First point – look at your records for the previous couple of years and do some analysis.

• What are the average monthly sales? (or revenues if you prefer!)
• Can you break this down to weekly figures, if useful to you?
• Are the any obvious patterns or trend
  Little Known Pitfalls of Traditional Publishing Industry
  As many small-time authors and self-publishers have discovered the hard way, the traditional book publishing model is fraught with problems that conspire against an individual author/publisher making a decent living from their work.The traditional model normally involves two basic choices: 1) use a commercial publisher, or 2) self-publish.THE COMMERCIAL PUBLISHER ROUTEThis option involves the author submitting book proposals or full manuscripts to commercial publishing houses in hope of acceptance.Once a manuscript is accepted by a publishing house (the vast majority are not accepted) a contract is signed between the author and the publishing house. This kicks-off a time- consuming and often complex process involving printers, shippers, wholesalers, distributors, marketers, and finally, booksellers, all managed on the author's behalf by the publishing house.Typically, it takes anywhere from 18 to 24 months from the time the author finishes a book manuscript, until the actual book gets onto the bookshelves.THE SELF-PUBLISHING ROUTEThe self-publishing option is one in which the autho
  As spring moves to summer, the forecast should be for warmer and sunnier weather. What is the forecast for your business? Is the outlook sunny or cloudy?

  Do you know what sales you can expect, whether for a team of sales people or within your own business or practice? How do you feel about putting together a forecast? How do the others in your business feel? I wonder why you have these feelings?

  Forecasting is vital for any business – well, accurate forecasting is vital!! This is true for professional services as well as commercial organisations. How often are your forecasts accurate? Inaccurate forecasting carries all sorts of hazards. Whether there is a tendency to be too optimistic and sunny with your forecasts, or too downbeat and understating it, there are potential problems for the business. Are people encouraged, or allowed, to be pragmatic about their forecasts or do they feel as though they have to tell you they will do well? Do you tend to think that there are too many factors outside of your control and so it is not worth doing anyway?

  Why does it matter? Apart from the reality that sales, whether to existing or new clients, are the lifeblood of your business! Being too optimistic about potential sales can lead to various issues – anticipating revenues which will not happen, planning resources such as people and products, problems with cash flow, panic management! The other end of the equation, under-estimating has its own problems too! Although it can feel good to see sales coming in which were not anticipated, think about the problems they might cause within your own business. Cash flow problems of a different sort, the need to get the resources at short notice, quality of customer or client service and response are all probabilities. Becoming more accurate with your forecasts will help you run a smoother and more profitable organisation.

  How do you approach forecasting sales? Tea leaves, roll of the dice, check the stars or ask others for their expectations? There are some basic principles to consider or follow and a variety of methods you can use to help and they should prove more reliable then the ideas above! Although we are presuming you are already an established business, many of the principles will apply even for new start-ups.

  First point – look at your records for the previous couple of years and do some analysis.

  • What are the average monthly sales? (or revenues if you prefer!)
  • Can you break this down to weekly figures, if useful to you?
  • Are the any obvious patterns or trends
    The Truth About Self Employment
    The path to self employment is long and tough. If it was easy, everyone in the world would be doing it. While self employment is expanding throughout the world most people are still stuck working the dreadful nine to five job. Everyone must work to survive. Whether people want to hear that or not, it is true. Too many people today want to do less work for more money and well, that's just not working. However, it can be done. It will be challenging and it will be hard. There are pros and cons to being self employed and today this article will focus on both.The Pros: This is pretty obvious. Staying at home, setting your own hours and spending more time with your family are a good start. That's why most people take a leap of faith into the self employment world. However, did you ever think about how it would feel to create your own destiny. When you create your own employment you are essentially putting you and your family's destiny in your hands. While there is no ceiling holding down your success, there is also nobody there to bail you out if you fail. With that being said remember anything is possible. All these positive
    services as well as commercial organisations. How often are your forecasts accurate? Inaccurate forecasting carries all sorts of hazards. Whether there is a tendency to be too optimistic and sunny with your forecasts, or too downbeat and understating it, there are potential problems for the business. Are people encouraged, or allowed, to be pragmatic about their forecasts or do they feel as though they have to tell you they will do well? Do you tend to think that there are too many factors outside of your control and so it is not worth doing anyway?

    Why does it matter? Apart from the reality that sales, whether to existing or new clients, are the lifeblood of your business! Being too optimistic about potential sales can lead to various issues – anticipating revenues which will not happen, planning resources such as people and products, problems with cash flow, panic management! The other end of the equation, under-estimating has its own problems too! Although it can feel good to see sales coming in which were not anticipated, think about the problems they might cause within your own business. Cash flow problems of a different sort, the need to get the resources at short notice, quality of customer or client service and response are all probabilities. Becoming more accurate with your forecasts will help you run a smoother and more profitable organisation.

    How do you approach forecasting sales? Tea leaves, roll of the dice, check the stars or ask others for their expectations? There are some basic principles to consider or follow and a variety of methods you can use to help and they should prove more reliable then the ideas above! Although we are presuming you are already an established business, many of the principles will apply even for new start-ups.

    First point – look at your records for the previous couple of years and do some analysis.

    • What are the average monthly sales? (or revenues if you prefer!)
    • Can you break this down to weekly figures, if useful to you?
    • Are the any obvious patterns or trend
      Make Big, Big Bucks Copywriting
      If you’re trying to break into the freelance writing market, you might often say aloud, “God, where’s the money in the freelance writing market?! I swear I’ll never dress up like a clown and scare people on the street again…”According to Writer’s Digest 2005 Writer’s Market, copywriting is where it’s at. Copywriter’s make $24-$100 dollars an hour producing copy for businesses. You can earn $330-$6,000 per brochure, flier, or booklet! They are also in demand for ads! And since you blog, you may already be adept at keyword optimization.If you think about it, we already knew who has the money in the world—corporations and small businesses. The same applies for the writing market. Copywriting can make you a fortune (It’s not always fun, but it pays the bills and beyond.). Many copywriters make six-figure incomes!One way to get a copywriting gig is to e-mail small businesses, saying you’re interested in a job. Start small and work your way up to the big dogs. Countless lists of insurance companies, electronic retailers, etc., exist on the net. Search for them in search engines.If you move people with your writi
      and so it is not worth doing anyway?

      Why does it matter? Apart from the reality that sales, whether to existing or new clients, are the lifeblood of your business! Being too optimistic about potential sales can lead to various issues – anticipating revenues which will not happen, planning resources such as people and products, problems with cash flow, panic management! The other end of the equation, under-estimating has its own problems too! Although it can feel good to see sales coming in which were not anticipated, think about the problems they might cause within your own business. Cash flow problems of a different sort, the need to get the resources at short notice, quality of customer or client service and response are all probabilities. Becoming more accurate with your forecasts will help you run a smoother and more profitable organisation.

      How do you approach forecasting sales? Tea leaves, roll of the dice, check the stars or ask others for their expectations? There are some basic principles to consider or follow and a variety of methods you can use to help and they should prove more reliable then the ideas above! Although we are presuming you are already an established business, many of the principles will apply even for new start-ups.

      First point – look at your records for the previous couple of years and do some analysis.

      • What are the average monthly sales? (or revenues if you prefer!)
      • Can you break this down to weekly figures, if useful to you?
      • Are the any obvious patterns or trend
        Gift Cards - Is It Time to Use Them for My Business?
        You're probably thinking, here we go again somebody is trying to sell me something that I really don't need. I'm sure it will benefit them, but will it benefit me? Firstly let me say that my company, Solutions Ink does sell gift and loyalty cards. The market out there while huge is certainly not for anyone. Who then are these cards good for?These cards are great for chain stores with multiple locations and for stores with very loyal repeat customers. Why are these stores prime candidates? First let's examine the large chain stores. Today more than ever people's disposable time is very limited. Buying a gift for someone takes time and effort in researching a product the person might enjoy , and then finding the right size and color. Today everybody is looking for convenience. It takes 2 minutes at a cash register to get a gift card. Firstly the price you want to pay is exactly the amount on the card. If the recipient wants something more expensive, they can simply add onto it. The recepient can spend his time finding the right size and color and shop when he or she wants the item.As far as the store goes, they know that once they'v
        ipated, think about the problems they might cause within your own business. Cash flow problems of a different sort, the need to get the resources at short notice, quality of customer or client service and response are all probabilities. Becoming more accurate with your forecasts will help you run a smoother and more profitable organisation.

        How do you approach forecasting sales? Tea leaves, roll of the dice, check the stars or ask others for their expectations? There are some basic principles to consider or follow and a variety of methods you can use to help and they should prove more reliable then the ideas above! Although we are presuming you are already an established business, many of the principles will apply even for new start-ups.

        First point – look at your records for the previous couple of years and do some analysis.

        • What are the average monthly sales? (or revenues if you prefer!)
        • Can you break this down to weekly figures, if useful to you?
        • Are the any obvious patterns or trend
          Five Things Your Employees Are Afraid to Tell You
          “We Want Specific Direction”Though you may know what to do, most people would rather be directed. When giving instructions:1. Start by summarizing the project in a sentence or two 2. Be specific as to what things should look like when completed 3. Give the due date and how often you want updates 4. Instruct the employee on what to do if something goes wrong 5. Express your confidence that they will do a good job and get their buy-in.Profit risks: Poor Quality, late delivery, and higher level people will be forced to clean-up. There is wasted time correcting errors or miscommunication.“When You Give Us Detailed Praise, We Understand it, Remember it and Work Harder For You”Rather than saying “Great job” or nothing at all, try “I really appreciate the amount of thought and effort you put into this project, thank you.”Profit risks: People who do not feel appreciated are hard to retain, do not give good customer service, and feel less invested in the organization’s success.“We Know Our Jobs Better Than You Do”Once you can accept that there are skills yo
          llow and a variety of methods you can use to help and they should prove more reliable then the ideas above! Although we are presuming you are already an established business, many of the principles will apply even for new start-ups.

          First point – look at your records for the previous couple of years and do some analysis.

          • What are the average monthly sales? (or revenues if you prefer!)
          • Can you break this down to weekly figures, if useful to you?
          • Are the any obvious patterns or trends to these? Seasonal or market driven?
          • What is the breakdown between new business and repeat business?
          • How frequently do existing customers purchase?
          • Can you assess average “order” size from each category?
          • What are the trends in all of these, year on year?

          You may find that looking at a “Z-chart” can help you to take a realistic view of how you are doing. The key line here is the top one, which is created by taking the rolling total from the previous 12 months. It shows how you are really doing on a year-on-year basis and allows for seasonal dips and highs, which can distort the annual figures and cause a knee jerk reaction.

          Knowing the trends is a good start. The next stage is to assess and breakdown your actual sales process. What are the specific steps and activities you take to go from identifying potential customers or clients through to getting their commitment? Not only the steps and the best practice activities, but how long does the process take on average? (The sales cycle, sales lead time or whatever phrase suits your business.)

          Too often, organisations and sales managers in particular spend too long looking at results, which are effectively historical data and difficult to do anything about! Fundamentally, sales will come from the right levels of activity directed at the right potential clients – using the appropriate skills. If these inputs are wrong, there is an inevitability about the outputs! Getting to grips with your sales process can help you to create the effective measures and control points to improve sales forecasting and sales performance.

          An element of forecasting, and good sales planning and management, is the old maxim – “start with the end in mind”. What do you need to be generating need to in terms of business? (Revenue, or numbers of units or whatever works for you.) Working back from this you can start to see where your critical checks and controls should be – and how you can assess the probability of getting a sale.

          Think about your busine