Some individuals look upon negotiating as an unpleasant and stressful chore and, as a result, get the short end of the bargain. As you know, successful negotiations may result in improved bottom-line, promotion, or increased budget.

So, before you sit down to negotiate with your prospect, you should keep three important points in mind:

a) The maximum amount you can charge. That’s the highest figure you can request without blowing away your prospect.

b) The minimum amount. This is the lowest figure you would settle for.

c) The goal. Now I am talking about a realistic figure you have a good chance of getting. Usually it’s between 50 and 75 percent of the maximum figure.

When negotiating, go for your goal but be always prepared to accept any offer between the minimum and the maximum. Sometimes, the maximum can be approved without any argument. But in certain cases, your opponent will not even grant you the minimum.

I hope you will be able to improve your negotiating skills by following a few simple suggestions below.

• Make sure you are in control of the situation

What you need to do is set the guidelines by saying: “Before we begin, I would like to go over the situation as it stands and outline what we need to accomplish here.”

• Don’t get bullied into a negotiation

If you are not prepared, don’t be afraid to say to your customer: “I am in the middle of a rush job and I have a meeting coming up. I will call you back tomorrow to discuss the details of  our project.” This way, you will have more time to prepare and plan your course of action.

• Gather all the Facts, Statistics, Case Histories, etc.

One well-known marketer maintains that printed evidence is especially potent. I couldn’t agree more… Oftentimes, people are skeptical of oral arguments but assume that words that appear in printed articles, books or reports are accurate and true. Don’t forget to highlight or underline key facts to make them leap off the page. I know from experience that people who have the most facts are more likely to succeed in debates or negotiations.

• Don’t Be Hasty

In my opinion, it is okay to accept a certain degree of ambiguity during your negotiations. If 90 percent of the issue is resolved, and your prospect is beginning to grow restless, you may let the remaining 10 percent go for a while. Don’t insist that every last detail be buttoned down that day. You may end up losing the ground you have gained. That said, don’t start giving in to your opponent just because you feel tired and are ready to go home. What you can do is sum up where you are so far and suggest wrapping it up
in a future session.

• Remember That You are Dealing with Human Beings

You will have an edge only if you learn as much as possible about your opponents before you sit down to talk. Make sure you understand their personalities, needs and all the challenges they are dealing with, and adjust your “sales pitch” accordingly. For example, top executives are extremely busy and usually want to get to the bottomline in a hurry. When responding, show some sympathy or genuine concern by saying: “I understand how you feel”, “I agree with most of that, but…”

• This isn’t war, it’s a negotiation!

When most of us think of negotiating, we assume one of two things will happen: either we will win or we will lose. The truth of the matter is, a successful negotiation is one in which BOTH sides feel like winners. You may score major victories but concede small points.

Last but not least: nothing is unchangeable and everything is negotiable. Knowing this fact is a powerful advantage in bargaining.

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About the Author:

Angela Kambarian is a President of Essential Communications in Long Beach NY. She provides marketing consulting and writes powerful results-driven marketing communication materials for different companies, organizations and entrepreneurs. For more information, please visit her website at www.kambarian.com

…Well unless you are a professional photographer of over 30 years and the shot just comes to you naturally.

As food blogging and micro blogging become more and more popular, folks like me want to know how to shoot our great tasting food properly to show off the great skill of ourselves, loved one, friend, or professional chef.

Although my lobster roll shot made it on the home page of FoodBuzz.com , I am often disappointed from shooting blobs of dreary food from my iPhone. My husband Michael was kind enough to share his insight, as we talked a bit of shop on the weekend, on the world of photography and taking it to the streets food shooting. I hope you enjoy this post and find his professional advice helpful.

Constance: Should we be capturing everything we eat? What could be considered TMI (too much information)?

Michael: One should consider that the more one adds to a photo, the more “busy” it will become. When a photograph is busy, it does not have a center of interest. There will be nothing to hold the viewers attention. When taking any photo one should always ask, how do I want my photo to be viewed? Less is always more. Think about what you enjoy when looking at the best photos of food. Perhaps a supermarket layout photo of a lot of food?  Or, that close up of that scrumptious juicy steak.

Constance: But what if it just simply looks too unappealing?

Michael: One should use restraint, because if it is visually unappealing, it will not possess the visual elements to make a good photo. If you feel you must make an image in an editorial sense to compliment your writing, you can always try a few creative shots. Let’s say where one would include the whole bowl or dish at a low angle, and this time actually use the place setting, the wine glass a little of the restaurant, and show very little of the actual food.

Constance: Most of us capture images with our smart phones, excluding flash and under poor lighting. How can we still shoot a scrumptious foodie pic?

Michael: Whenever possible, move your food to the window. Window light is one of the best lighting to use for any photographic purpose. The top photographers go to great length to create this light on demand. Take advantage of it when you can. You can even make this lighting better, by bringing a white card, and placing this on the opposite side of the light, behind the product to really make the food come alive. The most important rule is, even when you cannot find the window light or it is nighttime, always try to place the food in the light, whatever is available.

Constance: I hear the trend is to capture half eaten, sort of messy food images to show the real essence of the meal. Do you agree, lipstick marks and all?

Michael: This is one area is better left to the professionals. The messy food shots that have been created by Madison Ave, are a very complicated affair. These shots may look messy, but the top stylists in the world worked very hard to create these effects. Now look at your messy plate, I’m sure it will not look anywhere near like the top photo layouts.  However, a few crumbs and small details can go a long way to making your photo look more appealing and real.

Constance: Part of the idea of food blogging is to show locals or tourists in town a taste of what they will get at the restaurant, what should be included in the photo and what should be excluded? i.e. table setting, menu, glasses, condiments?

These extra items or props should be kept to a minimum. The more you include these elements, the more you risk making your photos look too busy. By including a little you again can enhance the effect of your photo. When doing this, include only a small portion of say the spoon, for the soup, the wine glass with the fish, etc. However, do not become overly concerned with these elements, just follow a simple approach and your shot will always be a winner. The best thing about photography is, the rules are meant to be broken, go with your intuition. Just be aware of this question, how do I want a viewer to see this image? Why are they going to stop what they’re doing to look at this image? And what are you doing, that will ensure this result?

Thank you! Perhaps now shooting and sharing my experience will be in harmony with the enjoyment of eating.

Michael has incorporated the fine arts into a long term and lifetime career plan. Graduating with an MFA from Cranbrook University, using his commercial photographic skills and understanding of fine art, he has built a sought after business of providing photography of art to all major NYC galleries including the Whitney, Metropolitan, Guggenheim and other museums.  His photography is featured in many famous artists’ books and used for promotional purposes on the web and print.

Now residing on Long Island, Michael offers unique photography to the New York Metro Area, while bringing his experience from the true art world.

Visit his website at www.realportraitimages.com

Constance Korol is President of iTwitterCoach and is a frequent guest blogger for Hilary Topper. She is an avid foodie and can be found at the following personal blogs/micro blogs:

http://twograpenuts.wordpress.com/

www.foodbuzz.com Profile NYTwitterFoodie

http://www.foodspotting.com/constancek

Most people would agree that valuable and interesting content is dying. 
Unfortunately, some business owners deliver material that is good enough
for search engines, but not necessarily inspiring for humans.

Here is what I think: you should create interesting content, get as much mileage 
out of it as possible, and find ways to repackage it. Why throw away an ice cream 
carton before scooping out every last bit?

So, below I am providing some suggestions on how to repurpose old content
and get the most of it. This way you can reach a larger audience and save
yourself a bunch of work.  You know it’s worth the effort…

1. Consider article directory sites
This is probably the easiest way to re-use old content. Even though sites 
like EzineArticles have strict editorial guidelines, they tend to rank high on the 
search engines and might give you more online visibility. By the way, eZine has its
own WordPress plugin so you can post directly to the site from WP.

2. Get the most of your company newsletter
Your email newsletter can have a much wider audience than your blog. 
Don’t miss out on an opportunity to share valuable information with
your readers and position yourself as an expert.

3. Create presentations from articles
Think about it for a second…Have you ever received an offer to speak on issues 
that you are an expert on? One of the best ways to prepare for your presentation
is to review your old articles and blog posts. What you have to do next is add some 
clever banter throughout, and you are good to go…

4. Create articles from presentations
If you speak at conferences, then you have already spent the time and mental
energy to create a winning presentation that carefully outlines your position
on certain topics. Why not use that as the basis for an article on the same topic?
It’s another good way of re-using your content. After all, the work is already done!

5. Capitalize on your interviews
If you are often being interviewed, chances are your whole interview isn’t being
used. Why not ask for permission to use the remaining portion on your site and 
turn it into a larger article?

6. Transcribe interviews
Were your recently interviewed for a TV show, a podcast, or some other medium?
You may ask for permission to transcribe the interview and place it on your site.
This will help you add new content and take advantage of keyword opportunities.

7. Tie it all together in an eBook
What’s a better way to establish yourself as an authority on a topic you
have written about. You have already done the work; now you just
have to rename posts “chapters”. We are starting to see a lot more
of this lately.

8. Create audio content
People like podcasts. They like the freedom of being able to take valuable 
content with them. They want to listen to that radio show while they are
on the road or burning calories at they gym. So, why not deliver your
RSS feed or articles the same way? You may use a program like Audacity to record and publish them to the Web, so that the users can subscribe to 
them via iTunes.

As you can see, there are many different ways of re-using your content
and capitalizing on it. This strategy can help you attract a whole 
new audience and take your business to the next level. 
By the way, what are some ways YOU repurpose your content?
Feel free to share your ideas with me…

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About the Author:
Angela Kambarian is a President of Essential Communications in Long Beach NY. She provides marketing consulting, public relations services, and writes results-driven marketing communication materials for different companies and entrepreneurs.
Please visit her website today: www.kambarian.com

Before you laugh me off – take a moment to read on.  I know you are thinking that Willie is old and grey (and you are right) but he is a great example of someone who keeps on keeping on.

I had the pleasure of seeing Willie Nelson last Wednesday night at Radio City Music Hall with my brother and a friend.  Now if you like his music it was a great concert.  But I am not writing to talk about his music – rather I want to share some ideas on being persistent.  After all persistence is one of the key ingredients for success – especially in the world of selling – especially during a slow economy.

During the show he got on stage and sang non-stop for over an hour and a half.  On his website there is a concert schedule and it shows that he is doing 45 shows in the next 90 days.  His shows are from New Jersey to Nevada and everywhere in between.

By the way did I tell you he is 77 years old?

So why should you care about Willie?  Well the last year or so may have been tough for you and your sales record.  The economy has offered us a lot of believable excuses to blame poor performance on.  After all who would have faulted you?  We were in a recession.

Each and every day as I am training and coaching sales people I have noticed a lot of name calling and finger pointing.  We have created reasons for this failure and that failure all the while getting us no closer to success.

Then I am reminded of Willie – not making excuses – instead he is just out there doing it one song at a time from one city to the next.

So where can you put some action behind your talk?  What is the one excuse you can eliminate today?  What is the one Money Generating Activity you can do today and every day?

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Tim Healy is the President and Owner of Healy Success Solutions Inc. He has helped the Long Island business community create selling success for over a decade with his Sales Team Training and Sales Performance Coaching.  You can reach Tim at 631-244-6090 or at www.healysolutions.com

The end of 2009 and into 2010 was proving to be a very difficult year for my company, Taz Solutions, Inc. a web marketing, strategy, PR, and design firm. I discovered that the old ways of doing business were just not working in the “new economy. “

Rather than simply lowering the prices, I knew I needed to think outside the box. I decided to turn to the most well known marketing brand in history; Guerrilla Marketing. I’ve been familiar with Guerrilla Marketing for years, but I had never really fully utilized its power. The whole essence behind Guerrilla Marketing is using time, energy and imagination rather then money, which was simply perfect as I was strapped for cash!  Instead of just reading some more of the materials, I decided to take some massive action — I fly out to Orlando and spent several days with Jay Conrad Levinson to become a Guerrilla Marketing Master Trainer.  They were so impressed with my style and commitment, they made me the Chief Marketing Officer for their whole company!  Check them out at www.gmarketing.com <http://www.gmarketing.com/>

When I started delving deeper into the concepts of Guerrilla Marketing, I found that there were over 200 Guerrilla Marketing weapons that I could put into action. Rather then test out all 200, I tested about 30 of them. The following are my top five favorites that produced the best return.

1) Designated Guerrilla

To keep our strategies organized and streamlined, I decided to make one person at my company the designated guerrilla. This person was responsible for the marketing calendar, and making sure that the Guerrilla Marketing weapons we were putting into place were being done correctly and tracked to the nth degree.

2) Extra Value

I’ve never been a fan of dropping prices, especially since I never compete on price. Therefore, in order to make sure we started winning more deals, we began increasing the amount of value provided for clients. Here are some examples of what our clients now receive: a client-only event once a year (educational in nature), access to our training portal, and even a virtual assistant for ten hours a week at no cost.

3) Testimonials

I had testimonials all over the place, but I wasn’t leveraging them. I also discovered that using video testimonials, as opposed to just text, worked much better. Rather then just letting the testimonials sit dormant on the web site; I integrated them into the marketing materials as well as the sales process. This took the social proof factor up to a whole new level.

4) Authoring a Book

A book is the best possible business card you can ever have. It took a lot more work than I expected, but the results have proven to be invaluable.

5) Free Public Talks

My favorite Guerrilla Marketing weapon is free public talks. I contacted various chamber of commerce organizations as well as some local business groups and offered to come and speak on various topics relating to web marketing, monetizing social media, and web 3.0 marketing. They were thrilled because they were used to paying speakers, and I was happy because I was able to practice education-based marketing and contribute to the local business community. I did not even have to “pitch” my business to the crowd, which would have been a little tacky. People simply came up to me afterwards asking for my business card.

If you’re looking to generate some business without spending a lot of money, Guerrilla Marketing has worked wonders for me and my businesses.

© 2010 Michael Tasner, author of Marketing in the Moment: The Practical Guide to Using Web 3.0 Marketing to Reach Your Customers First

Author Bio
Michael Tasner is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and charity proponent who specializes in helping people achieve their dreams in life and goals in business. He founded Taz Solutions, Inc., in 2000 and has built it into a leading Web marketing firm with more than 1000 contractors involved in all areas of online/Internet strategy, marketing, and web site design.

For more information, please visit michaeltasner.com <http://michaeltasner.com/> , follow the author on Twitter <http://twitter.com/michaeltasner>  and connect with him on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/michaeltasner> .