The goal in business is to outdistance the competition and make profitable sales by producing more customer-friendly products or services. To reach this goal, you need an advantage to improve your batting average-but it's getting more difficult and complicated to obtain this advantage, let alone keep it.

14 TIPS FOR SENDING EFFECTIVE PRESS RELEASES by John Hewitt Know whom to send it to, not just where. Find out who the editor or reporter is for the section you want your release to a...

Becoming accustomed to a growing economy is easy and dangerous. Although there are always pockets of problems, we forget that success is often more the result of a good economy than our business acumen. If everyone else is doing well, our major challenge becomes how to pull ahead of the pack. Unfortunately, many business people tend to get a bit lazy-and that's when we can get caught.
There are ways to become more successful, keep business booming, and give companies the opportunity to gain a competitive advantage. Here are 15 ways to develop an extra edge:

'So dawn goes down today, nothing gold can stay.'
Robert Frost
'There are no more power elites.'
Manuel Castels in The Information Age
The painfully obvious implication of these quotes can be seen in the business world: IBM pulls its PCs out of retail venues because it no longer considers them profitable. The Wall Street Journal reported that in 1998, there were $301 billion in sales via the Internet, while the manufacturing sector did $350 billion in overall business. It took the Internet roughly 36 months to reach this figure; manufacturing needed 150 years.

19 TIPS FOR GETTING RISK SUBMISSIONS ACCEPTED We subscribe to the 'win-win' theory of negotiating when placing business with our company underwriters. The placement has to be '...

Before you buy an agency, check out these tips. If you're planning to purchase an agency, these guidelines are essential...

Just when we think we've grasped what's happening in business, something changes to disrupt the precarious balance. It may occur in the economy, an industry, a region, a particular market, or technology that alters even the most flexible business plan.

Establishing a strategy, then staying with it, was possible for most businesses until the last decade. Planning a year or more in advance was relatively easy. Ups and downs would occur but with a high degree of predictability. Hitting sales and revenue targets was almost a natural outcome.

24-7 SERVICE PAYS by Pegi Flahault A recent survey indicated that the vast majority of agents surveyed believed their customer base did not want 24/7 service, voice mail, e-mail or anyth...

'52 PICKUP' FOR ORGANIZATION AND PRODUCTIVITY by Mary Beth Bolen During many years of helping others organize and automate, I've picked up some helpful techniques. When I'm not productive, i...

A BALANCED APPROACH TO MARKETING by Steve Anderson Just like you, each week I receive e-mails and read articles from different business and marketing experts. A common theme Ive no...