Philippe Matthews Show Guru Advice, Author Reviews, Tech Reviews, Entertainment News

%excerpt% More: 7 Rules for Bootstrapping a Business

To prove they know their customers, all my salespeople must answer 66 questions about them. None are about which products they buy.

By the time Norm's new hotel opens, it will have been booked for the next three years, and therein lies an important lesson for any entrepreneur. The news from Tioga, North Dakota, is that Black Gold Suites—the new hotel I'm building there (see "Black Gold for You and Me," September 2011)—will open on March 1. But don't bother trying to get a reservation: By then, we'll have been booked up for the next three years

People do business with people they like.

Use these nine techniques to account for how your customer's brain could be wired, and seal the deal.

Hint: It's harder than it sounds. Here's how we make it work, and stay happy while running a successful business.

No matter how great, it won't sell itself.

Your workforce is your most valuable asset. Here's how to leverage their expertise to keep your company growing. Your company can have the most sophisticated equipment, the sleekest facilities, the best location and in-demand products, but none of it works without the human touch.

Outgrowing some of your loyal employees? Stop hoping they will retire.

The secret to successful selling? Don't sell right away. If you’re in a position to “sell” at your company (and no matter what you do for your company, you should be), then you know it’s not always easy to get the ear of the prospect you’re trying to sell to.

After years of seeing it all in job interviews, here is what separates a good candidate from a great one. In my career I have reviewed thousands of resumes and conducted hundreds of employment interviews for both The Trademark Company and other businesses for which I have worked. In doing so, I got to see the good, the bad, and the downright ugly in terms of resumes, interviewing skills, and the like

The best chairman or chairwoman is a mentor, sounding board, and listener.

Amazon's erotica section isn't just rife with tales of lust, incest, violence, and straight-up kink. It's also a hotbed of masked merchants profiting from copyright infringement. And even with anti-piracy legislation looming, Amazon doesn't appear too eager to stop the forbidden author-on-author action

Love catchy business speak? Before your next meeting or presentation, make sure you aren't guilty of using one of these useless-- and annoying-- phrases. Years ago, I worked for a manager that was the poster child of buzzwords.

Stress can impede your productivity and adversely affect your ability to accomplish your tasks.