<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--Generated by Squarespace Site Server v5.9.2 (http://www.squarespace.com/) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:33:04 GMT--><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><title>The BizTreker Blog</title><subtitle>The BizTreker Blog</subtitle><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/</id><link rel="alternate" type="application/xhtml+xml" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/"/><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/atom.xml"/><updated>2010-02-23T23:23:08Z</updated><generator uri="http://www.squarespace.com/" version="Squarespace Site Server v5.9.2 (http://www.squarespace.com/)">Squarespace</generator><entry><title>Case Study - Does Your Customer Service Process Work?</title><category term="Case Studies"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2010/1/28/case-study-does-your-customer-service-process-work.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2010/1/28/case-study-does-your-customer-service-process-work.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2010-01-28T21:15:01Z</published><updated>2010-01-28T21:15:01Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[Taking care of your customers should be critical.  You should minimize the barriers to serving them at all levels of your organization.  That has not been my experience with a company called Assurant Solutions ... and it makes a great case study.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Feeling A Time Crunch In Your Business?</title><category term="Skills"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2010/1/22/feeling-a-time-crunch-in-your-business.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2010/1/22/feeling-a-time-crunch-in-your-business.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2010-01-22T20:25:33Z</published><updated>2010-01-22T20:25:33Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[Do you ever feel like there isn't enough time in the day to do your marketing?  Have you wondered how other small business owners break free long enough to get things done?

One of the common complaints I hear from small business owners is "I just don't have enough time to do marketing!"  I understand and have felt that way many times in my career -- but there ARE solutions.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Is Now A Good Time To Take A Big Risk?</title><category term="News"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2010/1/7/is-now-a-good-time-to-take-a-big-risk.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2010/1/7/is-now-a-good-time-to-take-a-big-risk.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2010-01-07T22:09:13Z</published><updated>2010-01-07T22:09:13Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[Today, I received a great question from a member of one of BizTrek's online communities.  

They asked for my thoughts about the opportunity to get trained and sell for a national training franchise in their area.  He was very unsure if people / businesses will be spending that type of money just yet.  Here's my answer:]]></summary></entry><entry><title>From the 1931 edition of Practical Salesmanship ...</title><category term="Skills"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/12/3/from-the-1931-edition-of-practical-salesmanship.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/12/3/from-the-1931-edition-of-practical-salesmanship.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2009-12-03T22:15:12Z</published><updated>2009-12-03T22:15:12Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[I was reading through the 1931 edition of Practical Salesmanship (National Salesman's Training Association) and saw the following commentary, and decided it was worth sharing.   AMBITION is ...]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Case Study - Should You Use Home-Made Video On Your Web Site?</title><category term="Case Studies"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/11/30/case-study-should-you-use-home-made-video-on-your-web-site.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/11/30/case-study-should-you-use-home-made-video-on-your-web-site.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2009-11-30T19:53:10Z</published><updated>2009-11-30T19:53:10Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[I recently received an email from a friend who passed along a message that was critical of the new videos on our web site.  Some of the criticism was fair, and we are in the process making appropriate adjustments.  However, other feedback was dead wrong and proved that they did not "get" small business, even though ...]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Case Study - A Powerful Insight To The Human Brain</title><category term="Case Studies"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/8/24/case-study-a-powerful-insight-to-the-human-brain.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/8/24/case-study-a-powerful-insight-to-the-human-brain.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2009-08-24T09:36:36Z</published><updated>2009-08-24T09:36:36Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a tatol mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>My Favorite Contact Manager</title><category term="Reviews"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/7/24/my-favorite-contact-manager.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/7/24/my-favorite-contact-manager.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2009-07-24T15:11:47Z</published><updated>2009-07-24T15:11:47Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[For many years, I have been a faithful fan of ACT.  It has worked well for BizTrek.  Last year, I switched over to Oprius, an ONLINE contact management system and I have become a big fan!  The features I loved about ACT are present in Oprius and it adds a lot more too!]]></summary></entry><entry><title>An Economic Earthquake?</title><category term="Coffee Shop"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/7/15/an-economic-earthquake.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/7/15/an-economic-earthquake.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2009-07-15T08:22:15Z</published><updated>2009-07-15T08:22:15Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[A friend of mine, Jordana Megonigal at the Business Black Box magazine, asked a great question recently --- What is the single thing that Upstate businesses need the most?

My answer - They need to discover how to think and act differently. They need to learn new skills]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Backup Your Linkedin Contacts</title><category term="Skills"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/6/25/backup-your-linkedin-contacts.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/6/25/backup-your-linkedin-contacts.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2009-06-25T07:07:33Z</published><updated>2009-06-25T07:07:33Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[I am a strong believer in backing up information. One of the things I have discovered that few people back up are their Linkedin connections. I doubt Linkedin is going anywhere, but you never know. So, I encourage you to at least back this data up to a file on your computer every now and then (so you keep the latest data).]]></summary></entry><entry><title>The Story Of Cherokee Wolves</title><category term="Coffee Shop"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/6/4/the-story-of-cherokee-wolves.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/6/4/the-story-of-cherokee-wolves.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2009-06-04T12:34:59Z</published><updated>2009-06-04T12:34:59Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Taking The Time To Look Forward</title><category term="News"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/4/27/taking-the-time-to-look-forward.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/4/27/taking-the-time-to-look-forward.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2009-04-27T08:00:56Z</published><updated>2009-04-27T08:00:56Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[A few weeks ago I was invited to be the first guest blogger on the Olivier Blanchard's Brandbuilder Blog]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Newspaper Closings? Ho-Hum</title><category term="Coffee Shop"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/3/19/newspaper-closings-ho-hum.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/3/19/newspaper-closings-ho-hum.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2009-03-19T16:23:33Z</published><updated>2009-03-19T16:23:33Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[Back in October I wrote a post titled "Will Newspapers Disappear?"  Well, publicity expert Joan Stewart recently wrote an excellent perspective in her email newsletter and she has agreed to share her thoughts in this blog.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Time Crunch?</title><category term="Skills"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/2/9/time-crunch.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2009/2/9/time-crunch.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2009-02-09T14:17:05Z</published><updated>2009-02-09T14:17:05Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[Do you ever feel like there isn't enough time in the day to do your marketing? Have you wondered how other small business owners break free long enough to get things done?]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Case Study - The WRONG Way To Acquire New Customers</title><category term="Case Studies"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2008/12/5/case-study-the-wrong-way-to-acquire-new-customers.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2008/12/5/case-study-the-wrong-way-to-acquire-new-customers.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2008-12-05T06:40:23Z</published><updated>2008-12-05T06:40:23Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[Yesterday I noticed a sudden cluster of promotional emails from local businesses with whom I had no prior relationship (yes its hard to believe I don't know everyone yet).  These unsolicited promotional emails (a.k.a. spam) were all sent to my private email address reserved for clients and friends in my business network.  I also noticed some similarities in their style, so I did a little investigation.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Don't Bother Reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell</title><category term="Reviews"/><id>http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2008/11/21/dont-bother-reading-outliers-by-malcolm-gladwell.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.biztrek.com/blog/2008/11/21/dont-bother-reading-outliers-by-malcolm-gladwell.html"/><author><name>BizTrek</name></author><published>2008-11-21T05:10:52Z</published><updated>2008-11-21T05:10:52Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[I just finished reading Outliers, the latest book by Malcolm Gladwell. I had received a pre-publication copy for review ... and I found it to be a poorly written and developed work. Do not even bother to pick up a copy.  Here's why.]]></summary></entry></feed>