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Just what exactly IS the value to your business of posting photos to a blog of the local youth football league every week? Or blogging about local charity golf tournaments or intriguing new local restaurants? Apparently, plenty. Heather Elias,* a mom, real estate agent, and recovering journalism school graduate is the blogger in question, who lives in Loudoun County, Va. She is also a busy tweeter and Facebooker who seems to take her camera with her everywhere. She collects her lovely photos of the local countryside on Flickr, and drops a few...
The NYS SBDC Central office has been getting an inordinate number of pre-recorded phone calls lately. Many of them are apparently random-number generated and have messages that start: 'We're pleased to let you know that you are eligible for our debt reduction service...' Quoting Simon & Garfunkel: 'And blah, blah, blah.' Since someone has recently asked us about how to build their credit, here are some do's and don'ts. DO establish credit by getting at least one credit card. DO choose a credit card wisely. DON'T, if you do get into credit...
Today, becoming known as a trusted resource for your customers is every business owner's number-one goal. One great way to become a trusted expert is through public speaking. There are many venues for public speaking-you can speak locally, address audiences at industry conferences or even get on the radio. To make public speaking pay off for you, start small by talking to local community groups. Here's how to begin: Figure out what target market/s you want to reach. There may be more than one. For instance, suppose you...
Perhaps the most popular form of business entity today is the limited liability company (LLC). According to the Fall 2008 IRS Statistics of Income Bulletin, LLCs increased by 11.3% over the previous year for a total of 1.6 million of these entities for 2006 (the most recent year for statistics). Like a corporation, it offers personal liability protection for its owners. But for income tax purposes, it is treated like a sole proprietorship if there is one owner or like a partnership if there are two or more owners (the LLC can opt for...
Yes, ;m serious.Okay, I realize it must seem pretty weird for me to finally get around to asking you this when -ve been blogging microbusiness for more than six years.But I want you to stop and really think about it.Do you read stories about small businesses in other media and find you ca-t relate to either their problems or their solutions?Do you believe that 'growing your business' is just asking for every imaginable administrative headache and that yo'd rather focus on growing your revenues instead?Are you content with making enough money...
There's no doubt that technology can drive costs from your business and help you to become more profitable. Often technology can allow you to serve more customers, without adding additional staff. And it can allow sole proprietors and business owners to be more productive and have a better quality of life, instead of working night and day. Wouldn't we all like that? Recently I asked small business owners who are readers of my publication, Small Business Trends, for their best tips on saving money on technology purchases, or by...
I wish more women knew about franchising. {Or at least knew of the possibilities} Most of the folks that contact me to inquire about my franchise consulting services are men. {75%) Why is that? Are men more interested in owning their own businesses? Are more men than women losing their jobs this year? Are men bigger risk-takers? Now, I said that more men contact me for information on franchising. Maybe women are just as interested in becoming franchise owners as men are, but they just don't reach out for more information as much. Here is...
Are you running a business? Thinking of starting one? Trying to grow one? Even if you don’t need a business plan to show to bankers or investors, don’t cheat yourself out of planning. Here are 10 ways to get going with planning to help you steer your business. Call 10 customers. Choose them at random. Before each call, take a deep breath, prepare yourself to listen to what they say. Start by promising them you’re not disguising a sales call as something else, that you really want opinions. Ask them why they buy from your...
States that impose sales tax generally require vendors to collect the levy on the sales that they make. In some cases, the vendor's obligation is clear cut. When a customer walks into a store and purchases a taxable item, the vendor must collect a sales tax in addition to the purchase price. But what about the vendor's obligation to collect sales tax on a remote sale? A 'remote sale' is a transaction in which a vendor sells an item via the internet or a catalog to a customer in another state. Remote sales are generally not taxable if the...
As a librarian dealing with Census data, ;ve found that i-s very important to get a handle on Census geography. Take a look at American Factfinder. If you select a data set such as the Decennial Census, then go to the Detailed Tables or Quick Tables, you can select from a series of geographies, including Nation, Region (there are four- Midwest, Northeast, South and West), Division (there are nine, including such vaguely defined terms as East South Central and West North Central), State, County, and County Subdivision, and several others....
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by CraigColgan, Performer on Thursday, October 15, 2009 - 09:41