Happy New Year everyone! To celebrate the new year, let’s briefly discuss the eternal search to get NEW clients. There are tons of different methods to approach new customers, but we are going to explore just 4 of the most impactful.

Cold Calling - While not the favorite method of reaching new clients, it can still be wildly successful if done correctly. Research your prospects and their industry - first to make sure that you are contacting someone that would benefit from your services and secondly so that you can prep before your call to outline how you can help them. Prep an opening statement customized to that prospect to catch their attention. Loosely script your call to help you keep it brief and to stay on subject. By talking to the right people about problems/issues specific to their industry that you can help with, you increase exponentially your chance of success with a cold call.

Word of Mouth - Everyone knows that a dissatisfied customer will talk to many more people than a satisfied customer, hence the hyper focus on customer service, right? But good customer service can only reduce your chances of negative word of mouth. How do you actually generate positive word of mouth? Believe it or not, there are a couple of different ways. Get active in your community, professional networking groups and professional associations (see below). Develop a referral network - determine what professions work to complement your services and develop relationships with them. Think of wedding services - florist, photographer, caterer, travel agent - each networks and refers each other so that a referral for one is a referral for all. Finally, make it easy to refer you - whether sending an email, business cards, brochures, etc with your invoice - make it easy for people to pass on your contact information.

Networking - Most people have a wide variety of networks already in place that they fail to take advantage of, such as Alumni Associations, Special Interest Groups, Volunteer Organizations, etc; there are a variety of people within these groups that may have need of your products/services. Don’t be afraid to bring up your business in these groups, even if it is just in your introduction to someone new and giving them a business card. People are much more likely to go to someone that they have met before and shares some life aspect with them, than to risk going to a company that they do not know. Most important to remember when networking is to be sincere, relaxed and to follow up - so if you promised to email an article to someone next to you on a plane, do it. Networking is about building your trust and credibility, NOT about smoozing everyone you meet.

Current Customers - The quickest, most cost-effective way to increase sales volume is to sell additional products/services to your existing customer base. Compare your current service/products offers to those of your competitors. Add complementary services/products. Expand the range of your service/product line. Offer volume discounts, special offers or package deals to up-sell orders. Be a 1 stop shop for your customers as much as possible. Your customers will thank you for saving them time and making them look good. When they do, GET REFERRALS!

Doing these 4 things should help you to reach new customers immediately, but again, there are a million different ways to expand your customer base.  If you have a great tip, feel free to sound off below!

Patience is not often lauded as a virtue in the sales world. Usually the focus is on creating urgency, moving forward and closing deals. Some may even mistake patience as a form of procrastination, however, sales professionals who dismiss patience are overlooking a powerful and little utilized tool. Any successful sales person will be very familiar that building a good sales relationship takes time and persistence.

Now, persistence does not mean calling the prospect each week to see if they are ready to sign yet - you do not want to be a pest. Persistence simply means staying in touch with prospects in a way that builds the relationship and positions you as a valuable resource and trusted advisor.

The Rule of 7 is a fairly well known marketing concept which says: a prospect needs to see, hear, or otherwise be exposed to a message at least seven times before they respond in some way, shape or form. In other words, if you don’t have a contact strategy that touches the prospect at least seven times, you significantly reduce your odds of sales success. Optimally, you should be using a mix of vehicles for those 7 touches from emails, articles, webinars, phone calls and direct mail campaigns in order to reach your contact and get that first interview and begin building a relationship. Try to provide value in each communication in order to gradually move them closer to seeing you as the expert they can go to when needed.

Patience should be utilized in all aspects of your sales relationship. From prospecting to sales calls, to negotiating, to purchases, in this current economy customers have smaller budgets that they are being asked to do more with and are therefore taking longer to make sure they make the correct decisions, consider all their options and get the most bang for their buck. As a sales person, you need to make sure that you have the patience to follow up with them until they have time to talk, listen attentively to all of their problems/concerns and take the time to go through each with them.

Patience shows the customer that you care and that you are willing to take your time with them to make them happy. Customers love to feel that they are special, because they are. The more attention that you give to a customer, the more that they will feel that they are buying a product from a genuine and loyal person who wants to help them make a smart buying decision.

Selling is tough. Just remember that what we do is difficult and the relationships essential to success are not forged overnight. It takes time to build trust and credibility and prospects are going to engage you when they are ready. You can’t force them into meeting with you or buying from you. You need to have patience to guide them along the decision-making process and persistence to not give up. Sooner or later the prospect that took you 10 months just to get a meeting and another year to close could mean tons of repeat income to your firm.

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”  Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

“He that can have Patience, can have what he will.” Benjamin Franklin

This article was written by Tracie Gilbert, VP of Business Development at Cosmetic Promotions. For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, please check out their website www.cosproagency.com or contact Tracie direct at Tracie@cosmeticpromotions.com.

It is important to a customer that they feel you are knowledgeable about your product, your competition and their problem. Following are a few tips to becoming an expert:

SEEK KNOWLEDGE - To become an expert in your field, you need to seek knowledge at every opportunity. Talk to people in your industry who have experience. Research and read everything you can on your specific field - the internet makes this almost too easy these days. Become an expert on trends in your industry. Learn about technology that is changing business processes.

KNOWLEDGE GAPS - As much as you can become an expert in your field, you cannot know everything. If you do know everything - congrats, you can stop reading here. However if like the rest of us, you run into a question that you do not know the answer to, admit it. Promise to find the answer and get it to them shortly. Do NOT make up an answer or not answer at all. The customer needs to trust that you know what you are talking about and if you fib or prevaricate, then you run the risk of losing that trust.

KNOW YOUR LIMITS - It is always better to under-promise and over-deliver than the other way around. Some sales people think that their product/service can fix everything under the sun and then some, which is just not possible. Know your product, know your customer and determine their problem. Figure out if your product/service is a good fit for their issue. This can mean the difference between a repeat customer and years of partnership or one-time only sales and negative word of mouth.

KNOW YOUR DIFFERENCE - How is your product set apart from others on the basis of superior performance in one or more areas? Your ability to differentiate your product or service probably is the one of the most important factors in the customer’s decision. Why should they use you instead of their current provider? Know your competition and their benefits as well as their downfalls.

KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER - Know your customers most common problems. When are they most likely to happen? What are the causes? What can be done to solve them? Make yourself valuable to them by becoming their problem solver for a specific set of issues and making their job easier.

Helping your customer by being their own personal expert in that field will help you to create repeat business and increased sales. If you are satisfied with where you are or think that you have nothing else to learn…well, you probably would be reading this, would you? Instead, seek to be the best, strive for knowledge and try to become an expert in your own little corner of the world.

“Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life as a continuous learning experience.”  Denis Waitley

This article was written by Tracie Gilbert, VP of Business Development at Cosmetic Promotions. For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, please check out their website www.cosproagency.com or contact Tracie direct at Tracie@cosmeticpromotions.com.

Now that you have brushed up on your Listening Skills, let’s explore how to get your customers talking. Usually the easiest way to do this is to ask an open ended question.

Open ended questions simply refer to questions that can’t be answered with a single word such as yes or no. Open ended questions inspire long answers, rather than just one or two words. In a sales setting, an open-ended question, rather than close-ended questions, can be especially beneficial.

Let’s examine a common sales mistake, you are calling a customer and trying to find out what feature(s) of your product will work best for them. Quite a few out there unfortunately have the bad habit of going through each feature individually and then asking the customer, “Does that sound good to you?” In this instance, they are doing most of the talking (instead of listening to what the customer needs), have wasted time that the customer may not have (resulting in irritation or abruptness) AND have now given the customer the option of saying “NO” (an unforgivable offense).

So what does a smart sales person that knows how to listen and is a problem solver, do instead?

A good start would be to ask the customer an open ended question. “What are you looking for in this product?” This allows you to find out what matters most to them and tailor your presentation to highlight only the features that matter to them. If your product matches or exceeds their every desire or fixes a specific problem they mentioned, then the customer is going to have a much harder time finding a reason to say no and instead has been given every reason to say “Yes!”

Everyone in this current economy is busier than ever and by eliminating the items in your pitch that do not matter at all to the customer and showing that you care about their problems and would like to help them solve them, you will be more successful in your sales attempts and thus, more successful in your business.

Now, the question is, what are you going to go do with this knowledge?

This article was written by Tracie Gilbert, VP of Business Development at Cosmetic Promotions. For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, please check out their website www.cosproagency.com or contact Tracie direct at Tracie@cosmeticpromotions.com.

Listening may seem like the easiest part of the sales call, however, this is the part where most sales people go wrong. Customers do not have the time or the patience these days to listen to sales pitch monologues blindly listing ALL of the benefits of a product or service. Instead, they are seeking solutions to problems they may have. It is up to you to get a conversation flowing, LISTEN to what they need, THEN to tell them how your product or service fills that need.

It’s been proven that people think faster than they listen. While a customer is talking at an average rate of 125 words a minute, the average salesperson is thinking at a much faster rate. Often we are thinking about what we will say and can miss completely what the customer is actually telling us. A sale can be easily lost if you miss a key point. Listening rather talking in a sales situation is easier said than done though. Some people are born listeners; unfortunately, most of us are not. However, with some practice and patience, you can improve your listening skills:

•  Listening does not mean that you avoid talking at all in the conversation. Rather, it means that you take the time to absorb and understand what your customer is saying before you respond. This is how you discover the problem(s) so that you can provide a solution.

•  Questions are a vital part of listening. Don’t interrupt unnecessarily, but always ask questions to clarify things that you don’t understand completely. Again, successful sales are based on determining what a customer needs and providing solutions to these needs. Always focus your questions on moving toward a greater understanding of your customer’s needs.

•  Never interrupt the customer, even if you feel you already know what they are going to say. Most people like to talk about themselves or their company, so give customers a chance to fully express themselves. You never know - they might surprise you and say something different than you thought. Also, they should be more likely to listen to what you have to say if let them have their say first.

•  Be ready to take notes when important information comes up. There is too much information on a case by case basis to try and remember it all. Don’t be afraid to refer to these notes as the conversation continues. Accuracy and attention to detail is always appreciated and will give your customer confidence in your fulfilling their order correctly.

•  Pay attention to facial expressions and body language. If on the phone, listen closely to the tone of voice. Many times people say one thing, but are thinking another. Becoming an expert on non-verbal cues can help you to determine where to probe and where to pull back.

•  Be sincere. Just like you can learn to tell what people are saying non-verbally when you really listen, so too can those same attributes come across in your voice or expression. Be sincere when you are listening to customers and trying to help them solve their problems.

•  Periodically, restate the major points communicated by the customer. Rephrasing or summarizing what has been discussed shows that you’re listening and it also helps to make sure that you are interpreting correctly what the customer is saying.

•  Know your responses to common objections beforehand. This will allow you to listen more effectively as you will not be trying to mentally compose your response while the customer is still talking and possibly miss something important.

•  Finally, FOCUS. Do not do email, IM, or internet surfing while on the phone. Do not mentally compile lists of things to do on the way home, other calls to make or think about how behind you are while in a meeting. Many of us have more to do with less people to do it, but while with a customer - give them your full attention and they will return the courtesy.

Today’s successful salesperson is ultimately an effective problem solver. Practice your listening skills and you will quickly realize that as you strive to help your customers, you will be helping yourself and your sales as well.

This article was written by Tracie Gilbert, VP of Business Development at Cosmetic Promotions. For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, please check out their website www.cosproagency.com or contact Tracie direct at Tracie@cosmeticpromotions.com.

Cosmetic Promotions continues to grow after 20 years in business

                Orlando, FL - Where historically less than half of all small businesses survive past four years, Cosmetic Promotions, Inc. (CPI) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and continuing to grow in the face of a struggling U.S. economy. The company began in 1989 by producing a newsletter for Revco Beauty Department and today fills the critical marketing and promotional gap between vendors and retailers in the cosmetic and beauty industry. Vendors concentrate on national marketing campaigns and can’t effectively customize marketing programs for each retail chain. Similarly the retailers lack the resources to create individual marketing programs for every product they sell.

             CPI fills this role for both the retailer and the vendor, helping both parties meet their business objectives. CPI is the only U.S. marketing company dedicated to improving sell-through for the mass beauty industry that provides complete turnkey services, from creative design to in-store training, talent and support. The company prides itself on being a problem solver and the place that retailers and manufacturers both can turn when they lack the staff or resources to pull off programs that they need.

                CPI has its own talent agency which is now expanding its reach to other industries. The CosPro Agency has more than 1,000 makeup artists and models nationwide available for all types of demonstrations for all kinds of manufacturers and venues. CosPro’s demonstrators are not minimum-wage temps like most demo companies use. Following the philosophy that “you get what you pay for,” their demonstrators are trained, attractive, match the demographics of the product, and - importantly - show up as scheduled. The demo industry has a typical 10% or higher no-show rate while CosPro’s is less than 5%. And if a demonstration does not happen on its scheduled weekend, CosPro offers a replacement demonstration at a 25% discount. A recent 400-store fragrance modeling event for JC Penney’s resulted in a 4:1 return on investment for the client, who attributed the outstanding results to the CosPro sales training each promotional artist received prior to the event. CosPro’s three-step training program provides better-informed demonstrators who can help customers make positive buying decisions. To celebrate their 20th  anniversary, the company is offering ONE free demo to the first 50 NEW customers who respond to their upcoming email blast.

For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, contact Joann Tyson by email :joann@cosmeticpromotions.com or by phone: 407-644-9916.

Choosing a modeling or demo agency to represent your company is an important decision. The people who do the actual event are the only representative of your company that your potential customers get to meet. It is essential that the promotional models meet your target demographic and completely understand your product. When retaining a demo or modeling agency, here are some questions to ask:

1. What experience do your models have?
2.  Can I see pictures of the models?
3.  Is your agency open the day of the event?
4. How do I know that your model has shown up to the event?
5. How do you train the model on my product?
6. What feedback reports do I get from you on the event?
7. Can you provide models that match the demographic of the event?

The CosPro Agency is the absolute best agency in the United States and the only agency that has qualified makeup artists coast to coast. Our standards and results are higher than any other agency.

CosPro Agency was created as there was a need for professional makeup artists nationwide. Most agencies do not specialize in the beauty industry and use one model to do everything from food to foundation to foot powder. For every model we book, we can provide a photo and brief resume so you have the comfort of knowing your product is appropriately represented in each store. In addition, all of our artists have at least 2 years of experience not only with makeup, but with retail sales as well. In short, we provide competent, attractive models that are familiar with the beauty industry and trained to sell your products.

Do you have a specific target market you want to reach? CosPro can help! Whether you have products that are targeted for African Americans, need Spanish speaking makeup artists, or just need models that are all a certain ‘look’, we can help. We are completely turnkey leaving you with minimal involvement for a stress free promotion experience. If you want the best, you want The CosPro Agency.

Visit us at cosproagency.com or contact Kristin Bocox at 877-COSPRO3 Ext. #501 to schedule your next event. New customers receive a 20% discount off your first event!

Whether you have been selling for years or are just starting out, the current economy is a tough sell. When the economy is booming and there is extra cash flow, almost anyone can sell. However, now is a market where the customers are more selective with their budget, more careful with their large spends and more conservative overall. Now is the time to brush up on the fundamentals and hone your skills. Let’s go back to selling basics:

ASK. LISTEN. BE SINCERE. Seem too easy? Well, this is one of the most overlooked aspects of selling. Most ramp up their product knowledge, competitor knowledge, proposal offers, etc and get so excited about their product or service that they just jump into the sales pitch as soon as they reach a prospect. But you may be highlighting points that are irrelevant to the prospect while convincing them that you have no idea what their needs are. Ask the prospect what aspects of their business they have problems with and then find a way to help them see how your product or service can help with that need. Ask. Listen. Be sincere. In today’s market - you are not a sales person, you are a solution provider.

USE OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS. Remember this age old axiom? Well, it became that way because it works. Never ask a question that can be answered with a Yes or No. Customers often don’t like tense sales situations any more than you do and will attempt to escape them as quickly as possible. “Do you like your current supplier?” A customer could easily answer Yes and walk away. Instead, if you ask, “What do you like about your current supplier?” They now need to think about it and give you an answer.  The more the customer talks, the more information you’ll get to make the sale.

BE THE EXPERT. Know your product or service, know your prospect and know your competition. Customers need to feel secure that you know your product and their situation. Your product or service should address an important issue that you learned from your questions, such as reducing costs, improving revenues or avoiding a problem- something that will move their business forward. Your product or service offer should be tailored to address the buyer’s business problem. In addition to solving a compelling problem, you need to understand the kind of deal the buyer is used to or expects, such as cost, terms, discounts, incentives, etc. It is important to know the expected, to be an expert, even if you hope to create a different arrangement.

BE PREPARED TO WAIT. Follow up. In today’s market, customers are not willing to make a decision on the spur of the moment. They want to be sure they are spending their money in the right place. They want to know their options. They want to be sure that you will do what you say you will. Don’t become a pest, but follow up with them on a regular and timely basis and be prepared each time. Review your notes from prior conversations so that you are not repeating issues and wasting their time (or yours!). Summarize problems you solved together and find out if there is anything else holding them back. This will also show the customer that you are organized, responsible, conscientious of their problems and are willing to go the extra mile in order to gain their business.

Finally, you have to believe in your product. If you do not believe in your product, how do you expect your customer to believe in it? Just remember though, no matter how great you think it is, your product isn’t going to sell itself. You need to make contact, find out the customers problems and how you can provide them with solutions. Remember, you are not a sales person, you are a solution provider.

This article was written by Tracie Gilbert, VP of Business Development at Cosmetic Promotions. For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, please check out their website www.cosproagency.com or contact Tracie direct at Tracie@cosmeticpromotions.com.

You start the day with a positive attitude, but by the end of the day, you find yourself frustrated and that little distractions have kept you from accomplishing your goals. Often we are own worst enemies, interrupting ourselves by jumping from one half-finished task to another as they come in. See below for a couple of tips to help organize your days:

• Create a productive atmosphere. Spend a lot of time at your desk? Improve your productivity by creating a work space that is inviting and inspires you. Art, plants and music as well as organizational tools such as file sorters, letter trays, etc. can all help to keep you alert, organized and focused.
• Be adaptive. The work place is changing and employees are being asked to do more and more. Take a hard look periodically at how you spend your time and purge tasks that are no longer necessary in order to stay on top of the things that are.
• Be decisive. Stop doing “the desktop shuffle” - try to take the next action that’s required each time you handle a piece of paper. Use your letter tray to help clear your desk. Don’t save paper that you’re not willing to spend time to file. If you avoid filing things because you’re afraid you’ll forget to follow up, write a reminder in your planner or computer. Then file or trash. You’ll save a lot of time looking for the document in your ‘piles’ later if you take a few seconds to file it now.
• You have a scheduler, use it. Schedule in time so that you can work on that important project. During that time, focus. Don’t answer email, don’t answer your phone. Then schedule 2-3 times throughout the day where you can answer emails as well as return calls. This should help you stay intent on your project minimizing time costing errors as well as maximizing the amount you get done. Not to mention the potential for good ideas that your full attention gives.
• Create a ‘To Do’ list at COB. Write down all the items that you want to achieve the next day. Then prioritize them. Don’t set yourself up for failure by putting too much on your list. This will also help to motivate you to get done those items that you repeatedly put off day after day or to recognize them as a task to purge.
• Beware burnout. Schedule in personal time and vacation. If you get burnt out or frazzled from working too much, you won’t be of much benefit to your company, your family or your customers. It is better for you to leave at 6 on Wed and to be productive on Thurs/Fri, rather than to stay late and get nothing done the next 2 days as you are too worn out to concentrate on anything, or worse, to do things wrong and have to spend even more time fixing them.

People cannot work 24/7 and still be effective and companies are beginning to realize this. If you find ways to work smarter and not harder, you will be able to figure out how to balance your work and personal life so that neither suffers and you remain a valuable employee in these challenging times.

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” Albert Einstein

According to a study by the U.S. Small Business Association, only 2/3 of all small business start-ups survive the first two years and less than half make it to four years.  As the founder and CEO of a company that has just enjoyed its 20th anniversary, I would like to share some tips to people out there thinking of starting their own business and hope other small business owners will add some of their thoughts.

1. Never open a business you are not passionate about and are an expert in - one of my recent tenants who bought a mildly successful auto tinting business is a classic example of what not to do. This man had some money to invest and he decided to buy his own business and went to a broker who showed him the types of businesses he could afford to buy and he choose the auto tinting one.  He ignored the fact that he didn’t know a thing about auto tinting and had never owned his own business before. He ran through the investment money and closed his doors within 6 months.

2. Don’t think being your own boss is easier than having a boss - Be prepared to work harder than you ever have before in your life if you want to make it.  For years, I worked 6-7 days a week because I was (and still am) so passionate about what I do. You have to be twice as smart and three times as dedicated as you were when you were an employee because there is no one above you to check your work. Attention to detail is so important, you need to double and triple check everything that leaves your office so that you make the right impression early on.

3. Be careful about overhead (literally)- do you really need office  or retail space to operate your business? The #1 reason my business was so successful from the start was that I didn’t have to invest a dime to start it and I ran it out of my house (still do even though I own an office/warehouse now).  Obviously some businesses need to have a location but not all do and if you can start a business that doesn’t require large overhead you are more likely to succeed. For example, perhaps start selling your goods on line before opening a mortar and brick store.

4. Start small - if you can keep your day job and begin the business part time, you will have a better chance of seeing if this is the life for you and being successful. I started mine working at night and on weekends.

5. Hire when necessary and not before - hiring good people is probably the hardest part of owning/managing a business. I spent a lot of time reading articles and books on how to interview, what questions to ask and what to look for to find a good employee and you know what? That only worked 1/3 of the time! There is no magic formula on getting good people so be careful and hire only when you absolutely need help. Again, if you are starting your own business to have more personal time, think again. And before you hire anyone, create a very detailed job description for that person. Don’t even place an ad before you have this job description in writing ready to share with the people you interview.

6. Hire the person who meets the job description AND will mesh well with your company - OK, I did learn a bit after all that research and 15 years of hiring (yes, only 15 years because the first 5 I did everything myself). The #1 mistake I made (and I know others do as well) is to compare candidates to each other — their education, their past job history, etc — but instead you should be comparing them to the job description. Ask the candidates about EACH job description and what experience they have doing each one or how they would tackle it.  The #2 mistake I made was to hire people that had great resumes but just didn’t “fit in” with our group. The way to make sure they do is to have your other employees interview them as well. Another thing we do is to have all potential employees take a personality test. This helps us determine if we have a good mix of personalities to get the job done. We also find that certain personality types do certain jobs better. If you have never done one of these tests - try www.keirsey.com/aboutkts2.aspx  or www.humanmetrics.com. You want people to be on YOUR team and all work well together. This doesn’t mean all personalities are the same (in fact that is worse) but that they all play well together.

7. Analyze your productivity and always look for ways to improve on it. We were in such a growth mode for two years that my employees joked they didn’t take a shower for days but worked straight through (luckily they all work out of their home offices). Things were being over looked and we knew we needed to hire someone but before we did, we asked each employee to list what they LOVED about their jobs and what they HATED. We then made a job description with the things they hated and we found the perfect person who loved those exact things.

8. Let your employees share in the profits - employees that share in the profits are vested and work harder than those who are just hourly employees.

9. Learn to delegate - this was the hardest thing for me to do but once I did, my life changed! I now am great at delegating and because I have such an exceptional staff and made sure they were properly trained, I know that the things I delegate will get done correctly.

10. Have meetings regularly but not too much - many large companies move so slowly because of all the meetings their employees have to attend. But make sure you are having meetings — live ones if you can at least once every other month. Make sure you have an agenda and you lead the meeting and leave some time for brainstorming on ANY problem you have. You would be surprised how many times one of my employees came up with a suggestion that worked and was way out of their job description. Looking at things with different eyes opens up a whole new pot of “what ifs”.

11. Time IS money (especially when you are paying the salary) - Email instead of phoning, conference call instead of live meetings - you get the drift. Obviously, you need to do what your clients like best but most are as busy as you are so try the email approach and conference call approach and see how much time you can save to spend on solving their problems for them!

12. The customer is not always right- OK, they are always right at a restaurant or a retail shop but when you are in the marketing/consulting business of any type; you are the expert and your job is to make sure the client gets the best at the best price. This sometimes means not agreeing with them. And if they hired you in the first place, they should understand you are there to help them.

13. Know what your competition is up to - Know who their clients are, what their rates are, etc. Never bash the competition but make sure you know what they are doing. There is nothing worse than a business owner who doesn’t know there is someone doing the same thing they do at a better price or in a better way. Don’t let your client be the one to tell you!

14. Get a mentor if possible - before you even start your business, try to find a person who can mentor you. If you can’t find a personal contact, look to your local university and see if they have small business start up classes or check out SCORE - a website that helps entrepreneurs get FREE & CONFIDENTIAL business advice from SCORE - a group of retired business people who are willing to consult - www.score.org/index.html.

To everyone out there thinking about starting their own business,  I hope some of these tips are helpful. For  more information on my company, check out our website at www.cosproagency.com.