Steve Pohlit – Page 24

Is Your Business Strategy Largely Determined By How You Feel?

How we feel about anything is a great barometer for prioritizing an action plan. If you feel a major pain in your chest, the actionable options and the time frame for implementation are generally clear. However, once we move past a life threatening emergency, we have a tendency to not move as purposely.

Why is it that we often take a “let’s see what happens” approach? Actually there are many reasons. We rely on the news to tell us how we are doing. Currently the news reports the US is in a recession so we decide to accept that and feel bad. We also decide to live in fear. We fear lost sales and profits, we fear losing our business or our jobs and more. This feeling bad or feeling negative state results in us being “off our game”. Life a professional athlete, we don’t perform to our potential.

There a many companies in a hiring freeze and have indefinitely suspended pay increases even when they are deserved by a star person’s performance. The valued employees in place are asked to do more for the same or less pay. Businesses scale back on marketing programs, investments in technology and in general any spending that seemingly hurts short term cash flow and earnings.

All of these actions and more have a direct negative impact on long term results. When the news tells us things are getting better and we decide to be back “on our game”, we find valuable employees leaving for a better place to work, we find competitors who have become stronger rather than weaker while we were holding back and we find a shortage of excellent outside talent to help us with projects that are now coming out of hibernation.

Does this scenario sound familiar? If you are younger than 25 it may not. But if you are under 25 pay attention and maybe it will be you who will learn from the current economic experiences. Maybe it will be you who decides there is no law for us ever to be in an economic downturn. There is no law that requires us to feel bad or be angry about anything.

We have an opportunity at the start of each day to move forward or stagnate and eventually fade away. I suggest you decide right now to move your business forward.

The Top 5 Action Steps For Moving Your Business Forward Starting Today
1. Decide what revenue and profit before tax you want to report for the year ended twelve months from today.
2. Roll those numbers back to what you want to report one month from now and for each subsequent month for this next year. (It makes no difference when you are starting this. Use the twelve month horizon right now.)
3. For the next two months, roll the revenue and profits number back to what your business needs to do each week starting this week to hit your monthly target.
4. Translate your two month weekly and monthly targets into specific action plans with assigned accountability.
5. Measure actual vs. planned performance with close attention to your actual vs. planned cash position. Support and hold people accountable for performance.

Taking purposeful action is the key to moving forward. The alternative is to sit back read the news to find out how good or bad you feel. Your choice. (If you would like to discuss these steps and how I have helped companies effectively implement these for long term business performance improvement, contact me at 727-587-7871.)

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, peace and abundance.

Steve Pohlit http://www.stevereports.com

Network with me on Facebook: LinkedIn: MySpace: Follow me on Twitter

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working Click Here For The Free Report

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size. Click Here For The Free Report

Steve is the President of International Business Consulting Resources. His firm specializes in guiding companies to rapid increases in revenue and profits with a sustainable growth rate. Don’t miss my FREE Report: How To Make More Money With Your Business Now and Long Term I am building my practice and welcome new client inquiries. Call me for a fee consultation at 727-587-7871 Remember many of my business building articles can be found at Steve Reports and my prosperity building tool (best tool ever for helping you manifest your goals and dreams) is The Prosperity Tool Chest and guiding articles posted very often at Prosperity Tip

How To Select Part Time or Temporary CFO, Controller Services

Credentials, Experience, Cultural Fit are the three keys to selecting the right professional for your Temporary CFO or Interim Controller staffing requirements. The purpose of this video is this introduce me, Steve Pohlit and my firm International Resources, www.IRConsultingInc.com to you and your business.

There are really only two primary reasons you may be considering temporary, part time or interim professional assistance. The first you already understand and that is to fill a void in your business. You have an immediate need for assistance and you are evaluating your options for filling that need. The second one you may not have thought about and that is where your company is not of the size or financial strength to support a full time professional with the right experience and skill set.

Credentials, Experience and Fit:

I am a currently licensed CPA and my MBA is from Xavier University. My experience as a CFO and CEO is extensive in numerous industries. My experience also includes ten years with the largest public accounting and consulting firm in the world.

Our goal is to have the right match for your business. This is why it is very important we have a clear understanding of your business and business requirements. We will then match our best professional for the assignment.

Guarantee

We guarantee your satisfaction with the professional assigned to your company. While rare, occasionally there is a mismatch. We will replace anyone who is not meeting your expectations. Of course there are no long term contracts and the service you engage us to perform can be terminated with one week’s notice.

Contact

Steve Pohlit, President
International Resources
IR Consulting, Inc.
www.IRConsultingInc.com
727-224-4743
Email Contact Click Here

How This One Tool Will Guide You To Profitable Business Growth

The value of the tool presented in this video is huge. It is named The Gold which represents its value for you and your business. It is the foundation for achieving all business performance goals.

I use it on every business consulting project and with every executive coaching project. The Gold is used when my firm provides interim CFO and controller services. The Gold is used for special purpose project management as the logic can be applied to every function within a business.

You can use this right now to help your business and if you need assistance with implementation, I welcome all inquiries. Steve Pohlit 727-587-7871.

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, peace and abundance. Steve Pohlit http://www.stevereports.com

Network with me on Facebook: LinkedIn: MySpace: Follow me on Twitter

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working Click Here For The Free Report

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size. Click Here For The Free Report

Thank You Frank Kern.. You Are The Reason For This Video

An objective review of this video by almost anyone would say – don’t release it. I can come up with over a hundred reasons why this video should not be released. However, I look at Frank Kern. Have you ever watched any of his videos? Google him and take a look. Inspirational! If this guy can deservedly make 10 ‘s of millions annually with his style, I know I can provide 10 times that value. Love your style and valuable content Frank.

My message to you is this: if you wait until you like your own video, article, website, blog material before you make it public, it will never be public.

I founded YouTube Mastery on Facebook and YouTubeMastery.net I did that because video is huge and there is so much compelling evidence of how video is driving traffic to websites and driving up ranking in search engines, you would have to be nuts not to use it. OK and so there are a lot of people who are nuts. Video remains my number one marketing recommendation.

My primary business is coaching executives and restucturing companies for long term improvements in profit performance and asset management. The following video is the first in a series that describes my business consulting practice and as the series develops offers specific guidance as to what you can expect during a consulting engagement as well as valuable tips that will help your business make more money right now.

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, peace and abundance.

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Network with me on

Facebook:

LinkedIn:

MySpace:

Follow me on Twitter

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working Click Here For The Free Report

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size. Click Here For The Free Report

My Social Networking and Social Marketing Policy

I have adopted the following based on what has been released by Brian Campbell. Brian encourages others to adopt this posture and you are invited to use it if it fits. You will have EVEN more opportunities if you adopt this policy or one similar for yourself.

I’m sending this message out to all of my Facebook friends. It is my policy regarding how I work and interact on social networks including Facebook.

This is an open invitation for you to experience new growth and tap into the power of the connections that I’ve made on Facebook.

I, Steve Pohlit give you FULL permission to:

1. Post a link to your website on the wall of my Facebook profile.
2. Tag me in a note that’s on a topic you think I may be interested in without mentioning my name in the note itself I appreciate all credible references to me but those are not required.
3. Ask me a general question on my personal profile’s wall.
4. Post a link to any videos, pictures or websites that you think that I might enjoy or that the majority of my friends might enjoy.
5. Say hello, initiate a conversation or let me know more about you.
6. I trust your judgement to post whatever you think is appropriate. If it helps you, please post!

I ask that you post something that you think has value. If you do not add value and include an affiliate link, I may delete it and I am likely to ask that you do not do that again. I will use the same method you used in posting to politely ask you to stop. Some of my frieds are more tolerent of spam. My profile is a public picture of me and my network. I choose to send positive energy personally and through my profile.

If you post something that is valuable, I may take the time to view it and perhaps I’ll share it with others. I might comment on it, or say nothing but simply remember that you’re a value creator and I’ll have a positive impression of you that may lead to a business relationship with me or friendship at some point in the future with me or my friends.

If you have a blog, website, product or service that you’ve created that my network would like to know about, feel free to tell me about it by posting on my wall. Feel free to include a link to the site with a brief description of what benefits someone would achieve by vising the site.

If you tag me in a note that’s related to something you know I’m interested in (social networking, Internet marketing, building business profits, creating wealth, helping people, law of attraction, giving, healthy living, or spirituality) then the people who are connected to me for those purposes will come and read your note and if it provides value, you’ll build a loyal following.

If you tag me in all of your notes just to get free publicity for yourself, you have my blessings. Even if you think you’re a competitor of mine, go ahead and promote yourself. I don’t have any competition anyway because the value I create cannot be diminished by the value you create.

I’m glad to provide a platform for you to reach people with your message through me.

I want you to provide value to the world and I don’t want to hinder your success. I believe that my network of connections on facebook is one of the most talented, creative and caring groups of people with a true commitment to success and by allowing you the freedom to promote the value that you give to the world, you’re helping me fulfill my mission in life by serving my friends.

There’s one other thing I’ll point out about allowing you the freedom to post freely on my wall, tag me in notes, or do other things to get in my mini-feed. This action benefits me too. That’s right! By posting your opportunities on my wall, you’re actually helping people find out about me and helping me deliver my value to more people. So we both win!

When I asked you earlier in this note to adopt a similar strategy, I did so because by allowing people to tag you and post on your wall you will experience more rapid growth.

Facebook is designed to send new people to you if you allow people freedom to connect with you in the ways I’ve explained above. If you try to restrict people, you’re restricitng your own growth.

If you’re reading this SteveReports.com blog post as a note on facebook, I’ve tagged a few people. I’ve tagged my friends and colleagues that I think would benefit from adopting a similar open-door policy. Many of the people I’ve tagged already have this type of policy, although perhaps they aren’t aware of it.

The people who I’ve tagged are my friends, and the message to potential “spammers” mentioned is not in any way addressed to the people tagged above.

The message to potential “spammers” is more of a mindset that I have towards these type of people that I would like you to adopt, and as my friends I know that you have no intentions to spam. I’ve simply shared with you how I feel about what everyone else calls “spammers.”

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, peace and abundance.

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Network with me on

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working Click Here For The Free Report

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size. Click Here For The Free Report

How To Build Business Profits Today With Just This One Action

There are two parts to this article. The first part offers people in business a reminder of what can and must be done right now for your business. The second part offers my point of view on who is responsible for the less than exciting economic news headlines that seem to be part of our daily routine.

The Number One Action Step You Can Take To Grow Your Business In Difficult Economic Times and In Booming Economic Times.

Spend 50% of your time finding out how you can provide more value to your existing customers. As you find out then deliver that value. Spend 30 % of your time developing new customers. In summary, spend 80% of your time marketing. That’s it. If you are not growing your business, you are killing your business.

Who Is Responsible For The Negative Economic Events We Hear About Daily?

Do you remember there are rules and regulations already in place governing the banking system? Really doing a good job right?

Do you remember Sarbanes-Oxley? This was and is the law in response to the Enron fiasco and a number of other business situations awhile back. The idea was to prevent similar disasters from recurring. People seemed to forget there has been a professional internal controls standard already in place along with public company rules and regulations governed by the SEC. So with well founded governing policy already in place we enacted a law that has cost taxpayers billions of dollars and what is the result?

We have huge losses. The financial markets are in turmoil and so what is the conclusion? Our elected officials say we need more regulation. Where is it in the founding principles of our government does it say “we the people want the government to stick its nose everywhere we live and do business.”

Obviously I am a major advocate of very little federal government regulation and so a fair question is what are the alternatives?

I always look to what works for answers. In the history of our economy there are plenty of examples that provide guidance. When businesses provide value equal to or more than the price charged, people buy what is offered. When a business comes along and offers a competitive alternative that is superior to what is available people vote with their wallets. If what is offered by a business is not profitable for the business it ultimately fails. One example of this is the train wreck that occurred in the Internet Industry a number of years ago. Companies had a great story and were funded by private investors, but had no substantive product that was in demand by the market place or at least at a price the market was willing to pay. The economics of supply and demand worked perfectly. Companies failed and private investors got smarter. Where there was abuse, people went to Club Fed. Basic governance worked.

This portion of this article started with the question of who is responsible for the economic mess we seem to be in right now? Here is the answer……look in the mirror. We have allowed our governments to grow out of control and the ripple effect is an economic mess across this country that extends to international markets.

It is my belief I am totally responsible for everything that happens in my life. It took me a long time to understand that. Once I did, I can point to a noticeable improvement. Extending that to our economy and even beyond our borders, I know that when each person stops looking to others for a solution and delivers the message to people in public office that we have had enough with the regulations that don’t work, we as a country will grow stronger. We have the right to live our intentions in freedom and peace and we are sitting back and allowing others to weaken that right. It is time to say no more.

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, peace and abundance.

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working Click Here For The Free Report

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size. Click Here For The Free Report

Is It A Recession? Is It A Depression? Doesn’t Matter ….Stop Your Bitching and Moaning And Take Purposeful Action

The last thing my readers need is another economic analysis report or some suggestion that I or anyone else out there flapping their jaws really know all the facts about the reason for current climate. Ladies and gentlemen. reading those headlines and spending time analyzing the crap in the news is a monumental waste of God given talent. Stop your bitching and moaning and take responsibility for what you have control over which is your life. All change starts with one person. Do you want to know who that person is? Look in the mirror.

If your business is suffering, if you have lost your sources of cash flow, if you are feeling tired, down, stressed or in general not very good, recognize this: it is very true that the way you feel is absolutely a direct result of how you think. Don’t believe it? OK by me if you want to be a martyr. For those of you that want to take responsibility here is a quick 5 Step Plan to move forward fast:

A Five Step Speed Action Course For Achieving Your Goals In Changing Economic Times:

1. Recognize that most people you meet and talk to are going to be bitching and moaning about something or multiple things. Don’t play in that sandbox. There are a small group of people totally optomistic about the unlimited possibilities. These are the people you want to “hang out” with. So you don’t know anyone like that? I’ll tell you one source where I have met some wonderful people. Register for an account at www.Facebook.com and www.twitter.com You can begin by adding me (Steve Pohlit) as a friend and if you don’t think I am wonderful, you will soon find a large number of people who are.

2. Understand the dynamics of doing business are always changing. Since 1994 with the introduction of the Internet browser, the rate of advancement continues to accelerate. Do you remember a few years ago where Google Adwords was all the rage for on line marketing? Do you know the impact social networking is having on the Adwords market? When you look at the financial results of Google the impact may not seem obvious because Google is still the 800 pound gorilla. But if you become active in the social networking markets like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and nearly daily growing rate of others you will see changing trend lines. I recently activated a site www.youtubemastery.net that begins to teach people how to use video to market their business and products on line. I can’t imagine recommending that even as recently as three years ago. I know at that point there were some progressive internet marketers using video but to encourage brick and morter businesses to use it would not have been very credible for me at that time. Now it would be irresponsible if I didn’t recommend it and teach it.

3. Nothing is the same forever…nothing. I am very familiar and experienced with using eBay stores as an adjunct to selling physical products using internet sites and retail stores. Several years ago the eBay model seemed to be an unmovable foundation for the auction business. In the last two weeks I was asked for my expert evaluation of a global trading platform that is very popular in the Europe. The person who contacted me was considering making a commitment of money and time to this business that is scheduled to enter the US. When I started studying this model I was amazed to discover that most of it was a completely new way of lookng at auctions and while I am not personally a person who has an interest spending time on landing an eBay deal, I can see myself playing in this new areana. Now since its origin is Europe, I had some difficulty understanding it. Once I thought I “got it” I developed an explanaton which you can see at www.dublian.com The point is whether you are a multi-billion dollar business, an entrepreneur, or an employeed person with a company you feel is well established for the long term, don’t fall into the trap of complacency. I’ll bet 6,500 people employed by Wachovia felt their position was secure until they discovered in the papers that their employer lost over $8 billion and was cutting their job. Nothing is permanent. My strongest advise with every business is the same: be very aggressive in taking care of current customers and growing market share. Do you think that advice would change under different economic conditions? It hasn’t and it won’t

4. If you are running a business with employees you should be very consistent on your expectatons for performance. It seems that when revenue and profits are under pressure, management starts taking a close look at employee performance. In some cases they don’t even care they just cut. Just cutting is rarely justified and is analogeous to removing a body part if you want to lose weight. That approach is just plain stupid. There is no change in the guidance here: The formula is A-P=V which stands for actual minus plan = variance. There must be a person accountable for each key variance in your business. That is how their performance is measured. Is it a simple as that. Yes and no which is why companies engage my me and my firm for assistance.

5. If you are repsonsible for a business that is really feeling financial and cash flow stress, every day you wait to call for assistance is a waste of very precious time needed to define and execute a turnaround plan. I have written about this before and will write about it again because it is a fact. Please visit www.turnaround-consulting-firm.com or call me direct right now at 727-587-7871.

The blessing of a changing economy is that is results in an opportunity to re-evaulate how you are running your business and your life. The people reading this either accept that they are responsible for what happens to them or blames everyone else. For a long time I had the mind-set it wasn’t me. Four years ago I concluded that mind-set was completely incorrect.

Accept The Responsibility and Take Action Starting Now!!

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, peace and abundance.

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working Click Here For The Free Report

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size. Click Here For The Free Report

Is It A Recession? Is It A Depression? Doesn't Matter ….Stop Your Bitching and Moaning And Take Purposeful Action

A Five Step Speed Action Course For Achieving Your Goals In Changing Economic Times:

Accept The Responsibility and Take Action Starting Now!!

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, peace and abundance.

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working Click Here For The Free Report

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size. Click Here For The Free Report

Attention All Business Owners: 3 Steps To Activating A Corporation

Do you have a business or maybe you are thinking about having one. It could be a company with employees, an information marketing business, a mlm distributorship or maybe you are an independent contractor. If so, you should be incorporated. You may have read about the tax deductions available to business owners. If you are not taking advantage of these you may be leaving money on the table. Follow tax laws for the advantage of your business. They were written for that purpose.

I just finished setting up another Subchapter S Corp. and outlined the essential steps in this process. Most people think they need to hire a CPA or business expert to get this done. You do not. Al the information is on line. Simply take action. Note: I am not a tax advisor or attorney. I am an advocate of using readily available information for making your own decisions and taking action.

Summary of The Three Steps…Details to Follow:

1. Register with the state where you select to be incorporated. This does not need be the state of your business location or residence. My latest registration is in Nevada and I live in Florida.

2. File for an EIN number with the IRS. This is an employee identification number and can be obtained on line almost instantly once you have your corporation registered.

3. If you are filing for Subchapter S status you must fax a completed request form to the IRS with your Corporate identity (name ) and your EIN number. That is why you follow these steps in sequence. The form is easy.

Additional Details of Setting Up A Corporation:

Types of Corporations:

The most common legal entities are a C Corporation and and S Corporation with an LLC growing in popularity. Generally, if you are a entrepreneur or privately held company with one or a few shareholders, an Subchapter S is likely what you will use. Some people prefer an LLC for specific types of businesses. Do your own research then act. You can set up an S Corp or LLC and then convert to a C Corp. The reverse may difficult.

Where To Incorporate and How To Do It.

The two most popular areas are Delaware and Nevada. I liked Nevada for a number of reasons but a lot of people use the state they are in and a lot of people select Delaware. Once the state was chosen I selected a registered agent called them and in about 20 minutes they had everything they needed to file with the State of Nevada.

Two weeks and about $300 later I received my papers and at that point could register the officers with the State. Another $125 unless you are late like me and pay a $75 penalty. (Rates vary by state and so do annual renewals.)

EIN and Subchapter S Status

Once you have registered the officers which can be done on line got to the IRS site and apply for an EIN number. This is done online, you receive your EIN almost instantly and there is no additional charge.

With the EIN number go back to the IRS site and print out form 2553 if you are filing for Subchapter S status and fax it in. You do not have Sub S status until you receive a letter from the IRS confirm such status.

Other Info

Since I incorporated in the State of Nevada I set up a virtual office in Las Vegas. So my business cards show offices in multiple states which I liked. There are tons of places that do this. I found one that set me up for $50 and charges $30 per month.

Summary

I just went through this process and it was relatively easy. However I recognize if you have no experience with this it may be confusing. Normally a local CPA firm can help you for a reasonable fee. I recommend anyone in business to be incorporated. It will make your life easier when it comes to keeping your business income and deductions separate from your personal return items.

Accept The Responsibility and Take Action Starting Now!!

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, happiness and peace.

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working Click Here For The Free Report

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size. Click Here For The Free Report

5 Steps To Stop Insane Management From Driving Business Into The Ground

As a reminder the popular definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over and expecting the different results”. Most companies continue to do business the same way and blame the economy and high gas prices on their declining business results when they should be looking in the mirror. There seems to be a strong undercurrent of “I am waiting for somebody to do something vs. I am responsible.”

The operative word here is most. There are sectors of the economy that have been hit by current conditions. I will leave that analysis to economist and academics. They have a lot more expertise in such matters and enjoy the intellectual debates of cause and effect. I have a laser beam focus on what individual companies can and should be doing to achieve their potential.

I am excluding from this article any company who is in serious cash flow difficulty. When a business gets to that point, crisis management… turnaround expertise is needed. MY firm International Resources does that work and we are very good at it. I always advise if you are in that situation, call me or a firm like mine right now as time is of the essence. My direct line is 727-587-7871.

What are “The 5 Steps To Stop Insane Management From Driving Business Into The Ground?”

1. Have a very clear profit plan at each line item of business performance. Measure actual performance against plan and have clear accountability for achieving the plan line item by line item. To implement this you must have timely, accurate and relevant information. No excuses…must have.

2. When people who are accountable for line item performance consistently fail to meet the stated goals, replace them. Period!

3. The number one function in a business that will be the subject of most of the excuses is sales. These excuses come from people who do not understand how to market to a consumer who places ever increasing importance on relationships. Why do you think the community building sites like YouTube, MySpace and Facebook are in the top ten most highly visited sites globally? According to Alexa, YouTube is 3 , MySpace is 6 and Facebook is 8 ) Every business must have a relationship driven marketing strategy and then implement it. See Relationship Marketing below.

4. Always be evaluating the market including on line competitors. I wonder if Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL in retrospect would have done anything different when Google first came to market? No company is immune from being seriously weekend by competition. I look at the drugstore landscape. I live in Florida where competition is very active particularly for pharmacy prescriptions. A new format of drugstores was introduced not that long ago by Walgreens, CVS, and others with positioning of buildings with 24 hour drive through pharmacies on high cost real estate. Two things have happened with those changes. Prices skyrocketed to pay for real estate and relationships with the pharmacy customer has almost become extinct. Within this landscape I am aware of several privately held drugstores doing very well because of their attention to customer relationships.

5. Don’t push a boulder up hill. Some companies were never meant to be. People start companies or buy existing companies because they think it is a good idea. The only opinion that matter is the market. If your business was not all that strong in the past and you are basically doing everything right, the best action to stopping the profit leaks may mean closing the doors. If you are not sure Contact Me.

Reality Business: The following examples are taken from just one day’s experiences – today.

1. I was talking with a former client who is now a good friend, who told me they have exposure on a large receivable as it looks like the customer is going out of business. After asking two questions I understood that procedures installed during the consulting project were ignored. Insane management. This happens all the time where people make exceptions to sound business practices and then wonder what went wrong. Follow well founded established policies and procedures without exception. Does that mean nothing will ever go wrong? No, but the surprises will be fewer and far between.

2. During a meeting with a very successful fund manager I asked him if there was any one or two things that he attributes to his success. We were specifically talking about clients who transfer portfolios of $250,000 and higher to him from other firms. He said: “just two things: first I have a “high touch” approach which cements the relationship. The markets have been unforgiving lately. I increase my meetings with clients when competitors are shying away from making calls to people whose portfolios have been hit. Second I have marketing funnel to my target audience that has consistently worked very well.” I am not writing the details as this is proprietary but I will tell you this – you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out.

3. I was invited to lunch at a very nice restaurant in Tampa. It has a fairly steep price tag for most of the selections. There were many tables available. Like nearly every other restaurant I have ever dined, regardless of price point, when I left they have no idea who I am and have no way of inviting me back. Insane management.

All in one day!!

Relationship Marketing:

I love talking about how easy it is for retail business to install a relationship marketing program. This is actually easy for every company, but most readers can relate to experiences with restaurants, grocery stores, dry cleaners, specialty shops and other retail stores. Just ask yourself when was the last time you received a thank you note, an incentive to come in for a special on a particularly slow day or a brief questionnaire asking you how they can serve you better? It happens. I listened to a story the other night about a business getting a fax every time it rains near the lunch hour from a nearby restaurant saying “It is raining. Our business will be slow today. Come in for a free Taco.”” Of course, nearly everyone will be buying more than one taco. But isn’t that cool and how hard is that to do?

Visit http://www.localretailmarketing.com for an idea on how you can begin strengthening your customer relationships. The information is free. My firm is not if you want us to do it for you. We get it done now which can be very valuable for you.

Accept The Responsibility and Take Action Starting Now!!

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, happiness and peace.

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working Click Here For The Free Report

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size. Click Here For The Free Report

How To Use Social Media Video (YouTube) To Grow Your Business

Does 200 million page views a month catch your attention? How about knowing 41% of the members between the ages of 34 and 55 and all groups are divided nearly evenly between male and female? If that isn’t enough to get your attention consider these:

1. Members look for content by areas of interest.
2. All content is video and each video can be described using text that is rich with targeted keywords for your product or service.

Just a Couple More Things

1. The information above is about YouTube.. the 6th highest volume site on the Internet. The demographic data is for the US only and yet YouTube is International. The real number are larger but not quantified.
2. There are more than 150 social media sites on line and growing. Each one is attempting to carve out a niche of the huge general market. Of the 150, approximately one third are video sites. Once a person masters YouTube alll the skills are generally transferable to other niche market video sites.

The Action Plan Tracker

I have a business consulting firm. I teach companies how to build revenues and profits using proven principles and processes. Part of the business consulting work plan is to help the client implement an improved and more effective marketing strategy. Social media is now a required component of my updated business marketing strategy model. The numbers of people joining social media sites and becoming very active are very significant and should not be ignored.

There are a huge number of businesses that do not have websites, use blogs, test on line promotion campaigns, execute effective email campaign which are all very proven and effective marketing tools. Social media sites generally completely ignored by most companies. The exceptions are wisely building brand and loyalty.

Very recently I developed the groups YouTube Mastery on Facebook and MySpace as well as the the site www.youtubemastery.net These resources are just being developed and the website is very underdeveloped. However, I have a very clear plan and once I reach that point I take action and sacrifice some perfection. People need to know about these opportunities now and begin using all the Internet tools plus traditional marketing tools in their business now. I currently advise business owners that they need to be devoting nearly 80% of their time on marketing. Part of that 80% includes working with staff and others accountable for marketing. Marketing and developing people are the two most important areas where a business owner needs to spend their time. All other responsibilities should be delegated. What if your are an entrepreneur of one. The point is still the same.

Right Now Action Steps:

1. Join the group YouTube Mastery on Facebook
2. Visit and register at www.youtubemastery.net

These two actions will result in you getting up to speed on using social media and social media video to market your business.

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, happiness and peace.

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size.

Click Here For The Free Report

Off the topic of Business Consulting, Making More Money, Internet Marketing, Social Network.

Several weeks ago I was introduced to Reddit

I check it periodically ….. and several days ago I just read the following really cool headline.

Does anyone else ever find themselves clicking around on the net, only to suddenly sit looking at the screen wondering just what the f— it was you were actually trying to do?

Can you relate to that? I assure you I have been there – recently and will probably be there again soon.

Be well

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size.

Click Here For The Free Report

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Discover Effective Business Marketing by Following Successful Direct Response Marketers and Internet Marketers

All of my work with helping companies achieve their potential includes enhancing their marketing programs. Everything I use in that part of my consulting and coaching practice is a result of what I learned from: Dan Kennedy, Ken McCarthy, John Reese and more.

Yesterday, John Reese sent an email updating his list about the status of his latest project. Part of that email is repeated below. Be sure to read my comments after John’s remarks for very valuable free resources.

From John Reese……..

If you haven’t yet signed up for Twitter.com you
really need to do it ASAP. As you’ll soon discover,
it’s becoming a very powerful traffic-generation and
relationship-building communications tool.

I believe it’s only a matter of time before every
serious Internet marketer, blogger, affiliate,
and business owner has a Twitter account and
is using it to grow their traffic and grow their
business.

It’s completely FREE to create a Twitter account.
So go right now and create an account and
SECURE YOUR NAME (or company name)
before someone takes it first.

After you create your account (or if you already
have one) be sure to “follow” me by going to
my Twitter page and clicking “follow” under
my photo:

http://twitter.com/johnreese

* I’m announcing some important news in the
next few days… follow me on Twitter to get
the *live* updates.

Yours For Online Profits,

John Reese

—————————–

Valuable information you can use when you set up your Twitter account

1 Follow me at http://twitter.com/stevepohlit

2. Larry Chase published a great list of Twitter tools – I learned about this from a “Tweet” by a person I am following. You won’t believe the tips you get when you start following some of the people on Twitter.

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size. Click Here For The Free Report

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Business Marketing Opportunities on Facebook vs MySpace

MySpace vs. Facebook Comparison Video

Jeff Hoffman prepared a nice video on the statistical differences between MySpace and Facebook. This video is about 9 minutes long and is worth the time. The comments I posted in response to this material follow:

Jeff does a real nice job of presenting data on the demographic differences between Facebook and MySpace. What is most clear to me is that the demographics of both sites are shifting rapidly. There are people who have been successful building networks on Facebook and who are now working to do the same on MySpace. So I wouldn’t ignore MySpace based on this information.

However, given limited resources, Jeff objectively delivers the message to businesses to spend time marketing on Facebook vs. MySpace. For me there remains a very serious question when considering Facebook vs. all other marketing tools. That is whether Facebook should be used at all. I don’t see compelling evidence of the value for companies spending time developing social networking on Facebook. However, I advise all companies , entrepreneurs, and solopreneurs to be actively developing a presence on at least Facebook. I offer that advice because I believe we are just at the beginning of understanding how to market effectively on social medial sites including Facebook.

Thank you Jeff for this video and I look forward to more content on this topic.

Steve Pohlit, President
IR Consulting, Inc
http://www.IRConsultingInc.com

PS One comment I failed to include is the potentially high ROI for paid advertising on Facebook and MySpace. This should be tested.

———————-

Just Released from my new business consulting site: The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size.

Click Here For The Free Report

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

If You Are Buying A Business, Thinking of Buying A Business, or Think You Might Someday, Read This Free Report

Just Released from my new business consulting site: The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size.

Click Here For The Free Report

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com