Risk Taking
By Administrator | October 10, 2010
You want to why risk is very important in marketing this article tells us why.
“What is it about entrepreneurs that enables them to live so far on the edge? Do they thrive on the adrenaline of risk-taking?” This made me think of another question that I frequently encounter when people find out that I love ice climbing: “How can you live with the risk? Do you actually enjoy flirting with death?”
I think that these are all the same question, founded on the same implicit but ill-founded assumption: that risk equates to danger. Now, I am not going to try and convince you that there aren’t people who do love the rush of throwing the dice—with their life or their bank account. But just because someone won a multimillion-dollar windfall by buying lottery tickets with their retirement fund, or survived running a treacherous river without any training, the fact is not altered that what they were doing was gambling, not investing. The end result is as unrepeatable as it can be inadvisable.
Calculated Risks
So if it’s not the thrill of gambling, what does distinguish the serial entrepreneur and the ice climber from the population at large? For a start, they understand the very clear distinction between risk and danger. Second, and—perhaps most importantly—they know that there are ways to approach an otherwise dangerous task in such a way that the risk is reduced to an acceptable level.
Why do entrepreneurs and ice climbers repeatedly prompt questions of flirting with death and disaster? My best guess is that a lack of familiarity prevents nonpractitioners from seeing what lies behind the surface: the serious and conscientious preparation that such people bring to their respective activities. To illustrate this, let me tell you a bit about ice climbing.
Essential Requirements
Anyone who has ever walked on a frozen lake, gone ice skating or tried curling knows that ice is slippery and that it takes practice to move with any kind of confidence. Now imagine that the ice sheet is vertical rather than horizontal. This should give you some sense of the challenge of ice-climbing. But then remember there are four things that the prepared ice-climber brings to the base of any climb: training, tools, fitness, and partner(s)
The need for training is pretty obvious. One has to know what one is doing. Just as you have to learn the rules of the road in order to drive on the freeway, the ice climber has to be educated about technique, the appropriate use of tools and procedures, reading the ice, and the evaluation of objective hazards.
Tools have improved significantly over the past decades. Strapped to one’s feet, in a manner not unlike roller-skates (but much more secure) are crampons. These have one or more long, sharp, surrogate toes that you can kick into the ice, thereby giving purchase to your feet. In each hand one has a short, curved, ice axe that is designed to enable one to smoothly drive the pick into the frozen water, thereby giving you something to hold onto. In the event that someone above knocks off some ice, one wears a helmet to protect the head. For protection in the event of a fall, one has a rope firmly tied to a harness around the waist. While ascending, the climber regularly sets a hollow titanium screw into the ice. This forms part of a system of running anchors.
The Element of Trust
This last point relates to the fact that the whole exercise is based on trust; trust in our training, our assessment of the situation, our tools, fitness, and—especially—our partner. You wouldn’t consent to being driven on the freeway by someone you didn’t trust, or who was impaired in one way or another. Nor would any reasonable person put their life in the hands of such a person in the mountains. Your partner is someone you trust with your life. Perhaps because of that, a partner is also the kind of person who makes the experience doubly enjoyable, being shared.
The lessons for business are simple: the four considerations employed by the ice climber are exactly the same as those used by the serial entrepreneur or the effective business person. Of course it could be argued that the rich scope of business constitutes a much more amorphous challenge than a frozen waterfall. But that makes it all the more rash to proceed without carefully considering the following:
Training: What, in fact are the skills that would best equip me to engage this problem? Are they evident in my team? If so, how do I hone them? If not, how do I bring them onboard?
Tools: What tools are relevant to the problem? What are the potentially useful processes, technologies or other instruments that might give me purchase and protection throughout the exercise?
Fitness: How does one prepare? How rusty are my skills? What would constitute a warm-up exercise, or a “preliminary heat” that would let me find out if I were ready for the game?
Partners: No matter how good you and your team are, in most significant cases you will need partners. Do you have the right ones? My approach in this is simple: Get the best. If you can’t, you might want to question the wisdom of proceeding. After all, if they aren’t working for you, they may be working for someone on the other side of the table.
Risk is not only not to be avoided, it is to be embraced—for survival.
Topics: Job Motivation Tips | No Comments »
Great Giveaways That Won’t Break the Bank
By Administrator | October 3, 2010
Businesses need to advertise and promotional giveaways are a great way to do this. There are several items you can use for promotional purposes that won’t cost a fortune and will keep your business in people’s minds.
People love to get free things- whether it is a shirt, a coffee mug, or even an ink pen. Pens are a great giveaway item that can be customized for a fairly cheap price. You can get them done for less in bulk and place them throughout your business for customers to take home. Many women will put them in their purses and will be reminded of your services every time they use them.
Coffee mugs are another inexpensive giveaway item. You can have custom coffee mugs made in a variety of shapes and colors; you can also have your business logo printed on them. People will remember you when they have their morning coffee. People who don’t drink coffee will find other uses for them such as a planter for a starter plant or as a pen and pencil holder.
Another great item to giveaway is a shirt. Custom T-shirts are rather affordable when bought in bulk. Typically, the larger quantity you order, the better deal you will get. Shirts are a great way to promote events if you are planning one or to just get your name out there.
No matter what you choose to give away, be sure you aren’t overdoing it. There is no sense in taking on too much debt.
Topics: Business | No Comments »
The Bank Job Movie – Download Full Movie Titles
By Administrator | September 27, 2010
If you are considering going online to download The Bank Job movie, starring Jason Statham, there are a few things you should think about. The following is 5 Tips to making sure you get the right service.
First tip-Pick a site that is a one time charge. There are sites that charge you to download per movie, and there are sites that allow for unlimited access. The unlimited access offers you the best bang for the buck.
Second tip-Check for compatibility. You don’t want to sign up for a site that you find out will not support your file type. There are sights out there that will support ipod, zune, and psp.
Third tip-Clarity. Make sure the site you choose to download full movie titles has the kind of quality you would expect from a DVD. There are sites that offer copies, and some are very grainy.
Fourth tip-Selection. Pick a site that has and keeps adding more and lots of titles. At last count, you should be able to find a site that offers over 80 million files.
Fifth tip-Look for extras. In addition to just movies, you should look for a site that will offer music, games, and video that are all supported on the same membership.
Bonus tip-Lastly before you download The Bank Job, make sure you pick a site that has copyright issues handled. With digital rights management compliance, don’t make the mistake of using sites that offer cracked or free files. You can get unlimited downloads, but you should pay for the service, whether a one time fee, or recurring.
Topics: Arts And Entertainment | No Comments »
To Get That Job or Promotion You Must Know Your Qualifications and Be Able To Present Them Clearly
By Administrator | September 15, 2010
The famous salesman and sales trainer Zig Ziglar used to point out to rookies that “It is not what you have got; it is what you use that makes a difference.”
To achieve steps throughout your career – your first job, a promotion, a job or a career change – you must sell the primary product – YOU.
Just as a successful sales person must know their product, you must know your qualifications and be able to communicate them clearly to employers in a resume, in a cover letter, and in interviews.
To help ensure wise job and career choice, you need to clarify what values and work preferences are important to you.
Thoroughly inventory your qualifications, including your training, education skills, and work experiences. It is vital that you identify your intrinsic values and work preferences.
Your personal career inventory will be an important source of information when you develop your resumes, cover letters, job applications, and more.
Employers may want your inventory information when considering you for a job. Included in your personal inventory are basic personal data and information are – education and professional training , work experience skills and accomplishments as well as well as people that you can utilize as references.
The first step in compiling your personal career inventory is documenting your education and training. This information includes specific dates, places, career relevant courses and activities, skills and accomplishments. In addition you will also need to document your memberships and achievements in personal and other organizations related to job and career targets. This information will help you identify or confirm an appropriate career choice, develop resumes and cover letters and prepare for job interviews.
It is as if you need to put yourself under a microscope to look at every detail properly. Ask people who know you well to help you document your accomplishments.
You should consider scholarships, honors as well as awards that you have received. Don’t forget his competitions that you have participated in describing accomplishments try to be as specific as possible. For example list – Won first place in school writing competition or voted President of the senior class.
When identifying the skills and accomplishments you achieved throughout your education, training and organizational activities, consider two kinds of skills that employers are seeking: job specific skills and job transferable competencies.
Job specific skills are the technical abilities that relate specifically to a particular job. For example in accounting, preparing a balance sheet by using accounting software customized for a client job specific skill. Front end alignment on a vehicle is a job specific skill for an auto mechanic. Operating a CAT scan machine or other medical diagnostic equipment are other job specific skills.
On the other hand transferable competencies are abilities that can be applied to more than one work environment. For example, both accountants and auto mechanics are required to have such transferable as reading, writing doing mathematics and general computer proficiency skills. Other transferable competencies include working well with others, organizing work and materials, solving problems, making decisions and managing resources.
Remember to achieve steps throughout your career you must sell yourself.
You must know your qualifications and be able to communicate them clearly to employers in a resume, in a cover letter, and in interviews.
This is essential!
Topics: Business | No Comments »
Writing Down the PLAN
By Administrator | September 10, 2010
Business plan – write it down!
As much as you would want to do away with formalities and organization, a business plan is still best to follow. Basically, a business plan puts a “face” on your project and it makes everything official. As such, this will compel you to actually work and work at the things that will make your success chances bigger. These things include choosing the right product, knowing the people you’d want to work with, as well as studying the market conditions.
A business plan will help you detect both problems and opportunities in your market, lay down your goals and objectives, and create your financial framework. For example, you’d need to know how much to spend for manufacturing that’s good for a month or two. You’d also need to know where to get resources and materials as well as plan out your target sales for a given period. All this things shall guide you to learn how much working capital you’d need not only to put up your business but as well as to maintain it for the next five years or so.
Topics: Job Motivation Tips | No Comments »
Passed Over For A Promotion?
By Administrator | September 2, 2010
Being passed over for a promotion can certainly leave you wondering what to do next and where your place in the company really is.
If you’ve been passed over for a promotion, you have several options available to you. Before you do anything rash – like quitting your job or starting to look for a new job – you need to get the facts.
Before doing anything you might quickly regret, take some time to see how things work out and try to find out why you weren’t chosen for the position.
Is there a particular skill or experience that the successful candidate has that you don’t have?
Is there a legitimate reason that you weren’t promoted this specific time?
Have you been passed over for promotion more than once which might lead you to believe that the writing is on the wall in terms of your long term ability to progress with this particular company?
I certainly wouldn’t act before seeing how things play out but I’d certainly try to get as much information as possible regarding why I wasn’t chosen for the job.
Depending on the answers you get as to why you weren’t promoted and depending on whether or not you’ve been passed over for promotion before, the answers to these questions might very well determine what you do next.
Based on what you find out, you can plan your next course of action and you can decide whether or not this includes looking for a new job elsewhere.
Topics: Business | No Comments »
McDonalds Jobs – Why Haven’t You Looked Into One?
By Administrator | August 21, 2010
Really, why not? Is it because you don’t want a job with benefits? Is it because you would rather pay for your own uniforms? Maybe you prefer to have a job where you may get laid off at any minute. It could be that you are one of those folks that don’t want to get promoted. Perhaps you would rather have a job that doesn’t offer superior training.
McDonald’s jobs offer you great benefits, free uniforms, food discounts, solid steady employment, promotion opportunities and training that is second to none. A job at McDonalds can be just that… a job.
It can also be a career that leads to a nice long term experience that pays a solid wage and takes care of your future with good benefits as well as a nice retirement program. A job at McDonalds is a career move for many people and has turned thousands of lives around with the opportunities that are available.
The manager at the local McDonalds here started 9 years ago working as crew member preparing food. After working there for a while he realized that a job at McDonalds could be a real opportunity and asked about advancement. In that he was a hard working guy, had some intelligence and initiative, he was sent to Hamburger University and received some spectacular training.
Now his job at McDonalds is a career and he makes over 50,000 annually with great benefits and a bonus program to boot!
So if you are one to scoff at one of those mundane McDonalds jobs you may want to reconsider and see if it is a good fit for you.
Topics: Business | No Comments »
How to Conduct A Job Interview – 5 Helpful Tips
By Administrator | August 17, 2010
A job interview, this is where you find out everything you what to know from a potential employee before you hire them. When it comes to interviewing a person for a position, there are 5 steps you can use to guide you in the conducting of the interview.
Step #1: Before the Interview
Before you even see the person you’re going to interview you need to set yourself up for the encounter. You will need to choose a setting that is quite and away from distractions, usually an office or meeting room. You will also need to prepare a list of questions that will help you evaluate the interviewee later on.
Step #2: Yes and No is the not the way to Go
Asking yes/no questions isn’t going to get much done for you. You need to ask open ended questions that require the interviewee to answer with a little bit more detail. These questions make the interviewee tell you what you need to know.
Step #3: Ask the Right Questions
By knowing what kind of person you are looking for, you will be able to ask better questions to determine if that person is right for the job. This helps tremendously in creating questions that the interviewee is forced to answer and helps you decide if they are right for the job.
Step #4: Explaining the Position
A potential employee might not know what the job asks for, so by explaining the position you are able to clear up any doubts they may have before they ask you, which also helps in shortening the interview time in case you have a list of interview appointments to do. When explaining the position, talk about the job duties and tell them what you expect out of your workers and goals for the position.
Step#5: Test Them
If you have an activity or test that you can get the potential employee to do, this will help you a great deal in your decision making. For example, if the position asks for you to type, have them type a short article from the newspaper and time them for a minute. This helps in knowing how many words per minute they can type. Nothing to big though, you don’t want to scare the person away.
In Summary
Well, there you have it. These are 5 tips you can use when you have to conduct an interview. For more information about setting up interviews go HERE [http://www.shibaresumes.com] and click on the interview link.
Best of Luck.
Topics: Business | No Comments »
8 Job-Winning Interview Tips
By Administrator | August 11, 2010
You have built that professional free online resume, a polished cover letter, and that stylish suit for your job interview. Now wait, interview? You’re not prepared, are you? You don’t really want to ruin that opportunity with a nervous state of mind. No need to worry, we’ll help you prepare for that much awaited discussion with your future employer.
When you have mastered the skills to make a resume, you should now learn the 8 job-winning interview tips that you should know by now:
Research About the Company – Don’t go into the war without ammunition. Do your homework and research about the company especially if it’s for an international job opportunity, their profile, products/services, history, etc. Having familiarized the company profile gives you an idea what exactly they are looking for in a candidate. Besides, doing your research will give you that jump-start point in the interview. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Business | No Comments »
Why be good, when you can be GREAT?
By Administrator | August 10, 2010
We have to admit it – sometimes our goals are just a little above mediocre. All we want is to finish, to meet the deadline and to move to the next. As a result, we perform our work technically, mechanically – just precisely how it should be done without any extra effort. While it is not bad that we do this because of our desire to move forward, we tend to compromise the quality of our work. We get contented with the remark “Good!” when we can actually receive the remark “Great!”
It’s not really so much of getting the remark “Great!” but it’s more of maximizing your potentials and of bringing quality performance to your job. It is best if you do well not because of the commendation you’ll get but because you aim to be a better person in your job. With such an attitude, you might as well infect your co-workers to be the same. Set aside competition, or preferably, stick to a friendly one. Encourage your co-workers that if each one performs his best, the end result will be so much better.
Settling for GOOD results is not so good anymore especially when you can be GREAT.
Topics: Job Motivation Tips | No Comments »