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Buying Business Property

TopReporter — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:16:36 +0000

If you own your own business, chances are you may have considered buying real estate — a store, warehouse, or office building, for instance.

Buying business property can be a great investment for business owners, even small business owners. However, just like buying a home for your family, you need to be careful to be sure that you won’t get burned.

Don’t buy beyond what you can afford. Yes, if you buy an office building with other units in it, you will be getting income from your tenants. But also consider that especially in a down economy, some units may be vacant for long periods of time, and other tenants may develop problems paying their lease. In other words, don’t count your chickens before they hatch, and be sure that the investment is one you can afford to make, even if everything doesn’t work out exactly the way you want it to.
Work with a reputable agent and lender. Just like when you buy a residential property, you will want to find an agent you can trust, and be sure that your broker is qualified under the SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act. This was signed into law in 2008 by the Bush administration, requiring all brokers to pursue special mortgage training and pass a licensing exam. They can enroll in programs for mortgage exam prep, but ultimately they have to pass the licensing exam on their own merits.
Hire a tax accountant to help you with your business taxes. Business property is a huge expense on your taxes. Be sure you take the right deductions, and hire an accountant who specializes in doing taxes for property-owning small businesses.

If you do it right, owning real estate can really be a beneficial investment for your business!

Technorati Tags: business owners, business taxes, mortgage exam prep, mortgage training

I Wish My Business Offered Insurance Help

Topsy — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:26:02 +0000

I should be grateful that I have health insurance. In fact, I am grateful for that. But I guess I’m not grateful enough. I want more. I really wish that my company offered assistance with choosing the right kind of insurance. It’s just that there are so many different options to choose from and it’s hard to know which type of health insurance is the right one to select.

There are some states that provide even more options than others. Florida is a state that has tons of different insurance plan options. There’s family health insurance Florida and individual Florida health insurance and Medigap insurance in Florida and on and on and on. It’s great that there are so many choices because it must mean that there’s one that is specifically right for each person. However it’s so hard to know which one is the right one!

I guess I can’t really expect my company to provide someone to help me make this decision. Instead, I need to take it upon myself to call around to experts in the health insurance industry. These are the people who can give me quotes and help me make a decision about my health insurance. Then I can take that information back to my boss and let him know which one I choose. Still, wouldn’t it be nice if I could do it on site at my job?!

Technorati Tags: family health insurance Florida, Medigap insurance in Florida

14 Business Lessons to Learn From the Olympics

TipTop — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:44:28 +0000

You would’ve had to have been living under a rock not to notice the beauty and the pageantry of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. This particular Olympics was more widely covered by the media than any of the past Olympic Games, and there was plenty of scandal to boot. But what does that have to do with you, you ask? The Games offer a great model to small business owners and are full of examples that you can put to work right away.

Discipline. None of those Olympians could have done what they did without disciplined training regimens. They woke up each morning and recommitted themselves to doing whatever it took to make themselves better athletes.

Consistency. Olympians stand out from other athletes by virtue of the fact that they perform at a high level again and again and again. They practice until they can deliver a perfect performance every time. Do the same in your business and you’ll find success.

Get Back on the Horse. Never let defeat defeat you. When you fail, get back up and try again.

Be Part of a Team. Even athletes competing in individual sports need teams of support behind them. Make sure you have a whole team standing behind you and supporting you as you reach for your goals.

Listen to Yourself. Your inner self knows exactly what you need to do to become successful. So when the crowd gets louder, turn inward to hear what your inner voice has to say. Tune out everything else and let your inner voice guide you.

Details Make the Difference. Every athlete knows that details can make or break a performance. Stepping out just a few inches on a dismount can be the difference between a gold medal gymnastics performance and a silver medal performance. A minimal twist in the body can be the difference between a great dive and a disaster. You’ll only reach your goals when you pay attention to the details.

Give It Your Best. No matter what’s working against you, always give it your best. Give a performance you can be proud of and you’ll find yourself motivated to try again the next time.

Never Give Up. No matter how bleak things look or how tough things get, never give up on your dream. It may take years and years to finally realize your dream, but when you achieve your goals, those years will seem like minutes.

Make a Plan. Once you’ve made your game plan, stick with it.

There’s No Substitute for Strength. Mental, physical, and emotional strength are equally important when it comes to small business success.

Be Big-Hearted. Nothing is more inspiring than an athlete whose heart is in the game, who keeps going even when the chips are down, who shows the world that she loves what she does more than anything else in the world. The same is true in the world of small business. Have a big heart and show it to everyone.

Embrace Your Nerves. It’s perfectly natural to be scared to death when you start out on a new path. Don’t squelch the fear and the anxiety. Let them remind you just how much you care about what you’re doing.

Always Finish. You may be aware long before you reach the finish line that you’re going to come in last, but finish what you’ve started anyway. No one can take you seriously if you throw up your hands in the home stretch and bail out completely. But they will respect you all the more if you just keep going.

Show Them They’re Wrong. The time will come when you’ll hear something negative. Let that negativity fuel your fire to succeed and prove them wrong.

Take these Olympic lessons and apply them to your small business, and then rejoice in your own gold medal!

Seomul Evans is a senior Search Engine Optimization consultant specializing in Meta Search Engines and SEO articles.

Technorati Tags: strategic planning

Lucky to Be So Close to A World-Class Hospital in Durham

ServiceProvider — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:52:33 +0000

We were lucky enough when we were travelling recently in Durham, North Carolina, to be close to a world-famous hospital. On the other hand, we weren’t very lucky to have suddenly needed a hospital while we were travelling! Especially since we were travelling with a two year-old.

My little toddler got food poisoning after we dined in a restaurant one night. Thank God we were able to get him to a great hospital—Duke Medical Center—instead of some po-dunk little community hospital. They made him feel so much better even though he ended up having to spend the night. One of us got to stay with him there overnight, and my husband stayed in the Comfort Inn hotel near Duke Medical Center. I bet they get a lot of frantic family members who have to stay there when their loved ones are hospitalized, and they were very kind, accommodating and sympathetic.

Can you imagine if we’d been on some back country highway enjoying the scenery when this struck my two year-old? It would have been easy to have fallen into that situation since the beautiful state of North Carolina isn’t all “citified.” I just shudder to think what might have happened!

Technorati Tags: Comfort Inn hotel near Duke Medical Center, Duke Medical Center, Durham North Carolina

Looking for THE spring break hotel deal

How To Write An Offer & Call for Action

TipTop — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:43:38 +0000

Your offer, even if you’ve already stated it clearly in your headline and elsewhere in your message, must be re-stated at the end of your message. Be clear and be specific so there is nothing left to the imagination of your audience.

Essentially, your offer is “Pay X and this is exactly what you get.” Of course, you need to say it more gracefully than that! So wording your offer is an art in itself.

A really powerful offer can and usually does make a big difference to the results. There’s basically two parts and it’s almost like another type of headline. The offer must make a massive promise, almost to the point of disbelief. Take your biggest promise of satisfaction and put that promise into the offer. That promise is why the person began reading and kept on reading, so it would be silly not to use it again when you’re getting ready to ask for money.

Then you immediately prove it again. Then you make it scarce by limiting the time, or the number available, and restate that this exact result from this type of product can only be achieved from you (your USP). And you add more credibility…impeccable credibility by re-stating the guarantee.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

You should always ask for the sale. Give prospects more than one way to respond.

Call to Action

Your offer must include a call to action. This is where you tell the reader or listener exactly what to do. You can have them:

Order Today!
Respond By…
Send Now For Your Free… Call Immediately!

In your sales letter or ad, you could repeat the full benefits and descriptions of what they are getting and then ask for the order.

Carpe Diem – Seize the Day (and the opportunity to act now)

You’ll notice that in addition to being a call to action, each of these statements calls for IMMEDIATE action. You want to add a sense of urgency to your call to action. Try these action motivators:

Rush the order…
Last chance offer…
Limited time…
Limited quantity…
To those who qualify…

No Risk/All Reward – The Guarantee

At this stage in your message, the element that needs to be considered very seriously is your guarantee. The guarantee can come after your bonus or as part of your reply mechanism.

The guarantee is a very effective closing tool and should be used to make the offer even more appealing. Your guarantee should be totally risk free and the business owner should assume full responsibility and full risk. This makes it much easier for a prospect to make a decision.

Offer a 60-day, 90-day, or a 12 month money-back guarantee. Give the customer two or three times the needed review period to ensure the purchase is non-threatening and non-intimidating. The direct marketing industry has studied this for years and has found that with a longer guarantee you get fewer returns.

Another trick is to include a just-for-trying-us bonus that has a perceived value that is worth more than the price of the product they are buying. Let the customer know they can keep the bonus even if they ask for their money back. In many cases this will triple response. However, it’s always important to test to see if this works for you with your prospects.

Companies that adopt a better than risk-free guarantee find that it is a profit centre in itself. More sales are made with guarantees and the expense of returns is negligible

Strategies like that can explode your small business quickly, that’s why I’d suggest you go right now to http://www.freemarketingbook.org and request a copy of Jonathan Jay’s new book “Marketing Secrets of a Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneur”

Technorati Tags: strategic planning

8 Strategies for Pricing Your Products

TipTop — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:37:32 +0000

As a small business owner, you know how difficult it can be to determine appropriate prices for your goods and services. Ask too much and you’ll turn customers off to your business. Ask too little and you’ll be shortchanging yourself. The key to pricing all lies within the psychology of the consumer. Here are 8 strategies for playing into consumer psychology and coming out on top of the pricing game.

1. Promoting Satisfaction. If you haven’t done this yourself then you probably at least know someone who has joining a gym that offers a one-time fee, going for the first few months, and then quitting only a few months after joining, even after paying for a full year! When consumers pay for a service regularly, say once a month, they perceive that service as having more value than a service they pay for only once. And when they perceive that it has value, they will continue to use it. Keep your customers satisfied by implementing monthly charges rather than one-time flat fees.

2. Use Nines. Consumers connect the number 0 to quality and the number 9 to value. So stop focusing on having the lowest price and start pricing your products and services according to this inherent rule. Have you ever noticed how many items are assigned a price of $X.99? That’s because people automatically associate products with lots of nines with high value.

3. Utilize Anchor Pricing. If a consumer is becoming familiar with a product for the first time, she will look to the model with the highest price to help her determine what to purchase for herself. This high price is called the anchor price. Grocery stores use this to their advantage by placing their generic brands next to name brands. Customers use the name brand prices as anchors and then quickly note that the generic brands run roughly 15% less than the name brands.

4. Let Prestige Pricing Work for You. People automatically assume that a higher-priced product is a higher-quality product. Many people are willing to drive out of their way and pay more for a cup of coffee at Starbucks than a cup of coffee at McDonalds, simply because they perceive Starbucks coffee to be of higher value. You can take advantage of prestige pricing by enhancing the packaging and delivery of your products and then charging more.

5. Suggest Prices. When you package several items or services together and then suggest an appropriate price, you increase the chances that customers will buy all of those items together. “Value meals” at fast food restaurants are a great example of this. Consider packaging your products together in a complementary way and then pricing them accordingly.

6. Play Up Small Losses. How many times have you seen commercials offering products that you can pay for in “just three easy installments of $19.99″? People find a price of $19.99 much more attractive and easy to manage than a one-time price of $59.97. And, as mentioned above, they will perceive the product to have greater value if they pay for it over a longer period of time.

7. Stuff the Bundle. If you’ve seen those commercials mentioned in the point above, you also know how popular it is to continue adding other products to the original offer. “If you act now, we’ll also include” they say. The more products you add while keeping the original price the same, the more your customers will perceive that they’re getting a bargain.

8. Play up the Bargain. Everyone loves to feel like they’re getting a good deal, and nothing screams “good deal” like a big old banner reading “Sale” or “Discount.” Always let your customers know how your product compares to the rest of the market, especially if your products are comparable and your prices are lower.

Let these pricing strategies work for you and see how well your business grows!

Seomul Evans is a senior Search Engine Marketing expert specializing in Meta Search Engines and a SEO Blog Articles contributor.

Technorati Tags: strategic planning

Strategic Planning for Business

TipTop — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 23:36:29 +0000

Businessmen and entrepreneurs often are so engrossed with the immediate issues that they overlook most of their ultimate objectives. In result, they end up doing and solving all of the details and problems all at once which in turn leads to a hazy, unclear, and inadequate effect.

When it comes to these instances, a strategic plan is the key phrase that “every” entrepreneur should deal with. Notice that the word “every” is emphasized, for in the business industry, everyone should make a strategic plan. Many of those who venture into business, especially those small time businessmen think that strategic plans are only for the large businesses that can afford the time, cost, and large number of staffs that can develop a sound plan. This however is not adequate for if you are going to venture inside the marketplace, you will have to face “giant walls” guarded with the “big guys” of the business industry.

So in those cases, what should you have to do?

Here now enters the strategic plan. In order to break those “walls” and come face to face with the “big guys”, you will need to play their game.

Setting up a strategic plan means you will have to create an approach – a unique approach – to business that will run through a certain period of time. You may want to create this plan for a specific part of the business or as a whole. However, you would want to make sure first that that your company as a whole is in good relation with the consumers before going through the specific ones. And by the way, there are consultancy firms available who offer strategic planning for business service to help you go through with it.

To begin with, you will have to set the three main components: the vision, mission and objectives of your company.

The primary step is to create a realistic vision for your company. This part shows how you see your business in a short term or long term perspective. This part is the draft that will serve as your tracing marks as you venture into success.

Then, you will have to plan for the purpose of your business which would be under the mission statement. This part may deal with matters like; to ensure good customer service, to provide quality products, to support not only self growth but as well as to the employees, and etc.

The third key element would be the objectives where you will mention the results or needs that the company wants to achieve as a long term or short term goal. This part anyhow should relate with the major expectations of the stakeholders, employees, and consumers.

Underlying the three main components, you now have the clear path to where to go, the next question then would be, “how to get there?”.

Subsequent actions would be the precept on how to achieve the set components. You may want to do a press release, advertise, or execute programs that would ensure a definite result provided that all are lined and connected.

Your business does not end after you have finally executed the action plans to implement your strategy. Actually, this part is where most businesses fail. You will have to follow through whether the whole plan is being implemented or how it is doing. You may also like to create checkpoints to ensure that all are being taken carefully and being worked on efficiently.

Without this single word “strategy”, your business would not have any direction for strategy tells you where to go. As a map, it gives you directions on where to go, though it does not guarantee that you will get there instantly, likewise with the business strategy, it does not give you the assurance that you will succeed, but it does give you the opportunity to succeed!

FutureAfrica is a group of business consultants that offer business improvement, transformation and organizational development services to small and medium sized businesses, corporate and local authorities.

Technorati Tags: strategic planning

Talking to Finance Experts

Topsy — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:08:27 +0000

There is one skill that you definitely have to have if you’re going to run a successful business. That skill is to be able to talk to experts in the financial field. This will help you through every part of operating your business.

Some of the finance experts that you should know how to speak with include:

Lending experts. You have to know how to present yourself to banks and other lenders so that you can get money for your business.
Investors. You can get a loan to start your business but it’s a lot better to get an investor. Knowing how to talk to one can get you a lot of money.
Accountants. You should be able to explain yourself to your accountant to make your finances clear to him or her. You should understand all of the advice that you’re getting from this person.
Legal finance experts. You might have a tax attorney or another lawyer who deals with your finances. Make sure you understand the conversations that you have with this person.
Debt counselors. If you get into debt, you may need to talk to people who work for credit card debt settlement services.

Knowing how to talk about your money with the right people goes a long way towards improving the financial life of your business.

Technorati Tags: credit card debt settlement services

10 Ways to Add Hours to Your Day…by using a Virtual Assistant

admin — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:04:01 +0000

Have you ever heard of a Virtual Assistant? If you are a busy entrepreneur, you need to pay attention! A Virtual Assistant (VA) is an independent contractor who provides administrative support services by utilizing advanced technology to complete work and communicate with clients.

Below is a list of 10 ways a VA can help you get back to the business of building your business.

1. Secretarial Services. Are you spending too much time scheduling appointments? Do you have piles of routine paperwork to process? Do you wish you had someone to research and arrange your travel? A Virtual Assistant can assist with these tasks including scheduling appointments, completing forms, making travel arrangements, researching topics and maintaining a contact database.

2. Research. The Internet is a fabulous tool for research, but it can be quite time consuming. A VA can perform research for you and provide you a report on the findings. Before you know it, your project will be completed.

3. Presentations. Do you need a PowerPoint presentation? When you fax your notes, sketches and charts to your VA, they will be transformed into a professional slide show complete with handouts and transparencies.

4. Database Management. All business cards need to be in a database. Mail or courier your stack of cards to your VA and they will create a custom database for you. When you acquire new cards, send them to your VA and your database will be complete and up-to-date for your next marketing campaign or Christmas card mail! A VA can handle that too!

5. Email Management. We live in a “now” society and with so many people using email, it’s important you stay on top of it. Emails should be responded to within an hour, how are you doing? A VA can regularly check your email, respond where she can and notify you of urgent matters as they arise. This is a great service to consider if you are going on vacation or are often away from your computer.

6. Word Processing. Perhaps you need a handwritten document typed. Fax it to your VA and she will type it and either email it back to you or print it on your letterhead and put it in the mail for you. If you’ve typed up a proposal or a manual that needs to be formatted, simply e-mail it to your VA and she will give it a polished finish and send it back to you. Your VA can even convert a document to a PDF making file transfers quick and easy.

7. Personal. Do you wish you had a personal assistant to schedule your appointments, remind you of important dates and send thank you cards on your behalf? A VA can take care of all of these things and more. Anything you have an in house assistant take care of can be done virtually…except brewing the coffee!

8. Purchasing. A VA can order office supplies, hire someone to paint your office or purchase a laser printer by researching the best price, presenting you with quotes, and ordering the items to be delivered right to your office.

9. Invoicing. A Virtual Assistant can invoice your customers for you. Fax or email the details and she will create your invoices, print them off, address them and put them in the mail for you.

10. Track expenses. Are your receipts in piles around your office, your purse or the glove compartment of your car? You can put all your receipts in one envelope, (one for each month) and mail them to your VA monthly. She can create an Excel spreadsheet, break down the GST and easily track your expenses for you. This year, you will be ready at tax time!

About the Author
Ready to start adding hours to your day? Jaime Lee Mann is the owner of Mann Made Time, a Virtual Assistant business based in Kingston, PEI. You can contact her by phone at 902.675.4008, email jaime@mannmadetime.com or visit her on the Web at www.MannMadeTime.com.

Traits To Learn From Our Pets

Topsy — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:08:24 +0000

What have you learned from your pet lately? If your answer is “not much” then you might want to start paying better attention to what your pet has to teach you. Each individual pet breed has traits that can benefit us humans if we learn to embody them.

For example, here is a look at some of the traits of the Pembroke Welsh Corgi that you could probably use in your own life:

Problem solving abilities. These dogs are known for their excellent abilities at solving problems. Are you?
Outgoing but wary of strangers. It’s good to have a balance of being a bit cautious but still outgoing enough to meet people. The Pembroke Welsh Corgi knows this.
Appropriately protective of those they care about. Most of us are either over protective of our loved ones or not quite protective enough. Which one are you?
Very loving. A key trait of this dog is that it’s a loving dog. Don’t you want to be the kind of person that people think of as loving? Most people do.

This is just one dog breed. Other dogs have different traits to pay attention to. And even other types of pets can teach us things. If we focus on what they do best, we might be able to hone our own abilities.

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