Leading Change at Any Level in the Organization

By James Gehrke

Because of the rapid pace of change in today's work environment, more needs to be done to train and assist leaders of organizations gain the practical skills that will assist them lead change efforts, which skills may be different than managerial skills most leaders have been exposed to in other types of leadership functions. It would be beneficial to companies to address the basic skills needed by managers at all levels of the organization to best implement organizational change. To be effective, this training needs to deal with the issues that lead organizations to fail in many change efforts. This training must help leaders understand and recognize the attitudes, reasons for resistance, and challenges of implementation, of the overall change project.

The amount of change placed on managers by their organizations has grown at an amazing rate over the last several years. Nor is the rate of change likely to decrease anytime in the foreseeable future. As reported by Hersey et al, in a survey conducted by the Gallop Organization of 400 executives from Fortune 1000 companies, 79 percent of executives described "the pace of change at their companies as 'rapid' or 'extremely rapid' and 61 percent believed the pace will pick up in the future". As organizations are being forced to deal with the pressures of the global marketplace, the pace of change is likely to increase, as executives look to outsource, down-size, right-size, merge, re-align or look for any way to remain competitive and increase earnings. As John Kotter has stated, through all these efforts "the basic goal has been the same: to make fundamental changes in how business is conducted in order to help cope with a new, more challenging environment" (Kotter, 2000, p. 59).

However, while top executives look at change efforts as opportunities to strengthen their companies and increase their influence, for employees "change is neither sought after nor welcomed" but rather seen as "disruptive" and "intrusive" (Strebel, 1996, p. 88). Employee resistance is likely compounded by the fact that the great majority of corporate change efforts are not successful. As explained by Michael Beer, "while senior managers understand the necessity of change to cope with new competitive realities, they often misunderstand what it takes to bring it about" (Beer et al, 2000, p. 158), leading to many efforts not reaching the level of success has hoped and planned for. As reported by Jeanie Daniel Duck, after passing through repeated failed episodes of change "by now, the troops have been through so many of these programs that they're skeptical" (Duck, 1993, p. 111). She describes the situation further by saying that, "Companies today are full of change survivors, cynical people who've learned how to live through change programs without really changing at all" (Duck, 1993, p. 112).

While leaders of the corporation may understand the reason for change, and put great effort in planning and implementing the change, they often fail because of the lack of support of the vast majority of the employees. This contributes to a disappointingly large number of change efforts which end in failure. As John Kotter states "in too many situations the improvements have been disappointing and the carnage has been appalling, with wasted resources and burned-out, scared, or frustrated employees" (Kotter, 1996, p. 4).

A more complete understanding of the principles of change leadership and team effectiveness which could be taught to managers in order to help them move their organizations successfully through change efforts could greatly improve the organizations' overall success rate at implementing changes, as well as improve the overall experience of the employees and managers forced to implement the changes.

Since founding Magnify Leadership and Development, James has developed, facilitated and coached programs including; Change Leadership, Coaching, Communication Skills, Sustaining Learning, Interviewing Skills, Leadership, Territory Management for dozens of leading global organizations; including, Advantis Research and Consulting, IMS, CMOE, Pfizer, Sinclair, Disetronic Medical Systems, StratX, ASTD, Coventry Health Care, Wilson Learning, and many others. James is bilingual and can facilitate and coach in both English and Spanish.

Prior to founding Magnify Leadership and Development, James headed Pfizer's Learning and Development for all of Europe, Canada, Africa and the Middle East where he was instrumental in the development of a global management curriculum and other training initiatives to enhance organizational effectiveness for over 30,00 employees.

Contact James at: 1 801 266 0849 or

james.gehrke@magnifyleadership.com or visit our website at: http://www.magnifyleadership.com to learn how we can you with your leadership and communication development needs.

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Critical Skills For Sales Leaders - Asking Questions and Listening to Your Customer's Needs

By Ian Segail

"So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you... For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." (Luke 11:9-10)

Diagnosis - the process of identifying a pain or condition by its signs, symptoms, (finding out facts, information, and needs) and from the results of various diagnostic procedures.

Sensory acuity - the ability to gain awareness of another person's unconscious responses (to perceive another person's unconscious feedback- reading not just "what" they say, but "how" it is said.)

"Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice!" All professionals complete some form of diagnosis before helping their clients. If you want to be a professional, then so must you. In sales, this critical skill is called "Diagnostic Acuity". How do you say no to someone who has just offered to give you exactly what you wanted and needed? You don't, and that's exactly the point! When you truly know exactly what your potential customer is looking for, why they want it and how much they would be willing to pay for it, selling is easy.

How do you find out exactly what the customer wants and why they want it? You ask! The winning salespeople are the ones that have both the desire and the skill to determine what the potential customer wants and needs and why they want and need it. They have the skills to match those wants and needs to a set of potential solutions.

It would be virtually impossible to take a modern day sales course or read a book on selling and not be told emphatically "You have to first ask questions to identify the customer's needs!" Whilst by now most salespeople know this, knowing and doing it effectively are two very different things. The ability to ask skillful questions is absolutely mission critical in today's tough and globally competitive environment.

Diagnosis is mission critical Why is the ability to ask skillful questions so mission critical? Anthony Robbins says about questions that they are "the tools that open up the brain's knowledge, experience and memory banks."

Questions are the tools we as professional Sales Consultants use as a means to extract important information from the customer's perspective, and to learn more about what they perceive and think. When we don't ask questions effectively, not only do we assume we know all there is to know about the customer and their needs, we may never really uncover their true motive for meeting with us. In some cases, the customer has already done their "homework" and has already determined their buying criterion. For many of them, their purpose in meeting with you is to check with a range of suppliers to find which ones best meet their needs for the lowest cost. In many cases, they may even be comparing your organisation against an already approved supplier who has had the account for months.

Then there are those occasions where customers have a need that, at the point of your visit, they may not even be aware of. It then becomes your task to help them discover for themselves the latent need for your product/service. This is where the ability to ask skillful questions so critically important.

As with any other selling technique, the best salespeople are always aware of the way they ask the question making sure to "couch" it in such a way as to remove any hint of judgment, or coercion. They watch their own tone of voice, body language, and word choice. This is what's known as acuity.

Acuity is... The term 'acuity' refers to the actual physical ability of the sensory organs to receive input. A person's visual acuity refers to the person's ability to see. In persuasion, visual acuity is more than simply seeing what is in front of you; it is taking in all aspects of the customer: noticing their eye movements, their skin tone changes, their breathing, as well as their body language.

The body gives clues to the way your customer is thinking. Visual acuity is being totally focused on the complete picture in front of you. In selling, auditory acuity is the salesperson's ability to really listen and hear what is being said with accuracy. Listening correctly means avoiding making assumptions and guessing as to the customers meaning. Listening actively means clarifying, summarising, empathising, restating and paraphrasing in an effort to hear accurately.

When it comes to identifying needs and opportunities, as a professional salesperson it is critically important to understand the distinction between 'acuity' and 'perception'.

• Acuity is the process of receiving all the input with accuracy. Acuity is only the gathering process of the content and physical information. It is not the interpretation part of the process.
• Perception refers to the salesperson's ability to understand, or make meaning out of the sensory input received through their eyes and ears. Perception is the salesperson's interpretation of the content gathered. Perception should always follow acuity.

Diagnostic Acuity Capability is at the very heart of any successful sales process. When you question correctly, you search below the surface in an effort to discover and reveal the truth of what is really going on in the minds and hearts of your potential customers. Asking the right questions and then being in a position to prescribe exactly the right set of solutions to solve those issues is what professional selling is all about.

As one of Australia's leading authorities and coaches in sales management, Ian Segail has been involved in the coaching, training and development of sales managers and salespeople for over two decades.

Drawing on 25 years of experience in sales, sales management and leading an HR and training team, Ian brings a strong dose of fiscal reality and practicality to his works as a Sales Performance Coach.

Engaging directly with business owners and both novice and experienced sales managers alike, across a wide variety of industries and selling disciplines, the focus of Ian's work is to transform sales results for companies by improving sales management practices.

Ian is the author of "Bulletproof Your Sales Team: The 5 Keys To Turbo-boosting Your Sales Team's Results" and a number of business articles, business reports and white papers including "The fish stinks from the head!" and "Why Sales Training Doesn't Work."

Ian has an insatiable hunger for studying selling and people management and has passionately pursued answers to the question "How come some people can sell and most can't?"

Download Ian's latest white paper on how to recession proof your sales team in the next 90 days from http://www.salestutor.com.au/Content_Common/pg-Salestutor-Tools-and-Resources-Articles-and-Whitepapers.seo

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ian_Segail

10 Ways to Build Search Engine Optimization

By Teo Graca
Organic Search results appear in the non-advertising areas of the search engine results page. This is the equivalent of FREE advertising, so search engine optimization (SEO) is a very important strategy for creating a successful web site. So, it is imperative that you create an effective SEO strategy to help your web site bring you new customers. Here are 10 ways to improve your search engine optimization strategy.

1. Keywords: Develop unique keywords and relevant titles for each of your web site pages and each article or blog you publish.

2. Content: The depth of research and development applied to your content strategy will be directly proportional to the quality and quantity of traffic you receive in organic search. "Content" includes the written word, applications, widgets, tools and other digital assets.

3. Copy writing: Adding one word or phrase in the right place can increase visibility for a particular keyword. Be careful in your approach, and consider the human element, no matter how tempting it is to over-tweak.

4. Permanent Links: Start the process of cataloging multiple redirects and campaign URL's and set up permanent redirects to make it easier for the engines to find the "real" URL.

5. Interlinking: Link to others web sites, have others link to yours. Writing useful articles that link back to your web site and getting others to use the articles on their home pages is one of the best strategies for improving your rankings in the search engines.

6. Feed submission: Determine which feeds are most relevant to your business (products, maps, etc.) and take steps to provide data to the engines. With placements like Google Maps, a feed could be a quick ticket to a No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3 natural ranking.

7. Title and Description: Create a succinct title and description, which along with your Keywords, is an important part of your meta strategy for SEO.

8. Linking Architecture: Search engines need a unique URL for each page to actually index each page separately. Using parameters like /ShowArticle.cfm?article_id=14 doesn't work. You could have a million articles linked like this, but the search engines wouldn't know it. But search engines do like /ShowArticle.cfm/14 - if your information architect designs your system in this way, you can be assured that every article or web page will be reviewed by the search engines - making sure each has a different title, keyword list and description will guarantee that the search engines actually index the articles and pages. This is the best strategy for getting search engines to crawl your site and index content.

9. Clean up broken links: Find and remove permanently broken internal links or set up properly configured 404 error page to improve crawling performance that lets engines know that the old link is history.

10. Make your pages smaller by removing common JavaScript and CSS code to external files. The files are then cached by the browser and your page loads quicker and the search engines can crawl your pages quicker and easier.

These are only a few of the many things you can do to help your SEO. They are free and if you can coordinate all of these things into your web site, they are also very effective.

Bonus Information!
For coders, these are some of the areas that must be taken into consideration:

*Meta Tags - though your title, keywords and description in your site's meta-tags may have been effective when you launched your site, this can change. Your meta-tags must be tested regularly - it is important to test and re-test your meta data.

*Content - like meta tags, your site content must be updated regularly and must reflect the meta data you are using. When it comes to search engine indexing, the continuity of your meta data and content are checked. Event the order in which your keywords are set and HTML like bold text can make your information easier for the search engine spiders to crawl.

*Links - building links on your site allows you to become more friendly on-line. By making friends virtually, you are increasing your popularity and reputation on-line. This interlinking is an effective strategy to promote your site - the more relevant your links are, the more powerful your web site becomes.

For marketers, this is the most powerful way to build traffic.

*In-Bound Links - Article marketing is one of the key ways to build in-bound links. Every site
that posts one of your articles becomes a billboard pointing back to your web site. Imagine having an article on 1,000 web sites - that's 1,000 billboards pointing to your web site. Now imaging 100 articles on 1,000 web site pointing back to your web site - that is 100,000 billboards that make your site one of the highest ranked sites on the Internet.
When you implement these Strategies, you'll find two long-term benefits for your website:

1) This will boost your web site search engine rankings.
2) This will attract quality traffic to your site.

Teo Graca works with Social Media, Social Networking, Podcasting, Blogging and other technologies, has an extensive background in video and music production, and has spent the last dozen years designing and implementing information systems.

Insider's Club with Teo Graca

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Ten Steps For Implementing Empowered Leadership

By Kimberly Olver

Empowered Leadership is based on the work of W. Edwards Deming and William Glasser. It is a way of managing people to ensure the best quality product or service while taking good care of the human capital providing that product or service. These are the ten steps to doing so:

1. Create a work environment that is physically, emotionally and spiritually safe for employees. Eliminate discrimination and oppression. Discourage gossip and foster an environment of safe risk-taking.

2. Help employees to feel connected to the mission and vision of the agency, to their teammates, to you as their supervisor and to administration. Communicate the vision and mission often and each employee's role in it. Care about each individual employee and make sure they know you do. Foster cooperative teamwork. Help administration see the positives of your employees.

3. Ensure your employees feel cared about-that their lives matter, not just their work output. Notice when something is off and ask about it, leaving room for the employee to keep it to him or herself if he or she chooses to do so. Provide flexibility with work/life balance. Lack of appreciation is the main reason employees give for leaving their jobs. It's not money.

4. Listen to employees' ideas and implement those that are possible and make sense. Let your people know you value and respect their opinions and input. Decrease complaints by requiring each complaint be accompanied by at least three possible, reasonable solutions. Respect your employees as integral, contributing workers in your company. Communicate your employee's importance, value and worth on a regular basis.

5. Allow your employees as much freedom as they can responsibly manage. You will give less to new employees and more to seasoned workers with a proven track record. Fight the urge to micromanage. Let your workers know what you want and allow to determine how they will provide it to you.

6. Provide your employees with choices. Allowing workers at least three options will increase cooperation. People do not like feeling there is no choice in a situation. It generally breeds anger and frustration.

7. Create opportunities for employees to have fun at work. Do not discourage play-making at work unless it becomes excessive. A little fun can make the day go faster, relieve stress and consequently, improve the output of each individual employee.

8. Ensure your employees have valuable and useful training so they can not only perform their jobs but also be promotion-ready. Not having useful training is one of the main reasons employees give for leaving their jobs.

9. Communicate the usefulness and purpose of what you are asking your employees to do. They must understand how their tasks will benefit themselves and the company. People who are asked to do things they don't perceive as useful or things they don't understand won't do their best work.

10. Ask your employees to evaluate and constantly improve the quality of their work. Work together with your employees to develop production standards for quality. Ask your workers to evaluate their work against the standard and constantly look for ways to improve what they and the company does.

Kim Olver is a life, relationship and executive coach. Her mission is to help people get along better with the important people in their lives. She teaches people how to live from the inside out by empowering them to focus on the things they can change. She in an internationally recognized speaker, having worked in Australia and the continent of Africa, as well as all over the United States. She has consulted with the NBA and other major league player development specialists. She is the author of Leveraging Diversity at Work and the forthcoming book, Relationship Empowerment. She co-authored a book with Ken Blanchard, Les Brown, Mark Victor Hansen and Byron Katie, entitled 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life. She works with individuals, couples, parents, social service agencies, schools, corporations and the military--anyone who will benefit from gaining more effective control over their lives. She has consulted on relationships, parenting, self-development, training, leadership development, diversity, treatment programs and management styles. For more information about Kim go to Coaching for Excellence. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kimberly_Olver

Is Your Brand Helping You Or Hindering You?

By Kimberly Reddington

Your brand is one of the most important elements of a successful marketing campaign regardless of the size of your business. Your brand is how potential customers will recognize you, and the quality of your brand will determine whether they remember you in a negative way or a negative way. Your brand is a customer's first impression of you, and if done properly, will be their lasting impression of your product or business. Since your brand is so important, you need to make sure it reflects your business in a positive way.

Coca-cola has a great brand. Their cans are all red, they always use the same fonts, and they have that little swishy thing running across their cans. (Can I be professional, if I use the phrase 'swishy thing'?) I rarely ever drink Coke, but whenever I see their brand my mouth literally starts to salivate. My mind associates that brand with the act of drinking a can of Coke.

Check out their website. Which color do you think is their primary color? The same color you see on their cans, red. What images do you see sprinkled throughout their website? The Coca-Cola logo is everywhere with their special fonts and the swishes. The swishes seem to be used to mimic the flow of Coke out of bottles. Even the bottles have the swish appearance to them.

As a small business owner, we can tap into all the research that the larger companies have paid thousands for. We can use them as our role models. There are 3 main rules that all larger companies seem to follow that give them the results they are looking for.

1. They know what they want to be remembered for.

What do you stand for? What do you want to be known for?

These are important questions to ask. The image or phrase you will be known for is the more important piece of your brand. Coca-Cola wants to be known for being able to quench your thirst with a drink that is "delicious and refreshing." Every image and commercial they create tries to portray that feeling to their customers.

2. They are consistent with using their logos and images on all their marketing materials.

What is your logo? Do other images on your site blend with your logo? You should consistently put your logo on all your materials?

Think about your logo. Does it reflect how you want to be remembered? Coca-Cola chose a font that is not only appealing, but it's shape resembles the flow of a drink. They mimic this flow in earlier and current logos that they use. They also use the shape when designing their bottles.

3. They choose only 2 or 3 main colors for their website and materials, as well as limiting the amount of fonts they use.

What are the primary colors and fonts on all your materials? Are you consistent with the exact colors? Do you always use the same fonts?

All your materials from your logo to your website to your business card to your brochures to your newsletters should all use the same styles. You should narrow your designs down to no more than 3 colors. More than that and the eye starts to see clutter. You should consistently use only 1 or 2 fonts throughout your materials. Choose a font that works well for your audience. Young adults prefer Arial. The elderly prefer Times New Roman. Artists may prefer a fancier font. I used a kid-friendly font to design a website for a preschool.

When thinking about your brand, you want to think about something catchy. You will be known for the image that comes to people's minds when they think of your business, so make sure it's a positive image. You could be known for a phrase, such as Coca-Cola's phrase "delicious and refreshing". You could be known for one word. Adidas uses the word Performance. When people think of the word Performance, Adidas wants them to think of Adidas. What will you be known for?

Kimberly Reddington, founder of CereusWomen.com, teaches moms how to turn their skills and talents into a successful home-based service business and to find a balance between their business and their family. Discover Kim's popular special report by visiting http://www.CereusWomen.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kimberly_Reddington

Strategic Management of Your Referral Sources

By Carol Greenwald

How often do professionals say they don't need to acquire business development skills because they get all their work from referrals? Why are the two mutually exclusive? A strategic referrals plan can move them from ad hoc, collegial acts of friendship to a useful, strategic, business development resource.

The short answer is referrals are everywhere, but some are better than others. Rainmakers know that the issue isn't finding people who might refer business, but rather, developing strong relationships with the handful of people who can help you get the kind of business you want.

Clients are usually the best source of new and add-on business. Second best are professionals such as accountants, financial planners, insurance agents, bank officers, investment bankers, etc. "Real life" also provides referral opportunities from friends, family, college acquaintances, community services colleagues, etc.

To turn referrals from a personal impromptu act into an important business development resource, the giving and receiving of referrals needs to be seen as a marketing process to be tracked, monitored and analyzed to maximize its potential. Optimally, this will be done on a database, but if not, it can be done by hand using an excel spreadsheet.

The first step in the tracking process is to make sure that one central person is notified whenever a referral is given or received. The next step is to input the data into the data base, capturing as much information as possible. Data needs to be input monthly and reviewed on a quarterly basis.

The final step in the process is to create a series of reports that can be used to monitor and assess referral patterns. The reports need to show which firms and individuals are referring clients to the law firm, and the firms and individuals referred to. Participants reviewing the reports can see the level of reciprocation between referrals in and referrals out. The report can also track the success ratio in terms of getting the business referred, the content of the work performed, and the revenue generated. This makes it easy to send good referrals to those who sent profitable business to you.

If the potential for referral work itself is unbalanced, the recipient can often respond by offering shared marketing or advertising activities including advertisements, collaboration on seminars, reciprocal columns in each other's newsletters, and shared trade or professional association initiatives. The connection part of the referral process is in itself a strong relationship building block. The recipient of a referral needs to call the referrer to thank for the opportunity and tell them where the referral stands at the moment. If work results, call the referrer again to update them and thank them again.

The referrer should try to call the referral before giving out their name. Once they pass the name on, they should follow up in a week or two to check on the status of the referral. If the referral "took," that's great. If it did not, the referrer can find out why, and ask if they want another referral name. If the referrer is close to the referred person, he may want to share the negative feedback.

Analyzing referral data can lead to strategic information about interlocking personal networks. Referral strategies enable businesses to link individual business development efforts to entity-wide branding or advertising initiatives. Successful referrals, both in and out, increase the reputation of both the people and their company.

Carol Schiro Greenwald, Ph.D., is a marketing consultant and coach. Her services include strategic planning, marketing research, and marketing communications programs with an emphasis on web editing and writing. She is also a business development coach and trainer for individual professionals or firms. Carol lectures frequently on marketing topics.She can be reached at 914-834-9320 or at http://www.greenwaldconsulting.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carol_Greenwald

The Problem With Project Management in Organizational Change

By Stephen Billing

Stephen Billing
Level: Basic

Stephen Billing works with CEOs, General Managers and others with P&L responsibility to create dramatic change to achieve competitive advantage. Far reaching change can divert ... ...

I really think that sponsors of change projects, project managers of change projects, those involved in change project teams, business unit managers, and consultants like me all have a big problem on our hands.

Even though you may plan the project well, sign off on the risk and issues registers, conduct steering group meetings that are efficient and get through everything on the agenda, deliver the deliverables on time and within budget, and give progress reports to senior and line managers, these are all inputs, not outcomes.

Of most importance to you as a sponsor of a change project are the outcomes. Line managers are most concerned about the impact of the project on their operations and what they will have to do to make it work (i.e. outcomes for their business unit). Project managers and their teams, by contrast, become more concerned about deliverables, which are inputs. Project management structure and planning drives them in this direction - to have all the papers ready for a steering group meeting, for example.

Immediately you can see the dilemma of inputs versus outcomes. Deliverables (this concept was invented as a way of measuring progress towards the goal, i.e. to measure progress of inputs, especially useful for long term projects) include things like project plans, reports on progress, strategy documents, databases, people recruited, leases secured, and equipment purchased. The problem is that success in these things is then taken to equate to the success of the project overall.

Project sponsors, through their close alliances with project managers and their teams, also run the risk of being seduced into prioritizing deliverables at the expense of outcomes. By contrast, line managers seldom are seduced this way, perhaps because they often don't develop the same close associations with these project teams.

From a project sponsor's point of view however, outcomes can only be measured after the change project is implemented. At the same time, project sponsors play a pivotal part in whether the outcomes of the project are achieved or not. They are the ones with relationships with their senior level peers, who secure and commit resources and who provide real world guidance to their project and program managers.

Your project management effectiveness is one component of the solution. And you surely do need good project management, make no mistake. You also need the right mix of technical skills on the team. But good project management and good technical skills are only part of the mix. In order to achieve the outcomes you desire, you also need to make sure that the right range of views have been incorporated into the decision making, that the shadow conversations have been taken into account.

So one thing that you can do as sponsor of a change project is to keep in touch (perhaps informally, and definitely with an open mind) with the line managers. Project managers would also do well to adopt the same approach.

The grave danger I am warning you of, is that initiatives live or die in the shadow conversations - over the coffee machines, in the smoking rooms, in the cafeteria, in the corridors, at staff drinks, around the water cooler. And project sponsors, project managers, project teams, and human resources people, typically do not spend their time in those places. Blinding flash of the obvious - if informal communications are so critical to the success of change initiatives, why are all the communications efforts concentrated solely on the formal communications channels?

No wonder the standard statistic is that 75% of change projects are reputed to fail.

Stephen Billing works with organizations to create dramatic change for business improvement. Areas of expertise include organization design, restructuring, changing company culture, introducing new technology or new ways of working, developing leaders and sales and sales management capability and human resources. With over 20 years of experience, he holds a Doctor of Management from University of Hertfordshire - his research investigated the role of consultants in organizational change. He has spoken at conferences in New Zealand, Denmark and Holland, and has published articles and book chapters. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Billing

9 Steps to Achieve Any Goal

By Jasmin Anderson I recently watched a dvd by a man named Bill Bartmann on 9 Steps to Achieve Any Goal. I had never heard of Bartmann before, but when I researched him, he is someone who has achieved and reached several goals in his life, so I listened on to hear what he had to say. Bartmann points out that you learn more from mistakes than you do from your successes, and the secret of success lies within your mistakes. In order to be successful, you have to be willing to take risks. People are afraid to take risks because they think they are going to fail. Most people fail because they worry about what other people think of them. The real secret to success is to find a way to raise or increase your self-esteem. Because if you raised your self esteem you'd be less concerned about what other people think about you. And if you're less concerned about what other people think of you, you'd be more willing to take risks. And if you're willing to take risks, you will mathematically increase your chance to success. Bill explains that each step to achieve a goal are equally important, but some order had to be given, so here it is: 1. Make sure the goal you set is in fact your goal. Make sure that this goal you are pursuing is in fact something you want, and you are not doing it for someone else. The saddest commentary in life is to have worked, chased, and spent your life doing something you don't even like. Spend serious time thinking on what it is that you really want; if you can't answer that, you really shouldn't start 'til you can. 2. Use the word Promise, not Goal. Goals are usually defined as things you try to do, attempt to do, and most people never achieve the goals they attempt. Change the way you speak to your brain, use the word promise! When you promise something, you have every intention of keeping that "thing." 3. Clearly Identitfy Your Promise. Don't be so vague with yourself by saying, I want to be rich and famous. Specify how rich, and how famous. What does rich/famous mean or look like to you? If you can't clearly identify your promise, you will have difficulty achieving it. Like the childhood game Pin the Tale on the Donkey. You can pin the tale on the donkey with ease without the blindfold, but with the blindfold you can't clearly see your target, so its almost impossible. 4. Identify Your Personal Motivator. A personal motivator can be positive or negative. As humans we are either trying to move towards pleasure or away from pain. Maybe you have a parent who is not supportive of your promise, so you can use this person as your negative motivator to show them that you can and will achieve your promise. Put that person's name on a 3x5 index card and place it where you can see it on a daily basis and use it for motivation to go that one more step to reach your promise. 5. Create a Promise Plan. This is equivalent to a business plan. Doesn't need to be a certain length, but it does need to specify the who, what, when, where how and why. And continue to work on it, revise it as often as possible. 6. Review Your Plan Regularly. We spend lots of time grooming ourselves daily, from brushing our teeth, combing hair, shaving, ect., we should spend at least 20minutes each day reviewing our promise plan and ensuring our plan. Create a Pocket Promise Card. This is laminated business size card with your promise printed on it. Carry it with you as a reminder. 7. Tell Yourself You Will Succeed. Self affirmation is key, vital. Feed your brain that positive reinforcement from the best, recognizable voice ever, your own! 8. Tell Others About Your Promise. Its not okay to fail if you've old people you are going to do something. You must share your promise with others. This is add fuel to your fire, because it will increase your number of motivators, whether positive or negative. And you never know, by telling and sharing, you may run into people willing to help you out. 9. Envision the result. You have to see yourself there. See the whole picture, what you will be wearing, what you will purchase, how different your life will be. Drive past a million dollar home and envsion you in it, how you would decorate the home. It may seem silly to do, but its powerful. Get your FREE Report on Internet Marketing at: http://response2-0.com/ar/x/t.php/973 Subscribe to my blog: http://www.jasminanderson.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jasmin_Anderson

6 Practical Steps to Preparing Outstanding Presentations

By Jacqui O'Loughlin

Conducting a presentation to a group of people is often daunting and involves a lot of preparation.

Below are some great tips to help you prepare for your next presentation, and deliver a speech the audience are sure to remember for all the right reasons!

#6 - Do your research

It's imperative that you find out as much about your audience as you can before starting to prepare your presentation. Find out what they already know, and what new information they should know by the time you have finished your presentation. There's no need to waste time on the basics of how to turn on a computer if the audience is full of experienced virtual assistants. Find out exactly WHY you have been asked to deliver this speech, who the audience is, and what end result is that you are to aim for.

#5 - Get your timing right

There is nothing more nerve wracking for a presenter than the sound of impatient shuffling once their presentation goes into overtime...don't let your presentation drag on or all of your good work will be undone. Also, always allow time for questions at the end for those who WANT to stay and learn more.

#4 - Use real life examples

Referring to familiar examples during your presentation will make your presentation more meaningful to your audience. For example, if you are presenting to a group of marketing students, you may use a real case study of a current successful product or service to convey the message of how to create an effective marketing campaign.

#3 - Anticipate questions

Have notes prepared in order to answer any questions. Imagine the most complex question that someone could ask and work backwards from there. If you're prepared for the worst case scenario, then there's no need to be nervous is there?

#2 - Practice Practice Practice!

Really, the more prepared you are in delivering the content of your speech or presentation, the more you'll be able to relax into it. If you're enjoying yourself, the audience will more likely enjoy themselves too.

#1 - Have an assistant who is skilled in designing PowerPoint presentations prepare your presentation slides for you

This way, you can concentrate on what you are going to SAY. Your presentation is more about YOU than your slides. The slides should simply be a visual summary of the story you are telling your audience.

Jacqui O'Loughlin runs 'Elite Virtual Executives', a small business which offers high quality copywriting and administrative support to other businesses. Jacqui is currently juggling part time university study with part time work, running her own business and planning her own wedding. Maybe Jacqui needs a Virtual Assistant...Visit http://www.EliteVirtualExecutives.com.au or call on 02 8005 4822 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacqui_O'Loughlin

Top 10 Strategies of a Great Leader

By V. Blaze

Whether you manage a company, coach an athletic team, lead a parish, or organize fundraisers for your school PTO, the road to accomplishing your goal is lined with the qualities of a great leader. Be a leader your employees, team, parish, or committee members respect and want to see succeed by following these strategies...

Be knowledgeable & plan.
Do your research and become knowledgeable about the subject at hand. Take that information and adequately plan and conduct concise, organized meetings.

Take Calculated Risks.
Don't be afraid to put forth new ideas and a plan to implement them. It's the adequate research and planning that shows others you've done your homework, understand the risks, and are ready to lead them into new ventures.

Be consistent.
Be consistent in your plan and the means by which you accomplish it. Clearly spell out the tasks that need to take place in order for your organization to meet their goals so that everyone understands the expectations that have been set.

Communicate clearly.
Polished oral communication skills are important to express your thoughts and visions to others. Work to improve these skills by practicing speaking aloud in front of an audience or taking a public speaking course.

Inspire & encourage others.
A positive attitude will inspire and ultimately motivate others toward accomplishing a similar goal. Provide constructive feedback without criticizing. Inspire confidence in others by supporting them as they work toward a common goal. Encourage others to do their best and work together as a team.

Listen.
Ask for suggestions and actually listen to the answers. As a leader, you should be spearheading new ideas, yet also taking other's ideas into consideration. Let others know they can contact you anytime with questions and comments.

Don't overreact.
When a problem arises, don't overreact. If this means saying nothing at all, then do just that. Instead, calmly take the time to analyze the situation and then present a reasonable solution.

Be honest.
Trust and respect is an earned trait. The first step to earning it is practicing it. Speak the truth and let others know you expect the same in return.

Say 'Thank You'.
Show others you appreciate their efforts by saying 'Thank You'. These two little words go such a long way.

Lead by example.
Finally, work as hard or harder than you expect your employees and committee members to work. Don't be fooled to think you are there to simply hand out assignments. Yes, it may be your job to assign tasks and ensure goals are met, but a great leader gains the respect of others by the work they do and how they do it.

V. Blaze is the Editor and Publisher of PTO Ideas, the website were schools share profitable fundraising ideas and learn how to build a better parent-teacher organization. For more information, visit PTO Ideas at http://www.ptoideas.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=V._Blaze

7 Ways to Attract and Retain Talent Without Having to Compete on Salaries

By Michael D. Rosenberg

"The attitude around here is that the floggings will continue until morale improves." laughed my friend Tony. His company, an old-line manufacturer, was facing a number of problems. They had a militant union, managers were being forced to work long hours, burnout was high and turnover was constant. "We are the meat on the sandwich." he further confessed. "Below us we have staff who could not care less what we have to say and above us we have management who has no idea what we do." In spite of some of the best wages in their industry, this company was dealing with high sick leave and was struggling to retain good people.

Everybody knows the data. Boomers are retiring, there are four generations in the workplace and there is a shortage of talent. This is becoming critical in all sectors of the economy, especially the public sector, where there are strict limits on what people can be paid. So, what do people want? How can you attract and retain the best talent, especially if you are limited in how much compensation you can offer? Before we answer these questions, take a moment and think about yourself. You are the very person that any organization would want to keep.

You have a choice between 2 employers. Organization 1 offers you a great environment. You are respected and are given flex time when you need to handle personal matters. You believe your work has meaning and your opinion counts. Organization 2 is very negative, full of unbending rules and unwritten norms. Nobody really cares or wants your ideas and your peers see you as a threat. The only advantage Organization 2 has over Organization 1 is that they are willing to pay you $10,000 a year more. When you answer that question for yourself, then you will understand from a deeper level how our 7 ways to attract and retain talent works.

1. Understand Your Current Culture

There is the culture you have and the culture you think you have. Does your current culture accept difference in others? Is there flexibility? How does current staff feel about working there? How are people promoted and/or rewarded?

An important element in understanding your current culture is the idea of values versus ethics. Many organizations write wonderful mission statements that have great values in them. However, values are only words. Ethics are actions. You may say that you value innovation, yet when people are promoted for keeping their heads low and not rocking the organization there is a clear message that the organization values conformity.

2. Meaningful Work

Nobody ever goes to work and says to themselves in the morning, "Gee, I want to be really mediocre today." Recognition is an important component to meaningful work. When you recognize people for their accomplishments, they feel that their work has significance.

Replacements Ltd., a company out of Greensboro, N.C. sells replacements for china and silverware set pieces that go missing or get broken. They believe that their efforts are not just about selling old dishes so the company makes a profit. "Our people believe that when we find missing pieces to complete antique china sets we are helping people create links to their past. These pieces represent somebody's life, their history," comments C.E.O. Bob Page. "We have seen people cry because this represented the last remaining memory of a loved one." Replacements Ltd., like many organizations, encourage staff to be involved in the community and give them time off to participate in community projects. This volunteering, in partnership with the organization, gives both their lives and their careers deeper meanings.

3. Build career entrepreneurship

When you provide career entrepreneurship, you are moving from the ' loyalty' to a commitment mindset. In a 'loyalty' mindset, people are rewarded for simply being there a long time. In a commitment culture, Organizations clearly define what the individual is being offered in return for their services and provide internal career coaching to empower people to manage their own careers. How do you build career entrepreneurship? Allow people to set their career goals, provide them with the tools to reach those goals and let them measure their accomplishments. Helping people set their own roadmap and then allowing them to succeed will ensure that people are engaged.

4. Create a flexible work environment

Work-life balance is consistently rated as the one of the most important aspects for attracting and retaining talent. One U.S. federal agency had a turnover rate of close to 20% a year. Many people would work for this agency and after about 3 years leave to go to the private sector where they would earn almost double their salary within the government. Unable to compete in terms of wages offered, this agency started allowing people to work at home, create flexible hours and even introduced subsidized daycare to staff. The result? Turnover fell to slightly less than 5%.

5. Understand and embrace Real Diversity

Real diversity means going beyond issues of gender, ethnicity, or age. It means embracing people who not only look different but THINK differently. Many organizations are looking for people with industry or corporate experience. There are a lot of very talented people who have had their own businesses, work in different industries or have experience outside our borders. The fit that an organization should be most concerned with are whether the person believes in the values of the organization.

6. Streamline the hiring process

The decision making process for most organizations is now taking several months. It seems that everybody has to be part of the interview and decision-making process, even the janitor! People respond positively to the organization when you streamline the process and get back to people quickly, even if they did not get the position. Also, moving quickly gives you a significant competitive advantage over your competition.

7. On boarding

Once you have brought somebody into the organization, you should have a 100 day plan worked out for them even before they start. Some effective techniques are providing them with a mentor/buddy who can help them adjust to the new workplace. A number of studies have shown that the first 100 days are critical for helping people feel 'part of the team' and, when they do, they are both more engaged and committed to the organization and its goals.

Go back to the question we started with about where you would want to work? I can quote numerous studies, but the ultimate test is common sense. When you create a culture where people are recognized, engaged and they believe in what they are doing, people not only stay with the organization but attract others there as well.

Michael Rosenberg is a partner at OYG Inc. (http://www.oyginc.com) and the author of Best Practices of Retention (Thomson-Reuters), The Flexible Thinker and the co-author of The Flexible Thinker: A Guide to Extreme Career Performance. He is an internationally-recognized thought leader in the areas of retention, learning, change and culture. He is also a career and personal coach and offers a number of programs and tools such to help give organizations a competitive edge. He can be reached at mike@oyginc.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_D._Rosenberg

Project Financial Management - 10 Key Steps to Streamline Your Business

By Colin McNally

Over the past decade or so we have been constantly bombarded with news about private and public projects that have either delivered scope at well over the expected budget or had to reduce scope to even come near to the original budget. Current thinking within project management methodologies only discuss the financial aspects of a project at a high level, leaving the "student" without any real way of working to greater understand the impact of their decisions on the financial results of the programme. In turn, the business case development is usually given minimal time and is a rushed job in the end. Investing in the correct people and time up front to review feasibility and secondly the business case is a must to ensure the total on target delivery of a project.

In the financial climate we are in, where budgets and costs are being cut, the time is now to ensure that whatever funding a company has available, that they invest it wisely - to do that you need to ensure that the project in the end - budget, costs and benefits are comprehensively reviewed.

With this in mind - using the Pathfinder Project Management Methodology as a basis, below are the 10 key steps to successful project financial management

(1) On new projects - invest time creating accurate feasibility studies and business cases, if this is a rushed job - in the end the results will deliver overspends.

(2) Review your project portfolio - are you carrying out the correct projects, are they nice to haves, are they being done for internal political gain - ensure each business case is robust and adds value to the future of the firm - spend time using previous experienced individuals to review and re-review the business case.

(3) Concentrate reviews just as hard on the benefits as the cost. In 80% of projects, once they are in, nobody wants to go back and review if they delivered as promised. So ensure from the start of the project you continuously check that as well as costs being on budget, that changes to your project have not altered your benefits.

(4) Cost cutting is not always the answer - allocate resource to "added value" projects - in today's world cutting heads is a an easy short term fix, do not throw out the baby with the bath water and leave the firm with projects in-flight with no experience to deliver them. Instead review your project spend and as in (2) concentrate on adding value.

(5) Workforce development - up-skill their financial management knowledge, develop staff in leadership, health and safety, motivation etc - so when you put a non-finance manager in charge of a large project, is it not about time they were given the financial know-how. Don't leave financial management to chance - develop your workforce.

(6) Break down the project into financially manageable sections. Too many projects work on the basis of a "pot of cash" - spend it as per the budget and if luck is with them, great! Instead take the "pot" and break it down into manageable sections - mapped to your project structure, that way you can see where budgets are by "workstream" and what ones are over/underspending.

(7) "one point of contact accounting" - too many managers will lead to budget overspend - following on from (6) above - The overall programme manager is responsible for the budget in total, at the same time each head of the projects parts should then be responsible for managing their part of the budget. This leads to one finance manager dealing with one project manager, ensuring a consistent relationship.

(8) Deliver focused and meaningful financial reporting to enable accurate decision-making. More is less - agree on what reporting is required from the project at the start and continuously improve until it is what the project needs to manage the programme of work. Because an accountant can deliver 20 pages of analysis a month to each project manager it does not mean that it's correct - save the trees - minimise the reporting and improve the decision making.

(9) Communication - have a strong relationship between your project and finance manager. Finance cannot be back office, they need to be part of the project team and be seen to be so, and therefore open and honest communication channels lead to no surprises.

(10) Finance should be made aware of all potential risks / issues and a probable cost - if a problem has or may arise warn finance early, finance will be limited to what they can do to assist "after the event".

Colin McNally is F.C.M.A with over 13 years experience in Blue Chip companies. He has now founded CJM Project Financial Management Ltd, and copyrighted the Pathfinder Project Management Methodology. Pathfinder is a methodology which advances the current thinking on project financial management. You can read more at http://www.project-financial-management.co.uk Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Colin_McNally

6 Steps to Developing Your Future Leaders

By Rick Weaver

As businesses grow and develop over time, inevitable change reduces the ranks of proven leaders; they leave, retire, are struck randomly by lightning.One way or another, a certainty of business is that you will find yourself replacing leaders. What is your plan for replacing them and insuring replacements are good enough to allow your enterprise to continue to grow and prosper and to weather bad times?

The following outline, adapted to your own needs and values, will allow you to design a plan to identify potential future leaders and to develop their potential into excellence.

1. Identify what's important. Most executives think they know leadership potential when they see it, but are hard-pressed to define its characteristics. Use a combination of assessments to bank information about your people, including your current leadership. Measure the characteristics important in the way they think, how they act and what their interests are. Those characteristics are not easily changed and you probably will not have the resources to develop someone who lacks a key characteristic. You need to know what you have to work with in your existing pool and whether you must look outside to find potential leaders for tomorrow. Measure their skills, too. Using a 360 degree assessment of leadership skills will tell you how much work you have to do, once you have a candidate for development.
2. Build your "pool of possibles." The time to bring future leaders on board is now, or sooner! When you are thirsty, it is terribly late to begin digging a well. Plan for long-term succession to leadership positions. Assume some of your possibles will not get there, or will leave before the process is complete.
3. Bring your potential leaders on board early. It may take years for an employee to thoroughly understand what makes your company and its culture tick. Provide opportunities for developing leaders to participate in high-level thinking and decision-making. Give them real chances to spread their wings and perhaps even fall and bump their heads. Learning to lead is not a linear process and a bit of pain is woven into the experience of most successful leaders.
4. Pick them up when they fall. To learn from a fall, most of us need help understanding what happened and realize that we need not fear falling! Offer an internal mentor or a professional coach, or both, to help your leaders develop more quickly and surely. A good coach can cut years off the time it takes to learn to fly and make sure falls are not fatal, just a little painful.
5. Reward them for developing. You are asking exceptional people to work exceptionally hard and to accomplish exceptional goals. While most high-potential leadership candidates will be internally motivated to excel, they will also expect to be rewarded for their efforts and their growth. Too many businesses have watched a potential star develop within, only to watch them depart for greener pastures, feeling unrewarded and unappreciated in their old home. Make sure they know where they are headed, but do not save all the goodies for when they get there.
6. It is a process, not a place. While the current crop of leadership candidates is pursuing their development, continue looking for the next ones you will never discover you have too many!

Rick Weaver is an accomplished business executive with a wealth of experience in retail, market analysis, supply chain enhancement, project management, team building, and process improvement. Time and time again Rick was amazed at the untapped talent he found at all levels of each company. He decided to focus on developing programs that would draw out the hidden abilities within each person

In 2002, he left Kmart to concentrate fully on developing people skills and organizational strategy. He founded MaxImpact to use his vast experience to connect individuals to their dreams and teams connect to a shared vision

His experiences taught him the importance of cultural recognition as the conduit through which change and progress is made possible. In 2005 he spun-off MBC Global as the cultural arm of Max Impact. Today MBC Global addresses more than 22 cultural distinctions to provide the foundation of all their leadership and organizational development programs

Rick's career began in retailing as a stock clerk, eventually becoming the Director of Vendor Development at Kmart Corporation during its heyday. In this position he worked with hundreds of Kmart's suppliers to improve mutual processes, procedures, and profits

Rick has written several published articles that take a positive approach at maximizing individual and organizational results

His first book, Life's Leadership Lessons, is a blend of real-life stories where people, events, and things have provided insight into outstanding leadership

As a speaker Rick's style of blending humor, real life examples, and easy to implement ideas has made him a popular at seminars, workshops, and conferences in 43 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico

He regularly presents professional development workshops at businesses, organizations, schools, and colleges

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rick_Weaver

The Development of the Financial Scorecard

By Sam Miller

A lot of businesses have had to contend with learning valuable lessons the hard way. In fact, most of the time, it has taken a lot of years for management principles to develop, particularly the financial scorecard. Many businesses think they can do away without the development and the use of such a scorecard when this is quite an antiquated principle already. In fact, when you look at the biggest and strongest contenders in the worldwide market today, you will find that what these large and powerful companies have in common is their utilization of the scorecard. Even hospitals and clinics make use of them.

When it comes to the financial aspect of a business, the scorecard is then used to gauge the company's performance is - in the aspect of revenue, that is. Clear targets need to be set to give the managers an accurate and objective performance gauge to check if the business is indeed earning profitably or not. This managerial tool gives business leaders the opportunities to develop plans of action, if need be, as well as the avenues to make wise decisions when it comes to choosing the direction that their enterprises should take.

Measuring financial success comes with the use of metrics as well - much like with the case of any other scorecard. The metrics may very well vary from one enterprise on to the next, but all of them would have the basics in terms of goals and output, as well as the principle that is utilized. These can be encompassed in terms of measuring the enterprise's actually strength when it comes to its credibility and financial stability in the worldwide market.

Overhead expenses need to be measured firsthand, and these then should be compared against gross income or gross sales. But first, we need to define what overhead expenses are. These are actually the expenses that businesses pay for which do not really attribute to any particular business activity, like production and advertising expenses. A common example of this type of expense would be rent. Rent is not really a money-generating expenses right? However, if you do not pay the rent for your business to stay afloat, then you will not have any place for the production process that needs to take place. Another great example of an overhead expense would be insurance - fire insurance, to be more specific. You take out a fire insurance policy for your establishment and you end up paying premiums every month without these premiums earning interest at all. However, if a fire strikes your establishment, then this would be a worthy investment all on its own.

How you present your financial scorecard is also a matter to consider when you are still in the process of developing the tool. You many choose to present these expenses by division, or by overall income per division. Other choices include overall billable headcount per division and net and gross earnings by department or division. Whichever the case you choose, remember that all data and information you place and use with your scorecard play a very integral role in achieving financial success for your enterprise as a whole.

If you are interested in Financial Scorecard, check this web-site to learn more about financial roi

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sam_Miller

Client Relationship Management With Shareholders

By Hans Bool

CRM has been the buzzword for years after the now already common standard of ERP. Everyone knows what the best-practices of enterprise resource management are.

But what about CRM? That has from the start been more difficult to define. We all know how to streamline a business process, but how to fortalice the relation with clients...?

In the financial world, clients are there and in many situations. A shareholder could be seen as a client of the company. And what these clients want most of all is: security formalized by a steady flow of dividends. Now more important than ever.

Yet paying dividends is now challenging the company's cash-flow policy as cash is the back-up of credit which is hard to get these days. Credibility is at stake.

Many companies resigned to pay dividends which damaged the relation with shareholders. Especially to loyal shareholders, who believe in the company and those private investors who buy-and-hold their shares.

In a few situations an argument not to pay dividends - due to the dire economical and financial climate -- was accompanied with the message that these retained dividends would remain in the company "anyhow" and wouldn't affect the value of the shares. This is not right, management should know that.

But why not trusting those loyal clients (shareholders) and come up with a proposition:
- Yes, we are going to pay dividends as set out in our policy. But we want you to ask a favor. Please reinvest this dividend in buying shares of the company.

An example of this was proposed by the Spanish insurer Mapfre.

There are many alternatives and these are possible for companies that are only slightly damaged by the crisis. But even in those cases, the relation with the clients -- shareholders -- can make the difference. It is all about trust.

Copyright © 2009 Hans Bool For more information have a look at his writer's block note Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hans_Bool

How to Win at SEO Even With Strong Competition

By Nevil Darukhanawala

Are you tired of seeing you competitor's links on the first page of search results, while your website on the other hand is flailing behind somewhere on Page 11 or 18?

Are your competitors stealing your traffic? And if they are, are you ready to fight back?

Does your SEO expert shy away from targeting keywords which face stiff competition? And offers no viable strategy to combat the same?

The reasons for this could be many.

A few key ones that came to mind are listed below:

1. Yours is a new website (or new domain)

Websites with new domains generally have a hard time getting indexed and ranked in search engines. The reason for this is that search engines do consider the age of the domain as an important factor while calculating rankings. Even in the real word if someone has been in the business for a year, they will have more credibility than a startup.

What to do about it? Well prove it to the search engine that you are credible (don't forget on-page optimization) by creating fantastic content (search engine friendly content) and then syndicating that content across popular user, web and social communities. If other websites and users deem your website/ content as of value, eventually so will the search engines.

Stat a blog! Yes, it's an easy way to get noticed by search engines in a short span of time. Search engines love blogs, and so should you! Update your blog frequently with interesting and informative content, and use your blog to create relevant links back (with proper anchor text) to your primary keyword pages. Don't forget to promote your blog across blog search engines, and blog directories.

Write articles! This is a great way to build credibility, popularity and quality link backs without the fear of getting trapped by the duplicate content filter. Write articles that are focused around topics/ keywords you want to target. Write your article to resolve the query of the user who typed in that keyword to find something they were looking for. Promote your articles by posting them on your site or blog first, and then syndicating them to various popular and credible article submission sites.

Find long tail keywords! You may think you know your business, products, services and customers dam well, but that still does not ensure you any traffic. There are keywords (and keyword combinations) that people are using right now that you may be unaware off. Spend maximum time in finding the right keywords, tweaking those pages around the keywords (keyword placement), and in analyzing the traffic potential of those keywords. Expert SEO's use various projection tools, analysis, statistical and research tools to do this.

Make a creative video! Wondering how to get a traffic and ranking boost with the least effort? Make a creative and innovative video, post it on your website or blog, and then syndicate to popular video submission sites like YouTube. If this sounds easy, it is, you just need to know how to optimize your video content for search friendliness. Keep in mind this is not an alternative to good on-page optimization, and quality link building.

Build those links! This is the most important aspect of getting higher rankings for your select keywords. If you have a new domain, start with building links across popular web directories and announce your new website/product/service using online PR network services. It's the easiest way to start building some good links. In parallel you can use social networking and bookmarking to spread the good word through friends and colleagues. Join communities and forums that are relevant to your business and industry, and participate in them. Comment on relevant blogs.

Find sites that are relevant to your business and market, and request for links with your relevant anchor text. It is important to have a healthy mix of social, user and web communities in your link building matrix. Creating great content that other webmasters will want to link back is the best form of link baiting. Don't participate in link exchange, reciprocal linking and automated linking exchanges.

Syndicate all the original content! All your hard work needs to be syndicated to select article and video submissions sites depending on the type of content, and then promoted to user and social communities by tagging your content link across social bookmarking sites. This will not only give you good links back to your content, but also enable you to reach out to new users across user, web and social communities.

Submit your site map to Google, Yahoo and MSN. These are the top search engines, and submitting your site map is like introducing your website to the search engines and inviting them to come visit your online home.

Go Local! Start with your locality, your city, country and then go global. Like any good business expansion plan it works well to start from where you are right now. Get listed in online local directories, yellow pages, Craigs list (work well too) etc. List your business with Google local business listings, Google maps, Yahoo local, MSN local etc.

2. You have purchased an old domain for a new website, but it's not helping you getting ranked faster or higher

You have been smart about your online business. Maybe you heard that it's better to buy an older domain, or you had a domain name in mind and paid big bucks for it without knowing why, it does not matter. But the age of the domain does matter to search engines.

For seo purposes, it's better to have an older domain to work with. The search engines look at the age of domain as one of the factors while calculating the credibility of the website.

Having said that you will still need to do all the above things mentioned in point 1 to get higher rankings.

3. The competition is very strong for the keywords you have selected

What if you find yourself facing very strong competition for the keywords you selected, and your top competition is beating you by thousands of back links. We know that building quality links is time consuming and building thousands of quality links can take some time. So what can one do if you don't have the time or the budget to compete with existing competition?

Create a seo strategy! Many online business owners don't realize that seo or search engine optimization needs a strategy to work well. "Hey, I am putting up great content, have a great list of keywords, have optimized my pages, and am building the links". Yes, it's true that in doing these things you will stand a better chance at ranking well for your keywords. But what if your competition has spent years building content and links?

A basic seo strategy when the number of competing links is very high, and your competitor site has thousands of back links linking to it:

• 1. Identify 2 primary keywords that have max relevance, best traffic and least competition.
• 2. Optimize your home page and services/product page (any other key page would do as well) around the primary keywords.
• 3. Identify 10 - 15 secondary keywords that are three-word, four-word long tails that areextensions of the primary keywords (Eg. "How to Hire a SEO Expert" could be an article, and SEO Experts India is one of my primary keywords).
• 4. Write articles focused around your secondary keywords. Search engines prefer to send a user to a content page that's useful, informative and resourceful rather than a services or products page that's selling something to the user.
• 5. Optimize your article pages around secondary keywords. Each article is written around ONE secondary keyword you are targeting, and the page name, title, description, keyword and other relevant Meta tags are optimized around that keyword.
• 6. Create links from your article pages to the pages which are focused around your primary keywords using proper anchor text.
• 7. Syndicate the articles to article submissions sites, and create link back using "primary keyword" as the anchor text.
• 8. Focus your link building campaign (web directories, forums, social bookmarking etc) around the primary keywords ONLY, and build links from various popular web, user and social communities. In this way you will not dilute your link building campaign.
• 9. The idea is to build as many quality links back from these communities with the anchor text as the primary keywords you are focusing on. When search engine spiders will see the anchor text as used by popular web, user, and social communities to describe your website and your services, and then compare it with your optimized page (that's focuses around that specific keyword), it will give you a good boost in rankings for your primary keywords.

4. You have not identified the right keywords (with traffic potential)

And I am not talking about ones you copied of your competitors website or smartly guessed. Keywords are based on pure factual data, charts, and analysis of keyword/user behavior and trends across search engines which are computed using projection tools, analysis tools, research tools etc (and a dash of business and marketing logic). Do you know what is the traffic potential of your select keywords?

5. The on-page optimization on your website lacks focus

It's advised to target each page of your website around ONE keyword only, and focus the page name, title, description, other relevant Meta tags, and the body content (copy) of that page around that keyword ONLY.

6. Stale, boring or duplicate content on your website

Search engine dislike websites with badly written, copied, old or irrelevant content for its users. So make it a habit to create unique, compelling and resourceful content often that the users will value. If users value your content, the search engines will too.

7. Clean up those broken links, redirect errors, and 401

Search engines don't link encountering broken links, missing redirects and 401 errors on your website. These types of errors are recorded by search engine. It is not very difficult to clean up your website, so get down to it. If you have a website over 3 years old with good content, and you have the same number of links as your competitor's site, and yet you can seem to move up the ladder, your culprit could be the errors search engines are encountering while spidering your website.

8. Most of the above

Don't be disappointed if you fall in this category. This is generally the case with 90 per cent of the websites. There was a time where doing some simple keyword research and Meta tag optimization was enough to get ranked in search engines. As the web population grew, the search engines algorithms became more complex to weed out the bad ones.

Today SEO is not just about optimization of pages, keywords and link building ONLY, but about building a complete strategy for a successful online business. In these times of recession SEO may just be the most powerful tool for any business to succeed.

Now what excuse will you give when you know the secrets to winning at SEO even amidst strong competition? If you don't know what to do yet, then go back to the beginning of this article and read it again

Nevil Darukhanawala, SEO Expert Mumbai, SEO Services Mumbai http://www.seo-optimization-experts.com/seoblog.html

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