If you’re like me, there’s nothing more enjoyable than visiting your local diner on Sunday morning for breakfast. And if you’re even more like me, your eyes and stomach can’t get past the eggs Benedict, despite whatever else is on the menu.

Still, eggs bennie is often one of the most expensive items, and until now I thought it took a team of culinary experts and hi-tech kitchen gadgetry to poach an egg. This weekend I experimented with this mysterious technique and it turns out to be one of the easiest and healthiest ways to prepare eggs.

All you need is a pot of water, a splash of vinegar, eggs and a slotted spoon (the bigger the better). First, crack your egg into a small cup or bowl. Next, bring your water to a low boil. Once this has been accomplished, add a tablespoon or two of vinegar and swirl the water with your spoon to create a whirlpool effect. All you need to do now is drop the egg into the whirlpool. The swirling motion of the water helps to keep the egg’s shape. Allow it to cook for approximately 2 minutes and remove with your spoon.

The rest of the ingredients can be found at any grocery store. Look for packets of Hollandaise sauce in the gravy section, or find a recipe online to make it from scratch. And if you’re really adventurous, add some guacamole to your eggs Benedict for a true treat!

-Jeron Udean

When uncertain economic times hit, modus operandi in business is to focus on the challenges—both current and ahead. Budgets are tightened or perhaps altogether cut to prepare for and weather the storm. Projects are put on hold and plans to grow are shelved. For many companies retreat is the familiar, almost comfortable chair to rest in and ride out the situation.

But where does that leave these companies when the storm clears? Clearly behind. In uncertain economic times, visionary companies see the opportunity to grow. Grow their knowledge to better understand what their market wants and grow their market share by staying visible and becoming more valuable to customers and prospects.

Growth in uncertain times may not be for every business. For visionaries, it’s the perfect time.

-Steph Haugan

For many of us the sales cycle often involves sending information about our company or preparing a proposal for a client or prospect. The idea here is to accomplish these tasks while moving the sales process efficiently. Here are a couple of tips I learned from the folks at the Telephone Selling Report.

First, use a technique called The Advance. This technique is designed to get your client or prospect to take action and commit to a specific follow up timeframe. Here are a couple of examples:

“I will e-mail our company’s information to you and then check back with you tomorrow afternoon. How does your calendar look for 2:15 pm so we can review the material together and determine the next steps?”

“I will have the proposal to you tomorrow morning and will follow up early next week to discuss it more detail. How does Tuesday morning, the 21st at 9 am look to you?”

Here’s the clincher: Ask the client or prospect if they use Outlook’s appointment reminder feature. If they do, ask permission to send a “reminder appointment” to their Outlook calendar. This simple step will greatly enhance your chances of getting resolution on your next call thus shortening the sales cycle. Below is the step by step process for sending the reminder.

1. In Outlook, press Crtl + Shift + Q
2. Type in the client’s or prospect’s e-mail address
3. Type in the Subject
4. Type in the Location
5. Set the Start-End Times
6. Set the Reminder
7. Send

Will this technique work every time? Of course not but even if it works once or twice a month you will still effectively shorten your sales cycle and increase productivity.

-Randy West

Despite the sheer volume of written communication each day from the web, blogs, email, text messages, Twitter and traditional newspapers, there appears to be an ever increasing void of good writing. While more and more is written, less is written well. With obvious exceptions, thoughtful and thought-provoking writing seems to be in full retreat. From front pages to fund raising pitches, the quality of the written word is suffering.

But if you get the message out, what does it really matter how it’s written? It does matter if you want to influence your audience. When you read something that is written well – it captures your attention. The writing not only informs – it inspires. By connecting the writer’s thoughts to readers in a compelling way, good writing influences readers to take action such as making a purchase or seeking more information. Consider the financial woes of nation’s newspapers. Their trouble stems not just from competing instant-news-sources luring readers away. Readers are neither compelled to read further nor compelled to read (or buy) the next day’s edition.

-Pat Henning

The essential truth of Obama’s brand is change. When he picked Joe Biden he made a fill-in choice to shore up some of the perceived weaknesses in his background. Because he didn’t select a reinforcing choice to the promise of change he opened the door for McCain to steal a part of his position by selecting the Alaskan governor Sarah Palin.

The question remains: will McCain’s effort to steal the mantle of change have lasting credibility or will it end up hurting his previous brand promise of experience. Now that they have both created brand conflict, the public will have to sort through the confusing dilemma that continues to face undecided voters.

-Patrick Strother