As business owners, we’re told that we should work on our business, not in it. But how do you do that when you’re just getting started? How can you do that if you don’t have any employees? Here’s the secret … ___ ___ At first, you work on your business by working in your business. ___ Mary-Lynn’s always trying to get me out of the business! ___ Seriously though, you begin working on your business by documenting your procedures, position by position, as you work in your business. Before you hire your first employee, it’s essential to put this structure in place so that, when you do hire someone, you can train him or her them effectively. ___ My favorite General Managers in radio had worked in all areas of the business. They had been on the air. They had produced commercials. They had sold commercials. So they knew the business because they had worked the whole business. ___ As a new business owner, you do that anyway, right? All you have to do is document what you do, position by position. Maybe you don’t do it all – you’re not comfortable with accounting, for example. So you get a partner who documents the procedures for those positions. Or you outsource them. You’ll work through each position that your business will need. As you do, you will document every task that your business performs. This leads to your employees OWNING their jobs Now you’re going to build upon the work you’ve done. Put together two or more procedures and you have a process. Two or more processes start to build your system. You’ll end up with a full-fledged Operations Manual. You get there by working on your business as you work in your business. Because while you’re doing that, you can test your procedures to make sure they are effective and efficient. Assume you own a retail store. You would want to greet your customers as they come into your store. Here’s a typical conversation: You: “Hi, may I help you?” Customer: “No, I’m just looking.” End of conversation. Michael Gerber, in his great book The E-Myth Revisited, said he has consulted with retailers who increased sales by 10 to 16 percent when the following question was asked: “Hi, have you been in here before?” Now, if the customer says “Yes”, you can offer a special program for repeat customers. If the customer says “No”, you can make another offer for new customers. So you set up one procedure to greet your customers. Then you test it. That’s working on your business. You’ll have a separate procedure to promote your special offer for customers. These two procedures are the beginnings of your process. Keep doing this, procedure by procedure, process by process until you have a complete operating system. Document that and you have your Operations Manual. Now when you hire an employee and start to train him or her, you can involve them in the process because you have it in writing. You’re ready for the five step process for training your employees. Since you’ve tested your procedures, you can tell your new employee why you do things the way you do. This helps them understand the idea behind the procedure which helps get their buy in. You’ll also tell your employee that your testing isn’t over yet. In fact, you want them to help you test new ideas. You’ll emphasize that it’s important to follow your system, but you also want them suggesting ways to improve how you do things. That’s how you get employees who don’t just do their jobs; they own them! ___ For more tips on how to succeed bigg, subscribe to Subscribe to the Bigg Success Weekly – it’s FREE! ___ Next time, we’ll look at an inexpensive way for families to connect and compete. Until then, here’s to your bigg success! Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes.  Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Related posts How to Attract and Retain the Next Generation of Talent Are You a Born Leader or a Born Boss? (Image by tatlici) Less

In this special episode of The Stack Alex and Justin talk with Peter David. First David talks about writing his epic X-Factor/She-Hulk crossover. Then he talks about the challenges of adapting his stories for Secret Invasion. Next we check out David's new title at IDW Sir Apropos of Nothing (based on a character from his novels). Finishing up we look at the future of The Dark Tower. Don't miss it! Less

If we simply choose to realiaze and remember there are laws that affect the outcome of our lives, we can change what we are experiencing.  We can continue to feel sorry for ourselves but it will not get us where we want to go.  In this world, there are only two choices.  We can believe [...] Less

Episode 15 finally moves our Next-Gen Podcast into the same video format that Battlefield Podcast and FPS Cast have been following for a while now. If you enjoy the video, be sure to subscribe in iTunes or to one of our feeds. Topics up for discussion this week range from peripherals for your console, to Xbox 360 updates, and a discussion on game piracy. Enjoy! <a href=”http://del.icio.us/jopeek/ng15″ mce_href=”http://del.icio.us/jopeek/ng15″>Shownotes</a> Less

First we look at Secret Invasion X-Men #1. The guys love the artwork, but think that there were some missed opportunities in the story. Next is Supergirl #32. Justin likes the completion of this recent story arc. Alex thinks this is the best Supergirl has been in her current incarnation. Then we look at Fantastic Four #559. Don't miss the guys riff on a classic Foreigner song "Feels like the First Time". During the Speed Round we check out Army @ Love: The Art of War #1, Nightwing #147, Fathom #1, Patsy Walker: Hellcat #2, and Hawkman Special #1. Then, Justin writes in, "What would you do if The Stack Moved to Another Network?" The guys let us know that we can go to Youtube.com/comicbookclub for some great episodes in the meantime. Justin reminds all The Stack fans to check it out. Be sure to watch The Stack three times a week, and look for our bonus episodes Thursdays! Also you can check out more of the guys at youtube.com/comicbookclub. Let us know what you think. You can comment below or email us at tips@pulpsecret.com Less

Up first we look at X-Men #26. Pete thinks this issue was fantastic. Next up it's Final Crisis #3. Alex reminds us about his million dollar bet with Pete. Find out who has to pay up! Then it's Secret Invasion: Thor #1. The guys like the perspective that the Secret Invasion satellite titles provide, and definitely think you should check it out. We also have a Speed Round and a Viewer Mail session. Less

Esben is back for Episode 14 only to realize that while he was on vacation his Xbox 360 red-ring’ed… Up for discussion are exclusives on the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii, price drops for the 360, secret PSN usernames, and much much more. Welcome back Esben! <a href=”http://del.icio.us/jopeek/ng14″ mce_href=”http://del.icio.us/jopeek/ng14″>Shownotes</a> Less

Hello from Sunny Texas! Well 2 nights ago we had something incredible happen. Over 4200 people signed up for the Attract Wealth Teleseminar...4200!!! There was one problem though. We only had lines for 1000 people to listen in live. And most of those 1000 that did get on... stayed on the line the whole time. When i say the Whole time, i am talking about over 2 hours. We intended the call to go for 90 minutes but the energy that was flowing from this call would not let it end. So we kept going until all the speakers were done and then i closed the call with my Steps to Attracting your wealth. We also gave away 3 free scholarships at the end of the call. Now at this point only one person has claimed their free scholarship..so please go listen to see if you are one of the other 2...because we will pull 2 more names if they are not claimed soon. Here are what some of the attendees said about the call:........... Thank you so much for the Attract Wealth Teleseminar, I enjoyed it immensely.I would like the link to the rebroadcast as I would like to listen to it again, there was so much information it is hard to retain all of it.Thank youElsie ........... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU... YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH IT MEANS TO ME... LOVE YOU, GUYS. IN GRATITUDE, LOVE AND PEACE, EWA ZENDER ........... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all of you. About every emotion possible: peace, happiness, tears, smiles, laughter, soooo much good was given and shared tonight. thank you. I love each of you. - Gloria from Ohio ........... Thank you so much for the teleseminar. I have now had a meditation and a little nap and want to walk out into the spring morning here in Norway. I am still so moved from all of you speaking. - Liv from Norway ........... Thanks for the terrific teleconference last night. The impact on my husband and me was so profound (it really hit us in the heart chakra) that we both registered for the conference in Austin last night! - Elizabeth from St. Paul Now you can imagine if this is what was said about a telephone call...what will people be saying from the live conference in Austin May 2-4th. If you can make it...we would Love to have you there for this event. It is beginning to feel like a family reunion or gathering of like minded people who are coming to learn and change and have a bunch of fun! Please enjoy this call as much as i enjoyed being on it Joe Vitale MrFire.com Less

FAP750: Private student loan quandary, credit crunch Listen now: Student Financial Aid News + Mark Kantrowitz published a large list of lenders who have exited the student loan business, and it’s pretty sobering. + I’ll do my best to keep you posted about changes in the lending industry, but in a sign of how severe this is getting, the Secretary of the Department of Education is asking schools to report any instances of federal student loans being denied to students because the bank has run out of money. + Inside Higher Ed: Starting this fall, any student can get a free MacBook. All he or she has to do is apply, get accepted and decide to attend Oklahoma Christian University. + The cost is mostly built into the tuition price, of course. The university has provided PC-based laptops to its students since 2001, encouraging professors to integrate technology into the classroom and let students learn through online or hybrid course material on their computers. The laptop program has other advantages, too: the university offers software and hardware support on site, complete with loaners for those with computers in the shop. Now, Oklahoma Christian is following a “natural progression,” said John Hermes, the chief technology officer, by switching entirely to Macs. Scholarship Search Secret + Put deadlines in your searches Mail Bag + David wrote in a very long, informative email about a situation he’s in with private student loans + Private student loan consolidation can postpone the inevitable to a degree + Ultimately that loan must be repaid + Contact a bankruptcy attorney to see if there’s some way to get your cosigners released from the loan Did you enjoy today’s show? If so, please consider subscribing for free to get it delivered to you . Subscribing for free means you don’t have to remember to download it every day. + + + Direct MP3 file download: Click here to download the MP3 Reminders + Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidPodcast.com. + Free scholarship search secrets eBook at StudentScholarshipSearch.com/ebook + FAFSA form tutorials and free help at FAFSAonline.com + Grad student? Get graduate financial aid information at the GradLoans.com blog! + Stafford federal student loans at StaffordLoan.com + Student loan consolidation at StudentLoanConsolidator.com + Private student loans available at any time - visit AlternativeStudentLoan.com + The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network. I want to hear from you! Email me at financialaidpodcast {at} gmail {dot} com, visit http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com, or call 206-350-1208. Technorati Tags: financial aid financialaidpodcast ShareThis Less

The Sid Lee Collective, a non-profit organization fostering the creative spirit of Sid Lee employees, presents Jean-Francois Bouchard's photography exhibit, 'Secret Societies'. Less

http://live.pirillo.com - As Ponzi and I prepared to leave for our Hawaiian Cruise last week, we had a discussion about different "code words" and phrases that we tend to use. I bet you and your significant other know exactly what we're talking about. Less

In this episode of "E! Hollywood True Story," obtained by "The Ointment," the secret love of controversial political commentator Ann Coulter is revealed for the first time. Less

Does Carmen Electra like to give back? What do Kristin Cavallari and Jojo wear to bed? What happens inside of American Idol judge Simon Cowell's dressing room? Find out in this revealing episode of the Fashi5n! Less