The primary goals are:

1. To maintain business continuity in the face of a disruption or disaster.
2. To recover key business functions quickly.
3. To mitigate damages.

Many companies associate disaster recovery and business continuity only with IT and communications functions, thereby missing other critical areas that can seriously impact their business. Other common areas for strategy development and selection are employees, facilities, power, customer service, billing, and customer and public relations. All areas require a clear well-thought-out strategy, based on recovery time objectives, cost, and profitability impact.

Recovery related to employees is the most overlooked part of strategy selection. Simple steps such as contacting employees and ensuring all are accounted for at each facility are often overlooked. Communication is critical to keep employees informed and engaged. The most powerful tools for continuity and recovery are the knowledge, capabilities, and motivation of employees.

Developing strategies with implementation steps means no time is wasted in a recovery scenario. The focus is to implement the plan quickly and successfully. The right strategies implemented effectively minimize the disruption and mitigate damages.

In some cases, a strategic decision may be no strategy at all. In this scenario, business interruption or business income insurance may be a viable strategy. Generally, this provides the company with the income it is losing due to damage to its property. It, therefore, increases the company’s chances of survival and the ability to keep its customers and recover.

Bob Mahood

Midwest Data Recovery Inc.

www.midwestdatarecovery.com

866 786 2595

312 907 2100

Marketing and Advertising work together. You can’t overlook the fact that if you’re running a great ad for truck parts, you may want to think twice about running the ad in ‘Dolly” magazine. Yes, it sounds logical, but you’d be surprised by how many times something like this will happen every day.

Businesses blow hundreds and thousands of dollars every day on ads that do absolutely nothing and pull zero response! Later we will learn why.
Businesses everywhere need this information, and any business, that’s “in” business, is in the business of MARKETING!

That’s what it boils down to…

Simply reading this information won’t bring sales into your business. It’s all about taking massive action and testing your ads over and over again.
The key is PERSISTENCE. As with anything, unless you persist, most of the time nothing much happens. Don’t get too disappointed if your ads don’t work the first time around… just keep trying new things till you get it right.

Remember to always focus on the benefits of what your product or service will do for your prospect, NOT the features, or company or YOU for that matter!

Here are 9 Golden Must-Do Steps You Need To Follow To Get The Most From Your Advertising and Start Making More Money Today!

1) Focus on buyer benefits, not features. Your prospect is only interested in one thing. THEMSELVES!
2) Know who your prospects are, where they are and how you will reach them.
3) Understand your competition. Where are they? What are they currently doing to source prospects?
4) Understand the frustrations & problems of your prospects and how you can solve them quickly and easily.
5) You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on advertising – there are plenty of low-cost and no-cost ways to market and advertise your business effectively.
6) Look at offering your prospects irresistible bonuses if they act on your offer within a specific time frame.
7) Always ask for the sale. Don’t expect your customer to shove money at you – they are waiting for you to ask!
8) Be Persistent. This is probably the most important rule of them all. Never give up!
9) Focus on buyer benefits and not on product features, it’s not about YOU!

Put into ACTION this information, and you are well on your way to reaping the rewards of your ACTION and maybe putting your competition out of business.

Smarter Business Leads specialize in using Low-Cost Advertising & Marketing Ideas that will explode your business’s cash register. Check them out at www.smarterbusinessleads.com. If you hurry, they may even send you a free report “Dare To Be Different” go to www.smarterbusinessleads.com now.

But there is good news, and the good news is that starting an online business is worth every second if approached from the right angle and if you got what it takes to do it right. Imagine being your boss as your first bonus, and then use your intelligence and motivation to make it work. The time factor (lack of it) will always be an issue when creating your business, given that we all have jobs, families, and all kinds of distractions. But that is easily solved. Manage your time dedicated to your business simply by using only the proven techniques, strategies, and technology. Don’t go round the world for a shortcut.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be able to sit down at your computer and find your home business already built in a box? All you have to do is activate it. On the internet, you can use anything from content sites and article sites. You can also easily find ready-to-go e-books, all kinds of software, online business products, and even complete websites, ready to be activated by you to allow you to build a home business. However, they don’t include the marketing techniques and strategies that any home business badly requires.

Marketing is a broad business subject that encompasses a range of activities including advertising, public relations, sales, and promotions. Generally, you will find that people tend to confuse sales with marketing, when in fact, the two are quite different. Marketing is about getting a product or service into the market, promoting it, influencing behavior, and encouraging sales turnover. Sales, quite distinctly, is the actual transaction of getting a product or service into the hands of your customers. As you can probably gather, neither can be successful without the other.

With so many messages being propelled towards everyone these days, it is more critical than ever for a business to get its product noticed. This means marketers have evolved to be creative. Marketing is not an exact science, and managers who know little about it are afraid that the marketing staff within their firm is often wasting valuable money. The truth is that marketing is an investment that always pays off; it just may come back in ways that are not necessarily measurable. So even though one campaign may bring moderate results, another will bring astonishing profits.

Take a tour of sites like Profits Yesterday, Surefire Wealth, and Simpleology. Here you will find many ideas and solutions for your home business. But none will be successful overnight. Success will come to you, but it will take a considerable amount of effort, motivation, and determination to achieve results. And it all starts with YOU and a great business idea.

Do not underestimate your most valuable asset, the skill and knowledge you already have. Online Business takes passion and patience, and the chances are that your job got you many years of experience that you can easily share for profit. Get a copy of the book “Make Your Knowledge Sell”, and see for yourself just how your knowledge can make lots of money.

Many products and services which are killers for a home business are already out there, and affiliate sales already exist. Take advantage of this by joining sites that sell content and ideas you can modify to suit your specific business needs. These days you can start your home-based business in a few hours, but above most things, have an excellent marketing plan before you start. Then use all information available on content sites and article sites to get the job done right.

But my most valuable advice to you in all cases is, make an ACTION PLAN because, without it, you are looking at the fastest way for your home business to fail. “Crawl before walk” is a well-known phrase, and also the answer for faster home business profits.

To Your Success,
Brian Camilleri

1. Can you increase the average sale? A restaurant with 25% profit margins might make 50% on additional sales to existing customers (less labor to bag one large order than two smaller ones). Asking “What would you like to drink with that?” works, and it’s just a start.

2. What’s the least expensive way to get a customer? Before you spend another thousand dollars advertising to get new customers, could you get as much business by spending a few hours contacting previous or existing customers?

3. What low-risk ideas can you try? I once sent a letter to several visiting basketball teams, inviting them to visit our restaurant and giving the coach a free meal as an incentive. The cost? Two dollars. The payoff was two busloads of customers. At that rate, you could increase your business profits even if nine out of ten ideas fail.

4. Have you tested prices? I knew a store that sold a product for $1.05, that cost them $1.00. For $1.20, it is doubtful that they’d lose half their sales, but if they did, they’d still make twice the profit. Some things even sell better at a higher price. Test.

5. Can you measure your advertising results? How do you know that you’re not spending more for a customer than they’re worth? Coupons, customer surveys, and other methods of measurement are a must.

6. How do you know your customers are satisfied? The worst restaurant meal we ever ate went down without comment, but we never returned to that restaurant. Maybe the owner should be talking to the customers.

7. Can you enhance the perceived value of your product? Years ago, I sold walking sticks for $10 at flea markets and $20 at craft shows. Sometimes, location alone can enhance the perceived value of a product. What else can you do?

8. What are similar businesses doing? See what your successful competitors are doing. Can you do the same?

9. What other products can you sell? There’s a reason stores have candy and magazines near the checkout. Extra sales are a great way to increase business profits.

10. Can you use your customers as salesmen? Word of mouth is a start, but what other ways can you get your customers to bring their friends to you?

These were culled from a longer list. I call it “stolen business ideas,” because I can’t credit the original authors. I took them where I found them over the years with gratitude, but without notes.

Attracting more clients alone cannot help you achieve the objective of increasing business profits. Several other reasons play when a business doesn’t make as much money as it should besides not having enough clients.

Here are a few simple yet effective business coaching ideas that will help you unlock the hidden profits in business and also some reasons why things are not operating at full potential as they should:

– Focus more time on the important matters – you may not have enough time available to boost your business, especially if you are the one who is serving clients regularly. In this case, you should consider hiring somebody to help. Running a business takes a lot of work, so let the employees handle the day-to-day issues while you take care of the important ones, such as developing strategies for present and future growth. Set aside an hour each week to brainstorm ideas, implement strategies, and nurture key business relationships.

– Carry out competitive intelligence on other businesses, especially the successful ones, and emulate them. However, this does not necessarily mean copying whatever they do. Take the best parts of your competitor’s business and apply them to your own. Keep a close eye on the competition, regardless of the nature of your business. If you are running a restaurant, for example, you should inspect the services, the offers and the prices of the competition. By doing a little research on other businesses, you will be able to reorganize, improve your services, adjust the prices depending on the competition, and introduce new offers to your clients. By knowing what your competitors are up to, you will always be one step ahead of them.

– Spend less of your gross profit on overhead and ineffective marketing. Lease unused space in your office or warehouse. Track sales as a result of expense. Employ salespeople on a higher commission scale rather than a high base salary. Test and measure for effective marketing campaigns before dumping a ton of money on any marketing campaign that is doomed to fail from the start.

– Instead of competing on price, develop an ultimate strategic advantage™. Emphasize the qualities that make your business stand out and create a whole new positioning in the industry. Find out what matters to your clients by surveying them and give it to them.

– Talk with clients and find out if they are delighted or not. Ask for suggestions. Dissatisfied customers will not return, while a delighted client will refer others.

– Nurture existing clients. Instead of focusing on acquiring new customers, concentrate on nurturing and maintaining the clients that you already have! Ensure that they are pleased with the services you provide for them and pay attention to their needs, desires, and complaints. Establish and maintain good relations with your clients, as they are the ones who keep your business running.

Many business coaching companies encourage selling more to existing clients because it improves a business’s bottom line by increasing the lifetime value of a client. It also brings new clients, attracted by positive experiences from your delighted clients. Referrals lower your acquisition cost through word-of-mouth marketing, and this also adds to business profits.

– Upsell other products/services. Selling extras is known to be an effective method of increasing profits. For example, grocery stores strategically place many magazines and snacks near the checkout. People browse and buy these while waiting in line, raising the average dollar sale with these extras. McDonald’s is well-known for its up-sell before a sale is completed by simply asking a simple question to add on more products (complete meal, fries, sundae, or apple pie).

– Increase your advertising. Advertising is expensive, but if things work well, the money will return to you. You can also try to make the best use you can out of free advertising. Get the most out of promotions and limited offers, especially around holidays.

– Seek out business coaching advice. Having a comprehensive set of business strategies can help you further by providing you with new efficient methods of increasing the profits of your business. To operate a business effectively long-term, most businesses will have to deploy several strategies to diversify their sources of leads and maximize their profitability through smart marketing, team building, and business process management.