Archive for September, 2008

Robert and I are interviewing several world-class business book authors in the weeks ahead.

For a start, we’ve already interviewed Jacoline Lowen (Author of Money Magnet)– an expert on helping entrepreneurs secure funding from investors.

The result: We’ve got several useful business resources available to give away to our loyal BusinessCast listeners and blog readers.

Find out how you can get one of the latest practical business books for FREE by listening to the BusinessCast Podcast ‘Blog Review’ Episode. 

The books that we’re currently sending out to fans are:

• Teach Yourself Project Management (2008) – Phil Baguley
• How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships (2008) – Leil Lowndes
• Money Magnet: How to Attract Investors to Your Business (2008) – J.B. Lowen ( a personal favourite of Robert’s and mine).

Remember: Subscribe to the BusinessCast Podcast at iTunes

Now that portable music devices like the iPod and mp3-enabled phones have revolutionized the way people listen to music — more and more people are listening to music (and podcasts like the BusinessCast) at work.

So, where do you stand on listening to music at your work place? Sooner or later, you’ll need to put a ’stake in the sand’ and define a policy around this practice — particularly, if your team consists of people in their 20s.

Of course, your policy about listening to music at work will vary according to the nature of the work. But, here are some practical questions for you to think through as you pull together guidelines about music at work:

Clients. To what degree does listening to music prevent employees from responding to or interacting with clients?

Deadlines/Concentration. Are there specific times of the day, week or month that require special attention to ensure accurate completion of highly technical and/or deadline-driven tasks?

I.T. Department. Does listening to music cause an unacceptable drain on the I.T. infrastructure – to initiate or support? This can be the case if ’streaming music’ is being used.

Reputation. What image are you sending to people coming to your place of work when people are seen listening to music at your work place? Is it an image that you’re comfortable with?

Employee Recruitment/Retention. Do your employees look upon listening to work as a ‘right’ or as a privilege?

Management. Do the rules about listening to music at work apply to everyone — including you and your senior management team?

Productivity. Does listening to music at work make for a more pleasant and productive environment?

Finally, whatever your policy, you’ve got to work through how it will be introduced, monitored, measured and maintained.

Remember: Subscribe to the BusinessCast Podcast at iTunes

Make sure you check out the BusinessCast Podcast ‘Blog Review’ Episode where we outline how you can get some practical business – books for free!**

Entrepreneurs have often told Robert and me that they are constantly on a ‘recruitment drive to hire good people’ and get them productive as soon as possible. That’s why Robert and I devoted an episode of the BusinessCast podcast to what entrepeneurs should/can do in order to get new candidates and get them ‘up and running’.

But, in addition to attracting and retaining your next potential employee, your advertised job description — which is very often the only tool an entrepreneur invests in when recruiting — also sends very strong messages to your next customers!

So, make sure that whatever job description you develop also answers — either implicitly or explicitly — the following questions:

• What makes your organization unique?
• Why would someone choose to work with your organization over your competitors?
• What is the personality of your company?
• What is exciting about your company?

Other things to keep in-mind:

• The job description should be professionally written, designed and layed out.
• You should be comfortable with the reputation of the online/offline publication in which you place your job description.
• Your job description also reveals your potential growth plans for competitors.
• Your job description may be monitored (and copied) by competitors.
• Your job description should be memorable and positive.

Because of these marketing-related issues, think of any job description you have posted as just as important as any ad that talks about your brand, your products and your services. In fact, given the various audiences that will review the ad — existing customers, prospects, suppliers, potential employees and potential investors — your job postings are secret and very powerful marketing tools.

Make sure you check out the BusinessCast Podcast ‘Blog Review’ Episode where we outline how you can get some practical business – books for free!**

Remember: Subscribe to the BusinessCast Podcast at iTunes

Last week, we were very excited to announce that we had sat down with Jacoline B. Lowen — author of one of the most entrepreneur-relevant resources that Robert and I have read this year: The much anticipated and reviewed, “Money Magnet: How to Attract Investors to Your Business“.

Now, you can hear for yourself some of Jacoline’s insights and practical tips for how/when you can find sources of funding to grow your business. Listen to BusinessCast Podcast #74 – Money Magnet.

Also, make sure you check out the BusinessCast Podcast ‘Blog Review’ Episode where we outline how you can get some practical business – books for free!**

Remember: Subscribe to the BusinessCast Podcast at iTunes

Balance. Is it even achievable for growing, forward-looking, ambitious and success-hungry entrepreneurs?

This topic usually stirs quite a bit of enthusiastic debate. Why? Probably because people have very different notions of what constitutes “balance” – is it about time, priorities, expenditures? Does it spill over into non-work life?

People also have distinct ideas of its importance. For example, is it even a measure that makes sense anymore? Instead, sould we be looking for ‘happiness’, ‘contentment’ or just a healthy outlook on life?

Or maybe, we should look to see how others see and interact with us as a more meaningful — and market-driven — measure that many entrepreneurs can appreciate.

So, Robert and I will be tackling the ‘moving target’ of balance in the next few weeks in an upcoming episode of the BusinessCast Podcast.

While we may not achieve the perfect balance solution, we’ll provide some practical advice. And, of course, our discussion will be balanced.

**Make sure you check out the BusinessCast Podcast ‘Blog Review’ Episode where we outline how you can get some practical business books for free!**

Remember: Subscribe to the BusinessCast Podcast at iTunes