Actual for You - Business

If You Ignore The Internet For Your Business You Are Setting Yourself Up For Failure
When adhering to a few easy marketing moves, a business owner can enjoy a variety of profitable results as a consequence of their effective strategies. It is every business owners dream to reach goals and milestones throughout the existence of their company. Being able to entice a wide range of consumers is one of the main desires of anyone who owns a business. Once the demand for a particular service or product has increased, a business owner can choose to also increase the cost to access these items. Building a healthy, beneficial relationship with their customers is another desired achievement for any business owner.Small Business MarketingFor many, the marketing of a small business is sometimes an elusive concept to grasp. It is more than embracing just an idea. Too many business owners fall into the trap of focusing only on the ideas of marketing and ignore the important process of actually marketing their company. To effectively succeed in the business world, careful planning and organization is needed. You cannot approach the ownership of a business with reckless abandon.Marketing OrganizationThe World Wide Web is a great way to enter a marketing plan for a small business. Internet marketing, when done correctly can greatly benefit

l recognize the above tenets of portfolio theory. The problem with most of the discussion of corporate portfolio management is that it assumes that people behave according to a theoretical/rational construct. While various experts like to offer platitudes saying things like, "Just manage your company's investments like you manage your own investments," they fail to realize that many individuals may not even manage their own personal portfolios as they should. They may know what they should do but emotions, intuition, and other external influences take them off this rational path. What often leads us astray in our personal portfolio is what leads us astray in an organizational setting - behavior. The challenge in an organization is magnified by the fact that it is hundreds or thousands of people whose behavior that needs to be considered. And so this is the second fundamental lever of corporate portfolio management - organizational behavior.

2. Organizational Behavior - In order to optimize one's corporate portfolio, the behavioral elements must be understood with:

o A data-driven mindset - Organizations often make decibel- or intuition-led decisions and corporate portfolio management, like 6-Sigma, requires data and analytical decision making.

o Silos removed - Corporate portfolio management success requires people thinking about what is best for the organization and not just what is best for "my world" - silos and organizational dynasti

Online Brochure Printing
Companies on the Internet offer various services that are just a click away. While online, you can purchase almost anything, and you can get tips and advice on almost all topics under the sun. Given this, the Internet has become a very important source of information for individuals and businesses because they can find the things that they need to fit their personal or business needs. One important service that both individuals and businesses can find online is that of online brochure printing offered by printing companies. Looking for these sites is fairly easy, as they can be found after a very simple query.How it worksWhen you go to these websites, you only need to follow a few simple steps to order your customized brochure online. The first thing you need to do is to pick from a selection of templates that you want to use for your brochure. It is also in this step that you can choose to customize your brochure by uploading photos or by picking the graphics that you want. The next step is to choose the quantity and other options, such as the paper you want to use.After doing this, you will be sent a proof that you need to approve, and after you do this, you can now ask for a quotation of the price based on the quantity you want. These prices

Much has been written about how finance organizations can become strategic partners with the businesses they support. While purported experts point to a variety of frameworks, scorecards and key performance indicators, etc. as the keys to bridging the gap between finance and business, these trite 'solutions' have done little to make finance the strategic business partner it seeks to be. Worse yet, pursuing these ideas has put finance organizations on a treadmill where they expend energy and resources (e.g., money and time) ultimately to get nowhere while the issue persists. So if you are still looking for a silver bullet or quick fix to this seemingly incurable problem, stop reading now.

Given the time, money and effort spent, you may be a bit demoralized and even speculating that the finance-business chasm cannot be crossed. Paradoxically, the link between finance and the business has been under finance's proverbial nose for some time - resource allocation. A serious concerted effort to optimize an organization's resource allocation ultimately enables finance to develop the bridge between finance and strategy. This discipline known as corporate portfolio management works to actively manage the company's resource allocation as a portfolio of discretionary investments. All companies allocate their resources - very few optimize their resource allocation. Finance is uniquely positioned to enable this because they sit at the nexus of information and data required to undertake a corporate portfolio management effort. (Note: Corporate portfolio management is often referred to by different terms so as a point of reference, terms such as IT portfolio management, enterprise portfolio management, product portfolio management, project portfolio management, resource allocation and investment optimization are similar. In fact, these all are slices or subsets of corporate portfolio management.)

From Resource Allocation to Strategy

First, it is worth understanding the tie between resource allocation and strategy - they are the same. Where you allocate your resources is your strategy. PowerPoint presentations, speeches by senior leadership, strategy bullets nicely framed on a wall, etc. are all interesting and potentially useful, but they are not your organization's strategy. For instance, if your stated corporate strategy is to have the most engaged and loyal customers (this sounds good, right?), but you allocate all your investment dollars to acquiring new customers, your strategy is actually around customer acquisition. This is a very simple example but clearly demonstrates the dichotomy that can and often exists between a stated and real strategy.

A great article entitled "How Managers' Everyday Decisions Create - or Destroy - Your Company's Strategy" that recently appeared in the Harvard Business Review (February 2007) nicely articulated the connection between resource allocation and strategy and also pointed to the need for a corporate portfolio management discipline. "How business really gets done has little connection to the strategy developed at corporate headquarters. Rather, strategy is crafted, step by step, as managers at all levels of a company - be it a small firm or a large multinational - commit resources to policies, programs, people and facilities. Because this is true, senior management might consider focusing less attention on thinking through the company's formal strategy and more attention on the processes by which the company allocates resources."

The upshot of this is that if finance can enable the process to enable better resource allocation (which is strategy), they will have succeeded in becoming a de facto strategic partner to the business.

The Two Levers of Corporate Portfolio Management

So now the question turns to how to build a corporate portfolio management discipline and ensure its success. A successful corporate portfolio management effort is predicated on two dimensions.

1. Modern Portfolio Theory (aka the process) - This is what people generally think of when they think of corporate portfolio management. It is comprised of:

* Investment valuation - This includes defining what an investment is. It is worthwhile to take an expansive definition of what comprises an investment because this is not just capital expenditures (capex), but also should include operating expenses (opex). In general, 25-40% of an organization's expenses are discretionary and hence are investments. Investment valuation also requires consistency of valuation methodology which necessitates using driver-based models to create projections and also looking at past NPVs and ROIs to consider strategy and other qualitative aspects that drive investment 'value'.

* Portfolio allocation - This requires determining investment areas/themes and the associated allocations. Basically, what are my strategic priorities for investment and how much will go to each area? For example, 25% in customer acquisition, 20% in IT, 55% in customer retention. The allocation should also consider the risk profile of investments, e.g., 60% in low risk, 30% in medium risk and 10% in high risk.

* Portfolio optimization - This requires selecting the best investments to support the portfolio allocation and periodically rebalancing the portfolio to ensure consistency with desired portfolio allocations. The aim is to maximize strategic and financial return per unit of risk.

* Performance measurement - A key element of successful corporate portfolio management is capturing actual investment results to enable promise vs. performance. Doing this ultimately lets an organization improve ongoing investment valuation based on actual results and allows it to rebalance the portfolio based on performance achieved.

Most people with a finance background will recognize the above tenets of portfolio theory. The problem with most of the discussion of corporate portfolio management is that it assumes that people behave according to a theoretical/rational construct. While various experts like to offer platitudes saying things like, "Just manage your company's investments like you manage your own investments," they fail to realize that many individuals may not even manage their own personal portfolios as they should. They may know what they should do but emotions, intuition, and other external influences take them off this rational path. What often leads us astray in our personal portfolio is what leads us astray in an organizational setting - behavior. The challenge in an organization is magnified by the fact that it is hundreds or thousands of people whose behavior that needs to be considered. And so this is the second fundamental lever of corporate portfolio management - organizational behavior.

2. Organizational Behavior - In order to optimize one's corporate portfolio, the behavioral elements must be understood with:

o A data-driven mindset - Organizations often make decibel- or intuition-led decisions and corporate portfolio management, like 6-Sigma, requires data and analytical decision making.

o Silos removed - Corporate portfolio management success requires people thinking about what is best for the organization and not just what is best for "my world" - silos and organizational dynastie

3 Ingredients of Highly Profitable Organizational Change
As waves of organizational change sweep across the business landscape, a huge question arises: What must a leader do to make sure change produces highly profitable results?To find out, I uncovered exactly what executives did who planned and implemented organizational change that produced $10-million - $1-billion in profit improvement.I discovered that highly profitable organizational change requires three key ingredients. If any ingredient is missing or incomplete, then even the best plans will fail to achieve the desired results. My 3-ingredient model for all successful organizational change is the following:Ingredient 1: Leading the Organizational ChangeIngredient 2: Handling Employees Who Resist – or Undermine -- ChangeIngredient 3: Managing Yourself as You Lead Organizational ChangeLeaders at some of America’s finest companies used this 3-ingredient model to produce highly profitable organizational change. These organizations include IBM, Harley-Davidson, Intuit, City of Indianapolis, Robert Mondavi Corporation, Outback Steakhouse, Ritz-Carlton, Excell Global Services, VF Corporation, and Washington Mutual.Ingredient 1: Leading the Organizational ChangeLeading profitable organizational change requi

a required to undertake a corporate portfolio management effort. (Note: Corporate portfolio management is often referred to by different terms so as a point of reference, terms such as IT portfolio management, enterprise portfolio management, product portfolio management, project portfolio management, resource allocation and investment optimization are similar. In fact, these all are slices or subsets of corporate portfolio management.)

From Resource Allocation to Strategy

The Two Levers of Corporate Portfolio Management

So now the question turns to how to build a corporate portfolio management discipline and ensure its success. A successful corporate portfolio management effort is predicated on two dimensions.

1. Modern Portfolio Theory (aka the process) - This is what people generally think of when they think of corporate portfolio management. It is comprised of:

2. Organizational Behavior - In order to optimize one's corporate portfolio, the behavioral elements must be understood with:

o A data-driven mindset - Organizations often make decibel- or intuition-led decisions and corporate portfolio management, like 6-Sigma, requires data and analytical decision making.

o Silos removed - Corporate portfolio management success requires people thinking about what is best for the organization and not just what is best for "my world" - silos and organizational dynasti

The Oreo Solution to Creative Problem Solving
The commercial starts off with music by Tchaikovsky and three little ballerinas dressed in pink. It’s time for a break. They get out glasses and milk. They pour what milk they have into three glasses and sit down to enjoy Oreos and milk. But, oh my gosh, there’s a problem. The glasses are thin and tall and the milk is so far from the top. They can’t reach the milk, even with their tiny little fingers, to dunk their cookies. What can they do?The solution: they pour all of the milk into one glass and take turns dunking their Oreos.The Oreo Solution: instant gratification can stimulate simple decisions.How often do we brainstorm, and plan, and theorize, when a simple solution will do? Also, how often do we see the simple solution, but look away because it seems too simple?We know that we live in a complicated world, so obviously we need a complicated answer. Wrong. I like to look for the easiest answer. One nice thing about the easiest solution is that if it doesn’t work, you can move instantly to another easy answer.I remember a problem concerning a new office building that rose high into the sky. At quitting time there was a rush to leave and the elevators seemed to take forever. People had to wait . . . and when people have to wait

ion and strategy and also pointed to the need for a corporate portfolio management discipline. "How business really gets done has little connection to the strategy developed at corporate headquarters. Rather, strategy is crafted, step by step, as managers at all levels of a company - be it a small firm or a large multinational - commit resources to policies, programs, people and facilities. Because this is true, senior management might consider focusing less attention on thinking through the company's formal strategy and more attention on the processes by which the company allocates resources."

The Two Levers of Corporate Portfolio Management

So now the question turns to how to build a corporate portfolio management discipline and ensure its success. A successful corporate portfolio management effort is predicated on two dimensions.

1. Modern Portfolio Theory (aka the process) - This is what people generally think of when they think of corporate portfolio management. It is comprised of:

2. Organizational Behavior - In order to optimize one's corporate portfolio, the behavioral elements must be understood with:

o A data-driven mindset - Organizations often make decibel- or intuition-led decisions and corporate portfolio management, like 6-Sigma, requires data and analytical decision making.

o Silos removed - Corporate portfolio management success requires people thinking about what is best for the organization and not just what is best for "my world" - silos and organizational dynasti

Quiz: What Kind of 'Sales Shoe' Are You?
Have you ever wondered what type of saleswoman you are? It doesn’t matter if you run your own company or sell for someone else – it is extremely important to know what your style is. What does The Sales Diva mean here? Well – let me throw my high heel on my desk here and I will explain.Are You a “Shoe-In” With Your Customers?The most important aspect of selling is to understand and relate to your customer. And before you can do that – you have to know yourself. Contrary to popular belief – you don’t have to twist yourself into a pretzel to be a success in sales. You don’t have to copy anyone else. You just have to be YOU – with all your quirks and also understanding your strengths.The sales quiz below will help you determine what type of “Sales Shoe” you are wearing…and what areas of selling you need to improve. Answer yes or no to the following questions. Compare your point total to the scoring key at the bottom.1. I enjoy the challenge of finding new clients.2. I feel the most satisfaction with a client I have known a long time.3. I like most networking events.4. When I am faced with a difficult client I am not afraid.5. I love when there are lots of details to put together.6. Money is a motiv

e operating expenses (opex). In general, 25-40% of an organization's expenses are discretionary and hence are investments. Investment valuation also requires consistency of valuation methodology which necessitates using driver-based models to create projections and also looking at past NPVs and ROIs to consider strategy and other qualitative aspects that drive investment 'value'.

2. Organizational Behavior - In order to optimize one's corporate portfolio, the behavioral elements must be understood with:

o A data-driven mindset - Organizations often make decibel- or intuition-led decisions and corporate portfolio management, like 6-Sigma, requires data and analytical decision making.

o Silos removed - Corporate portfolio management success requires people thinking about what is best for the organization and not just what is best for "my world" - silos and organizational dynasti

Personalization Boosts Direct Mail Response Rates (and Sales) with Letters, Postcards - Self-Mailers
Seven in ten consumers want you to personalize the direct mail you send them. Are you giving them what they want?According to Cap Ventures’ 2003 study of personalization, more than 69% of consumers prefer highly personalized direct mail offers over non-personalized offers.Smart direct mail marketers personalize their mailings because personalization works. Personalization boosts response rates, sometimes by double digits. And it boosts orders. Personalization works because it tells your clients that you know them and recognize their uniqueness. If I have to sales letters on my desk, one addressed to “Dear Homeowner” and the other addressed to “Dear Alan,” I know which letter will receive more of my attention.Here are some ways to boost your response rates and orders with personalization:1. At the very least, personalize the salutation on letters2. Personalize the salutation on postcards and self-mailers3. Refer to the customer’s last purchase, and name the product4. Refer to the customer’s last purchase, and name the date of purchase5. Mention the date that the customer’s subscription expires6. Mention the product or s

2. Organizational Behavior - In order to optimize one's corporate portfolio, the behavioral elements must be understood with:

o A data-driven mindset - Organizations often make decibel- or intuition-led decisions and corporate portfolio management, like 6-Sigma, requires data and analytical decision making.

o Silos removed - Corporate portfolio management success requires people thinking about what is best for the organization and not just what is best for "my world" - silos and organizational dynasties need to be broken down.

o Incentive alignment - People should be motivated by similar short- and long-term incentives.

o Accountability & transparency - There should be a willingness to share information and effectively create a marketplace for investments.

Moving organizational behavior is the larger challenge and this takes time to change. At American Express, we have actively worked on changing organizational behavior and have made significant inroads over time, but it has not happened overnight. We have conducted cross unit investment reviews, sponsored an internal corporate portfolio management conference and even created a resource allocation simulation to visibly demonstrate the benefit of corporate portfolio management.

Bringing Corporate Portfolio Management to Your Organization If you think corporate portfolio management can be implemented in one month or one quarter, it is not for you. Corporate portfolio management is not a sprint and requires the will and heart of a marathoner. You will see benefits along the way, but it takes time to realize the full potential of a well developed corporate portfolio. But once defined and running, an actively managed corporate portfolio management discipline will pay immeasurable dividends. For American Express, we can point to stock price out-performance over our benchmark indices as well as our competition since adopting corporate portfolio management. Our resource allocation effectiveness also helps to drive our PE multiple (price to earnings multiple), which is significantly larger than our competitive peers.

Very tactically, the corporate portfolio management discipline has helped us understand what businesses we should exit and where we might want to invest more. It has enabled us to reallocate money across business segments for the first time which can be very challenging in large organizations. Most importantly, corporate portfolio management has become part of the DNA of the organization with finance and the business talking about their investments on an ongoing basis. Finance leads the corporate portfolio management effort but with significant and very direct input and interaction with the business. The chasm between finance and the business has been bridged by utilizing corporate portfolio management, and the benefits to the organization in terms of financial and strategic performance as well as employee engagement have been significant.

If you are serious about making finance a strategic partner with the business, and if you finally want to make some forward progress after being on the treadmill for so long, corporate portfolio management offers you a solution to this intractable problem. It requires effort and patience, but, as evidenced by American Express, it can close the finance and business gulf and ultimately generate outstanding performance.

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Tips for startups to create a website that will actually work and generate sales.

It requires courage to ask others what they think of you as a manager and leader and to then accept what is said and do something about it. Sometimes you will not like what you are told. It is better to know what others think than to proceed based on ignorance.

The internet doesn't just bridge the people living in a country, but global denizens of the world. Ironically enough the biggest barrier to us all getting together and just shooting the breeze are language barriers. Hence, bilingual individuals serve as the conduit that allows people of various backgrounds, nationalities, and cultures collaborate and communicate.

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Actual for You - Can Finance Really Become a Strategic Partner to the Business?

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