As the downturn continues through the penumbral landscapes of a perceived, slow-going economic recovery across weeks and month, and yes, even years, many Americans find themselves (as they did after 911), reevaluating their professional lifestyles. To be sure, many are simply concerned about keeping or finding a job to provide for themselves and their families, but there is a distinct contingency of the population that is hoping to seize upon the opportunity that the downturn affords to go back and get the education necessary to transition into new industries that suit professional lifestyle choices more fittingly.

Obviously if you have savings and are not earning a great deal in the downturn or are unemployed, a slow economic period such as the present period offers the perfect opportunity to wait out the storm by going back and getting that degree or certification. Educational financing is often available and can cover room and board for you (and sometimes family) for many years while you earn your degree. Additionally, available scholarships can help to minimize or eliminate the accrual of education-related debt. Small work-study jobs offer you the ability to provide for basic needs while you increase your earning power in a environment that can be far more stress-free and enjoyable than many current working situations. A return to academia can, on a long term basis, help lead to a better working environment in a dream position once the economic unrest has cleared up and, in the short term, provide you with the freedom to study topics that interest you and spend greater time with your family.

While a return to education for a degree or certification is not for everyone (particularly for individuals with job security and satisfaction or with large families and scant savings) for the right individual, the current downturn can offer a real opportunity in an economically secure environment. The choice is a highly personal one and is, like everything else, a matter of timing. If you find yourself sitting there at your desk or at home thinking about a change in your career path and living experience, you may want to ask yourself “Is the timing right for me?”

These days, it seems as though grammar, spelling and punctuation have gone the way of the 250 KB computer. With chat and text messaging, there’s hardly a need… right? Wrong!

As business people, it is imperative that you check and double-check ANYTHING you send out to promote your business. I can understand if you are doing a quick chat or text message with a friend. That’s private.

But in business, it’s all about credibility. You may be very good at what you do and you always want to put your best presentation forward. If you don’t take the time to present yourself well, you may leave doubt in the mind of a potential client.

Would you choose to do business with the limo that has a dent in the side and a few scratches? Or the shiny, new-looking one?

If you are looking for a surgeon, would you choose the one who wears an old plaid hunting shirt and dungarees with holes in the knees and has an office with beat-up furniture from the 1960′s? Or one who has clean office with modern furniture, wears dress slacks, a dress shirt and a white coat?

It is no different with your marketing pieces.

A poorly written email could cause the reader to hit the delete key before they are finished. A poorly written sales letter, or brochure, are certainly destined for the trash bin. And, let’s face it, no one has time for a poorly written website.

You can talk about the Law of Attraction all day long, say affirmations, meditate, etc, but if you are not presenting yourself in line with what you want to attract, it’s a bust.

If the technical side of writing is difficult for you, what can you do? It’s all well and good to find a friend to look over your latest writing, and if they are an exceptional writer, that may be sufficient. Otherwise you want to hire a professional editor.

An editor will go through your writing and make sure that you are getting your message across to your audience. They will check your grammar, punctuation and spelling to be sure everything is correct.

With a small item, it won’t cost you much, but will enhance your presentation and probably increase your response rate over time. If you are sending out frequent emails or marketing pieces, you may want to keep an editor on retainer. In other words, you pay them, up front, x amount of dollars for x amount of hours of work. That way they are available when you need them.

The little money you spend will be well worth it. You can feel confident that you are presenting your business, and yourself, in the best light possible and are attracting the quality clientele your seek for your business.

Do you consider the role influence has in your negotiations? Do you know how to use influence in your negotiations once you have obtained it? If you wish to improve your negotiation skills and outcomes, you’ll find the following insight about obtaining and using influence in your negotiations to be very insightful.

Influence Relating to Negotiations:

In a negotiation, the negotiator that casts the most influence will usually come out ahead in the negotiation. That’s due to the fact that influence allows a person to persuade another individual to follow and/or adopt his perspective and point of view. That leads the person possessing less influence to move in the direction of the influencer. The one variable in this scenario is the degree that the person with the lesser amount of influence is willing to be led by the influencer. Thus, when seeking to influence someone, consider to what degree they’re open to following your request, based on the insight and reasoning you give them to do so. If the lesser of the two is not willing to be led, your efforts to cast your influence will be unsuccessful.

Acquiring and Using Influence:

So now that you have a better perspective of the role influence has and plays in a negotiation, how can you acquire it? There are multiple ways to do so. I’ll discuss two of those ways.

One, cast the clout you’re perceived as having. This is done based on those that you’re around (e.g. if you’re in the company of high-profile people, one will assume you’re a high-profile person). If that’s important to the other negotiator and he wishes to obtain such status, you’ll have the trappings of influence needed to inspire him to follow your directions.

Two, you can gain influence by controlling the way the other negotiator thinks; this is not brainwashing. The way to do this is to force the other negotiator to question his current state of beliefs and have him confront them as to their validity. Then suggest how he can improve his plight by adopting a new belief, one that you lead him to. Once he relinquishes his current beliefs and adopts yours, you will have gained influence with him.

Enhancing Your Influence:

To enhance your usage of influence in a negotiation, enhance your ability to accurately interpret the opposing negotiator’s body language. To be specific, observe his verbal and nonverbal reactions to your attempts to influence him (i.e. him leaning towards or away from you indicating acceptance or non-acceptance of a thought or offer/counter offer, position of his hands up or down when he responds to such offers, etc.). By observing such nonverbal signals, you’ll gain insight into the degree your attempts to influence him is taking hold.

As you can see, influence can be obtained and used for the purpose you establish for the negotiation. By having and using influence, you’ll have an intrinsic advantage from which to make your offerings, which will enhance your efforts of coming out ahead in the negotiation… and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!