How to motivate your employees

Managers try a variety of strategies to motivate their employees to work hard and succeed. However some of the most common tactics, like threatening to fire or offering promotions, don’t work and create a negative workplace.
According to Alexander Kjerulf’s positivesharing.com article “Why ‘Motivation by Pizza’ Doesn’t Work” intrinsic positive motivation works. In other words, this works because the manager isn’t the source of motivation; instead they help employees find their own source.
There are many factors that push employees to work hard, including:

• Being able to challenge yourself and accomplish new tasks.
• Having control over what you do.
• Cooperation to be able to work with and help others.
• Getting meaningful, positive recognition for your work.
• Liking your job and workplace.
• Trust in the people you work with.

Kjerulf says to avoid bribing employees to work hard with pizzas and promotions; instead they should help people find meaning in their work. He also added that by creating a positive work environment, people would be naturally motivated. They’ll motivate themselves and each other.

How to connect with your boss

Building a connection with your boss is important. Your boss should be there to help you and lead the company. Joe Takash’s book, Results Through Relationships: Building Trust, Performance, and Profit Through People, provides five ways for you to connect with your boss or manager:

1.Choose Good Timing: Find the best times to approach your boss by asking when you should come to them with questions. This can build credibility because of your consideration for their schedule.
2.Prepare and Plan: Think about your questions and possible solutions before you talk to your boss. They want to know that you have thought about the answers to the questions and see you’ve taken some initiative.
3.Align Understanding: If your boss doesn’t state his or her expectations or ask about yours, then ask them to be clear about what they need from you.
4.Follow-up/Follow-through: One of the most common barriers for positive change is lack of accountability. Hold yourself and your boss accountable by agreeing on times and dates to follow-up on every meeting you have.
5.Own Your Results: Ask for what you want and be prepared to state why and how you will benefit.

Connecting with your boss is only going to have positive benefits, whether it is now or in the future when you need a good reference or recommendation.

Gain More Customers With Marketing

Steps to make that happen

Price and results are not always connected in marketing. Unfortunately, you can pay the same price for poor results as you would for great ones. But you can find customers and utilize your marketing efforts if you take the time to plan before you implement.
In Kevin Stirtz’s businessknowhow.com article “Four Easy Steps to Getting More Customers,” he provides suggestions to consider when planning your marketing campaigns:

1.Understand your strengths. Ask yourself why people buy from you, what do you really do for your customers, how you are better than your competition and what skills or advantages you have. The answers to these questions are your strengths.
2. Identify your customers. To promote your business, focus on people who value what you do. Your strengths will help you focus on who will value your service or product.
3.Create a meaningful message. Deliver the right message to the right audience as often as you can. The message should tell your audience why they should do business with you.
4.Deliver your message often. Find and purchase the appropriate vehicles or media to send out your information. When planning which to use, consider setting a budget for the project, getting the most exposure possible and focus on the target group.

Find Customers

Steps to bringing new business through the door

For many new business owners, the hardest part to being successful is finding customers. Having a great product or service that many people will need is not enough to get a company started.
But, there are several steps business owners can take to gain customers. Janet Attard’s businessknowhow.com article, “Eleven Ways to Find Customers” provides these tips:
• Develop a plan. Know exactly who your ideal customer is and where they look for products. Find a way to put your information, or yourself, in their path.
• Realize there is no one path to success. Sales often happen because customers hear about your products or services in several different ways. The more often they hear about you, the more likely they are to consider doing business with you.
• Work your local newspapers. Daily and weekly newspapers are a source of contact information and leads to potential customers. Look for names of people who were promoted, won awards or opened a new business. Find ways to get in touch with them.
• Watch for events that may bring your potential market together. Contact event organizers and offer to give away your product or service as a prize during the event in exchange for having the group promote you in their promotions.
• Attend meetings and seminars that your prospects might attend. Look in the newspapers to see what other organizations hold events that your target market would attend.
• Follow up after meetings. Contact people you’ve met to see if they may be prospects. If they don’t need your services now, ask when a good time to call them back would be.
• Give a little bit to get a lot. Give away free samples of your product so recipients will tell their friends about you.
• Work your personal network. Ask your friends if they know of people who can use your services; offer friends and business associates a finder’s fee for referrals that turn into jobs.
• Study your competition. Advertise where they do. Promote yourself where your competition promotes themselves.
• Use multiple small ads instead of one big one. The repetition will build name recognition. Don’t expect to make a splash with one big ad.
• Ask for feedback when prospects don’t buy. Use what you learn to make changes and watch your sales start to grow.

How to be a better speaker

As a manager, or in any type of leadership position, one has to speak in public. Whether in front of a large crowd or a small business luncheon, for the situation to run smoothly you have to be prepared.
In Bill Lampton’s article, “7 Ways to Become a Grade-A Speaker,” Lampton offers some advice to help you:

•Adopt an upbeat attitude. Assume you have something worth saying and that you will present it well. Anticipate that the speech or presentation is going to go smoothly.

•Focus on the audience. If you focus on them, you won’t be concerned with yourself. If you think about them and what they need, you won’t be stressing about your outfit or if you’re holding their attention.

•Be animated. Don’t read or recite your message, tell it as energetically as you would describe a fun weekend. Move away from the podium and vary your voice.

•Be attentive. Remain on the lookout for audience feedback. If you detect confusion, restate your point. If participants start checking their watches, change your pace or find a way to recapture their attention.

•Use anecdotes. People remember and learn from stories, not statistics. Paint word pictures, giving a “you are there” feeling or use suspense.

•Sharpen your appearance. Although casual dress has gained some acceptance, you should dress a notch or two above the audience’s norm.

•Be atypical. Do something different from other speakers, audiences withdraw from the “same old same old.”

Review these guidelines before you give your next speech and use them to help you give an effective performance.