Well known for being Oprah Winfrey's partner, Stedman Graham is an executive, educator and speaker who works with corporations, organizations and nonprofits in the areas of identity development, leadership, diversity training, personal wellness, and personal / professional branding.

Stedman has authored ten books, including two New York Times bestsellers, You Can Make It Happen: A Nine-Step Plan for Success and Teens Can Make It Happen: Nine Steps to Success. His forthcoming book, Identity: Your Passport to Freedom, published by Pearson Education is now available to purchase.

Fashion designer Paidemoyo Chideya has spent the last ten years discovering what it means to become not only the epitome of the classic, but the innovative of fashion as well. With her product line, it is clear that this designer is here to make her mark on the fashion world.

Born in Zimbabwe, raised in Sweden, London and with nuances in Paris, Paidemoyo learned to refine her design eye through the diversity of all the multiplexes of cultures that surrounded her upbringing. Upon her New York City arrival, and determined to learn and succeed in the fashion realm, she apprenticed for Carolina Herrera, Calvin Klein and the likes of Ralph Lauren, where she learned to refine her eye for vintage, style, eloquence and demure.

The rise of the eBook, lower pricing, the changing tactics of the major houses, social media tactics and increasing competition in general are just a few of the reasons that post production book marketing

is more important than ever before to success for authors in the short and long term.

It is highly debatable as to whether there was ever a golden age of book publishing from the standpoint of the opinions of the millions of authors and would-be authors. If the lens that we look through is that of big sales and bigger reputations for anything approaching a significant percentage of authors, that era clearly never existed. Today’s publishing world is a clear departure from anything previously known and it continues to change almost daily. While there are clearly more avenues for authors, the marketplace has never been more crowded or fractured. Consequently, post production book marketing is more important than ever.

Carol Kinsey Goman, author of “The Silent Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help – or Hurt – How You Lead,” offers ten simple, powerful (and sometimes surprising) tips guaranteed to give you a nonverbal advantage!

1) To boost your confidence before an important meeting, replace your smart phone with a newspaper.

Most business professionals I coach understand the importance of projecting confident body language during an important meeting, a job interview, say, or a key sales pitch), but few realize that how they sit while waiting in the reception area has everything to do with their initial impression.

Research from Harvard and Columbia Business Schools shows that holding your body in expansive “high power” poses (standing tall with shoulders pulled back, widening your stance, spreading your arms to expand into space) raises testosterone (the hormone linked to power and self-confidence) and lowers the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.

This hormonal effect is actually reversed, the researchers discovered, when you contract yourself physically, (hunch your shoulders, tuck your chin down, etc.) assuming postures that make you look defensive and lacking in confidence.

Newton’s third law is  that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is true of you with your customers’ online purchases. Using their past purchase  and current search history and settings, you can influence their purchase decisions. For every item, there's an upgraded version or an accessory, right? Make sure your customers get exposed to these upgrades and accessories - a process called upselling and cross-selling.

Upselling

Upselling is providing  customers with the opportunity to purchase a higher quality, more expensive  version of what they initially search for. This can be accomplished on your  company website through the use of customer search history.

Simply review what  it is they have searched for and offer them alternative items. Make sure that  the reasons for it being a better purchase are clear enough for the customer to  not ignore them. Unlike cross-selling techniques, upselling to your customer comes during not after the actual purchase.  If they purchase before you put in your upselling suggestion, then they are,  obviously, not going to take you up on it.  

If you are the owner of a small business that has recently experienced growth and expansion, you have probably begun the hiring process, taking on more people to help with the workload for your business. While it is important to have enough employees to help with your business, especially to ensure that your business is operating efficiently, it is also important that you operate as the best manager possible.

This may be a completely new role for you! As a manager, you are responsible for other employees and need to take on these responsibilities carefully. If you're new to the position or haven't been in the management seat in a while, here are a few tips to keep you on track.

Be the Best

As a manager, you should always be doing your job and getting it done at the highest level. Remember that your new employees will be looking to you as the standard. Additionally, when you jump in and do your share of the work, they will respect you. Lead by being the best at what you do.