5 Rules For Selling To the Rich

In sales the whale is the dream client for anyone. A whale is the biggest being in the sea, and for sales pros they are the biggest and best clients. Many people have absolutely no idea how to interact, or even sell to the rich. Why? Well most of them aren't exceedingly rich, or successful, so they don't know how to relate, or what a very successful person has to deal with on a day to day basis. So figuring out some proper actions just to make yourself look like you know what you are doing is a big deal. I'm not talking about having a bunch of modern furniture in a big time office, but how you set up and conduct yourself when you meet with them.

Here are 5 basic rules to selling to the rich that you shoould know, and follow like your sale depends on it. It really does depend on it.

The Big Business of Halloween

Ever think to yourself when you pass one of those costume mega stores: "How the heck do they make any money if they are always open?" The funny thing, is if you are a bit like me, I actually don't really even pay attention to these stores except around Halloween so I didn't realize tha many of the mega-Halloween stores aren't actually open all year. Many have in recent years taken to opening a store on a 2-3 month lease. Starting in September, virtually disappearing a few days after Halloween.

These stores have figured out how to use the season to the most profitable, while keeping the costs of running the business a minimalistic approach by jsut being there when people actually need what they are selling.

Joe Purifico, CEO and co-owner of Halloween Adventure, a Philadelphia-based chain of 150 seasonal costume superstores and 15 permanent shops explains how it all works for him.

Not only is it a good Q&A about that aspect of Halloween, he explains why Halloween costumes have become such a big business as well. Many clubs have giveaways for best costume as a business gifts to draw in business. Adults tend to spend up to 3 times what their kids do on their costumes to go to parties.

If you look at the bottom of his Q&A there are some big numbers on all the Tricks and Treats of Halloween. Most notably the 2008 total of $5.77 billion spent on Halloween that includes costumes, candy, and Witch's Brew (booze).

Business Without the Brick and Mortar: Mobilizing Business

We live in an age where technology has advanced enough that many businesses can be run with out even haing a premises. Why have a phone system, secretary, and an office when a mobile phone itself can do most of that work for much less money?

Some just don't have the technical side to pull this off. Most of our parents were raised in a world with out the benefits of the computers we have now. They had trouble jsut setting the clock on the VCR (remeber those things?), and forget aabout setting up a DVR, or TiVO to record 2 programs at once while you watch something else. They just don't "get it" when it comes to tech.

Some do, but aren't eager to move on. Take Doug Sohn for instance, in the article discussing the gadgets to go mobile for business. He still work 50 hours a week in his shop, when he could cut that time down dramtically with the use of our new age tech.

The article lists 13 devices to help you and your business get mobile. From phones, to auto accessories, to software. Not only saving you time, but all the while making your business more productive. What are you waiting for?

13 year-old Business Mogul

So you think it is hard to make a million dollars? If you asked 13-year old Maddie Bradshaw how hard it is she would probably just laugh. It's kids stuff.

Maddie Bradshaw had an idea to decorate he Jr. High locker. She took a plain bottlecap, sketched a black and white abstract portrait of Albert Einstein inside it, and put a magnet on the back. Simple enough eh? Her friends all wanted some too so she started making them for all of them. She decided that making them into jewelry would be a great idea too.

Then one day she decided to see if a local toy store wa sinterested in sellign the caps. They took 50, and 2 hours later they were sold out. They called her and asked if they could sell them at their other stores throughout Texas and the middle school mogul was born.

Now, Bradshaw's designs can be found in hundreds of stores throughout the United States, Canada, and the Bahamas. Snap Caps can be worn on necklaces, in hairpins, or as bracelets. "All my designs are interchangeable," says Bradshaw, whose company now sells 50,000 necklaces and caps every month.

Just a great story, and it all came from a tiny little idea to decorate her own locker. Jsut so simple and does something that eludes most of us giving us dark eye circles as we stay awake allnight searching for our Snap Cap explosion. Love stories like this.

Free Beer with every haircut

Talk about an awesome promotion. A free beer with every haircut certainly beats anyone trying to help you get hooked up with natural fat burner doesn't it?

Of course the barbver is obviously on to something. The free beer does wonders for the amount of money he has to pay his stylists. They can make you look as bad as possible and you won't even care! You are gonna be drunk! Seriously though take a look at this promo:

http://www.inc.com/ss/free-beer-with-every-haircut

Employer Vs. Employee Health Care Debate

Health Care is arguably the biggest current issue in America right now. It is certainly dominating the headlines in regards to current policy. The debate for universal health care, and socialized medicine is for anothe rtime though. Most people rarely look at helath care from the perspective of employer vs. employee and the responsibilities of each side, or more importantly the deamnds that each side put on the other.

Tha tsi why I always am interested when I see a sort of health care debate pop up in anarticle fromt his persepective. An employee and an HR exec sparring over the cost of health care coverage.

It is an interesting read from both sides of the aisle. Detailing some of the major concrerns of an average employee, and then the compnay line about the cost that they endure. The example is taken in a case where they actually switch coverages at the compnay and the employee feels that they were slighted, which I'm sure is very common in today's environment. Causing patients to seek deals on things like new weight loss pills instead of going to the doctor for the same problems.

Best Lemonade Stand Winners 2009

This is one of my favorite contests for business that I see every year. It is done by Inc.com and is held for kids to enter their Lemonade Stands, and their unique ideas for how they ran their stands.

Every year they take submissions from hundreds of kids a crossed the country about their stories on how they run their stands. They have several categories which include such things as "Best Story" which is typically for those that go above and beyond to give to a charity.

You can see a video of a couple winners here as well as a more in depth story about the contest overall with all the winners. None of the Lemonade stands had a product bad enough to be an appetite suppressant I am guessing...lol

Top 50 Entrepreneurial Schools

Going to business school should be easy to do. You shoudl be able to slip it in between another job since you have to be a smart business mind don't you to know that you don't wnat to be putting yourself in a ton of debt while you study business right? If you wnat to open a business you have even more incentive to keep the money coming in while you learn some fundamentals that will help you succeed without having a huge loan to pay off. I'd rather lose weight taking weight loss pills than by stressing abuout expenses I should have.

Of course that isn't alway an option, but what is an option is to find a great school that fits your needs as an entrepreneur. Remember that a big name doesn't really matter when you are learnign the tricks of the trade here. Why? Well YOU own the business. Who do you need to impress with an Ivey League degree? Nobody. You need information, not credentials from a college to give you a leg up in the small business world.


Here are the top 50 Business Colleges and Schools. Broken down into several categories based on availability for you to go, ranks in programs, etc.

Print Advertising and Getting Bargains

It should come as no surprise to anyone that print media is struggling. Newspapers are coming off last year's historic revenue declines of over 14%, while magazines are down almost 8%. So what does this mean for you? Well...of the bat it means that advertising with such mediums is going to come at a discount due to their lack of income. Is it really all that beneficioal to advertise using these mediums anymore, however? All advertising is good advertising, and unless you think the newspaper is completely irrelevant in today's world you have at least some incentive to look at it as a for of advertising.

While the sales numbers are down, I can assure you that if you are advertising the right products to the peaople that do read the newspaper you are going to be just fine. People do still get, AND read the paper regardless of how much they also read online. It's just habitual, and many like to read it while they eat, use the restroom ;), and while they travel. It's not going away anytime soon. No Chicken Little here.

Obviously you want to knwo how to get better deals while you advertise your According to does apidexin work? ads in magazines and newspapers though. Let's look at an article by advertising writer Carol Tice called Print Ads: A Bargain for Buyers for some more help.

Be a "Control Freak" If You Want Your Business to Succeed

While the author of this article calls it a little bit controversial in his views, and I agree in some instances, the advice is rather solid in my opinion.

Using a variation n the President Clinton campaign slogan of "It's the economy stupid", he says "It's NOT the Economy Stupid". What he means by this is that small business owners were probably making big mistakes well before the downturn, and that sis more likely the reason the are feeling it so hard now.

There are the business owners that live their business, ones that live it, but know how to disconnect, and then the ones that think the business can run itself while trusting others to do it for them no matter what it is. The ones that let go of a lot of control are the ones being addressed in the article.

The author tries to explain the importance of your employees not having the type of control you have if you are their boss. It also talks about how being known as a control freak is what you WANT as a business owner. HE subscribes to the philosophy that "nice guys never win" in regards to running your business and that "There is no "I" in team should" be "There is no $ in team - just mediocrity and excuses".

HE lists 5 points that you need to act on immediately. From paid for performance, to micro-management. Especially in a place where maybe you are employing people who sell. Be it a line of lamb motor, insurance, or anything, performance should be rewarded, and lack of it penalized. No free ride. It isn't like there aren't dozens of other people you could hire right now right?