| The Success Connection goes multimedia this month with the addition of streaming videos! Look for videos featuring contributors Catherine Nemetz and Dan Golderg, and success story Bill Foos. You can select a low bandwith or high bandwith clip for each feature. Suggestions or comments about our video clips? Send us an email at hornberg@kutztown.edu with the subject "newsletter comments."
To download a printer friendly version of this month's entire newsletter, click here.
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SBDC Secures Opportunities for SMS |
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Early on the morning of September 11th, 2001, Bill Foos was sitting with a client - a single father - going over his life insurance policy. At the time, Bill worked for American Express Financial Advisors as an advisor. While sitting in the client's kitchen discussing insurance, their meeting was interrupted by a phone call from the client's sister. She told her brother to turn on the TV for a plane had struck the World Trade Center. Twenty minutes later, when the second tower was struck, both knew their meeting was over.
During his hour commute to his home, Bill, an Army reservist with twenty-five years of military police experience, naturally reflected on the security of his family and country. He put aside his longing to start his own financial advisory business; he was passionate about serving and protecting his country. A few days later, he volunteered to go back on active duty as he realized that with his experience, his services would be needed and welcomed.
Choose your internet speed to watch a video with Bill Foos.
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The Pulse of Business is a series of monthly polls conducted at www.kutztownsbdc.org. The SBDC poll results can be compared to The National Small Business Poll performed by the NFIB. The NFIB poll uses samples of small business owners from across the United States.
The poll question for the month of March is:
Who prepared your most recent tax return?
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The Value of Vision
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The terms vision statement and mission statement, have been beaten to death by organizations. However, both of these items can help drive companies in ways that build loyalty, growth and consistency, if handled correctly.
Too often these credos are fed to employees without a full understanding of their impact on the individual. It is not uncommon to have a group of executives formulate the statements without the input of employees, leading to irrelevant, common and confusing paragraphs. These statements are usually filled with self-aggrandizing adjectives and bland objectives, which are then framed and hung on the wall for all prospects and clients to see as they enter the organization's office. Read more...
Choose your Internet speed to watch a video with Dan Goldberg.
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Multi-Tasking vs. Too-Many-Tasking |
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By: Catherine Nemetz
I represent the multitude of the rapidly expanding percentage of business owners in America, that for the most part want to remain small and uncomplicated. The business owner who constantly searches out new ways to sharpen skills in order to carve out pieces of pie that we and our employees rightly deserve. All, I repeat "All", without paying the price of losing oneself in a whirlwind of circumstances in we find ourselves without control.
I'll admit, I'm the first to flirt with disaster. Heck, it's an adrenaline rush. A dealmaker at heart, I've found that an unconscious mechanism within me seems to attract energy, in the form of more business, more meetings, more projects, more travel, and more money. Great! No doubt that after 6 years of being in business the snowball was bound to get bigger as it rolled down the hill. But even with that natural phenomena, I find the momentum attracts even more. And then I have to deal with it. That my friend, has become an art form.
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Kutztown SBDC News
Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney, will speak at Kutztown University on April 25th. For more details & ticket information, click here.
5 Tips to Ranking Well at Search Engines
By: Lynn Van Dyke
Do you have a product or service that you want to sell on the Internet? If so, there are a few fundamental components that you must know. Putting your product or service up for sale is easy. You can find a cheap hosting plan and get a 1-5 page site up within a few hours. But what happens next? To read more, click here.
Stop Pigeonholing
By: Lee Smedley
Is it possible to overcompensate for the Peter Principle? You'll remember L.J. Peter's theory that organizations promote their employees one level above their competence. Those managers wary of over-promoting are often guilty of pigeonholing: To read more, click here.
Ninth Annual Big Idea Business Plan Contest
The Ben Franklin Venture Investment Forum is holdings its ninth annual Big Idea Business Plan Contest for entrepreuners thinking about starting a businesses, or who own a new businesses. Submit your business idea and you could win $35,000 to make it come true. For eligibility and entry information, visit the Venture Investment Forum.
Kutztown SBDC Consultant Recieves Global Business Professional Certification
Martin Brill, an international business consultant at the Kutztown SBDC, has been awarded the Global Business Professional Certification. To find out more about Brill's certification, or the affect of global trade on Pennsylvania's small businesses, click here.
Contact the Editor
We would like to hear what you think of the Success Connection E-Newsletter. Send your comments, suggestions, or just say hello to the Success Connection at hornberg@kutztown.edu with the subject "newsletter comments."
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