Business

Is Your Company a “Fluffer” for Other Businesses?

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Fluffer
fluffer [fluhf-er] n, slang: An off-stage person hired to keep a male porn star in a state of erection.
~ Dictionary.com

Okay, provocative headlines aside, business is a contact sport. It can get rough. No doubt about it … but, are you doing all the work, yet you’re never the star?

Here’s how you know. If you’re saying one of these 3 things, you’re fluffing:

  • “Hey, gotta pay the bills and keep the lights on”.
  • “Well, it’s just for now. Until we get rolling”.
  • “They’re going to bring us some real opportunities down the road”.

Well, you DO have to pay the bills. You CAN cut a client loose later and there REALLY might be bigger opportunities with that customer down the road.

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Snap*start: Free Business Forms to Download for Office from Zoomstart

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Snapstart Business Forms

Projecting a professional image is important in business. Especially for small businesses. The last thing you want to do is hand a client an invoice you scribbled out in pencil on a piece of lined paper you ripped out of a 3 ring binder.

If you have a small business, a good set of business forms can run your company without the costs of buying and managing an accounting package. And if you’re on the road frequently and find you can’t access your company system, cranking out an invoice or whatever on the go keeps the business rolling forward.

Snap*start Business Forms

One of the first things I created when I started messing around online was a package of professional business forms. There are lots of free forms around the internet, but most of them are not very high quality. The Snap*start package is. These are real forms; the kind that million dollar businesses use every day and they’ve come in very handy for me.

And best of all, they’re free!

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“Look Before You Leap” Test Marketing

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There’s something to be said for coming up with a great idea and just jumping in to it. In fact, there’s a lot to be said about it and I can sum it up in 3 words … just do it. Entrepreneurs are about taking risks. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. But … Read more

How to Hire the Superstars Your Company Needs

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A couple friends that used to work for me recently asked me to be a reference for jobs they’re applying to. They’re both top-notch. They’re the kind of people that are a huge asset to a team. Which got me to thinking about how you find good people. People are a company’s most important asset. … Read more

Bridging the Gap: Arbitrage, Online and Off

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I’ve been playing around with some online arbitrage lately. It’s something that you can do online and off, and although the margins can be very tight, arbitrage is scalable and relatively low risk as long as you stay on top of it. Online Arbitrage Despite what you might have heard, it’s a perfectly legitimate business … Read more

Beef Up Your Sales with a Signature Line of Products

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I was watching Leno last night. Blue collar comedian Jeff Foxworthy was on and one of the things he was promoting was his new, signature barbecue sauce. He alluded that someone just approached him with the idea and he liked it. This kind of joint venture happens a lot. And it’s a win-win-win deal … … Read more

Customer Loyalty is all about Making Unconditional Connections

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Most dogs can teach anyone more about loyalty in 10 minutes than all the classes, workshops, books and gurus on the subject combined. Dogs are intensely loyal. They’re good at it. They know the true secret; it’s unconditional. Because it’s not something you get. It’s something you give. 3 Quick Stories about Customer Loyalty In business, you … Read more

Find your Deal-Breakers and Fix Them to Capture more Sales

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A deal-breaker is something a customer just can’t get past to make the purchase. If your products and services have too many built-in deal breakers, it could hurt your business. A Deal-Breaker Example I’ve been looking at buying a new laptop recently. I really like the Lenovo T61p. I like as much power as you … Read more

Building Alliances Between Your Customers that Bring You Business

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Good business is all about building relationships. You want to KNOW the people you’re doing business with. You want to know that they’re knowledgeable and dependable. You want to know they’re the right supplier for your business or a good customer who pays their bills. Your business is counting on it. Building those relationships involves entertaining … Read more