We have been in the process of upgrading our servers because of the huge volume of traffic we have enjoyed on our web platform.  As a result of our transition we have had problems with our email as of late.  If you have had email that has bounced back, please feel free to send it again.  We apologize for the inconvenience. 

On Wednesday, December 3, the Price of Business will be joining Lifestyles Unlimited at El Tiempo Mexican Restaurant (the 1308 Cantina, 1308 Montrose).  This will actually be a Lifestyles Unlimited event for which we are playing a supportive role.  We will keep an eye out for friends of our media and have some on the Price of Business based on time.  However, we will also have scheduled guests, so it won’t quite be the “free for all” that we are famous for.  But we suggest you come and have a great time with some of the best Mexican food in Houston.   Find out how to get there here.

We will begin airing our show at 11 AM at the restaurant, Lifestyles Unlimited will follow, and For Your Health will be right after that.  Come and enjoy great food and great programming.  If you have questions or simply want more information, call Stacy 832.643.2953 or email her at SWalston@HoustonBusinessMediaGroup.com.

The PriceofBusiness.com, HoustonBusinessDaily.com and other affiliated websites underwent a major crash over the week.  It is very close to 100 percent and we appreciate the patience demonstrated by everyone.

Some of our Advisors had difficulties posting their articles.  As a result a special announcement will be made by experts who post two articles next week to make up if they didn’t get one up this week.

Again, thank you for your patience and your continued support of our media.

We are sure you have noticed that the newsletter has under gone several changes.  The reasons for them are multi-fold

• We have out grown our previous newsletter service.  Our old service was deigned for small newsletter publishers in everything from cost per newsletter to style.  We needed to take it to the next level.
• The Houston Business Show is now the Price of Business (making us poised to taking our message around the country) and we have changed the ezine to Houston Business Daily to reflect those changes.  We have listeners all over the country online and we are expecting those numbers to only grow.  The ezine is still weekly, but the website it reflects changes daily.
• The technology behind this ezine is very cutting edge and will allow us to reach all new levels of automation.  As our media expands nationwide and our number of readers grow, this technology will facilitate that expansion.
• The new format was developed by our team and they are able to take the newsletter into new directions as our audience demands.

Speaking of that, we want to hear from you.  How do you like our new ezine design and how can we make it better?  Any and all feedback will be appreciated.  Contact kj@kjprice.com.

We want to know: Do you like the style?  Do you like the topics?  Are there other areas of expertise you would like to have included?  Are there experts (including yourself) that we should be visiting with?  Plus any of your own important suggestions. 

The first ten respondents will receive a pair of tickets to the Texas Renaissance Festival.  Please be among the top ten.

Share shifting is a term used to describe moving a client base from your competition, to you. Share shifting is not getting new businesses to try your product line; it is taking a current client database (clients already having needs and currently using your competitors) and moving it to your database (they use you). There are “X” dollars spent on any product line at any one time. The objective within share-shift marketing is to move more of those finite dollars spent on any product line into your business unit. You will be going for a bigger slice of the pie, but it is still just one pie that has not gotten any larger, just your portion of it has.

You need one of two things in place to sell any item: the clients either want or need your product line or a combination of both. Without a want or need from the client, you cannot sell much of anything to anyone. So, the advantages of share shifting over getting new customers/clients are:

• The want and need are pre-established

• The client is already buying, so spending habits are historic, thus forecasting can be done for pre-qualifying their future spending consumption

• Having purchased from your competitor in the past, selling strategies on your product line’s advantages over your competition can be highlighted and exploited

• A pre-qualified database for quicker sales effectiveness, ramp up/your “low hanging fruit”

• Builds revenues in a soft or downward trending marketplace

• No wasted time on “uncovering” needs in your sales stage progression. Due to this, you can move the client quicker through the sales pipeline to the purchase phase

With share-shift marketing, your top-line growth will be faster than with most other sales campaigns, due to the fact that you have an accelerated cycle built into this sales effort. So, go on out there and get a bigger piece of that market share pie, before someone else does and then throws it in your face.

Second, the meaning of the adjective radical is “not bound by traditional ways or beliefs.” Here are the “must dos” of a seasoned business unit’s radical salesperson and marketer.

No stone goes unturned in your search for new leads and clients; no sales idea is to silly orstupid to try; you sell to everyone, every day, no matter what their size; you sell more than you market; you utilize yield management techniques; you just do not leave collateral, you collect a database for follow-up; you go down swinging and then get back up for another round; you are always in “selling mode;” you network, not just talk to people; you are “it,” no one but you can make it happen; when you fail, you succeed by learning from it; you start your day with a goal and focus on its achievement; you look for ways< to sell to prospects that other are not; you carry your business cards with you everywhere; wherever you go you see a future client; no matter how many no’s they have given you, you write down phone numbers from passing businesses on the street; you see customer obstacles as an opportunity to get testimonial referrals from them by meeting their expectations; you work on the probability theory; you radiate confidence and bring direction to clients; you take ownership of your sales 100%; you are out finding new revenue generation that your competition never knew existed and selling to them before they do; you see doors of opportunities, not slammed ones in your face; you are asking for the sale every time, in all possible ways, with each client you communicate with; you are a relentless “door knocker” and grass roots marketer; you look at your sales reports for new business that purchased from you; you drive the desire and passion for each sale with every presentation; you fight tooth and nail to retain a client and make new ones every day when you come into work; you smile until it hurts just to go to bed and wake up to attack your business leads all over again tomorrow.

Are you ready for the challenge? Are you ready to become a radical salesperson and marketer for your business unit? Why not? Are you afraid to get a little emotional about your sales and marketing? Only emotional selling sells to clients on a regular basis with consistency. No one wants an order taker in their sales department; your product line is not that special to afford you that luxury. If you are not emotional about the product line that you represent, your sales will never reach full capacity.

Oh, by the way, the above sentence is the longest sentence in this article. Do you know the reason why? Because it is aggressive and unconventional and “not bound by traditional ways or beliefs,” just like what a radical sales and marketer for your business unit needs to be.

Go be radical today!  http://theprofitrepairman.com/

If you liked Tom Marquardt’s article above you will love his new book, “My Little Black Book to Success,” which Tom and HBD wish to provide for free.  This is an excellent guide for small business owners on issues ranging from everything from accounting to marketing.  It is normally $15.88 in print, but it is yours free in its entirety just by writing swalston@HoustonBusinessMediaGroup.com and put “free book” in the subject line.

Controversial and best selling author Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute will be on Friday’s Price of Business Show (11 AM on CNN 650).  Host Kevin Price stated that “Murray has long been an inspiration to me.  My book, “Empowerment to the People” drew heavily from Murray’s ideas and research.  Murray’s latest book, “Real Education” may be his most controversial book yet.  In it, he seriously challenges the idea of mass higher education and demonstrates concerns about the larger social and economic consequences of such an emphasis.

In a recent article in The American magazine, Murray wrote: To ask whether too many people are going to college requires us to think about the importance and nature of a liberal education. “Universities are not intended to teach the knowledge required to fit men for some special mode of gaining their livelihood,” John Stuart Mill told students at the University of St. Andrews in 1867. “Their object is not to make skillful lawyers, or physicians, or engineers, but capable and cultivated human beings.” If this is true (and I agree that it is), why say that too many people are going to college? Surely a mass democracy should encourage as many people as possible to become “capable and cultivated human beings” in Mill’s sense. We should not restrict the availability of a liberal education to…(read more)”

Houston -

Kevin Price, Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of HoustonBusinessDaily.com announced the addition of three new experts who provide particular appeal for those looking to recover from Hurricane Ike.  They are each a part of the radio show and websites efforts to help people recover from Ike…(read more)

The Price of Business and the Houston Business Daily desire to be your one source for getting your life back to normal. Please contact us at Info@HoustonBusinessShow.com if you have any suggestions of what to add to our program.

You Need a Public Insurance Adjuster. We Can Help

A public adjuster represents individuals who have lost insured property. They help speed up the process to make sure you get your claim and help to make sure you receive a fair amount. Generally speaking, a Public Adjuster is a good idea for any sizable insurance claim. Following a natural disaster such as Hurricane Ike, it is…(read more)

Finding Quality Vendors

Currently people need help with everything from trees in the yard to roofs being missing. Unfortunately there are numerous unethical vendors out there who want to add insult to the injury created by Hurricane Ike. We want to help. We believe relationship is the foundation to good vetting. So we are going to organizations we work with to find the best in the home and building recovery services. For more information about our vendors, please email Info@HoustonBusinessShow.com.

Seeking Quality Vendors

We are seeking vendors whom we can vouch for and suggest to our radio, website, and newspaper audience. They need to be members of organizations (e.g., local chambers, Better Business Bureau, Greater Houston Builders Association, etc.) we are familiar with.

Some of the areas we are immediately looking for include:

Roofers
Remodelers
Plumbers
Landscapers
Construction
Public Insurance Adjusters
And more

If you work in these areas, we want to hear from you, contact us at Info@HoustonBusinessShow.com or call 832.643.2953 and ask for Stacy.

When a disaster strikes—whether it be a hurricane, earthquake, flood, terrorist attack, or some other devastating event—many businesses are eager to volunteer and assist those in need. They want to help rebuild the damaged homes and businesses, and they often donate the necessary materials and manpower to do so. Unfortunately, the resources that are brought in on a volunteer and donation basis typically run out much sooner than expected. And very often, those businesses who gladly gave their time and resources to those in need feel guilty charging for additional services, so they pack up and leave the area, proud of their good deed, yet leaving those in the disaster area with few recovery options.

A great example of this is what happened in Port Charlotte, Florida after hurricane Charley. Initially after the hurricane, a large number of contractors went to the area, donating services, supplies, and other things needed to rebuild the community. The federal government also came in and paid many of the rebuild bills, even things not normally covered by FEMA. But then the money started to run out, and the majority of the volunteers went home. The funny thing is that the residents of Port Charlotte didn’t want the contractors to leave and would have paid the contractors their normal rate to stay and finish the disaster recovery efforts. But the contractors—those who were there on a volunteer basis—felt guilty taking money from disaster victims. Now, two years later, many Port Charlotte residents are still seeking reputable contractors to help them. It’s an unfortunate situation that doesn’t have to happen.

Perhaps even more concerning is that we’re starting to see a similar trend in the people and companies that help with disaster preparedness. Recently the Annals of Emergency Medicine, one of the largest emergency medicine journals, published an editorial aimed specifically at universities that were profiting from selling courses developed under grant dollars. That is, they created disaster preparedness materials using federal grant money, and then they made hospitals and communities pay to receive the course materials. While such a practice is clearly unethical, many people thought the journal was implying that it’s unethical to make a business of disaster preparedness—to go into communities and hospitals and charge a consulting fee or teach for profit how to be ready in the event of a disaster. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.

So does that mean it’s possible to profit from a disaster situation and not feel guilty? Yes! And those businesses that are able to come into a community after a disaster strikes and offer a needed product or service can profit handsomely…and ethically.

3 Ways to Profits

When it comes to profiting from disaster, most people think of price gouging or profiteering. Price gouging is not only immoral and unethical, but in every state and every territory, it’s also illegal. It’s a criminal act in which you’re taking advantage of people who have no choice but to pay. When hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, we heard examples of unscrupulous store owners selling generators (that normally retailed for a few hundred dollars) for two and three thousand dollars. All those people received jail time or fines, and their business license was revoked. Such people are not seeking to profit from disaster; they’re seeking to profit from misery. There are essentially three ethical ways to make money after a disaster.

1. Volunteer and Donation. In this scenario you volunteer your time and donate your products or services. You cover all your own costs and accept nothing in return, other than perhaps food and lodging. In return for your time and materials, you get the warm fuzzy feeling of doing something good for the community. You become an everyday hero. If you’re visible during this time, you also get great publicity, which could lead to business down the road from those who remember your good deed.

2. Discounted Services. This is the most common scenario, and just as the name implies, it means that you offer your products and/or services to the community at a discounted rate. Those who opt to go this route figure out how low they can price something without the decision being a burden on the business. Realize, though, that no one in the community asked for the discount (although none will turn the discount down either). Often, the business owner gives the discount because he or she has some level of altruism.

3. Full Price. In this scenario, you come into the community and bid a fair market price for a product or service, roughly equivalent to what other companies would charge during non-disaster times. And because it’s fair market price, people are more than happy to pay it. This is completely moral and ethical. Unfortunately, few businesses make the transition to full fare after starting out as a volunteer. But if you really want to grow your business and profit from disaster, this is the way to go.

From Free to Fee

So how does a business make the transition from a volunteer to a paid consultant or contractor? Here are some suggestions:
* Be upfront. State how long you can offer your products or services for free. For example, tell people, “I can afford to volunteer for two weeks. I can afford to bring X amount of materials. If we run out of materials before two weeks, you supply the material and I’ll stay the remainder of the time I stated.” After the two weeks are up, before you pull out and leave, talk with the people you’ve been helping. Explain again that you can only afford to volunteer for two weeks. Very often, at that point, they’ll ask you to bid the remainder of the work. Then you can offer a fair market bid. If you get a “yes,” then why would you not stay? You’re already there, and now you’re making money. If they say “no,” then they’re taking responsibility for their own recovery. At that point, you can go home and tend to your business, knowing that you’ve done a good deed.

* When your community does its disaster relief plans (before a disaster hits), put your company on the list of businesses available to aid in the recovery efforts. Businesses can work with their local communities to be “first-called” in the event that a disaster strikes. What does that mean? Assuming that the business is capable of responding, that business will put the community recovery (or specific targeted recovery within the community) at the front of the line. But that’s just the beginning. In some cases, a business (let’s say a hospital, for example) may contract with a service provider (such as a roofing contractor) and pay a retainer fee so that in the event of a disaster, that contractor will put the hospital at the front of the list. In return, that contractor gets the bid for the other work the hospital needs done. The contractor is happy to give that deal because it guarantees them business. This is completely ethical. In fact, it’s a win-win solution. The business gets the repairs they need done and contractor has guaranteed work. What could be better?

The bottom line is that businesses need to understand the different ways they can help, and they need to get over the stigma of profiting from disaster. Realize that the people receiving your products or services don’t mind paying for them. In fact, nobody on the receiving end of the products or services expects to get everything for free, and most of them will gladly pay a fair market price for anything you offer. So take full advantage of this profitable market segment. By doing so, you’ll be helping people in need while helping your own business grow.

Dr. Maurice A. Ramirez is co-founder of Disaster Life Support of North America, Inc., a national provider of Disaster Preparation, Planning, Response and Recovery education. Through his consulting firm High Alert, LLC., he serves on expert panels for pandemic preparedness and healthcare surge planning with Congressional and Cabinet Members. Board certified in multiple medical specialties, Dr. Ramirez is Founding Chairperson of the American Board of Disaster Medicine and a Senior Physician-Federal Medical Officer for the Department of Homeland Security. Cited in 24 textbooks with numerous published articles, he is co-creator of C5RITICAL and author of Mastery Against Adversity. Dr. Ramirez invites comments at: http://www.disaster-blog.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maurice_Ramirez

As our audience and readers know, we have made the long awaited transition to the “Price of Business” as the name for the Houston Business Show.  Such a brand change isn’t easy, but it was important for us on several counts.

First, our programming has talent from around the country and we have no desire to exclude listeners from other major markets through the prejudice that comes in a city named website.  Soon we will be marketing this in other markets.

We are also launching USBusinessDaily.comwith city business sites around the country.  Links to this show will be found on all those sites, making the case for a name that isn’t geographic specific.

The “price of business” is a remarkably common phrase in our language.  Lending it to our brand and the convenient name Kevin Price’s parents game him, it simply makes sense.  In fact, there are over 1 billion links to this broad phrase in a Google search.  Our site was launched only one week ago and PriceofBusiness.com is in the top five of that billion plus list.  If you would like to learn more about how we achieved such, contact Info@HoustonBusinessShow.com.   Simply put, when people think “Price of Business”, we want them to think of Kevin Price.

We are, of course excited about the changes and are looking forward to more efforts to expand our information through out the country.  We have a message that is great for business and we are elated to have powerful media channels available to get it across.