Techniques Archives - GUJRAT INDIA

12 Surefire Brainstorming Techniques

Writers, students and anyone else will occasionally need an idea or two. While you may have times when ideas come with little or no effort, there will be times when the fountain of creativity seems to have dried up. Have no fear, however. Even if you’re not feeling particularly creative, you can still think and reason. By thinking clearly and using the following techniques, you’ll find an endless supply of ideas.

Free-writing – Just write. Don’t worry about format, topic, or anything else. Just write, about anything at all. It might be a description of your kitchen ceiling, or a diatribe about the lack of parking spaces at your local veterinarian’s office. The important thing is that you get writing, and keep writing. Let one thought lead to another, or just write on one thing, in ever increasing detail. Maybe you’ll write for a set amount of time, or maybe your aim is to fill a page or multiple pages. Pick out individual topics, ideas, names or anything else. Whatever you do, you’ll soon have many ideas to work with.

Breakdown – Take your initial topic, and write it at the top of the page. Divide the topic into subtopics, questions, themes, and such, listing them below. Continue to break down and list those subtopics as before.

Listing/Bulleting – List everything about the topic, then list any related phrases, keywords, questions, sources, etc. If you can think of it, add it to the list. Then take each item from the list, and do it again.

Cubing – Cubing refers to taking your topic and examining it from six different sides, like the six sides of a cube. Consider the topic in the following six ways:

Describe it
Compare it
Associate it
Analyze it
Apply it
Argue for and against it

Now, examine your answers. Are there any connections between them? Do any themes emerge?

Similes – Complete the following sentence: [Blank] is/was/are/were like [Blank]. By comparing your topic to another, seemingly unrelated word, you’ll begin to see new ideas about your topic, better understand different aspects of it, and new ideas will emerge.

Clustering/Mapping/Webbing – This technique allows you to expand on a topic in a freeform, organic manner. Write a keyword or words about your topic in the center of a blank page and draw a circle or box around it. Branch off in as many ideas as possible, connecting them visually to the topic. Then branch off from there. Go as far as you can or want to, continually branching off.

Parts – Look at the relationships between the whole, the parts and parts of parts. Make the following lists on opposite margins of a sheet of paper:

Whole………………………Parts

Part…………………………Parts of Parts

Apply these labels to topics and subtopics, words, etc. Then draw conclusions about relationships, patterns, connections, etc.

Journalistic Questions (The Big 6) – Ask yourself the 6 important questions of journalism:

Who
What
When
Where
Why
How

List related questions for each one, then seek out the answers; repeat as many times as you need to.

Outside the Box – Try approaching your topic from a totally different angle. Ask questions from a seemingly unrelated viewpoint. You might think in terms of occupations, academic subjects, demographic groups, cultural groups, etc. Examine it fully from each new perspective, jotting down every thought, question, commentary, interpretation, etc.

Charts/Shapes – Instead of words and phrases, think visually. Put things in terms of charts, shapes, tables and diagrams. If you can find photographs related to the topic, use them as well. List anything you see, any thoughts that come to mind and any conclusions drawn from the images.

Slanting/Re-slant – Examine an idea or topic in terms of purpose and audience. If stuck, think about a different purpose or a different audience. For example, if you’re writing about married couples with the purpose of entertaining couples with at least five years of marriage, try looking at the topic from the newlyweds.

Referencing – If you have a basic idea or topic, look it up. Go to the dictionary, the thesaurus, the encyclopedia, an almanac, quote collection, any other reference. List any information. If you don’t have a topic, open to a random page, pick any topic, then go from there.

Combination of Techniques – Start with any technique then apply another technique to the results. For example, after listing and bulleting on your original topic, try referencing each listed item.

Once you have used these techniques, you should have a list of the ideas produced. These ideas must then be organized in some way. You may start by listing them neatly, then categorizing them. Group them according to subtopics, put them into an outline, or try to sequence them in some way. The idea is simply to impose some sort of order on the disorganized results, giving you a clear collection of ideas to work with. Now equipped with these ideas and some related information, you’ll have a better idea of what to work on in your writing.

New Book Removes Fear From Sales With Practical, Easy-To-Implement Techniques

As a small business owner, I found Greg Andersen’s Small Business Sales, WTF (Without the Fear) full of practical advice, new ideas, and down-to-earth common sense to help me rethink my sales approaches. Andersen has been in sales for many years in the printing business, but the advice he offers is applicable to anyone in sales, especially small business owners who may be wearing all the hats themselves or unable to focus on sales because they’re too busy looking after everything else.

Small Business Sales, WTF is divided into two sections: Pre-Sales Planning, in which Andersen discusses products, going to market with products, creating a sales environment, and then The Sales Process, in which he explores how to find customers, make contact, get the opportunity to sell to the customer, execute the sale, and then follow up with and retain the customer long-term. Andersen walks readers through each step of the sales process, providing practical and personal examples of what has worked for him that readers can easily model or put their own spins on.

Andersen writes in a humorous but tell-it-like-it-is style to dismiss myths about the sales process and cut through sales jargon to get to what the reader really needs to know. For example, early in the book, he has a list of “Words/Phrases you will not hear in my book.” Among the phrases included is “Belly-to-Belly” to which he responds, “Gross. How about face-to-face.” Another phrase is “Low Hanging Fruit,” which he says does not really exist, and still another is “Hook,” which he finds insulting because it assumes customers are suckers or fish. Instead, Andersen prefers to treat his customers like human beings and rather than “close the sale” come to an “agreement” between two parties who trust and respect each other.

For most people, sales can have a bad name. No one likes being sold to, and people who reluctantly take on a sales role are aware of that and often fearful of selling. Andersen teaches readers how to remove the fear of sales by rethinking what sales really is. Most people dread the “cold call,” so Andersen talks about instead viewing sales as “demand generation.” It’s about looking for where there is a demand for your services and then providing the product or service to fulfill that demand. It’s also about listening to customers.

Andersen states: “When all is said and done, only a few methods of outreach will really get you in contact with a prospective new customer-the phone, letter writing, a trade show, and email. What really counts is the technique you employ.” He then provides creative examples of how to handle sales through each of these approaches, as well as discussing social media as a sales strategy. His examples are drawn from personal experiences, from his days as a shoe salesman at Nordstrom to his current sales role in the printing industry. Best of all, he even includes copies of letters he has sent to clients. His techniques are simple and straightforward, so anyone, no matter how scared of sales, can implement them.

Of course, there will be difficult clients or people who don’t want to hear how you can help them. Andersen provides strategies for getting past the gatekeepers to the decision makers. He reveals his research techniques, which are quite clever and even include looking at prospective customers’ job postings to determine who in a company is or will be in a buyer position for his product.

When facing resistance from a potential client, Andersen realizes it’s not always about him, his approach, or his product. I loved the following invaluable point he made: “Another way I like to approach these challenging situations is to remind myself that all these excuses mean the customer is probably protecting his current vendor. If he is being loyal to his current vendor, some day he will be loyal to me. Stay positive.” Personally, I know this is true as a business owner. If I have a vendor providing me with a good service at a good price, I feel loyal to that vendor and am not willing to change. Such clients may be resistant to change, but they are the ones you want because they are loyal. Andersen shows how persistence pays off in these situations. Sometimes he makes contact with customers who are not in need of his services right then, but years later, he secures business with them, and even if at first he doesn’t get the level of business he wants, they often will give him some business as a trial and then he can work his way in to larger sales with them.

Perhaps what I liked most about Andersen’s approaches is that he truly believes in being responsive to clients. I cannot stress enough how frustrated I feel when I send an email to someone who does not reply to me for several days. I am personally always very responsive to my clients and usually reply within hours if not minutes. Andersen points out that even if you don’t have an answer to a client’s problem or you can’t take the time to respond to a question at that moment, a simple response like, “I’m on it,” lets clients know you will get back to them and then they can quit worrying about their problem and go on to the next item on their to-do list until you do get back to them. In other words, Andersen is always in favor of reassuring the client that you will do what you say and provide reliable and quality service.

Altogether, Small Business Sales, WTF does take a lot of the fear and stress out of sales. I believe most readers will be pleasantly surprised by this book; they’ll read Andersen’s stories and examples and say to themselves, “I can do that,” and even find ideas of their own popping into their heads as they build off of Andersen’s advice. Whether you are a small business owner with absolutely no sales experience, are just starting out in sales, or have been in sales for years, there are plenty of nuggets of advice here that can make your sales process easier, more lucrative, and all around more enjoyable.

Government Job Search Techniques for Rural Indian Women

India is a traditional country in which women are coming out of their shells, only recently. The IT boom in the country paved way for many young women to study further and earn a job. While the urban women have been exposed to various kinds of job opportunities from the previous generation, the employment market still seems a very scary one for the rural women. Such women who have little exposure to outer world can try their luck in the government jobs. It doesn’t require very high English fluency. Here are a few important guidelines helping rural women to streamline their government job search.

1. Start planning your future right from a very early stage in your life. Survey the public sector job opportunities in and around your area. Plan your study accordingly.

2. Focus your government job search on fields like teaching, medical services and studies related to accounts and commerce. Most of the villages have severe shortage of doctors, teachers and people willing to serve in the rural branch of the banks. You can easily fulfill this gap if you choose to particular subjects.

3. Make it a habit to visit your local government library regularly. The library will have journals like Employment News which will list all the vacancies in the public sector. They will help you a lot in the government job search.

4. Start preparing for the UPSC and other state government oriented exams from the first year of your college. Check how the examinations are conducted throughout your study. Gather the various years question papers. Talk with your seniors appearing for such exams and improvise your preparation.

5. There are lots of quotas allocated for rural women in these jobs. There are quotas for poor women, daughters of farmers, daughters of widowed mothers, first generation graduates and community based grants for women. Make full use of this advantage in your government job search campaign. Check with your teachers and village administrative officers and get all the necessary documents ready before you appear for the exams.

6. Remember the early bird gets the fruit. The sooner you apply for such jobs, the better chance for you to land them earlier. If possible engage yourself in the part-time jobs related to the job you are planning to apply. You can show this as a previous experience when you appear for the final interview.

Landing in a public sector job is no rocket science. Comparing to the efforts taken by the urban youth to enter into institutions like IIT, these efforts are very limited. Try your level best for guaranteed success.

Small Business Marketing – Rip and Read Marketing Techniques That Work

Keeping in touch with your existing customers and clients is a critically important part of your small business marketing system.

The cost of securing a new customer is much greater than the cost of getting an existing customer to use your services and products again. Some studies indicate it takes seven times more money to acquire a new customer than it does to sell an existing customer the same product or service.

It’s no wonder the lifetime value of a customer or client is calculated to be worth at least ten times the money you made the first time you did business with them.

What you need to do is find ways to make your business, your product, and/or your services applicable to your customers and clients again and again. Some businesses have “one-time-use” products. These are products that once purchased are not purchased again.

Finding ways to sell the same product or service again, requires some strategic thinking. I’m not suggesting planned obsolescence. Find ways to up-sell or cross-sell the same customer with variations of our main product or service. For example; if you sell an information product in the form of an audio tape series, then offer a video version of the same program.

It is matter of maintaining the customer relationship and then offering them more choices.

Here is a technique for maintaining clients and customers that I teach in our small business marketing bootcamp. We’ve used it for years in our business, and frankly didn’t think to share it in this article until one of our “Plutonium Level” subscription members told me his story.

It is called the “rip and read” technique. I read about 15 trade journals, magazines and newspapers each week. As I read, I look for articles and stories that may be of interest to my customers and prospects. When I see it I “rip” it out and send it to my client with a comment on a post-it note: “Saw this and thought it would be of interest to you. Best, Brian” That’s all there is to it. I probably send 20 or so a month. It keeps me in the front of my clients’ minds.

My business associates think I look like fool constantly “ripping” on planes, in airport lounges, and on trains, but once you see the benefits of doing so, you will start ripping too.

One of our “Plutonium Level Inner Circle Member” is a financial planner. I gave him this suggestion in one of our monthly one-on-one marketing coaching sessions and in less than one month he got results.

Here’s what he wrote me: “I cut an article out of the Star Ledger (our daily New jersey newspaper) and sent it to one of my clients. He called back and sent me a check for $40,000.00 (Deposited in his annuity).” One proven and tested system led to a big commission for him. All he did was use the tip.

How often do you contact your existing customers? Clients need contact at least 4 times per year. Try to keep in touch 8-12 times per year, depending upon the type of services you provide to a particular client.

Commit yourself to using this technique for three months and see what happens. Track your contacts and track the results. You will be sold on its value and I know you will continue to use it.

If you’re a small business owner that wants more profitable customers and fewer aggravating small-paying sales, then you need to maintain your VIP customer base. Pick your favorite VIP clients and court them like they were a king or a queen. “Rip and Read” for all your VIP clients.

Letter Writing Techniques – Good News Vs Bad News Letters

There are different strategies and techniques to be discussed when writing good-news and bad-news letters. In good-news letters a writer is conveying good news to the receiver. The first paragraph (introduction) provides the good-news topic (reason for the letter). The second paragraph (discussion) provides the details of the good-news and the third paragraph (conclusion) calls for action.

Bad-news letters use the indirect approach and opens with a neutral idea while providing facts and supporting evidence. The second paragraph presents the reason for the bad news letter. The third paragraph ends with a neutral close. Tact and politeness is required when writing a letter of bad news. A writer of a letter of bad news must pay attention to tone and structure throughout the letter to avoid future problems. Writers must prevent themselves from offending the reader.

All writing is a form of persuasion. A writer tries to persuade their reader to understand his, or her point of view. Attention to wording is essential in a bad-news business letter to prevent breaking the code of ethics. An example for a reason for a bad-news letter is:

A company I work for has been advised to downsize labor cost by any means possible. The only choice I have is to terminate all temporary positions within the company. This decision requires that I write bad news letters to each of the temporary employees, terminating them and explaining to each one the reason for termination. I must take care to use tact and politeness throughout the letter while making it clear that their job performance was excellent and had no bearing on my company decision. When writing to the employee, I should offer a severance pay and to write a letter of recommendation to help the employee with job search. Additionally, medical benefits should be extended for a short time after termination. Additionally, letting the employee know that with his, or her given qualifications and proven abilities, I am confident that he or she will find another position in the near future. End on a calm and upward happy note.