How to Write Ad Copy That Sells
In our fast-paced society we all want quick results, delivery now, quick customer service, overnight shipping, etc. Why is that? The reason is simple -- "Time Is Money!" More...

What Is Persuasion?
So many people often ask me what my definition for persuasion is. So let me give you a rough guide of what I believe persuasion to be. First of all, persuasion is the act of getting someone... More...

Presentations - The Best Style is Versatile
Sue was presenting to financial advisors about her company's new fund. Her slides were spectacular and the numbers spoke for themselves. It was a very lucrative product to sell. More...

The Ten Easiest Ways To Lose Your Customers
Most of us are involved in some form of business acquisition for our respective companies. We all know that winning business often requires a significant investment in time, resources and energy... More...

Team Building Strategies: Top 7 Tips For Building Trust in Distant Teams
In the past, we developed teams by putting people together and letting them spend time learning about each other before we charged them with completing assignments. More...

Listen to this week's podcast to hear an audio summary of each of the top five articles and find out which one is the BuildYourOwnBusiness article of the week.

Remember to visit www.BuildYourOwnBusiness.biz to read more great business articles.

How To Be Lucky
Have you ever read an article about somebody who was successful because they were born into wealth or they were at the right place at the right time? More...

The Importance of Questions in the Solicitation Process
Powerful questions for advanced fundraisers to use... Questions are the essential tools of the solicitation process. When you ask the potential benefactor a question... More...

Negotiation - Tactics, Tricks And Threats
Most successful negotiators recognise that the way people involved in negotiations behave does not always reflect their true feelings or intentions. We are going to look at negotiating tactics... More...

What’s Creating Workplace Conflict and 9 Easy Ways To Resolve It
A radio interviewer recently asked me if I thought there was more conflict in the workplace today than in the past. After thinking about it, I replied, “Yes, I think there is more conflict today.” More...

The EMyth Perspective
Michael Gerber in his book "The Emyth Manager," believes that "the role of the manager is to engage with the present in a fully enlightened manner while inventing the future." More...

Listen to an audio summary of each article and find out which one is our BuildYourOwnBusiness Article Of The Week when you play this week's podcast!

No Brainers: 27 Low or No-Cost Ways to Improve Your Next Tradeshow
There are lots of ways to improve your team's performance at tradeshows. From snazzy new displays to intensive training to rewards and incentives for top producers, it's difficult to even count the myriad ways... More...

4 Ways to Streamline Your Business and Increase Profits
Streamlining your business can help you eliminate money-wasters and increase your profits. Use these 4 quick tips to instantly make your business more profitable... More...

The Ten Tools of Profitable Revenue Growth
1. Revenue growth is everyone's business, so make it part of everyone's daily work routine. Every employee wants to be part of a company's growth agenda, but most don't know how. Managers need to provide them with... More...

How To Structure A Negotiation
People who are successful negotiators, always have a well thought out strategy before entering into the negotiation, are well prepared, self confident and structure the negotiation, so that... More...

Pro-Activity, Reactivity And Vilfredo Pareto
In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. More...

Listen to this week's podcast to hear an audio summary of each article an find out which one is our www.BuildYourOwnBusiness.biz business article of the week!

This week's top 5 business articles on www.BuildYourOwnBusiness.biz are as follows:

Seven Tips For Giving Effective Criticism
There are times when you are required to give criticism to others. This can be a potentially volatile situation that does not lead to improvement, and may even end up in resentment. More...

How To Create Lasting Change & Achieve Greater Success At Work
“This year, I’m going to get that raise.”
“I will get my desk organized once and for all.”
“I’ll have better work/life balance.”
“I’ll start that business I’ve always dreamed about.” More...

Seven Strategies For Inspiring People To Follow You
You can appoint a manager but leadership must be earned. There are, however, some strategies that can help you earn that mantle. In this article I will outline seven such strategies for you to use if you choose to. More...

The Lost Art Of Salesmanship
Sales are the life-blood to every business. Without sales there would be no income, and no means or justification for the business to exist. To justify the position of “sales representative”... More...

Meetings - Management Meetings - Why Are They A Waste Of Time? The 80/20 Rule
How often have you sat in a meeting thinking “This is such a waste of time. I have so many others things to do. I wish I could be somewhere else” Sound familiar? More...

Listen to an audio summary of these 5 articles on this week's podcast and discover which one is the BuildYourOwnBusiness article of the week!

Six Closing Techniques for Salespeople
If you browse the sales section of just about any well-stocked bookstore, you're likely to find a dozen or more books that have something concerning "closing the sale" in the title. More...

Asking for Feedback
Its all very well encouraging people to ask for feedback but how do you ask for it? Here are a few guidelines to help. More...

Seven Steps to Motivating People at Work
Ask people questions. There are two goals of asking questions. To find out what people are passionate about and to make sure that they know you care about what they think. More...

Leading Change; Four Principles for Staying in Control
When leading a change programme, the bare minimum requirement of a leader is to be seen to be in control. The people you are leading will have a range of anxieties about the change... More...

How to Get Inside Your Customers' and Prospects' Heads
When I was in college, the curriculum offered several courses on speaking, but I can’t recall a single course on listening. Yet a minimum of 50% of communication is attributed to a person’s ability to effectively listen. More...

Listen to this week's podcast to hear an audio summary of each article and find out which article is the BuildYourOwnBusiness.biz business article of the week, this week.

5 Steps To Dealing With Staff Problems As Soon As They Begin
Many businesses struggle to deal with under performing or 'problem' staff members. By "problem," I mean anything from persistent absence and lateness, right the way through to... More...

Top Seven Reasons Sales letters Fail
1. Failure To Understand The REAL Purpose Of Advertising... Ask any ad agent the reason to advertise and they will say things like, 'exposure', 'to be seen', or 'to get your name out there'. More...

8-Steps To Double Your B2B Sales
If you've ever found it difficult to free up time from the normal daily grind of 'putting out fires' to learn how to increase your sales dramatically, these eight marketing steps... More...

How To Deliver A Professional Sales Presentation
All professional salespeople have to be involved in a presentation at some time in their sales career and Top 5 % players present their proposals every time. More...

Ten Tips for Creating a Terrific Appraisal System
Based on my experience in helping dozens of companies create performance appraisal systems that actually work, here are ten tips that will help any company create a new performance evaluation system... More...

Instead of recording a 'Top 5 Business Articles' Podcast this week, I've decided to simply announce who is my optinion has been the top contributor to BuildYourOwnBusiness over the last year.

Listeners of last week's podcast will know that I've already announced the 5 authors who I believe have contributed the most to the BuildYourOwnBusiness website over the period.

The following business article authors aren't necessarily the top article producers by volume, but they are the authors in my opinion who have taken the time and effort to provide good quality business advice articles on a regular basis. These authors have been building a long-term relationship with readers, in the knowledge that the quality content that they publish will represent their brands extremely well for many years to come.

So many people suffer from Internet myopia. They beleive that all they need are links back to their website in order for them to be succesful online. The reality is however that operating a succesful online business isn't much different to operating a succesful offline business. Both require a good product or service, and both require good customer service. The follwing top 5 business article authors for 2006 recognise this and are in it for the long-term.

Top 5 BuildYourOwnBusiness Authors 2006

1st Place:
Jonathan Farrington ~ Specialist Subject: Sales Management ~ Personal Website: JonathanFarrington.com

2nd Place:
Bob Selden ~ Specialist Subject: General Business ~ Personal Website: NationalLearning.com.au

3rd Place:
Maria Gamb ~ Specialist Subject: Motivation ~ Personal Website: NoMoreSabbotage.com

4th Place:
Jeff Hardsey ~ Specialist Subject: Sales Management ~ Personal Website: ConvertMoreSales.com

5th Place:
Mike Teng ~ Specialist Subject: Change Management ~ Personal Website: CorporateTurnaroundExpert.com

Many thanks indeed to all the authors who have continued to make BuildYourOwnBusiness such a success in 2006. I look forward to the website becoming the undoubted number one business articles resource on the net in 2007!

Have a marvelous new year!

David Bain
Founder, www.BuildYourOwnBusiness.biz

Testomonials With Impact
Like many aspects of running your coaching business, getting valuable testimonials is part art, part science. The science is in how to make the request. The art is in working with your clients to craft a useable testimonial... More...

The Key Stages Of A Consultative Sales Cycle
Before we identify a typical “Consultative Sales Cycle”, it is important to discover if you are currently selling in a traditional way or, if in fact, you are already selling consultatively... More...

Seven Lessons To Learn From Great Sales People
Chances are this article's title gives you a strong opinion about whether or not to continue reading. You are either in sales and want to understand your work better and therefore very interested, or you are being kind and giving me until the end of this paragraph to convince you to continue... More...

55 Reasons To Send Out A Press Release
When should you send out a press release? You want to know my acid test? If it's newsworthy and if it's useful to the reader. It's that simple. There are many factors to weigh when considering the need to send out a press release... More...

The Twelve Golden Principles Of Selling
Yes, it is that time of year and it is amazing how many things go in "twelves"! I received a call from an ex-student this week, who is designing an induction programme for new recruits about to embark on a career in sales... More...

Listen to the podcast (MP3 audio file) to hear an audio summary of each article and find out which one is our BuildYourOwnBusiness article of the week!

P.S. We also announce the top five business authors of the year on this week's podcast... and that's not by volume! You won't want to miss it!

How To Begin Improving Your Networking Skills
Event, Conference And Meeting Planning Guidelines: 10 Steps To Success
2007 - A Fresh Set Of Challenges - Are You Prepared?
Getting Those Calls Returned: 5 Ways To Avoid Voice Mail Lingo
Have You Been Appreciated Recently? - 6 Ways To Feel Good About Yourself

Listen to the podcast to hear an audio summary of each business article - and find out which one is the www.BuildYourOwnBusiness.biz article of the week!

How To Write And Deliver A Dynamite Speech - Part One
Recognising Signs That Tell You Your Business Is Heading For Trouble
Lessons In Leadership From Earnest Shackleton
Sales Training Speaker Rates Sales Prospecting Training
Five Strategic Management Tasks For The Small Business Owner

Listen to the podcast now to hear an audio summary of each article and find out which one is our business article of the week!

3 Keys To Grow Your Business
The Leadership Essential
Customer's Loyalty: The Very Fibre Of Your Business
Key To Success: Motivation
A Top Sales Speaker Tip For Sales Effectiveness

Listen to the podcast to hear an audio summary of each article and discover which one is our BuildYourOwnBusiness article of the week.

Is There A Better Way To Give Bad News? A 6 Step Process
Understanding Buyer Motivation
How To Select The Right Person For The Job
How To Become An Active Listener
Post Mortem: The Sale That Got Away

Listen now to hear an audio summary of each article and find out which one is the BuildYourOwnBusiness article of the week!

What Are The Characteristics Of The Very Best Sales Performers?
The Devastating Impact Of Customer Complaints
How To Prepare A Professional Presentation
An Overview Of Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising
The Five R's - A Negative Thought Stopping Procedure

But which business article will be our article of the week? Listen to the audio article summaries to find out!

Fundamentals Of Preparing An Effective Business Plan
Do Link Exchanges Still Work?
Time Management Strategies For Modern Life Syndrome
Are You Feeding Your Sales With A Teaspoon?
The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Do You Have What It Takes?

Listen to this week's podcast to hear an audio summary of each article and find out which one is our BuildYourOwnBusiness Business article of the week.

How To Raise Venture Capital
Tap Customer Referrals, The Hidden Gold Mine
How To Develop Rapport - That Most Essential Business Skill
3 Simple Tips To Turn Your Business Hours Into Gold
The Seven Deadly Sins Of Management

Listen to this weeks' podcast to hear an audio summary of each article and find out which one is the BuildYourOwnBusiness articles of the week.

Seven Principles For Business
Leading Change: Four Principles For Staying In Control
5 Success DNA Principles ALL Entrepreneurs Need To Know!
The Very Best Sales Managers Are Great Influencers
Defining The Traits Of A Successful Leader

Listen to this week's podcast to hear an audio summary of each article and find out which one is our BuildYourOwnBusiness article of the week!

Ten Suggestions For Succesful Sales Meetings
How To Build A Business Empire With Only One Employee: YOU!
Are You Receiving Enough Customer Complaints?
B2B Sales Leads Success Checklist
Email Etiquette - What's The Missing Link?

Listen to the podcast to hear an audio review of each article.

Are Happy Employees Motivated Employees?
The Greatest Lesson Is To Learn Faster Than Your Competitors
How To Write An Effective Sales Letter
Lessons From The DotCom Bubble
When The Prospect Does Not Want Your Product

But which article will be top of the pile this week? Listen to the podcast to find out!