Jonathan Farrington’s Blog

Before I announce my preferred article directory sites for 2006, which I have to say is a purely subjective view based solely on my personal experiences, I would like to share with all directory site owners just what it is that we authors look for – what is it that encourages us to submit our best and our most recent work on a regular basis? – After all, we are expected to meet some fairly stringent submission guidelines!

I should add that these are in no particular order as they are all equally important.

To begin with, speed of publication is crucial; having spent hours or even days preparing an article, it really is so frustrating to have to wait weeks for it to appear on a site.

Secondly, presentation – i.e. how one’s work is presented on a site is also vital because the visual aspect has to appeal to visitors. Those of us that have taken the time to get up to speed with even basic html are “disappointed”, to say the least, when we cannot put those skills into practice and we are left with a very boring and dull looking piece of work.

It goes without saying that every author wants their work to be read by as many people as possible, therefore a site’s popularity has to be taken into account. It really is soul destroying to see that your article has only been viewed by say a dozen visitors in a month on one site, when another has provided a thousand views.

Finally, I would say responsiveness is of paramount importance: If I have a query with a published article or need advice on an aspect of article submission, I don’t really want to have to wait weeks for a reply – my need is immediate.

When I first began writing and submitting my work in May this year in order to create what publishers call “a platform”, I chose a small number of sites and then I built on that select few: However, that “select few” grew to more than 150 which was clearly far too many and gradually, I have come the full circle and now only work with about 20, for all the reasons described above. The reality is that whilst there may well be an abundance of sites claiming to specialise in my field, sadly, very few meet my criteria.

OK, so here we go:

Top “Miscellaneous” Article Directory:

Ezine Articles – www.EzineArticles.com

It is very difficult to fault Chris Knight’s operation: I cannot tell you that they have been around longer than anyone else, but it does feel that way and the level of professionalism is extremely high. Ezine scores top marks in all the areas that are important to me and with circa 35.000 authors registered, clearly I am not alone in my thinking. To give you some idea of the sheer quantity of submissions, although I have made it into the top 1% with 125 articles published since May, I still have not broken into the top 300!

Chris has developed the site into a “community” and although this is an ongoing objective, he is succeeding. The managing editor is a very efficient guy called “Wally” and I am always impressed with the speed of his responses to any queries I have.

Probably the key factor for me is the number of visitors and I know that a well written and pertinent piece will attract upwards of 1000 readers. I have only one criticism, and it is a very small frustration; deciding which category to submit a business article to can be a headache. For example, an article on say presentation techniques is wholly relevant to almost all commercial functions but I know it will attract more readers if I place it in “Sales” and this means that anyone who only looks at the “Sales Management” or “Leadership” categories and does not do a key word search, will not get to read it.

Runners Up:

I would also like to mention four other sites that I can highly recommend within this category:

Buzzle – www.buzzle.com
Article Dashboard – www.articledashboard.com
Searchwarp – www.searchwarp.com
Article Factory – www.articlefactory.com

All four provide an excellent service and I very much look forward to working with them in 2007. (The Article Alley “group” would easily have made it onto the shortlist, but they have become a victim of their own success this year and took a while to catch up with a backlog of submissions, however they are up and running again).

Top Business Article Directory:

Build Your Own Business – www.buildyourownbusiness.biz

This was always going to be a “no brainer” decision for me and those of you who are regular readers of this blog will understand why. To begin with, David Bain the founder and owner of BYOB is just simply one of those people you immediately like and trust; I realised this when I was trying to submit my first article way back in May. The site was experiencing some minor and I have to say, rare technical difficulties. However, an e-mail to David received a very swift response and several messages later matters were resolved – and I should tell you that this was fairly late at night, but typically he introduced himself with a level of personal commitment that is unique.

David is a true professional and he will know that this is the highest commercial accolade I pay anyone: He is also extremely knowledgeable about all things “SEO” and generous with advice – a simple query will elicit a full and relevant reply containing specific details written in a language that the recipient can understand.

He has my total admiration for what he has achieved with all his enterprises and initiatives in 2006 – he also has my commitment to continue contributing my work on a consistent basis during 2007, I am very proud to be associated with his ongoing success.

Runners Up:

In no particular order:

The Side Road – www.thesideroad.com
Cash Flow Seller – www.cashflowseller.com
Best Management Articles – www.bestmanagementarticles.com
Manager Newz – www.managernewz.com

Again, all four of these runners up provide an excellent service and I am also looking forward to two further “sales specific” sites that I have been advised will be launching during 2007: Top Sales Experts and The Sales Desk.

Top Sales Articles Category:

The Sales Vault – www.salesvault.com

I suspected that this category would have been more keenly contested but for a number of reasons, in the end the decision was pretty straightforward. Daphne Slife has developed a really informative “group” and her newsletters are superb. I would like to say more, but my relationship with Daphne is relatively new, which tells you how quickly I have become impressed.

Runners Up:

Eyes On Sales – www.eyesonsales.com
Sales Resources – www.salesresources.com
Sales Newz – www.salesnewz.com

I can highly recommend all of these three sites and a particular word of praise for Jan Visser, of Eyes On Sales who has worked tremendously hard on the revamp of his site, which is looking really good.

OK, that’s it, once again congratulations to the winners and a big thank you to all the “nominees”.

Well, 2006 was a very exciting year but 2007 is going to be even more challenging: To begin with, the new JF site launches in January – www.jonathanfarrington.com and we are also giving this site – the JF blogit - a makeover within the next four weeks.

However, all of The jfa Group solutions will have autonomous sites and the first one off the production line will be ASP Profile, hopefully by the end of January.

That just leaves me to thank the technical team here at Group for doing such a superb job – they really are the unsung heroes but without them none of this would be possible.

May I wish all of you, including my Partners and Associates, a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year - JF

P.S. New articles appear on both www.jonathanfarrington.com and www.thejfagroup.com as usual.

There has been a plethora of articles on the subject of presentations and public speaking this week, so I thought I would share my thoughts with you.

By far the most common reason why the majority of people avoid speaking in public is the anxiety they feel but actually, the first thing to remember is that anxiety or nerves means you are alive and without them your resulting presentation would be like you - dead!

What you need to do is learn to control your anxiety and use it to fuel your enthusiasm.

Identifying Fears:

To control your anxiety you must identify what it is that you are afraid of -

Is it forgetting your lines?

Is it the audience size?

Once you have established what exactly you are afraid of then establish whether or not you can control it.

Imagine you are the captain of an airliner; do you fear flying? Of course not, because you are in complete control of not only the aircraft but also the crew and the passengers.

You have a flight plan and before you take off you know the payload, weather conditions for the flight, arrival time, departure time etc. However, what is most significant, you are familiar with flying, you are comfortable with all of that responsibility, because you have flown so many times before and you know virtually everything there is to know about that aircraft.

Therein lies the secret; the more presentations we deliver, the more accomplished we become but equally, we must know what we are talking about, we must know our subject matter inside out, otherwise our audience will find us out.

Let’s consider the areas that you can control:

Your audience - After all you invited them.

Your material - You designed it.

Your resources - You chose to utilise them.

Yourself - You’re no puppet.

If there are any areas you’ve identified that you can’t control, forget them - it’ll probably never happen.

Controlling nerves and reducing anxiety:

Organise - Give yourself plenty of time to prepare, know what is going to happen and when. Take the time to rehearse your presentation, preferably with someone you know well. Get them to pride you with objective and constructive criticism.

Visualise - Get into the habit of visualising how the presentation will go, that way the environment will feel familiar even if it’s your first time. Imagine the end of your presentation and your audience smiling with appreciation.

Drying Up - Make bullet point notes on individual postcards to prompt you (not lengthy scripts) - you may not need them but they will give you that “comfort zone”. Do remember to number them though, just in case you accidentally shuffle them.

Relaxation - Before your presentation take some time for yourself to relax, breathe deeply, go out into the fresh air and clear your head. Do not allow your mind to mentally rehearse the entire presentation, because you need simply to concentrate on your opening lines. Once you have successfully navigated your way through the first couple of minutes, you will begin to relax – a strong opening is crucial.

Warming Up - Clear your throat, practise your smile, drink some water to ensure you are hydrated etc.

Dress appropriately and check your posture -If you look the part everyone will assume you know what you are talking about anyway!

Become mobile - It will keep your audience awake.

Use eye contact and smile - They can’t fail to pay attention.

And finally - practice, practice, practice!

This week’s lead article on my personal site: jonathanfarrington.com continues on the same subject: “How To Deliver A Professional Presentation” whilst on thejfagroup.com the feature is: “Are You Really Making The Most Of Your Most Important Accounts”

No recommendations this week as I am planning a full review of article submission sites next week as part of an end of year commentary.

That just leaves me to wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas/Festive Holiday.

There will be a blog next week as usual, so do come back and join me - JF

It is that time of year when we should be focusing on what we want to achieve next year. Having said that, most people, and I would estimate 80%, because Pareto’s principle is always pretty accurate, will not set objectives and in failing to plan will in effect, be planning to fail.

The greatest difficulty most people have is knowing where to begin, so here are some thoughts that will hopefully assist you in constructing an achievable plan for the next twelve months and beyond.

You have to set yourself goals, become goal orientated and a goal achiever - otherwise you will drift through life like a ship without a rudder hoping to be swept into a “harbour of opportunity” Unfortunately, without a rudder, you are more likely to end up on the rocks and in later life look back in frustration: “I could have” “If only I had” etc, but by then it will be too late.

What Have You Been In The Past? Making An Honest Appraisal:

The objective of appraising your past performance, whether that is last year or your entire life is to improve and capitalise on your strengths and eliminate your weaknesses or limitations. Completing a SLOT analysis regularly will help you enormously.

The SLOT analysis can be an extremely useful technique for you to think about what you can offer relative to your external environment and helps you to take stock of your position so that you can plan your future development.

S = Strengths:

What can I do well? What are my best skills and attributes? Where do I have the greatest talent? (Try to illustrate your ideas with concrete examples.)

L = Limitations:

What am I less good at? (In which aspects of your work and personal life do you need improvement? Is the improvement needed large or small?)

O = Opportunities:

What is currently happening that can give me the opportunity for personal growth and improved performance? As technology changes and society advances what new opportunities will occur that I can take advantage of?

T = Threats:

What changes or forces may affect my current situation or act as a barrier to future development? Which people might get in the way? How could I sabotage my own development?

The Strengths and Limitations elements are personal to you. Opportunities and Threats lie in the external environment.

Use Your SLOT Analysis To:

• Identify how you can maximise the use of your strengths

• See how you can compensate for your limitations

• Identify opportunities, particularly ones that may not be immediately obvious

• If at all possible, see if threats can be turned into opportunities

What you have been in the past can only have two influences on the present – positive or negative. I believe that successful people have invisible plastic wings on their shoulders and this prevents them continually looking back: They only take good experiences forward with them, casting off disappointments, errors of judgement and unhappy times. Negative people on the other hand, do look back over their shoulder often and carry all the bad experiences forward with them in a large sack on their back. They expect the future to be very much the same as the past and it usually is – this is of course, the “Phenomenon Of Fulfilled Expectation”

And yet, ask a group of divorcees who have since re-married, if they are happier now with their new partners and you can be sure that they will be. Ask anyone who has gone through the stressful experience of redundancy and then found another job, if they are not now happier and more secure – they will be. So you see, the future really is better than the past if we choose to make it so, we have to attack the future fearlessly to achieve a better tomorrow.

“The winners in life constantly think in terms of I can, I will and I am. Losers on the other hand concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have done or what they don’t do”. Dennis Waitley

Are you ready to start constructing your plan? How To Create An Achievable Life Plan

This week’s article on my personal site; jonathanfarrington.com takes a somewhat light hearted look at the stages we pass through in our management career: “The Four Stages Of Management” – and I have to say, I didn’t enjoy calling myself an “Elder greying guru”!!

On thejfagroup.com site, the feature is; “Are You Managing Sustained Sales Growth Efficiently, Reliably And By Design” which is a very topical subject at this time of the year.

I feel it is time to give my good friend David Bain another mention, because his weekly podcast is just getting better and better. David selects the best five articles from all of those submitted in the previous seven days, discusses them in detail, before announcing a winner. It really is an extremely polished and professional initiative and if you haven’t tuned in yet, I strongly advise you to do so: www.buildyourownbusiness.biz

I discovered another new business article site this week and submitted a few articles – they seem very professional and you might want to check them out: www.businesscurrents.net

Just one more blogging week to Christmas – have a good one! - JF

I received a call from an ex-student this week, who is designing an induction programme for new recruits about to embark on a career in sales. He asked that if one had to create “twelve golden principles of selling”, what would I come up with.

Clearly, this is not only a very subjective view, but also, I found it terribly difficult to reduce my initial list to just twelve. However, mindful of the fact that this exercise is designed to provide guidance to salespeople just starting on the first rung of the ladder, this is what I came up with – I would be very interested in your comments.

Principle 1: – Always Sell To People

• People are different
• No two sales are the same
• Aim at becoming a people expert
• Professional sales people actually like people
• People buy from people - they always will

Principle 2: – You Have To Sell Yourself

• Be interesting
• Develop ‘intellect’
• Never be arrogant - never talk ‘up’ or ‘down’
• Respect the buyer and they will respect you
• Develop your empathy levels
• Learn to develop rapport
• Control Your Ego Levels

Principle 3: – You Must Ask Questions

• Develop your questioning techniques
• Remember What? Where? When? Which? Why? Who? And How?
• Continually ‘test your understanding’

Principle 4: – Listen To Understand

• God has given us two ears and one mouth, we should use them in that order
• Successful sales professionals talk for 20% of the time and listen for 80% of the time
• Develop your active listening skills

Principle 5: – Features Must Be Linked To Benefits

Remember:

• Features are common - benefits are personal and specific
• Use the ‘link phrases’ - ‘which means that……’
• Be specific

Principle 6: – Sell The Results – ‘Paint A Picture’

• Discover ‘prime desires’
• Personalise benefits
• Describe end results

Principle 7: – You Cannot Rely On Logic

• 84% of all buying decisions are based upon emotion - not logic
• What are the chief buying emotions? - Ego - Security - Pride Of Ownership - Greed - Health - Prestige – Status - Ambition - Fear Of Loss

Principle 8: –Selective Product Knowledge Is The Key

• Buyers buy solutions and results they do not buy products or services

Principle 9: – Aim To Be Unique – ‘Me First’ Rather Than ‘Me Too’

• Every business, every company, every product has something that is unique
• Look outside the square
• Identify the uniqueness of: - your product - your service - your company - yourself

Principle 10: – Don’t Sell On Price

• It is a ‘cop out’
• Value your expertise - your products - your service and price accordingly
• Always keep the ‘bottom line’ firmly in your mind
• Anyone can give business away
• Selling on price means we do not need sales people

Principle 11: – Present Your Solutions – Don’t Tell

• When we present our proposals rather than post / fax/e-mail them we increase the likelihood of a sale by…..a factor of ten

Principle 12: – And Finally: Be Professional At all Times

• The greatest compliment a customer can pay you is to describe you as “professional”
• Don’t worry about being liked –be respected
• Being professional is not one thing it is three:
• It is what you do, what you say and how you present yourself

“When I see a bird that looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck; then I call that bird, a duck” Rudyard Kipling

The team had a lot of fun designing Christmas messages for both sites this week and I think they have done a superb job – great stuff guys, well done and thank you!

As we near the end of the year, many of us will be fine-tuning our strategies for 2007, as well as reviewing performance against plan for 2006. With this in mind, I will be posting articles designed to both provoke and assist the thought processes…

This week on the Group site www.thejfagroup.com the feature is: “The Five Main Drivers For Improvement” and on the JF site, www.jonathanfarrington.com “Are You Fully Prepared For A Fresh Set Of Challenges - A Management Checklist“

This week’s site recommendation is Best Management Articles: www.bestmanagementarticles.com It is, as the name suggests, a business specific site that attracts some very good authors. The categories have been well chosen and you can opt in to their mailing service and receive articles daily that are of particular interest to you.

I also want to recommend a marketing consultancy in the UK – Blueberry Marketing – www.blueberrymarketing.co.uk They are a relatively new outfit, but I have been hearing great things about them and if you are looking for a highly professional and experienced marketing team, do check them out, I think you will be very impressed.

OK, well just two blogging weeks to Christmas! Have a great weekend - JF