Business Building vs. Opportunity Chasing

A business builder envisions what they want their business to become. The vision eventually becomes a plan based on analysis of personal and competition strengths and weakness, the marketplace, and strategies of ways and means to materialize the vision.

Opportunity chasing is an invitation to under achieve because time is spent looking for and trying out the best deal on the hottest trend instead of building business with strategy focused on product line congruent with personal values, business growth, and the customer base that drives it. While all these characteristics may be present in any opportunity, analysis of how your time and money converts to Return On Investment (ROI) may not be clear.

With no other test but whether or not it can make some money as soon as possible, opportunists chase the elusive get rich quick easy promotions. Although sales and network matrix building are important business assets, what opportunists tend to overlook are basic long-term strategic plans.

Instead of chasing opportunities, business builders tend to analyze and develop them. Business building whether on or off the internet requires a variety of skills that must be developed for any specialized but profitable segment of a market or niche. Therefore, one main difference between business building and opportunity chasing is how leverage is used.

Opportunity seekers tend to choose offers that appear to be do-able from their personal effort as part of a team or network of affiliates which begs the question, who is leveraging whom? Conversely, the business builder tends to select only product and service opportunities that support a scalable business where personal time and ROI can be leveraged for profit.

Network or matrix marketing is geared to out-task work up and down the lines of the network. While this certainly generates a flow of money for products and services, any real or perceived long term benefit to participants may be significantly less than expected.

In theory, ROI compels many opportunity seekers to do the same thing as everyone else. In practice, they end up trying to do it longer, faster, and smarter than everyone else with a net result of diminishing returns or lower ROI and their expectations shattered by apparent under achievement.

On the other hand, business builders out-source instead of out-task to quite simply continue to add value to their time instead of having it fixed or decreased by matrix limits. The measurable difference between out-sourcing and out-tasking is whether your time produces an increase or decrease of your return on investment. The h4h.biz site was set up to teach business building by involving participants as co-authors in ebook projects.

In theory, ROI should produce a win-win outcome. Unfortunately in practice, it differs more often for opportunity chasers than business builders. Opportunity choosing and business building are both important activities, but one without the other is like a car without gas, a nice ride but doesn’t go very far.

Business Incorporation – Your Guide To The Best Online Resources

Just what is an LLC? Here’s a definition from Lectric Law Library’s Lexicon:

A business structure that is a hybrid of a partnership and a corporation. Its owners are shielded from personal liability and all profits and losses pass directly to the owners without taxation of the entity itself.

What should you now before joining in an LLC?

Forming a limited liability company is more complex than forming a partnership, but is less complicated than forming and operating a corporation. Forming a limited liability company is a formal process.

In a limited liability company, a member’s legal liability is limited to his or her investment in the business. Generally, a member’s personal assets are not at risk, but a member’s personal assets may be at risk if any of the following occurs:

· A member personally guarantees a business debt.
· The form of business is found to be a sham (not properly formed or maintained).
· A member becomes personally liable as a result of his or her own acts or conduct.

Having said that, here are a few links to sites where you can find help for your incorporation or where you can incorporate.

www.executivesolutions.biz

Among the packages and services you can find at Executive Solutions is the opportunity to create a basic Nevada corporation. In doing so, you are afforded a Nevada certificate of incorporation, the preparations that create that certificate, a resident agent, and an SS-4 form to get your EIN. Also, you can find the options to create your own LLC. Both the LLC option and the Nevada corporation option come in premium editions, where you pay a bit more but receive a lot more.

www.companiesinc.com

Companies Incorporated offers incorporation services in all 50 States. Whether you are incorporating or forming an LLC, Companies Incorporated is the premier online incorporator. We’re located in Southern California extending our relationships with Secretary of State Offices, nationwide. If you are Incorporating in California, or any other state, we have walk in services available; California Incorporation has never been easier or safer. Incorporating in California can also be expedited by covering additional state of California incorporation fees. So, Incorporating in California is a breeze when you choose us as your Incorporating agency. So, when you incorporate online, or are incorporating in California, or any of the 50 US states, you can trust the experience that Companies Incorporated has offered since 1977.

www.geccorpservices.com

GEC Corporate Services, LLC, is a professional services organization specializing in nation-wide research, document retrieval, filing and managing all of your Corporate and Uniform Commercial Code requirements. It is a member of the National Registered Agents Inc. (NRAI) Affiliate Network. NRAI is the preferred provider for Fortune 500 companies to start-up businesses. NRAI provides the highest quality professional service at a very affordable price.

www.corporate.com

Founded in 1899 by the architects of Delaware’s corporate laws, The Company Corporation has the tools and know-how to make starting and running a business easy and affordable. With more than 100 years of experience, TCC provides a nationwide network, a Delaware-based call center and a wide variety of corporate services. The Company Corporation has the expertise you can trust — one out of every seven new corporations in the United States turns to us for help in forming their new business.

Please consider protecting your wealth. It just might make the difference between retiring early and not retiring at all!

Change Your Tone

The world of PR is benefiting from dramatic changes in the way media coverage is being delivered electronically to your computer desktop or PDA of choice. Perhaps the nuisance of ink on your fingers is being replaced by a bad case of “BlackBerry thumb” — but nevertheless getting your media coverage electronically has never been easier or more mobile.

These changes now drive the development of new tools from content providers, and new software programs to help better manage and analyze media coverage. The automation occurring at the database level and through the real-time delivery of organizational news, to internal and external stakeholders, is now almost taken for granted. And the holy grail of PR — to automate media analysis and measurement — is already under way; but where should software stop to make way for human analysis?.

Media analysis programs can save countless hours quantifying and sorting media coverage in an unlimited number of ways, including by circulation, region, ad equivalency, company programs and services, and competitive brands. However, do you really want a computer program qualifying how each story affects your organization? It’s a gamble with little upside.

Just Say No
The automation of tone and sentiment has already been incorporated into some software programs, but how accurate can it be? Every story, across every medium, will have a dramatically different meaning or impact for various organizations and their stakeholders. Behind the news emerge both winner and losers.

For instance, if a negative story breaks about a strike at one bottling plant it will be a boon for its competitors. The ability to determine which companies are negatively affected by the news is very limited. Furthermore, understanding the actual tone or possible ongoing bias of the reporter on an issue is impossible to automate. News is as much about delivering the facts, as it is provoking a reaction or emotion from the reader. Media analysis solutions can certainly help decipher the facts, but the rest should be left to a team of communications professionals.

Too Subjective?
The argument against toning media coverage has often been it is too subjective — if the news can be interpreted differently by each individual, won’t this skew the results in the end? True enough — but this can easily be solved with the introduction of a tone standardized ’scorecard’ that is consistently applied to each story.

These scorecards can really vary, depending on the type of analysis you want to deliver in the end. Many organizations will chose to tone stories by ranking them as positive, neutral or negative.

The use of these 3 words alone is where subjectivity problems can creep in. Along with team brainstorming and training sessions on how tone can be applied, one quick fix is to use the C.B.S. Scorecard instead:

Use Critical (in place of Negative.)
Use Balanced (in place of Neutral)
Use Supportive (in place Positive)

After reading an article, it is much easier to answer the question “Was that story critical, balanced, or supportive of our organization?” Instead of: “Was that story negative, neutral or positive?”

When it comes to tone it won’t always be black or white, but I’d rather leave the grey zones to a trained communications professional rather than to the guesswork of a software application.

When it comes to tone it won’t always be black or white, but I’d rather leave the grey zones to a trained communications professional rather than to the guesswork of a software application.

Beyond the ranking of articles by tone using the C.B.S. Scorecard, other metrics and meanings can be used in tandem to create and even stronger analysis. The following scorecard uses a scorecard range, from - 5 to + 5, to provide a more in depth analysis.

Rating Criteria
+5     Supportive Mention + four of the following: Key Message; Interview; Photo; Call To Action
+4     Supportive Mention + three of the following: Key Message; Interview; Photo; Call To Action
+3     Supportive Mention + two of the following: Key Message; Interview; Photo; Call To Action
+2     Supportive Mention + one of the following: Key Message; Interview; Photo; Call To Action
+1     Supportive
0     Balanced
-1     Critical
-2     Critical Mention + one of the following: Negative Executive Mention, Positive Competitor Mention; Consumer Direct Complaint; Ongoing Issue
-3     Critical Mention + two of the following: Negative Executive Mention, Positive Competitor Mention; Consumer Direct Complaint; Ongoing Issue
-4     Critical Mention + three of the following: Negative Executive Mention, Positive Competitor Mention; Consumer Direct Complaint; Ongoing Issue
-5     Critical Mention + four of the following: Negative Executive Mention, Positive Competitor Mention; Consumer Direct Complaint; Ongoing Issue

Once each story is toned, the rest of analysis can be automated by your software solution. The tone can be used independently to determine the success of the campaign by percentage of C.B.S. stories, but the tone can also be used alongside the rest of the analysis to identify possible media bias or problem areas by region or publication. The media is always analyzing your organization…why not return the favour?

New media monitoring and analysis technologies are certainly changing the face of media relations activities and provide immense return on investment, but determining the impact of a news story on your organization should be kept in human hands for the time being.

Change Your Tone - Media Coverage Shouldn’t Be Toned By Software

The world of PR is benefiting from dramatic changes in the way media coverage is being delivered electronically to your computer desktop or PDA of choice.  Perhaps the nuisance of ink on your fingers is being replaced by a bad case of “BlackBerry thumb” — but nevertheless getting your media coverage electronically has never been easier or more mobile.

These changes now drive the development of new tools from content providers, and new software programs to help better manage and analyze media coverage.  The automation occurring at the database level and through the real-time delivery of organizational news, to internal and external stakeholders, is now almost taken for granted. And the <i>holy grail of PR<i> — to automate media analysis and measurement — is already under way; but where should software stop to make way for human analysis?.

Media analysis programs can save countless hours quantifying and sorting media coverage in an unlimited number of ways, including by circulation, region, ad equivalency, company programs and services, and competitive brands. However, do you really want a computer program qualifying how each story affects your organization? It’s a gamble with little upside.

Just Say No
The automation of tone and sentiment has already been incorporated into some software programs, but how accurate can it be? Every story, across every medium, will have a dramatically different meaning or impact for various organizations and their stakeholders.  Behind the news emerge both winner and losers.

For instance, if a negative story breaks about a strike at one bottling plant it will be a boon for its competitors. The ability to determine which companies are negatively affected by the news is very limited. Furthermore, understanding the actual tone or possible ongoing bias of the reporter on an issue is impossible to automate.  News is as much about delivering the facts, as it is provoking a reaction or emotion from the reader. Media analysis solutions can certainly help decipher the facts, but the rest should be left to a team of communications professionals.

Too Subjective?
The argument against toning media coverage has often been it is too subjective — if the news can be interpreted differently by each individual, won’t this skew the results in the end?  True enough — but this can easily be solved with the introduction of a tone standardized ’scorecard’ that is consistently applied to each story.

These scorecards can really vary, depending on the type of analysis you want to deliver in the end. Many organizations will chose to tone stories by ranking them as positive, neutral or negative.

The use of these 3 words alone is where subjectivity problems can creep in. Along with team brainstorming and training sessions on how tone can be applied, one quick fix is to use the C.B.S. Scorecard instead:

Use Critical (in place of Negative.)
Use Balanced (in place of Neutral)
Use Supportive (in place Positive)

After reading an article, it is much easier to answer the question “Was that story critical, balanced, or supportive of our organization?” Instead of: “Was that story negative, neutral or positive?”

When it comes to tone it won’t always be black or white, but I’d rather leave the grey zones to a trained communications professional rather than to the guesswork of a software application.

When it comes to tone it won’t always be black or white, but I’d rather leave the grey zones to a trained communications professional rather than to the guesswork of a software application.

Beyond the ranking of articles by tone using the C.B.S. Scorecard, other metrics and meanings can be used in tandem to create and even stronger analysis. The following scorecard uses a scorecard range, from <nobr>- 5 to + 5<nobr>, to provide a more in depth analysis.

Rating Criteria
+5 Supportive Mention + four of the following: Key Message; Interview; Photo; Call To Action
+4 Supportive Mention + three of the following: Key Message; Interview; Photo; Call To Action
+3 Supportive Mention + two of the following: Key Message; Interview; Photo; Call To Action
+2 Supportive Mention + one of the following: Key Message; Interview; Photo; Call To Action
+1 Supportive
0 Balanced
-1 Critical
-2 Critical Mention + one of the following: Negative Executive Mention, Positive Competitor Mention; Consumer Direct Complaint; Ongoing Issue
-3 Critical Mention + two of the following: Negative Executive Mention, Positive Competitor Mention; Consumer Direct Complaint; Ongoing Issue
-4 Critical Mention + three of the following: Negative Executive Mention, Positive Competitor Mention; Consumer Direct Complaint; Ongoing Issue
-5 Critical Mention + four of the following: Negative Executive Mention, Positive Competitor Mention; Consumer Direct Complaint; Ongoing Issue

Once each story is toned, the rest of analysis can be automated by your software solution. The tone can be used independently to determine the success of the campaign by percentage of C.B.S. stories, but the tone can also be used alongside the rest of the analysis to identify possible media bias or problem areas by region or publication. The media is always analyzing your organization…why not return the favour?

New media monitoring and analysis technologies are certainly changing the face of media relations activities and provide immense return on investment, but determining the impact of a news story on your organization should be kept in human hands for the time being.