Sales Tools & Advice - Business 101


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Business Tools & Advice

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Article Thumbnail Human Resources: Is your performance management system producing mediocrity or excellence?
Aug 27, 2010
When was the last time your performance appraisal system was overhauled? If the current approach has been around for more than five years, it’s probably time for a revamp. Here’s where to start.
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Article Thumbnail Business Solutions Forum: How did I become such a poor communicator?
Jul 28, 2010
I started my own business about 15 years ago. Recently, several employees approached me, concerned that they weren’t being kept informed about plans and results. In essence, they were complaining about my communications. How could I have gone from a great communicator to a poor communicator in a just a few years? Our Expert Network sheds some light on the situation.
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Article Thumbnail Think About It: OIWC asks, what do you need to know about finances to advance your career?
Jul 23, 2010
Even if numbers are not your area of expertise, growing your understanding of finance basics demonstrates your commitment to professional development and an interest in your company’s well-being -- two traits that are key to advancing your career.
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Article Thumbnail Biz 101: Does your company have social media use guidelines? Maybe it should…
Apr 19, 2010
With the proliferation of social networking, both during work and personal time, a company needs to take a look at what its employees are doing and saying -- and guidelines could be in order. SNEWS talks to experts and offers a sample policy.
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Article Thumbnail Think about It: OIWC asks, do you know how to communicate like a pro?
Apr 14, 2010
Do you know what it takes to communicate like a pro in today’s business world? Hint: Convey power, confidence and authority. Read on to learn how.
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Business Trends

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Article Thumbnail Social networking, mobile email influences business marketing
Aug 4, 2010
Statisticians have been analyzing the impact of email, mobile devices and social networking on consumer buying habits. Like trying to capture lightning in a bottle, they’re trying to pinpoint the value of these mediums to influence purchasing. See what the numbers have to say and what it could mean to your business.
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Article Thumbnail Are you ready to jump the firewall and create a social workplace?
Jul 21, 2010
Social network applications have been focused on the social marketplace, where companies can interact more directly with their customers. This way of communicating has permanently and profoundly changed the way we communicate. Find out how it’s on the brink of changing the way we work, too.
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Article Thumbnail More companies using social media for job recruiting
Jul 14, 2010
If a recent Jobvite survey is any indication, social networks will be leading all other recruiting channels in terms of planned investment by many employers as the economy continues its recovery. SNEWS has the insight and report on linking up for jobs with LinkedIn and more.
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Article Thumbnail Did you hear?...Facebook fans prove their worth in dollars, studies show
Jul 2, 2010
With more than 320 million people on Facebook around the world, companies are hoping to quantify the value of their participation. Two studies are proving that a brand’s Facebook fans as customers provide more value than non-fans and the fans have higher brand awareness.
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Article Thumbnail Retailers retool to fight rise in return fraud, retail crime
Jun 4, 2010
Retailers are now turning to technology to fight the growing problem of return fraud, which can cost the industry billions of dollars, and the growth of retail crimes that drain stores of revenues.
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Effective Management

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Article Thumbnail The SNEWS View: Bitter employees post-company acquisition share woes with customers
Jan 29, 2010
Employees willing and eager to share their displeasure about their employer with their customers must be truly disgruntled. And that just isn’t good for business. Firing them isn’t a good choice since that’s akin to shooting the messenger.... Read about our latest shopping experience, and think about it.
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Article Thumbnail Business 101: Re-evaluate, re-create, re-visit to keep your retail biz humming
Oct 5, 2009
Does your store need to re-evaluate, re-create, re-emphasize, and re-visit? In late summer, a SNEWS shopper went into Sacramento Exercise Equipment in California -- but something was a bit off, not quite right. There's something to be said for intuition, and in the end, we -- and the store involved -- learned a whole lot more from this shopping experience...and we are sure you will too.
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Article Thumbnail Business 101: Effective delegation
Delegation. It sounds simple and most of us assume we have a good understanding of what it means, but it's probably one of the most misunderstood terms used in business.
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Article Thumbnail Business 101: Job Descriptions, Organization Charts and Performance Evaluations
When you and your spouse started the business 15 years ago, it was hard work to get things up and running and keep the boat afloat, but communication was easy and organization was a word you probably didn't use often. Back and forth each day in the car, around the dinner table, every day, every night, you discussed the business, made plans, worried together and made it work.
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Article Thumbnail Business 101: Running Effective Meetings
Meetings are essential to every organization. Knowing how to set them up and manage them efficiently are the keys to using meetings to your advantage.
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Money Matters

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Article Thumbnail Money Matters: Oct. 15 extended tax deadline looms -- are you ready?
Oct 7, 2009
For the more than 10 million taxpayers, including small business owners, who requested extensions to file their 2008 returns, the Oct. 15 deadline is nearly upon you. Be it from disorganization, procrastination or lack of money, don't suffer the penalties the IRS could exact on you.
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Article Thumbnail Money Matters: Executive Compensation -- How much is too much?
Jul 13, 2009
Executive compensation has become a hot topic for consumers and employees as we all grapple with the effects the recession has had on our wallets and our companies. So how much is too much pay? Could you scale down if you had to? Does it matter what your employees think about executive pay?
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Article Thumbnail Tax Planning, Part 3: Evaluating tax strategies
This is the third article in a three-part series on tax planning and focuses on evaluating tax strategies that will affect the long-term health of your company.
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Article Thumbnail Tax Planning, Part 2: Tax reduction options -- fringe benefits and retirement plans
This is the second article in a three-part series on tax planning. Our first segment discussed ways to project your profit as the starting point for year-end tax planning. We all know the old saying, "You've got to give a little to get a little." Well, did you know that when you offer your employees fringe benefits it could improve your tax situation? In this segment we want to review employee fringe benefits, including retirement plans, as tax-reduction tools...
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Article Thumbnail Tax Planning, Part 1: Projecting operational outcome and choosing business entities
With the end of the year approaching, a quote from Benjamin Franklin comes to mind: "In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." Surely, old Ben would agree that now is the ideal time for business owners to engage in year-end tax and business planning. This planning sets the stage for business owners to not only save taxes in the current year, but in future years as well. It is a must for any business, be it a sole proprietorship, partnership, Limited Liability Company (LLC), S corporation or C corporation.
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Retail Merchandising Training

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Article Thumbnail SNEWS® Retail Buyer Training 101 article finder
Welcome to our Article Finder to the 10-part Retail Buyer Training series produced by SNEWS® and authored by Michael Hodgson and Geoff O'Keeffe. This 10-part series (plus one bonus feature, an online merchandising calculator) will provide in easy-to-read and understand format, the essential tools to being a good store buyer.
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Article Thumbnail SNEWS® Retail Merchandising Training 101: Sales efficiency and real estate
We've now covered all the basic merchandising calculations, planning and open-to-buy. Last time, we covered the ways our merchandise selections, location and promotions relate to the flow of customers in stores and how and when shoppers convert to buyers. In so doing, we see that the real investment and the biggest contributor to our overall profitability is our inventory: We're merchants after all, and selling things is what we do. Selling things pays for everything…even that upcoming expedition you're hoping to take to Mount Plentiful Dreams. The following discussion on staff hours and retail floor space efficiency may seem to veer slightly afield of pure merchandising. But once again, it's the product that is our biggest investment (and in many cases, our only real asset) and we want it to work harder than everyone.
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Article Thumbnail SNEWS® Retail Merchandising Training 101: Traffic and Conversion
Many of us in specialty retail like to think of our clientele as friends, or at least patrons whose repeat business we rely upon. We train our staff to take as much time as each unique shopper needs to make a decision and that's a large part of being a specialist. We carry better products. Our market has to do with aspirational versus commodity shopping. In this discussion of traffic and conversion rates, we aren't suggesting you abandon your concept of customers as friends and people and start seeing them simply as numbers. But these metrics can be key pieces of data by which you can...
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Article Thumbnail SNEWS® Retail Merchandising Training 101: History and Analysis
By now you have most of the essential building blocks of planning and managing your sales and inventory under your belts. While we know you'd rather be heading out for a paddle, trail run or to the climbing gym, you still have work to do…so sit back down. What follows is the part we'd all like to skip, but we suggest it may be the real key to your being able to avoid mishaps and repeat successes in the future: History and its analysis.
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Article Thumbnail SNEWS® Retail Merchandising Training 101: Preseason strategies
We want to offer you a few tools and strategies for managing your preseason buying. For the sake of these examples, we'll assume you have trade shows to attend. We'll also assume you will do more than a little of this preseason preparation in your store...
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Other

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Article Thumbnail Business 101: How long should you wait for a business appointment?
Nov 4, 2009
King Louis XVII of France once said, "Punctuality is the courtesy of kings." Nearly 200 years later, some businesspeople still haven't perfected this courtesy. If you have an appointment to meet someone, and that person is late, how long should you wait?
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Article Thumbnail Business 101: Do your legwork to score that job
Sep 18, 2009
OK, you've secured an interview for a position that really interests you. How can you differentiate yourself from other qualified candidates under consideration? Research on your potential employer will help you stand out from the crowd. The more you know going into the interview, the more comfortable you'll feel and the more confidence you'll project. Knowledge is indeed power in the interview environment.
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Article Thumbnail Think About It: OIWC asks, what is the best way to get what you want?
Jun 17, 2009
How can people be more successful at getting what they want? Good communication skills go a long way, but we've laid out six effective tactics to help you negotiate or persuade someone to accept your point of view -- whether it's getting your project approved or finagling a pay raise.
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Article Thumbnail You are more important than “just a….”
"Lately, in the course of phone calls to various companies and in emails, I have had folks respond to a question I’ve asked with, “I’m just a…” (fill in the blank e.g. intern, receptionist, sales rep, warehouse employee, stocker, cashier, delivery person, etc.)“I am just a…” What does that mean, really?
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Article Thumbnail Think About It: OIWC asks, what can a mentor do for you?
May 15, 2009
When you take stock of the business relationships in your life, do any of them qualify as mentors? For some businesswomen, influential mentors seem to flow seamlessly in and out of their lives. For some, however, the appearance of mentors has been infrequent at best throughout their careers. Are they missing out? Perhaps.
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Featured Content
Human Resources: Is your performance management system producing mediocrity or excellence?
Aug 27, 2010
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Merchandising Know-How: Creating customized displays to impact sales
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