Getting ahead with good business etiquette

Everyday of our business lives we're being judged in three ways: how we look, how we speak and above all how we behave. To get to the top in the business world means gaining an extra edge over the competition. If we're polished and self-assured, people are impressed and judge us favourably, and often it's their first judgement that sticks.

Companies prefer to employ people who can effectively interact with clients and colleagues; people who can conduct themselves confidently in the boardroom or the executive dining room; people above all, who have good social skills. Business Etiquette provides the strategies to achieve success by demonstrating what to do, when to do it and most importantly, how to do it. Knowledge of business etiquette will give you the tools you need to be the best and gain the competitive edge over the competition.

There are many written and unwritten rules and guidelines for etiquette, and it certainly behooves a business person to learn them. The caveat is that there is no possible way to know all of them.

These guidelines have some difficult-to-navigate nuances, depending on the company, the local culture, and the requirements of the situation. Possibilities to commit a faux pas are limitless, and chances are, sooner or later, you'll make a mistake. But you can minimize them, recover quickly, and avoid causing a bad impression by being generally considerate and attentive to the concerns of others, and by adhering to the basic rules of etiquette. When in doubt, stick to the basics.
The Basics

The most important thing to remember is to be courteous and thoughtful to the people around you, regardless of the situation. Consider other people's feelings and stick to your convictions as diplomatically as possible. Send cards or letters for birthdays or congratulatory notes for promotions or other events; send flowers for engagements, weddings or in condolence for the death of a loved one or family member. People will remember your kindness, probably much longer than you will!

Meetings
Meetings should be attended promptly and discussions done in a satisfactory manner. Communicate beforehand the objective and the expected duration. Often overlooked, you should remember to thank meeting members for their time and participation.

Phone
Always return calls. Even if you don't have an answer to the caller's question yet.

Email
Check your email and reply as early as possible. Make sure you get to the point when replying.

Dress/Appearance
It can be insulting to your co-workers or clients to show a lack of concern about your appearance. Being wrinkled, unshaven, smelly or unkempt (intentionally or not) shows that you don't care enough about the situation, the people or the company. If in doubt, always err on the side of conservative.

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Reggaeinc.com promoting Internet music sales

Reggae is a movement that started from humble beginnings in Jamaica's inner city streets and has grown to become recognised across the world as the heartbeat of its people. It's no secret that despite reggae's immense popularity, the music continues to suffer tremendously from weak revenue sales compared to other genres.

The future of reggae seems to lie in the realm of cyberspace, as artistes such as Sean Paul, Baby Cham and Junior Reid have managed to rack up phenomenal sales through commercial downloads.

Reggaeinc.com is a website dedicated to riding this new wave of digital technology with the aim of placing reggae alongside the top selling genres of music. They are in the process of establishing the world's most relevant reggae audio and video database and distribution channel via the internet and other mobile devices.

"Reggaeinc's objective is to create the world's most relevant database of Caribbean music content, starting with reggae," stated Levent Karahan, chief executive officer and founder of the company.

He credited sophisticated technology support partner 247musicshop.com for being "the most important application service provider for digital distribution of music via internet or mobile devices". Karahan explained that the core idea is to use that well-established infrastructure and back bone to create a reggae portal.

"How does it basically work? You give us your content by signing a contract on a non-exclusive basis, meaning you can still do whatever you want and use our distribution channel additionally. The content owner gets between in the 50 to 66 per cent range based on the market and we put that in our database.

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