Business Information for Entrepreneurs by an Entrepreneur

The Definitive Book of Body Language by Allan and Barabara Pease.

I've always had an interest in psychology and the inner workings of the mind. In college I was fascinated by a number of books on our internal and external motivations. To be honest, I think understanding those things has helped me in business.

Recently, I was discussing the successes and failures of corporate meetings with a few small business owners and one of them recommended this book to me. The last book on body language I had read was in college so I picked up this one — published in 2004 — for a refresher.

Allan Pease is the world's foremost expert on body language and that becomes very clear in the book. The Peases cover everything from the basics to advanced concepts, including cultural differences and gender differences. The book has a general focus, ranging across applications that include personal settings (like at a party or when you're interested in someone romantically) as well as corporate settings that include meetings, office politics, and interviews.

Admittedly, I would have liked a book that went even more in depth on the business side of the body language equation, but this very comprehensive book does a great job of talking about many aspects of body language that an be applied to business: this includes building rapport, as well as diffusing difficult situations, and making the customer feel important.

If you interact with people — socially or professionally — this is a good read. If you want to connect with your customers and make them feel great about doing business with you, this is a must-read.

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/Tec6s9KwGjzKCq/Google-Adds-Dayparting-Feature-to-AdWords.xhtml

Nearly every day I talk to businesses that use some form of text-based online advertising. Google AdWords are the most common — usually the first stop in a litany of choices… followed by Yahoo, Microsoft's new AdCenter, and Miva.

As early as last October, while many were shouting that Google's AdWords are the biggest and brightest star in the online galaxy, I had heard rumblings from a discontented few that felt Google's sun was setting.

Then, since January, we've seen Google moving away from their core competency into web-office applications. Recently, they seem to be returning to the ad business that has brought them untold wealth. I've blogged a fair amount about Google because of their premiere position in the online marketing world. I was wondering if that would falter soon because they'd lost focus, but I think they are regaining position.

Google has recently introduced a new aspect of AdWords called “dayparting” which means that advertisers no longer have to have their ads posted for the entire day. AdWords already allow marketers to target country, language, and city, but now dayparting lets them target by time of day.

Months after I was seeing people moving away from AdWords because bid prices were getting out of control, now I think Google may have climbed back on top of the pile for a moment longer, helping marketers target even more accurately.

Everyone has their “hobbyhorse” and mine is business planning. I have seen businesses succeed and I have seen them fail and while there are many factors that contribute to the success or failure of a business, I continually see businesses with business plans manage those factors… and improve their chances of success.

Like the Constitution, a business plan should be a living document. That means, it should always be changing and growing with your business. Your business plan shouldn't lock you into a way of doing things. Instead, your business plan should enable you to take on more opportunities.

A business plan helps you anticipate problems before they arise and build solutions before you even need them. A business plan helps you know your market, better than they know themselves, so you can advertise effectively and sell more products. A business plan helps you understand your industry well — such as the ups and downs that might come with a rising and falling economy — and help you to maintain an even keel.

Business plans are not something that ONLY a new business needs to do. I firmly believe that they should be done by every business and reviewed on a quarterly basis and updated on (at least) an annual basis.

If you're in business and haven't created a business plan yet, let me encourage you to spend the time to make one. You won't regret it and the bottom line is that you'll improve your bottom line!

You can find business plan templates at http://www.morebusiness.com/businessplan/ to help you get started.