Newborn babies may cry and kick (and occasionally “leak”) but that’s about all the trouble they make during diaper changes.  As babies grow, though, they become more curious and more wiggly and that’s when diaper changing becomes more challenging, especially for those really dirty times. And that’s exactly when the reaching problem becomes very apparent and leads to dirty hands and then dirty clothes and then a dirty changing table and so on.

I wish I could claim this tip as my own, but no, I learned it from my wife who has changed far more diapers than I have. I was changing a squirmer one day and she warned me that he had moved to the reaching stage. She suggested I give him something special to hold during the diaper change. I was amazed at how well it worked. He was so fascinated with the new thing to hold that he completely ignored reaching into the diaper.

Now I try to keep something near the changing table that I can hand him. This trick seems to work especially well if the item is not one of his toys but something of mine that he rarely gets to hold. That fact increases the fascination level with the object in hand and decreases the squirming and reaching level. The usual result is that I’m able to quickly complete the diaper change. (Of course there are still moments where the baby reaches anyway and a gentle reminder of “no” and moving his hand goes a long way.)

So I hope this tip helps you out. Please share your diaper changing tips below because there’s got to be other great ones out there.

1. If there are two versions of you, the salesperson and the civilian, people will see you as disingenuous. There must be only one you.

2. Relate to people exactly as you are. Imperfections are not seen as reasons not to do business with you. Just the opposite, your willingness to be transparent is seen as vindication that you are the genuine article — a trustworthy individual one can reliably do business with.

3. Tell your clients and prospects what they don’t want to hear when you believe that the painful medicine will be in their best interests. They may be upset with the messenger in the moment of truth, but you will stand out from the yes-men when the dust clears.

4. Always carry yourself with great pride, knowing that a salesperson is a “prince of the company.” Others can work the books and make the factory hum, but as IBM founder Tom Watson said, “Nothing happens unless a sale is made.” And you’re the one who makes that happen.

5. Prospects are not doing you a favor by making time to see you. I always view it as their good fortune to see me. I have ideas. I bring solutions, experience and knowledge. I’m not there for favors. I’m there to help grow their business. I’m confident my company can accomplish that. I don’t act or mean to be cavalier. I just know that the smart people I’m privileged to work with can deliver, and that confidence is always contagious.

6. Sell yourself before you enter an initial meeting. Send the prospect a copy of an award, a media clip, a paper you wrote — anything that distinguishes you as a person of importance and authority. By establishing your credentials in advance, you change the entire dynamic of the meeting. You’re not simply another salesperson. You are a force to be reckoned with.

7. Remind yourself that prospects need you even more than you need them. They are the ones with the needs. You are the one with the solutions.

Since slumps seem to be inevitable and affect virtually all entrepreneurs, I felt these thoughts were noteworthy. I also wanted to share them so I (or you) will remember them next time either of us experiences such a slump.

1. Go After the Low Hanging Fruit.

In essence, this means setting attainable targets for the short-run by going after proven prospects that can produce revenue now. Now is not the time to go after the long-shots that have a high probability of failure.

2. Get Critiqued.

In short, we all have blindspots and can all use some good advice. It’s wise to seek out an honest evaluation of your abilities from an objective source. Ask somebody you respect who is knowledgeable of your industry or marketing needs to evaluate your performance and to suggest ways to improve.

[An objective evaluation (with both free and paid options) along with other resources can be obtained online at YourPitchSucks.com. I know the founder Jim Kukral. He offers a wealth of information that can improve your marketing and help fine-tune your sales message.]

3. Read Up.

Take time during the slump to improve yourself. Read and learn from others. Look for ways to be more innovative. Learn new techniques.

4. Stop the Blame Game.

Whether the fault is your own or that of others, the bottom line is you are in a slump and must get out of it. Don’t focus on placing blame but instead on finding answers (solutions) that address why you got into the slump and how to get out.  Focus on developing strategies that will improve your situation.

5. Try Something New.

If you repeat the same thing that failed the last time then chances are it will fail this time also. Don’t repeat failures. Explore new strategies, methods and options. You just might find something that is much better than you ever dreamed possible.

So, with thanks to Adrian Miller for spawning the above tips, I challenge everyone to look for ways to do more with less. Identify the time and resource wasters and eliminate them. Focus on what works and produces success now and do more of it now. Then look for ways to innovate and grow that success into more and bigger successes down the road.

The bottom line: You can get out of a slump!

In a nutshell, Bill Flaggs’ five employee selection steps are as follows:

1. Write a job ad that is standout and personable.

Flaggs uses Craig’s List for this. The example he offered is “Support SuperStar: looking for people to knock the socks off our clients everyday.”

2. Link the job ad to a strong landing page.

Since the ad is online, link it to an interesting and personable landing page (see a screen capture of the RegOnline landing page) that tells prospective employees why they would want to work there.

3. Show why people like to work at your company.

Use a video, letter from the CEO and other interesting details (RegOnline even linked to their cookbook [pdf]) to show the company’s personality and to get people excited. The point is to let prospective employees get a feel for the work environment before they apply.

4. Make the job application an online survey where you can ask them “some telling questions.”

Be sure to provide places in the survey for them to copy and paste their resume. This automated process also makes it easy for the employer to track and pre-screen applicants.

5. Make job applicants “earn their way into a job” through a challenging process.

Those who get the job will feel proud of having made it through the tough interview process. For this stage Flaggs gives a few assignments and conducts a couple in-person interviews. He also does in-depth reference checking. The detailed interview process is noted and described on the landing page. He finds that the rigorous process seems to actually motivate more people to want the job since it seems challenging and exclusive.

So there are five great tips for finding and hiring great employees. Do you have any other tips to add? Please make your suggestions below.

Smutko defined negotiation as “any communication between two or more people with the intent to influence or persuade.” One important trait for a negotiator is to recognize that possibilities for mutual gain often exist and, when possible, to identify those areas where such gain can occur. As such, negotiation does not have to be a competitive process but can instead be used to create additional value (a “pareto optimal solution“) through mutual gains.

The purpose of negotiation, according to Smutko, is “not always to reach agreement. Agreement is only one means to an end, and that end is to satisfy your interests. The purpose of negotiation is to explore whether you can satisfy your interests better through agreement than you could by pursuing your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA).”

Interestingly, the party with the best BATNA has the most power and best position from which to negotiate. Those negotiating from the weaker position must seek to develop an alternative that is superior to their counterpart’s best alternative. Other times they must find a way to improve the other side’s BATNA in order to encourage them to negotiate at all.

When preparing to negotiate, the following three phases are recommended:

1. Alone – clarify your own thinking (know your “bottom line” and “wiggle room”, identify what you bring to the table, identify alternatives, etc.)
2. Together – prepare to negotiate (create ambiance, set goals, share interests, agree on a process, prepare agenda, etc.)
3. Alone – evaluate the issues and options (prioritize issues and potential options, identify tradeoffs, determine best options)

In all cases, negotiators much be honest (you don’t have to show your whole hand always, though — information can be shared incrementally as trust is built), principled, and creative. It helps to “think outside the box,” build relationships, ask questions and create value. Smutko suggests that creating value is done by exploring interests on both sides, suspending criticism and generating options that increase gains to both sides. Once value has been created, it can be distributed.

Many issues can be framed in ways that address the concerns of both sides. Think along these lines: “How can we . . . while at the same time . . .?” By carefully framing issues in ways that are do not lead to zero-sum settlements one can often invite solutions.