It may start with a small, nagging voice in the back of your mind. You might feel an ongoing tightness in your shoulders and neck. Both symptoms — and many more — are instinctive signals from your subconscious that something’s not right.

Dale Carnegie’s 1936 book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” is a classic guide to interacting with others. There’s much we can learn from Carnegie, who touted relationship building as key in sales.

We’d like to focus this issue of The Navigator on public relations. What can it do for your company? A standard ad is designed to show the benefits of using a service or product. Public relations, on the other hand, is designed to inspire one or more media decision-makers to include your voice in their story. Whether it is in an article they’re writing or a story they’re producing, as an expert in your field, your inclusion will increase credibility.

A successful sales presentation creates unparalleled optimism. The feeling of a handshake when you’ve closed a deal and are embarking on a new business relationship is unbeatable. The benefits of improving your own presentation are undeniable. So, how do you start?  

Personality profiles, also known as personality assessments or surveys, can be a useful tool to assist with the hiring and development of quality candidates. Whether you’re looking to streamline the hiring process, eliminate uncertainty or simply avoid particular issues that you’ve encountered in the past, personality profiles allow you to gather information that can’t be easily obtained through the traditional interview process.

At Eagle Corporate Advisors, we mentor these owners, rolling up our sleeves and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them to offer the advice, support, and tools necessary to build a clear path to success.

Let’s start with a functional definition of planning: A basic management function involving formulation of one or more detailed plans to achieve optimum balance of needs or demands with the available resources.

The following describes many of the typical challenges and characteristics of ECA clients seeking to benefit from our expertise:

What can you change today that will set you on the path to a successful year? Are you utilizing your core talents effectively?

More often than not, business owners simply assume that the legal side of their business is rolling along marvelously. Yet, there are several areas that typically need attention—not just good old intentions. Legal issues warrant your time and focus because they can make or break your endeavor. When you take informed steps to protect your business, you concurrently increase its value.

Sleeplessness, caused by the inability to turn off the mind, is one of the most common side effects of business ownership. In my many years of helping entrepreneurs perform at a higher level, I’ve observed that a number of shared issues repeatedly make their way into the conversation as reasons for tossing and turning once the lights go out. Here are five questions I hear over and over again:

A close examination of processes and scenarios will fortify your business in the event of Disagreement, Divorce, Disability, Distress, or Death. These 5 “D’s” are possible scenarios faced by all businesses. A well-prepared business contingency plan gives your business the ability to maintain the course, or to effectively change direction in event of the “unforeseen.” But what if you someday decide that you have lost all passion for your business, and that you want to walk away?  Here we’ll discuss this sixth, “Bonus D” that we’ll call “Don’t Want to do it Anymore.”

As we consider our blessings, it is always a good time to share by incorporating giving into the company’s people plan for the year ahead.

In our recent blogs, we’ve discussed the first four of these “D’s.” We have now, unfortunately, arrived at the sad but inevitable fifth “D” of Death. We’ve already learned that 50% of business exits are NOT voluntary. It is vital for business owners to be ready, with plan in place, when the inevitable happens.

Every business needs a contingency plan for Disability, the third D. Even the Constitution of the United States makes allowances for questions raised by presidential disability, which has happened a number of times throughout our history.