Blog Category: business psychology

Turn Your Web Site into a Lead Generation Machine

08 March 2011

To catch a customers attention a website has to instantly be appealing. Its appeal has to be directly related to whatever it is selling, whether a product or a service. The site has to be interesting with no unnecessary information and boring themes.

There are many examples of websites that fail miserably when it comes to attracting positive attention and there are some exceptional websites that just need to be visited over and over again because they are just too good.

First make sure that your site shows clearly and precisely what you are offering a potential customer. Try to avoid idiotic adverts that will either bore the viewer or tempt them away from the site in order to see what they have seen in one of the ads that are on the site. Make sure that the site has a professional look to it with engaging graphics and interesting content.

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Five Leadership Keys for Effective Business Change

12 January 2011

In this article I hope to highlight the five key ways good leadership will effectively change the fortunes of a business.

To be a leader in the world of business you have to have a range of qualities both personal and vocational. Below I have sub sectioned these qualities into the key areas that need improving to implement and sustain effective business change.

1. LEADERSHIP Leadership itself is key to turning round a business's fortunes. In times of need the member parts of a business will turn to its leader for strength, advise and reassurance. You must be able to lead by example both in your work ethic and in your determination to turn things around.

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A Review of the Book, The Richest Man in Babylon

30 December 2010

Books--the written word in general--will always have a place in our hearts above technology. For whatever reason, books have endured where technology has become obsolete and has had to advance. For the entrepreneurs of the world, even books written in the Depression era are still viable, like George Samuel Clason's The Richest Man in Babylon.

The Richest Man in Babylon started out as a series of pamphlets released in 1926 that were subsequently put into book form. Instead of giving straightforward advice and practical solutions like you may find in modern era business books, The Richest Man in Babylon is a work of semi-fiction, teaching financial lessons through a series of parables.

Since being reissued in 2004, The Richest Man in Babylon has witnessed a new found popularity and has become thought of as an essential set of lessons to learn when planning on opening and operating a business.

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The Science of Persuasion

06 December 2010

The power of persuasion has been on full display throughout history. Some will insist that even the concept of religion is nothing but a mere power play turned massive world trend, persuading people to live by a set of rules. Others, victims of personality cults, have witnessed firsthand just how persuasive things like propaganda can be.

When harnessed correctly and effectively, the power of persuasion broken down into a strict science can ultimately help you achieve business success in the long-term. There's no person better to explain the science of persuasion than the author himself, Robert Cialdini.

Robert Cialdini is a world famous professor, and has been called one of the most influential men alive by the likes of Harvard. Hes currently teaching psychology and marketing courses at Arizona State University, and his theories and studies of persuasion and marketing and the interaction between have become renowned books.

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Models of Reality

01 August 2010

Try this on for size, it's a video about how different models of reality can affect the way we view our startup business and the way we sell and marketing our products and services.

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How Does Your Organization Define Corporate Culture?

03 May 2010

In business, there are many ways in which any organization can define corporate culture. To put it in simple terms, an organizations corporate culture can be defined by its management style, hiring practices and also the physical space the organization provides for its employees. When defining your organizations corporate culture, these aspects must be looked at closely.

Because of the many different aspects coming together to run a corporation, actions taken by upper management to shape the business, as well as employee activities and other factors, can work to either align or contradict a particular corporations goals and values. These factors may have a direct effect on how you view and subsequently define corporate culture.

Take hiring practices for instance. How does looking at this help one to define corporate culture? It has to do with the demographic/s represented by the workforce as a whole. In the business world, theres a lot of emphasis placed on the age of an employee. While young employees can usher in new and fresh ideals and an enthusiasm, older workers bring more experience.

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How do you identify potential Business Acquisition Targets?

19 April 2010

No matter what you do in business, it should be done methodically with a lot of thought put into it. This is especially true for making acquisitions. Instead of leaping on a sudden opportunity, it's important to realize that acquiring a target is a big commitment.

In order to identify potential acquisition targets, you first need to determine the types of opportunities that exist within your market and what types of transactions are taking place. In other words, focus on other businesses first before focusing on your own.

This might sound like some seriously bad advice for business owners, but when it comes to identifying acquisition targets, you want to let the market around you speak instead of letting your own voice be heard. This will help to keep your business safe and also provide you with the chance to jump in at the opportune time.

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Boost Your Sales by 80% with a 'Call to Action'

02 December 2009

In the world of Internet marketing, there are countless techniques people use to boost their sales. From honing their PPC bids to working through article marketing and email campaigns, there’s always a nifty little tactic you can employ to generate more traffic and earn more conversion.

However, there’s perhaps no more significant aspect of your business than the product itself. How will you sell it? Simply getting them there isn’t enough. They need to want the product. Well, with the right call to action, you can easily convince people that they need to buy what you’re selling.

No matter how well your site is laid out with text and graphics, the call to action is the most crucial aspect. This is what will drive the point home that the person visiting your site must leave with that product. If you can’t do this, then you aren’t going to sell your product.

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The Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Only Sell High Quality Products

25 November 2009

Thinking about starting a work-from-home business on your computer? During these tough economic times, one of the only true industries proving to be recession proof is Internet marketing. Of course, this doesn’t mean that any goose you shack up with will lay golden eggs.

Truthfully, most Internet businesses fail before they even get started. Why is this? It all has to do with the type of products people sell. In order to turn a quick profit, some entrepreneurs deal in ultra-cheap products and work to make a quick turnaround.

This is a disastrous business method. Sure, things may look okay in your bank account for the first week, but after word spreads that you’re the Sanford and Son of the business world, you’ll go down like the Hindenburg.

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The Effectiveness of Face to Face Meetings in the 21st Century

16 November 2009

With today’s highly advanced technological world, you literally don’t have to leave your home for the vast majority of life’s activities. Need to do some shopping? Okay, just log onto the Net and shop away! How about the dating pool? The Internet even has that covered, offering hundreds of dating sites.

What about business? Well, you can set up and run a successful business, start to finish, without ever leaving your favorite chair. Even still, with all the artificial gravitas and convenience that the Web offers, it’s still impossible to replace the face-to-face meeting - especially in the business world.

Various social networks and video-conferencing options are great to have around, but they’re no real replacement for the tried-and-true method of meeting someone in person, showing sincere emotion and shaking their hand before you leave. Even in the 21st century, it’s extremely hard to replace that.

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How to develop communication skills to create more opportunities

01 September 2009

Being able to communicate what you need is something you start learning from the time you’re born. Are you hungry? Cry a little bit and get a bottle. As the years progress, the voice becomes the essential communication tool. Our skills are refined with age and practice, and by the time we’re adults and pursue our careers, we’re able to distinctively voice what it is we want out of life.

However, not many of us have the capabilities to convincingly convey our wants and needs through communication skills. Further practice in the development of your communications skills is imperative in areas like business.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a small business owner or in charge of a multi-national conglomerate, the ability to effectively communicate is crucial. The idea is to convey your message in the best possible way, hopefully generating a proactive response.

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How to Cultivate Strong Business Relationships to Succeed

20 November 2008

In today’s world, having good and strong business relationships has never been more important. Strong management of those relationships is essential in the growth and development of any business, and keeping a tight hold to ensure no relationship suffers will pay off tremendously.

Through all the different promotional avenues available, such as advertising, holding, or deals, none have a stronger bond than a good relationship - it’s purely the driving force behind a successful business. Conversely, as you may expect, a poor relationship will drive business away from you.

Many customers are very fickle. This isn’t an insult to their character; it simply states that people want to do business with a trustworthy company. Customers want you to reach out to them, through many angles, and express a desire to build a relationship. Even something as simple as personalized email shows a person that you’re willing to treat them as an individual and not just a dollar sign.

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The power of Desire when it comes to knowing what you want out of your new business

06 November 2008

One of the key elements when you are starting out in business is to be certain that what you intend to do, is clear and concise. After all if you don’t know what your service or product is, how do you expect to sell it?

So how does desire help in determining what you want out of your new business? Well everything that gets created starts out as a thought in someone’s mind. Whether you are applying already found knowledge or ideas in a new way, or you are starting from scratch with a brand new invention, it all starts with thoughts.

This is where you can falter right at the beginning if you do not realise that what you think about, you will ultimately create. This can work both ways because if your thoughts are not well founded, your product or service will also suffer.

Getting yourself thinking in the right way is the first step to creating the desire with which you will use to power your energy into the creation process.

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