The executive summary is a summary of the business plan (including operations, sales and marketing, and finance), but it is also a selling document. This means that you must answer your readers’ questions if you want to sell your business concept. Here is a short list of questions you must answer in your executive summary:…
DetailsWhen establishing the prices for your products or services, don’t fall into the trap of establishing an “across board” price margin for all your products or services. Instead, look at each product individually. Look at this way. You might be able to justify a lower margin for products and services that account for a high…
DetailsIf you want people to understand your presentation and remember your key points, be sure to use visuals. Studies show that 83% of learning occurs visually. This means that you need to replace or enrich your text with flowcharts, org charts, diagrams, charts and graphs.. By all means, add color to help your audience. Dark…
DetailsI am sorry but I am buried in Twitter messages. And most of them are not the least bit relevant to me. It borders on abuse—I call it Twitter overload. Like many people, I signed up for Twitter thinking that there must be a value proposition for me, too. What did I get? I got…
DetailsFor many, the new economy of 2009 is limiting personal options, or so it seems. You know what I mean. We have always had the equity in our home, the cash in our IRA or 401K, and maybe some savings. Well, I guess we can scratch that now. I suppose for some moving to Hawaii…
DetailsAccording to the San Jose Mercury News: “Facebook has crossed the 200 million user mark”, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a blog post on Wednesday. He continued, “Growing rapidly to 200 million users is really a good start”. So now, do you believe me when I say Facebook is for real? John Bradley…
DetailsThis is how comedian George Burns described a small town in the mid west that he disliked. It also describes how I feel about the current state of the economy. If you are like me, you are getting tired of this recession or “ice age” as I have been describing it. It seems that most…
DetailsTimes are tough—we can all read the headlines. And selling is tougher than ever. The typical sales management reaction is to push the sales reps harder and demand more sales activity. Some managers will remind the reps that everyone’s job is on the line. So guess what happens? The reps become even more aggressive and…
DetailsSome of you may think “three dog night” is a rock band from the seventies. There may be others that think this means the neighbor’s dogs are barking too much. Still others may think it means it is cold outside. If you think that “three dog night” means that it is cold outside, you are…
DetailsFacebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, and the other social media websites have supplanted the water cooler as the place to go when you need a break from your work day. I suppose for many in this increasingly virtual world having a chat with a cyber friend brings some meaning, if not a respite from the grind…
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