I love my children and I know they love me.  In fact they love me so much they’ve been sharing all their germs with me. This time I’ve lost my voice and have an ear infection.

This all came about during a recent trip out to LA to attend Ali Brown’s last ever Online Business Success Workshop. Not only did I come away with some amazing marketing advice I also made some pretty big shifts with my own business which it seems is helping me get unstuck.

Have you ever reached that point where you know you should be moving ahead much more quickly than you are?

You feel like you are racing ahead but with the parking brake on.

Well, that’s how I’ve been feeling.  And being at the conference really opened my eyes to the possibilities for the next phase of my business.  But while my eyes have been opened, my throat and right ear have been closed.

It was half way through the conference that I got sick and lost my voice.  Everyone said it was a sign from the Universe.  I guess the Universe saw that I wasn’t responding to the quiet nudging and soft taps at my door so it needed to do something to shut me up and get my attention.

Ok, I’m listening.

Without my voice I have become aware of some interesting things.

1. People model our behavior.

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Have you ever had the experience of having to promote someone else’s products and services? I don’t know about you, but I always find this much easier than promoting my own business. May be it’s because we’re not as close to someone else’s business as we are to our own and so if people say no it’s not such a big deal.

Problem is, if you’re in business, you’ll need to market and promote your products and services and for this to be effective, you’ll need to get over the fact that you’ll have to talk about yourself in a positive light.

Easier said than done though, isn’t it?

I think we can all trace this problem back to childhood. We were all brought up by being told that being modest is the way forward. Talking about yourself too much is a bad thing – you should pay attention to other people instead. 

Great advice…but, not so helpful when you’re trying to sell your business.

So, let’s explore some ways in which you can overcome this:

1. If you’re not comfortable talking about yourself and would prefer to listen to other people, that’s actually a great selling skill. Ask people questions, encourage them to tell you their problems. Chances are that they’ll tell you exactly how you can help them and then it’s much easier to tell them what the solution is.
2. Write down some frequently asked questions. If you keep getting asked the same questions over and over again and you’re not sure what the answers should be, write them down with your ideal answer. Then you can do two things with this. You could put your FAQs onto your website so that potential clients can see them and you could also practice them so that the next time someone asks you a question, you’re ready with an answer.
3. Act.

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Buying a business is a huge step for any individual, whether he or she has bought businesses before or not. It is not as risky as setting up a new business because the name, product or service has already been established. In fact, buying a business can actually work well for someone looking to invest and take a step towards entrepreneurship.

Of course, much depends on why the business is being sold but if you do buy the right one then you could find yourself with a successful company on your hands, especially if you buy an undervalued business. This is a business that is currently making a profit but not necessarily doing as well as it should. There may be many reasons for this, which will be evident shortly, but that should not necessarily put you off purchasing the business.

Saving money by buying an undervalued business can give you a financial boost initially but much depends on why the business is undervalued as to how much of a bargain you are buying. The tips below will help you to put your mind at rest though by reassuring you that you are buying the right business.

The Buying Tips You Need To Know

1. Shortlist undervalued businesses – When looking to buy an undervalued business, never settle for the first one you come across. That is effectively rushing into the purchase. Shortlist several that you may be interested in buying and are relevant to your skill set.

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A trademark search can, in actuality, be many different things. In theory, a trademark search is performed to determine whether or not the mark you are hoping to use is already taken by another. This allows an individual to apply with a greater level of confidence for the use of a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (herein referred to as the USPTO). A trademark search is, ideally, a comprehensive, analytical way of researching a name, slogan or logo for prior use.

A trademark search can also be performed in a sloppy and ineffective manner, and may not protect you from potentially infringing upon another’s name or logo. This is why it’s important to ensure that the trademark research you have commissioned is done comprehensively and thoroughly!

It is not unusual for a trademark research company to charge hundreds of dollars for searching the USPTO, which you can do for free. Comprehensive research firms search Federal, State and Common Law records, which is a more logical and thorough way to research your name. When commissioning research on your name, it is important to ask the company you’re considering using to clarify what exactly their searches entail, each step of the way.

Companies may try and save money in other ways, including letting you pour through the raw data they collect without any summary of what it all means. It is important to be sure once you’ve decided to commission research on your name, that the information is compiled into an easily readable report. Examining the results of your research can sometimes be difficult, even when placed in an edited report. If you’re left to decipher the meaning of a company’s raw data, chances are you may under react or overreact to the results.

When searching your name, it is important that phonetic spellings of the name are searched, as well as vowel variations.

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At one point or another, we’ve all seen a product or business name with a small, encircled R floating next to it. You’ve probably wondered what this R symbol really means, and how exactly it got there in the first place. Most people will tell you that it means something to the effect of “registered,” but that’s only a small part of the significance behind the circled R.

It’s correct that this symbol does imply the term registered, but registered with whom, and how?

A “registered trademark”, or ®, refers to a name, slogan or logo that has been officially registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Registering a trademark is beneficial to a business because it publicly states that your trademark is registered with the USPTO and therefore, you have exclusive rights to that name within your industry. This means that if your business had a registered trademark, and you found another business of a similar nature utilizing your name or logo, you would *likely have the legal right to use your name!

Each time an individual applies for a trademark, the USPTO performs a cross reference check of their name and/or design for similarities among Federally registered or pending trademarks ONLY. The USPTO search is lacking in State trademark AND US National Common-Law databases. Because the USPTO protects names in this fashion, you do not run the risk of another business utilizing and possibly soiling the reputation of the company that you worked hard to build!

Once you have applied for your trademark, the USPTO will consider it a pending mark for up to 18 months. This is among the many reasons why it is important to apply for your trademark sooner versus later. The sooner you apply, the sooner it is that you will be doing business under a registered, protected name!

*This is dependent on if the name is truly available at the time of filing.

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Challenging times call for innovative thinking and problem solving.  I was interested to read in a section of the Wall Street Journal that Dominos Pizza is considering making loans available to its franchisees. This will allow franchisees to gain access to capital and not suffer from the limiting affects of the credit crunch in the US economy.   “Domino’s Pizza Inc. discussed how its borrowing capacity has been hampered by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s bankruptcy filing.  With the credit crunch weighing heavily on the restaurant industry, Domino’s said it will save its cash and potentially make loans directly to its franchisees.”

In fact Domino’s is the only franchisor so far committed to offering some of its own money to cash-strapped potential franchisees, though Burger King Corp., Tim Hortons Inc. and Sonic Corp. also appear open to the idea of stepping in to help franchisees, according to industry experts.

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Business awards, as entering and winning (or even reaching finalist position) one of these is a great method of ensuring PR and many awarding bodies, such as the big banks out there, also do a great job of publicising their winners. The big thing that puts people off entering these awards is the work that goes into it, but it’s important to remember that once you’ve done the work once, a lot of it can be tweaked and tailored to individual awards. One might focus on creativity, another on staff training, but much of the content will be the same. So, here are my top ten suggestions to give you the best chance of getting noticed by the judges.

1. Make the decision to do it.
If you are bringing entering awards into your PR programme then really do go for it. Just half-heartedly entering one award is a waste of your time. Do a little bit of research and see how many you are actually applicable for. Here are just a few I found in a 30 second web search - many of the banks annually run their own awards, as well as women’s magazines and the women’s website Handbag.

http://www.nationalbusinessawards.co.uk/nbaenterawards/
http://www.businessawardseurope.com/html/enter-awards.html
http://www.nationaltrainingawards.com/entering/index.htm
http://www.enterprisenation.com/detail/Entries_now_open_for_2008_Home_Business_Awards/2001/1.aspx

Likewise, give yourself the resources you need to do the job. Get outside help if you need it, as this is a big investment in your future.

2.

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You need to put yourself in the position of the potential buyers when answering this question.  Try asking what might influence you if the roles were reversed.  Why would you buy your company?  What might excite you to buy your company if you didn’t already own it?  This is an important part of the sale process because a seller must present the product, your company in this case, so that prospective buyers can understand what is special and what benefits they might gain by buying your product.

Some of the more common things that drive the buying decision are:

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