An Inspiring Story

Here's a guy who left his day job to focus his efforts 100% on blogging, of all things:

http://zenhabits.net/2008/01/so-i-quit-my-day-job-holy-cow-i-took-the-plunge/#comment-25294

ZenHabits.net is a very nicely designed website. I like it for the simplicity of design.

If you dream to fire your boss, like Leo at ZenHabits did, consider shaving months of investment time off the process by using the Profitable Business Blogging system at http://www.howbloggersmakemoney.com.

Kudos to Leo - we wish Zen Habits a ton of success!
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Copyright © 2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Want More? SUBSCRIBE. We care about your success: share your success stories with us and we'll replublish a link to your site!

Be Different And Sell More

ARRiiVE: Innovations in Business Radio Presents...

"Be Different and Sell More," with Michael Luckman, CEO of AchieveXCorp.com.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be in control of every sales call? To not waste your time chasing opportunities that don’t exist? To perhaps even double your income in one year? Michael Luckman CEO of AchieveXCorp.com may have the answer for you.

Today, Michael Luckman joins Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions and Host of ARRiiVE: Innovations in Business Talk Radio.

The Show AIRS: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 2:00 PM PST / 5:00 PM EST

Visit Talkshoe (http://www.talkshoe.com/): Enter Talkshoe show ID 37798 to text comments, call-in, and/or listen to the show from your computer.

Description: In this interview we'll cover some of Michael's valuable selling techniques, including how you might differentiate yourself to stand apart from competitors in your field. Learn why salespeople miss their numbers. Discover how you can separate from the pack of mediocre salespeople to win more often and reap the rewards you deserve. Sales team managers: are your sales people getting blocked or stuck on the money? Learn some keys to overcome this problem and better motivate and manage your team.

Michael brings over forty years of experience helping salespeople blow away their numbers and make more money than they could ever dream.

As a senior buyer for Toys R Us, he experienced firsthand what makes the difference between a good salesperson and a great salesperson. It was his frustration with traditional sales training and their sound-the-same salespeople, and his introduction to David Sandler’s unique sales methodology that convinced Michael to spend his life working to create professional salespeople. Michael offers a ton of sales wisdom in his training sessions, and this show is one you won't want to miss!

Listen in and get a SPECIAL OFFER from AchieveX and another by ARRiiVE.com...

Join Scott Andrews, Host of the show, as he interviews Michael regarding this exciting topic.
This show promises to be both educational and fun.

It is Simple & Easy To Listen and Dial-In To Ask Questions:

1. Visit Talkshoe (http://www.talkshoe.com/): Enter Talkshoe show ID 37798 to text comments and listen to the show from your computer.

2. Call in to join the show: Dial (724) 444-7444, enter show 37798 # 1 # if you wish to ask questions of the host or guest.

Also, you may click here to visit/follow the show: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 or http://www.arriive.com/arriive_liive.htm or listen in after completion of the show.
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Copyright © 2007-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Want More? SUBSCRIBE. AchieveXCorp.com © 2008 AchieveX Corp.

ARRiiVE can you grow sales. Visit: ColdToGold.com

Better Web Surfing

Surf smarter with the new widget by BlogRovR:


Have you seen BlogRovR?

You can download it here:
http://blogrovr.com



I just installed the widget for BlogRovR publisher on my blogs. The tool simply ROCKS. This is a modern Blog Publishing and RSS surfing tool to help you SURF SMARTER and also PUBLISH in a way that draws more traffic to your blog. Have you heard buzz about "Web 3.0 and Semantic Web?" Well, this tool is a start.

You can use RovR to:

• Keep up-to-date on what you care about on the web.
• Read posts only on what you care about now!
• Get trusted opinions, news, and commentary on what you’re browsing.
• Quickly see what your favorite bloggers have ever said about a web page.
• Find out how your bloggers have tagged any page.
• Read relevant blog posts in-place, right on the page they’re about.

Do you write a blog, too? Put the Blog RovR chiclet on your blog to let readers add you to their RovR subscriptions. When they browse anywhere you’ve written about, RovR shows your posts right there. The rest of your blog is just a click away from any web page you’ve blogged.

One warning: This software appears to be VERY Beta. That means it doesn't yet work on IE. It only works on Firefox. But, I'm hoping they'll change that soon.

The tool could be a God-send for blog publishers. The information you get about surfers is astonishing! Check it out and let me know how you like it.

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Copyright © 2007-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Want More? SUBSCRIBE. BlogRovR is © 2005-2008 Activeweave, Inc.

ARRiiVE helps you grow traffic and money from blogs. Visit: Profitable Business Blogging.

Syndicate Your News with RSS Feeds

The Secret Power Behind Blogs: THE RSS FEED

Ever wonder why a blog is better than a website? Well, if you ask me, it's mostly because it's (1) easy to publish articles and (2) people can find you.

"Come again?" you might ask. Yep, people find you. Not like a normal website, but through the POWER OF THE RSS FEED.

RSS - The best definition of RSS FEEDS means Really Simple Syndication. That's right, you're now in the business of syndicating.

Here's a video that explains it further.

Now you know more about how RSS works. Remember, it's like going to your favorite sites to get the news, but better yet, the news comes to you!

What's really cool about this is that through the power of the comment trail, the RSS, and easy posting, a blog can grow traffic exponentially.

Let me know how your own blog grows.
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Copyright © 2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All rights reserved. Video Copyright © 2008 by Lee LeFevre (the CommonCraft Show). Thanks, Lee (no infringement intended).ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

SUBSCRIBE to boost your blogging success. See also Profitable Business Blogging.

Blogs In Plain English

Are you interested in blogging? One of the best introductions to blogging I've found is through Common Craft, who in this short video demonstrates the simple power of blogging and ways to get started:



What's great about this intro is how Lee shows you the various ways you can start blogging, and pretty much directs you to either blogger, which this blog currently uses, or WordPress, which many established bloggers use. Both services are free and get you up and running with minimal hassle (blogger being the easier of the two, WordPress offering more robust features).

If you're seeking additional techniques to jump into the Blogging foray more quickly, you may be interested in my upcoming teleconference on Blogging For Business. I'm sharing secrets and proven techniques that may help you make a lot more money in a lot less time from your blog.

Learn more by Googling in "ARRiiVE" and "blog" or if you want the robust system of how bloggers make money I've been developing, visit http://www.howbloggersmakemoney.com

__________________________________

Copyright © 2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All rights reserved. Video Copyright © 2008 by Lee LeFevre (the CommonCraft Show). Thanks, Lee (no infringement intended).

ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

Blog Better Now: SUBSCRIBE to boost your blogging success. See also Profitable Business Blogging.

International Copyrights

International Copyrights: Part I

Global Copyright Theft: Is Anyone Else Concerned?

I'm investigating what rights American and English companies have in the increasing global marketplace regarding copyrights and trademarks.

Relating to this topic, I just came across this quotation today, and had to share it with you:

What is going to happen when China makes the full leap to playing on the Internet and competing with American, English, Australian, and Indian ideas? China does not have the ethic or moral that "stealing" ideas is wrong (not that all American, English, Australian, or Indian's do, either) but certainly there is a looming concern about what happens to intellectual property when there is no respect for it?

“China’s failure to police intellectual property, in effect, creates a massive global subsidy worth hundreds of billions of dollars to its business and people. Seen another way, China’s vast counterfeiting schemes act on the rest of the world the way colonial armies once did, invading deep into the economies of their victims, expropriating their most valued assets, and in so doing, undermining their victims’ ability to counter. As China grows into a great power, the wealth transferred into the country by stealing intellectual property will propel it forward.” - China, Inc., Ted C. Fishman

Personally, I've already had an audio program pirated by unscrupulous individuals in Malaysia. It happens to big companies and individuals. Make sure you take the steps you need to take to safeguard your intellectual property. As the world flattens and everyone in all countries are sharing with each other in this "small world" that we are progressively living in, it is important that you nurture, grow, and protect the ideas that propel your business success.

Here's a couple of resources for you to better understand international trademark and copyright law and your rights, which I provide for your entertainment purposes:

http://www.symbus.com/

http://www.trademarksovernight.com/int_trademark.html
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Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. Quote by China, Inc. copyright China, Inc. No infringement intended.

Keep it real, all the time: SUBSCRIBE to our feed.

Teams: Mother Natures Master Class, on ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Show

ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Radio Presents TEAMS: MOTHER NATURE'S MASTER CLASS, with Ken Thompson, CEO of www.Bioteams.com and www.SwarmTeams.com companies and websites.

Ken and Scott will discuss how we can make our teams and groups and communities much more satisfying, more productive and more agile by adopting some simple principles which Mother Nature has successfully evolved over millions of years to organize her teams (such as bees, ants and geese...).

The Show AIRS: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 2:00 PM PST / 5:00 PM EST

Description: Ken is a master of virtual communities and business/social networks. Ken has just published a major book through Megan-Kiffer Press (http://www.mkpress.com/) entitled ‘BIOTEAMS - a blueprint for building organizational teams, mobile workgroups, virtual communities and business networks that will prosper in the 21st century.’ Ken is also the founder and CEO of a new high-tech venture Swarmteams (http://www.swarmteams.com/) which is a mobile community engagement system developed on bioteaming principles.

Join Scott Andrews, Host of the show, as he interviews Ken regarding this exciting topic. This show promises to be educational, fun, and easy to participate.

How To Listen & Participate:

1. Visit Talkshoe (http://www.talkshoe.com/): Enter Talkshoe show ID 37798 to text comments and listen to the show from your computer.

2. Call in to join the show: Dial (724) 444-7444, enter show 37798 # 1 # if you wish to ask questions of the host or guest.

Also, you may click here to visit/follow the show: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 or http://www.arriive.com/arriive_liive.htm or listen in after completion of the show.

Some useful comments have been added to this show, if you missed it:
http://www.bioteams.com/2008/01/23/teams_mother_natures.html#comments

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Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Build better teams: SUBSCRIBE to learn more.

Net Audio Ads Pay-Per-Play

NetAudioAds Pay-Per-Play is an exciting new way to offer advertising on your website.

Always looking for innovative ad streams on websites, I came across this Pay-Per-Play system of advertising and signed-up: http://www.sellingppp.com/a.cgi?ppp=1205662828

If you click on the long-copy sales letter link (http://www.sellingppp.com/details.cgi?ppp=1205662828), you'll see that NetAudioAds Pay-Per-Play offers 5 second audio ads on your website that pays publishers 25% - often better than Google pays for Adsense. And, NetAudioAds pay-Per-Play pays on IMPRESSIONS - not on CLICKS! That's cool, because it's easier to predict.

It doesn't stop there... REFER YOUR FELLOW WEBMASTERS!

Also, if you REFER OTHERS into their ad system, you can go three levels deep and make money on it, too. I'll share my numbers once I can substantiate. Please report back in and let me know how this system works for you...

http://www.sellingppp.com/details.cgi?ppp=1205662828 __________________________________

Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions.

Get more customers, more cash, more quickly: SUBSCRIBE to our feed.

4 Ways To Close More Sales

Whenever someone is struggling in sales, managers often try to solve their problem by analyzing every situation and cramming more and more ways to deal with objections, close, problem-solution, needs analysis, prospecting, and on and on and on.

Is this what you do with your salespeople?

If you're a salesperson who is struggling to hit numbers, I'm sure the last thing you want is for your manager to over-analyze your selling process. Am I right?

Many salespeople will moan about the problems with customers, but not realize that the keys to closing more sales actually lie in one place: their own self. That's right, most sales are lost because of poor attitude or lack of belief than any other reason. What are the other reasons why sales are lost? Read on and I'll share more...

Now, if you'd like to learn how to quickly close more sales, without huge investments in time in training, prospecting, creating proposals, or meeting with clients, you might find it interesting to know that you CAN close anywhere from 10% - 500% more business than you are closing right now simply by changing a few steps in your selling process and adjusting your outlook.

4 Ways to Close More Sales:

1. Poor attitude - reversing bad attitudes creates an attitude of a winner.
2. Resolve the "It's Too Good To Be True" syndrome with little negatives.
3. The power of a story is critical to success. The best story is always from a customer who has experienced a similar situation or need where your solution solved their problem.
4. Understanding your prospect's emotional triggers for buying and getting their problem defined correctly.

1. Attitude. The first way to close more sales is to improve your attitude. If you BELIEVE everyone will buy from you, and I mean TRULY believe everyone will buy from you, you will act in a way that condones buying behavior. You will attract people buying from you because it is what you expect. You don't get wigged when they don't but they usually do buy because of your attitude.

Improving your attitude is the single best way to improve your sales. Tape record your conversation with a co-worker or manager. Ask them to question you about why you get deals and why you miss deals. Then listen to your voice, the words you use, and try to see how many times what you say is either (a) an excuse, or (b) a negative.

Here's the way you improve and counteract this problem:
For each excuse you make, write it on a sheet of paper. Do the same with every negative.
Now, for each negative or excuse, write the opposite or a way that is positive that enables you to deal with the situation or concern. Once you complete this process, you will likely realize that pretty much all excuses and negative thoughts are only self-defeating and do nothing to help you sell more. Therefore: eliminate those thoughts and replace them with the empowered belief system of a winner: someone who owns their process and owns their success!

2. Resolve the "It's Too Good To Be True" syndrome with little negatives.

Have you ever walked out of a sales presentation, auto lot, or salesperson who told you everything the product or solution could do, in intimate detail, with so much polish that you exclaimed "I think he's full of b.s.! It's just too good to be true"?

I have. And, guess what. So have many of your customers. If you leave your customers thinking your product is so great that no other product compares, they might tell you "no" simply because they don't believe anything could be that perfect.

So, rather than let this happen, sprinkle a few "little negatives" or "baby negatives" into your presentation. Baby negatives is a term I learned in the timeshare industry. They use baby negatives to demonstrate that their product can't meet ALL needs. For example, they might say "well, if you're trying to book Las Vegas for New Year's Eve on December 31st, good luck!" But, our owners are knowledgeable and know that they can book this time, or many other times, with proper planning. See, in this example, I told you a way that the product wouldn't work in a very small, narrow case that most likely will not kill the deal. Then, I gave it back to you and let you know you could do pretty much anything else. Now, if I'd just said "you can book any time you want" you'd have thought: "AH! Too good to be true." And, frankly, you'd be right.

So, use a baby negative. Look for ways to throw a slight negative into your presentation, proposal, or pitch, and see if your sales closing percentage doesn't go up.

3. The power of the story is the most powerful way to convince someone to buy anything. Think about the best salespeople you ever knew. Did they really have "the gift of gab" or did they just know how to tell a good story? My guess is the best salespeople are great storytellers. So, if you're struggling with sales or struggling to close a high percentage of sales, take the load off of your back and put it on the other people who've bought from you.

That's right: put the load of your success on your customers. Now, this can be taken two different ways. First, you might consider asking your customers for referrals, as a warm lead is always better than a cold lead, right? This is probably the most powerful way you can increase your cold-calling success, if you make outbound sales calls. Use the story of the referral, drop the name, share a solution and how you helped someone in a similar situation.

Second, you might consider the stories that customers have told you about how they used or benefited from your product or service solution.

It is especially this last method of the power of the story where you can almost remove yourself from the picture and still sell more. Try it: next time you're pitching your product or service, drop two or three names of people in similar situations. Tell the customers story, in as few words as needed to convey the full meaning of the solution, and then hook it back to the client or prospect's need. When you utilize this technique, I can guarantee you that your sales closing WILL go up.

4. Get the third level (emotional benefit) question/response and properly define the problem.

Digging deep enough to understand your prospect's emotional triggers will help you close a much higher percentage of sales. What does this mean, to most salespeople? Actually, nothing. Most salespeople do not understand what I mean when I say to dig deeper. So, I will elaborate.

Say, for example, that you are selling signs. The first set of questions you might ask a prospect is: "What type of sign do you need?" "How large?" "What color?" and so on.

Those types of questions will illicit simple, closed-end responses. That's fine, but the smart salesperson quickly moved into deeper probing questions, such as "why do you need a sign that big?" "What is important about those colors?" and so on.

Do you notice that this second set of questions is more open-ended, and allows both fact and feeling to be conveyed by the prospect? I would continue this line of questioning with something like:

"How come that is important to you?"
"Please tell me more... (about) Why does this matter?"
"Who else does this impact?"

You'll get a deeper-level answer related to the solution. Then you need to go 3rd level deep and go for their feeling about the solution they're asking from you. There are several ways to do this:

1. Ask it directly, starting with negative questions. "What problems are you having now?" "How does that FEEL?" "How does this matter to them?" "What do you think they'd tell me, in terms of how it makes them feel?" and so on.

2. Ask it directly, but have them tell you the positives they want: "If you had the ideal solution that could deliver the solution you're looking for, what would it be like?" "How would that feel to you?"

3. Ask them what emotional benefits they will derive from the solution they are describing to you.

Then, tailor your solution to match the needs they just gave you. When you're presenting the solution, make sure you mention this and tie it back to the deepest level emotional need and benefit they will receive.

When you take these additional steps in questioning and presenting you will find that your closing percentage will increase dramatically.

This is the first of two parts on this series. I'll write more tips on closing next week, so SUBSCRIBE to our feed at the ARRiiVE Blog to keep informed.
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ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved.

Mistakes Cold Calling And Getting It Right with CEO Scott Andrews

After a few awesome guest shows, I'm hosting this week's ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business show. Broadcasting at a unique time of 8:30 A.M. PST, I've created a custom topic just for this show:

Mistakes Cold Calling and Getting It Right

ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Radio Show features Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions.

NOTE: I'm doing this earlier than usual!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at 8:30 AM PST / 11:30 AM EST

Don't miss out on learning mistakes people make cold calling and ways to get past and correct them to blast your sales success through the roof (or at least get a heck of a lot more qualified appointments). Cold calling doesn't have to be chilly. Defrost your cold-calling and get your customers warmed up to you quickly. Learn about:

GREETING - WARM-UP - REASON - QUICK LOGIC/EMOTION TRIGGERS - NAME DROPPING - ACTION REQUESTS and MORE! Heat up your cold calls and turn them from Cold to Gold! (yep, this is part of my Cold To Gold Program http://www.coldtogold.com/) - free as a special introduction.

It's educational, fun, and easy to participate.

Simple Ways To Listen & Participate:

1. Visit Talkshoe (http://www.talkshoe.com/): Enter Talkshoe show ID 37798 to text comments and listen to the show from your computer.

2. Call in to join the show: Dial (724) 444-7444, enter show 37798 # 1 # if you wish to ask questions of the host or guest.

Also, you may click here to visit/follow the show: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 or http://www.arriive.com/arriive_liive.htm or listen in after completion of the show.
_______________________________________________________

Copyright © 2008 ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All rights reserved. Want more? SUBSCRIBE.

Are You Spaghetti Marketing?

Spaghetti marketing is a new term I just found at a Copywriter Underground. It refers to the idea of throwing stuff up against the wall and seeing if it sticks. A lot of marketers, salespeople, and entrepreneurs, for that matter, often forget that every aspect of their business ought to have an underlying strategy. The lack of a defined strategy, when applied to marketing, may be called "Spaghetti Marketing" -- especially when you're spending marketing dollars without a clearly defined plan.

If your firm is engaged in spaghetti marketing, STOP!

It is time to take some time to rethink what you are doing. Put together the following components:

1. Vision: what do you want to accomplish with your marketing?

Do you want more exposure for your business? A stronger online presence? A bigger list? More conversions of people reading your material? Whatever your vision is, this will determine the next steps. Just keep in mind that your vision ought to direction relate to your company's mission statement.

2. Objectives.

Take, for example, the idea of increased online presence. That is a good vision, but won't produce results until you implement objectives underneath that vision to set in motion action.

Examples of objectives for this vision might be:
a. Increase website SEO (shameless marketing plug: ARRiiVE can help if you need it)
b. Launch a blog to build more backlinks to website (ahh.. yes, again, if you need help...)
c. Create a wiki to build more collaboration from business partners

You get the idea. The point is to define what objectives will better produce the vision and result in success.

3. Action Plan

The action plan are the actual steps you need to take to accomplish each objective. These might be like this:

1. Investigate differences between Typepad, WordPress, and Blogger.
2. Pick a platform.
3. Set-up layout for blog...
and so forth.

For another example, I have a goal to "create a wiki" for www.ARRiiVE.com and www.AspireNow.com right now. During a conversation today with a business partner, she mentioned that she found a software tool to make creation of wiki platforms that integrate seemlessly with your website. Bingo! There's step 1 down! Actually, a wiki ought to have its own unique vision, objectives, and action plans, too... so you can break this down into steps for each. My vision for my ARRiiVE wiki is to build collaboration around sales and marketing techniques that create new types of teams.

If you start putting this level of thought behind your marketing strategy, you might realize that the marketing efforts you've been putting out are not aligned with your strategy. In that case, your Spaghetti Marketing may not have done you any favors. I've always felt that the rifle approach is the better approach - as long as you know what target you're aiming at. So, pick a good target, take aim, put together your plan, and then fire at your objectives.
__________________________________

Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved.

ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

Rifles are better than shotguns: SUBSCRIBE to our feed and learn more.

Social Networking: Connecting To Others

Are you using social networks online? If you aren't, you're missing out on the biggest networking explosion since the founding of the Chamber of Commerce.

Seriously, I've gained over 1,000 contacts in the past two months through my business network at Plaxo. Not only that, but I've gained 5 of my guests over the next three months on my ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Radio Show from Plaxo, too, either from comments or noticing the background of people posting into my groups I've subscribed to. I'll talk more on the power of groups later, but for now, I want to offer you some simple guidelines for connecting with others on a business network or social network:

Guidelines for connecting with others on a social network:

1. Introduce politely. Say why you want to connect. It is good to mention that you saw a post you liked, and felt a kindred spirit, or something like that. Even something as simple as "I loved your comment in the Blogging For Business group. We share similar ideas - let's connect!" Is a good opener.

2. Suggest connecting. If it isn't clear, suggest ways to connect. I usually suggest connecting through the website, and also offer other ways they can find me, such as through http://www.arriive.com/, http://www.aspirenow.com/, http://www.semanticcollaboration.com/, or through my blog.

3. Offer gratitude. I believe that an attitude of gratitude goes a long way in business. So, be thankful or appreciative of their connection. Show this in your comment to them. "Thanks for connecting!" can be sufficient.

Other guidelines to remember:

1. An invitation ignored is better than a rude NO. Don't push. Sometimes people have responded to my email THREE months after I wrote them! You never know how busy other people are, so it is best to avoid being pushy.

2. Invites are always received. They are not always responded to. I've invited many people and had them ignore my request for various reasons (one person yesterday told me that I'd invited using her personal email, but she only links to business email as she doesn't want spam on personal email). Their reasons are usually good, so in time, if it is meant to be, it will be.

3. Thank people for "adding you" as their connection or friend. I do this with my band through MySpace and it often results in MORE add requests from people who see my "thanks for the add" post in the other person's comment field.

4. Keep your profile updated. I've avoided and ignored people who didn't have an active profile. I'm sure I'm not the only one who expects you to show that you care enough to update your profile.

5. Keep a backup of your contacts somewhere other than the network. I've heard of several people who lost their whole network because they failed to backup. Don't be one of those people!

I'll be discussing more ways to utilize social networks in the months ahead. Let me know what Social networks do you use? Any other tips to connect for more success?
__________________________________

Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All rights reserved.

ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

Social network build your world: SUBSCRIBE to learn more.

Shel Horowitz guests on ARRiiVE Radio: Principled Profit

ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Radio

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at 2:00 PM PST / 5:00 PM EST

Don't miss: Market Share Doesn't Matter, Your Competitors are Your Allies, and Nice Guys Finish First: Using Ethics to Succeed in Business.

Special Guest: Shel Horowitz, author of Principled Profit, is featured Scott Andrews' featured guest for this segment on: Market Share Doesn't Matter, Your Competitors are Your Allies, and Nice Guys Finish First: Using Ethics to Succeed in Business.

Scheduled for Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at 2:00 PM PST / 5:00 PM EST

It's educational, fun, and easy to participate.

How To Listen & Participate:
1. Visit Talkshoe (http://www.talkshoe.com/): Enter Talkshoe show ID 37798 to text comments and listen to the show from your computer.

2. Call in to join the show: Dial (724) 444-7444, enter show 37798 # 1 # if you wish to ask questions of the host or guest.

Also, you may click here to visit/follow the show: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 or http://www.arriive.com/arriive_liive.htm or listen in after completion of the show.

__________________________________

Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved.

ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives create interactive marketing, improve sales, launch companies, products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. To contact, email: info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

Ethics Breeds Success In Leaders: SUBSCRIBE to learn more.

Build A Great Brand, Part I

"Reach out and touch someone."


What do you think of when you hear that?


I just came across an article posted at A List Apart that I loved so much I had to share some key insights. It was about The Greatest Copy Shot Ever Written. Another word for Copy Shot is SLOGAN. And how many great brands are associated by their even GREATER slogans? I'd argue that almost ALL great brands have a great slogan.


Can you think of the brand when you hear these slogans?


"I am stuck on...xxxxxxx... and xxxxxxx's stuck on me."
"It's the real thing."
"You're in good hands."
"It's the xxxxx touch."
"Betcha can’t eat just one."
"We've got your butt covered."


"Good to the last drop."

Are you trying to come up with a great slogan? Want some guidelines to help you do it better?

Think of some of the best slogans you've ever heard:

You're in good hands with Allstate. (Allstate)
Just do it. (Nike)

Betcha can't eat just one... (Lays)

Don't leave home without it. (American Express)
Reach out and touch someone. (AT&T)
What are the components of these copy shots that make them great?


Well, this article digs through it, and comes up with the most declarative list of guidelines that make it clear, at least to me, what component strategies ought to be followed when developing a slogan:


Choice of style:


1. Use either clear and concise.
OR
2. Use frivolous and witty (as long as it is clearly related).


All great copy shots should:

1. Be five words in length.
2. Not mention the brand name.
3. Be declarative.
4. Be grammatically complete.
5. Be otherwise standard.
5. Contain alliteration, metaphor, or rhyme.

Other ideas for copy shots that I found really interesting, include:


1. Repetition/parallelism—aggressive, straight-to-the-point, memorable, symmetrical
2. Metaphor/wordplay/polysemy—clever, mysterious, potentially irritating
3. Coinage—playful, obscure, silly, original
4. Rhetorical question—personal, inclusive, informal, potentially too marketing-ish

Want more ideas about slogans and copy shots?


Find them at the article about The Best Copy Shot Ever Written by Nick Padmore. It's worth the read, and I believe will help any marketer improve their ideas on ways to build their brand.


Also, there's a really fun (and potentially useful) tool here at Slogan Generator:

http://www.sloganizer.net/en/


This is a free site that I use to help me brainstorm slogans. Or, you can hire me, and I'll help you dig into your slogan with even more tools and techniques like this and create the perfect slogan for your brand.
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Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved.

ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, improve interactive marketing, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

Say It Better Than Others: SUBSCRIBE to ARRiiVE's Blog.

Made Not Born Part I: Sales Masters

Made, Not Born is a series based upon top qualities, techniques, and abilities of the very best professionals in many industries.

PART I: Traits of Sales Masters. Part I of Made, Not Born is focusing on the traits of the super-successful salesperson. What sets the best apart from the rest? Learn more in this article!

I recently read a business headhunter's list of top qualities of an all-star salesperson:

Work Attitude
Integrity
Adaptability
Influence
Interpersonal Relationship
Social Interactions
Positive Self-Esteem
Confidence
Persistence
Organization Skills
Prioritization of Goals

I like each of these, and believe each of these traits will help a salesperson succeed. However, when I interview salespeople and probe my memory for the best salespeople of all-time, my list includes other traits and talents that you might otherwise not consider:

ARRiiVE's Top Sales Masters of All-Time List of Traits and Skills:

1. A master of selling process: able to create a system of selling that builds rapport with clients and prospects very quickly.

2. A master of knowing the buyer's hot-buttons: adept at thinking like a buyer. Researches buyer's industry until they are a master of current issues facing typical buyers in each vertical industry.

3. A master of asking the right questions: the best selling gurus ask intelligent questions about prospects needs. They will quickly move from early fact types of questions into questions that probe deeper into implications of cost, pain, emotional value, and implication.

4. A master at directing the buying process to successful solution. The most masterful salesperson focused on expanding the need, then asking if-then questions to lead to yes. Able to expand the need by probing deeper. This is the quality of the ability to LISTEN and then take that information and expand even deeper. They are able to ask questions throughout the selling process that gains commitment to the salesperson's products and services and that results in each RFP (request for proposal) being driven to favor the salesperson's company.

5. A master at relating the company solution from their company to the customer's perceived emotional needs and logical needs. The best salespeople sell to the emotion, and support their emotional argument by providing irrefutable facts backing up their claims.

6. A master of disguise. The best salespeople are not always obvious to the customer. Many of them have already figured out the client before the client even knows they're being sold to and as a result the salesperson's sales results are considerably higher.

7. A master of proposing the company's products and services, yet able to come across genuine and down-to-earth. The best salespeople are not arrogant. They usually are extremely approachable and very good at presenting the company in the best light. They are quick on their feet, and always able to take a negative and quickly spin it back to make the company look better.

8. A master of describing solutions in terms of benefits and other user's or customer's experiences. The best salespeople are talking about third party and first party references throughout their entire sales process. Nothing is more powerful than a reference from someone the client trusts. The best salespeople know this and use it to their advantage.

9. A master at getting a yes while staying within the buying curve. The best salespeople know their is a buying window. When the buyer goes past the time curve on that window, they may lose the sale. Each industry's window may be different, but the best salespeople stay inside the window and deliver the deal in the most efficient manner possible.

Want to learn more? Sign up for Cold To Gold: Advanced Prospecting Methods To Overcome Fear, Get In The Door, and Build Long-Lasting Successful Relationships - a modern selling program with slides, screen prints, telephone courses, audio downloads, e-book, and bonus downloads and links. The author of this program has a long history of building successful sales relationships and blowing away quotas. Learn more from a master you can trust at Cold To Gold.
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Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All rights reserved. Cold To Gold and ARRiiVE Business Solutions are trademarks of ARRiiVE Business Solutions.

ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

SUBSCRIBE to get more helpful information to help grow sales and build better teams.

Podcasting as COLLABORATION or BLOG TOOL?

Have you used Podcasting Tools as a COLLABORATION TOOL? Podcasting tools can also be used much like a BLOG! Also, you can MAKE MONEY from broadcasts!

I've been using TalkShoe over the past six months to experiment ways to host my radio shows at AspireNow.com and ARRiiVE.com. I've discovered that Talkshoe can be used for more than just radio:

1. Site introduction files: example - visit http://www.aspirenow.com/, and click on the intro file at the top.
   
2. Conference Calls: Talkshoe gives you the ability to record a conference call (hidden or public) and invite MANY users on the line - for free!
   
3. Audio programs. I'm now converting some of my radio shows at http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 and http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37792 into CD programs.
   
4. Training and audio webinars. I use Talkshoe for my training programs http://www.howbloggersmakemoney.com/, http://www.coldtogold.com/ and other sites.
   
5. There may be even more uses for Talkshoe I haven't yet thought up - did I miss any?

Get your own Talkshoe set-up by visiting: www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/userCreate1.jsp?affiliateId=57383

Talkshoe also pays you to broadcast. They pay a little for the first and tenth shows, a percentage of show traffic, and also a percentage of show traffic that sign up under your affiliate. If you more details on the money, I'll be posting tomorrow on the subject.

Last, your Talkshoe titles WILL appear high rank in Google search engines and draw traffic to both your show page and referenced sites in show descriptions. Again, long-tails lead to happy trails!

__________________________________

Post by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions.

ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

Copyright © 2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. You may republish this article only if you publish in WHOLE with the COPYRIGHT and ALL ACTIVE LINKS intact.

More useful than a cup of espresso: SUBSCRIBE to our feed to stay "in the know" with articles like this.

Secrets of PageRank Revealed

In the last few months numerous people have asked me the secrets to understanding Google PageRank (PR) Tool. While I don't work for Google, I've been on enough websites to get a feel for how Google looks at sites, and what determines Google's PageRank for pages. I've also done a considerable amount of research over the past year to learn more about increasing PageRank and a website's SEO, and if you were to search the headlines of most of my blog posts and website articles, you'd find my listings in the top ten often more than once for each search. Last I checked, I held #1 rank on Google for numerous search terms and this list continues to grow with every post I make into the blogosphere. The following is my guideline to help you determine PageRank for your site and also figure out ways to protect and grow your Google PageRank status.

What Is Google PageRank?

Google PageRank is the formula created by Google that ranks a web site's pages. The PageRank scale gives your site a factored score between "0" and "10". The PageRank (which I'll also refer to as "PR") is often used by other webmasters and sites to determine the quality and advertising value of your site. The Google PageRank Tool may be downloaded from several different places through Google. I found it easiest to do this if you have signed up for any of the special Google accounts, like Gmail, AdSense, or Calendar.

A direct place to download the Google PageRank Tool is to download Google Tool Bar Here:
http://www.google.com/webmasters/start/ or try http://toolbar.google.com/T4/index_pack_xp.html to download the toolbar. Once toolbar is downloaded, you then search for the PageRank BUTTON tool. Then add Page Rank Tool to the Toolbar.

You can also check your PageRank using this handle tool:
http://www.top25web.com/pagerank.php

How Is Your Site's Google PageRank Determined?

Without going into the math, Google PR basically is an algorithm that takes into account:

(Q) outbound links compared to (Q) inbound links, where Q = QUALITY.

To put is simply, higher quality links are from pages with higher PR and fewer links on a page.

Simple facts of Google PageRank:

1. The more pages in your site, the higher your PageRank value.

2. Inbound links improve your site page's PR value. Outbound links may degrade your site's PR value, depending upon who you link to. I've personally found that it is wisest to link to sites with at least PR4. I will make exception only for targeted, well-designed sites that appear to be heading some place and who also offer me exceptional page placement.

3. The more your pages link to each other, the higher your site's internal page rank value. Many webmasters forget that their website is more than the home page. I've spent a decent chunk of time this past year making sure "theme" pages get inbound links coming to them, as well as the well-known home page link tactic.

When is a site in PENALTY?

When the site has Google PR "0" even though the site has high traffic volume in Alexa. Google will penalize a site's PR when they've violated Google's terms.

Another type of problem site is the "link farm" which is going after groups of links. I've been deleting link farm sites off of my website and my PR went from 4 to 5. I also added some pages, so it is unclear which PR strategy worked. Clearly, though, the link farms weren't helping my PR value. My general rule of linking to a site is (1) The site must be related to my site, (2) I need to at least remotely like the website design or at least appreciate their flow of traffic, (3) The links page must be published from the home page, and buried no more than 3 links deep. I choose to follow the same rules for my websites.

A surefire way to draw Google's ire is to create a mirror page over and over again within your site. Google doesn't favor "cookie cutter" pages; indeed, Google values unique content considerably higher than content copied from other sites. Also, do NOT violate other website author's copyrights, trademarks, or images! A violation of this nature can get you into direct legal conflict. I'm on the verge of reporting a site for trademark infringement against one of my sites, as I write this article. It is a problem on the web. Please don't contribute towards illegal activities. If a site reports you to Google as violating their copyright, trademark, or image copyrights, your site is more than likely going to be flagged as a problem and you might lose your PR value.

So, what does this mean to the average webmaster or blogger?

If you want to increase your web site's PR value, follow this strategy:

1. Increase the number of high quality content pages within your site. The easiest way to do this is with blog publishing software, such as Blogger or Word Press. I've got more information on blogging at http://www.howbloggersmakemoney.com/.

2. Increase the number of high quality content links to your site's important pages. One way to do this is to find other blogs with comment fields. Find something relevant in the blog to discuss and post, with a link back to your site. Most bloggers will appreciate the comment IF it is sincere. Yes, we can tell the difference between comment-SPAM and sincere comments, so just be a decent person and be sincere.

3. Create media buzz, which will generate more links back to you. This can be done through one of the following methods:

a. Issue a Press Release.
b. Start a Contest. Publicize it on sites that feature contests.
c. Invite Other Bloggers to Guest Post.
d. Post articles to Blog Carnivals. I am working on a complete write-up on blog carnivals, both how they operate and how to maximize traffic through blog carnivals. Look for it at http://www.howbloggersmakemoney.com/.
e. Visit forums and comment in forums, with links back to your sites.

This is a start, but there are many ways to generate buzz. Find some methods and try a few for your website.

4. If you are trying to gain PR against a competing site, avoid linking with them directly or mentioning them by name in any way that might be interpreted by Google as a link (including in your meta tags). Directly linking to an article positioned above your article may position that page above yours in Google's PageRank calculation.

TIP: There is a way around (4) above, which will enable you to link to a site without impacting your Google PR. It is called the "no follow" rule.

This is a tag Google implemented around 2005 that essentially tells Google's web search spiders to "ignore" the link. It is marked with "rel" in HTML CODE. Use it as follows:

Insert the code for no follow into the HTML script. You may see a more detailed description on this at Phil Craven's site http://www.webworkshop.net/pagerank.html.

When the Google spiders see this "rel" code, along with the ="nofollow", the spiders will completely ignore the link. This is the cleanest and simplest method to protect against outbound linkage causing PR drainage from your site.

The PageRank value displayed in the toolbar is NOT the actual PR value for your site. Actually, it is just a number within the range of 3 of what your PageRank might be, nevertheless, it is a good approximate tool for traffic.

The table everyone keeps asking me for:


What type of traffic does each PR symbolize?


To the best of my ability, I have determined that PR usually represents traffic. The range for each PR varies, but usually flows within this scale:

Pages___PR #__ Monthly Uniques ___ Approx. Ad Value/mo.

1-10____ 1-2____ 300 or less. _________ $5
11-51___ PR3___ 300 - 3K ___________ $20
51-200__ PR4___ 3K - 15K ___________ $200
201-1K__ PR5___ 15K - 150K__________ $5K
1K-5K___PR6___ 150K - 3M__________ $30K
5K-10K__PR7___ 3M - 9.9M__________ $300K
11K-15K_ PR8___ 10M - 15M__________ $3M
16K-25K_PR9___ 16M - 70M _________ $10 Million +
26K-?___ PR10__ 70M+ ____________ $100 Million +

The total site pages may vary depending upon content. The Ad Value is approximate and it must be noted that sites with far less traffic make far more ad money through their structure, and sites with far more traffic make less than these numbers. This is provided as a general rule of thumb from my best estimates.

As for the money, I've known people with PR6 sites who claim to make millions off their website. I've known one peer site whose PR6 claims to make over $1,000 per day in total ads. Another blogger with PR5 rank claims to earn $5,000 per month. My own PR5 website is not making anywhere close to that yet. So, again, this is a guideline, not a rule.

I know others who ought to have much higher PR, but their business isn't really web-related, which causes a drop. It helps to have web-rich content that circulates and pulls other web traffic in order to maximize your page's value.

Note: just because a site has PR4 does not mean that it has 10,000 users visiting per month. If the site has high proportion of INbound links and hardly any OUTbound links, and the INbound links have Google PR values of "4" or higher, the page ranked 3 may move up to a 4 based upon perceived value of the site through the quality of linkage.

Table last adjusted on January 3, 2008.

Side note: When compiling this list, I was dismayed and disgusted by the sheer number of "porn" sites proliferating around PR5 - PR6 status. Don't people have more to do than look at naked images of other people? Seriously!

My last tip in wrapping up this article is this:

TIP: Deep directory structures mess with PR negatively. It is more wise to have a shallow directory structure if you wish to maximize each page's PR value.

I wish you well with increasing your site's PR value. If you want to discuss PageRank in more detail, either comment to this post or use the Hire ARRiiVE button in the sidebar at http://arriive.blogspot.com/.
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Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Special nod to Phil Craven at WebWorkshop.net, where I recommend you head if you want to get into statistical analysis. Phil's article on Page Rank was especially helpful to remind me of the "no follow" rule.

ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939. SUBSCRIBE to our feed to grow your business.