Saturday, February 28, 2015

Tracking the interrupts

Perhaps the most powerful and least utilized visual management tool is the an-don. Toyota is a master of this philosophy - stop production so that production does not stop. Yet outside of Toyota, I have not seen this powerful tool used to its potential.

If you only have one meeting each day, make it an interrupt meeting. Initiate a 10 minute stand up meeting on the production floor at a specific time each day (I'd recommend 2 hours into the shift). Leaders from each line (or station depending on your process) get together with support personnel at this MANDATORY meeting. Use a baton (or microphone in noisy areas). The person with the baton is the only person allowed to speak. In rotation, each leader reports on ...

continue reading at: http://normbain.com/page/TrackTheInterrupts/

Norm www.normbain.com

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Email is Dead

If you could earn $47 Dollars for every dollar you invest in marketing, what would your marketing budget be?

According to a press release in February by the Direct Marketing Association in the UK, that is the ROI that marketers are seeing. Why would you kill a medium that has those returns. Yes, folks, to borrow a phrase from Mark Twain; the reports of my death have been wildly exaggerated. Email is far from dead.

Read more: http://normbain.com/page/IsEmailDead/

Norm www.normbain.com

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Why promote someone's product

Promoting someone else’s product, anonymously, with no face-to-face contact, no high pressure sales methods, and still earning a huge commission is mind-blowing to most people.

That's the power of affiliate marketing.

You don’t have to worry about customer support, taking orders, replying to emails, developing sales copy, or delivery of the product. You have no inventory and no storefront. You don't have to process credit cards or deal with bounced cheques. You’re free to promote any type of product in any niche market.

You make a referral that plants the seed. Then, sometimes moments, sometimes even months later - the customer buys the product. And once that sale is made, you get a commission. The best part is that the commission can be anywhere from 10% of the sales price to 200% of the price of the product you are promoting.

Sound too good to be true? That's what I thought. But now I know better. Here's the secrets that explain WHY affiliate marketing is so attractive to companies, why they pay these huge commissions and how you can easily set up an on-line business to capitalize on it.

Click here to read more http://normbain.com/page/AffiliateSecrets/

Norm www.normbain.com

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Protecting Your Business Reputation Online

By now, most business owners are aware that the internet can play a role in raising interest and driving demand for their products and services. And with all the review sites out there, negative comments can damage your reputation and hurt your bottom line. Your employees are likely engaged in social media and may be talking about their work experiences on line.

If you aren't tuned in to what's being said about your business, its time to rethink your strategy. You need to take a step back and consider how online conversations might impact the reputation of your business. Public relations blow-ups aren’t just a problem for big companies—there are risks for small businesses, too.

Online engagement requires the same level of planning and thought you give to other parts of your business. Here are some tips for protecting your business, and your livelihood, online.

http://normbain.com/page/ProtectingYourReputationOnline/

Norm www.normbain.com

Friday, February 13, 2015

I Don't Know You

I don't know you. So what makes you think I would even consider buying anything from you?? Seriously – ask yourself; Why did my last customer buy from me? My bet is that you don’t know the real motive? As a salesperson, how do I overcome that doubt to make you a customer? Continue Reading

Norm www.normbain.com

Thursday, February 5, 2015

5S - The Discipline Behind Lean

5S is not about housekeeping. 5S is so much more than having a clean, well-organized and safe facility. 5S introduces the concepts of Visual Management. Managing visually is a fundamental of Lean Thinking. 5S is about instilling the discipline in the work area to keep only what is needed there, and having a home for everything. It is about understanding visual queues – to see at a glance when things are going well, and when they are not. Without the discipline of 5S, lean simply does not work.

Continue reading here


Norm www.normbain.com

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

What compels someone to buy or not buy your product from your site?

Why would anyone buy from you? If you have a website, what would compel someone to buy your product? What would guarantee that they won’t?

Here's my thoughts on the subject http://normbain.com/page/BuildingTrust/

Norm www.normbain.com
 
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