A strategic direction is vital for any business but it needs to be understood by the staff. A good leader in business management will have the ability to instill the direction of the company’s strategy effectively. All of the employees need to be able to not only understand the corporate strategy but be on board with achieving the goals of the strategy. A good leader will have the ability to motivate their staff into wanting to achieve the corporate strategy.

Strategic direction tells employees not only where the company is headed, but where the employees are headed as well. A good leader in business management has the ability to show employees how they play a role in achieving the overall goals of the business. Employees will have a good understanding of their individual importance and how they make a difference with the work they do. This creates self importance and motivates staff to want to be productive in order to help the business succeed.

Quality business management also requires a leader to have the ability to instill guiding values with the employees. The values instilled within the employees should provide guidance. A good leader will guide staff into making wise decisions that are for the benefit of each individual and the organization focused on integrity. Employees want to follow a leader that is honest.

There are many things that a successful leader of business management must be capable of providing to the staff. These things include instilling the strategic direction, providing the company vision, and installing guiding values that motivate the staff. Supervisors are responsible for transmitting the philosophies, goals, vision, and values throughout the organization. A good leader that is capable of doing these things, sets the foundation for deploying systems that are well defined, techniques, and performance measures of achieving them.

One of the worse case scenario of family members working for a company that I’ve come across was that of a business I called one day. This company was both a client and a customer. As the new account manager of the organization I represented, I needed to meet their account manager who was also the owner, since we would be crossing paths many times and would be working together on a lot of projects.

After identifying myself to the receptionist who answered the phone, I asked to speak to our account manager. She said that she didn’t know who that would be and asked what I wanted. I told her and she said that she could help me. Respecting the fact that she may have been more than a receptionist – we have a lot of that now with the corporate downsizing of the last decades, people sharing the telephone answering — I began to relay some information and then asked pertinent questions about equipment used in our mutual business.

After giving a couple of foolish responses and comments, I realized she was the wrong person to talk to. She got all excited and speaking of my organization she said, “Oh not again, they keep getting new people and we have to start to train them all over again, and went on and on.

I patiently said to her that she didn’t have to train me, because I had been in my own graphics business for several years and was perfectly in tune with the operation. She replied, “Yea, that’s what they all say”. I politely asked again if I could speak to the person who looks after our account. She said she was that person. Subsequently I found out that she did the billing and thus, to her, “account” meant accounting.

I tried re-wording to “sales account”, “account executive”, “the sales representative who looks after this company”, but it didn’t do any good. To make a long story short, finally, one day I had to call on another matter and she said I would have to “talk to John”. I asked her who John was and she got excited again and said, “Well, he’s just John, he’s John”.

Since John wasn’t there, I left a message for him to call me. When John called me back, that’s when I found out he was our sales representative, account manager and production coordinator all rolled into one as well as the owner of the company. And then, the mystery unveiled itself as to why “John was just John” – she was his mother.

It’s nice to have your mother help out but, putting her at the front desk without experience and training is a bit daring. Your whole company is judged there by visitors and callers who connect with a lot of other companies.

In another example, I was operations manager for a small company in the hotel magazine business. The receptionist was the sister of the owner of the company. She would come in late every morning after 9 o’clock. When she was approached on the matter, she would explain that it wasn’t her fault, “the bus didn’t arrive before 8:45. She was a very soft spoken, pleasant young girl, but she didn’t believe that she should have to take the 8:30 bus. But as the sister of the owner, it was a difficult problem to deal with, since he wasn’t bothered with it. In other words, she was his sister and she could come in late every morning.

Working with family members can be very difficult for both the family and non-family members. First, members of a family operation must forget they are family when they step into the business premises. They must give themselves titles with attached responsibilities. Even if they wear various hats — then have various business cards with the various titles/responsibilities. All members should be following regular training programs, even more so than any other businesses. They should treat one another in front of customers and suppliers in such a way that these people wouldn’t even have a clue that they were a family team. That goes for a husband and wife operation or father/son, brother/sister, etc.

Some years ago, I was in the sailboat business with my husband — our first business when we were in our twenties. Having both been working in the corporate world prior, we would always strive to operate in a professional manner, keeping both our areas of responsibilities separate. I looked after finance and administration and my husband looked after sales and service. When visitors, customers and suppliers came in for either of these areas of business, we would take them to the one in charge.

When it comes to business management in a family operation, it is critical to make sure that the people who are placed in their positions are experienced or have been given proper training, because not only will it put stress within the company but it can ruin the total reputation of the company. Constant professional, outside training is the survival key here, more than in non-family organizations. /dmh

Discover The Answer To The 10 Most Common Affiliate Marketing Management Questions

1. Is affiliate marketing right for my business?

Affiliate marketing is one of the most powerful and effective means of gaining new customers, regardless of your product or service. Affiliate marketing exposes your business to new customers and can get you out of your marketing rut. Additionally, when you initiate an affiliate marketing campaign, you’re in control. You determine the commission rate you pay and pay only when your affiliates make a sale. It’s a no loss operation for you because you only pay when a sale is made.

2. What are the startup costs?

When you start an affiliate program you have the choice of handling the operations yourself or having it managed by an affiliate network. The costs for either choice are reasonable and generally start around a few hundred dollars. Additionally, as a business owner don’t forget that many of your costs may be tax deductible. To start an affiliate marketing program in house, costs will include:

Affiliate management software

Affiliate marketing support including a website that answers affiliate questions and a means for them to contact you if any issues arise.

Affiliate marketing materials including banner ads, copy, coupons, and promotional content.

An affiliate marketing contract agreement

Tracking software to track cookies, click throughs, payments, etc…

If you choose to hire an affiliate network to handle your program they generally charge a flat fee or a percentage of what you pay out each month.

3. How much time will it take out of my workday/workweek?

Most experts agree that it will take you about an hour and a half each day to manage your affiliate program. They also recommend you to budget more time in the first few months of your program, approximately two to three hours a day. Even the most efficient affiliate managers spend about 45 minutes a day managing their affiliate program.

Professional affiliate managers generally spend an average of 40-80 hours a month dedicated to managing, tracking and promoting your affiliate program.

4. Should I use an affiliate network?

Do you have an extra 3 hours a day for the next two or three months? Do you have an hour a day to devote to managing your program after the initial three month program is complete? An affiliate network, while it may be a bit more expensive on the outset, can help you focus your time on other profit generating tasks. Additionally, an affiliate network can help expose your affiliate program to a wide variety of experience affiliates, which means more money in your bottom line and more exposure overall.

That being said, there are a tremendous number of effective in-house solutions including some you’re likely already familiar with like 1shoppingcart.com and affiliatepro.com. These programs will help you stay 100% in control of your affiliate program and are effective at managing your program.

5. How should I pay affiliates? What type of commission works best?

This is a very important decision because it not only affects your profits, the right commission rate will help you recruit top-notch affiliates. The general rule of thumb is to set your default commission rate at a rate you can afford to pay while leaving room for time limited commission increase offers, promotions, and private offers. For example, if you can afford to pay 50% of your gross profit margin, pay 25% instead and tier it so that after a sales goal is reached they earn 30% or you can bump it up to 50% during the holidays or during typically low sales times.

6. How do I recruit affiliates?

Your customers may be your best affiliates. After all, they already appreciate and enjoy your products or services. A simple link on your website is a good place to start. Here are a few ways to find quality affiliates:

Online forums. These are excellent places to meet and greet and connect with like minded individuals. They’re also a good resource for affiliates who are interested in, motivated, and qualified to sell your products and services. Using a forum, you can announce your affiliate program. Be careful to not ‘sell’ on the forum as most forums look down on this and may kick you off. Additionally, you can include a link to your affiliate site in your signature.

Find websites that link to your competitors and approach them about being an affiliate for you. Likewise, you can find affiliates using your favorite search engine and contact them about joining your program.

One last way is to join an affiliate network or become listed on an affiliate directory. This will ensure that affiliate marketers who are searching for new products and services to promote. However, keep in mind that many beginner marketers also seek products and services to promote via affiliate directories and they may lose interest and motivation before they ever make a sale. This isn’t a strong deterrent because they don’t get paid unless they make a sale, however it should be noted.

7. What is the best way to communicate with my affiliates?

Email is the general tool of choice, which makes an auto responder a fantastic tool for basic emails like the welcome email, introducing promotions, coupons, sending links and banner ads, and answering Frequently Asked Questions. It is also generally advisable to have an email address, fax number, and telephone number available for when affiliates have questions that are not answered by your frequently asked questions web page or when they simply want to speak with you.

8. How do I motivate affiliates?

Money motivates no doubt about it. That being said, affiliates are also motivated by feeling that they’re important to you. This means when they ask for your time, you give it. Additionally, promotions, bonuses, prizes, contests, and commission increases are all tools to motivate and inspire affiliates. Constant communication, like sending a weekly or monthly Ezine, will also help remind your affiliates that you’re out there and invested in their success.

9. Do I need to hire an affiliate manager?

The answer to this question really depends on your needs. How large is your company? Do you have the time to manage your program? Do you have the skills to manage your program? An affiliate manager is the person that:

Recruits affiliates

Communicates with affiliates

Develops, tracks, and reports on promotions

Develops programs to enhance affiliate program

Motivates affiliates

Tracks sales and pays affiliates

Monitors your competition

These are all extremely important functions and if you have the time to handle them yourself, excellent! If you do not, then consider hiring an affiliate manager.

10. How do I find/hire an affiliate manager?

Outsourcing an affiliate manager is fairly easy to do. There are hundreds available with a quick online search. You can ask associates, inquire at online forums, or post an advertisement seeking someone to fill the position. Depending on the complexity of your affiliate program, you could consider a well qualified virtual assistant for the job. The skills your affiliate manager will need are:

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Attention to detail

Knowledge of online business, internet marketing, and basic ecommerce operations

Basic html and graphic experience are a plus

Because they’re going to be representing you, you’ll want to make sure they’re personable.