Joy Olivia Miller

Archive for the ‘Business News’ Category

Bad news is rife in the world of business and employment today. It’s a fact of life as companies struggle to get to grips with the subdued economy. If you’re managing or supervising staff, there’s a fair chance you’ll find yourself delivering unsavoury news to your team at one point or another, and how you choose to communicate that news can make a huge difference.

“No one ever wants to receive bad news, and no one wants to communicate it either,” says business communications specialist Lynn Gaertner-Johnston. “It is a huge communication challenge that requires great care, especially if the news is upsetting rather than merely inconvenient.”

Breaking such news can be a nerve racking and difficult experience for even the most seasoned business communicator, but if you find yourself passing on bad tidings at work consider following some of these tips to help ease the pain:

Use multiple channels: don’t just focus on e-mail. E-mail tends to be a cold and sterile medium, unfeeling and stark. While e-mail may well be the most efficient communication tool, you should try to augment it with other, more personal channels of communication. Pick up the phone, arrange a person-to-person meetings or organise an online meetings or video conference to add a more personal and caring element to the message. Keep people updated: there’s nothing worse than dropping a bombshell of an announcement and then clamming up. Keep the information flowing, provide frequent updates and volunteer additional information as it becomes available. People tend to take bad news on-board gradually, but once the central message sinks in they’ll be looking for more information. Be sure to provide it if you can. Don’t try to hide it: shielding people from bad news by concealing it is always a bad move. When the inevitable happens and the news leaks out, the fallout will be far worse. Be open, honest and up front about the reality of the situation. Don’t delay: sitting on the fence isn’t a particularly clever strategy when it comes to delivering bad news. When the news does break the fact that you knew about it for some time before passing it on will erode trust and raise suspicion about your motives. The trust of your team is hard won and crucial to your success… don’t jeopardise it. Be professional: use appropriate language tailored to your audience, and always be professional. Take particular care before deciding to use emoticons like frowning faces and slang terms. Temper the message: if you can do so legitimately, try and include a snippet of good news to soften the blow. Downsizing a department is very bad news for some, of course, but if it ultimately saves people’s jobs and makes the company more viable that’s good. Don’t gloss over the negatives: while highlighting a positive aspect or outcome is a good thing, don’t attempt to disguise the negative message with positive language and corporate “spin” for the sake of it. Bad news doesn’t become any sweeter with a saccharine veneer.

Don’t forget to look out for part two of this article for more tips to help you deliver bad news more effectively.

(Inspired by an entry in Lynn Gaertner-Johnston’s excellent Better Writing at Work newsletter)

Traditionally business owners, authors, and speakers have looked to the news media to help them grow sales. From traditional press releases to stories about how they are part of the community newspapers and television have worked with many different types of businesses to share information with their readership. As costs have risen and the attention has gone to just a few the small business owner has been left with few options to get exposure in the media.

Most business owners can’t spend $30,000 on a commercial and they don’t know the editor of the LA Times which means they won’t land in the Sunday edition. With all of these challenges how can a business reach their prospects in a newsworthy fashion?

The news feed portion of Facebook is the equalizer for any business owner. Big or small businesses have equal opportunity to make it into the newsfeed of users. With 100′s of millions of people checking their news feed daily it’s one of the MOST powerful places to get exposure. One of the most unique aspects is that you can into the news feed for FREE!

Facebook wants to share valuable and newsworthy information with their community. In order to get into the news feed you will have to be different but it will cost you far less than launching a commercial. Consider the following tips when you want to get into the news feed:
Events - With the average user only getting 3 Event invites monthly these are a rare occurrence and as such are newsworthy! Events are unique in that you can invite a specific group, leave it wide open to everyone, and give people an idea of what they can expect. You can host online events to add value to your network or even hold a physical event at your store or office location. Launching just 1 event monthly will differentiate you from your competition and can get you massive exposure in the news feed. Video - Even with the ease of using video very few businesses are taking advantage of it for growing their sales. With an average of only 1 user per 1,000 uploading video very few people are sharing this type of media which makes it rare in the eyes of Facebook. Consider sharing videos that are informative, show different ways to use your product, or even testimonials. Try to avoid the “pitch” as your customers will just turn off when you sell to them too often. Be Different – Whether you want to share video, events, photos, status updates or something else the key to getting in the news feed is being different. Your business will stand out far above the crowd and get the attention of 1,000′s when you are different in what you share.

The field is leveling for business owners big and small. No longer will you have to have a mutli-million dollar marketing and advertising budget to get the attention of millions. You can get a piece of the “gold” of Facebook by sharing events, video and landing in the news feed.

This article is for small business owners who need to learn to use PR News as part of their marketing program. I advise all small business need marketing and PR to get more attention for their business.

Public relations is often mishandled and misunderstood. Small business owners want to run a business, not spend time looking for PR news opportunities. Getting a virtual assistant who specialized in this area can save a lot of time. This person can be the contact to set up interviews and make sure the media outlets have all the information they need. Their word should result in getting the business written up. When you have interviews constantly out there, become the number one choice of those looking for your services. You can think of PR news as PRE-advertising. Advertisement to your clients before they need you so that when they need you, they know exactly how to find you.

Everyone says word of mouth marketing is the most powerful kind of marketing you can have. Most word of mouth starts with a campaign. People start talking about what they saw in the news or read in the papers. It means you have to get it started someone. You have to purposely put the word out there in front of people who will repeat it. People who have influence and can move large numbers of people to action. That’s why people would love to be on Larry King or Oprah. They may totally disagree with what they do or say, however, they want their influence on the audience. They call Oprah the Kind Maker because she can take your book to number one in any market because he influence is that large. By putting out your own PR news, you get to start the ball rolling and get interest in your business. The more people are talking, the more sales you can expect. Even bad news has been known to create sales in a product that was stagnant.

Business News Alert! Relationships are the key to success in any business endeavor.

All right, I’ll admit, not exactly a story for the 9 o’clock news. However, I do believe that it is true, nonetheless. In fact, when one considers what the essentials are for success in life, as well as business, the type of relationships you build and maintain should be at the top of the list. If you don’t get that aspect of your business right, your chances of being a leader in your industry, much less a major player are pretty slim. It may just be common sense, but after all, regardless of the type of business or industry you’re in, how well you get along with people will be a big determining factor of how well you succeed.

If you are a networker, or involved in internet marketing in any way, you know that you can’t do it totally alone, so it should come as no surprise that the advice is even more relevant. Not only is it how well you get along with people in general, but we can expand that specifically to how you build relationships with the right people, that can further your career and/or income potential.

Look for positive thinking, and positive environment people, and find out what kind of relationship you can develop with them, regardless of whether they’re inside your industry or outside of it. If you already have a relationship, learn how to make it stronger, and more beneficial for both of you. Depend on your strengths.

What it all boils down to is, the better your relationships with those that are a positive influence on you, the more likely your chance for business success.

New babies are born every day, but it’s still always a big event when one comes along. The rest of the world generally comes to a halt for the parents during the blessed event. This can be even more the case for the baby’s grandparents.

All of the relatives and friends are waiting to hear the good news, and the new parents are delighted to oblige. as often happens during happy events, all of the people involved like to have souvenirs to help them remember it in the years that follow. And since all of these people regard the birth as a big news event, what could be a better souvenir than a newspaper front page that announces the happy occasion?

Unfortunately, most newspapers prefer not to use their front pages to announce local births, but an entrepreneur with a computer and the right software can produce some very slick looking “baby newspapers” for the family and their loved ones to share.

This could be a great opportunity for somebody interested in starting a home based business. What can make a venture like this particularly attractive to entrepreneurs is the fact that many customers would be anxious to buy DOZENS or even HUNDREDS of these baby newspapers. The first actual newspaper requires a bit of effort to put together, but making all of the additional copies that are required is a quick and easy process.

There are plenty of other occasions that that could also be made even better with some of these newspapers to remember them by. Graduations, athletic achievements and wedding anniversaries are some of the many events that a lot of people would LOVE to have something to remind them of as the years pass.

As far as businesses go, a baby newspaper business can be a very inexpensive and simple one to start. The low overhead makes it possible to start out on a part time basis and to eventually grow into a full time operation – if that’s what the businessperson plans to do.

The marketing aspect of the baby newspaper business is the part where the most effort is required. Getting the word out so that the public finds out about your business could take a bit of time. It would be a great opportunity for you if you’re a “people person.” Bear in mind that your customers will generally be HAPPY about the event they want to remember, which can make them much easier to deal with and in generous moods. so if you have some computer skills and like to meet happy people, a baby newspaper business could be just what you’re looking for.

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