Hub You - Business

How to Reconcile Your VAT in 2 Minutes
Reconciling your VAT is one of the easiest tasks using Sage Software and yet so many small businesses seem to struggle with the task.It's the end of the VAT quarter and panic sets in because they have to check lots of reports and they aren't entirely sure what they are doing.When introduced to a new client I have always asked the question "How long does it take to reconcile your VAT return?" The answer's I get back vary from a couple of hours to a couple of days!The answer I should be hearing is no more than a couple of minutes. When accounts staff are presented with this, and they usually go on the offensive, stating that it takes them ages to go through all the reports and check them. Twaddle!Their response tells me instantly that they don't fully understand the software they're using. And this doesn't just apply to Sage Software users either.Every time a transaction is entered into the Accounts it is automatically collected in the VAT Control Accounts, In the case of Sage Software,

a whole other story!) Print production by the newspaper graphic department offers up less than interesting creative Ad design or punchy layout (because of time constraints). Can be quite expensive in certain markets. Easy to get lost on a page of Ads. Powerful headlines are key but hard to come by unless you hire an outside creative person oe design firm.

How else can you walk into someone's living room and get them to buy your product while they're still in their underwear?

How To Get More Inquires From Your Ads
If you’re not getting the response you want from your direct mail piece or online sales letter, here are some tips that may help you boost response.Mention the premium offer or free giveaway in your headline.Suppose for example, that you’re an insurance agent selling your services. You might want to offer a free booklet or e book to those people who respond to your ad. Your headline might read something like this, “Free booklet On How to Get Low Cost Healthcare Anywhere in America.”Here are other examples.“Get This Top Secret Privately-Printed Report FREE For Accepting A Risk Free Trial Subscription”“Read Everything You Need To Know About Home Repair. Yours FREE for 7Days!”“Get Your Guide To America’s Greatest Golf Courses Absolutely FREE!”Emphasize the word FREE.You can increase the response by putting the word “FREE” in big print or in capital letters. You can repeat the word “free” several times throughout your copy or you can use phrases such as “Send no m

When it comes to small business marketing and advertising, I am amazed at how many local advertisers squander their money. I wish I had the money they wasted. I'd be a rich man.

Let's talk about your typical retailer with 1 - 5 locations.

One of the biggest problems I've seen is that most retailers have no idea of which media to use when running a campaign. In fact, some don't even know WHY they are running a campaign.

They know they should advertise, but they don't really know what they are trying to accomplish.

Let's clarify the TOP 10 obvious reasons you should advertise.

1. You are opening a new business

2. You are closing a business

3. You have a problem selling sufficient quantities of your product or service

4. Your competitor has started a price war

5. You have taken on a new product line or phasing out a product

6. Your business is expanding with new locations

7. You need to renovate but don't want to lose business

8. Sales are dropping and you need to create a new buzz

9. You are moving your location

10.You want to go public

All these reasons to advertise are born of typical "problems" and Advertising solves problems!

I prefer to see problems as challenges and recommend that mindset for everyone. It makes it more of a positive game and stimulates the problem-solving areas of the brain instead of bringing on the worry & depression when you're scrambling to generate sales or save a business.

Now. Which media to use?

Let me give you the bigger picture of the Top 5 advertising vehicles.

RADIO

Need to get a message out fast? Nothing works better than radio!

Radio Pros: This is the sizzle. Hollywood. The Buzz. Entertainment. Excitement. Light my fire. Theatre of the mind. Fast turnaround. With the right production your local burger joint can come across like MacDonald's. Fairly inexpensive. A "word of mouth" medium that taps into the trusting subconscious that "A friend told me about such & such...".

Radio Cons: Sausage factory radio spot production and mediocre creative copywriting due to time constraints and poor client communication. Limited inventory of spots means there's nothing to buy when station is in a sold-out position.

PRINT

Print is all about details. Not enough time to say it in 30 seconds on radio? Take out a print Ad!

Print Pros: Powerful headlines work. Graphic images can be a powerful selling tool! Lots of room to showcase plenty of inventory. Good target market penetration. Good vehicle for couponing. Color Ads grab the eye. Reader can cut & save Ad or coupon.

Print Cons: Slow turnaround time due to production. Your Ad can end up on the same page as your competition (not recommended if the competition is underselling, but that's a whole other story!) Print production by the newspaper graphic department offers up less than interesting creative Ad design or punchy layout (because of time constraints). Can be quite expensive in certain markets. Easy to get lost on a page of Ads. Powerful headlines are key but hard to come by unless you hire an outside creative person oe design firm.

How else can you walk into someone's living room and get them to buy your product while they're still in their underwear?

How To Start Your Own Business
We all love the idea of being our own boss, setting our own working hours and answering to no-one but ourselves. However, many of us are afraid that we don’t have what it takes to be a success. For most of us the fear of failure stops us from following our dreams but I can show you how to turn your dreams into a reality in just six easy steps.Congratulations! You have just taken the first step on the road to starting your own business. By the time you are finished reading this article you will be on your way.1. Overcome the fear Is fear of failure stopping you from reaching your goals? What makes you different from anyone else? In truth we all fear failure. Even the most successful people are afraid that things will not work out but they persevere because they do not wish to live a life of regret. Think about it. If you never try how will you ever know? Follow this simple rule and you will overcome your fear: Each morning when you get up remind yourself: “It is better to try than to live a life o

sufficient quantities of your product or service

4. Your competitor has started a price war

5. You have taken on a new product line or phasing out a product

6. Your business is expanding with new locations

7. You need to renovate but don't want to lose business

8. Sales are dropping and you need to create a new buzz

9. You are moving your location

10.You want to go public

All these reasons to advertise are born of typical "problems" and Advertising solves problems!

Now. Which media to use?

Let me give you the bigger picture of the Top 5 advertising vehicles.

RADIO

Need to get a message out fast? Nothing works better than radio!

PRINT

Print is all about details. Not enough time to say it in 30 seconds on radio? Take out a print Ad!

How else can you walk into someone's living room and get them to buy your product while they're still in their underwear?

Event & Meeting Planners: Did You Know? Collaboration Is No Longer A Luxury, It Is A Necessity
There is one powerful strategy all event and meeting planners use to reach the level of success they really dream about. It has nothing to do with event themes or locations, or your budget. It has nothing to do with your training in the industry. What I am talking about is much more powerful, and has the potential of positioning you as #1 in your industry and to generate business you never thought possible.Let me explain.When I first started my business, I felt very much alone. I had this feeling of pulling all the weight by myself, very limiting. As soon as I started collaborating with other people, I began feeling like nothing was impossible! I would come up with an idea, pitch it to one of my partners, and we would almost immediately turn it into a new revenue source. It took me a while to understand how to approach new partners, where to find them, and what to say to get a "yes."What I've learned is that collaboration is a very powerful business building strategy. Collaboration, when done right,

ssion when you're scrambling to generate sales or save a business.

Now. Which media to use?

Let me give you the bigger picture of the Top 5 advertising vehicles.

RADIO

Need to get a message out fast? Nothing works better than radio!

PRINT

Print is all about details. Not enough time to say it in 30 seconds on radio? Take out a print Ad!

How else can you walk into someone's living room and get them to buy your product while they're still in their underwear?

Diversity Is An Inside Job
There is nothing better than knowing the leadership of an organization values the people it hired. If the staff and employees are diverse, it makes the responsibilities of the leader even more important.An effective leader understands their success depends upon their ability to get all the moving parts of the organization working for the same cause. That cause being maximum efficiency and productivity of the employees.Diversity is an inside job because unless you understand yourself, it will be very difficult to understand people that work for and with you. One of the greatest disservices that exist is the glass ceiling.Unless women or people of color are given an opportunity to display their gifts and talents, likelihood is an organization will continue to overlook them for leadership roles in the future. On the other hand, organizations that effectively lead their organization excel because they believe and have confidence in the people they hire and know they can perform and are working for the s

due to time constraints and poor client communication. Limited inventory of spots means there's nothing to buy when station is in a sold-out position.

PRINT

Print is all about details. Not enough time to say it in 30 seconds on radio? Take out a print Ad!

How else can you walk into someone's living room and get them to buy your product while they're still in their underwear?

Where to Buy Business Phones
The latest technologies in the telephone industry have given business people a wide range of options to choose from. It has become easy to purchase a business phone from online business stores, mail order, direct buying and through telemarketing. Both prepaid and post paid cellular business phones are available in the market.Usually online purchasing and telemarketing involve more risks than mail order and direct buying. Privacy is the major problem of online purchasing. Buyers are required to give payment information including their bank accounts and credit card numbers. Before an online purchase, a buyer has to check the security measures ensured by online business sites. A product list with detailed information is available in online business phone purchasing. They include the type of business phone, brand name, model, price and key features. The buyer is allowed to take a suitable phone from the product list. Any damage or malfunctioning should be informed as early as possible. Customer satisfaction guarantee

How else can you walk into someone's living room and get them to buy your product while they're still in their underwear?

TV Pros: Let's face it. Nothing beats the one-two punch of audio-video. Powerful visuals. Emotionally stirring music or audio sound bites. A dash of sex...intrique...fear...laughter... Yes - your emotions are being assaulted & manipulated by the very best advertisers in the world. And you know what? TV works!

So what if it cost Apple $10,000,000 to sell you 1 ipod? They'll make it back a hundred times!

TV Cons: Can be very expensive in local markets. Production is key but again, very expensive. Out of reach for many local businesses. That being said, there are TV. package opportunities available during off-season and sometimes end-of-season that are affordable. (I highly recommend you take advantage and get your feet wet with these type of offers).

FLYERS / INSERTS / DIRECT MAIL:

I have grouped these together because they fall into the category of distribution of printed material. The most telling difference is the way they are distributed. Let's define each. A flyer is an independant piece of printed material typically distributed by hand and bundled with many other flyers. An Insert is a flyer that is inserted into the local paper for distribution. Direct Mail is a flyer, card or Ad in a sealed envelope that can be specifically targeted to certain city zones, apartments, streets, businesses, high or low income areas etc. As you can imagine, direct mail is the more expensive method but best targeted.

Pros: Flyers are stand alone Ads that thrifty retail shoppers look forward to. The key is, to have an outstanding promotion or offer. Strong creative, pleasing layout and quality paper stock all make a difference as to how you are perceived by the shopper. Shoddy Ads = Shoddy business. (There are exceptions, but that will be discussed in another article.) Flyers allow you to coupon your product or service.

Cons: Flyers rarely deliver a high rate of return. Even when expertly conceived, designed and printed, they can easily get cast into the garbage bin. The key is to pre-promote your flyer in another medium or offer samples. (I'll cover the powerful effects of combining complimentary media in my next article).

BILLBOARDS

There are many types of billboard services. From huge highway, street-level and bus shelter signage to bus, train, and taxi signage.

Pros: There is an "air" of big time advertising associated with billboards. Great for image building as long as you follow the 7 second rule. (Never say anything on a billboard that takes longer than 7 seconds to register in someone's brain!). Powerful visuals & headlines are key!

Cons: You pay extra for mass targeting. Can be very expensive. Poor creative can render your efforts invisible. Production can eat up alot of your budget. Slow turnaround. Key positions are booked sometimes for years in advance.

The biggest question you are probably asking is: What do I do now?

That all depends on what "challenge" your business is presenting.

You need to formulate a plan of action. This is typically

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Conversation is when two or more people speak, listen effectively, and come to a shared understanding. We are often afraid to listen or refuse to listen because we already have an opinion. When there is no conversation people make things up, and it usually isn't positive. It is important to look at what we say to others and determine what effect we are having on them. As we increase our willingness and ability to converse our influence grows.

Accounts Receivable Factoring is a means to meet the requirements of companies that are in urgent need of cash. Highly useful to the companies, this process of Accounts Receivable Funding refers to the process of selling of invoices and other Receivables by the company to a funding company. The funding company purchases these Receivables at a discount from the seller company. The seller company then gets the required cash that is required to run the business. Added advantages are that the seller company can then focus on the business without bothering with collecting the cash, because this becomes the responsibility of the financing company.

Most ad efforts by small to mid-size businesses leave the real money on the table. You know they're coming so bake a cake - extend your strategy beyond the initial sale.

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