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It is a well-understood axiom of the business world that there are two ways to improve the bottom line of the business. Stated simply, those two ways are to make money or to cut costs. Now, no business can cost cut their way to profitability. But by the same token, waste and excessive internal costs for any business can eat away any profits that business is enjoying. So to get ahead in a competitive business environment, both methods must be employed.

When a business turns its eye to cost cutting, there is a stated or unstated business objective that the business owners will discover significant bleeding of revenues that are going on within the systems of doing business. So if those systems can be improved to eliminate that waste, the business would literally make money from the inside out because the overhead of the business would drop so dramatically.

The usual progress of such a cost saving campaign by a business is to find “the low hanging fruit” first. By that we mean that in order to satisfy the demands of management, middle management will identify superficial savings in hopes of satisfying the requirement. Hence switching from disposable cups to mugs or cutting back on break room amenities often go on the chopping block first.

Sadly, while there may be some superficial savings to be found in such places, the significant introduction of efficiencies for any business lie at a deeper level and take a more in-depth process of locating problems with how things get done internally. The methodology of finding these “money pits” within a business is often called “Process Improvement.” The concept of process improvement is to diagram a particular business process from inception to completion and document the stages it goes through, the handing over of authority for the process and to pin point places where inefficient methods are causing excessive cost in executing that process en route to the final stage of process completion.

Routinely, the areas of business structure that most often identified as being candidates for a process improvement examination are…

* Excessive overhead between departments. Departments within a business are notorious for taking on the atmosphere of a fiefdom and becoming resistant if not suspicious of other departments in the same company. When that happens, department managers will introduce paperwork and unnecessary processing to cause “work” to move to his or her department from another or for completed jobs to continue along their path. This excessive overhead can be costly at the department level and bog down the business as a unit enough to actually reduce the profitability of the organization.

* Communication problems. A business process moves through the organization as each department or entity adds value to the process through to the completion of the job. However if communications between departments or people along the process chain are flawed, a process can grind to a halt and wait for hours if not days before the missed communication is discovered and the work is put into the cycle to be completed. This slow down or break down in communications can be a tremendous drain on the company. To correct the problem, modern tools of communication should be reviewed so each significant person along the chain is quickly made aware of work that needs to be done and can signal to the next agent that their step is complete and that the process is moving to the next stage.

* An inefficient IT infrastructure. Out of date computer programs that are not integrated with each other cause needless work to be done to take data from one system and moving it into the next computer program only to be entered again at the next stop along the chain. Standardization and integration of data and systems will introduce huge efficiencies to the process.

By streamlining the process of moving a business requirement from inception to conclusion, we can remove much of the inefficiency and waste that has become inherent to that process. We can introduce up to date integration designs both at the IT and process level to quickly move the process from one department to the next upon completion. The outcome is a streamlined organization that is no longer “bleeding money” due to inefficiencies and as such is making money “from the inside out”.

In today’s retail environment, impression is everything. The media bombards us with advertisements everyday. Even young children are acutely aware of brands that they believe to be better. Just show a kid a box of name brand cereal and the same exact thing in a generic, ask which one is better, and they’ll most likely pick the one that they’ve seen an ad for. Companies pay millions of dollars to make such impressions, and you shouldn’t take your brand image lightly either. There is real evidence that people generally will choose the brand that exudes quality, whether it’s found by experience or advertising, over a brand that they don’t know.

Learning how to make a lasting impression can be a process of trial and error. First and foremost, you’ve got to offer the products that your target audience is interested in. Then, you need to brand your image so that it is definite, and stays ingrained in their minds. Third, you need to show the quality and appeal through presentation, marketing concepts and promotion.

Once you’ve chosen the products that your store will offer, you’ve really got to push them. Your goal should be to make a product something that your customer not only notices, but suddenly feels that they need. Making something into a need instead of a want can be a tricky task, but well worth the effort. One example is selling accessories. If your goal is to make someone feel that they need a certain purse, shoes or jewelry, then you have to promote it as something that they need. Dress your mannequins in full outfits that go great with the accessories that you want to promote. Make it good enough so that people don’t just want the dress or shirt that they see. Make it so that they think the outfit as a whole looks so good, that they’ve just got to have every piece of it.

The second step is branding your image. If you’re offering business attire, then you really need the highest quality clothes hangers and clothing racks. The same goes for junior’s clothing. Kids today want to have the best that’s out there. They take the brands that they sport as a personal reflection on their budding personalities. They may look young, but they’ve grown up in a world that has been teaching them their whole lives what to look for. Something as simple as switching from clear plastic hangers to high-quality wooden hangers can change their impression of your entire store and engrain your store image into their impressionable brains.

Use your promotions as opportunities to attract customers, new and old. Have them often and keep a calendar year-round of the data that you collect. Keep track of how much you spend on signs, flyers and special products. Pay attention to people’s reactions. Do they walk right past your store, or are you getting way more attention than normal? Something as simple as putting a sign outside of the door signals people that something great is going on. Feature new products near the front of the store. Use lighting and flyers to generate a buzz. Compare each promotion to the last and you can fine tune what your customers react to.

Just remember that every little detail counts. Don’t skimp out on anything that could make a difference. Don’t underestimate how a seemingly small decision, such as selecting wooden hangers, could affect your store’s reputation and brand image.

When it comes to having an internet business, some involve you marketing the company and product, distributing the product after sells, handling customer service, writing the content for the web site, and much more. The great thing about network marketing is your main focus is promoting the program and signing people up under you.

You will be happy to know there is a plethora of low-cost network marketing promotion tips you can apply to your scheme. There is no point in spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to generate recruits when you can do the same thing while spending little to no money at all.

What you will have to realize is branching away from the internet can bring you a great deal of quality recruits as well. Sticking solely to the internet is a risky move because you are limiting yourself. Certainly the internet is the best place to start, but why not include other areas to get as many recruits as possible.

One network marketing promotion you may want to look into away from the internet is business cards. Business cards are cheap and extremely easy to give out. Whether you are at a business seminar or at your kid’s basketball game, it is an efficient way to give out your program’s web site and an email to contact you.

Nobody likes the next tip, but telemarketing still proves to be an effective way to get recruits. The key is generating a list full of interested prospects. Cold calls can be difficult because you will waste your time calling a number of people who have no interest whatsoever. But if you can find a list of people interested in the niche you are in, it can be an effective way to build a downline.

One of the best network marketing promotions is referrals. There is nobody that can talk your program up better than a satisfied recruit. If you can leave every customer happy you will be amazed at how many new recruits you will receive. It is much more satisfying hearing someone else talk you up than listening to you talk yourself up.

Lastly, having a web site with testimonials is another way to bring in recruits. This is similar to referrals, but it is people allowing you to put their referral on your site. This will allow anybody who comes to your site see how you dealt with previous customers and what they can look forward to.

This industry is all about network marketing promotion tips. If you do not know how to effectively promote your program you will be in trouble. But following some of the examples listed in this article will assist you with your promoting and recruiting process.

In my nearly twenty years in the publicity industry, I have seen a fair bit of evolution in how the media reaches their audience. Some newspapers and magazines have turned into websites or blogs and several television shows have turned into streaming videos on YouTube. Talk radio seems to be the only media outlet that has remained untouched, right? Wrong!

If we use the 1990’s as a reference point (and all of you radio pros from that era will back me up on this) the landscape of talk radio has most definitely changed from then until now. In the 90’s the average time allotted for a guest interview was anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes and most of the interviews took place in-studio.

Today if you want to find a 45 to 60 minute interview you have to focus on smaller markets (and/or smaller stations in big markets). Why? It all comes down to format. Today, the format for guest interviews in top markets can be as short as 3 to 5 minutes and as long as 10-15 minutes. So the same major market talk show that used to have one guest per hour will now how 3-5 guests in one hour!

Also, say goodbye to in-studio interviews. Most hosts today don’t want guests coming to the studio. Now with shorter interviews, having to meet and greet an in-studio guest can be an unnecessary distraction, not only for the hosts but for other employees at the station as well. And, where quality of sound used to be a factor, we’ve seen enough technological advances in equipment that phone interviews now sound far superior to those of the earlier days.

Ok, so things have changed. But it isn’t necessarily for the worst. Any opportunity to be a guest on a radio show is an opportunity you want to take advantage of - regardless of the amount of airtime, the size of the market or the power of the radio station!

For years I have told my clients about the power of radio, and have watched many campaigns produce fantastic results. Here are just a few helpful tips I share with my clients about the value of talk radio and how to maximize these opportunities to connect with their audience.

Work With However Many Minutes You Have on the Air!

Be careful not to fall into the negative mindset about short interviews. Even if your interview only lasts say 10 minutes, these are 10 very valuable minutes of airtime…just learn how to maximize it!

• Develop those Sound Bites. If you only have 10 minutes to talk about your book, product or service you just need to develop your message so that it’s concise and will grab the audience’s attention. The secret for doing this is to make every word count in being able to communicate your message.

• Know Your Message and Stay On it. Figure out what your key message is and stick with it! You don’t have time to be thrown off topic by the host or caller. When that happens, your job is to briefly acknowledge what was said and bring the conversation back to your message. It can be done as politely as, “…yes, that’s a good point, but…” (the rest of your answer would be your message). This kind of response allows you to keep your manners in so that the host doesn’t feel like you’ve ignored his comment, but at the same time, you’re in control of the communication and able to get your point across.

• Know the Host and the Show. If the show is simulcast on the internet, take the time to listen to it before your interview. This will allow you to get a feel for the overall tone of the show and host and how he or she communicates with guests and callers. It will also give you a feel for the pace of the show. Then when it comes time for your interview, you’ll know what’s expected of you as a guest and you’ll be able to stay in stride. I promise you, the host will appreciate that you’re keeping the same pace and tone as he or she is! The benefit to you? The more the host likes you the more inclined they will be to promote your book, product or service for you!

Bottom line? Advertisers pay hundreds of dollars for a single minute of time on the air. So, a 10 minute interview is very valuable and can be worth thousands of dollars in advertising time!

Only Want a Long Interview? Ditch the Major Markets!

If you only want longer interviews, then look to smaller markets. If you are not sold on the benefits of these seemingly lesser markets, let me share some terrific facts about these rough diamonds:

• Get Your Feet Wet: Interviews in smaller markets give you the opportunity to gain experience as a radio guest providing terrific insight as to the workings and rhythm of talk radio.
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