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Staying Informed/Current

Written by: Manage Your Business

Article Overview: The Information Age has changed our society just as greatly, if not more than, the Industrial Revolution changed the farming society of the 1800s. It's a fast-paced wired world, with news flashing around the world almost instantly, e-mail connecting far-flung correspondents all over the globe, and information bombarding us from all sides.

Staying Informed/Current

Staying Informed/Current

The Information Age has changed our society just as greatly, if not more than, the Industrial Revolution changed the farming society of the 1800s. It's a fast-paced wired world, with news flashing around the world almost instantly, e-mail connecting far-flung correspondents all over the globe, and information bombarding us from all sides.

Unfortunately, often the information bombarding us is not information that can help our businesses thrive. We must learn to cultivate our own methods for staying abreast of developments in our particular field - and we must learn to ignore information we can't use.

Where to start? The following list of suggested resources is just that: a starting point. We hope you will use these ideas to develop and move on to your own, more sophisticated, network of information resources.

Ten Ways to Stay Informed

* Subscribe to industry or trade publications that focus on your business or the business of your clients and customers.
* Join a professional association, chamber of commerce, or network with other entrepreneurs in similar industries.
* Look for information on the Internet. Watch for opportunities to interact with business or industry experts in chat room interviews. Put the interviews on your appointment calendar and be sure to show up.
* Subscribe to Internet newsgroups that focus on your industry.
* Read newspapers - local and national - to track business trends.
* Talk to your customers and clients. What issues are troubling them? What is their mission? What factors do they think will affect their business in the future? Ask yourself, "How might this affect my business?"
* Invest in training: attend a conference or seminar on a subject that affects your business. Once there, don't be a wallflower. Strike up conversations with other participants. If a session is particularly helpful, go up to the speaker to thank him/her or add a comment of your own. Ask for his/her business card. If he/she agrees, you'll have a resource who's just a phone call away when you need a fast reality check. Most people are flattered to be consulted - but remember, their time is valuable, so don't waste it. Ideally, information exchange should be a two-way street. Do you have information that might benefit your source? Share it with him/her.
* Visit or call your city library or check out the library at a nearby college. Find out what resources - periodicals, newspapers, reference materials - they offer for someone interested in a business like yours.
* Recognize that at some point you may not be able to know everything about your business. Learn to use consultants or hire employees who can compensate for the gaps in your knowledge.
* Cultivate your curiosity. Don't be afraid to try new things. The most important skill you can develop is not the ability to remember information, but the ability to seek out and find the information you need, when you need it and then use it for the benefit of your business.

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Re: What is your biggest challenge? Today? - Staying healthy is important as I get very little done when I have the flu. I basically shut down for a week to recover properly and continue to work hard.
Re: The Top 50 Productivity Blogs To Watch in 2010 - Thanks for that list Evan. I have bookmarked it to go through more carefully when I have some spare time. What you say here is so true, the biggest problem with working on the internet is that it is so easy to get side tracked. Staying focused is really the hard part. MichelleJ
Re: How to Stay Motivated - Staying motivated is definitely hard. Especially when things get overwhelming and there are no immediate results. This is my personal approach. 1) Use a big white dry-erase board / piece of paper. 2) Pen down everything you need to do or in the process of doing. Point forms with dates. No need for excessive details. 3) Schedule a definitive period of time to relax (i.e. for the next hour and a half) 4) Jump back to working starting with number 1 on the white board! The best way is stay motivated to be organized, re-group then jump back in!
Getting Started In Your New Internet Business - I always think it’s fun and exciting to start a new Internet business. I know for me that I would do something that I’m interested and passionate about. Otherwise the new venture doesn’t last for long. As it’s just as important to have passion, motivation and interest, there are a few areas that help me succeed in business. Promoting Your Internet Business I would call this the “show me the money” part of the business. Without money or income, there is no business. Therefore it’s important to promote your business and turn your promotional activities into sales. At every opportunity, try to promote your business through passive means: e.g. through your stationary, letterheads, emails, brochures and any other promotional material you may use. Even if it’s just an article you write for a directory, remember to put your website address at the bottom of it. In the past, I made stickers of my logo that I could easily stick on my products. Also I made sure that every email I sent out to a customer had a company logo in it. This all helps with creating the brand for the business. It’s crucial to develop a marketing plan that will not only sell your products, but also your brand. Here are some other articles I recommend to read to help you promote your Internet business: * Spreading The Word: Turbocharge Your Traffic * Converting Traffic Into Sales Part 1: Generating Leads * Converting Traffic Into Sales Part 2: Profiting From The Back-End * 12 Sales Effective Marketing Tips Operating Your Business This is the “lifeblood” of the business and I’m amazed at the amount of businesses that still operate without having good systems in place. An electrician I use from time to time asked me how I maintain my book work and said he doesn’t know how to do it. I was shocked because I’d known him to be trading for over 2 years and he probably doesn’t know how much money is being made in his business or let alone lost. What I am saying is to not be like my Electrician friend and make sure you buy an accounting software to track all your accounts and paperwork. I would suggest hiring a book keeper because it will save you the hassle and time of doing it all yourself. Some good software packages out there that are under $500 like MYOB Accounting and QuickBooks will be more than sufficient when you start out. Another area that most people forget or get caught out on are getting the appropriate insurances for your business. The most common are public liability insurance, fire, burglary, vehicle and workers compensation insurance. All these can be easily found via a quick search on Google. I would recommend ensuring both public liability and fire insurances are in place before even running your business. Keeping Pace And Staying Up To Date This may sound all too overwhelming when you have to promote, operate your business and keep up to date with your industry. Believe me it’s not as hard as it sounds. Take the first step and join a trade association or your local Chamber of Commerce. You will find it both informative and beneficial to your business. To know what is happening in your area and within your industry can help you make better decisions for promoting your product or service. Whether it may be time to change a product line or add more services to your business, you will be keeping up with the industry and making sure you are not missing out on opportunities. Also it’s a great way to network and promote within your trade associations and Chamber of Commerce. Simply write an article to contribute and it can be used as great public relations (P.R) for your business. Also I emphasise to have a well prepared business plan created before starting your business, because this will be your starting point. A business plan is useful for so many areas for your business from sourcing finance to implementing a growth strategy for the next 5 years. Once it’s written down, it will become a living breathing document that you can update and review over time. I’ve just finished preparing my business plan for this business which took nearly 3 weeks to complete but I can tell you that it is well worth the time and effort to do. Learn how to put your own business plan together and I can guarantee you that you’ll get finance and negotiate business deals much easier. The Future Of Your Internet Business Starting your Internet Business is rewarding and if you look into those areas I have mentioned, then you will have a good foundation to running a successful Internet Business. Take action today and know that you deserve to live your dream. Tyrone Shum Internet Business Coach


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