Make Good News After the Bad News Comes – Leadership Speaking Skills

Can you write a list of the top ten ways to make good news after you’ve been hit with bad news? How about 7 ways, or even just 3? As a leader and business speaker it is up to you to make good news and communicate it with your audiences.  

Making good news is not just a trite expression along the lines of as “when life sends you lemons, make lemonade.” Serious people will dismiss that message as so much pablum.  

Making good news means:  

  1. Take a longer view
  2. Analyze your weaknesses and find your strengths
  3. Seek help or support from places you don’t typically look
  4. Speak about the bad news and the good news in real, human language, not in business speak/jargon
  5. Create new and fresh approaches; don’t rely on “the way we always do things”

Take a longer view: bad news feels very powerful because it is immediate and present. First acknowledge this. Then tell a true story about a similar time in the past when bad news was huge, yet after weeks, months or even years, you and the company made good news. The story will be more compelling than any data, logical arguments or planning.  

Analyze your weaknesses and find your strengths: You cannot fix things that you don’t fully understand and recognize, so an inventory of your weaknesses is the starting point. Then look for your strengths–either as the opposite of your weaknesses or as an antidote to them.

Seek help or support from places you don’t typically look: When you’re weighed down by bad news it is especially hard to go looking for help. You want to hunker down and regroup, yet most of the time it is fresh thinking from an outsider that will most quickly and powerfully lead to making good news.  

Speak about the bad news and the good news in real, human language, not in business speak/jargon: I hate the phrase “re-engineering” and I know for a fact that everyone who has ever been on the receiving end of that activity hates it too. It is a word or concept that makes the perpetrators feel better– impersonal, so no real people are affected. People can handle the truth when it is plainly and clearly spoken.  

When you do make good news, talk about it in real language too. Business-speak and jargon do not impress anyone. Prose that draws vivid pictures that people can imagine, and elicits emotion that people can feel will contribute immensely to the value of your speech to a business audience.  

Create new and fresh approaches; don’t rely on “the way we always do things”: bad news is the best time to get out of your ruts and old habits. If you have a strongly hierarchical organization, shake it up. If you always use limited colors and corporate slide templates, get rid of them and speak from notes. If you limit your content to data, logic and strictly business examples, broaden your content to include human interest stories from the broad spectrum of people’s lives.     

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Getting Started With Digital Photography From the Basics

The Rule of ThirdsHave you ever heard of the rule of thirds? The rule of thirds is a way of looking at a photo. If any of you have any experience in Art you may be familiar with something similar. Imagine that from top to bottom and left to right of your view finder or display there is three equal lines horizontally and three equal lines vertically splitting your view into sectors like a map or a simple jigsaw puzzle. Some modern digital cameras may have a function build to view this but it is best to get to grips with it and not relying on the camera to do it for you. The purpose of this rule is to help you stop and think more about what you are going to take, as well as helping with composing the result you want.Points of FocusThink about in which section you want your main point of focus to be. Generally pick out a point where a horizontal and vertical line would intersect these are strong places for your eyes to catch, since our eyes do not stay focused in the centre of where we look they dart around and these points are good for catching attention because of this. Work from your chosen point positioning the camera and objects within each section. Try to fit something new in each section of the photo this doesn’t have to be a full object could be a tiny change of colour.Stop!That’s right stop! Once you are confident that you have the photo that you want stop, Take a moment to look over what is in your photo before you take it. Go through each section and make sure there is nothing to spoil the setting you have created. If you are taking a landscape photo double check for bits of litter or small spoilers and half cut objects, if these are unwanted. If you are taking a portrait photo then double check for no flying bits of hair or unwanted body crops.Taking the photoNow that you are definitely ready to take the photo you want take more than 1 shot without changing the position. Take more than one? Yes take more than one of the same subject, in the same position but a little differently. take a few shots with different camera settings. Some darker and some lighter than the original photo this gives you a wide selection to pick from later if your not pleased with the lighting of the first. In a future article I will talk about different techniques and software to improve creativity by using more then 1 photo with different light exposures so it will be useful to start getting into the habit of doing so.Are you serious?!Yes I am serious now that you have learnt a little about the Rule of Thirds I want you to start breaking this rule ignore the lines, pretend they do not exist. As photographers we should not be condemned to follow rules. Think of it more as a guide line than a rule it is useful for thinking about a photo and composing but never be stuck inside those lines feel free to use your imagination.And Remember “You don’t take a photo, You make a photo!”Ask Yourself – Are You a Stand Up Clicker?If you are the kind of person who stands up straight with their cameras out at arms length looking at an LCD screen clicking away photos of everything you see, ask yourself, are you serious about developing your skills as a photographer? If you are serious about wanting to develop your skills and passion for photography you need to get out of this habit right away. Understand that developing yourself as a photographer takes work and a lot of self learning. Keeping your camera at the average eye level of a human brings nothing new to your perception. Try to take different shots of the same subjects but from different areas and compare the out come. Get used to the idea of being down on a knee or lying on the ground or even just getting up a bit higher over a subject rather then straight on you’ll be amazed how the world changes perspective at a slight repositioning, think about the term “one has to suffer for their art”. Just remember to try different things in photography and have fun, try abnormal positions like take a photo up the end of a building looking at the sky rather than straight into the front of it. Stand on a chair over a portrait subject or lie down beside them, don’t make your model do all the work show you are willing to work with them. If you have to get real muddy and wet to get that great photo you want do it! You will feel much better about yourself and your photography knowing how much effort you put into to taking something special. Almost always your photos will reflect how much hard you have put into them.Remember, RememberRemember nobody can tell you what is the right and wrong way to do in photography as everybody percepts the world in a different manner. you wont go to jail for holding your camera diagonally or in any other position, other photographers and friends may critic and dislike what you take but in the end photography is about what you are proud of not anyone else so don’t let others discourage you, unless of course you are being paid to take a photo a certain way for someone. Photography is a infinite learning experience even those with years behind them and a masters degree learn new things about photography as time goes by so don’t be discouraged if you keep finding out new things. Read all that you can and all that you want about photography tips and techniques are good to use and learn but try to develop your own style of taking photos.Opportunity, Opportunity, OpportunityStart to think like an opportunist, try to see objects and places of interest as subjects of learning. Everything you see before you is a photographic learning experience that “boring looking chair” or that “old wooden door” all have something to learn from taking photos of these and other objects or scenes you find useless or not of interest bring more knowledge of how shadows will fall or how certain shapes will come out in your photos. Don’t think of photos as just “something nice to look at” we all have those terribly bad photos but you learn from these, In fact, try going out your way to take bad photos just for the learning experience and to get then out your way of creative flow, It is better to take a bad photo than not one at all, what do you have to learn then?Visit my website for more information on Wedding Photography, or visit my BLOG to catch the latest tips and special offers.

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Digital Signage Advice – Content May Be King, But Who’s Doing the Coronation? – Part III

Content is king, so the saying goes. And while “it’s good to be the king,” as funnyman Mel Brooks famously observed in “History of the World Part I,” achieving that status can be complicated and treacherous.In the kingdom of digital signage, things aren’t much different. Creating fresh, compelling content worthy of regal status, is no simple task. Large businesses often turn to outside creative agencies or full-time in-house creative resources to build the graphics, text, video and effects that capture viewer interest and hold attention.Small businesses, too, recognize the benefits of digital signage but often lack the time, money and personnel to create fresh content on an ongoing basis. Fortunately, with a little planning and creativity, it’s possible to sidestep these impediments and create a fresh stream of digital signage content on an ongoing basis.In my preceding column on this topic, I laid out in detail five tactics businesses can employ to reduce the expense of content creation, including: the use of templates; relying on digital signage software with automatic data import capability; leveraging existing creative resources; integrating RSS feeds into digital signs; and taking advantage of cable or off-air TV reception. Here, I explain five more powerful tactics that can be of help in reducing the strain of creating fresh content.Tactic 1: Consider offering internships to graphics arts students from local community colleges and universities. Both paid and non-paid internships are a staple of the college experience, and local colleges and universities offering graphics arts programs are filled with students looking for a chance to let their talent shine. Often, institutions will have requirements for companies offering internships to ensure their students are properly supervised and receive a quality experience. But for a small business with a marketing manager who’s able to invest the time to direct a student, offering an internship to a graphics arts student to create fresh content can be a winner.  Tactic 2: Select digital signage software carefully. How difficult is it to use? Does the software use a timeline or Web browser-type interface? Companies with limited time to devote to digital content creation should carefully evaluate how easy content creation software is to use. Additionally, remember digital sign software tasks often fall into a handful of major categories, including: content creation, scheduling and management. Sometimes there’s an overlap among these categories. Be sure to consider the learning curve and ease of use for each.Tactic 3: Leverage existing maps, architectural drawings and other non-promotional information. The good news for small and large businesses alike is they’re probably sitting on a mountain of existing material that can be repurposed for use as digital signage content. Often these resources will need to be reworked to fulfill a specific requirement for digital signage use -something most business people don’t have the time or talent to do. However, a graphics arts intern should be able to make quick work of repurposing these sorts of resources as digital sign content.Tactic 4: Subscribe to a data services for news tickers, sports scores, weather conditions, stock data and more. Cable news channels aren’t the only media entities that can crawl text across their screens. Businesses employing digital signage also have access to these resources. Best of all, unlike cable news channels that seek to offer a broad range of news headlines, businesses can subscribe to feeds that more narrowly match their areas of endeavor. Doing so will make the digital signage content relevant and elevate the stature of the business in the minds of those viewing the signs.Tactic 5: Add video from a Webcam or weather camera. Many digital sign controllers make it easy to integrate video from a live video camera. Imagine the possibility of a retailer at a ski resort using this capability on its digital sign to show the length of lift lines or views from a mountaintop lodge. Or, those responsible for signage at an airport might wish to integrate video from a camera mounted atop the control tower to display takeoffs and landings. Like integrating off-air or cable TV, Webcams and weather cameras offer a regular source of fresh content without having to devote personnel to the task -aside from setting up the camera in the first place.Using some or all of these tactics can reduce the burden creating fresh digital signage content places on a business. After all, businesses deciding to add digital signage are doing so to advance their success, not to create a distraction that can become an impediment to success. Any approach that can keep content fresh without taxing limited personnel and financial resources will prove in the long run to be an important element of succeeding with digital signage.

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Turning Sales Techniques Into Sales Success!

The goal of all sales training is not just to teach solid selling principles and techniques, but to actually help participants increase the number of new accounts (products and/or services) they sell and improve their multiple sales ratios. Unfortunately, many sales and service industry professionals gain an intellectual awareness of the methods of selling from the sales training they receive, yet fail to improve their bottom line sales results by systematically using the concepts in their daily transactions. See my article, The Processionary Caterpillar Syndrome Costs You Sales?There are a number of methods you can use to move beyond an intellectual awareness of sound sales techniques. By applying some of these ideas, you can begin to see a steady improvement in the number and scope of your sales transactions. These concepts can help any sales professional drill-for-skill the vital selling principles needed to become a sales leader. Really all it takes to be successful in sales is just a little practice and perseverance.Give Yourself Permission To SucceedTo become a sales leader in any kind of business only requires that you give yourself permission to succeed. In sales, as in every endeavor in life, it is your attitude not your attributes that count. There is no reason you can not be extremely successful at selling your company’s products and services, if you make up your mind to do the job.William James, a Harvard Professor and the man many view as the father of American Psychology, wrote in 1895:”The greatest discovery of my generation is, that a human being can alter his circumstances in life by altering his attitude of mind.”James also gave people a formula for achieving an altered attitude of mind. He simply told them to “act as if” they were already successful and this act alone could make them successful. If you act as if you have changed or act like a different person, according to James, you must change or become a different person. If a sales professional acts as if she can sell, her sales ratios and product account closings can do nothing but improve.By releasing your “inner brakes” and seeing yourself using the sales and customer service techniques you have learned, you can become extremely successful in your efforts to sell your company’s products and services. If you want to consistently produce multiple sales transactions, just let yourself go and you will start to see the success you are seeking. You have the right to be successful. The only thing that can stop your improvement and ultimate success is yourself. Tell yourself that it is all right to produce outstanding sales results; and then, begin envisioning the success you expect to achieve.Use Affirmations To Produce SuccessTo help you consistently execute the sales techniques you have learned, use affirmations to change the way you think and perform. Affirmations can also help release your internal breaking system.We gravitate to our dominant thought patterns. By using affirmations (“I can,” “I am,” etc.), you can create dominant thoughts about specific sales methods that will help you to move away from your fears (the fear of failure or of looking foolish) toward successful sales transactions. Write down a series of positive affirmations about the sales process or a specific technique. Then read them over until you create the dominant thought patterns that produce success.As we teach in all of our Sales Success workshops and discuss in detail in our published training material, it is vital to your sales success that you regularly affirm your selling skills and visualize successful transactions using the techniques you have learned. To succeed you must see yourself as one of your company’s top sales producers by regularly performing mental dress rehearsals for the position.Repeat The Technique Until It Is YoursAs you are taught new sales techniques you need to practice them on the job as well as in your mind, until you can use them in each transaction without even thinking about their use. We call this level of sales proficiency “unconscious competence.”Many sales professionals, try a new sales approach only once or twice before rejecting it out of hand or deciding that it will not work for them. True professionals; however, diligently practice a new sales concept until they can execute it without even thinking about it. This approach (going beyond an intellectual knowledge of a sales method) sets top producers apart and can be seen in their extraordinary closing and multiple sales success. It is also quite noticeable in their pay checks as well!Role-playing at each new sales technique with a co-worker is a powerful way to gain the ability to consistently use these concepts on the job. Remember; however, that practice does not make perfect. Only “perfect practice” makes perfect. So as you practice with other employees, try to be as accurate as you can in the execution of a given sales concept.Set aside some time each working day to drill in the sales concepts you have been taught. Take them one at a time and master each one. It might surprise you how much more you will enjoy coming to work when you become truly proficient in building sales and long term customer relationships for your company.Saturate Your MindSaturate your mind with sales and motivational materials. As you do this, you will move from an intellectual understanding of the sales techniques to a daily working knowledge of the methods you need to succeed, and you will have more than just an occasional thought about what you are trying to accomplish. What is needed to help you change your behavior is a constant positive saturation of your mind by reading over the materials you have been given or the notes you have taken on the subject.In his tapes, The Psychology of Selling, Brian Tracy tells his listeners that one of the best methods to increase sales success is to read then reread one of the best books on sales for 30 minutes each day. He feels this type of saturation will have a tremendous impact on the sales activity of an individual. Research from Stanford University indicates that you can learn more from reading the same book six times than you can from reading 40 books on the same subject.Work Smarter Not HarderOutstanding sales results come to those sales professionals who correctly follow and apply sound sales principles. They won’t do the work for you but they will lighten your load and give you an edge. All it takes to be successful at selling your company’s products is to want to improve the way you perform, see yourself using new selling techniques, give yourself permission to use the concepts and regularly practice them until they become second nature.

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How to Use Entertainment at Events to Increase Employee Morale and Productivity

Corporations are often faced with a bout of low employee morale which can often translate into lowered productivity in the company. There are a number of ways to battle this problem including holding events using live entertainment that gets all the employees together in a fun and energetic atmosphere where they can forget about business for a bit and deepen their relationships within the company.Most corporations hold a couple of events a year, however these are too often the standard holiday party or annual board meeting which can be tedious and because they become routine, employees do not anticipate the event like they should. Corporations should not look at events as an expense but rather as an investment in their employee’s future growth and dedication to the company.When holding an event, live entertainment is a wonderful and creative way to visibly boost employee morale and productivity. For example, let’s say that the company is gearing up for a standard board meeting, and the agenda calls for a nice dinner and then the meeting to take place. If you were to inject a strategic entertainment performance such as a comedian or interactive magician into the board meeting, you would break the employee’s sense of monotony, and also allow them to experience a fun environment so that in the future they would actually look forward to board meetings and the unexpected surprises that come with them. You also clearly demonstrate to the employees that you care about their feelings toward the company and this helps them to feel appreciated. You should ask yourself, what are happy, productive, and enthusiastic employees worth to the company?There are many types of entertainment available for corporate events. Choosing the right entertainment really depends on the overall goal of the event, the theme, and of course the budget. If you want to combat bad news in a company or the economy, then booking a comedian or impressionist makes sense, however perhaps you are looking to convey a more serious message, then you could look at a hypnotist who can incorporate the company message into their performance. Some corporations really looking to impress their employees will choose to go with a celebrity performance. These are among the higher priced acts available to the corporate market, with prices ranging from $50,000 to over $1 million. The price really depends on how popular the celebrity is. An act such as rock duo Hall and Oates will run about $150,000, because although they are an older act, the name is instantly recognizable and they have many hit songs.Corporations will book celebrity entertainment for their annual holiday parties as a surprise to their employees. While the price may seem steep, the buzz going around the office will be flowing for months after the performance. This kind of buzz visibly translates into happier employees and higher productivity, which is what every company strives for. Live entertainment is simply a creative tool for allowing employees to feel their best and reach their full potential.

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Dealing With Senior Health Care

Dealing with senior health care of an elderly family member, spouse, partner or friend can be a trying experience. You may have your grandparent to look after or perhaps it is your mother or father who has fallen ill, no matter who the person is, the fact is that you are the one responsible for looking out for their best interests. You are the advocate for your loved one and you need to be sure that all of their medical needs as well as personal needs are met. It is important to learn about the resources that you have available to you right in your community. You do not have to do all of this alone as there are resources and support groups to help you when it comes to elder care.There can be many reasons that your loved one is in need of senior health care such as: they suffered a broken hip where rehabilitation is a necessity, they are suffering with dementia or Alzheimer’s and are in need of constant care or maybe the effects of aging is limiting their ability to do things on their own. No matter what the cause is for the need of elder care, the fact is that you need to be cautious when it comes to senior health care. You really need to be aware of how they are caring for the person you are responsible for. If you put yourself in the senior’s shoes, it is easy to know what to look for. Are they feeding him or her right? Are they spending time with your loved one? Is your loved one’s needs being met?Overseeing one’s senior health care is not an easy job but with the right resources and knowledge you can make sure that your loved one is getting the best care possible. There are many things to consider when choosing a facility that will be caring for an elderly loved one. The first thing to consider is the type of care that your loved one will need. Do they need long term elder care, short term elder care or do they just need some extra help to get back on their feet after being in the hospital? Once you know the type of care they need, you can look into facilities or home health care to meet your loved one’s needs.Another thing to consider when making the choice for senior health care is what type of condition they have. In some cases the condition will pass and in other cases, it is a lifelong condition that will require frequent admissions to the hospital. This will help you in determining if you need to partner with senior health care providers that can give you the flexibility you need when it comes to your loved one. There is a great deal to remember when you are looking after an elderly loved one and you do not want to miss anything that is necessary for their well being. Most likely you are working with a limited budget so finding quality senior health care can be difficult, you have to make the most out of what you got.It often becomes necessary to lean on other resources to help you in this matter. There are plenty of free resources as well as ones that are covered on various types of medical insurance including Medicare that can help keep you focused on what needs to be done. They can walk you through what you need to do, what you will need and how to stay on top of things so that you can provide your loved one with the best possible care in a timely manner. It can be very helpful for you to make a checklist of all things that need to be managed where senior health care is concerned this way nothing will be missed.Since each care plan is based on the specific needs of the individual, you will need to have a complete copy of your loved ones medical history to include their current and past medications, test results that they have had done and their doctors information. You should also keep up to date on their financial resources and a resource list that details the patient’s personality so the potential caregivers will know what to expect from the patient. This can help to make a better bond between the patient and any caregivers that may be working with your loved one.In addition to your checklist, you should make a list of providers and various facilities in your area so you know where you can take your loved one when they need care. You should also educate yourself with their medications and possible drug interactions. Talk with the doctor to get a list of medications that the patient is on and what they used to be on. Learn about the side effects and drug interactions so you can oversee their medications and how they are being administered once they are in the facility. If your loved one is staying at home, it is very crucial to be on top of their medications so that they do not miss a dose of a crucial medication or so that they do not over medicate themselves.There is a great deal to remember when keeping up with senior health care but once you get all of the necessary information you need, have a check list of what your responsibilities are and a resource list of who you can turn to for help, you will find that everything will fall into place. You will have a better understanding of what you need to do and that will make staying on top of all of much easier. Remember that you are the advocate for your loved one and in some cases you will be the one taking care of all of their needs and all that goes with senior health care. Remember that you have a resource list in place to help you with this so you will not get overwhelmed or run down when you use the resources as needed.

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Business Commercial Loans – Help You Boost the Business Capability

Your business plan may require different budget depending upon the nature of business you are engaged with or have to foray there. But normally the major budget of the business consists of expenses on office premises or other buildings attached with business. Since, infrastructure is an integral part and your business activity start form here; you need to finish it first. You may be worried for the bigger amount required here, but it is the business commercial loans that can help you accomplish such task in very easier way and can finance any sum there.Business commercial loans can be obtained to procure or even build up any kind real estate asset required by your business. This facility is secured in nature and is secured by the new property that is financed here. You have to give a lien to lenders on the new property to assure the repayment of borrowed amount.For the amount, you do not have to bother. Here, you can avail any sum required by you. This facility has a provision to allocate the loan amount generally up to 80 to 85 percent of the appraised value of the property you placed as security here. Since, prices of real estate is more fluctuating in nature, the loan amount is kept always below the total price of the appraised value to compensate any kind of loss with lent amount. You can repay the amount here with longer repayment duration of 25 years.The loan has competitive rate of interest in the market and completely lower for the lesser risk of the lent amount. Moreover, you too can make the rate term even better that takes only a deep comparing among the available options. Since, lenders have different rate terms for the differed policy; you can scan their different loan quotes to find the best one for you. An online search can make this task much easier for you. In a very short while you can find the various options, as the lenders available online too.Business commercial loans can be a better ideal to give major boost to your business. the bigger amount and larger repayment duration help any one come over even the bigger projects of business easily. Moreover, the competitive rate term keeps the cost of the loan moderate and never increases burden on your financial condition.

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What Is Small Business Administration In A Nutshell?

Small Business Administration is an organization funded by the American government which provides loans to entrepreneurs and businessmen to set up their small businesses. In addition to that the organization also provides some grants and training for the efficient running of business. Another important feature is that they provide legal and administrative help in establishing a business to entrepreneurs who are likely to get entangled in the web of laws and taxes if they do not have proper guidance along the way.They conduct various training for different sets of audiences like entrepreneurs, women business ownership and international trade.The most used and availed service however is one of obtaining loans and grants for doing business. Apart from giving loans out themselves, Small Business Administration will also stand as surety for people and help them get loans from elsewhere. In the case of natural disasters the organization also provides members with grants so that they can ‘get going’ again and are able to face troubled times.Small Business Administration also helps businesses in contracting and it ranges from Business Development, HUB Zone and Government contracting to name a few.The organization also helps businesses to deal with Advocacy and law related matters.How do I get in touch with the Small Business Administration?You can get in touch with them by visiting their website and calling up their number and speaking with an associate their. Apart from this the site has also got a local office locater which you can use to track down the office that is closest to you and then call them up, make an appointment and meet them in person.I need helping in understanding business better?While Small Business Administration takes care of loans and helps out people who have been turned down at other places for money, they also deal with a whole host of educational material and training programs. These training programs are aimed at people who want to learn more about the different functions of business.What can I learn using SBA:You will find resources that will help you to learn about the basics in starting up your business, such as understanding what are the various forms of ownership, checklists, understanding how franchise works and also knowledge about product basics.Planning is an important aspect and you will be guided on things like writing a business plan, understanding what business you are in and the ways in which you are going to use this plan.Financing is probably the most important part for without it the business will not take off. You will need to know where to look for capital, how to estimate costs and understand financial statements.Small Business Administration also deals with education about marketing and the various forms of keeping your customers happy, conducting research and doing competitive analysis.Employees will make or break your company and any help on finding the right people, what to pay them and what is needed to retain them is welcome.Legal aspects like licenses and permits and business laws need the understanding of an expert and you would definitely seek some guidance in this area.Taxes like State Tax, local tax , Sales and Use tax not only form a big part of your cost structure. If not handled carefully, it could get you on the wrong side of the law as well. It is therefore imperative to seek the utmost clarity here.As is seen above when you are going to do your own business there is a host of things that you need to take care of and Small Business Administration can help you there, over and above getting the money for you to start off. What is important to keep in mind is that most entrepreneurs and business men are most of the times busy just scampering for funds that they lose track of most of the other things that happen and because of that, one thing or the other will go wrong and they will unfortunately have to repent later.If you are managing a small business chances are that it’s a one man show and apart from planning and strategizing you have to do the running around after suppliers and authorities to get the necessary approvals etc. In such cases it is best to leverage on the experience of an organization like the Small Business Administration.

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Instant Payday Loans: Pros and Cons Worth Remembering

The rise of instant payday loans as a financing option is no great surprise. The whole purpose is centered on the convenience of the Internet, with fast access, fast searching and fast approval all available. Perhaps more precise is the fact that they are designed to cater to the short-term and emergency funding needs that can be so prevalent these days.The main advantage, of course, is that funds can be accessed within hours of the application being submitted. There is no waiting around for the green light, and no fiddling over the purpose of the loan. In fact, the whole application process is streamlined, with fax less loan approvals one of the most significant speedy services.Payday loans do not have the best reputation, though only because of the terms that relate to them. High interest rates and short repayments terms are two specific characteristics, but there are also many advantages.How They WorkAs the name suggests, an instant payday loan refers to a finance package that is granted in relation to the next payday of the borrower. Basically, the loan is set to be paid on the next pay day, and usually in one sum.However, it is also a very short-term loan, with extremely high costs making them one of the most expensive loans around. Strangely this is not enough to put applicants off, and it is because of the advantages that they offer. Approval is almost guaranteed, as long as the applicant has a full-time job and a bank account.And with fax less loan approval offered, it means that many of the bureaucratic processes in loan applications are avoided. There is no need for pay stubs and receipts, just basic information, like your name, address, employer details and your bank account. And when payday loans approval is given, the funds are deposited onto the bank account of the successful applicant.Key Payday DetailsThe chief advantage of getting an instant payday loan is that they can provide access to emergency cash in a matter of hours. But there are also some negative aspects that should be known before submitting an application. One is the cost that is associated with these loans, and another is the limited funds on offer.Lenders providing these loans have set strict limits, making them idea of securing small sums capable of dealing with only small debts and expenses. The range of loan sums, for example, is anything from $100 to $1,500. Even if we are talking about getting fax less loan approval, this is still a narrow scope of loan sums.The interest rates charged on payday loans are also extremely high, with some lenders charging as much as 35% in interest. What is more, the normal repayment term is extremely short, often 14 days to 30 days, though it is also possible to negotiate longer terms, up to 90 days.Why Get a Payday Loan?That is a good question, and for many people, it is not the preferred choice of financing. The reason is the interest rates charged push the cost up too high. For example, a $1,500 instant payday loan, at 30% interest rate, needs $1,950 to clear the debt. This is often within 30 days of the loan being taken out, while leaving little time to raise the money elsewhere.Also, the fact that the loan is cleared in one payment means that very little money is left to cover the usual monthly bills and obligations. If $1,950 is taken out of a normal monthly paycheck, then how much is left to buy groceries, or pay utility bills?Getting fax less loan approval is certain convenient, but the best thing is that with an instant approval process, money from a payday loan really is accessed quickly.

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What is an Employer Brand and Why Should You Care?

There is an increasing body of evidence that makes the case for solid employer brand management. From an organization’s point of view, an employer brand encapsulates the key qualities current and prospective employees associate with you as an employer. These qualities can be economic (remuneration), functional (training and skills) or psychological (such as a sense of identity or status).As an organization, whether you’ve taken the time to define it or not, you have an employer brand. What are the benefits of building a good employer brand? Three benefits that have been identified in studies that make a case for employer brand management are enhanced attraction, increased retention and greater engagement with staff.In essence, this means attracting better quality candidates at a lower cost, more effective and proactive employees and, ultimately, increased revenues.How does one reach the heart of employer brand management? The answer to this question is that the key principles for employer brand management are much the same as for regular brand management. Whoever is tasked with developing the employer brand needs to spend quality time and effort defining the key components of the brand. This definition is characteristically encapsulated by a model that defines how you’d like the brand to be received by the target audience (which in the case of an employer brand is prospective and current employees). This model will provide the starting point for your brand strategy.There is an implicit danger in this approach however as one needs to be cognizant of the fact that just defining the vision of the brand is not the brand itself. This is merely the way you’d like people to perceive the brand. The real brand lives in people’s everyday experiences of the brand and the perceptions and associations they have in their heads about your organization.People have a tendency to become cynical of brands which promise a great deal, but under deliver. To bridge the gap between the perception of a brand and the brand reality, many top brand-led companies create two definitions of the brand: one that enshrines the brand as it is currently perceived and experienced, and the other describing how the company would like the brand to be perceived.There is a delicate balance between these two definitions. On the one hand, organizations should be striving for the latter, but change too much about the former and the brand may lose focus, change too little and the brand may lose relevance.Within the employer brand context, you need to understand the explicit needs to your employees as a point of departure. But, to ensure and effective internal brand strategy, you also need to develop an understanding of employees implicit needs as well as the broader organizational and cultural context in which it will operate.The benefits of having a strong employer brand are numerous. Enhanced attraction, increased retention and greater engagement with staff have already been mentioned. This presents a number of opportunities for human resources, as well as enhanced marketing functions. Richard Mosley goes into greater detail about this in an eArticle entitled “Employer Brand – The performance driver no business can ignore”.Richard Mosley also makes a compelling argument about why employer brand thinking is here to stay. Broadly, there are three reasons for this.First, organizations are realizing more and more that they cannot take the commitment and loyalty of their staff for granted. The old notion that if you give someone a decent job, they will gratefully do your bidding is ill-conceived and somewhat irrelevant in modern organizations. Valuable employees, just like profitable customers, are free to make their own choices and engage as they wish. The way to attract and retain skilled and able employees who perform to the best of their ability is through a coherent benefit-led approach that many companies are not accustomed to providing.Second, employer branding provides an effective bridge between HR, internal communications and marketing. Recruiting, retaining and developing the right people is becoming all the more important in business as most organizations now recognize their staff as their most important asset.Third, employer branding draws on a discipline that has proven lasting value in the marketplace. Employer branding draws on established principles of branding and brand management. This is the most effective way to sustain people’s commitment and loyalty.In today’s world, overlooking your organization’s brand strategy and how your brand is perceived by employees is short-sighted. One of the most effective ways to ensure commitment and buy-in from your employees is by building a strong employer brand with which they can identify.

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