You've been successful in securing several applications for your job opening. The next step is reviewing the applications to see if the individuals meet your basic requirements. Once you have determined who you would like to talk to, it is time to get on the phone and pre-screen the candidates. Before you call you will want to have a list of questions ready. As I mentioned in "Preparing for the Interview," among the questions you might ask would be to find out their salary needs. You will also want to ask...  Read More »

So, the hiring plan is done and you are ready to start hiring. Here is what you are going to need. You know how many people you are short. Next, you need to know what areas or stations you want to fill. It is very helpful if you review the job description for each of the needed positions before you start interviewing. Knowing the skills and traits you need before you get started and before you advertise for help is important. Now that you have done a bit of...  Read More »

One of my favorite books is "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari", by Robin Sharma. One of the stories he tells in the book is about an archer who takes his son in to the woods for a lesson. He asks his son to hand him an arrow. He raises his bow and shoots the arrow right in to the center of the bulls eye. He does this three more times. His son is in awe of his father's skill. The father then asks his son to blindfold  him. After...  Read More »

Your brand position is who you are in the minds of the marketplace as compared to your competition.  If you are actively managing these perceptions you are helping shape your brand position. Whether it’s a person, place or thing -- if you have a name, you have a brand position.  You either control your positioning or it is controlled for you. One of the most powerful concepts is positioning is distilling your essence down to one word.  Think of your favorite brand.  What is its one word? Google --...  Read More »

Alright, enough about me. How about you? You went in to business to make money. There are many formulas out there that promise you riches. I am sure that many of them work. I am going to share mine with you. I won't promise you riches, but I can tell you it worked for me and I hope it will work for you. Whenever I wrote a performance review for one of my folks, it was always broken down into four areas: People, Profit, Sales and QSC (Quality, Service and Cleanliness)....  Read More »