We recently received some wonderful (and amazing) pictures of Earth, taken by several astronauts.  These pictures are in a PowerPoint presentation - without sound since we felt it would only be a distraction.

Earth Day is April 22, 2009.  GET INVOLVED!

Pictures of Earth

We are working with trying to raise $1M to help save the planet.  We have partnered with Social Traffic for this worthwhile endeavor. You can help us in the following ways:

1. Offer to contribute $10 to this cause (please don’t send us the money). 

2. Contact friends and colleagues who would be interested in participating or contributing. If you can recommend 10 people who can each recommend 10 people, who can each recommend 10 people, etc., we can easily reach our goal.  This is the concept behind the Earthday Donation Wall.

3. Contact Simon Ford, the creator and driving force behind the Earthday Wall. Use our name.

Let’s all help. It’s the only earth we have!

Thank you.

The Productivity Institute, LLC

by Bruce Newman

   This article was originally published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter

It has almost always been the accepted norm that the most important characteristic when hiring consultants was their knowledge. This was certainly true in the 1970’s through early 2000 when the key characteristic of most candidates was their knowledge and experience.  Other aspects of a candidate were often deemed secondary.

In a recent survey by The Productivity Institute, respondents were asked to select the three characteristics they deemed most important when hiring a consultant. Surprisingly, the most important deciding characteristic that over 53% of the respondents selected was excellent communication skills, surpassing such traditionally predictable areas as honesty and technical knowledge.  Other characteristics in the PI survey included: professionalism, knowledge, integrity, availability, reliability and several others.  Yet, communication skills easily outdistanced them.  This is very significant. 

Selecting and hiring a consultant is not an easy process or decision; yet, it is crucial for companies to make wise choices, particularly when a consultant can have a direct impact on a company’s productivity.  It is for this reason that The Productivity Institute, LLC, assists organizations in locating and retaining outstanding consultants whose skills and results are excellent.

The ability to work with others was the second most important consulting characteristic, having been selected by 45% of the respondents.  The ability to work with others and good communication skills go hand in hand and allows consultants to fully understand a project’s scope and goals while keeping all project stakeholders appraised of the project’s progress.

These two characteristics surpassed the third most important consulting characteristic: experience. Apparently, in this challenging economy, interpersonal and social skills have become every bit as important (if not more so) than technical skills and experience.  Companies have become aware that successful consulting also requires excellent communications.  Just possessing the appropriate knowledge and experience is no longer adequate. This is quite a departure from the 80’s and early 90’s where the importance of social and interpersonal skills were usually minimized in the selection of consultants.

One common aspect of good project management is the ability of all key parties to regularly and effectively communicate with each other. In many cases, it is the critical factor in determining the success or failure of a project.  It is revealing by this survey that this level of importance has been extended to the hiring of consultants.  

In this frightening economy, where consultants are playing a more important and visible role than ever before, the Human Factors have become a more important decision criterion than they ever had been before. The consultants most in demand are those who are skilled listeners, speakers and team players. For businesses to survive and to thrive in this oppressive economic environment, they are looking for consultants who can play more of a coordinating and leadership role. Consultants have become much more than ‘brains for hire’.

Bruce Newman is the Vice President at The Productivity Institute, LLC, an acknowledged leader in the areas of selecting consultants and improving productivity. He is also the editor of the Productivity Institute Newsletter, a free content-is-king newsletter (circ. 5,400+) and a thought leader.  Follow him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and the Productivity Institute blog.

by Timothy Nuckles

   This article was originally published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter

(This is the first part of a two part article)

Most buyers of commercial information technology products and services do not use any formalized RFx process—Request for Information (RFI), Request for Proposal (RFP), or Request for Quote (RFQ)—for their technology acquisitions.  Ironically, they appreciate the value of the information produced by an RFx process and the competitive bidding environment the process facilitates.  They use an RFx process for most of their non-IT acquisitions, but IT is the exception.

Following are the most-often cited reasons for not using an RFx process for information technology acquisitions.  Although there is a nubbin of validity to each, these reasons are mostly excuses for not using some version of the best tool available to acquire information technology products and services.

We do not have enough time to conduct an RFx process.

Situation:  Your stakeholders are clamoring for some new application or functionality, your planning process took longer than anyone imagined, and now you are under the gun to get your project started.  You are ready to buy some software or consulting services, or both, and you simply do not have the time to conduct an RFx process.

Solution:  Avoid the time trap with three techniques.

Plan to include an RFx process.  Instead of treating an RFx process as little more than an afterthought—a valuable process, time permitting—build the process into your project plan and allow reasonable time for its execution.  It seems so obvious, yet so many organizations do not do this.  Then, when time runs short, their RFx process gets eliminated or short-schrifted, which usually means dollars and unallocated risk are left on the table.

Overlap processes.  Realize that information technology project planning and procurement do not have to be separate and distinct processes.  You need not complete one before you begin the other.  By combining or overlapping these two processes, you give yourself more time for a meaningful RFx process.  In fact, there is often appreciable value to starting an RFI process while your planning process is ongoing.  Reaching out to potential vendor candidates (true market segment experts) with an RFI during your planning process can produce information that is invaluable to your planning process itself, creating a planning-procurement feedback loop.  An RFI might well produce information that is critical to your tactical and strategic decision making, and it is much better to have this information in the early stages of your project.       

Layered approach.  Let go of the notion that your RFIs and RFPs have to be comprehensive, one-shot, cover-the-world documents—your one and only opportunity to interface with potential vendors and consultants.  By definition, these documents take a long time to produce, and for many other reasons, they are usually not the optimal choice.  Instead, embrace the notion that your RFIs and RFPs can be “living” documents, with each subject to later adjustment and refinement.  Instead of requesting a comprehensive set of information and detail from a large number of vendor candidates, you can break your RFx process down into smaller chunks that are more easily digestible by vendor candidates.  Your goal is to request the most detailed information from only the most qualified vendor candidates, and only the most qualified vendor candidates have to prepare additional detail.  By using a layered approach to your RFx process you will save time and increase vendor response rates.   

We already know what vendor we want to use, so why waste time with an RFx process?

Situation:  Your IT project team scopes out a new project, does a good deal of planning, and with funding still available, it is time for vendor selection.  The selection process is simple because your project team has already identified its preferred vendor, and you set about negotiating with that single vendor.

Solution:  Whether friend-of-friend referral or presumed market segment leader, avoid the temptation to source from a single IT vendor or consultant.

First, It is not easy to win price concessions and buyer-favorable terms and conditions from a vendor when the vendor knows “they’re it”—the preferred vendor, the only vendor in the running.  Competition in the technology sector has increased dramatically, and technology vendors have developed a keen instinct for assessing their bargaining position in a given setting.  When you sole source, you are clearly disadvantaged.

Second, your project team’s assumptions about its preferred vendor might not be entirely valid.  Is this one vendor truly the best for your needs?  Is it the only vendor who can meet your needs?  An RFx process is a cheap way to test assumptions and uncover other valuable information. 

Instead of contacting the single vendor directly for an informal quote—or however you might initiate contact—it is usually better to issue an RFI or RFP to the single vendor. The RFx will give structure to the acquisition process and subsequent negotiations, and it will create at least the pretense of a competitive bidding scenario in the mind of your preferred vendor.  Then, logically, if you are going to create this project-specific RFP for the one vendor, you might as well send it to other vendors as well, thereby creating a real competitive bidding process.  You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

Again, your RFx process does not have to be long and protracted, and indeed, you may ultimately select the vendor who was preferred from the outset.  However, now you will have positioned yourself to receive better pricing and other buyer-favorable terms and conditions from this vendor, in a compressed time frame, and all because of the competitive bidding element of your approach.  Your chosen vendor will have earned its preferred status through your RFx process.

(In part 2 of this article, I will continue this discussion of common excuses why businesses do not use the RFx process for technology acquisition and several of its benefits.)

Timothy Nuckles is a procurement attorney and consultant who offers a process-driven approach for the acquisition of commercial information technology products and services.  You can learn more about him at www.nuckleslaw.com .

by Galen McPherson

   This article was published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter

As an old movie buff, I still remember that line from a John Wayne movie, probably “The Alamo”, where he had just been witness to a parade of dandily-attired spit-shined troops marching in front of the reviewing stand.  That question should ring through the ages in all of its allegorical glory, no matter what you undertake.  When it comes to deciding whether or not to create a knowledge product [or any product, for that matter], the question instead becomes:

“Very pretty, but does it add value that the customer will pay for?

If you are a frequent reader of my articles, please forgive this brief restatement, but for the newcomers to my work , one of the founding principles of my KnexusTM model of knowledge exchange is that: “The knowledge economy is, first and foremost, an economy.”  The meaning and value of intellectual capital can only be realized in the marketplace.  Even internal processes must be managed so that they serve markets and customers as directly as possible.

Not only is the knowledge economy an economy in its own right, it also fosters other “economies”, similar to what we see in other industries:

• Economies of scale in allowing the same information to be used in mass settings as a knowledge consumable within a product,
• Economies of scope in allowing the same information to be transported to other products, and
• Economies of skill in allowing intelligent customized solutions to be delivered more cost effectively by increasing their knowledge content.

The frontiersmen at the Alamo could all fight, never mind looking pretty.  Among these defenders, there were no buglers [only], no flag bearers [only], no drummers [only].  This force of men included all of, but only, the necessities to fight.  No bells and whistles and no unnecessary “features” were to be found within the mission walls.  But each man there could shoot a musket, each man could reload, each man could handle the light cannon, most men had a knife- these were multi-purpose fighters.  The “fighting knowledge” within the Alamo was as widely dispersed as possible.

So it must be with your knowledge- as widely dispersed as possible.  Within my consulting practice, I have a motto that we all live by: “Never sell any knowledge only once.”  The beauty of the knowledge economy is that it doesn’t have to follow many of the rules of scarcity economics.  Forget the “invisible hand” of Adam Smith, to a degree.  The beauty of the knowledge economy is that none of the raw materials, knowledge, are ever consumed, only replicated.  For the first time in an economy, mass production has virtually NO incremental cost.

At the Alamo, if we only had seven hundred musket balls for 183 shooters, every musket ball that I “dispersed” to a comrade was one ball fewer for me.  But with knowledge, even though I give ALL my knowledge to my comrade, I still have all that I started with, maybe even more if I learned something during the exchange.  Knowledge is a true non-consumable resource.

That’s not to say that it is non-perishable, because it is.  There is not much call for the detailed knowledge of buggy whip manufacture these days.  The need for a specific application of knowledge may be overcome by events, but if there becomes an application for that knowledge in the future, it is still there and still true and still non-consumable.

All is not utopia in the knowledge product economy: unlike our manufacturing brethren, since we are dealing with an invisible and intangible product, we have significantly higher front-end costs on our product development.  The need for “thorough” design and for even more thorough testing, especially for critical decision-support knowledge systems, requires an ability to anticipate almost beyond human measure.  Test marketing of knowledge products tends to be long in duration and convoluted, as myriad scenarios, many even highly improbable but still present, must be validated. 

All the issues of product marketing apply to knowledge products, just as they do to any other.  Knowledge product market segmentation opens up two strategies:

• Knowledge “consumables”- upgrades or updates bought to refresh earlier knowledge products, much like the continual releases of Microsoft Office applications and other software products
• Popular first, then specialist – early knowledge “products” used to trickle down from professional user or corporate gurus, including specialized analytical techniques and models; now they are often just as likely to be have been created by a user and then percolated upward, especially with wiki and so-called “Web 2.0” approaches

The biggest source of frustration in determining a knowledge product development strategy lies in determining whence the inspiration for new products comes.  Oftentimes the answer, and it’s the wrong answer, is that is comes from looking at our [knowledge-producing company] capabilities.  We become enamored of our own expertise, and we refine that expertise, becoming smarter and smarter in a select area.  It only makes sense that we will know more, and therefore find the better solution more easily, than an outsider.

You will find new knowledge product opportunities, not by looking at your own value chain, but by looking at that of your customers.  Otherwise, you will have “very pretty” solutions that look good on the parade ground, but cannot fight.

Until next time… what are you thinking?

Galen McPherson is an unabashed Intellectual Capitalist, and developer of the KnexusTM model of knowledge exchange.  He believes firmly that every company’s most important asset walks out the door every night, and the owners only hope that it returns in the morning.  With over thirty years in training and adult education, coupled with strong business process improvement credentials internationally, Galen brings an interesting, refreshing, and, most importantly, profitable angle to how you will view the brainpower of your employees in the future.  He can be reached at (832) 298-4940 and galenmcp@att.net, and his profile is available on www.linkedin.com.

by Douglas Castle and Bruce Newman

   This article was originally published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter

Every business generates its profits, subject to the same basic methods and constraints - regardless of the nature of the products it sells or the services which it renders.

It takes in revenues from sales or service activity, pays out variable costs, meets (by paying) its fixed cost obligations, and ends up with either a pre-tax profit, or a pre-tax loss. In a Not-For-Profit organization, the same dynamics apply, but the nomenclature is different: they collect contributions or donations (in lieu of revenues), and pay out variable and fixed costs. For the purposes of this article, we will address all organizations as if they functioned in a For-Profit environment.

The objective of every going concern is to collect more money than it pays out. Simply put, this means maximizing revenues and minimizing costs, thereby increasing the spread.  As business organizations evolve, they become so filled with complexities, diversions and conflicts, that they lose sight of these simple basics.

There is a need to re-evaluate these business basics periodically – to take a fresh look at the business of the organization instead of at the entire organization as a socially complex entity with a variety of objectives, many of which conflict with or constrain profitability. Stripped of all these factors, one can examine the inherent profitability structure of the business.

At the risk of being politically incorrect, and of sounding callous, CFNA™ (Critical Factor Needs Analysis) does not focus any of its energies on corporate citizenship, environmentalism, jobs creation, and the like. CFNA works precisely because it deliberately eliminates all of these largely qualitative factors from its evaluation approach, working to effectively evaluate a corporation’s well-being and make accurate recommendations.

CNFA also looks at cash inflows and outflows, rather than theoretical accounting constructs such as accruals, amortization and the like. These are good tools for properly matching expenses to the revenue-generating process, but they are not representative of “in the trenches” reality. CFNA™ does not delve into the world of best accounting practices.

The thought here is that substantial stakeholders and directors must understand the nature of a) their market, revenues, price sensitivity, and contribution margins, and b) the structure and nature of their fixed costs.   People are not in business to cover overhead – especially accumulated, non-productive “legacy” overhead.  Rather, they are in business to generate profits by exerting control on every possible and reasonable variable.

Another important thought is that, generally speaking, the more established a business becomes, the more fixed costs are perceived as if they were actually the bottom line – especially where matters of personnel costs, perquisites, esthetically-pleasing offices and other categories of fixed costs are seen as compensatory to some of the business’ management. These fixed costs begin to take over the priority position of actual profits. Companies begin seeing revenues as a way to merely subsidize continued wastefulness or excess.

How businesspersons look at business

Businesspersons have several ways of looking at business, and these mindsets ultimately will affect potential profitability. Here are the several different “schools” of thought:

• We have high fixed costs. We have to generate enough contribution to cover them. We had better generate enough cash flow to meet these “given” costs. Bottom line: We work to pay fixed costs.
• We have high revenues. We don’t have to monitor fixed costs too closely…in fact we can afford the luxury of a growing fixed cost threshold as we become a bigger revenue-generator. Let’s get bigger offices. Let’s get some corporate aircraft (to make a good impression when traveling to meet financiers and [gulp] legislators in Washington, D.C. Life is good. The business should exist to support our improved standard of living (e.g., our growing fixed-cost structure). Bottom line: We will continue to generate increasing revenues, so fixed costs (even a bit of excess) will not hurt us.
• We have to make a profit. Let’s keep the fixed costs to a minimum just in case revenues take a dive. In fact, to be conservative, let’s accumulate some reserves of liquidity in the event that revenues decline significantly. But whatever we do, let’s not get obligated to a high contractual fixed-cost structure. After all, every dollar that goes toward paying off fixed costs would be better if it could be part of profit. The lower the fixed cost threshold, the greater our profit. Bottom line: We should minimize our fixed cost structure, so that we have latitude if revenues decline, and increased profits if revenues increase.

Each of these schools of thought actually exists, but the CFNA™ evaluative model requires that we think in the third way. Fixed costs must continually be evaluated and controlled – especially if we are in a business where:

1. Our product or service is price-sensitive, and we must be prepared to cut prices (and decrease revenues) in order to compete in our marketplace. We are not a monopoly, and cannot exert pressure on prices. Revenues are sensitive, and only partially under our control.

2. Our product or service is considered a luxury or discretionary expenditure by our client or customer base, and we may sell fewer units (and decrease revenues) if market demand decreases. Revenues are sensitive, and, price notwithstanding, are not under our control if the economy turns downward or if our product loses its market share, or market desirability.

3. Our contribution margin is thin (the price per unit is not much greater than the variable cost per unit). Revenues are doubly-sensitive, in that if we lose either some sales, or if prices drop, we will be victimized.

4. Our profit is significant.  However, because of market factors – including increased costs, an economic downturn and/or increased competition, we might not be able to maintain this margin – which can quickly decrease.  To maintain this cushion and not be victimized, we must maximize profits and remain agile.

The thought here is that substantial stakeholders and directors must understand the nature of a) their market, revenues, price sensitivity, and contribution margins, and b) the structure and nature of their fixed costs. We are not in business to cover overhead – especially accumulated, non-productive “legacy” overhead. We are in business to generate profits by exerting control on every possible variable upon which we may reasonably do so.

Another important thought is that, generally speaking, the more established a business becomes, the more fixed costs are perceived as if they were actually the bottom line – especially where matters of personnel costs, perquisites, esthetically-pleasing offices and other categories of fixed costs are seen as compensatory to some of the business’ management. These fixed costs begin to take over the priority position of actual profits. Companies begin seeing revenues as a way to merely subsidize continued wastefulness or excess.

Conclusion

We cannot heal until we know that we are ill, and until we understand the nature of the illness. In all circumstances, objectivity is required, fixed costs must be perceived as an enemy, and not as a hurdle to be met, or as a target objective. This pattern of thinking and associated conduct leads to a mere “breakeven” or “minimal survivalist” conduct that destroys companies. Companies are not in business to cover overhead: the core objective is to be profitable – in both the short and long term, for without profitability everything else becomes merely academic.

Douglas Castle (http://aboutdouglascastle.blogspot.com) operates The Castle Consultancy and is an advisor, managing member and a director of several companies in diverse industries.
Bruce Newman is the Vice President at The Productivity Institute, LLC: www.prodinst.com .

by Greg Chartier, PH.D., SPHR

   This article was originally published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter

I’ve been enjoying my crocuses for the last week or so and my daffodils are just on the cusp of blooming.  Spring is here, the signs that foretell the approach of nice weather are clear. You know the expression, “spring turns a young mans’ fancy to romance.”

While it’s not as clear, there are signs that the economy is recovering as well.  There seems to be more confidence, the stock market was up, recently and the times are not good, I can see some hopeful signs of improvement.  While I don’t think that these economic signs will turn our heads to romance, I do think it’s not too soon to think about what I should be doing to be ready for the good economic times to come.

Engaged Employees

An engaged employee is on that is truly connected to the workplace, one that is truly interested in their company and concerned about its success.  They are employees who regularly and consistently do the “right” thing, for the company, for the customer and for themselves.

Over the past ten years, there has been a great deal of discussion about engaged employees and there is ample evidence that they are more customer oriented, less likely to quit, have less workplace accidents and are more productive.  This is especially important in this economic environment.  I believe that:

• There is a skill shortage.  It’s hard to find the people you want to hire.
• The shortage is not going to get better anytime soon.
• Workforce productivity is more important than ever.
• Replacing employees is very expensive.
• Retention is the key value for engagement.

If, as I believe, these workplace dynamics will drive successful firms in the coming decades, then:

• Your strength will be the competitive advantage your engaged employees give you.
• Your customers will stick with you because of your employees.
• Replacing valuable employees will be more difficult and expensive than ever.

We replace capital equipment after a certain time period.  We calculate replacement cost, maintenance cost and pay back.  We calculate ROI and break even.  Human capital maintenance includes systems, services and initiatives that make you more attractive to current and prospective employees.

As a result, there are some things we have to do to get ready:

• Employees have to contribute more to the company.
• Managers need to do a better job engaging their employees.
• Our Human Resources has to add value to the bottom line.

In order to engage our employees we need to focus on four things:

• Engaged employees respond to a meaningful challenge.  Connect them to our mission, our customers, and our value to the community.
• Engaged employees are looking for us to set high expectations, to raise the bar.
• Engaged employees are looking for clarification. How can we adjust their roles to better fit their talents?
• Engaged employees are looking for us to measure their achievements.  Measurement aligns expectations and outcomes; it builds a sense of achievement.

Now is the time to begin to get ready for the coming economic recovery.  Take advantage of these times to prepare your workforce, your managers and yourself to be engaged.

Greg Chartier is Principal of The Office of Gregory J Chartier, a Human Resources Consulting firm and is a well-known management consultant, educator and speaker.  His practice consists of two broad areas:  Human Resources management and outsourcing for firms of less than 100 employees and Management Training. His business experience includes management positions with Pfizer, The Chase Manhattan Bank, The Bank of New York and Johnson and Johnson.  He is also a Board Member of the Job Service Employers Council (JSEC) of the New York State Department of Labor.  Greg can be reached at greg.chartier@att.net and by phone at 914-548-1689.

by Bill Hoffman

   This article was originally published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter

We live in a super-accelerated world with the Web, technology, social networking and a complete change in the way we communicate. Are you adapting to it as fast as it’s changing? Do you have the tools to keep up with the demand on your time?

It’s time to re-invest in yourself by committing to a routine, a process that works for you. It’s time to go “Back to the Basics.”

Which type are you?
There are four categories of people out there when it comes to productivity and time management.

Group one hasn’t been given the tools
Group two has the tools but just doesn’t apply them
Group three has the tools and applies them periodically
Group four has the tools and applies them every day

Having the tools and applying them every day will make an amazing, positive difference in your personal and professional productivity and time management.

What are these basic tools?
Think of every interaction, both tasks and communications, you have in a typical day. Each of these interactions takes time and has a hierarchy of importance. For example, picking up my kids from school is my top priority at 2:30pm Monday through Friday.

Another given is that we have a fixed amount of time in a day. Each of us has 1440 minutes to work with every day. Have you ever looked at the day ahead and thought, “How am I ever going to get to everything I need to do? There’s just not enough time!” By going Back to the Basics, you’ll be prepared for all of your must-do tasks – and then some.

The “Tools” are segmentation, prioritization, review and preview. Back to the Basics is applying these tools so we are in the best position to have a balanced, effective life within the confines of time.

Segmentation
Document every task you’re going to perform on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Sure, there are things that crop up unexpectedly, but if you better understand “what it is you do” on a daily basis, you’ll be surprised at how many of those “unexpected fires” can be predicted and/or comfortably fit into the flow of your day.

Prioritization
Assign the tasks you listed above a hierarchy. You can do this in many ways, such as a grading system (A, B, C, D, F) or star rating (1-5 stars). What you use as a measurement of the hierarchy is irrelevant as long as you’re able to define what each tier represents.

A – Must complete today
B – Will be rewarding to complete today
C – Should complete today (but can be put off for a short period of time)
D – Really want to complete today (but for all the wrong reasons)
F – If I get to it, I get to it (can be pushed off for a period of time)

We also have sub-categories that are critical to our “human experience.” THIS IS NOT JUST ABOUT WORK. We prioritize tasks to reflect balance in our lives. Lunch every day and two hours from 5:30-7:30 with my children are both A tasks.

Preview
Once you have segmentation and prioritization done, take the time to constantly evaluate and learn from this process. I promise you it will be ever changing as will your priorities in life. Every day (or night before) for 10 minutes, a preview of the upcoming day will help you understand the tasks at hand, remind you of preparation work that must be done or quite simply make you smile by reminding you it’s your mom’s birthday. This exercise should also be done Monday morning for the week (once weekly) and for 30 minutes the last day of each month to evaluate the entire month. You’ll be amazed at how much your mind can retain, and if nothing else, this simple exercise will help you be better prepared for what is to come.

Technology (CRM) Plays a Part
How can technology play a part in this? Honestly, technology today is tremendously beneficial if used properly. Remember you can make a really bad situation worse just by speeding it up. One thing I’ve noticed in my interactions with thousands of businesses is that people use calendaring systems such as CRM and Outlook as “reminders not to be late to meetings.” Typically, when a reminder pops up on your screen or your phone, you “snooze” it until the exact moment of the task/appointment. Are you really prepared for the task at hand or are you just reminding yourself NOT to be late? Use these tools to set the appointment time 15 minutes prior to the actual appointment so you have preparation time in order to make the best use of the task/appointment.

Review
How do I know where I need improvement? Gut feeling? Every time I feel guilty because I forgot someone’s birthday? When my boss tells me I need to improve in my annual reviews? We don’t have to wait for negative indicators to review our performance.

A review is a mandatory exercise to your personal and professional health. Take the time at night to review your day. What did you do well? What could you certainly improve on? When I take the time every day to review my interactions, I even ask myself was I honest, was I kind, did I get the job done, did I think of my team before myself? Each and every day I have the opportunity to LEARN from my mistakes and my successes, and each and every day I hope to have the opportunity to LEARN and TEACH. What more could a person ask for?

To sum it up,
Segmentation – write it down
Prioritization – assign importance
Preview – see what’s ahead. Be prepared!
Review – constantly evaluate for continued success

Put the “Back to Basics” process in place on paper, in your calendar or CRM system, try it diligently for 90 days, and I promise it will make a difference in your life.

If you’d like more information on productivity and time management, please feel free to contact me at bill.hoffman@sage.com

With a background spanning more than 17 years of experience in business process management and CRM culture, Bill Hoffman is currently responsible for the design, application and execution of CRM partner delivery programs and Enterprise Sales at Sage Software.  Previously, as Director of Hosted Services and Partner Development at Sage Software, Bill was responsible for direct and partner sales success. He designed strong process and focus for SageCRM and SageCRM.com products. Bill can be reached at: (480) 699-5563 and bill.hoffman@sage.com.

by David Gussin

   This article was originally published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter

Everyone should have a web presence. That said, the importance of the Internet for the majority of businesses is exaggerated. Being on page one of search engines will rarely make your phones ring off the hook. No doubt, being on page 1 of Google is better than being on page 2, 3, or 4, but to depend on that as the primary source of revenue for most industries, is a mistake.

It’s not just Google or other search engines or online social networking that you should depend on. If your picture was on front of a major publication tomorrow, in two days everybody would forget your name. Advertising, networking and promoting yourself and your business is about constantly working to get your name out there. You have to make the phone calls, you have to get out there and shake hands, you have to do the follow-up, you have to do a quality job when given the chance, than you have to wake up and do it again. The key to your success is your hard work, determination and perseverance.

“Determination and perseverance move the world; thinking that others will do it for you is a sure way to fail” - Marva Collins

Here are some tools and ideas that might help:

1) Blog.516Ads.com - While the Long Island information may not be relevant to the national audience, the concept of an advertising/community network is relevant. It’s about igniting business while doing good for the community – a major contrast to the mass media to which we’ve become accustomed. For example, instead of reporting on problems, advertising/community networks attempt to solve them. This is a major impetus for all types of networks. A walk for the March of Dimes or some important cause, for example, helps solve a problem while strengthening and enlarging networking activities. This is truly one of the beneficial advantages of a local and social network.

If your community doesn’t have an advertising/community network, consider building one.

2) Backpage.com – There’s Craigslist.org and Kijiji.com where you can place free advertisements. My favorite place to post free classifieds ads is Backpage.com. Owned by the Village Voice, it has some features that make it stand out including the ability to auto repost. For $3, it gets put to the top of the category 26 times, every three days. Backpage.com not only posts your classified but includes links for the last five. If you make full use of it, you can have six advertisements running simultaneously on one page.

3) HelpAReporter.com - HARO for short is a unique site with benefits and drawbacks. By signing up for HARO, on Monday through Friday, three times a day, you’ll receive e-mails with 20 - 30 inquiries from reporters across the country from many newspapers and magazines around the world. By simply responding to a reporter’s inquiry, you can find yourself in an article, sometimes “becoming” the article. It might also help brand you as an expert or begin generating a relationship with a particular reporter. The drawback is that the HARO inquiries are very specific and usually will be far removed from your area of expertise. As such, you might find that sifting through all of the inquiries is not worth the effort.

4) Yelp.com – This relatively new review site is receiving high search rankings. Take advantage of its rating system: review your fellow networkers and in turn, have them review you. Do it now! Down the road, Yelp’s operating paradigm could be flawed due to the threat (and problems) of negative reviews and manipulation. For right now, it’s still good. Use it.

One final tool: blogging and social media. A quality blog is an incredible tool for three quick reasons. 1. It’s easy to use, you can do it yourself and it allows you to keep your website up to date. 2. Search engines love blogs. A blog with quality information and active comments can greatly improve search engine rankings - particularly if your blog is in a localized area. 3. E-mails and newsletters that are sent out have a shelf life of one or two days, at best. By placing that same content on your blog, and offering an RSS feed, Feedburner or some similar feed, will allow your content to permanently remain on your blog while providing the means for anyone interested to automatically receive it. Remember that most major blog engines (such as Blogger, WordPress and WordPad) automatically trigger when updates are performed so that a high quality entry will not only trigger them but also help enlarge your network and reputation. Start blogging.

David Gussin is the creator of www.516ads.com, a rapidly growing advertising/networking community. David can be reached at david@516ads.com .