Deimar ~ Business Tips & Strategies for Entrepreneurs

Your Employees Need Feedback

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 07:30:00 PDT

Feedback, if used well and on time, is a key tool for increasing productivity and for motivating employees.

"If you have ideas and information that will help someone perform better; it's hostile not to share them."
Anne Saunier

If we consider that today's business leaders expect workers to be project-driven, results-oriented, the approach of many companies to give feedback once or twice a year is ineffective. Worse, in many cases there is no feedback at all. Leaders have difficulty or no interest in highlighting others their shortcomings, either because they do not know how to help them to improve, they fear their comments will have a negative impact, or because they assume employees are aware of their deficiencies and know what they must do to improve. Likewise, work today is more team-oriented which difficult to assess individual performance.

During a TED talk, Bill Gates said, "We all need people who will give us feedback. That's how we improve." He continued:

"When Melinda and I learned how little useful feedback most teachers get; we were blown away. Until recently, over 98 percent of teachers just got one word of feedback: satisfactory. If all my bridge coach ever told me was that I was 'satisfactory,' I would have no hope of ever getting better. How would I know who was the best? How would I know what I was doing differently?"

Here are some points to consider in order giving a good feedback.

Feedback Is An Ongoing Discipline

One of the biggest complaints of employees have about the feedback they receive is that reviews take place too long after the performance being critiqued has occurred. If you really want people and processes around you to improve you cannot wait six months or a year to talk, you need to provide employees with feedback in a minute-by-minute basis. If the assessment is not done on time, there was no feedback.

A Form Won’t Give The Feedback Your Employees Need

Every day there are more companies that implement evaluation processes and forms in order to document that an evaluation took place (for legal purposes), rather than using them as a tool to evaluate employees.

Don’t Assume Your Peers Realize You Are Giving Them Feedback

Some people can misinterpret your feedback and think is just a simple chat at work unless you build the right context. So that this does not happen to you start the conversation with something easy like: "Now, here's some feedback." You want the other person to be aware that you are giving them an assessment of their work. Otherwise, they will assume that you have not evaluate them, and they will continue to wait for your feedback. Similarly, promotions or salary increases do not count as feedback. Employees need to know what they did to earn it, and what they need to improve to keep moving up.

You Either Give Positive Or Negative Feedback, But You Cannot Mix Them

Many leaders accepted mixing positive and negative feedback, because they believe it will be assimilated easier by the person receiving them. They use what Roger Schwarz calls the sandwich approach, ie a negative review between two positive. If a person uses this technique, it means that it not giving feedback on time, as is waiting until he can make the sandwich. Different studies have demonstrated that positive or negative feedback has a better effect if you share it as quickly as possible. Likewise, it is likely that the positive feedback you use to reduce the weight of the negative feedback on the conversation appears not to be genuine.

Reward Others Publicly, But Deliver Criticism In Private

Nobody wants to be humiliated in public, especially in front of their peers. Studies have shown that when leaders shame their employees, it has a major impact on the business. As pointed out by the research of Christine Porath and Christine Pearson published by HBR, over 50% of employees who feel they receive overly harsh criticism from their boss, decide intentionally to reduce their productivity.

Related: How-to Engage and Retain Top Employees

Focus On Being Specific, Positive And Useful, Not On The Mistake

Feedback is a great tool to create change; however, when there is only criticism it is useless. When you give feedback to someone tell them how they are making a difference. Let them know what you expect from them, and how they can improve. Help them to set a goal on which your employee or colleague can measure her or his progress on her or his shortcomings. For example, if you want someone to engage with the team, and participate more when they are brainstorming for a new product, telling her or him to talk more is not enough. Instead, tell them something, like “I know you, and I know your team could profit from your creativity and knowledge, so I want that in every meeting, you share with your team at least 1 idea.

You Cannot Expect To Improve If You Do Not Tell Them What Is Wrong

As stated by Karen May, vice president for people development at Google, it’s difficult to tell somebody that something that isn’t working about them. However, people are incredibly grateful, especially if you tell them exactly what nobody else had told them before. When you criticize at the beginning, it might be painful to the other person, even so, you are giving them the opportunity to change and to improve. Without your feedback, they will continue to commit the same errors, and behaviors repeatedly, without knowing there is something wrong.

Why Entrepreneurs Love Their Job

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Thu, 23 May 2013 07:30:00 PDT

Entrepreneurship requires taking risks, endure much stress, long working hours and instability. However, entrepreneurs are the most satisfied with their jobs, and their choice of freedom over money.

Studies show that on average a self-employed person works 4.4 more hours per week than an average employee at a company, and they are also more likely to report higher levels of stress than a typical person who is employed by someone else, this could be linked with the fact that entrepreneurs spend double the amount of time thinking about work when not at work than those who work for others. Additionally, according to the Census Bureau data, those who were in wage employment enjoy, on average, a greater income than entrepreneurs. Under these circumstances why people love to be their own boss?

Independence, Autonomy and Sense of Achievement

These are 3 factors that are repeated across different studies around the world on life and job satisfaction. For example, according to the findings of Alex Coad and Martin Binder individuals moving from regular employment into self-employment experience a positive and significant increase in life satisfaction, which magnifies with each year of self-employment. Moreover, as noted by the Pew Foundation, 39 percent of entrepreneurs report experiencing "complete" job satisfaction versus 28 percent of those who work for a boss. According to José María Millán job satisfaction is mainly due to the advantages self-employment has been providing autonomy as compared to paid employment. As noted by Scott Shane this opportunity is so valuable that studies show you have to pay people twice as much to get them to work for others and still have the same level of job satisfaction as being self-employed.

Related: 7 Ideas to Consider Before Creating a New Business

Starting your own business can make you happy, and It will make you even happier if you employ people. In fact, there is a positive correlation between how entrepreneurial a society is and its national level of happiness. Research has shown that countries that score well in terms of Global Entrepreneurship Development Index (GEDI) also score properly in terms of happiness. Self-employment releases your fear of being fired, let you gain personal fulfillment by pursuing your passion, allows you to develop financial independence and allows you to enjoy the creative freedom associated with calling their own shots. Finally, entrepreneurs are responsible for their own success and can determine what that success will be.

How To Sleep Your Way To The TOP

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Mon, 20 May 2013 07:00:00 PDT

To succeed get more sleep. The psychological and physiological effects of fatigue cause a poor performance at work. A good night's sleep can help you excel at work and improve your work quality.

Fatigue affects our situational awareness, mood, intellectual activity, decision-making, memory, and health. Moreover, since it inhibits our ability to concentrate is a great generator of stress at work. When you are tired, you may feel that you are not able to maintain the right pace to comply with your duties or adapt to constant changes. Likewise, there is a high probability that you fall into a vicious circle, where the stress generated by fatigue, lead to insomnia and lack of appetite and thus reduce your energy sources.

Stress is a major cause of absenteeism in companies. According to a study The Work Force Institute the most common reason, in every country, for calling in sick without a physical ailment was that the employee was overly stressed. Likewise, The American Institute of Stress estimates that 1 million workers are absent every day due to stress and that stress in the workplace cost U.S. corporations over $300 billion annually, or more than ten times the cost of all strikes combined.

Related: Coping with Stress at Work

Furthermore, as indicated by Julia Kirby for Harvard Business Review, and as shown in the graph, the negative effect of fatigue on the performance of employees is greater than that generated by alcohol. To illustrate this, depending on your weight, you could drink 2 beers in less than an hour, which is about 0.04 - 0.05 of blood-alcohol concentration, and on average, you might outperform someone who has been awake for nearly 19-20 hours.

I would like to emphasis that in the world today, where people always look forward to staying busy to show the world how productive, they are. What we need are people willing perhaps to stop for a moment to understand the big picture, and the problems they are facing. We need people who have the energy and can be alert. Leaders that instead of only reacting to changes, anticipate problems and make decisions on time, not when there is no other option. We need more people willing to sleep.

Related: Time Management Tips

You need to sleep at least 7-8 hours a day, and these are some tips to improve your sleep:

Set a schedule for bedtime and respect it until you create a habit. If every day you go to bed at different times, it becomes increasingly difficult to sleep when you need it.
Don't eat too much at night. After eating wait at least 2 hours, while you digest, before going to bed. This will help you avoid nightmares. Reduce consumption of beverages containing caffeine.
Get a quick warm shower at night, before going to bed. The hot water will help relax your body and eliminate stress accumulated during the day.
Avoid watching TV before bed, the bright colors displayed on the screen stimulate your brain, which makes it harder to fall asleep and decreases the sleep quality. Instead try reading, practice a hobby or meditate.
Use your bedroom exclusively to rest. Try not to bring work to bed, and if possible only use it to sleep at night. Even if you want to take a"siesta" do it somewhere else. Adequate your bedroom to prevent sleep disruption by noise or light. Use low lights at your room and get a good bed.
Do some exercise. Exercise, especially Cardio, helps you to increase your energy and endurance. In addition, oxygenates your brain and generates endorphins good for memory and spirit. If jogging or going to the gym is not your cup of tea try Tai Chi or yoga, despite being focused on relaxation are equally effective in generating endorphins.

How To Make Better Decisions, Faster

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Wed, 08 May 2013 07:00:00 PDT

Employees used to be hired to follow orders, not to take decisions. Nowadays, it is more likely that a leader is fired for avoiding making decisions than for taking risks to promote the company's growth.

However, being capable of taking decisions is not enough. In a highly dynamic world in which we live today, the only way we can meet our business objectives is by being able to quickly respond to competitive threats and new opportunities. Here are some tricks that will help you make better decisions, faster:

Have a Clear and Concrete Goal

Setting short, medium and long-term goals, allows you to connect the decisions you are taking every day, with their consequences in the future, more precisely, you will be able to understand how those decisions are helping you or not to reach your goals. Additionally, you will avoid wasting your time thinking about alternatives that do not steer you to fulfill your objectives.

Related: Are You S.M.A.R.T When Setting Goals?

Take Decisions Before You Need To

Postponing a decision until the last minute only makes it harder. Moreover, the costs and risks incurred by companies when managers and employees take decisions late are higher. Perhaps one of the best approaches is anticipating the needs of the company and taking small daily decisions, rather than dilate a problematic until it forces you to decide.

Related: Overcoming Procrastination & Getting Things Done

Focus On the Strategy that You Know Can Do the Job

Studies have shown that people who work in emergency situations such as policemen, doctors, firemen, do not take decisions by comparing alternatives or weighing pros and cons. They concentrate on the strategy they believe is best for getting the job done, on that particular situation. This approach helps them to act rather than to be paralyzed considering alternatives and consequences of their mistakes. Furthermore, we must be aware that we do not always have the material, financial or human resources to execute our ideal strategy. So we must make the best decision we can with the resources available.

Consider Your Alternatives

Studies have shown that thinking about the opposite of a decision helps us make better decisions. It forces us to be more rational and creative, while allowing us to prepare to react to changes in the circumstances under which we decide.

Know Your Job And Company

Preparation is essential to avoid insecurity in decision-making. The practice makes perfect, so if we practice how to react to certain situations, in the end it becomes a mechanical process. That's why contingency plans helps us to respond to change, to anticipate it, and allows us to take decisions faster when everything changes.

Related: Why You Must Link Your Personal Goals With Your Business?

Always Track Your Decision; If You Were Wrong Admit it and Move On

Some decisions are final and cannot be reversed. However, we can always do something to correct our mistake and prevent further consequences. If there is evidence that things are not going as expected, you must be ready to take a different action plan. Great leaders know they can make mistakes and do not waste their or others people time defending their decision. On the contrary, they admit them and start working immediately on a solution.

Why Introverts are Good for Business?

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 07:45:00 PDT

Introversion is generally perceived as negative. However, behind the big ideas and success of many companies you will find introvert employees and leaders.

What percentage of the population are introverts

Depending on which research you look at, somewhere between 50 to 60% of the population are introverts. In fact, according to psychologist and the author of the book Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life is Your Hidden Strength, Laurie Helgoe, 57% percent of the world are introverts. Despite that workplaces are shaped to extroverts what causes employees to have a misconception about introverts.

Common misconceptions about Introverts

Introvert people lack social skills. They prefer to be alone because they do not like their co-workers, and they are not able to socialize making them unable to work as part of a team. Likewise, their shyness, insecurity, and fear of speaking in public don't allow them to be great leaders or to be respected by their peers.

The reality: What makes Introverts Special at Work?

They are great team players. Introverted leaders are aware of their weaknesses and seek to surround themselves by a superb team, which allow them to achieve the competitive edge needed to meet their goals. They do not feel threatened by other high-performing colleagues; their priority is to fulfill their objectives not the spotlight. In teams led by extroverts, leaders might perceive other team members as a threat to their leadership. As noted by Les Mckeown the extrovert leader’s need for acclamation can become destructive, specifically by forcing out other high-performers who threaten the extrovert leader’s preeminence, and demotivating their senior team, who rarely get to share the spotlight.

They build long-term relationships with people. They are awesome listeners, which allows them to understand what their customers, subordinates, colleagues and superiors need. Therefore, it is easier for them to create long-lasting relations. As a result of the constant feedback they get about the company's products and services, they can identify improvement and growth opportunities for the company.

They are flexible and creative. Their great intellectual curiosity allows them to be better prepared to anticipate change and leverage advantages and innovation from it. Introverts are deep thinkers and spend a lot of time working within their minds and developing new ideas rather than talking. This fuels their imagination and develops their out-of-the-box thinking. Lisa Pitrelli obsevers that Introverts can help envisioning new possibilities and seeing opportunities to which others may be unaware.

They are Independent. Compared with extroverts introverts have a greater ease for taking decisions by themselves. They are capable of performing complex analysis in order to weigh pros and cons of a situation by considering potential options and ramifications about it.

They are continually improving themselves. Introverts are self-reflective, which allows them to know themselves, their strengths and weaknesses. They are self-critical, and they are constantly analyzing the result from their work in order to identify opportunities for improvement.

They got the power of focus. Introverts prefer to get achieving serial success rather than attempting multiple parallel successes. Their strong ability to concentrate while alone, allow them to work in a specific target without being distracted by new projects. On the other hand, extroverts usually jump from a project to another without achieving their goal in none of them.

They really know their stuff. Maya Townsend, founder of Partnering Resources, says that people often think that quiet workers are incapable of being credible sources of knowledge or serving as experts for an organization. However, research found that within a company Introverts are respected by their knowledge and deeply trusted and relied upon by their peers. They are normally there to solve problems when co-workers need them.

They are not necessarily shy. Introverts prefer to work by themselves. Because they know they think better, work more efficiently and get energized that way. In other words, they focus on doing their best, just like any other person. Plus you should be aware that just as a person can be quiet at work, not necessarily so in other contexts. Introverts like to talk about ideas, what is great for business, but they prefer to remain in silence than small talk

They rather prefer to do the right thing than to be right. Extrovert leaders are passionate about their ideas and strategies, and they usually stick to them for a while before admitting they were wrong. For introverted leaders if something does not work, they change it.

5 Tips to Boost Your Career Development

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 07:30:00 PDT

Getting our hierarchy and company to understand the value of our work and how we make a difference, is key to our career development. learn how to do it:

Figure Out What Your Boss Actually Wants

Our work is best valued by our hierarchy if it meets or exceeds what is expected of us. However, the only way you can accomplish this is by understanding your boss. How does he or she evaluate your work? What does he or she care about? What are his or her expectations about you? Put aside assumptions and determine the profile of your boss as a leader. These questions will help you to do so: Does he or she prefer the big picture or details? How does he or she communicate? Is he or she sociable or not? Is he or she a perfectionist or good enough is good enough? Is he or she emotional or not? Is he or she processed or results oriented? If it's the first time you work for him or her, and you fail to obtain this information directly by talking to your boss, try to asking people who have already worked with him or her, or know him or her. By doing this you will make sure your work performance and accomplishments are visible to your boss.

Related Post: Should Companies Invest in Innovation or Leaders?

Show Accountability

Managers seek employees they can trust to deliver what is committed, accurately and on time; They got more to do that ensuring your works get done. So focus on not been an additional burden, on the contrary, make sure that you are efficient in tasks that will help your manager the most. Learn to take risk and step outside your job role, if you need to, in order to fulfil your commitments. Take responsibility for your failures as much as you would for your successes.

Be Prepared and Stay Current

An employee who stays abreast of his or her position and industry shows: dedication, self-motivation and confidence; three key factors in getting a promotion. Explaining new concepts to employees takes time from managers, reason why, employees who can jump into what needs to be done, without many explanations, are easily differentiated within a company and win the favoritism of managers. You must keep your skill set up to date, and stay abreast of the news, and recent technologies and trends. Staying current allows you to be flexible to change, react better against adversity and find growth opportunities for your business.

Work Smarter, No Longer

In contrast to what some may believe, working late doesn't show dedication, but inefficiency. When assigning tasks of higher responsibility managers look for employees who continually demonstrate to do things right and in less time than others, and can also take on these new responsibilities without neglecting their previous ones.

Related Post: Overcoming Procrastination & Getting Things Done

Network Internally

Do not underestimate the impact of your network on your ability to get a promotion, a raise or even get hired. According to Sharon Ferrier, an employee is rarely promoted just for doing their job. They need to be noticed, too. Work on becoming a powerful and clear communicator with exceptional listening skills, as it will help you gain respect of your superiors and colleagues. When you are networking within the company, keep in mind that you are not looking for everyone to know your name, but to acknowledge you for the right reasons, those that can help you get that promotion. Let others know about your work and how you make the difference. You can also use your network to identify a well-regarded senior person at work from whom to seek career advice and mentorship.

Companies Need Entrepreneurs Willing to Take Risks

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:00:00 PDT

Given the changes in the world economy, every day, there are more risk averse companies and employees. However, risk-taking is an essential part of innovation, and key to the survival and success of a company.

Many of the entrepreneurs behind large companies today have: lost jobs, fallen into bankruptcy, had ideas that failed, before rebounding with great success. From Ben Franklin to Steve Jobs, all remarkable entrepreneurs have been applauded through years for their ability to take risks, and carry out high-impact ideas despite the difficulties they faced.

Risk Aversion in Companies

When companies or industries go into a survival mode, their employees avoid taking risks as a way to avoid being laid off in case of failure. Growing businesses and those in crisis, contrast in their approach to employees' creativity. Growing companies encourage the development of new ideas, in order to find business development opportunities. On the contrary, enterprises in crisis make their employees focus on profit and perceive innovation as a source of costs that the company cannot afford. Ironically, companies where workers fail to take risks along the way often find themselves in a position where they need to go all-in on one new product or project, in order to survive.

Related post: Should Companies Invest in Innovation or Leaders?

Education a Source of Risk Aversion

The current education system has a negative conception about failing. Students do not have the opportunity to do so without being punished for it. Reason why it is not surprising that students, once at work are not able to take risks. However, there are methods in which we can compensate for this shortcoming in the system. For example, participating in research projects where the outcome is uncertain. Studies indicate that it encourages critical thinking and the ability to work under uncertainty. Likewise, we can put ourselves in unfamiliar situations, such as traveling abroad where the culture shock and a new language requires us to develop the ability to overcome adversity.

Related post: Companies ar Afraid of Innovation

How-to Take More Risk and Advance as a Professional

Lack of professionals and entrepreneurs willing to take risks and take decisions, creates great opportunities for those who strive to develop their capacity to lead daring ideas. These are some steps will help you.

Look through the risk. Imagine the results you can get if you are successful. How would it look, taste, feel, and even smell like? Focus on your goal and its benefits. This will help you realize what you would be missing if you backed out. Moreover, it will help you determine your motivators, those that will help you move forward.

Determine your obstacles. You probably already know why you have not taken the risk and what is stopping you. Otherwise think about it, should not be too difficult. In your mind, these obstacles can be seen as a major barrier impossible to be surpasses between you and your goal. What you need to do is divide this great barrier into small obstacles. By splitting, a large problem into several specific ones, you are able to deal more effectively with the problem, while you are capable of tracking your progress, and stay motivated.

Start small. Developing your risk taking skills requires practice. Build self-confidence in order to gain more initiative to take risks. Start with small risks in your personal life: Go to places where you've never been, learn a new language, when you go to a restaurant not only try to order something new, actually ask for it, change your hairstyle, etc. when you least expect it, you will be taking bigger risks.

Make Metal Rehearsl. Practice makes perfect. Whenever you are taking a risk picture the entire scenario, the actions that you perform step by step, with as much detail as possible, from beginning to end. Do it several times before taking action. Concentrate on the perfect scenario, how should all happen, also anticipate negative variants and rehearse how you will solve them.

Finally:

“The secret to getting ahead is getting started” - Mark Twain

How-to Engage and Retain Top Employees

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 08:00:00 PDT

Labor market for top talent is never slow. The key talent of your business may be leaving your company tomorrow, if you cannot engage them today.

Nowadays, it is easy to find managers placing less emphasis on employee engagement as soaring unemployment rates often lead to the notion that employees are happy to be employed at all, and that further engagement is unnecessary. This behavior led employee engagement in countries such as US nearing all-time lows. In the US more than two-thirds of workers or 71% are not engaged in their current positions. Further 19% of the US workforce is “actively disengaged.” In fact, It is estimated that the US economy is presently running at 30% efficiency with only one-third of US employees being fully engaged in their current positions. However, according to studies conducted by GallupConsulting engaged employees have:

37% lower absenteeism
25% lower turnover (in high-turnover organizations)
65% lower turnover (in low-turnover organizations)
28% less shrinkage
48% fewer safety incidents
41% fewer patient safety incidents
41% fewer quality incidents (defects)
10% higher customer metrics
21% higher productivity
22% higher profitability

How can companies engage top employees?

1. Define what's talent for your company

Contrary to the old adage "people are your most important asset," people are not your most important assets; the right people are. The first step to engage your employees with your business is to define what talent means for your organization. Who has a set of skills, competencies and experiences that make a positive impact to your business? It is vital to integrate talent management into business processes.

Related post: Should Companies Invest in Innovation or Leaders?

2. Invest in the professional development of your employees

A major cause of job dissatisfaction for UK workers is not getting the training and guidance required for their role from management. According to Lane4 only 1 of 10 employees gets training from his or her company. High talents are looking for collaborative atmospheres where training, skill transferal and knowledge sharing are encouraged. Companies must foster managers to give career tutorship and guidance to high-potential employees, and help them develop a structured potential career evolution within the company even if it means they will have to leave their team.

3. Open line of Communication

Studies have found that over half of workers (57%) don’t believe they are being communicated with clearly about their own career progression. 78% of staff feels their company does not communicate to them effectively, leaving them wanting to know more about the organization they work for. The way people communicate today has changed dramatically. People are not only used to easily access large amount of information through the Internet, but also, to use new technologies to connect to other people and get work done. Employees expect communication flows to be open and unrestricted and companies must deliver this, especially during economic instability, to engage talent.

4. Compensation matters

Increase in base pay its an effective engager, in any type of company and for any type of employes. On average its engagement effect, on high talent, is higher than the one generated by traditional bonus programs and training programs. Companies must take into account that top performers are usually pursued by offers from other companies; A non competitive wage can make employees feel undervalued. Research has shown that performance-based compensation increases employee engagement and ultimately decreases attrition rates. Key employees like to feel that there are rewarded for what they achieved for the company. As they know they are giving more than others they are expecting more from the company. Reason why, benefits granted to all employees do not motivate high talent, as they need to be differentiated and acknowledged by their results.

5. Connect employees to the "Big Picture"

Jean Martin and Conrad Schmidt state, for the Harvard Business Review, that the engagement of high talent employee increases by 40% when and employee understands how what he or she does help or can support the company to accomplish its objectives. They need to know how they make the difference, and been asked to do more in order to achieve this goal. It will give them a purpose, and prevents them from thinking their work is meaningless. They need to know how they make the difference, and been asked to do more in order to achieve this goal. Let your employees clearly understand their role and objectives, and what the company is expecting from them. Set them tough but realistic goals.

Related post: Why You Must Link Your Personal Goals With Your Business

6. Acknowledge achievements and ask them to fix what's wrong

Finally, do not worry if given the economic outlook, you cannot give bonuses or remunerative benefits to employees. the main motivation of high talent is to get recognition for their work and achievements. From their point of view being publicly recognized by their achievements promotes their ability to evolve in the long-term in the company. According to Mckinsey Quartely, survey on non cash motivators, financial incentives fall short to adequately motivate employees. It is also recommended, that during times of crisis, when many things need to change, you reengage high-potential employee by asking them to fix what's wrong and get them involve on finding a solution.

Source: Mckinsey Quarterly

Using Colors To Give Personality To Your Brand Or Company

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 07:30:00 PDT

The colors used by a company, to identify itself to the public, can manipulate how people associate characteristics to their products and services.

People generate a quick image of others they just met in a matter of seconds. They also do it when they run into an unknown brand or company. The logo of a brand or company is usually seen as a representation of the company. Unconsciously, based on its primary color people assign certain characteristics to the product and company. Reason why it is important that companies are aware of how to use the psychological effect colors.

How do colors impact customers?

Satyendra Singh says in his book "Impact of color on marketing"¨ that customers generally make an initial judgment on a product within 90 seconds of interaction with that product, and about 62%-90% of that judgment is based on color. Lauren Labrecque and George Milne have found out that customers perceive a company's personality through the colors it uses in its logo and packaging. If the perceived personality matches the products sold by the company, the greater will be the purchase intent. Moreover, different studies have shown a relationship between the perceived effectiveness of a drug and its color. For example, the efficacy of placebo pills depends on its colors, with "hot-colored" pills working better as stimulants and "cool-colored" pills working better as depressants. Therefore, the colors create customer expectations, and companies must learn to fulfill them.

How companies can use the psychology of colors

Packaging: Hannele Kauppinen-Räisänen notes on her research paper: "Exploring consumers' product-specific colour meanings" that consumers use color to identify for known brands or search for alternatives. Therefore, new companies and products can use distinctive colors to attract attention to the brand. Likewise, they can emphasize the similarity of their products to those of the competition or market leader, by using resembling colors.

The store: Companies should consider the colors used in their window displays and store interiors. Colors influence the type of customer the store will attract and their buying behavior. Warm colors encourage spontaneous purchases, while cool colors are a better fit for purchases where a lot of planning and customer deliberation occurs. Moreover, the color blue which is the top choice of Americans (35%), has proven to be more favorable to increase the purchase intent of customers than warmer colors like orange.

Related post: How to Attract Customers

Target audience: Companies can use colors to change their corporate image and brand personality, in order to target a specific niche. This strategy has been used by companies like Victoria's Secret. It should be taken into consideration that color preferences are cultural and differentiate between sex and age. It has been proven that the same color produces different emotions across cultures. Furthermore, it should be noted that unlike men, women prefer warm colors. In addition, People change their color preferences between their childhood and adulthood.

Company Logos: They can portray meaning just through the use of color, and this is a lesson that several large companies have learned. Different colors are perceived to mean different things. This infographic from Logo Company, illustrates this point:

Overcoming Procrastination & Getting Things Done

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:30:00 PDT

Learn how to get things done and overcome procrastination, while saving time and excelling as a professional.

These are some steps will guide that will guide you:

What's making you procrastinate?

Procrastination is the reflection our aversion to perform a task, which according to psychological studies is due to three traits of the tasks: the difficulty, importance and our effectiveness to carry them out. In other words, when a person believes that the task is hard to be fulfilled, considers it irrelevant, or does not believe himself / herself to be good enough to do perform it, he or she is likely to postpone the task, and not do it, repeatedly.

How-to prevent procrastination

These are some of the most recommend strategies to prevent the procrastination:

Make a plan and Set Your Goals

Planning means everything, especially when time is limited as it saves you time in execution. Therefore, it is important to take a moment to set your goals for each task and establish the best method to accomplish these objectives.

Global goals can be overwhelming, so break them down into the day to day tasks. By setting time based commitments for this "small" task, you will be able to assess the development of your goals in intermediate periods, allowing you to have a better base for decision-making and avoid the tendency to postpone. So always break big tasks into little pieces, and set yourself to work on the most difficult task now and stay at it until you are done.

Related articles: Are You S.M.A.R.T When Setting Goals
Why You Must Link Your Personal Goals With Your Business

Prioritize. Identify and put off low value tasks

There is never enough time to do everything but there is always enough time to do the most important things. Focus on the result areas in order to organize tasks by value and priority. You can prioritize based on-time constraints, the potential profitability or the benefit of the task. Take into account the 80:20 rule, and focus your efforts on the high payoff tasks. Consider, which are both the positive and negative consequences of a task on your work. The most important tasks are those with the most serious consequences.

By prioritizing you are able to identify and put off low value tasks. Furthermore, you will put aside behaviors such as the structured procrastination, which consists in working on low-value tasks to occupy your time and feel like you're being productive when you're actually avoiding working on critical tasks.

Related articles: Time Management Tips

Get your workstation ready and organized

Before starting to work on something, get everything you need in order to work on a specific task. So if you need some prints, a pen, calculator, laptop (open those programs and files, you need), reports and so on, get them before starting to work, and put everything you do not need somewhere else. This will allow you to focus on a single task, by helping you to avoid interruptions, while trying to get a copy you need, a pen, etcetera. Take into account that multitasking has been proven to be ineffective. The quality of work suffers at the expense of quantity. So single handle every task, and it is even better if you are able to devote long periods of time to a specific task, in order to concentrate for an extended period, without interruptions.

Identify your Constraints and Hone your skills

Proper prior preparation prevents poor performance. The best skilled and knowledgeable you become on a key task, the faster and better you will work on them. Use your previous experiences in key tasks, where the lack of any skill, impact your motivation and focus on a task in order to identify your choke points. Then focus on alleviating the impact of these constraints. The more prepared you are, the less likely you will put off any task.

Fight Procrastination by always Getting Started

In 1927, the Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik found that waiters remembered orders only as long as the order was in the process of being served. In fact, adults remember unfinished tasks up to 90% better than finished ones. Therefore, we have an intrinsic need for closure. The tension and seek for closure that an unfinished idea creates its known as the Zeirgarnik effect. So make the first step, start working on the task you want to accomplish.

How-to stay focused and not fall into the procrastination

Maximize your personal powers. We all have periods of higher mental and physical energy, use yours to work on the most critical and most important task. You must reconsider exercising. It is time to leave the excuse "I'm tired of work. I will do it tomorrow when I have more energy." If you feel that your energy, it is barely enough to meet your workday, it is a HUGE sign you need to exercise. Exercise, especially Cardio, helps you to increase your energy and endurance. In addition, oxygenates your brain and generates endorphins good for memory and spirit.

Related articles: Coping with Stress at Work

Plan your day in advance. Create a big To-Do list, which includes all your duties regardless of the deadline, and a daily To-Do list for what needs to be done tomorrow. Use your last 15 minutes of every day, to create your To-Do list for the following day and organize your schedule. Every morning recheck that list before starting to work.

Track your progress. It is easy to start working but difficult to maintain the commitment. Divide a large goal into smaller tasks. It will allow you not only to avoid being overwhelmed by the big goal, but to measure your progress. Moreover, the feeling of accomplishment generated by meeting goals will help you move forward. Finally, you will have more visibility on what you have done and on how much effort is left.

Put pressure on yourself. Works as if you were to leave town tomorrow, and no one were to assume your responsibilities until you return. If this were to happen, you would have to focus on the primary tasks. They must be completed today as they cannot wait for your return. In addition, you can help yourself to take action through public promises and putting your reputation on the line. Commit yourself to your colleagues, customers and bosses to accomplish certain tasks or objectives, it will encourage you to take action. Given that breaking your commitments affects your image as a professional.

Motivate yourself into action. Focusing only on the difficulties of a task generates demotivation. Instead, stay positive think of solutions that allow you to move forward rather than getting stuck thinking about the problem.

Related articles: Which is your Limiting Factor?

Take breaks. Skipping meals, working late and spending sleepless nights, will not help you to be more productive. On the contrary, fatigue is one of the main reasons why you cannot concentrate. Remember that your brain is your primary tool, so give it sufficient recovery periods for the ideas flow. The best ideas come when you least expect it, therefore, don't be afraid to step away from your work to clear your mind.

Create a 50-minute playlist. If you want to concentrate, relax and track your time, nothing easier than creating a Playlist with your favorite songs, which last and specific period of time. I prefer 50 or 90 minutes, as it is enough time to concentrate, work on a single task, get stuff done and then take a 5-10 minutes break to prepare either to carry on or to jump into another task. Music will help you avoid distractions, especially if you wear headphones, as it sends a message to the rest of people that you don't want to be disrupted unless it is necessary. Take into account that Short bursts of hard work followed by quick breaks, is an easier way to get stuff done, that trying to everything at once.

Related articles: Benefits of Listening to Music at Work

Reward yourself. Find ways to stay motivated to meet or exceed your goals. Try setting goals which if fulfilled are rewarded. Let's say you need to submit a report on Friday, and today is Monday. For example, if on Tuesday, you have completed 70% of the report, you will go and buy a milkshake, some cookies or both for you. If by Thursday at 10am, you have already summited the report, you will leave earlier that day to see your family or to meet a friend.

Avoid perfectionism. Don't waste time obsessively perfecting a task when you could better spend that time on something else.

Top Legal Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:30:00 PDT

Startups often left legal issues in a second plane, however, these are a great source of risk for the company. This post describes some of the most common legal mistakes entrepreneurs make and how-to solve them.

When starting a business is very common that the founders concentrate all their energy on the development of products / services, and on starting the commercial activity of their startup. Legal issues often remain in a second plane. However, this is a great source of risk for the company. This post describes some of the most common mistakes.

Make Verbal Agreements, And Not Leave Them In Writing.

Successful business relationships are those in which expectations of each of the participants are clear. Nevertheless, verbal agreements can generate confusion, can be forgotten and generate misunderstandings among the parties involved. Use contracts, as they set the expectations of the parties in writing, or at least compose a sheet with the agreement and send it by email to all concerned. This will also help you to build your corporate documentation.

Signing Agreements Without Fully Understanding The Consequences Of Key Clauses.

Written agreements are intended to establish clear expectations among those who participate in it. Therefore, before signing an agreement, as a representative of your company, you must fully understand what the company is getting and giving up. You should determine which circumstances and clauses could generate a financial impact on the company. For example, what happens in case of an early termination of the relationship between the parties. You need to comprehend what fines, extra costs, or situations may limit what the company gets of the contract. Finally, completely understand who owns what as the relationship persists, especially in the case of intellectual property (IP).

No Vesting Restrictions.

Companies which issue stock to co-founders without imposing vesting restrictions, run the risk of a founder leaving early on the company while he or she does not only keep all of his or her equity, but also benefits of the other founders' hard work. When each founder is given ownership in the company, make sure to include a vesting clause this will entitle the company the right to repurchase part or all of a founder’s ownership if a founder chooses to leave prior to a certain date. Make sure you and your co-founder(s) execute a restricted stock purchase agreement with a reasonable vesting schedule (typically four years) upon the issuance of the company’s stock. This encourages each founder to stay with the company during the crucial first years.

Not Protecting IP Ownership.

Intellectual property affects the company since its founding. Some entrepreneurs make the mistake of creating IP for their new venture while they are still employed by another company. Given that employees usually are asked to assign all intellectual property rights to the employer over her or his works during the employment term. The employer may in the future claim intellectual property rights over work that the entrepreneur created using the company’s facilities or on company time. Reason why, the company should review previous agreements signed between former employers and its founders and future employees. Furthermore, take into account that employee confidential information and invention agreements generally also contain some form of noncompetition, and non-solicitation provisions. The first one, prohibits employees from working for competitors of the company, and the second one prohibits former employees from hiring away other employees or contractors.

The founders must also prevent leakage of intellectual property of the company, which can occur by the departure from the company of any founder, employee or given the disclosure of inventions before a patent application is filed. You can easily accomplish this by having each founder sign an Intellectual Property Assignment Agreement with the company that lists all the intellectual property the founder will transfer to the company. Ask your employees to assign all intellectual property rights to the company, and to sign a nondisclosure agreement to avoid inventions walking out the door of your company. Sometimes patents won't be available, and the only protection is to maintain them as a trade secret, in order, to keep it secret from competitors.

Infringing Another’s Trademarks

A trademark identifies and distinguishes the source of a product or service from other sources. A trademark can be a word, name, logo, or design. Developing a trademark takes time and money, so before your company starts to create value to one, make sure you have the right to use it, that you register it, along with its web domains. It is common in many countries that a person benefits from trademark protection simply by using it in the market, even when he or she has not registered his or her trademark.

Not having a formal scheme for decision-making

It will not be always possible to ensure that all partners who have different points of views, reach an agreement on an important decision. However, even when it is impossible to reach an agreement, someone has to make the decision. The company should establish from the beginning, what mechanisms should be used in order to resolve this problem.

How-To Make Easier Your Startup´s Life

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:00:00 PST

Starting a new business can be tricky, here are some tricks that seek to make your adventure more bearable.

Get clients before seeking funding

When our own resources are insufficient to fund our startup, there are ways in which we can get those resources, for example: Friends and Family, Angel Investors, Seed Funding Firms, Venture Capital Funds and Business loans.

However, many entrepreneurs make the mistake of looking for funding without having a single customer. Sometimes, there are business plans that are lucky enough to obtain financing, although nowadays it is almost impossible to obtain funds, from third parties, if the company does not have a track record. Furthermore, considering that our customers allow us to pay the funds acquired, it is essential to count with a clientele before your hurl for external financing.

Launch simpler products

Products are better if they evolve with the needs and use of your customers. Many companies invest significant time and money developing thousands of features for their products and services, and in the end have to remove them, because they do not generate the expected benefits. On businesses less is more. It is better to be recognized by little well done that by many bad things. So focus on what is different about your company and how you can create value for your customers.

Learn to manage your time

This will allow you not only to be more productive and effective at work, but also to enjoy your life ( I recommend this post Time Management Tips). For any startup, it is crucial to meet potential clients. Nevertheless, you must learn to filter clients by potential business closure and turnover. Avoid unnecessary meetings, those which make you or other people lose time. Use the phone whenever you can and avoid waisting time going to another office.

Do not rush to hire

Many startups which want to grow rush to hire new staff. However, although the company has the resources to pay for the increase in payroll, they underestimate the time required for managing, training and motivating people. When you are starting a business, not everything is clear, and under these conditions, your leadership will be ineffective.

Before hiring someone, set your goals, see if the new workloads can be assumed by current employees without this being reflected in the company's performance in critical areas. If it is determined that another person is needed, set as how she/he will contribute to your goals and how-to guide her/him. Note: Your business is just starting, and you must avoid unnecessary costs, for example, creates a scalable business model that allows you not to rely on a large number of commercials.

3D Printing Brings New Business Opportunities

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 07:30:00 PST

3D printing is the new hotbed of innovation, and its technology will impact every business.

3D printed High-Heels

3d printing is an additive manufacturing technology which makes it possible to turn 3d modeled designs into custom solid objects on demand.

3D printing has been around for almost 30 years. Ever since Charles Hull developed the technology for printing physical 3D objects from digital data, its technology has been applied in the design of most of the products we use today. For example, It is used for the design of shoes, electronics, cars and buildings.

For many years, 3d printing has been used for prototyping products; however, during the last years, many companies have been devoted to make reachable to everybody this technology. Their goal is that additive manufacturing is used not to create prototypes but to develop final products. The Z Corp. can replicate any tool or object; they only need to scan de object (digitalize), and they will be able to print it in one piece. This video will show how it works.

Where is this new technology taking us?

In the words of Peter Weijmarshausen, co-founder and CEO of 3-D printing company Shapeways:

"Imagine a world in which you can get exactly what you want, and not what is just available...Imagine if you only made what you need, or imagine if you are a designer and could bring your product to market in days, not years. Imagine products that can all be made locally. 3-D printing is relevant for everyone, regardless of your technological background."

Think about an astronaut in the space. He is fixing the spacecraft and his only tool breaks, what he will do? Print it. What will happen when you're assembling a cabinet, and you lose one specific and somehow specially-shaped piece, you won't need to call the manufacturer. You will search and find on the Internet the digitalized version, and print it. Just imagine how it could revolutionize medicine, prostheses and surgeries by implementing 3d printing on skin and flesh.

This technology, will be a big revolution, will reduce manufacturing and transport cost for companies. People will no longer need several processes or machines to assemble a single product. They will be able to jump straight to the final product by printing it.The additive manufacturing is becoming more and more accessible, and limitations such as the size or cost of the printers are disappearing. The Vienna university of technology, recently developed a smaller, lighter and cheaper printing device. It is the smallest 3D printer, weighs 1.5 kilograms, and it costs around 1200 Euros. Even the world's first 3D printing pen, 3Doodler, just hit the market few days ago.

If this technology gets your attention , you must look carefully at Youngstown, Ohio, (USA) which is quickly becoming a national lider in the new generation of manofacturing, and its also one of the 15 advanced manufacturing hubs that Obama wants to create across U.S.

This technology is advancing rapidly, and it can be applied in more and more materials each day. So designers, artists, doctors, engineers and business people, future is now.

Should Companies Invest in Innovation or Leaders?

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 10:00:00 PST

Business leaders pay far too much attention to innovation and far too little to cultivating talented entrepreneurs.

Many focus on finding a great idea, creative and innovative, which assures the absolute success of their companies, and they spend their lives waiting for this idea to come. However, others embark on themselves on extremely competitive markets, and even if their resources are limited, they manage to become market leaders. Why?

The leadership of a company can be explained by many factors like their technology, business model, financial muscle and capacity of innovation among others. However, under a scenario where two companies have an identical business model, strategy, resources, technology and are competing for the same niche, the only factor behind that explains the success of one or another would be the people or luck. Nevertheless, considering that people are the lucky ones, then tey are what makes the difference.

The problem focuses on how some companies invest heavily in innovation, but little on human talent. Without being capable of training entrepreneurs and leaders able to carry out the ideas and objectives of the company, you can succeed in today´s market.

While a great idea can generate growth opportunities, it is not enough to make the difference. Fortunately, Success depends not only on brilliant ideas, but great people leading small and big ideas. Consider the case of Wayne Huizenga, who managed to turn business ideas like a garbage collection and a movie rental company in Fortune 500 companies. Surely, these business ideas do not sound very innovative. For example, when Huizenga created Waste Management Inc., there were many companies that already did the same he wanted to do, and they did it pretty good. This shows that what is more important is not the ideas, but those who lead them. There are many stories of people who have fallen into bankruptcy multiple times, but have managed to come back with different companies in even more competitive markets than were they were before.

Finally, should companies continue to focus on investing in innovation, if they do not count with leaders to make from those ideas, great business and growth opportunities for the company. Taking into account that the investment in innovation can result in new products or services, that can eventually be copied, and overcome by the leaders of other companies. Conversely, companies should invest on human talent, in order to have employees who can take even small ideas, and make big things.

2 Restaurant Tricks that Will Boost your Business Sales

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 07:35:00 PST

These are some of the tricks used by the best restaurants for you to spend more and how to apply them to increase the sales of your business.

In many kinds of businesses employees do not have the opportunity to interact and meet customers as those working in a restaurant. The fact that the customers are served within the company, allows owners to have the capacity to interact with their clients, understand their behavior and develop little tricks that can increase their sales and those of many other types of businesses.

1. Help customers to stop thinking about money and more about what they are getting

Think what you do when you go to a restaurant for the first time. If you do not know the dishes on the menu, and no matter how money affects your decision, you start comparing prices between products to see, which seems to be the better deal. The restaurants have started using these two methods to get people to focus more on the product than the price:

Get rid of the $ signs

In the minds of clients, the dollar signs are linked to money, therefore the dollar sign before the price may ward off customers from expensive products or services. In a certain taking away this symbol eases the psychological effect of money in buyers. Reason why, from diners to high-end restaurants, it's the rule of thumb to leave the dollar signs out.

Use flowery descriptions for your products and services

How many times have you gone to a restaurant where the wide variety of dishes whose name does not tell you anything, hinders your ability to choose a dish. Forcing you to ignore all those dishes you might like because you're not sure what they are. Then you either order a dish you already know, or you end up basing your decision on its price.

The solution is simple, what you should do is to delight customers with what the product is and distract them from focusing on the price. Therefore, by using short, flowerily and convincing descriptions you can focus costumers´ attention on the dish causing customers to put aside the price which can lead to customers paying $ 20 for a salad, without feeling bad about it (of course if the product meets the expectations generated by its description).

2. Set the right mood

Several studies demonstrate the effects that music has on our behavior patterns. As described in this post ¨ Benefits of Listening to Music at Work ¨ music can help reduce stress, establish a rhythm of work, increase our productivity, among others. Likewise, music can help increase sales of your business.

Although music has a psychological effect on people, we should use it correctly in our favor. A study from Loyola University estimated restaurants and stores that played slow music saw a 38 percent increase in sales over stores that played loud or fast music. The fact that the music is swift and strong accelerates way people act and take decisions by which, to excite about buying something or not, in the absence of many positive factors that make the decision obvious; the decision will tend to be negative.

Which is your Limiting Factor?

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 07:50:00 PST

Every task has a limiting factor which determines how fast you are able achieve your goal. Identifying and working on it has a great impact on your time management and productivity.

In today's world, people work at their 110% - 130% of capacity, whereby; every second at your disposal is essential. Reason why both successful people and companies are characterized by understanding the factors that limit the fulfillment of their goals, and focusing on them in order to accomplish their objectives.

How to indentify your limiting factor?

Identifying your limiting factor it’s all about finding your key constrains, those that set the speed on how quickly you or your company achieves it goals. Some might refer to this concept as bottlenecks. Refer to them any way you like, as long as you understand that in order to fulfill any task, there will always be people, skills, resources, and factors that influence your ability to achieve it. As the 80-20 rule, by focusing on these factors you generate the greatest impact on the task you want to carry out, while optimizing your energy usage by not wasting our energy on factors that won affect the pace at which we accomplish our tasks.

It doesn’t matter how big or small is the task, there is always a limiting factor or constrain, which determines how quickly, and well, you get it done. The process of determining your limiting factors may take your time, but may be the best use of your energy. However, make no mistake generally more than 90% of our limiting factors are within us, so start by honestly looking deeply within yourself before looking at others. A good way to star is asking yourself “What is it in me that is holding me back," afterwards study the task and list all the limiting skills, resources, people and processes you find. Subsequently, narrow this list by removing factors that are not crucial until you can define the central problem. In order to do this ask yourself what if you improve this factor, how it will affect the overall process? The benefits that will be obtained, merit the time and resources needed to improve it?

Beware, there are no perfect processes; therefore, when you study its problems, you might find out many limiting factors, but not all of them are relevant for your objectives. If you solve the wrong problem, you will spend your time and energy without any payoff.

Some examples of limiting factors in a company in their task of attracting and retaining customers might be the marketing or sales force, perhaps the operating costs, or liquidity of the company and so on.

I hope you are now ready to determine your limiting factor, to work on it and to make the difference.

Benefits of Listening to Music at Work

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 06:30:00 PDT

Music can play a crucial role in how we work, especially if we learn to use it to increase our productivity. No matter what type or style of music we like, or at what rhythm allows you to express yourself better.

These are some of the best benefits of finding your right "rhythm" of work:

Increase your Productivity

Different studies have demonstrated the positive effect music has on the productivity of employees. For example, the University of Illinois conducted an experiment during which they supply a group of employees with a personal stereo and headphones to listen to music at work. The results obtained showed 6.3% increase in productivity of those listening to music while working compared with those employees without music.

Set your Work Pace according to your needs

One of the main advantages of listening to music while working is to regulate our pace. When you listen to music your mind will automatically match itself to the rhythm of the song, making music a great tool to help you maintain the desired work pace. In other words, using calming music, so our work rate shall be at our pace will be more leisurely reading. Similarly, we can increase the vibration to work with greater dynamism. I use this technique all the time on exercise, especially while jogging. I am quite sure i won't reach 100mt without the right song, and sometimes I am more than ready to stop running, but the song keeps me going.

Both the Rock and Classical Music Improve Memory

Just as music helps to keep a rhythm, it can also influence how we retain information, that is, our memory. According to the Russian academy of sciences, both classical and rock music, increase the ability of individuals to retain visual images, including letters and numbers. Furthermore, music helps to maintain focus and concentration.

Just think how many lyrics you know and many of these may not even be songs you like, but once the song is playing; it seems like you heard the song for a lifetime. No wonder the music therapies are used in people with amnesia and Parkinson, and are highly recommended to maintain memory in old age.

Express yourself and Reduce Stress

Music is a form of expression it reduces stress; it transcends languages and other barriers, so listen to your favorite song may be the necessary support during times of high stress and has also been proven that songs with an upbeat can reduce high levels of stress hormone in 41%.

How-to Choose the Right Internet Security for Your Business

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 06:00:00 PDT

Business security used to be about getting a good security alarm system for your premises and making sure that your stock was secure. Today, however, just as big a threat to the security and integrity of your business comes via the internet.

Physical security is still important but a breach of your internet security could mean the loss of vital information about your customers and possible infiltration of your business information by other people who will use it fraudulently.

In order to protect your business, you should make installation of antivirus software a priority. If you don’t have any installed, you should take half an hour right now and get it sorted out. Even if you want to spend time researching the best internet security suite for your business, in the meantime you should download one of the free trial versions to protect your data and systems straight away.

Why the urgency? People are online all the time and every business now relies on the internet for communication with their clients and other businesses. Hackers realise this, so release more viruses and Trojans onto the internet every day in the hope that they will be able to infiltrate an unprotected system.

While you investigate which internet security suite to choose, you should download a trial version in the meantime to give you temporary cover. Kaspersky offer trial versions of all its products, which gives you the chance to try out the software and experience how it works.

You’ll need separate antivirus software for Macs and Windows, and if you have smartphones that are used for the business, then these need antivirus software as well. Kaspersky mobile antivirus is available for all types of phone model and different operating systems.

There are certain features that you should make sure are included on any internet security suite that you consider purchasing. These include:

Keylogger protection. Malware called keyloggers can record keystroke activity on a keyboard. This allows hackers to get hold of secure information like banking codes, credit card details etc.
Adware protection. Adware usually gets installed on your computer when you download new software. Adware can be in the form of toolbars and popups as well as shortcuts. It can interfere with the speed of your computer, and be irritating to work around. Adware protection will block adware clogging up your pc.
Spyware protection. Spyware is a more insidious version of adware. With spyware your browsing habits and purchases can be monitored. Spyware stores your personal information which can be used for market research, but can also be used for identity theft.
Rootkit protection. One thing that you don’t want to infect your PC is rootkit. This is malware that can be virtually invisible once on your pc, and often needs specialist software to get rid of it. Sometime the only way around rootkit is to erase the hard drive and reinstall the operating system.
Removeable media protection. As well as your internet connecting devices, hackers’ viruses can also damage and infiltrate things like a USB stick or portable hard drive plugged into your pc. A good internet security suite will scan removeable media for threats.
Custom scans. It can be useful to be able to choose which files or groups of files are scanned by your antivirus software, rather than letting the whole hard drive be scanned every time. Custom scans are available on most of the antivirus software subscriptions.

Most of the main providers of internet security will offer these features and more. Check the details before you sign up to a particular subscription and check with your business networks as to which brand others find most reliable and user-friendly.

Lorena Benchis (@loreena20) is a Business expert and blogging enthusiast, interested in Business Startups, Business Security, IT and Finance. If you need some business venture advice follow her.

Every Employee Is Part Of Your Marketing Department

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 08:00:00 PDT

Marketing today goes beyond the marketing department. Every employee fortifies the company's ability to spread its message and to captivate target customers.

Companies spent a lot of time, money and effort on getting their story to their target customers, to encourage them to take an action. Nevertheless, they fail to convert potential customers, into sales.

Unfortunately, for companies investing on customer acquisition is highly expensive, in terms of time and money. By running an internet, social media and public relations campaigns, and so on, companies are capable of increasing their visibility, and it is very likely that sales opportunities are coming through the front door. However, being able to attract customers is not enough to make sales.

Nowadays, marketing is about spreading the message of a company so that this can reach the ears, eyes and hearts of target customers. According to Seth Godin, marketing is primarily about telling stories and spreading ideas. Under this approach, every employee and manager strengthen the marketing department. Therefore, starting by the guard of the company, until the CFO, they all are part of the company's story, thus their actions impact the capability of the business to build confidence and engage customers, in order to turn them into paying customer. Seen in this light, the marketing department is not the only one responsible for the marketing of the company, just as the sales fall not only the sales department.

The high costs of marketing a company, is often reflected on time and money spent getting the wrong message to the wrong people. Because companies focus their marketing efforts on the wrong people, when they should target those in their own backyard.

If many employees are there to collect a paycheck, at least they must understand where it comes from (Customers). Therefore, the main goal of their work is to help the company to get more customers, no matter in which department or division they belong. Thus, managers must ensure all employees engage with the company's message and help the business to fulfill their promises to customers.

Your employees need to understand their place in the big picture, and how their actions directly impact, whether a prospect will Buy from you, Buy Again, and then refer you/ Tell Their Friends, which is known like the Profit Growth formula: PG = B + BA + TTF.

So focus on that every employee on of your brand evangelists, as they understand that the responsibility of the marketing of the company goes beyond the marketing department. And every time they speak without passion to friends or family; about their job or company, they may be turning away customers who are the main reasons why they even got a job.

Finding The Right Customers For Your Business

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 08:32:00 PDT

The quality of our customers not only determines the success of our companies, is also one of the main reasons why new businesses fail.

Basically, customers mean everything for a company. Whether you are an owner or an employee, the benefits generated trough customers pay for your food, transportation, family expenses, electricity, the internet, home, trips, hobbies and more. The funds generated through the customers support the operation of the company (including, for example, wages) and also reward the investment of shareholders.

The main factors in which small businesses fail in their relationship with clients are:

Determine an appropriate niche, large enough to grow in the long term
Create products and services that generate value to customers
Acquire high-value customers.

1. Determine an Appropriate Niche, Large Enough to Grow in the Long-term

Niche specialization may be a proper strategy to differentiate and compete against larger rivals, as it might in some cases reduce competition. Anyway, keep in mind that the more specific the niche, the smaller the size and cost to reach customers may increase.

Companies must find a specific niche in which they are distinct, and it should be large enough to support the operation. Determine the projected growth of this niche, the market share necessary for the company to be sustainable and the required costs to reach customers.

2. Create Products and Services that Generate Value to Customers

Companies should consider not only how to create value and satisfy customers, but how to connect this approach to sustainability and business growth through higher margins.

Related post: How-to attract customers

There are several methods by which products and services a company can generate value for customers as offering unique benefits and features, good and faster distribution channels, broader product line, or more options for customization and low prices.

To achieve customer satisfaction you must understand the product or service as a whole experience that begins long before the customer arrives at the company and that does not end when the customer pays. That's why companies should be more open to create key alliances that allow them to offer more complete and effective services, and to differentiate themselves from competitors.

Finally, the company should be able to offer products and services with high margins that allow the sustainability and growth of the business. The efficiency of production costs is not a differentiating factor and will always be matched by competitors. The company must then focus on generating more value in their products and increase their chances of generating income. For example, through more efficient distribution channels, the integration of auxiliary products and services to generate more revenue or by reducing the need for sales support and e-commerce, among others.

3. Acquire high-value Customers

Although the customers are the most important for the company, not all of them are essential and will create value. The company should focus on profitable customers, which do not always mean to look for the wealthy clients. Profitable customers are those that allow the company to establish a lucrative price and generate the benefits needed to meet their financial goals. These customers, whether distributors, wholesalers, retailers or the end user, are easy to access without incurring huge marketing costs to reach them, or involve large costs for the company to meet them or convince them to try the product.

7 Ideas to Consider Before Creating a New Business

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 22:11:00 PDT

Starting a business is exciting but not easy. It has many challenges, and these are some ideas that I believe should be taken into account during all stages of the creation of a new business.

1. Even great ideas fail if poorly executed
2. There will always be competition
3. Know what you expect the business
4. Get your own dream team
5. Clients will not be knocking at your door
6. You have to be your own best customer
7. Measure everything

1. Even great ideas fail if poorly executed:
This is not just a problem for new businesses but an opportunity. Many companies have great business ideas, but leadership fails. You should be able to assess the leadership and performance through specific objectives based on the strengths of the company and its reality.

2. There will always be competition:
The human population will reach 7 billion in October 2011, which means that no matter how revolutionary an idea, “It is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world" (Plato) . Probably, there are people or companies already working on it.

3. Know what you expect the business: Visualize the future of your business and the actions to be undertaken to achieve this. Establish a clear plan and objectives to be carried out in the following years. If you have specific goals, the obstacles encountered along the way will be easier to overcome.

4.Get your own dream team: Although we believe to have all the capabilities to lead the business on our own, creating a killer team can be the difference. When building your team consider: First, the strategy of the company, you should find people capable of collaborate to fulfill the long-term goals of the business. Second, create a team where the skills complement each other, you should keep in mind that at first the responsibilities and duties of each will be very varied. Finally, find people you can trust, the team not only serves to decrease the workload on a single person but also has the function of support in difficult times.

5. Clients will not be knocking at your door: Not only, we should focus on creating a great product or service, but also, on how we will reach our customers. Use your network, find out not only what they can do for you but also what you can do for them and how they can help you to grow you business.

6. You have to be your own best customer: Using your own products and services is one of the most effective ways for businesses to obtain constantly new insights. As a user you are able to detect problems and necessities that can be converted into opportunities for the company.

7. Measure everything: No matter if you are not currently possess the capabilities to exploit this information to the fullest, be sure to capture, store and make it available to all employees to assist decision-making or find new insights in the future.

Companies are Afraid of Innovation

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 08:50:00 PDT

Many companies got to the top through a culture of innovation, as they were not afraid of thinking differently, changes or criticism. However, once there it appears that such a culture is history or a cliche sentence they use to promote themselves on the media.

No Fear Of Failure, But Fear Of Criticism

It seems that once companies have earned a name or a reputation, they are afraid of external criticism and failure, more specifically to be blame and hated because of it. Due to the tendency of people to criticize with less clemency those who have been successful innovating. For example. Think about authors, singers, companies, restaurants and more. Once they have managed to build a certain image of what they can do, the expectations of their audience are much higher, which increases the possibility of dissatisfaction and hence criticism. Moreover, "Often the fact that chief executives can’t quantify this new thing becomes an excuse for their not doing the thing they’re most afraid of embracing,¨ says Owens, author of Creative People Must Be Stopped: 6 Ways We Kill Innovation (Without Even Trying)

As They Grow Companies Forget About Innovation

As they grow companies start to play it safe and their culture of innovation seems to be inversely proportional to the growth of their hierarchical structure. For every new employee, there is less innovation, and more people who undermine the ideas from the drivers of change. Companies stop looking for potential talent and focus on recruiting individuals to perform specific tasks, so they focus on finding those who know how to do what they want them to do, no more no less. However, they do not give them the freedom to generate ideas that will improve the benefits of their work for the company. That means many are recruited, not necessarily for their ability to do more for the company, but for their ability to do exactly the same tasks they were performing, but in another place. These workers do not generate positive changes, their work does not propose any challenge, they are not willing to learn anything new, and they will do only what they are told to, during the time they would last in the company. In fact, you could say that as a business grows, more employees are hired to do less work, however, they are paid more.

Why Innovators Are a Problem For Other Employees, Why Their Ideas Are Often Not Considered?

Simple innovation creates change. Employees who arrive when the company is already at the top do not seek change or risk, they seek stability. Let's consider the case of Garrett Camp, founder of StumbleUpon, a service for discovering and sharing webpages. He sold the company to Ebay in 2007, and after two years, in 2009, he decided to buy the company back. According to Garrett "at eBay, [he] had a boss, But [he] still managed all the product engineering. The day-to-day flow was not that really different. But they were not getting the same people to apply to join. They were seeing people who were looking for a conservative, stable job Rather than Something with a little more a lot of Risk and upside."

Generally, the approach of companies to find people who are 100% operational from day one, shows their lack of interest in investing in talent. This approach allows those who are specially trained to perform certain specific tasks, to be rewarded not for their ability to do more, or to learn, but for their capability to perform the same task in different companies. This lack of challenge and change, gives them certain stability that allows them to have great confidence in their performance on an only specific task. Reason why these people do not seek to do things in some new way, where they feel unsafe, and feel they can take risks and fail. This type of employees, we might describe as not innovative, or, to be fair, not open to innovation and change, will be first to raise their voice to criticize, unfairly, the fresh ideas. As it happens to companies, employees do not want to be marked either for good or bad things, to avoid criticism.

So if you don't want your company to be afraid of innovation, stop focusing on those super competent people, instead, search for people that are willing to take risks, learn what they don't know, and give their best for the company. Look for ambitious people whose goals are linked to the objectives of the company, and give the opportunity to those who propose new ideas to lead them, ie promote Intrapreneurship.

You Can Do Better If You Know Your BATNA

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Mon, 21 May 2012 08:30:00 PDT

Being a good negotiator is not about closing as many deals as possible, it’s about closing the best deal and say no when your BATNA allows you to do better.

Not every negotiation concludes with an agreement. There are times when you can do better by walking away. The BATNAs let you make a wise decision on whether to accept a negotiated agreement, as you consider your alternatives and results out of the negotiation. We must clarify the difference between alternatives and options. On one hand, the options are on the negotiating table, and are the cards you play to reach a negotiated agreement, such as payment terms, discounts, guarantees, etc. the alternatives are the results you could get without negotiating.

According to Roger Fisher and William Ury in their 1981 bestseller, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Without Giving In:

"The reason you negotiate is to produce something better than the results you can obtain without negotiating. What are those results? What is that alternative? What is your BATNA -- your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement? That is the standard against which any proposed agreement should be measured."

The BATNA is a methodology which implies that when you've negotiated, whether for years, months, days or minutes, and both sides have committed all that they are willing to compromise; you should evaluate your alternatives before accepting or not an agreement.

In the simplest terms, if the proposed agreement is better than your BATNA, you should accept it. If not you should reopen negotiations, or withdraw from them and go after your alternatives. However, your alternatives must be realistic and the cost of pursuing them must be considered.

Identifying Your BATNA

It is simple. It comes to identifying what you should do to satisfy your interests if the negotiation fails or if no agreement is reached. In other words, which is your back-up plan? Keep in mind that the more alternatives, realistic ones, you got, the better your BATNA, and the greater your power in the negotiation.

However, when determining your BATNA you should consider the options available to the other side and remember that both parties have a BATNA. By attempting to understand what are their options, you will be able to be better prepared for negotiation. Likewise, it will allow you to understand how strong or not your position is in the negotiation. Furthermore, you will be able to develop a more realistic view of what the outcomes may be and what offers are reasonable.

Identifying your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement can strengthen your negotiation position. When you have a strong alternative solution to a lousy proposal, your BATNA can be your trump card to make the deal happen to your advantage, or walk away from it altogether. And by knowing and strengthening your BATNA you will improve the outcomes of all of your negotiations.

How to Attract Customers

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:23:00 PDT

Our ability to attract customers, through the recognition and the product or service development on a specific niche is reflected in our capacity to generate higher revenues.

Since small and fresh businesses cannot compete with large companies in pricing or advertising, their best option is to focus on how to create new customers, ie, in improving the attractiveness of their business, products and services.

If you want to make your company an attractive business, you must first understand these three questions:

Does your niche allow you to grow?
While niche specialization may be a proper strategy to differentiate and compete against larger rivals, as it might in some cases reduce competition, it should be noted that the smaller the size of the niche the higher the cost of reaching customers. Companies must find a specific niche in which they are distinct, and it should be large enough to support the operation.
Are you aware of who pays for your vacation?
Many businesses forget the role of customers in their businesses; they do not take into account that the customers are the ones who pay for their wages, kids' education, home expenses, voyage, etc.. Therefore, the client hospitality is a must for every business, and to create customer loyalty. Although the customers are the most important for the company, not all of them are essential and will create value. The company must focus on profitable customers, which do not always mean to look for the wealthy clients. Profitable customers are those that allow the company to establish a lucrative price and generate the benefits needed to meet their financial goals.
Do you understand your numbers?
Attracting people to your business is not enough, you should focus on how many of those people actually become customers. Many companies focus on this ratio to boost their sales. However, it seems that sometimes they do not understand what the numbers are telling them. If one of every 10 people who enter your business makes a purchase, you should not necessarily focus on increasing the proportion of 2/10, 3/10,4/10, etc. it can be very difficult to be improved, on the contrary, it is easier to focus on how long it takes to attract 10 people to your business.

Increase your attractiveness

There Are NO Small Customers

Even those customers who at most buy from you once in their life can spread the word about your business, thus draw you more customers and revenue. Furthermore, take into account that you might only need to close one deal with a customer, for he or she to become your client for the lifetime, so keep in touch with them. For example, If you are selling a consumable product, check the average duration of your product and prepare your agenda for the follow-up of the customer. Thus, when the product is finished, you will be there to offer it.

Get Their Contact Informtion

Many businesses forget that, if they are unable to obtain the contact information about their customers, from the beginning, they will need to invest much more money to get them back. It's always more effective to market to the person you know. Nowaday, every company must develop email marketing campaigns. Obtaining the customer's email is not an easy task, especially when they are tired of receiving spam. To obtain it, enlighten them with the benefits and value you provide with your newsletters. At first, you may have a low open rates, but do not be discouraged, sometimes it only takes you one single e-mail to get a great client (Learn how to increase your open rates). You can also invest in events and gifts, for your customers. An event may not end up in sales on the same day, but now more people know your business; thus more potential customers and revenue during the year. Therefore, not forget to get the information of those who attended the event to measure its effectiveness.

Do Not Only Motivate Your Employees

While there are many ways, you can motivate your sales force, do not forget how powerful it is to be referenced by clients. People like to feel that their loyalty is rewarded with VIP treatment. Consumer likes to belong to a select group which is rewarded with discounts, free products or any form of incentive when they buy more or to bring new customers to the business. (Customer Reward Program)

Get Your Business Known By Concentrating On Your Credibility

People buy from those they know and trust. Whereby your credibility is very important. There is no point having an attractive business if nobody knows our business and of its appeal. To build credibility, position yourself as a specialist. Share articles, writes a blog, educate your customers about their needs. This is one of many ways you can build relationships and commitment to customers and prospects. Your website, today is your cover letter, and can attract many customers, given the belief that people have that nowadays the best prices can be found online. If people cannot google your business, it doesn't exist.

Learn How To Use Social Networks To Grow Your Business

Several successful entrepreneurs agree that the growth of a company is related to growth of its network; who you know, who they know, and the reputation you build over time. However, for that you must have a proper pitch and focus on the others understand the benefits you to give, rather than how you do the work. Stop trying to persuade everyone to buy, in contrast, focus on building relationships. Note that while not all people who you might meet need your product or service, they will probably never be customers, but they may know someone who does, so generate affinity and engage them, and it can result in references to your business.

Finally, do not forget to take care of your current customers and get to know more and more and create non-competitive alliances with other businesses where your customers spend their money, to remain present into their minds.

4 Steps for Boosting Your Negotiation Skills

noreply@blogger.com (Deimar Gutierrez) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:39:00 PDT

The lack of preparation leads you away from closing a high-quality deal. Use these four steps to improve your negotiation skills.

The main reason why negotiations fail is the lack of preparation. Diving into a negotiation without a clear goal, not knowing what you're looking for, what is your position in the negotiation and your alternatives, keeps you from making the best decision or agreement, for you, your business or your family.

These 4 steps that will boost your negotiation skills:

1. Understand why you want to negotiate

“I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” As Jimmy Dean, during negotiations, as long as you know, which is your goal, you can overcome all obstacles and achieve your goal. Anyway to do so, you need to know what is your destination. Setting goals allows you to know what you're looking for, be better prepared and be able to assess the outcomes of the negotiation. The following questions will help you to understand your motivation, set the goals you must meet during the negotiation and, ultimately, determine what you are willing to negotiate and what not:

What do you want to get?
What could you get?
What you must get of the negotiation?
Which is your botton line?
What are your alternatives to this negotiation? (BATNA)

2. Know who your are dealing with

The preparation not only consists on establishing our goals and strategy of negotiation, but also in knowing those who will be across the table. Knowing your adversaries, allows you to be able to approach them effectively, to understand their goals, motivations, and the benchmarks, they use to evaluate your offer.

To prepare for a negotiation, you must be able to answer the following questions:

Who will participate in the negotiations? How will they be reviewed by the company?
People involved in a negotiation are usually measured according to the benchmark from the market or the company. The goal of these people is to generate greater savings and benefits for the company they represent. For example, during an acquisition, the percentage of savings or extra costs generated by the negotiation, according to a base line established by the company, or their budget, will be used to evaluate the results of the negotiations.
What are the personal motivations of those people?
Note that the representatives of the other group may be seeking their own interests above the interests of the company they represent.
What is their background? How they have carried out other negotiations? What are their origins?
You must understand their role in previous negotiations, their behavior, even cultural factors that can influence on it, in order to create an empathy during the negotiation and not to be ticked by their tactics of negotiation.
Which are the negotiation points that will cause concern for them?
What can you offer that is cheap for you, but that has value for them?

3. Know your position in the negotiation and how to influence their decision

There are many factors that allow you to have a strong position in the negotiating table, such as your financial muscle, network, image, etc. But also, there are other strategies you can use to influence your position of power. For example, you can use time to your advantage, either by imposing deadlines or taking into account the deadlines of the other to press their decision. Japanese use extensively this tactic, especially when dealing with foreigners seeking to close a deal before taking their plane back home, so they do everything possible to delay the decision until the last moment.

4. Set the stage, it's time to Negotiate

From the attitude of people who are going to negotiate, to the materials necessary for the negotiation, everything must be ready. The company must have a proposal which can say "yes" without any negotiation, also to have a counter-proposals to the offers of the other side, or the possible options they can offer.

Despite the preparation and solid arguments, you may have to face this negotiation, remember this is not a battle; you are trying to negotiate and the key that will allow you to close the best deal is listening. And to use it on your behalf, there is nothing like asking, and listening attentively. By listening to them, you will be able to find insights and information, that have great influence on the decision-making of those across the table, that at first sight may not be evident.

Furthermore, respect is extremely important for business relationships. Even if by the end to the negotiation, there is no deal, you must take into account what and whom you are representing. Besides, this may not be the last time you will face these people or company.

Finally, be sure to provide enough time into your schedule to deal with setbacks. Make sure everything is set to go, that the right people are on the table; all the presentations, forms, demos, samples, etc. are ready. Once you have reached an agreement at the end of the meeting created a document for both parties with the final results from the negotiations, this will help avoid misunderstandings (Well, if it doesn't prevent them, at least it makes them easier to clear). Likewise, in the business world if you do not do this you may be too naive.