AtlantaEvent.com NewsFlash - What's the plan, man?

Intro From Jeff Glaze

Jeff Glaze
Editor



"Buy my eye-opening ebook!" from Jeff Glaze, The editor of AtlantaEvent.com

Greetings from Jeff,

Two more days to file for taxes and if you haven't already done it, you are probably either planning to file for an extension or you are freaking out. I suggest that if you are freaking out and have not made plans to get it done, just file for the extension. That will give you until August to start freaking out again.

Which leads me to a topic called planning.

Did you plan for your business to be where it is today or have things not gone according to that plan? I am sure that as you progress in your business, you have had to make modifications to your business plan to compensate for things that you did not anticipate. Many of us planned for our business to be much larger by now, and somehow things did not turn out as we expected. Is it our fault that it did not work the way we planned?

Let's not place or take blame, instead let's talk about focus. As we conduct our daily business it is easy to be distracted by things like email or personal issues. These are things that take our focus off of tasks for success. Do we plan for these things to influence us? I would guess that we probably do not.

Do you take a few minutes at the end of each day to plan the next? Do you plan weeks in advance? I had a friend say today that someone sent him an email today for an event tonight. He railed that this person always waits until the last minute to send notices about events. My response to him is that we have become a last minute society. We wait until the last minute to decide what we are going to focus on today or what event we are going to attend.

This is a problem for the entrepreneur. If we do things this way we always find a reason not to do something that is important and needs to be completed. If we wake up and look to see what is going on today, it is easy to justify going out to some event rather than stay in the office and do things that we really need to do. Then when we get back there are calls to follow up with and emails to answer and before we know it, it is dinner time.

What can we do to avoid this trap? We have to plan at least a week in advance or even longer. Once that plan is made, we need to stick to it and only in the case of an emergency, allow variance in the plan.

I am sure that you know someone who is extremely successful and when you try to set an appointment, they whip out the daily planner or the Palm Pilot and check their schedule. Could it be that this is one of the big reasons for their success? I am guessing that it is. Planning does not come natural to us. It is a learned habit. It is a habit that is worth forming and once you have programmed yourself to plan, your life and your business will run much smoother.

I do have a reason to talk about planning. Be sure to plan to attend the Atlanta Business Mixer on the 28th (see below). We are expecting up to 200 people this month and I am sure you will enjoy the evening. We always have food, so don't eat before you get there, Copeland's food is great!

Thanks for subscribing and be sure to tell others about AtlantaEvent.com!

Jeff Glaze - Editor

THE SUBTLETY OF LANGUAGE

by Jim Rohn

Are you finding many of your best prospects already working with competitors? When you pursue a new opportunity, is someone else capturing the prize? Maybe it's time to re-evaluate your positioning.

Your market position is the place you occupy in the mind of your prospective clients. It's how they think of you as compared to your competitors. Adjectives like established or cutting-edge; high-quality or inexpensive; convenient or full-service are all relative terms. When applied to you and your business, they distinguish you from the competition.

Your clients' impression of how your business compares can determine whether they work with you or not. Try conducting some competitive research to find out what it is that clients like about the people you compete with. Are those qualities you can emulate? In what areas are clients not as satisfied? Could you offer more satisfaction there?

Ask your current and former clients about their experience with the competition. They may be quite candid with you about what they liked and didn't like, and give you some valuable insight into why they chose you. Check out how your competitors are positioning themselves by surfing the Net. Mission statements, lists of features and benefits, etc. will often be posted on their web sites. You can also have a friend request their literature, or hire a professional market researcher.

Target market research can help if prospects are telling you they don't need what you are offering. If you think they need a team-building retreat, but they are looking for more skills training, you won't make a sale. If you learn more about how prospects view their own challenges, you can develop a new market position to better match their mental, or real-life, purchase order. Your retreat might fly if you called it "an intensive three-day training program in the critical skills needed for effective teamwork."

Ask your satisfied clients for a testimonial letter. The way they describe the work you do and benefits they received from it can give you valuable clues in how to sell it to others. An evaluation questionnaire can be used for the same purpose. Try asking, "How would you describe my service to someone who could use it?"

Your research might uncover that your service isn't packaged in a way that prospects want to buy it. Developing a better service package could make what you offer more attractive. A marketing consultant who has been charging by the project might find clients more receptive to a monthly retainer they can budget for. An interior designer encountering resistance to his hourly fee might instead raise his commission rate on furnishings, and no longer charge by the hour.

Sometimes just naming your service package can make a difference. An image consultant might be much more successful selling the "One-Day Makeover" than asking clients to buy six hours of her time to revamp their whole look. When doing your market research, try asking your prospects how they prefer to buy services like yours, and tailor your offering to their preferences.

You may make the discovery that you've chosen the wrong market -- the perceived need for what you offer isn't strong enough, they aren't willing to pay what you need to charge, or the size of the market is too small. In this case, it's time to position yourself for an entirely different market.

A career counselor who can't find enough individuals who will pay her fee can market herself to companies who need outplacement services. A software trainer who discovers that large companies prefer training firms that can serve them nationally might find a better market in midsize organizations. Keep asking the question, "Who is MOST LIKELY to hire me?" until you find the right fit.

C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients NOW! Thousands of business owners and salespeople have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Get a free copy of "Five Secrets to Finding All the Clients You'll Ever Need" at getclientsnow.com

Beware of Spyware

By Nowshade Kabir

Read Chapter 12 In "Guerrilla Marketing in 30 days" about AtlantaEvent.com

One day, you suddenly realize that your computer has started to work noticeably slower than it used to. You decide to run de-fragmentation of your hard drive and add more virtual memory to the system. No luck! May be, it’s a viruses you reckon, turning on your virus scanning software.

Even after running the anti-virus program you notice that the problem won’t resolve. Not understanding what’s happening and frustrated you pick up the phone. It’s time to call your tech-support. Sound familiar? You are not alone! Each day, thousands of computer users are facing similar problems caused by malicious software called Spyware.

According to Dell technical support, 12 percent of their support calls involve problems related to some kind of Spyware. Microsoft reports that fifty percent of all computer crashes are caused by Spyware, viruses and Trojans.

What is a Spyware?

Spyware – also named Malware or Adware – are malicious software programs, which most of the time get installed on your computer without your knowledge. These programs are capable of doing many outrageous, sinister things to your computer such as changing computer settings, tracking your online behavior, monitoring and controlling your computer, recording your keystrokes, displaying unwanted advertisements and reporting needed information back to the person behind it.

The main types of Spyware are:

Key loggers: This type of Spyware copies everything you type to a file and send it to the hacker. The more sophisticated type, which is used for identity theft, copies the information you provide when you are connected to a secure website.

Browser hijacker: It modifies browser settings without your permission. This Spyware is capable of changing your start page, search page, search tool bar and redirect your url to specific pages.

Email redirector: Surreptitiously copies all your incoming and outgoing emails and sends to the hacker.

Dialers: This spyware install themselves to your dial-up settings and dials numbers without your knowledge, often to out of country numbers.

Collectware: The purpose of this Spyware is to track your surfing habit and transmitting the statistical data to the hacker. This information later gets sold to advertisement companies.

Adware: This Spyware downloads all sorts of banner advertisements every time you take some action such as typing a word on your search tool.

Why does my anti virus program not block Spyware?

Although, Spyware uses same tactics like “Trojan” viruses, technically it is not a virus. A virus is a program written to create trouble or possibly harm your computer system. Viruses are capable of replication, evolve and cause severe damage to your computer files, registry or even hardware.

Spyware, on the other hand, does not harm your computer intentionally. Any nuisance like system slow down is the collateral damage, which occurs while the Spyware serves its mission of monitoring your activities and making unwanted changes to your user experience.

People rarely read the fine print of the user agreements while downloading a file, a program, a game or other free stuff from the Internet. Unethical sites use this to their advantage and add tiny Spyware with the file you are downloading. The anti-virus programs can not be sure, whether this program is installed deliberately added by you or it’s a malicious Spyware.

This makes identifying and blocking a Spyware difficult for an Anti-virus program. However, things are starting to change! Major anti-virus companies are planning to integrate anti-spyware programs into their existing products very soon.

How did I get infected with a Spyware?

There are numerous ways how you might end up with Spyware on your system.

- When you download and install programs, games, smilies, pictures, screen savers from dubious sites, there is a big chance that you might install sneaky Spyware along the way.

- Some web sites and pop-up windows try to download and install Spyware while you are there.

- According a recent analysis of sex-based web sites, up to 80 percent of these sites are now being used to upload Spyware, worms and Trojans to unsuspecting visitors.

- Some add-ons to you browser that is supposed to enhance your browser experience may secretively install Spyware.

- The most cynical method of infecting you with Spyware is when you receive a sudden pop-up ad, which claims that your computer is contaminated and you have to run certain program to cure your system. If you are credulous enough to run this program, it just installs a Spyware instead of eliminating any.

How to fight back?

If you carefully follow the instructions outlined below, your chances of getting infected with Spyware are pretty slim.

- Update your Windows. Allow your version of Windows to update itself automatically. Ensure that you have all the latest security patches installed.

- Use Firefox as your default browser. Since Internet Explorer is the main target for many Spyware, you will be better of with Mozilla Firefox. Moreover, it is a better browser than IE in many aspects.

- Be extremely careful with your downloads. Try not to download anything from a unknown site. If you still feel like getting a shareware or freeware program check it out on one of these online Spyware databases. Spychecker (spychecker.com) is one such service, and Camtech 2000's Spy Chaser (camtech2000.net) is a nifty downloadable database of nearly1000 spyware-infested programs.

- Use an Anti-Spyware application. Download and install one of the following anti-spyware programs:

- Ad-aware (lavasoftusa.com)

- Spybot (safer-networking.org)

- Microsoft AntiSpyware. Although, Microsoft’s Anti-Spyware(microsoft.com) is still at beta stage, I am using it and very happy with its performance.

- Get a Firewall! If you are using Windows XP with Service Pack 2, you are probably fine! In other cases, if your computer is connected to the Internet directly you should get a firewall and install it. Zone alarm (zonelabs.com) is a great firewall you can download for free.

A recently conducted survey of the Top Network Security threats in 2005 reveals that two-thirds of IT managers and administrators believe that Spyware will be the number one threat to network security. So don’t take any chance! Make sure that you are protected!

About the author: Nowshade Kabir is the founder, primary developer and present CEO of Rusbiz.com. A Ph. D. in Information Technology, he has wide experience in Business Consulting, International Trade and Web Marketing. Rusbiz is a Global B2B Emarketplace with solutions to start and run online business. You can contact him Here or check out his ezine

Swarm Your Market

By Jeff Glaze

www.besomeone.org
"Helping Children
One Move At A Time"

BeSomeone.org is the Official supported charity of AtlantaEvent.com

One thing is for sure, termites will be around forever. Here in the south especially they are quite heinous. I just spent an hour killing a family as they came out of the ground and began raining down on my house. How do I spell satisfaction in this example? B-U-G-S-P-R-A-Y!

So what can termites teach us about business? Proliferation.

The dictionary defines Proliferation as "To increase or spread at a rapid rate". Termites will be around forever because they have mastered proliferation. Have you mastered it in your marketing?

In your marketing and promotion it is important to get as much bang for the buck as possible - to reach masses of people. The problem is that to reach the masses is often a costly and ineffective process of advertising and marketing. So how can you reach a lot of people effectively without spending a lot of money?

Here are a few ways:

- Affiliation. Through an affiliation with a business that shares your target market, you can use a process of cross promotion. For example the natural relationship between realtors and mortgage bankers.

- The volunteer sales force. This is a process of utilizing the relationships you have with current clients and others to help you promote through the distribution of materials or the process of active referrals. To create a volunteer sales force you have to provide them with something to carry with them such as a brochure or some of your business cards. Note: this only works if people like you. Try to be the kind of person that people like and you will have great success with this one!

- Network a lot. Through the networking process, continuously remind the people you meet what is a good lead for you. They must fully understand what it is that you do. Make sure that they also fully understand how it can benefit them to refer you. Note: money (referral fees) is not always a good motivator in this method.

- Have a plan to target your market and attend functions where that market can be found in large groups. For example if your target market is the real estate pro, attend yearly conferences that cater to them.

- Be creative in your efforts to get your business noticed. Everyone has competition, it is the person or company whose name is remembered that gets the business.

No one can be everywhere at the same time. Your efforts need to be focused to get the best results and focusing on the end result can help you develop a plan to reach your goals.

Jeff Glaze is the Editor of AtlantaEvent.com and this newsletter. You can find a list of all of the services that Jeff's company Mostcool Media Inc. offers here.