Every organization needs to ensure that business deals are attended to promptly.  Writing effective business messages not only includes connecting with customers and clients, but also with employees within your organization.

A carefully-written business correspondence plays a crucial role in the day-to-day operations of your business.  Every person in your organization regardless of rank or job description should know the fundamental concepts of effective business writing and communications.

Responding to problems within your business organization via written communiqués should be done promptly, clearly, and concisely.  This is particularly important when dealing with employees since false assumptions based on mixed or ambiguous messages are more likely to create problems down the road.

Building your credibility and reputation is a must if you want your clients’ trust and confidence.  There’s no better way of closing this gap than through effective business writing.

The Entrepreneurial Playbook: Identifying the Performance Gap

Discover the entrepreneurial skills involved for transforming you and your business in order to effectively function at higher performance level.

Find out more about the entrepreneurial performance gap in this Training for Entrepreneurs.com Chalk Talk video episode!

Discover the entrepreneurial skills involved for transforming you and your business in order to effectively function at higher performance level.

Find out more about the entrepreneurial performance gap in this Training for Entrepreneurs.com Chalk Talk video episode! View the video here…

Last week, in Part # 1, we defined Mind Mapping and talked about its nature.  In Part #2, we will discuss how to use Mind Mapping to help you start a new business, generate new ideas, or revitalize your business.

Whether you are thinking about starting a new business or revitalizing an existing one, visual Mind Mapping techniques can be an ideal way to bring life to your business ideas.

Business innovation and creativity are the results of effective brainstorming within a group.  Getting a group of people together to brainstorm ideas is not always easy or practical.  For those inopportune times, individual, hand-drawn Mind Mapping can be a great way to generate ideas on your own, and to develop a variety of great solutions for your small business problems.

Take a moment to focus on the ideas that you want to further develop.  Then, follow this brief outline so you can begin leveraging the process of Mind Mapping for the success of your business.

Take advantage of free Mind Mapping software

Effective Mind Mapping cannot be overstated.  It might be a good idea to begin Mind Mapping with free software like, Xmind and open source FreeMind.  Once you have gained some experience using free versions, you can test drive some of the commercial ones such as, MindMapper and MindVisualizer.

One of the first Mind Mapping exercises you could attempt is to brainstorm how to acquire new clients for my business.

“Harnessing the Power of Mind Mapping” is a two-part article.  This week, in Part# 1, we will define Mind Mapping and tell you a little about its nature.  Next week, in Part# 2, we will introduce you to a variety of practical ways that you can use Mind Mapping to improve your business.

Have you ever wondered if there was a way for you to optimize your mind’s problem-solving ability?  Perhaps you simply want to discover or unleash the creative side of you.  Maybe you’re facing a business problem, but you’ve exhausted your options or you’re stuck with trite, worn-out solutions. What can you do to clarify and simplify your mind processes?   Implement the powerful tool of Mind Mapping!  You’ve heard the term before, but exactly what does it mean?

What is Mind Mapping?  Well, Mind Mapping is a visual thinking tool.  It is a way of representing ideas and concepts in a graphical manner.  Ideas are presented in a radial pattern—as opposed to a linear pattern --that mirrors exactly the way our mind works.

Mind Maps help us think better, solve problems creatively, and remember concepts, facts, and processes for the long term.  It encourages flexibility---an ingredient that is so vital to making your resolutions happen.  It’s an effective tool that helps you think outside the box.

Many people use the words “team” and “group” interchangeably; however, they are in essence not the same.  One of the most important elements that distinguish a “team” from a “group” is synergy.

Have you ever watched a flock of geese take flight?  Seconds after they take off, the geese arrange themselves into a perfect “V formation.”  Flying in this formation, rather than each goose flying on its own, allows them to fly faster, conserve energy, and fly longer distances.  This is synergy in action.

Observing these wonderful creatures, one would notice that as the lead goose tires, he simply drops back and another bird takes its place in the lead.  Working together in this manner, rather than individually, allows the flock to achieve greater productivity.  This synergy is a law of nature.

Fortunately, the kind of teamwork that works for geese also works for businesses and organizations. Teams and organizations can greatly benefit from the “V formation” leadership style.

For most people, and perhaps you are among this group, business or social networking can be quite a struggle.  However, once you understand the networking process, you’ll appreciate how powerful a marketing tool it can become for you and your business. Networking is a huge revenue generator because through it you are able to access additional information, leads, ideas, and referrals---all of which are so vital to the growth of your business.

If  you have already embraced the idea that networking may have merit and have taken steps to implement  it---but have recognized that business networking isn't working for you right now--- read on and discover why and how having a pool of key contacts can give your business a tremendous boost, catapulting it to the next level.

In the past, the way to hold a meeting with a remote staff was through teleconferencing.  The current rave is web conferencing, a far more advanced yet extremely economical tool for meetings, training seminars as well as collaborative projects.  Web conferencing saves you time and money because it avoids the need to travel, find a suitable venue, and book an accommodation.

Being a feature-rich tool that is able to match face-to-face conversation, web conferencing is an excellent alternative to traditional meetings and seminars.

If you want to increase your work productivity while cutting down on hotel and travel expenses at the same time, then web conferencing is the way to go.

Since the advent of the Internet, working professionals have been able to work from home and become less and less dependent on the 8-to-5 workday.  Many companies have realized that remote workers actually help reduce operating costs simply because they don’t require desk space or use company resources such as electricity and Internet bandwidth.

Have you ever wished you had some kind of tool for your small business that allows you to easily store and keep track of your notes?  Well, Evernote has some of the handiest features that easily incorporate into your workflow, helping you keep things organized, have the information you need whenever you want, save time and be productive wherever you are.

Evernote is a cloud application service that you can use to store, organize, retrieve, and share documents, notes, tweets, photos from any computer with Internet access.

Note taking

With Evernote, creating as well as organizing your notes is a breeze.  You can send e-mails to Evernote, tag your notes, and indicate which notebook they’d be sent to.

Designating the notebook is a simple matter of typing the character “@” in the e-mail subject line followed by the name of the notebook you want to send your notes in.

To know your Evernote e-mail address, all you have to do is click on "Settings," then go to "Tools," and then "Account Info," that is, if you’re using the desktop version.  For the web version, you need to go to "Settings," and then, "Account Summary."

To create a tag, simply add a “#” symbol in front of your tag’s name.

Website traffic increase is one of the major concerns of small business owners. If you are serious about your web presence and are looking for more people to learn about your business, then you need to boost website traffic.
 

Create good, interesting and fresh content

Content is king!  While this may be an overused cliché, very few people pay real attention to what the words really mean.  If your goal is to increase traffic for your website, then you’ve got to provide quality content.

Creating solid content that is updated regularly ensures website traffic increase.  Good content not only improves website traffic, but also stimulates repeat business.
 

Employ a user-friendly design and layout

Visitors are easily turned off by a hard-to-navigate website.  Even if you have great content, if your layout is hard on the eye or confusing, your visitors won’t stay very long on your site.  Worse yet, they may not even come back.

If you don’t have an eye for esthetics, get expert help.  This is one investment on your part that can go a long way in keeping your visitors and customers happy.

At the rate at which technology is improving today, small firms are now able to make their voice heard.  Technology leveled the playing fields and has become a great equalizer for small businesses, regardless of the size of your business; the technological tools used are the same.

One of the greatest hurdles for many new entrepreneurs regarding technology is lack of knowledge of its effected use for business growth.

In an era where information is king, it is of paramount importance that you learn how to leverage technology to your advantage.  The sooner you are able to do that, the better chances you’ll have of beating business rivals and making your small business grow.

When You Spend Money on Technology, Think of It as an Investment and not as Cost
Most small business owners tend to think of technology only as something they don’t need to spend money on unless they really have to.  This is a big mistake!

If you want to become the owner of a successful and thriving small business enterprise, you need to re-evaluate your priorities and start thinking of technology as an investment that can help you take your business to the next level.

Investing in and leveraging technology can help you save money and time, and allows your business to develop and grow.

The great thing about a new year is that it gives us a sense of hope that we can live our lives anew, start over again, and do things better.  New Year's Resolutions are useful tools for remaking ourselves.  Our resolutions often include improving habits related to weight, health, exercise, work, and business.  However, many people fail at their New Year’s resolutions.  Oftentimes, our failure to stick to our New Year’s resolution is due to a lack of planning, strategy, and motivation.

Despite the discouraging statistics, a “gifted” few will actually succeed in changing their habits and improving their lifestyle for good.

“Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.”  -- Mark Twain

Now to coax your habit downstairs, here are 5 steps for making your New Year’s resolution work for you: