Similar to "ABC's" of sales (Always be closing), you should ALWAYS network with whoever you can to get your name OUT.
Let family, friends, associates, old work colleagues, members of church, and ANYONE else that you can think of about your new business.
Be agressive and be persistent and ASK for help.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Six degrees of separation - medical billing news!
This article is relevent to our own individual networking efforts. Imagine if the people in our lives were connected in this way, what we could do for our businesses!
Six degrees of separation is the theory that anyone on the planet can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than five intermediaries. The theory was first proposed in 1929 by the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy in a short story called "Chains."
In the 1950's, Ithiel de Sola Pool (MIT) and Manfred Kochen (IBM) set out to prove the theory mathematically. Although they were able to phrase the question (given a set N of people, what is the probability that each member of N is connected to another member via k_1, k_2, k_3...k_n links?), after twenty years they were still unable to solve the problem to their own satisfaction. In 1967, American sociologist Stanley Milgram devised a new way to test the theory, which he called "the small-world problem." He randomly selected people in the mid-West to send packages to a stranger located in Massachusetts. The senders knew the recipient's name, occupation, and general location. They were instructed to send the package to a person they knew on a first-name basis who they thought was most likely, out of all their friends, to know the target personally. That person would do the same, and so on, until the package was personally delivered to its target recipient.
Although the participants expected the chain to include at least a hundred intermediaries, it only took (on average) between five and seven intermediaries to get each package delivered. Milgram's findings were published in Psychology Today and inspired the phrase "six degrees of separation." Playwright John Guare popularized the phrase when he chose it as the title for his 1990 play of the same name. Although Milgram's findings were discounted after it was discovered that he based his conclusion on a very small number of packages, six degrees of separation became an accepted notion in pop culture after Brett C. Tjaden published a computer game on the University of Virginia's Web site based on the small-world problem. Tjaden used the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) to document connections between different actors. Time Magazine called his site, The Oracle of Bacon at Virginia, one of the "Ten Best Web Sites of 1996."
In 2001, Duncan Watts, a professor at Columbia University, continued his own earlier research into the phenomenon and recreated Milgram's experiment on the Internet. Watts used an e-mail message as the "package" that needed to be delivered, and surprisingly, after reviewing the data collected by 48,000 senders and 19 targets (in 157 countries), Watts found that the average number of intermediaries was indeed, six. Watts' research, and the advent of the computer age, has opened up new areas of inquiry related to six degrees of separation in diverse areas of network theory such as as power grid analysis, disease transmission, graph theory, corporate communication, and computer circuitry.
Six degrees of separation is the theory that anyone on the planet can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than five intermediaries. The theory was first proposed in 1929 by the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy in a short story called "Chains."
In the 1950's, Ithiel de Sola Pool (MIT) and Manfred Kochen (IBM) set out to prove the theory mathematically. Although they were able to phrase the question (given a set N of people, what is the probability that each member of N is connected to another member via k_1, k_2, k_3...k_n links?), after twenty years they were still unable to solve the problem to their own satisfaction. In 1967, American sociologist Stanley Milgram devised a new way to test the theory, which he called "the small-world problem." He randomly selected people in the mid-West to send packages to a stranger located in Massachusetts. The senders knew the recipient's name, occupation, and general location. They were instructed to send the package to a person they knew on a first-name basis who they thought was most likely, out of all their friends, to know the target personally. That person would do the same, and so on, until the package was personally delivered to its target recipient.
Although the participants expected the chain to include at least a hundred intermediaries, it only took (on average) between five and seven intermediaries to get each package delivered. Milgram's findings were published in Psychology Today and inspired the phrase "six degrees of separation." Playwright John Guare popularized the phrase when he chose it as the title for his 1990 play of the same name. Although Milgram's findings were discounted after it was discovered that he based his conclusion on a very small number of packages, six degrees of separation became an accepted notion in pop culture after Brett C. Tjaden published a computer game on the University of Virginia's Web site based on the small-world problem. Tjaden used the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) to document connections between different actors. Time Magazine called his site, The Oracle of Bacon at Virginia, one of the "Ten Best Web Sites of 1996."
In 2001, Duncan Watts, a professor at Columbia University, continued his own earlier research into the phenomenon and recreated Milgram's experiment on the Internet. Watts used an e-mail message as the "package" that needed to be delivered, and surprisingly, after reviewing the data collected by 48,000 senders and 19 targets (in 157 countries), Watts found that the average number of intermediaries was indeed, six. Watts' research, and the advent of the computer age, has opened up new areas of inquiry related to six degrees of separation in diverse areas of network theory such as as power grid analysis, disease transmission, graph theory, corporate communication, and computer circuitry.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sales + Networking tips - medical billing news!
Another very important skill in selling YOURSELF and your services is one that very few people who start their companies really understand. It is the ability to identify, recruit and leverage politically powerful people to influence buying decisions.
In many companies, most decisions are informed by the personal and business agendas of a few powerful and influential people, rather than a system whereby everybody involved gets an equal vote.
People who learn how to find the really powerful people within medical clinics, hospitals and other organisations, who really understand what those people are looking to gain out of an initiative, a project, or some type of a new business direction, and who can then appeal to their personal and business goals, are usually the ones who can turn buying decisions in their favour.
This is a pretty advanced selling capability. To consistently pull it off requires a lot of experience and plenty of insight into how organisations really work and how people think. Those who have figured out how to do this generally tend to win more business and grow at a significantly quick rate.
In many companies, most decisions are informed by the personal and business agendas of a few powerful and influential people, rather than a system whereby everybody involved gets an equal vote.
People who learn how to find the really powerful people within medical clinics, hospitals and other organisations, who really understand what those people are looking to gain out of an initiative, a project, or some type of a new business direction, and who can then appeal to their personal and business goals, are usually the ones who can turn buying decisions in their favour.
This is a pretty advanced selling capability. To consistently pull it off requires a lot of experience and plenty of insight into how organisations really work and how people think. Those who have figured out how to do this generally tend to win more business and grow at a significantly quick rate.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Small busines networking at work for you! Medical Billing News!
Small business networking is a vital component of a prosperous solo business. However, there are many myths and misconceptions regarding solo or small business networking. The Medical Billing Business Start Up Manual at www.MedicalBillingFoundation.com cuts through all of those misconceptions. They offer a cutting edge and affective approach to market your business on many levels. Visit for more information.
You’ll find articles and opinions that clarify the role of networking, the secrets of effective and painless business networking, how networking can help banish feelings of work isolation and can create a stream of business referrals.
Whether business networking has you hiding under the desk or is something you actively embrace and practice, this section will help you and your business evolve and prosper.
You’ll find articles and opinions that clarify the role of networking, the secrets of effective and painless business networking, how networking can help banish feelings of work isolation and can create a stream of business referrals.
Whether business networking has you hiding under the desk or is something you actively embrace and practice, this section will help you and your business evolve and prosper.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Market yourself for CHEAP! Medical billing news!
Probably the cheapest way of marketing is 'viral marketing' (word of mouth) so it is important to supply a good and consistent service to ensure that the viral marketing is a good one
Timely market research, will keep you updated on what the demands are for your product. It will let you know if you need to make any changes to your product or price to keep you one step ahead of your competitors
Use the best form of promotion for your product, which in most cases is not necessarily the obvious or the cheapest
Market research is best conducted with a pen, paper and your legs: plus, calling potential buyers for their views not only gets you market research but a great opportunity to make contacts - you will not get a better opportunity to pre-sell.
Timely market research, will keep you updated on what the demands are for your product. It will let you know if you need to make any changes to your product or price to keep you one step ahead of your competitors
Use the best form of promotion for your product, which in most cases is not necessarily the obvious or the cheapest
Market research is best conducted with a pen, paper and your legs: plus, calling potential buyers for their views not only gets you market research but a great opportunity to make contacts - you will not get a better opportunity to pre-sell.
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