Notes are very powerful. They express your thanks Kolton Miller Jersey , encouragement, sympathy, apology, congratulations Reggie Nelson Jersey , feelings, and requests to others.


Many people create notes on a computer and print them or send them through the Internet. However, I believe the most effective notes are handwritten. A handwritten note is personal and rare. Due to this, it will be given more attention by the reader and have maximum impact.


A few weeks ago I was in Michigan for my dad's funeral. While there I attended my mom's church on Sunday and met her pastor for the second time. While talking to him Amari Cooper Jersey , I learned that his mother died a few months ago and his dad was critically ill. On my way home to Virginia, I had a stop at Chicago O'Hare Airport. While waiting for my connecting flight, I pulled out a box of note cards and wrote several notes and mailed them. One of those was an encouraging note to my mom's pastor. I found out later that he was so touched by the note that he took it to his church and read it at a meeting. He made it clear to those in attendance how much of an encouragement it was to him. What I didn't know when I wrote the note was that during the following week not only did his dad pass away but his wife was diagnosed with cancer. I believe God used my note to help him during a very difficult time in his life. I also wonder how many others he talked to were changed because of that note. Maybe some of them are now writing notes as well. What if I hadn't written that note?


I would encourage you to start writing notes regularly. What a simple way to influence people's lives in a positive way. If you are concerned about how to get started, the following two books on the subject have been the most useful to me:


"The Art of the Handwritten Note: A Guide to Reclaiming Civilized Communication" by Margaret Shepherd


"Business Notes: Writing Personal Notes That Build Professional Relationships" by Florence Isaacs


Get a note card Jared Cook Jersey , pen and stamp. Write a note to someone who has been on your mind today. Only God knows how much that person, and the world, will change for the better due to the few minutes you take out of your busy schedule to write a few sentences.

A well known, national chain of restaurants discovered that certain weather patterns substantially impacts their business. They have studied it and found that more people go out to eat dinner when there is a series of beautiful days. So they measure the weather quality at their stores across the country. Managers report the weather quality daily. A weather predicting system is then employed to determine the quality of subsequent days. When the model predicts a higher customer count they reduce or eliminate sale items and include higher priced or higher margin specials on the changing daily menu. While they can't control the weather Derek Carr Jersey , they know that their customers respond to it. Knowing that, they work to take advantage of factors that can predict changes in business activity.

Many businesses have sales fluctuations based on the weather but few companies include weather-predicting metrics into their staffing and inventory planning. They just take weather fluctuations and volume fluctuations as "acts of God." But imagine if your business sold car batteries and you could increase inventory just before it turned ten degrees below zero. You would be able to lower or eliminate the number of lost sales because of being sold out of the most popular models. You would be able to schedule more people to work those busy days so customers would be serviced quickly and efficiently. You would do more business because your competitors would be sold out or have long waiting times. You would also be able to turn your inventory more efficiently for a greater ROI (Return On Investment).

Your business might not fluctuate by the whims or patterns of the weather, but I'm sure it does fluctuate by some factors that you do not have control over. Study various patterns and factors. Become aware of them, measure them Antonio Brown Jersey , chart them, and understand the dynamics. Use those factors to predict busier or slower sales periods and adjust inventory, staff size, prices Hunter Renfrow Jersey , and margins accordingly.

Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, "Front Lines with Larry Galler" Sign up for his free newsletter at