Recent articles related to

Entrepreneurship

Recent articles related to

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

“Planting Seeds” in Someone’s Mind Pays Off — Sometimes Big Time

By Mark Morgan Ford | 12/8/2009

Want to get someone to do something he doesn’t want to do? It’s amazingly easy. All you have to do is plant a seed and wait for it to sprout. This is a phenomenally powerful business secret I learned from JSN when I worked with him many years ago. He…

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A Guaranteed Way to Capture the Attention of Prospects

By Perry Marshall | 12/4/2009

One of the greatest mistakes companies make is developing products based on a “great idea.” My friend and fellow consultant Rob Olic used to be Marketing Director for Small Business Development at the Wharton School. Every week, entrepreneurs would tell him, “Man, my company developed this exciting new product that’s…

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How to Find a Guru

By Paul Lawrence | 12/3/2009

My heart pounded. A great opportunity was staring me in the face. I’d been introduced to a publisher who had made big money by marketing information products. At least, it was big money to me. I can’t tell you the precise amount, because I was sworn to secrecy. But I…

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Three Sentences That Saved Our Business

By Julie Broad | 12/2/2009

Have you ever been writing an e-mail or a report — pouring your heart and soul into each and every word — when, POOF, it vanishes? Maybe it was a computer glitch or a wrong keystroke. Either way, your work is gone. And you can’t retrieve it. Well, imagine if…

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Understanding the “Optimal Selling Strategy” of Your Business

By Mark Morgan Ford | 11/30/2009

Norm Brodsky wrote something in Inc. magazine several years ago that has stuck with me. It echoes a belief I share with him about the fundamental nature of business: “If you don’t really know what’s driving your success, you have to be careful about the strategy you adopt. There’s a…

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Cutting to Standard Sizes

By David Cross | 11/27/2009

My friend RP, a licensed building contractor, helped me build some shelves in my garage. Had I done it myself, I’d have fitted the shelves to the exact space of 16 feet, 9 inches. But RP said wood comes in 8-foot lengths. And by making the shelves 16 feet long,…

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Seduction Marketing

By Roy Furr | 11/25/2009

Picture this… You’re out with friends. Single and looking, you lock eyes with a woman whose glance stops your breath. Excited, you take a second look. Your face flushes and your knees wobble. You feel 16 again. Yet you’re smart enough to know one thing. If the first words out…

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The “Is It?” Closing Technique

By Mark Morgan Ford | 11/20/2009

You are trying to persuade someone to do something. He is resistant. You suspect it is because he has misgivings he prefers not to talk about. You don’t want to upset or offend him, but you do want to get his okay. What do you do? According to LL, a…

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Use a Swipe File to Write Promotions Better and Faster

By Bob Bly | 11/20/2009

A “swipe” file is a collection of promotions — mailed by successful marketers — that you have saved. “A good swipe file is better than a college education,” says my old direct-marketing “professor,” master copywriter Milt Pierce. The swipe file provides inspiration and ideas that you may be able to…

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A Good Place to Find Partners

By Paul Lawrence | 11/19/2009

A few months ago, I thought I’d found a great new partner to promote one of my sideline businesses: The International Sketch Comedy Championships. Through a friend, I was introduced to a former “A list” actor. He’d had starring roles in some big hits 20 years ago. And I was…

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How My Biggest Client Built His Empire Without Managing Anyone

By Mark Morgan Ford | 11/16/2009

“We don’t talk much about office morale,” my main client said in a memo to his top execs recently. “Why not? Partly because we don’t know much about these things. Another is that we don’t think about it.” (Note: When he says “we,” he means “I.”) As far as I…

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Two Simple Speechmaking Techniques

By Mark Morgan Ford | 11/13/2009

I used to be a terrible speech giver. I hemmed. I hawed. I spoke too slowly. I rushed too fast. I mumbled. I shouted. I was terrible. But the worst thing I did was wander off topic and get lost in my thoughts. “Where was I?” I used to ask…

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