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Is It Time To Change Your Strategy?

September 27, 2011 By Mark Leave a Comment

You never want to give up before your plan has really had a chance to spring in to action. But, there is such a thing as waiting too long for a strategy that might not pan out. So how do you know when it’s time to switch gears? There a few very extreme situations that are actually becoming more common, one of which was described and explained in this article from Inc Magazine.

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Dear Norm,
Our small business provides government agencies and consulting firms with specialized computer models that simulate flooding. Sales have been very slow this year, and one of my partners thinks we should make the software available as a free download to anybody who wants it. That’s what our main competitor does, and a lot of people use its product even though it’s not as good as ours. My partner’s theory is that by getting our software into more hands, we would be able to sell more support subscriptions. My fear is that we would succeed only in losing a lot of revenue at the worst possible moment for our company. It would be one thing if price was the main reason we aren’t selling more software. But, in fact, price plays a small role in a customer’s buying decision. I’d love to hear your thoughts on what we should do.

—Reinaldo G.

Click Here for the expert response.

Filed Under: Changing Your Business Strategy, office chair experts, office furniture experts, Opportunity, Running a Business, The Economy Tagged With: business strategy, Business tips, ceo ergo office seating, change of business strategy, mark denham, office chair expert, office furniture industry leader

10 Solutions For Your Productivity Problems

September 26, 2011 By Mark Leave a Comment

If you are sitting if your office reading this right now, chances are you could probably be more productive. According to a recent survey done by Salary.com the average employee admits to wasting about 2 hours of their 8 hour workday, and that’s not including lunch or breaks. Instead of living a jumbled mix of work/life it is better to separate the two, so here are a few tips to help make that a little easier.

Beware Multitasking

Sounds counterintuitive, right? Truth is, we’d all be more productive if we checked e-mail only a few times a day rather than every time we notice we have a new message. No reasonable person on this planet is going to be upset if they have to wait an hour before they get a response.

Tame Your In-box

Technology is a wonderful servant but a terrible master. If you can quickly reply to an e-mail, do it! If it is going to take a considerable amount of thought and time mark it and save it for later when you have the necessary resources available.

Clear Your Mind

You don’t need to sit in the lotus position and chant, but you should take a few minutes, several times a day, to calm and clear your mind. Walking around the block or just stepping away from your computer screen can help you stay much more mentally fresh and focused.

5 Common Recipes For Failure

September 21, 2011 By Mark Leave a Comment

I usually like to think of myself as an optimist but I think knowing what to look out for and what not to do is almost as important as knowing what to do. Here are 5 things that will most likely result in failure, and though I encourage everyone to embrace failure and lear from it, I think that it still pays to avoid it whenever possible.

1. Assume that something can’t be too easy – If its an opportunity that requires little effort it will most likely yield little reward.

2. Go against the grain blindfolded – It’s great if you want to do things differently but you need a plan. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel just because you want to, reinvent it because the blockhead who made the first prototype used an oval.

3. Bank on your social media networks – Just because you have 1000 friends on Facebook doesn’t mean you have 1000 customers. Your personal connections will probably want little to do with any kind of business promotion you start to push on them.

4. Assume that your idea is different – Someone has had the same idea as you before so don’t bank on that for success. The way you execute your idea is what will help you succeed.

5. Confuse advice and knowledge – There is a big difference between what someone thinks you should do and what someone knows you should do. Make sure you are taking the time to identify one or the other before you act on it.

High Tech Marketing Brilliance

September 20, 2011 By Mark Leave a Comment

Technology is moving as fast as word of mouth and it’s not slowing down any time soon. You may feel overwhelmed and confused and not know which way is up, but there is good news. All of this new technology can be used to your advantage. I found a great article from Inc. Magazine that explains the different ways all of technology is being used for marketing.

Facial Recognition
Giving away free product is a great way to build your brand, right?

Unilever, the company that makes things like Lipton soup and Suave shampoo also makes ice cream and figured it would use some of it to get customers to smile—literally. It worked with the high-tech marketing company SapientNitro in Londonto make a vending machine called “Share Happy” that uses facial recognition to give people ice cream bars for smiling.

Full Article

What new technology have you seen being used in marketing? Share with the world in the comment box below. For more conversation, connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: office chair experts, office furniture experts, Technology and Marketing Tagged With: ceo ergo office seating, mark denham, office chair expert, office chair supplier, office furniture expert, office furniture supplier

11 Tips On Managing… Yourself

September 19, 2011 By Mark Leave a Comment

Being a good manager is just as much about what you do as it is about what the people you are supervising do. You can’t expect people to follow your lead if you aren’t getting anything done. I found these tips extremely useful and I hope that you will too. (Read More)

If you have any tips I left out share them for everyone in the comment box below. For more conversation connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

1. Be accessible. Don’t hole up in your office all day — come out and visit with your employees. Let them know that they can always come to you with problems and concerns.

2. Be open to constructive criticism. It may not always be what you want to hear, but listening to constructive criticism gives you the chance to learn and grow from your mistakes.

3. Accept responsibility. Part of being the boss is accepting responsibility for the mistakes of all that you manage, not just your own.

4. Know there’s always room for improvement. No matter how good you think you are, your job can always be done better. Always be willing to learn.

5. Improve your skills. Learning is a lifelong process. You’re never too old to take a class or ask a co-worker to help you improve your knowledge.

6. Explain things simply. Don’t use big words or technical jargon just to sound smart and impress others. Your employees will understand and perform better if you explain simply and clearly what you need.

7. Instruct rather than order. You may be the boss, but you don’t have to be bossy. You’ll have more success if your requests are more tactfully delivered.

8. Include your staff in your plans. Don’t make your work top secret; let your employees know what’s going on and how they are expected to contribute.

9. Know your subordinates’ jobs. You don’t want to be caught with inferior job knowledge.

10. Be flexible. It’s fine to be firm in what you expect, but allow for flexibility in how it gets done.

11. Get regular feedback. Your employees and superiors can give you valuable feedback on how to improve your performance. Use this to your advantage.

12. Know your limitations. You can’t be everywhere doing everything all at once. Know the limits of your time and abilities and say no to things you know you can’t do.

Filed Under: Managing yourself Tagged With: ceo ergo office seating, Leadership tips, Management tips, managing yourself, mark denham, office chair expert, office furniture expert

The Secrets To Great Leadership

September 14, 2011 By Mark 1 Comment

Mark Beinioff is the CEO of Salesforce.com a company that is worth billions and taking the IT world by storm. To top off that impressive achievement, he is also an epic speaker. At his most recent conference “Dreamforce” he offered these 5 secrets of great leadership.

1. Be inclusive.

2. Be confrontational.

3. Be evolving.

4. Be imitating.

5. Be infectious.

Full Story Here.

Filed Under: How to be a better leader Tagged With: ceo ergo office seating, dreamforce, how to be a better leader, Leadership tips, mark beinioff, mark denham, office chair expert, office furniture expert, salesforce.com

Are You A Thought Leader?

September 13, 2011 By Mark Leave a Comment

Are you offering your expertise to the world? Better yet, are you a thought leader? This infographic does a great job of demonstrating how you can use your resources to create a solid content marketing strategy.

Share your thoughts in the comment box below and connect with me on Facebook and Twitter for more discussion.

Filed Under: office chair experts, office furniture experts, Thought Leader Tagged With: ceo ergo office seating, ergo office seating, mark denham, office chair expert, office furniture expert

3 Opportunities Your Business Is Missing Part: 3

September 7, 2011 By Mark Leave a Comment

You may have built the company from the ground up or you may have been there since before it was even close to being the company is today, but I bet there are a few hidden treasures in your company that you didn’t know about. Not hiding in the boiler room or the basement, but right in front of you, in fact you probably greet half of these treasures on a daily basis. Pay attention and you will catch on quickly.

This is post 3 of 3 in this series. The other opportunities you’re missing are just as important so click for Part 1 or Part 2.

There are things you could be doing to be a better boss. No one is going to come right out and say it, except for your boss and that’s not the perspective you want to get. One of the biggest challenges we face is separating how we see ourselves from how our employees see us. Your leadership could mean an increase in productivity, sales and better customer service, but you have no idea you’re doing anything wrong or at least not doing what you need to be doing right. This means that you need to open up a better channel of communication with your employees. If you let them know that you care enough to improve in your position, it might just motivate them to improve in theirs. If you show them that you are really trying to make their jobs easier, it might just inspire them to make yours easier as well. This will also make it a lot easier for your employees to come to you right away instead of letting stress, resentment and anger build.

If you haven’t caught on yet, all of the good ideas you need are within your reach, you just have to know where to look. You should know something about all of the jobs in your company but your employees should know everything about their job and even a little more. Letting your employees get away with just doing their job is like letting someone walk out the door with all of your secrets and ideas. I recommend you take full advantage of the expertise and experience of your employees and I promise that you won’t regret it.

Filed Under: office chair experts, office furniture experts, Running a Business Tagged With: Business tips, leadership advice, Leadership tips, Management tips, merk denham, office chair expert, office furniture expert