We’re in the midst of a global recession and everywhere you look businesses are cutting back on spending. No one’s hiring and no one’s buying while the world waits to see how deep the economic crisis will go before it turns.

Sadly, some business managers have reacted by pulling the plug on the marketing budget, deciding to put any PR activity on hold for the foreseeable future. While this may appear to make financial sense now, it is in fact a self-defeating strategy. An economic downturn is exactly when companies need to be communicating clearly with their audiences, and the most viable way in which to do this is by harnessing the immense power of the media. Here’s why:

1. During shaky economic times, clients, investors, staff and the public are nervous and need reassurance. PR is the best way to convey believable messages of confidence.

2. The media is currently very receptive to positive news and any business seen by journalists to take a confident stance will likely be rewarded with good coverage.

3. PR is possibly the most cost-effective tool in the marketing mix – and the results can be staggering.

4. Messages conveyed within editorial content are more credible than advertisements. As recessions breed scepticism, credibility is key.

5. Companies are in a strong position to negotiate better rates with PR agencies – so now is a good time to be starting relationships with good agencies that can be built on in future.

6. Now, more than ever, companies need to be prepared for crises and make sure they are ready to respond.

7. By its very nature, PR is both proactive and reactive. Organisations that use PR are therefore able to communicate on different levels with their clients, through various media channels.

8. PR is interactive – it invites responses from target audiences and enables organisations to develop dialogues that help to build long-term relationships.

9. Using PR is an excellent way to demonstrate commitment to key messages, no matter what the context.

10. Now is the time to be the company that sets itself apart and is unshaken by the recession.

About TopLine Communications

TopLine Communications is a London public relations agency with international reach. The company works with clients in the education, finance and technology sectors, with the aim of creating opinion leaders. As a new agency, TopLine is able to provide companies of all sizes with a value–for-money service that generates excellent results.

By Heather Baker
Director of PR
TopLine Communications
TopLineComms.com

After attending hundreds of seminars over the past dozen or so years, I am always amazed by how many people I meet who have discovered all kinds of ways to NOT be successful. Though they say they want greater success in their lives, their choice of words is obviously keeping them from achieving any level of that desired success.

Have you ever sat next to someone at a conference that complained they didn’t have the money/time/support/love/knowledge/sleep/you-name-it to actually take action on ANYthing they were learning? And even worse… are you one of those people? It’s just you and me now, and I promise not to judge you.

Be honest — Are YOU making excuses for not having the money, freedom, business, or life that you dream of? The first step to change is self-awareness, so you’ve got to be honest with yourself.

I’m going to offer you quick and painless ways to identify the words you’re using to program yourself for failure, and teach you some tools to replace that talk with words that are guaranteed to produce a more productive outcome.

Have you ever heard yourself say something positive, then use the word “But…” to segway into a statement that negates your positive thought? We’re programmed to do it, so don’t feel too bad when it happens, but you need to be aware that you’re doing it.

 Here’s what I’d like you to do: Get yourself a 3×5 card. Don’t have one you say? Ok, a post it note, napkin, back of the Chinese menu that’s hanging on your refrigerator, any blank piece of paper. Now for the next 24 hours I’d like you to listen to your words, both internal and spoken, and every time you use the word “but” put a check mark on that paper. Keep it in your pocket with a pen (or mechanical pencil).

At the end of the day, notice how many check marks there are. This signifies how many time in just one day you negated a positive statement to yourself. “I’d love to make more money, BUT I just don’t have the time to spend on building a business.” “I’d like to lose weight, BUT diets haven’t worked for me.” Notice how the word “but” has negated the positive part of each sentence?

Now, that you’re more aware of how your words are sabotaging your success, let’s talk about how to reword things to support success. It’s going to take some practice in the beginning, but be patient with yourself and you’ll get there.

The tactic involves the use of a “problem statement.”

A problem statement begins with the words “How might I…”.

Let’s try it on the above excuse examples:

“… I just don’t have the time to spend on building a business.”

Can be reworded as a problem statement like this:

“How might I invest one hour a day towards building my business?

“… diets just haven’t worked for me.” Can be reworded:

“How might I walk 10,000 steps daily?

Got it?

Alright now let’s complete the puzzle. Next I’d like you to replace the word “but” with the word “and.” Let’s try changing the above statements using that technique:

“I’d love to make more money, and how might I invest one hour a day towards building my business?”            

“I’d like to lose weight, and how might I walk 10,000 steps daily?”

In the original excuse-based statement there is no way out.  Your brain hears it as a statement of fact, whether it’s true or not, and it freezes on the negative.

AND, when you reword an excuse statement as a problem statement it changes its nature completely, Your brain now hears a question that has the potential for a multitude of solutions on which you can take action.

Ok let’s try it.

What excuses are you making that are preventing you from moving forward in your business?

Now reword those statements using “AND” then followed by a problem statement.

Ok, now take those questions starting with “How might I…” and start brainstorming ideas to answer the questions!

My future columns will show you how to brainstorm useful ideas, how to evaluate which ideas to develop, which ones to implement first, how to determine what resources you’ll need to implement them, and how to create project plans that will virtually work themselves!

Starting an online business is an attractive proposition for those who dream of working for themselves. There are practically no start-up costs involved, and by signing up for affiliate and MLM programs you can have an online business up and running in less than a day. Sounds easy, right?
The sad fact is, online businesses fail at the same incredibly high rates as brick-and-mortar start-ups: somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 percent. That’s right: at least nine out of ten online businesses will never show a profit, and eventually fold. This often starts the intrepid entrepreneur on a vicious cycle of abandoning one affiliate or MLM program, just to wind up with a string of failures. Why? Often, it’s because they fall for one of these five common mistakes online business owners make.
Mistake #1: It’s just an online business—I don’t need a plan.
Wrong! Every business needs a plan, even if it’s “just” an affiliate or MLM program. In fact, affiliate and MLM online businesses may need plans more than other business. You will be competing with dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of other online businesses who are selling the exact same products as you.
You don’t necessarily have to come up with a 30-page business proposal outlining the steps you plan to take for the next ten years. You do, however, have to determine where you want to be in the next 12 months and figure out how you’re going to get there. It can be something as simple as “in twelve months I plan to make enough from my online business to quit my day job”—as long as you have the how to accompany the what.
Mistake #2: I get a free website with my affiliate programs, so I can skip investing in a private domain name.
This is an easy mistake to make. Why pay money for something you can get for free? The answer is: because you can’t make money without spending money. There are two very good reasons to invest the ten bucks a month it will cost you to get your own domain name for your online business. One is that it looks far more professional than a long, nonsensical affiliate URL with a string of numbers tacked on the end. People will be more likely to trust you and your products when you have your own domain name.
The other is purely from a marketing standpoint. A private domain name is easy to remember and can be printed on business cards, flyers, and other sales material—try to do that with a domain name like www.thisgreatproduct.com/yourname/426563#. Additionally, search engines tend to give more weight to private domain names, and will sometimes ignore unwieldy affiliate site URLs altogether.
Mistake #3: The more programs I participate in, the more money I’ll make.
In online business, the real money is made by cultivating the businesses you own. Slapping your name on twenty different affiliate programs will not bring you any profit. You can’t just plaster a website up and then sit back to wait for the money to roll in—contrary to what some internet marketers would have you believe. Each program needs an investment of your time to make it work. Pick a handful of programs that you believe in and will be passionate about, and focus on them.
Mistake #4: The more money I spend on advertising, the more profitable my online business will be.
This makes sense on paper. But as it applies to online business, it’s completely erroneous. Throwing money into pay-per-click programs will generate you a lot of hits on your website—but it won’t translate into sales. The real key to success in an online business is time. You must build a customer base, cultivate loyalty and word-of-mouth (or word-of-mouse, as the case may be for an online business) and concentrate your efforts on offering value and service. Buying customers is bad business sense; you want money coming in, not going out.
Mistake #5: If I e-mail, they will come.
Here the message for avoiding mistakes is simple: don’t spam. This is the fastest way to turn potential customers off. Always build your mailing list through double opt-in messages. Your online business must be as professional as possible. Spraying e-mail boxes with your marketing messages will not only generate a negative image for your business, it can also get you banned from search engines.

With so many businesses taking so many drastic cost cutting measures, it is strange to see how few of them really look deeply into the benefits of time management. Effective management of time is like effective management of any other resources – it can save your company a huge amount of money if it is properly implemented. With the huge cost of outsourcing and moving operations overseas, it seems like every measure should be taken at home to improve efficiency before such a drastic solution is proposed.
Of course, performance management is nothing new. Although the modern understanding of the benefits of time management is a little bit different than as it was originally conceived, the concept still goes back about as far as Henry Ford and the invention of the assembly line. Back then, workers were clocked to see how efficiently they were putting together cars. Various steps were taken to improve the program constantly, resulting in less work for the same product.
The benefits of time management are easy to see on an assembly line. In an office environment, however, time management benefits can be a little bit less apparent. This does not mean that they are not important! The benefits of time management will show up in the books, but it will take a while. After all, the tasks that people have are usually a little bit less concrete. Rather than manufacturing a car, you have to type up financial reports, communicate with clients, and do other similar business tasks.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of time management is on the individual performance and job satisfaction of any particular worker. Without effective time management training, increased job duties can seem overwhelming. After all, when a worker is used to getting a certain amount accomplished in a single day, adding additional tasks on is never welcome. To do that without giving them training on how to accomplish other tasks is not only unrealistic, it is also unreasonable and unfair. The benefits of time management training is that it allows you to provide a way to ease workers into taking on additional responsibilities. If you provide them with adequate training, they will be able to cope. If not, you can often lose some of your best, most seasoned employees to greener fields. No matter what employee benefits you offer, if you stress them out too much, or stretch their time too thin, they will leave for another company.

E-mail or electronic mail is by far the most commonly used and the most powerful feature of the Internet. However, its characteristics are often overlooked as people use the service for more mundane and day-to-day activities. E-mail can be used to distribute information to a large target audience as well as supporting direct person-to-person communication.
E-mail can also be used to keep in touch with one’s customers, or to inform them about special offers or new products, etc. This is further facilitated by the usage of e-mail lists, or commonly known as mailing lists. A mailing list is basically a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers are referred to as “the mailing list”.
The use of mailing lists can lower the amount of printed information one needs to dispense. The speed of delivery of email and its low cost are extremely attractive qualities in making mailing lists a huge success. There are several features of mailing lists which can be automated according to your and your customers’ convenience and it is possible for individuals to subscribe or unsubscribe themselves from any mailing list.
Generally, there are two types of mailing lists which are commonly used. In the first one, a mailing list of people is used as a recipient for newsletters, advertising or periodicals. The second type, known as a mailshot, is used when identical material is being sent out to all subscribers on a mailing list.
Mailing lists are often rented or sold. If rented the renter agrees to use the mailing list for only the agreed upon times. The mailing list owner typically enforces this by “salting” the mailing list with fake addresses and creates new salts for each time the list is rented. Unscrupulous renters may attempt to bypass salts by renting several lists and merging the lists to find the common, valid addresses. Mailing list brokers exist to help organizations rent their lists. For some organizations such as specialized niche publications or charitable groups, their client list may be one of their most valuable assets and mailing list brokers help them maximize the value of their lists.
For individuals who are in the process of creating a mailing list, some of the guidelines to keep in mind are:

• It is important to start off with a catchy title in your e-mail’s subject line that gets the reader hooked
• Add value to your newsletter by including something of interest to them. This can include product reviews, links to similar sites, how-to articles, etc. It is important to keep an unbiased view in all these fields.

Some of the essential information which need to be included in your mailing lists are:

• Your website address(es)
• The way to subscribe or unsubscribe
• Copyright information
• The e-mail address of your company contact(s)
• Personal introductory note
• Links to any products or sites mentioned
• Note telling readers to forward the letter to people they think will be interested
• Shortened privacy policy along with a link to the full one

If used properly, mailing lists can simplify your life drastically, as well increase your work efficiency. However, do keep in mind that you should not come across as a spammer. Therefore, choose carefully what you put in your mailing lists.

Getting ready to do a new product launch? As with anything, preparation is critical. And that includes involving your duplication and fulfillment partner – Speaker Fulfillment Services – in the loop early in the process.

As you plan your product launch you’ll be lining up your affiliate partners, developing your website, recording audios and/or videos, designing your product graphics and a whole lot more. Bottom line is you’ll be juggling a lot of balls and it can be easy to overlook important details if you don’t have a detailed game plan on all aspects of your launch.

Fulfillment is a critical aspect of your launch. I know first hands of two fairly recent “Million Dollar Day” product launches that were disasters on the fulfillment end (we were not involved in either launch).

What your duplication and fulfillment partner will be looking for from you regarding your product launch? Here are some of the critical things:

Make sure your CD and DVD masters are AOK. We do direct disc to disc duplication, so the old adage – ‘garbage in, garbage out’ – applies here. Make sure your product is professionally recorded. We’re still learning more about these ourselves, but there are a lot of little things that can bite you in the butt when recording audio and video.

Have all your disc masters and the artwork for all your packaging done at least 30 days prior to your product launch date. Last minute jobs raise stress levels for everyone involved, increase the risk of errors, and typically raise your costs.

Test your ordering process completely ahead of time. Make sure the mechanism to transfer order information to your fulfillment house is fully functional prior to your launch.

Have a plan in place to deal with your customers in case your product launch is more successful than you anticipated. If you ask us to produce 100 sets of a product for a launch and then you sell 300, you’ve created a problem you’ll have to deal with to keep your customers happy. Keep in mind typical minimum turnaround on a new job order is 10-12 days. So have some digital bonuses or a portion of the main product your customers can download right away to keep them as happy as possible.

Product launches can be extremely rewarding and lucrative… and frustrating. Minimize the chances of frustration by making sure your fulfillment considerations are including in your planning stages.

Bret Ridgway is co-founder of Speaker Fulfillment Services, a company specializing in duplication and fulfillment of information products for speakers, authors, and information marketers. For more information visit http://www.speakerfulfillmentservices.com/ or call 812-235-8050.

Businesses of all sizes need to ensure that accounting is paid due attention, since accounting is at the core of any business process. In recent times more and more small and medium size businesses are considering accounting outsourcing. The decision to outsource accounting and bookkeeping allows a company to concentrate in their area of specialization and not worry about the accounting aspect of the business. Outsourcing has several advantages and these include the following:

· The services of experts are available at a fraction of what would have been paid to hire them on a full-time or part-time basis.

· Outsourcing relieves the company of the tedious and yet crucial process of accounting bookkeeping.

· When a company considers outsourcing not only does it not bother with recruitment of accounting professionals but also saves on office space and related expenditures.

· An offshore accounting outsourcing service provider provides reliable and competent services that are an asset to the company and simplify its working.

Top Ten Accounting Outsourcing Tips

When outsourcing small business accounting and finance it is important to keep certain tips in mind in order to make informed decisions:

1. Be clear about what you expect of the accounting company that you are outsourcing to. It is vital that you specify the needs of the job and what you expect from the outsourcing service provider. This will ensure that both companies have a clear understanding of what is expected and what is being delivered.

2. Is the accounting outsourcing company reliable and dependable? Do not make a decision blindly, but in fact take the time and effort to check on the references provided by the outsourcing company. Accounting needs to be done by certified public accountants and in case of offshore outsourcing you need to confirm that the accountants are qualified to handle and provide accounting solutions.

3. Don’t shy away from asking the vendor about similar accounting management projects that they have worked on. You don’t want a trial and error technique used on your small business accounting. It would be a good idea to ask the accountants to provide material that indicates their skill and knowledge of accounting, auditing and bookkeeping.

4. Reviewing previous projects that the vendor has done will give you a fair idea of the level and quality of accounting that they can deliver. You could also ask the accountants as to how they would like to handle the accounting information, so that you can judge their line of thinking and working. It is also recommended that you initially start with a pilot project that will assure you of the services that you have been promised.

5. While the cost may be a guiding factor when you are selecting an accounting company, it should not be the only factor. The lowest bidder need not always be the best bet. Accounting and any deficiencies in the process can create serious legal problems for the business and you would not want to risk that. A large percentage of small and medium businesses that have turned to accounting outsourcing have done so not just because of the low costs but also due to the quality of work that they are assured.

6. It is important that you have a contract drawn up that clearly specifies what is expected of the project and how and when it will be completed. Such an understanding facilitates transparency in the dealings with the outsourcing accounting service provider.

7. Start with a small project and take it from there. To begin with provide a small amount of work and allow the outsourcing accounting company to prove its caliber.

8. Creating milestones in the project will help create a smooth flow of work to its completion. Also this ensures that both parties are clear on the deadlines and required work. Furthermore it allows the company to make payments in installments as and when the work is completed.

9. Security issues need to be discussed upfront and you need to be clear on the security measures taken by the accounting outsourcing company to protect crucial accounting data. Accounting information is crucial to the success of every business and any leak of such information can have drastic consequences. You would need to discuss how accounting, auditing and bookkeeping files will be transferred securely to the outsourcing company and also issues such as how accountants will have access to these files.

10. Communication with the accounting outsourcing firm is of utmost importance and you should be able to interact and communicate freely. Thus the service provider ought to have communication facilities that are satisfactory and should be easily contacted.

Accounting outsourcing should ideally be an asset for any small or medium business. And keeping these tips in mind can make that a reality.

Managing Offshore Outsourcing
Offshore outsourcing can not only leave the business richer by its reduced costs of business processing but also help the company expand. All this is possible simply because by business process outsourcing the company is free to concentrate.

Basic Management Guidelines for Offshore Outsourcing
The best way to manage offshore outsourcing for small businesses is to start right, by discussing exactly what you expect of the service provider, the manner in which the information will be handled, who will handle it and how. Don’t feel shy of asking for credentials and backgrounds of projects done in the past. You may even speak to some of the company’s other clients. This would be your first step in the right direction to managing offshore outsourcing solutions well.

Here are some more management ideas that would help in ensuring a successful offshore outsourcing experience:

· Eye for Detail: It is crucial to ensure that the outsourcing contract covers all the relevant details that relate to security issues, quality control, time schedule for delivery of duly completed work, etc. Check for all contingency situations that you can think of and include them in the contract. At this point you would also need to research the legal standing of such a contract in the country of the service provider.

· Effective Communication: It is important that you keep communication channels open with the outsourcing service provider at all times and take into consideration their views and proposals. You should ideally be looking for a long-term business processing outsourcing relationship and need to make the outsourcing team feel like a partner and motivate them accordingly.

· Adequate Resources: A clear view of how much work the outsourced company can handle is vital as is knowledge of the qualification of the people working on your project. For instance for accounting it is necessary to have certified public accountants work on your project and also they must understand the accounting requirements in your country and deliver accordingly.

· A Core Management Team: A small management team needs to be selected within the small business and this team will constantly evaluate the performance of the outsourced team and the quality of work. It is important that both the domestic team and the offshore outsourced team work in sync.

·Face to Face Contact with Service Provider: There are some small business owners who feel that according to the need of the project an employee of the business may be sent to offshore outsourced company to address communication issues and oversee the critical stages of the project. This they report has a dramatic impact on the performance of the outsourced team. Also it would be a good idea for business owners to meet face to face with the service providers and discuss key issues for the development of the joint venture.

· Standardized Processes: Create a process for any changes that may be made in the orders and designate a person or persons who will be in charge of this process. This would ensure clarity in any changes in order and avoid confusion.

· Costs and Expenditure: While it is important to discuss costs and ensure that transparency exists in this aspect of the business process outsourcing, you would also need to anticipate some increase in costs from unexpected factors and situations such as travel expenses and training.

Management of Resources for Successful Outsourcing Projects
Outsourcing can add value to your business process and save thousands of dollars at the same time. Small businesses need to create deadlines for the gradual completion of the project; this will help in the assessment of the service provider’s performance and also allow the outsourcing company to make any required changes in the initial stages of the project. Time management between the service provider and small business is of utmost importance so that there is little time lag in communication and response. Management of the business process outsourcing is crucial to its success and needs to be taken seriously, and by following the mentioned guidelines small businesses can benefit the most from their outsourcing projects.

As a business owner, wouldn’t it be great if you could take time off whenever you needed to? Unfortunately, most small business owners worry that the business will fall apart if they’re not there to mind the store. Too often, they simply lack the appropriate resources for their business to keep going in their absence.

“Taking time off is as important as food,” says Charles Tuttle, leader of a group of entrepreneurs in North Carolina. It takes deliberate work on your part and here are a few simple ideas to get you started.

Find a way to make work fun: If your work is stressful, build in laughter to ease the stress and tension. Take frequent breaks to stretch or breathe if you’re sitting all day. Fun makes the passing of the day more enjoyable. Try it and watch your fabulous day unfold!

Take leisure time in smaller chunks: Look at opportunities to journal, meditate or read between appointments and activities. It may seem pointless but it goes a long way in developing your time management skills while caring for your need to unplug. Tap into a little bit of spare time in your productivity process. It’s a great way to balance the scales in your favor!

Plan personal time on your calendar: Your calendar reflects your commitment to priorities or what’s important in your life. Typically, if you set aside the time on your calendar, you will observe it. Plan, then act to ensure you’re creating plenty of break time and doing something important in your life. You’ll have a greater sense of integrity and accomplishment at the same time.

Consider taking time off on a weekday: Who said you can only have fun on the weekends? Take time off in the middle of the week or even at the beginning! You’ll be surprised at how imaginative you’ll become while creating your fun time.

Identify unconventional ways to take time off: Time off may mean snuggling on the couch in your favorite bathrobe. It may also mean turning the ringer on the phone off, turning the TV and radio off or going to a park to feed the ducks. Your assignment (should you choose to accept it) is to get away from your business – whatever that means for you. Most entrepreneurs are in business because it offers freedom and flexibility so learn to capitalize on it!

Acknowledge yourself weekly for your accomplishments: What you do is hard work so pat yourself on the back for it! Select rewards that nurture and care for you like a facial, manicure, massage or other spa treatment. Treat yourself to a movie or read a good book. The more you acknowledge your progress, the more you’ll enjoy the journey!

These are a few simple ideas to help you practice taking time off from your business. Remember, whether you’re just starting, squeezing a few moments out here and there or in full throttle, taking time off is good not only for you, but also for your business.

Do you often feel that you have too much work to do and never enough time to do it all? Inability to manage time is a big problem faced by many people in the world. Ranging from school student, to college students, to busy business people, it’s the same story over and over again. Time management is a skill few people master, but it is one that most people need.

Generally experts in the field of time management believe that one of the first things people need to do to manage their time effectively is to analyze and determine how they are spending their time at present. This process is known as a time audit. By undertaking a time audit, you can change the way you are managing your time now and thus, change yourself in relation to time. That’s the key to time management!

Time cannot be managed. It’s not possible to slow down time or speed it up. You also cannot manufacture extra time, much as you would like to do that. Time management is all about managing yourself by following some basic time management values and principles.

People who effectively use these time management principles are generally the highest achievers in all walks of life. By using time management skills effectively, you can function in the best possible manner even under intense pressure.

The basic rule of time manage is to shift your focus to concentrate on the results and not on being busy. Many people often times spend their days doing a lot of activities, but rarely achieve very much because they are not concentrating on the right things.

Some simple tips to managing time are given below:

Managing time takes practice. Practice asking yourself this question throughout the day: “Is this what I want or need to be doing right now?” If yes, then keep doing it.

Find some way to realistically and practically analyze your time.

Do a “to-do” list for your day. Do it at the end of the previous day.

At the end of your day, spend five minutes cleaning up your space. Use this time, too, to organize your space, including your desktop. This gives you a fresh start for the next day.

Learn the difference between “Do I need to do this now?” and “Do I need to do this at all?”

Sort your mail into categories including “read now”, “handle now” and “read later”.

Read your mail at the same time each day.

Have a place for everything and put everything in its place.

Best suggestion for saving time – schedule 10 minutes to do nothing. That time can be used to just sit and clear your mind.

In order to manage your time successfully, having an awareness of what your goals are will assist you in prioritizing your activities.