Terence's jottings

Firstly, my apologies for the late delivery of this month's newsletter. A combination of a bout of ill-health and the necessity of buiding a new PC (and learn my way around Windows 7) delayed everything somewhat. TK

The Power of Asking: 7 Ways to Boost your Business

by Jack Canfield

The gift called “asking” has been around for a long, long time. One of life’s fundamental truths states, “Ask and you shall receive.” Kids are masters at using this gift, but we adults seem to have lost our ability to ask. We come up with all sorts of excuses and reasons to avoid any possibility of rejection.

Yet the world responds to those who ask! If you are not moving closer to what you want, you probably aren’t doing enough asking.

Here are seven asking strategies you can implement in your business (and in life) to boost your results and your bottom line:

Asking strategy #7: Ask for feedback

This is a powerful way to fine-tune your business that is often overlooked. How do you really know if your product or service is meeting your customers’ needs? Ask them, “How are we doing? What can we do to improve our service to you? Please share what you like or don’t like about our products.” Set up regular customer surveys that ask good questions and tough questions.

How to ask?

Some people don’t enjoy the fruits of asking because they don't ask effectively. If you use vague language you will not be clearly understood. Here are five ways to ensure that your asking gets results.

• Ask clearly
  Be precise. Think clearly about your request. Take time to prepare. Use a note pad to pick words that have the greatest impact. Words are powerful, so choose them carefully.
• Ask with confidence
  People who ask confidently get more than those who are hesitant and uncertain. When you’ve figured out what you want to ask for, do it with certainty, boldness and confidence.
• Ask consistently
  Some people fold after making one timid request. They quit too soon. Keep asking until you find the answers. In prospecting there are usually four or five “no’s” before you get a “yes.” Top producers understand this. When you find a way to ask that works, keep on asking it.
• Ask creatively
  In this age of global competition, your asking may get lost in the crowd, unheard by the decision-makers you hope to reach. There is a way around this. If you want someone’s attention, don’t ask the ordinary way. Use your creativity to dream up a high-impact presentation.
• Ask sincerely
  When you really need help, people will respond. Sincerity means dropping the image facade and showing a willingness to be vulnerable. Tell it the way it is, lumps and all. Don’t worry if your presentation isn’t perfect; ask from your heart. Keep it simple and people will open up to you.

To be continued

~~~~~~~~~~~

Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

My favourite links

Virtual Chase alerting services on bad information

So many of us use the internet when researching. But how do we know that what we have found is objective and authoritative. Plus how do we know if those warnings we receive in e-mail messages are genuine? You can find ""Alerting Services on Bad Information" at
http://www.virtualchase.com/quality/alert.html .

Technical tips

Microsoft Excel

Formulae not calculating as they are expected to

Excel interprets your cell entries according to a series of rules. The fallback decision for cell entries is to treat them as text.

Sometimes Excel insists on treating what you have entered as text. You may enter a formula such as =C7 into a cell, with the expectation that the contents of cell C7 will be displayed. Excel, however, may simply display "=C7" in the cell, instead of what you expect, and want.

Excel is somehow not interpreting your cell entry as a formula, but as text. It is bypassing the normal parsing and jumping directly to the fallback format of the cell."

This problem usually happens when the cell into which you are entering the formula has previously been explicitly formatted as text. Someone, probably you, has used the "Format Cells" dialog box to do it.

It’s easily corrected:

• Select the obstinate cell.
• Choose “Clear" from the "Edit" menu, then choose "Formats", thus removing any formatting applied to the cell.
• Press "F2" to put the cell into edit mode.
• Now press "Enter".

Your formula will be treated as a formula, not text.

Microsoft Word

Want a diagram?

Word’s "Diagram" tool enables you to create a number of diagram types. They include an organisation chart, cycle diagram, radial diagram, pyramid diagram, Venn diagram, and target diagram.

To insert a diagram:

• On the menu bar click "Insert".
• Select "Diagram".
• Using the "Diagram Gallery" dialog box, select the diagram style you want to create.
• Click OK - the chosen diagram will be inserted into the current document.
• Click on the relevant sections of the diagram to enter your information.

You can resize the entire diagram by clicking its border and dragging it to the required size.

Microsoft Access

Streamline emailing Access data

One way of electronically sending information stored in an Access database is to export the data to a file and then attach that file to an e-mail message.

Doing it that way is probably more work than is necessary. Use the built-in functionality of Access that allows you to email an Access object in a variety of formats. For example, you could e-mail a table as an HTML file, a form's underlying data as an Excel file, or a copy of a report saved as a read-only snapshot file.

You can e-mail an open object or one that is selected in the Database window:

• Select the appropriate object.
• Choose "File / Send To / Mail Recipient (As Attachment)" - Access will display a dialog box that lists the available file formats that can be used for the attachment.
• Choose the format you want.
• Click OK.

Note: You might be prompted to configure settings that are specific to the format you have selected.

These, and other, tips have been garnered from many sources over the years. My grateful thanks to the originators.

eNewsletter sign-up

Enter your email address below and you'll receive CVS Office News monthly via email, plus a link to your no cost Productivity Report.

Free consultation

Click here to request a complimentary half-hour consultation.

Learn fresh tips!

Follow Terence's Top Tech Tips — 50+ tips to save time and increase your efficiency with MS Excel, MS Word and more!http://tinyurl.com/3twrzgq

Having problems coping with all that paperwork?

Turn those piles into files and find any document in 10 seconds or less! http://tinyurl.com/64ag2

Time management

Multiplying with networking

By: Dr. Donald E. Wetmore

In over 20 years as a Public Speaker, time and time again, I realize that better than half of the average person’s personal productivity and success in life is through the good cooperation of other people. I do not mean to suggest that if one does not have the good cooperation of other people that he or she cannot be productive and successful, but rather, that one cannot be “AS” productive and successful.

And the sad thing about those who do not enjoy the good cooperation of other people is that they will never know what they did not receive. They will never know the business connections that they did not get, the social invitations they could have had, or the helpful advice they might have been presented with to make their lives easier.

Networking is as old as time. It is the idea that we need not do everything ourselves and re-invent the wheel over and again. We can all mutually benefit from the experiences and knowledge of others. It is not a new practice to any of us. We network all the time. They question is, “how far do you want to go with it?” Time management and personal productivity are significantly enhanced when we use the concept seriously and methodically practice the concept.
With six billion people now on the planet it is said that all of are related to within six levels, the “Six Degrees of Separation”. To get to the answers, the help, and the information you need to make your life better is never far away.

My own success in the Professional Speaking Business has come to me largely through networking and the good cooperation of other people, although, like the cobbler’s son who had no shoes, I sometimes fail to follow my own advice. When I started my business twenty years ago I thought I was a marketing genius. After all, I had an MBA with a concentration in marketing. I then proceeded to do every bone-headed thing imaginable, wasting precious resources of time and money until I began to practice what I preached and reached out to others who were already successful.

And I got the help that I needed because the number one topic of conversation that most people enjoy is themselves. And when people talk about themselves, they like to talk about their successes, don’t they?
I learned how to market and promote my business and how to manage it effectively as well. Through the generous help of others, I stopped spinning my wheels learning the errors that others had already learned. I now spend a good amount of my time helping new speakers to succeed sharing the information that I have received, adding in my own successes.

And that is the essence of networking because networking is not a selfish technique, just drawing from the well. It is consistently helping to fill the well. Not only taking but giving back. The more help you offer others, the more you get in return.

I have prepared a companion article entitled, “Neat Networking” that contains five specific steps to help you to network more effectively and increase your personal productivity. To get your free copy email your request for “neat” to: ctsem@msn.com?subject=neat

~~~~~~~~~~

For free Time Management articles to help you get more done in less time, with less stress, visit our website now at: http://www.balancetime.com

Don Wetmore | Professional Speaker | Productivity Institute Time Management Seminars 127 Jefferson St, Stratford, CT 06615 | (203) 386-8062 (800) 969-3773 | Fax: (203) 386-8064 Email:ctsem@msn.com

DISCLAIMER: Neither Cyberspace Virtual Services nor Terence Kierans endorse the quality of any products obtained by you as a result of following any link or recommendation published in this newsletter. Please perform your own due diligence before purchasing any product.