrals. Absolutely the best form of advertising there is. No sales pressure, no credibility problems, and very low cost of sales. People refer customers to you as a favour to their friends, the customers. If it's done as a favour to you, that's usually a bonus. Here are 10 of the absolute best ways to get more referrals
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Selling to seniors often feels like dealing with someone from another planet; they can be very frustrating to try to communicate with. Fact is, they are from another planet .
They may ask the price, but they buy value
All customers ask what the price is, so most salespeople think price is one of the most important factors. Wrong! People ask the price because they need to know how much to pay you, because they want to verify the intelligence of their decision, because they are in the habit of asking, or for any of myriad other reasons.
People have only 6 reasons to buy anything
How to prepare sales literature
The sales letter promotes you as well as your product. It is a personal appeal to a potential buyer. You want the person to feel special and have a reason not only to look
To get more and better business leads network with those clients you already have a relationship with.
A sales letter is a document designed to generate sales. It persuades the reader to place an order; to request additional information; or to lend support to the product or service or cause being offered. It influences the reader to take a specific action by making an offer - not an announcement - to them. To sell the sales letter must be specific, go to the right audience, appeal to the readers needs, and it must be informative.
Pricing your product or service is one of the most important business decisions you'll make. You must offer your products for a price your target market is willing to pay–and one that produces a profit for your company–or you won't be in business for long! There are many approaches to pricing, some scientific, some not. This article provides a framework for making pricing decisions that takes into account your costs, the effects of competition and the customer's perception of value.
The ideal person-to-person and/or telephone script to maximise selling opportunities.
A complete manual on all matter business – from sales to management and everything between’
14 Things That Can Double Your Income
Believing you are the best and that you are capable of very high achievement is often the hardest thing to do. It requires daily dedication to self-support and self-encouragement. You also must believe that your product, your service and your company are the best ...
Even "Super-You" needs help and support. There is no shame in asking for assistance. Push aside the pride and show respect for the talent others can bring to the table
Meeting With A Client - How Should It Be Done
When you have a meeting set up with a client, it is because they need your expertise in solving a problem, creating a solution, understanding project variances, or representing them in litigation; all for which you need to prepare.
Successful businesses are those that clearly understand their client's needs and address them. Businesses have to understand that their most valuable asset is their existing client list and make sure that they maintain a good, lasting relationship with them. When the needs of the clients are understood accurately, appropriate changes may be done to the business such that clients or customers will be satisfied that they got what they needed.
Meeting And Exceeding Client Expectations
Surprising a customer by exceeding their expectation is a great way to make sure they’ll be back in the future.
Giving someone bad news is never easy, but there are right ways and wrong ways of going about it.
People get angry all the time and the problem seems to be getting worse. People who grossly overreact to trivial events with violence are suffering from a central lack of confidence. Angry people interpret everything as a personal slight, an insult to their already fragile egos. (Certain events may) exacerbate their sense of vulnerability.
The following can improve your verbal communications skills, whether in planned or unplanned situations:
We've all encountered our fair share of difficult people. People who don't turn their work in as promised, people who don't show up for meetings, people who stick vehemently to their views and refuse to collaborate, people who push back on work that they're responsible for - and more. There are times where there are difficulties in getting a consensus because everyone is so firm in their views.
Running and Controlling Meetings
There are good meetings and there are bad meetings. Bad meetings drone on forever, you never seem to get to the point, and you leave wondering why you were even present. Effective ones leave you energised and feeling that you've really accomplished something. So what makes a meeting effective?
When it comes to entrepreneurial talents that spell success in the world of startups, the ability to negotiate well is one of the most vital attributes you can possess. Take care to develop this skill. Some people think they are good negotiators, but in reality are not. From bringing in good people, to arranging financing or nailing that technical solution, sound negotiating techniques will be essential.
Learning how to negotiate removes pressure, stress and friction from your life. You see, negotiating is like chess - if you don't know how to play you will be intimidated by the activity, especially if your opponent knows the game. Negotiating is a predicable event that has rules, planned moves, and counter moves. But, unlike chess, negotiating is an activity you can't avoid, so learn the rules.
Great telephone skills are the building blocks of every business and it is easy to see why. Many of the important experiences that our existing, new, and potential customers are having are based upon the level of customer service they are receiving from us while we are on the phone. We can use our telephone skills to effectively deliver excellent service that will grow and maintain a thriving business.
What To Do When You Feel Unproductive
Feeling stuck and unproductive is natural and it can be caused by overwork, lack of momentum, a bad mood, a success block, the weather and/or dozens of other factors. And, while it's helpful to understand why you're stuck and unproductive, sometimes it's just better to do one or more of the PRACTICAL things which follow!
How to Grow Your Business Through Creative Publicity.
Small businesses sometimes fail because their owners fail to use creative tools and techniques to get the added exposure they need. The following ideas are geared toward the smaller business, but would work for larger businesses as well. Some of the concepts are simple, and they have also proven to be effective over time with millions of small and large businesses.
U.S.P.: The Competition Killer
A U.S.P. is a Unique Selling Position. A tag line, or signature if you will, that you give yourself and then include on everything you print, every talk you give, every article you write for the newspaper, every ad you place, in your voice mail message, on your website, your business cards, your fax cover sheet ... everything you say and do.
Essential Elements of a Business Plan
A completed business plan should identify the expectations you have for your new or existing business and should tell “the tale” of your business to a potential lender. The plan is a stand-alone document because, when completed, all business issues should be addressed without requiring additional explanation. The plan is a living document and should be reviewed and changed as regularly as your plans and strategies change. These 10 elements are a guide to formatting and writing the plan.
Ideas To Help Small Businesses Compete
Personalisation doesn’t just apply to people. It also applies to the merchandise your customers want. A hardware store can’t stock every possible model of weed-whacker but neither can the big retailer.
What you can do is offer to special order whatever the customer wants – even if you don’t stock it. Many big stores won’t do that. More importantly, you can make it your business to know the differences between models and be a source of that information which you can provide to your customers.
How often have you gone to a big retailer and found sales people with no more knowledge than you? Especially for businesses that deal in complex products, people will pay extra for your expert knowledge.
10 Effective Business Networking Tips
Networking is probably the most effective and least expensive marketing method you can use to build your business or practice, especially if you do business in your local area.
Many people, when asked, define a manager as a person that; manages (that answer is meaningless - it’s like saying a builder builds, a painter paints …), hires, fires, makes a plan for production, organizes the resources required to achieve certain tasks, oversees production etc. The tasks a manager are involved with can be extensive but there is one undeniable fact – every one of those tasks requires the manager to make decisions!
ENTERTAINMENT
Free Public Domain Sheet Music
ESSENTIAL
Save From Net (YouTube to PC)
Spreeder - Speed Reading Tool
GAMES
INTRIGUING
Down for Everyone - or just me?
Telegraph Pole Appreciation Society
Nationmaster International Statistics
99 Interesting facts about the World
Dog
Should I Buy a Laptop or Tablet?
Wish
MAPS & TRAVEL
Random Google Map Streetviews
Weather The Day You Were Born
PHOTOS & PHOTOGRAPHY
Library of NZ Photo Collection
Historic NZ Facebook Collection
Thames Waikato Photo Collection
Free On-line Video Editor/Maker
PRODUCTIVITY
Down for Everyone - or just me?
Spreeder - Speed Reading Tool
Save From Net (YouTube to PC)
Nearly every moment of every day, we have the opportunity to give something to someone else - our time, our love, our resources.
S. Truett Cathy