Archive for the 'Customer Service (CRM)' Category

Apr 18 2021

So, Entrepreneurs, IS it ? ? ? ?

Is this a good time to expand my business?

Is NOW a good time to expand my business?

If you have to ask yourself this question, the apprehension alone might be cause for you to put your expansion plans on hold, and simply pursue making what you already have work better! 

No matter the intensity of your urge to charge forward and change the world (or your income, influence, or lifestyle), it’s unlikely that pulling over to the side of the road to get your bearings will prompt your demise, or kill your business.

With COVID, national and worldwide clashes, and jolting tax increases in their present state of uproar–and with such an unresponsive and shaky government intent on creating uproar—you may do better to simply exercise caution, while courting your existing client/customer base as you keep watching and listening.

Expansion apprehension sparks wildfires! Accept that this may NOT be the best time to open a new store/office/ division, or introducing a new product or service.  You may instead want to be directing your energy toward strengthening your existing base by being better at what you do and the ways you do it.

Consider that (like “Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs”) it may be time to “whistle while you work” instead of forcing confrontation with today’s burdens of market threats and government shakiness by trying to rush your expansion plan.

Remember: Entrepreneurship is an instinct, not a learned/ teachable skill-set. You may have entrepreneurial spirit but that doesn’t make you an entrepreneur. Contrary to what many believe: True entrepreneurs do not take true risks! “Err on the side of caution,” many advise.

Given today’s economy and government preoccupation with creating high-risk stakes, you may want to simply maximize your services, strengthen your loyalty base… and be ready to pounce when the opportunity doors open.  

__________________________________

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Oct 12 2020

NO Business Works Like BusinessWorks Works!

Since 1981, BusinessWorks.US

 

has been coaching businesses

 

of every size and description

 

to success . . . and beyond. 

 

We are NOT a collection of big-talk, big-price consultants who tell you what you already know.

We are invested in helping Clients to “Grow Now.” We help you ignite and pursue the best of your dreams, and interests. We open doors.

You get a proven track-record Business Growth Coach who invests hands-on experience, creative  support, energy (and even part of the project fee) into the success of your business.

From services to products, manufacturing to online, retail to professional practices, our Clients get decades of successful business-building experience and creative business development expertise.

Our credits include regional and national awards, and extensive experience with:  the SBA, chambers of commerce, universities and community colleges, private healthcare practices, and public service providers, national healthcare teams and committees . . . and with opening new market opportunities . . . for hundreds of successful Clients.

We have achieved record sales results for every size and type of business and industry — from entrepreneurial “Startups” and “Family Businesses” to “Fortune 500” companies, to public service and nonprofit enterprises.

Clients get sales and impression results from our unique creative content, strategies and applications for branding, marketing, advertising, PR, CRM, sales and management skill applications to virtually every form of broadcast/ online/video/print and promotional media.

When appropriate, we also deliver custom-designed, Client-Staff and Management Team training strategies and support programs

We energize and ignite client businesses and projects. We generate new revenue streams.

At our clients’ beck and call, we work remotely/virtually and on-site as required.

If you would like to know more . . . no fees, no “pushy hard sell,” no strings attached . . . give me a call:

 

HAL ALPIAR, President/CEO

BusinessWorks.US

1.931.854.0474

(M-S; 9AM-6PM; CST)

 

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Jul 10 2020

UNTANGLING BUSINESS AND HEALTHCARE PRACTICE KNOTS

“UNTANGLING KNOTS”

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

“Employee Stress” Blocks Productivity, Vision, Focus & Health, Costing Employers Hundreds of Billions of Dollars!

What’s YOUR share?

When is a knot not a knot?  Stress is like that “eye of the beholder” thing. Twenty-five years, for instance, can be forever, or a blink, depend- ing on how we’ve chosen to experience it and how we choose to see it.

 

Sticking a thumb out to paint scenery isn’t the same as sticking it up to show approval, or down to show rejection, plugging it into a hole to stop a leak, or waving it to hitch a ride.

careers

Neither is 25 years of delivering mail the same as 25 years of raising a family, or hammering rocks OR tuning pianos, driving trucks, stuffing pickles into assembly-line jars, selling services to corporate muckity-mucks, doing heart transplants, being a techie, running a retail store… OR plucking escargot-bound snails off jagged rocks at low tide.

 

Yet, we humans do all of these things to earn a living and label them as stressful.

 

In fact, “most stressful” to you could well be “least stressful” to me, and vice versa. To you, twenty-five years could be an eternity of pain and anguish. To me, it might be a heartbeat of joy. Some may consider it a flash of fantasy.

 

stressed-cartoon

 

Or perhaps we’ve chosen to suffer what seems like a permanent backache, endless constipation, depression, addiction, or —the opposite— we’ve cultivated some ever-deepening smile wrinkles by choosing to foster a happy, healthy, productive work-and-home balance.

 

Every end result gives rise and a clue to the source and choices and choice reversals made or not made all along the way.

choice-cartoon

Where does CHOICE begin and end? Or does it? Maybe it’s an eternal blanket and functions only when we’re aware of its pervasiveness. Surely it doesn’t float innocuously to our shoulders from the heavens and plot to do us in, even as we sit stunned by its presence, and puzzled by its origin and intention.

 

But: VOILA! As truth will have it, stress doesn’t come from outside of us. It doesn’t come from other people or circumstances—or from our jobs!

 

All physical, mental, and emotional stress is inevitably the result of a choice we make or have once made (perhaps within this very minute… or a week, month, year, decade or lifetime ago!). So it’s fair to say we can stop blaming others and circumstances for having put us under stress. We have only ourselves to blame.

blame

But blame doesn’t get rid of stress and may even make it worse.

 

As we have championed ourselves to “bring it on,” we are equally well-equipped to “let it go.” We need only to:

 

A)  RECOGNIZE AND ACCEPT that it’s the result of a choice we just (or once) made,

AND

B)  FOCUS OR REFOCUS OURSELVES on the most immediate split-second here-and-now minutes of our lives… our heartbeats, our pulses, our breathing.

 

When we pay attention to our breathing, our pulses, our heartbeats, we are returning our minds to this very minute, and every passing minute.

 

this-very-moment

 

Why does this matter? Because stress only exists in dwelling on a past moment (older than a minute, or even a few ticks)… or worrying about a future moment (more than seconds or minutes away) that hasn’t yet come—and may never come!

 

Simply being aware of this thinking is often enough to make the difference. If you’ve read this far and are not interested in more, at least be interested enough in helping your SELF by trying and practicing these “Are You Breathing?” steps. They work and they’re free!

 

# # #

 

BE 2021 SMART. 

Start with THE 2021 management/staff development program:

 

“MY BUSINESS WORKS” is a 3-part, hands-on, on-location or virtual engagement that is Money-Back Guaranteed to make a difference in personal individual commitment and achievement levels, in propelling your business or healthcare practice mission forward, and in increasing your sales revenues.

Results are also Guaranteed for new and revitalized branding and online impact programs.

Because these How-To sessions are customized to fit the specific needs of your business or healthcare practice, your staffcustomers/clients/patients, and your sales, scheduling is extremely limited . . . so act now! 

Email Hal today Hal@BusinessWorks.US or call Hal direct at 1.931.854.0474(CT) for a prompt assessment discussion, or to schedule a callback at your convenience.

[NOTE: Participant ages, educational levels, and physical conditions have no bearing on program content or expected results]

 

# # #

 

Hal Alpiar is a 39-year-experienced professional. A creative business development coach, trainer and career development mentor, he actively consults in marketing/branding/sales/personal  entrepreneurial and stress management. Twice voted “Professor-of-the-Year,” Hal is also a national award-winning book author and national award-winning brand creator.

Serving clients nationwide since 1981, Hal’s creative input has helped grow over 800 businesses. His training efforts have helped to grow over 100,000 business and healthcare professional participants. Hal’s nine published books, and thousands of published articles, podcasts and blogposts have been opening entrepreneurial doors for decades.

# # #

 

hal@businessworks.US

STRATEGY / CONTENT / CONNECTION

931.854.0474 Coaching for Higher Branding Impact

Business Development/ National-Awards/ Record Client Sales

Personal & Professional Growth/ Creative Entrepreneurial Thinking

 

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Jun 04 2020

IS YOUR BUSINESS A BLANK BILLBOARD?

IS THIS BLANK SPACE

 

YOUR LATEST

 

  BUSINESS MESSAGE?

 

 

INSTEAD OF LOSING SLEEP, torturing your friends and family, and spending money you don’t have… Instead of spending every waking minute trying to cope with one crisis after another …Instead of having no genuine, reliable plan to replace your investments or feeling like you’ll have to close your business, or (like many healthcare professionals) feeling pressured to merge with more securely-financed competitors — Don’t Jump!

 

 

EVEN IF YOU ARE FEELING DESPERATE, there’s much more that’s possible if you’ll just step back and clear all your “yes/but” thinking. Close your eyes for just one minute while you take some deep breaths and imagine a 2-year-old giggling toddler running into your arms . . . a child who thinks you are the greatest thing since milk, sunshine, mirrors and puppy licks.  Go ahead. Do it! Close your eyes. Take deep breaths. It only takes ONE MINUTE for you to rattle your own cage, regain control.  

 

NOW BEGIN SOME NEW THINKING with pen and paper (keyboards fail physiologically to prompt the same level of commitment) by drawing an upsidedown triangle. Draw two horizontal lines dividing the upsidedown triangle into thirds. Top third, label “OBJECTIVES.” Middle third, label “STRATEGIES.” Bottom third, label “TACTICS.” [Keep taking those deep breaths!]

The OBJECTIVES are the two or three realistic goals you would like to reach that you think possible if you can get your act together. The STRATEGIES are the avenues you take to reach your objectives [and deal with roadblocks that may suddenly pop up!]. The TACTICS are the methods/steps you need to take to activate the STRATEGIES to reach your goals [the OBJECTIVES].

 

IF YOU CAN DO THIS MUCH, YOU ARE WELL ON YOUR WAY out from under the suffering, the COVID-19 pandemic, the UNpeaceful demonstrations and rioting, the merciless political rampage that is more preoccupied with stirring up new problems than in solving existing ones . . . and, most importantly,YOU ARE WELL ON YOUR WAY TO: 

 . . . Revitalizing your own energy

. . . Refreshing your thinking  

. . . And taking firm action with steps forward on your own behalf and on behalf of your friends/ family/employees/customers/and community. 

 

Once you have a better grasp of where you want your business to go, and what you need to do to get there, just make it happen! Yes, you CAN do it!!

 

If this last step is difficult to digest, call me (Hal)

 at my desk (CT/M-Sat): 1.931.854.0474 and I’ll use

my experience (with helping to straighten out over 

600 businesses and professional practices) to see 

if I can suggest some next-step thinking for your

pursuits. If I’m not answering, leave callback

number, time zone, and best times to reach you.

(NO FEES ATTACHED TO THESE CALLS) 

 

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Mar 25 2020

FREE Ways To GROW YOUR BUSINESS Now

GROW YOUR BUSINESS OR

 

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

 

N O W !

[And… keep your money, name, age, 

interests, address, email, SS, phone 

number, and dog’s name to yourself!]

 

Here’s a FREE no-strings weekly dose of success. Hear host Hal Alpiar’s proven business and practice development input based on 49+ years (and still ongoing) hands-on experience as a founder/partner/owner/manager/coach/ consultant, national book award author and management trainer of more than 50,000.

 

Hal’s FREE 23-minute podcasts are available 24/7 (via mobile phone). You can “listen in” on any 23-minute show (night-or-day) you choose (before, during, or after work… even while driving), and repeat portions (or entire broadcasts) at your leisure.

 

These podcasts are 100% about sharing problem/ success experience to help small businesses and professional practices grow NOW! No time limits. No need to identify yourself. Hal doesn’t chase you down.

You simply listen to any broadcast anytime that’s convenient. If you seek follow-up input to match your specific needs, simply email Hal@Businessworks.US (put “941” in subject line) or call 1.931.854.0474 (NO sales calls accepted) and set up a personal no-charge talk time.

 

YOU GET:

  • Examples of what others have learned the hard way so you can avoid wasting time, money and effort.

  • Stimulating, practical “how-to” ideas, input, advice, cautions, and encouragement, with a special emphasis on Partnerships and Family Business Development and ways to raise and nurture Family Support.

  • The latest and best approaches to Branding, Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Sales, Hiring, Firing, Risk-Taking, Management Methods and Employee Training.

  • New perspectives on small business Time and Money investments, Building New Revenue Streams, Startups, Revitalizations, Goal-Setting, your Mission and Vision.

  • Ways to improve Staff and Customer Relations, Communications Skills, Stress and Time Management, Leadership/Teamwork Development Skills, and More.

  • Diverse approaches to success from Hal Alpiar and his guests, who share their firsthand failure and success experiences with practically every type of business and professional practice imaginable.

The Guests are people who have single-handedly or teamed up to grow Family Businesses, Medical Practices, Retail, Service and manufacturing  entities, Nonprofit and Creative Projects.

Learn why on-the-job training often beats classroom theories (and this coming from your host who was twice honored as “Professor-of-the-Year” once at a major university and once at a small community college!)

 

GO NOW TO

 www.NewsTalk941.com/Podcasts 

(Scroll down 14 topic boxes to “BUSINESSWORKS”

Click on any Subject! (Many more behind the most

recent; scroll down thin gray righthand border)

 

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Jan 28 2020

ConteXt (not conteNt) Is King!

HOW you say what you say

 

is at least as important

 

as WHAT you say!

 

What? Read that again! But before you click off, do your  SELF a favor:  Record your voice and listen hard to your  volume, tone of voice, inflections, and emphasis . . . or find someone to listen and repeat what you just meant!

 

It’s not just WHAT you say, it’s HOW you say it . . . HOW you come across? Odds are someone else’s take (or even your own in listening to a recording) will be different than  what you thought you were communicating.

Actors know this; it’s why they re-read scripts aloud many  times–until it FEELS right and until others GET what they  are trying to communicate.

WHY?

Because HOW something is said is what gets processed and communicated far beyond the meaning of the actual words.  Not sure? Try yelling “I love you!” in an angry tone of voice,  or whispering “HELP! I’m drowning” as you fall off a cruise ship. Okay, a bit extreme perhaps, but you get the idea.

The conteXt (or HOW you present the conteNt) of your idea or message is what matters most. Is a “mixed message” any different from wearing a suit and tie to a kid’s backyard birthday party or a greasy hoodie and overalls to a formal wedding?

Are you representing your business interests, products and services in proper conteXt with your:

  • customer base and target market?

  • branding line and platform?

  • vision and mission statements?

  • marketing and PR and promotion goals and budgets?

  • employees and suppliers?

  • business community and community-at-large?

  • website and social media platform?

If you can answer “YES!” to all the above, congratulations! If  you have doubts, you may need a quick-fix or some ongoing experienced input from a team of conteXt experts who can help ensure that all your messages are in the most productive light  to produce the most sales and grow your customer base quicker.

From running focus groups to training your staff . . . to creating branding and marketing programs that work . . . to implementing your website and social media development . . . to creating customized training and promotional videos (even customized music!) . . . all with many hundreds of miles of success experience: visit

www.FasTrakBusinessWorks.com

(with no “cookies” or tracking of your site visit, and no annoying followup calls or emails!)

 

Then call Hal @ 1.931.854.0474    

 

for a no-fee, get-acquainted consult.

 

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Dec 15 2019

Save Time AND Money Reaching Your Goals?

NOW YOU CAN

 

Save Time AND Money

 

While Achieving Your Goals!!

 

It’s 2020! Are you at your “wit’s end” trying to figure out how you’ll ever increase business sales or healthcare patient volume?

Do you wish what you already have in place would enhance your community stature or afford you more time off or build a stronger support team or have a website and social media plan that really works?

Are you exhausted trying to develop a top-notch, cutting-edge branding program that boosts your interests over competitors . . . without having to spend enormous amounts of time and money in the effort?

If any of these questions provoke a “YES!” answer from you, visit our new expanded “sister” site right this minute by clicking HERE

 

With All Best Wishes for a Very Merry Christmas

and a Happy Healthy New Year! – Hal

 

 

 

 

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Oct 14 2019

#1 #BUSINESS & #LIFE #LESSON FROM #SPORTS

#1 BUSINESS AND LIFE 

 

   LESSON FROM SPORTS…

“Keep Your Head

 

  In The Game!”

 

How often have managers, coaches, trainers, captains, team physicians and frustrated fans yelled this to players on/in fields, tracks, trails, rinks, arenas, courts, courses, rings, pools, gyms,    diving boards, ranges, lakes. oceans, mountains, lanes…?

What’s the hidden message? Pay as much attention as you can, every split second, to where you are and what you’re doing! In a word: FOCUS!

Easy to say? Sure. But here’s how to do it!

So if you’re on the receiving end of this 6-word “Keep Your Head In The Game!” shout, you take deep breaths to help yourself stay alert and tuned in to what’s going on around you—every blink of the eye. Why? Because the minute you let your mind drift (Yes, it’s a choice!), you lose… the circumstances or a competitor will gobble you up and spit you out!

Well then, how do you keep your business growing and going forward? How do you keep those who work with and for you tuned in? (financial rewards only work up to a point then take a back seat to challenge and inspiration!) So how do you keep those who work with you tuned in and feeling valued?

LEARN as much as you possibly can about your SELF (and what makes you tick!)

START by taking 3-4 deep breaths (to help you keep your mind and ears open and your mouth closed. [See the proven 4-Step Approach by clicking the “Stress Management” tab at www.WhiteBearMedAssociates.com] Then ask friends and family what they observe as your greatest strengths and weaknesses. Don’t debate responses; instead, just smile and say “Thank You!”

WRITE it down (Yes, on paper and yes, with a pen: that brings a much bigger personal and physiological commitment than a keyboard!)

Don’t even think about what’s said until later when you can be alone and give your notes your undivided attention. Your awareness alone of what others think can help you over the tough spots, and serve to challenge your forward motion.

It’s a whole lot easier to keep your head in the game every day when you pay closer and more frequent attention to your breathing, to your (perceived-by-those-around-you) strengths and weaknesses, and to a constantly-changing index card with key notes (the basis for your everchanging business and life goals) that you keep in your pocket, purse, or wallet for reference as you wash your hands or park your car… or take a lunch or watercooler break.

Sports Lesson #2: “Go For It!”

 

 —–INC’s ©®™ LLC’s ©®™ Startups —–

This post and others on this site by Hal Alpiar are representative of his 40+ years of business development coaching services and approach to working with entrepreneurial-minded business and healthcare practice owners and managers.

In addition to record client sales and Hal’s national awards in writing, branding and marketing, his firm, TheWriterWorks.com, LLC. has also recently joined with www.FastrakSolutions.com  to provide full-service computer/SEO and Reputation Management. 

For a free (no follow-up unless requested) assess-ment of how this team can help boost your sales/ branding/marketing/ social media, podcast, drip marketing and uniform messaging platform services . . . 

 

CALL HAL TODAY:  1.931.854.0474 (CST)

 

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Aug 02 2019

WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS FOCUS?

Big Business. Small Business. Your Own Business.

 

WHAT’S  YOUR  FOCUS?

 

 

IF YOU’RE WORKING FOR

A BIG ORGANIZATION . . .

. . . and flirting with someone down the hall or in another department (married or not), “Don’t fish off company docks!” is the best advice I can offer because edgy socializing undermines your business focus, and your stature in the organization. Others do not want to understand. Odds are you and your job will dissolve away before you know it… or collapse overnight!

Unfortunately, the only ones who don’t believe this are blindsided by their own pursuits. They simply don’t believe that a “stolen” kiss, or pat on the butt, or slightly too-long handshake could possibly interfere with a bonus or promotion. But “Aha!” They do. Work flirtations are never hidden. They dislodge your focus on getting your job done and exceeding management expectations.

Think for just a minute about being the boss and having expectations of those you’ve hired to “give their all” and be 100% focused on doing their jobs. What’s YOUR focus?

The secret? It’s all about balance.

 

 

IF YOU’RE WORKING FOR A SMALL BUSINESS OR A PROFESSIONAL GROUP PRACTICE . . .

. . . it’s your job and it should be your focus to do whatever you can to help grow the small business that has shown good faith in you. Your focus needs to be to do whatever it takes to make things work better, and to do whatever it takes to make customers/clients/patients as happy as possible every day!

None of that happens if you’re constantly preoccupied counting the minutes  left in the workday, the workweek, until a holiday or the weekend or a vacation. None of it happens either if you show up for work with your backpack or briefcase or pockets filled with upsets you’ve left at home, or with a relationship, or social commitment. A distorted focus can quickly and quietly distort your ability to think clearly, and focus.

Teamwork

 

The secret? It’s all about balance.

 

IF YOU’RE WORKING FOR YOUR OWN BUSINESS OR YOUR OWN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE . . .

. . . Bless you! But the trade-off here is even more pronounced. You are the business and the business is you. Not everyone can succeed as an entrepreneur, but keeping your energy and attention focused as much of the time as possible on how to launch and feed and grow your own business or professional practice will take you a long way.

The bottom line, though is that you simply cannot be 100% focused on where you want to be headed all the time. You got where you are because you wanted more freedom, so take more freedom. Working your brains out doesn’t grow your business. Making the most of your “freedom” by channeling it in directions that are as productive for you, and your self, as they are for the business creates a focus that’s balanced.

Balance is the secret.

 

And ONLY YOU know

 

how to balance your SELF!

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Jun 09 2019

YOUR BUSINESS STAR… FILM INDUSTRY LESSONS

YOUR BUSINESS STAR…

 

FILM INDUSTRY LESSONS

Just brought my “think out of the box” business life and teachings back from the Cannes Film Festival.

The experience opened doors. New insights planted themselves in the middle of my pursuit path. The surroundings of this venture, highlighted by a breath-taking daylong drive from Geneva through the Alps to the French Riviera, were amplified by the seemingly endless clamber of the 12,000+ Festival participants who each in their own way sought the spotlights and camera lenses… often, while pretending not to.

 

The experience literally seemed to stun-gun my mind. What did I learn that might be good food for thought for every business and professional practice owner and manager?

Working smarter, not harder is no better than working harder not smarter.

Business success come only through a strong sense of balance.

A good place to start improving your business balance is to take inventory of your commitment to never cease searching for ways to improve your product, your service, your attitude, your story, your people, and the lives of your customers, clients and patients.

Serving as a makeshift Executive Producer for an emerging  (pre-production) original feature musical film (LOVE IS… Click on logo above for the less-than-2-minute “Sizzle Reel”) has been a major chunk of my life since helping to launch the forerunner stage version three years ago.

I’ve learned –sometimes the hard way–  that with every tiny aspect of a film –from words, music, and sound effects, to direction, production, gestures, budgets, lighting, cameras, film-editing, marketing, branding, promotion, legalities, you name it:

Everything changes every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year.

It is changing me as I write this and will no doubt continue to as long as I keep open-minded enough to accept that. It will change even as the movie is being filmed and recorded and edited and even after it’s done in the ways that it is branded and promoted.

WOW!, you might say, that sounds nerve-wracking!

Well guess what else I learned? Every business has the same dynamics. We have simply come to accept that many of the businesses and practices we own and manage never change. We often just accept that our businesses follow specific rules and that those rules limit change.

BALONEY!

Each of us changes every minute of every day in some way. We simply turn ourselves off to being receptive to that thought because it somehow threatens our existences.

Rising above that “being stuck in the mud” mindset is key to achieving record growth with our business pursuits and ourselves.

Think about all that next time you watch a movie… maybe even before that? It’s called renewing your own sense of self-awareness. What have you got to lose besides a false sense of self-security?

 

Want more?

Text 1.302.752.8505 or phone 1.931.854.0474 or write: 370 S. Lowe Ave. A-148, Cookeville, TN 38501 or free weekly podcast: www.newstalk941.com/podcasts (scroll down program sections to BUSINESSWORKS and click on any of 60 business topics. Feedback always welcome!

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