The Freestyle Entrepreneur

Below is a guest column from Jerry Baltus, a friend and professional coach.  For more great tips from Jerry, visit his site on Facebook, or contact him at jkbaltusgroup@wi.rr.com.  Enjoy.  JRI The Biggest Loser  Business coaching has often been compared to athletic coaching, and I’ve used this analogy many times to help others understand what we [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur Yes, we are awallow in The Great Recession.  So, take a few minutes to snivel, whine, complain … and then get over it.  If your biz is in the tank, stop blaming the recession.  And definitely stop sitting around hoping and waiting for it to end.  Do something about it! [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur I was in a serious buying situation at a used car dealership several months ago.  One thing above all else killed the deal:  The salesman kept telling me I was wrong.  He may have read, Winning by Intimidation.  However, to the best of my knowledge, there is no book titled, [...]

By John R. Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur Here’s a hot-flash business rule:  People find a way to afford what they want.  Don’t think so?  Well, think again.  That’s why you can walk into young couple’s flea-bag apartment and see  second-hand furniture, empty frig, no frills; they’re barely getting by, making minimum credit card payments.  BUT, [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur Looking for a way to accelerate your business success?   Find someone who is already in the winner’s circle and hire that person to be your coach. I’ve been in training, marketing and sales for four decades.  However, I still bump into things I do not know.  Rather than try to bull [...]

[The following is an excerpt from John Ingrisano’s The Back to Basics Book of Selling: A Guide to a Successful Sales Career.]  Some folks actually believe that selling is rather like the old misconception about teaching: people go into it because they are not capable of doing anything else. Wrong on both counts. Still, some [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur  Knowledge and skill-building are crucial to continued business success.  We constantly watch our markets, look for ways to cut expenses, boost profits, better manage our inventory and personnel.  Plus, we update our websites, adjust our marketing materials, and look for new ways to do business.       What about our verbal [...]

By John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur Too often, in business, we’re afraid to ask for the money.  Here are two examples – one how to do it right; the other how to waste time and money doing it wrong. Example # 1:  I’ve had the same veterinarian for my dogs for about 10 years.  In [...]

by John R. Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur  Fred Pryor/Career Track, the seminar people, have become one of my key clients.  I get to travel around the country and do business workshops.  Pretty neat.  Check them out at www.pryor.com.  One of their policies is to encourage their contractors to analyze the events of the day, to [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur John Newton became captain of his own ship at age 25.  He was offered the job a year earlier, but begged off, asking instead to be made first mate, so he could gain more experience.  In the end, it made him a better leader.  (For those of you who do [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur Whether you’re just chatting about your business to a stranger in an elevator or summarizing your company’s key features and benefits to a make-your-day prospect, do not just wing it!  Ad libbing is for amateurs.  Instead, actually write down and learn these following sales tools: 1.  Your company’s elevator [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur Are we there yet?  That’s the kids’ mantra from the backseat.  It can also be our whine when we wonder about when it’s ever going to get easier in our business.  Well, when it comes to you and your business success,  the answer should be:  Not yet!  The fact is, [...]

[The following is a guest column written by Dr. Robert C. Snyder, musician, businessman and keen-eyed observer of life.  Enjoy. JRI]  In the late 1940s I became aware of customer loyalty. I noticed that Millard, my dad, always bought his gas at the same Texaco station near our house in Topeka, Kansas. Millard never let the [...]

HOW TO BEAT BUSINESS BURNOUT The Freestyle Entrepreneur is pleased to announce the first program in the TFE Business Presentation Series:  How to Beat Burnout!  This program, presented by entrepreneur John Ingrisano, can be tailored for your individual for business, entrepreneur, executive or inventor group. The premise:  Burnout and boredom are among the top reasons [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur Are you in or are you out?  Too many business owners these days (and, yes, their employees and sales people, too) are only half-committed.  They’re burned out, fed up, on the verge of going under. They coast, going through the motions of their responsibilities, both dreaming about last weekend’s football [...]

 I had the opportunity to observe a sales presentation last week.  She was good: knowledgeable, enthusiastic, relaxed and persuasive.  However, when she got to the close, her entire tone changed.  I could hear it and I could feel it.  It was an awkward and obvious transition that screamed:  “Okay, I’m done with my talk.  Now, [...]

I recently spoke with a biz owner who, convinced the place would go to pieces without her constant presence, hasn’t had a full day off in 12 years.  If that sounds too familiar for comfort, here are two suggestions to get you a few days off for fun and recreation in 2011. First, in advance, [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur Smart marketing:  I just did a neat interview with one of the owners of Nutorious, a specialty nut company.  (Look for the amazing story of this zero-to-60-in-five-years Wisconsin start-up in the January 2011 issue of NEW North B2B Magazine.)  They sell high-end snack nut products, and have walked away with [...]

PATTY @ PAPA MURPHY’S MADE MY DAY It was 11:45 AM on a knock-about Saturday.  I’d just finished doing some clean-up at our church and was ready to pick up two pizzas that I could pop into the oven later today for dinner for friends before heading off to hear/see Messiah at Green Bay’s Weidner [...]

Some people ask, “Why do sales people fail?”  With 35 years in this field as a sales professional and trainer of sales representatives, I recognize that sales people do NOT fail:  They simply quit before they become successful.  That’s why I encourage sales newbies to commit to the “10,000 Hour Rule.”  Research has shown that [...]

[The following is a guest piece by consultant Paul Rudo at rudoconsulting@gmail.com.   Enjoy. -- JRI] In order to be successful in any business, you must first have a high-quality product or service. But how do you define quality? It’s simply the degree to which you meet customer needs, and the dollar-for-dollar value that you deliver. But the [...]

By John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur  [The following is an excerpt from John Ingrisano’s  The Back to Basics Book of Selling: A Guide to a Successful Sales Career.]    You don’t need to be a genius or have a Ph.D. in market­ing to be a successful sales professional. All you need are four things: A [...]

  If you’re like many business owners and dedicated managers, it has been a tough year.  I know I’ve been booking long hours to keep my business in the black.  The problem:  A lot of us are cutting into serious personal time … and there is a price you may end up paying.  Yes, work [...]

I’m a solo-preneur these days; have been since 2004.  While I like the freedom (get to come and go as I please), going it alone is very limiting.  There’s only one me, and I am finding that my time and talents are very limited, especially in the rapidly changing techno-world.  Going solo almost entirely eliminates [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur  [The following is an excerpt from John Ingrisano’s The Back to Basics Book of Selling: A Guide to a Successful Sales Career.]  The sales process is really fairly simple. It’s a lot like riding a bicycle — once you have it mastered, it becomes second nature. But for the person [...]