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Randy Elgin
10999 IH10W; Ste 175
San Antonio, TX 78230
(210) 232-2310
How to Survive the Recession... Stronger Than Before
As bad as it is out there, it's important to recognize that this is a time of tremendous opportunity.
Get my free report, "How to Survive the Recession ...Stronger than Before" by replying to this email or by calling the number above.
Quick Quiz
Each month I’ll give you a new question based on this newsletter.
Just reply to this email for the answer.
What do you call something that's spelled the same forward and backward?
Worth Reading
Selections from the best articles seen online this month.
Free Work vs. Internships
From Seth Godin's Blog
"I think internships are overrated. Most of the time, the employer thinks he's doing the intern a favor, but he doesn't trust the interns to do any actual thoughtful, intelligent work worth talking about."
Read more
5 Tips for Getting More from LinkedIn
From Duct Tape Marketing
"Going hard and deep into one network, like LinkedIn, is the only way to gain the momentum delivered by consistent work and engagement."
Read more
Stay Special
From Contrast - The Blog
"Keeping a new service or product offering focused from the start is a great way to get into an established market."
Read more
7 Start-up Success Stories
From Inc.com
"These savvy entrepreneurs got their dream companies up and running - here's how you can do the same."
Read more
Owning Your Authority
From Perry Marshal's Blog
"While you're building the machine, every time you catch your inner demons sludging you up, you defy them and sooner or later you WILL get to the bottom of what's holding you back."
Read more
BOOK REVIEW
Made to Stick, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
One thing that can help a business stand out is the Big Idea behind it.
Having a Big Idea helps customers distinguish a business for its competitors, allowing them to put that business in its own category of one. But how do you communicate that idea?
Made to Stick helps you do exactly that: create an idea that will stick - and be easily spread.
The book is effective because it breaks what makes a good idea down into six categories: simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotional and stories.
Each quality is illustrated with examples and concrete steps you can take to give your idea those same qualities. It's almost like a checklist you can use to create a powerful idea that spreads.
It's worthwhile reading for anyone who wants to take his or her business beyond the ordinary.
Wisdom
Quotes by...Steve Jobs
"To turn really interesting ideas and fledgling technologies into a company that can continue to innovate for years, it requires a lot of disciplines."
"A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets."
"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected."
"The people who are doing the work are the moving force behind the Macintosh. My job is to create a space for them, to clear out the rest of the organization and keep it at bay." |
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REAL ESTATE
Commercial Investors Can Profit from Tough Times Despite the recession, there are profits to be made by commercial property investors with available capital.
Vacancy rates and rental incomes are decreasing as the economy continues to struggle, and savvy investors are beginning to see commercial real estate values fall as businesses streamline and restructure to minimize their loses. But this is the perfect opportunity to expand your commercial real estate holdings by taking advantage of falling prices or to increase profits by extending credit to the commercial real estate sector.
Unfortunately, landlords and developers have become more dependent on federal handouts to financial institutions in order to keep their credit flowing. The reality is that financial institutions are risk adverse and continue to make it difficult for commercial developers to find credit for their projects.
This financial crunch has extended across North America as investors experience higher office vacancies and declining rents. These issues have compounded, resulting in fewer commercial loans being extended to businesses and commercial development.
There are a variety of ways for investors to capitalize on the current market situation, but, it will require financial aggressiveness and creativity to overcome the struggling economy.
The recession will likely have more impact on the financial sector than on the real estate industry. Commercial property owners tend to have more resilient investments and can often restructure their debt through bankruptcy or other means, therefore avoiding foreclosure.
The problem, then, continues to be the gun-shy attitudes of financial institutions that are now unwilling to extend credit to commercial developments because of this increased risk. But this is advantageous to commercial investors with capital on hand as they can take advantage of the market conditions by expanding their commercial real estate holdings or by seeking profits by extending credit to the commercial real estate sector.
Commercial loans written during the boom years are rapidly coming due, and with property owners facing higher vacancy rates and lower rental incomes, financial institutions have created a credit crunch for the commercial sector. The decline of the commercial real estate sector has become a significant issue facing the economy. Investors are finding it increasingly difficult to secure the required credit to meet their financial obligations or to increase market presence. This means that investors that have available capital can see increased profits by extending credit at favorable terms for the creditor.
Investors big and small can capitalize on the current market conditions by reinvesting their real estate dollars. The credit crunch creates an opportunity for individuals capable and willing to extend credit to the commercial real estate sector.
There are also opportunities to increase your commercial real estate holdings by taking advantage of falling prices.
Whatever your level of involvement in the commercial real estate sector, it is easy to recognize that a struggling economy creates opportunities to increase financial gains through aggressive and creative investment.
SALES
Asking the Right Questions Is Key to Boosting Sales
 To be successful at selling, you must engage your prospects with relevant questions and understand what underlies their answers.
When someone asks you a question, it's almost impossible not to think of the answer. Try it yourself. What kind of car do you drive? Most likely, the answer popped up immediately.
The decision to buy a product or service takes place in a customer's mind. The right questions help focus and shape an individual's thoughts and conclusions.
You might want to add the following types of questions to your sales repertoire.
Interpersonal Questions. Everyone likes to talk about themselves. Asking questions about a client helps establish rapport and build credibility. The information allows you to build upon commonalities such as sports, hobbies and other interests.
Questions about Thoughts, Feelings and Beliefs. Questions and observations about a person's thought process reveals his or her communication style. Does the prospect prefer a direct approach, an informational approach or an intuitive approach? How price-sensitive or brand-conscious is the prospect? Does the person make spontaneous decisions or take time to consider all options? Knowing this information enables you to engage customers in their preferred manner.
Questions about Prior Experiences. Knowing a customer's perception about past experiences will enable you to differentiate yourself from the competition as well as point out relevant benefits and features that will help you close the sale.
Successful salespeople usually listen far more than they talk. They know how to ask questions and what questions to use to penetrate prospects' minds and direct their thinking.
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TECHNOLOGY
How to Design a Winning Business Website
 A web surfer typically decides within a matter of seconds whether to linger on your website or move on.
To capture the attention of impatient online visitors, your site must be compelling, inviting and attractive.
To hold the surfers' interest and ultimately win their business, it must also be functional, easy to navigate and focused on their needs.
Here are some fundamentals of good website design.
General
• Your website should load quickly and be easy to scan. A common mistake is including too many graphics, pop-ups, banner ads, and flashing or blinking images. These features take time to load and are distracting to viewers.
• Your website should be easy to navigate. Visitors should know at all times where they are on the site as well as where they came from, how to get where they want to go and how to get back to the home page.
• Keep it clean and simple. Web pages should never look cluttered or overdesigned. Good layout employs a balance of graphics, white space and text.
• Use fonts and colors that are easy to read. Overuse of bolding, italics, all-caps and other stylistic flourishes makes reading difficult.
Content
• The content on your site should focus on providing specific information about your services and products. Graphics and other features should not divert attention from the message.
• By refreshing your content regularly you can attract repeat visitors and boost your search engine rankings.
• Be sure that the content and the page headings are grammatically correct. Poor grammar and spelling errors reflect badly on your website and on your business.
Keywords
• Optimize your site. Use keywords appropriately to help viewers determine whether the site is relevant to them. Keywords are also critical to search engine rankings.
• Hone your home page. The home page is what viewers see first, so it should be attractive and welcoming and have useful information.
• From any page on the site, one should be able to get back to the home page by clicking the company logo or business name.
• Include contact information prominently. Visitors should be able to contact you by phone, email or snail mail to ask questions, offer comments and express concerns.
E-Commerce
• If you're selling merchandise online, order placement should be simple and straightforward. In addition, customers should know what they can expect after their order is placed, such as how to print a receipt or track shipping.
In many cases your website is the first impression a customer has of your organization or business. A well-designed website can distinguish you from competitors and attract visitors you can convert into customers.
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REAL ESTATE
How Third-Party Warehousing Could Make You Money
Third-party warehousing offers industrial landlords or manufacturers with surplus industrial space an opportunity to maximize their building's profitability.
There has been an increase of surplus industrial space as companies streamline their operations to maximize profits.
By using this space, business owners can retain staff, maximize profitability and reduce capital losses in a faltering commercial real estate marketplace.
Third-party warehousing is simply the outsourcing of the warehousing or storage function by the seller of goods.
The level of involvement in the supply chain can vary based on the negotiated terms with the supplier.
The building owner needs to establish the level of involvement in the supply chain that they are comfortable with and then determine the value of the service they are providing.
The value and involvement will differ with each situation.
The other benefit to third-party warehousing is that the term for the warehousing arrangement can be flexible in the event your company can better use the space in future.
There are companies that specialize in third-party warehousing but that should not deter property owners from following this path.
By better using the warehouse space at hand you can increase your company's profits and minimize the potential for loss.
Third-party warehousing offers a profitable solution to better use warehouse space that may currently be sitting vacant.
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